Father John Brown Interview: The Faith, Patriotism, Jesuits, and Coming Back to Mass

Interviews sometimes tend to take the form of lectures. Contrary, I felt I sat down for tea with a wise and humble priest who did not water down Catholic teachings while being sympathetic to struggling souls.

In the course of the Father John Brown interview on Blue Collar Catholic, the priest talked about many aspects of contemporary Catholic life. From the example of Shia LaBeouf discreetly visiting Mass to Eastern Catholic clergy, celibacy, patriotism, misinformation, Jesuits, the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, abortion, and the Synod, Father John Brown did not waste a minute.

Nevertheless, in some ways, a certain pattern appeared – Catholic teachings are important, but how these teachings are fulfilled matters as well.

That point of view became especially apparent during the most intriguing moments of the interview when Father Brown talked about Shia LaBeouf’s sincere faith.

Shia LaBeouf and His Sincerity

While Father John Brown said he did not personally know the actor, it was evident from what he said that he was impressed by the fact LaBeouf visited Mass Father Brown was at. The priest said that what mattered was the fact that the actor did not try to make noise. Instead, he found a place in the church where nobody noticed him, received Communion, and prayed quietly without any fanfare.

Father Brown wanted to show two things. On one hand, the point of visiting a church is praying, and one who sincerely wants to communicate with God needs nothing more than that. On the other hand, the actor demonstrated his sincerity and humility by choosing to visit Mass quietly instead of making a big fuss about his religious convictions.

It is also important to note what Father John Brown said in connection with Shia LaBeouf’s struggles with alcohol. The priest admitted there were people whose spiritual lives were not peaceful and who had problems with their willpower. But just like in case with the actor’s sincere faith, it does not mean that God is powerless here. On the contrary, according to Father John Brown, many Catholics find themselves on their knees asking for forgiveness precisely because of their struggles.

That point of view can be seen as an attempt to show that Catholic Church is not a museum where one admires people living their spiritual lives peacefully and perfectly.

It is a hospital where everyone who is not perfect yet sincerely wants to achieve perfection finds shelter.

In this connection, the Father John Brown interview revealed one of the most important points the priest wanted to address. He said that despite people thinking God hated them, God’s commandments required them to confess and receive communion every Sunday, and despairing God’s mercy was sinful by itself.

Thus, the best recommendation he could give a doubting Catholic was to bring his heart with all of his sins to the altar. If God was capable of changing bread and wine to His body, surely He was capable of changing the sinner’s heart.

Eastern Catholicism and Priestly Celibacy

Another important point the priest addressed in his interview was Eastern Catholic traditions, including married priests and different liturgies. The Father John Brown interview made clear the fact that the priest celebrated Byzantine Divine Liturgy with permission. According to the priest, that experience made him a better Roman Catholic priest as different liturgical rituals helped him gain a new perspective on the familiar Catholic services.

Thus, the priest gave the following explanation of the differences between Byzantine and Roman Catholic traditions. Just like learning a foreign language might teach a person more about his native language, learning Byzantine liturgy could help one understand Roman liturgy better.

Then, Father John Brown explained the practice of having married priests in Eastern Catholic traditions. Contrary to Roman Catholic tradition, a married man could become a priest in an Eastern church. In other words, priesthood and marriage were not incompatible. The priest added that both Roman and Eastern bishops had to stay celibate, and monks or priests in religious orders always took vows of celibacy.

This clarification of the issue is especially needed now as many Christians believe that Roman Catholic priests have to stay unmarried forever.

In terms of his personal views of celibacy, the priest described celibacy as a burden, but a good one. He also admitted that celibacy had a positive impact on his spiritual life and improved his priestly service significantly.

That point was particularly enlightening since, for too long, celibacy was romanticized, and the reasons why a priest chose it as his way of living were not explained clearly.

Patriotism Without Idolizing One’s Country

During the interview, the host of the talk show raised the question of the relation of a patriot to his or her homeland. Specifically, he said many Christians nowadays struggle with loving their homeland without falling into the trap of idolizing it. That question allowed Father John Brown to explain Catholic attitude towards patriotism briefly.

First of all, the priest pointed out that no nation could replace God, and once a nation was elevated as an idol to the level of God, everything started to fall apart. Then, he explained that love of one’s country and family was not only normal but even expected. Indeed, if people had to thank their fathers and mothers for all of their blessings, they should express affection towards their homeland and contribute to its well-being in whatever way they can.

Father John Brown added that he loved his country, and there was a reason for that. He said Americans were fortunate enough to have freedom and democracy in the USA, which means that virtue could prosper here.

