Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog

Nobody can do ugly quite like Catholics!

Three images of the altar for the beatification of Cardinal Newman in Cofton Park have been released; here are two of them:



Damien Thompson calls it a "Scientology look." I can see that. Here are some other possibilities:

1). The designers are big fans of Star Trek (perhaps they helped design this "Catholic chapel"?)
2). They mistakenly thought the event was titled, "A Billy Graham Crusade for the 21st Century and Beyond!"
3). They wondered, "Why should Protestants have all of the ugly churches?" (Not knowing, apparently, that Catholics have been building really, really ugly churches for quite some time, thanks.)
4). Someone said: "Hey, I hear the Pope is really traditional. So why not design something with a look that hearkens back to ancient times—say, the late 1970s?"

On the plus side, I don't see any felt banners...

President Obama's religion

A few days ago, Dr. Paul Kengor—who has written books about the religious beliefs of Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Hillary Clinton—wrote a thoughtful opinion piece for USA Today in which he concluded:

In short, and I don't mean this to be disparaging, with Barack Obama we are witnessing the most unconventional faith profile of a president in arguably 200 years. The assessment we're getting from a curious public is not a crass misperception by a bunch of intolerants, but, rather, natural puzzlement.

Of course, it shouldn't be difficult to rectify misperceptions. Throughout American history, presidents have been asked about their faith and sat for lengthy interviews sharing their thinking, explaining precisely what they believe. Why doesn't Obama simply do the same? This isn't rocket science.

Will some people still not believe him? Of course. But Obama's problem isn't a tiny fringe that believes he faces Mecca to pray five times a day, but an increasingly large number of Americans that aren't sure what he believes. Until he makes that clearer, confusion will understandably reign.

Kengor has now written a column about this letter, signed by several dozen religious leaders—a letter that states, in part:

As Christian leaders— whose primary responsibility is sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with our congregations, our communities, and our world— we are deeply troubled by the recent questioning of President Obama’s faith. We understand that these are contentious times, but the personal faith of our leaders should not be up for public debate.

President Obama has been unwavering in confessing Christ as Lord and has spoken often about the importance of his Christian faith. Many of the signees on this letter have prayed and worshipped with this President. We believe that questioning, and especially misrepresenting, the faith of a confessing believer goes too far.

Kengor writes:

Most striking is the letter’s stunning demand that the media offer no airtime to anyone questioning the president’s faith, even as this president has arguably the most unconventional faith profile of any president in history, understandably creating confusion among the public.

No airtime? Obviously, such a demand presents a host of thorny considerations, beginning, of course, with the First Amendment.

Would refusal of “airtime”—which I assume includes print and web media—extend to those arguing in favor of claims that Obama is a Christian? Apparently not. Would it apply to those who question Obama’s faith or (much broader) “call into question?” Who determines the difference?

And how about claims against other presidents?

Liberals constantly questioned Ronald Reagan’s faith, because of his infrequent church attendance, his wife consulting stargazers, his Central America policy, his welfare policy, his environmental policy. Reagan suffered these suspicions even as he repeatedly stated he was a Christian. He endured a question during a nationally televised presidential debate with Walter Mondale. Two weeks later, in another televised debate, Reagan was asked if his beliefs about Armageddon fueled his nuclear policy.

Still today, liberals ask me about Reagan’s faith, including if he was really a Christian.

Reagan is far from alone. Some 200 years after his presidency, Thomas Jefferson’s faith is ever-maligned. He’s accused of all sorts of things. Even the beliefs of Lincoln and Washington are debated.

What about our most recent president? I can’t tell you how many times I addressed serious inquiries about whether George W. Bush was seeking to impose a theocracy, or why Bush supposedly believed Christ had ordered him to defang Saddam. It took every bit of charity to suck it up and respond with patience. I never thought to stomp and sniff: That question should not be permitted airtime!

Most disturbing, but, frankly, not surprising, is that this push comes from self-anointed apostles of diversity and tolerance, who tell us the Religious Right is intolerant. It reminds of Nat Hentoff’s classic saying: “Free speech for me but not for thee.”

Not surprisingly, the letter was signed by Fr. Thomas Reese, S.J., of Georgetown University, who regularly smirks at and criticizes serious Catholics, the Pope, and Church authority while treating as magisterial anything that proceeds from the mouth and pen of President Obama and his administration. Ugh.

Regardless, while the debate over Obama's religious beliefs is interesting and meaningful to some degree or another (almost as important as knowing what the man eats at dinner and who he cheers for on Sundays in the fall), it shouldn't cloud the fact that his actions consistently suggest that he is a statist. Not a Marxist, not a full-blown socialist, but a statist in the general mold of Wilson, FDR, and Johnson, with a big dash of politically-correct "isms" thrown into the mix. Interestingly enough, his predecessor was also something of a statist, although of a less committed, less radical, and more "compassionate" sort. A key difference between the two is that Bush, however imperfectly, sought to uphold the dignity of human life from conception to death. The candidate Obama, it often seemed to me, could only be pinned down on only a couple of issues—and one of those was an unflinching, unapologetic commitment to abortion and the contraceptive mentality, something he gave full support to as a Senator. (And need it be pointed out that a really committed Muslim would not support abortion has Obama has throughout his entire public career?)

One of the ironies is that while Bush was often lambasted for being too religious and too overt about his Christian beliefs, Obama's apologists (most of them strongly opposed to Bush) are now talking up how deeply religious and open the President is about "the importance of his Christian faith." But what the polls may be suggesting is that while Pres. Obama might invoke the name of Jesus on a regular basis, many Americans are having a hard time squaring his rhetoric with his policies, which in turn raises questions about motives and agenda, especially considering Obama's time under the wing of Rev. Wright.

It's the final week of the Summer Super Sale...

.... at www.ignatius.com; the sale ends on Tuesday September 7th, 2010 at 12:00 midnight EST.

Dozens of Ignatius Press titles are on sale at unbeatable prices. Starting as low as $3.00, the sale includes not only books, but videos and music as well. The sale ends September 7th, so make sure to take advantage of these great prices before it's too late!

Click here to see the complete list of sale titles. There are a lot of great prices, but in my opinion this is the best deal—so good that I took advantage of it (along with several other excellent deals).

A "common turning to the East during the Eucharistic Prayer remains essential."

A few days ago I made some passing remarks about ad orientem, which I did not flesh out for lack of time. Here, then, are some further thoughts—none of them my own, actually—on the topic, drawn from men (all priests, save one) who know far more than I do about the topic.

