Call for Lay Participation in Honest Elections
The CBCP has issued a pastoral statement entitled Lay Participation in Politics and Peace. The pastoral statement is prefaced with a theological conviction that justifies its call for an active lay participation in the coming 2010 elections:
Our mission as Church is to proclaim the Lord Jesus as our Savior. In proclaiming him we necessarily proclaim the Kingdom of God that he himself proclaimed. God’s Kingdom, St. Paul reminds us, is not a matter of drinking and eating, but a matter of justice, peace and joy (Cfr. Rom 14, 17). It is in the Kingdom of God where “Love and truth will meet; justice and peace will kiss” (Ps. 85: 11). Therefore, in the light of our mission to proclaim the Reign of God in Jesus Christ we your pastors write you this urgent pastoral letter.
It is interesting that this theological premise links together Rom. 14:17 and Ps. 85:11.
Caritas in Veritate
Updated on Friday, July 10, 2009 at 08:03PM by
The Mystical Geek
Pope Benedict XVI’s third encyclical is now available. It is called “Caritas in Veritate” and you can find it here. I have also made a PDF version of the document for distribution to my students in the Social Doctrines of the Church. The file is in a zipped archive. You can download it from here. I do not know when it will come out in our bookstores. But the document is only about 40 pages long with footnotes occupying about five pages.
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The Lord's Supper and the Passover Meal (Jewish Seder)
While I was writing a Bible Workshop article for the Feast of Corpus Christi, I came across certain blogs written by Jewish Rabbis on the Last Supper. I was searching the web for articles on the Passover meal as Jesus and his companions would have had it, and I did find one: a reconstruction based on the Pesachim and -- get this -- performed by a congregation of Christians. The article is called "Passover in the Time of Jesus" At first, I thought that the article reflected an academic exercise where students of theology had an experience of a reconstruction of the Last Supper. But it appears that Christian congregations in the States (it seems) are having these reconstructed "seders" as part of their celebrations of the Lord's Supper.
He is Seated at the Right Hand of God
Since the Ascension God's plan has entered into its fulfillment. We are already at "the last hour". "Already the final age of the world is with us, and the renewal of the world is irrevocably under way; it is even now anticipated in a certain real way, for the Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real but imperfect." Christ's kingdom already manifests its presence through the miraculous signs that attend its proclamation by the Church. (CCC 670)
From the depths of Hades, the Lord moved upwards to the land of the living and beyond that to the right hand of the Father where He is now seated in glory "far above the principalities and powers", as Paul would say. "From there, He will come again to judge the living and the dead", we say as we profess the Creed. The Ascension of the Lord makes us look forward to His second coming and assures us of the glory that awaits us. In sum, we are already winners. That thought should make us more generous, more loving and caring in a world that gives us more reason to be selfish, unloving and uncaring. We know that the world is passing, that it does not have the last word. The last word belongs to the Lord; and He does not lie.
Augustinian Friars in the News
The Lancaster Diocese has a new bishop, and he is an Augustinian Friar: the Rev. Michael Campbell, OSA. He has been coadjutor bishop for the Diocese since March 2008. He takes over from Bishop Patrick O'Donohue who has retired. More news from a Zenit press release here.
In the meanwhile, the Augustinian friars who have been working in the Monsignor Bonner High School (Delaware, USA) are preparing for their departure from the campus they have served since 1953. The author of the news item from DelcoTimes writes that the reason is due to the dwindling number of friars in the Province of Villanova:
With 213 priests and brothers in the order — and just more than 100 who are involved in full-time active ministry — the order was spread too thin between various parishes, high schools, Villanova University, Merrimack College and a variety of ministries stretching from Massachusetts to Florida, Esposito said. The order (read="the Province of Villanova") also has missions in Peru, South Africa and Japan.
Read more about it at DelcoTimes Staff writer Timothy Logue did a good job on this piece as he describes the reactions of students and parents to the departure of the friars.
Related Websites:
- Bonner High (http://www.bonnerhigh.com )
- Bonner Alumni (http://www.bonneralumni.com)
- Province of St. Thomas of Villanova (http://www.augustinian.org)
The Mystical Geek
The Mystical Geek
