Wednesday, May 08, 2019
Tuesday, May 07, 2019
Hrm.
CWR: In visiting North Macedonia, Pope Francis follows in the footsteps of St. Mother Teresa by Ines Angeli Murzaku
“This Easter is special for us, because we celebrate it on the eve of the visit of the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis. I truly believe that this visit is an important step [...]
“This Easter is special for us, because we celebrate it on the eve of the visit of the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis. I truly believe that this visit is an important step [...]
Monday, May 06, 2019
More of a Tribute to Fr. Schall
Than a testimony to the current state of the Society of Jesus.
First Things: Jesuits and The Catholic Mind by K. E. Colombini
First Things: Jesuits and The Catholic Mind by K. E. Colombini
Will There Be Any Repercussions for This?
NCReg: Father Aidan Nichols Signs Open Letter Charging Pope Francis With Heresy by Edward Pentin
The Dominican priest is one of 19 academics and clergy calling on the world’s bishops to admonish the Pope and publicly reject heresy or face losing the papacy.
After all, Fr. Nichols' lecture on the papacy from last year has not been published in full.
The Dominican priest is one of 19 academics and clergy calling on the world’s bishops to admonish the Pope and publicly reject heresy or face losing the papacy.
After all, Fr. Nichols' lecture on the papacy from last year has not been published in full.
Ephesians 6:12 and Spiritual Warfare
Ephesians 6:12
Put into context:
With respect to our ultimate end, and the first object of our love, God, who is our enemy? What can other men do to prevent us from loving God? Nothing directly. They can only try to lead us away through temptation and persecution and torture. But who is the murderer from the beginning (John 8:44)? Doesn't the devil try to get us to reject God through temptation only? The devil cannot do anything to us directly. But the devil is much more subtle and clever than any human being, and he is our ultimate enemy.
If we are to become righteous in God, we must first deal with ourselves first, and the snares that the devil has set for us.
But this is not to deny that we do not have human enemies, especially with respect to secondary goods, like the good of the family or the good of the political community. And while the devil too operates in this sphere as part of his larger rebellion against God, still our human enemies are real, and they really are our enemies. Even if we are enjoined by our Lord to love them that does not mean that we do not need to respond to them and their attacks appropriately. The Gospel is not an pacifist humanistic religion.
Our human enemies have agency, and a proper response, including the use of violence if necessary, should be understood as a form of correction or retributive justice.
Similarly, Matthew 10:28 -- is this another example of hyperbole? Can we ever get rid of the emotion of fear, instead of submitting it to reason? I don't think so. So perhaps what our Lord is really saying if you are to fear, you should really fear the devil and his cohort, who are trying to lead you away from God and to perdition. That is our first concern. But He is not denying that there are secondary goods--while secondary goods are not as important as the first good, God Himself, we may love them for the sake of loving God (and neighbor), and in grave circumstances it may be necessary to take extraordinary measures to secure those goods.
For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Put into context:
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; 16 above all taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that utterance may be given me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
With respect to our ultimate end, and the first object of our love, God, who is our enemy? What can other men do to prevent us from loving God? Nothing directly. They can only try to lead us away through temptation and persecution and torture. But who is the murderer from the beginning (John 8:44)? Doesn't the devil try to get us to reject God through temptation only? The devil cannot do anything to us directly. But the devil is much more subtle and clever than any human being, and he is our ultimate enemy.
If we are to become righteous in God, we must first deal with ourselves first, and the snares that the devil has set for us.
But this is not to deny that we do not have human enemies, especially with respect to secondary goods, like the good of the family or the good of the political community. And while the devil too operates in this sphere as part of his larger rebellion against God, still our human enemies are real, and they really are our enemies. Even if we are enjoined by our Lord to love them that does not mean that we do not need to respond to them and their attacks appropriately. The Gospel is not an pacifist humanistic religion.
Our human enemies have agency, and a proper response, including the use of violence if necessary, should be understood as a form of correction or retributive justice.
