Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Jesus of Nazareth - Part Two

Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week was written by Pope Benedict XVI and was published by Doubleday in 2011. It was not one of the books assigned for the ILM program but was something I read during the summer of 2011. Once again I really enjoyed this book because I closely identified with the Pope's portrait and understanding of Jesus. As I mentioned in the book report on part one this book is also easy to read and easy to understand. I would recommend this book because within it we encounter the decisive sayings and events of Jesus' life. In this book, Pope Benedict XVI "hopes that his insight into the figure of our Lord can be helpful to all readers who seek to encounter Jesus and to believe in him".

The jacket says, "What happened in the final week of Jesus of Nazareth's earthly life? In Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week - From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, Pope Benedict takes up that and other crucial questions. How did the man whom many hailed as the Messiah come to be rejected by the leaders of his own people? Was he a political revolutionary? Who was responsible for his death, the Romans or the Jewish authorities, or both? How did Jesus view his suffering and death? How should we? Did he establish a Church to carry on his work? What did he teach about the End of the World? And most importantly, did Jesus really rise from the dead?

This is a book for Christians - Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, as well as other believers and non believers. Benedict brings to his study the vast learning of a brilliant scholar, the passionate searching of a great mind, and the deep compassion of a pastor's heart. In the end, he dares readers to grapple with the meaning of Jesus' life, teaching, death, and resurrection."

Pope Benedict XVI, the 265th bishop of Rome, is the spiritual leader of over a billion Catholics. He is a highly regarded theologian and the author of dozens of best-selling spiritual and theological books, including Introduction to Christianity, Jesus of Nazareth: Part One, Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and Signs of the Times, The Spirit of the Liturgy, and Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Trivia Question # 17

During the ILM summer break I'm presenting this Catholic trivia quiz one question at a time, and then giving the answer and asking a new question in the next post.

Last weeks question: How many of the current sitting justices on the U.S. Supreme Court are Roman Catholics?

Answer: Six

Question # 17: There are 33 "Doctors of the Church". Thirty of them are men. Who are the three women?

Answer:

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Trivia Question # 16

During the ILM summer break I'm presenting this Catholic trivia quiz one question at a time, and then giving the answer and asking a new question in the next post.

Last weeks question: Who is the first native born citizen of the United States to be canonized (1975)

Answer: Elizabeth Seton

Question # 16: How many of the current sitting justices on the U.S. Supreme Court are Roman Catholics?

Answer:

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

The Canticle for Leibowitz

The Canticle for Leibowitz was written by Walter M. Miller Jr. and was originally published by HarperCollins in 1959. It was not one of the books assigned for the ILM program but was something I read during the summer of 2011. It was given to me (as a birthday present) by my daughter and her boyfriend, because of a conversation we had about my interest in a specific science fiction sub-category. You might be surprised to hear that it's probably the first fiction book that I've read in about 20 years.

The story takes place in the future (of course), during two period’s separated by about 600 years. It begins long after the world has been destroyed by all out nuclear war, and follows what remains of humanity and its struggle to survive and prosper. After the fall of civilization, those who didn't die reacted by eliminating those they felt were responsible for their condition. All politicians were simply killed or driven into hiding. Then they went on to eliminate all knowledge by killing scientists and teachers and eventually anyone with any education at all. Being a simpleton and unable to read or write was everyone's goal. Along with this came the predictable loss of law and order, personal safety, and freedom of movement. Life was hard, violent, and short, and in some ways may have resembled the dark ages of our own history.

What makes this book interesting is that it is about the Church of the future. Although religion itself hasn't been eliminated, Christianity has been reduced to small pockets of believers. The story follows a small group of monks living in what has been for a long time, nothing but desert. From the first page we're introduced to various characters that inhabit this monastery, and to their mission of preservation. The small monastery was started by a man named Leibowitz, and their mission is to preserve as much of the banned knowledge as possible. It's a tricky balance, secretly hand copying science text books, articles, and manuals, while offering your reading and writing skills to those in control of the surrounding area. Much of what they are trying to preserve is fragmented due to loss and damage, and although no one understands what they're preserving they do try to imagine its value.

