I believe each human being has a vision of a new world, a world different from the one in which we’re actually living, a world free from the pain and frustrations we’re daily forced to endure. Such dreaming seems to be an essential trait of human nature.
Practically none of our Scripture writers take pen to papyrus unless there are problems in the communities for whom they write. Surfacing these problems is one of the main tasks of biblical exegetes. There never was a “golden age” of faith; each generation of believers had difficulties putting their faith into their everyday lives, difficulties that continue to pop up generations and centuries later. That’s why people of faith eventually saved these particular writings. They helped them understand the implications and pitfalls of their own faith.
My first take on Pope Francis was that he is masterful in the use of symbols. More recently, I'm asking myself if his core strength is a simplicity and transparency so attuned with the Gospels they shine through him, preached almost without words.
Most NCR readers I've spoken with seem to take one of two approaches to this young pontificate, both encouraging, one more guarded.
"Seelos: Doctor of Souls" tells the story of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, the Redemptorist renowned for his power to heal body and spirit.
Column: Those who left the church because of child abuse, the scrutiny of American nuns or other reasons are watching this new pope carefully.
Mission Management: Outgoing CEO of the National Council of the St. Vincent de Paul Society Roger Playwin talks his tenure, Pope Francis.
Historian Paul Collins didn’t intend it as such, but his The Birth of the West is partially an antidote to Thomas Cahill’s informative and entertaining, if overweening, How the Irish Saved Civilization.
THE BIRTH OF THE WEST: ROME, GERMANY, FRANCE, AND THE CREATION OF EUROPE IN THE TENTH CENTURY
By Paul Collins
Published by PublicAffairs, $29.99
Soul Seeing: Forgiveness is the only way to begin anew, and Pope Francis has proven how much he appreciates its healing value.
Column: Much remains to be seen about what kind of pope Francis will be, but for progressives, cautious optimism is in order.
Diana Butler Bass says in the 21st century, the Catholic church has become less of an institution and more of a church of the people of God.
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