May 12, 2024

As Pentecost Sunday and the end of another academic year fast approach, Easter Vigil memories remain vivid and Spring Retreat (most thoughtfully arranged by Fr. Bob and lovingly led by Fr. Xavier and Sr. Gloria) reflections shared by undergraduates, graduate students, post-docs, and year-rounders continue to reverberate. It is such an immense joy and blessing to witness in deep gratitude and profound hope the dynamic movement of the Spirit within and around us.  

~Oriana Li Halevy, on behalf of the Intra-Community Council’s 2023-24 RCIA and CATH-Links team

If you are interested in submitting reflections, meditations, articles, book reviews, etc., see Submit Resources for Publication for submission guidelines. We look forward to your participation!

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RECENT NEWS

Cardinal Gregory sees ‘Dignitas infinita’ as balanced, challenging document [vaticannews.va] The Vatican’s new Declaration on Human dignity, Dignitas Infinita (DI) [vatican.va],  is “probably the most comprehensive summary” of Church teaching on the topic “that could be issued at this time . . . if you take the document as a whole . . . it’s not a document about one specific issue beyond the fact that it treats human individuals, human people, as dignified in a way that is irreplaceable, that we never lose the dignity that God entrusts to us as He creates us.” The Cardinal further notes that DI is “humble in its context, but also very, very deeply rooted in Catholic moral and anthropological teachings.” 

Eucharist, unity, clarity: What attracts converts to the Catholic Church? [catholicnewsagency.com] This past Easter appears to have been a bountiful harvest for the Church with certain dioceses reporting 30%, 40%, 50%, and even more than 70% increases in the number of converts  . . . Non-Catholic students join the program because Catholic students invite them . . . along the lines of Jesus’ words in John 1:39: ‘Come and see’ . . . It’s all through our students. They’re the ones bringing them to Mass, doing the evangelization, bringing them in the door.” What drew the new converts to faith? “Some cite the Eucharist, others the teaching authority of the Church, the papacy, unity, clarity, liturgy, community, the communion of saints, and strength to live a better life.”

Priest prepares for ‘crazy’ 1,500-mile Eucharistic pilgrimage [catholicnewsagency.com] Fr. Roger Landry (Harvard, ’92), the Catholic chaplain at Columbia University, is currently the only priest committed to walking the entirety of one of the four routes of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage [catholicnewsagency.com], “the biggest Eucharistic Pilgrimage in the history of the Church . . . Coming off of a seven-year stint working with the Holy See at the United Nations and now ministering to college students . . . Landry’s unwavering faith in the Eucharist as the real presence of Jesus drives his commitment to this pilgrimage, viewing it as a powerful expression of love and devotion to Christ, who ‘walked with people’ during his earthly life. ‘We [as pilgrims] hope to be able to draw a lot of attention to this dynamic aspect of our Catholic, Eucharistic faith.’” 

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

‘Harvard Thinking’: Forgiving what you can’t forget. Wronged and can’t move on? [news.harvard.edu] In this podcast, Tyler VanderWeele, professor of Epidemiology at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and the director of the Human Flourishing Program; Matthew Ichihashi Potts, the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and the Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church; and Laura Thompson, clinical and consulting psychologist discuss why and how to heal.

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ARTICLES OF INTEREST

The Defrocking of Father AI [firstthings.com] by Leah Libresco Sargeant (Yale, ’11). “Father Justin,” the AI-powered chatbot recently launched by Catholic Answers, was defrocked within two days of his public debut. “The struggles of much bigger tech companies to make their AI corrigible suggest Catholic Answers won’t have a reliably orthodox chatbot any time soon . . . A chatbot cannot be reliably trained to speak the truth. More importantly, a chatbot demeans the seeker by feigning a personal connection. Someone approaching the Church is always asking a double question—what does the Church say about this topic and does Jesus love me? The second question is usually asked and answered implicitly. It can’t be built into a prompt—it requires the personal witness and presence of another human being.”  

Missional AI: Several Key Takeaways [aiandfaith.org] by Marcus Schwarting (UChicago, ’25). Missional AI (MAI), an annual conference held at Wycliffe World Headquarters in Orlando, Florida, is “a space for Christian scholars, pastors, entrepreneurs, and developers to consider how to apply artificial intelligence and machine learning to further the kingdom of God . . . The 2024 MAI conference was a time to connect with like-minded Christian innovators and developers to see where and how AI should be used to serve God.” 

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MOVIE OF INTEREST

Angel Studios Presents SIGHT [angel.com] Coming to theaters May 24, 2024! The film is based on the inspiring true story of Dr. Ming Wang, MD, PhD [youtube.com], a Chinese immigrant who defies all odds to become a world-renowned eye surgeon (and embraced Christianity in the process). Drawing upon the grit and determination he gained from a turbulent uprising in his upbringing, Dr. Wang sets out to restore the sight of a blind orphan. SIGHT received the 50th International Christian Visual Media “Best Picture Award.”

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BOOK OF INTEREST

In the Courts of Three Popes: An American Lawyer and Diplomat in the Last Absolute Monarchy of the West [amazon.com] by Mary Ann Glendon, the Learned Hand Professor of Law (emerita) at Harvard University and a former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See.

Professor Glendon “recounts her experiences in the Vatican across the past three pontificates, as a diplomat, adviser, and consultant. She writes, with intelligence and grace, from the perspective of an American Catholic laywoman in a “culture dominated by clergy” and as a “citizen of a constitutional republic” in a “court.” A quotation from the English theologian Ronald Knox serves as a well-chosen epigraph for one of her chapters: “He who travels in the Barque of Peter had better not look too closely into the engine room.” Glendon has braved the engine room, and she is clear-eyed about the crises facing the church from within (abuse and corruption) and without (huge cultural shifts). But she cautions readers against cynicism: “A few ordinary people willing to live in truth and to call good and evil by name can help to shift probabilities in a better direction.”~Katherine Howell, National Review

April 1, 2024

Blessed Eastertide! Thank you to all who bore witness to this year’s candidates (10) and the Elect (8) being fully initiated into the Church on Easter Vigil - may we continue to help them sustain their faith and integrate meaningfully into the life of our beloved community. In celebration of Earth Day this month, we feature a few links on the topic of ecological care as a Catholic responsibility that is rooted in the scriptural and theological vision of human flourishing - may we heed the collective call to take action.

—Oriana Li Halevy
on behalf of the Intra-Community Council’s CATH-Links and RCIA teams

If you are interested in submitting reflections, meditations, articles, book reviews, etc., see Submit Resources for Publication for submission guidelines. We look forward to your participation!

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THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION

Easter, Creation, and Holiness [firstthings.com] “What came first: creation, or God’s covenants with the People of Israel and the New Israel, the Church? The question may seem odd, even silly. Chronologically, it’s obvious that the divine act of creation preceded the divine acts of covenant-making: no creation, no “People” with whom God could enter a covenant relationship. But our sense of time is not God’s. For as St. Thomas Aquinas taught, all that we know as “time” is an eternal present to God . . . The Redemption wrought in Christ is not, therefore, some sort of addendum to creation. The paschal mystery of Christ’s passion, death, resurrection, and ascension is the axial point of the entire drama of creation: the decisive, definitive turning point that reveals why there is “creation” at all. Thus, the answer that Christian faith, which is Easter faith, gives to a question philosophy has pondered for millennia—Why is there something rather than nothing?—is, in a word, holiness. The Thrice-Holy God created so that the holiness shared among Father, Son, and Holy Spirit might be shared ad extra: in a world brought into being to experience the eternal giving-and-receiving of love that is God’s inner-trinitarian life . . . Easter faith—the faith that the Incarnate Word overcame death and was raised to a new and superabundant form of life—confesses we live in a cosmos that is purposeful because it is Christocentric: ‘In him all things were created . . . and in him all things hold together’ (Col. 1:16–17). Easter faith summons us to think of ourselves as creatures capable of eternal life, for that is what Christ promised to those who embrace his cause (John 3:15, 17:3). And in friendship with him, the Risen One, we can experience that life, that holiness, here and now.”

