97. Prayer and Action (Mark 1:29-39)

Posted on February 1st, 2012 by Father John Bartunek

“If you seek to know where you can stay, stay close to Christ, because he is the way.”  - St. Thomas Aquinas

Mark 1:29-39: On leaving the synagogue, he went with James and John straight to the house of Simon and Andrew. Now Simon’s mother-in-law had gone to bed with fever, and they told him about her straightaway. He went to her, took her by the hand and helped her up. And the fever left her and she began to wait on them. That evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were possessed by devils. The whole town came crowding round the door, and he cured many who were suffering from diseases of one kind or another; he also cast out many devils, but he would not allow them to speak, because they knew who he was.  In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there. Simon and his companions set out in search of him, and when they found him they said, ‘Everybody is looking for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go elsewhere, to the neighbouring country towns, so that I can preach there too, because that is why I came.’ And he went all through Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out devils.

Christ the Lord Christ is a man whose whole attention is focused on others. Simon and his disciples come to him the morning after a day like none they had ever known before. Christ’s popularity was at a zenith, after his immensely successful preaching, his casting out a demon in the synagogue, and his evening of miraculous cures and exorcisms. They surely thought that he would claim the Messianic kingship right away and gather an army to cast off the despicable Roman rule, or something to that effect. When they awoke to find him gone, they searched apprehensively for him, lest they miss their chance for glory (the townspeople were already rallying and demanding his presence). But when they find him, alone in prayer on the mountaintop, and they tell him that everyone is looking for him, Christ answers with what was to be the first of many surprises: it is not for personal glory that he has come, but to fulfill a mission received from another, and so he must move on. They are welcome to come with him, but whether they do or not, he will be faithful to his Father’s will.

In a world inundated with the ethos of “success” and “achievement,” where great souls are withered by the rat race of petty promotions and vaporous rewards, the selfless, transcendent purpose of a man entirely focused on fulfilling someone else’s plan (i.e., God’s) may perhaps furrow our brow, but doesn’t it also stir us to admiration? Such is our Lord, who hopes that our admiration will evolve into heartfelt emulation.

Christ the Teacher  Jesus Christ was God become man. His human nature was united with the power of his divine person. He was perfect, sinless, without any selfishness, laziness, or pride. His character was flawless, as firm as the mountains and as gentle as a mother’s caress. His mind was beyond brilliant, filled with the radiance of divine light and understanding. No emotional scars from a difficult family upbringing (Mary was without sin too, and Joseph was a saint), no personality disorders or imbalanced self-esteem – no lacks, no wounds, no imperfections at all. And yet, over and over again in the Gospels, we see him go off to be alone in prayer: “In the morning long before dawn, he got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there.”

Christ was perfect, God from God and light from light, and yet he needed to reserve time just to be alone with his Father; he needed to go off and pray. He even had to get up early to make time for it. Sometimes he had to stay up late in order to make time for it. But he always did it.

If he, who was perfect, needed prayer in order to fulfill his life’s mission, what does that imply for us, who are so imperfect, so weak, so vulnerable to every sort of temptation and wounded by every kind of sin? Christ was a man of prayer, and, as he himself put it, “no disciple is greater than his master” (John 15:20).

Christ the Friend  It’s not only the simple fact of Christ’s miracles that demonstrates his personal love, but even the manner in which he performs them. Simon’s mother-in-law is sick in bed with a fever. In the ancient world, fevers posed greater threats than they do today. If the fever was the result of an infection (which fevers frequently are), it could indicate an impending death, since there were no antibiotics; this explains the apostles’ concern. Jesus could have snapped his fingers and immediately cured her; but instead, he goes over to the bed where she lay, grasps her sweaty, feverish hand in his own firm, gentle grip, relieving her sickness with his touch, and then helps her up. In Jesus Christ, God comes to meet us in the reality of our humanity, bringing the warmth of his divine light into its most ordinary nooks and crannies.

Simon’s mother-in-law: When I woke from the fever, I felt… well, how can I describe how I felt? Normally such a long, severe fever wears you out, but when I woke from this one I felt buoyant, glad, strong. I felt a healthy, invigorating warmth flowing through me, banishing the fever’s enfeebling heat. And then I realized that this new strength was flowing into me. Only then did I turn and look to see who was holding my hand: Jesus.

Simon had told me about him, but I had never met him before. And yet, his smiling eyes told me he knew me. He didn’t have to speak any words. Right away he was my oldest friend as well as my newest friend. It sounds so strange, but it’s true. Suddenly, under his gaze, with his hand holding mine, all the different parts of my life fell into place. My heart and mind came into focus as they never had before. I wasn’t just cured from the fever; I was somehow new. Without even thinking, I smiled back at him and rose to start preparing some supper for him and his companions. Healthy? Yes, I was healthy again, healthier than I had ever been before.

