Vibrant Paradoxes: The Both/And of Catholicism

by Robert Barron

Overview

G.K. Chesterton once said that Catholicism keeps its beliefs "side by side like two strong colors, red and white . . . It has always had a healthy hatred of pink."

Catholicism is both/and, not either/or. It celebrates the union of contraries—grace and nature, faith and reason, Scripture and Tradition, body and soul—in a way that the full energy of each opposing element remains in place.

In Vibrant Paradoxes, bestselling author Bishop Robert Barron brings together themes and motifs that many would consider mutually exclusive or, at best, awkward in their juxtaposition. But seen through the Incarnation, these opposites crash together and reflect new light in every direction requiring a new vision. This book will train you to see.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781685780678
Publisher:	Word on Fire
Publication date:	04/18/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	805 KB

About the Author

Bishop Robert Barron is the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries and the host of CATHOLICISM, a groundbreaking, award-winning documentary about the Catholic faith. On July 21, 2015, Pope Francis announced his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and on June 2, 2022, he appointed Bishop Barron the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester (Minnesota). Ordained in 1986 in the Archdiocese of Chicago, Bishop Barron received a master’s degree in philosophy from The Catholic University of America in 1982 and a doctorate in sacred theology from the Institut Catholique de Paris in 1992. 

Table of Contents

FOREWORD
XI

INTRODUCTION
XIII

SIN AND MERCY
1

God Joins Our Dysfunctional Family
Extreme Demands, Extreme Mercy
Evangelizing on the Road to Emmaus
Revisiting Spiritual Warfare
Seeing Political Corruption with Biblical Eyes
Wise Words from the Bishop of Rome Concerning the Clergy Sex Abuse Scandal
René Girard, Church Father
The Field Hospital Is Open
The Parable of the Talents
Pope Benedict and the Logic of Gratuity
Pope Francis and True Mercy
The iPhone App and the Return to Confession
The Revolutionary Message of Palm Sunday

REASON AND FAITH 89

The Indecipherable Writing of Thomas Aquinas
The Myth of the War between Science and Religion
Playing at Atheism
Why the Sciences Will Never Disprove the Existence of God
Woody Allen’s Bleak Vision
What Faith Is and What It Isn’t
Why I Love My Invisible Friend
What Makes the Church Grow?
Does Religion Really Have A “Smart-People Problem”?
America Needs You, Thomas Aquinas
Revisiting the Argument from Motion
Revisiting the Argument from Desire
Einstein and God
Pope Benedict and How to Read the Bible
Preaching the Strange Word
The Genesis Problem
Mother Nature Is One Unreliable Lady
Laudato Si’ and Romano Guardini
The Hundredth Anniversary of Thomas Merton’s Birth
The Pope, the Congress, and a Trappist Monk
Ross Douthat and the Catholic Academy
John Henry Newman at the Synod on the Family
A Lion of the American Church: Thoughts on the Passing of Cardinal George
Priests, Prophets, Kings
 

MATTER AND SPIRIT 135

St. John’s Christmas Sermon
Why You Need Spiritual Food
Bruce Jenner, the “Shadow Council,” and St. Irenaeus
A Case for Celibacy by Priests
Why Jesus and Religion Are Like Two Peas in a Pod
What Easter Means
The Startlingly Good News of the Resurrection
Why the Ascension of the Lord Matters
 

FREEDOM AND DISCIPLINE 171

What Is Our Fundamental Problem?
Dietrich von Hildebrand and Our Relativistic Age
Pope Benedict XVI Among the Germans
The Death of God and the Loss of Human Dignity
Your Life Does Not Belong to You
Why Goodness Depends on God
The Tiny Whispering Sound
St. Irenaeus and the God Who Doesn’t Need Us
The Glory of God Is a Human Being “Fully Alive”
Thomas More and the Bishop of Rome
Why St. Junípero Serra Matters Today
Why Having a Heart of Gold Is Not What Christianity Is About
A “No” to a “No” Is a “Yes”
Brian Williams, Chris Matthews, and Letting the Fly out of the Fly Bottle
We’ve Been Here Before: Same-Sex Marriage and the Room of Tears
Love, Tolerance, and the Making of Distinctions
The “Waze” of Providence
What the Hell?
Pope Benedict As a Witness to God
A Prophetic Pope and the Tradition of Catholic Social Teaching
The Cleansing of the Temple
 

SUFFERING AND JOY

Stephen Fry, Job, and the Cross of Jesus
God and the Tsunami
Stephen Colbert, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Henry Newman and the Providence of God
Hospital-Land and the Divinization of One’s Passivities
The Dangers of the Prosperity Gospel
The Lesson of Calcutta
A Saint of Darkness
The Lesson of Lough Derg
A Tale of Two Skulls
The Fire at Namugongo
A Persecuted Church and Its Heroes
A Message in Blood: ISIS and the Meaning of the Cross
The Joy of Evangelizing
What Are You Waiting For?

Editorial Reviews

Further evidence—as if any were needed—that Bishop Barron is the best catechist and apologist in English-speaking Catholicism. A book to savor, ponder, and celebrate, Vibrant Paradoxes is a treasure chest of insight, informed by a profound Catholic faith and a deep intelligence, and written with the kind of brio that makes the New Evangelization fun.

George Weigel

Bishop Robert Barron, like Fulton Sheen before him, speaks with an authority that is more than episcopal. He came by his episcopal authority long after he had won the trust and admiration of a multitude. These short essays show you how he did it. They treat eternal and ephemeral matters in fascinating ways. His methods somehow combine the techniques of Chesterton and Aquinas with a dash of Bob Dylan—and the mix is always exactly right. His Excellency is especially good when he treats biblical themes. His words are wise and luminous. So why are you reading mine when you could be reading his?” 

Dr. Scott Hahn

If you’ve ever wanted to share one of Bishop Robert Barron’s fantastic meditations on Christianity but can’t quite remember where he said it (or how he said it!), then look no further. This book is for you. Vibrant Paradoxes is a cornucopia of wisdom, overflowing with insights into sin and mercy, reason and faith, matter and spirit, suffering and joy.

Dr. Brant Pitre