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NEW BOOK RELEASE

Life: My Story Through History [amazon.com] Pope Francis has unveiled a new memoir, Life: My Story Through History, which offers a unique perspective on his faith journey intertwined with global events. The book, translated from the original Italian by Aubrey Botsford, explores the Pope’s memories and observations spanning over eight decades, delving into significant moments that have shaped the world. From the Holocaust to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the moon landing, the 1986 World Cup, the 9/11 attacks, and the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis reflects on these events and their profound impact on humanity. In the book, the Pope addresses major crises today, including war, climate change, racial discrimination, and various social and cultural issues. Amidst these weighty topics, he shares candid and heartfelt stories highlighting his humanity.” --Kiefer Jones, Books & Review

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CARING FOR OUR COMMON HOME

The Pope, the Environmental Crisis, and Frontline Leaders | The Letter: Laudato Si Film [youtube.com] Released in 2020 on the Feast of St. Francis, the film was inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si [vatican.va], a letter written to every person on the planet. The film features five people representing groups most affected by the climate crisis who travel from different countries to meet with Pope Francis in the Vatican and share their powerfully moving stories. “The theology in Laudato Si’ is in dialogue with science. Today, you could never practice theology without a dialogue with science. More than that, God gave us the capacity for investigation, the intellectual capacity to look for truths. Obviously, the biblical story of creation is a mythical form of expression to explain our history . . . You know those biblical images are historical with mythical meaning, that is, to help us understand values. ” ~Pope Francis

Caring for creation and caring for the poor have long been part of the Catholic story, but in recent years Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and especially Pope Francis have added a sense of urgency to their call for Catholics to act on climate change. The Catholic Climate Covenant theme for 2024 Earth Day is Healing Our Throwaway Culture: A Focus on Plastics. This 5-minute video shows how plastic production, consumption, and disposal are impacting our own health and the health of our planet: Healing Our Throwaway Culture: A Focus on Plastics [youtube.com]. Learn what you and our parish can do to reduce our consumption of plastic: Commitments Handout [catholicclimatecovenant.org].

COP28: US Bishops call for socially sustainable decarbonization [vaticannews.va] “U.S. bishops have joined worldwide calls urging the over 90,000 leaders and participants in the COP28 in Dubai to commit to a decisive acceleration of the transition from fossil to clean energy to contain the devastating impact of climate change, and to supporting the most vulnerable in the process . . . The statement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) referred to Pope Francis’ recent Apostolic Exhortation ‘Laudate Deum’ (Praise God) in which the Pope urged world leaders to act on climate change as the planet nears the ‘point of no return.’”

Chicago Archdiocese to power parishes, schools with 100% renewable energy [ncronline.org] The power of the wind will soon fully power the Catholic Church in the Windy City. The Chicago Archdiocese announced on December 17 that beginning in January its nearly 400 parishes, schools, cemeteries, and offices will switch to 100% renewable energy sources for its electricity needs.

March 7, 2024

March 7 marks the 750th anniversary of the death of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and patron saint of universities and scholars who was drawn to the Dominican Order in great part because he prized commitment to studying and teaching. His magnificent Summa Theologiae was written to equip students with reasoning skills that aid theological reflection, formulation, and analysis. To say that his systematic and contextual theology catalyzed my exploration of the Catholic intellectual tradition is an understatement. As we emphasize in RCIA classes, the Catholic tradition encourages the search for Truth through engagement with the complementarity of faith and reason, Scripture and tradition, nature and grace, the past and the present. St. Thomas passionately loved the Lord - may we learn more about how he communicated his love through this month’s featured book, Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual Master.

—Oriana Li Halevy
on behalf of the Intra-Community Council’s CATH-Links and RCIA teams

If you are interested in submitting reflections, meditations, articles, book reviews, etc., see Submit Resources for Publication for submission guidelines. We look forward to your participation!

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THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION

Cardinal Cantalamessa gives second Lenten sermon [vaticannews.va] “The Preacher of the Papal Household delivers his second sermon for Lent 2024 to Roman Curia, reflecting on Jesus as the light of the world… The first meaning, he said, is ‘that Jesus is the light of the world,’ as ‘He is the supreme and definitive revelation of God to humanity.’ The second meaning, he noted, is that Jesus ‘is the light of the world,’ in that ‘He sheds light on the world,’ that is, ‘He reveals the world to itself; He shows everything in His truth, for what it is before God.’”

Stations of the Cross - Divine Revelation | Scripture | Life-Size Stations | 'Were You There' [youtube.com] Join Francesca LaRosa “for a heartfelt journey through the Stations of the Cross, featuring thoughtfully rewritten prayers, carefully chosen excerpts from Scripture to highlight Divine Revelation, new Station-related verses of 'Were You There', and beautifully captured video at the Shrine of Christ's Passion in St. John, Indiana. In this video, we've woven together Scripture, music, and prayers, offering a fresh perspective on this timeless tradition.” Music by Francesca LaRosa [francescalarosa.com]

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Subvert the Culture Through Love [youtube.com] by Professor Arthur C. Brooks who holds joint appointments at Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School. The author of 13 books and a columnist at The Atlantic, he speaks to audiences around the world about human happiness and works to raise well-being within private companies, universities, public agencies, and community organizations. His many accolades include the 2020 John Paul II New Evangelization Award. In this talk, he outlines practical ways to make our faith public, normal, and magnetic. The event was co-presented by the Harvard Catholic Forum and Harvard Law School’s Program on Biblical Law & Christian Legal Studies; co-sponsored by the Abigail Adams Institute, the Harvard Christian Alumni Society, and the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard; and made possible through the support of grant #62372 from the John Templeton Foundation, “In Lumine: Promoting the Catholic Intellectual Tradition on Campuses Nationwide.”

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CARING FOR OUR COMMON HOME

More Than a Sequel: Pope Francis takes on our ‘homicidal pragmatism’ [commonwealmagazine.org] Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum arrived in October 2023, about eight years after the publication of his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’ and in the final quarter of the planet’s warmest year on record. The pope concedes that our responses have not been adequate; that the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point; and that the clean-energy transition is not progressing at the necessary speed. The crisis, as Pope Francis sees it today, is of a different character than it was in 2015 and requires an even more urgent response.

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SYNOD NEWS

Vatican announces synod assembly dates; formation of study groups [usccb.org] The second assembly of the Synod of Bishops on synodality will meet Oct. 2-27, preceded by a retreat for members on Sept. 30-Oct. 1. In response to a formal call by members of the first assembly of the synod, Pope Francis established study groups that will initiate, with a synodal method, the in-depth study of some of the themes that emerged.

