Hello again, time for another post,
This has been an interesting week here at the seminary. The first interesting thing since my last post was last Wednesday we had the “Reader Mass”. During this Mass the men in first year theology studies are installed as “Lectors”. This doesn’t mean as much now as it did in the past. Throughout much of Church history it was only the Ordained who could proclaim the readings from Scripture. Over time and I am not sure exactly when, it was seen that this could also be done by a man in training for the ordained ministry. So along the way they had what are termed “minor orders” or steps in what you are allowed to do in the Mass. The two most visible ones that we still talk about at all are “lector” or reader, and “acolyte” or server.
The Church no longer limits the reading of Scripture during Mass to men who have received this minor order (it isn’t really an ordination, but an installation)… but we still have a special Mass for these men in the seminary and try to follow the use of only those installed as much as we can here. It was nice, and is a nice pick-me-up for the guys that received this installation since it is another step in the process.
For the past week (ending today) the Catholic Church has celebrated “Christian Unity Week”. This is the week when we make extra prayers for understanding and commonality amongst all Christians (interreligious week is at another time). To emphasize this point we even has Mass on Sunday celebrated in the Byzantine Rite. A Rite is more than just another way of going about the process of Mass. A Rite is another tradition, but in communion with the Pope in Rome. This is different from other denominations that don’t recognize when Christ appointed St. Peter as the leader of the Church and his successors. There are 5 main rite that are accepted within the Catholic Church and Byzantine is the second largest (after the Latin Rite, which is what most people in the US are familiar with). One of the priests on campus is “bi-ritual” meaning that he is authorized to celebrate Mass in either the Latin Rite or the Byzantine Rite. He set up to have a Byzantine choir come to lead us, as well as giving us a worship guide and setting up the sanctuary. It was a great experience. I hope to pray in this form again some time, as I felt that I did miss out on some of the prayerfulness due to the novelty of it.
Sunday afternoon was of course the important Packers-Bears game. Living in the Chicago Archdiocese I was a minority rooting for the Packers, but they are of course heading to the superbowl.
Also over the weekend into today a large group of guys was gone to the annual March for Life in Washington D.C. This is the event to commemorate the Roe v. Wade decision by the Supreme Court which made abortion legal throughout the US. This sad decision has cost the lives of at least 38 million babies, and some estimates put that number as high as 55 million in the last 38 years. I went to the March last year, so I decided not to go this year. Hopefully it won’t be needed next year, but if it is I may go then… we’ll see what my class schedule is looking like.
Peace,
Adam
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Reflection for Wednesday 19 Jan 2011
Hi everyone, here is the reflection that I will be giving at the nursing home tomorrow. I hope you enjoy it. There are some things that I may or may not change, and if I do I will post an updated version. As I ussually do, the readings for the day are below the reflection, incase you are interested.
Peace,
Adam
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jesus heals, Jesus turns water into wine, Jesus raises people from the dead, but most importantly Jesus saves. He saves us from the evils of the sins we have committed.
When does he do this?
WHENEVER WE NEED IT!!
Many people have pointed to this Gospel reading, and the one we heard yesterday about the disciples of Jesus picking grain on the Sabbath to eat, as a way to show that the rules of faith don’t matter. Those people would be wrong in reading this in that way.
Jesus isn’t telling us to disregard the teachings; in fact, I think that he is telling us just the opposite, that the teachings on loving one another and providing for another’s needs are also in play.
Jesus was concerned about the Sabbath rule and didn’t want to ignore it. However, He wanted to make the point that the Law was to be applied in a loving way.
In the first reading today we find the story describing the priest Melchizedek. It talks about another priest who is to be raised up “not by a law expressed in a commandment concerning physical descent, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.” This obviously refers to Christ, but did you know that it also applies to you, and to me. You all know that Matt here and I are studying to become priests, but we all are already priests.
When we were all Baptized we were Baptized to be priests, prophets, and kings. We are kings in our inheritance of the eternal kingdom, we are prophets in that we are supposed to talk to others about our God and our faith, and we are priests in our service to God and his people.
A priest isn’t just one who knows about the faith, it is one who serves, and we all do that and are supposed to do that, it is what we are called to do through our Baptism. Jesus shows us the example of this in the Gospel. He was doing good to be in the synagogue on the Sabbath, but he saw the need of his ultimate priesthood to serve someone in need.
You and I may not have the power to work great miracles as Jesus did, but we need to think about what we can do in service of our God and our fellow children of God. We need to do these things whenever we are able. How are you able to help one another through your priesthood of the Baptized and from the example that our Lord gave to us.
