Wednesday Religious Assessment 8/8/07

Wednesday Religious Assessment

Coming and Going

The Illusion of Jihad?

The Adult Stem cell - What most everyone keeps missing is that if you take adult stem cells directly from the host (the person to be treated) and employ those then you have none of the potential problems of tissue or cellular rejection (not to mention either acute or chronic immune reactions) you would find by employing cells from any other donor. More than a century of basic understanding about tissue rejection and when stem cell research first develops it's right back to the drawing board (as if nothing were previously known about bio-medicine), ignoring the most basic ideas and understanding regarding the most fundamental aspects of biology. To be so capable in so many ways modern science is so ridiculous and juvenile in so many other ways. Modern science often makes me laugh.

The Pope and the Patriarch - Interesting after his recent visit to Turkey and the Eastern Orthodox churches.

Suffer the Children

A bit of Commentary and Analysis

The Orthodox Chrisitian Network

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Wednesday Religious Assessment 6/27/07

Wednesday Religious Assessment

Pope has Talk with Blair

Next Election

Elizabeth Edwards Goes West

Who Goest There?

Diagnosing Limbo

Gaza Goes to Hell in a Hamasbasket

The Elite View


CYRIL: CATECHESIS THAT EMBRACES BODY, SOUL AND SPIRIT

VATICAN CITY, JUN 27, 2007 (VIS) - The Holy Father dedicated his catechesis during today's general audience to St. Cyril of Jerusalem (ca. 315-387), whom he described as a bishop of a great "ecclesiastical culture, centered on the study of the Bible." The general audience, Benedict XVI's hundredth, began with his greeting pilgrims in St. Peter's Basilica, then continued in the Paul VI Hall. It was attended by around 7,000 people.

Cyril, the Pope explained, was consecrated a bishop in 348 by Acacius, metropolitan of Caesarea in Palestine and a supporter of Arianism. However, soon afterwards the two men came into contrast, "not only in the doctrinal field, but also in the area of jurisprudence, because Cyril claimed the autonomy of his see from the metropolitan see of Caesarea." He was exiled thee times and only in 378, following the death of the emperor Valens, could Cyril return to his see, "restoring unity and peace among the faithful." Of this saint we have his "Catecheses," 24 catechetical lectures introduced by a prologue.

"Catechesis," the Holy Father explained, "was an important moment, inserted into the broad context of the entire life - and especially the liturgical life - of the Christian community" where "the future faithful were gestated, accompanied by the prayer and witness of their brethren. This was a very important moment, it was not just an intellectual catechesis, but a way of learning to live in the Christian community. As a whole, Cyril's homilies constitute a systematic and pragmatic catechesis on the rebirth of Christians through Baptism."

From a doctrinal point of view, Cyril uses his work - through "a 'symphonic' relationship between the two Testaments" - to reach "Christ, center of the universe." In his moral catechesis, he invites people "to transform pagan forms of behavior on the basis of the new life in Christ." In his "mystagogic" catechesis, he brings the newly baptized "to discover the hidden mysteries ... contained in the baptismal rites."

"The mystery to be understood is the design of God which is accomplished through the salvific action of Christ in the Church. The mystagogic dimension is, in turn, accompanied by the dimension of symbols which express the spiritual experience they bring about."

"This is, then," the Pope concluded, "an integral catechesis which - involving body, soul and spirit - remains emblematic for the catechetical formation of Christians today. Let us ask the Lord to help us understand a Christianity that truly embraces all of our existence and makes us credible witnesses of Christ, true God and true man."
AG/CYRIL OF JERUSALEM/... VIS 070627 (440)

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Wednesday Religious Assessment 2/28/07

Wednesday Religious Assessment

China in Chains - Just in time for the Olympics.

The Apathetic Christian - I can't imagine not be enthusiastic. It would be a revolution of advancement. We won't get there by murder of course, and that seems a very bizarre idea - that one can encourage salvation through murder - but the return of Christ would mean the end of murder and the championing of all kinds of progress.

Vocations Up - Even in an Exodus vocations are rising. That's fascinating and reminds me much more of the early Church than the present church in the West. Good for them.

