Only within the heart of the Church is the Word of God authentic, Pope Benedict says

The Pontifical Biblical Commission (PBC) during their annual plenary assembly this week has been working on the theme of “Inspiration and Truth in the Bible,” as a result of the October 2008 synod of bishops on the Word of God.

In his address to the PBC the Pope spoke of the importance of sacred Scripture because it “concerns not only believers, but the Church herself, because the Church’s life and mission necessarily rest upon the Word of God, which is the soul of theology and, at the same time, the inspiration of all of Christian life…the interpretation of sacred Scripture is of vital importance for Christian faith and for the life of the Church.”

According to the Holy Father: “From a correct approach to the concept of divine inspiration and truth in sacred Scripture derive certain norms that directly concern its interpretation. The Constitution Dei Verbum, having affirmed that God is the author of the Bible, reminds us that in sacred Scripture God speaks to mankind in a human manner. For a correct interpretation of Scripture we must, then, carefully examine what the hagiographers really sought to say and what God was pleased to reveal with their words.”

Drawing his remarks from the Second Vatican Council, the Pope reminded the PBC –and us– that are “three perennially valid criteria for interpreting sacred Scripture in accordance with the Spirit that inspired it. In the first place, great attention must be given to the content and unity of the whole of Scripture. Indeed, however different the books it contains may be, sacred Scripture is one by virtue of the unity of God’s plan, of which Jesus Christ is the center and the heart. In the second place, Scripture must be read in the context of the living tradition of the entire Church [because tradition] carries the living memory of the Word of God, and it is the Holy Spirit who provides her with the interpretation thereof in accordance with its spiritual meaning. The third criterion concerns the need to pay attention to the analogy of the faith; that is, to the cohesion of the individual truths of faith, both with one another and with the overall plan of Revelation and the fullness of the divine economy enclosed in that plan.

Thinking with the Church the work of scholars, in the mind of the mind of the Holy Father, is to “contribute, following the above-mentioned principles, to a more profound interpretation and exposition of the meaning of sacred Scripture. The academic study of the sacred texts is not by itself sufficient. In order to respect the coherence of the Church’s faith, Catholic exegetes must be careful to perceive the Word of God in these texts, within the faith of the Church. The interpretation of sacred Scriptures cannot be merely an individual academic undertaking, but must always be compared with, inserted into, and authenticated by the living tradition of the Church. This norm is essential in order to ensure a correct and reciprocal exchange between exegesis and Church magisterium. Catholic exegetes do not nourish the individualistic illusion that biblical texts can be better understood outside the community of believers. The opposite is true, because these texts were not given to individual scholars ‘to satisfy their curiosity or to provide them with material for study and research.’ The texts inspired by God were entrusted to the community of believers, to the Church of Christ, to nourish the faith and to guide the life of charity. Sacred Scripture is the Word of God in that is written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Tradition, on the other hand, integrally transmits the Word of God as entrusted by Christ the Lord and by the Holy Spirit to the Apostles and their successors so that they, illuminated by the Spirit of truth, could faithfully conserve, explain and spread it through their preaching. Only within the ecclesial context, can Sacred Scripture be understood as the authentic Word of God which is the guide, norm and rule for the life of the Church and the spiritual development of believers.”

If this is certain, then it means “rejecting all interpretations that are subjective or limited to mere analysis [and therefore] incapable of accepting the global meaning which, over the course of the centuries, has guided the Tradition of the entire people of God.”

Remembering the Bard, William Shakespeare

shakespeare.jpgToday marks William Shakespeare’s 445th birthday.

Today also marks the 393rd anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death.

Some note that there is a record of his baptism on April 26,1564. With many important figures such as Shakespeare, it is common to list the date of birth and death as the day when accurate records lack.

Whatever the case is, we honor the Bard today.

Reviewing Gerard Manley Hopkins

GMHopkins.jpgI was poking around the Religion & Ethics Newweekly and found a review of David Anderson’s review of several books on the 19th century poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins. His essay,The Grandeur of God and the Life of a Poet, takes the reader through a number of recent studies on the life and work of this rather beautiful, if not complicated Jesuit priest.