Nearly thirty years ago, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in Feast of Faith: Approaches to a Theology of the Liturgy (Ignatius Press, 1986; German original, 1981. Also available as an e-book), "There is only one inner direction of the Eucharist, namely, from Christ in the Holy Spirit to the Father. The only question is how this can be best expressed in liturgical form" (p. 139). One of his concerns was to address the perception that the priest, celebrating Mass ad orientem, is "facing the wall" or, at best, "facing the tabernacle." This "misunderstanding alone," Ratzinger argued, "can explain the sweeping the triumph of the new celebration facing the people, a change that has taken place with amazing unanimity and speed, without any mandate (and perhaps for that very reason!). All this would be inconceivable if it had not been preceded by a prior loss of meaning from within" (p. 142). The general view of the new celebration, he remarked:

is totally determined by the strongly felt community character of the eucharistic celebration, in which people and priest face each other in a dialogue relationship. This does express one aspect of the Eucharist. But the danger is that it can make the congregation into a closed circle which is no longer aware of the explosive trinitarian dynamism which gives the Eucharist its greatness. A truly liturgical education will have to use all its resources to counter this idea of an autonomous, complacent community. The community does not carry on a dialogue with itself; it is engaged on a common journey toward the returning Lord. (pp. 142-3).

In The Spirit of the Liturgy (Ignatius Press, 2000), Cardinal Ratzinger was even more direct:

On the other hand, a common turning to the East during the Eucharistic Prayer remains essential. This is not a case of something accidental, but of what is essential. Looking at the priest has no importance. What matters is looking together at the Lord. It is not now a question of dialogue, but of common worship, of setting off towards the One who is to come. What corresponds with the reality of what is happening is not the closed circle, but the common movement forward expressed in a common direction for prayer. (Read more here.)

Fr. Uwe Michael Lang, in Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer (Ignatius Press, 2009; second edition), discusses the cosmic symbolism of sacramental worship, writing, "By means of a liturgical gesture [ad orientem], the true location and the true context of the Eucharist are opened up, namely, the whole cosmos. ... The common orientation in liturgical prayer thus not only conveys the trinitarian dimension of the Eucharist but also witnesses to a theology of hope in Christ's Second Coming. It realizes the Christian synthesis of cosmos and history. ... The priest facing the same direction as the faithful when he stands at the altar leads the people of God on their way towards meeting the Lord who is to come again. ... This trinitarian dynamism gives the Eucharist its greatness, saves the individual community from closing into itself, and opens it towards the assembly of the saints in the heavenly city, as envisaged in the Letter to the Hebrews"—and he then quotes Hebrews 12:22-24.

The same passage from Hebrews was cause for Mark Brumley to make the following comment yesterday regarding "ad orientem" and "versus populum":

The second reading at Mass today (Heb 12:18-19, 22-24A) brought to mind this orientation discussion. Pardon the use of the NAB:

"Brothers and sisters: You have not approached that which could be touched and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness and storm and a trumpet blast and a voice speaking words such that those who heard begged that no message be further addressed to them. No, you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel."

There are so many levels to consider it’s hard to discuss it in a comment box. There is the sacramental “making present” of the reality above and there is the eschatological “not yet” dimension. The “making present” of heavenly worship has an immanent dimension, but that “making present” is incomplete. It is a “making present” of something that is beyond the congregation—from outside, not from within. “Ad orientem” underscores the incomplete aspect of it and that the worshipping community is directed toward God, not directed toward itself. The reality above comes to be within the community because the community is open to the outside, not closed within itself. "Ad orientem" does a better job of expressing this.

There is the orientation to the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit. Here, the Son leads his people in the Spirit to the Father. The Son acts through the person of the ministerial priest and through him offers the Eucharistic sacrifice and leads the congregation to the Father, which is why the prayers of the priest are generally directed to the Father, not to the Son. The Liturgy of the Eucharist is a participation in the Son’s gift of himself to the Father, not foremost the Son’s dialogue with his people. Hence the “ad orientem”, which has the people and the priest-Christ together dialoguing with the Father. “Versus populum” tends to convey the notion of a dialogue between Christ and his people, which is not what the Eucharistic liturgy is mainly about.

There is the orientation of the Church as bridegroom toward her presently-unseen eschatological bride who is to come “from the east”. The Eucharist proclaims the Lord’s sacrifice until he comes “from the East”, so offering the sacrifice “ad orientem” underscores the provisional, anticipatory nature of the Eucharistic sacrifice and the people’s orientation toward the fullness of Trinitarian life to come when the Bridegroom comes to receive his Bride and to celebrate his eschatological supper.

One more point: it doesn't seem correct to say that in "versus populum" the people and the priest face the same way--toward the altar. They don't face the same way, even if they face the same thing--the altar. They face the same thing from different directions. There orientations are different.

In "ad orientem" priest and people face the same way and face the same thing--the altar.

Of course we shouldn't make more of this than is necessary. The "versus populum" Mass in which I participated today worshipped God, not the congregation. It is a question of which physical orientation better captures the central elements of Eucharistic worship as the Church has come to understand it. Having put such an emphasis on the communal dimension of worship, it seems that the dimension that stresses that the community should be oriented toward God in worship has been lost sight of in many instances. "Ad orientem", which is the form in which the Church's worship has been offered in the vast majority of her existence, seems an important way of recovering and underscoring a neglected element.

Finally, "The liturgy," notes Fr. Jonathan Robinson in The Mass and Modernity: Walking to Heaven Backward (Ignatius Press, 2005), "is not supposed to lead to a mindless submersion of the individual in a communal experience; it should, on the contrary, leave the individual with a heightened sense of his own self and lead him deeper into the mystery of God who revealed himself in Jesus Christ and who shares himself with us in the sacraments" (p. 316). Drawing upon Pseudo-Dionysius, Fr. Robinson discusses at length the reality of hierarchy—"a structure or system for 'sourcing' or channeling the sacred"—which is not limited to earthy structures of authority, but "extends beyond the visible Church to include the whole of creation" (pp. 321, 322). This structure is found (or should be found and seen) in the celebration of liturgy, which is a participation in the objective order, or hierarchy, given by God so that he might be properly worshiped and encountered. Part of a restoration or reiteration of this reality, Fr. Robinson insists, is the need for the priest to be ad orientem. His reasons include: the Council documents do not support the requirement of the priest facing the people; secondly, "the present arrangement teaches all the wrong lessons about God and the community"; and, "at the practical level, saying Mass 'facing the people', as it is usually described, has turned priests from being servants at the altar of God into social animators of varying degrees of competence" (p. 326). I think most of us can attest to this unfortunate fact.

Fr. Robinson adds: "Turning toward the altar after the readings from the Scripture, ' conversio ad Dominum,' as St. Augustine puts it, is an action that would turn both priest and people from instruction to worship" (p. 328). And, in the words of Gerald Vann, O.P.: "Worship, then, is not a part of the Christian life: it is the Christian life."

