Carl E. Olson's Blog, page 31
October 5, 2015
New: "Love Unveiled: The Catholic Faith Explained" by Dr. Edward Sri
Now available from Ignatius Press:
Love Unveiled: The Catholic Faith Explained
by Dr. Edward Sri
Man cannot live without love.... His life is senseless if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it.
— John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis
If you were asked what immediately comes to mind when you hear the words "Catholic Church", would you answer "an intimate relationship with the God who loves me"?
If not, you would do well to read this engaging and thought-provoking book which explains why such a relationship is the reason for everything the Church does and teaches. Professor Edward Sri will show you how all the pieces of the Catholic faith, including the most baffling ones, fit together to make one beautiful mosaic of God's love for us and our own participation in that all-encompassing love.
Using the Catechism of the Catholic Church as his itinerary, Sri will walk you through all the important aspects of the Catholic Church—what Catholics believe about God and the difference it should make in life. Along the way he addresses such often-heard questions as:
Why do I need the Church—can't I be spiritual on my own?
Isn't one religion just as good as another?
How is the death of a man two thousand years ago relevant for my life today?
Why does the Church talk so much about morality? Can't I make up my own morals?
Is it really our responsibility to care for the poor— doesn't God help those who help themselves?
Why do Catholics and Protestants disagree? Must Catholics worship Mary and always obey the pope?
More than an intellectual enterprise, this work is also a deep spiritual reflection and a practical guide to living out our faith in Christ. It aims to form both the head and the heart, not only helping us to understand Jesus and his plan of salvation, but inspiring us to love God and our neighbor better.
Edward Sri, Ph.D., well-known Catholic speaker and the author of several best-selling books, is a professor of Theology and Scripture at the Augustine Institute, and host of the acclaimed film series, Symbolon. He is also a founding leader of FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students). He holds a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
"This book will be a breakthrough for many people. Dr. Sri shows divine love as the inner logic of the Catholic faith — the one thing that makes sense of everything we believe and do. His presentation is clear and simple, and it goes straight to the heart of the matter (and the hearts of readers)."
— Scott Hahn, Author, Rome Sweet Home
"'God is love' St. John tells us. This book helps us to understand all that short phrase means. It is a book for those with questions seeking answers. Catholic answers that only the faith can provide."
— Cardinal George Pell, Prefect, Secretariat for the Economy
"Edward Sri is one of the best teachers of the faith in our generation. He reveals the Catholic Faith as not just a set of beliefs but a lifestyle filled with love. This is a superb introduction to the Catholic way of life!"
— John Bergsma, Professor of Theology, Franciscan University of Steubenville
"The Church is a bride whose beauty will speak for itself when she is unveiled. Dr. Sri has done just this through his characteristic charity and clarity, revealing the harmony and richness of the Catholic faith."
— Jason Evert, Author, Saint John Paul the Great
"Edward Sri shows how Catholicism presents a God who is anything but disinterested, a God who is deeply personal and desires to share His very life with us… with you."
— Curtis Martin, Founder, Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS)
"Love Unveiled unfolds the love of God revealed in the teachings and practices of the Catholic Church. Anyone who wants to understand the Church—and the great love God has for us—would do well to read this book."
— Most Reverend James Conley, Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska
October 4, 2015
Cardinal Kasper resorts to the "F" word in addressing critics
Cardinal Walter Kasper waves as he arrives for Pope Francis' ecumenical vespers at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome Jan. 25. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Cardinal Kasper resorts to the "F" word in addressing critics | Mark Brumley | Catholic World Report
The German prelate needs to stop acting as if nuanced, critical theological reflection happens only on his side of the debate and that his opponents are unthinking Bible-thumping "fundamentalists"
Cardinal Kasper has taken to using the "F" word in criticizing some of his opponents on the question of divorce and civil remarriage. It seems that they are “fundamentalists”, not appreciating the context of the biblical text they employ and not understanding how the teaching of Jesus was adapted in the early Church to fit new situations.
The fact is, though, that not everyone who disagrees with Cardinal Kasper is a fundamentalist.
Benedict XVI is hardly a fundamentalist. The mainstream of theological opposition to Kasper's proposal is hardly fundamentalist. True, Kasper's critics take seriously the New Testament teaching, including the teaching of Jesus himself, about the nature of marriage, divorce, and remarriage. But surely Cardinal Kasper does not expect us to equate taking Jesus and the New Testament seriously with fundamentalism.
