Carl E. Olson's Blog, page 291

August 28, 2011

"What went on in Madrid is not the simulacrum, but the genuine article. ..."

This is the principal "problem" of youth, but also its great adventure. It is the time to answer the fundamental human questions. Who am I? Where do I fit? What useful work can I do? How should I live? To what great cause should I devote my life? The task of the old — parents, teachers, preachers, coaches — is to point to where those answers might be found.


Those of us who work full-time with young adults know that even the highly privileged Canadian university student is at something of a loss in answering these questions. The Internet gives you plenty of data, but little wisdom. The seductive world of social media provides hundreds of friends, but little actual friendship. The modern university, devoted to endlessly celebrating the sheer magnificence of each individual student, is rather silent about who she really is, and what she ought to do. Talented young people have an almost infinite array of options, but a mission in life is hard to find. Consequently, without a strong identity and mission, so many young people feel very much alone.


London and Madrid were dramatically drawn alternatives to the problem of being alone. On one hand there were young people who embraced a framework in which destructive violence united them in a demonstration of power. On the other were those who embraced a framework that demands something arduous of them in service to others.


The pilgrims in Madrid were given a special catechism, to which Pope Benedict wrote an introduction.


"I invite you: study this catechism," he wrote. "This catechism was not written to please you. It will not make life easy for you, because it demands of you a new life."


Youth culture offers a great deal aimed precisely at pleasing, even indulging, the young. But what the young need is a more sturdy framework than one assembled from their own appetites and immature ideas. There is plenty of bad news from Europe this summer; the good news is that its oldest framework, the Christian gospel lived fully, is still on offer, and has not lost its power to attract the young.


From Father Raymond J. de Souza's column, "Giving the young something to believe in" (National Post, August 25, 2011).

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Published on August 28, 2011 09:02

St. Augustine's Spiritual Ladder: Seven Steps Mounting To Eternal Wisdom

From the essay, "The Scriptural Roots of St. Augustine's Spirituality", by Stephen N. Filippo:


There are conventional signs which living creatures give each other by which they attempt to indicate, as far as is possible, what is on their mind. For men, some signs involve the sense of sight; many the sense of hearing, and few of any other senses. A nod gives a sign of assent to a person we wish to share our will with. A referee at a football game will raise both hands straight in the air over his head to signify a score. These signs are like visible words. However, among men words have gained a pre-eminence for expressing thought. Holy Scripture, God's Will for us, is communicated to us through words. It is God's Word, in man's words. Jesus Himself is the Eternal Word: "In the beginning was the Word" (Jn. 1:1).

The question then becomes, how do we approach Holy Scripture? First, St. Augustine tells us, is through fear: "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, wisdom and instruction, which only fools despise" (Prov. 1:7). It is from fearing God that we first learn to recognize His Will: what He wants us to do and what He wants us to avoid. This fear should awaken in us a healthy reflection of our bodily death and possible spiritual death, if we continue to choose to run away from Him.

Second, fear is tempered by piety, by which we become gentle and humble. So, when Sacred Scripture attacks some of our faults, or when we think we know better than God's Word, we need to reflect and realize that what is written there is more beneficial and reasonable, even if hidden, than what we could know ourselves. Pride is the enemy here. Since the mind usually disdains anything it learns easily, those who read superficially and very quickly, err greatly. Great care and time must put into reading the Sacred Texts very carefully and slowly. A slow, reflective, deeply meditative approach will enhance the ability of the Scriptures to penetrate to your heart.

The third step is knowledge, learning to love God for His own sake and love your neighbor as yourself, for His sake (as previously discussed). Any careful, thorough, close reading of Scripture should clearly point out just how far we have become enmeshed in the love of the world and temporal things. Therefore, it should instill in us a healthy desire to go to confession to get back to loving God and neighbor, whom we separated from when we sinned. Scripture should cause us to mourn our sins. We should beg God through "unceasing prayer" (1 Thess. 5:17) for the consolation of His Divine Assistance.

This brings us to step four: fortitude: to maintain courage, no matter what the cost, in our efforts to obtain True Justice--which is giving God and our fellow men their due, not about getting what I want. In seeking after justice with unwavering perseverance we withdraw from the deadly pleasure of passing things, toward the love of the Eternal Things, namely the Holy Trinity.

