Blame the sisters...

Dear Friends,

Blame the Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition who educated me. I always seem to be apologising in these emails. And I have two of them today: firstly I screwed up last week and published the wrong introduction to Kaiser's commentary — and I also messed up some of the Chapter numbers and the navigation links between chapters. Thanks to all who wrote in to point out my growing dementia and incompetence. Hopefully all those errors have been fixed. Kaiser's novel today introduces Cardinal Grandeur. The name says it all and I won't repeat the intro again here. You'll find it at the top of the article.
The second apology is for the technical problems we've been trying to sort out on our website. Fortunately it doesn't seem to have caused any disruption to the traffic flow to Catholica and in fact our subscriptions have surprisingly increased in the past ten days or so. That's unusual for this time of the year as normally there is a slight decrease as people go on holidays or prepare to change jobs. I'm attributing it to the quality of the commentaries we've been publishing lately. Andrew Kania told me last night the reception to both of his lectures in England was outstanding. One of the Eton boys came up to him after his lecture and said "before this lecture I considered myself an atheist. You've convinced me God exists." Andrew's also been invited back to Oxford to deliver a series of lectures next year on Medieval Spirituality. (We will be publishing his Oxford address over the next two Tuesdays.)
<Link to today's excerpt from Kaiser's novel, "Cardinal Mahony">
<www.catholica.com.au/gc3/rbk/017_rbk_121209.php>

THE FORUM: For our weekly readers I would also point out that besides our lead commentaries our forum these days has become one of the best places anywhere to find links to the best articles and discussions going on in other parts of the world and cyberspace. I'll just apologise on behalf of God that he didn't given any of us enough time to be able to sit down and enjoy it all.
<www.catholica.com.au/forum/>

Finally today, I've started adding to the marketplace what looks like an interesting series of fiction titles from Abingdon Press. They come out of Methodist spirituality but are apparently attracting quite a bit of attention in other parts of the world and Willow is introducing them to readers in Australia at a special price until 30th January. I'm basing my judgment on the reviews I've read but they would seem to fit in well with the ethos of what Catholica is all about in terms of 'grounded spirituality' — living out our faith, developing our spirituality, amidst the ordinariness of lived life. The publisher's blurb describes them as "these fiction paperbacks are stories of faith, hope and love that explore the grey areas of life—the everyday situations that seem to have no clear cut solution. They are stories that strive to illuminate the human condition and express God's love and enduring grace for us all." If anybody in our community is already familiar with these titles we'd be interested in your impressions. I've uploaded four titles to our marketplace so far and will add another four today. Another ten titles in the series will bre released in the first half of next year.
<www.catholica.com.au/marketplace/willow/books02.php>

Thank God for the Women Religious who embraced Vatican II! The resistance the Vatican is experiencing to its attempts to pull the religious women of the United States back into its conservative line has been generating headlines in even the secular press. Fr Dan Donovan argues: "the Catholic world must stand in solidarity with these women who now find themselves the butt of a latter day inquisition". <more>

Should we take the Virgin Birth seriously? Biblical scholar, Dr Ian Elmer, today analyses the long-enduring controversy over the literal interpretation of the virginity of the Mother of Jesus. He seeks to bring together the differing arguments of some of the leading contemporary writers in the controversy. His own conclusion is "This isn't Mithras or Hercules; nor, for that matter, is the Jesus myth comparable to that of Santa Claus or the tooth fairy. Jesus isn't a fairy tale character, let alone some angelic or semi-divine figure whose story functions only to point to spiritual realities. ... While it may be true to say that belief in the Virgin Birth is not ultimately necessary for our relationship with the Father, I think there are always some non-negotiable aspects to the faith." <more>

The First Crusades... This week and next week, Robert Blair Kaiser gives a brief overview of the personalities and issues at the focus of each of the Crusades. <more>

Faith-Based Diplomacy Part 2... Today we publish the second part of Dr Andrew Kania's address last week to the Oxbridge students at Eton College. An intellectual tour de force drawing on some of the best thinkers on spirituality and religion of the last century, Dr Kania builds the case for the importance of religion as a force to create political and social harmony in the world if it can be freed from the yoke of religious and political fundamentalism. <more>

25.1: Leo the Great asserts the Primacy of Rome A great chapter from Tom Lee coming up over the next few Monday's particularly in light of the storm John L Allen Jr has stirred up between two leading theologians in the United States in the last week over Council of Chalcedon matters (if you've missed it see the links in this thread on the forum). This week the dispute is between two more ancient personalities — Leo the Great and Hilary of Arles who were both eventually honoured by the Church. The story of Leo the Great is also another important brick to understanding how the Primacy of Rome became such a divisive matter in Christendom. <more>

Jesus of Nazareth #23… Today Francis invites us into a meditation on the being and meaning of Jesus — the presence of God with us, within us and all around us. <more>

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

Brian Coyne
Editor and Publisher