Perhaps Cardinal Kasper worries that some of his critics quote chapter and verse against him as if texts can, without context, settle the debate. One might ask, though, whether he regards all of his critics as simple Bible thumpers. If not, why does he choose to focus on the fundamentalists, rather on the more substantial critics who know their way around the biblical texts as well as the contexts in which they appear? It makes it seem as if he doesn’t want to face objections in their strongest form.
What’s more, while it’s true that Jesus’ teaching regarding the adulterous nature of remarriage of divorcees was qualified by the early Church, as she, guided by the Spirit, made important distinctions, that doesn’t amount to a blank check for revision. Most Catholic revisionists acknowledge this point in theory, but they don’t always attend to it in practice, when it comes to making the case for change.
Yes, it seems the early Church clarified that certain things that may have looked like “marriages” (e.g., unions within the bounds of consanguinity), upon reflection, weren’t true marriages and therefore Jesus’ teaching about divorce and remarriage didn’t apply in those cases because, well, those cases didn’t involve marriages. That seems to be the consensus of modern biblical scholarship on the point.
The Mystery of Creation and the Sacrament of Marriage
"Miracle at Cana" (1887) by Vladimir Makovsky [WikiArt.org]
The Mystery of Creation and the Sacrament of Marriage | Carl E. Olson
The Readings for Sunday, October 4th, show how Jesus insisted on going back to “the beginning of creation” and restoring the original meaning of marriage
Readings:
• Gen 2:18-24
• Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
• Heb 2:9-11
• Mk 10:2-16
“No human institution,” writes Jorge Cardinal Medina Estévez in Male and Female He Created Them (Ignatius Press, 2003), “is so deeply rooted in nature and in the heart of man and of woman as marriage and the family.” And yet, as Estévez goes on to demonstrate, marriage has so many enemies and is assailed from every side by forces—both internal and external—seeking to pervert and destroy it.
Divorce is rampant, adultery is common, and “same-sex marriage” now appears to be an inevitable social and cultural "reality". It is not surprising, then, to sometimes hear that marriage is doomed, soon an artifact of a different era, rapidly becoming a victim of politics, apathy, selfishness, and a disregard for tradition and religion.
But, however dark the horizon, we shouldn’t forget that marriage is not the artificial construct of a particular culture, nor a transitory institution aimed at repressing this or that special interest group. Marriage pre-dates cultures, civilizations, political parties, and ideologies.
In today’s first reading, taken from the creation account in Genesis 2, the first man is put into a deep sleep and the woman is “fashioned” from the rib taken out of his side. “For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24).
What exactly did that mean? This passage and question were the focus of much of Pope John Paul II’s famous “theology of the body,” given as general audiences early in his pontificate. He saw an “integral” connection between the mystery of creation and the sacrament of marriage.
He wrote: “The words of Genesis 2:24, ‘A man . . . cleaves to his wife and they become one flesh,’ spoken in the context of this original reality in a theological sense, constitute marriage as an integral part and, in a certain sense, a central part of the ‘sacrament of creation.’ They constitute, or perhaps rather they simply confirm the character of its origin. According to these words, marriage is a sacrament inasmuch as it is an integral part and, I would say, the central point of ‘the sacrament of creation.’ In this sense it is the primordial sacrament.”
This is part of the point made by Jesus in his conversation with the Pharisees. Divorce was allowed within Judaism, even being common among some Jews. The Pharisees, of course, focused on the Law of Moses. But Jesus indicated that the allowance given by Moses for divorce was a nod to man’s weakness, “the hardness of your hearts.” He insisted on going back to “the beginning of creation” and restoring the original meaning of marriage.
Creation and marriage are intimately connected, as marriage is a co-creation between the cleaving man and woman and the Triune God. In accepting the gift of the “other,” man and woman are given a profound wholeness. The very creative nature of marriage acknowledges God’s act of creation, his overflowing love, and his plan for humanity—a plan modeled in the sacrament of marriage.
Thus, the primordial sacrament is a sign revealing a mystery of infinite value: the gift of divine life. God invites man to partake in his divine nature and enter into full communion with the Trinitarian mystery. Marriage, the deepest and most profound of human communions, is a sign of that divine communion.
