The Week's Round-up and looking ahead...
Saturday, 19th August 2006

It has been a rich week on Catholica as the offerings below will demonstrate. I literally am becoming embarrassed now by the number of emails I've been receiving congratulating us on the quality of what is offered both in the commentaries and on the forum itself. Late yesterday I received many of the commentaries for the week ahead and I have to say I've been blown away by the quality of what you are about to experience in the week ahead. What you are now seeing here is the commitment of a significant team of individuals who are now beavering away on their computers in diverse parts of the world trying to outdo themselves and their previous commentary.

Watch for the satire coming up from Cliff in the characters of Molly and Fr Farzenheim in coming days. Make sure your health insurance is up to date before you read it though as I am seriously worried about some of our readers having coronaries reading it. You'll see Molly's next episode tomorrow and I'm keeping Fr Farzenheim until Tuesday. On Wednesday we commence a four-day series on Divorce by Peregrinus which is simply a "must read" and I am sure will become a major internet resource for many years into the future.

Here are today's offerings and the summary of the past week's offerings...

Who is this man Jesus who is the focus of our attention?

Ian Elmer argues the notion of the undivided Church is a myth. From the very outset there were differing views on the identity of Jesus that led to different "ways" of following Jesus. He explores these earliest differences of opinion seeking to provide us with an insight into our own unique view of Jesus and an appreciation that our view is not the only one.

005 :
18 Aug 2006

Faith as the author... Much of the commentaries of Nathanael seem to be pointing to the paradoxes in our faith. In this reflection he argues "faith" is the author or wellspring of life. It's our faith which helps to reveal to us what the purpose of our lives is. The "purpose" of our lives is not some set of instructions that are emailed to us by God, rather Nathanael argues, the purpose is revealed by the very process of endeavouring to discover what the purpose is. But the author of our being is always present within us (through our faith). He argues it is this author "which enables our life to reveal its purpose for being alive". To reach outwards (i.e. to reveal the purpose of our life, and live it) the paradox is that we have to reach inwards (i.e. towards the author of our life — our sense of faith). The well-lived or "faith-filled life" is revealed in the joy we radiate as we age which, again paradoxically, seems to come as a reflection or reward from how much we reach out to others in need. [more]

001 :
18 Aug 2006

Suggestions for our Future Church... Vince Exley is another much-loved member of this community who has been with us since the very earliest days of the CathNews discussion community. The lucky bugger lives in one of Australia's paradise locations, the Whitsunday Islands in tropical Queensland. He's a really contented bachelor and described his life to me a few years ago in these terms: "I feel God has really blessed me in leading me to retirement in this beautiful area. I lead a very fulfilling life of twice daily Christian meditation, a very fulfilling Sunday Eucharist, pleasant daily walks along the beach, Vinnie's activities, relaxation in the resort's Spas and Pools and an afternoon scotch or two on my balcony." Vince waxes and wanes between his conservatism and his radicalism. A few years ago, under the influence of another poster, Maggie a fabulous contributor to our discussions but very conservative theology student from Notre Dame, Indiana, we thought the poor guy was just about to fall off the edge of the conservative edge of the spectrum. In this thought-provoking article he submitted yesterday Vince is back at his challengingly radical best. What do you think of his Suggestions for our Future Church? [more]

018 :
17 Aug 2006

The dissonance of war. The harmony of peace. The Curmudgeon looks at the way music can reply to the dissonance of the single, pathological and repetitive note of war. NOTE: Multi-media content – Cliff's reflection today is accompanied by a sound track. [more]

006 :
16 Aug 2006

What do the Gospels really have to say about sex? This week Peregrinus begins a fascinating two-part series on what the Gospels and Jesus really had to say about sexual morality. His article today focuses on the place of sex in Scripture and Jesus' teachings. Next week his article will continue by examining the issue of divorce as it was treated in Scripture and by Jesus. [more]

023 :
15 Aug 2006

"Let no man put asunder..." It was a momentous day in my life yesterday so much so that I slept in and am late with the bulletin today. If you have ever doubted the power of words, do yourself a favour and read this. [more]

