A large part of witnessing the faith is showing love for those with whom we disagree.

Bishop, your charity toward these anti-Christianity atheists has greatly softened my own heart toward them and been very humbling for me to see. As you know, peace is found in humility, so this has been a great comfort. Thank you so much.

“Many of you have heard it said that you should love your neighbors and hate your enemies. But amen I say to you! Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. For if a man loves only those who love him in return, what reward is there in that?”

This video demonstrates what true Christian love is, that so many people reduce to mere sentiment.

@jorgemont34380 Friend, this is Fr. Barron. I must say that I resent the implication that I'm taking "satisfaction" in Mr. Hitchens' disease. I'm sincerely urging my fellow Christians to pray for him as an expression of love. Period.

@falstocat Friend, my quarrel is with those who think that there is "empirical" evidence for a purely spiritual reality. God cannot be discovered the way items or events in the world can be discovered. But he can indeed be known through other types of rational analysis.

I wish I were! Please keep praying that I might become one.

@GustAdlph

5 жыл бұрын

Bishop Barron, you already are a saint! The Apostle Paul wrote to "all the saints who are in all Achaia" (II Cor. 1:1), "to the saints who are in Ephesus" (Eph. 1:1), "to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi," "to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse." There is a difference between salvation and sanctification. We are saved when we repent and believe the gospel. Jesus promised the Good Thief he would be in paradise that very day. Sanctification is the day to day work of the Holy Spirit in our heart. Happy Easter! He is Risen!

I'm really glad people we're praying for Christopher Hitchens. I read his "Mortality" when it first came out and hated it then felt guilty for hating the words of a dying man. I wasn't Catholic or even Christian at the time having only just converted in 2019 after spending 30 years of being a secular atheist. But, I still knew enough to know I shouldn't a been hating on a dying man's last words :/

"A noble friend is the best gift in the world... a noble enemy, the next best." CS Lewis.

Christopher Hitchens was without any doubt a staunch opponent of the Catholic faith. He spoke so ill of it and spoke ill of Saint Mother Theresa of Calcutta. Now that he’s dead, I hope and pray he’s in purgatory. Hopefully when the day of reckoning, he’ll purge himself of his evil ways and enter Heaven.

@trudipper8055

5 жыл бұрын

Yes, he showed that she was a terrible woman.

@damiancoory1220

5 жыл бұрын

Sorry but I don’t think it’s terribly holy of you to pray someone is in purgatory. Judge not so that...

@declanfoley7562

4 жыл бұрын

You pray he's in purgatory... Pathetic on your part

@Meganjolie2133

4 жыл бұрын

I pray that he is in purgatory also I was very sad how attacked our beloved mother Theresa who was a saint

@unkownoflife5959

3 жыл бұрын

@@declanfoley7562 You think hes going straight to heaven?

thank you! Please keep doing what you are doing! My husband and I love your videos! Thank you again!!!! :D

@andrewrahnacnrep

10 жыл бұрын

If you add two words "in Christ" after every fr. Barron video you get a fuller message in Christ.

@JBeezie428 You're leaping to all kinds of conclusions here. Let me pose this simple question: how did you determine, on purely empirical grounds, that empirical science is the only legitimate form of reasoning?

Thank you for all the good you accomplish, Fr. Barron, through your ministry. I find your UTube videos interesting and inspiring, and always bringing out the best. Mature discipleship demands what you stated, "Love your enemies, and do good to those who persecute you." What a challenge!

Rest in Peace, Hitch. May God show his love and mercy on you.

@Meganjolie2133

4 жыл бұрын

Amen

Thank goodness for Mr Hitchens! May he rest in peace.

@alanlo-557

7 жыл бұрын

666WitchcultToday666 Zachary King may have some words of wisdom for you, dear one. Please check him out.

@AcidWacker Well friend, if you had paid a little more attention to my video, you'd know that I don't think God ever "gives" cancer to anyone. For evidence of God's existence, take a look at a number of my other videos.

