de Tocqueville on Catholicism in America (II)

   The Catholics are faithful to the observances of their religion; they are fervent and zealous in their support and belief of their doctrines.  Nevertheless they constitute the most republican and the most democratic class of citizens which exists in the United States; and although this fact may surprise the observer at first, the causes by which it is occasioned may easily be discovered upon reflection.  I think that the Catholic religion has erroneously been looked upon as the natural enemy of democracy.  Amongst the various sects of Christians, Catholicism seems to me, on the contrary, to be one of those which are most favourable to the equality of conditions ... On doctrinal points the Catholic faith places all human capacities upon the same level; it subjects the wise and the ignorant, the man of genius and the vulgar crowd, to the details of the same creed; it imposes the same observances upon the rich and the needy, it inflicts the same austerities upon the strong and the weak, it listens to no compromise with mortal man, but, reducing all the human race to the same standard, it confounds all the distinctions of society at the foot of the same altar, even as they are confounded in the sight of God.  If Catholicism predisposes the faithful to obedience, it certainly does not prepare them for inequality ... The priests in America have divided the intellectual world into two parts: in one they place the doctrines of revealed religion, which command their assent; in the other they have been freely left open to the researches of political inquiry.  Thus the Catholics of the United States are at the same time the most faithful believers and the most zealous citizens.

--  Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) Democracy in America,

quoted in Fisichella, The New Evangelization: Responding to the Challenge of Indifference (2012) pp. 40-41

Bulletin Article/Homily Thoughts: E5-C

   During the "C" cycle of readings, each weekend Mass during the Easter season features a second reading from the book of Revelation.  It's regrettable how misunderstood this book is, for all of its imagery and imagination, its message, its warning, and its assurances.  As we read Revelation, we are reminded that it is dangerous to limit the "interpretive horizon" of scripture, that is, to understand and interpret Revelations as a message intended purely for the past or the future.  Revelations does not simply tell the story of the early Church persecutions, nor does it pertain exclusively to the "end of the world".  It is a message for our own day and age, which calls to mind the persecutions of the past and the trials the Church yet faces, all the while speaking to us directly in our current age.  That's a tall order for any piece of literature, but key to how any Catholic approaches scripture without falling into the excesses of academic literary criticism on one hand and fideistic literalism on the other.

   And so, during this Easter Season, why the focused interest in this final book of the Bible?  Our liturgy is modeled after this Heavenly Liturgy, giving us a foretaste and promise of what we shall become in the Kingdom.  What do the Easter Revelation readings tell us?

Second Sunday of Easter:  (Rev 1: 9-11a, 12-13, 17-19) John was brought up into heaven and told to write what he saw, where he observed a man in robe and sash who called himself the Alpha and Omega, the one once dead who lives forever and has power over life and death.  He was surrounded by seven gold lampstands.

Third Sunday of Easter:  (Rev. 5:11-14)  The heavenly concert of angels and other creatures proclaiming praise to the Lamb, with the four living creatures affirming the praise with an "Amen",

Fourth Sunday of Easter:  (Rev. 7:9, 14-17)  People of every nation, race, people, and tongue standing before the lamb wear white robes and carry palm branches following their testing and persecution; they are assured the shelter and protection of the Lamb.

Fifth Sunday of Easter:  (Rev. 21: 1-5a)  John sees and hears the coming forth of a new Jerusalem, accepted by the Lord as his bride and assured of his consolation and redemption following the passing of the old order.

Sixth Sunday of Easter:  (Rev. 21: 10-14, 22-23)  The angel shows John the glory of the heavenly city and its reliance not on the temple or even the light of the sun, but instead the glory of the Lamb.  [This reading will be pre-empted in many places by the observance of Ascension Thursday-Sunday in many places.]

 

There is a lot that could be said about these five readings, individually and collectively, but let's keep our discussion focused to why the Chruch presents these readings... together... and during the Easter season.  Here it is:

 

 

 

 

... and for the more Traditional types (you know who you are!):

 

What do we see in these images?