I enjoyed this book because it presents the Church with some good and some bad, and although it's not exactly the Church we know today, it's the Church you might imagine to exist after the end of civilization. In fact I believe one of the books statements is that the Church is crucial to civilization; it exists to preserve the faith of mankind and tie not only the populations of the world together, but the course of time itself. Another very compelling statement from this book is that mankind is resilient. It can and does prevail in the face of extreme hardship and failure; even when it is self inflicted. God is with us and He loves us no matter what.

The back cover says, "Winner of the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel and widely considered one of the most accomplished, powerful, and enduring classics of modern speculative fiction, Walter M. Miller Jr's A Canticle for Leibowitz is a true landmark of twentieth-century literature; a chilling and still-provocative look at a post-apocalyptic future. In a nightmarish ruined world slowly awakening to the light after sleeping in darkness, the infant rediscoveries of science are secretly nourished by cloistered monks dedicated to the study and preservation of the relics and writing of the blessed Saint Isacc Leibowitz. From here the story spans centuries of ignorance, violence, and barbarism, viewing through a sharp, satirical eye the relentless progression of a human race damned by its inherent humanness to re-celebrate its grand foibles an repeat its grievous mistakes. Seriously funny, stunning, and tragic, eternally fresh, imaginative, and altogether remarkable, A Canticle for Leibowitz retains its ability to enthrall and amaze. It is now, as it always has been, a masterpiece.”

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Trivia Question # 15

During the ILM summer break I'm presenting this Catholic trivia quiz one question at a time, and then giving the answer and asking a new question in the next post.

Last weeks question: Italy has the highest percentage of Catholics (96.6%) and Poland is second (94.3%), which country is number three?

Answer: Prague

Question # 15: Who is the first native born citizen of the United States to be canonized (1975)

Answer:

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Trivia Question # 14

During the ILM summer break I'm presenting this Catholic trivia quiz one question at a time, and then giving the answer and asking a new question in the next post.

Last weeks question: What breakfast dish, dating to the early 18th century, was named for Pope Benedict XIII?

Answer: Eggs Benedict

Question # 14: Italy has the highest percentage of Catholics (96.6%) and Poland is second (94.3%), which country is number three?

Answer:

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

The Church Through the Ages

The Catholic Church Through the Ages was written by John Vidmar, OP and was published by the Paulist Press in 2005. This book was assigned for the ILM course titled History of the Church, although I'll admit I didn't complete this reading assignment. It's not that I found the book uninteresting; it's that the class only lasted two days and it just moved too quickly. "Church history is the record of the Christian family and is one of the most vital (and interesting) subjects we can study. Our Church, as the German theologian Walter Kasper tells us, is no more than Christianity taking on flesh and blood."

The back cover says; "Renowned Catholic historian Christopher Dawson divided the history of the Catholic Church into six "ages" or 350-400 year periods that each began with great vitality and ended in decline and loss. In The Catholic Church Through the Ages Father John Vidmar surveys the history of the church, from its beginnings up to Pope Benedict XVI's pontificate. He writes with enthusiasm and a down to earth quality born of years of teaching. Each chapter ends with an annotated list of readings and audio-visuals, and even includes historical novels to help convey a feeling for an age."

Father John Vidmar was ordained a Dominican priest in 1980 and earned a doctorate in theology from the University of St. Thomas (Angelicum) Rome, in 1991. He has taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels and lectured extensively on church history for the Smithsonian Institution. The author of English Catholic Historians and the English Reformation and a bicentennial history of his Dominican province, he is currently archivist for the Dominican Province of St. Joseph and associate professor of theology of Providence College, Rhode Island.