Archive for Daniel Horan OFM

Interview About Pope Francis at The Jesuit Post

Posted in Franciscan Spirituality, Pope Francis, The Papal Watcher with tags , , , on April 1, 2013 by Daniel P. Horan, OFM

artworks-000044385857-k5o7a9-t500x500The week after Pope Francis was elected the Bishop of Rome, Sam Sawyer, SJ, one of the co-founders of The Jesuit Post interviewed me about the significance of Pope Francis’s name and his having selected it after the inspiration of St. Francis of Assisi. Here’s how Sam introduces the conversation, with the links to the audio (they also include a link to a “Daily-Show” like extended version of our entire, unedited conversation) Enjoy!

We know that Jesuits can have a reputation for being know-it-alls (there’s an old joke about having three Jesuits having at least four opinions about any question you can ask). But in this case, we decided to ask for some help in understanding what our new pope’s namesake — St. Francis of Assissi — might suggest about his approach to his ministry, to the Church, and to the world.

And who better to ask about St. Francis than a Franciscan? I sat down to talk with Fr. Dan Horan, OFM, the author of the book (and blog) Dating Godwhich focuses on applying the insights of Franciscan spirituality to contemporary life. Here’s the interview:

And if you just can’t get enough of Franciscan spirituality or geeky religious humor (it’s at the end), here’s our full, nearly 15-minute conversation, in Daily Show throw-it-to-the-web style.

New Columnists at ‘America’ Magazine

Posted in America Magazine with tags , , , on February 2, 2013 by Daniel P. Horan, OFM

America_Magazine_ShieldThose who receive the print edition of America magazine will soon read about the upcoming 5,000 issue of the publication (the current issue is number 4,999), the occasion for some new changes at the magazine. Among the changes is the lineup of columnists, which the editor-in-chief, Fr. Matt Malone, SJ, explains in the latest issue’s Of Many Things column. It’s provided here below. In reading his introduction to the new staff columnists, you might recognize a name, those of you who get the print edition will see that in the masthead as well…

Even casual readers will notice the changes to our masthead. The really astute reader, however, will notice something even more significant. I’ll give you a hint: Look to the top of the Contents page, just below the second uppercase T. See it? That’s right: You are holding the 4999th issue of America. That means that our next issue will be a collector’s item: so get out the cellophane sleeves and chill the champagne!

The 4000th issue was dated Oct. 1, 1988. My predecessor, George W. Hunt, S.J., wrote at the time that “we calculate that America’s 5000th issue will appear sometime in the year 2010.” Father Hunt was a typical Jesuit: a 790 on the verbal and a 510 on the math. He was right about one thing, though: He had the good sense to endorse a statement that John LaFarge, S.J., had made in the 2000th issue of the magazine. Addressing America’s readers in 1947, Father LaFarge wrote, “We know that you can help us with your thoughts, your ideas, your prayers, your suggestions. We depend on you.”

Indeed we do. America is never finished. We’re always learning, growing, seeking new ways to bring you a smart Catholic take on faith and culture. So as we head into our 5000th issue, we’re making some changes. For starters, new columnists will appear throughout the first half of 2013, beginning with our own James Martin, S.J., recently named America’s editor at large. We also welcome Michael Rossmann, S.J., a blogger for The Huffington Post and the 2007 valedictorian at Notre Dame. Margot Patterson, former senior writer for The National Catholic Reporter will also join us, along with James T. Keane, a former associate editor of America, now at Orbis Books. Colleen Carroll Campbell will join us in June; Ms. Campbell was a speechwriter for President George W. Bush and is now the host of “Faith and Culture” on EWTN.

It might seem strange that America would have one columnist who used to write for The National Catholic Reporter and another who wrote for George W. Bush. It doesn’t seem strange to us, though. America’s century-old motto is Veritatem facientes in caritate, “Doing the truth in love.” There is no faithful Catholic voice that is not welcome in these pages; there is no quarter of the church in which America is not at home.