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BOOK OF INTEREST

Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual Master [amazon.com] Winner of the Catholic Book Award for Spirituality. Thomas Aquinas is widely considered the greatest and most influential of Catholic theologians. Yet too often his insights into the nature of God and the meaning of life are seen as somehow cold, impersonal, and divorced from spirituality. In this award-winning book, Bishop Robert Barron shows how Aquinas’ profound understanding of the Christian mystical life animates and helps explain his writings on Jesus Christ, creation, God’s “strange” nature, and the human call to ecstasy. “When one interprets Thomas merely as a rationalist philosopher or theologian, one misses the burning heart of everything he wrote. Aquinas was a saint deeply in love with Jesus Christ, and the image of Christ pervades the entire edifice that is his philosophical, theological, and scriptural work. Above all, Thomas Aquinas was a consummate spiritual master, holding up the icon of the Word made flesh and inviting others into its transformative power.”
—Word on Fire [wordonfire.org]

“What makes this book unique, however, is the way in which Barron shows us how Thomas was not a philosopher only, but a spiritual master, and how these do not exist in spite of each other, but because of each other. We tend to see philosophy as a fairly abstract exercise, disconnected from the concrete and spiritual realities of life. The genius of Barron is in how he proves this false. The philosophy of St Thomas has direct implications for our spiritual lives.”
—Christian Bergmann [melbournecatholic.org]

February 11, 2024

Thank you to all who were able to celebrate with us in person or in spirit at the Rite of Acceptance/Signation on January 28! It was an immense joy to present from our current RCIA cohort eight catechumens seeking Baptism and nine candidates seeking Confirmation. Heartfelt gratitude to the sponsors and stand-in proxies who took part in this beautifully welcoming rite that is a preparation for the Easter Vigil sacraments. As the “Welcome Home” Lenten season fast approaches, let’s more intentionally lean into the Gospel reflections on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as we seek to follow Christ's will more faithfully with an inner conversion of the heart.

—Oriana Li Halevy
on behalf of the Intra-Community Council’s CATH-Links team

If you are interested in submitting reflections, meditations, articles, book reviews, etc., see Submit Resources for Publication for submission guidelines. We look forward to your participation!

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Artificial Intelligence and the Wisdom of the Heart: Towards a Fully Human Communication [vatican.va] Pope Francis prefaces his message for the 58th World Day of Social Communications: “The development of systems of artificial intelligence, to which I devoted my recent Message for the World Day of Peace, is radically affecting the world of information and communication, and through it, certain foundations of life in society. These changes affect everyone, not merely professionals in those fields. The rapid spread of astonishing innovations, whose workings and potential are beyond the ability of most of us to understand and appreciate, has proven both exciting and disorienting. This leads inevitably to deeper questions about the nature of human beings, our distinctiveness and the future of the species homo sapiens in the age of artificial intelligence. How can we remain fully human and guide this cultural transformation to serve a good purpose?”

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RECENT NEWS

Remembering Nicholas Rescher, a Gentle Giant [firstthings.com] by John Haldane, Professor Emeritus of Moral Philosophy at the University of St. Andrews. “Nicholas Rescher, who died on January 5 at age ninety-five, was the most extensively published philosopher of the last century, with a hundred books and four hundred articles to his name … He received countless prizes and honorary degrees, yet I appreciated him especially for his example as a Christian philosopher. Working within the environment of scientific and pragmatist naturalism, Rescher was nonetheless drawn in mid-life to Roman Catholicism, entering the Church at the age of fifty-three … ‘I had to decide upon my spiritual kindred in life … and I felt drawn toward those who saw humanity as subject to transcendent aspirations and obligations—and for whom forms of worship and religious styles of thought really mattered.’”

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THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION

Three Habits to Get the Most out of Lent [youtube.com] Bishop Robert Barron distills the essence of Lenten practices into three areas of concrete action. On prayer: John of Damascus described prayer in terms of raising the mind and the heart to God. We can up our game in cultivating a relationship with God by praying more intensely. On fasting: “Catholics are not Puritans and fasting has nothing to do with anti-materialist gnosticism.” However, some insistent desires within us “have to be disciplined so that the deeper hungers of the heart and the soul can emerge.” Consider fasting from social media screen time, for example. On almsgiving: Giving alms entails concrete ways to express love, the greatest of the theological virtues. Will the good of the other by helping our neighbors through any form of corporal or spiritual works of mercy.

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EVENT OF INTEREST

Sarum Vespers and Benediction at Princeton University [scalafoundation.org] A solemn choral Vespers according to the medieval Use of Sarum will be held on March 1st in the beautiful neo-gothic chapel of Princeton University. “The Use of Sarum is a form of the Roman Rite, sung in Latin, that goes back to pre-Reformation England and which is rooted in the ancient worship of Salisbury Cathedral. Sarum is an archaic name for the city of Salisbury.” The service is organized by Peter Carter of the Catholic Sacred Music Project, who serves as the choir director for the Aquinas Institute of Princeton University which is hosting the event. The event, co-sponsored by the Scala Foundation, Durandus Institute, and Benedict XVI Institute, will not be live-streamed but it will be recorded. The recording will be made available.

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UPCOMING CINEMATIC RELEASE

The First Must See Film of 2024: Cabrini [patheos.com] Review by Lori Twichell: “When I went to see Cabrini (Angel Studios) a few weeks ago, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was intrigued with what I had seen in the trailers, but I still didn’t know if the story would grab me or if the quality of the filmmaking would be up to par. But after the movie ended and the credits rolled, something amazing happened. The entire audience sat unmoving and completely still, watching each and every credit. You might think that was a little like watching the end of a Marvel film but let me assure you, it was not. In Marvel movies, the audiences still get buzzy. They whisper and talk about what they just saw while waiting for the various mid/post credit scenes that they have come to expect. With Cabrini, you could hear the popcorn popping in the lobby. There was no movement. Just a room of people who had shared something beautiful. Then I did something that I have never done in my entire career. I texted every friend I have at Angel Studios and told them that it would be a crime if this movie wasn’t nominated for every possible award in Hollywood. It was that good.” Reserve tickets here [atomtickets.com]

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BOOK OF INTEREST

Popcorn with the Pope: A Guide to the Vatican Film List [wordonfire.org] “In 1995—one hundred years after the birth of cinema in Paris—a Vatican-appointed commission compiled a list of forty-five significant films. The entries vary widely, ranging from light-hearted favorites like The Wizard of Oz to challenging arthouse features such as The Seventh Seal. This list, released under Pope St. John Paul II, was an important milestone in the dialogue between the Church and the wider culture. Yet for many Catholics and cinephiles alike, it remains undiscovered or unclear. What was the list for? And why did the commission choose these particular titles? In this groundbreaking study, David Paul Baird, Andrew Petiprin, and Michael Ward walk readers through the entire Vatican List, film by film. The authors show that its aim was not to serve as a ‘best-ever’ register, nor as an anthology of approved works; rather, it was to guide people in an appreciation of cinema as an artistic language and a bearer of spiritual and moral messages. In addition to theologically and historically informed commentary, each chapter includes film stills, quotations, fun facts, and questions for further reflection and discussion. Elevated yet entertaining, Popcorn with the Pope is perfect for anyone interested in delving deeper into a Christian approach to movies.” - Word on Fire

January 9, 2024

We hope your winter break was filled with the love language of deep conversation and that the New Year is off to an invigorating and purposeful start for you! If you choose a word or phrase for the New Year (not resolutions, but a theme), what are you choosing for 2024? Mine is relational closeness (Vertical & horizontal).

—Oriana Li Halevy
on behalf of the Intra-Community Council’s CATH-Links team

If you are interested in submitting reflections, meditations, articles, book reviews, etc., see Submit Resources for Publication for submission guidelines. We look forward to your participation!

