Articles - Faith Issues en-us http://www.sces.uk.com N/A http://www.sces.uk.com director@sces.uk.com 20 http://www.sces.uk.com/articles/92/1/Witnesses-to-the-Eucharistic-Christ/Page1.html This homily was given by Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments on June 21, 2008, at the 49th International Eucharistic Congress. director@sces.uk.com (Michael McGrath) Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.sces.uk.com/articles/91/1/The-Eucharist-is-not-a-meal-among-friends/Page1.html Pope Benedict XVI Homily at 49th Eucharistic Congress, Quebec, June 2008Dear Brothers and Sisters, While you are gathered for the 49th International Eucharistic Congress, I am happy to join you through the medium of satellite and thus unite myself to your prayer. I would like first of all to greet the Lord Cardinal Marc Ouellet, archbishop of Quebec, and the Lord Cardinal Jozef Tomko, special envoy for the congress, as well as all the cardinals and bishops present. I also address my cordial greetings to the personalities of civil society who decided to take part in the liturgy. My affectionate thought goes to the priests, deacons and all the faithful present, as well as to all Catholics of Quebec, of the whole of Canada and of other continents. I do not forget that your country celebrates this year the 400th anniversary of its foundation. It is an occasion for each one of you to recall the values that animated the pioneers and missionaries in your country. "The Eucharist, gift of God for the Life of the World," this is the theme chosen for this latest International Eucharistic Congress. The Eucharist is our most beautiful treasure. It is the sacrament par excellence; it introduces us early into eternal life; it contains the whole mystery of our salvation; it is the source and summit of the action and of the life of the Church, as the Second Vatican Council recalled ("Sacrosanctum Concilium," No. 8). It is, therefore, particularly important that pastors and faithful dedicate themselves permanently to furthering their knowledge of this great sacrament. Each one will thus be able to affirm his faith and fulfill ever better his mission in the Church and in the world, recalling that there is a fruitfulness of the Eucharist in his personal life, in the life of the Church and of the world. The Spirit of truth gives witness in your hearts; you also must give witness to Christ before men, as the antiphon states in the alleluia of this Mass. Participation in the Eucharist, then, does not distance us from our contemporaries; on the contrary, because it is the expression par excellence of the love of God, it calls us to be involved with all our brothers to address the present challenges and to make the planet a place where it is good to live. To accomplish this, it is necessary to struggle ceaselessly so that every person will be respected from his conception until his natural death; that our rich societies welcome the poorest and allow them their dignity; that all persons be able to find nourishment and enable their families to live; that peace and justice may shine in all continents. These are some of the challenges that must mobilize all our contemporaries and for which Christians must draw their strength in the Eucharistic mystery. "The Mystery of Faith": this is what we proclaim at every Mass. I would like everyone to make a commitment to study this great mystery, especially by revisiting and exploring, individually and in groups, the Council's text on the Liturgy, "Sacrosanctum Concilium," so as to bear witness courageously to the mystery. In this way, each person will arrive at a better grasp of the meaning of every aspect of the Eucharist, understanding its depth and living it with greater intensity. Every sentence, every gesture has its own meaning and conceals a mystery. I sincerely hope that this Congress will serve as an appeal to all the faithful to make a similar commitment to a renewal of Eucharistic catechesis, so that they themselves will gain a genuine Eucharistic awareness and will in turn teach children and young people to recognize the central mystery of faith and build their lives around it. I urge priests especially to give due honor to the Eucharistic rite, and I ask all the faithful to respect the role of each individual, both priest and lay, in the Eucharistic action. The liturgy does not belong to us: it is the Church's treasure. Reception of the Eucharist, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament -- by this we mean deepening our communion, preparing for it and prolonging it -- is also about allowing ourselves to enter into communion with Christ, and through him with the whole of the Trinity, so as to become what we receive and to live in communion with the Church. It is by receiving the Body of Christ that we receive the strength "of unity with God and with one another" (Saint Cyril of Alexandria, In Ioannis Evangelium, 11:11; cf. Saint Augustine, Sermo 577). We must never forget that the Church is built around Christ and that, as Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Albert the Great have all said, following Saint Paul (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:17), the Eucharist is the sacrament of the Church's unity, because we all form one single body of which the Lord is the head. We must go back again and again to the Last Supper on Holy Thursday, where we were given a pledge of the mystery of our redemption on the Cross. The Last Supper is the locus of the nascent Church, the womb containing the Church of every age. In