Christ in My Life  Lord, by making me your disciple, you have shared your mission with me. I am your missionary. You want to reach out to others through me; I am part of your mystical body. O Lord, fill me with enthusiasm and zeal for this wonderful and daunting mission of building your Kingdom! It is far beyond my capacities, but that doesn’t matter, as long as you lead me.

Prayer is a mystery to me, Jesus. Sometimes I seem to pray well, while other times I’m completely lost. But I know that you have given me the gift of the Holy Spirit, who dwells within me, teaching me and coaching me. Lord Jesus, I believe in you, and I know that without a healthy, growing life of prayer, my soul will wither. Dear Lord, teach me to be docile to the promptings of your Holy Spirit.

You continue to touch me, just as you touched Peter’s mother-in-law, whenever I receive you in the Eucharist. Thank you, Lord, for staying so close to me, for bringing your saving grace into my life in such a human way. Teach me this same gentle, caring manner as I reach out to help my neighbors.

 

PS: This is just one of 303 units of Fr. John’s fantastic book The Better Part. To learn more about The Better Part or to purchase in print, Kindle or iPhone editions, click here. Also, please help us get these resources to people who do not have the funds or ability to acquire them by clicking here.

96. The Devil Cares (Mark 1:21-28)

Posted on January 25th, 2012 by Father John Bartunek

“Here it is fitting for us to think of that great, true, eternal light… namely Christ our Savior, the Redeemer of the world, who was made man and came to the last extremity of the human condition.”
- St. Gregory Agrigentinus

Mark 1:21-28: They went as far as Capernaum, and as soon as the sabbath came he went to the synagogue and began to teach. And his teaching made a deep impression on them because, unlike the scribes, he taught them with authority. In their synagogue just then there was a man possessed by an unclean spirit and it shouted, ‘What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus said sharply, ‘Be quiet! Come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions and with a loud cry went out of him. The people were so astonished that they started asking each other what it all meant. ‘Here is a teaching that is new’ they said ‘and with authority behind it: he gives orders even to unclean spirits and they obey him.’ And his reputation rapidly spread everywhere, through all the surrounding Galilean countryside.

Christ the Lord  Authority: coming from the “author.” Those who heard and saw Jesus were impressed most by his authority. The “scribes,” the teachers of the Jewish law, prided themselves on a detailed knowledge of the scriptures and on the myriad scriptural commentaries that rabbis and teachers had made through the centuries, but their words lacked the force of Christ’s. Jesus Christ in himself is the fulfillment of all previous and partial revelation. He “has seen the Father” (John 6:46) and reveals him.

Whether we realize it or not, in our hearts we yearn for God, and so when we come into contact with someone close to God, our hearts are moved. When the crowds came into contact with Jesus Christ, the Son of God become man, their hearts burst with astonished joy. Jesus is no average teacher, nor even a great human preacher. Jesus Christ is Lord, the “Holy One of God,” and when he began his public ministry, the people could tell.

Christ the Teacher  We are only in the first chapter of St Mark’s Gospel, and already the devil makes his appearance. One of his minions has taken possession of a child of God and cries out in panic at the Savior’s approach.

The story of Christ’s life and ministry cannot be told without giving due space to Satan’s activity. The Gospel writers carefully distinguish between cases of mere physical ailments and cases of a demonic character (both of which Jesus cures). Jesus frequently refers to the devil in his parables and other teachings, and the devil himself tempts Jesus in the desert and returns again later to engineer Judas’ betrayal (cf. John 13:2).

This Gospel motif teaches us an undeniable, if uncomfortable lesson: the devil is real, and he is interested in counteracting the work of grace. In one sense, accepting this fundamental truth, and keeping it always in the back of our minds, can comfort us tremendously: it helps us make sense of all the unpleasant influences at work in and around us. We are not crazy; we are not failures; we are simply engaged in a spiritual battle. If we believe in Jesus Christ, we must also believe in the devil – doomed as he is, he would love to take as many souls as he can along with him.

Christ the Friend  Imagine how the man with the unclean spirit would have felt after this incident. He had been tormented by an evil presence perhaps for years. His life was a series of momentary respites from unending and violent demonic attacks. He had no comfort in family, no rest in friendships, no capacity to carry on a normal, peaceful existence. To a great extent he had lost his most precious gift, freedom. His only hope in the face of such a hell on earth was the direct intervention of God – a miracle.