The primordial sacrament, wrote John Paul II, is “understood as a sign which effectively transmits in the visible world the invisible mystery hidden from eternity in God. This is the mystery of truth and love, the mystery of the divine life in which man really shares …”
Marriage, then, was at the heart of God’s plan for man even before Creation. The Son was the author of this sacrament, for “all things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (Jn. 1:1,3). In becoming flesh and wedding himself to humanity, he revived the roots and revealed the meaning of marriage.
(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the October 4, 2009, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)
October 2, 2015
New: "The Kiss of Jesus: How Mother Teresa and the Saints Helped Me to Discover the Beauty of the Cross"
Now available from Ignatius Press:
The Kiss of Jesus: How Mother Teresa and the Saints Helped Me to Discover the Beauty of the Cross
by Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle
Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle is a Catholic author, a radio and television host, and an inspirational speaker known and admired from coast to coast. Yet with all of her public exposure, she has revealed very little about her personal history, that is, until now. When she discovered that sharing her struggles gives encouragement to others, she was persuaded to write this story of her life.
Growing up in a Polish-American Catholic family, Donna-Marie was blessed with hard-working parents who provided a stable home for their eight children. At times her childhood was golden and carefree, but other times it was tarnished by pain that she felt was best left unspoken as she sought God for help and strength.
After she left home after high school, her path took some harrowing turns. A Vietnam veteran fiancé snapped and held her against her will. She suffered pregnancy loss, serious illness, divorce, and single motherhood. Perhaps her greatest trial was an epic custody battle in which she needed to defend both her reputation as a mother and the safety of her five children.
Yet through all the dark valleys, Donna-Marie kept the fire of her faith burning. Helping her to see the beauty of the crosses in her life, and to rely on the presence and the providence of God, were saintly souls who became her friends and mentors. One of these was Blessed Mother Teresa, who was her confidant and spiritual mother for ten years.
Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle is a Catholic wife, mother, speaker, catechist, and EWTN TV host of “Everyday Blessings for Catholic Moms” and “Catholic Mom’s Café.” She is an award winning and best selling author of numerous Catholic books and was blessed with a ten-year friendship with Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
"This candid and poignant account pierces the heart and leaves the reader changed."
— Johnnette Benkovic, Founder, Women of Grace®
"A courageous, sometimes stunningly personal memoir. Donna-Marie reminds us that everyone gets a turn on the via Dolorosa."
— Elizabeth Scalia, The Anchoress at Patheos.com
"Allows us to enter into her heart, and accompany her on a remarkable spiritual journey."
— Brian Patrick, Anchor, EWTN News Nightly
"This extraordinary story will bring hope to all who are suffering."
— Dan Burke, Executive Director, National Catholic Register
"A gripping spiritual adventure telling of God's faithfulness in times of terror and abuse."
— Mark Shea, Author, By What Authority
"Runs the gamut of virtue and vice, flesh and spirit, demonic and holy. Her extraordinary life gives hope to all."
— Jim Pinto, Co-Host of EWTN’s @ Home with Jim and Joy
"This book knocked my socks off! I never expected that such a sweet, joyful, and soft-spoken woman lived such a perilous life."
— Gail Buckley, President, Catholic Scripture Study International
"If you have ever doubted that God draws straight with crooked lines, you simply have to read Donna-Marie’s story!"
— Marcellino D’Ambrosio, Ph.D., Author, When the Church Was Young
"For anyone who wishes to move beyond anger and resentment, this book is an answer to prayer."
— Mike Aquilina, Author, The Fathers of the Church
"An inspiring roller coaster story about a life devoted to Jesus and his Church that encourages us to make courageous choices in life."
— Randy Hain, Author, Journey to Heaven
The Divine Physician and the Doctor
The Divine Physician and the Doctor | John Herreid | IPNovels.com
…for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
—2 Corinthians 12:10
He’s back. My favorite recent incarnation of the alien Time Lord known as the Doctor arrived again this month, sonic screwdriver (or sunglasses) at the ready. Peter Capaldi’s portrayal of the Doctor is prickly, intelligent, standoffish, and alien in ways that harken back to the first decade of Doctor Who. It’s worth pondering that on a series fifty years old, sometimes a return to origins feels fresher than “new” directions, which often end up taking a show in the same direction all the other shows are going. In the opening two-parter The Magician’s Apprentice / The Witch’s Familiar, the Doctor once again faces Davros, the maniacal creator of the Daleks, in what may be the best use of the character since Tom Baker’s Doctor faced him when he was first introduced in Genesis of the Daleks (1975).