The fifth step is the counsel of mercy. As we cleanse our soul, we can become upset and vexed at its constant craving for lesser things. Sometimes it seems that the harder we try to be good, the more evil we do. St. Augustine counsels mercy and kindness in the treatment of your own soul. No one would walk into a hospital and force a sick person to get completely better 'or else'. Then neither should we force this straightjacket method on our sickly soul either. Just like the sick person in the hospital, your soul also needs time to heal. So, be fair with yourself. Set realistic goals. Sometimes baby steps or even crawling are needed before one can walk fully erect again. Seek steady progress, not immediate, absolute perfection, lest you give up in despair. Also, constantly practicing the true, immediate and vigorous unfeigned love of neighbor, to the point of perfection, when you can say you truly "love your enemies"(Mt. 6:12), will help substantially in rooting out one's worst and most stubborn sins.

The sixth step is one of vision: when we can truly see that the more we cleanse ourselves of the love of inferior things in this world, the closer we come to seeing God, "Taste and see how good is the Lord" (Ps. 34:9). To the extent that we love the world, we do not see God. To the degree that we die to ourselves, we experience Him more concretely in our daily lives.

The seventh step is wisdom. While we still walk more by "faith" than by "sight," at this level God so cleanses the heart that we rarely compare our neighbors or other creatures to Him by choosing these 'lesser gods' over Him. Moreover, souls will be so holy and on fire with love of God at this stage, that they will seldom prefer to turn away from the Eternal Truth, through a desire for pleasing men or self-gratification, no matter what. "Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father" (Mt. 10:32-33).

As the result of following these seven steps, we should grow more deeply in our love and devotion to Our Lord. Moreover, these steps are not mutually exclusive. In other words, one step does not necessarily take place, while the others remain silent. Many times in one's spiritual journey there is an overlapping of stages. What is important here is that we recognize what we are going through, and work with the Sacred Scriptures and these seven steps to allow our hearts to be opened more deeply and thereby move closer to God.


Read the entire essay on Ignatius Insight.

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Published on August 28, 2011 08:50

August 27, 2011

Christ without the Cross is not the true Christ

A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Sunday, August 28, 2011 | Carl E. Olson


Readings:
• Jer 20:7-10
• Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
• Rom 12:1-2
• Mt 16:21-27


There is but one true Jesus of Nazareth, the Incarnate Son of God. But there are many false Christs said to be "the real Jesus" or the "authentic Christ." These imposters are as varied as they are numerous: there is Jesus the personal guru, the political revolutionary, the amoral mystic, the Greek Stoic, the socialist, and even the Buddhist.


What unites these "other Christs" is that their handlers and creators either deny that their Jesus died on the Cross or insist the Cross had no supernatural meaning and salvific value. There is a simple reason for this: Satan knows that Christ without the Cross is not Christ at all.


St. John Chrysostom, commenting on the passage in Matthew's Gospel heard in today's readings, wrote, "Peter had learned that Christ is the Son of God. But he had not learned of the mystery of the cross and the resurrection." As we heard last Sunday, Peter had grasped, by the grace of God, that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the living God." He correctly named and identified his Master. But he failed to understand how the Messiah would bring about the salvation of mankind.


The exchange between Jesus and Peter is startling, even shocking. It is supposed to be, for it reveals the stark divide between two ways of living. On one side—that of Satan—is the belief that man is able to actually guide and control the Creator. This can be seen in the popular notion that we can harness and direct the power of God if only we use the right techniques or achieve some sort of elite spiritual enlightenment. Practitioners of this come in many forms, ranging from New Age salesmen to televangelist con men.

On the other side—that of the Savior—is the belief that man is sinful and fallen, desperately in need of healing and redemption. Salvation comes from God, and we receive it through humility and death. "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me," Jesus states emphatically, "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it…"


Just a few verses earlier Jesus had given Simon the name of Peter, or "Rock." But the Rock suddenly panicked and crumbled when he heard Jesus speaking of suffering and dying. Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, in his commentary on Matthew's Gospel, refers wryly to Peter as "Satanic rock." When Peter opposed God's plan of salvation, "Jesus gives Peter still another new name: he calls him a satanic skandalon," that is, an obstacle and a scandal. When Peter lives by faith, he is a solid rock; when he lives according to his own wisdom, he is a stumbling block.