Perhaps while he was listening to Jesus in the synagogue he felt the agitation of the evil spirit. Perhaps he could sense that the demon felt threatened; perhaps he moved closer to the Lord, drawn by a mysterious, subconscious hope. Suddenly the spirit exerts his usual power and takes over the man’s body and senses (who can describe the agony of such an experience?) in order to lash out at the Holy One. With a mere word, Jesus silences him and orders him to depart. The man is thrown to the ground in a final burst of evil fury and then, silence. Peace. Dare he believe it? He opens his eyes and knows that he is now himself again, freed at last from the unspeakable torment. His eyes meet Christ’s…. What gratitude fills his heart! What love and gladness he finds in the glance of Jesus! Jesus Christ came to bring new life and new hope to every human heart, and he rejoices whenever we let him have his way.

Christ in My Life  Lord Jesus, please help me to experience the power of your grace. Let me hear the words that astonished your listeners when you first came to earth; let me witness the divine authority that flowed out of your every decision and deed. Dear Jesus, it’s so hard to stay in tune with your truth; please let me see you, hear you, and love you more and more…

Parts of me are still in chains, Lord. I am still possessed by selfishness. Free me, Lord. Free me from this weight of egoism that keeps me from being all that you created me to be! You are the Lord; come rule in my heart, my mind, my words, and my actions. Rule them all today, tomorrow, and forever…

How many souls are enslaved to sin and unknowingly under Satan’s evil spell – confused, depressed, headed for destruction! Jesus, you came to save them all. Your Church is your sacrament of salvation. Here I am, Lord – send me as your ambassador. Fill me with love so I might bring your light to those around me who are in need…

 

PS: This is just one of 303 units of Fr. John’s fantastic book The Better Part. To learn more about The Better Part or to purchase in print, Kindle or iPhone editions, click here. Also, please help us get these resources to people who do not have the funds or ability to acquire them by clicking here.

95. Fishing for Fishermen (Mark 1:14-20)

Posted on January 18th, 2012 by Father John Bartunek

“Indeed, as all know, for the spread of God’s kingdom Jesus Christ used no other weapon than the preaching of the gospel, that is, the living voice of his heralds, who diffused everywhere the celestial doctrine.” - Pope Benedict XV

Mark 1:14-20: After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the Good News from God. ‘The time has come,’ he said, ‘and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News.’ As he was walking along by the Sea of Galilee he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net in the lake – for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you into fishers of men.’ And at once they left their nets and followed him. Going on a little further, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they too were in their boat, mending their nets. He called them at once and, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the men he employed, they went after him.

Christ the Lord  Jesus Christ ushers in the third age in the history of humanity. First there was the age of creation, when mankind lived in the fullness of communion with God and the freshness of an absolute beginning. This ended with original sin and the subsequent fall from grace, after which the second age began, the age of the Promise. God promised Adam and Eve that he would send a Savior to free the human family from domination by the devil (cf. Genesis 3:15). In this second age, God gradually prepares the world through the education of his chosen people, Israel, for the arrival of Jesus Christ, whose advent marks the time of fulfillment (“the time has come” – the third age), when God actually enters into time and space in order to rescue it from sin and destruction. The end of this third age will yield the new heavens and the new earth, the definitive and final victory of Christ’s eternal Kingdom.

As pressing and absorbing as current affairs may seem to the men and women of every historical epoch, it is the presence and action of Jesus Christ in and through his Church that gives the human story its true meaning and propels its fundamental drama. All things hinge on Jesus Christ, because he alone holds the key to communion with God, and only that can satisfy the human heart.

Evidence of his continuing intervention in history surrounds us. One of the most eloquent signs is the ongoing flow of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. Just as Jesus called his apostles to leave everything and follow him two thousand years ago, so he continues to call men and women today. Each vocation is proof of his Lordship, proof that the King still reigns. Asking the Lord to keep calling, and asking him to give courage and faith to those he calls, should be a part of every Christian’s prayer life – nothing bolsters the Kingdom more.

Christ the Teacher  “The Kingdom of God” is one of Christ’s most frequently used phrases. He came to establish it, he rules it, and he taught us to pray constantly for its coming (“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done…”). In his initial announcement of its arrival, Jesus gives us the first lesson about what it entails.

“The Kingdom of God is close at hand,” he proclaims, and then he adds, “repent and believe the Good News.” The “Kingdom of God” merely refers to wherever things are done God’s way, wherever his will and his heart infuse life into the souls of men and women. To repent means to turn away from doing things our own, selfish way (which is the way we tend to do things ever since Adam and Eve set the unfortunate precedent). To believe in the Good News means to trust that God’s way, God’s will, is the best choice. If we trust in the love, wisdom, and power of God, we will have the courage to fashion our lives according to his standards (which are made clear and practical in the Church’s teachings). If we recognize our own limitations and selfish tendencies, we will have the necessary humility to repent. If we want to enter this Kingdom and share in its unequaled vitality and meaning, we simply need to trust in God more than ourselves – over and over again.