Related IgnatiusInsight.com Articles and Excerpts:

• Foreword to U.M. Lang's Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer | Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
• The Reform of the Liturgy and the Position of the Celebrant at the Altar | Uwe Michael Lang | From Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer (2nd edition)
• The Altar and the Direction of Liturgical Prayer | Excerpt from The Spirit of the Liturgy | Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
• How Should We Worship? | Preface to The Organic Development of the Liturgy by Alcuin Reid, O.S.B. | by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
• Learning the Liturgy From the Saints | An Interview with Fr. Thomas Crean, O.P., author of The Mass and the Saints
• The Mass of Vatican II | Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J.
• Walking To Heaven Backward | Interview with Father Jonathan Robinson of the Oratory
• Does Christianity Need A Liturgy? | Martin Mosebach | From The Heresy of Formlessness: The Roman Liturgy and Its Enemy
• Music and Liturgy | Excerpt from The Spirit of the Liturgy | Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
• Rite and Liturgy | Denis Crouan, STD
• The Liturgy Lived: The Divinization of Man | Jean Corbon, OP
• The Latin Mass: Old Rites and New Rites in Today's World | Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D.
• Worshipping at the Feet of the Lord: Pope Benedict XVI and the Liturgy | Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D.
• Reflections On Saying Mass (And Saying It Correctly) | Fr. James V. Schall, S. J.

Give Your Teen a Head Start

Note: Patrick S.J. Carmack, President of Ignatius-Angelicum Liberal Studies Program, will be a guest on the "On Call"™ program on Relevant Radio, hosted by Wendy Weise, this Wednesday, September 1, 2010, from 2:00-3:00 ET, to talk about The Ignatius-Angelicum Liberal Studies Program and Catholic education.

Give Your Teen a Head Start

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 30—As students head off to college and high schoolers begin deciding what university they want to attend, parents are calculating the cost of higher education. Their conclusion? Costs are escalating out of control. Consider:

• In 2009 tuition and fees at a private, four-year college averaged $26,273 per year. That’s more than $105,000 for a four-year degree.
• In 2020, if recent trends continue, four years of education at a top-tier university will cost $330,000.

As a result, some parents and students already are carrying unsustainable levels of debt.

A viable solution is available! Jesuit Father Joseph Fessio, founder and editor of Ignatius Press, a former student of Pope Benedict XVI and longtime leader in Catholic higher education, is launching a groundbreaking, international college-credit program for Catholic high school students, homeschoolers, and others.

The program, called the Ignatius-Angelicum Liberal Studies Program, is a joint project of Ignatius Press and the Angelicum Great Books Program, a longstanding provider of homeschooling and other liberal arts resources. Father Fessio serves as Chancellor of the new online LSP program, which begins this fall.

“Many good Catholic families are blessed with talented children, but the costs of four years of private college are simply beyond their means,” Father Fessio notes. “Or they don’t want their children to be burdened with tens of thousands of dollars of debt when they graduate.”

The online program provides high school students, homeschoolers and others with the solid foundation of a liberal arts education in the Catholic tradition – and at an affordable cost. Enrollment is booming as home-schooling parents and students, as well as non-homeschoolers and even Catholic high schools, learn of the benefits of this special online and distance mode of Catholic higher education.

“Great Books education is central to the Liberal Studies Program,” Angelicum Academy President Pat Carmack observes. “It takes its inspiration from the philosopher and renowned educator Dr. Mortimer J. Adler, the former editor-in-chief of the ‘Encyclopedia Britannica’ and the ‘Great Books of the Western World.’ Adler called for a reform of American education, which included providing many high school students with a college-level education in the liberal arts.”

The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College states:

To our knowledge, there is nothing quite like the Angelicum Great Books Program, which has educated teenage and young adult Catholics for nearly 10 years. It offers an entirely online and distance education curriculum that can be studied from home or anywhere else at low cost, while still hewing to a classical approach to education, including reading directly from the Great Books and Socratic discussion groups (via live communications over the Internet). Inspired by Thomas Aquinas College (also recommended in The Newman Guide) and the former Pearson Integrated Humanities Program at Kansas University, the series of eight courses combine high academic standards with a strong and faithful Catholic emphasis.

Fidelity to the teaching of the Catholic Church is fundamental to the Liberal Studies Program. The Venerable Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Constitution on Catholic higher education, Ex Corde Ecclesiae, guides the program’s understanding of its Catholic mission.

For more information about the Liberal Studies Program or to schedule an interview with Father Fessio or Pat Carmack, please contact Christine Schicker with The Maximus Group at (404) 610-8871.

Related Links:

• More about the Liberal Studies Program
• Join The Liberal Studies Program – Fall Online Classes Start Soon (Great Books Blog)
• LSP/Online Angelicum Great Books Program Enrollment Form
• Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J., Launches New Catholic College-Credit Online Program (Ignatius Insight, May 10, 2010)

Faith and Deeds: An Augustinian Sermon

Faith and Deeds: An Augustinian Sermon | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. | August 30, 2010 | Ignatius Insight

In the Breviary for Sunday of 22d Week is found a sermon of Augustine entitled, "The Lord Has Pity on Us." The title is a statement, not a plea. Many of the Reformation themes of faith and works are found in this sermon, with the right emphasis on both. Today, I suppose, fewer people will acknowledge our doing anything that might deserve the divine pity. We are autonomous. We make our own laws. We plan our own lives.

The sermon begins: "Happy are we if we do the deeds of which we have heard and sung" Not either words or deeds, but we are to do the deeds of which we have heard and sung. If we hear of such deeds, we know about them. If we do them, the word now heard becomes a seed eventually to bear fruit. Augustine cautions us, however, "not to enter the Church fruitlessly."

Faith and knowledge are necessary, but they are not enough if nothing happens because of them. Augustine then cites Paul who tells us that "We have been saved by His grace, not by our works." If we do not know this fact, we will be tempted to boast of our own power.

In what might be called a classic anti-Pelagian passage, Augustine tells us that "It is not as if a good life of some sort came first, and that thereupon God showed his love and esteem for it from on high." In that sense, we would, in effect, save ourselves. We do not possess this power. Are we to do nothing good then? Not that either. We are to do good works all right, but not as if we are ourselves original sources of everything. What can this mean?

Read the entire essay...

Humility, Wisdom, and Moral Realism

A Scriptural reflection on the readings for the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time | Carl E. Olson

Readings:
• Sir. 3:17-18, 20, 28-29
• Psa. 68:4-5, 6-7, 10-11
• Heb. 12:18-19, 22-24a
• Lk. 14:1, 7-14

“Humility,” Evangelical theologian James Houston once wrote, “is moral realism.” That simple definition stuck with me over the years because it points to the ethical and philosophical dimensions of the virtue of humility. Humility is rooted in the knowledge that some actions are right and good while others are wrong and evil. It also demands an unflinching assessment of who we are and, ultimately, who God is—and, finally, who we are in relationship to God.

Today’s first reading is from Sirach—also known by its Latin title, Ecclesiasticus—one of five works of Wisdom literature in the Old Testament. (Protestant Bibles don’t count Sirach or Wisdom among the canonical texts, but sometimes include them and five other “deutero-canonical” books in an appendix.) Fittingly, about 75% of the 400 references in the Old Testament to wisdom are found in the Wisdom literature, and humility is a trait often closely associated with those who are wise. For the Old Testament authors, wisdom referred to many interrelated abilities and virtues, ranging from the skill of a craftsman to cleverness to personal holiness.

Wisdom literature often drew upon elements of Greek philosophy and rhetoric while seeking to show that true wisdom flowed not from Athens, but from Jerusalem. This wisdom was not simply human understanding, but a knowledge of the living God who is the giver of wisdom, especially to those are humble in spirit: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Prov. 9:10).