Father Barron, thank for this excellent video. I have friends who are atheists, and I myself am I Catholic. I pray for them each night, and I realized after watching this that God loves them, even though they don't believe. Thank you again!

@JBeezie428 Friend, how could "science" possibly address the following questions: what is sin? what is grace? How is redemption brought about? Did God become human? What does it mean to have the Holy Spirit? What is the ontological status of the three divine persons? Why is there something rather than nothing? Etc. Etc. Etc. Your comment is a prime example of what I've criticized often as "scientism," the reduction of knowledge to what the physical sciences can tell us.

@110000116699

4 жыл бұрын

That which is proposed without evidence can be dismissed without evidence

@TheEternalOuroboros

4 жыл бұрын

Read Sam Harris' The Moral Landscape and you will see that science can answer moral questions.

@110000116699

4 жыл бұрын

Come back once you've proved that something exists that can't be measured if U could prove god existed sign me up but until then

@georgedoyle7971

4 жыл бұрын

jwadd01 “Come back once you’ve proved something exists that can’t be measured” You clearly can’t measure Consciousness, altruism, love meaning and purpose. More importantly you can’t measure the love and altruism demonstrated by the nurses and doctors who sacrificed their lives caring for Corona virus victims during this pandemic. Not to mention the love of their bereaved families. Love is inexplicable and can not be explained away by science. “It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure.” (Albert Einstein). Similarly, the truth of your assumption that “something does not exist unless it can be measured by the natural sciences” or "no statements are true unless they can be shown empirically to be true" cannot themselves be proven scientifically, logically, or empirically. All the best to you and keep safe during this Corona virus crisis.

@110000116699

4 жыл бұрын

@@georgedoyle7971 love is just a chemical reaction in the brain

Thank you Father for your thought, very helpful.

@misterzonker2584 Vatican II teaches that even an atheist of good will can get to heaven. If, as John Henry Newman said, the conscience is the "aboriginal vicar of Christ in the soul," someone who is sincerely following his conscience is, whether he knows it explicitly or not, following Christ. Now in the case of Mr. Hitchens, the matter is, as you suggest, finally up to God. But yes, in principle, even an atheist can be saved.

Fr. Barron, as a vigorous agnostic and an opponent to organized religion, I throughly love hearing your take on things. Your ideas are always very well thought out, intelligent, and very well delivered. I count you as one of the last great voices of the catholic church, and while I don't agree or share your same views. I throughly enjoy your videos and I'm a great supporter of yours to keep up the good work!

@Webzlinger Friend, it sounds like you've swallowed every cliche that you picked up in the anti-religious academy. You join a long line of failed prophets of the demise of religion: Marx, Feuerbach, Comte, Nietzsche, Freud, Lenin, etc., etc. And take a look at Thomas Aquinas's theology of God. You'll see that the God who is the sheer act of being itself could never be a "gap" in any chain of causal explanation.

@Dauphin35 Friend, you're mixed up, I'm afraid, on a number of points. I'm not denying for a moment that belief in God is an integral part of orthodox Catholicism. I'm arguing, with Vatican II, that non-belief in God doesn't necessarily preclude the possibility of salvation. And Vatican I's anathema (let him be condemned) doesn't have a thing to do with eternal salvation. It's a way of saying that this belief is false.

I loved Hitchens...and prayed for him. Look how his Mother died...and I see how confused he was.

@declanfoley7562

4 жыл бұрын

He was an atheist before she died

@Meganjolie2133

4 жыл бұрын

How she died ?

I believe the same applies to every other person who considers themselves either agnostic or atheist. Thank you Fr Robert Barron.

@BestCBDCenter

3 жыл бұрын

You are an agnostic or atheist towards all other religions too... Think about it.

@Seanph25

2 жыл бұрын

@@BestCBDCenter that’s a tired and shallow statement

What I found to be ironic was that Hitchens held that the idea of "love your enemies" is immoral. As Father Barron pointed out, Hitchens was an enemy of the Church. What was the response from the Church when their enemy was diagnosed with that terrible form of cancer that eventually killed him? PRAY FOR CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS. Hope for his recovery and well being. Anybody else think that one come back to bite Hitch on the rear end?

