2019

Over many years of talking to priests, especially at our annual Priest Conferences, we get to know our spiritual fathers.

One thing priests consistently say they desire is stronger formation in Scripture. Whether we’re talking at one of our priest conferences or discussing one of our academic resources, Scripture always comes up.

In enabling the re-presentation of His sacrifice at Mass, Christ fulfills the Passover as a “memorial” or “remembrance” (Ex 12:14). For the ancient Hebrews, remembering was never simply a commemoration of a past event. Rather, when the Hebrews remembered an event, God enabled that event to transcend time and impact the present. The Passover would always remain a limited, past event, for Moses, Pharaoh, and all the others lived out the Passover in a specific time and place. Their actions began and ended that day. And each succeeding year, new lambs would have to be offered.

One of the first toys my wife and I bought for our first-born son, Kolbe, was a loud, movable excavator. He played with that excavator over and over again. Kolbe would break for lunch and then go back to the excavator. He would break for dinner and then go back to the excavator.

On March 19, 2019, the Feast of St. Joseph, seven pro-lifers entered two abortion centers in Washington, D.C. and spoke to women seated in the waiting room scheduled for abortions. They were participating in Red Rose Rescues of the unborn.

As a college student, I spent a lot of time evangelizing. I talked about Jesus to my friends and classmates on campus, and I talked about Him to perfect strangers on a summer mission project, in housing projects, and just about every other place I could think of. I even talked about Him one Spring break in a biker bar! Those to whom I talked were atheists, Mormons, agnostics, members of Hare Krishna, fellow Christians, and just about every other religious persuasion you can imagine.

Luke, like Matthew, introduces Mary as a virgin betrothed to Joseph, a descendant of David. Luke also tells us that the angel Gabriel greets her with the words, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” The word translated as “hail”—and which is also sometimes translated as “rejoice”—is the same word that Israel’s prophets used to begin prophecies about the promised Messiah and the joy He would bring to God’s people (Joel 2:23–24; Zech 9:9).

The story of Adam and Eve and the eating of the forbidden fruit is an all-too-familiar story—so familiar that its meaning is taken as seriously as that of a childhood fable. All of us know it, much as we know the story of George Washington chopping down the cherry tree, and Jack and Jill tumbling down a hill. However, the truth conveyed in this story is much more than a mere moral lesson of human folly.

What’s the most effective way we can give back to the Church during this season of Lent?
The answer is simple: We can help her priests.

Mary Eberstadt: How and why did you end up becoming a priest?
Fr. Arne: I don’t have a spiel. My father was not Catholic. He wasn’t anything—Lutheran Finnish. He converted when I was in Rome. My mother’s maiden name was Bellinger— Welsh-Scottish. Ours wasn’t particularly a pious home.