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RECENT NEWS

Shia LaBeouf enters Catholic Church, considers vocation to the diaconate [catholicnewsagency.com]
On New Year’s Eve, Hollywood star Shia LaBeouf was received into the Catholic Church with the Sacrament of Confirmation at Old Mission Santa Inés Parish in Solvang, California, the Capuchin parish where LaBeouf first went to train for his titular role as a Franciscan friar in the film “Padre Pio”. LaBeouf revealed in an interview [youtube.com] (that has received over 2.3M views) that his on-screen portrayal of St. Padre Pio led him to a newfound love of the Catholic faith [ncregister.com]

On Fiducia Supplicans [usccb.org]
Bishop Robert Barron, the chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, addressed questions and concerns that have emerged following the publication of Declaration Fiducia Supplicans On the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings [vatican.va]: “The blessings that it allows for those in irregular relationships are not liturgical in nature and hence do not imply any approbation of such relationships. Rather, these benedictions are informal and spontaneous, designed to call upon God’s mercy to heal, guide, and strengthen. Despite some misleading coverage in the press, the declaration does not constitute a ‘step’ toward ratification of same-sex marriage nor a compromising of the Church’s teaching regarding those in irregular relationships. Fiducia Supplicans is very much congruent with Pope Francis’s long-held conviction that those who do not live up to the full demand of the Church’s moral teaching are nevertheless loved and cherished by God and invited to accept the Lord’s offer of forgiveness.”

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Love to Overcome Hate—the need to empower the study of love [psychologytoday.com]
by Tyler VanderWeele, Professor of Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Director of the Human Flourishing Program [harvard.edu] and Co-Director of the Initiative on Health, Spirituality, and Religion [harvard.edu] at Harvard. VanderWeele holds degrees from Oxford, UPenn, and Harvard in mathematics, philosophy, theology, finance, and biostatistics.

Excerpt: Part of the difficulty of studying love is the diversity of ways that the word “love” is used and the diverse array of things that are sometimes said to be loved: family, friends, food, pets, country, justice, beauty, God, etc. In every case, however, love arguably has either a unitive aspect (our wanting to be with or united to what we love) or a contributory aspect (our wanting to contribute to the good of what is loved). These often co-occur, though sometimes only one or the other aspect of love is present. These different aspects of love, and the diverse range of objects we might love, can make the study of love challenging. At the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard, we have recently released a paper [jesp.org - content may download as PDF] arguing that whenever the verb “love” is used, one or both of these unitive or contributory aspects are in play … Some of the complexity of studying love is that either unitive or contributory love may be present without the other. Often in human relationships, however, we expect, desire, and hope for both to be present. We are currently using this characterization of love to try to empower a fuller empirical study of love.

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THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION

Want to know the history behind the Feast of the Epiphany? [catholicnewsagency.com]
“In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, Epiphany celebrates the revelation that Jesus was the Son of God. It focuses primarily on this revelation to the Three Wise Men, but also in his baptism in the Jordan and at the wedding at Cana. In the Eastern rites of the Catholic Church, Theophany – as Epiphany is known in the East – commemorates the manifestation of Jesus’ divinity at his Baptism in the River Jordan. While the traditional date for the feast is Jan. 6, in the United States the celebration of Epiphany is moved to the Sunday between Jan. 2 and Jan. 8. However, the meaning of the feast goes deeper than just the bringing of presents or the end of Christmas, says Fr. Hezekias Carnazzo, a Melkite Catholic priest and founding executive director of the Virginia-based Institute of Catholic Culture. ‘You can’t understand the Nativity without Theophany; or you can’t understand Nativity without Epiphany.’”

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SYNOD REFLECTIONS

Bishop Robert Barron Shares His Synod Experience [wordonfire.org]
“The summary statement very accurately expresses the fact that the overwhelming concern of the synod members was to listen to the voices of those who have, for a variety of reasons, felt marginalized from the life of the Church. This motif was the common denominator in all of the preliminary sessions leading up to the synod, and it was prominently featured in the working document that provided the basis for our discussions … I can assure everyone that their demand to be heard was heard, loud and clear at the synod. And I’m glad it was. The Church is meant to announce the Gospel to everyone (todos, todos, todos, as the pope rightly says) and to gather them into the Body of Christ. Therefore, if there are armies of Catholics who feel excluded or condescended to, that’s a major pastoral problem that must be addressed with humility and honesty. And I can say, as someone who has been a full-time ecclesiastical administrator for the past twelve years, I am delighted to receive the counsel of laity in regard to practically all aspects of my work. Expanding the number and diversity of those who might aid the bishops in their governance of the Church is all to the good, and bravo to the synod for exploring this possibility.

“A question that I raised several times in the small group conversations, however, was whether, in our enthusiasm to include people in the governance of the Church, we forget that the vocation of 99 percent of the Catholic laity is to sanctify the world, to bring Christ into the arenas of politics, the arts, entertainment, communication, business, medicine, etc., precisely where they have special competence. Generally speaking, I was worried that both the Instrumentum Laboris and the synod conversations were far more preoccupied with the ad intra than with the ad extra, and this despite the fact that Pope Francis has been consistently calling for a Church that goes out from itself…

“The very best part of the synod was, of course, coming into close contact with Catholic leaders from all over the world. In my various small groups—and during the very lively coffee breaks—I met bishops and laity from the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Lithuania, Hong Kong, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Austria, Australia, and on and on. The four weeks in Rome was a uniquely privileged opportunity to sense the catholicity of Christ’s Church—and like it or not, this kind of encounter changes you, compelling you to see that your vision of things is one perspective among many. All of these ideas and experiences from the synod will continue in the coming year to percolate in the mind of the Church, in preparation for the second and final round next October. Might I invite everyone to continue to pray for the work that we synod members must do both in the interim and at the Vatican next year?”

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BOOKS OF INTEREST

Living Better with Spirituality Based Strategies that Work [cognella.com] by our own Thomas G. Plante, Ph.D., ABPP, is “designed to serve as a practical workbook or companion book to Spiritually Informed Therapy that can be used by therapists with their clients, faculty with their students, or with the general public to put key evidence-based principles into actual practice. The workbook features numerous exercises and practical strategies that can help readers examine and implement core tenets from Jesuit spirituality into their everyday and contemporary life … The text features real-world case studies that demonstrate how Jesuit spirituality has helped individuals work through their challenges and discover greater overall wellness.”

December 3, 2023

We hope you had a restful Thanksgiving! We have much to be thankful for, not least the continued blessing of hearing from many of you in connection with CC@S’ all-community program offerings including the Fall Retreat at the Jesuit Retreat Center of Los Altos led by Frs. Bob and Xavier, Synod discussions hosted by Sr. Gloria, the Leading Through Faith retreat spearheaded by Deacon John, RCIA, among others. We are grateful for the gifts of your participation and continued enthusiasm and support as we strive to engage more contributors to and readers of CATH-Links and foster community conversations in alignment with CC@S’ core mission and values. We wish everyone a fulfilling season – may the blessings of the miracle, the gift, and the promise of Christmas uplift you and your loved ones!

—Oriana Li Halevy
on behalf of the Intra-Community Council’s CATH-Links team

If you are interested in submitting reflections, meditations, articles, book reviews, etc., see Submit Resources for Publication for submission guidelines. We look forward to your participation!

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Why Christians Must Do More Than Merely Reject Antisemitism [theprincetontory.com] by Professor Robert George of Princeton (BA, Swarthmore; JD, Harvard Law School; MTS, Harvard Divinity School; PhD, Oxford University).

Excerpts: The post-Holocaust period leading up to the Second Vatican Council became a time of deep reflection for the Catholic Church in particular and the occasion for a profound examination of conscience – and the historical record. This bore fruit in the sections on Jews and Judaism of the conciliar document known as Nostra Aetate, the declaration on the Church’s understanding of, and relationship with, non-Christian religions.