the Eucharist, Christ's sacrifice is constantly renewed, Pentecost is constantly renewed. May all of you become ever more deeply aware of the importance of the Sunday Eucharist, because Sunday, the first day of the week, is the day when we honor Christ, the day when we receive the strength to live each day the gift of God. I would also like to invite the pastors and faithful to a renewed care in their preparation for reception of the Eucharist. Despite our weakness and our sin, Christ wills to make his dwelling in us, asking him for healing. To bring this about, we must do everything that is in our power to receive him with a pure heart, ceaselessly rediscovering, through the sacrament of penance, the purity that sin has stained, "putting our soul and our voice in accord," according to the invitation of the Council (cf. "Sacrosanctum Concilium," No.11). In fact, sin, especially grave sin, is opposed to the action of Eucharistic grace in us. However, those who cannot go to communion because of their situation, will find nevertheless in a communion of desire and in participation in the Mass saving strength and efficacy. The Eucharist had an altogether special place in the lives of saints. Let us thank God for the history of holiness of Quebec and Canada, which contributed to the missionary life of the Church. Your country honors especially its Canadian martyrs, Jean de Brebeuf, Isaac Jogues and their companions, who were able to give up their lives for Christ, thus uniting themselves to his sacrifice on the Cross. They belong to the generation of men and women who founded and developed the Church of Canada, with Marguerite Bourgeoys, Marguerite d'Youville, Marie of the Incarnation, Marie-Catherine of Saint Augustine, Mgr Francis of Laval, founder of the first diocese in North America, Dina Belanger and Kateri Tekakwitha. Put yourselves in their school; like them, be without fear; God accompanies you and protects you; make of each day an offering to the glory of God the Father and take your part in the building of the world, remembering with pride your religious heritage and its social and cultural brilliance, and taking care to spread around you the moral and spiritual values that come to us from the Lord. The Eucharist is not a meal among friends. It is a mystery of covenant. "The prayers and the rites of the Eucharistic sacrifice make the whole history of salvation revive ceaselessly before the eyes of our soul, in the course of the liturgical cycle, and make us penetrate ever more its significance" (Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, [Edith Stein], Wege zur inneren Stille Aschaffenburg, 1987, p. 67). We are called to enter into this mystery of covenant by conforming our life increasingly every day to the gift received in the Eucharist. It has a sacred character, as Vatican Council II reminds: "Every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of His Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others; no other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree " ("Sacrosanctum Concilium," No. 7). In a certain way, it is a "heavenly liturgy," anticipation of the banquet in the eternal Kingdom, proclaiming the death and resurrection of Christ, until he comes (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:26). In order that the People of God never lack ministers to give them the Body of Christ, we must ask the Lord to make the gift of new priests to his Church. I also invite you to transmit the call to the priesthood to young men, so that they will accept with joy and without fear to respond to Christ. They will not be disappointed. May families be the primordial place and the cradle of vocations. Before ending, it is with joy that I announce to you the meeting of the next International Eucharistic Congress. It will be held in Dublin, in Ireland, in 2012. I ask the Lord to make each one of you discover the depth and grandeur of the mystery of faith. May Christ, present in the Eucharist, and the Holy Spirit, invoked over the bread and wine, accompany you on your daily way and in your mission. May you, in the image of the Virgin Mary, be open to the work of God in you. Entrusting you to the intercession of Our Lady, of Saint Anne, patroness of Quebec, and of all the saints of your land, I impart to all of you an affectionate Apostolic Blessing, as well as to all the persons present, who have come from different countries of the world. Dear friends, as this significant event in the life of the Church draws to a conclusion I invite you all to join me in praying for the success of the next International Eucharistic Congress, which will take place in 2012 in the city of Dublin! I take this opportunity to greet warmly the people of Ireland, as they prepare to host this ecclesial gathering. I am confident that they, together with all the participants at the next Congress, will find it a source of lasting spiritual renewal. mail@sces.uk.com (Pope Benedict) Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.sces.uk.com/articles/89/1/Popes-Message-for-Easter-2008/Page1.html "The Resurrection of Jesus Is Essentially an Event of Love"Resurrexi, et adhuc tecum sum. Alleluia! I have risen, I am still with you. Alleluia! Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus, crucified and risen, repeats this joyful proclamation to us today: the Easter proclamation. Let us welcome it with deep wonder and gratitude!Resurrexi et adhuc tecum sum -- I have risen, I am still with you, for ever. These words, taken from an ancient version of Psalm 138 (v. 18b), were sung at the beginning of today’s Mass. In them, at the rising of the Easter sun, the Church recognizes the voice of Jesus himself who, on rising from death, turns to the Father filled with gladness and love, and exclaims: My Father, here I am! I have risen, I am still with you, and so I shall be for ever; your Spirit never abandoned me.In this way we can also come to a new understanding of other passages from the psalm: "If I climb the heavens, you are there; if I descend into the underworld, you are there … Even darkness is not dark for you, and the night is as clear as day; for you, darkness is like light" (Ps 138:8,12). It is true: in the solemn Easter vigil, darkness becomes light, night gives way to the day that knows no sunset. The death and resurrection of the Word of God incarnate is an event of invincible love, it is the victory of that Love which has delivered us from the slavery of sin and death. It has changed the course of history, giving to human life an indestructible and renewed meaning and value."I have risen and I am still with you, for ever." These words invite us to contemplate the risen Christ, letting his voice resound in our heart. With his redeeming sacrifice, Jesus of Nazareth has made us adopted children of God, so that we too can now take our place in the mysterious dialogue between him and the Father. We are reminded of what he once said to those who were listening: "All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him" (Mt 11:27).In this perspective, we note that the words addressed by the risen Jesus to the Father on this day -- "I am still with you, forever" -- apply indirectly to us as well, "children of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him" (cf. Rom 8:17). Through the death and resurrection of Christ, we too rise to new life today, and uniting our voice with his, we proclaim that we wish to remain forever with God, our infinitely good and merciful Father.In this way we enter the depths of the Paschal mystery. The astonishing event of the resurrection of Jesus is essentially an event of love: the Father’s love in handing over his Son for the salvation of the world; the Son’s love in abandoning himself to the Father’s will for us all; the Spirit’s love in raising Jesus from the dead in his transfigured body. And there is more: the Father’s love which "newly embraces" the Son, enfolding him in glory; the Son’s love returning to the Father in the power of the Spirit, robed in our transfigured humanity. From today’s solemnity, in which we relive the absolute, once-and-for-all experience of Jesus’s resurrection, we receive an appeal to be converted to Love; we receive an invitation to live by rejecting hatred and selfishness, and to follow with docility in the footsteps of the Lamb that was slain for our salvation, to imitate the Redeemer who is "gentle and lowly in heart", who is "rest for our souls" (cf. Mt 11:29).Dear Christian brothers and sisters in every part of the world, dear men and women whose spirit is sincerely open to the truth, let no heart be closed to the omnipotence of this redeeming love! Jesus Christ died and rose for all; he is our hope -- true hope for every human being. Today, just as he did with his disciples in Galilee before returning to the Father, the risen Jesus now sends us everywhere as witnesses of his hope, and he reassures us: I am with you always, all days, until the end of the world (cf. Mt 28:20). Fixing the gaze of our spirit on the glorious wounds of his transfigured body, we can understand the meaning and value of suffering, we can tend the many wounds that continue to disfigure humanity in our own day.In his glorious wounds we recognize the indestructible signs of the infinite mercy of the God of whom the prophet says: it is he who heals the wounds of broken hearts, who defends the weak and proclaims the freedom of slaves, who consoles all the afflicted and bestows upon them the oil of gladness instead of a mourning robe, a song of praise instead of a sorrowful heart (cf. Is 61:1,2,3). If with humble trust we draw near to him, we encounter in his gaze the response to the deepest longings of our heart: to know God and to establish with him a living relationship in an authentic communion of love, which can fill our lives, our interpersonal and social relations with that same love. For this reason, humanity needs Christ: in him, our hope, "we have been saved" (cf. Rom 8:24).How often relations between individuals, between groups and between peoples are marked not by love but by selfishness, injustice, hatred and violence! These are the scourges of humanity, open and festering in every corner of the planet, although they are often ignored and sometimes deliberately concealed; wounds that torture the souls and bodies of countless of our brothers and sisters. They are waiting to be tended and healed by the glorious wounds of our Risen Lord (cf. 1 Pet 2:24-25) and by the solidarity of people who, following in his footsteps, perform deeds of charity in his name, make an active commitment to justice, and spread luminous signs of hope in areas bloodied by conflict and wherever the dignity of the human person continues to be scorned and trampled. It is hoped that these are precisely the places where gestures of moderation and forgiveness will increase!Dear brothers and sisters! Let us allow the light that streams forth from this solemn day to enlighten us; let us open ourselves in sincere trust to the risen Christ, so that his victory over evil and death may also triumph in each one of