@Meganjolie2133

4 жыл бұрын

So true

Wow. Really toleratant and loving comments. Let your light shine people. Mr. Hitchens wasn't perfect and had every right to change his mind on topics. I certainly didn't agree with everything he chose to support. I understand him better now that I'm older as I've changed my mind many times over the years. What I don't understand is why some, not all, people seem so hateful and even take glee in another person's suffering regardless of whom it is. From where I stand that is despicable behavior. It's quite the cunundrum. We have the right to our opinions but then some take it to the next level and play judge, jury an excucutioner through words and actions. I don't feel that's a club I'd want to associate with.

@damiancoory1220

5 жыл бұрын

elle you are absolutely right. It is not good Christianity or Catholicism. It is a childish dimension of spiritual development which some appear stuck in for a while. Judging others to make their own ego feel better. It’s not what it’s all about but maybe it takes time to learn that.

Thank you Fr.

Thanks for this - good to see that someone sees the issue clearly

Excellent commentary, especially mentioning how Chesterton would be open to drink a beer and befriend others.

@Jugglable Sure, the pain is a real sensation, but what's evil about it is the privation that it's indicating.

Thank you father. we should pray for Hitchens indeed. That God's will may be done through him... remembering that God can work through anyone including one of our greatest saints, St Paul, who hated and persecuted christians. May the Lord have mercy.

@FrancisDeSales123 Well friend, give me a little credit! I wasn't comparing them in every sense. I was suggesting that, like Russell, Hitchens is an intelligent Englishman and the best-known atheist of his time.

I just watched Christopher Hitchens last interview and his response to people who say that they are praying for him. And now I understand.

@JBeezie428 Well friend, it depends on what you mean by "evidence." Philosophy makes all kinds of truth claims concerning matters of goodness, justice, meaning, etc., and it does so on the basis of evidence, but not the narrow kind of evidence that the physical sciences rely upon. This doesn't make philosophy any less rational than the sciences. The same goes, mutatis mutandis, for religion. I've offered clear metaphysical evidence for God's existence in other videos of mine.

That none be lost and all be saved.

@jorgemont34380 You're pressing my analogy too far. As the fullness of being, God has infinite power. No matter how richly we are allowed to participate in that power, we can never attain or surpass God's power. We need God at every moment, even for the sustenance of our existence.

Thanks much for this video.

@JBeezie428 Well, you told me that "science" provides better answers to these questions than do the Abrahamic religions! I was just pointing out how silly that statement was. I'd be very happy to let you enjoy your life, but you have to stop bad-mouthing religion.

Hey Father Barron. I'm a big Hitch supporter, and atheist; I've been watching some of your video's for the first time, and while I don't agree with you, have enjoyed them... you seem to be open minded, educated and decent. Thankyou. Take care. :)

@Dauphin35 Lumen Gentium, 16: "Nor does divine Providence deny the helps that are necessary for salvation to those who, through no fault of their own, have not yet attained to the express recognition of God, yet who strive...to lead an upright life." Friend, atheist, as such, is not heresy. Heresy always involves a formal and strictly willed departure from Christian orthodoxy.

@Sarusource Well, who said it did?

@falstocat Things that don't contain the reason for their own existence do in fact exist. You and I are good examples. We therefore have to appeal to extrinsic causes to explain our existence: parents, oxygen, food, water, etc. Do these contain the reason for their own existence or not? If not, we have to keep looking. This cannot go on indefinitely, for in that case, we would have explained nothing. We have to come finally to some reality that exists through its own essence.

@jorgemont34380 You've committed no blasphemy--just sloppy thinking. God is not in a competitive relationship with the world that he created from nothing. How could he be? Therefore, his allowing us to participate in his power doesn't compromise his omnipotence in any degree. Stay with the analogy I gave: if you allow your child to do something that you could have done much more efficiently, does that compromise your power?

