R. Thomas Richard's Blog, page 25
February 25, 2010
How's the Catechesis in Your Church?
The years of inadequate catechesis given to our children, in the decades following the post-Vatican II upheaval, have yielded their troubling harvest: adults in the Church today do not know their Faith. This clear fact is (or ought to be) very troubling. But there is another even more troubling consequence: young men and older men who sense a call to the priesthood have also come out of that same doctrinally shallow pool.
Men seeking to serve the Church as priests have presented themselves t...
February 20, 2010
Thoughts in the Wilderness
If a majority of Americans does not very soon wake up, or sober up, or grow up, this country is soon to fall. Our foundations are crumbling, and no matter how many large-screen TVs we can cram into our up-side-down mortgaged homes, the country will fall. No matter how high-tech is our entertainment, it remains fantasy. Life is not a beach! Retirement is not the purpose of work, and golf is not the reason for life! Virtual reality is not real, no matter how clever or exciting.
No matter...
February 13, 2010
Lex orandi, lex credendi
Both Charles Peguy and Leon Bloy are cited as saying, in one form or another, that the one tragedy of life is not to have been a saint. Listening to the teaching of the Lord in "the parable of the sower" (Mt 13:3-23), we can hear options and possibilities both for the tragedy of failure and the joy of success in finding and living our true vocation to holiness.
The Gospel has power! His word has potency! Yet the effect of the Word depends on the reception in the heart. A human heart can...
January 12, 2010
The Church needs the Mission of the Members
Yes, the world needs the Church. And the Church, to fully be Church, needs the mission of her members. The Church needs the full, conscious and active participation of her members – all of her members!
A body having some paralyzed members can survive, and can potentially do many things, but with handicaps that make the full activity of the body more difficult. Some activities may even be impossible to the body, because of the unresponsiveness of some of its members. So it is also with the ...
January 8, 2010
The World Needs the Mission of the Church!
Pope Benedict XVI has strongly encouraged the use of Lectio Divina. He wrote, "I would like in particular to recall and recommend the ancient tradition of Lectio divina: the diligent reading of Sacred Scripture accompanied by prayer brings about that intimate dialogue in which the person reading hears God who is speaking, and in praying, responds to him with trusting openness of heart (cf. Dei Verbum, n. 25). If it is effectively promoted, this practice will bring to the Church — I am...