Years later Peter wrote, in his first epistle, of being a "living stone," and surely he must have been thinking in part of the Lord's rebuke. He compared those who live by faith with those who "stumble by disobeying the word" (1 Pet 2:7-8). He further warned that the devil, the father of disobedience, "is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Pet 5:8). It is by self-denial, acceptance of the Cross, and following closely in the footsteps of Christ that we are kept safe from the devil. Our self-made wisdom cannot save or protect us.


The same contrast between man's flawed thinking and God's perfect knowledge is addressed by Paul in today's epistle. In the opening chapter of his letter to the Romans (1:18-32), he described pagan worship as irrational, idolatrous, immoral, and self-aggrandizing. But Christian worship is rational—that is, in keeping with Divine wisdom—holy, and focused on the true God. It consists of being transformed by God so we can know "what is good and pleasing and perfect."


The false Christs of our age are just that: of this age. They have nothing to do with the Cross because Satan hates that bloody sign and instrument of his destruction. But for those who embrace and carry it, the Cross is life.


(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the August 31, 2008, issue of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)

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Published on August 27, 2011 00:01

August 26, 2011

Now available: "Friendship With Jesus" by Amy Welborn and Ann Kissane Engelhart

New from Ignatius Press:


Friendship With Jesus Pope Benedict XVI talks to Children on Their First Holy Communion


Edited by Amy Welborn | Illustrated by Ann Kissane Engelhart


To receive Jesus in Holy Communion is to enter into a lifelong friendship with him.


In this beautifully illustrated book by Ann Engelhart, Amy Welborn introduces Pope Benedict's profound yet simple answers to various questions put to him by children in Rome who had recently made their First Holy Communion.


Pope Benedict's answers, and the children's wonderful questions concerning this very important spiritual occasion in their young lives, provide inspiring text for this beautiful gift book for First Communion.


Amy Welborn is a well-known, popular freelance writer. She is the author of many books on prayer, the saints and apologetics.  Amy lives with her family in Birmingham, Alabama.


Ann Kissane Engelhart is a watercolor artist and illustrator. She has taught art in Catholic education for many years and currently teaches painting classes in her home studio on Long Island, New York, where she lives with her husband and two children. Her portraits and illustrations are exhibited in galleries and private collections in New York and Connecticut.


You can view full spreads from the book on Englehart's site (or simply click here and here and here and here).

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Published on August 26, 2011 21:06

August 22, 2011

YOUCAT.org and WYD2011, Cardinal Pell, and "Do not be afraid..."

YOUCAT.org is the official site in Europe for the Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church, and it has a number of good articles and photos from World Youth Day in Madrid. They include stories about:


180 Catholic students from New York City at WYD
• the impact of WYD on vocations to the priesthood and religious life
photos of Benedict XVI's arrival in Madrid
theology of the body and YOUCAT; the challenge!, which includes this interesting bit of conversation with a WYD attendee:


What was the most important thing that you learnt today from the Theology of the Body panel?


John: That we should look at women and girls as more than their bodies. We should search for what is good and beautiful about the whole person, and not just look at women and girls for their bodies.


Were you suprised by anything you heard today about The Theology of the Body?


Stefan: Yes. When Jason Evert [of Catholic Answers] explained that the church isn´t just about what we should or shouldn´t do with our girlfriends and how far we can go without sinning, I was really suprised. Jason Evert explained that the church wants us to go all the way to being good, happy and faithful husbands and fathers.


"The World Celebrates Christ"
"What are YOU taking home from WYD?"


And much more.


Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney (and author of an Ignatius Press book, Issues of Faith and Morals), gave an address at WYD, as reported by Australian Catholic News:


The Cardinal received a rousing, warm welcome at Madrid's Palacio de Deportes stadium which has been temporarily re-named the "Love and Life Centre."