@AirSandFire I commented on this about a week ago, friend. Take a look in the archives.

@AcidWacker Because evil is a privation of the good, a lack of what ought to be there. Thus, God doesn't "create" it or "produce" it. However, he obviously allows it for his own reasons--and these usually remain inscrutable to us.

Right on!

@JBeezie428 Is there no "judgment" in the arenas of philosophy and science? Refereed journals, hiring and firing of faculty, grants given or refused? My point is that the judgment of God is a symbolic expression of the fact that certain basic norms obtain within the realm of religion and spirituality. It is, in itself, no more oppressive than similar norms within the sciences.

So good

At 3:34 he mentioned some novel. I can't hear him. Which book did he mention?

@thecrashdummy God can't use instruments such as doctors and nurses to accomplish his purposes?

@smarthandsomeguy God makes his existence eminently clear in the ongoing existence of contingent things. What you're talking about here are silly magic tricks, designed to impress adolescents!

Thumbs up!

Christopher Hitchens was brilliant, regardless of his religious views. I'd be interested in the bishop's views on his Mother Teresa book "The Missionary Position." I've never heard him comment on it.

@bradyhater1 Who's disrespecting Shaw?

@wordonfirevideo I agree with Ross Douthat's assesment of this.

@wordonfirevideo I appreciate the response and I understand your point. However, after being brought up in a religious household and taking seriously the questions of existence, the meaning of life, etc. ...I decided that pursuing knowledge in terms of a wide spectrum of philosophy, science, and theology was best. I got a BA in Philosophy with a concentration in religion and science. By no means am I prejudice. I find the answers which philosophy and science supply better than a judging god.

@wordonfirevideo So would someone who was once Catholic or Christian and then became atheist be considered a heretic? That would technically fall under what you said: "a formal and strictly willed departure from Christian orthodoxy." I'm just confused to the context of that statement. Could you clarify please?

Hi Fr. Barron, i was just wondering does the church have a view on led zeppelin's music in particular stairway to heaven, as many Catholics i know claim it to be a satanic song. Thank you

@JobDiego Nonsense!

@jorgemont34380 Because God delights in giving us a share in his causal power. Why do you allow your children to do certain things that you could accomplish much faster and more efficiently?

@redrum95432 Whoever said that God makes himself "eminently clear" to anyone? The Bible says, "truly you, O God of Israel, are a hidden God."

@Dauphin35 Lumen Gentium, 16: "Nor does divine Providence deny the helps that are necessary for salvation to those who, through no fault of their own, have not yet attained to the express recognition of God, yet who strive...to lead an upright life." Friend, atheism, as such, is not heresy. Heresy always involves a formal and strictly willed departure from Christian orthodoxy.

fr barron: u r well spoken and in tune w/ the shiny side of your religion. i see no ulterior inflection in your comments. i almost lost my son three times. as for prayers: PLEASE DON'T. it changes nothing. an act of self reassurance by false belief. I PUT MY BELIEF, SUPPORT AND GRATITUDE TO THE DOCTORS, NURSES, EMT'S AND SUPPORT STAFF THAT SPENT YEARS LEARNING AND APPLYING THEIR SKILLS TO SAVE MY SON. and they will take care of mr. hitchens too. when you need "them", god will not matter.

@Sarusource If one stands in the rain with an umbrella, doesn't his shoes and shoulders still get a little water? An umbrella doesn't negate the coming down of the rain. And when you stand in the rain with an umbrella, does it make sense to say, "No rain exists because I am holding an umbrella above me"? An person who uses the word "atheist" for himself seems to be putting up a shield against a force he aknowledges by doing so exists.

I quite liking this Father Barron guy. He seems remarkably fair, moderate, open minded, and well read. While I have obvious disagreements in regards to religion, someone of his character it seems, at least so far, is not someone beyond respect.