Nostra Aetate once and for all repudiated the idea of Jewish collective guilt and the outrageous slander that “the Jews” killed Christ or were “accursed” or “rejected by God” because the Jewish people as a whole did not accept Jesus as the Messiah. It condemned, categorically, all forms of antisemitism and discrimination against Jews. What’s more, it expressly affirmed that there is a ‘common patrimony’ and, indeed, a “spiritual bond” – something not merely historical, though rooted in historical reality – uniting Christians (“the people of the New Covenant”) with Jews (“Abraham’s stock”). Perhaps most importantly, quoting the Jewish Christian St. Paul, it refers to the Jewish people as the “good olive branch onto which has been grafted the wild shoot, the Gentiles.”

Nostra Aetate turned out to be only the beginning of the development of Catholic teaching on Jews and Judaism.Within a decade-and-a-half of its ratification and promulgation by Pope Paul VI as the official teaching of the Church, Karol Woytila, the Archbishop of Cracow in Poland, would become Pope. As John Paul II, he would use Nostra Aetateas the foundation for further elaboration of the Church’s teaching, working out the fuller implications of the Vatican Council’s declaration. It is important to understand that what concerned John Paul in this matter was, above all, theological, not sociological or political. He sought to understand, and to teach, the truth about how the Church properly understands and relates herself to Jews and Judaism…

In one of the most important acts of his long and remarkably consequential pontificate, both those concepts would again be center stage when John Paul made his historic visit, also in 1986, to the Great Synagogue of Rome – the first by any pope – where he made the following profound declaration: The Jewish religion is not extrinsic to us, but in a certain way is intrinsic to our own religion. With Judaism we have a relationship we do not have with any other religion. You are our dearly beloved brothers, and in a certain way our elder brothers. Driving the point home, John Paul greeted Jewish rabbis in a meeting in Assisi in 1993 as “our dearly beloved brothers of the ancient covenant never broken and never to be broken.” Benedict XVI and Francis have, of course, stood by the teachings of Nostra Aetate and of John Paul II – the teachings of the Church. So will their successors. These are magisterial teachings – declarations of the mind of Christ.

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THEOLOGICAL/LITURGICAL EDUCATION

In response to community interest in an educational series on the Mass, we present this excellent series [wordonfire.org] by Word on Fire’s Bishop Robert Barron.

Episode 1: A Privileged Encounter (24:11)

Episode 2: Called Out of the World (23:06)

Episode 3: God Speaks Our Story (24:17)

Episode 4: Responding to God (24:53)

Episode 5: Preparing the Sacrifice (23:04)

Episode 6: The Real Presence Creates Communion (25:36)

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CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

‘The Chosen’ Christmas special is a ‘beautiful experience,’ show’s creator says [catholicnewsagency.com] “Originally begun as a crowdfunded project, The Chosen is one of the most-watched shows in the world. It has reached more than 600 million combined episode views and has more than 10 million followers on social media. It is also on its way to becoming the most-translated series in history, according to its creators; the first three seasons will soon be available in 50 languages with plans to subtitle in more than 600.” In theaters Dec. 12-17! Tickets [fathomevents.com]

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SYNOD OUTCOME

Fifteen hidden gems in the Synod on Synodality report [msn.com] “At the Synod on Synodality, the Western media focused on a limited number of hot-button issues — women’s ordination, married priests and blessing of gay couples. But hidden in the synod participants’ 40-page synthesis are some surprising gems that could lead to significant reform in the church.”

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NEW BOOK RELEASE

Christmas at the Nativity has been released in English, Italian, French, and Portuguese.

From the Introduction by Pope Francis: “Awe and wonder are the two feelings that move everyone, young and old, before the Nativity scene, which is like a living Gospel overflowing from the pages of Holy Scripture. It is not important how the Nativity scene is set up; it can always remain the same or change every year; what matters is that it speaks to life. The first biographer of St. Francis, Thomas of Celano, describes the Christmas night of 1223, whose eight-hundredth anniversary we celebrate this year. When Francis arrived, he found the crib with the hay, the ox, and the donkey. Before the Christmas scene, the people who flocked to the place manifested an unspeakable joy, never tasted before. Then the priest, at the manger, solemnly celebrated the Eucharist, showing the link between the Incarnation of the Son of God and the Eucharist. On that occasion, there were no figurines in Greccio: the Nativity scene was created and experienced by those who were present. I am sure that the first Nativity scene, which accomplished a great work of evangelization, can also be an occasion today to summon forth awe and wonder. Thus, what the simplicity of that sign made St. Francis realize persists down to our own days as a genuine form of the beauty of our faith.”

November 5, 2023

We are pleased to bring you another edition of CATH-Links, an initiative born from the CC@S synodal process and the Intra Community Council. We hope this initiative will continue to encourage reflection, engender discussion, and help members better understand and engage with the Church and the modern world.

If you are interested in submitting reflections, meditations, articles, book reviews, etc., see Submit Resources for Publication for submission guidelines. We look forward to your participation!

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SYNODAL NEWS

Synod Report: A Church that involves everyone and is close to world’s wounds. [vaticannews.va] The Synthesis Report at the conclusion of the 16th General Assembly of the Synod on Synodality is published. Looking ahead to the second session in 2024, the text offers reflections and proposals on topics such as the role of women and the laity, the ministry of bishops, priesthood and the diaconate, the importance of the poor and migrants, digital mission, ecumenism, and abuse.

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APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION

“Laudate Deum”: the Pope’s cry for a response to the climate crisis [vaticannews.va] Pope Francis has published an Apostolic Exhortation building on his 2015 encyclical. We’re not reacting enough, he says, we’re close to breaking point. He criticizes climate change deniers, saying that the human origin of global warming is now beyond doubt. And he describes how care for our common home flows from the Christian faith. Full text of “Laudate Deum” at vatican.va

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THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION

A Mysterious Alchemy Within the Communion of Saints [wordonfire.org] By Dr. Richard Clements. “We human beings are far more interconnected with each other than we tend to realize. Our actions right here, right now can impact any other human being who has ever existed or ever will exist anywhere in the world. Or to state it more succinctly: our actions right here and now can impact anyone, anywhere, anywhen. And we ourselves may have been the beneficiaries of the actions of someone we’ve never met, living anywhere in the world, now, in the past, or in the future. How? Through the mysterious phenomenon known as the communio sanctorum, or ‘communion of saints’… Our ‘acts of love’ can be like ripples of goodness in the cosmic sea of divine goodness, radiating outward from us to touch the lives of innumerable others.”

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

The Preferential Option for the Poor in the Bible [harvardcatholicforum.org], a Daniel Harrington S.J. Memorial Lecture by Gary Anderson, the Hesburgh Professor of Catholic Thought at the University of Notre Dame. Professor Anderson is an internationally recognized scholar on the Old Testament, early Judaism and Christianity, and theological themes in the Scriptural tradition. A past president of the Catholic Biblical Association, he was Professor of Old Testament at Harvard Divinity School before moving to Notre Dame. Professor Anderson is the author or editor of more than ten books, including the award winners Charity: The Place of the Poor in the Biblical Tradition (Yale, 2013), Sin: A History (Yale, 2009), and Christian Doctrine and the Old Testament (Baker 2017). He has also written for The Christian Century, First Things, Commonweal, and America. He holds a PhD from Harvard University.