We will also add a new column in the Books & Culture section. Bill McGarvey, former editor of the Web journal Busted Halo, will lead off the commentary. He will be joined by Angela Alaimo-O’Donnell, professor and poet at Fordham University, and Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M., a young friar who just published Francis of Assisi and the Future of Faith. Also, longtime readers will welcome the return of the Philosopher’s Notebook, a running commentary on faith and culture in the United States. John J. Conley, a Jesuit, philosopher and playwright at Loyola University Maryland, will pen the monthly column.

One last thing: You’ll want to check out the revitalized Catholic Book Club. Each month Kevin Spinale, S.J., a teacher of English at Boston College High School, will introduce a book of special interest to Catholics. You can join that discussion at www.americamagazine.org/cbc.

Of course, change can be bittersweet. With this issue, we also bid an affectionate farewell to columnists Margaret Silf, Maryann Cusimano Love, Kyle Kramer, John DiIulio and Thomas Massaro, S.J. We are grateful for their work, which has enriched us all. We hope to see them again soon.

Whew, that is a lot of change. This much, however, will never change: our commitment to bringing you the very best of who we are, each and every week. For your loyalty and trust, we thank you. For the greater glory of God, now it’s on to 6,000!

Needless to say, I’m honored to have been invited to be a columnist at America and I’m very excited about working as part of the excellent team that makes up the editorial board, staff, and fellow columnists of this 100+ year-old publication! To view the America author page, go to: http://americamagazine.org/users/daniel-p-horan Stay tuned for more information!

Franciscan Lecture at Hilbert College on Monday October 1

Posted in Dating God Book, Francis of Assisi and the Future of Faith, Franciscan Spirituality, Uncategorized with tags , , , , on September 28, 2012 by Daniel P. Horan, OFM

For those who happen to be in the greater Buffalo, NY area, consider coming to Hilbert College this Monday, October 1st, for Hilbert’s annual Francis Week Lecture, which will be delivered by me this year. I’m honored to have been invited by the college to give this talk and excited to visit Hilbert, a small Franciscan college just outside of Buffalo. It has a closer relationship with my own alma mater, St. Bonaventure University, so I’ve heard quite a bit about the school over the years. The title of the lecture is, “How to ‘Prophet’ From the Franciscan Tradition: Solidarity and Christian Living in the 21st Century.“ Below is the information as it’s presented on the Hilbert Website:

HAMBURG, N.Y. – As part of the Celebration of the Feast of St. Francis activities, Hilbert College presents Fr. Dan Horan, OFM as guest lecture on Monday, October 1, 2012 at 3:30 p.m. in Bogel Hall 101.

In this lecture, “How to ‘Prophet’ From the Franciscan Tradition: Solidarity and Christian Living in the 21st Century,” Fr. Dan Horan will explore what we can take away from our Franciscan heritage in terms of Christian living in the 21st Century, as well as how we might become prophets after the example of St. Francis of Assisi.

A professor, lecturer, and the author of numerous articles and books, including Dating God:  Live and Love in the Way of St. Francis, Daniel P. Horan, OFM is a Franciscan friar of Holy Name Province.    Fr. Dan previously taught in the department of religious studies at Siena College and was a visiting professor in the department of theology at St. Bonaventure University. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the International Thomas Merton Society.  A graduate of St. Bonaventure University (B.A. Theology) and the Washington Theological Union (M.A. Systematic Theology and M.Div.), he is currently completing a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology at Boston College.

The St. Francis Week activities officially kick off September 28 with a blessing of the animals at   1 p.m. outdoors near the statue of St. Francis at the back of Bogel Hall (rain location will be St. Clare’s Chapel in Bogel).  In honor of St. Francis’ love for all creatures, Deacon Dennis Conroy, who assists in Hilbert’s Office of Campus Ministry, will conduct the blessing. After the blessing, animals will receive pet treats and pet owners will be served ice cream.

On October 4, the Feast of St. Francis, the Hilbert community will participate in a peace walk at 12:30 p.m. starting in the William E. Swan Auditorium and then follow a path to designated outdoor stations around campus. Each location will highlight a peace-related occurrence in the life of St. Francis and offer students, faculty and staff a reflection point to ponder as they continue the walk.

The week concludes October 5 with a service project from 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at Buffalo’s Vive La Casa, the largest refugee shelter in the United States. Hilbert volunteers will sort donations, clean the facility, help out in the kitchen pantry and provide other assistance as needed.

