Off the Shelf 234 – Father Blake Britton
Ever wonder what’s up with Vatican II? Don’t worry you are not alone However, what you may have been told is a gross misinterpretation of the beauty and truth of the Council. Father Blake Britton joins me this week to share some insight on what Vatican II was meant to be and how it was in a sense hijacked. Get your copy of Father Blake’s book Reclaiming Vatican II: What It (Really) Said, What It Means, and How It Calls Us to Renew the Church here.
From the publisher Ave Maria Press
During the past five decades, the Second Vatican Council has been alternately celebrated or maligned for its supposed break with tradition and embrace of the modern world. But what if we’ve gotten it all wrong? Have Catholics—both those who embrace the spirit of Vatican II and those who regard it with suspicion—misunderstood what the council was really about?
Fr. Blake Britton discovered the truth and beauty of the council while he was in seminary and he has witnessed firsthand the power of its teachings in the life of his own parish. In Reclaiming Vatican II—a partnership between Ave Maria Press and Word on Fire Catholic Ministries—Britton presses beyond the political narrative foisted upon the post-conciliar Church and contends that Vatican II was neither conservative nor liberal, but something much more beautiful and challenging.
Britton clears up misconceptions about the council and reveals how—when properly understood and applied—it fosters a richer experience of being in the Church. Britton says Vatican II
- promotes a radical return to the Church Fathers and the Scriptures, holding both a commitment to tradition and the need for constant renewal in life-giving balance,
- recenters the Church on sacred liturgy and encourages both active participation and genuine encounter with transcendence, and
- charts a clear path for the Church’s renewal and empowers it for evangelism and transformative engagement with the world.
Britton invites all Catholics to step beyond the polarization and embrace Vatican II as one of our greatest resources for being in the Church in a way that is faithful, engaged, and effective if we answer its radical call to worship and renewal.
Bio
Fr. Blake Britton serves as a parish priest and assistant vocations director in the Diocese of Orlando. He is a regular contributor to the Word on Fire Institute’s blog and its Evangelization and Culture Journal. He also cohosts The Burrowshire Podcast with Brandon Vogt.
Britton earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from St. John Vianney College-Seminary and his master’s degree in divinity from St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary. He has contributed to two anthologies. He has appeared on EWTN, The Catholic Channel, and a number of radio programs and podcasts.
He is a classically trained opera singer, pianist, and organist and is trained in classical Latin and biblical Greek.
5 thoughts on “Reclaiming Vatican II: Off the Shelf 234 with Father Blake Britton”
The thing is, sometimes anger is justified. Jesus flipped over tables in the temple when people were using God’s name to cheat others. And I do pray, Pete. As a result of that prayer, I’m confident that Jesus would flip your table over for the way you’re using His name to mislead people.
And feel free to disagree. I’m sure the money changers in the temple disagreed too.
Job 4:17
Can anyone be more in the right than God? Can mortals be more blameless than their Maker?
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Ah, the choose your own adventure that is Vatican II. I’m glad we have no shortage of people that can speak authoritatively about what Vatican II was, and what it was not. It’s just unfortunate that these people say contradictory things.
After highlighting the demon sperm doctor, I think I’ll find my Vatican II analysis from a different source.
It’s ok “Kyle”. The great thing is I’ll continue moving through life regardless of your constant trolling. I’d advise you take your rage to prayer.