DOCSLIB.ORG

2010April.Pdf

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
2010April.Pdf 2 3 n la tarde del Jueves llena de tensión, ¿nos preguntamos Jesús para todos aquellos que sirven. Santo, iniciamos un dónde podemos encontrar paz? Si Ustedes diáconos, vean en el Señor “Año de la Eucaristía” estamos perdidos y no sabemos que lavó los pies a los apóstoles en Draw closer to Jesus during en la Diócesis de a donde voltear, ¿hemos pensado la primera Eucaristía el símbolo por Joliet. volver a Dios, pero no sabemos cómo excelencia de su unión con Jesús el the Year of the Eucharist Aunque en mi hacerlo? Siervo. Ecorazón hay muchas razones para Necesitamos un Año de la Eucaristía Y, nosotros sacerdotes, ordenados hacer esto (y planeo escribir de esto para despertar a la verdad que para como ministros de la Eucaristía: Que Do you have a petition for Bishop Sartain’s prayer list? You may send it to him at: cada mes durante el próximo año), hay nosotros los católicos la Eucaristía es podamos celebrar los sacramentos con Bishop Sartain’s Prayer List, Diocese of Joliet; 425 Summit St., Joliet, IL 60435-7193. una oración que encierra todo: absolutamente el centro de nuestras tal fervor, fe, cuidado y humildad, que Yo oro para que durante el Año vidas – porque en la Eucaristía Jesús nos maravillemos ante el misterio del n Holy Thursday evening, we begin a “Year washing of the apostles’ feet at the first de la Eucaristía, nosotros los de la mismo nos alimenta y permanece mismo Señor, que obra en nosotros, of the Eucharist” in the Diocese of Joliet. Eucharist the symbol par excellence of Diócesis de Joliet – laicos jóvenes en nosotros como un compañero en que crezcamos en el temor de lo Although in my heart are many reasons your bond with Jesus the Servant. y adultos; hombres y mujeres el viaje de la vida. Necesitamos un que Él realiza a través nuestro. Por And, we priests, ordained as religiosas; diáconos; presbíteros; Año de la Eucaristía para despertar nuestra diaria celebración de la Misa, to do so (and I plan to write about them ministers of the Eucharist: May we y obispos – desarrollemos una en nosotros, como individuos y como que demos más generosamente al each month over the next year), one celebrate the sacraments with such apreciación profunda y una hambre diócesis, un hambre tan profunda por Señor y a su pueblo, cuyas vidas Él prayerO encapsulates them all: fervor, faith, care and humility that por la Eucaristía, que demos a Dios la Jesús que nos inspire a amarlo más, ha comprado con su propio Cuerpo y we marvel at the mystery of the Lord apertura de renovar y refrescar nuestra a entregar nuestras propias vidas a Sangre. Si Él los ama así, ¿podemos himself at work in us, that we grow in diócesis, para hacernos santos. Él, a confesar nuestras faltas y caídas nosotros amarlos menos? We can be confident that this is and remains with us as a companion awe of what he accomplishes through Podemos estar seguros de que y aprender a vivir sacrificadamente. En su hermoso libro, “He Leadeth what God desires for us because, in on the journey of life. We need a Year us. By our daily celebration of Mass, esto es lo que Dios desea para Necesitamos un Año de la Eucaristía Me,” Padre Walter Ciszek, S.J., que the Eucharist, Jesus remains with us of the Eucharist to awaken within us as may we give ourselves even more nosotros, porque en la Eucaristía para que nosotros nunca olvidemos escribió en sus años de encierro as spiritual food (as he said, “I am individuals and as a diocese a hunger generously to the Lord and his people, Jesús permanece con nosotros como que a través de su Hijo Jesús nuestro en la Rusia Soviética, dice que él the Bread of Life”) and assurance of for Jesus so profound that it inspires us whose lives he purchased with his own alimento espiritual (como Él lo dijo Padre celestial nos salva del mal y nos fue privado de la Eucaristía durante his Father’s undying faithfulness (his to love him more, to surrender our very body and blood. If he loves them so, “Yo soy el Pan de Vida”) y la promesa hace santos. muchos meses y al final se esforzó Covenant of Love). Everything we lives to him, to confess our faults and can we love them less? de su Padre de eterna fidelidad (su Ustedes niños y niñas en la escuela heroicamente para celebrar la Misa need and desire in life (and more!) can failings and to learn to live sacrificially. In his beautiful book, “He Leadeth “Alianza de Amor”). Todo lo que primaria, ¡Jesús los ama y viene en prisión y en los campamentos. Una be found in the Lord Jesus and his gift We need a Year of the Eucharist so we Me,” Father Walter Ciszek, S.J., wrote necesitamos y deseamos en la vida a ustedes en la Santa Eucaristía! vez que encontró la forma