Reading 1
Heb 7:1-3, 15-17
Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High,
met Abraham as he returned from his defeat of the kings
and blessed him.
And Abraham apportioned to him a tenth of everything.
His name first means righteous king,
and he was also “king of Salem,” that is, king of peace.
Without father, mother, or ancestry,
without beginning of days or end of life,
thus made to resemble the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.
It is even more obvious if another priest is raised up
after the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become so,
not by a law expressed in a commandment concerning physical descent
but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.
For it is testified:
You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Gospel
Mk 3:1-6
Jesus entered the synagogue.
There was a man there who had a withered hand.
They watched Jesus closely
to see if he would cure him on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.
He said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up here before us.”
Then he said to the Pharisees,
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
But they remained silent.
Looking around at them with anger
and grieved at their hardness of heart,
Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel
with the Herodians against him to put him to death.
Peace,
Adam
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jesus heals, Jesus turns water into wine, Jesus raises people from the dead, but most importantly Jesus saves. He saves us from the evils of the sins we have committed.
When does he do this?
WHENEVER WE NEED IT!!
Many people have pointed to this Gospel reading, and the one we heard yesterday about the disciples of Jesus picking grain on the Sabbath to eat, as a way to show that the rules of faith don’t matter. Those people would be wrong in reading this in that way.
Jesus isn’t telling us to disregard the teachings; in fact, I think that he is telling us just the opposite, that the teachings on loving one another and providing for another’s needs are also in play.
Jesus was concerned about the Sabbath rule and didn’t want to ignore it. However, He wanted to make the point that the Law was to be applied in a loving way.
In the first reading today we find the story describing the priest Melchizedek. It talks about another priest who is to be raised up “not by a law expressed in a commandment concerning physical descent, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.” This obviously refers to Christ, but did you know that it also applies to you, and to me. You all know that Matt here and I are studying to become priests, but we all are already priests.
When we were all Baptized we were Baptized to be priests, prophets, and kings. We are kings in our inheritance of the eternal kingdom, we are prophets in that we are supposed to talk to others about our God and our faith, and we are priests in our service to God and his people.
A priest isn’t just one who knows about the faith, it is one who serves, and we all do that and are supposed to do that, it is what we are called to do through our Baptism. Jesus shows us the example of this in the Gospel. He was doing good to be in the synagogue on the Sabbath, but he saw the need of his ultimate priesthood to serve someone in need.
You and I may not have the power to work great miracles as Jesus did, but we need to think about what we can do in service of our God and our fellow children of God. We need to do these things whenever we are able. How are you able to help one another through your priesthood of the Baptized and from the example that our Lord gave to us.
Reading 1
Heb 7:1-3, 15-17
Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High,
met Abraham as he returned from his defeat of the kings
and blessed him.
And Abraham apportioned to him a tenth of everything.
His name first means righteous king,
and he was also “king of Salem,” that is, king of peace.
Without father, mother, or ancestry,
without beginning of days or end of life,
thus made to resemble the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.
It is even more obvious if another priest is raised up
after the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become so,
not by a law expressed in a commandment concerning physical descent
but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.
For it is testified:
You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Gospel
Mk 3:1-6
Jesus entered the synagogue.
There was a man there who had a withered hand.
They watched Jesus closely
to see if he would cure him on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.
He said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up here before us.”
Then he said to the Pharisees,
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
But they remained silent.
Looking around at them with anger
and grieved at their hardness of heart,
Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel
with the Herodians against him to put him to death.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Midterm Week Winter Quarter 2010-2011
Hello again,
Well, I am halfway through my first year at Seminary. We had midterms this week in the classes that are having midterms. I only had two midterms, plus a paper, so it wasn’t too bad. The oddest part about it for me was coming back, only having two days of classes last week (due to ministry seminar and field education) and then getting into finals week. I tend to prefer to be a bit more into the swing of things before taking tests, but it wasn’t too bad.
The midterms that I had were in Latin and Ancient Philosophy. Latin is Latin is all that I can say about it. I feel like I am understanding it when in class, but the minute I get on my own to study I am so lost that I feel like I’m spinning my wheels. However, when I look at what I do know I realize that it isn’t as bad as I think. The Ancient Philosophy exam was pretty much what I expected, so I think it went well.
