Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith

by Robert Barron

“What I propose to do in this book is to take you on a guided exploration of the Catholic world, but not in the manner of a docent, for I am not interested in showing you the artifacts of Catholicism as though they were dusty objets d’art in a museum of culture.  I want to function rather as a mystagogue, conducting you ever deeper into the mystery of the incarnation in the hopes that you might be transformed by its power.” – Father Robert Barron
 
What is Catholicism? A 2,000-year-old living tradition? A worldview? A way of life? A relationship? A mystery? In Catholicism Father Robert Barron examines all these questions and more, seeking to capture the body, heart and mind of the Catholic faith.

Starting from the essential foundation of Jesus Christ’s incarnation, life, and teaching, Father Barron moves through the defining elements of Catholicism – from sacraments, worship, and prayer, to Mary, the Apostles, and Saints, to grace, salvation, heaven, and hell – using his distinct and dynamic grasp of art, literature, architecture, personal stories, Scripture, theology, philosophy, and history to present the Church to the world.

Paired with his documentary film series of the same title, Catholicism is an intimate journey, capturing “The Catholic Thing” in all its depth and beauty. Eclectic, unique, and inspiring, Father Barron brings the faith to life for a new generation, in a style that is both faithful to timeless truths, while simultaneously speaking in the language of contemporary life.

Includes over 100 black and white and color photos.

Genres: Religion, Catholic, Theology, Christianity, Nonfiction, Faith, Christian

279 pages, Hardcover

First published September 6, 2011

About the author

Bishop Robert Emmet Barron is an acclaimed author, speaker, and theologian. He is the former Francis Cardinal George Professor of Faith and Culture at Mundelein Seminary near Chicago and also is the founder of Word On Fire (www.WordOnFire.org).

Bishop Barron is the creator and host of CATHOLICISM, a groundbreaking ten-part documentary series and study program about the Catholic faith. He is a passionate student of art, architecture, music and history, which he calls upon throughout his global travels in the making of the documentary.

Word On Fire programs are broadcast regularly on WGN America, Relevant Radio, CatholicTV, EWTN, the popular Word on Fire YouTube Channel, and the Word on Fire website, which offers daily blogs, articles, commentaries, and over ten years of weekly sermon podcasts. In 2010, Father Barron was the first priest to have a national show on a secular television network since the 1950s.

Fr. Barron received his Masters Degree in Philosophy from the Catholic University of America in Washington DC in 1982 and his doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Institut Catholique in 1992. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1986 and has been a professor of systematic theology at the nation's largest Catholic seminary, the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary since 1992. He was visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame in 2002 and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in 2007. He was also twice scholar in residence at the Pontifical North American College at the Vatican.

In addition, Fr. Barron lectures extensively in the United States and abroad. Cardinal Francis George calls Fr. Barron “one of the Church’s best messengers.

Fr. Barron was baptized at Queen of All Saints Basilica in Chicago and grew up at St. John of the Cross parish in Western Springs, Illinois.
WordOnFire.org - Fr. Barron's website launched in 1999 and currently draws over 1 million visitors a year from every continent. Fr. Barron posts weekly video clips, commentaries and radio sermons and offers an audio archive of over 500 homilies. Podcasts of his sermons are widely used by tens of thousands of visitors each month.
TV - EWTN (The Eternal Word Television Network) and CatholicTV broadcasts Fr. Barron's DVDs to a worldwide audience of over 150 million people.

Radio - Since 1999, Fr. Barron's weekly Word on Fire program has been broadcast in Chicago (WGN) and throughout the country (Relevant Radio - 950 AM Chicago) to 28 million listeners in 17 states. Fr. Barron also is a regular commentator on the "Busted Halo Show" on the Sirius satellite radio network based in New York.

DVDs - Fr. Barron's DVDs are used as powerful faith formation tools in universities, schools, churches and homes around the country. The series includes Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Lively Virtues; Faith Clips; Conversion: Following the Call of Christ; and Untold Blessing: Three Paths to Holiness.

YouTube - With over 180 online video commentaries by Fr. Barron, over 1 million viewers worldwide have made him the most popular of any evangelist on YouTube. These frequent, high-quality productions include brief and lively theological reviews of contemporary culture, including movies such as No Country for Old Men, Apocalypto, and The Departed, a three-part critical review of Christopher Hitchen's book God is Not Great, The Discovery Channel's The Jesus Tomb, the HBO series "The Sopranos", "Rome" and more.

Missions - MISSION CHICAGO features evangelization lectures by Fr. Barron at the behest of Cardinal George. These special missions and presentations throughout the Archdiocese are centered in downtown Chicago and attract business, civic, and cultural leaders.
Books - His numerous books and essays serve as critical educational and inspirational tools for seminarians, priests, parishioners and young people worldwide. His published works are also central to the numerous retreats, workshop and talks that h

Reviews

[Julie Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered that Father Robert Barron narrated the audiobook version of Catholicism ... and was able to snag a copy. Having watched the DVDs of the Catholicism series when I helped with RCIA classes, I was able to "hear" Barron's intonation and pacing when looking over the print version recently. It is simply a pleasure to hear him reading this great book.

My official review is below.

==========

Since my conversion, I have read many a book about saints, angels, prayer, virtues, and all those good Catholic subjects. Reviewing the list, however, I was surprised to see how few of them covered Catholicism as a whole.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, of course, is a reference I use regularly. The impeccable logic of Peter Kreeft's Catholic Christianity helped settle my mind about Catholic teachings on controversial issues. Catholicism for Dummies and The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Catholic Catechism are favorite references.