de decir la of the Eucharist. will never forget that, through his son of his years of confinement in Soviet (¡y más!) podemos encontrarlo en Aprendan a participar en la Misa con Misa secretamente cada día, reconoció Do we sometimes forget that, in Jesus, our heavenly Father saves us Russia. He was deprived of the Eucharist el Señor Jesús y en el regalo de la todo su corazón y reverencia a la que lo hacía no solo para él y para Jesus, we have everything? Do we from evil and makes us holy. for many months, and he eventually went Eucaristía. presencia santa de Jesús. los católicos en el campamento, sino go looking for fulfillment elsewhere, You little ones in elementary school, to heroic lengths to celebrate Mass in ¿Se nos olvida, algunas veces, que Ustedes adolescentes y jóvenes también por el bien espiritual de todas all the while missing the fact he is with Jesus loves you and comes to you in prison and in the camps. Once he found en Jesús lo tenemos todo? ¿Vamos a adultos, vean en la Eucaristía al mismo las personas que ni siquiera sabían us, within us, in the church, waiting for the Holy Eucharist! Learn to participate a way to say Mass secretly every day, he buscar satisfacción espiritual en otro Jesús, su alimento y su guía segura a lo lo que el estaba haciendo, incluso at Mass with all your heart and to the Bishop us to open our hearts and let him in? recognized he was doing so, not only for lugar sin darnos cuenta que Él está largo de los años de crecimiento y de para los no creyentes. Él escribió: Even if we see ourselves as religious revere Jesus’ holy presence. himself and the Catholics in the camps, con nosotros, entre nosotros, en la ideales. “Me gustaría ir a cualquier lado, sufrir people, do we sometimes look beyond You teens and young adults, see, in but also for the spiritual good of people Iglesia, esperándonos a que abramos Ustedes parejas de matrimonios, cualquier inconveniencia, correr Jesus, or around him, forgetting we the Eucharist, Jesus himself, your food From From who did not even know he was doing nuestros corazones para dejarlo vean en la Eucaristía el mismo pacto cualquier peligro para hacer que el need look no further than him? And, if and sure guide through years of growth so, including nonbelievers. He wrote, entrar? Aun mirándonos nosotros sellado con la sangre de Jesús, que es Pan de Vida esté disponible.” we see ourselves as active Catholics, and budding dreams. “I would go to any length, suffer any mismos como personas religiosas, el origen y la fuerza de su matrimonio. Necesitamos un Año de la Eucaristía do we sometimes take the Eucharist You married couples, see in the inconvenience, run any risk to make the ¿algunas veces vemos más allá de A ustedes que tratan de comprender para que seamos transformados por for granted, as if Sunday Mass were Eucharist the very covenant sealed with bread of life available.” Jesús o alrededor de Jesús, olvidando el plan del Señor para sus vidas, sin el Señor, para que nuestros vecinos, just one more religious activity among the blood of Jesus, which is the origin We need a Year of the Eucharist so que no necesitamos ver más lejos que importar su edad, déjenle que Él nuestras ciudades y nuestros lugares many? and strength of your marriage. we will be so transformed by the Lord a Él mismo? Y si nos vemos como responda desde dentro, haciendo que de trabajo, puedan ser cambiados por If we live in a home strained by You who seek to understand the that our neighborhoods, our towns and católicos activos, ¿algunas veces la Eucaristía sea su inspiración y fuerza. su presencia permanente en nosotros tension, do we wonder where peace is Lord’s plan for you no matter your age, our workplaces will be changed by his tomamos la Eucaristía sin aprecio, Ustedes hombres y mujeres – por nuestra santidad. to be found? If we are lost and do not let him issue that call from within by abiding presence within us – by our como si la Misa en domingo solo fuera religiosas, permitan que su Esto es precisamente lo que el know where to turn, have we thought of making the Eucharist your inspiration holiness. una actividad religiosa más dentro de participación en la Misa diaria sea Señor hace en la Eucaristía. En turning to God but do not know how to and strength. This is precisely what the Lord does las muchas que hay? su inspiración en su apostolado y se el año que viene, que podamos do so? You religious women and men, allow in the Eucharist.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Saints Yesterday & Today
