This Week's Headlines

As another week comes to an end, this is your chance to top off your glass with a final helping of news, current events, and just plain interesting stuff that may not have made into the mainstream media. A chance to linger for a few more moments before we close the door on the week. Below are some links to articles, blogs, and miscellaneous happenings that caught my eye over the past few days. Sample what you like - I'll serve up more next Friday...

 
What's Wrong with the West? - "...secularists seek what the great American Christian leader, Fr Richard John Neuhaus, called the “naked public square”. That is, they seek to “cleanse” (from their perspective) the public square of all references to Christianity, Judaism, or revealed religion of any type.
 

Don't Impose Your Morality on Me! - "People today are generally at ease with the first part of morality, the fair play in our social relationships. But many are not at all comfortable discussing the second aspect of morality, which focuses on the individual's life choices and moral character. Many think they should be free to do whatever they want with their lives, as long as they do not hurt other people."

Morality Without Religion? - "...one can be 'moral' without religion if one defines 'moral' however you wish."

Marriage: A Way to Heaven - "...love of self is easy, but loving another, not for what the other does for me but for the other's own sake, is difficult. But marriage is about learning just that. And that's why marriage has been on the decline in North America since the late 60s. Individualism and hedonism took root in this culture at that time."

Charlie Sheen's Search for God - "'Every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is looking for God.' Even those who have never read G.K. Chesterton have likely heard a variation of his famous line. Messy are the ways that sinful men seek what is good."
 
Obamacare Repeal - "...there are whole swaths of methods to expand access to care and coverage without government mandates."
'Social Justice' is a complex concept - "A system that pits the haves against the have-nots, with politicians and bureaucrats acting as referees, should be rejected by anyone sincerely interested in building a just social order."
 

The attacks on the new English Missal are the last expiring gasp of the ‘Spirit of Vatican II’ - "The point is that there has already been a huge battle over this (which the good guys won), a battle which began when Pope John Paul published Liturgiam Authenticam, a document which made it clear that Mass translations in future should be faithful to the Latin text..."
 

Silence - "...I think Priests and music ministers could be ever mindful to create an atmosphere that encourages silence."

 

More Christianity - A book by Fr. Dwight Longenecker which takes up where C. S. Lewis' Mere Christianity leaves off. [This link takes you to an interview with the author at IgnatiusInsight blog.]

Liberal Religions in Free Fall - "...those religions which have experienced the greatest proportionate decline in membership are generally the most progressive or liberal in their teachings; conversely, conservative-oriented religions have fared comparatively well."

 

Homosexual Church Weddings - "England's Daily Telegraph reports here that parliament is preparing legislation to remove the ban on same sex civil unions being religious."
 

Academia and Lifestyle Bias - "...selection factors and biases have resulted in the academy becoming populated mainly by strongly progressive people who plan to marry late and have few if any kids..."

When Does the Pope Speak Infallibly? - "The Catholic teaching about papal infallibility is so thoroughly misunderstood—especially by non-Catholics with a hearty dislike for our Church—that some of the erroneous ideas that one encounters might almost be entertaining, if their absurdity didn’t at the same time reveal such sad misconceptions about the authority which the Pope really has."

Literature and Literalism - "Myth connects with the deeper parts of our shared consciousness within our humanity...The stories of the beginning of  Genesis do as well, with the exception that these are not fanciful stories as the pagan myths are, but stories based in real events."

Donald Trump vows to oppose gay marriage - [I posted two other articles about Trump last week. I don't know why this has interested me so much, but Donald Trump has shown up in Catholic news feeds lately because of his supposed run for the White House.] Donald Trump, pro-life convert?

Sirico on Social Justice

Fr. Robert Sirico, co-founder and head of the Acton Institute, made some timely comments concerning Social Justice in the Detroit News this week. Here's a sample:

The incredible growth of economies in places like China and India isn't happening because wealth was being shifted around, but because wealth is being created.

What happens when wealth is "redistributed" is obvious now.