However, the priest also clarified his position about love of one’s country and pointed out that love was not blind in any way. In his opinion, loving one’s country meant being patriotic in the sense that a citizen of this nation cared about its future and prosperity but not about political leaders.

Thus, he opposed both those who hated every politician and those who idealized every politician as it happened recently. Instead, Christians should appreciate virtue and thank God they had an opportunity to live freely in their homeland and participate in the decision-making process in this country. Moreover, being thankful for democracy meant paying special attention to political events and helping the candidates to win the next election.

Misinformation and Iran

Next, Father John Brown addressed the problem of online misinformation. The interview showed the priest’s ability to explain complicated situations reasonably and not to allow emotions take over. For example, the host talked about how people compared America unfavorably to Iran’s regime. As an example, the priest suggested that the majority of Americans knew very little about Iranian language, culture, history, and the life of its people.

Moreover, people had to remember that Iran was not identical to other countries in the Middle East, and it was inappropriate to consider the whole Middle East one big homogeneous region.

Therefore, Father John Brown made clear that he did not support violence and murders carried out by the Iranian government and did not deny the fact that it acted as proxies. However, he also explained that the discussion of political relations with other nations should not become simplified.

To put it briefly, one should not forget that politics was only a small aspect of human life. Therefore, as Saint Paul pointed out, the greatest of all achievements in this world were faith, hope, and charity.

In this respect, it was crucial not to focus on earthly politics all the time, and not to allow politics become a dominant aspect of one’s life. Father Brown reminded the audience of Jesus’ teaching: the occupation of Jerusalem by Romans did not prevent Him from performing miracles and spreading divine teachings. Thus, instead of focusing on politics, one should focus on God first.

Jesuits, Synods, and Spiritual Exercises

The Father John Brown interview went further to address the stereotypes associated with Jesuits. Father Brown talked about his colleagues quite frankly saying that Jesuits were stereotyped not because of their political views. Some traditional Catholics accused Jesuits of being liberals and progressivism Catholics used Jesuits’ names in order to attack traditional Catholic dogmas.

According to the priest, the stereotype arose from the facts that Jesuits were numerous worldwide, they were educated and participated in academic discussions where different views were expressed, and Jesuits were usually among those who debated Catholic dogmas.

However, it would be absolutely inappropriate to say that Jesuits shared the same views on everything. Instead, priests differed in their views on various issues as any other group of priests.

The conversation of the Father John Brown interview also touched upon the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. According to Father John Brown, it was a kind of spiritual training rather than reflection. Its aim was to help Catholics defeat their egos, recognize sin, discern spirits, and follow God’s commandments.

One of the most useful rules was the following. A person should not make major changes to his spiritual routine when he found himself or herself in desolation, i.e., was discouraged or depressed and had a feeling of temptation.

When being in spiritual consolation, i.e., enjoying spiritual peace, and being joyful, it would be safe to change some routines, including, for example, dropping daily rosaries.

Confusion Over the Synod

Further, the Father John Brown interview addressed the Synod’s role in contemporary Catholic life. Father Brown clarified that a synod was not a council that defined some dogmas; instead, the synod was an opportunity for the Catholics from different regions to voice their opinions and experiences to each other.

For example, American bishops had to discuss with African bishops about different problems they had to solve in their own regions. It was obvious that not every problem should lead to a dogma reform; therefore, synod did not mean the Church would change everything.

This point of view was especially significant as many Catholics worried when some church council took place. It seems that people thought it was possible to change dogmas by having a discussion.

At last, the issue of abortion was discussed, and Father John Brown said explicitly that procured abortion was intrinsic evil.

Coming Back to Mass After Struggle

In the course of this Father John Brown interview, the following point was raised. Many Catholics believed that they were too sinful and therefore could not go to confession, receive Holy Communion, and celebrate Mass again.

Father Brown explained that in this case, the only thing a priest could tell these people was the fact that God commanded everybody to attend Mass every Sunday and despairing God’s mercy was sinful too.

Thus, even the most sinful Catholics should bring their hearts and their doubts about forgiveness to Mass and trust God’s grace to transform their hearts and souls.

Priest Who Does Not Fly a Political Label

Lastly, at the end of the interview, Father John Brown talked about labels some Catholics preferred to use for others. The priest was talking not only about his own position as regards these issues, but he also gave recommendations to younger priests.

Father John Brown believed that the older he got, the less he liked using labels such as conservative and orthodox Catholics. The reason behind this was the fact that the more he worked with people, the more he realized they did not like labels. Instead, he recommended that priests tried to “knock the sharp edges off” and behave like grandparents who could offer a bit more mercy and understanding.

Perhaps, this was the most enlightening statement in the Father John Brown interview.