Carl E. Olson – Page 2 – Catholic World Report

Articles by Carl E. Olson

About Carl E. Olson

Carl E. Olson is editor of Catholic World Report and Ignatius Insight. He is the author of Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?, Will Catholics Be "Left Behind"?, co-editor/contributor to Called To Be the Children of God, co-author of The Da Vinci Hoax (Ignatius), and author of the "Catholicism" and "Priest Prophet King" Study Guides for Bishop Robert Barron/Word on Fire. His recent books on Lent and Advent—Praying the Our Father in Lent (2021) and Prepare the Way of the Lord (2021)—are published by Catholic Truth Society. He is also a contributor to "Our Sunday Visitor" newspaper, "The Catholic Answer" magazine, "The Imaginative Conservative", "The Catholic Herald", "National Catholic Register", "Chronicles", and other publications. Follow him on Twitter @carleolson.

The Prayer That We Breathe

October 18, 2025 Carl E. Olson 1

Readings: • Ex 17:8-13 • Ps 121:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 • 2 Tm 3:14-4:2 • Lk 18:1-8 How long can any of us live without air? A few minutes at best? How long can we […]

The living dead and the grateful living

October 11, 2025 Carl E. Olson 4

Readings: • 2 Kgs 5:14-17 • Ps 98:1, 2-3, 3-4 • 2 Tim 2:8-13 • Lk 17:11-19 Zombies have long been a part of popular culture, with numerous movies and books presenting stories about the […]

A faith in constant need of increase

October 4, 2025 Carl E. Olson 3

Readings: • Hab 1:2-3; 2:2-4 • Psa 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 • 2 Tim 1:6-8, 13-14 • Lk 17:5-10 “Lord, I would seek you, calling upon you—and calling upon you is an act of believing in […]

New book on Pascal’s defense of Christianity offers insights, corrections, encouragement

October 3, 2025 Carl E. Olson 16

Dr. Paul Seaton, who is a contributor to CWR, is an independent scholar whose areas of intellectual interest and specialization include political philosophy and French philosophical thought. He has translated and written extensively on modern […]

'A Rich Man and Lazarus' by Vasily Surikov (1873).

Lazarus, the Rich Man, and the Sin of Pride

September 27, 2025 Carl E. Olson 17

Readings: • Am 6:1a, 4-7 • Ps 146:7, 8-9, 9-10 • 1 Tm 6:11-16 • Lk 16:19-31 As we hear the various parables from the Gospel of Luke, it is good to keep two things […]

A Tale of Two Bishops

September 23, 2025 Carl E. Olson 14

Editor’s note: This CWR editorial was posted originally on February 9, 2015, not long after Blase Cupich was named Archbishop of Chicago after some time spent as bishop of Spokane, WA. It is reposted here […]

Parables, Puzzlement, and Prudence

September 20, 2025 Carl E. Olson 15

Readings: • Am 8:4-7 • Ps 113:1-2, 4-6, 7-8 • 1 Tm 2:1-8 • Lk 16:1-13 How difficult is the parable of the dishonest steward heard in today’s Gospel reading? “Of all of Jesus’ parables,” […]

The Holy Cross is an invitation to faith, to life, to love

September 13, 2025 Carl E. Olson 14

On the Readings for Saturday, September 14th, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross […]

The Future of Synodality

September 7, 2025 Carl E. Olson 54

There are no first, second or third-class Catholics, no.… Please, let us get used to listening to each other, to talking, not cutting our heads off for a word. To listen, to discuss in a […]

True discipleship in an age of easy believism

September 6, 2025 Carl E. Olson 11

Readings: • Wis 9:13-18b • Ps 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14-17 • Phmn 9-10, 12-17 • Lk 14:25-33 Writing once about a prominent televangelist, I half-jokingly observed that the “only” topics the preacher in question never […]