None of them, however, are designed to be engaging, uplifting reading (although the Catechism certainly can perform that function).

Enter Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith by Father Robert Barron. Barron has the knack of articulating Catholic theology in a way that makes one sit up in astonishment and delight as well-worn concepts take on fresh, new life. Look at his presentation of what the Incarnation means to us, as human beings.

In their own ways, Marx, Freud, Feuerbach, and Sartre all maintain that God must be eliminated if humans are to be fully themselves. But there is none of this in the Christian doctrine of the Incarnation. The Word does indeed become human, but nothing of the human is destroyed in the process; God does indeed enter into his creation, but the world is thereby enhanced and elevated. The God capable of incarnation is not a competitive supreme being but rather, in the words of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the sheer act of being itself, that which grounds and sustains all of creation, the way a singer sustains a song.

And the Incarnation tells us the most important truth about ourselves: we are destined for divinization. The church fathers never tired of repeating this phrase as a sort of summary of Christian belief: Deus fit homo ut homo fieret Deus (God became human so that humans might become God). God condescended to enter into human flesh so that our flesh might partake of the divine life, that we might participate in the love that holds the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in communion. And this is why Christianity is the greatest humanism that has ever appeared, indeed that could appear. No philosophical or political or religious program in history—neither Greek nor Renaissance nor Marxist humanism—has ever made a claim about human destiny as extravagant as Christianity's. We are called not simply to moral perfection or artistic self-expression or economic liberation but to what the Eastern fathers called theiosis, transformation into God.

God's noncompetitive love and our transformation into the divine are touchstones that Barron returns to throughout the book. As he presents Catholicism in all its complexity—from Jesus as warrior to Mary and the saints to the Eucharist and beyond—readers begin to grasp that love and transformation are indeed the core of the Catholic faith.

Barron's enthusiasm is palpable and his examples vivid. I especially enjoyed the way he wove imagery throughout his text, only to suddenly expand it to make larger theological points. I already was familiar with Noah's ark as an image of the Church, as a place of safety for all. However, it was a revelation when he took it one step further and pointed out how medieval architects reinforced the connection by endeavoring to make cathedrals look like great ships. He gave me potent, mind's-eye images that stuck with me through the rest of that section.

Here, Barron makes a similar leap, bringing the gospel to life, and into our immediate lives, with great enthusiasm.

Saints are those who have allowed Jesus thoroughly to transfigure them from within. Paul caught this when he observed, "yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:20). In chapter 5 of Luke's Gospel we find an odd story about Jesus and Peter. As the eager crowd presses in on him, Jesus spies two boats moored by the shore of the lake. Without asking permission, he gets into the boat belonging to Peter and says, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch" (Lk 5:4). What followed, as we have seen earlier when analyzing Mark's version of this scene, is the miraculous catch of fishes. Read with spiritual eyes, this story reveals the essential feature of sainthood. For a Galilean fisherman his boat was everything; it was his livelihood, his work, the means by which he supported his family. Peter's fishing vessel represents, therefore, his professional creativity, his link to the wider world, the key to his survival. Jesus simply gets into the boat and commences to give orders—and the result is the greatest catch Peter the fisherman ever made. Jesus' uninvited boarding of the vessel represents the invasion of grace, the incoming of the divine love into someone's life. Precisely because God is noncompetitive with creation, precisely because he wants human beings to come fully to life, this inrushing of grace does not destroy or interrupt what it invades; it enhances it and raises it to a new pitch. Peter, one presumes, had been successful enough as a fisherman, but now, under Jesus' direction, he goes out into the deep and brings in more than he could ever have imagined possible. This is what happens when we cooperate with grace, when we allow Christ to live his life in us.

The saints are those who have allowed Jesus to get into their boats and who have thereby become not superhuman or angelic but fully human, as alive as God intended them to be. The entire purpose of the church, as we have seen, is to produce saints.

The book is not perfect. Over a hundred black and white photos are included and they are well enough in their way, but color would have packed a greater punch. I would have traded the eight-page color plates at the center for colored photos scattered throughout the book, instead. Too many shots of great art were rendered unremarkable in black and white, which is ironic, as the book is a companion to a ten-part Catholicism television series. A key point of the series is the beauty of the Catholic faith as expressed through the work of human hands. While the book stands alone, it fails to amplify that beauty for its readers.

I also found that Barron occasionally couldn't resist diving instantly into complex concepts that might have done better with a more extended simple introduction. This is especially true in the chapter about prayer. He moves too quickly into the prayer lives of Thomas Merton, St. John of the Cross, and St. Teresa of Avila, all of whom may intimidate even seasoned Catholics with their far-reaching concepts. While Barron does address the sort of basic petitionary prayer that is the cornerstone of most people's experience, he quickly jumps to Merton. I was thoroughly confused halfway through and had to reread the chapter. Barron would have done well to recall that some readers may be completely new to prayer or may come from Christian backgrounds that might view the mystics with deep suspicion.

These points aside, Barron's book is a real treasure. His development of Heavenly imagery into a place I could actually imagine myself inhabiting has charged me with excitement about getting to Heaven. His points about Jesus as a warrior reminded me that I, too, am called to never give up, never surrender. His guide to Dante's Divine Comedy invested layers of meaning in the books about Purgatory and Heaven I completely missed when I read them.