All events are free and open to the public, excluding the service project which is for the Hilbert community only. More information about Hilbert’s St. Francis Week activities is available by contacting Barbara Bonanno, director of campus ministry and mission integration, at 926-8924 or e-mail bonanno@hilbert.edu

As you can see, it’s a free event and open to the public, feel free to stop in!  There will also be a book signing after the lecture and my latest book, just out last week, Francis of Assisi and the Future of Faith: Exploring Franciscan Spirituality and Theology in the Modern World will be available for purchase too! Hope to see you there!

Photo: Hilbert College

Advance Praise for “Francis of Assisi and Future of Faith”

Posted in Francis of Assisi and the Future of Faith with tags , , , , , on September 20, 2012 by Daniel P. Horan, OFM

You may have already noticed that my latest book, Francis of Assisi and the Future of Faith (Tau Publishing, 2012) has just become available for pre-order from the publisher. It should be shipping very shortly! I just received the first copy by mail and have to say that it looks great. But because you can’t really trust the author for unbiased information about his own book, check out what some other authors and scholars had to say about it! As always, you can learn more about this book and others at DanHoran.com

“In Dan Horan’s new book, we are introduced not to a decorative saint who got on well with birds but a man who shook the foundations of medieval Europe and who — along with other key figures of the early Franciscan movement — still challenges us today.” —Jim Forest, author, All Is Grace: A Biography of Dorothy Day

“As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of that great Council, Friar-Author Dan Horan opens the doors of the Church which for his generation is ‘today,’ not ‘tomorrow!’ Fr. Horan is particularly adept at translating the importance of a Franciscan approach for today’s “digital natives.” His voice is sure to capture the attention of contemporaries and create a bridge for older readers who know themselves to be strangers to this new way of learning and knowing.” — Margaret Carney, OSF, STD, president, St. Bonaventure University

“In a style that is both scholarly and highly readable, he brilliantly uncovers and elucidates the “foolish” wisdom of Franciscans as it is lived and voiced first of all in St. Francis and then as it is perpetuated and developed in significant Franciscan thinkers and saints from the Middle Ages to the present Millennial generation…The depth and range of this book makes it an indispensable source for how the Franciscan spiritual and intellectual tradition has been lived and voiced in the past and a blueprint for how it can be lived at the beginning of the 21st Century.” — Murray Bodo, OFM, author, Francis: The Journey and the Dream

“With a great spirit of prayer and devotion, Horan helps us discover how Francis of Assisi is anything but the patron of those who are spiritual but not religious, spiritual but not theological. Rather, Horan gives us sound spirituality and theology grounded in the perennially relevant and popular Franciscan tradition. Past speaks to the present and guides us into the future. Francis and Anthony both would be pleased.” — Mary Stommes, editor, Give Us This Day: Daily Prayer for Today’s Catholic

“Dan offers a renewed appreciation for this spiritual master whose teachings remain relevant almost 800 years after his death. With the vision of St. Francis, Dan Horan challenges people of all ages to embrace a spirit of poverty in a culture where consumerism reigns, forgive our enemies in a world that advocates revenge, speak a message of peace when gun violence terrorizes our cities and streets, and preach the gospel at all times … online and in real time. This is truly Franciscan spirituality for our times at its finest!” —Beth Knobbe, author, Party of One: Living Single with Faith, Purpose, and Passion

‘Dating God’ Now Available in Additional Formats

Posted in Dating God Book, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , on June 12, 2012 by Daniel P. Horan, OFM

It’s now been just about four months since Dating God: Live and Love in the Way of St. Francis was released — it’s hard to believe how fast the time flies! It has been available in paperback from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, the publisher directly and from hundreds of bookstores all over the US and Europe during this time. It also quickly arrived in Kindle format, and is still available that way through Amazon. About two months after its release, the audio version came out in CD format, narrated by the author (that’s me). Now the book is out in three new media: It’s available for the iPad through the Apple store, to download as an audiobook on iTunes, and also as an audiobook through audible.com.