Liturgical Failure



Fighting Slavery - As a Christian this is a fight worth winning.

Diet in the Desert

The Church in Venezuela - It's always a tough call for the church in my opinion. Help the oppressed in a tyranny and therefore appear to be reconciled to the evils of dictatorial control, or oppose the regime and face persecution and the real danger that the innocent will likely suffer. It's not for me to say which does the most harm, or most good, and I guess every situation is unique. Godspeed to them though.

Dry Bones - To me stuff like this is just entertainment. It doesn't ring true at all. It's hard for me to get upset about it. He's just a director and I've never understood how, or why, our society gives so much importance to entertainers.

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Wednesday Religious Assessment 2/7/07

Wednesday Religious Assessment

Transgendery

Baptism in the Streets - The City of Angels gets a much needed Baptism. Which is always better than the Baptism by Fire they so often suffer.

Prayer Stopped Dead in South Carolina

Global Child Porn Ring

Conservatives More Charitable - This hardly surprises me.

Venezuela's Suicide Pact

Developing Spiritual Gifts

Interesting - Mississippi bans abortion. Is this the start of the counteraction? On the State level. Which is where the fight should have always been, at the State level.

The Secular Priest -

TO SECULAR INSTITUTES: ANNOUNCE THE BEAUTY OF GOD

VATICAN CITY, FEB 3, 2007 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican, the Pope received a large group of representatives from secular institutes in various countries, who are in Rome for the occasion of an international symposium being held to mark the anniversary of the Apostolic Constitution "Provida Mater Ecclesia."

Recalling that six decades have passed since February 2 1947, when Pope Pius XII promulgated the Apostolic Constitution, Benedict XVI said: "That juridical act was not an end but the starting point of a process that aimed to define a new form of consecration: that of lay faithful and diocesan priests, called to live with evangelical radicalism the secular state in which, by virtue of their life condition or pastoral ministry, they are immersed."

The Holy Father went on to enumerate the characteristics of the secular mission: "bearing witness to human virtues, ... an 'honorable conduct of life' as mentioned by Peter in his first Letter, ... and commitment to building a society that recognizes in all its various aspects the dignity of human beings and the values essential for their full realization, from politics to economics, from education to commitment to public health, from providing services to scientific research."

"All the circumstances in which man lives and dies," the Pope told his audience, "are an opportunity for you to bear witness to the salvific work of God. This is your mission."

The Holy Father told the members of the secular institutes that "the secular nature of your consecration highlights, on the one hand, the means you use to put it into practice, ... and on the other, the way in which it develops: through a profound relationship with the signs of the times, which you are called to discern, individually and as a group, in the light of the Gospel."

"The place of your apostolate is, then, the entire human sphere, not only in the Christian community, ... but also and above all in the civil community with which you relate in the search for the common good and in dialogue with everyone, called to bear witness to Christian anthropology, which proposes meaning to a society disoriented and confused by the multi-cultural and multi-religious atmosphere that characterizes it."

Benedict XVI concluded with an exhortation to announce "the beauty of God and of His Creation. Following the example of Christ, remain obedient to love and be men and women of humbleness and mercy, capable of following the paths of the world doing only good. ... The Church also needs you to give completeness to her mission. Be seed of sanctity ... in the furrow of history."
AC/.../SECULAR INSTITUTES VIS 070205 (450)

Christian Unity

ACTIVITIES OF COUNCIL FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN UNITY

VATICAN CITY, FEB 6, 2007 (VIS) - Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity is currently participating is a seminar for Asian bishops and theologians on the theme of Pentecostalism, which is being held in Manila, Philippines from February 5 to 11. This is the last meeting of its type and on this theme following early seminars organized in 2005 and 2006 in Nairobi, Kenya; Dakar, Senegal; Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Seoul, Korea.

On February 19, Cardinal Kasper is due to deliver a lecture on spiritual ecumenism in the context of an ecumenical seminar for priests and pastoral care workers, organized by the archdiocese of Barcelona, Spain. At the meeting, the cardinal will present a new manual entitled: "A Handbook of Spiritual Ecumenism, guidelines for its implementation."

