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EDITOR'S
ROUND-UP
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Is this one of the distinguishing marks of Christianity... Dear friends, Technically it has been a very difficult week at Catholica with some kind of bug or trojan that infected our website. Isn't it ironic though that for us (i.e. Christians and Catholics) the unique insight we have is that our moments of greatest growth and personal development come from the times of difficulty and challenge in our lives? In the final analysis I think that one way of looking at the ten or so great religious paradigms there are in the world is that each of them represents the stereotypical ways that we human beings respond to pain, anxiety and challenge. All human beings hate suffering and anxiety — even those who wallow in their pain as a mechanism with trying to cope with it. We all want to be happy and stress-free. The reality of life though is that we have to endure times when things don't go our way and we are placed under stress or have to endure various finds of suffering. Of the ten or so "great religious paradigms" what distinguishes Christianity and Catholicism is the unique insight, which we believe was given to humankind by God himself in the person of Jesus, is how we figuratively and literally "walk through Hell" and emerge out the otherside to triumph and resurrection. The Christ-model is counter-intuitive. We all want to run away from the pains, anxieties and frustrations in our lives. But Jesus beckons to us and says, "wait! Think about this a bit more! There is another way to look at this situation!" Ultimately that is what I really do love about the Catholic vision and "way of understanding life". As followers of Christ we are in a life-long training regime to learn how to "not do the logical thing — not do what we might think is the rational thing" and instead we are invited to turn ourselves over to this ultimate guide whom we cannot touch, caress or even see — the Holy Spirit. Trying to discern what this HS is saying to us at any particular point can often be a difficult and frustrating business. But isn't that part of the fun of it — the "fun" of Life, as it were?
God-willing, our immediate technical challenges are behind us. Over the next few weeks though, in the lead-up to our holiday break, I would appreciate the feedback of both regular contributors and lurkers (those who read without necessarily posting anything) on which of the two styles of discussion forum we are now displaying that you prefer. Over the next few days I will make some further cosmetic changes to the look of the new discussion forum but what you see there now is the "general picture" of how it will work. Hopefully this coming week we'll be back concentrating on the more creative and reflective stuff of life. Today's commentaries by Ian and Cindy are a great place to start... |
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Don't forget to register your membership in our new forum! |
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OUR
COMMENTARIES FROM THE PAST WEEK...
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Best wishes for a great day wherever you happen to be ... in life, and in our world, Brian Coyne Catholica Australia |
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