The audible download, for nonmembers, is $20.99 (nearly 30% off list price for the CD), and the iTunes download is only $17.95!! There is a slight hiccup in the product description, both the audible.com and iTunes descriptions say that the audiobook is only about an hour — this is not true, it’s about four or five times as long. We have the media people at the publishing house trying to correct that on the two websites.

In the meantime, if you’re interested in listening to the book on your iPod or other audio device, check it out today! Also, if you’re an iPad reader, it’s only $9.99 from Apple for that format!  Oh, and for the record, it’s very weird to hear my voice in the iTunes “preview” of the audiobook… hopefully you enjoy it!

Article in the Syracuse “Catholic Sun”

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , on June 6, 2012 by Daniel P. Horan, OFM

The following article appears as the cover story in this week’s issue of The Catholic Sun, the newspaper of the Diocese of Syracuse, NY. You can view this story and others by visiting the website.

“This is the Way God is Asking me to be in the World”

Utica, NY, native Dan Horan’s Journey to the Franciscan Priesthood.

By Katherine Long,
Sun Associate Editor

Father Dan Horan, OFM, began his homily May 27 with a little-known fact about himself.

“I’m not a birdwatcher,” he told the congregation at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Utica with a grin. Chuckles rose from the pews filled with family, friends and fellow parishioners who had watched him grow from Danny the altar server into Father Horan the Franciscan priest, ordained by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick at St. Camillus Church in Silver Spring, Md., just a few days before.

Although he doesn’t particularly care for birds, Father Horan explained, they had been on his mind lately. His order’s founder, St. Francis, loved birds. He had just read a book by his favorite author full of essays about birds. And then there were the week’s readings, calling to mind one of the Bible’s most famous images: the dove of the Holy Spirit.

With an ease belying his love of homiletics and his experience as a college professor, Father Horan launched into a smart, funny homily offering a new way to think about the Holy Spirit — as God’s breath, breathing new life into the world. Fittingly, the new priest looked right at home on the altar of the church he has considered a second home since he was a boy.

Father Horan, 28, grew up in Utica, the oldest of Kevin and Anne Marie Horan’s four sons. His family was faith-filled but not necessarily devotional, he said. Rather, his parents conveyed the importance of their Catholic faith through their day-to-day lives. The family never missed Mass, even on vacations in Old Forge. Father Horan also cited the sacrifices his parents made to send their children to Catholic schools; the three oldest Horan sons are graduates of Notre Dame Jr./Sr. High School and the youngest, Ryan, is currently a junior there.

“My parents spent practically every cent they ever earned sending us all to Catholic schools,” he said. “That sacrifice impresses me most, and I am so thankful for it.”

Those influences were coupled with his attraction to the life of the church from an early age.

“We lived within walking distance of [Our Lady of] Lourdes, and I just loved being involved with the church,” Father Horan said. “I couldn’t get enough.”

His fascination with the liturgy and his interest in being part of the celebration in the sanctuary led him to begin altar serving as soon as he was able. He still remembers the first Mass he served, at 6:30 a.m. one Sunday.

“I was paired up with a boy a year older than me who taught me what I needed to do. I loved the idea of helping the priest and having a role in what was happening at the altar,” he said.

He worked his way up the altar server ladder, becoming a sacristan in high school. Then-pastor Father Donald Karlen remembers Dan as a young man who distinguished himself as a leader, one who would study the liturgy ahead of time and “always be right at my right hand.” His mom also recalled her young son as a leader, with a strong, independent mind of his own.

“He has always known exactly what he wants. Don’t try to tell him what to do!” she laughed.

Feeling God’s call to ordained ministry, Father Horan long thought he’d become a diocesan priest. Attending Franciscan college St. Bonaventure University showed him a different path.

Read more »

Washington Theological Union Graduation Today

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , on May 4, 2012 by Daniel P. Horan, OFM

Today I will graduate (again) from the Washington Theological Union. Two years ago I completed an M.A. in Systematic Theology from the WTU and then taught for a year at Siena College during what we friars refer to as our ‘internship year,’ or what some communities call their apostolic year. I returned to Washington, DC, last Fall to complete my coursework for the Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree that I had been concurrently completing while finishing my M.A. these last few years. A number of friars from my local community will also be graduating, including my profession and ordination classmate, Steve DeWitt (in picture to left with me and Fr. Jim Coriden, the renowned Canon Law scholar, after my M.A. graduation in 2010) and Frank Critch, who are also both receiving M.Div. degrees. Additionally, there is one friar, Ross Chamberland, who has earned an M.T.S. degree and two friars, James Hwang and Gerald Hopek, who have earned graduate certificates.