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BOOK OF INTEREST

AI, Faith, and the Future: An Interdisciplinary Approach [buy at amazon.com] is “a collection of scholarly essays authored by members of a multidisciplinary research group on ethical and theological reflections about Artificial Intelligence at Seattle Pacific University. The intent of the authors is twofold: orient the reader to historical, technical, philosophical, ethical, and theological perspectives on the nature and use of AI; and then offer a series of disciplinary and theological explorations on the impact of AI. These new narratives can become the focus of beliefs which shape how society views its AI future… The faith perspectives expounded in its pages do not presume a monoculture of Christian homogeneity, rather the authors draw on early church, Catholic teaching, and several Protestant perspectives to draw from a diverse mix of theologians. The authors’ conclusions drawn from these perspectives do in fact provide a new array of narratives from which future explorations can embark with clarity and reproducible steps into the self-evident New World of AI automation and discovery.” Full review at aiandfaith.org

October 15, 2023

We are pleased to bring you another edition of CATH-Links, an initiative born from the CC@S Synodal process. We hope this initiative will encourage reflection, engender discussion, and help members better understand and engage with the Church and the modern world.

If you are interested in submitting reflections, meditations, articles, book reviews, etc., see Submit Resources for Publication for submission guidelines. We look forward to your participation!

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COFFEE & CONVERSATION

Join us on October 29th at 3:00 pm in front of Old Union for our monthly gathering! This month we spotlight three meditations offered by Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP, Dominican friar and former Master of the Order of Preachers, at the retreat that preceded the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome.

Synod Retreat Meditations by Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP

Opening Meditation: Hoping Against Hope. [vaticannews.va] “At the Last Supper, they received a hope beyond all that they could have imagined: the body of Christ and his blood, the new covenant, eternal life…This is what St. Paul called ‘hoping against hope’ (Romans 4:18), the hope that transcends all of our hopes. We too are gathered like the disciples at the Last Supper, not as a political debating chamber competing to win. Our hope is Eucharistic….The hope of the Eucharist is for what lies beyond our imagination….This is the hope that the disciples glimpsed on the mountain in the Transfigured Lord. It makes the conflict between our hopes seem minor, almost absurd. If we are truly on the way to the Kingdom, does it really matter whether you align yourselves with so-called traditionalists or progressives? Even the differences between Dominicans and Jesuits pale into insignificance! So let us listen to him, come down the mountain and keep on walking confidently. The greatest gifts will come from those with whom we disagree if we dare to listen to them.”

Synod Meditation: Friendship. [vaticannews.va] “On the night before he died, Jesus addressed the disciples who were about to betray, deny, and desert him, saying: ‘I call you friends.’ (John15:15). We are embraced by the healing friendship of God which unlocks the doors of the prisons we create for ourselves. ‘The invisible God speaks to men and women as friends’ (Vatican II, Dei Verbum, 2). He opened the way into the eternal friendship of the Trinity. This friendship was offered to his disciples, to tax collectors and prostitutes, to lawyers and foreigners. It was the first taste of the Kingdom.”

Synod Meditation: The Spirit of Truth. [vaticannews.va] “The Lord has promised the Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth. On the night before he died, Jesus said, ‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.’ (John 16:12-13). Whatever conflicts we have on the way, we are sure of this: the Spirit of truth is leading us into all truth. But this will not be easy. Jesus warns the disciples: ‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now’. Peter at Caesarea Philippi could not bear to hear that Jesus must suffer and die. On this last evening before the death of Jesus, Peter could not bear the truth that he would deny Jesus. Being led into the truth means hearing things that are unpalatable.”

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ARTICLE OF INTEREST

Synodal discernment and women in the diaconate. [thetablet.co.uk] “The People of God have asked. The Synod may answer. What about women deacons? The Instrumentum Laboris states, ‘Most of the Continental Assemblies and the syntheses of several Episcopal Conferences call for the question of women’s inclusion in the diaconate to be considered. Is it possible to envisage this, and in what way? Persons and pressure groups on both sides of the issue are making their opinions known. But opinion is not fact, and lobbying is not discernment. The Synod on Synodality is an exercise in discernment and true discernment depends on the tripartite formula…The first requires facts. The second requires prayer. The third requires consensus.”

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

For those who missed the September 17th Harvard Catholic Forum event, here is a recording of Bishop Robert Barron’s lecture on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. [youtube.com] The program was co-sponsored by the Collegium Institute, the St. Anselm Institute for Catholic Thought, COLLIS Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture, Nova Forum for Catholic Thought, and the Lumen Christi Institute. The event was made possible through the support of grant #62372 from the John Templeton Foundation, “In Lumine: Promoting the Catholic Intellectual Tradition on Campuses Nationwide.”

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BOOK OF INTEREST

The Vatican II Collection [wordonfire.org] “One of the most major cultural and ecclesiastical events of the twentieth century was the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), which brought together Catholic bishops from all over the world. Despite the fact that almost everyone recognizes its significance, Catholics have debated its precise meaning and application for the past sixty years. On the one hand, ‘radical traditionalists’ argue that Vatican II betrayed authentic Catholicism and had disastrous consequences in the Church’s life; on the other hand, ‘progressives’ see the council documents as a first step toward a more radical reform of the Church, perpetuating the ‘spirit’ of Vatican II.

Despite the fact that numerous voices have debated the council since the documents were published in the mid-1960s, the Vatican II texts are still widely unread, and if they are read, they are frequently misconstrued. This ground-breaking new book collection from Word on Fire is aimed at resolving the issue. It includes the four central documents that best express the council’s vision – Dei Verbum, Lumen Gentium, Sacrosanctum Concilium, and Gaudium et Spes. The collection also includes Pope St. John XXIII’s opening address, Pope St. Paul VI’s closing address, Bishop Barron’s foreword, theologian Matthew Levering’s afterword, and useful appendices that list essential words and figures and answer frequently asked questions. The Word on Fire Vatican II Collection is a robust but readable journey into the true history and purpose of the Second Vatican Council, and a compelling call for an enthusiastic return to its text today.” ~SunRise Marian

September 10, 2023

Welcome Back! We hope you had a restorative summer and very much look forward to journeying together this academic year! We are pleased to bring you another edition of CATH-Links, an initiative born from the CC@S Synodal process and the Intra Community Council (ICC). We hope this initiative will encourage reflection, engender discussion, and help members better understand and engage with the Church and the modern world.

If you are interested in submitting reflections, meditations, articles, book reviews, etc., see Submit Resources for Publication for submission guidelines. We look forward to your participation!

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COFFEE & CONVERSATION—NEW SERIES

Join Us - All Are Welcome. We are happy to launch a new monthly series of open conversations about the many articles highlighted here in CATH-Links. We will gather on the last Sunday of each month from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM in front of Old Union. Please register in advance. In registering for each event, you are making a commitment to have read the monthly featured articles for informed discussions. This is not a forum for combative arguments or ad hominem attacks – the goal is to explore the authors’ perspectives and insights in true seminar fashion. We will limit the size so that we can ensure everyone can have the opportunity to speak and to be heard.

SIGN-UP FORM

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SYNODAL NEWS

In anticipation of the upcoming Synod on Synodality, this month we feature two articles by Cardinal Robert McElroy, Bishop of San Diego, and an article by Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, and founder of Word on Fire [wordonfire.org] Both will be attending the October Synod in Rome

Cardinal McElroy on ‘radical inclusion’ for LGBT people, women, and others in the Catholic Church [americamagazine.org] “We must examine the contradictions in a church of inclusion and shared belonging that have been identified by the voices of the people of God in our nation, and discern in synodality, a pathway for moving beyond them.”

Cardinal McElroy responds to his critics on sexual sin, the Eucharist, and LGBT and divorced/remarried Catholics [americamagazine.org] “Pope Francis is calling us to appreciate the vital interplay between pastoral and doctrinal aspects of Church teaching when it comes to sexual sin and the reception of the Eucharist.”