The drafting committee of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox will meet in Rome from February 28 to March 3, to draw up amendments to the study text being prepared for the forthcoming plenary assembly of the commission, scheduled to be held in Ravenna, Italy, in October 2007.
CON-UC/ACTIVITIES/KASPER VIS 070206 (200)



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Wednesday Religious Assessment 1/31/07

Wednesday Religious Assessment

The Reform of the German Churches - I'll see it when I believe it. But just in case they possibly are serious then Godspeed to them anyway.










ACLU: Stop the Fees, we just want an equity share

Faith and Reason

Saints Behaving Badly - I read this book a couple of months ago. I personally really enjoyed it and what it said about Saints and Sainthood: prior and post.

Disuntity and Union - I'm with her. Forcing any American to pay Union dues, or to belong to a Union is about as American as Stalinism. And that should be the future of such an ideal as well.

Jew Defines Christians - Then argues, "define yourself." Definitely speaking, he's probably right.

Nolo Developo - What the poor need is more dung to burn, and a more efficacious Diet of Wyrms. Welcome to the Liberal Enlightenment of the 12th century ladies and germs.

The Hippity Hobbit - Man, Other, or all around kinda strange Little Guy?








The Spirit at Constantinople - From Middlebrow




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Wednesday Religious Assessment 1/17/07

Wednesday Religious Assessment

It's been a very interesting week or so for religious affairs in my opinion.

The Muslim Gandhi? - I don't know the veracity of this since this is the first time I've ever heard of this man. But the article did make me consider one interesting proposition. If an Islamic Gandhi or Martin Luther King came along, then would he receive the kind of popular media attention, either in Muslim circles or in the West, that could make the building of a non-violent Islamic movement possible, or would either Islamic media or Western media, or both, really wholly limit such a person's potential effectiveness?

Internet Porn Domains - I know the guy who actually came up with this idea. I've thought it a good idea from the first time I heard him mention it.

Executions - I'm hardly surprised North Korea executes Christians. I am rather surprised that word of such executions would leak out, especially the execution involving the North Korea Army General. If true this shows significant cracks developing within North Korea along several different vectors.

Religious Persecution

Muslim-Catholic Marriage

Collins, the HGP, God, and Evolution - I've read the book, a couple of months back. Although I don't agree with his position on everything about Science and God (I never agree with anybody on everything) I can say I found the book an excellent read, especially the parts about his personal background and both his religious and scientific experiences.

The Evangelical Black? - Since my wife is black I sometimes wonder if she feels this way, mainly because she is the only black at our church. Sometimes though I think she faces the reverse problem, sometimes I think she thinks people praise her just because she is the only black, or only black female.

The Collaborators

Hidden Spirituality in Holland








The Weak Christian - Can a weak Christian be effective at promoting Christian values to the Islamic world? According to Ali, no.

The House Church

Missional Apologetics - A rather fascinating new blog.










WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY

VATICAN CITY, JAN 16, 2007 (VIS) - The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, traditionally celebrated every year from January 18 to 25, is due to begin on Thursday. The theme for the 2007 initiative is: "He even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

The texts for reflection and prayer this year have been prepared by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and by the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches.

"This year's Week of Prayer for Christian Unity," says a communiqué released by the pontifical council, "brings together two themes, two invitations extended to Christian Churches and people: to pray and strive together for Christian unity, and to join together in responding to human suffering. These two responsibilities are deeply intertwined. Both relate to healing the Body of Christ (the Church), hence the principal text chosen for this year's week of prayer is a story of healing."

Each day of the Week will have a different theme:

January 18: In the beginning was the Word. "And God said..." (Gen 1).

January 19: The Saving Word of Christ. "He makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak" (Mk 7: 31-37).

January 20: The Holy Spirit gives us the Word. "The Spirit ...will testify on my behalf" (Jn 15: 26).

January 21: The silence of the forgotten and the cries of the suffering. "If one member suffers all suffer together" (1 Cor 12: 26).

January 22: God's judgement on our silence. "Just as you did not do it to one of the least of these..." (Mt 25: 45).

January 23: Empowered to speak out. "But the woman ... came in fear and trembling ... and told Him the whole truth" (Mk 5: 33).