We're seeing the train wreck of the "social assistance state" in Europe.

In his 1991 social encyclical "Centesimus Annus," Pope John Paul II warned that a bloated state "leads to a loss of human energies and an inordinate increase in public agencies, which are dominated more by bureaucratic ways of thinking than by concerns for serving their clients, and which are accompanied by an enormous increase in spending." I call that prophetic.

Let's also be clear that the Church's teaching condemns the idolatry of money and material goods.

The Church finds another way, neither condemning market activities nor exalting them beyond their rightful place in the grand scheme of things. It asks us to work for the highest good and to contribute as we can our time, talents and wealth that we have earned for the betterment of the world. The Church also demands that we build just systems of trade that enable the poor to be the agents of their own betterment.

So let's drop these false notions about what constitutes the Church's understanding of social justice.

A system that pits the haves against the have-nots, with politicians and bureaucrats acting as referees, should be rejected by anyone sincerely interested in building a just social order.

Read the whole article here.

This Week's Headlines

As another week comes to an end, this is your chance to top off your glass with a final helping of news, current events, and just plain interesting stuff that may not have made into the mainstream media. A chance to linger for a few more moments before we close the door on the week. Below are some links to articles, blogs, and miscellaneous happenings that caught my eye over the past few days. Sample what you like - I'll serve up more next Friday...

What Is the New Statism? - "Usually the debate over Catholic thinking on economics takes place at a ridiculous level of abstraction, and, for this reason, these debates rarely make any difference in the real world. The truth is that hardly anyone with technical knowledge of economics and economic policy pays attention to them. "

Motu Proprio on a New Liturgical Movement? - "'What I see as absolutely necessary and urgent, according to what the the Pope wishes, is giving life to a new, clear and vigorous liturgical movement throughout the entire Church'", to put an end to 'arbitrary deformations' and the process of 'secularisation, which unfortunately is at work even inside the Church.'"

Pope's prayers: Could Internet increase spread of intentions? - "For 167 years, members of the Apostleship of Prayer have begun each day offering their lives to God and praying for the needs of the universal church and the intentions of the pope." See also: Apostleship of Prayer, official website.

 

Caught on Video: The Pope Celebrates the Mass Bass-Ackwards Again - "The truly backwards way to say Mass is 'facing the people,' or 'versus populum.'"

I am the Immaculate Conception - "We must be struck by the directness and immediacy with which Our Lady spoke to the young Bernadette at Lourdes: 'I am the Immaculate Conception.' She does not say 'I have been immaculately conceived'"

The Relevance of Holiness - "It was highly improbable that the Immaculate Conception herself would choose this fourteen-year-old girl whose own living conditions were so very far from immaculate. Bernadette understood that the Blessed Mother had demonstrated great humility in appearing to her, conversing with her and asking for her aid, and asking so kindly and respectfully."

What Would Ronald Reagan Do? - "Despite the formidable obstacles before us, we must not lose heart. This is not the first time our country has been divided by a Supreme Court decision that denied the value of certain human lives. The Dred Scott decision of 1857 was not overturned in a day, or a year, or even a decade."

Compare and Contrast: Super Bowl and the Mass, Football and Faith - "So many Catholics are dedicated to the game. They even come to Church wearing the jersey of their team and someone else’s name on their back! Let’s compare and contrast some of the aspects of football and see if the same kind of thrill and dedication are exhibited to the Lord, the Mass and the Church."

Is it a sin not to pray every day? - "Yes.  It is a sin not to pray every day... Not praying daily indicates a lukewarm view of God in your life... Not praying puts your soul in danger, which is a sin."

Donald Trump = Pro-life? and calls for repeal of Obama-care

What is the New Statism?