The message for the pilgrims, including most of the nearly 4,000 Australian pilgrims also in Madrid, was emphatic with Cardinal Pell explaining the clear and strong reasons behind the Catholic belief in the one true God.

"Christian belief is not a myth of just a useful make-believe story like Santa Claus," he said. "Our God is inherently rational. Our faith is not based on religious sentiment. Faith is a matter of the heart, an issue of the mind, because it is a claim to truth."

The Cardinal also threw out a challenge to the young pilgrims, telling them they were presented with two choices – whether our existence came about by chance or by supreme intelligence.

What did they think? He asked. He then presented the case for supreme intelligence, giving the thousands of young people much to think about and reflect upon.

Emphasising the point that science and religion are not at loggerheads, he said and quoted the late, former atheist and renowned philosopher, Anthony Flew who after turning his back on atheism at the end of his life to become a believer, said that the greatest discovery of modern science was God.

Anthony Flew became a believer through the discovery of DNA.

"We need to remember science is with us and that our God of love, that dynamo of love, is rational," the Cardinal said. "So let's commit ourselves to maintaining the light of our faith and that the flame doesn't die in your families or parishes."


Read the entire report. Finally, in reading some of the Holy Father's addresses, I was struck by these serene yet challenging remarks from his final address:


I leave Spain very happy and grateful to everyone. But above all I am grateful to God, our Lord, who allowed me to celebrate these days so filled with enthusiasm and grace, so charged with dynamism and hope. The feast of faith which we have shared enables us to look forward with great confidence in Providence, which guides the Church across the seas of history. That is why she continues to be young and full of life, even as she confronts challenging situations. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, who makes Jesus Christ present in the hearts of young people in every age and shows them the grandeur of the divine vocation given to every man and woman. We were also able to see how the grace of Christ tears down the walls and overcomes the barriers which sin erects between peoples and generations, in order to make all mankind a single family which acknowledges its one Father and which cultivates, by work and respect, all that he has given us in creation.


Young people readily respond when one proposes to them, in sincerity and truth, an encounter with Jesus Christ, the one Redeemer of humanity.  Now those young people are returning home as missionaries of the Gospel, "rooted and built up in Christ, and firm in the faith", and they will need to be helped on their way.  So I urge Bishops, priests, Religious and Christian educators in particular, to care for those young people who want to respond enthusiastically to the Lord's call.  There is no reason to lose heart in the face of the various obstacles we encounter in some countries.  The yearning for God which the Creator has placed in the hearts of young people is more powerful than all of these, as is the power from on high which gives divine strength to those who follow the Master and who seek in him nourishment for life.  Do not be afraid to present to young people the message of Jesus Christ in all its integrity, and to invite them to celebrate the sacraments by which he gives us a share in his own life.


Read the entire address on the Vatican website. For more about the Youth Catechism, visit www.YouCat.us.

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Published on August 22, 2011 17:38

For varied and sundry links to World Youth Day stories and texts...

... visit The Benedict Blog, as Christopher Blosser has once again outdone himself.


Also, check out these great photos from the event.


And just posted by Damian Thompson of The Telegraph:


The crowd-pulling power of Benedict XVI is almost miraculous, given the contrast with his openly charismatic predecessor, and his former image as a conservative "enforcer". Who could have predicted that at World Youth Day in Spain – which was not even his first visit to that country as Pope – he would attract a crowd of a million young people? Not the BBC, which decided to play down the week's events in a manner that one commentator described as "almost parodic" in its grouchiness. Read what the Catholic Herald had to say about it here; I must declare an interest, being a director of the Herald, but its online coverage of World Youth Day really has been superb.


I'm very struck by the rapport – so evident during the Pope's visit to Britain – that Benedict has established with young people. Partly it's his grandfatherly charm; partly his spiritual message, expressed in language that is neither platitudinous nor patronising. What a breath of fresh air for young people exposed to bishops' conferences' "youth ministries", with their dumbed-down homilies and 1970s folksy musak. The Herald's Madeleine Teahan, definitely a young Catholic writer to watch, came up with a lovely phrase for this Pope: "A meek man of mighty action".


Read his entire post.