    Saints Yesterday & Today Spring 2012 Bro. Michael F. Meister, FSC 1: MY PERSPECTIVE ON TEACHING AS A BROTHER For me as a Brother, teaching is first and foremost a vocation, a calling, a mission. Only then is it a job, or a career, or a profession. As a Brother, I’m part of a more than 300-year tradition of education among the Brothers worldwide – a tradition in which students have such a special place that they literally represent the face of God for us! St. John Baptist De La Salle, the Founder of the Brothers, tells us Brothers that when we die and see God face to face, God will first ask us to give an account of our students, now whether we “converted” them, but how we taught and cared for them. Only afterward will he ask us to account for ourselves. This insight places our entire educational mission with students in a different light. What we do has eternal consequences. Education is not simply a matter of teaching and learning, but also a way of being. My philosophy of teaching goes something like this: I want you to succeed. I'll open for you as many doors to knowledge and ideas as I can, and then I'll get out of the way. You won't have to “climb over me” to get to the knowledge, and I won't make it impossible for you to succeed. On the other hand, you do have to go through those doors! Education is a life-long adventure. You have already had many teachers – hopefully, most of them have been good.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cristero War and Mexican Collective Memory
    History in the Making Volume 13 Article 5 January 2020 The Movement that Sinned Twice: The Cristero War and Mexican Collective Memory Consuelo S. Moreno CSUSB Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/history-in-the-making Part of the Latin American History Commons Recommended Citation Moreno, Consuelo S. (2020) "The Movement that Sinned Twice: The Cristero War and Mexican Collective Memory," History in the Making: Vol. 13 , Article 5. Available at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/history-in-the-making/vol13/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the History at CSUSB ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in History in the Making by an authorized editor of CSUSB ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Articles The Movement that Sinned Twice: The Cristero War and Mexican Collective Memory By Consuelo S. Moreno Abstract: Many scattered occurrences in Mexico bring to memory the 1926-1929 Cristero War, the contentious armed struggle between the revolutionary government and the Catholic Church. After the conflict ceased, the Cristeros and their legacy did not become part of Mexico’s national identity. This article explores the factors why this war became a distant memory rather than a part of Mexico’s history. Dissipation of Cristero groups and organizations, revolutionary social reforms in the 1930s, and the intricate relationship between the state and Church after 1929 promoted a silence surrounding this historical event. Decades later, a surge in Cristero literature led to the identification of notable Cristero figures in the 1990s and early 2000s.
    [Show full text]
  • Homily for the Beatification of Martyr Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero
    Homily for the Beatification of Martyr Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero Galdamez by Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints San Salvador, 23 May 2015 Dear brothers and sisters, The beatification of Archbishop Romero, Bishop and martyr, is a celebration of joy and brotherhood. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit for the Church and for the noble nation of El Salvador. Speaking of his office of Bishop, St. Augustine said “the Gospel terrifies me. No one has wished for a safe and peaceful existence more than I have. Nothing is sweeter to me than to enjoy the divine treasure. Having instead to preach, to admonish, to correct, to edify, to turn myself over, is a great weight, a serious responsibility. It is a difficult task”. Indeed, for Augustine, as bishop, his reason for living turns into a passion for his faithful and his priests. And he asks the Lord to give him the strength to love heroically either through martyrdom or through affection. These words and these feelings could well have been spoken with the same intensity and sincerity by Archbishop Romero, who loved his faithful and his priests with affection and martyrdom, giving life as an offering of reconciliation and peace. As much is stated in the apostolic letter of beatification by Pope Francis when he says “Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez, Bishop and martyr, pastor according to the heart of Christ, evangelizer and father of the poor, heroic witness of the Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Justice, of fraternity, of peace”. Today’s Bible readings give the meaning of Romero’s martyrdom.
