Theology for Dummies – It’s for Everyone!

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: http://www.holyfamily-parish.com/

In a few months’ time, I will be leaving Guelph behind and moving to Toronto to begin my theological studies at Regis College. As I reflected a bit on a Jesuit’s requirement to study theology as part of his formation, I also recognized that it should be an integral part of every Christian’s daily life, and not just the clergyman’s. It seems that today more and more of our adult Christians know less and less about their faith. For the most part, today’s adult Christians seem to have an elementary school level faith because their faith formation seemed to have stopped after their reception of the sacrament of Confirmation, which is usually received in grade eight.

Pope Francis on the Digital Age

By John D. O’Brien. S.J.

Credit: L’Osservatore Romano

Recently, Pope Francis issued his first message for World Communications Day (WCD). These statements, which are made every year, are like “state of the union” addresses on our lives in relation to media. Today, we are all denizens of the digital nation. Media technology influences our lives in ways that are dramatic, evolving, and defining. The WCD messages, which are also fairly short, summarize the Church’s most recent reflection on communications. For all who are interested in the intersection of media, theology and spirituality, they are landmark statements, and therefore worth looking at closely.

Telling A Brilliant Story: Reading the Signs of the Times

By Santiago Rodriguez, S.J.

Credit: http://1.bp.blogspot.com

They knelt before Mary's babe and paid him homage. The three Wise Men who traveled from the East bore gifts for the child King: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Since I was a child, the story of the Magi seized my imagination. I used to imagine their journey from the East: the great caravan, their camels, and their lovely tents. I would visualize their faces as they knelt before Jesus - as Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar contemplated the child and finally found the peace they were seeking. Then, I would have a laugh as I imagined them flipping a coin or playing Rock-Paper-Scissors to decide who would be the first one to hold the baby.

Lumen Fidei: Faith and the Vast Horizons of Our Time

By Santiago Rodriguez, S.J.

Credit: http://www.catholicworldreport.com

Without light, there would be no sight. Our sight is the result of the interaction between light, our eyes and our brain. Light allows us to see. I had this in mind as I read Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis' encyclical, Lumen Fidei (LF). The encyclical reflects on the light of faith – the way faith illumines our lives. It presupposes the Second Vatican Council's consideration about faith: we receive the ultimate truth about human life as a gift of love from God the Father in the revelation of Jesus Christ. Faith allows us to know truth through love, since love is a “form of shared knowledge, a vision through the eyes of another and a shared vision of all that exists” (LF 27). Lumen Fidei invites us to contemplate Jesus and to see all things with his eyes.

St. Anthony of Padua, a Saint for the New Evangelization

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Photo: http://prayersforourpets.blogspot.ca

We are now well beyond the halfway point of the Year of Faith that Pope Emeritus Benedict called last October. At the beginning of this "Year", Pope Benedict encouraged all Catholics to especially pay attention to the New Evangelization. As such, I thought it would be beneficial for us to take a look at role models whose lives may inspire and help us in this pursuit. We sometimes underestimate how powerful it is to look at the lives of the saints; they continue to work amongst us through their lived examples.

For instance, the life of St. Anthony of Padua was celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church yesterday. A Franciscan contemporary of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Anthony’s life is a model for the New Evangelization. How so? I will illustrate this by discussing a few aspects of his inspiring life.

No Man is an Island

By Artur Suski, S.J. 

Credit: http://www.surreyccblog.com

A couple of recent guest lectures in a Grade 12 Philosophy class on “the Self” have prompted me to do some reading on the topic of “Human Nature”. In the philosophy curriculum, the unit on “the Self” mostly focuses on the philosophy of Réné Descartes and that of G.W.F. Hegel. There’s no such thing as pretending to know what Hegel was writing about; I tried my best, and I had my hands full. Nevertheless, the discussion on these two philosophers is rather fascinating.

Two Favourite Themes of Benedict XVI We Should Remember

By Adam Hincks, S.J.

Wisdom’s self / Oft seeks to sweet retired Solitude.  – Milton

When Benedict XVI was elected almost eight years ago, I knew relatively little about him and I had read nothing by him. Since then, while I have by no means become an expert on his work, I have learned to deeply appreciate his thought. Many of the topics he writes about are well-known and oft-reported in the press―secularism, the interpretation of Vatican II, the spirit of the liturgy, and so on. However, there are two themes in his writing that I think are not dwelt upon enough: the relationship of faith and reason, and the virtue of hope.

The Next Pope and the Number of the Beast

By John D. O’Brien, S.J.

