Saturday, 06 Jun 2009

Two commentaries today...

Dear Friends,

It seems we caused a bit of a meltdown yesterday on our new server and that put us off air for some periods. It frustrated my attemptes to get publish a lead commentary and send out an email. We're making up for that today. Daniel Gullotta takes up on the conversation I started some weeks ago on John Selby Spong. I love Daniel's enthusiasm and it seems many others do judging from the number of reads his commentaries attract. And today's commentary is a bit of a "Daniel taking on the Lion" affair. He critiques one of the most controversial figures in modern Christianity, Bishop John Selby Spong.

Our regular Saturday lead commentary for today is from Pewter. He wrote it last December but it fits well with this news: It would have been fascinating to have been a fly on the wall in Rome yesterday when Archbishop Phil Wilson and Bishop Bill Morris had a meeting with Benny. Were Phil and Bill being carpeted — or were they giving Benny an earful of the sort of advice that Pewter wouldn't mind give His Holiness? There is much speculation in the informed sectors of the Church. Word is that some of the Aussie bishops have begun to find their voices again and are beginning to tell Rome that there is a significant crisis brewing in the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit. If things continue as they've been going, within a decade or less the Church will simply not be able to provide the sacraments regularly across large regions of this land. Will Rome listen — or are they still advocating we've got to pray even harder for vocations? Pewter's thoughts are worth reflecting on as we wait to get some feedback as to who was calling the shots in the Holy City in the last few days.
<Read Pewter's reflection>
www.catholica.com.au/gc3/pewter/004_pewter_060609.php
<Read Daniel's critique of John Shelby Spong>
www.catholica.com.au/gc1/dg/034_dg_050609.php

Who wrote Romans? A slightly longer commentary from Dr Elmer today. It is an abridged version of a paper he delivered in Brisbane on the authorship of Romans. Trying to piece together the secretarial methods of the day and the mindset out of which the Pauline communities operated is as intriguing as any Crime Scene Investigation on television today. <more>

The masks we hide behind... Amongst the many fascinating conversations we had at Carcoar a few weeks ago with Tom McMahon was one on the ways in which we mask our true nature. For his commentary today Tom expands on that conversation. It is the first of two commentaries he intends to bring us as a sort of "report" on his Aussie Odyssey. <more>

Institutional Authority> Today we have pleasure in presenting a really intellectually rigorous and provocative commentary by Dr Andrew Kania looking at the critical issue of institutional infallibility. Without some starting point of authority for where truth is defined, whether it be in the realms of science or theology, we are effectively up the creek without a paddle. Dr Kania argues the case well but there is much more to be opened up beyond this starting point. Andrew entitled his essay "The Last Straw" and submits it as a reflection on 2 Timothy 4:3-4. <more>

Film Review: Angels and Demons... Brian Coyne reviews the controversial Ron Howard film, Angels and Demons. His conclusion is that there is much that is worth watching in this film beside the entertainment. <more>

Accepting what cannot be changed! The journey out of active participation in the sacramental and communal life of the institutional Church is tortuous — particularly for those who have put in decades of active participation at the parish or diocesan level. Increasingly though the institution is losing many of those who were once the most active participants at the local level. In today's commentary Kerry Gonzales reflects on her own journey and likens it to the grieving process identified many decades ago by Elizabeth Kübler-Ross. <more>

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

Brian Coyne
Editor and Publisher