@adstanra "Praying for enemies" If God chooses it can mean that the subject of the prayer is healed or yes, it can mean a change of heart. In the cases like CH it can be the beginning of a re-evaluation of life which leads to believing in God. Every situation is different. Poor prayers are giving God ultimatums on how to handle a situation. We can give him our requests and then say "and your will be done."

The audio on these videos is getting a little hard to hear at times :(

Did anyone catch the second novelist Father mentioned? Bob Dylan and...? He must be French or something because it was gibberish to me.

@JBeezie428 Well, the problem is that a radically contingent world is finally inexplicable apart from a non-contingent ground. Serious religious people have serious reasons for believing in God. You might want to move past your prejudices and actually explore some of them.

@BloggerMusicMan *I'm quite liking....

@Sarusource yes any society can decide on what is morally acceptable and what is not - that doesnt mean the what is considered "good" from that society will necessarily align to natural moral law. as for technology, yes it is evolving, and therefore our use of it can be for good or for bad (obviously nice to hear about plans to eradicate malaria). however, i dont think there is much evidence to suggest we have evolved in our natures. are we smarter now or do we just have more information to use?

RIP

i totally agree - interpreting the will of god is always abitrary - because so oft you have to say "god moves in mysterious ways" - praying for the enemies is great - but there is a certain trap in it, if we do it we should do it in the right spirit - there is the danger of hypocracy - to feel good about oneself or even be dominant by helping the other - i don't think like Nietzsche that all compassion is egoistical - but i think that there is this trap - so when compassion than no false one

12/15/11 Requiescat in pace.

I don’t understand how this guy attacked so much our faith I believe in Gods mercy

@TheHardout2005 We are all relativists. To argue that relativism is wrong because it "doesn't work" is a relativist argument that implies that the value of an idea must be judged by its consequences rather than its inherent "wrongness."

@wolf1750 I'm obviously not Father Barron but I thought this answer was pretty clear. Fr. Barron is not making a video about Hitchen's disease, Barron is making a video on how Christians should react to it. A video on how to react to other people's diseases wouldn't be necessary, there is no difficulty there.

Father, are humans the only ones that have an afterlife when they die? :)

@sulkow82 Also, if FB's preaching is so repulsive to you, the keep in mind that you do have the option to stop watching.

@wordonfirevideo Anyone who has stubbed his toe knows that pain is a real sensation, not a privation! If my foot is under anesthesia, there's no sensation there, no pleasure, but that doesn't mean there's pain. Pain is real, not a privation!

I’m trying to watch all of your atheism vids. In regards to the subject of science in the stephen hawking vid; your thoughts paralleled mine exactly. I view all of our knowledge as a measuring stick that extends to the heavens. And every bit of knowledge we learn (about chemistry, atoms, weather patterns, etc) moves us up 1 millimeter on the stick. And with each mm gain, someone says “Ah ha! We don’t need God because we now have this information”. But that 1 mm gain doesn’t prove or disprove anything in regards to a creator. Also, I ponder about the nature of atheists and God’s opinion on them. For example, are atheists just good honest people earnestly searching for knowledge like all of us and have competing theories. All branches of science have competing theories. This doesn’t say that the incorrect theorists are malevolent. Or, are some atheists promoting atheism so that they may promote evil. Because without a God, there is no evil and righteousness. It’s only law of the jungle. I suppose there’s good atheists and bad atheists, just like in every religion. I also suppose God looks more favorably on good people just earnestly seeking truth. I once knew a very moral atheist. He was very honest, caring of others, and appalled by evil. His parents were idealistic and benevolent atheists. So logically he just inherited their beliefs. But atheism is a dangerous road to go down to promote morality.

@dawgpost90 You may notice they struggled a bit with "Have no other gods before Me" almost immediately. God had gotten the Israelites out of Egypt. The period of wandering the dessert is God getting Egypt out of the Israelites. The Commandments are important to Christian morality, but they are basic moral instructions, not a complete list of every sin.

