Monday, January 21, 2008

John Zmirak, Brain Science and Morality

Brain Science and Morality

Zenit: Vatican Aide: Heart of Ecumenism Is Prayer

Vatican Aide: Heart of Ecumenism Is Prayer

Father Lombardi Comments on Christian Unity


VATICAN CITY, JAN. 20, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Ecumenism is prayer, the director of the Vatican's press office said in commenting on the theme of 100th Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi analyzed the theme "Pray Without Ceasing" on the most recent episode of the Vatican Television weekly program "Octave Dies." The week of prayer ends Jan. 25.

In these 100 years, he explained, "the ecumenical movement has followed a long path, but its innermost soul always remains prayer -- because the unity of Christians can only be a gift of God, to be asked for with constancy and insistence."

The priest continued: "Prayer gives us the strength to let ourselves be formed by the action of God, which purifies us and gives us his grace to obey his plan for salvation.

"Prayer changes our mentality and it helps Christians to consider the other brothers, sons of the same Father. Prayer educates and accompanies, proposes and transmits the truth, the light, the life, the love that is Christ, Savior of humanity."

"Observing the week in January has become a common practice of all the Christian confessions," he added, "and it is of great importance for reconciliation, brotherhood and unity among Christians, realizing the prayer of Jesus: 'that all be one.'"

Father Lombardi said the theme "makes it clear that the life of the Christian community is really exultant and prospers only through a life of prayer, which contributes to its spiritual, moral, social and cultural growth, and constructs bridges of love, of peace and of hope."

"A deeper and more true union with God," he added, "is the surest way to rediscover and recreate union among all the believers in Christ."

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Zenit: Pray Without Ceasing for the Conversion of Hearts

Pray Without Ceasing for the Conversion of Hearts

Meditation for Day 3 of Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 19, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is the commentary prepared jointly by the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity and the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches for Sunday, the third day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.


* * *


"Admonish the idlers, encourage the faint-hearted" (1 Thessalonians 5:14)

"The repentance of Nineveh" (Jonah 3:1-10)
"Create a pure heart in me" (Psalms 51:8-15)

"Encourage the faint-hearted" (1 Thessalonians 5:(12a)13b-18)
"A house of prayer" (Mark 11:15-17)

Commentary

In the beginning and at the heart of the ecumenical enterprise can be found a pressing call to repentance and to conversion. We sometimes need to know how to call each other to task within our Christian communities as Paul invites us to do in the first epistle to the Thessalonians. If one or the other causes division, he should be rebuked; if some are afraid of all that a difficult reconciliation could imply, they should be encouraged.

Why hide the fact? If divisions between Christians exist, it is also through a lack of will to be committed to ecumenical dialogue and even, simply, to prayer for unity.

The Bible tells us how God sent Jonah to rebuke Nineveh and how the whole city repented. In the same way, Christian communities must listen to the Word of God and repent. In the course of the last century, we have not been lacking in prophets of unity who have made Christians aware of the unfaithfulness manifest in our divisions and reminding them of the urgency of reconciliation.

In the image of the vigorous intervention of Jesus in the temple, the call to Christian reconciliation can seriously call into question our narrow self-understanding. We too have a great need of purification. We need to know how to rid our hearts of all that prevents them from being a true house of prayer, concerned for the unity of all peoples.

Prayer

Lord you desire truth deep-down within us: in the secret of our hearts, you teach us wisdom. Teach us to encourage each other along the road to unity. Show us the conversion necessary for reconciliation. Give to each of us a new, truly ecumenical heart, we pray you. Amen.

Zenit: Pray Always, Trusting God Alone

Pray Always, Trusting God Alone

Meditation for Day 2 of Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 18, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is the commentary prepared jointly by the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity and the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches for Saturday, the second day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
* * *

Give Thanks in All Circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5: 18)

"The Lord indeed is God" (1 Kings 18:20-40)
"The Lord is my shepherd" (Psalm 23)
"Give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5: (12a)13b-18)
"Father, I thank you for having heard me" (John 11:17-44)

Commentary

Praying is rooted in the trust that God is powerful and faithful. God alone is the one who holds all in his hands, the present and the future. His word is credible and truthful.

The story of Elijah in 1 Kings impressively demonstrates the oneness of God. Elijah berates the apostates who worship Baal, who is not answering their prayers. Yet when Elijah prays to the one God of Israel, the response is immediate and miraculous. Realizing this, the people turned their hearts back to God.

