It is...a bromide to observe that most people pay little attention to politics. They have, or so the conventional wisdom goes, much better things to devote their precious time and limited energy to. Besides, politics is all to often as corrupt as it is frustrating. There is a some truth to such sentiments, but the… Continue reading The Vocation of Citizenship
Category: Reading Excerpts
Why Involve the Community?
Welcoming seekers into "the way of faith and conversion" is the most important thing we do. Think about it. If a family had a great sense of community but never welcomed new people into it, slowly, one-by-one, the family would die off. If a parish did the same, we'd have the same fate. But the… Continue reading Why Involve the Community?
The Parish IS The Curriculum
When it comes the need to 'run the RCIA program' one of the questions that often gets asked is what is the best resource to use. Usually the person asking that question wishes to know which book, or series of pamphlets, or videos can best be used to pass on the knowledge of the Christian… Continue reading The Parish IS The Curriculum
The Vision of RCIA
If we approach the RCIA as yet one more program to implement and we delegate the implementation of that program to a small group of leaders, then we will have failed even before we begin. ... the adult catechumenate changes everything. It is a paradigm shift that flows from the radical insight recovered from Vatican… Continue reading The Vision of RCIA
Bless and Do Not Curse
If we, the People of God, wish to enter the kingdom of God, then we will eventually have to be purified of any hatred in our hearts. We must truly love all of our brothers and sisters, including terrorists, liberals, conservatives, child molesters, Republicans, Democrats, and the host of others on this planet with whom… Continue reading Bless and Do Not Curse
Conviction and Dogmatism
Conviction and dogmatism are not the same. There is a difference between having seen some truth and claiming to speak in the name of all truth; between knowing what one believes and refusing to respect the beliefs and experiences of others. People of faith should speak with a humble authority combining real knowledge with an… Continue reading Conviction and Dogmatism
Religion and the Ecology of Freedom
In describing religion, Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregation of the Commonwealth and renown public intellectual, says religion is: part of the ecology of freedom because it supports families, communities, charities, voluntary associations, active citizenship and concern for the common good. It is a key contributor to civil society, which is… Continue reading Religion and the Ecology of Freedom
The Liturgy Is Fully Embodied
In stark contrast [to the "Internet of Things"], the liturgy remains a firmly embodied experience. Worship engages all the senses of our body. The liturgy employes symbols of the body and of things to invite us more deeply into the divine mystery. There is no Church, no Eucharist, without the Body of Christ - a… Continue reading The Liturgy Is Fully Embodied
From Liturgy to Action in the World
Sacrosanctum Concilium's call for revisions in liturgical rites and texts made it easier for the Church to recognize and engage the public nature of liturgy. It also empowered the worshipping faithful to take part in efforts to reform social, economic, cultural, and political systems of society. The latter emphasis is what Gaudium et spes brought to our understanding… Continue reading From Liturgy to Action in the World
The Liturgy in the Life of the Church
Whether the Council Fathers could foresee the impact of the reform of the liturgy on the life of the Church is impossible to know for certain. The liturgy is "the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the fount from which all the Church's power flows"… Continue reading The Liturgy in the Life of the Church
The Reception of Vatican II
Fifty years after the event of Vatican II, we find ourselves in that crucial moment of passage between the short run and the long run: the "clash of narratives" about Vatican II encounters here the perennial law of the reception of the Councils of the Church. Giuseppe Alberigo, recalling the worrisome memorandum sent between 1600… Continue reading The Reception of Vatican II
A Library of Stories
I'm reading a book entitled In the Beginning There Were Stories by William Bausch. The subtitle of the book is "Thoughts about the Oral Tradition of the Bible", and Bausch is making a case that to adequately understand the Scriptures they need to be seen as the written form of what were initially oral stories. One… Continue reading A Library of Stories
Liturgy, Leadership, and Governance in the Church
...the church as sacrament is inseparable from its baptismal and Eucharistic practices, for the unity of the church is sacramentally realized in its communion with its Lord (1 Corinthians 10:16-17). Therefore the principles of good worship are also the principles of life in the church more generally, since the nature of the church is manifested… Continue reading Liturgy, Leadership, and Governance in the Church
The Nature of Church
...the church is sacramental, mystical, Christological, and pneumatological before it is sociological or juridical. The unity of the church is not psychological, political, or a federation of the like-minded, but a sacramental and spiritual unity in Christ first established in baptism and then expressed, nourished, and brought to maturity in eucharistic communion. Susan K. Wood,… Continue reading The Nature of Church
Unconditional Mercy
Nothing of what a repentant sinner places before God's mercy can be excluded from the embrace of his forgiveness. For this reason, none of us has the right to make forgiveness conditional. Mercy is always a gratuitous act of our heavenly Father, an unconditional and unmerited act of love. Consequently, we cannot risk opposing the… Continue reading Unconditional Mercy
Ten Principles of Religious Freedom
I am currently reading a book entitled Chalice of Liberty: Protecting Religious Freedom in Australia, which is essentially two essays, the first written by Frank Brennan and Michael Casey. Towards the end of that first essay, Brennan and Casey enumerate ten principles of religious freedom (pp. 49-53), which in the current public discourse are worthy of… Continue reading Ten Principles of Religious Freedom
The Worldview of New Ecclesial Movements
In recent weeks I've been reading Sorting Out Catholicism: A Brief History of the New Ecclesial Movements by Massimo Faggioli, the 2014 translation of his 2008 original Italian volume. It has been a fascinating read, and one particular part I read this afternoon is worthy of being shared in its entirety: In terms of worldviews, it… Continue reading The Worldview of New Ecclesial Movements
The Responsibilities for Theology
...Ford (2000) posits three responsibilities for theology. In the first instance, theology has responsibilities to churches and religious communities, to help them better understand themselves and their place in the world. This aligns closely with the definition of theology we considered with Anselm earlier. Second, theology has responsibilities to the other academic disciplines: it must… Continue reading The Responsibilities for Theology
The Necessary Link Between Church and Theology
There can be little argument that some within the Church look at theologians with a certain degree of suspicion, as if the belief is that theologians, and particular theologians who are seen as being "liberal", are tasked with destroying the Church's faith rather than seeking to foster a greater understanding of that same faith. Writing… Continue reading The Necessary Link Between Church and Theology
Enforcing Orthodoxy
An interesting editorial comment in the 20 January edition of The Tablet touching on the way in which opinions expressed by someone that are contrary to the accepted 'orthodoxy' (a word I use with some trepidation) are censored and condemned merely because they are contrary to the accepted 'orthodoxy'. It is a phenomenon we often see… Continue reading Enforcing Orthodoxy