This is a great article I discovered at InsideCatholic.com

The author, Jeffery Tucker, reports on a piece published in the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, written by Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, head of the Vatican's bank. In his article Tedeschi (a former professor of financial ethics at the Catholic University of Milan) critiques the new "Statism" of our time and tells why Catholic Social Justice is opposed to unnecessary state interference in private economic affairs. The importance of this article is explained by Mr. Tucker:

"Usually the debate over Catholic thinking on economics takes place at a ridiculous level of abstraction, and, for this reason, these debates rarely make any difference in the real world. The truth is that hardly anyone with technical knowledge of economics and economic policy pays attention to them. Theorists go on about social justice, workers' rights, the morality of profit, the pluses and minuses of economic growth, the limits of market efficiency, and the like, but never get around to speaking about what's actually going on in the great struggle between market forces and the interventionist state."

Ettore Tedeschi cuts through the abstract and instead gives straight answers to refute the common left-wing misconceptions about Social Justice and the workings of modern economics. Here's a sample of Tucker's analysis:

 "Tedeschi's article was different. He pointedly names the source of the ideas that are wrecking government budgets, saddling the world with debt, leading to nationalizations and centralized control, and discouraging thrift. The source here is the body of writing by John Maynard Keynes, the British economist who came to rule the world with his ideas in the 1930s and 1940s, who has made a stunning resurgence in the last five years or so

"Keynes is like Marx in that he has been refuted again and again, and every generation of thinkers declares the body of ideas dead from the neck up. It was this way with Marx in the 1890s, when German thinkers were already dismissing his ideas as defunct. But it was all premature. So with Keynes: Economists in the late 1930s wrote him off, and again in the 1940s. By the late 1950s, economists were already apologizing in advance for refuting him yet again. And yet here we are, 75 years after the General Theory appeared, and Keynes is still the man.

"It's about time that someone with a voice in the Catholic world actually spoke about Keynesian theory, for this is indeed the source for just about every crazy scheme of governments to wreck the functioning of markets throughout the world. The naming of Keynesianism here falls in a great tradition, too. Popes from Leo XIII to Benedict XVI have condemned Marxism time and again, but it is not Marx who is the muse behind the current fiasco among developed economies on both sides of the Atlantic."

You can read the whole article here: What Is the New Statism?

The original piece by Ettore Gotti Tedeschi is here (unfortunately it is in Italian).

This Week's Headlines

As another week comes to an end, this is your chance to top off your glass with a final helping of news, current events, and just plain interesting stuff that may not have made into the mainstream media. A chance to linger for a few more moments before we close the door on the week. Below are some links to articles, blogs, and miscellaneous happenings that caught my eye over the past few days. Sample what you like - I'll serve up more next Friday...

Legacy of Life - "Christianity contradicted pagan mores on almost every point. What were virtuous acts to the Romans and Greeks — contraception, abortion, infanticide, suicide, euthanasia — were abominations to the Christians...Our last generations have perverted our world from one Way to another, and we too will be judged. But we can still do something, as our earliest Christian ancestors did, and we must."

A Culture Exposed - "Christianity’s critics say they want to promote a tolerant, welcoming, inclusive society. What they usually mean is a society that gives free rein to every vice, every cruel lust, and every sin."

Ecumenical manners can't blunt pro-life message, pope says - "Benedict acknowledged the difficulties in ecumenical dialogue, saying that sometimes'“the conversation partners bring completely difference conceptions of church unity' into the conversation, which further delays the aim of full visible communion and a common celebration of the Eucharist."

California Medicaid Sink Hole More Proof of Single Payer Fatal Rationing Flaw - "Centralized control is the wrong approach to health care.  Like good investment strategies, we need a diverse coverage strategy.  And free market competition is a crucial part of the mix."


Appreciating the Gift of Suffering - "...let’s explore the Catholic teaching on redemptive suffering and its importance in our daily lives.  After we’re finished, I think you’ll agree that it not only makes sense, but that it really is possible to 'rejoice in our sufferings'."


Habeas corpus: The Curious Cause of Bp. Fulton Sheen - "Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of Peoria has announced that the Archbishop Fulton John Sheen Foundation has resumed its efforts to advance Sheen’s cause."