In these two opening episodes of the series, the Doctor is facing not only two of his oldest enemies: Davros and the Master (now regenerated into female form as the Mistress)—but also the question of whether his own weaknesses may be his ultimate downfall.
—
What some people call NuWho, the show since it’s revival after a long hiatus, has been hit and miss. But so was the original. The budget has increased vastly since the original run of Doctor Who, which at times had the homespun charm of watching a community theater production. I can remember as a child realizing that various monsters were made of such things as bubble wrap and tape. Unlike slick Hollywood productions, on Doctor Who the seams were all visible: a rampaging robot might brush a “metal” wall and make the whole set wobble. But the actors playing the various incarnations of the Doctor, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker especially, had a charisma that could make you forget the low budget. As an adult, I began to delve further back into Doctor Who, back to William Hartnell’s crotchety First Doctor and Patrick Troughton’s Chaplinesque Second Doctor.
In the 1980s Doctor Who began to misstep. Stories began to be cynical and dark, and often complicated and confusing. Though Peter Davison, who played the Doctor in the early 80s, was a dashing figure, his replacement was Colin Baker, written as a garishly dressed (even by Who standards) and aggressively unpleasant Doctor. The show never really recovered from this, though Sylvester McCoy, who followed Colin Baker, starred in a series of episodes that showed a great deal of improvement. The television show was suspended in 1989. In the 90s an attempt was made to revive the series with a television movie co-produced by American investors, starring Paul McGann as the Doctor (very good) and Eric Roberts (wait, what?!) as his nemesis, the Master. It failed to jump-start a revival.
It was in 2005 that Doctor Who came back starring Christopher Eccleston and garnered a new generation of fans. Modern Whovians glommed on particularly to David Tennant, the Doctor from 2005 to 2010, whose portrayal of the Doctor was probably the most human of all the incarnations. He was followed by my son’s favorite Doctor, the Eleventh, played by Matt Smith, who departed in 2013. Which brings us back to Peter Capaldi.
My oldest son, who is on the autism spectrum, was upset at first when he heard that Matt Smith would regenerate into a new Doctor. He went so far as to write a letter to Smith, giving him the heads-up that “you will regnrat in to Petr Capaldy.” It was touching then, to see Peter Capaldi take some time to speak to another young fan with autism in the UK, reassuring her that it was okay with Smith that he was the Doctor now. Capaldi also filmed a special message for a nine-year-old boy with autism whose grandmother had just died, helping the boy process his feelings. It made me a bigger fan of his work than ever before.
—
The Doctor values humanity. He sees the rights of the downtrodden and steps in to aid them whenever he can. His gruff or frivolous or snarky behavior (depending on his incarnation) is just a mask for the deep generosity of his character. And it’s here that I want to go a bit deeper.
Thomas More: The Saint for the Synod
"The Family of Sir Thomas More" by Rowland Lockey after Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1594 (Wikipedia)
Thomas More: The Saint for the Synod | Dr. Samuel Gregg | CWR
Just as some contemporary Northern European bishops are presently seeking to fudge similarly settled Church teaching, considerable efforts were made by bishops in 1533 to persuade More to be more flexible with Henry VIII's demands
“To live together as brother and sister? Of course I have high respect for those who are doing this. But it’s a heroic act, and heroism is not for the average Christian.”
Among the many statements made by Cardinal Walter Kasper while making his case for changing Church teaching that prohibits divorced and civilly-remarried Catholics who choose not to live as brother and sister to receive communion, this was perhaps the most revealing. It reflects an approach to Christian morality which goes beyond presenting (and thus essentially marginalizing) Christ’s moral teaching as an ideal that, sotto voce, no-one’s seriously expected to follow in all their free choices. It also effectively downplays something that all Christians must face at some point: the Cross.
Every Christian has a cross to bear. The point is not whether we stumble under their burden. We all do. What’s crucial is that we repent, get up, and resolve to go and sin no more. Each Christian is after all called to holiness, not averageness. In short, striving to be a saint isn’t just for extraordinary people. It’s something Christ asks of all His followers: rich or poor, man or woman, African or German. In our equality-fixated age, the call to be a saint is in fact one of the great equalizers for Christians—not least because, as Saint John Paul II wrote in his encyclical Veritatis Splendor, “Before the demands of morality we are all absolutely equal” (VS 96).
