"For many Christians, belief in the saving work of Christ begins and ends with the passion, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, sometimes called the paschal mystery. The term paschal recalls the Hebrew Passover (Pasch), in which God delivered the Israelites from slavery into freedom. Christians hold that in death Christ too “passed over” into … Continue reading Life-Death-Life Is the Paradoxical Logic of Human Fulfillment
Reading Excerpts
“In Despair, Despair Not”
..."God's distance" does not require one to abandon belief. In fact, [Rahner] regarded "the declared atheism of many people, theoretical as well as practical," a hasty response to the experience of God's distance.3 We need, he proposes, to allow ourselves to "mature expiatingly in the purgatory of this distance from God" by facing the "God-distance … Continue reading “In Despair, Despair Not”
The New Pelagians
Still, some Christians insist on taking another path, that of justification by their own efforts, the worship of the human will and their own abilities. The result is a self-centred and elitist complacency, bereft of true love. This finds expression in a variety of apparently unconnected ways of thinking and acting: an obsession with the … Continue reading The New Pelagians
Surrendering Control
When somebody has an answer for every question, it is a sign that they are not on the right road. They may well be false prophets, who use religion for their own purposes, to promote their own psychological or intellectual theories. God infinitely transcends us; he is full of surprises. We are not the ones … Continue reading Surrendering Control
Each In His Or Her Own Way
We should not grow discouraged before examples of holiness that appear unattainable. There are some testimonies that may prove helpful and inspiring, but that we are not meant to copy, for that could even lead us astray from the one specific path that the Lord has in mind for us. The important thing is that … Continue reading Each In His Or Her Own Way
In Search of the Champion Bishop
This best describes a “champion” model of pastoral leadership. Many Catholics today, including myself, prefer to sit on the sidelines of social media and put our collective support, “likes,” and retweets behind those bishops who are outspoken in opposing our political and cultural enemies. We rally behind bishops who speak truth to power and put … Continue reading In Search of the Champion Bishop
Not An Epoch of Change, But A Change of Epoch
The Working Document of the Bishops' Synod on the Amazon broke new ground in offering a different vision for the process of liturgical inculturation reflected in the final document of the synod. It challenged the absolute need for the substantial unity of the Roman Rite, opening the door to a process of inculturation that is … Continue reading Not An Epoch of Change, But A Change of Epoch
