Light of the World

Whatcha wanna chat about?

Just got it and started. Very impressed so far. He really addresses the lifting of the excommunications on the SSPX Bishops and what that was and was not. I have it on my kindle and I have highlighted a bunch of things already to note and ponder.

ebia said:

I don't have anything specific in mind - I just started reading it tonight and thought if others were too...

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Ahh.

I'll be happy to discuss it as we go along.

Room for someone else to jump into the discussion? I also just got it for my 'Kindle for PC'. Looking forward to reading this!

In church, a group of us were wanting to read it together as a book study, and we may yet... after they wait to get a physical copy for Christmas.

He very humbly and touchingly talks about his feelings on becoming Pope and his love for JPII.

Davidnic said:

He very humbly and touchingly talks about his feelings on becoming Pope and his love for JPII.

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When I wasn't a practicing Catholic, I still had a deep respect for JPII. In my generation, he was seen by many to be a pope "for younger people", as he began World Youth Day. Many of my friends went to WYD in 2008 with Pope Benedict, and came back with wonderful stories of faith, and hope, and the awesome Christians they met there, and how great the Mass was. That's honestly one of the biggest things that sparked my interest in "looking into the Catholic Church again".

I'm also currently reading Benedict's book, "Jesus of Nazareth". Now THAT is a book that you need to read very, very slowly. At least, I need to! There are so many nuggets of wisdom and so much food for thought there. Reading that, along with "Light of the World" is going to be my reading for the rest of Advent and Christmas.

ebia said:

"Often this One who is coming has been presented in formulas that, while true, are nevertheless at the same time outmoded. [...] We must therefore try in fact to express the substance as such - but to say it in a new way." (Kindle locations 931-935)

What sort of thing do you think he has in mind?

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Archbishop Chaput , in his book, talks about the address John XXIII gave at the opening of VCII. He said the focus of the council was Aggiornamento and Resourcement. Or, translated: Bringing to date and a return to original sources. I think this plays a lot into what B16 is saying.

He is talking in response to the question shouldn't the Church be speaking in terms of not only where Christ has come but is coming again. The message of the Gospel is eternal and true, but it is not always phrased in a way that can be understood as relevant to the time at hand. It is the job of the Church to safeguard Truth and present it in a relevant way to the people (constantly evangelizing) in a way that is effective but consistent with the Truth and not bowing to Modernism.

This covers all things touched by the Gospel since we can look at the Gospel and sum up much by saying: Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.

This most obviously impacts how the Gospel is applied in Truth to social issues of the day while remaining consistent with the Truth.

I'll add examples. Gotta get ready for work.

Adding.

Examples, I think, would involve the interplay between Dogmatic and Moral theology. What I mean by that is we have the Eternal Truths expressed in Dogma as given in Scripture and Tradition and safeguarded by the Church. Then we have Moral Theology, which deals with how to live those truths in an authentic and faithful manner. The Church, as mother and teacher, guides in all of this. So the Church cries out always: "Prepare the way of the Lord." And as pilgrims on earth journeying to our home in the Kingdom of God we need a moral life to ready our hearts. So the Church proclaims the endlessly true Dogmas that involve things like dignity of all life. But we call back with questions. We ask: How do I do this? How do I respect life in a world that disrespects it? How do I achieve faithfulness in a world of transient values? And the Church teaches us.

But in today world, as in every time, there are specific challenges to that living of the Gospel. And it is in that the Church needs to, as B16 says: "say it in a new way"

Not in a changeable way, but an example is what is the place of dignity in an internet age with those ramifications? The core is the same as day one, but the expression to stay faithful to the core is a different mode at some points. That is what he means by outmoded.

So how does the Church guide in preparing our hearts for God though a moral life faithful to the unchanged Truth given the realities of the age. What are the practical modes the message must be in to contain the same Truth but to open our hearts and guide them in present realities.

It is the great fight against modernism, that wants to change the truth to fit the needs of the time. The Church answers that by showing the constant validity of the unchanging Truths She holds as protector. Where the wold says that the Truth is outdated and obsolete, the Church responds by saying: No, here is that Truth and how to live it faithful to the substance of it in this age.

To me the Truths of human dignity are the ones that are in constant need of that living connection to the living Truth of the Gospel because the changes of the age always bring new challenges and questions.

ebia said:

What sprang to my mind when I read his comment was the way he reimagines purgatory in Spe Salvi, in way that is vastly different to the purgatory of popular imagination and common description. Do you think that would be a fair example?

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Yes and no...more yes than no , although it is a bit of a different way of explaining things it is theologically not really new but it is different from, as you say to popular imagination. But I say yes in a way too because it is not against Tradition but also represents it.

I think the Divine Mercy has a great influence on the thinking he describes on it.

I only add "and no" because some still debate on what it means so it is hard to get a handle on it fully and he does not present it as his idea but more brings it up for discussion as what some theologians have proposed as possible. So it is not as clear and act of representing with connection to the eternal Truth as other things.

But basically yes, the Church represents with a constant theological core and connection to the Truth the eternal dogmas in a way to be lived in whatever time She is speaking. It is the shield against the modernist view that actually changes the Dogma to the time.

I have to remember when I get off work and when the baby naps that there is a section I want to mention where he talks about you do not leave and let others do what should be done but stand up yourself. I found that whole section to transcend the topic they were discussing and point greatly to the man himself.

ebia said:

Finished the book today - it's certainly an accessible book and something I would heartily recommend everyone read for a better insight into +Benedict.

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My wife and I both loved the first book like this with the same author: God and The World

I hope to finish it this weekend. Just loving the new Kindle.

Finished it last night, it was really good. I have about a dozen parts highlighted or noted so I can talk about it here. If the students are not too crazy at work tonight I'll add some here. It is exam week so we will likely be hopping at work for about 3 days.