Good morning! We had a great conversation in The Piazza last night, though my mic was acting up, so if you watch it now, you can skip the first 5 minutes.
We talked about the current synod and I made some comparisons to Vatican II. So I thought I would just reiterate the names of the theologians who, in my opinion, were the best interpreters of Vatican II (of those who were actually there), in case you want to read some great 20th century theologians. Here is that group:
Hans urs von Balthazar
Yves Congar
Henri de Lubac
Also, I didn't mention, but should have:
Jean Danielou
Louis Bouyer
And of course: Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI
After Vatican II, the extreme left theologians (like Karl Rahner) took over control of an existing journal, and so these guys on my list started a new one, called Communio - I just finally subscribed to it!
Finally, if you are interested in the response of Karl Barth to Vatican II and the dialogue between Barth and von Balthazar, here are those books:
Saving Karl Barth, by D. Stephen Long (Protestant author)
Dogma and Ecumenism, ed. by Matthew Levering (Catholic editor, but chapters by both Catholics and Protestants)
Dear friends - Please take 10 minutes to watch this personal update from me:
I'm back, up and running, and ready to go - I should have a new JOURNEY episode within the next week or so - and because you are my loyal peeps, here is an exclusive, just-for-you, behind the scenes SNEAK PEEK into my new office:
I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I hope you like the song!
The problem with us men is that often we don't have the wisdom to be a father until we're a grandfather.
This may sounds like some ironic statement that makes you nod your head in agreement but shrug your shoulders in resignation, thinking, well there's nothing we can do about that. But the practical application of that is that it demonstrates how important it is for kids to grow up around their grandparents. But as in our culture the family becomes ever more fractured and spread out, that is harder and harder to do.
Lately I've been thinking that part of the problem is the whole concept of college. It used to be that everyone thought a person had to go to college to make a good living. Not only is that not the case (truck drivers make more money than I do) but now college has gone from useless to actually ruining our kids. But when I went to college, what you were supposed to do is figure out what career you wanted (as if anyone knows that at age 18) and then go away to the college ...
And don't forget, if you would like to read my latest novel:
The Sword and the Clover - just let me know by email.
I'm happy to send you the PDF version, even if you haven't been a monetary supporter of the community - all I ask is that you don't share it with anyone else.
My email address:
Keep in touch!
JIm
If you haven't already signed up - this comes to your inbox no more than once a month, and will keep you updated when new books come out, or when we're leading pilgrimages, etc:
https://jimpapandrea.us16.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=a7c3793af6d238b47f3463784&id=2abdd7219d