Pope Benedict: authenticity and faithfulness in social networking - "To proclaim the Gospel through the new media means not only to insert expressly religious content into different media platforms, but also to witness consistently, in one’s own digital profile and in the way one communicates choices, preferences and judgements that are fully consistent with the Gospel, even when it is not spoken of specifically."

The Church of England's mean-spirited attitude to the Ordinariate: whatever happened to the 'Broad Church'? - "The Ordinariate is showing the Roman Catholic Church offering compromises, fudges and political fixes to Anglican traditionalists. Whereas the Church which has always taken pride in the image of itself as a via media and a place where everyone could fit in had nothing to offer the same traditionalists."

Saint Thomas Aquinas: Priest and Doctor of the Church - "It was the outstanding fact about St. Thomas that he loved books and lived on books; that he lived the very life of the clerk or scholar in The Canterbury Tales, who would rather have a hundred books of Aristotle and his philosophy than any wealth the world could give him."

Exorcist praises new movie 'The Rite' for showing power of faith - "Fr. Thomas also said that the intensely eery trailers for the film are 'deceptive' in the sense that they make it look like a “horror movie,” which he says is inaccurate."

Be Not Afraid of the Devil - “The devil is something people need to be aware of, but his usual activity is temptation.  The remedy that the Church offers from her treasures is the sacraments, devotions, blessings, prayers, and holy water; that is the normal work of the priest.”

Doorways for the Devil (and interview with an exorsist) - "...there are more and more Catholics involved in idolatrous and pagan practices. That’s really why there’s more demonic activity. There’s the absence of God in the lives of a lot of people."

Book Review: God Sent His Son: A Contemporary Christology

A Theology of God's Word

At the core of our Christian faith stands the question: Who is the man Jesus Christ and what does His life mean for mankind? The branch of theology that pursues the answer to this question is called Christology. Who better to present an authentically Catholic Christology than Christoph Cardinal Schönborn the Archbishop of Vienna, and the chief editor of the most recent Catechism of the Catholic Church?

A former student of Pope Benedict XVI, Schönborn became a scholar in his own right and a preeminent theologian and professor of dogmatic theology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Among many other accomplishments in 1980 he became a member of the Holy See’s International Theological Commission; he served as a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; and in January of 2011 he was appointed by Pope Benedict as one of the first members of the newly created Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization. It is difficult to find a more qualified theologian from whom to learn the mysteries of our faith.

Cardinal Schönborn’s latest book entitled God Sent His Son: A Contemporary Christology is the product of decades of study and professorial work from this theological giant of our time. With information compiled from lectures and courses taught by the author, we are presented with a Christology that is both scholarly and deeply heartfelt. The Cardinal derives the title for this book from the words of Paul to the Galatians, “But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Gal 4:4-5) Paul had a profoundly personal encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, and so Paul’s Christology is rooted in his personal experience of the man Jesus. Cardinal Schönborn insists that any valid Christology for today must return to this biblical foundation centered on the Christ of the Gospels. Christology must have its origins in Scripture and grow out of an abiding faith in the resurrected Jesus.

This does not mean that Cardinal Schönborn’s Christology is simplistic or unrefined – far from it. In true Catholic fashion, the author demonstrates that doctrine develops over time. The insights afforded to us by Scripture (guided by our personal faith in God’s Word) are deepened with centuries of Christian thought. With this in mind, the Cardinal leads us on a journey through the first Ecumenical Councils which tackled such Christological controversies as Arianism and Nestorianism. Careful attention is paid to the contributions of the early Church Fathers, including Maximus the Confessor, Cyril of Alexandria, Athenasius, John Damascene, Irenaeus of Lyons, and John Chrysostom, but also later theologians such as Anselm of Canterbury and the great Thomas Aquinas.

