... Verbum Domini, the new Papal document on the importance of the Scriptures. It is, obviously, centred on the Scriptures themselves, and also on the Second Vatican Council's important document, Dei Verbum. This interests me v. much, becuse this, almost more than other documents of Vatican II, has been central to our studies at Maryvale.
Throughout the first half of my adult life, I was often told that the Second Vatican Council had produced nothing of real value, that it would one day be regarded as irrelevant, or that it had been a dreadful mistake. There had been so much post-conciliar muddle that it was easy to accepot this view (although I didn't). Wiser voices, which urged the reading and study of the Council's documents, tended to be drowned out - but when you could hear them, they gave good advice and now we are beginning to see the Council's true fruits. Chief among these has of course been the Catechism of the Catholic Church - another crucial reference-point in Maryvale studies. But we can also note a fresh approach - a logical one, given the development of the Church's doctrine in this area - to religious freedom and to the relationships between Christianity and other faiths. And the message offerred by Benedict XVI on his recent visit to Britain - which proved so attractive, and which won over so many who had thought they were going to haye him - was soaked in the Vatican II approach...
John Henry Newman knew that the Church needed an educated laity: people who could give a good account of what the Church taught and why. It is interesting to see the opportunities for achieving this increasing, not only through the New Movements in the Church with their programmes of study and action, but also through the various educational institutions, and indeed through the Internet. The women who asked for advice and help from Newman as they sought to know more about the Catholic Faith and apply it to their lives were anxious to serve the Church but were limited in the possibilities open to them. Whereas today...
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I know this is a little off topic, but as someone who is traversing through the RCIA, I have struggled with the Catholic understanding of Mary, until tonight, check this out:
Most Excellent Vid on Mariology
I bought a copy of the documents of Vatican II in the mid seventies and read through some of the documents briefly. I thought they were beautiful, but I really got into them when I started to read Pope John Paul's writings. I'm reading George Weigel's book "The End and the Beginning" and remembering what an inspiring person he (PJP) was. I've started reading "Redemptor Hominis" his first encyclical again and also "Verbum Domini". I'm reading them all on my own because I don't have anyone else interested, but it's a pity these writings are not more widely promoted in the Church. I enjoyed the column from the National Post. I'm trying to saturate myself with good reading to counteract all the false views of the Church in the media.
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