In that sense, the lives of the saints, especially the martyrs, may well be the strongest refutation of the Kasper proposal, not to mention the entire canopy of ideas for which, as everyone knows, it is serving as a stalking-horse. And one saint whose life is particularly relevant for the 2015 Synod on the Family is surely Thomas More. Universally recognized as a scholar, statesman and lawyer, we often forget that More was also a son, father, and husband. Moreover, one of the principles for which More gave his life could not be more pertinent for this Synod’s reflections: the indissolubility of marriage in the face of Henry VIII’s determination to live as man and wife with a lady who, in the Church’s judgment, was not his wife.
Family Man
To the extent that More’s story is known by Catholics, it’s invariably for his choices in the last years of his life. Fewer are familiar with the more everyday aspects of More’s time on earth.
October 1, 2015
"The Curious Case of the Intercepted Book" by Edward Pentin
Images via us.fotolia.com
The Curious Case of the Intercepted Book | Edward Pentin | CWR
Copies of a controversial book were mailed to participants in last year’s synod, yet only a fraction of them were received. Was this due to a simple error or was something else going on?
[Editor’s note: The following is an exclusive excerpt from Edward Pentin’s new book The Rigging of a Vatican Synod? An Investigation of Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family
, available now from Ignatius Press as an e-book. To find out what really went on before, during, and after last year’s controversial Synod of Bishops, Pentin spent months speaking to many of those who were there and piecing together what happened behind the closed doors of the Vatican’s Synod Hall.
This excerpt is about the controversy surrounding the book Remaining in the Truth of Christ, copies of which were mailed to the synod participants. Only a fraction of those copies made it to their intended recipients, however, as Pentin reports.]
The Intercepted Book
… Alarmed by the platform Kasper had been given for such a potentially drastic change in pastoral practice, one that critics believed would seriously undermine the Church’s teaching on marriage, a group of Church experts, including five cardinals, would write a riposte in the form of a book.
Remaining in the Truth of Christ: Marriage and Communion in the Catholic Church, published by Ignatius Press, was written by five cardinals from Italy, Germany, and the United States, one archbishop, two religious, and one layman (the contributors were Walter Cardinal Brandmüller; Raymond Cardinal Burke; Carlo Cardinal Caffarra; Velasio Cardinal De Paolis, C.S.; Robert Dodaro, O.S.A.; Paul Mankowski, S.J.; Gerhard Cardinal Müller; John M. Rist; and Archbishop Cyril Vasil, S.J.). They felt obliged to write in response to Cardinal Kasper’s proposal, which Kasper had published following the February 2014 consistory and which they saw as implicitly inviting a public response.
Among other things, the book contends that Christ in the New Testament unambiguously prohibits divorce and remarriage on the basis of God’s original plan for marriage set out at Genesis 1:27 and 2:24. This is part of the Gospel of the Family, and it goes back to Christ, not simply to the Church’s rules. From this starting point, the contributors carefully and unpolemically outline the theological, moral, and pastoral case for the Church’s pastoral practice.
The book was devised in absolute confidentiality. Although Pope Francis had never publicly endorsed the Kasper proposal, he was widely believed to be sympathetic to it, since he had given Kasper such a prominent platform at the consistory and because of his public support for the cardinal’s other writings and because of Kasper’s claim that the pope fully supported him and rumors that the pope privately thinks it admissible to distribute Holy Communion to civilly remarried divorced Catholics in certain circumstances and did so when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires.
That the pope actually did favor Kasper’s position was unclear, but the editors and writers decided it was not worth the risk for the project to become public. Perhaps if the pope found out it was in the works, he would stop it. And he would be free to do so: as pope, he would be at liberty to tell any of the cardinals involved to halt its publication, and they would be duty bound to carry out his wish in obedience to him. But even if the pope did not intervene, others might work to block the work or try to discredit it before it was published.
It is not clear, even today, who originally had the idea for the work. Cardinal Burke took the lead in compiling the contributions, but he may have received direction from someone else, possibly from someone in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), which certainly supported the position of the book, as an essay by Cardinal Müller formed one of its chapters.
Burke, in turn, worked with Augustinian Father Robert Dodaro, the American president of the Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum in Rome, who served as editor. The cardinal called him a day or two before the Easter Triduum in 2014 and asked if he would write a chapter on patristics. Father Dodaro had fortuitously just written a long text for the CDF on the patristic arguments of Cardinal Kasper’s talk to the extraordinary consistory.
