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 Tanya, Don’t be alarmed that your firm decision to follow God’s call into the consecrated life is being assailed by doubts. Do you think the devil is happy with
Dear Ferdinand, The excessive stress that you are always complaining about may have many different causes. But whatever the cause, one spiritual exercise will surely diminish it: remembering heaven. Every
Dear Herman, Things have been going quite well for you for a long time, and now you have just received the coveted Student Service Award to top it all off.
Dear Ken, Your article on “Pro-life Priorities” edified me tremendously (thanks for sending me a copy). I would only add one point to your argument, stressing the importance of reaching
Dear Heidi, You feel like you’re in exile? Long dark nights, short grey days, cold icy windowpanes and the same boring “gruel” each day (I doubt cafeteria food is THAT
Dear Kate, Your resistance to pain is edifying. I remember the strain we used to undergo in conditioning exercises for football, but judging from the descriptions provided in your last
Dear Theodore, It is possible, you know, to overdo things. Certainly the pleasures of the world are God’s gifts to us, his beloved children, but they were never meant to
Dear Bill, Your latest discernment update begs a response. Just because you “feel attracted” to the vocation of marriage (most normal young men do, you know), and just because your
Dear Marcia, I know that it is hard to keep living the demands of your faith in the middle of that decadent campus culture. I know that temptations ceaselessly assail
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!