January 24: Forsakenness. "Why are You so far from helping me?" (Ps 22: 1)

January 25: Resurrection - glorification. "Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" (Phil 2: 11).

In the basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, January 25, Feast of the Conversion of the Apostle Paul, Benedict XVI will preside at the celebration of Vespers to mark the close of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
.../PRAYER WEEK CHRISTIAN UNITY/... VIS 070116 (380)




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Wednesday Religious Assessment 1/10/07

Wednesday Religious Assessment

Biblical Languages and Translations - Useful Tool from Infinite Spaces

Does Missions Work Start At Home? - Are things like VBS local Missions, or local Ministries?

Amniotic Stem Cells and ESCR

Does this Surprise anyone concerning Modern Science? - I mean, is anyone really, truly surprised?

Some Culture: Some Secular, Some Divine

A Dissenting View, of sorts - From Argent by the Tiber

Orthodoxy in the 21st - I found this piece particularly interesting since after retirement I intend to become an Orthodox Priest. I've seen a lot of interest in Orthodoxy generally, and more broadly in movements towards greater Orthodoxy in a variety of denominations. For instance I now attend a family church which is Southern Baptist. Nearly every holiday, and on more and more common occasions as well my church seems to become more traditional and sacramental at celebration. On special occasions we become more and more liturgical and traditional, so that even at Communion (which Baptists call the Lord's Supper) there is ever more an emphasis on liturgy and the sacramental nature of the event. My pastor, who is somewhat unusual for a Baptist Minister/Preacher, quotes the Saints in sermons (he writes and delivers exceptionally unusual and very good sermons) and often refers to the Greek. Our church has recently undergone an expansion and building program and the baptistery and pool were for the first time decorated. (Had it been up to me I would have created a mosaic within the pool itself.) I have jokingly told my pastor that eventually we will have stained glass windows and Icons hanging about the church. (I am a big proponent of Icons as both a tool for spiritual and religious focus, and as a method of spiritual training.)
The general point is I see a movement in many Protestant churches towards greater ritual and tradition, and I think this is because by discarding those things over the years many Protestant churches have become "hollow and empty and uninspiring." And I suspect that many Protestant churches that have experimented with trendy political movements, such as ordaining gay pastors or priests, or entirely discarding certain theological doctrines and dogmas in an attempt to woo worshipers via political means are simply doing so because they are seeking artificial methods of providing meaning. As such, they fail eventually and attendance and support plummets. By seeking political meaning instead of spiritual meaning they achieve neither, and are becoming more and more nothing but imitationally Christian by rote and past lineage.
On the other hand I think that both the Catholic Church and the Orthodox church (especially the Orthodox church) have failed to expand over time as they could have because of a far too strict reliance upon past tradition and lineage. To a large extent they rely upon their numbers to be replenished simply by birth or prior patronage and therefore to a large extent they lack the Missionary and Ministry Spirits that have for a long time (up until recently anyway) animated and enthused many Protestant denominations.
I see a day coming when two things will happen, indeed they have already begun: 1) Protestant churches will return to the more open and positive ritual and traditional roots of the Elder Churches, Catholic and Orthodox, and the elder churches will become more Mission and Ministry driven in order to become stronger proselytizers, and 2) There will be an eventual Reunification, not just of Orthodox and Catholic, but of most branches of the church, Protestant included. What that Reunification will look like, what form it will take, how the details will be worked out, exactly how it will function I don't know. But I feel it in my guts. History is moving towards that eventual end.

Good Review of The Rise of Benedict XVI - On the Curt Jester


BAPTISM MEANS WE MUST LISTEN TO AND FOLLOW JESUS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 7, 2007 (VIS) - After having presided at Mass in the Sistine Chapel, during which he administered the Sacrament of Baptism to 13 newborn infants, the Holy Father appeared at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square below.

"Today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which closes the period of Christmas," he said, pointing out that the Baptism is mentioned, in different ways, in all the Gospels. "It was, in fact, part of the Apostles' preaching, because it constituted the starting point of the entire arc of deeds and words to which they were called to bear witness."