Having found Kasper’s position defective, Dodaro was happy to oblige, but, because marriage and divorce in late antiquity was not his particular field, he recommended Professor John Rist. A classical philosophy professor emeritus of the University of Toronto, Rist is known to be a “top grade” philosopher and one of the world’s foremost experts on the ancient Church. Dodaro thought few would be willing to dispute his analysis. When Rist agreed to participate, Burke invited Dodaro to edit the book.
The book was duly compiled in record time.
The atrocious script for the "Ordinary" Synod
The atrocious script for the "Ordinary" Synod | Rev. D. Vincent Twomey SVD | CWR
The "Instrumentum Laboris" for the Synod is marred by serious weaknesses regarding the sacraments and morality
The Instrumentum Laboris, or working paper, for next month's synod has all the hallmarks of the product of a committee. It is also tiresomely moralistic in tone. Apart from an occasional nod in the direction of Africa and Asia, the text mostly reflects the cultural and social situation of the Church in the Western world, including America north and south. The document is, at best, theologically thin.
Before looking at the documents two main weaknesses, some of its strengths should be noted. It does give due attention to preparation for marriage and accompaniment for married couples, as well as some understanding of the difficulties faced by many couples (paragraphs 94-7). The attempt to redefine marriage in favour of same-sex unions is also unequivocally rejected (91, 130, 132, 138). Pro-life issues are unambiguously mentioned (140-1).
Also included is a short description of today's bio-ethical challenge (34), that is, assisted artificial reproduction. The description is however morally neutral apart from noting the "profound effect" they are having "in relationships, in society and in the judicial system". There seems to be a vague allusion in paragraph 134 to the development of alternatives to IVF based on natural family planning, but it is ambiguous. More important is the rejection of the underlying mentality that sees the child not as a value in itself but as a means to achieving one's own desires (138).
One hopes the synod will develop these themes, given the wide use of IVF in the Western world, its impact on generations to come and the widespread ignorance, even among bishops and priests, of the Church's authoritative moral evaluation of these practices.
The working paper's theology of the sacraments is one of its two main weaknesses. It stresses the continuity between natural marriage, as given in creation, and the sacrament of marriage (39) which is true. But here the newness of the Christian sacrament is reduced to some vague fullness of natural marriage, suggesting it is merely a matter of degree. There is no mention of the radical transformation in our relationship to the Triune God caused by baptism, making us a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). The text reduces baptism to introducing the baptised into the Church community through the domestic Church (whatever that might mean).
The text also misunderstands the famous passage in Vatican IIs Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes (22) which says that Christ fully reveals man to man himself. (This was the key to St John Paul IIs anthropology). In the working paper the fullness of the sacrament seems to have been reduced to Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner's controversial notion of Christianity as making explicit what is otherwise implicit (40).
The paragraphs on the sacrament taken from the last Synod's Final Report and now incorporated into the working paper (46, 47, 54, 64) are somewhat more theologically precise (apart from paragraph 64, which curiously refers to the sacrament as enriching a young couples "prospects of love"). But these sections seem to have had no influence on the Working Paper's main recommendations. The latter take their cue from the German theologian Cardinal Walter Kasper's contentious notion of the sacrament as a higher or fuller degree of what is already present in nature.
The working paper bizarrely applies a Patristic idea of "seeds of the Word" present in non-Christian wisdom traditions to cohabitation and civil unions among Catholics.
September 30, 2015
Reviewers Wanted! Get a free copy of “We’ll Never Tell Them”!
From IPNovels.com:
Do you have an active blog? Ignatius Press is seeking bloggers to help us spread the word about our wonderful new novels! For a limited time, Ignatius Press is offering bloggers a FREE e-book of our new novel, We’ll Never Tell Them
by Fiorella de Maria. In exchange for the e-book, we ask that you review the book on your blog and post the review on all social media outlets, Amazon, etc. We will also republish the review on our website www.ipnovels.com
Please email Rose Trabbic at rose@ignatius.com if you would like to participate and spread the word about great Catholic literature from Ignatius Press!
About the novel:
Kristjana, a nurse in England, flees twenty-first-century London in order to avoid a decision about her future. While attending a dying man in a Jerusalem hospital, she escapes into another woman’s past and discovers there the courage to embrace her own destiny. Through his vivid storytelling, Kristjana’s cancer patient, Leo Hampton, recounts his mother’s life—her upbringing in colonial Malta, her education in Edwardian England, and her service as a volunteer nurse during World War I.