Catholicism is a wonderful guide to the heart of the Catholic faith. It will no doubt explain the faith to many, and light the imaginations of those already on that journey.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a book packed away in my basement titled Catholicism: An Incredibly Difficult To Read and Boring Introduction to the Faith. OK, maybe that wasn't the title, but it should have been.
Father Robert Barron's book is the opposite. It's meant for well-meaning people like myself who prefer to learn about interesting topics the National Geographic way - well written, insightful, and plenty of pictures. Like this book, which came after Barron's documentary series. That shows. It's not dumbed down, but it is visual, graceful, and succinct. He celebrates the good and the beautiful that is at the heart of the Church, truths easily forgotten in the midst of the news of controversies as mere humans strive to correct what has gone wrong - and will always go wrong with the Church. Human beings (specifically men) are in charge, so how could we expect perfection? There's a place for that news and those questions, and people who try to shut down investigations or reform aren't doing the Church any favors. But it's also so necessary to have writers like Barron perform the equally difficult feat of putting so much that is grace-filled into accessible language. He writes with great love, covering saints and sacraments, but also the triumph of music, art, and literature that has come through the Church and infused cultures and civilizations with beauty and truth.
I was excited when I received Catholicism in the mail (a Goodreads win!), and this book isn't headed for the basement. It stays up here with me.

[David Withun · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Manny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent primer to Roman Catholicism. It takes the reader from the revelation of Jesus Christ, through the mystery of the Triune God, and through the fundamentals of the faith.

Robert Barron—he wrote this before he was appointed Bishop—does it with philosophic insight but without the philosophic and theological language that goes over the average person’s head. He brings it down to earth but without stripping the subject of its profundity. Here’s an example from the Introduction.

Essential to the Catholic mind is what I would characterize as a keen sense of the prolongation of the Incarnation throughout space and time, an extension that is made possible through the mystery of the church. Catholics see God’s continued enfleshment in the oil, water, bread, imposed hands, wine, and salt of the sacraments; they appreciate it in the gestures, movements, incensations, and songs of the Liturgy; they savor it in the texts, arguments, and debates of the theologians; they sense it in the graced governance of popes and bishops; they love it in the struggles and missions of the saints; they know it in the writings of Catholic poets and in the cathedrals crafted by Catholic architects, artists, and workers. In short, all of this discloses to the Catholic eye and mind the ongoing presence of the Word made flesh, namely Christ.

Don’t miss the video series that Barron produced alongside the book. It’s wonderful and complements the book well.

[Jaime K · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is SO MUCH here that I want to specifically point out, but it would take me a very long time. So here is my review of things that I like, material that jumps out at me, or just a point that I want to comment on. I’ve compiled my information in chronological order, so forgive me if this is not all coherent.

There are pictures included of much of what Bishop Robert Barron mentions, breaking up the monotony of just reading text (not that I mind that) and bringing the reader into a deeper experience—which emphasizes what he talks about.

- We are called to transformation into God, something that other Christians (and even non-Christians) also adhere to. The difference between Catholics and others is that we embody all aspects of other Christian denominations whereas they tend to be more piecewise. This is explained in detail, as well as how we are similar.
I don’t mean this as an “us vs. them” mentality but a “we are different, and here is how.”
Bishop Robert Barron explains this so very well in the intro:
Essential to the Catholic mind is what I would characterize as a keen sense of the prolongation of the Incarnation throughout space and time, an extension that is made possible through the mystery of the church. Catholics see God’s continued enfleshment in the oil, water, bread, imposed hands, wine, and salt of the sacraments; they appreciate it in the gestures, movements, incensations, and songs of the Liturgy; they savor it in the texts, arguments, and debates of the theologians; they sense it in the graced governance of popes and bishops; they love it in the struggles and missions of the saints; they know it in the writings of Catholic poets and in the cathedrals crafted by Catholic architects, artists, and workers.

- In order to fully understand the Incarnation, one has to not only read the Gospels and letters of the New Testament, but multiple writings from theologians and saints. Bishop Barron even includes information from “The Divine Comedy.” We have to “look and listen,” taking in the music and art and architecture of many Christian creations. It’s almost daunting, but Bishop Barron takes all the works and people mentioned in the intro and gives the reader a brief understanding of its (or their) importance in Christianity as a whole.
What I propose to do in this book is to take you on a guided exploration of the Catholic world, but not in the manner of a docent, for I am not interested in showing you the artifacts of Catholicism as though they were dusty objets d’art in a museum of culture. I want to function rather as a mystagogue, conducting you ever deeper into the mystery of the Incarnation in the hopes that you might be transformed by its power.

- Christianity is not just about ethics or religious ideology. It’s about being in relationship with Jesus; not just about focusing on His words, but His person.


- I REALLY like the inclusion of Greek words (and their meanings), making this feel more authentic than it might have otherwise.
For example, I didn’t realize that the “good news” pertained to any imperial victory.

- I had to laugh when Bishop Barron notes that the words “Jesus the Lord” as stated by Paul were “fighting words.”

- In Chapter 2, Bishop Barron says this: freedom is not primarily a choice, but rather the shaping of desire so as to make the achievement of the good first possible and then effortless.
I love how he relates this to Shakespeare and Michael Jordan

- Going through the Beatitudes as having positive and negative aspects was powerful.

- The differences between the Judeo-Christian-Islamic God and other gods like Zeus is that our God acts alone and nothing is greater than Him. Zeus rules over the other gods, but together they hold more power.
Also, creation from nothing is a nonviolent act, which is what our God displays. However, most mythology and some other gods have creation being developed due to wars between gods or some other types of violence.
“Precisely because God doesn’t need the world, the very existence of the world is a sign that it has been loved into being.” - Chapter 3


- According to Thomas Aquinas, we only know what God is not, not what He is. God has unconditioned power (omnipotence). God knows the entirety of the universe (omniscient).
Little nuances between what is the etymology of a word vs. what we think the word is are important.