    [Show full text]
  • Josemaría Escrivá
    Josemaría Escrivá and controversy, both within the Catholic Church and in the worldwide press.[8][9] Several independent jour- nalists who have investigated the history of Opus Dei, among them Vatican analyst John L. Allen, Jr., have argued that many of these accusations are unproven or have grown from allegations by enemies of Escrivá and his organization.[8][10][11][12] Cardinal Albino Luciani (later Pope John Paul I),[13] John Paul II, Benedict XVI, Francis, and many Catholic leaders have strongly en- dorsed Escrivá's teaching on the universal call to holiness, the role of laity, and sanctification of work.[14] Accord- ing to Allen, among Catholics Escrivá is “reviled by some and venerated by millions more”.[8] 1 Biography Coat of arms of Josemaría Escrivá 1.1 Early life Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer (9 January 1902 – 26 June 1975; also known as José María or Jose- José María Mariano Escrivá y Albás was born to José maría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás, born José María [1] Escrivá y Corzán and his wife, María de los Dolores Al- Mariano Escriba Albás ) was a Roman Catholic priest bás y Blanc on 9 January 1902, in the small town of from Spain who founded Opus Dei, an organization of Barbastro, in Huesca, Aragon, Spain, the second of six laypeople and priests dedicated to the teaching that every- children and the first of two sons. José Escrivá was a mer- one is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to chant and a partner in a textile firm which eventually went sanctity.
    [Show full text]
  • Colleagues Celebrate Career of Fr. Richard Mcbrien
    Colleagues celebrate career of Fr. Richard McBrien To the dismay of the right and pleasure of the rest, theologian Fr. Richard McBrien has popularized Vatican II theology more than any other person. After 45 years of his award-winning weekly column (2,364 in all) titled “Essays in Theology”; after 20 books, including Catholicism, originally a two-volume synthesis of Catholic theology; after serving as president of the Catholic Theological Society of America and after being the recipient of its highest honor, the John Courtney Murray Award; after countless papers and speeches; after all this and more, McBrien was honored April 27 at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, where he has taught for 30 years. “No Catholic theologian in the United States has made a larger contribution to the reception of Vatican II than Richard P. McBrien,” said Catholic theologian Fr. Charles E. Curran, Elizabeth Scurlock University Professor of Human Values at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and a longtime McBrien colleague and friend. “McBrien has made this contribution by carrying out to the nth degree his role as a Catholic theologian.” Curran was a featured speaker at the Notre Dame McBrien symposium, whose honorary chair is former university president Holy Cross Fr. Theodore Hesburgh. It was Hesburgh who in 1980 invited McBrien to come from Boston College to chair Notre Dame’s theology department. McBrien was chair for 11 years, until 1991. Curran is not alone in his effusive praise for McBrien and his contributions to theology. According to John Thiel, president of Catholic Theological Society of America and professor of religious studies at Fairfield University in Connecticut, “McBrien is the theologian who has done the most in the American church to teach the continuing heritage of the Second Vatican Council.
    [Show full text]
  • June 28, 2020
    13TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME JUNE 28, 2020 A Higher Love – Fr. Bosco Padamatummal – ook with me at a verse from today’s Gospel: “Whoever does not take up his cross L and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it” (Mt 10:38). Now, that is the heart of the That’s a very, very provocative, message. This is a text all about insightful statement. “All Israel is not commitment, and all about dedication, Israel.” In other words, all who are self-denial, self-sacrifice. It is about outwardly Jews as not inwardly Jews. genuine discipleship. All who are outwardly identified as the In Matthew’s Gospel alone, it is a people of God are not inwardly the constant teaching. For example, if you people of God. go back with me to chapter 5, verse 20, The first characteristic of a true the first message our Lord gave, He said disciple is that he is like his Lord. He this: bears the character of Christ. That’s why “For I say unto you, if your in Acts 11:26 they were called righteousness does not exceed the Christians. They were little christs. They righteousness of the scribes and belonged to Christ. They manifested His Pharisees, you shall in no case character. They bore the marks of His enter into the kingdom of heaven.” pattern of life. Chapter 7, verses 13-14 say: So, what does it mean to be genuine? “Enter through the narrow gate; for It means to manifest the character of the gate is wide and the road broad Christ.