I highly recommend this review and the reading of at least one of the reviewed works if you want to lay claim to being liberally educated.

What’s helpful here is that there’s a list of related books. A good feature, I say.

David Anderson’s review…

Saint George


St George.jpgYe daughters of Jerusalem, come and see the Martyrs with the crowns wherewith the Lord hath crowned them, on the day of their solemn feast and rejoicing, alleluia, alleluia.

 

O God, Who dost gladden us by the merits and intercession of blessed George. Thy Martyr; mercifully grant that as we seek Thy blessings through him, we may obtain them by the gift of Thy grace.

Blessed Maria Gabriella dell’Unità (Sagghedù)

…that they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me (John 17:21).

In simplicity of heart I gladly offer everything, O Lord.
The Lord put me on this path, he will remember to sustain me in battle.
To His mercy I entrust my frailty.
I saw in front of me a big cross…,

I thought that my sacrifice was nothing in comparison to His.
I offered myself entirely and I do not withdraw the given word.
God’s will whatever it may be, this is my joy, my happiness, my peace.
I will never be able to thank enough.
I cannot say but these words:” My God, your Glory.”

Blessed Maria Gabriella

Blessed Maria Gabriella Sagghedu.jpgPraying for unity is not a matter reserved only to those who actually experience the lack of unity among Christians. In the deep personal dialogue which each of us must carry on with the Lord in prayer, concern for unity cannot be absent. Only in this way, in fact, will that concern fully become part of the reality of our life and of commitments we have taken on in the Church. It was in order to reaffirm this duty that I set before the faithful of the Catholic Church a model which I consider exemplary, the model of a Trappistine Sister, Blessed Maria Gabriella of Unity, whom I beatified on 25 January 1983. Sister Maria Gabriella, called by her vocation to be apart from the world, devoted her life to meditation and prayer centered on Chapter 17 of St. John’s Gospel and offered her life for Christian Unity. This is truly the cornerstone of all prayer: the total and unconditional offering of one’s life to the Father; through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. The example of Sister Mara Gabriella is instructive; it helps us to understand that there are no special times, situations, or places of prayer for unity. Christ’s prayer to the Father is offered as a model for everyone, always and everywhere.

(Pope John Paul II, Ut unum sint, 1995, 27)

Read more of the blessed’s life here and here.

Catholics can’t be Masons

Questions surface from time-to-time about a Catholic being a Mason. Most people see Masonry in the USA as a benevolent society of men helping the elderly and sick children. There’s more to the Masons than this. The question of Catholics holding membership in the Masons must be asked. The answer is a short, No. The Masons are heretical in the technical sense of the word, and this is not mere sentiment.

To be clear, the teaching of the Catholic Church never changed but the matter was clouded by the fact that it wasn’t as clearly spelled out in the 1983 Code of Canon Law as it was in the 1917 Code. To compare the Codes:


The 1917 Code of Canon Law: “Persons joining associations of the Masonic sect or any others of the same kind which plot against the Church and legitimate civil authorities contract ipso facto excommunication simply reserved to the Apostolic See.”

The 1983 Code of Canon Law: “A person who joins an association which plots against the Church is to be punished with a just penalty; one who promotes or takes office in such an association is to be punished with an interdict” (1374).

For more than 300 years the Catholic Church has formally declared that Catholics who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion. Theologically, masonry is against the Christian dogma of the Trinity, a personal God encountered in the person Jesus, the authority of sacred Scripture and Tradition, ecclesial authority, that we adhere to Jesus Christ as Savior and don’t believe that salvation is found elsewhere. When it comes down to it, either you believe that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life, or He is not. There is no middle ground. Hence, we believe the teachings of the Masonic Lodge have been and continue to be contrary to Catholic faith and morals. One should note that historically Masonic lodges have actively worked against the truth of Catholicism theologically and socially. They have tried to divide the Church.

With matters of faith and truth Catholics can’t adopt the attitude of ignoring the problem with the hope it will go away by attrition. Right thinking, right worshiping, right living are part of a package: this is a matter of salvation.