- Precisely because God doesn’t need the world, the very existence of the world is a sign that it has been loved into being. - Chapter 3

- While I knew most of the theological reasoning for the crucifixion, it was still interesting to read all at once and in the context of everything else.

- I love the information about the Council of Ephesus in AD 431. It is about the divinity of Jesus, as well as His humanity; it’s about Mary being the Theotokos (God-bearer) because of this.
If she is the one through whom Christ was born, and if the church is Christ’s mystical body, then she must be, in a very real sense, the mother of the church. - Chapter 4

- Mary’s Conception and Assumption force us to see God in the “functions and destiny of the lowly human body.” (Chapter 4). This is SO BEAUTIFUL.

- This beginning to Chapter 5 is also absolutely beautiful:
Due to their centrality, Peter and Paul are not merely of historical interest; they live on as determining archetypes in the community of Jesus to the present day.

- I didn’t know that Catholic bishops were required to make a pilgrimage to Rome every 5 years to visit the tombs of Peter & Paul.

- Peter is our strength, structure, hierarchy, our head. Paul is our evangelist, energy, and engagement of culture.
Without the Petrine discipline, the Pauline work would be unfocused and continually in danger of dissolution. Without the Pauline energy, the Petrine work would devolve into cold management and ecclesiastical bureaucracy. - Chapter 5

- Catholicism requires us to form communities to serve a higher power, not ourselves. We are Catholic not for our purposes, but for God’s.

- I DID know that churches were built in the guise of ships, but I didn’t realize how much the ‘boat’ analogy fit with everything.

- I never knew terms for health and holiness were so similar!

- I never thought of the liturgy as a play before now.
I also don’t think I ever realized the “And with Your spirit” pertained to Christ within the priest and not the priest himself.

- “You are indeed holy, O Lord, and all you have created rightly gives you praise, for through your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, by the power and working of the Holy Spirit, you give life to all things and make them holy.” Once again, as the priest utters this prayer he reminds us that we are enfolded in the embrace of the three divine persons. - Chapter 6
I will certainly be more aware with these words in the future!

- The explanations and analogies for transubstantiation are fantastic.
In everything that is not God, there is a difference between essence and existence; that words have the power to change things, even our own biases and points-of-view.

- I don’t know if I ever knew of the blood bond between the Jews and God, but even if I did, I needed that reminder. It seriously makes everything make sense.

- The entire purpose of the church […] is to produce saints. - What a strong start to chapter 8.
And we ned to saints to know God.
From there, Bishop Barron talks about multiple saints (or people who were respected as high as, in 2011)—from Mother Teresa to Edith Stein to Thomas Merton to Aquinas—and how they contributed to our modern understanding of prayer, God, the s(S)acraments, theology, acts of mercy, and many other aspects of our faith.

- Only by being free of materialism and secularism will we be [spiritually] full.
Only by starting spiritually will we be able to rid ourselves of ego.
Only in desperation can we find God.

[Michael D'esterre · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It has been said that the healthiest spiritual people are those who have the strongest sense of the difference between themselves and God.”
-Fr. Barron in Catholicism: Journey to the Heart of Faith

I thought I would do an interesting twist and contrast a recent movie with this book of colossal meaning .

Mr. Banks
VS
Fr. Robert Barron







A Sad Mr. Banks

The other night my wife and I watched Saving Mr. Banks. We thought it was going to be a fun movie about how they made Mary Poppins. Instead it ended up being (I’ll try not to make this too much of a spoiler) a somber movie about the sufferings of the author, which shocked us, especially since it was a Disney film. I was deeply moved by the story (some friends tease me about my easy sentimentality and reading into movies).
I don’t want to spoil the story for those of you who have not seen it, as you should see it. So let me just give the bare bones of it. The movie shares the traumatic experience of being the child of an alcoholic. Out of the traumatic pain an unlikely fruit was brought. For the character and author, Pamela Travers, the fruit was a book which touched Walt Disney and many others: Mary Poppins. Walt Disney pestered her for 20 years to get it made into a movie; she thought he would not honor her characters. Finally she consented desperate for money to keep her home; the conflict within Pamela Travers then is how to honor her characters, which are for the most part images from her past, on screen. It is as if she hoped writing the book would redeem her from the pain of her past. It did not. The movie also takes on the hope of such a redemptive role. In the end, she does find healing, but there is still a hole not completely filled. I took away a couple themes from this film.
The first is: we all experience pain in life on some level, but what can we do about it? In the movement of the story, Disney says he cannot change her pain, but shares with Travers his own painful upbringing, stating how he was grateful still for is father who caused it. There is a quote, whose author I cannot recall, but makes the point along the lines of: if we all placed our problems in a pile and were allowed to choose a different one, we would gladly take ours back once we saw other peoples. Why is this? Because God gives us the grace to handle our own particular problems. Disney exemplifies to Travers how he made the most of his struggles. Pamela Travers in her turn also found an outlet for her pain: in writing. In a sense the message of the film is that pain can be transformed to hope through story.

