How has your week been?

Dear Friends,

Here we are, at the end of another week on Catholica and I'm just enormously grateful for the response that our little endeavour seems to be generating out in the world. During the week on two successive days we recorded the third and fourth highest number of visits to our website. Cliff Baxter said way back at the beginning (quoting someone else) "if we build it they will come". You certainly seem to be fulfilling his expectation. The search for an ecclesiology and theology that does live up to the promise of Christ of providing each of us with "eternal rest" continues. What does that expression — "eternal rest" — conjure up for you? Is the Cardinal Mahony of Robert Blair Kaiser's novel going to be converted to an alternative program to the one we've been on? Today he introduces Sunnyhill to the story — a teacher of history at the Gregorian.
<Link to today's excerpt from Kaiser's novel, "Cardinal Mahony">
<www.catholica.com.au/gc3/rbk/009_rbk_171009.php

Enough is Enough! Tom McMahon came across this column by an Ottawa-based journalist and columnist, Janice Kennedy, earlier in the week and was so moved by what she wrote that he wrote to her to obtain permission for her work to be re-published on Catholica. Triggered by a comment made by the Archbishop of Halifax in response to the arrest of the Bishop of Antigonish, Janice Kennedy, argues that without profound change, the end is coming for Catholicism. <more>

What Record was Luke Setting Straight? Another welcome bit of pre-reading on Luke from Ian Elmer today that might come in handy for the forthcoming e-Conference on St Luke. Essentially the question Dr Elmer explores is the motivation that caused the Lukan Gospel account to be written. Why did Luke feel he needed to correct the Gospel account of Mark? <more>

The Psychology of Priesthood #15 Tom McMahon opens his commentary today suggesting he's "getting 'down and dirty'". He is. This is a brutally raw commentary — venturing into a territory that there have been enormous social taboos against discussing. Perhaps it is the case of Bishop Raymond Lahey of Nova Scotia that may further break down the taboos against discussing the sexual and emotional needs of priests? <more>

The Conflict in Early Christianity... Today we have another of those wonderful student essays from Daniel Gullotta. His focus in this essay is the theory of the German theologian, Ferdinand Christian Baur (1792-1860), who proposed that the Church was born out of conflict between two opposing viewpoints which only gradually became synthesised into a single, united view. It's an essay that will probably be of interest to the theologically well-educated as well as those of us who are theologically illiterate in the theories of a lesser-known figure like Ferdinand Christian Baur. Daniel's original title for the essay was "Competing Churches and Rivalling Saints". <more>

23.1: The permanent division of the Empire... We begin a new chapter from Tom Lee's exploration of the First 500 Years of Christianity. At the end of the fourth century the Empire becomes permanently divided. Today's excerpt is principally concerned with looking at the input of John Chrysostom elected Bishop of Constantinople in 398. <more>

A lifetime spiritual journey #16… In today's extract from his book, Francis relates some of the sense of alienation he felt on leaving the clerical priesthood and his pathway to find a new place of spiritual equilibrium in his life. <more>

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

Brian Coyne
Editor and Publisher