Jesus, the model of humility, is the personification of wisdom. “Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom…” Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth, “but to those who are called Jews and Greek alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:23, 24).

Both the wisdom and humility of Jesus are revealed further in today’s Gospel reading. Throughout Luke’s Gospel there are numerous conflicts between Jesus and the Pharisees, the legal experts who interpreted and explained the Law for many of the Jewish people. Jesus had already argued with Pharisees while eating meals (Lk. 5:29; 7:36; 11:37) and had debated some of the Pharisees over the issue of what sort of activities were allowable on the Sabbath (Lk. 6:1). As Luke Timothy Johnson notes in his commentary, “If Jesus eats a meal with a Pharisee on the Sabbath, there surely will be conflict!”

The Evangelist masterfully captures the tension by noting that the other people at the meal “were observing [Jesus] carefully” and that Jesus, likewise, noticed the priorities and actions of those present. This was followed by Jesus’ remarks, which unfolded in two parts.

First, He provided a sort of practical exhortation on humility that was focused mostly on external actions: “Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place.” This was said to sophisticated Jewish leaders who had likely been influenced to a significant degree by Hellenistic culture, in which humility was considered a sign of weakness. So Jesus’ famous remark—“For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted”—would have been disquieting enough by itself, even though it was a reiteration of teachings found in the Wisdom literature (cf. Prov. 25:6-7).

But Jesus went deeper, past the external actions to the heart of the matter, which was not limited to temporal affairs but concerned eternity and the judgment of God. Do not invite your friends and family, Jesus exhorts the host, but “invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.” These were the unfortunate and lowly souls who were forbidden by the Law from the priesthood (Lev 21:17-21) and were—according to some of the stricter Jewish sects—thought to be unfit to participate in God’s great banquet at the end of time.

Just as He did in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was casting the light of eternity on the moral choices made in this world by teaching that without authentic humility we will not know or see God.

(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in a slightly different form in the September 2, 2007, issue of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)

Britain can benefit more from Benedict XVI's visit...

... if it appreciates that the Pope is one of the most insightful observers and honest critics of secularism and modernity. George Weigel explains in this piece for Standpoint magazine, highlighting Ratzinger's dialogues with Marcello Pera (Without Roots) and Jürgen Habermas ( The Dialectics of Secularization: On Reason and Religion):

If his 2004 debate with Habermas and his lecture to the Italian Senate three months later give us, in capsule form, Ratzinger's analysis of Europe's cultural condition today, what role does he envisage for the Catholic Church in helping repair the damage that nihilism, scepticism and relativism have done to what he called, in the Italian Senate, "that which holds the world together"? 

Pope Benedict has sometimes been accused of being a nostalgic for the intact (Catholic) culture of his Bavarian youth, which was first destroyed by the Third Reich and then supplanted by a new Germany that eventually turned its back on both its Catholic and Lutheran roots. There is something to this, but Ratzinger is far too intelligent a man and far too sophisticated an analyst of the tides of history to imagine that any kind of rollback to a pre-modern (or pre-postmodern) past is possible. Rather, his first obligation, as he understands it, is to make Europe look closely at itself, in the unsparing but non-scolding way he did in the Italian Senate in early 2004: 

"At the hour of its greatest success, Europe seems hollow, as if it were internally paralysed by a failure of its circulatory system that is endangering its life, subjecting it to transplants that erase its identity. At the same time as its sustaining spiritual forces have collapsed, a growing decline in its ethnicity is also taking place.

"Europe is infected by a strange lack of desire for the future. Children, our future, are perceived as a threat to the present, as if they were taking something away from our lives. Children are seen as a liability rather than as a source of hope. There is a clear comparison between today's situation and the decline of the Roman Empire. In its final days, Rome still functioned as a great historical framework, but in practice it was already subsisting on models that were destined to fail. Its vital energy had been depleted." 

Having held the mirror of reality up to faces that might have been reluctant to gaze into it, for fear of what they could find there, the man who became Benedict XVI then urged his audience of Italian political leaders to reject Spenglerian gloom and to refuse to concede that the West was "rushing heedlessly toward its demise". Rather, he proposed that men and women of conscience adopt a vision of possibility drawn from Arnold Toynbee, in which "the energy of creative minorities and exceptional individuals" can lead to a revitalisation of culture that will allow "the inner identity of Europe to survive throughout its metamorphoses in history". 

The Catholic Church, Benedict XVI believes, can be one of those "creative minorities" in 21st- century Europe and indeed throughout the West. To be that, the Church must regain a clear sense of its own identity, primarily through a resacralisation of its worship. It must recover a firm grasp on the truths it proposes, putting behind it the "liberalism" in religion that John Henry Newman deplored. It must raise up a generation of bishops and priests who are persuasive evangelists and witnesses, according to the model established by John Paul II. It must demonstrate, not so much by argument as by sanctity and beauty, that it offers the men and women of today a path on which they can encounter "that which holds the world together." 

And to do all of that, the Church must purge itself of its corruptions, a point on which Pope Benedict has been insistent for years, most recently in regard to the appalling defaults of Irish Catholicism. This will take some time, given the density of clerical culture and the fact that popes are not, pace media distortions, absolute monarchs who can effect massive institutional change at the click of a finger. It will probably take more time than Anglophone cultures will like, given the still-languid, Italianate ways of the Vatican. No one should doubt, however, that Benedict XVI understands that, for the Church to become the "creative minority" of his imagination, it must be a credible minority that lives the truths it proclaims and deals decisively with those in its midst who betray the trust given them. 

Benedict's vision of the Church in Europe's future has nothing to do with the rebuilding of a mythical ancien régime. He has shown himself sympathetic to the desire of some Catholics to worship according to the old ways, but he has no truck with the restorationist political fantasies that are at the root of the Lefebvrist movement. As he sees the Catholic future, in Britain and elsewhere, the public task of the Church is to form alliances with those who understand that the democratic project requires a far more secure moral cultural foundation than that offered by pragmatism or utilitarianism. And in the Pope's mind, those alliances should be built in a genuinely intercultural and pluralistic way, formed around the truths we can know to be true as a result of putting various religious and philosophical traditions into vigorous conversation.

That is the proposal of the man who will beatify Newman and challenge Britons to lift themselves out of the slough of secularist despond. If that proposal gets drowned out by a cacophony of media scandal-mongering (itself amplified by the usual Vatican communications incompetence), and by the antics of the New Atheists (to which British and American editors seem curiously addicted), Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, will not be the loser.

Read the entire piece. As for the "curious addiction" of editors to the antics of the "new atheists," my guess is that Weigel is being coy. He knows as well as anyone that small minds "think" alike.