Psalm 23 is a profound confession of trust. It depicts a person who believes that God guides him and stays with him also in the darkness of life and in situations of desolation and oppression.

We may find circumstances that may be difficult, even turbulent. We may have moments of despair and resignation. Sometimes we feel that God is hidden. But he is not absent. He will manifest his power to liberate in the midst of human struggle. Thus we give thanks to him in all circumstances.

The raising of Lazarus from the dead is one of the most dramatic scenes recorded in John’s gospel. It is a manifestation of Christ’s power to break the bonds of death and an anticipation of the new creation. In the presence of the people Jesus prays aloud, thanking his Father for the mighty deeds he will do. God’s saving work is accomplished through Christ so that all will come to believe.

The ecumenical pilgrimage is a way in which we realize the wondrous deeds of God. Christian communities which have been separated from each other come together. They discover their unity in Christ and come to understand that they are each part of one church and need one another.

The vision of unity can be darkened. It is sometimes threatened by frustrations and tensions. The question may arise whether we Christians are truly called to stay together. Our continuous praying sustains us as we look to God and trust in him. We are confident that he is still at work in us and will lead us to the light of his victory. His kingdom begins with our reconciliation and growing unity.

Prayer

God of all creation, hear your children as we pray. Help us keep our faith and trust in you. Teach us to give thanks in all circumstances, relying on your mercy. Give us truth and wisdom, that your church may arise to new life in one fellowship. You alone are our hope. Amen.

Friday, January 18, 2008

B16 on faith and reason

17.1.2008
The University of Rome Closes its Doors to the Pope. Here's the Lesson They Didn't Want to Hear
A group of teachers and students forced Benedict XVI to cancel his visit to "La Sapienza." But the professor pope did not give up: he made public, a day early, the address that he had written for the occasion. It is the follow-up to the formidable lecture in Regensburg, on the ultimate questions of faith and reason

Go to link for the text of the pope's address.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Zenit: That We May Be One, and Never Lose Heart

That We May Be One, and Never Lose Heart

Meditation for Day 1 of Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 17, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is the commentary prepared jointly by the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity and the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches for the first day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which begins Friday.

* * *

Pray always,
"Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Isaiah 55:6-9 "Seek the Lord while he may be found"
Psalm 34 "I sought the Lord, and he answered me"
1 Thessalonians 5:(12a), 13b-18 "Pray without ceasing"
Luke 18:1-8 "To pray always and not to lose heart"

Commentary

Paul writes, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." His epistle is written to a faithful community that is anxious about death. Many good and believing brothers and sisters have "fallen asleep" before the Lord's return to bring all into his resurrection. What will happen to these faithful dead? What will happen to the living? Paul assures them that the dead shall be raised with the living and exhorts them to "pray without ceasing." What does it mean to pray without ceasing? We find insights to answer this question in today's readings. Our whole lives are to be a seeking of the Lord, convinced that in seeking, we shall find.

In the midst of the exile, when all seemed hopeless and dry, the prophet Isaiah proclaims, "Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near." Even in exile, the Lord is near and urging his people to turn to him in prayer and to follow his commandments so that they may know his mercy and pardon. Psalm 34 affirms the prophetic conviction that the Lord will answer those who call upon him, and adds praise to the call to pray without ceasing.

In Luke's gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples with the parable of the widow seeking justice from a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. The story serves as a reminder of the need for constancy in prayer -- "to pray always and not to lose heart" -- and for confidence that prayer is answered: "Will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?"

As Christians in search of unity, we reflect on these readings to find "the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." It is Christ who lives within us. Our call to pray without ceasing becomes part of his eternal intercession to the Father: "That all may be one, ... that the world may believe." The unity we seek is unity 'as Christ wills' and the 'octave' observance of Christian prayer for unity reflects the biblical notion of completion, that some day our prayer will be answered.

Unity is a God-given gift to the church. It is also a call of Christians to live out this gift. Prayer for Christian unity is the source from which flows all human endeavor to manifest full visible unity. Many are the fruits of 100 years of an octave of prayer for Christian unity. Many are also the barriers that still divide Christians and their churches. If we are not to lose heart, we must be steadfast in prayer so that we may seek the Lord and his will in all we do and all we are.