    [Show full text]
  • 11-23 Blessed Miguel
    The Coronavirus has forced the temporary closure of churches in Nome in the interest of public safety. When closures are uniform among churches and businesses, this makes sense to stop the spread of the virus. However, in some parts of the country, there are severe restrictions on churches while declaring bars, tattoo parlors, and dens of iniquity essential businesses that may remain open. There are always forces at work to suppress freedom of religion. History teaches that efforts can be much more severe than anything we have heard about related to the virus. John wrote the Book of Revelation to strengthen the faith at a time when the church was under severe persecution. From the very beginning, the church has always honored martyrs who were willing to die for their faith. As in the past, the 20th Century was a particularly bloody century. Under the Mexican socialist revolution of 1917, “churches were destroyed, desecrated, confiscated, and turned into army barracks; religious items were profaned by soldiers drinking from chalices, chopping up statues for firewood, and using religious art for target practice.”i Teaching religion was prohibited. “Bishops, priests, and religious were rounded up for deportation or imprisonment, and those caught trying to elude capture were shot. The celebration of the sacraments was punishable by imprisonment or death, and the Church was driven underground.”ii Private homes were often confiscated if religious activities were suspected. A young Jesuit Priest, Miguel Pro, finished his studies in Belgium and asked his religious superiors to return to his home country of Mexico. Aware of the public prohibitions of practicing the faith, he did everything as secretively as possible.
    [Show full text]
  • Spring/Summer 2013 Society of Jesus
    MARYLAND • NEW ENGLAND • NEW YORK PROVINCES SPRING/SUMMER 2013 SOCIETY OF JESUS Fathers Provincial (from left): Myles Sheehan, SJ, James Shea, SJ, and David Ciancimino, SJ Dear Friends, As JESUITS magazine was going to press, like so many, we were happily surprised to learn of the election of our brother Jesuit, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, SJ, as Pope Francis. We are encouraged about his ministry to the Universal Church and pray for courage and wisdom as he anticipates this journey of faith. It is an extraordinary moment in the life of the Church. We echo the words of our Father General Adolfo Nicolás, who said, “…I give Collaboration at the thanks to God for the election of our new Pope… which opens for the Church a path full of hope. All of us Jesuits accompany with our prayers our brother and we Heart of Mission thank him for his generosity in accepting the responsibility of guiding the Church at this crucial time.” We are humbled and Signs of Pope Francis’s characteristic low-key charm were evident from the start. grateful that so many Soon after the white smoke appeared above Saint Peter’s Square, inciting the crowds – inspired as we have to cheer and chant, Pope Francis stepped out onto the balcony. Before blessing the thousands crowding the square, and the billions watching around the world, Pope been by the vocation Francis bowed, and in reverent silence, received the people’s benediction. It was a of Ignatius and the gesture of humility and friendship, and a reminder to all of us that it is good to first listen to God.
    [Show full text]
  • Are Catholics Ready?
    ARE CATHOLICS READY? An Exploration of the Views of "Emerging Catholics" on Women in Ministry by Maureen Fiedler and Dolly Pomerleau ARE CATHOLICS READY? An Exploration of the Mews of "Emerging Catholics" on Women in Ministry by Maureen Fiedler and Dolly Pomerleau with the assistance of Georgia Whippo Fuller and William R. Callahan, S J Photographs by Richard Rashke, Mark Peterschmidt, and Georgia Whippo Fuller Priests For Equality Quixote Center 3311 Chauncey PL, 301 3311 Chauncey PL, 301 Mt. Rainier, MD 20822 Mt. Rainier, MD 20822 Copyright © 1978 by Quixote Center, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photo copying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 78-71168 Published by Quixote Center, Inc. 3311 Chauncey Place, #301 Mt. Rainier, MD 20822 Printed and bound in the United States of America Cover photograph by Richard Rashke iii Acknowledgements We are grateful for the many people who have entered our lives and shared freely their gifts, talents, and time to make this project a reality. We celebrate first of all the insights and encouragement of William R. Callahan, SJ, National Secretary of Priests for Equality, who sparked initial interest in the problem for investigation, and assisted our efforts for two years. He worked with us to develop the research design, helped with fund- raising, encouraged us in the months when research and writing moved slowly, and offered suggestions for the final manuscript.