More reflections and thoughts about World Youth Day 2011 in the days to come!

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Published on August 22, 2011 04:26

"We sometimes reproach Christianity..."

... for not being effective enough, for not bringing about enough change in the world about us, and therefore for being inferior to other systems we see at work in the world. This criticism is valid. Beyond question, Christianity must become incarnate in the sense that it must penetrate the real world in which we live, and that we must be concerned with its temporal efficacy.


At the same time, we must not forget that this is merely the first step, that we must turn towards the world only in order to turn the world towards Christ, and that the Incarnation is the first stage of a process that is to reach fulfullment in the Transfiguration, that is, in the penetration of the world by the light of Christ. If we tarry too long on the first stage, the process will remain incomplete. In Christ, we find both movements. He became man, and fully, but in order to make us gods. Without the second part, the first would make no sense whatever.


Therefore, a spirituality of Incarnation is complete only if the Incarnation is the way to the Transfiguration, to deification.


— From "Incarnation and Transfiguration", in The Salvation of the Nations (Sheed & Ward, 1950), by Jean Danielou.


The Transfiguration: Gospel to the Dead | Frank Sheed
The Incarnation | Frank Sheed
The Problem of Life's Purpose | Frank Sheed
Jean Daniélou and the "Master-Key to Christian Theology" | Carl E. Olson
Theosis: The Reason for the Season | Carl E. Olson
The Dignity of the Human Person: Pope John Paul II's Teaching on Divinization in the Trinitarian Encyclicals | Carl E. Olson
The Liturgy Lived: The Divinization of Man | Jean Corbon, O.P.

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Published on August 22, 2011 04:13

The Queen of Heaven says to us: "Do whatever He tells you"

On this, the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a couple of passages from Pope Pius XII's 1954 encyclical, Ad Caeli Reginam, which proclaimed the Queenship of Mary. First, remarks on some of the theological reasons, drawn from Scripture and Tradition, that Mary is recognized as Queen of heaven and earth:


But the Blessed Virgin Mary should be called Queen, not only because of her Divine Motherhood, but also because God has willed her to have an exceptional role in the work of our eternal salvation. "What more joyful, what sweeter thought can we have" - as Our Predecessor of happy memory, Pius XI wrote - "than that Christ is our King not only by natural right, but also by an acquired right: that which He won by the redemption? Would that all men, now forgetful of how much we cost Our Savior, might recall to mind the words, 'You were redeemed, not with gold or silver which perishes, . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb spotless and undefiled. We belong not to ourselves now, since Christ has bought us 'at a great price'."


Now, in the accomplishing of this work of redemption, the Blessed Virgin Mary was most closely associated with Christ; and so it is fitting to sing in the sacred liturgy: "Near the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ there stood, sorrowful, the Blessed Mary, Queen of Heaven and Queen of the World." Hence, as the devout disciple of St. Anselm (Eadmer, ed.) wrote in the Middle Ages: "just as . . . God, by making all through His power, is Father and Lord of all, so the blessed Mary, by repairing all through her merits, is Mother and Queen of all; for God is the Lord of all things, because by His command He establishes each of them in its own nature, and Mary is the Queen of all things, because she restores each to its original dignity through the grace which she merited.


For "just as Christ, because He redeemed us, is our Lord and king by a special title, so the Blessed Virgin also (is our queen), on account of the unique manner in which she assisted in our redemption, by giving of her own substance, by freely offering Him for us, by her singular desire and petition for, and active interest in, our salvation." (par. 35-37)


And from the conclusion, remarks about the importance of recognizing and embracing the unique role of Mary in the saving work of her Son:




Let all, therefore, try to approach with greater trust the throne of grace and mercy of our Queen and Mother, and beg for strength in adversity, light in darkness, consolation in sorrow; above all let them strive to free themselves from the slavery of sin and offer an unceasing homage, filled with filial loyalty, to their Queenly Mother. Let her churches be thronged by the faithful, her feast-days honored; may the beads of the Rosary be in the hands of all; may Christians gather, in small numbers and large, to sing her praises in churches, in homes, in hospitals, in prisons. May Mary's name be held in highest reverence, a name sweeter than honey and more precious than jewels; may none utter blasphemous words, the sign of a defiled soul, against that name graced with such dignity and revered for its motherly goodness; let no one be so bold as to speak a syllable which lacks the respect due to her name.


