Skip to main content

Like a child

From the conclusion of Chapter One of Ratzinger's Introduction to Christianity:
Christian faith is more than the option in favour of a spiritual ground to the world; its central formula is not "I believe in something", but "I believe in you ." It is the encounter with the man Jesus, and in this encounter it experiences the meaning of the world as a person. In Jesus' life from the Father, in the immediacy and intensity his converse with him in prayer, and, indeed, face to face, he God's witness, through whom the intangible has become tangible, the distant has drawn near... He is the presence of the eternal itself in this world. In his life, in the unconditional devotion of himself to men, the meaning of the world is present before us; it vouchsafes itself to us as a love that loves even me and makes life worth living by this incomprehensible gift of a love free from any threat of fading away or any tinge of egotism. ... Christian faith lives on the discovery that not only is there such a thing as objective meaning but that this meaning knows and loves me, that I can entrust myself to it like a child...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Mirror of the just man

Ecce Homo I haven't done a quote from Pope Ratzinger's Introduction to Chistianty in a while and even though I have finished the book there are still one or two passages I want to share, including - perhaps even especially - this one. When I first began to look over what Christianity teaches, to look at the gospel story and to try penetrate why it has been so compelling to so many for so long, this was one of the things that leapt out at me. I was happy to see our Pope confirm it. Expanding on the Apostles Creed where it says "... suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried," Ratzinger writes: The fact that when the perfectly just man appeared he was crucified, delivered up by justice to death, tells us pitilessly who man is: Thou art such, man, that thou canst not bear the just man - that he who simply loves becomes a fool, a scourged criminal, an outcast. Thou art such because, unjust thyself, thou dost always need the injustice of the n...

Last minute christmas suggestions

Suggestions fror the coming Christmas season: Loreena McKennit , Songs for the Season . Even though McKennit has not released an album in something like a decade, I've only just discovered her and she's amazing. This little EP has only five songs on it and Canadians can pick it up on iTunes for about $4 and change. Amazon wants ten US bucks... Richard Proulx and the Cathedral Singers, Catholic Latin Classics . It's not a Christmas album per se, but it'll sound terrific. Magnificat . This is a really nice daily missal. Fourteen issues a year include two special editions for Holy week and Christmas. Each issue has all of the masses for each day of the month, and a couple of features about historical artworks, poems, and faith issues. These are really nice and I'm glad my wife has deemed me worthy of one.

Redemptionis Sacramentum

Thank you to Rick and Kristina and others who commented on my post about our parish's liturgical meeting this past weekend, and to Tony , who sent a very supportive e-mail. Rick and Kristina pointed me towards a document called Redemptionis Sacramentum , which will be quite helpful, I think. Looking back at the Easter mime incident, for example, I can see issues with Chapter 3, sections 58 to 63. A summary of the document can be found here .