• The alter-Christus in the person of the priest (that guy in the robe and sash, in imitation I suppose of the man in robe and sash in the image of St. John) who makes present again the sacrifice of Calvary that the entire universe (and the priest) himself may adore mystery of the Lamb, revealed under the appearances of bread and wine.  (2nd Sunday)  I can't help but notice that there are six candles and the seventh, the light of the Eucharistic Lord is present as well. 
• The Lamb is slain, but lives again, demonstrating his ultimate power over life and death.  The Eucharist is a representation (re-present-ing) of the sacrifice of cross through the power of the risen Lord.  He is not simply a corpse laying on a slab of stone.  The Lamb once slain (body and blood separated, two separate consecrations) lives again.  (2nd Sunday)
• At the end of the great anaphora (Eucharistic Prayer), the priest, concluding the prayer, offers the Lamb, that "through him, and with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit" all glory and honor may be given to the Father for all ages.  All join that proclamation of praise, the whole world (those in heaven, those at church, and all creation) replies "Amen!"  Indeed the four creatures, representing the four Gospels that reveal the Lord to us attest to what has just happened on the altar... it isn't just a Catholic thing we do when we go to Mass and witness the Eucharist, but all of Christian history and faith and tradition and hope for the future attests to it as well.  (3rd Sunday)
• All peoples are gathered into this celebration, welcomed without discrimation of any kind.  Wearing the white robes of baptism, they share in the sufferings of the cross through the sacrament and through the tribulations of their own lives.  I tried to include 'the people' in both of those images above... it is kind of hard to find good pictures which include 'the people', because so often the focus is on the Eucharist (and priest).  (4th Sunday)
• In doing this, the Lamb keeps the promise to be with us until the end of time (Matthew 28:20).  This is a covenant he offers to his people... true, steadfast, irrevocable... for 'better or worse, richer or poorer'... it transcends the powers of death, leading the sheep out of the valley of darkness into green pastures and near restful for repose (Ps 34).  (5th Sunday)
• All focus and attention is placed on the Lamb.  The Eucharist of the Lamb is the "source and summit" of the entire Christian life, because it is a real encounter with the Lord himself.  Those enlightened by the lamb no longer "go" to the temple, for they are living temples of the Holy Spirit, where the Lord dwells intimately in the soul of each person.  They need no lamp nor sun, for the Lord God dwells in them, giving enlightenment of body, mind, and soul.  (6th Sunday)

Is this not the entirety of the Easter mystery?  God the Father, who sent his Son to dwell with us, calls us out of darkeness into his own wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9), in a covenant stronger than death, which unites us as his flock, justifies us, and delivers us from the challenges of the age.

The best part?  We re-live that and anticipate its fulfillment in heaven every time we celebrate Mass.

de Tocqueville on Catholicism in America (I)

   America is the most democratic country in the world, and it is at the same time (according to reports worthy of belief) the country in which the Roman Catholic religion makes most progress. At first sight this is surprising.

   Two things must here be accurately distinguished: equality makes men want to form their own opinions; but, on the other hand, it imbues them with the taste and the idea of unity, simplicity, and impartiality in the power that governs society. Men living in democratic times are therefore very prone to shake off all religious authority; but if they consent to subject themselves to any authority of this kind, they choose at least that it should be single and uniform. Religious powers not radiating from a common center are naturally repugnant to their minds; and they almost as readily conceive that there should be no religion as that there should be several.
   At the present time, more than in any preceding age, Roman Catholics are seen to lapse into infidelity, and Protestants to be converted to Roman Catholicism. If you consider Catholicism within its own organization, it seems to be losing; if you consider it from outside, it seems to be gaining. Nor is this difficult to explain. The men of our days are naturally little disposed to believe; but as soon as they have any religion, they immediately find in themselves a latent instinct that urges them unconsciously towards Catholicism. Many of the doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church astonish them, but they feel a secret admiration for its discipline, and its great unity attracts them. If Catholicism could at length withdraw itself from the political animosities to which it has given rise, I have hardly any doubt but that the same spirit of the age which appears to be so opposed to it would become so favorable as to admit of its great and sudden advancement.
   One of the most ordinary weaknesses of the human intellect is to seek to reconcile contrary principles and to purchase peace at the expense of logic. Thus there have ever been and will ever be men who, after having submitted some portion of their religious belief to the principle of authority, will seek to exempt several other parts of their faith from it and to keep their minds floating at random between liberty and obedience. But I am inclined to believe that the number of these thinkers will be less in democratic than in other ages, and that our posterity will tend more and more to a division into only two parts, some relinquishing Christianity entirely and others returning to the Church of Rome.

--Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859)  Democracy in America II.1.VI

Fr. Jean Corbon on living the liturgy

... In the final analysis, poverty does not exist; only poor persons exist.  If we serve the poor impersonally, we still connive with those who depersonalize them.  The evil rich man of the parable is anonymous, like the death that disfigures man; the poor man of the parable is a person with a name: Lazarus, because when all is said and done this poor man is Jesus.  He is Jesus not by a juridical pretense or by a pious shift of focus that unites us to Christ without real reference to the poor, but because of the shattering realism of the Incarnation of the poor son: in him God becomes poor, so that henceforth the poor are God.  "What you did to the least of these little ones...": the final judgment on all of our human behavior is based on the identity of Jesus and this poor person.  The suffering of each man is the suffering of Jesus, who makes it his own.  It is because of this mystical realism that each man is saved by Christ.  Our death is no longer ours, but his who died and rose for us.  If Jesus were simply a model of poverty, we would still be prisoners of our death.  He would not be the Good Samaritan who takes the human race on his back and pours out his life-giving spirit upon it.  [...]  In his kenosis, the Son of God made his own the suffering of every poor person; conversely, through love he suffers mysteriously in every man--for is there any man who is not poor-until "he has destroyed the veil which used to veil all the peoples" and "has destroyed death forever"?  (Is 25: 7-8)  This is what he means when he says "You have the poor with you always" (Mk 14:7), just as "I am with you always; yes, to the end of time" (Mt 28:20).  Because Christ in his body really passed through death and destroyed it, he can now incorporate into himself those who are still enslaved to death.  The kingdom of God is in our midst because the Body of Christ is still with us in this way.  Love can spread because the kenosis from which it streams forth is the death in which he was buried with us and for us.

-- The Wellspring of Worship.  Ignatius (2005) pp. 243-44

Benedict and Francis: Compare and Contrast?

   To have a pope and a pope emeritus for the first time in, well… centuries, invites particular comparisons between them.  There has never been a press environment and blog environment like what we have today, desperate to ‘scratch the itch’… to indulge in the irresistible urge to compare and contrast… and even pick a favorite.  This attitude is, of course, antithetical to who and what we are as Catholics.  The pope, whoever he is, is but a man, with his own gifts and his own limitations.  Modern popes are, by and large, elderly gentlemen who have had extensive experiences as priests and bishops and leaders in different capacities in the world-wide Church.  In recent decades, the popes have come from lands far and wide, but still originating in the relatively homogeneous to a Western-European mold.

   The press and blog narrative I am hearing in many places is that Benedict is the old standard-bearer who enjoyed the trappings of office and was not willing or able to shepherd the reforms necessary to make the Church more ‘relevant’ to the needs of the modern world.  Francis is being hailed as a ‘breath of fresh air’, as exemplified by his public acts of charity and humility, along with the new energy that he is bringing to the office.  Anyone who has been paying attention, however, knows that there is more to this story than the myopic press narrative.  These are both unbelievably humble men.  These are both men of endless energy and zeal for the Gospel.  These are both men who are, no doubt, faithful unto death to the core teachings and beliefs of the Church.  There will be no women priests or wholesale alienation of the patrimony of the Church under Benedict or Francis or their successors.  The pope, no matter who he is, cannot turn the Church into something she is not.  Meanwhile, each pope will live the Petrine ministry, day-by-day, each in his own unique way... this is an area where, perhaps, comparison is not only permitted, but fruitful, for each pope will emphasize through their own person and personality (created by God and elected by the Holy Spirit to the Petrine ministry) what it means to live and minster "as Peter" in a particular age.  It is yet another sign of the incarnational nature of our Church.  God places the grace and power of his divinity in the weak, earthen vessels of humanity, that his glory may be perfected in the world.  Ubi Petrus, ibi ecclesia... where there is Peter, there is the Church.