Related IgnatiusInsight.com Articles:

• Faith in the Triune God, and Peace in the World | Joseph Ratzinger | From Europe: Today and Tomorrow
• Pope Benedict XVI On Natural Law | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
• The Two (And Only Two) Cities | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
• Secularity: On Benedict XVI and the Role of Religion in Society | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
• "A Requirement of Intellectual Honesty": On Benedict and the German Bishops | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
• Intellectual Charity: On Benedict XVI and the Canadian Bishops | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
• The Temptation of the Earthly City: Tolkien's Augustinian Vision | Dr. Jose Yulo
• The State Which Would Provide Everything | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
• Are Truth, Faith, and Tolerance Compatible? | Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
• Why Do We Need Faith? | Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
• Author Page for Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI

Benedict and Augustine: "the believer scrutinizes the truth to be able to find God and to believe."

From Pope Benedict XVI's January 30, 2008, general audience, the third of five audiences dedicated to the great Doctor:

Today's Catechesis, however, is dedicated to the subject of faith and reason, a crucial, or better, the crucial theme for St Augustine's biography. As a child he learned the Catholic faith from Monica, his mother. But he abandoned this faith as an adolescent because he could no longer discern its reasonableness and rejected a religion that was not, to his mind, also an expression of reason, that is, of the truth. His thirst for truth was radical and therefore led him to drift away from the Catholic faith. Yet his radicalism was such that he could not be satisfied with philosophies that did not go to the truth itself, that did not go to God and to a God who was not only the ultimate cosmological hypothesis but the true God, the God who gives life and enters into our lives.

Thus, Augustine's entire intellectual and spiritual development is also a valid model today in the relationship between faith and reason, a subject not only for believers but for every person who seeks the truth, a central theme for the balance and destiny of every human being. These two dimensions, faith and reason, should not be separated or placed in opposition; rather, they must always go hand in hand. As Augustine himself wrote after his conversion, faith and reason are "the two forces that lead us to knowledge" (Contra Academicos, III, 20, 43). In this regard, through the two rightly famous Augustinian formulas (cf. Sermones, 43, 9) that express this coherent synthesis of faith and reason: crede ut intelligas ("I believe in order to understand") - believing paves the way to crossing the threshold of the truth - but also, and inseparably, intellige ut credas ("I understand, the better to believe"), the believer scrutinizes the truth to be able to find God and to believe.

Augustine's two affirmations express with effective immediacy and as much corresponding depth the synthesis of this problem in which the Catholic Church sees her own journey expressed. This synthesis had been acquiring its form in history even before Christ's coming, in the encounter between the Hebrew faith and Greek thought in Hellenistic Judaism. At a later period this synthesis was taken up and developed by many Christian thinkers. The harmony between faith and reason means above all that God is not remote: he is not far from our reason and our life; he is close to every human being, close to our hearts and to our reason, if we truly set out on the journey.

• Benedict and Augustine (April 21, 2007)
• "Augustine’s 'Confessions' and the Harmony of Faith and Reason" (July 26, 2010)

Related Book from Ignatius Press:

• Church Fathers and Teachers: From Leo The Great to Peter Lombard  | Pope Benedict XVI
•  Church Fathers: From Clement of Rome to Augustine | Pope Benedict XVI
• Benedict XVI: An Intimate Portrait  | Peter Seewald
• Christ, Our Joy: The Theological Vision of Pope Benedict XVI | Msgr. Joseph Murphy
• Pope Benedict XVI: The Conscience of Our Age (A Theological Portrait) | Fr. D. Vincent Twomey, S.V.D.

St. Augustine's spiritual ladder and seven rules for reading Scripture

The Scriptural Roots of St. Augustine's Spirituality | Stephen N. Filippo | IgnatiusInsight.com

Perhaps of all the Church Fathers, none shone so brightly as St. Augustine (351-430). Augustine's spirituality has deeply pervaded the Church right up to this very day. Two great Orders in the Church (just to cite a few), the Benedictines and the Franciscans took their spirituality directly from St. Augustine. St. Augustine's spirituality came into the Benedictine Order primarily through St. Anselm (1033-1109) and into the Franciscans primarily through St. Bonaventure (1221-1274). Both these men were in themselves, also great lights in the Church.

Of course, no discussion of Church giants can be complete without mentioning St. Thomas Aquinas, who is best described as 'following St. Augustine in Theology and Aristotle in Philosophy.' In sum, the Church gets her Dogmatic Theology primarily through St. Augustine. Since Spiritual Theology is based upon the correct Dogmatic Theology, it only makes sense that one of the Church's greatest Theologians, St. Augustine, is also responsible for a great deal of her Spiritual Theology.

And for St. Augustine, as it should be for all Catholics, this means a deep concentration and constant reflection on Sacred Scripture. The scriptural roots of St. Augustine's spirituality can be clearly seen by examining one of his greatest, yet lesser known works, De doctrina Christiana, literally "On Christian Doctrine," but actually "On how to read and interpret Sacred Scripture."

In De doctrina Christiana (henceforth "DDC"), St. Augustine lays the groundwork for a good, spiritual exegesis by elucidating on the virtue of charity, and all that means. Then, in order to begin the climb to spiritual perfection, he explains a scripturally based seven-step ladder. Lastly, he gives seven rules that are helpful in reading and understanding Sacred Scripture correctly.

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Do You Know "The Biblical Story of the Mass?"

Thomas Nash, author of Worthy is the Lamb: The Biblical Roots of the Mass (Ignatius Press, 2004), is co-hosting a 13-part EWTN series, "The Biblical Story of the Mass," that kicks off this Sunday at 5:00 EST:

Irondale, AL (EWTN) – As a Catholic, do you ever wonder why Jesus is referred to as “the Lamb of God” or why the “Body and Blood” of our Lord distributed at Communion time still look and taste like ordinary bread and wine? If the biblical story of the Mass did not begin at the Last Supper, where did it begin? Answers to these and many more questions will be provided in EWTN’s exclusive new 13-part series, “The Biblical Story of the Mass,” which will air 5 p.m. ET Sundays (with a re-air at 2:30 a.m. ET Fridays), beginning Aug. 29.

If you really want to understand what’s happening at Mass, why the priest and people have distinct liturgical roles, why the Eucharist is the best path to a more personal relationship with Jesus Christ and the Trinity – and a whole lot more -- tune into this challenging new series.

Hosted by EWTN Theology Advisor Tom Nash and Fr. Wade Menezes, this lively, conversational program is partially based on Nash’s book, “Worthy is the Lamb: The Biblical Roots of the Mass” (Ignatius Press). Nash is also co-author of “Catholic for a Reason III: Scripture and the Mystery of the Mass.” Fr. Wade is the well-known host of numerous EWTN series, including “The Ten Commandments of Catholic Family Life,” and “Gospel of Life vs. Culture of Death”.

“When St. Paul mentions the Lord’s Supper, most Protestant Christians view the ritual as simply a symbolic meal, which recalls Christ’s redemptive work that they believe began and ended on the Cross,” says Nash. “Wouldn’t you like to be able to defend the Catholic belief with biblical and historical evidence?”

Tune in this fall and learn what really happens on the altar each Sunday!

Here is the introduction to an Ignatius Insight interview with Nash about his book:



Thomas J. Nash’s book, Worthy Is The Lamb: The Biblical Roots of the Mass, is both profoundly insightful and highly readable. In it he refutes, in a resoundingly biblical fashion, the common charge that the Mass is "unbiblical".