All, according to their state, should strive to bring alive the wondrous virtues of our heavenly Queen and most loving Mother through constant effort of mind and manner. Thus will it come about that all Christians, in honoring and imitating their sublime Queen and Mother, will realize they are truly brothers, and with all envy and avarice thrust aside, will promote love among classes, respect the rights of the weak, cherish peace. No one should think himself a son of Mary, worthy of being received under her powerful protection, unless, like her, he is just, gentle and pure, and shows a sincere desire for true brotherhood, not harming or injuring but rather helping and comforting others.


In some countries of the world there are people who are unjustly persecuted for professing their Christian faith and who are deprived of their divine and human rights to freedom; up till now reasonable demands and repeated protests have availed nothing to remove these evils. May the powerful Queen of creation, whose radiant glance banishes storms and tempests and brings back cloudless skies, look upon these her innocent and tormented children with eyes of mercy; may the Virgin, who is able to subdue violence beneath her foot, grant to them that they may soon enjoy the rightful freedom to practice their religion openly, so that, while serving the cause of the Gospel, they may also contribute to the strength and progress of nations by their harmonious cooperation, by the practice of extraordinary virtues which are a glowing example in the midst of bitter trials.


By this Encyclical Letter We are instituting a feast so that all may recognize more clearly and venerate more devoutly the merciful and maternal sway of the Mother of God. We are convinced that this feast will help to preserve, strengthen and prolong that peace among nations which daily is almost destroyed by recurring crises. Is she not a rainbow in the clouds reaching towards God, the pledge of a covenant of peace? "Look upon the rainbow, and bless Him that made it; surely it is beautiful in its brightness. It encompasses the heaven about with the circle of its glory, the hands of the Most High have displayed it." Whoever, therefore, reverences the Queen of heaven and earth--and let no one consider himself exempt from this tribute of a grateful and loving soul--let him invoke the most effective of Queens, the Mediatrix of peace; let him respect and preserve peace, which is not wickedness unpunished nor freedom without restraint, but a well-ordered harmony under the rule of the will of God; to its safeguarding and growth the gentle urgings and commands of the Virgin Mary impel us.


Earnestly desiring that the Queen and Mother of Christendom may hear these Our prayers, and by her peace make happy a world shaken by hate, and may, after this exile show unto us all Jesus, Who will be our eternal peace and joy, to you, Venerable Brothers, and to your flocks, as a promise of God's divine help and a pledge of Our love, from Our heart We impart the Apostolic Benediction. (par. 48-52)


And here is a passage from The Way of the Disciple, by Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, about the Scriptural foundations for the Queenship of Mary:


A major aspect of the mystery of the Incarnation is that, starting from the central doctrine of Christ's true, full, and irreversible humanization, we may then infer a number of important truths that need not be explicitly spelled out in Scripture, since they are really contained within the fullness of the already revealed central Mystery of Christ. For instance, the normality of Jesus' hidden life and childhood: by their nearly total silence concerning this part of Jesus' earthly life, the Gospels are in fact telling us that Jesus lived a very ordinary human life for nearly thirty years, almost the whole of his earthly existence.

Something similar may be said about his relationships. Scripture nowhere calls Mary explicitly either "Lady" or "Queen", titles which the Catholic tradition has joyfully ascribed to her since very ancient times. But Scripture is full of allusions to queens who are mothers of kings, and Scripture also tells us that Mary is the Mother of Christ who is eternal King of the ages. Therefore, if Mary is the Mother of our Lord (Dominus), then she is truly "our Lady" (Domina), and if Christ is King, then she, too, must be Queen, for this is required by the very nature of these biblical titles, which are relational in nature. What are we to call the mother of a king if not the "queen mother", and what would be the point of calling Jesus a king at all if, although he very much has a mother, we oddly want to limit the implications of that title by applying it only in one direction, that is, by stressing the fact that a king has subjects who must obey and serve him, but not as well that he has a mother to whom he owes his human life and who stands by his side, always supporting him and loving him in all his works and decrees?