I guess I’ll reflect a bit on the seminary experience after halfway through this first year. I will start by saying that it is pretty much what I expected, but in a better way than I expected. I anticipated the busy class schedule, the busy schedule of times for other activities, and all that is going on for actual activities and such. It is better in all of the intangibles.
The people that I am with are far better than I expected. I think that I have mentioned this before, but it still fits, especially in my class (those that I know the best). I had expected that there would be good guys here, I mean, who else would be expected to be in seminary. I did expect however, that there would be some people that I could only “get along with”, but that I wouldn’t really want to be friends with. That is the real world, so I don’t think it is a pessimistic view, simply reality of life. I have found however that at least in my class I could see myself being friends with everyone in my class for the long term, what a great feeling that is to be spending so much time with such wonderful people.
I can’t really describe the nature of why this is. I think that it definitely isn’t that we all are the same person. It is more that we all respect where we have differences and are fine with it. We all seem to be pretty decent at reading people and knowing what is appropriate for each different guy. The guys aren’t all uptight as you may be imagining, we relax and joke around as everyone else does. We all know that this isn’t a competition; we are trying to help each other. If we find that one guy is struggling with personal issues or academics or anything else we see what we can do to help, and people are willing to allow themselves to be helped, it is amazing. When I first started paying attention to seminary and considering it I heard people use the term “brother seminarians” and I thought it was some sort of old cliché, but I have found that it truly fits. It is incredible.
The faculty here is great as well. For many of the same reasons as above, they want to help us to succeed, they are real people and not uptight overly pius people. I find that they take a true interest in each of us and want to know if they can be of assistance in any way. They don’t make the classes too tough (this is important of course). The material that they cover in class is challenging, but by no means unachievable.
The Masses are faithful but with a relaxed feel. I had worried about the Masses here being overdone and not fitting what we find in the real parish world, but it is indeed what we find in the real world. This is seen in the music selection (I would have some difference with it if I picked it, but it is still good), it is seen in the faith and belief seen in the homilies, they aren’t all stellar homilies, but on the whole they are pretty good, it is seen in the way that we celebrate the Eucharist, a faithful reverence without any distracting trappings.
So, in short I am still very happy with my choice to enter seminary. I ask you to keep me and all seminarians in your prayers. If you know a young man considering this as a life path please be encouraging (but not pushy, it isn’t for everyone). Please pray for a willing response to God’s call by those that He picks.
Oh, one story to make you smile before I end. Obviously one aspect of Christianity that is important is charity. We do many little charity things during the year, I haven’t mentioned them much. A humorous one this week that we have is an “Underwear Challenge”. Got your attention with that didn’t I? One way to focus donations for the needy is to be direct in what is needed. When you think about it, most donated clothing is used, and people aren’t likely (I hope) to donate used underwear, so that is something that is actually a desperate need. So, by cams we are competing to see who collects the most new underwear. My cam decided to collect money and then go out and pick up underwear. I volunteered to do the money collection with one other guy and go out and buy the underwear. So a couple of hours ago I was in the Target (cheaper than Walmart for this) buying 14 packages of underwear, this is 100 pairs, you can imagine the looks I got from other customers.
Peace,
Adam
Well, I am halfway through my first year at Seminary. We had midterms this week in the classes that are having midterms. I only had two midterms, plus a paper, so it wasn’t too bad. The oddest part about it for me was coming back, only having two days of classes last week (due to ministry seminar and field education) and then getting into finals week. I tend to prefer to be a bit more into the swing of things before taking tests, but it wasn’t too bad.
The midterms that I had were in Latin and Ancient Philosophy. Latin is Latin is all that I can say about it. I feel like I am understanding it when in class, but the minute I get on my own to study I am so lost that I feel like I’m spinning my wheels. However, when I look at what I do know I realize that it isn’t as bad as I think. The Ancient Philosophy exam was pretty much what I expected, so I think it went well.
I guess I’ll reflect a bit on the seminary experience after halfway through this first year. I will start by saying that it is pretty much what I expected, but in a better way than I expected. I anticipated the busy class schedule, the busy schedule of times for other activities, and all that is going on for actual activities and such. It is better in all of the intangibles.
The people that I am with are far better than I expected. I think that I have mentioned this before, but it still fits, especially in my class (those that I know the best). I had expected that there would be good guys here, I mean, who else would be expected to be in seminary. I did expect however, that there would be some people that I could only “get along with”, but that I wouldn’t really want to be friends with. That is the real world, so I don’t think it is a pessimistic view, simply reality of life. I have found however that at least in my class I could see myself being friends with everyone in my class for the long term, what a great feeling that is to be spending so much time with such wonderful people.