Christ the Friend  From St. John’s Gospel we know that Jesus had already met and spent time with the four apostles whom he calls so suddenly in this passage. It’s important to keep this in mind: far from unexpectedly demanding an irrational abandonment of family, career, and previous plans, Jesus built up a relationship of mutual knowledge and trust before he invited Peter, Andrew, James, and John to become his full-time disciples.

Likewise, only as we cultivate a true friendship and an intimate and ongoing exchange of hearts with our Lord will we be able to hear and heed his call in our life. This is not a God who demands blind obedience to his awesome power; this is Jesus Christ, true man, who meets us right where we are and walks along the shore of our lives, who wishes to get to know us, to spend time with us, and to call us by our names. This is a Lord and God who wants our friendship, so that he can share his life with us.

Christ in My Life  It’s so easy to lose sight of you in my life, Lord. You exercise your authority so gently. I know that history hinges on you, and yet, I still let myself get worried and angry and perturbed by minutiae. Jesus, increase my faith, strengthen my hope, and enlighten my mind – make me your convinced and formidable disciple.

I have heard your call in my life, Jesus, more than once. You have looked into my eyes and invited me to follow you more closely, just as you did with the apostles. Thank you for coming into my life. I am sorry for the times I have been unfaithful. Call me again, Lord, today, so that I can show you my love and loyalty by leaving behind everything that’s not your will.

You called these apostles because you wanted to give them a mission in life, something so worthwhile that you didn’t hesitate to invite them to leave their careers and their families. You have given me a mission too. Thank you, Lord, for giving me direction and meaning. Make me a fisher of men for your Kingdom.

 

PS: This is just one of 303 units of Fr. John’s fantastic book The Better Part. To learn more about The Better Part or to purchase in print, Kindle or iPhone editions, click here. Also, please help us get these resources to people who do not have the funds or ability to acquire them by clicking here.

242. Wanting the Right Thing (John 1:35-42)

Posted on January 11th, 2012 by Father John Bartunek

“If, then, you seek to know what path to follow, take Christ because he is the way.” - St. Thomas Aquinas

John 1:35-42: On the following day as John stood there again with two of his disciples, Jesus passed, and John stared hard at him and said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God.’ Hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus. Jesus turned round, saw them following and said, ‘What do you want?’ They answered, ‘Rabbi,’ – which means Teacher – ’where do you live?’ ‘Come and see’ he replied; so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of that day. It was about the tenth hour. One of these two who became followers of Jesus after hearing what John had said was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. Early next morning, Andrew met his brother and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ – which means the Christ – and he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked hard at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John; you are to be called Cephas’ – meaning Rock.

Christ the Lord  In these few verses St John gives us three key titles of Christ, each of which should stir our hearts to gratitude, praise, and adoration.

First, John reemphasizes that Jesus is the “Lamb of God,” a title worth reflecting on again and again. The lamb appeared over and over in the Jewish scriptures and in their traditions. The central allusion, however, was to the Passover, when the Israelites sprinkled the blood of the Passover lamb on the lintels of their doors (cf. Exodus 12). The lamb had been sacrificed in order to save the Israelites, so that Moses would be able to lead them out of slavery. Christ was to be slain as well – on the cross of Calvary – and his blood was to be sprinkled on the lips of his faithful when they receive Holy Communion. In this way, Christians would be saved from the slavery of sin and led into the freedom of eternal life, the unquenchable abundance of heaven, by Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Christ is not only Lord; he is also Savior.

Second, Jesus is called “the Messiah,” or “the Anointed One” (the Greek word for this gives us the title “Christ”). This title referred to the promised successor to the throne of David, whom God had anointed king of his Chosen People. Under David’s kingship Israel had become a world power, reaching its peak of greatness and influence. God had promised that the line of David would never entirely fail, and he promised that a son of David would ascend to the throne to reinstate a new and even greater golden age for Israel. This Messiah (kings were “anointed” as a sign of their being chosen and strengthened by God for their divine mission on his behalf) would save Israel from all her sufferings and oppression, from all the misery that her sin had heaped upon her.

It is to save us, to rescue us from our own ignorance, weakness, and confusion that Jesus came. In relation to mankind, God’s glory consists in the human race reaching its full potential, in all people discovering the joy of a life lived in communion with God. Christ is the bearer of this glory, the King who comes to establish the sovereignty of God – with the peace and the fullness it entails – in every human heart.