From the Garden of Eden to Christ’s Ascension, Nash illustrates how the biblical roots of the Mass go much deeper than the Last Supper and Christ’s Passion. Old Testament sacrifices like Abel’s, Abraham’s and the Passover all prefigure and are fulfilled by Christ’s Sacrifice. Indeed, Nash shows how Christ’s Sacrifice has two distinct, yet inseparable phases: What began on the Cross culminated in everlasting glory when Jesus entered once for all into the heavenly holy of holies.

In other words, at Mass the Church does not become present at the foot of the Cross in sorrow but rather to a never-ending, heavenly drama in joyful celebration, offering and partaking of Christ’s Sacrifice according to the priestly order of Melchizedek! As the renowned apologist Frank Sheed concisely observed, "The essence of the Mass is that Christ is making an offering to the Father of Himself, Who was stain for upon Calvary The Mass is Calvary, as Christ now offers it to His Father."

In a time when the Catholic Church is under attack from within and without, Worthy Is the Lamb reminds the faithful why they believe and where they are heading, that the Mass is, as Vatican II affirms, "the source and summit of the whole Christian life". This book will transform your understanding of and participation in the Mass.

Dr. Scott Hahn, noted theologian and co-author of Rome Sweet Home, states: "It’s high time Catholics discovered the Old Testament roots of our Church’s worship and priesthood. The New Covenant did not abolish the Old, but fulfilled and transformed it. Our Lord wants us to experience the reality of the Mass in all its fullness, and that’s what Tom Nash wants you to know."

And Steve Ray, author of Upon This Rock and St. John's Gospel, writes, "A sprout emerges from the seed, then a tree from the sprout. In the same way the Church and the sacraments emerge from the Jewish Scriptures—the Old Testament. To understand the Passover Lamb and ceremonies of ancient Israel is to fully appreciate Our Lord Jesus, the Mass, and the Catholic Church, Nash has done us all a great service by pulling back the curtain and blowing away the mist, giving us a glimpse back in time and forward through eternity, enabling us to clearly see and appreciate Our Lord in the Eucharist in all his rich glory-prefigured in the Old Testament and revealed in the New.

IgnatiusInsight.com: What prompted you to write your book?

Thomas J. Nash: I had long thought of doing an apologetics book on the biblical basis of the Catholic Church for Emmaus Road Publishing, which is the publishing house of my employer, Catholics United for the Faith (CUF). But I learned that someone else had been signed up for a similar book, and, amidst my disappointment, I prayed about which direction to proceed. I came to the conclusion that a book on the biblical story or roots of the Mass would be a good one, because there wasn’t really one that filled this niche in the Catholic marketplace on the popular/scholarly level.

When I say the biblical roots of the Mass, I refer to the heart of the Mass—the Sacrifice of the Mass-and how that Sacrifice was prefigured in Old Testament offerings and fulfilled in Christ’s one Sacrifice in the New Testament. While many apologetics books made worthwhile, New Testament-based arguments for the Eucharist in the midst of covering other doctrinal topics, I didn’t see any book that cultivated a biblical overview of the Sacrifice of the Mass. Different authors affirmed my conclusion.

Because it makes present Christ’s one Sacrifice of Calvary, the Mass is the both the source and summit of the Catholic life, as Vatican II reminds us. The Mass is fundamental in showing us where we’ve come from and where we’re going in salvation history, and it is also provides us the strength-Jesus Himself—for us to get there and help others do the same. The Mass is also misunderstood both by many Catholics and Protestants, with Catholics often vulnerable to biblical arguments against the Mass.

Given these various reasons, I thought a good biblical exposition of the Mass was much needed. My goal was to write a book that would be accessible and engaging to the average layman, yet, in doing so, lead the reader to better appreciate the profound theological realities that are wrapped up in the Sacrifice of the Mass. For example, how can Jesus have died once on Calvary, yet have his Sacrifice re-presented 2,000 years later by the Church? I had written significantly on the biblical basis of the Mass as a graduate student and that—and others’ writings—provided a good basis on how to proceed.

Read the entire interview.

Twilight for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development?

Phil Lawler has penned an important piece for CatholicCulture.org about the increased call, from laity and bishops, to reform (if possible) the lefty, seriously compromised CCHD:

For more than 25 years, since the days of the Reagan administration, conservative Catholics have complained that the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), the official “anti-poverty” effort of the US bishops’ conference, has become too closely allied with leftist political causes—in some cases even funding radical groups that promote causes such as legal abortion and same-sex marriage. At long last, those criticisms have begun to have a serious impact.

Last year ten American bishops dropped out of the nationwide collection to support the CCHD. This year the US bishops’ conference (USCCB) is conducting a thorough review of CCHD policies. And judging from the level of concern about supporters of the current CCHD policies, that review could produce a welcome reform of the organization’s approach. [See today's CWN lead headline story]

American Catholics who would like to see a dramatic change in the CCHD should contact their bishops this week to voice their concerns about the organization’s recent track record. The bishops have until Friday, August 27, to respond to a document that suggests minor changes in CCHD guidelines. If enough American bishops call for more sweeping changes, the November meeting of the USCCB could see a truly significant debate, and perhaps an important institutional reform.

Read the entire piece. Also visit the "Reform the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD)" site.

The great Father George W. Rutler...

... lays into liturgical experts:

A genius of the Latin rite has been its virile precision, even bluntness. Contrast this with the unsettled grammar of “alternative opening prayers” in the original books from ICEL (the International Commission on English in the Liturgy), whose poesie sounds like Teilhard on steroids.

They were much wordier than the Latin collects or their English equivalents, and gave the impression of having been composed by fragile personalities who had not had a happy early home life. So too, the Prayers of the Faithful cloyingly pursued “themes” usually inspired by an undisciplined concern for air pollution and third world debt.

I think there should be few options in the Liturgy, and no attempt to be “creative,” for that is God’s particular talent. As Vatican II taught in Sacrosanctum Concilium, "[T]here must be no innovations unless the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them; and care must be taken that any new forms adopted should in some way grow organically from forms already existing.”

Unfortunately, we have not yet resolved the problem of the simply bad Lectionary texts. While the Jerusalem Bible and Revised Standard Version are licit, only the Revised New American Bible is accessible for parish use. The Jerusalem Bible is a tool for study but was translated with a tin ear.

I grew up with the King James translation and thus am stunned when Job 38:17 (“Hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?”) is given as “Have you met the janitors of Shadowland?” So Sheol becomes a theme park.

But none of this matches the torture of the trans-gendered RNAB which manages to neuter every creature except Satan who remains male. Our Lord sometimes sounds like the Prince of Wales: “What profit is there for one to gain the whole world …?” and other times like a bored anthropologist: “Two people went up to the temple to pray….” But then the inevitable pronouns kick in and we find out that even after the liturgical gelding, these were men.

