Teaching with Authority
Israel had some terrific prophets throughout her history.  Moses is just one example of God's reaching out through prophets to speak to the people.  But Israel also had a reputation for persecuting prophets and for listening to the many false prophets who also covered the landscape of her history.

A transcript of Anthony Padovano's address at the American Catholic Council meeting in Detroit.

Candidates for the episcopal office [in the first three centuries of Church history] were chosen by the local church, including both clergy and laity, in clear fidelity to those words. That method of selection stands in stark contrast with the practice in catholic communities today. - by Anthony P. Kowalski

On December 31st last year, I turned eighty-years-old. Back in 1931 when taxes were lower and not a raging national issue; I was a tax exemption for my parents.

I was born with the blue baby syndrome and they feared I was going to die. The birth was in a Catholic hospital, but the attending doctor Vivian Edwards was a third degree Mason and a Presbyterian elder. He baptized me then and there. Marge Kelly the obstetrics nurse told him, “Doctor, Bishop O’Reilly (the local bishop) could not have done it any better!”

I have been reading Houston Smith’s classic book on World Religions, A devoted Christian from birth, he writes eloquently and respectfully about the way Hindus and Muslims, Buddhists and Jews approach God. What a different world it would be if more of us shared his respectful approach to other religions.

In a move to unite U.S. Catholics, the newly formed American Catholic Council (ACC) called today for an historic assembly of the Catholic Church in the United States.

The Church in the 21st Century Center at Boston College seeks to be a catalyst and resource for the renewal of the Catholic Church in the United States by engaging critical issues facing the Catholic community.  Many programs can be found online for your spiritual and theological development.

This site provides excellent material on spiritual life development and ministry from Creighton University.  

FutureChurch is a national coalition of parish-based Catholics who seek the full participation of all baptized Catholics in the life of the Church.  A special emphasis is expanding an inclusive ministry.

Perhaps you have never heard of Henri Nouwen or you may be quite familiar with his writing. Either way we invite you to explore this site and discover why the themes of his many books resonate so deeply with people all over the world.

In this thought-provoking essay Michael Morwood raises questions that will be challenging to both traditionalist theologians and progressive theologians who have been searching for a better interpretation of the meaning of Jesus since the time of Teilhard de Chardin when the insights of modern science began to pose serious challenges to our theologies. This is a thought-provoking essay likely to be dismissed outright by the traditionalists and the fundamentalists but has the potential to encourage much reflection amongst those, following the likes of Teilhard de Chardin, who have been attempting to reinterpret Jesus as the "Cosmic Christ" as a way of enabling our traditional understandings of Christ to better fit with what we're learning about our universe from the sciences and modern scholarship.

After more than 50 years of life in a monastery, Sister Joan Chittister asked herself some questions. What — if anything — of monastic life is worth passing on to others in our time? What does monasticism offer seekers who are already overwhelmed by all the spiritual and secular options available to them? And how can those outside traditional monasteries embrace this life that is both enriching and enlightening?

 
Dear  Friends

 
CORPUS is supporting a special Open Letter to US Bishops about the impending priest shortage crisis in the US. A number of priest organizations and national church renewal/reform groups are also joining this effort.

 
Studies show that half of the 19,302 active diocesan priests plan to retire by 2019. We are ordaining about 380 new diocesan priests each year. In just eight years, we will have only 13,500 active diocesan priests to serve our 18,000 parishes, presuming ordinations remain constant, as they have for over a decade. (2008 Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate study)

 
To sign onto the open letter, download paper copies to circulate, download a free organizing kit or circulate to family and friends

The open letter will be published in one or several national Catholic publications in 2011 and 2012. Every effort will be made to contact individual US Bishops and officials at the US Bishops’ conference.

Only your name and diocese will be included in the online listing. (it is ok to sign anonymously if you wish)

We hope you will join CORPUS in supporting this  important effort.

Sincerely yours,

Celebrating 20 Years!

Of Loving the Church...And Working to Make it Better

Christine Schenk csj

FutureChurch

Executive Director

17307 Madison Ave

Lakewood, Oh 44107

216-228-0869

216-228-4872 (fax)

Richard Sullivan




AGE: 77 • Jackson, NJ

Richard Sullivan, 77, died on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Barbara Ann Schiebel and children: Chad, Bart and Elan. Richard was predeceased by his youngest son, Marc, in 2005. He is also survived by Bart's wife, Jennifer Kelly Sullivan and their three children: Eamon, Grace and Sean and by Elan and Will Briggs' infant, Ambrose. Richard was the seventh born of eleven children of Thomas and Margaret Sullivan of Brooklyn, NY.

Upon graduation from St. John's University in 1956 he entered the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a Missionary Congregation. Leaving the Oblates in 1968 he married Barbara Ann Schiebel, a former Sister of St. Joseph. She and the family she brought forth replaced the loneliness of the priesthood with the deepest love, friendship and happiness for which one could hope. In business, Richard enjoyed a career in Association Management in the food industry where he quickly came to respect the integrity of the companies in the food industry. Serving those companies was not work. It was pleasure. He retired as President of the Association of Food Industries, Inc in 2002 and embarked on a new career: teaching the Catholic religion to youngsters, visiting the sick and befriending those in prison.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent in Richard's memory to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Wake services to be held Friday, January 6th, 2-4 pm and 7-9 pm at Clayton & McGirr Funeral Home, 100 Elton-Adelphia Rd., Freehold Township, NJ 07728. Mass to follow 10:00 am, Saturday morning, January 7th at St. Robert Bellarmine, 61 Georgia Road, Freehold, NJ 07728.

Transcripts of the many talks at the recent American Catholic Council meeting in Detroit, Michigan.