And Christ does not disdain so to share his lordship and kingship, because he did not disdain to lay aside even his divine glory in order to share our nature. if he had, he would not have become man in the first place and entered this necessary nexus of relationships. Christ is not a sealed eternal capsule fallen to earth ready-made from heaven. Christ is the seed of the Word planted by the Father in the womb of Mary, that fertile earth that gave nourishment and growth to the seed of the Word, that we may eventually eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Cross.

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, And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir.... So, brethren, we are not children of the slave [Hagar, but also Eve, the "mother of all the living"] but of the free woman [Sara, but above all Mary, the "woman" at the head of the text]. Twice in Luke (1:38 and 48) Mary calls herself the maidservant, the handmaid, the slave of the Lord. To be the Lord's slave is the essence of Mary's being a freeborn woman, in keeping with her Son's manner of reigning as King by serving. The Mother of the King who is a suffering servant reigns, like her Son, by serving as the sorrowful Mother: "And Simeon ... said to Mary his Mother: 'Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising Of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also)." When and where, we may ask, will this momentous prophecy be fulfilled? Surely at the foot of the Cross, at the crucial hour when every disciple becomes Mary's son, by the will of her Son, and she becomes the Mother of all believers.

We Christians are indeed "children of the promise" made to Mary: "You will conceive ... and bear a son.... Of his kingdom there will be no end. . . . And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."  Mary's deepest identity as perfect believer, in the infancy narrative in Luke, should be seen in connection with the explicit mention at the beginning of Acts, after the Resurrection, at the other end of the work of redemption, of her presence among those who believed. The Holy Spirit who descends upon the whole Body of the Church at Pentecost, with Mary present, had first descended upon her singly at the Annunciation. Thus, Mary is the living archetype, the living link, historically and mystically, between the mystery of the Incarnation arid the mystery of Pentecost.

In giving her fiat at the outset of the work of redemption, she is both accepting God's gift of redemption for herself and prefiguring-and hence making possible-the act of faith of the whole Church still to come.

Now, if being God's servant is the very essence of Mary's identity as first among believers and as Mother of the Church, is this servant, the Mother of the King and hence herself Queen by divine appointment, going to be left with nothing to do in the Kingdom of Heaven? Mary, an idle heavenly Queen? Or is she not rather going to spend her eternity of bliss interceding for her children, having learned such fidelity toward mankind from the eternal Father himself? Indeed, for as long as there is one soul to be redeemed on earth, Mary will spend herself saying to Jesus what she said to him at Cana, "They have no wine", and to us, "Do whatever he tells you."


Read more from The Way of the Disciple.


Related Ignatius Insight Articles and Excerpts:

The Blessed Virgin in the History of Christianity | John A. Hardon, S.J.
The Past Her Prelude: Marian Imagery in the Old Testament | Sandra Miesel
Mary in Byzantine Doctrine and Devotion | Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.
Fairest Daughter of the Father: On the Solemnity of the Assumption | Rev. Charles M. Mangan
"Hail, Full of Grace": Mary, the Mother of Believers | Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Mary in Feminist Theology: Mother of God or Domesticated Goddess? | Fr. Manfred Hauke
Excerpts from The Rosary: Chain of Hope | Fr. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R.
Immaculate Mary, Matchless in Grace | John Saward
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Misgivings About Mary | Dr. James Hitchcock
Born of the Virgin Mary | Paul Claudel
Assumed Into Mother's Arms | Carl E. Olson
The Disciple Contemplates the Mother | Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis

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Published on August 22, 2011 03:28

Saint John of Avila and the Reform of the Priesthood



Saint John of Avila and the Reform of the Priesthood | Sr. Joan Gormley | Ignatius Insight

Editor's Note: On August 20, 2011, at a Mass for seminarians in the cathedral of Santa María la Real de La Almudena in Madrid, Pope Benedict XVI announced he will soon proclaim St. John of Avila Doctor of the Universal church. "I invite everyone to look to Saint John of Avila and I commend to his intercession the Bishops of Spain and those of the whole world, as well as all priests and seminarians", he said, "As they persevere in the same faith which he taught, may they model their hearts on that of Jesus Christ the good shepherd, to whom be glory and honor for ever." The following essay by Sister Joan Gormley, which originally appeared in the April 2004 issue of Homiletic & Pastoral Review, provides an introduction to the life of St. John of Avila and to his effort to reform priestly formation.