Prayer

Lord of unity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we pray without ceasing that we may be one, as you are one. Father, hear us as we seek you. Christ, draw us to the unity that is your will for us. Spirit, may we never lose heart. Amen.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Latest Proceedings of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas

I hadn't been to Thomistica.net for a while, but on my last visit I found this post:
Proceedings of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas

The address of the PAST: Casina Pio IV, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Email:past AT acdscience.va

Doctor Communis n.s. 10/1-2 (2007)

  • G. Cottier, Loi naturelle et Décalogue
  • R. Cessario, Saint Thomas and the Enculturation of the Natural Law : Doing Moral Theology on Earth
  • U. Galeazzi, Sulla prossimità spirituale a Tommaso d’Aquino nel pensiero di Charles Tayler. Aspetti antropologici ed etici
  • F. Jacques, Thomas d’Aquin et Emmanuel Kant: Loi naturelle et impératif catégorique. Et après ?
  • J. Merecki, La visione etica di Karol Wojtyla
  • R. Hittinger, John Rawls : The Basis of Social Justice and Intercultural Dialogue in a Globalized World
  • H. Seidl, Etica di responsabilità in D. Hume e H. Jonas
  • R. McInerny, Ethics and Virtue Ethics
  • L. Clavell, Verità e libertà
  • R. Ferrara, Legge naturale e legge nuova nel recente Magistero e nelle teologia di San Tommaso
  • B. Mondin, Cultura e valori per una società globalizzata
  • V. Possenti, Stato, diritto e religione. Il dialogo tra J. Habermas e J. Ratzinger
  • I. Biffi, Gesú Cristo “misura” dell’ uomo in Tommaso d’Aquino
  • M. Beuchot, La polémica de Las Casas con Sépulveda. Su dependencia respecto de la Escuela de Salamanca

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Avery Cardinal Dulles, Who Can Be Saved?

From the February 2008 issue of First Things

Who Can Be Saved?
by Avery Cardinal Dulles

The separation of right from good

Not right, ius, but right, rectus, as in "right reason," "That action is right," and the opposite of wrong.

Often relativism arises when one begins to doubt one's standards for right action, or fails to understand why an action is deemed to be right, how "rightness" is tied to good. The meaning of rectus is straight. So an action is right (or good) if it achieves the good that we should be aiming at, and thus is "straight."

Alisdair MacIntyre, following Elizabeth Anscombe, offers a different explanation of how this separation came to be, by looking at the history of moral philosophy. While there may be some value in his approach, I do question whether the musings of a select few really had that much of an impact on the populace. (Still, his explanation of the purpose of deontologists (primarily Kant)
to find some sort of basis of right in how reason works or applies itself to human action does make sense.)

I tend to think that this separation in the general population can be explained rather by an incomplete moral development, and the loss of tradition and obedience to the proper teaching authority(-ies). When we are growing up, we are told that certain things are right and wrong, and we act in accordance with the rules that we have been given by others. But as we mature we seek the reasons behind these standards, and if we do not get the answers, then some may be tempted to reject them as being "irrational" and not binding.

Now some may be able to intuit that some actions are right and wrong because they lead to or away from some good, and they can do this without the need for moral science. But if they do not understand moral reasoning, they may be lead astray when confronted with consequentialism, failing to see how right reason is not the same as consequentialist reasoning.

If the virtue of obedience is emphasized, and tied to charity, then a society can continue to flourish, even if most people are not educated in moral science or moral theology. But once the teaching authority of the Church is rejected, the value of tradition separate from authority cannot prevent those who are more daring from supplanting traditional norms with their own desires.

More on this topic to come, perhaps...

Frank Purcell, Libertarians in Heaven

Libertarians in Heaven
Is Rosmini a liberal? And if he is, does that mean liberalism is reconcilable with Catholic teaching or traditional or classical politics?

Monday, January 07, 2008

Zenit: Benedict XVI's Homily on World Day of Peace

Benedict XVI's Homily on World Day of Peace


"The Natural Family … Is a Cradle of Life and Love"




VATICAN CITY, JAN. 6, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the homily Benedict XVI delivered in St. Peter's Basilica on Jan. 1, Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and the 41st World Day of Peace.

