eCatechist

The 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 30, 2011

The Story and You

Fr. Robert Barron

Judgement and Purgatory

The sight of crowds of people dressed up as ghosts, demons and monsters will be a familiar one this coming Halloween weekend, but what is the real tradition of All Hallows’ Eve and how has the Christian vision behind it been distorted? John McDade SJ reclaims the truth about our death in Christ that informs our doctrine and our imagination.

From Thinking Faith

Which Catholic Values and Social Teaching Noticed by Martin Marty

Marty, guest contributor from Sightings

Maureen Dowd wrote an almost innocuous column in The New York Times in which she noted, or argued, that “American bishops have been inconsistent in preaching their values.” Any reader who is up on the teachings of the company of bishops should not be surprised that they are inconsistent or that Ms. Dowd caught them in action. Such a reader who is up on the parties in play can also expect that the columnist is zeroing in on a zone of teachings about sex, which are of a different nature than are the rest of the social teachings. Someone had to notice her generalization.

Someone did. An authoritative if informal response came in the Letters to the Editor column from Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany who wrote on “The Values of the Bishops.” He argued that Ms. Dowd and so many like her were not paying attention, so he cited all kinds and degrees of interest they had shown in focusing on the social teachings. Since we don’t often hear about almost all of them, it pays to note his list.

From Being Blog. Continue reading.

18. Were there different kinds of religious meals?

 Hellenistic (Greco-Roman) society had various religious meals. The customary form of a Greek sacrifice included the communal offering that flowed into a festive meal on the part of participants and could be celebrated as if one thought of the deity as host and participant.

            Also important were the monthly banquets of the very popular private associations based on ethnic background, nationality, a common occupation, or a shared social concern. These meals nearly always had a religious dimension (with their own patron deity, a priest or priestess among the officials, and libations or other sacrifices as part of their gatherings). The social fellowship of their regular meals together constituted an important feature. Members usually paid a monthly fee, but wealthy patrons often supplied the food or drink for the banquet.

 

From Paul and the Eucharist: The Heart of Christian Community

By Steve Mueller

©2011 Steve Mueller

Paul and the Eucharist will be available as an e-book in the summer of 2011.

 

Where Mormons Fit on the Religious Spectrum

Political controversy obscures Mormon doctrine, as well as real differences among churches

Sunday, October 16, 2011

By Ann Rodgers,  Pittsburgh Post-Gazettes

When the pastor of a Dallas megachurch called the Mormon faith a "cult" and a "false religion" at a recent political rally in reference to the faith of two Republican presidential candidates, he sparked a media firestorm.

But while the Rev. Robert Jeffress used inflammatory language when he endorsed Texas Gov. Rick Perry for the nomination, his words highlight real differences between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches.

"To a Mormon, the claim that they aren't Christian is baffling and hurtful. They will say that we have the name of Jesus Christ in our church. How can we be perceived as anything other than Christian?" said David Campbell, associate professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame and a leading researcher on faith in American life, who is also a Mormon.

Continue Reading

Vatican on Financial Reform

Vatican Rejects Deregulation, Trickle-Down Economics in Major Financial Reform Document

blog.faithinpubliclife.org

An important document on financial reform released today by the Vatican's justice and peace office is a timely challenge to conservative political leaders eager to carve up the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law passed last year. For that matter, the 41-page document - "Toward Reforming the Internati...

From Thomas Reese, SJ on facebook

Read complete statement.

Thomas Reese, SJ on MSNBC

Thomas J. Reese

Tom Reese MSNBC talking about pope and occupy Wall Street movement.

Oct 24, 2011 2:47pm

Tom Reese, SJ on MSNBC's Weekends with Alex Witt yesterday anticipating today's statement "Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of Global Public Authority" (Vatican Radio provides an unofficial translation here: http://www.radiovaticana.org/EN1/Articolo.asp?c=531752)

From facebook

Three strengths of contemporary Catholicism

Three strengths of contemporary Catholicism.

The Little Ones October 23, 2011

The 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 23, 2011

The Story and You

 
Fr. Robert Barron

19. was the banquet adapted to religious settings?

 Since the banquet was the formalized meal par excellence, it was the meal most often used for religious ritual. Thus the Jewish Passover meal, the Christian eucharist, the meals of religious associations and sacrificial meals all followed the format of the banquet. They would take on their special religious nature according to the setting, such as in a temple, or according to the occasion, such as a sacrifice or religious festival, or according to the group gathered for the meal, such as a religious association.