Captivated by the story of Liljana Hampton, Kristjana is pulled into the agonies and the ecstasies of a previous generation, which almost seem more real to her than those of her own life. Through her vicarious experience of another woman’s personal history, Kristjana discovers the secret of fearlessly embracing her future.
With her passionate and colorful prose, award-winning author Fiorella De Maria seamlessly weaves back and forth between the past and the future. She realistically brings to life the cobbled streets of Old World Malta, the halls of an English boarding school, and the trenches of the Great War as she explores the age-old quest for some sense of security in a dangerous and uncertain world.
And the author:
Fiorella De Maria was born in Italy of Maltese parents. She grew up in Wiltshire, England, and attended Cambridge, where she received a BA in English Literature and a Masters in Renaissance Literature. She is the author of the novels Poor Banished Children and Do No Harm. She won the National Book Prize of Malta.
And what some notable folks are saying about the novel:
"Shows us that the sufferings of one life can be the source of the authenticity that gives life to another."
— Michael D. O'Brien, Author, Father Elijah
"An enthralling historical novel."
— Lucy Beckett, Author, A Postcard from the Volcano
"Moving and beautifully written."
— Piers Paul Read, Author, The Death of a Pope
"Engages from the very beginning to the very end."
— Michael Richard, Author, Tobit’s Dog
"Fiorella De Maria is not afraid of the complexities of life and is capable of mixing its suffering with poetry and love."
— Mother Dolores Hart, O.S.B., Author, The Ear of the Heart
"A story about connecting—heart to heart, mind to mind—even across the years."
— Roger Thomas, Author, The Accidental Marriage
New: "Stories about John Paul II Told by His Close Friends and Collaborators"
Now available from Ignatius Press:
Stories about John Paul II: Told by His Close Friends and Collaborators
By Wlodzimierz Redzioch
While shaping the history of the Church and the world, Pope John Paul II lived his daily life among individuals who knew him closely as a spiritual father, a colleague, and a friend. They both served and were served by the most influential saint of the twentieth century.
Polish journalist Wlodzimierz Redzioch, a longtime employee of the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, interviewed almost two dozen men and women for this book. Among them are lifelong friends who knew the pope (as Karol Wojtyla) in Kraków and people who cared for him during his pontificate, such as his physician and his secretary. Also here recalling their memories of the pope are some of those who worked beside him inside the Vatican—a papal photographer, a papal spokesman, and curial officials, including the German cardinal who became his successor, Joseph Ratzinger.
All of those interviewed tell remarkable stories about Pope John Paul II—beginning with his courageous witness in Communist Poland and his important participation in the Second Vatican Council, continuing through his election to the papacy and the challenges of his pontificate, and ending with the sufferings of his final years. The process of his beatification and canonization is also discussed.
Through these previously unpublished stories and anecdotes, a composite portrait emerges of a prayerful and thoughtful man with heroic faith, hope, and charity. Capable of discussing, listening, and delegating, John Paul II was also a decisive leader who unabashedly defended the Catholic faith. With his natural flair for friendship and his gifts of joy and humor, he had a tremendous impact on the world because he deeply touched the hearts of countless people everywhere.
Wlodzimierz Redzioch is a Polish journalist who worked for more than thirty years for the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano.He has also been a regular contributor to the magazine Inside the Vatican and to the Vatican news agency, Zenit. He is the author of several books about the Vatican. In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI awarded him the title of Commander of the Equestrian Order of Saint Sylvester Pope and Martyr.
"You are going to love this book because these are great stories about a great man. And as Jesus showed us, telling stories is a great way to share the faith."
— Terry Barber, Author, How to Share Your Faith with Anyone
"Saint John Paul II made a huge impact on everyone who was privileged to experience his kindness, joy, devotion, and humble sanctity. In this incredible book, we are given new insights into his legacy."
— Father Donald Calloway, M.I.C., Author, Mary of Nazareth: The Life of Our Lady in Pictures
"Riveting and inspiring from the first page, this book takes you on an intimate walk through the life of John Paul II with those who knew him best. Through his interviews, Redzioch gives us behind-the-scenes glimpses of the heart, the humor, and the holiness of one of our greatest popes."
— Vinny Flynn, Best-selling Author, 7 Secrets of the Eucharist
"Redzioch has gathered stories from many people close to John Paul II that will delight and entertain, inspire and challenge. You will come away from this book with a deeper love for the saint for our times."
— Steve Ray, Film Series Host, The Footprints of God
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