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 Gilbert, Don’t be so depressed. With God, even our foolish failures can become successes. He doesn’t expect us to know everything, to make the perfect decisions all the time,
Dear Pappy, The solution is simple; it’s called “the personal touch.” Our Lord used it, the Apostles used it, and if you want to be more effective in apostolic work,
Dear Polly, You have always been a fun-loving damsel, full of verve and good spirits, and I am glad to see that you are putting these qualities to good use
Dear Clyde, So you’re bored at Mass and you’re distracted in prayer. Welcome to the human race. If being holy were fun and easy, sinners would be saints. Get humble,
Dear Bertha, Someone has mixed you up terribly. To “keep your distance” from the Blessed Virgin because “she had no sin so she can’t understand my struggles” is a diabolical
Dear Liddy, You shouldn’t be surprised at running into opposition from fellow Catholics. We are all sinners, and the Church has suffered from internal strife since the very beginning (wasn’t
Dear Liddy, You shouldn’t be surprised at running into opposition from fellow Catholics. We are all sinners, and the Church has suffered from internal strife since the very beginning (wasn’t
Dear Lara, Never, never, never doubt the effectiveness of your prayers! Do you really think that God, who so lovingly created us and holds us in existence, who deigned to
Dear Ulilah, Here we go again. Only a couple weeks into it and you’re already complaining about being “too busy.” What a useless complaint. Either you have taken on too
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!