Christ the Teacher  Third, St John points out that the two disciples called Jesus “Rabbi,” which means “teacher” or “master.” Rabbis were popular Jewish leaders, not by position or birth, but by their knowledge of the things of God and their ability to teach and pass on that knowledge. In Matthew 19 and John 13, Christ makes an explicit and exclusive claim to this title, affirming that he is the definitive teacher of the things of God and demanding the absolute allegiance of his followers.

Even in this passage, we detect the unprecedented authority Jesus claims when he renames Simon. In the Jewish scriptural tradition, only God gave new names to people, and he only did so when he gave them a prominent role in his plan of salvation and connected them in a special way to his covenantal promise. Christ’s exercise of such authority during his first meeting with Simon certainly would have given these disciples a hint that this Galilean was no average rabbi. (It also is one of the many indications in the gospels that the preeminent role of Peter, and thus of the Papacy, was instituted and intended by Christ himself, and not merely an invention of the early Church.) Christ is Lord and Savior, but he is also the Master, a Teacher unlike any other. To follow him and learn from him should be our greatest joy.

Although Christ’s titles bespeak his greatness, his behavior in this first encounter with John and Andrew shows his simplicity and humility. He walks by the place where they and John the Baptist are baptizing. He simply walks by. He makes no grand entrance, employs no intimidating tactics. When John and Andrew finally decide to go after him, he turns around to welcome them. He makes no demands, gives no orders, and passes no judgment. Rather, he engages them in a conversation and issues an invitation to come and spend time with him. This is how Jesus works. This is how he calls us, gently, unexpectedly, personally. The era of flashing fire on the mountaintop is over; the era of good-hearted friendship and intimate companionship with the eternal God has begun.

Christ the Friend  This is Jesus’ first encounter with his first disciples. It is the beginning of the second half of human history – an important occasion. Surely the evangelist is describing every detail with care, most especially the very first words that Jesus speaks in this Gospel. He asks his future Apostles a simple question: “What do you want?” (What do you seek? What are you hoping for?) It is still one of Christ’s favorite questions. Jesus already knows the deepest desires of every heart, but many people never take the time to reflect on their own deepest desires. Jesus poses the question in order to spur that kind of reflection. Unless we take time to examine ourselves and our lives, we can easily end up looking for meaning and happiness in the wrong places, mindlessly latching onto every passing fancy and popular guru, bouncing from fashion to fad, never drinking of the living water that only he can give.

Jesus: My first two disciples gave the right answer to this question. They asked where I was staying. What did they want? They only wanted to come and stay with me. That is how you answered the question too. How it pleases me to find humble, thirsting hearts – what a feast I have in store for them! What do you want? What are you seeking? If you want the right thing, everything else will fall into place. If you don’t, nothing you do will give rest to your soul.

Christ in My Life  Where do you live, Lord? I want to find you and stay with you. You are the creator of the mountains, the ocean, the clouds, and the stars. You are the wisdom that gives order to the universe. You are the spark of light that gives man a knowing mind and a loving heart. You are the source and goal of all things. And you have come to live in my heart. You are mine, and I am yours. Let me stay with you…

I need a Teacher, Lord, and I choose to sit at your feet and listen to you. Sometimes I find myself yearning so much to understand things – to have true wisdom – that I am almost in pain. You made me with a need for truth. You are the Truth. Speak to my heart, Lord. Send your Spirit to teach and guide me. Never take your eyes off of me…

What do I want? I want so many things! I want happiness, Lord. I want happiness for myself and for those around me. Fulfillment, meaning, satisfaction. I want my life to bear the fruit you created it to bear. I want to look into your eyes and see you smile on the day you call me home to eternity, and I want to hear you say, “Well done, good and faithful servant…”

 

PS: This is just one of 303 units of Fr. John’s fantastic book The Better Part. To learn more about The Better Part or to purchase in print, Kindle or iPhone editions, click here. Also, please help us get these resources to people who do not have the funds or ability to acquire them by clicking here.

A First Things interview with Fr. John Bartunek about his conversion, Mel Gibson, and more…

Posted on September 5th, 2011 by Dan Burke

The following is a recent interview with Gayle Trotter and Fr. John Bartunek. Posted with permission.

Gayle Trotter: This is Gayle Trotter [of First Things], today I’m speaking with Father John Bartunek, a priest in the Legionaries of Christ and the author of several books, including an insider’s view of Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ [Inside the Passion]. Thank you so much for speaking with me today, Father Bartunek.