The second theme builds off of and contradicts the first so you have to dig deeper for it: the lack of a permanent redemptive solution through our own measures. Travers’ writing of Mary Poppins is an attempt to reshape her painful childhood into a hopeful future, and the making of it into a film is cathartic for her, but in the end there is an essence of failure which no telling of her past can cure. I suppose Disney is depicted as saving Mr. Banks (a.k.a. her father) through the making of Mary Poppins (thereby ending with a Mr. Banks flying a kite with his children), but the reality remains that Travers still feels the pain and woe of not having done more for her real father. It is discouraging to see she could do nothing to overcome his disease. And for herself there is no clear change at the closing of the film either. In the end she is as lonely as ever—granted a more healed loneliness, but still lonely.
I have not quite made my mind up about the themes—the idea of literature being a beauty born from pain and leading to redemption. I will leave some room for interpretation to you. I think story does in some form take on a redemptive quality. We would not listen to or watch them if it were not so. To quote Walt from the movie, he says, “We write stories in order to keep hope alive.” And in a sense this is true, but I feel like if Disney and his Disneyland are the models of such hope they are rather shallow—over when we leave the theater or the amusement park. I do believe literature and story are a transformation of pain into something beautiful, but I do not know if in and of itself it becomes redemptive. I do however know of one such story that is…

The Hope All Other Stories Keep Alive
Enter then a booming story. The myth which is Truth, as Tolkien used to tell C.S. Lewis: the story of Christ. Fr. Robert Barron in delightful detail recaptures the truth in his book, Catholicism: Journey to the Heart of Faith. Again and again he is able to bring the beautiful and extravagant history of the Church back to one thing: the relationship with Christ. He weaves together the life of Christ with the centuries of the Church so we as readers capture afresh in our minds the footsteps of Christ throughout the workings of Catholicism.
Perhaps you have heard of the film series, Catholicism, well did you know he also wrote a book of the same content? I would like to tell you why I think the book adds to the videos and what makes the book an invaluable companion, like glowing pages for the bookshelf of your intellect to stay lighted by.


Something about the concrete touch of the book is irreplaceable. A vast number of stunning pictures cover the pages and the words are a treasure trove of wisdom you will want to highlight and underline ( I know I did!). Catholicism, by Fr. Barron, who has quickly risen as one of the most comprehensive minds of the Church; with keen and moving insights into the Catholic Faith. Combine his brilliance and the wealth of Catholic doctrine and you have a book masterfully composed to accompany you on your journey into the heart of Catholic belief.
If you are like me, you learn differently through different venues. I learned from the films visually; I loved the imagery of the films and highly recommend them, but the book is more personal. I feel I can absorb the truth in a more intimate communication between God, myself, and Fr. Barron.
The way the story of Christ is told, as a continuing thread of Catholic history through the centuries, is done in writing simple and clear to understand. Fr. Barron does not write to manifest his own mastery of the Catholic ideas and philosophies, but instead portrays it all in a way showing us the magnificence of God and the Church. He is the offshoot, in wit and telling of the faith, of the much loved Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Read this book. It will change you. It will show you Christ and the hope He gives to our lives in a new light. Fr. Barron makes it a very real hope going beyond any other story, one which we can partake in through living out our Catholic faith. The pain of Travers and Disney, as well as our own, does indeed become redeemed through the story of Christ.
Was it a coincidence that I was reading this book at the time I watched Saving Mr. Banks? No. It was a grace. A grace to be reminded that we all can find a story of complete redemption. The greatest story ever told. The story of Christ and His Church. And it just so happens we are remembering and celebrating it this week.
I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

[Zachary Flessert · Rating 4 out of 5]

An acquaintance suggested Bishop Barron to me as a writer of Catholicism that was not just accessible, but quite talented and engaging.

The book reads extremely easily. Barron is a talented writer who draws the reader in. It is clear his audience is mostly a secular one as he is careful about how he draws out certain doctrines and is honest to show the flaws of the church. It is tough to balance explanations between detail and accuracy with a general audience, but he attempts it with vigor and heart.

In fact, this is a Catholic rhetoric from the US that I am not familiar with. Many American Catholics are quite pedantic and proud in their flourishes about truth when engaging in debate and dialogue - Barron seems to have some measures of humility. He employs lines of thought that relate to our humanity and experience to relate the reader to theological ideas, rather than thumping lines of dogma to be accepted because of tradition. In the section of the book where he describes the problem of evil in the context of the nature of God, he is quite honest in giving the Catholic answers while also saying that there is probably no answer sufficient to the question.

The book is a pretty short primer (especially when you consider how… thorough… Catholics can be) on the main points of Catholicism - nature of God, teaching of Christ, Mary, saints, heaven-hell. He doesn’t engage in contemporary issues like marriage, sexuality, abortion, VCII, etc.

[Elise :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative, well structured, and comprehensive book. Bishop Barron’s writing is excellent and he has a way of explaining things that makes sense to a wide audience, regardless of your faith background. This book also seems to be largely written for a secular audience, so his primers on basic Christian doctrines such as the incarnation, the Trinity, prayer, etc. are wonderful. My favourite chapter was the chapter on prayer. I also enjoyed how the author draws on a number of sources throughout church history to illustrate the ideas: scripture, early church fathers, saints, and theologians (of many different denominations). This is not meant to be a persuasive work on “why Catholicism is true”; rather, it simply lays out the basics of the church in a digestible and engaging way. I would recommend this as a starter book on Catholicism to anyone who is curious - even if you disagree with some of these teachings, you will gain new understanding which I believe is imperative to living well in community with all Christians. Bonus points for the pictureeeees!

[David Stephens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was raised as a Catholic, yet I was never a very good one. I can remember getting an assignment in my Catholic grade school that listed one hundred questions about church doctrine and not knowing a single one of them. I may have eventually learned a handful but have forgotten them all since then.

Robert Barron clarifies at least some of the issues I was supposed to have picked up on so many years ago. He begins by stating that "the great principle of Catholicism is the Incarnation, the enfleshment of God," God taking human form without giving up his divinity, that is. "God became human so that humans might become God," as the reasoning continues. And while this is essentially true of all Christian denominations, it is Catholics, according to Barron, who see this "Incarnation" in numerous aspects of the church, from the Mass to the clergy to the saints to the architecture and the holy texts themselves.