Travelling forward, the author brings us through centuries of Christological debate within the Catholic Church to our own time with the works of Hans Urs von Balthasar, Joseph Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI), and other contemporary theologians. But along the way he also explores the contributions of Protestant theologians, beginning with Martin Luther and his contemporaries and including modern Protestant thinkers such as Karl Barth and Rudolf Bultmann. As each avenue is explored, God Sent His Son truly presents a thorough examination of Christology from every imaginable angle, but always returning to the core principle that all theological endeavors, no matter how speculative, must be grounded in God’s Word and approached with an abiding faith. Authentic Christology begins and ends with a faith rooted in Holy Scripture and Sacred Tradition. To the extent these various theologians and schools of theology remain true to that principle, their contributions are welcomed and evaluated accordingly. Where they do not, they are rightfully criticized. And Cardinal Schönborn masterfully ties together all of the loose ends with his own brilliant observations.

This broad sweep of theological history is laid out by Cardinal Schönborn within a framework loosely based on the Creed (or rather the portion of the Creed dealing specifically with the Son of God). We begin with the Son’s relationship to the Father (God from God, Light from Light) and the significance of the Incarnation. The author then traces the life of Jesus from His birth through His ministry and death followed by His resurrection and glorification at God’s right hand. The main text then concludes with Jesus’ return and our Final Judgment. Just as the Catechism uses the Creed as an outline, Cardinal Schönborn borrows this middle portion of the Creed to organize his Christology.

The author’s choice of the Creed as an organizing framework speaks to his deep Christian faith. Historically the Creeds were formulated as a baptismal profession meant to highlight key elements of the Christian faith. The Creeds are used today as a form of public committal to Christian doctrine. They contain the essence of what it means to be Christian. Many of the statements found in the Creed with regard to Jesus were placed there after careful deliberation by Church Councils when faced with Christological controversies. The Creed contains the essence of a Scriptural Christology. Cardinal Schönborn’s book expands on this profession of faith with the heart of a true believer and the mind of preeminent scholar.

God Sent His Son: A Contemporary Christology is not light reading. Christoph Cardinal Schönborn writes just as one would expect a world-renowned doctor of theology, and high-ranking Vatican official would write (i.e. he uses big words, and conveys big ideas). Anyone reading this book should have some grounding in basic theology and Church history before attempting this task. The Cardinal presents in these pages the fruit of many years as a professor and scholar, and it certainly bears witness to a faith and a love for Christ that has been nourished by his intellect. I am sure the good Cardinal hopes the same for all those who read his work.

[This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on God Sent His Son, A Contemporary Christology . They are also a great source for serenity prayer and baptism gifts.]

Life Unseen

January… The trees are stark and bare against the gray sky. Their leafless branches quiver in the icy wind. The skies are silent as the birds have migrated to their winter homes. No movement on the snow-covered ground, as many animals have burrowed in to hibernate or come out only momentarily for food before scurrying back to their warm dens.

It is easy to see why many ancient cultures saw winter as a time of death and lifelessness. The trees seem to die as they shed their autumn leaves. The animals disappear from the land. Food is scarce. Many people did in fact die from cold and hunger and disease, before the age of modern comforts and technology.

But it would be a mistake for us to think of winter as completely lifeless. Life is present even when it is not visibly obvious. The trees are waiting to put forth new leaves after the spring rains. Animals do survive the winter months though we may not see them as frequently as we do in warmer seasons. The birds return and flowers bloom. It is all there waiting to be born again. Life is there, even if it is just below the surface, where we must look a little harder.

How fitting that the anniversary of Roe v. Wade comes at a time when all around us life is quietly tucked away in the midst of the winter calm. We know (indeed it is a scientific fact) that life can be present even when the outward signs, things visible to our naked eye, suggest otherwise. The leafless tree still though it seems barren, still contains its sap and is ready to put forth buds. The animals that hibernate through the winter months, still breathe, their hearts still beat; they will emerge at the appointed time. And a child in the womb is sleeping soundly awaiting the day of her birth.

Life is there, though we may not see it directly with our own eye. We must remember this as we face the long cold winter of abortion.