 Fr. John Bartunek: It’s my pleasure. Great to be with you.

GT: Father, can you explain the contradiction of Mel Gibson and his film? How do we have such a spiritually deep and powerful movie as The Passion of Christ from someone whose personal story is so complicated and, many would say, less than exemplary.

JB: I think his own story, his own contradiction or challenges, his own journey, is really similar to all of our journeys because we’re all contradictory. We all have the potential for great good and the potential for great sin — that’s the human condition. I think in his case it’s been magnified for the public eye because he’s such a celebrity, such a public figure. And also sometimes I think that people who have been given great gifts in the area of creativity have a greater spiritual sensitivity, and they can even be more vulnerable when it comes to the spiritual warfare that every Christian is undergoing. So I think we all fight the spiritual battle, and unfortunately Mel has had to fight it in the public eye and that’s really exaggerated the bad parts but also maybe even the good parts. So I pray for him every day and I don’t think the good that his work has done should be ignored just because of the struggles he’s been having.

GT: Father, you did not come from a religious household. Would you agree that American culture is so infused with Christianity that you couldn’t resist becoming a Christian?

JB: [laughs] That’s an interesting question. No, I remember when I became a Christian, and it was a very intimate and personal encounter with Jesus Christ and the ambient of faith — him speaking to my heart. It was a very conscious decision to become his follower so I don’t think that it was just falling into where society was going or wherever a particular group was going. And, frankly, I know plenty of people who live in the same culture and are not following Christ, are not his disciples so I don’t think it’s an automatic thing. I think God always respects us. Obviously a culture can help or hinder our search for God, and I think we’re in a period now in American culture where the popular culture, anyway, is definitely hindering it, especially because it encourages so much immorality. It’s taken away respect for moral integrity and moral norms.

GT: I understand that your parents divorced when you were a child. Do you have any spiritual advice for kids who are currently experiencing the divorce of their parents?

JB: Absolutely. I think that children who are experiencing the divorce of their parents or whose parents are recently divorced really need to look to God as a father and to the blessed Virgin Mary as a mother if they are Catholic. God’s spiritual fatherhood — he is the source of every family. And his love doesn’t depend on circumstances and doesn’t get tired and doesn’t wear out and it’s real. And that can be an anchor and a foundation for a very fruitful life and a very meaningful life, even if your own family life isn’t ideal or has even completely fallen apart.

GT: That’s very encouraging. When you were in college, you spent some time in Italy soaking up the magnificent art and architecture. How did this affect you spiritually?

JB: My time in Europe and Italy and also in Poland and exposure to that magnificent, as you say, Catholic culture as expressed in the art and the architecture and even the liturgies had a profound effect on my spiritual life. It actually activated a whole sector of my own soul that I had never known existed. From the exposure to that kind of profound beauty that is explicitly linked to the Christian faith, I felt like I was waking up, spiritually. I felt like there was a whole new world to discover. A whole new path to go down to come closer to Jesus Christ that no one had ever even told me about and that God was leading me down. The art and the architecture — the elements of that profound Christian culture which had been developed through the centuries by men and women of faith — it spoke to me very deeply. It spoke to me very deeply and began to tell me that I was part of a bigger story. That the church — God’s family — wasn’t just my little church in my neighborhood. No, it was a much bigger story and there was more that God wanted to tell me and more that he wanted to show me and more than he wanted me to do. So it was a turning point in my life. It really was.

GT: Would you say that it was the time in your life when your faith really came alive for you?

JB: No, I would say my faith came alive when I was 13, and I started going to an evangelical Christian church. I went for about six months without really believing anything. And then there I first heard God speaking to my heart and I became a follower of Jesus. So that was the beginning — that’s where it started. What happened when I went to Italy was my particular vocation, my particular calling began to come over the horizon: my calling to the priesthood. To give my life, entirely, to serve God and his people in the church. That’s what came out of my year in Italy and in Poland and that immersion in that Catholic culture.

GT: How did you make that final decision to actually become a priest?