Barron makes the same argument that C.S. Lewis did against Unitarianism and anyone who would only view Jesus as a moral teacher, stating that Jesus' claims about healing others' sins make him either a messiah or a madman with no middle road to take. He, however, tacks on an argument about the Resurrection, which if true (a big IF in my skeptical mind), could only have been performed by God incarnate.

If Barron does a fantastic job at one thing it's putting things in historical context. In numerous instances, he explains what terms originally meant rather than what they have come to mean in popular parlance. He revives the original words of the beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount, making them less unkind than they might otherwise sound. He further explains the "adoration" people are supposed to have for God comes from the Latin phrase "ad ora" (to the mouth), and isn't so much about worshipping God (although, other comments Barron makes might make it appear otherwise) but about being "mouth to mouth with God, properly aligned to the divine source, breathing in God's life." Perhaps, the most misunderstood issue is the pope's infallibility. As Barron explains, this doesn't mean the pope is perfect or free of sin. What it means is that "the pope, by a special gift of the Holy Spirit, knows who Jesus is and therefore is able to articulate correctly those doctrinal and moral teachings that flow from that knowledge." One could easily call B-S on this as a way for the church to change its points of view from generation to generation, but it's good to clarify what we're arguing first.

In other places, I find his arguments to be pretty weak. First of all, he begins too many statements with words like "One might be tempted to dismiss this as a charming story from a simpler, more credulous time" or "I fully realize that this assertion can strike the contemporary mind as bizarre, mythological, a holdover from a naive, prescientific world" without following up with anything more than semiotic analysis.

His arguments about theodicy aren't very good either. He first tries to argue that even if there is evil in the world, God created it, so it must be necessary to bring about the greatest amount of good. However, through Candide, Voltaire already shot this idea down as one of cowardice and pessimism. He, then, throws out the classic "God's ways are above ours" dodge that has become so tiresome. He may dress it up with the veneer of erudition, but it amounts to the same thing.

Before I get too long-winded (too late), I think the issue that gets to the heart of the disagreement I have with Barron is how our lives should be lived, that is, what we should be "addicted" to. Drawing on St. Thomas Aquinas, he posits that in the absence of an "addiction" to God, we turn to worldly seductions: wealth, pleasure, power, honor. And the more we become "addicted" to these things, the less room we have for our "adoration" of God. But I have heard too many stories and seen too many people trade a secular "addiction" for a holy one, and it really seems to me they have simply run out of ways to cope with various kinds of pain. In other words, they turn to Christ less because his spirit is finally running through them and more because the church is telling them what they want to hear, or is in some way taking away their pain, or at least promising them an escape from pain in the afterlife.

I realize now that this review sounds a little more negative than I intended it to, so let me end with a positive message. One of the better things I remember about my days of growing up Catholic was how my dad, while he might have complained about certain parts of the weekly service, would enjoy hearing the practical advice the priest would give. He wanted to know what he could do to improve in his day to day life.

And somewhere midway through this book, I found some great practical advice. Barron explains what love means in the religious sense of the word: "it is willing this good of the other as other. When we love, we escape the black hole of our clinging egotism and live for someone else; to love is to leap ecstatically out of the self." Religious or not, this sounds like a great goal to strive for. Amen.

[Federico De Obeso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mucho tiempo pospuse la lectura de este libro. Ojalá y lo hubiera leído antes.
Me recordó a l catecismo que estudié para hacer la primera comunión, pero de una manera más viva, más… dirigida a mi. Así se siente este libro: como si te sentaras con Bishop Barron y Él te fuera explicando lo que es y el ser Católico.

[Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

Architecture, Aquinas, and a few mini-biographies of Catholics. Barron makes a point about how Protestants are more “people of the book” and I agree. There were a few Biblical references and some philosophical points made, but only a small portion of the book captured my interest. I think if I really want to get to the heart of Catholicism, I would be better off reading Thomas Aquinas and the Catechisms of the Catholic Church.

[Erin Cowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good overview of Catholicism in general and was easy to follow. There was not a ton of detail but I think there are some additional books that get into the specifics.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is a keeper. This is one, that if it didn't go completely against my grain to highlight books (I didn't even like doing it when I was in college--I don't even highlight or put notes in my Bible) would be highlighted all over. It is a very readable book but one that has a lot of information. I'd like to share a few of my bookmarks with you.
p. 50: Regarding turning the other cheek: "To turn the other cheeck is to prevent him from hitting you in the same way again. It is not to run or to acquiesce, but rather to signal to the aggressor that you refuse to accept the set of assumptions that have made his aggression possible.....The promise of this approach is that it might not only stop the violence but also transform the perpetrator of it.
p. 141: Discussing Hans Urs von Balthasar's comments on Peter and Paul: Every priest...is...a descendant of Peter. Every missionary...is... a son or daughter of Paul. Without the Petrine discipline the Pauline work would be unfocused and continually in danger of dissolution. Without the Pauline energy, the Petrine work would devolve into cold management and ecclesiastical bureaucracy. The two together, in tensive harmony, have propelled the church through the centuries and around the world.
p. 146, quoting St. Joan of Arc: "About Jesus Christ and the church, I know only this: they're simply one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter." As an articulation of the peculiarly Catholic sense of the church, it would be hard to improve on that.
The book begins with a look at the Nativity as the beginning of Christianity and at some high points in the life of Christ. From there, Fr. Barron takes a look at the beatitudes and the parable of the Prodigal Son. He points out that the older son, in saying that he has been working like a slave all those years, said nothing of reciprocal love; rather his were the comments of one driven by mercantile calculation. He then spends a chapter on the nature of God and the Trinity. While I claim on great expertise in non-Catholic Christian theology or beliefs, I doubt there would be much in these chapters, other than the presumption that the Catholic church is the original Christian church, with which most non-Catholic Christians would disagree.