Jesus' Baptism was extremely important for the apostolic community, "not only because then, and for the first time in history, the mystery of the Trinity was made manifest clearly and completely, but also because with that event Jesus' public ministry began. ... The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan anticipates His Baptism of blood on the Cross and symbolizes the entire sacramental activity with which the Redeemer would achieve the salvation of humanity."

The Holy Father recalled that "this Feast is, after Easter, the oldest," and indicated how "there is a close correlation between the Baptism of Christ and our own Baptism. In the Jordan, heaven opened to show that the Savior has opened the way of salvation, and we can follow it thanks to the new birth 'of water and the Spirit' that comes about in Baptism. In Baptism we are inserted into mystical Body of Christ, which is the Church, we die and are born again in Him, we cloth ourselves in Him. ... The duty that arises from Baptism is, then, that of 'listening' to Jesus, believing in Him and following Him obediently, doing His will."
ANG/BAPTISM CHRIST/... VIS 070108 (320)


ST. STEPHEN CHARITABLE COMMITMENT AND EVANGELIZATION

VATICAN CITY, JAN 10, 2007 (VIS) - In this morning's general audience, held in the Paul VI Hall in the presence of 7,000 people, Benedict XVI dedicated his catechesis to the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen.

"St. Stephen," said the Pope, "is the most representative figure of a group of seven companions," who concerned themselves with charitably serving the needs of members of the Christian community, whether of Jewish or of Greek origin.

"Tradition sees in this group the origins of the future ministry of deacons," upon whom the Apostles "laid their hands," a gesture that in the Old Testament "has above all the significance of transmitting an important task," said the Pope.

"That this was an important action, to be undertaken following due discernment, becomes clear from a reading of the First Letter of Paul to Timothy: 'Do not be hasty in laying on of hands, nor participate in another man's sins'."

"Apart from his charitable service," the Pope continued, "Stephen also carried out evangelizing activity among his countrymen, the so-called 'Hellenists'." To them "he reread the Old Testament in the light of the announcement, death and resurrection of Jesus." This rereading "provoked the reaction of the Jews who perceived his words as blasphemy."

Stephen "shows that the mystery of the cross lies at the center of the history of salvation," and that "the cult of the temple is finished" because the Risen Christ "is the new and true 'temple.' It was precisely this 'no' to the temple" that led to his death sentence and martyrdom. After his stoning, the group of Jewish and Hellenic Christians fled Jerusalem "and became itinerant missionaries. ... Persecution and consequent dispersion became mission."

The Holy Father explained how the story of St. Stephen reminds us that "social commitment to charity can never be disassociated from the courageous announcement of the faith." With charity, the first martyr "announced the crucified Christ, even to the point of accepting martyrdom."

"The cross remains central in the life of the Church as well as in our private lives. In the history of the Church, passion and persecution will never be lacking," said Pope Benedict, but, "in the famous phrase of Tertullian, ... 'we multiply every time we are cut down by you.' The blood of Christians is a seed."

"In our own lives too, the cross, which will never be lacking, becomes a blessing," he concluded. "And accepting the cross, knowing that is it is and becomes a blessing, we learn the joy of being Christian, even in moments of difficulty."
AG/ST. STEPHEN/... VIS 070110 (440)




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Wednesday Religious Assessment 1/3/07

Wednesday Religious Assessment

A Different Mission? - An interesting article on the possible shift in emphasis on mission projects involving so-called "Millennials."

The Emergent Church - An interesting debate on the so called emergent church and what it might or might not mean in the context of Greater Christianity.

Iranians Meet with Pope - It would be quite fascinating to know the actual contents of this representation and communication.

Ford and Faith - President Ford and his faith.

Islamist Defeats in Somalia and Reactions

From Good to Great - Personally, few things bother me more in life than less.

Hearts and Minds - An extremely astute observation about politics, the popular culture, and media influence upon the population at large. Just as with the War in Iraq, Hearts and Minds, and Psychological Warfare (in the true Greek sense of the word) is something that should be practiced "within American culture."

Marriage and Gender and Geography and Mating - Fascinating Danish study on the effects of geography and marriage upon gender and mating.

Christian Business Consultant



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