Saturday, 25 Jul 2009

Where do we find hope today?

Dear Friends,

First off late last night I received an email informing me of the passing of one of our occasional commentators on Catholica, Ted Mason. You may remember Amanda and I recorded a lengthy interview with Ted a few days before his retirement as leader of the Shalom House of Prayer community at Carcaor. I have placed a tribute to Ted, and details of his funeral — which will be held at Dubbo this coming Tuesday — at the top of our forum.

Secondly: money things and a thank you to the people who have contributed $1,150 in the last 48 hours to now bring us within sight of closing the Friends of Catholica Appeal we launched a few months ago. See the banner at the bottom of today's email and if you can help us with a contribution towards the extra $330 or so we need to reach our target it would be greatly appreciated.

The lead discussion today is found in our forum. There is a lot of it but the particular string we'd draw your attention to is one originally started via a letter to the editor from the cousin of one of our bishops. He was talking about anguish but somehow that has evolved into a discussion on hope, the intrinsic nature of Catholicism and even what we're trying to achieve here at Catholica. If you don't have time to follow the entire string(s) in which this discussion has taken place you might start with the post James wrote in response to the editor, Brian Coyne, trying to delineate what form of Catholicism might offer hope today, or if it offers any hope at all.
<Read the string on hope>
www.catholica.com.au/forum/index.php?id=31745

The use of the term YHWH or Yahweh? George Ripon sent in some questions on the Vatican directive for us to stop using the word "Yahweh" in our liturgies. We've used his questions to try and trigger a discussion in the forum. Can you pronounce the word "YHWH? Should you? <more>

What Did Jesus Say at the Last Supper? Gone are the days when the Church authorities told us we had to believe something simply on their authority. Adults are no longer prepared to be treated like children who ask of their parents "why?" about something and Mum or Dad can get away with saying "because I told you so!" Dr Ian Elmer this week would almost seem to be inviting trouble in the second of his Puzzling Passages commentaries by delving into the mysteries surrounding the origin of the central Catholic liturgical celebration, the Eucharist and what Jesus was actually reported to have said at the First Eucharist. Dr Elmer is brave enough to ask the questions our bishops should be asking, discussing and preaching homilies about for the benefit of all. Let us hope their offices are flooded with complaints about this commentary on Catholica. Let us pray they respond with courage, and truth, to those who might be silly enough to try and argue that they know irrefutably what Jesus said at what tradition tells us was the First Eucharist. <more>

The Psychology of Priesthood #4 Tom McMahon, still recovering from his recent stroke, shows in today's commentary that the fight has not yet left the man. While critical of the feudal system that so many today are rejecting, Tom urges us to search for the alternative that does take us to the real Spirit of Jesus. <more>

Render unto Caesar (cf Matthew 22: 17-21) In one sense Dr Andrew Kania's commentary today is preparatory for one that is going to be even more interesting next week looking at the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In another sense though, today's commentary is highly provocative, even controversial raising issues that nice people would perhaps prefer not to think about. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was both a traitor and a conscientious objector. He was supportive of those who thought it was morally justifiable to kill the leader of their own nation, Adolf Hitler. How could any Christian, let alone an eminent theologian, justify such thinking in a moral sense? The issues the case of Dietrich Bonhoeffer raises are not simply 'an interesting piece of history'. They cut to the moral core of the issues at stake in the Church's understanding of the notion of Primacy of Conscience. Ultimately, and as pointed to by Jesus himself in Matthew 22: 17-21, our ultimate loyalty has to be to moral truth and God not to any temporal notions of loyalty to temporal leaders. In his commentary today and next week, Dr Kania is driving towards an exploration of the theological and moral questions which he raises at the end of today's commentary. <more>

19.3: The legacy of Constantine… In this conclusion to Chapter 19 of his manuscript Tom Lee brings us an outline of the major events in the life of Emperor Constantine and the Church after the Council of Nicea and up until the time of Constantine's baptism and death. It's an interesting commentary bringing us interesting detail from that period albeit a time of less controversy than we found in the last two excerpts. <more>

A lifetime spiritual journey#3… In both his physical presence and in his writing Francis Brown exudes a spirit of gentleness. He may no longer be a Franciscan priest but he remains both Franciscan and priestly to his core. We're splitting Chapter 2 of his book, My Love is Here — an evolution in spirituality, into two parts. He recalls the re-awakening of his childhood spirituality as a form of resurrection. <more>

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

Brian Coyne
Editor and Publisher