On Sunday, April 19, Father Tim Finnigan, an English priest and blogger (The Hermenuetic of Continuity) posted a piece on the republication of an older work on Masonic ceremonies and rites; plus, Father Tim adds the 1983 CDF teaching on Catholics and Masons. The matter is worth knowing about.

History receives its logic and meaning from Jesus’ death & resurrection

A few thoughts of Pope Benedict on the meaning of the Resurrection:

Until that moment Christ’s death remained almost an enigma, whose outcome was still uncertain. In the Pascal mystery the words of Scripture are fulfilled, that is, this death realized “according to the Scriptures” is an event that carries a “logos” in itself, a logic: Christ’s death testifies that the Word of God became human “flesh,” human “history,” without reserve. How and why this happened, we understand from the other addition Paul makes: Christ died “for our sins.” With these words the Pauline text takes up the prophecy of Isaiah contained in the fourth song of the Servant of God (cf. Isaiah 53:12). The Servant of God — the song says — “surrendered himself to death,” bore “the sins of the world,” and interceding for the “guilty” was able to bring the gift of reconciliation among men and between men and God: his is a death therefore that puts an end to death; the way of the cross leads to the resurrection.

In the verses that follow, the Apostle pauses over the Lord’s resurrection. He says that Christ “rose on the third day according to the Scriptures.” Again: “according to the Scriptures!” Not a few exegetes see in the expression “[he] rose on the third day according to the Scriptures” a significant reference to Psalm 16, where the Psalmist proclaims: “You will not abandon me in the netherworld, nor let his faithful one undergo corruption” (16:10). This is one of the texts of the Old Testament that was cited by early Christians to prove Jesus’ messianic character. Since, according to the understanding of Judaism, corruption began after the third day, the word of Scripture is fulfilled in Jesus who rises on the third day, that is, before corruption set in. St. Paul, faithfully transmitting the doctrine of the Apostles, stresses that the victory of Christ over death happens through the creative power of God’s Word. This divine power brings hope and joy: this is the definitive liberating content of the Easter revelation. God reveals himself and the power of the trinitarian love that annihilates the destructive forces of evil and death in the events of Easter.

And with humble confidence let us pray: “Jesus, who, rising from the dead, anticipated our resurrection, we believe in you!”

April 19, 2009

Mercy…is Jesus’ way

Only mercy challenges our hard-headedness like no other reprimand. Jesus said that he who is forgiven much, loves much. Man is sensitive to no other gesture as he is to mercy. After all, it was the method Jesus used, as Saint Paul recalls, “When we were still sinners, Christ died for us.    ~Father Julian Carron

Saint Anselm: a wise, faithful, magnanimous servant of the Lord

Lo, a brave bishop, lo, a monk most faithful,
St Anselm3.JPGCrowned with laurel, flourisheth as a Doctor:
Now let our chorus vie in joyful anthems,
Singing to Anselm.

Filllled with wisdom, ere he grew to manhood,
Earth’s fleeting beauty prudently he feared:
Then, through the leading of his master, Lanfranc,
Entered the cloister.

High to the secret of the Word he soared,
Borne in the pinions of a faith unshaken,
Who from the purest fountainheads of doctrine
Draweth more deeply?

Thou, tender Father, chosen to be Abbot,
Wast to thy children lovingly devoted,
Bearing the feeble on thy friendly shoulders,
Spurring the zealous.

Lo, the king calls thee to the seat of honor: Why fear the conflict? Triumph comes quickly; Far-distant nations soon with light thou fillest, O noble exile.

Liberty holy for the flock redeemed,
Liberty, which Christ places over all things,
Impelleth Anselm: who could be more zealous
As its defender?

Thee, Rome acclaimeth, glorious Archbishop.
Thee the high Pontiff giveth worthy honours;
Silent the Fathers; of thee the faith demandeth:
Guard thou its doctrine.

Think on thy chosen flock, and be their patron:
Pray the eternal Trinity to bless them,
His be the praises through the world resounding
Now and forever. Amen.

Hymn at Vigils for the feast of Saint Anselm of Canterbury (and Bec)