austraLasia #2117

Setting the Council cat amongst the ecclesiastical pigeons

ROME: 4th March 2008 --  We spoke the other day about one of the many 'melodies' that make up the Chapter symphony - the Juridical Commission, which now seems to have largely carried out its tasks.  Another melody that plays almost nightly is the Good Night.  You can turn to the GC26 website and click on Good Nights to get the lot.  But it's worth giving you a taste from our region.
    Last night was Fr Moloney's turn (AUL as you all know).  While some provincials are asked to speak of their province, Frank was asked to speak from his personal experience, and he chose to do this from his perspective as an internationally renowned Scripture scholar.  What he had to say electrified his listeners, as he placed the Council cat (Vatican II's 'Dei Verbum') amongst the ecclesiastical pigeons (today's Church).  It was a theme bound to get its listeners sitting up.
    The argument could be put quite succinctly: the Council placed the Word of God up there with the Eucharist, 'the one table of the Word and the Body of Christ' as Dei Verbum puts it. But, as Frank said, 'an open-minded acceptance of the challenges that emerge from a critical reading of the Scriptures has not found a home in the Catholic Church nor its Religious Congregations'. He lamented the impoverishment of recent years as people quote 'the Magisterium', usually drawing from John Paul II or his successor, but largely ignoring other 'greats' like John XXIII or Paul VI, or even acclaimed though lesser known and often ignored documents like the 1993 Biblical Commission's "The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church".
    In some ways he presented this thinking as a new frontier, or at least as a situation that Salesians, with their characteristic courage and joy, might dare to tackle at a range of levels, since it affects just about everything we are.
    There - I've put the saucer out with a little milk to lap up. You'd be best advised to go to the entire pail in the GC26 website to get your fill!
    Meanwhile, the Chapter is drawing to an end with just a week to go. The basic document is in place, it will have to undergo some 'iuxta modums' (no, not a new internet protocol, just a choice to change a word here and there, alter a guideline or two). Tomorrow the Chapter members all head off to the Catacombs to pray before the tombs of the last three Rectors Major.
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Title: australasia 2117
Subject and key words: SDB General, GC26 Good Nights
Date (year): 2008
ID: 2000-2099|2117