Chapter 4 is a different story. It covers Catholic Marian doctrines of the Immaculate Conception and Assumption of Mary. It talks about why those doctrines are important in understanding the nature of God and Jesus, and what they mean to us. Mary's apparitions at Lourdes and Mexico are covered as well. Chapter 5 is about Peter and Paul and the complimentary natures of their ministries. Fr. Barron mentioned one of the great issues of the Reformation--what is necessary to be saved, per Paul.

I'd tell you about the other chapters, but I haven't read them yet--as a matter of fact I'll commit to telling you more about them later so this book doesn't languish under the stack of junky romance novels that take a lot less brain power to read. Though it takes more brainpower to read than a trashy novel, it isn't a hard to read book, so don't let that remark scare you off. Rather, it is one of those books that should be read a little at at time and the ideas mulled over in your mind and heart. Grade: A

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biases up front: I am currently in RCIA, so I am studying to become a Catholic, and am looking at this book through that lens.

When you consider that 2011 is when the BBC documentary about clerical abuse came out, after year after year of terrible revelation after terrible revelation, you might be surprised that anyone would write a book defending the Catholic Church. But Bishop Robert Barron did so much more than respond to a crisis, in “Catholicism,” he reminds us of the power and light of God’s church, even while acknowledging that it is held in earthen and often unworthy vessels.

This book was, literally, a godsend for me in my study of the faith. Bishop Barron explores the elements of Catholicism that make it unique: the concern with Mary, the veneration of saints, confession, purgatory, and even papal infallibility (which is not at all what it is presented to be in secular media). More than that, though, through this book, he lives the evangelizing style he speaks of so passionately in his videos for the Word on Fire Ministry - the beauty of the Christian life, then the truths that lead to to beauty, then the laws that lead to truth. So many of us get that precisely backwards and I know it’s been a stumbling block that I have encountered and have given in my own life.

For those of a questioning bent, including me, Bishop Barron arrays arguments and evidence on his side and, unlike so many religious texts that seem to think faith just needs to pop up out of nowhere, makes a compelling case for God and for God’s church. He uses an array of rhetorical styles: reasoning, example, allegory. All of it comes back to the objective truth of God’s existence and his love for us, and the sum effect of the work is powerful, especially if you like to spend time thinking over arguments and considering reasoning.

His intellectual bent means he doesn’t touch as much upon subjects like the Liturgy of the Body, so you’ll need to go elsewhere to look for thinking on those topics. But in making a forceful and reasoned case for the Trinitarian God of Scripture, Bishop Barron puts paid, in his argument and in the sheer example of his text, to the idea that we shut off our thinking when we turn to God.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book is one that everyone I know should read. Yes, that means YOU. ESPECIALLY if you have an interest in your Catholic faith.

As I read and delighted in Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith, by Fr. Robert Barron, I tried to give it a nifty one-line description. (It’s a little marketing challenge I play when my brain is awake.) I came up with a few:

- A Catholic text for the rest of us
- Theology as faith study, punctuated with pictures
- Delightfully Catholic, universally faithful
- If Catholic = universal, then this book = wonderful
- More than just another reference, here’s a book to read with your heart

It has ten chapters, and it clocks in at 279 pages. It spans the faith from the history to theology to philosophy to application. I was, above all, fascinated.

I’ve read a few popular Catholic theology books, but very few of them can stay long on my office “must reference” shelf.
When I raved about it to my pastor (I stopped just shy of suggesting that we use this, along with the Youcat, with the next class of Confirmation students), I compared Barron’s work to Scott Hahn. Another parishioner had emailed him already about Father Barron’s Catholicism project (which will be airing on one of our local channels!), so he recognized Barron’s name.

I am, admittedly, pretty excited about my faith. After reading Father Barron’s book, though, I find myself renewed and reenergized. Throughout the entire book, I was turning the page, wondering what was next.

When’s the last time a theology book kept me turning the page like a novel would? Honestly, I don’t remember. I’ve read some great books this year, but this one is up there with the best (if it’s not the best) that I’ve read.

Barron’s treatment of the faith is at once tender, factual, and intriguing. He presents it almost scientifically, but in a way that bespeaks a deep love. It reminds me of the way I hope I would speak about my husband, and that warms my heart.

Bottom line: read this book. Then buy a copy for your parish library, because without a doubt, someone else needs to read it too!

[Zacaro Caro · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not the intended audience for this book. I'm naturally excited about my faith and have read much to educate myself. I teach Sunday school and work with youth groups so I'm always looking for better ways to answer tough questions and to dive deeper in my faith. There are lots of good reviews of this book, and it's not bad, but it bored me, I found myself skipping ahead and skimming and finally giving up. I'm not sure what I learned, if anything I have to admit I really enjoyed the section on the beatitudes. In the end though I found no new way of saying what has been said. I don't want to be mean, the author did a great job of writing and the book has its audience. I actually want to see the video series now, of you're deaf, and don't like subtitles, and want to watch the video series--this book might be for you.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

About 70% of this book summarizes a good outline of Catholic thought and philosophy. However, there are some chapters which are quite questionable and in which Bishop Barron makes poor arguments.

One questionable section towards the end of the book is when Bishop Barron questions the existence of hell and whether any souls actually go there. While Catholics make no claims as to any particular souls being in hell, we hold as doctrine that hell exists and the Scriptures tell us that some souls will indeed choose to go there.