us, in our families, in our cities and in our nations. Let it shine forth in every part of the world. In particular, how can we fail to remember certain African regions, such as Dafur and Somalia, the tormented Middle East, especially the Holy Land, Iraq, Lebanon, and finally Tibet, all of whom I encourage to seek solutions that will safeguard peace and the common good! Let us invoke the fullness of his Paschal gifts, through the intercession of Mary who, after sharing the sufferings of the passion and crucifixion of her innocent Son, also experienced the inexpressible joy of his resurrection. Sharing in the glory of Christ, may she be the one to protect us and guide us along the path of fraternal solidarity and peace. These are my Easter greetings, which I address to all who are present here, and to men and women of every nation and continent united with us through radio and television. Happy Easter![Translation distributed by the Holy See]© Copyright 2008 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana director@sces.uk.com (Michael McGrath) Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.sces.uk.com/articles/86/1/Meditation-for-Day-1-of-Week-of-Prayer-for-Christian-Unity/Page1.html That We May Be One, and Never Lose Heart ZENIT provide access to this commentary prepared jointly by the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity and the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches for the first day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which begins Friday 18th January 2008.CommentaryPaul writes, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." His epistle is written to a faithful community that is anxious about death. Many good and believing brothers and sisters have "fallen asleep" before the Lord's return to bring all into his resurrection. What will happen to these faithful dead? What will happen to the living? Paul assures them that the dead shall be raised with the living and exhorts them to "pray without ceasing." What does it mean to pray without ceasing? We find insights to answer this question in today's readings. Our whole lives are to be a seeking of the Lord, convinced that in seeking, we shall find.In the midst of the exile, when all seemed hopeless and dry, the prophet Isaiah proclaims, "Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near." Even in exile, the Lord is near and urging his people to turn to him in prayer and to follow his commandments so that they may know his mercy and pardon. Psalm 34 affirms the prophetic conviction that the Lord will answer those who call upon him, and adds praise to the call to pray without ceasing.In Luke's gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples with the parable of the widow seeking justice from a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. The story serves as a reminder of the need for constancy in prayer -- "to pray always and not to lose heart" -- and for confidence that prayer is answered: "Will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?"As Christians in search of unity, we reflect on these readings to find "the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." It is Christ who lives within us. Our call to pray without ceasing becomes part of his eternal intercession to the Father: "That all may be one, ... that the world may believe." The unity we seek is unity 'as Christ wills' and the 'octave' observance of Christian prayer for unity reflects the biblical notion of completion, that some day our prayer will be answered.Unity is a God-given gift to the church. It is also a call of Christians to live out this gift. Prayer for Christian unity is the source from which flows all human endeavor to manifest full visible unity. Many are the fruits of 100 years of an octave of prayer for Christian unity. Many are also the barriers that still divide Christians and their churches. If we are not to lose heart, we must be steadfast in prayer so that we may seek the Lord and his will in all we do and all we are.PrayerLord of unity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we pray without ceasing that we may be one, as you are one. Father, hear us as we seek you. Christ, draw us to the unity that is your will for us. Spirit, may we never lose heart. Amen. director@sces.uk.com (Michael McGrath) Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.sces.uk.com/articles/85/1/He-has-anointed-me/Page1.html Gospel Commentary for the Baptism of the Lordby Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap Jesus himself gives an explanation of what happens to him in the baptism in the Jordan. Returned from the Jordan, in the synagogue at Nazareth he applies to himself the words of Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me ..." Peter uses the term "anointed" in the second reading, speaking about Jesus' baptism. He says: "God has anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power." What we have here is a fundamental concept of the Christian faith. The name "Messiah" in Hebrew and "Christos" in Greek mean "anointed." We ourselves, the ancient Fathers said, call ourselves Christians because we are anointed in imitation of Christ, the Anointed par excellence. In our language, the word "anointed" has many meanings and not all of them are positive. In antiquity, annointing was an important element in life. Athletes were anointed with oil so that they could be quick and agile in races and men and women were anointed with perfumed oil so that their faces were beautiful and resplendent. Today, for the same purposes, there