Similarly, Matthew 10:28 -- is this another example of hyperbole? Can we ever get rid of the emotion of fear, instead of submitting it to reason? I don't think so. So perhaps what our Lord is really saying if you are to fear, you should really fear the devil and his cohort, who are trying to lead you away from God and to perdition. That is our first concern. But He is not denying that there are secondary goods--while secondary goods are not as important as the first good, God Himself, we may love them for the sake of loving God (and neighbor), and in grave circumstances it may be necessary to take extraordinary measures to secure those goods.
Sunday, May 05, 2019
A Papal Trip With What Effect on the Orthodox?
CWR: A Long-Burning Candle of Hope: The “Bulgarian Pope” and the Pope in Bulgaria by Ines Angeli Murzaku
Nearly a century after Msgr. Angelo Roncalli began his decade of service in Bulgaria, Pope Francis is visiting with a message of peace, using the same theme as St. John XXIII’s 1963 Encyclical Pacem in Terris.
Nearly a century after Msgr. Angelo Roncalli began his decade of service in Bulgaria, Pope Francis is visiting with a message of peace, using the same theme as St. John XXIII’s 1963 Encyclical Pacem in Terris.
Saturday, May 04, 2019
Friday, May 03, 2019
More on A.G. Sertillanges, O.P.
CWR Dispatch: Rules for Christian Intellectuals, Part II by Dr. Kelly Scott Franklin
Latins Gonna Latin
This was republished by Catholic Culture in response to the letter accusing Pope Francis of heresy. Alternative ecclesiologies will not be considered!
Theories that Francis is not the Pope (or can be deposed) destroy the credibility of the Church by Dr. Jeff Mirus
Theories that Francis is not the Pope (or can be deposed) destroy the credibility of the Church by Dr. Jeff Mirus
Exorcism
50 years ago Jesuit theologians argued the age of exorcism had ended. @matthewschmitz tells us why it has come back in this week's Catholic Herald.https://t.co/0uwVTNgevD pic.twitter.com/VIrC3zfaqU
— Catholic Herald (@CatholicHerald) May 3, 2019
Preaching and Theology
Church Life: There’s No Relation Between Preaching and Theology by John Cavadini
Something on the Book of Revelation
Church Life: Liturgy and Slaughter in the Book of Revelation by Francesca A. Murphy
The New Passover
Church Life: The Liturgy is the Easter Story’s Proper Setting by Paulinus Ikechukwu Odozor
Richard Bernier, "Byzantine Spirituality and the Tradition of St. Ignatius of Loyola"
Not a connection one would expect to be made, and probably not without criticism.
Thursday, May 02, 2019
Wednesday, May 01, 2019
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Was it enough?
What were the causes for the evangelization of South America by the Jesuits not being effective? Interference by the secular authorities?
Monday, April 29, 2019
Altieri on Curial Reform
CWR: Despite much-hyped reform, new Curia remains a governing apparatus by Christopher R. Altieri
Vatican watchers got their first real look at what might be in store for the Church’s central governing apparatus this weekend, when an article appeared in the new edition of Spain’s leading Catholic Vida Nueva [...]
Vatican watchers got their first real look at what might be in store for the Church’s central governing apparatus this weekend, when an article appeared in the new edition of Spain’s leading Catholic Vida Nueva [...]
Sunday, April 28, 2019
Illumination
It is good to see adult converts; certainly has me thinking again about the question of initiating all babies, children, and teenagers into the Christian life without discernment by the pastor.
Keunwoo Kwon Reviews Justice as a Virtue
Reading Religion
While this book is an excellent work crafted by a first-rate scholar, this reader has a minor quibble about an omission rather than a commission. In this volume Porter does not address the issue of “burdened virtue” raised by Lisa Tessman in her 2005 Burdened Virtues (Oxford University Press). Since Porter discusses with nuance the complicated relationship between justice and eudaemonia in chapter 5, it is a little bit of a surprise that Tessman’s well-noted challenge to the Aristotelian moral tradition is entirely absent in this chapter. To what extent would Aquinas acknowledge the contingent connection between virtue and flourishing? Is it legitimate to see the virtue of justice as a mean in an Aristotelian sense, given that there seems to be no mean for an intense sensitivity to others’ suffering in this tragic world? Would Aquinas’s emphasis on supernatural grace and his eschatology based upon the Exitus-Reditus framework somehow help resolve this tension? These questions deserve a serious response from Porter, especially when her work implicitly touches upon the issues treated with care by Tessman.