  In today’s meditation in Francis Fernandez’s In Conversation with God, he cited a writing of Georges Chevrot (1879-1958), which better articulates what I am trying to communicate:

…we will not fall into the all too easy temptation of setting one Pope against another, having confidence only in those whose actions respond to our personal feelings.  We are not among those who nostalgically look back to a former Pope or look forward [to] one in the future who will eventually dispense us from obeying the present one.  Read the liturgical texts for the coronation of Pontiffs and you will notice that nowhere is there a reference to a conferral of powers proportionate to the dignity of the person elected by the conclave.  Christ gives these powers directly to Peter’s successor.  Therefore in speaking of the Roman Pontiff we exclude from our vocabulary any expressions derived from the parliamentary assemblies or the polemics of newspapers; let it not be said that people not of our faith should be ones who explain the prestige of the head of Christendom in the world to us.

 

Wow, eh?  Keep this bookmarked as you read the Catholic blogosphere...

Homily Thoughts - E4-C

Last year at this time, the "Good Shepherd" reading for the season of Easter was a few days after the 100th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic.  The Catholic News Agency, the journalism arm of the USCCB published an article and produced a YouTube video recounting the ministry of three priests abort the ship, who themselves died ministering to those doomed that horrible night:

 

 

 

All three were from Europe, journeying to the States for different ministerial reasons:

• Fr. Jouzas Montvila, a Byzantine Catholic priest, was an outlaw priest ministering in Lithuania (the Russian Empire) during their period of persecution and revolution.  He was, essentially, a political exile.
• Fr. Josef Perchitz, OSB, was travelling to the States to become the principal of a Benedictine high school in Collegeville, MN.
• Fr. Thomas Byles was travelling to the United States for his brother's wedding.  He was noted by Pope Pius X as a 'martyr', sacrificing himself to a 'heroic death in the disaster... earnestly devoting his last moments to the religious consolation of his fellow passengers."

These men, these priests, would forgo positions on the lifeboats, and according to surviving eyewitnesses, lead passengers in the recitation of the rosary, and "aroused those condemned to die to say acts of contrition and prepare themselves to meet the face of God."  They were "engaged continuously giving general absolution to those who were about to die."

The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons them and runs away. The wolf then attacks and scatters the flock. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep....
 

My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.

On this "Good Shepherd Sunday" and this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, we pray for priests who lay down their lives for their flocks... literally, figuratively, and spiritually.  We also pray that the Lord may provide many worthy servants to minister in the footsteps of the "Good Shepherd".

First Communion Season - Reminders about receiving Holy Communion...

   In the coming weeks, First Communions will be celebrated in parish throughout the country and world.  These celebrations are a good time for all of us to ‘brush up’ on how we approach Holy Communion. Our external reverence not only provides for a more orderly reception of Holy Communion, but it reflects and inspires our internal awareness of and devotion to this priceless gift of God’s love for us.
   Reception of Communion begins before even arriving at Church by internal and external preparation. One approaching Holy Communion must not be conscious of mortal sin without first having received the Sacrament of Reconciliation. To receive the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin is  sacrilege. It is also expected that one is fasting from food and drink (this includes gum while in church!), except for water and necessary medications, for at least one full hour before receiving Holy Communion. This small sacrifice helps us recognize in some small physical way the spiritual hunger we have for Holy Communion, and it is totally proper to extend that fast beyond the almost-comically-minimal one hour.

   While at Mass, one is called to active participation.  This means that not only does a person need to be physically present, manifesting external participation by participating in the prayers, responses, music, postures and gestures of the Mass, but one must also be ‘present’ by consciously binding oneself and one’s needs and intentions to the prayers and sacrifices offered at Mass.
   In the Western (Roman Catholic) Church during the Ordinary Form of Mass, as one approaches the minister of Holy Communion, one offers a sign of reverence.  The U.S. Bishops prescribe the norm as a reverent bow of the head. I suggest to my parishioners that this head-bow should take place when a person is second or third in line before the minister, as not to delay the procession or confuse other communicants.  One receives the host in the hand or on the tongue by stepping within an easy arm’s reach of the minister who says “The Body of Christ”. The communicant responds “Amen”, affirming and proclaiming belief in the sacred presence. If receiving in the hand, one receives the Host by holding one’s left hand flat, with the right hand underneath. One’s hands should be clean and free. If holding a rosary, wearing long sleeves or gloves that cover the hands, or approaching with hands marked by ink, one should receive on the tongue. One should not grasp the host (except in rare cases where physical impairment due to age or injury makes manipulating the host difficult). When receiving in the hand, the communicant steps to the side to consume the host reverently.