is an infinity of products available and many of them are derived from various types of oils. In Israel the rite had a religious significance. The kings, the priests and the prophets were anointed with perfumed oil and this was the sign that they were consecrated for divine service. In Christ all of these symbolic anointings become reality. In the baptism in the Jordan he is consecrated king, prophet and eternal priest by God the Father. This did not happen through the use of material oil but through spiritual oil, that is, through the Holy Spirit, "the oil of joy," as a Psalm says. This explains why the Church highlights so much the annointing with sacred chrism. There is a rite of annointing in baptism, in confirmation, in the ordination of priests and there is the annointing of the sick (which was once called "extreme unction"). An annointing is administered in these rites because through them we participate in the annointing of Christ, that is, the fullness of the Holy Spirit. We literally become "Christians," that is, anointed, consecrated, and people who are called, as Paul says, "to spread the sweet perfume of Christ in the world." Let us try to see what all of this says to us men of today. Today so-called aromatherapy is very much in fashion. It uses essential oils that emit a perfume to maintain health and as therapy for certain disturbances. The Internet is full of advertising about aromatherapy. There are perfumes for physical maladies, like stress; there are also "perfumes for the soul"; one of these is supposed to help us achieve "interior peace." It is not my place to make a judgment about this alternative medicine. However, I see that physicians discourage this practice, which is not scientifically confirmed and which in fact, in some cases, provokes counterindications. But what I would like to say is that there is a sure, infallible aromatherapy that does not provoke counterindications: that one made up of a special aroma, the perfumed ointment that is the Holy Spirit! This aromatherapy of the Holy Spirit heals all the ills of the soul and sometimes, if God wills it, the ills of the body too. There is an African-American spiritual in which the following words are continually repeated: "There is a balm in Gilead / to make the wounded whole." (In the Old Testament Gilead was a place famous for its perfumed ointments. Cf. Jeremiah 8:22.) The song continues: "Sometimes I feel discouraged / and think my work's in vain / but then the Holy Spirit / revives my soul again." For us, Gilead is the Church and the balm that heals is the Holy Spirit. He is the scent that Jesus has left behind, passing through this world. The Holy Spirit is a specialist in the illnesses of marriage. Marriage consists in giving oneself to another; it is the sacrament of making of oneself a gift. Now, the Holy Spirit is the gift made person; he is the giving of the Father to the Son and the Son to the Father. Where he comes there is renewed the capacity to make a gift of oneself and with this the joy and the beauty of living together. The philosopher Heidegger made an alarmed judgment about the future of human society: "Only a god can save us," he said. I say that this God who can save us exists; it is the Holy Spirit. Our society has need of massive doses of the Holy Spirit. [Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic] director@sces.uk.com (Michael McGrath) Sun, 13 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.sces.uk.com/articles/78/1/Living-the-Catholic-faith-within-our-culture/Page1.html Living the Catholic faith within our cultureby Bishop Tod D Brown We now live in a society quite different from what we had when most of us grew up, regardless of the culture that nurtured us. Those of us of a certain age became Catholic by a kind of osmosis. Like the air we breathed, our faith seemed to have always been there. We discovered it in and through the culture in which we were immersed: by the way our families celebrated holidays, by the religious images that hung around our necks and the statues that adorned our bedroom bureaus and our dashboards. We lived with the consistent religious example of those we saw in our families and among our friends. Our imaginations were inspired by the lives of the saints; our weary souls were soothed by the smell of incense as we entered the darkened church; and, yes, our desires and actions were often challenged by the high moral expectations of the Church. Our Catholic faith seemed all around us; something so customary and comfortable as to be taken for granted. Times have changed and there is much that is worrying about our current society. Channel surf your television and you’ll see people passionate to win the million dollar prize on the game show, or to be the beautiful woman selected by the handsome stranger on the "reality" show. Surf the Internet and your search engines will display information and images about every conceivable thing, and not all on view is worthy of your viewing. Among the many inspiring and entertaining movies playing at the local multiplex, you find those that glorify violence or cater to one’s prurient interests. In this environment we have now come to think of ourselves more and more often as individuals rather than members of a community, a people who are committed to a common good. We hear ourselves referred to as consumers, not citizens, since the prevailing engine of our society is considered to be our economy, not the sharing of our lives and those lasting values that cannot be bought or sold. My goal