Pascha, Resurrection, and Faith
Church Life: What Does Belief in the Resurrection Look Like? by David Fagerberg
The Importance of "Natural Philosophy"
Public Discourse: A Natural Philosopher’s Lament By John G. Brungardt
Saturday, April 27, 2019
Friday, April 26, 2019
Gerald J. Russello Reviews Aquinas and the Market
CWR Dispatch: Cui bono? Bringing Thomistic thought to bear on modern economics by Gerald J. Russello
In her new book, economist and theologian Mary L. Hirschfeld makes a welcome contribution to a distinctive, Catholic way of looking at economics.
In her new book, economist and theologian Mary L. Hirschfeld makes a welcome contribution to a distinctive, Catholic way of looking at economics.
Thursday, April 25, 2019
A Clarification?
But according to whom?
Sandro Magister: The Two Paschas of Jews and Christians. A Previously Unpublished Letter By the Pope Emeritus
Sandro Magister: The Two Paschas of Jews and Christians. A Previously Unpublished Letter By the Pope Emeritus
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
A. Edward Siecienski's Dissertation
The use of Maximus the Confessor's writing on the filioque at the Council of Ferrara -Florence (1438--1439) by A. Edward Siecienski, Fordham University
Monday, April 22, 2019
Sunday, April 21, 2019
A Reason for Evangelization?
Liberals, statists, and non-believers will not care about the Christian genealogy of rights and rights talk, just as they don't really care about Roman Law or the Common Law, except insofar as it supports their ideology.
RCP: Recovering the Christian Foundations of Human Rights by Peter Berkowitz
RCP: Recovering the Christian Foundations of Human Rights by Peter Berkowitz
Saturday, April 20, 2019
Friday, April 19, 2019
"Passover" Meal
CWR Dispatch: When was the Last Supper? by Dr. Randall B. Smith
Was the Last Supper a Passover meal or some sort of pre-Passover “farewell” meal? Does John have the story right, or do Matthew, Mark, and Luke?
Was the Last Supper a Passover meal or some sort of pre-Passover “farewell” meal? Does John have the story right, or do Matthew, Mark, and Luke?
Latin Theology of the Priesthood
HPR: Patristic Ressourcement in the Theology of the Priesthood by Dr. Joshua Madden
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Has Pope Francis Covered This in His Wednesday Catechesis yet?
Touchstone Mag: Editing Jesus
John M. McCarthy on the Implications of Changing the Pater Noster
John M. McCarthy on the Implications of Changing the Pater Noster
Something to Re-Visit
The catecheses by Pope Francis on the Lord's Prayer
CNA: Pope Francis: Christ’s glory is found in suffering for love
CNA: Pope Francis: Christ’s glory is found in suffering for love
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Justice
TouchstoneMag: Deliver Us From Evil: Justice Demands an Assessment of Injustice by Anthony Esolen
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
More Apologetics-Based Catechesis?
Crisis: A Remedy for the Catechetical Poverty of Our Time by Christian Browne
How about something that is based on presenting salvation history through the Roman liturgy tradition and Sacred Scripture? Or would that be too much to ask of the Pauline Missal?
How about something that is based on presenting salvation history through the Roman liturgy tradition and Sacred Scripture? Or would that be too much to ask of the Pauline Missal?
Monday, April 15, 2019
SVOTS
"I really care about the Seminary and firmly believe in the importance of sound theological education. St. Vladimir’s has never been just 'the OCA Seminary.'" --Fr. David Barr (SVOTS Class of 1983).
— St Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary (@stvlads) April 12, 2019
Read more: https://t.co/ogDvz5sQCN pic.twitter.com/heRI9DM5zH
Christopher Altieri on Benedict XVI's Essay
CWR Dispatch: The problem with Benedict’s essay by Christopher R. Altieri
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