From OT Prophecy to Gospel of Christ to Catholic Social Justice

The Christian tradition of caring for those in the community who are voiceless or in need has a proud heritage: straight from the pages of the Bible.

"You shall not oppress a resident alien...any widow or orphan. If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely listen to their cry." (Ex 22:21-22)

Interior: St. Ann's Avon

So when I heard that "St. Ann's Cares"--a group of St. Ann's parishioners in Avon, CT that often includes students and grads of the Biblical School--were helping out a Hartford school in need, I was not one bit surprised.

Maria Zone, Director of the Archdiocesan Office of Communications, writes this:

When “St. Ann’s Cares,” a branch of the Social Justice Committee of St. Ann Church in Avon, heard that St. Augustine School in Hartford needed help, they sprang into action. On Saturday, May 7, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., they spent the entire day at the school making much needed improvements to the physical plant.

Dozens of skilled and unskilled volunteers from “St. Ann’s Cares” painted classrooms, a basement floor, a wall in the gymnasium, and made improvements to a playground.

Dr. Paula deSilva, a Biblical School student and member of “St. Ann’s Cares,” says

Words Made Flesh: Mercy Flows From the Wound in His Heart

"'Doubting Thomas' is a term often used to describe someone who refuses to believe something without direct, personal evidence; a skeptic.

"It refers, of course, to Thomas, one of the Twelve Apostles, whose name occurs in all the Gospel lists of the apostles....

"When Jesus announced his intention of returning to Judea to visit Lazarus, Thomas said to his fellow disciples: 'Let us also go, that we may die with him' (John 11:16). It was Thomas who, during the great discourse after the Last Supper, raised an objection: 'Lord, we do not know where you are going; and how can we know the way?' (John 14:5).

"Little else is recorded of Thomas the Apostle in the New Testament; nevertheless, thanks to John's Gospel text for today (John 20:19-31), his personality is clearer to us than that of some others of the Twelve.

"...That Easter evening when the Lord appeared to the disciples, Thomas was not present. When he was told that Jesus was alive and had shown himself, Thomas stated: 'Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe' (John 20:25).

"Eight days later, Thomas made his act of faith, drawing down the rebuke of Jesus -- 'Because you have seen me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.'

"The real Thomas

"Thomas the Apostle is one of the ... most honest of the lovers of Jesus, not the eternal skeptic, nor the bullish, stubborn personality that Christian tradition has often painted. This young apostle stood before the cross, not comprehending the horrors of what had happened. All his dreams and hopes were hanging on that cross.

"Thomas rediscovered his faith amidst the believing community of apostles and disciples. This point must never be forgotten, especially in an age when so many claim that faith and spirituality are attainable without the experience of the ecclesial community. We do not believe as isolated individuals....
 

"Let us not forget the Catechism of the Catholic Church: 'Faith is ... not an isolated act. No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone. You have not given yourself faith as you have not given yourself life. The believer has received faith from others and should hand it on to others.

"'Our love for Jesus and for our neighbor impels us to speak to others about our faith. Each believer is thus a link in the great chain of believers. I cannot believe without being carried by the faith of others, and by my faith I help support others in the faith' (CCC No. 166)."

Reprinted from "A Wave of Mercy Flows From the Wound in His Heart," Biblical Reflection for Divine Mercy Sunday, by Father Thomas Rosica, CSB, President of Canada's Salt and Light Television. To access all Fr. Rosica's reflections in Zenit on this past week's Sunday readings and on the Beatification of Pope John Paul II, click here.

Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB is CEO of the Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation and Television Network in Canada. He is a consultor to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and writes a weekly commentary on the Sunday readings for Zenit.

*ZENIT is a non-profit international news agency comprising a team of professionals and volunteers who are convinced of the extraordinary richness of the Catholic Church's message, particularly its social doctrine. The ZENIT team sees this message as a light for understanding today's world.

ZENIT's objective is to inform about the "world seen from Rome," with professionalism and faithfulness to the truth. They aim to view the modern world through the messages of the Pope and the Holy See; tell about the happenings of the Church; and inform about the topics, debates and events that are especially interesting to Christians worldwide. ZENIT carries out this service independently, with the help of world-wide donors. Click here to find out more or to help ZENIT in its fundraising campaign.

Pew Research: Are Catholics Leaving the Church for the Bible?

So it would seem. The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey put out recently by the Pew Research Center reveals that large numbers* of Catholics are leaving the Church, often in order to join Protestant Evangelical traditions who place strong emphasis on knowing and living the Bible.

And one of the main reasons these former Catholics give for leaving the Catholic Church is that they don't feel their parish offers them a meaningful encounter with Sacred Scripture.

Here's what Thomas Reese reports in the National Catholic Reporter: "Ex-Catholics are not flocking to the evangelicals because they think the Catholic church is politically too liberal. They are leaving to get spiritual nourishment from worship services and the Bible."

Reese points out that "Thanks to Pope Pius XII, Catholic scripture scholars have had decades to produce the best thinking on scripture in the world. That Catholics are leaving to join evangelical churches because of the church teaching on the Bible is a disgrace."

Now, that last statement seems to "stretch" the research a bit. It doesn't seem to be church teaching on the Bible that is given as the reason for leaving. Rather, it seems that typical Catholic spiritual and liturgical practices around the Bible may be problematic and need to be "beefed up" in many parishes.

Reese redeems himself, though, when he goes on to affirm precisely what Vatican II and the world-wide bishops have been saying for nearly fifty years--and what Pope Benedict XVI insists in his recent exhortation, Verbum Domini.

"The church needs a massive Bible education program," writes Reese. "If we could get Catholics to read the Sunday scripture readings each week before they come to Mass, it would be revolutionary."

The numbers suggest that the pope, the bishops, and Mr. Reese are right on target. The mission of the Hartford Catholic Biblical School is to provide exactly the kind of serious, meaningful encounter with Scripture that adult Christians need and crave.

*According to the Pew Research Center, one out of three people who were raised Catholic no longer identifies as Catholic.

Osama Bin Laden Killed on Divine Mercy Sunday?

The killing of Osama bin Laden on Divine Mercy Sunday, yesterday, reminds me of something my friend, Patricia Leonard Pasley, recently told me. Patricia is a New Testament scholar, the mother of five and is studying for the Episcopalian priesthood.

Some of her 16-year-old daughter's friends were having dinner at their house, including young believers of many faiths--Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist. Naturally (if you knew Tricia, you'd know it would be "naturally"), they started discussing their faith traditions.

When the conversation came around to heaven and hell, one young Jew spoke up. He said that he believes Hitler went to heaven. "How can we limit God's love and mercy?" the young man insisted. "But as soon as Hitler saw all that was going on in heaven, he wanted nothing to do with it. So he left."

Let's leave Osama bin Laden to God and concentrate on finding ways to pursue justice without hatred and violence. Only then can bin Laden's legacy be erased from the earth.

by Barbara Jean Daly Horell

 

Link: Vatican Says Don't Celebrate Death of Bin Laden