Read the entire piece over at First Things. The entire piece is humorous, but this very serious point is, I think, one that cannot be ignored:

While I am glad for the new and more accurate translation of the Mass, which is not perfection but closer to it than one deserves in an imperfect world, a far more important reform would be the return of the ad orientem position of the celebrant as normative. It is the antidote to the tendency of clerisy to impose itself on the people. When a celebrant at Mass stops and says, “This is not about me,” you may be sure he thinks it may be about him. It would be harder for him to harbor that suspicion were he leading the people humbly to the east and the dawn of salvation.

I've now been attending a Byzantine Catholic parish for over ten years, and I find that when I do, on occasion, go to Mass at a Western rite parish, it is versus populum that is most disconcerting. It's hard to describe, but there is a sense of claustrophobia—not a physical sensation, but a constant, jarring pull to focus, focus, focus on the priest, almost to the exclusion of anything else. Whereas, in the Divine Liturgy, there is a clear and freeing distinction between those moments when the priest turns to bless the people (which he does several times through the liturgy) and those moments when he leads the people in prayer to God. That is an inadequate and rushed way of putting it; Fr. Lang does a far better job of explaining it in his book on the topic:

The Reform of the Liturgy and the Position of the Celebrant at the Altar | Uwe Michael Lang | From Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer (2nd edition)

The reform of the Roman Rite of Mass that was carried out after the Second Vatican Council has significantly altered the shape of Catholic worship. One of the most evident changes was the construction of freestanding altars.  The versus populum celebration was adopted throughout the Latin Church, and, with few exceptions, it has become the prevailing practice during Mass for the celebrant to stand behind the altar facing the congregation. This uniformity has led to the widespread misunderstanding that the priest's "turning his back on the people" is characteristic of the rite of Mass according to the Missal of Pope Saint Pius V whereas the priest's "turning towards the people" belongs to the Novus Ordo Mass of Pope Paul VI. It is also widely assumed by the general public that the celebration of Mass "facing the people" is required, indeed even imposed, by the liturgical reform that was inaugurated by Vatican II.

However, the relevant conciliar and post-conciliar documents present quite a different picture. The Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, speaks neither of a celebration versus populum nor of the setting up of new altars. In view of this fact it is all the more astonishing how rapidly "versus populum altars" appeared in Catholic churches all over the world. [1] The instruction Inter Oecumenici, prepared by the Consilium for the carrying out of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy and issued on September 26, 1964, has a chapter on the designing of new churches and altars that includes the following paragraph:

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"Benedict XVI has dared to do it." | The Preface to "The Old Mass and The New"

"Benedict XVI has dared to do it." | The Preface to The Old Mass and The New: Explaining the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI | Bishop Marc Aillet | Ignatius Insight

Benedict XVI has dared to do it. Announced as forthcoming for months, awaited by some with frantic impatience, dreaded by others with some anxiety, the motu  proprio was finally published on July 7, 2007, with the title of Summorum Pontificum. It was accompanied by a personal letter from the Pope to the bishops, to explain the reasons for his decision. [1]

The press, whether ill-informed or ill-intentioned, denounced the victory of traditionalist pressure groups, considerably overestimating their influence on the Pope, who is said to be "conservative". It said nothing, on the other hand, about the pressure that may have been brought to bear on him to try to modify his decision: people had even brandished the politico-religious specter of the encouragement that would supposedly be given to the extreme right, since the sociological context of our country was so far beyond the insight of the Roman Curia. [2] In any case, it was the first time in thirty years that some fear for the authority of the bishops where liturgy was concerned [3] and that some objected to the risk of "subjectivism" in the way it was celebrated. And then it was necessary to reassure the directors of the reform, whose goodwill can rightly be acknowledged but who had been sent to work with so little liturgical formation.

The Pope felt quite free to take his time. After "much reflection [and] numerous consultations" and not without having "invoked the Holy Spirit and trusting in the help of God", he made his decision: the old and new Missals are called to coexist in the Church, the first as the extraordinary form, and the second as the ordinary form, of the single Roman rite. People got upset, and certain bishops even gave warm expression to their "perplexity". Yet after a few weeks the excitement subsided, and everyone agreed to respect a desire for communion that cannot be rejected. In any case, for the moment, no one has been inundated with requests.

Read the entire Preface...

Pope Benedict XVI is meeting with Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J., and...

... several other former students in his annual Schülerkereis at Castel Gandolfo. The topic for this gathering, which meets tomorrow and Saturday, is the hermeneutics of the Second Vatican Council. From Rome Reports:



The presentations and discussions from the 2006 conference were published by Ignatius Press in Creation and Evolution. Here's hoping that this year's conference might also be published.

Related Ignatius Insight Links:

• Vatican II and the Ecclesiology of Joseph Ratzinger | The Introduction to Joseph Ratzinger: Life in the Church and Living Theology—Fundamentals of Ecclesiology with Reference to Lumen Gentium | Fr. Maximilian Heinrich Heim
• The Mass of Vatican II | Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J.
• The Renewal of Vatican II: Distractions and Distortions | Douglas Bushman, S.T.L.

Fr. Robert Barron on the "Our Father"

Fr. Barron of Word on Fire reflects on The Lord's Prayer and the necessity of properly understanding who God is (and what he is not) in order to understand what prayer is:



Check out Fr. Barron's DVDs on spirituality, available through Ignatius Press.

Related IgnatiusInsight.com Articles and Book Excerpts:

• Lord, Teach Us To Pray | Fr. Jerome Bertram
• Thirsting and Quenching | Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M.
• Contemplation and the Liturgy | Hans Urs von Balthasar
• Thirsting and Quenching | Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M.
• "Lord, teach us to pray" | Gabriel Bunge, O.S.B.
• Lent and "Our Father": The Path of Prayer | Carl E. Olson

Brumley and Olson Talk Books!

Brumley and Olson Talk Books! | Mark Brumley and Carl E. Olson | August 26, 2010 | Ignatius Insight

Mark Brumley, President of Ignatius Press, and Carl E. Olson, editor of Ignatius Insight, talk about books--specifically, about several recent, new, and upcoming books from Ignatius Press. These include the second volume of Pope Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth, the Ignatius Study Bible (New Testament), and titles about Newman, the "old" and "new" Mass, apologetics, the Inklings, and more.

Listen to mp3 audio file (45:00):



• RIGHT CLICK to download mp3 audio file (21 megs)

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Related Ignatius Insight/Insight Scoop Links:

• New Ignatius Press Books for Summer/Fall 2010 | Insight Scoop
• Get Lost! with Brumley and Olson | Mark Brumley and Carl E. Olson (June 9, 2010)

20% Off New Books from Ignatius Press!

Offer ends Tuesday, August 31th, 2010 at 12:00 midnight EST.
These prices are available online only through Ignatius.com

The newest volumes from the Ignatius Critical Editions are here along with some other great new releases from Ignatius Press. Delve into the new Socrates book from Kreeft, explore the motu proprio and the rich tradition of liturgical reform in The Old Mass and The New or read about the sites of the Early Church in Paths of the Messiah. With such a wide range of new titles, we offer something for everyone at 20% off!