Amid the fervent speculation over the identity of the next Pope has been an undercurrent of conjecture over whether the Church is about to elect its last Pope, the pontiff who will preside over the apocalyptic era, perhaps the final consummation predicted by Christ.

The dominant fuel is provided by the Prophecies of St. Malachy, the 12th century Archbishop of Armagh, who reportedly had visions of all the popes from 1143 until “the end of the world”. He left a series of cryptic Latin phrases which supposedly describe each one. Pope Benedict XVI is the second-last on the list; his successor, therefore, will be the final pope. He will be called “Peter the Roman”, of whom the prophecy says:

In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will sit Petrus Romanus, who will pasture his sheep in many tribulations, and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills [i.e. Rome] will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The End.

The Pope's Resignation: Food for Thought and Prayer

By Santiago Rodriguez, S.J.

Photo: www.csmonitor.com/

This past Monday at 5:55 am, I was on a plane, on my way back to Toronto. I was awakened by the voice of the captain, who asked the flight attendants to prepare for landing. A minute or so later, the plane shook violently and there was a rapid change of cabin pressure. The emergency oxygen masks were subsequently released from the ceiling. For the next thirty seconds, passengers were screaming, the flight attendants were asking us to remain calm, and the flight captain was assuring us that it was going to be a safe landing. All I could think about was that we were going down. I cannot say my life flashed before my eyes, but I did think of some people I love and care for. This event certainly gave me lots of food for thought and prayer.

Thankfully, we did land safely. As the plane was taxiing to the gate, we were informed that there was a medical emergency (someone had a heart attack in the midst of the turmoil) and we needed to wait until the paramedics tended to our fellow passenger before we could get off the plane. Perhaps in an attempt to distract us during the wait, the captain casually commented: “In other news, the Pope resigned this morning.” Some thought the captain was making an attempt at humour, but I instinctively knew that he was telling the truth.

Positive and Frustrating Experiences around Evangelization on the Internet

By Brother Daniel Leckman, S.J.

tele.communication.net

For this entry, I'd like to muse about the Catholic Church and communications. More specifically, how do we communicate faith to a secular world that is slowly losing the art of elaborate and refined communication of complex ideas (which are needed to communicate the faith!), and that instead is more interested in “sound bites” and the 20 second summary of a complex issue?

Those of us who who have come to believe that Christ’s salvific love for us brings all people to new life and restores us to God’s light seem to be almost boxed out in this world and, as many agnostics and atheists would claim, have become irrelevant.

The Baby is Coming

By Santiago Rodriguez, S.J.

http://www.mariansolidarity.com

In the opening song of one of my favourite musicals, Wicked, there is an exchange between the midwife and a father about the forthcoming birth of the long-expected baby.

Midwife: It's coming.

Father: Now?

Midwife: The baby is coming.

Father: And how!

They soon discover that the baby is not what they expected – they are puzzled by it;

Midwife: How can it be?

Father: What does it mean?

My friends, the baby is coming. We are now but a couple of days away from the celebration of the spiritual birth of Jesus. "To us a child is born, to us a son is given" (Is 9:6). These prophetic words are fulfilled in the infancy narrative of St. Luke the evangelist. The baby born in the stable is the eternal Son of God. Jesus is the Word who was in the beginning, the Word who was with God, the Word who was God. All things made were made through him (Jn 1:1-3). When the Prophet Isaiah says: "to us a child is born", he reveals, in all its fullness, the mystery of Christmas: the eternal generation of the Word of the Father, his birth in time through the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Golden-Tongued Composer

By John D. O'Brien, S.J.

This week, December 5th to be precise, is the anniversary of the death of one of history’s greatest musical geniuses, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It seems that everybody loves Mozart; even his contemporaries recognized his greatness. Josef Haydn wrote that “posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years”, and few would argue that this mantle may be extended for several hundred more. His compositions—more than 600 of them—have both depth and pathos, yet seem to dance with a lightness that returns us to joy. But what is more interesting is what a number of theologians have recognized in his work.

Truth and the Lonely Hearts

By Santiago Rodriguez, S.J.

Credit: www.digitalphilosophy.wordpress.com

I spent the last few days in Florida. Yes, I know what you are thinking: “How nice! He was enjoying the sun and the ocean. He got to visit Disneyworld or Universal Studios.” No, but I really like that idea. I visited Ave Maria University with some of my brother Jesuits to give a Hearts on Fire retreat. I arrived in Florida a couple of days after the US elections and many of my conversations there were linked to it. I have heard arguments for and against the victor. To be honest, most of the arguments were against.

