EDITOR'S ROUND-UP

Saturday, 13 December 2008

A small glitch...

Dear Friends,

We've had a slight glitch this week in that Ian has gone on holidays. Just before leaving he sent through two commentaries but, for some reason, the one due to be published this week was snaffled by our mail scanner and we've not been able to retrieve it yet. Ian is also uncontactable at the moment. Today therefore you're receiving the commentary that was due to be published next week. We're now into what Dr Elmer describes as "the most productive phase of Paul's mission as Apostle to the Gentiles". Perhaps the most interesting part of this commentary though is the discussion towards the end on what Dr Elmer describes as "one of Paul's greatest theological insights: Justification by Faith". <Link to Ian's commentary>

Take some of the treasures with you! It's a cheeky headline for this cheeky commentary from Dick Westley It's the second from a series of workshops he conducted in Chicago in October which looks both at the decline of Christianity but with a view to re-invigorating our spirituality. His workshop series was entitled: "Live Life as it Comes!" <more>

Prof Greg Craven… Today it is our plesaure to bring you an extended conversation with, Dr Greg Craven, the Vice-Chancellor of ACU-National. In his position as Vice-Chancellor of this nation's largest Catholic university it might be argued he holds one of the most powerful, or influential, lay leadership positions in the Australian Church today. We've broken the hour-long conversation into four parts and provide an overview of the topics discussed in each segment. <more>

10.3: Roman hedonism and brutality and the witness of Ignatius… The extract from Tom Lee's manuscript today is a bit of a mixed bag covering a number of topics but all broadly related to providing an insight into how the fledgling Christians interacted with the surrounding Roman culture. It will also be perhaps some of the most interesting reading to many providing insight into the brutality and hedonism of the Romans. At the end of the extract Tom introduces us to Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch — the first to use the term "Catholic Church" as far as we know and brutally martyred by the Romans. <more>

Personal Reconciliation with God… The passage from Isaiah reads: "Let every valley be filled in, every mountain laid low, let every cliff become a plain, and the ridges a valley, then the glory of YHWH will be revealed". Dr Andrew Kania's reflection today is about Personal Reconciliation. <more>

The Catholica Christmas Shoppe… The Catholica Chritmas Gift Shoppe offering a selection of gifts from two of Australia's leading religious publishers, John Garratt Publishing and Willow Publishing, is now open. <more>

Barren desert . uprooted feeling . a confession! Tom McMahon start off his commentary today providing a further insight into his own outlook and life post the clerical priesthood. He argues: "I feel a strong duty, that commission given to me at ordination in 1954, to direct people to think as Jesus would think." In his final exploration on the sacrament of marriage in this series he argues that in light of the greatly increased prevalence of divorce "to survive the institution needs to take a living interest in its divorced population". <more>

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

Brian Coyne
Editor and Publisher