Old Books Club: A very moving photo-essay

Cardinal Ruini describing the ills of modernity...

The first and greatest priority is God himself, that God who is too easily pushed to the edges of our lives, focused on "doing," especially through "techno-science," and on "enjoyment-consumption." That God is even expressly negated by an evolutionist "metaphysics" that reduces everything to nature, to matter-energy, to chance (random mutations) and to necessity (natural selection), or more often is said to be unknowable according to the principle that "latet omne verum," all truth is hidden, as a result of the restriction of the horizons of our reason to that which can be experienced and measured, according to the view now prevalent. That God, finally, who has been proclaimed "dead," with the assertion of nihilism and the resulting collapse of all certainty.

About the author...

I am a Catholic Christian deeply concerned about the state of affairs in the modern world; certainly, the world is fallen, but these are unique times. We are living in a civilization that has lost its roots- a world dominated by phony 'consensus building' and the "dictatorship of relativism". John Paul II famously observed during a speech at the 'Mars Hill' of the modern world - the U.N.-

It is one of the great paradoxes of our time that man, who began the period we call "modernity" with a self-confident assertion of his "coming of age" and "autonomy", approaches the end of the twentieth century fearful of himself, fearful of what he might be capable of, fearful for the future.

Over the last four decades, Christianity has even questioned the importance of its doctrines, tradition, identity, and even itself. I am convinced that orthodox Christian faith, especially Catholicism, bears the fullness of Truth to shed light on the darkness of this world, leading mankind to his ultimate destiny with God. The Church has the ability to answer the deepest longings of the human heart: love, Truth, justice, hope, faith, charity, communion, unity, and above all a relationship with the Creator. The Church, divinely instituted, is the only power on earth that has the tools to build a culture around those aforementioned longings. She must permeate every aspect of modern life with a powerful witness to the Truth; as Pope Benedict has said,

Christianity, Catholicism, isn't a collection of prohibitions; it's a positive option.

Ideas that are central to the thought of this blog...

"Affirmative orthodoxy"
"Christianity, Catholicism, isn’t a collection of prohibitions: it’s a positive option."
"The entire span of human history is marked by the the choosing of Love or the refusal to Love."
Battling the "Dictatorship of Relativism"
Cooperatores Veritatis (We are Co-operators of the Truth)
Dominus Iesus (Jesus is God)
Ecumenism: unity only without sacrificing Truth
Fides et Ratio (Faith & Reason)
Helping the modern west: a Civilization without roots
Hermeneutic of Continuity - the lens by which the Church views herself
Liturgy: Say the Black, do the Red.
Natural Law
ORA ET LABORA (prayer & work)
Save the Liturgy, Save the World! (rich Christian culture/identity enriches the surrounding culture in a positive way)
The Dignity of the Human Person
The Family: foundation of civilization
Tradition: the passing on of the living faith
Truth

A prayer before logging onto the internet:

Almighty and eternal God,
who created us in Thine image
and bade us to seek after all that is good, true and beautiful,
especially in the divine person of Thine Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
grant, we beseech Thee,
that, through the intercession of Saint Isidore, Bishop and Doctor,
during our journeys through the internet
we will direct our hands and eyes only to that which is pleasing to Thee
and treat with charity and patience all those souls whom we encounter.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Father John Zulsdorf)

Old Books Club

Saturday, April 25, 2009

A very moving photo-essay

No comments:

A must read: "American Babylon"

Cardinal Ruini describing the ills of modernity...

About the author...

Ideas that are central to the thought of this blog...

Pope Benedict XVI & Ecumenical Patriarch Barthowlomew I

Topics on this blog...

A friendly reminder for priests:

Saint Isidore (d. 636)

A prayer before logging onto the internet:

Latest Entries...

Dominus Iesus!