From Chaput....

From EC: At 6:30 on Sunday nights Archbishop Charles Chaput celebrates Mass at the Denver Cathedral.

The first time we attended the service it was packed out -- standing room only -- with college students and young families. The presiding priest informed the congregation that unfortunately, Archbishop Chaput could not be with them. I didn't think much of that statement then, but I do now.

Archbishop Chaput truly celebrates at church. When he prays, he's not just reading out of the prayer book. When he gives the sermon, he moves his lecturn down to the congregation level, and he speaks from the heart -- without notes and without attention to the time. His sermons are biblical, solid, and challenging, and they generally end with the Gospel message.

I was reading the Crunchy Con blog today, and Rod Dreher referenced a talk given by Archbishop Chaput last Saturday in Philadelphia. I was surprised to see his name on Dreher's blog.

Said Dreher: "Archbishop Chaput has written the most important thing you will read today."

I read it, and Dreher was right.

The talk was solid. And inspiring. And convicting.

Archbishop Chaput addresses the power of ideas, the power of free-will, and the courage it takes to follow Jesus Christ:

"The world doesn't need affirmation. It needs conversion. It's doesn't need the approval of Christians. It needs their witness. And that work needs to begin with us...."

Check it out: Religion and the Common Good.

From BC: Can I get an 'Amen???!!!' The Archbishop's speech is a tour de force. It's characteristic of his style: unpretentious, direct, brilliant and filled with the authority of the Holy Spirit.

Read the whole thing. Read it twice. I'd quote from it, but like the Crunchy Con says, I'd have to quote from the entire thing because it's that powerful, important and prophetic.