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today, we are beginning a new year and Christian hope takes us by the hand; let us begin it by invoking divine Blessings upon it and imploring, through the intercession of Mary, Mother of God, the gift of peace: for our families, for our cities, for the whole world. With this hope, I greet all of you present here, starting with the distinguished Ambassadors of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See who have gathered at this celebration on the occasion of the World Day of Peace. I greet Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, my Secretary of State, and Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino and all members of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. I am particularly grateful to them for their commitment to spread the Message for the World Day of Peace whose theme this year is: "The human family, a community of peace".

Peace. In the First Reading from the Book of Numbers we heard the invocation: "The Lord... give you peace" (6:26); may the Lord grant peace to each one of you, to your families and to the whole world.
We all aspire to live in peace but true peace, the peace proclaimed by the Angels on Christmas night, is not merely a human triumph or the fruit of political agreements; it is first and foremost a divine gift to be ceaselessly implored, and at the same time a commitment to be carried forward patiently, always remaining docile to the Lord's commands.

Inspired by family values
This year, in my Message for today's World Day of Peace, I wanted to highlight the close relationship that exists between the family and building peace in the world. The natural family, founded on the marriage of a man and a woman, is "a "cradle of life and love'" and "the first and indispensable teacher of peace". For this very reason the family is "the primary "agency' of peace", and "the denial or even the restriction of the rights of the family, by obscuring the truth about man, threatens the very foundations of peace" (cf. Nos. 1-5).
Since humanity is a "great family", if it wants to live in peace it cannot fail to draw inspiration from those values on which the family community is based and stands. The providential coincidence of various recurrences spur us this year to make an even greater effort to achieve peace in the world.

Sixty years ago, in 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations published the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights"; 40 years ago my venerable Predecessor Paul VI celebrated the first World Day of Peace; this year, in addition, we will be commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Holy See's adoption of the "Charter of the Rights of the Family". "In the light of these significant anniversaries" -- I am repeating here what I wrote precisely at the end of the Message -- "I invite every man and woman to have a more lively sense of belonging to the one human family, and to strive to make human coexistence increasingly reflect this conviction, which is essential for the establishment of true and lasting peace" [No. 15]. 
Our thoughts now turn spontaneously to Our Lady, whom we invoke today as the Mother of God. 
It was Pope Paul VI who moved to 1 January the Feast of the Divine Motherhood of Mary, which was formerly celebrated on 11 October.

Indeed, even before the liturgical reform that followed the Second Vatican Council, the memorial of the circumcision of Jesus on the eighth day after his birth -- as a sign of submission to the law, his official insertion in the Chosen People -- used to be celebrated on the first day of the year and the Feast of the Name of Jesus was celebrated the following Sunday.
We perceive a few traces of these celebrations in the Gospel passage that has just been proclaimed, in which St Luke says that eight days after his birth the Child was circumcised and was given the name "Jesus", "the name given by the Angel before he was conceived in [his Mother's] ... womb" (Luke 2:21). Today's feast, therefore, as well as being a particularly significant Marian feast, also preserves a strongly Christological content because, we might say, before the Mother, it concerns the Son, Jesus, true God and true Man.

Mary's immense privilege

The Apostle Paul refers to the mystery of the divine motherhood of Mary, the "Theotokos," in his Letter to the Galatians. "When the time had fully come", he writes, "God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law" (4:4).
We find the mystery of the Incarnation of the Divine Word and the Divine Motherhood of Mary summed up in a few words: the Virgin's great privilege is precisely to be Mother of the Son who is God.
The most logical and proper place for this Marian feast is therefore eight days after Christmas. Indeed, in the night of Bethlehem, when "she gave birth to her first-born son" (Luke 2:7), the prophesies concerning the Messiah were fulfilled. 
"The virgin shall be with child and bear a son", Isaiah had foretold (7:14); "Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son", the Angel Gabriel said to Mary (Luke 1:31); and again, an Angel of the Lord, the Evangelist Matthew recounts, appeared to Joseph in a dream to reassure him and said: "Do not fear to take Mary for your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son" (Matthew 1:20-21).