    [Show full text]
  • The Catholic University As Promise and Project Reflections in a Jesuit Idiom
    The Catholic University as Promise and Project Reflections in a Jesuit Idiom Content made available by Georgetown University Press and Digital Georgetown Content made available by Georgetown University Press and Digital Georgetown The Catholic University as Promise and Project Reflections in a Jesuit Idiom MICHAEL J. BUCKLEY, S.J. GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY PRESS/WASHINGTON, DC. Content made available by Georgetown University Press and Digital Georgetown Georgetown University Library OCT i 4 2008 Georgetown University Press, Washington, D.C. 20007 © 1998 by Georgetown University Press. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. 10 98765432 1998 THIS VOLUME IS PRINTED ON ACID-FREE OFFSET BOOKPAPER. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Buckley, Michael J. The Catholic University as promise and project: reflections in a Jesuit idiom / Michael J. Buckley, p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Catholic universities and colleges—United States. 2. Jesuits— Education (Higher)—United States. I. Title. LC501.B627 1998 378'.0712'73—DC21 ISBN 0-87840-711-1 (cloth) ISBN 0-87840-710-3 (pbk.) 98-16019 Content made available by Georgetown University Press and Digital Georgetown To the Community of Holy Cross and the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame in gratitudey admiration, and friendship Content made available by Georgetown University Press and Digital Georgetown Content made available by Georgetown University Press and Digital Georgetown And what you thought you came for Is only a shell, a husk of meaning From which the purpose breaks only when it is fulfilled If at all. Either you had no purpose Or the purpose is beyond the end you figured And is altered in fulfilment —T.
    [Show full text]
  • Little Sisters of the Poor
    WITNESS TO FREEDOM LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR USCCB Fact Sheet “We simply cannot choose between our care for the elderly poor and our faith.” ((CNS Photo/Courtesy of the Little Sisters of the Poor) When a blind, paralyzed, elderly widow needed a place Unfortunately, a recent mandate from the U.S. Department of to live, Jeanne Jugan gave up her own bed so that the Health and Human Services (HHS) would force the Little woman could have a comfortable place to sleep during Sisters to arrange for coverage of abortion-inducing drugs, her last years on earth. contraceptives, and sterilization in their employee health plans. If the Little Sisters do not arrange for coverage of What began as a small community of a few single these “services,” then they face massive fines from the fed- women taking in poor strangers in rural France in the eral government, totaling approximately $70 million per early 1800s became an order now known as the Little year. Sisters of the Poor. The Little Sisters were forced to sue the federal government The Little Sisters carry on the work of their founder, in order to stave off these potentially crushing fines on their who was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. The ministry. Their case has recently been heard before the U.S. Little Sisters’ mission is “to offer the neediest elderly of Supreme Court, which will decide whether to vindicate the every race and religion a home where they will be wel- Little Sisters’ rights to free exercise of religion under federal comed as Christ, cared for as family and accompanied law.
    [Show full text]
  • The Ignatian Possibility Today
    The Ignatian possibility today In the early 1990s, I was given lunch at the Roman headquarters of the Society of Jesus by two very – no, make that extremely – high-ranking Jesuits. The table-talk turned to a fascinating question: Are there permanent religious charisms in the church? Most religious congregations die within a century of their founding; our Lord might delay his return for tens of thousands of years, so that we are the “early Church.” Given that fact and that possibility, could we, today, judge that there are permanent religious charisms in the church, gifts of the Holy Spirit that will endure institutionally in religious orders? My interlocutors quickly agreed that the Benedictine charism was enduring; that something like the Franciscan charism was certainly a permanent feature of Catholic life; and that there might be something enduring about the Dominican charism (a considerable concession for Jesuits!). What surprised me was that neither of my hosts argued that the Ignatian charism could, today, be judged an enduring one – “we’ll see,” was the gist of their discussion of the permanence of their own community’s distinctive spiritual character. This not only surprised me; it saddened me. Because I thought then, as I think now, that the New Evangelization proclaimed by John Paul II very much needs the distinctive combination of spiritual élan, intellectual heft, missionary zeal, self- sacrificing obedience to the pope, and evangelical joie de combat that is the unique charism of the Society of Jesus. That 15-year-old discussion on the Borgo Santo Spirito was in the back of my mind when I wrote recently in this space about challenges facing the Society of Jesus and its new General, Father Adolfo Nicolas; that concern for the vitality of the Jesuit future framed my questions to the new Jesuit leader.
    [Show full text]