I’ve sometimes had the thought that I could measure my adult life in Maundy Thursdays. In my introspective inner life, the Paschal Triduum – and, for reasons that remain somewhat mysterious to me, Maundy Thursday in particular – has emerged as a series of mile markers on a spiritual journey. Of course, this year and last, these markers have been harder to detect and sadly unremarkable, for the obvious reason – not so much akin to traveling through a desert,... Read more
Saints and Social Justice: A Guide to Changing the World, Brandon Vogt, Our Sunday Visitor Press, Huntington, 2014. I came across this book when my parish selected it to be used by reading groups during Lent this year. As part of our Martin de Porres project on racism and the Catholic Church, we wanted a book that provided a broader discussion of Catholic social teaching which we could combine with a reading of the USCCB pastoral on racism in America,... Read more
This blog post is my second one on Octogesima Adveniens, the last CST document from Paul VI. You can read Part I here. We finished the document at this discussion, though we did get distracted initially. In the break between meetings of our reading group, I stumbled on an article (PDF) by Sr. Mary Elsbernd, OSF (a fellow Franciscan), on paragraph 4 of Octogesima Adveniens. It would seem that this paragraph, which I had passed over in my first reading... Read more
This blog post is the first post where I reflect on Octogesima Adveniens, the last CST document from Paul VI. My previous reflections were about Populorum Progressio, Gaudium et Spes, Pacem in Terris, Mater et Magistra, Quadragesima Anno, and Rerum Novarum. This document is somewhat different than the previous ones, as it is an apostolic letter and not an encyclical, and it is not addressed to the whole Church. Rather, it is addressed to Cardinal Maurice Roy, President of the... Read more
This is my third and final post on the encyclical Populorum Progressio by Paul VI; you can read the first part here and the second part here. In this sitting we read paragraphs 61-87, which continues the discussion of integral development. Our discussion started by focusing the rules which should govern trade and economic relationships so as to foster the common good. One passage immediately came into focus: Indeed, competition should not be eliminated from trade transactions; but it must... Read more
Vox Nova is pleased to share a guest post by Greg Walgenbach. He is responding to this statement from the Biden Whitehouse. Yesterday the newly elected Biden-Harris Administration put out a polarizing statement on the 48th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade Given how divided the nation is on the subject of abortion, specifically its legalization, I’d like to offer some brief comments as a Catholic Christian (though I don’t believe agreement with my remarks here necessarily requires those convictions) on... Read more
This is my second post on the encyclical Populorum Progressio by Paul VI; you can read the first part here. For this discussion we read the middle third, paragraphs 32-60. The material in this section splits into two parts. Paragraphs 32-42 continue the discussion of integral or balanced development; important items discussed include the goals of development; he role of education in shaping a Christian humanism as part of development; and the roles of families, professional organizations, labor unions, and... Read more
This is my first post on the encyclical Populorum Progressio by Paul VI. It continues my reflections on the major encyclicals on Catholic social teaching. Previously, I have written multi-part posts on Rerum Novarum, Quadragesimo Anno, Mater et Magistra, Pacem in Terris, and Gaudium et Spes. Populorum Progressio is the first Catholic social encyclical written after Vatican II, and it relies heavily on Gaudium et Spes as well as the encyclicals of Pope John XXIII. Paul VI was also the... Read more
My parish, St. Francis of Assisi of Tuscaloosa, has an ongoing project to educate about race and racism in our Church and in America. It is called the Martin de Porres Project, and its threefold mission is summarized as Seeing Racism Building Racial Justice Healing Through Racial Harmony. Today we launched a five part lecture series. I gave the first talk, entitled Seeing Racism, about structural racism in America. The video of my talk is below (I guess this makes... Read more
The Church of St. Timothy in Blaine, MN, in collaboration with a small group of spiritual directors and activists, has designated January 17-24 as a Week of Nonviolence for Christians. In organizing this week, they have prepared a toolkit of prayers, reflections, and action steps for us to take each day of this week that includes our national commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and legacy as well as a transition of political power in the United States... Read more
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