The day begins with a Baccalaureate Mass at the WTU chapel at 11:00 am, for which I will play the piano and Frank will play the guitar, in addition to the several graduates, current students and staff members who will sing under the direction of Julianne Wallace. The commencement exercises will take place on the campus of Trinity Washington University at 2:30 in the afternoon. It has been the tradition that the ceremonies take place in the Trinity chapel, a beautiful space, but due to ongoing renovations, we have been moved to a gym/auditorium space — not nearly as fancy, but I’m sure it will suffice.

I ask for your prayers for all of our graduates as they move on to new places and new ministries. Many of the M.Div. recipients from religious communities will be ordained in the upcoming weeks, other women and men will continue the tradition of WTU graduates, announcing the Word of God in word and deed as they minister to God’s people in a variety of settings. All of us are grateful for the ongoing prayerful support of our religious communities, families and friends. Peace and good!

Photo: 2010 WTU graduation (Br. Dan Horan, Fr. Jim Coriden, Br. Steve DeWitt)

Video Clips from Franciscan Mission Service ‘Souposium’

Posted in Dating God Book, Franciscan Spirituality, Social Justice, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , on April 27, 2012 by Daniel P. Horan, OFM

Back at the end of February I gave a public talk at Franciscan Mission Service (FMS) in Washington, DC, titled, “What Does it Mean to ‘Date’ God? Prayer as Relationship in the Franciscan Tradition.” It was part of the regular Souposium series that FMS sponsors throughout the year, which offers a public lecture hosted at the FMS main building and includes a homemade dinner of various soups, breads and desserts. FMS has recently published a few video excerpts from my talk, and you can find earlier videos on the FMS website from other talks. Here is the description of my talk as posted on the FMS website.

The idea of “Dating” God is a rather unusual concept. For many people such an image can be a challenge or even a problem, just as images used to describe God throughout the Christian tradition (“Father,” “Friend,” “Lover,” etc.) assist the spiritual lives of some, while hindering the pilgrimage of prayer and faith for others. In this reflection, Br. Dan shared what he means by this new image for imagining one’s relationship with God as it is presented in his new book, Dating God: Live and Love in the Way of St. Francis (St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2012), and explained how it ties into the rich and inspiring Franciscan tradition. Central to appreciating this different way of viewing spirituality is an embrace of the notion that our prayer can be more than something we simply do, but could be imagined as a more dynamic relationship with the Divine.

Enjoy these videos!

Video Clip One

Video Clip Two

Video Clip Three

Dispatches from the Road: Assisi 2012

Posted in Franciscan Spirituality, Uncategorized with tags , , , on April 19, 2012 by Daniel P. Horan, OFM

So the travel schedule and jam-packed conference days — not to mention the rather spotty internet service here in Assisi — has made it a bit difficult to post here with as much regularity I would have liked, but here’s at least a little something. For those who don’t know, I’ve traveled from Great Britain where I was participating in an academic conference on Thomas Merton to Assisi, Italy, where I am participating in a conference sponsored by the Ecclesiological Investigations International Research Network, which features scholars from a variety of traditions and fields from around the world.

To report on everything that has happened, all the paper sessions I’ve attended and plenary addresses that have been delivered, would take far too much time. So I will instead try to give you an overview.

Things kicked off with a prayer service at St. Mary of the Angels Basilica in the lower part or valley of Assisi. This is the Basilica in which the Portiuncula is housed. It is the mother church of the Order of Friars Minor and most of the conference is taking place next door to this great site.

From then on it has been a whirlwind of exciting papers, engaging plenary addresses, organized sight seeing at the holiest sites of the Franciscan world, and meals, discussions and all-around fun times. It is an exhausting schedule, but well-worth it. The ideas shared, the hopes anticipated and the trajectories illuminated make the lack of sleep and the constant running around well worth it!