Also, I find his criticism of the crusades and St. Bernard of Clairvaux both troubling and poorly researched.

[Algirdas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, kaip nepraktikuojančiam katalikui-skeptikui, labai įdomiai ir mielai susiskaitė ši knyga. Sakyčiau, labai gerai ir tiksliai pagauta katalikybės esmė ir perteikta paprastai bei įtikinamai. Ber ar perskaitęs tapau didesniu kataliku, nežinau.

[Benjamin Sisson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book approaches Catholicism in a beautiful way, painting a picture of what it means to be Catholic that touched my heart and moved me. Perhaps the best book on the faith that is not necessarily an academic treatise or the poetry of Dante.

[Doreen Petersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

For Catholics this is a must read.

[Kelly Galimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, reflective and informative. The Light of God waits for and shines through all of His creation.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, Wonderful!

[ellie h · Rating 1 out of 5]

Moral of the book is I’m not making it to heaven

[Brother Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, Bishop Robert Barron talks about the essential doctrines and belief system of the Catholic faith. I read this book with an open mind, even ready to adopt Catholic beliefs if it aligned with what the Scriptures said. Because of this I enjoyed this book, instead of being critical of it. I definitely recommend this book to people who want to learn more about Catholicism.

The first three chapters are on the Incarnation, teachings of Jesus and philosophical arguments for God as well as Anselm's ontological definition of God ("that than which nothing greater can be thought"). These were great chapters!

Following this, he wrote in chapter four about Mary and what Catholics mean by calling her the "mother of God" and "mother of the Church". Barron also attempted to defend the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary (both of which, in my opinion, he did not succeed in doing).

Chapter 5 is about Peter and Paul and their ministry and how it relates to the Church today.

Chapter 6 is about the mystical union of Christ and the Church.

Chapter 7 is about the Sacraments and the arrangement of the Liturgy during Mass. I loved this chapter although I think Barron is mistaken about transubstantiation. Barron shows us the liturgical and formational meaning of all the prayers, the seating and raising of the congregants, the homily, the Eucharist, etc.

Chapter 8 contains four biographies of legendary Catholic saints: Katharine Drexel, Therese of Lisieux, Edith Stein, Mother Teresa. Incredible stories.

Chapter 9 is about prayer through the lens of Thomas Merton, St. John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila. Having read quite a bit about the contemplative and mystical Christian tradition, this was a good refresher (and a good intro for many evangelicals who have never read any of these gems and insights, though there are better books for just that).

Chapter 10 is about heaven, hell and purgatory. Although I am not convinced about the existence of purgatory, I do see its purpose as necessary and occuring in our earthly lives ("sanctification"), rather than after we die.

[Blahblahblahs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book genuinely impressed me. I don't know anything about the author and expected some rudimentary blah blah blahs. But Barron does an incredible job of covering some significant aspects of Catholicism and Christianity generally. I would highly recommend this to anyone who feels they have a rudimentary understanding of Christianity and are interested in getting a better idea as to what is going on "behind" the Bible and what the Catholic's stance on certain dogmas may be (...hell, for example...). Barron is great at boiling down complex concepts into easily digestible information that I can absolutely imagine inciting a sort of paradigm shift for the uninitiated. I feel like I should stress this as well -- while the book focuses on the Catholic worldview, it is all built on an already Christian base. So, inevitably, you will get a taste of some of the old Christian patristics. He quotes Western thinkers freely, prime examples being Saint Augustine and Saint Aquinas, while simultaneously quoting the bible and citing from scripture.

[Javier Muñoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Libro escrito por el mediático obispo norteamericano Robert Barron, en el que da un repaso a las verdades fundamentales de la fe católica.
Pudiera parecer un libro más, de los muchos que hay en el mercado, que tocan estos temas con un barniz superficial sin entrar en mucha hondura. Pues aquí es donde "Catolicismo: un viaje al corazón de la fe" se diferencia del resto.
Realmente el libro toca los elementos fundamentales de la fe católica, pero no sólo desde un punto de vista doctrinal, sino mezclando las enseñanzas de la Iglesia con otros enfoques artísticos, literarios, experiencias del obispo Barron, y todo ello con un estilo muy ameno y didáctico. Y, además, consigue entrar en profundidad en los temas que toca.
Un libro muy recomendable.

[Dayne]

This is probably my third or fourth re-read of this book. Each time, I'm struck by the beautiful and simple way the author presents the Catholic faith. Beginning with the Incarnation, teachings of Jesus and mystery of God, he then moves on to a discussion of Mary, the Church, sacraments and worship, the communion of saints, prayer and the Last Things. This is a very accessible book that still offers new things for reflection on each re-read.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

The excellent narrative voice of Bishop Barron guides his readers through the history, as well as doctrines of the Catholic Church in an avuncular way. He speaks as priest, historian, scholar and theologian at times all while never losing my interest. Included are the lives of some selected saints, writings from Augustine among other scholars and theologians past and present. If you've never heard what Catholics believe from a Catholic this is an fantastic primer in my opinion as a Protestant.

[Jan Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Barron is a Roman Catholic Bishop who is well articulate. As a theology student I find him one of the few conservative voices I purposefully listen to. great book, with some brilliant ideas and arguments. Would highly recommend of one wants to understand the Roman Catholic faith and thinking.

[JD Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a firm believer that Christian charity demands we deal with the best arguments of those within the faith we might have significant disagreements. So, as a Protestant, this is one of the best volumes on the Catholic tradition I’ve read. Bishop Barron is wonderfully articulate, and winsome in presenting Catholicism.