Bishop Barron on Inclusion & Exclusion [wordonfire.org] “All are welcome in the Church, but on Christ’s terms, not their own.”

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

The Catholic Intellectual Tradition – A Lecture at Harvard University [harvardcatholicforum.org] Bishop Robert Barron will preside over Convocation Mass at Saint Paul’s in Harvard Square and deliver a lecture on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition at Memorial Church, Harvard Yard, on Sunday, September 17, 2023. The lecture will explore some foundational themes in the Catholic intellectual tradition, including God, the human person, sin and grace, society, and freedom. All flow from Christology, our understanding of Jesus, so that, as St. Bonaventure said, “Christ is truly found at the center of all the disciplines pursued in the university.” The 1:00 PM PDT lecture will be livestreamed.

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RECENT NEWS

Pope Francis recently concluded the first-ever papal visit to Mongolia [vaticannews.va], one of the world’s newest and smallest Catholic communities with only 1,450 Catholics, where he praised Mongolia’s tradition of religious freedom dating to the times of its founder, Genghis Khan.

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BOOK OF INTEREST

Introduction to Christianity by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, “has become a classic in David Tracy’s sense in that over a period of 50 years it has spoken in shifting intellectual environments to professors of theology, college students, mothers and fathers of college students, religious searchers, to Catholics in parishes who wish to better know their Christian faith and pass it on, and to Catholics who have lapsed either because of scandals in the Church or the perception that Christian faith is not relevant to their lives. The book has exercised enormous influence because of its deep rootedness in the Catholic tradition, the simplicity of its faith, the personal warmth that it exudes, and its marvelous clarity and economy of expression.” – Cyril O’Regan, the Catherine F. Huisking Chair in Theology at the University of Notre Dame.

Full review [nd.edu]

The Genius of Ratzinger’s Introduction to Christianity and Why It Still Matters Today [wordonfire.org] outlines the contours of this classic and bestseller, the fruit of Pope Benedict XVI’s interactions with students from across all disciplines when he was a young university professor.

May 15, 2023

We are pleased to bring you another edition of CATH-Links, an initiative born from the CC@S Synodal process and developed by the Education Team of the Intra Community Council (ICC). We hope this initiative will encourage reflection, engender discussion, and help members better understand and engage with the Church and the modern world.

If you are interested in submitting reflections, meditations, articles, book reviews, etc., see Submit Resources for Publication for submission guidelines and a link to a submission form. We look forward to your participation!

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EASTER REFLECTION

In time for Pentecost

The Pentecost Film [youtube.com] This new film (14:27) premiered on April 18, 2023, and presents Michael Steven’s painting, “The Pentecost (after Maino)” which synthesizes stylistic influences from the baroque to the contemporary in depicting the awe-inspiring descent of the Holy Spirit.

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

The Christian Contribution to the Public Conversation [youtube.com] by Bishop Robert Barron. In his recent address to the British Parliament, Bishop Robert Barron, of Word on Fire, reflects on a central question: What has made Christianity so consistently a powerful social and cultural force through two millennia?

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BOOK OF INTEREST

Aquinas on the Market: Toward a Humane Economy [amazon.com] by Mary Hirschfeld, a Harvard-trained economist turned Catholic theologian. Our May Lamplighters guest speaker, John Denniston, highly recommended this book to the community at the February retreat.
[more below]

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BREAKING NEWS

Laypeople, including women, will vote in Synod on Synodality. [catholicnewsagency.com] The Vatican announced that there will be laypeople participating as voting members in the Synod on Synodality’s October assembly, a break with past custom, which allowed laypeople to participate without the right to vote. After the vote on a final document for the assembly, the Pope alone decides whether to take any actions based on the recommendations in the final text or whether to adopt it as an official Church document.

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More on Aquinas on the Market: Toward a Humane Economy

“We are not lacking in Christian critiques of neoclassical economics. Rarely do these come from a Harvard-trained economist turned Catholic theologian. In order to diagnose just how the rational choice model frustrates, rather than facilitates, the pursuit of happiness, we must get clear on the nature of genuine human flourishing. In a book both acute and winsome, pragmatic and visionary, Hirschfeld turns to Thomas Aquinas for inspiration. Only with an adequate anthropology in hand can we understand both why economic analysis works as well as it does, and why it ultimately leads us astray. Freed from the pursuit of maximal utility, we can begin to build a humane economy. A wise and urgently-needed contribution”. Jennifer Herdt, Yale University.

Aquinas and the Market is a book every economist and every theologian engaging the economy should read and it might well be the topic for a conference where economists discuss the goals and methods of the discipline. While behavioral economics, neuroeconomics and the role of social institutions in economic life have begun to erode the methodological wall between positive and normative economics, discussions in the discipline related to the pursuit of life’s ultimate purpose have been rare. However, Hirschfeld, who is well versed in the language and concepts of economics, theology and philosophy, takes the reader on a journey that explores how economics and life’s ultimate purpose might interact to create a more humane economy.

A central theme of this book is that contemporary economic theory assumes people focus on the efficient acquisition of material goods without focusing on the ultimate purpose of life and how it is achieved. This pragmatic realism approach envisions humans operating with a narrow self-interest to maximize utility. Economic models based on this assumption are then expected to be the best predictors of behaviour in the economy, but any moral, ethical and theological perspectives are left for policy makers to apply if they choose to do so.

The book is very relevant in these times when confusion about ultimate goals in life seems to be pressing increasingly hard on our social order. Yet the tendency to minimize liberal arts and move toward a more pragmatic education draws us away from the kinds of interaction Hirschfeld recommends. This book may not be an easy read for the economist with limited theological and philosophical backgrounds, but many practical examples are used well to explain and illustrate how economics inspired by the theology of Thomas Aquinas can contribute to genuine human wellbeing.

An economist might suggest that perfectly competitive markets do point us toward the ultimate good because resources are allocated to their most desired use and competition eliminates excess profit. In this case, if there is a problem, it is because individuals have distorted preferences and income distribution may be unfair. The corrective agenda then involves a refocus of individual preferences and a public policy that creates a better distribution of income. The economic systems itself can still work if these adjustments can be made. Hirschfeld recognizes this but she does feel that a preference maximizing system has built-in biases against ultimate goodness. When these biases are recognized and our true purpose in life is understood, then economics, theology and philosophy can work together to form a system that will be humane, just and God-honoring. I enthusiastically recommend this book because it will help to move us toward that goal.

Jennifer Herdt, Yale University Sage Publications

Review edited by Nicholas Townsend, outgoing Book Reviews Editor

April 15, 2023

We are pleased to bring you another edition of CATH-Links, an initiative born from the CC@S Synodal process and developed by the Education Team of the Intra Community Council (ICC). We hope this initiative will encourage reflection, engender discussion, and help members better understand and engage with the Church and the modern world.

If you are interested in submitting reflections, meditations, articles, book reviews, etc., see Submit Resources for Publication for submission guidelines and a link to a submission form. We look forward to your participation!

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EASTER REFLECTION

Pope Francis’ Easter Vigil Homily [catholicnewsagency.com]

St. Patrick and the Easter Flame [wordonfire.org] by Fr. Billy Swan, a priest of the Diocese of Ferns, Ireland, who holds a degree in chemistry, and worked for a number of years for a pharmaceutical company before entering seminary. He served for four years as an associate pastor before further studies in Rome where he was awarded a Licentiate and Doctorate in Systematic Theology from the Gregorian University.

