By Most Reverend Gerald R. Barnes
Taken from Bishop Gerald Barnes’ address at the Combined Vicariate Meeting with the parishes of the San Bernardino Pastoral Region on February 5.
In the midst of celebrating who we are as families, the opportunity that’s given to us, we cannot lose sight of the many challenges that our families are facing today. We can celebrate without dismissing the pain the reality that our people live. I want to mention some of these tensions and there are many.
By Most Rev. Gerald R. Barnes
Bishop of San Bernardino
As we celebrate Christmas, the birth of our Savior, so much of the season draws us to family. We are inspired by the Holy Family and enriched by recounting their difficult and dangerous journey to the humble surroundings into which God was made flesh among us. We bring it to life each year in Las Posadas, Simbang Gabi and other cultural depictions.
By Bishop Gerald R. Barnes
A few years ago I was talking with the mayor of a prominent city in our diocese about the reports of extremely low voter turnout in a recent election. Not Catholic but a man of faith, this mayor said to me very directly that many of those who did not vote were “your people.” He went on to say that if local Catholics voted in greater numbers it would lead to positive change in the city.
By Most Rev. Gerald R. Barnes
Greetings to you in this new year, 2015. Not too long ago we celebrated the hope and joy of our Savior’s birth at Christmas. Just around the corner is Lent, when we take our spiritual inventory and resolve to move closer to God in anticipation of the Resurrection of his Son at Easter.
By Most Rev. Gerald R. Barnes
In his Letter to the Romans, St. Paul presents a dramatic invitation for us to offer ourselves, body and mind, as a living sacrifice, “holy and pleasing to God.”
Two family-owned businesses take legal action so that they don’t violate the tenets of their faith by providing their employees with contraception and abortifacients as required by the new federal health care law. They prevail in the nation’s highest court.
Hundreds of children and families from Central America flood into Texas seeking refuge and reconciliation with loved ones, and are subsequently transported to a Border Patrol station in our diocese.