JB: The final moment of decision came after a long journey, as you can imagine, which began there in Italy. Then I finished college and I continued studying the Catholic faith because I had some doubts about the Catholic church. I had some misunderstandings, as well, about their teachings. So I worked through those. I didn’t want to pretend that I didn’t have those. So I met regularly with a priest for a couple years until I worked through those, and then I really became convinced that this is the church that Jesus had started and that he was calling me to attend to that church, and I wanted to become a priest right away. And it was funny, when I was confirmed in the Catholic church, the priest I had been meeting with told me, “Well, maybe you should wait. You don’t want to confuse your call to be Catholic with a call to be a priest. You know, one step at a time. Take it easy.” So at that point I left my teaching job. After college I had started a job teaching. And I went to Chicago and started a career in the entertainment industry, which is where I always thought I would go. That was kind of my long-term career goal. I’d always dreamed about making movies about historical subjects — writing and maybe directing. So I moved to Chicago and began doing that, and then the idea of the priesthood just wouldn’t go away. It was like a sunrise: It just kept getting brighter and brighter and brighter. And it’s funny, when that priest advised me to wait before joining the seminary, I decided, “Maybe that’s a sign from God that I’m not supposed to be a priest,” so I started to date again and actually met a wonderful woman and we had a very beautiful dating relationship. It was kind of like the perfect match. It was that relationship that was the final indicator to me that I at least had to try the seminary — that I really felt God was calling me. Because I actually loved that woman truly and sincerely; it was a more mature love than I’d ever had with anyone I’d dated before. And I knew that, because I loved her, she deserved a husband who could give himself entirely to her, be a true husband, die for her, live for her. And in my heart, when I looked into my heart, there was part of my heart — the deepest part — that I couldn’t give to her because I felt like God was asking me to give it to him. And so that to me was a profound insight into my own vocation to the priesthood.

GT: Do you think the priest who advised you was right in giving that original advice so that you could come to the place where you understood that?

JB: Oh, I don’t know. I think it worked out okay, but I don’t know if I would give the same advice to a young man in my position at that time. As we mentioned at the beginning, I really believe that in society, in the culture, there’s always a kind of spiritual battle going on and we can’t be naïve. When God comes and asks us something, when we delay, we give more room for the enemy of our soul to stir things up and confuse things.

GT: If someone is interested in being a priest, how would he learn more about it?

JB: The first step, an easy step, is a great website called vocation.com which a few of us put together a few years ago, and it continues to reach out to thousands of young people who are thinking about the priesthood and also religious life. So there are a lot of testimonies there and there are some things, like a guideline. If you feel that God is calling you, you need to respond. And that doesn’t mean that you need to join the seminary today, but you need to put yourself in a position where you can hear and heed God as he guides you along. That means daily prayer. That means finding someone who can give you some good advice, a spiritual mentor. It means beginning to take the steps to visit young men who are in the seminary. To talk with priests who you trust about their experiences in the priesthood. Instead of just sitting in your bedroom and going over it in your own mind, taking concrete steps is the best way to give the Holy Spirit room to really guide you.

GT: You mentioned that you started out as a professional actor before you became a priest. Did your training and experiences as an actor help you at all in your priestly duties?

JB: I think so. It’s hard to measure exactly. I’d been acting since I was five years old in the theater so it had always been part of my life — drama and theater. I think that it helped developed two things that have been helpful in the priesthood. One is a sensitivity or a capacity to listen, a sensitivity to the needs of others. In theater acting, you really form a bond with the other actors. To bring something alive, you have to form an emotional sensitivity and a capacity to really listen to what others are saying so you can make real on stage the exchanges that people are making. So that’s one thing and as a priest you really have to know how to listen. To know how to listen and to know how to determine what’s behind what’s being said, especially when you’re giving spiritual guidance, when you’re hearing confessions. And then the second thing is, obviously being on stage for many years made me comfortable in front of an audience. And in a sense, when you have to preach a homily or a retreat or when you’re giving a conference as a priest, there are similarities. You are in front of a congregation, which is like an audience, so I think it’s helped me to be able to do that more effectively.

GT: You shared that with Pope John Paul II, too, right?

JB: That’s right, although his theater was a little bit different.

GT: What inspired you to write The Better Part?

JB: The Better Part is a book designed to help people of today pray better and get to know Christ in a personal way. It’s so funny; the two books that I’ve written and that have done pretty well, neither one was my idea. The Better Part was an assignment I received. I’m a member of a religious order which has priests working throughout the world, giving retreats and giving a lot of one-on-one spiritual guidance to lay men and women. That’s the core of what we do in our order. A couple years ago there was a general sentiment among a lot of members of my order throughout the world that there was a need for some new resources that could help lay people today grow in their prayer life. They all saw that the Holy Spirit was leading these lay men and women to a deeper life of prayer, but the resources available to help them were older resources and didn’t really connect with the needs that they have in today’s world which is so digitalized and media-saturated and has so many challenges. So I got an email from my superior asking me to come up with something that could help people do that. So my vow of obedience was enacted, it triggered in there, and I started working on The Better Part.

GT: And what is the source of the title, The Better Part?

