What is hope? The Apostle Paul, writing to the Christian community at Rome reminded them that “hope that is seen is no hope at all” (Rom 8:24). Rather, hope is the patient and persevering expectation that God will bring forth good, even when there does not seem to be any visible evidence that this is actually happening.
Welcome to this eve of Halloween celebration. The name “Halloween” itself is derived from anticipation of the feast of All Saints—it is the eve of the hallowed or all saints celebration. So we are on the eve of the eve… Since I stole the name The Far Side from Gary Larson I thought it best to begin with one of his cartoons, literally about the farside!!
Who are your heroes? Who is it that inspires you in the daily endeavors of your life? With the challenges that life presents, all of us stand in need of inspiration in order to face the tasks at hand and to remain faithful to our commitments. It seems that often we discover that inspiration in the memory of people - past and present-whom we think of as "heroic."
Believers or persons of faith should have little difficulty in seeing how their religious conviction affects and is affected by their daily life. Yet for many of us, our daily life is so busy and our world so noisy, that we have less time to reflect than we might like. Procrastination is our familiar companion. And good intentions - as the proverb reminds us - pave the road to hell! My personal reflection on the way faith and circumstances influence each other, is offered as a stimulus to your further reflection on your own faith odyssey.
All faith traditions have rituals and language surrounding those rituals that are important. Understandably there is great sensitivity to any changes in those rituals. On the First Sunday of Advent (27 November 2011), English speaking Roman Catholics will begin using a new English translation of the Roman Missal. In 1963 Vatican II affirmed that Latin was the official language of the Roman liturgy. At the same time it allowed the use of the vernacular. Because of the delicacy and difficulty of producing vernacular worship for the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Paul VI (d.
Presented at the Catholic-Muslim Studies Conference at CTU
This brief essay is written in honor and memory of Samuel Ruiz (1924-2011), Bishop of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico from 1960-2000. It examines Bishop Ruiz's theological reflections on the cultural with the local indigenous communities and the contribution of this dialogue to transforming the missionary approach of the diocese and beyond.
A New Paradigm of Mission Theology in Latin America
