Fr. John Bartunek, LC, S.Th.D, received his BA in History from Stanford University in 1990. He comes from an evangelical Christian background and became a member of the Catholic Church in 1991. After college, he worked as a high school history teacher, drama director, and baseball coach. He then spent a year as a professional actor in Chicago before entering the religious Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ in 1993. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 2003 and earned his doctorate in moral theology in 2010.
He provided spiritual support on the set of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ while researching the 2005 Catholic best seller, Inside the Passion, the only authorized, behind-the-scenes explanation of the film. Fr. John has contributed news commentary regarding religious issues on NBC, CNN, Fox, and the BBC. He also served as the English-language press liaison for the Vatican’s 2005 Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist.
His most widely known books are The Better Part: A Christ-Centered Resource for Personal Prayer and 60 Days to Becoming a Missionary Disciple.
His most recent book is Spiritual But Not Religious: The Search for Meaning in a Material World.
Fr. John resides in Atlanta and serves as Territorial Vicar for the Legionaries of Christ.
Dear Eliza, Are you buying into those mistaken puritanical ideas again, feeling guilty about your high “social and economic status”? Do come to your senses, my dear niece. I have
Dear Tom, One of the secrets to prayer is honesty, which, as I can see clearly from your latest communiqués, you need a lot more of. You can’t approach the
Dear Bert, Since I haven’t heard from you in a long while, I imagine that you are quite content working in your congressman’s office for the summer – or else
Dear Chloe, How is life in the library? The best teacher I ever had once told me that the three most important people to make friends with at any good-sized
Dear Romeo, Funny that your folks named you after the Shakespearean tragic hero, whose name just happens to coincide with today’s saints (you should have heard what they were going
Dear Pippin, Can I bare my heart to you? I think it’s safe, since you probably won’t read this till after midnight, as your downing a couple Twinkies and gulping
Dear Irene, I can tell from your notes (which are very welcome, by the way; it is nice to know that someone besides God hasn’t forgotten about me) that you
Dear Sally, Believe me, my very dear niece; I know what you are going through. Between swim training, working 2 jobs, and an active (plus, I hope, healthy) social life,
Dear Ann, Don’t think like that; you’ll just tie yourself up in knots. The way to decide whether to consecrate your life exclusively to God in the service of the
Alex Kucera has lived in Atlanta, GA, for the last 46 years. He is one of 9 children, married to his wife Karmen, and has 3 girls, one grandson, and a granddaughter on the way. Alex joined Regnum Christi in 2007. Out of the gate, he joined the Helping Hands Medical Missions apostolate and is still participating today with the Ghana Friendship Mission.
In 2009, Alex was asked to be the Atlanta RC Renewal Coordinator for the Atlanta Locality to help the RC members with the RC renewal process. Alex became a Group Leader in 2012 for four of the Atlanta Men’s Section Teams and continues today. Running in parallel, in 2013, Alex became a Team Leader and shepherded a large team of good men.
Alex was honored to be the Atlanta Mission Coordinator between 2010 to 2022 (12 years), coordinating 5-8 Holy Week Mission teams across Georgia. He also created and coordinated missions at a parish in Athens, GA, for 9 years. Alex continues to coordinate Holy Week Missions, Advent Missions, and Monthly missions at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Cumming, GA.
From 2016 to 2022, Alex also served as the Men’s Section Assistant in Atlanta. He loved working with the Men’s Section Director, the Legionaries, Consecrated, and Women’s Section leadership teams.
Alex is exceptionally grateful to the Legionaries, Consecrated, and many RC members who he’s journeyed shoulder to shoulder, growing his relationship with Christ and others along the way. He knows that there is only one way, that’s Christ’s Way, with others!