   When receiving the host on the tongue, simply open your mouth, stick out your tongue slightly (a good piece of advice is to touch at least the tip of your tongue to your lower lip, with your mouth open 1/2 - 3/4 of the way), and tip your head backward.  The host placed on the tongue by the minister will adhere on its own.
   The communicant then steps to the minister offering the Precious Blood. It is not necessary (but not improper) to make a gesture of reverence when approaching/passing the minister with the chalice.  If not receiving, please do not approach the minister to simply touch the cup.  If receiving, the minister offers the chalice, saying, “The Blood of Christ” to which the communicant again responds, “Amen”. The communicant takes the chalice with both hands, careful that the chalice is always under positive control. The communicant then consumes some of the Precious Blood. To receive communion in this manner, it is necessary that one actually consume enough of the Precious Blood to swallow (touching the lips or simply tasting without swallowing is not sufficient... 'drinking' has not occured).  The communicant returns the chalice to the minister and returns to his/her seat.

   It is not proper to 'self-intinct' from the chalice, that is, for the communicant to 'dip' the Sacred Host into the Precious Blood.  Intinction is only done when a minister of communion is properly prepared to minimize the risk of spillage and/or dripping of the sacred elements.  In the rare occasions when this is done, the only proper way to receive Holy Communion is on the tongue.
   It is also charitable not to approach the Precious Blood when sick.  While a pious thought to conjecture that our Lord would protect those receiving Holy Communion from the possible transmission of viruses and germs which could be received from a common cup, the reality is that the Sacred Elements do participate in the physical reality of our universe, by divine plan and will.  Receiving Holy Communion in this way does expose individuals to some minor risk of disease.  Not only should those who are sick refrain from receiving the Precious Blood, but those whose immune systems are compromised for any reason would be well advised to think twice before receiving.  Because the Precious Blood does have a physical property of alcohol, it may also be wise for those who have sensitivity to alcohol to avoid receiving.  In no case would receiving only one element of Holy Communion be 'less than' receiving both... by way of either the Host or the Precious Blood, one who receives Holy Communion receives the entire Christ in body, soul, spirit.
   For those who are sensitive to gluten, which is a physical reality of the hosts, communicants may choose to receive the Precious Blood only, or they may consult with their parish priest to see if there is a low-gluten alternative which can be provided for them.
   The time after Communion if often spent kneeling, offering prayers of thanksgiving for the Holy Gifts received.  When able, one should participate in the Communion Antiphon or song.  It should not need to be said, but alas... one should not leave Mass early, but departing immediately after Holy Communion.  Not only is this the height of impoliteness to your fellow congregants, but it is showing some degree of disrespect for the Holy Gifts that have just been received.  The only people who should ever leave Mass early are those fleeing a burning church building or those who are entrusted with public service and safety, such as police, fire fighters, EMT's, doctors, nurses, and others who are 'on duty' in these kinds of jobs.

   For non-Catholics and those Catholics who are not properly disposed to receive Holy Communion, the US Bishops offered a statement some years ago, which is printed in the missalettes of most churches, explaining the proper reverence and dispositions for those who are not receiving communion.  This statement is --> here.

   Local custom or tradition may slightly alter the way that Catholics receive Holy Communion in individual churches... some churches use communion rails where individuals kneel to receive Communion, others practice intinction, some do not offer the Precious Blood, still others have novel ways by which people approach Communion without formal lines (as to spare embarassment to those not receiving Holy Communion because of an irregular marriage or some other reason.)  In the Eastern (Byzantine) Churches, there are other rules and customs that one needs to be aware of.  In any case, the best advice when approaching a novel situation is to be slow and intentional, taking all the time necessary to be recollected and to remember the holiness of the moment. 

