Fides et Ratio - Updated (Summary and Link)

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_15101998_fides-et-ratio_en.html

Pope John Paul II, 1998

The encyclical Fides Et Ratio was written by Pope John Paul II to his fellow bishops in 1998 to address the relationship between faith and reason.  It was written to support and defend traditional Christian philosophy.  His Holiness believed that faith and reason together allow people to know and love God.

There is a long tradition of philosophy in human history stretching back to the ancients.  The first absolute certain truth in every person’s life (other than the fact that we exist) is the certainty of death.  This fact has led all people to ponder their existence and purpose.  The Church also has a long history of participating in the realm of philosophy since discovering the ultimate truth – Jesus Christ.

John Paul II begins by noting the primacy of revelation in the Church’s quest for truth.  Faith is necessary to discover the full truth; reason alone is not sufficient because its central weakness is its susceptibility to sin.

Christianity did not immediately embrace philosophy, but gradually individuals like Saints Justin and Augustine played central roles in the development of Christian thought.  Later, St. Thomas Aquinas recognized that “nature, philosophy’s proper concern, could contribute to the understanding of divine Revelation.”  (Paragraph 43)  He also noted that faith builds about and perfects reason.

Truth is discovered through the interaction of faith and reason together.  Both are necessary to know God, reason alone cannot result in the ultimate truth.  The rise of rationalism has led some to believe in the separation of faith and reason but the result has been disastrous for the promotion of life.

In the academic setting, theology has had increased interaction with philosophy and reason.  As a separate academic field, philosophy ought to continue its search for the meaning of life and in the process consider spiritual realities, while theology continues to proclaim the Gospel to the world.  While the two disciplines should remain separate, when philosophy conflicts with revelation, the Church will continue to point out when errors are made.

The Holy Father concluded by emphasizing that God and truth are one and the same and that both reason and faith are needed to understand this certainty.

Link to: Fides et Ratio 

Pope Benedict Resigns: Special EWTN Live Roundtable

Here's a link....probably worth a view :)  God Bless everyone!

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/pope-benedict-resigns-special-ewtn-live-roundtable?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NCRegisterDailyBlog+National+Catholic+Register#When:2013-02-11%2020:42:01

The Titanic's Priest and Hero :)

The untold story of the Titanic’s Catholic priest who went down hearing confessions

Amidst all the tales of chivalry from the Titanic disaster there is one that’s not often told; is that of Father Thomas Byles the Catholic priest who gave up two spots on a lifeboat in favor of offering spiritual aid to the other victims as they all went down with the “unsinkable” vessel.

A 42-year-old English convert, Fr. Byles was on his way to New York to offer the wedding Mass for his brother William. Reports suggest that he was reciting his breviary on the upper deck when the Titanic struck the iceberg in the twilight hours of Sunday, April 14th, 1912.

According to witnesses, as the ship went down the priest helped women and children get into the lifeboats, and then heard confessions, gave absolution, and led passengers in reciting the Rosary.

Agnes McCoy, one of the survivors, says that as the great ship sank, Fr. Byles “stood on the deck with Catholics, Protestants and Jews kneeling around him.”

In the words of the priest’s friend Fr. Patrick McKenna, “He twice refused the offer of a place in a boat, saying his duty was to stay on the ship while one soul wanted his ministrations.”

“Father Byles was saying the rosary and praying for the repose of the souls of those about to perish,” she told the New York Telegram on April 22, 1912.

by Patrick B. Craine

One Liner from St. Edith Stein....

"Edith Stein, the 20th century Jewish intellectual who became a Carmelite nun and later died at Auschwitz, observed, 'What did not lie in my plan lay in God's plan.'

St. Josephine Bakhita....excerpt

‎"If I were to meet the slave-traders who kidnapped me and even those who tortured me, I would kneel and kiss their hands, for if that did not happen, I would not be a Christian and Religious today."

"One day I unwittingly made a mistake that incensed the master’s son. He became furious, snatched me violently from my hiding place, and began to strike me ferociously with the lash and his feet. Finally he left me half dead, completely unconscious. Some slaves carried me away and lay me on a straw mat, where I remained for over a month. A woman skilled in this cruel art [tattooing] came to the general’s house…our mistress stood behind us, whip in hand. The woman had a dish of white flour, a dish of salt and a razor. When she had made her patterns; the woman took the razor and made incisions along the lines. Salt was poured into each of the wounds. My face was spared, but six patterns were designed on my breasts, and 60 more on my belly and arms. I thought I would die, especially when salt was poured in the wounds…it was by a miracle of God I didn’t die. He had destined me for better things."

"I have given everything to my Master: He will take care of me… The best thing for us is not what we consider best, but what the Lord wants of us!"

"When a person loves another dearly, he desires strongly to be close to the other: therefore, why be afraid to die?"

-St. Josephine Bakhita, 1869-1947

The Rise of Evangelical Catholicism

The Rise of Evangelical Catholicism

February 6, 2013

George Weigel

‎"Recreational Catholicism—Catholicism as a traditional, leisure-time activity absorbing perhaps ninety minutes of one’s time on a weekend—is over. 

"Full-time Catholicism—a Catholicism that, as the Second Vatican Council taught, infuses all of life and calls everyone in the Church to holiness and mission—is the only possible Catholicism in the twenty-first century."

http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2013/02/the-rise-of-evangelical-catholicism

Seven million will lose insurance under Obama health law

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2013/feb/5/obama-health-law-will-cost-7-million/

Whole article is above....

President Obama's health care law will push 7 million people out of their job-based insurance coverage — nearly twice the previous estimate, according to the latest estimates from the Congressional Budget Office released Tuesday.

CBO said that this year's tax cuts have changed the incentives for businesses and made it less attractive to pay for insurance, meaning fewer will decide to do so. Instead, they'll choose to pay a penalty to the government, totaling $13 billion in higher fees over the next decade.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2013/feb/5/obama-health-law-will-cost-7-million/#ixzz2KFomULjx
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