I did not take sides in the arguments. Almost everyone was unequivocal about their choice for candidate. As an outsider, people knew I did not have to choose between the candidates. Yet, most of them asked for my opinion. I simply replied that I did not like either candidate. My interlocutors seemed perplexed, and they did not seem to have time for me thereafter. After getting the cold shoulder in some of these conversations, I began to feel a bit rejected and excluded. I felt somewhat ostracized and lonely. Above all, I felt lonesome and desolate.

Stewardship and Discernment: A Human Ecology Correctly Understood

By Santiago Rodriguez, S.J.

Credit: www.catholicecology.blogspot.com

Over the past year, I have been part of processes of discernment and reflection about faith and ecology with two groups; one on a local level and the other one on an international level. What came out of these discernment processes suggest that we are willing to make this cause our own as we labour to join Christ in building the Kingdom of God and to live in communities that make “decisions aimed at strengthening that covenant between human beings and the environment that should mirror the creative love of God”, as Pope Benedict XVI said in his World Day of Peace Message in 2007. While we are willing to address our ecological situation, we do not know how.

This concern points to our awareness of the complexity of the issue, the ambiguity of available information, the need to educate ourselves more thoroughly on this issue, and above all, to grow in awareness of creation as a gift from God. Over-consumption is the cause of the ecological problem; we are draining the planet at a terrifying rate. We need to strive for sustainability and to become better stewards of all creation. The best way to respond to the ecological crisis is to remain faithful to our Christian vocation: we are called to live more simply, to hear the voice of God in those who are suffering and to rediscover the sacrificial aspect of love.

Leading Us to God: The Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite

By Fr. Jeffrey Burwell, S.J.

(credit: Catholic Knight Blog)

Pope Benedict XVI issued a decree in July, 2007 concerning the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, called by many either the traditional Latin mass or the Tridentine liturgy. He explained that the ancient liturgy of the Church, normative for more than a thousand years until Pope Paul VI released the new missal in 1970, had never been abrogated. Rather, he claimed, the old mass was such an important part of Catholic tradition that it “must be given due honour for its venerable and ancient usage.”

The Sacred Heart: God's Boundless and Passionate Love for Us

By Santiago Rodriguez, S.J.

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I have always had a devotion to the Sacred Heart, the heart of the shepherd who loves us deeply. The devotion to the Sacred Heart is not one devotion among many, but the devotion from which all devotions ought to flow. The Sacred Heart is Christ himself, divine and incarnate. In the words of the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, the devotion to the Heart of Jesus is as old as Christianity itself.

The pierced Heart of the Crucified speaks a word of compassion to all of humanity. That word was carved out in the flesh of Jesus by the lance of the Roman soldier. God's word of compassion as expressed in the Sacred Heart is an invitation for every Christian to feel and to think like Jesus. The Heart of Jesus thirsts for souls to open up to Him. This is highlighted by the words of St. Francis of Sales, which were later appropriated in a new way by Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman: cor ad cor loquitur – heart speaks to heart. The pierced Heart of Jesus desires to speak to our hearts that we might enter into a deeper communion with Him. Jesus offers His Heart to us, and He desires that we offer our hearts to Him.

Heart of the World

By John D. O'Brien, S.J.

As the month of May draws near to its end, the prospect of the great feast-days of June is on the horizon. Among them is the great Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that I will anticipate here. It is a devotion Jesuits have always promoted, and continues to be promoted through the work of the Messenger of the Sacred Heart magazine and the Hearts on Fire retreats.

Pope Benedict has invited the faithful to renew their devotion to the Sacred Heart and with good reason: as a symbol – and object of meditation – it contains many dimensions of the mystery of God. Let’s reflect on a few of those.

A Tale of Two Rallies

By John O’Brien, S.J.

  

There were two large gatherings of people in the Western Hemisphere this past weekend. The first was Saturday’s self-billed “Reason Rally” at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., where 20,000 atheists gathered as a show of political force. Comedians, activists, bloggers, and the evolutionist writer Richard Dawkins headlined the event, which was reported to be lively despite the drizzling rain.

Speakers called for “zero tolerance” for anyone who disagrees with atheism and urged the nonreligious to run for public office at all levels of society. The most caustic advice, however, came from Dawkins, who told the crowd they should heap scorn on people of faith, above all, on Catholic beliefs such as the Eucharist.

“Mock them, ridicule them in public,” Dawkins said. “Don't fall for the convention that we're all too polite to talk about religion.” A preponderance of four-letter words throughout the day was reported, colouring blue the overall tone of the event.