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Is Beauty Worth It? Doesn’t It Cost Too Much? [scalafoundation.org] by Professor David Clayton, a graduate of Oxford University who has an international reputation as a painter, with major commissions in the UK and the US. He is the Provost of the Pontifex University and a Visiting Fellow at the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts. He has published two books about the connection between sacred art, culture, and their connection to the Liturgy. To help people understand the Way of Beauty, Professor Clayton created thewayofbeauty.org to help illuminate the faithful through its articles, media and courses which focus on inspiring devotion to and guidance on the Way of Beauty.

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BOOK OF INTEREST

To Sanctify the World: The Vital Legacy of Vatican II by George Weigel. Meticulously documented, yet eminently readable. To Sanctify the World is a matchless guide to the meaning and import of the Second Vatican Council.” – Mary Ann Glendon, the Learned Hand Professor of Law, Emerita, at Harvard Law School, a former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See.
[more below]

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RECENT NEWS

Understanding Pope Francis from the Inside [ncregister.com] a commentary that provides insight into the pope’s understanding of mercy. By Fr. Roger Landry, a Harvard classmate of one of our community members, Oriana Li Halevy, this is a recent profile of Pope Francis whose motto is Miserando atque Eligendo. Fr. Landry currently serves as the Catholic chaplain at Columbia University.

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More on To Sanctify the World: The Vital Legacy of Vatican II

From Mary Ann Glendon, the Learned Hand Professor of Law, Emerita, Harvard Law School, former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, and a former President of the Pontifical Academy of Social Science:

“In explaining why Vatican II was necessary and what it taught, George Weigel has given us a rich history of the Catholic Church’s efforts to meet the challenges of modernity. Viewed in their intellectual, social, and political context, the personalities, debates, and documents of that momentous event emerge with new clarity in this remarkable book. Meticulously documented, yet eminently readable. To Santify the World is a matchless guide to the meaning and import of the Second Vatican Council.”

From Kirkus Review:

The history and legacy of the Second Vatican council.

In his latest, Catholic scholar Weigel, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and author of Letters to a Young Catholic, examines the ecumenical council that took place between 1962 and 1965. The author begins with a detailed yet concise exploration of the many global changes that led to the council. Though Pope John XXIII, “an essentially conservative and traditional pope” shocked the church by calling for a council, which hadn’t taken place since 1870, it should have been clear that modern society – punctuated by world wars, the rise of communism, decolonization, and countless other factors – had changed the landscape so thoroughly that a fresh approach was vital for Catholic survival. Weigel writes that the ultimate purpose of the council was to “empower a revitalized Church to offer the modern world a path beyond incoherence – or worse, self-destruction – through an encounter with Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God.” Once it began, institutionalists lost their bid to steer the council’s work toward less important matters of rules and administration. Instead, the council took a decidedly theological turn in order to answer the pressing question of “how God made his purposes known to humanity in a binding way that was authoritative for the Church over time.” The council would be thoroughly Christocentric in nature and explore the church’s role in a modern world through a Christian viewpoint. Weigel thoroughly analyzes the major documents that resulted from the council’s decisions. He then discusses its lasting legacy, especially through the lens of two of its particpants: popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Finally, he notes that a 1985 synod most clearly affirmed the meaning of Vatican II as a great gift of grace until “the Church lived fully the truth about itself as a communion of disciples in mission.”

A readable traditionalist appraisal.

Introduction

We are pleased to announce the launch of CATH-Links, an initiative born from the CC@S Synodal process and developed by the Communications and Education Teams of the Intra Community Council (ICC).

The goal of CATH-Links is to share a selection of resources monthly that will take us into a deeper dive of Catholic-related materials not routinely or substantially covered in generally circulated media. We hope this initiative will encourage reflection, engender discussion, and help members better understand and engage with the Church and with the modern world. Take someone out for coffee and have a discussion on what you discovered here!

For the 2022-2023 academic year, we plan to issue CATH-Links on March 15th, April 15th, and May 15th.

If you are interested in submitting reflections, meditations, articles, book reviews, etc., see Submit Resources for Publication for submission guidelines and a link to a submission form. We look forward to your participation!

March 15, 2023

We are pleased to announce the launch of CATH-Links, an initiative born from the CC@S Synodal process and developed by the Communications and Education Teams of the Intra Community Council (ICC).

The goal of CATH-Links is to share a selection of resources monthly that will take us into a deeper dive of Catholic-related materials not routinely or substantially covered in generally circulated media. We hope this initiative will encourage reflection, engender discussion, and help members better understand and engage with the Church and with the modern world. Take someone out for coffee and have a discussion on what you discovered here!

For the 2022-2023 academic year, we plan to issue CATH-Links on March 15th, April 15th, and May 15th.

If you are interested in submitting reflections, meditations, articles, book reviews, etc., see Submit Resources for Publication for submission guidelines and a link to a submission form. We look forward to your participation!

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FAITH AND SCIENCE

Word on Fire presents Wonder: the Harmony of Faith and Science [wordonfire.org], a new film series narrated by Jonathan Roumie of ‘The Chosen’, and produced through the support of the John Templeton Foundation.

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

The Three-City Problem of Modern Life: What does Athens have to do with Jerusalem, and what do either have to do with Silicon Valley? [wired.com] This article by Luke Burgis, is a stunning piece that addresses the social complexity that affects all of us today, especially here in Silicon Valley at the epicenter of technological innovation.

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BOOK OF INTEREST

Catholicism: A Global History from the French Revolution to Pope Francis [amazon.com] by John T. McGreevy is a “sweeping history of modern Catholicism” and a “must-read for practicing Catholics and anyone interested in religious studies.” [more below]

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RECENT NEWS

Benedict XVI In Memoriam [laciviltacattolica.com] by Federico Lombardi, SJ, is a look into the life of Pope Benedict XVI with a closer look into his life from Bavaria during the rise of the Nazis to becoming Pope for eight short years.

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More on Catholicism: A Global History from the French Revolution to Pope Francis

From Kirkus Review:

McGreevy, a professor of history at Notre Dame and author of three books on Catholicism, examines the past two centuries. The author begins his authoritative survey with the French Revolution, noting that no series of events since the Reformation had so thoroughly rocked the Catholic landscape. The excesses of the Revolution and the upending of Catholic authority in France led to the global “ultramontane revival” movement. “At the revival’s core,” writes McGreevy, “was a deepening attachment to the institution of the church.” This attachment would add significantly to the powers of the pope and the Roman ecclesiastical structure. The revival’s “triumph” was the First Vatican Council, in 1869-1870, which confirmed the doctrine of papal infallibility and severed voices of dissent, modernism, and reform. “To signal church independence,” writes the author, “Pius IX decided against inviting any monarchs or heads of state, a decision that for the first time eliminated lay participation in an ecumenical council.” However, the church was already fighting nationalist movements around the world. As nationalism bumped up against the interests of the church, a new infrastructure was created to safeguard Catholic society and culture: “the Milieu,” an unending series of social welfare organizations, movements, missions, and other initiatives. The Milieu spread across the 19th and 20th centuries and became a public and sometimes-pugnacious face for Catholicism. After decades of social upheaval, Pope John XXIII changed the course of Catholicism by calling the Second Vatican Council in 1959. The ensuing decades were marked by liberation theology; the monumental papacy of John Paul II; and, of course, the destructive onslaught of sexual abuse scandals, to which the author appropriately devotes an entire chapter. Throughout the text, McGreevy, a skilled historian, and storyteller, provides a wealth of detail about the church and the changing world to which it has been reacting for the past 200 years. A must-read for practicing Catholics and anyone interested in religious studies”.

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