 

From Paul and the Eucharist: The Heart of Christian Community

By Steve Mueller

©2011 Steve Mueller

Paul and the Eucharist will be available as an e-book in the summer of 2011.

The Little Ones October 16, 2011

The 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 16, 2011

The Story and You

 

Fr. Robert Barron

 

 

 

Social Justice and the Bible

This afternoon I attended a presentation by Margaret Regan, author of the Death to Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona Borderlands. I am thinking what should I be about to better understand the issues of immigration. How can I promote a more compassionate response to the needs of immigrants and the poor. Then I received notification of the following article from Thinking Faith:

Monday 17 October 2011 is International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, calling our attention to the inequality and social injustice that afflict our global community. How can we take direction from the Bible in our efforts towards achieving social justice? Dominik Markl SJ looks at how the Old and New Testaments lay the foundations on which we can build a society that strives to be ‘a perfect community of love’

What a great way to begin. Read Social Justice and the Bible.

 

Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope - A letter by the American and Mexican Bishops.

What the Church Teachers about Immigration Policy by Bishop Gerald Kicanas

17. How did the guests dine at a banquet?

 As long as the group was small, the gathering could take place in the wealthy patron’s dining room. Dining rooms were not very large, and since the Hellenistic custom was for the wealthy to dine reclining on couches, usually a maximum of 9 persons could dine comfortably. Diners reclined on their left side in order to eat with their right hand. Men and women, except perhaps a married couple in a less formal setting, did not eat together.

            The guests were arranged on three couches spread on three sides of the room facing a central area where the food was served. The seating arrangement was very conventional since every meal also confirmed a person’s status in society.

            The couches (picture it as if you were looking into the room from the doorway) were called low (to the left), middle (center, across from the door), and high (to the right). Each of the three places on each couch was also identified as low/middle/high running in a counterclockwise direction. The host’s place was on the lowest couch (left of door) in the highest place (back left corner), and the guest of honor’s place was next to the host but in the lowest position (left end) on the middle couch. This meant that the host and guest of honor could talk easily to one another.

 

From Paul and the Eucharist: The Heart of Christian Community

By Steve Mueller

©2011 Steve Mueller

Paul and the Eucharist is available as an eBook.

 

Death of Josseline by Margaret Regan

Book of the Week for October 9, 2011

www.faithAlivebooks.com

New Beginnings by Barbara Anne Radtke (Advice to Catechists)

Fall always brings the feeling of a new year.  As an educator, catechist, and lifelong learner, fall is for me a time of new beginnings: parish programs gear up; school begins; the college opens its doors to a new semester; a selection of new learning opportunities beckons me to choose. Every year I call to mind all catechists like you, whose hands, mind, and heart plan and implement these learning experiences.

The excitement of the new beginning brings promise. Record the expectation that the new year brings. Brush off that memo of expectation and read it often to refresh your commitment during the year. Help others see every grin, “aha” moment, minute of reverenced silence, hearty laugh, and articulated insight as God’s grace working within you and those you catechize.  

You do your job when paying attention to these signs of wonder working within your learning community. Celebrate these as your successes throughout the year. When things go wrong, and they will, bring it to prayer and let the Spirit work. Open your heart to all the things the Spirit can teach you and take careful consultation with an experienced catechist on what can improve your teaching. Never regret the call to this ministry which is so needed in the Church and the world today. Enjoy the catechetical journey ahead this year.  Happy New Year!

Barbara Anne Radtke
Director of Continuing Education, Boston College School of Theology and Ministry

www.bc.edu/c21online

The 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 9, 2011

The Story and You

The Little Ones October 9, 2011

For permission to print, copy and use with your children in a faith formation class or Sunday bulletin, contact Jim Burrows at www.jimburrowsartist.com

 

16. Who was in charge of the meal?

It seems strange that Paul, in the face of the disorders at the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11) and the confusion at the meetings of the church (1 Cor 14) never identifies an individual with the task of restoring order. Obviously at this early date presiding at the Lord’s supper was not yet restricted to one person or perhaps the responsibility of presiding was not yet invested with great dignity.

            If we recall that the early churches began as house churches, we can probably assume that the father of the household or the owner of the house in which the church met assumed the leadership at the Lord’s Supper. When Paul was personally present as honored guest, he very likely assumed this responsibility.

            Of course, once he left the community to continue his missionary work, they would struggle along with the limited amount of knowledge that they had. It was no wonder that abuses crept in once Paul had moved on.

 

From Paul and the Eucharist: The Heart of Christian Community

By Steve Mueller

©2011 Steve Mueller

Paul and the Eucharist will be available as an e-book in the summer of 2011.