@narciazyk You are a contingent reality, since you exist but only through the casual influence of factors extrinsic to you: food, air, water, your parents, etc. Are those things self-existing or contingent? Well, they are clearly contingent, for they depend upon factors extrinsic to them. We can't go on endlessly appealing to similarly contingent things, since that explains nothing. We have to come to some reality whose very nature is to be. That's what we call "God."

@Jugglable I don't think he means that - we try not to speculate on such things. In any case, both Hell and Purgatory are places of eternal life (although one's stay Purgatory is not eternal). How one chooses to spend eternity...well that's up to them.

@wordonfirevideo I appreciate the thoughtful nature of your argument, and the lack of venom with which you express it. I could disagree, but I'm starting to question whether it's really my place to speak out on these issues on KZread videos. I really disliked your comment regarding atheists' beliefs on God making concrete expressions of God's existence. It's not infantile to want empirical evidence for the existence of something so enormous- basic human curiosity leads us to questions.

@Sarusource Will-full abortion is a 'good' deed to some, whereas will-full objection to abortion is a 'good' deed to others. if everything is 'good' (as long as the majority of your immediate neighbours agree) then what's the reason for boasting of 'good' against God?

@JMX9030 Oy vey.

@redrum95432 No, love them because we are loved. Love them because it is the right thing to do. Love others as I have loved you.

@melowar78 Well yes. I don't think Fr. Baron suggested that his smoking didn't contribute to his cancer.

Hitchens has said clearly and often that the Bible should be taught and appreciated as literature. He even goes so far to say that other great literature, like Shakespeare, cannot be fully understood without knowing the Bible. This is not the same as taking the Bible at face value and believing it to be a divinely commanded or inspired text.

@Leoorchange Listen again. He talks about God's "permissive will," which is in distinction to God's "positive will." Permissive will simply refers to God allowing nature to run its course (which is 99.9999999999-and-on-and-on % of God's will) while positive will would be God going out of His way to strike Hitchens down. Fr. Barron does not say the cancer is God's positive will. Re: permissive will, he only speculates why Hitch suffers.

@n00ffensebut Perhaps that would be the case in Protestant circles of prayer, however as a Catholic my only prayer is for Hitchens's conversion and salvation.

@TonyWilson1000 I'm telling you that you are seeing things that are simply not there. And yes, that means in the timeframes you posted, too. The only advice I can give you is "seek first to understand". Most disagreements with Catholicism imo occur as a result of a misunderstanding. Start with moral objectivism. What I am not impressed by is your clearly biased use of adjectives. I find his style of speech to be enlightening and fluid. I like his rhetorical questioning. Breaks up the flow.

actually I admire Christopher Hitchens , even thought he attack the faith , I don't disagree with all his ideas about religions , sometimes he remind me with my own ideas about how can religion drive people crazy . since I myself saw that in many people and in different faiths However , many atheist act the same way ,even here on youtube you can see it .after all , a belief is a belief. I hope and (pray) that he will be in a good health.

@dominictafoya2205

5 жыл бұрын

Guess the prayers didnt work

Why all the condemning accusations?

@bheadh I know defending the faith can sometimes be frustrating, but please don't resort to insults. It gives a bad impression.

@wolf1750 If you wonder how FB would take being in the same circumstance, then also be open to the possibility that FB would move into the acceptance phase quicker then other people might. FB could just as easily take on the "Lord, please take this cup from me but Thine will be done.' I'm very cautious of statements "I wonder how X would act." when that is a actually a veiled statement of "I know how X would act." Such statements can be a reflection of the speaker more than the subject..

@smarthandsomeguy Well, friend, you can lead a horse to water... God makes his existence eminently clear, but he's up against fallen human freedom and plain old human stubbornness and stupidity.

@TheHardout2005 and is thus irrational.Although that's my interpretation of what he means, so you'd have to ask him. Now, I was not calling Catholicsm awesome in particular - although I do believe it :), but what I meant was that so many articles of faith are miraculous and lay outside the bounds of rational thought - and yetthey happened! That's pretty awesome. You'll notice that the good Father never calls Hitchens stupid but quite the opposite.I think you can't call atheism any more logical