here is not to deplore our culture or to bemoan the evils of society but to simply point out how we Catholics have to be more realistic about how our increasingly secular and changing civilization can and does have harmful effects on our Catholic character and convictions. For years, parents and educators have complained about these effects on our youngsters, but they affect each and every one of us. To remain true, our Catholic-Christian faith today must become more countercultural. We Catholics must never forget that our essential decisions must be more informed by the teachings of Jesus than the cold pragmatism of a consumer economy or our personal whims. . . . To read the full article, visit the website. director@sces.uk.com (Michael McGrath) Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.sces.uk.com/articles/76/1/Rewarding-Failure-Executive-Pay-Settlements-Raise-Eyebrows/Page1.html Rewarding Failure: Executive Pay Settlements Raise EyebrowsFather John Flynn writes in ZENIT:Lavish wage and benefits packages for executives have been the target of increasing criticism in the last few years. Nevertheless, defenders of high rewards have argued that the impressive returns of many companies justify the money company leaders receive. director@sces.uk.com (Michael McGrath) Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.sces.uk.com/articles/75/1/How-do-we-make-good-citizens/Page1.html Coming in the week that the Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, talked about the Bible as foundational to our national culture, journalist and broadcaster Libby Purves chaired a Theos debate on citizenship.  The event followed on from the publication of a Theos report earlier this year entitled Red, White, Blue and Brown: Citizens, Patriots and the Prime Minister. The report analysed Gordon Brown’s use of patriotic rhetoric, his understanding of national identity and his vision for citizenship.  Introducing the evening, Director of Theos, Paul Woolley, said: "What constitutes a good citizen? What processes do we need to bring this state of affairs about? And what role can or should faith play in building citizens? Everyone recognises that religion has a remarkable ability to divide societies, but can it also bring people together? If theology is set to flex its muscles in public, how can we ensure the public square doesn’t end up looking like a boxing ring?"Yasmin Alibhai-Brown argued that religion, especially at a national level, can act as an obstacle to creating good citizens. Luke Bretherton disagreed, pointing to the importance of religious faith as an important source of social capital. Dominic Grieve MP spoke about the moral and practical limitations of government action in producing good citizens and the inconsistency of people's attitudes at times towards their neighbours with Stephen Backhouse adding that "I would like to see my government spend less energy trying to make me feel nationalism and more time empowering me to do neighbourliness."  To listen to The Times on-line podcast of the debate, click here. director@sces.uk.com (Michael McGrath) Fri, 26 Oct 2007 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.sces.uk.com/articles/71/1/What-it-means-to-follow-your-conscience/Page1.html In our secularist society there is a popular, but erroneous notion of what it means to follow one's conscience, often reduced to the idea, "if it feels right, how can it be wrong?" Our conscience is a personal interior encounter with God and we have the ability and obligation to listen to His voice and freely choose to follow His will for love of Him. In this article Leon Suprenant, Jr. discusses the proper understanding of freedom of conscience as well as offers suggestions to help develop a morally mature conscience. director@sces.uk.com (Michael McGrath) Sat, 20 Oct 2007 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.sces.uk.com/articles/70/1/A-basic-theology-of-marriage/Page1.html CHRISTOPHER WEST writes: The twentieth century witnessed significant developments in the Church's theology of marriage, beginning with Pope Pius XI's 1930 encyclical Casti Connubii, passing through the Second Vatican Council and Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae, and culminating in the manifold writings and original insights of Pope John Paul II. In fact, over two thirds of what the Catholic Church has ever said about marriage in her two thousand year history has come from John Paul II's pontificate. The Second Vatican Council marked a shift from a merely "juridical" presentation of marriage, typical of many previous Church pronouncements, to a more "personalist" approach. In other words, rather than focusing merely on the objective "duties," "rights," and "ends" of marriage, the Council Fathers emphasized how these same duties, rights, and ends are informed by the intimate, interpersonal love of the spouses. "Such love, merging the human and the divine, leads the spouses to a free and mutual gift of themselves, a gift providing itself by gentle affection, and by deed; such love pervades the whole of their lives, growing better and growing greater by its generosity." Explaining how conjugal love is a "merging of the human and the divine" is the task of a theology of marriage. While much more can and should be said than this article allows, we can at least present a basic marital theology. We'll start with a definition of marriage gleaned from Vatican II and Canon Law, and then explain each of its points. director@sces.uk.com (Michael McGrath) Fri, 19 Oct 2007 00:00:00 +0100