JB: The Better Part is a line from Luke chapter 10, when Martha and Mary are having Jesus and his apostles over for dinner and Mary, the younger sister, is sitting in the living room where Jesus is talking with his apostles and she’s just at his feet, drinking up every word he says. And Martha is in the kitchen and the dining room setting the table and getting everything ready and she’s doing all the work. And she gets fed up with her sister Mary so she comes up to Jesus and says, “Lord, can’t you tell Mary to help me out a little bit? I’m doing all this by myself.” And our Lord looks at Martha and says, “Martha, Martha, you’re worried and are fretting over many things but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken from her.” So the better part is always to give first place to God and his activity, so that our activity flows from God’s love working in our hearts and from our knowledge of God’s will and that’s really what prayer is all about. Prayer is all about anchoring our lives in God, giving him the first place, and allowing our lives to be a response to discovering God’s love. So we thought it would be a great title to a book that helps people in their personal prayer.

GT: You write about many types of prayer. What type of prayer do you prefer?

JB: That’s an interesting question. I see the three main types of prayer going together. Vocal prayer, which is where you use someone else’s words, like when you pray the Our Father. Liturgical prayer, which is when you pray together as the family of God, when we go to mass, for instance. And then personal prayer, when you’re just one-on-one with God. I think they all go together. They’re all necessary, they’re all a part and they all have their individual purpose and benefits. But I think the keystone or the real piece that makes all three of those work well is your personal prayer, your personal God time every day, where you’re talking to God in the quiet of your own heart, about what’s important to him and what’s important to you. I try never to miss that. And when I do that then my ability to pray during mass is better. Then my ability to pray the vocal prayers — that for instance in my order when we pray together as a community — is better, because the Catechism teaches us that fundamentally prayer is a relationship, not an item on a to-do list. And so you need to have alone time with God where you reflect on his word and you allow his word to seep into your heart and to enlighten your mind and that is where you tune in to God’s mission for your life and the adventure he wants to lead you on. So that would be my preferred type, I think.

GT: All Christians at some point in their lives deal with doubt. Have you experienced doubt and how did you overcome it?

JB: Doubt is an interesting term. There’s actually a theological weight to that term. I would say I’ve experienced difficulties. A lot of difficulties. Challenges, moments of confusion, moments of weakness, moments of frustration, or even sometimes seasons of frustration. But I can’t say that I’ve ever doubted — since I became a believer — I can’t say that I’ve doubted that God exists. I can’t say that. But there have definitely been difficulties, times when it’s been hard to accept God’s love for me, for instance, or hard to do what he’s asking me. And how did I respond to that? I got on my knees and I prayed for strength. And you just pray for strength and you renew your commitment to Jesus. He’s trustworthy, and we learn that he’s trustworthy the more that we pray, the more that we do that personal prayer, that meditative prayer, that’s how we truly learn that he’s trustworthy. So then when the difficulties come, when darkness comes, as Psalm 23 says, “Even though I shall walk through a valley as dark as death, I shall not fear,” because he is by my side. And “As long as he is with us, who can be against us?” as Saint Paul says. So that’s how I deal with it — I just get on my knees and pray and then focus very much on what I know God wants me to do right now. And sometimes it’s so simple as, “Well, now it’s my turn to do the dishes.” So that’s what God wants me to do now. I can do that. And then the next thing, and then the next thing. I love Matthew chapter six, verse 34, where our Lord says, “Do not fret about tomorrow, let tomorrow fret over its own cares, for today, today’s troubles are enough.” And in times of difficulty I go back to that verse over and over again. I’m just going to focus on what you want me to do today, Lord, and leave the rest in your hands.

GT: So would you say that that’s your favorite Bible verse that gives you strength during hard times?

JB: That’s one of them. It depends on my mood.

GT: Do you have another one that you’d like to share with our listeners?

JB: I love that one and I love the one that comes right before it as well which is, “Set your hearts on his kingdom first and his righteousness and all these other things will be given to you as well.” It’s just putting God first, putting Jesus first, and surrendering that need that we all have because of original sin to kind of build a personal kingdom where we think we can control everything and create heaven on earth. And surrendering that need and shutting out and following wherever God leads every day. And that verse — both those verses — really help remind me. Although that verse from Jeremiah where our Lord says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you and before you were born I consecrated you.” That’s a powerful verse as well and I think I go back to that almost every year during my yearly retreat just because it shows that in the end, everything goes down to the fact that God loves each one of us personally and that is the bottom line. So I really do love that verse as well.

GT: Thank you so much, Father, for sharing your life with us so that we can be encouraged by what you have shared with us.

JB: You’re very welcome.

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and to learn more about The Better Part, click here. This interview was posted with permission.