I can’t really describe the nature of why this is. I think that it definitely isn’t that we all are the same person. It is more that we all respect where we have differences and are fine with it. We all seem to be pretty decent at reading people and knowing what is appropriate for each different guy. The guys aren’t all uptight as you may be imagining, we relax and joke around as everyone else does. We all know that this isn’t a competition; we are trying to help each other. If we find that one guy is struggling with personal issues or academics or anything else we see what we can do to help, and people are willing to allow themselves to be helped, it is amazing. When I first started paying attention to seminary and considering it I heard people use the term “brother seminarians” and I thought it was some sort of old cliché, but I have found that it truly fits. It is incredible.
The faculty here is great as well. For many of the same reasons as above, they want to help us to succeed, they are real people and not uptight overly pius people. I find that they take a true interest in each of us and want to know if they can be of assistance in any way. They don’t make the classes too tough (this is important of course). The material that they cover in class is challenging, but by no means unachievable.
The Masses are faithful but with a relaxed feel. I had worried about the Masses here being overdone and not fitting what we find in the real parish world, but it is indeed what we find in the real world. This is seen in the music selection (I would have some difference with it if I picked it, but it is still good), it is seen in the faith and belief seen in the homilies, they aren’t all stellar homilies, but on the whole they are pretty good, it is seen in the way that we celebrate the Eucharist, a faithful reverence without any distracting trappings.
So, in short I am still very happy with my choice to enter seminary. I ask you to keep me and all seminarians in your prayers. If you know a young man considering this as a life path please be encouraging (but not pushy, it isn’t for everyone). Please pray for a willing response to God’s call by those that He picks.
Oh, one story to make you smile before I end. Obviously one aspect of Christianity that is important is charity. We do many little charity things during the year, I haven’t mentioned them much. A humorous one this week that we have is an “Underwear Challenge”. Got your attention with that didn’t I? One way to focus donations for the needy is to be direct in what is needed. When you think about it, most donated clothing is used, and people aren’t likely (I hope) to donate used underwear, so that is something that is actually a desperate need. So, by cams we are competing to see who collects the most new underwear. My cam decided to collect money and then go out and pick up underwear. I volunteered to do the money collection with one other guy and go out and buy the underwear. So a couple of hours ago I was in the Target (cheaper than Walmart for this) buying 14 packages of underwear, this is 100 pairs, you can imagine the looks I got from other customers.
Peace,
Adam
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Back from Christmas Break 2010 Happy 2011
Wow, what a couple of weeks that break was.
We got done with classes on Friday the 17th of December, but I decided not to leave until the following morning. I had to get some cleaning done, write some thank you notes for gifts I had received already, and wrap the gifts I had yet to give. When I finally left on Saturday I headed to Green Bay to meet up with my extended family on the day we were getting ready for the Christmas celebration with them.
The extended family Christmas went great, except for the fact that four of the eight cousins were missing. It was so nice to be able to get together with family that I don’t see too often. We did the normal stuff of a meal, exchanging a few gifts, and just generally having a good time enjoying each other’s company. I stayed in Green Bay until Sunday, when I went to Mass there I ran into some people that I know from that area but haven’t seen in a couple of years. I was able to catch up with them for a bit and sit with them for Mass before going back to my aunt and uncle’s for brunch and then heading to my mom’s house.
The last week of Advent was both busy, and not having much big stuff going on at the same time. I had a doctor appointment on Monday, saw some friends, went to Mass and the normal routine stuff the rest of Monday and on Tuesday. Wednesday I was able to meet up with a great friend for lunch, followed by the Diocesan Seminarian Christmas party in the evening. That was a pretty simple affair, we had a Mass celebrated by the Bishop and then a dinner where we were all introduced along with our family that was there.
Thursday morning I went to Mass at the parish I grew up in before heading over to Stevens Point to help out with the Christmas Eve and Christmas Masses. As always it was great to go to Stevens Point. The Masses all went smoothly and it was great to spend time there with that community that has meant so much to me.
On Christmas after the last Mass I headed back to my mom’s where we were getting together for Christmas, the only one missing that day was one step-brother and we were even able to set up a computer with a webcam and have him there in that way.
Since the day after Christmas was a Sunday it was still a day to go to Mass. I went to an early Mass at a church near home, but then also attended a Lutheran service with one of my friends from growing up. I am going to be the best man in his wedding this spring and wanted to see his church before that day. It was a nice service, and his pastor is a very nice man. I enjoyed it, but it still wasn’t Mass.