 

Bulletin Article: Divine Mercy 02E-C

   Divine Mercy Sunday was placed on the universal calendar by Pope John Paul II in 2001 on the occasion of the canonization of the Divine Mercy visionary, Sr. Faustina Kowalska. This feast, falling on the ‘octave day’ of Easter intends to draw the Church into contemplation of God’s mercy in light of the Risen Lord. We spent the 40 days of Lent tempering our desires and correcting our faults in order to welcome the grace of God’s forgiveness through the wood of the cross. Now, in the Easter season, we recognize and celebrate the fullness of Divine Mercy revealed in the mystery of our Lord’s final triumph over sin and death. If we have the attitude that penance, confession, self-denial, and the desire for divine forgiveness are reserved for the season of Lent, then we have misunderstood the “reason for the [Easter] season”. Easter is the dawning of a new age of reconciliation with God.
   The Gospel this weekend demonstrates the depth of God’s love and forgiveness. “Doubting Thomas” lacks faith even to believe in the risen Lord. He proclaims that he will not believe in the resurrection until he has the opportunity to probe the Lord’s nail prints and place his hand in his wounded side. (see John 20: 19ff) What is Jesus’ response to Thomas' struggling trust? He comes to Thomas in person and allows him to touch and see, with the desire that he not just recognize the wounds, but that he come to faith--not just to be seen as a physical reality, but that the eyes of faith may no longer be blinded. Doubting Thomas’ problem is not that he can’t see the Lord’s wounds, but that he cannot recognize the blindness of his own lack of faith.
   What happens in the Sacrament of Reconciliation? We learn to recognize those things in us that prevent us from having a healthy, mature, faithful relationship with God. Probing the depths of our hearts, minds, bodies, and relationships, we probe our own inner woundedness, and in newfound faith, offer these wounds to the Divine Physician who conquered death itself. This drama takes place in faith, and requires us to not only “do the work” of confess
ion, penance, and satisfaction in the “objective” (visible, perhaps even mechanical) order of the sacrament, but also to “receive the grace” of forgiveness by allowing the personal, sacramental encounter to change our lives by increased faith, renewed commitment to avoiding sin, confidence in dispelling feelings of guilt for the past, and a renewal in love for the things of God. Our encounter with the wounded Jesus is meant to completely change us each time we receive this sacrament, but it can only happen if we have faith. Divine Mercy Sunday is an invitation to deeper faith in the Risen Lord and the forgiveness he offers.
   For the Divine Mercy Sunday in 2005, which would be the weekend of his passage into eternal life, the “Divine Mercy Pope” prepared a message for the world what would turn out to be his valedictory: “To humanity, which at times seems to be lost and dominated by the power of evil, egoism, and fear, the risen Lord offers as a gift his love that forgives, reconciles and reopens the spirit to hope. It is love that converts the heart and gives peace. How much the world has to understand and accept Divine Mercy!”

Jean Corbon on God's Love and Creation...

"This decision [to create Man in God's own image of
self-emptying love] contains within it all the risk
and expectation of self-giving love,
but will they accept and respond?"

   But in this first creation [of the world,] the Blessed Trinity is hidden from sight.  From its very beginning the tradition is the mystery of a love that is pierced.  The Father gives himself, but who receives him?  His word is given, but who answers?  His Spirit is poured out, but not yet shared.  Creation is pure gift, but one that still awaits acceptance.  We often fail to reflect that in this beginning the living God experiencces his first "kenosis": his love reveals itself there, but in the shadow of a promise to which no attention is paid.

   Then man appears.  It is because God is holy that he calls the man to be "his image".  This unique creature, with its male and female forms, is essentially proposed and not thrust into being; it is the only creature that is not "made" but must always eb born; it is the locus of the living God's most far-reaching kenosis because it is the treasure he most loves.  In the liturgical poem that describes the creation of man, God does not say, "Let there be men!" as he does for all other creatures.  He says, rather, "Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves" (Gen 1:26).  This decision contains within it all the risk and expectation of self-giving love: men are called into existence, but will they accept and respond?  Will they gaze back into the adorable face of God.

  In the river of life there is a current of tenderness, an incomparable element of attraction.  The energy of the holy God, his communion of love, is permeated by an impatient desire, a passion: "to be with the children of men" (Prov 8:31).  At the origin of the human person--of each and every human being--there is this outpouring of love within the Trinity, a pierced love that calls us to life: from the gaze of the Father in his beloved Son there springs up God's thirst, his thirst for men.  Thus too, in the very beginning man's nostalgia for God is born.  But many stages must yet be travelled before we reach the side of the well where the Word waits for us...

 

The Wellspring of Worship: Jean Corbon (Ignatius, 2005)  ISBN 1586170228