017 :
14 Aug 2006

How secondary gain wrecks our lives, and our communities... Is it possible to understand what goes on in the minds of people who convince themselves that committing acts of terrorism is God's work? Or is it possible to understand what goes on in the minds of people who convince themselves that committing acts of verbal terrorism in the Catholic Church is God's work? What drives fundamentalism? They are all convinced they are the defenders of "Truth"? But are they? Do we do ourselves, or the world, a favour, by appeasing hypochondriacs ... or terrorists? Cliff Baxter has some background reading that readers of Catholica might be interested in. [more]

001 :
14 Aug 2006

Obituary for a priest colleague... One of the last places one would expect to find praise and "from the heart" love for the priesthood would be from a man who got kicked out of the priesthood for his rebelliousness. Tom McMahon, a former priest now married, lives a very fulfilled life in San Jose and continues to contribute voraciously to several Catholic discussion lists in the States. We publish this recent obituary he wrote here as some kind of conclusion to our own discussions in recent days on some of the qualities we look to in priests. It's poignant and nostalgic writing but Tom also continues to pose some of those difficult questions that we need to be asking ourselves about what kind of Church we are creating for the future. [more]

006 :
13 Aug 2006

How the Word lifts my heart in the Liturgy In her "take" this Sunday Kate is writing passionately about her love of the Word in Liturgy. That so many no longer seem moved by Scripture begs many questions. She seeks to share what excites her about the Word when it is proclaimed in the Liturgy. [more]

001 :
13 Aug 2006

Life Cycle... Andrea Snashall was one of the most outstanding public relations officers working in any of the Catholic schools in Western Australia in the 1990s. She was seconded to work at the Catholic Education Office because of the quality, and effectiveness, of her work. A few years ago Andrea moved to live in Switzerland following a long-distance romance across the globe. She is now married and the mother of Luca (2 yrs) and Gioia (10 mths). She wrote this reflection recently for a magazine for expats living in Switzerland. It's a particularly poignant reflection on her relationship with her father. [more]

005 :
12 Aug 2006

Are we called to be mystics? Not only expanding on his essay from last week exploring the conversion experience of St Paul, this essay by Ian Elmer slots in almost perfectly with the discussion on "vocation" we carried in Catholica yesterday. Here Ian is exploring whether we are all called to have mystical religious experiences or are there other equally valid, and valuable, forms of spiritual expression or experience? [more]

013 :
18 Aug 2006

On Ab Coleridge's suggestion the Church is preggers... Ruth thinks it a hoot that the new Archbishop of Canberra-Goulburn is comparing the Church to a pregnant woman. Her worry is though who was responsible for making her pregnant! [more]

006 :
17 Aug 2006

On Benny's TV interview last Sunday... The gang in the Cloister have been reading the English translation of Benny's interview on German TV which was broadcast last Sunday night. Have you read it yet? I suppose it's a bit of a bold experiment trying to "read" the minds of what they might be privately thinking in all the cloisters around the world. You'll find a link to the interview at the end of the animation if you haven't already read it. What are your views? Do you think this is a pretty ground-breaking speech in terms of the manner in which a pope talks to the "legions" he doesn't have?
[more]

006 :
16 Aug 2006

On the correct maintenance of the clerical smile... Molly Arbeit, the stalwart housekeeper whose Manual has revolutionized the devoted care of our celibate clergy, now discloses how an adventure led her to a discovery of what lies behind the dazzling but ageing clerical smiles. This knowledge stems from an amazing rescue operation of Father's 'clackers'. Molly triumphs over adversity once again.
[more]

003 :
15 Aug 2006

Cindy and First Communions... It's First Communion season in Cindy's parish and what an hilarious season it is for a parish sacristan. The poor dear wishes she had access to more of Molly the Housekeeper's handy household hints but she's been unable to find her phone number. [more]

002 :
13 Aug 2006

The dismemberance of Fr Mal O'Prop! A malapropism, from French mal a propos, 'ill to purpose', is an incorrect usage of a word by substituting a similar-sounding word with different meaning, usually with comic effect (Wikipedia). The term comes from the name of Mrs Malaprop, a character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's comedy , The Rivals (1775) whose name was in turned derived from the existing word malapropos, meaning 'inappropriately'. Today we have pleasure in bringing you Bishop Laughlin O'Scusemegh's homily celebrating the 'dismembering' of a famous clerical expert in the art, the late Father Mal O'Prop. [more]

Best wishes for a great day wherever you happen to be ... in life, and in our world,

Brian Coyne
Editor and Publisher
Catholica Australia