ML will be channel surfing this fall when PBS kicks off a new series based on William J. Bennett's best seller, The Book of Virtues. Bennett, former Secretary of Education, is one of the few politicians ML can listen to for more than a sound bite. The series of 30-minute animated programs, titled Adventures from the Book of Virtues will illustrate single themes such as loyalty, courage, and honesty. They are designed to teach children about the virtues that support a caring and civilized society. Showtime is September 2-4 at 8 p.m. (check local listings).
-- NW
A couple of Catholic magazines recently asked their readers to list their favorite hymns. Some of the most frequently cited tunes for the readers of the St. Anthony Messenger include "Be Not Afraid" (the most frequently listed), "Amazing Grace," and "On Eagle's Wings."
Readers of U.S. Catholic like to sing those songs, as well as "Gift of Finest Wheat," "Celtic Alleluia," "Sing to the Mountains," and "Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord."
Other songs listed by both groups include: "How Great Thou Art," "Holy God," "We Praise Thy Name," "Panis Angelicus," "Here I Am, Lord," "Hail, Holy Queen," and "Ave Maria."
The St. Anthony Messenger readers also listed "O Lord, I Am Not Worthy," "Now Thank We All Our God," and "Come Holy Ghost."
The St. Anthony list was part of a larger article by Jennifer Reed titled "Hymns Catholics Like and Dislike." Although no specific "disliked" hymns were listed, readers reported a distaste for songs that were bland, irreverent, ugly, or trashy. (ML would love to know which songs readers were thinking of.) The article appeared in the May 1996 issue.
The U.S. Catholic list was part of the monthly "Sounding Board" discussion. Also published in May 1996, the article was titled "Music Doesn't Make the Mass" and written by Jerry Daoust.
-- NW
ML remembers a time not too long ago when there was a serious question about whether lay people could be called "ministers" (as in "lay minister"). Such a question seems quaint today. Still, it is not uncommon to hear comments that the laity have overstepped their bounds, that respect for the clergy is on the decline, and that some of the laity have generally run amok since Vatican II.
Visionaries, however, believe we have only begun to explore the meaning of what the role of the baptized is today and what it will be in the next millennium. Bernard Lee, a professor at Loyola's - Institute for Ministry in New Orleans, likens the growing activism of the laity in the church to the origin of the Pharisaic movement in Judaism. In his book, The Future Church of 140 B.C.E: A Hidden Revolution (Crossroad, 1996), Lee says the rise of the Pharisees eventually led to the rabbinic tradition of Torah interpretation. This lay movement did not replace the priestly interpretation but supplemented it.
Lee sees large numbers of lay students studying theological texts and articles written by other lay people. He claims this gives a new perspective to theological interpretation that complements, expands, and challenges the more traditional theology of the hierarchy. Lee's book was reviewed by Ruth Poochigian for the National Catholic Reporter.
In a similar vein, Kenan Osborne projects that in the next millennium "Christians will not accept at face value statements made by clerical leadership which state that the `lay person' has come of age." He says Christians cannot be addressed by the clergy as children or "sons and daughters." Osborne, a professor of systematic theology at the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley, CA, says baptized Christians will see themselves as integral leaders in the decision-making process in the social, moral, and spiritual order. Keenan's comments were excerpted from his book Ministry: Lay Ministry in the Roman Catholic Church, Its History and Theology (Paulist Press, 1993) in the January/February 1996 issue of The Catholic World.
How will baptized Christians come to this new understanding of themselves as integral church leaders? Philip Murnion, director of the National Pastoral Life Center in New York, says it begins in the liturgy. It is in liturgy, Murnion writes in the Spring 1996 issue of Church, that the church þmost fully expresses who it is and what it is.þ According to Murnion, for leadership to be successful, the baptized will need to become more involved in the action of their common priesthood, which is the action of the Eucharist.
"Clarity and consistency about the kind of community we want parishes to be, about the mission that guides our efforts, and about the demands and resources for effective leadership," says Murnion, "appear to me to be the key issues in parish life."
ML perceives that the question has shifted. No longer is there a question about the laity being engaged in ministry. The question now is, when are we going to get clear and be consistent about what our ministry looks like?
-- NW
Two women were ordained to the priesthood last May in Konstanz, Germany. Angela Berlis, 33, and Regina Pickel-Bossau, 48, were - ordained in the Old Catholic Church, a denomination founded in protest of the First Vatican Council's declaration of papal infallibility in 1870.
Pope John Paul II, was scheduled to visit Germany three weeks after the ordination, denied the validity of the ordination. The Old Catholic Church, which is not in communion with Rome, has about 230,000 members worldwide. That compares with almost 1 billion Roman Catholics around the world.
The ordination was reported in a New York Times article by Alan Cowell.
-- NW
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