I went out for a dinner with people (or at their house) Monday through Wednesday but aside from that didn’t do all that much in that week (I tried to study, and did some, but not as much as I’d like to have done). Friday I again went to Mass at my parish from growing up before heading to Marshfield to a couple of friend’s house for a New Years get together. This was a very nice get together and I enjoyed spending time with them and the other friends that were there.
On New Year’s Day I headed back down to the seminary. I didn’t have to be back quite that early, but it was nice to come back and relax here for a bit, not something I’m used to with the fast pace that we go when classes are in session. Many of the guys started trickling in Saturday and Sunday even though we didn’t have to be back until Monday evening. We watched some football, accomplished a few things and mainly just hung out together.
Monday I heard some sad news that my dad and his wife’s dog died, it was very sad because they are both close to her. I actually spent quite a bit of the day thinking about what a gift from God our pets are and how much they mean to us… I may write about that in the future.
Today (Tuesday) we had a ministry seminar. I guess this is something that they do here every year. The presenter was John Allen, a writer for National Catholic Reporter, Vatican Correspondent for CNN and author of a few books. The topic for the day was based on his latest book Future Church. This book and the talks were about trends affecting the church currently and those developing that are going to have a major impact on the future.
Some of these trends included the globalization of the church, “tribalism” within the church and society, interreligious relations (especially with Islam), ecological issues, and a few other things that Allen identified.
The globalization of the church talked about the fact that the Catholic population growth is outpacing world population growth, but the center of Catholicism is moving/has moved from the Western world to the Southern Hemisphere, namely Africa and Latin America. This shows the needs of us truly identifying ourselves as a universal church (Universal is actually the definition of the word Catholic). Also it was discussed how the line of thinking of the Church in these regions is going to shape the future of the Church to a large degree.
The tribalism of the Church describes what is commonly referred to as polarization, but not just the fact that there are some of different opinions on issues but also the fact that as there are different opinions they are supported by people forming “tribes” of those who are like minded. This was talked about both in the Church and society and with no answers to this problem given it was talked about as something that we will need to work to address in our ministry.
Interreligious relations was also a big issue. With the globalization there are now large pockets of Catholics in areas where the cultural history is not based on Christianity so we need to figure out how to work on dealing with that and how to work together with other faiths where it works to do so. As Pope Benedict XVI has said, the major problem in the world isn’t the divide between Christian and Islam, it is the divide between belief and unbelief. During this part of the talk Allen talked about how without abandoning work with Judaism there has been an obvious shift towards dealings with Muslims. This is seen partially because Christians and Muslims are living together more, and there are large instances of oppression, but also the obvious reason for this is that the two groups combined make up more than half of the human population.
Allen also talked about ecological issues being a rising trend in our Church. This is obviously true throughout society and makes for some interesting parings in political issues when environmentalists are teaming up with the Church. The Catholic Church has long held that protecting the environment is a very important thing… after all it is God’s creation and one of His many gifts to us. Another angle that Allen mentioned that I hadn’t thought about with this regard is tying environmental issues in with Natural Law, such as the right to life and respecting others. Obviously we have to protect the environment to respect those who come after us. But also the environmental issues show that there are absolute truths and that man can’t just do whatever he wants. This will lead some to accept that there is a natural law in the order of things, a very interesting take for me to think about.
I hope that everyone had a Blessed Christmas season and that 2011 is off to a wonderful start for you.
Peace,
Adam
We got done with classes on Friday the 17th of December, but I decided not to leave until the following morning. I had to get some cleaning done, write some thank you notes for gifts I had received already, and wrap the gifts I had yet to give. When I finally left on Saturday I headed to Green Bay to meet up with my extended family on the day we were getting ready for the Christmas celebration with them.
The extended family Christmas went great, except for the fact that four of the eight cousins were missing. It was so nice to be able to get together with family that I don’t see too often. We did the normal stuff of a meal, exchanging a few gifts, and just generally having a good time enjoying each other’s company. I stayed in Green Bay until Sunday, when I went to Mass there I ran into some people that I know from that area but haven’t seen in a couple of years. I was able to catch up with them for a bit and sit with them for Mass before going back to my aunt and uncle’s for brunch and then heading to my mom’s house.