One of the most interesting sessions I’ve attended so far was a concurrent paper session on the Church. The three presenters included Brian Flanagan (“The Holiness of the Church: Mark of Division or Unity?”), Pieson Shaw (“The Necessity of an Ecclesiology in Which the Church is Understood as Sacrament with Christ as Primary Sacrament: Ways to Convergence in Ecumenical Dialogue”), and Scott MacDougall (“Anticipated Communion: Ecumenism and Eschatological Ecclesiology”).  All three papers were very well presented and engendered a lively conversation. It was an amazing discussion if only because of the diverse — and preeminent (myself excluded) — group gathered in an intimate setting (there were about 25 of us in the room). Among those in attendance were three leading American ecclesiologists: Roger Haight, Richard Gaillardetz and Dennis Doyle. This doesn’t even begin to include the other renowned scholars in the tiny room, professors from around the world and leading universities. What was most remarkable was that the third paper, by Scott MacDougall, drew heavily on the work of Roger Haight as a starting point and developed Haight’s thought further in a new and constructive direction…all while Haight sat a few feet away.  Those moments of real dialogue and exchange always make for exciting experiences for all involved.

That evening was spent in Upper Assisi at the Basilica of St. Francis, where we celebrated evening prayer together after hearing a plenary address in Italian (simultaneously translated into English) by a Conventual Franciscan on the subject of dialogue. The evening prayer concluded with a procession to the tomb of St. Francis — all done after the Basilica was closed, so the 200+ conference attendees had the Church to ourselves.

Thursday morning began with prayer at the Basilica of St. Clare in Upper Assisi, followed by several paper sessions. I attended one on the subject of ecology and dialogue. It was a great collection of papers by a diverse group (including both a Franciscan and a Dominican sister). The presenters included Aaron Hollander, Geraldine Smyth OP, Dawn Nothwehr OSF, and John Njroge.

Part of the afternoon was designed to intentionally be available for exploring the holy places in Assisi. It so happened that those of us conference participants would occasionally run into each other, catching the eye of the others with the easily recognizable bright-orange lanyard on which hung our name tags, and wonderful impromptu theological discussions were known to break out. One such discussion too place near the Piazza of San Rufino on the nature of Christian anthropology, free will, sin and grace — it included three people from the United States, one from Poland and one from Italy.

This evening it is my turn to present my paper, “Thomas Merton’s Franciscan Model of Interreligious Dialogue,” in a panel with Michael Barnes SJ of England, Bishop Kyrillos Katerelos of Greece, and Professor Sandra Mazzolini of Italy.

Hopefully I will be able to post more in the not-so-distant future. Until then, Peace and good!

Photo: Dan Horan, OFM in front of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi

Answering 21 Questions I Have Not Been Asked

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , on August 6, 2011 by Daniel P. Horan, OFM

This is a post in honor of Mike Leach. An editor and former publisher at Orbis Books, Mike is the author of the recently published book Why Stay Catholic? Unexpected Answers to a Life-Changing Question (Loyola, 2011) and the blog of the same title. I was humbled by Mike’s inclusion of my blog, DatingGod.org, in a post listing some of his favorite blogs. In a recent blog entry Mike volunteered answers to 21 questions that he had asked a number of other authors. Here I’d like to take the 21-question interview that I had not been asked, but that I offer with the simple hope that you might find it interesting to read and might consider your own answers to the questions.

  1. Dan, how are you an average Catholic?
    Just like every other baptized Christian, I am a member of the Communion of Saints, which makes all of us average Catholics: Canonized Saints and the worst sinners alike!
  2. What is your favorite word?
    Regicide (not a fan of the action, but love the sound of the word).
  3. What is your least favorite word?
    Don’t know that I have a least-favorite word.
  4. What sound or noise do you love?
    The oboe. 
  5. What sound or noise do you hate?
    My own singing voice.
  6. What is your favorite book?
    Ohhh, that changes regularly. In recent months some of my favorites include Jonathan Franzen’s “Freedom,” Slavoj Zizek’s “Violence: Six Sideways Reflections,” and pretty much anything John D. Caputo writes.
  7. Do you have a particular Catholic role model?
    The Little Poor Man From Assisi.
  8. What is your favorite movie?
    Read more »
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