The title "Mother of God", together with the title "Blessed Virgin", is the oldest on which all the other titles with which Our Lady was venerated are based, and it continues to be invoked from generation to generation in the East and in the West. A multitude of hymns and a wealth of prayers of the Christian tradition refer to the mystery of her divine motherhood, such as, for example, a Marian antiphon of the Christmas season, "Alma Redemptoris mater," with which we pray in these words: "Tu quae genuisti, natura mirante, tuum sanctum Genitorem, Virgo prius ac posterius -- You, in the wonder of all creation, have brought forth your Creator, Mother ever virgin".
Dear brothers and sisters, let us today contemplate Mary, ever-virgin Mother of the Only-Begotten Son of the Father; let us learn from her to welcome the Child who was born for us in Bethlehem. If we recognize in the Child born of her the Eternal Son of God and accept him as our one Saviour, we can be called and we really are children of God: sons in the Son. The Apostle writes: "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" (Galatians 4:4).

Same but different Child

The Evangelist Luke repeats several times that Our Lady meditated silently on these extraordinary events in which God had involved her. We also heard this in the short Gospel passage that the Liturgy presents to us today. "Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart" (Luke 2:19). 
The Greek verb used, "sumbállousa," literally means "piecing together" and makes us think of a great mystery to be discovered little by little. Although the Child lying in a manger looks like all children in the world, at the same time he is totally different: he is the Son of God, he is God, true God and true man. This mystery -- the Incarnation of the Word and the divine Motherhood of Mary -- is great and certainly far from easy to understand with the human mind alone. Yet, by learning from Mary, we can understand with our hearts what our eyes and minds do not manage to perceive or contain on their own. Indeed, this is such a great gift that only through faith are we granted to accept it, while not entirely understanding it.

And it is precisely on this journey of faith that Mary comes to meet us as our support and guide.
She is mother because she brought forth Jesus in the flesh; she is mother because she adhered totally to the Father's will.
St Augustine wrote: "The divine motherhood would have been of no value to her had Christ not borne her in his heart, with a destiny more fortunate than the moment when she conceived him in the flesh" ("De Sancta Virginitate," 3, 3). And in her heart Mary continued to treasure, to "piece together" the subsequent events of which she was to be a witness and protagonist, even to the death on the Cross and the Resurrection of her Son Jesus.

Dear brothers and sisters, it is only by pondering in the heart, in other words, by piecing together and finding unity in all we experience, that, following Mary, we can penetrate the mystery of a God who was made man out of love and who calls us to follow him on the path of love; a love to be expressed daily by generous service to the brethren.

May the new year which we are confidently beginning today be a time in which to advance in that knowledge of the heart, which is the wisdom of saints. Let us pray, as we heard in the First Reading, that the Lord may "make his face to shine" upon us, "and be gracious" to us (cf. Numbers 6:24-7) and bless us. We may be certain of it: If we never tire of seeking his Face, if we never give in to the temptation of discouragement and doubt, if also among the many difficulties we encounter we always remain anchored to him, we will experience the power of his love and his mercy. May the fragile Child who today the Virgin shows to the world make us peacemakers, witnesses of him, the Prince of Peace. Amen!

[Translation of the Italian original by L'Osservatore Romano]

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Mind in the Heart

an Orthodox blog

From the post An Introduction to the Russian Orthodox Church by Fr. Andrew Louth, Fr. Louth's introduction

Fr. Wallace on the Dominicans and the Intellectual Life

From the Dominican House of Studies on Blip TV:
The Dominican Order and the Intellectual Life
Wednesday, January 02, 2008, 7:43:38 PM
An interview with Father William Augustine Wallace, O.P., a Dominican priest of the Province of St. Joseph (Eastern Province) filmed in 1982 at the Dominican House of Studies. Video shot by Dr. Gavin Colvert, nephew of the interviewer, Fr. Antoninus Wall, O.P., a friar of the Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, the Western Dominican Province. Edited at the Dominican House of Studies, Washington, D.C.
Comments
Dhspriory-TheDominicanOrderAndTheIntellectualLife919.mov


Related:
Dominican House of Studies, Washington, D.C.
for more on their building campaign: Theological Library and Academic Center
Priory of the Immaculate Conception, The Dominican House of Studies
Dominican Province of St. Joseph - Home
Province of St. Joseph blog

Friday, January 04, 2008

Magister's latest

The Cardinal Writes, the Prince Responds. The Factors that Divide the Pope from the Muslims
The contrast is not only one of faith. It also concerns the achievements of the Enlightenment: from religious freedom to equality between men and women. The Catholic Church has made these its own, but Islam has not. Will they be able to discuss this, when Benedict XVI and the Muslims of the letter of the 138 meet together?