The last week of Advent was both busy, and not having much big stuff going on at the same time. I had a doctor appointment on Monday, saw some friends, went to Mass and the normal routine stuff the rest of Monday and on Tuesday. Wednesday I was able to meet up with a great friend for lunch, followed by the Diocesan Seminarian Christmas party in the evening. That was a pretty simple affair, we had a Mass celebrated by the Bishop and then a dinner where we were all introduced along with our family that was there.
Thursday morning I went to Mass at the parish I grew up in before heading over to Stevens Point to help out with the Christmas Eve and Christmas Masses. As always it was great to go to Stevens Point. The Masses all went smoothly and it was great to spend time there with that community that has meant so much to me.
On Christmas after the last Mass I headed back to my mom’s where we were getting together for Christmas, the only one missing that day was one step-brother and we were even able to set up a computer with a webcam and have him there in that way.
Since the day after Christmas was a Sunday it was still a day to go to Mass. I went to an early Mass at a church near home, but then also attended a Lutheran service with one of my friends from growing up. I am going to be the best man in his wedding this spring and wanted to see his church before that day. It was a nice service, and his pastor is a very nice man. I enjoyed it, but it still wasn’t Mass.
I went out for a dinner with people (or at their house) Monday through Wednesday but aside from that didn’t do all that much in that week (I tried to study, and did some, but not as much as I’d like to have done). Friday I again went to Mass at my parish from growing up before heading to Marshfield to a couple of friend’s house for a New Years get together. This was a very nice get together and I enjoyed spending time with them and the other friends that were there.
On New Year’s Day I headed back down to the seminary. I didn’t have to be back quite that early, but it was nice to come back and relax here for a bit, not something I’m used to with the fast pace that we go when classes are in session. Many of the guys started trickling in Saturday and Sunday even though we didn’t have to be back until Monday evening. We watched some football, accomplished a few things and mainly just hung out together.
Monday I heard some sad news that my dad and his wife’s dog died, it was very sad because they are both close to her. I actually spent quite a bit of the day thinking about what a gift from God our pets are and how much they mean to us… I may write about that in the future.
Today (Tuesday) we had a ministry seminar. I guess this is something that they do here every year. The presenter was John Allen, a writer for National Catholic Reporter, Vatican Correspondent for CNN and author of a few books. The topic for the day was based on his latest book Future Church. This book and the talks were about trends affecting the church currently and those developing that are going to have a major impact on the future.
Some of these trends included the globalization of the church, “tribalism” within the church and society, interreligious relations (especially with Islam), ecological issues, and a few other things that Allen identified.
The globalization of the church talked about the fact that the Catholic population growth is outpacing world population growth, but the center of Catholicism is moving/has moved from the Western world to the Southern Hemisphere, namely Africa and Latin America. This shows the needs of us truly identifying ourselves as a universal church (Universal is actually the definition of the word Catholic). Also it was discussed how the line of thinking of the Church in these regions is going to shape the future of the Church to a large degree.
The tribalism of the Church describes what is commonly referred to as polarization, but not just the fact that there are some of different opinions on issues but also the fact that as there are different opinions they are supported by people forming “tribes” of those who are like minded. This was talked about both in the Church and society and with no answers to this problem given it was talked about as something that we will need to work to address in our ministry.
Interreligious relations was also a big issue. With the globalization there are now large pockets of Catholics in areas where the cultural history is not based on Christianity so we need to figure out how to work on dealing with that and how to work together with other faiths where it works to do so. As Pope Benedict XVI has said, the major problem in the world isn’t the divide between Christian and Islam, it is the divide between belief and unbelief. During this part of the talk Allen talked about how without abandoning work with Judaism there has been an obvious shift towards dealings with Muslims. This is seen partially because Christians and Muslims are living together more, and there are large instances of oppression, but also the obvious reason for this is that the two groups combined make up more than half of the human population.
Allen also talked about ecological issues being a rising trend in our Church. This is obviously true throughout society and makes for some interesting parings in political issues when environmentalists are teaming up with the Church. The Catholic Church has long held that protecting the environment is a very important thing… after all it is God’s creation and one of His many gifts to us. Another angle that Allen mentioned that I hadn’t thought about with this regard is tying environmental issues in with Natural Law, such as the right to life and respecting others. Obviously we have to protect the environment to respect those who come after us. But also the environmental issues show that there are absolute truths and that man can’t just do whatever he wants. This will lead some to accept that there is a natural law in the order of things, a very interesting take for me to think about.
I hope that everyone had a Blessed Christmas season and that 2011 is off to a wonderful start for you.
Peace,
Adam
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)