Note from the Assistant Editor:
"If the concerns of contemporary man are centered almost exclusively on the economy, technology, and the immediacy of material happiness that has been wrongly sentimentalized, God becomes distant and the last things and eternity have unnecessarily become a sort of psychological burden...." In such a situation, "the Church has only one option left." See "You follow me" by Cardinal Robert Sarah.
Anthony Esolen writes about two men who stood up against the Nazi regime: Engelbert Dollfuss, Catholic Chancellor of Austria, and Dietrich von Hildebrand. "Once, when von Hildebrand was visiting his old friend Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII, he asked why Catholic prelates in Germany did not all stand up bravely against the stupidities of Nazism. Pacelli shook his head sadly. Martyrdom could not be commanded from Rome, he said. Martyrdom had to come from within." Dollfuss had this inner fire. See "Whom You Must Resist, Firm in the Faith."
It is easy to succumb to acedia, "The Noonday Devil," especially when troubles beset us.
David Warren assserts that instead of designating "Safe Spaces" within university campuses we should be designating specific "Unsafe Spaces" where challenging and difficult, even eccentric ideas might be espoused and debated." See "Unsafe Spaces."
Then we have an interview with Archbishop Charles Chaput, who speaks on a post-Christian society, understanding the past, finding hope in our world, politics, marriage, the Benedict Option, protecting the innocence of children, disagreeing about the Pope, and living the Beatitudes. "The world is in us, so we need to deal with it," he says. "We need to be more radically faithful to the uncomfortable parts of our faith and teaching, not less." Read the full interview here.
A final word from Fr. George Rutler, who contrasts the call to virtue from men like Pope Benedict XVI with the assent to mediocrity by some others. Read "Barbarian Hopes." - Meaghen Hale |
Web version of this CERC Weekly Update here
Previous CERC Weekly Update here
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"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." -George Orwell
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New Resources
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"You follow me" - Cardinal Robert Sarah - God or Nothing, A Conversation on Faith
Well, then, in such a complex era, where is the best path for the Church?
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The Noonday Devil: Acedia - Father Peter John Cameron, O.P. - Magnificat
One of the most helpful books I have read recently is Benedictine Abbot Jean-Charles Nault's superb The Noonday Devil: Acedia, the Unnamed Evil of Our Times.
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Unsafe Spaces - David Warren - The Catholic Thing
We should be designating specific Unsafe Spaces within university campuses.
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Forgiving Ourselves - Father Jacques Philippe - from Real Mercy: Mary, Forgiveness and Trust
"I think God forgave me, but I don't seem to be able to forgive myself."
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Barbarian Hopes - Father George W. Rutler - From the Pastor
The film Cabaret is better known these days than the novel The Berlin Stories on which its screenplay is based.
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13th Sunday in OT - Father John Horgan - CERC
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.
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Editorials of Interest:
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Editorials of Interest
The Magisterium: A Cheat Sheet - OnePeter5
The most surprising thing is that the Church doesn't have a single repository of knowledge about its own teaching office.
Rousseau, Sanders, and the Religious Test - First Things
Sanders recognizes that "there is no justice when so few have so much and so many have so little," but appears not to understand that there is no justice where religious liberty lacks protection.
Conflicts, campuses, and the return to Catholic commitments - Catholic World Report
Theology (and philosophy) must become once more the "queen of the sciences" reigning not for her own glory but in service of all the other disciplines, allowing for "all knowledge to form one whole," in Newman's idea of a university.
Does Teaching Religion "Brainwash" Kids? - Word on Fire
If you had a child and decided not to teach them how to speak (so that they could choose a language on their own as adults) you would be an awful parent.
Mis-Educating the Young - NY Times
Childhood is more structured than it has ever been. But then the great engine of the meritocracy spits people out into a young adulthood that is less structured than it has ever been.
Not the man of my dreams - Ignitum Today
It's amazing how your life can change when you start thinking about how to give of yourself rather than how someone can help you.
Memory: Human and Divine - The Catholic Thing
The reduction of memory to recall trivializes one of our greatest powers — and threatens our appreciation of the Eucharist.
Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman and St. Justin Martyr, pray for us |
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