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Tag Archives: Jubilee of Hope
A Thanksgiving Reminder: 1 Timothy 6:6-11, 17-19
A new suggestion for my experience on Thanksgiving Day, and an appropriate companion to the Deuteronomy 8:7-18 reading. Two important reminders for people in my country: a touchstone on religion with contentment, and also a warning for the rich. Let’s … Continue reading
Snacking on the Word: James 5:16b
My parish celebrated Anointing of the Sick at Mass this past weekend. We took advantage of the permission to switch out the Ordinary Sunday’s assigned New Testament reading to the classic one from the letter of James. We’ve touched on … Continue reading
Snacking on the Word: Deuteronomy 10:17-19
Today is World Refugee Day. If you need a Scripture for it, consider this bit from Deuteronomy: For the LORD, your God, is the God of gods, the Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who has no … Continue reading
Snacking on the Word: Romans 8:24-25
If your parish observed a shorter or longer Pentecost Vigil, you would have heard this morsel in the New Testament reading before the Gospel: For in hope we were saved. Now hope that sees is not hope. For who hopes … Continue reading
Spe Salvi 50: A Final Petition to the Blessed Virgin
A Scripture-laden request for intercession concludes this document, which you can find in full online here: 50. So we cry to her: Holy Mary, you belonged to the humble and great souls of Israel who, like Simeon, were “looking for … Continue reading
Spe Salvi 49: Mary, Star of Hope
Modern people think of stars in many ways. The cult of celebrity is strong these days, and sometimes the prefix “super” is needed to distinguish those above our ordinary stars. The older meaning involves guidance, and accompaniment in a time … Continue reading
Spe Salvi 48: Judgment and Hope, Final Thoughts
Let’s finish the topic of Judgement as a setting for learning and practicing hope. In this section, Pope Benedict XVI writes of praying for the dead. Do we have proof of the effectiveness of this practice? No more than most any … Continue reading
Spe Salvi 47: Jesus, The Fire
Continuing the discussion on Judgement as a setting for learning and practicing hope. Pope Benedict XVI cites the encounter with Jesus as a purgation and judgment. Honestly. it sounds like something Pope Francis would teach. Here, you read and decide: … Continue reading
Spe Salvi 46: Between Virtue and Evil, Compromise
46. Yet we know from experience that neither case is normal in human life. Remember, we are talking about folks out-and-out condemned to hell or ushered into santo subito status. Pope Benedict XVI offers a hopeful vibe: For the great … Continue reading
Spe Salvi 45: Is There Hope In or For Purgatory?
The section titled Judgement as a setting for learning and practicing hope takes a look at that mysterious intermediate state between heaven and hell. 45. This early Jewish idea of an intermediate state includes the view that these souls are not simply … Continue reading
Spe Salvi 44: Judgment and Hope, Grace and Justice
44. To protest against God in the name of justice is not helpful. A world without God is a world without hope (cf. Ephesians 2:12). Not helpful for the cause of justice, but complaining to God, and even complaining about … Continue reading
Spe Salvi 43: Last Judgment and More On Learning and Practicing Hope
43. Christians likewise can and must constantly learn from the strict rejection of images that is contained in God’s first commandment (cf. Exodus 20:4). The truth of negative theology was highlighted by the Fourth Lateran Council, which explicitly stated that … Continue reading
Spe Salvi 42: Belief, Non-Belief, and Labor
Let’s delve more deeply in the notion of Judgement as a setting for learning and practicing hope. 42. In the modern era, the idea of the Last Judgement has faded into the background: Christian faith has been individualized and primarily … Continue reading
Spe Salvi 41: The Last Judgment and Hope
We come to the last of three major “settings for learning and practicing hope.” Pope Benedict XVI introduces Judgement as a setting for learning and practicing hope. What does he mean by what we can identify as the Last Judgment? … Continue reading
Spe Salvi 40: Offering It Up
One last thought on Action and suffering as settings for learning hope. 40. I would like to add here another brief comment with some relevance for everyday living. There used to be a form of devotion—perhaps less practiced today but … Continue reading
Catholic Sensibility 