St. John of Avila was a parish priest and theologian in 16th century Spain who exercised some influence over ideas concerning the reform of priestly reformation at the Council of Trent. Avila linked the priesthood closely to the Eucharist and regarded holiness as the preeminent quality of a priest, who must serve as a mediator between God and man. To this end, he recommended painstaking selection of candidates followed by rigorous spiritual and intellectual formation within a community. For Avila, renewal of the priesthood demanded the priest's conformity to Christ as both Good Shepherd and High Priest.

Sixteenth century Spain was a golden age of sanctity during which a veritable procession of saints appeared on the scene before and after the Council of Trent and contributed in a multitude of ways to the reform and renewal of the Church. We might mention, for example, such saints as Ignatius of Loyola, Peter of Alcantara, Teresa of Avila, Francis Borgia, and John of God. All of these saints were religious who renewed the life of the Church by founding or reforming communities that became renowned for holiness of life and apostolic zeal. Less often noticed, but definitely a participant in the procession of sixteenth century Spanish saints is St. John of Avila,[1] a diocesan priest who labored as a preacher, confessor, spiritual director, catechist, evangelizer, educator, and theologian and knew and helped each and all of the saints mentioned above.

Venerated in Spain as the patron of diocesan priests, John Avila was a major figure in the reform of the life and ministry of parish priests who, as shepherds of Christ's faithful, have direct influence on the holiness of the Church. His teaching on the priesthood and its renewal continues to be illuminating for the Church, especially in the contemporary situation in which profound questions have been raised about priestly life and ministry. Avila was profoundly convinced of the holiness of the priestly state and of the holiness of life required of each and every priest. He considered the very holiness of the Church and its members to depend on the careful selection and formation of candidates for the priesthood so that they might be holy and exercise their office of sanctifying others.

Introduction to St. John of Avila

John of Avila was born on the feast of the Epiphany in 1499 in Extremadura in the ecclesiastical province of Toledo, the only child of his parents. [2] He spent four years at the University of Salamanca studying law (1513-1517), and then returned to his parents' home where he lived in seclusion for several years. On the advice of a Franciscan priest, the young man left his solitude and matriculated at the University of Alcala, an important center for humanistic studies in Spain, where he studied from 1520-1526. After ordination to the priesthood in 1526, Avila went to Seville to prepare for departure as a missionary to the new world. While waiting to set sail, the newly ordained priest engaged in catechesis and preaching, so impressing the priest with whom he lived and worked, Father Fernando Contreras, that he urged the Archbishop of Seville to keep Avila in Spain, where an enormous mission field had opened up with the end of Muslim domination. Thus, John Avila began the missionary work in Southern Spain that would earn him the title, "Apostle of Andalusia."


Read the entire essay on Ignatius Insight...

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Published on August 22, 2011 02:31

August 21, 2011

St. John of Avila to be named a Doctor of the Church. And St. Ignatius of Loyola...

... is a candidate.

Yesterday, at a Mass with seminarians in Madrid, that he will soon declare St. John of Avila a Doctor of the Church. And there are more to be named the same, eventually and in due time. Sandro Magister provides the names of "the saints and blesseds on the waiting list for the title of doctor":


Six of them are women: Saint Veronica Giuliani, Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Saint Gertrude of Helfta, Saint Bridget of Sweden, Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, Blessed Julian of Norwich.

And twelve are men: in addition to Saint John of Avila, Saint Gregory of Narek, Saint John Bosco, Saints Cyril and Methodius, Saint Lorenzo Giustiniani, Saint Antonino of Florence, Saint Thomas of Villanova, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Vincent de Paul, Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, Saint Bernardino of Siena.


Read the entire piece, "A new doctor of the Church. And seventeen more on hold", on the Chiesa site.

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Published on August 21, 2011 16:41

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