Mansfield Park
Ignatius Critical Editions
Jane Austen
In all things, Jane Austen was a woman of faith. Perhaps nowhere is this more apparent than in Mansfield Park, her most neglected, abused, and misunderstood novel. Like Austen's other novels, it can be fully appreciated only when illuminated by the virtuous life and Christian beliefs of the author herself.

Also available in e-book format

 

Great Expectations
Ignatius Critical Editions
Charles Dickens
Pope John Paul II described Dickens’ books as "filled with love for the poor and a sense of social regeneration . . . warm with imagination and humanity". Such true charity permeates Dickens’ novels and ultimately drives the characters either to choose regeneration or risk disintegration. In Great Expectations, Pip—symbolic of the pilgrim convert—gains both improved fortunes and a growth in wisdom, but as he acquires the latter, he must relinquish the former—ending with a wealth of profound goodness, not of worldly goods.

Also available in e-book format

 

Paths of the Messiah
Sites of the Early Church from Galilee to Jerusalem
Bargil Pixner
Gathered into this one volume are the principal fruits of Father Pixner’s research: explanations of numerous archeological discoveries in the Holy Land accompanied by photos, illustrations and maps. Prepared in collaboration with Professor Rainer Riesner, a Scripture scholar from the University of Dortmund, the chapters bring to light not only those details of interest to the man of science but also the connections between these and early Christianity of interest to the man of faith.

 

Socrates Meets Hume
The Father of Philosophy Meets the Father of Modern Skepticism
Peter Kreeft
In Socrates Meets Hume, Kreeft presents a Socratic examination of enquiry concerning human understanding in relation to the skepticism of Hume, posing questions that challenge the concepts that Hume proposed. Kreeft states that Hume is the “most formidable, serious, difficult-to-refute skeptic in the history of human thought.”

Also available in e-book format

 

The Joy Of Being A Priest
Following the Cure of Ars
Christoph Cardinal Schoenborn
This insightful book on the priesthood is based on a series of six talks that Cardinal Schönborn addressed to an international group of priests in Ars, the village where the famed St. John Vianney served as pastor. Vianney, known as the Curé of Ars, is the patron of the "Year For Priests" announced by Pope Benedict XVI. In these talks, the Cardinal summarized the vocation, challenge, and joy of the priesthood, drawing on the life of the Curé of Ars, the writings of St. Thérèse of Liseux, St. Faustina Kowalska, and many other saints and holy people.

Also available in e-book format as well as audio download

 

The Old Mass and the New
Explaining the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI
Marc Aillet
In July 7, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI released his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, allowing for unprecedented freedom for priests to celebrate the so-called Tridentine Mass, now referred to as the "Extraordinary Form" of the Mass, as opposed to the Mass of Paul VI, or the "Ordinary Form". In this new book by French bishop Marc Aillet, the historical and cultural impetus for the motu proprio as well as the rich tradition of liturgical reform are explored.

 

The Collected Works of G. K. Chesterton, Vol. 10C
Collected Poetry, Part III
G. K. Chesterton
This Volume X, Part III, is the final installment of Dennis Conlon's research: turn-of-the-century poems discovered after the publication of Part II and the poetry of the subsequent years up to 1936 not included in the previous books.

Also available in Hardcover

 

The Prayers and Personal Devotions of Mother Angelica
Edited by Raymond Arroyo
Readers can now experience the personal, daily spiritual practice of Mother Angelica.

Consoling the Heart of Jesus
A Do-It-Yourself Retreat
Br. Michael Gaitley, MIC
This do-it-yourself retreat combines the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius with the teachings of Saints Therese of Lisieux, Faustina Kowalska, and Louis de Montfort.

No Turning Back
A Witness to Mercy
Donald Calloway
Though today a devout Catholic priest, when he was a teenager, becoming a priest was the very last thing anyone ever would have expected of Donald Calloway.

The Catholic Priest, Image of Christ
Through Fifteen Centuries of Art
Edited by Steen Heidemann
This beautiful volume presents 560 moving images of the priesthood, from masterpieces of art across fifteen centuries which vividly illustrate the vocation, call to sanctity, apostolic work, spirituality and liturgical activity of priests.

"Jesus of Nazareth," Vol. 2, due at start of Lent 2011

From ZENIT:

The director of the Vatican's publishing house says Vol. 2 of Benedict XVI's book "Jesus of Nazareth" will be on sale in many languages for the First Sunday of Lent, March 13.

Giuseppe Costa made this announcement Tuesday on Vatican Radio.

The volume is on Christ's passion and death, so publishers are aiming for the timeliness of a Lent release. The book is currently in translation and revision and will be at publishing houses on Jan. 15.
 
Costa explained that contracts have been confirmed with 18 publishing houses, although "it is not discarded that there will be more requests" in the forthcoming months.

In English, Ignatius Press will be publishing the work.

Benedict XVI, who is at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, is working on the third and final volume of the work, Vatican spokesman Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi confirmed last month. This last volume centers on Christ's childhood.

There will be more updates about this highly anticipated book, of course, as they come available.

Abp. Charles J. Chaput: "Two of the biggest lies in the world today..."

... are these: first, that Christianity was of relatively minor importance in the development of the West; and second, that Western values and institutions can be sustained without a grounding in Christian moral principles. [...]

Downplaying the West’s Christian past is sometimes done with the best intentions, from a desire to promote peaceful co-existence in a pluralistic society. But more frequently it’s done to marginalize Christians and to neutralize the Church’s public witness.

The Church needs to name and fight this lie. To be a European or an American is to be heir to a profound Christian synthesis of Greek philosophy and art, Roman law, and biblical truth. This synthesis gave rise to the Christian humanism that undergirds all of Western civilization.

On this point, we might remember the German Lutheran scholar and pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He wrote these words in the months leading up to his arrest by the Gestapo in 1943: “The unity of the West is not an idea but a historical reality, of which the sole foundation is Christ.”

Our societies in the West are Christian by birth, and their survival depends on the endurance of Christian values. Our core principles and political institutions are based, in large measure, on the morality of the Gospel and the Christian vision of man and government. We are talking here not only about Christian theology or religious ideas. We are talking about the moorings of our societies – representative government and the separation of powers; freedom of religion and conscience; and most importantly, the dignity of the human person.

This truth about the essential unity of the West has a corollary, as Bonhoeffer also observed: Take away Christ and you remove the only reliable foundation for our values, institutions and way of life.

That means we cannot dispense with our history out of some superficial concern over offending our non-Christian neighbors. Notwithstanding the chatter of the “new atheists,” there is no risk that Christianity will ever be forced upon people anywhere in the West. The only “confessional states” in the world today are those ruled by Islamist or atheist dictatorships – regimes that have rejected the Christian West’s belief in individual rights and the balance of powers.

I would argue that the defense of Western ideals is the only protection that we and our neighbors have against a descent into new forms of repression – whether it might be at the hands of extremist Islam or secularist technocrats.

Read the entire address (on the Chiesa site), given yesterday in Spisske Podhradie.