Paschal Mystery Research Articles

The Sign of Jonah Topicality of the Book of the Controversial Prophet

The Book of Jonah raises the question whether the Gentiles are entitled to the hope of salvation enjoyed by the Jews. The protagonist of the history illustrating this problem, is prophet Jonah, who denied them this right and was, therefore, convinced that Ninevites would reject his appeal to conversion. However, the city was converted and Jonah blamed God for the fact that history did not go his way. That story, actually a novella with satirical overtones, stigmatizes the narrow-mindedness of thinking characterizing the author’s contemporaries who adhered to the rigorous separatism of Judeans and pagans. The problem was undoubtedly relevant in the days of Christ, since it was recalled by Him in the polemic with the Pharisees. The early Church interpreted this book in the light of Resurrection. In the present article, it is argued that the Book of Jonah as a call to personal conversion not only from sins, but also from the narrowness of thinking as regards different believers, because salvation can only be ensured “the sign of Jonah”, i.e. the Paschal Mystery.

Faces of Easter: Meeting the Paschal Mystery in the People Around Us by Albert Holtz, O.S.B. (review)

Faces of Easter: Meeting the Paschal Mystery in the People Around Us by Albert Holtz, O.S.B. (review)

Antydemoniczny charakter sakramentu pokuty i pojednania

Sakrament pokuty i pojednania to kontynuacja zbawczej mocy Tajemnicy Paschalnej Chrystusa jako wielkiego dzieła pojednania człowieka z Bogiem, z bliźnimi, z samym sobą i z całym światem stworzonym. Jednoczy w ten sposób to, co zostało rozdzielone przez ludzki grzech, popełniony za podszeptem diabła. Przebaczenie i łaska otrzymane od Boga w tym sakramencie pozwala pokonać rozłam i podziały, które są znakiem rozpoznawczym działania złego ducha oraz wziąć udział w zwycięstwie Chrystusa nad grzechem, śmiercią i Szatanem. Sama struktura spowiedzi pozwala odkryć antydemoniczny charakter tego sakramentu oraz prawdziwą wolność dzieci Bożych w Chrystusie.

Celebração e vida: dois momentos inseparáveis da celebração eucarística

A Eucaristia é a celebração do Mistério Pascal de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo. Nela faz-se memória da Páscoa de Cristo e da páscoa dos cristãos. Olhando para a sua história, percebe-se que nos primórdios do cristianismo a celebração eucarística tinha um desdobramento prático na vida do cristão. Com o passar do tempo, a relação celebração e vida foi se perdendo, e a celebração tornou-se um rito, muitas vezes, distante da vida. Hoje, um dos nossos maiores desafios é restabelecer esta unidade: celebração e vida são dois momentos inseparáveis da Celebração Eucarística.Abstract: The Eucharist is the celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In it we remember Christ’s Easter and the Christians’ Easter. Examining its history we see that in the early days of Christianity the Eucharistic celebration had a practical development in the Christians’ lives. As time went by, the relation between celebration and life started to fade away and the celebration became a rite, often far from ordinary life. One of our greatest challenges today is to re-establish this unity: celebration and life are two inseparable moments of the Eucharistic Celebration.

The Cross and the Eucharist in Early Christianity: A Theological and Liturgical Investigation by Daniel Cardó

Reviewed by: The Cross and the Eucharist in Early Christianity: A Theological and Liturgical Investigation by Daniel Cardó Michael Heintz Daniel Cardó The Cross and the Eucharist in Early Christianity: A Theological and Liturgical Investigation Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019. xii + 202 pages. Clothbound. $99.00. This is a thoughtful and important book, both in the method it employs and in the fruits of its research. Fr. Daniel Cardó, professor at St John Vianney Seminary in Denver, sets out his aim early, which is “to investigate, through the reading of Patristic and Roman liturgical primary sources, the ways in which, in theology and liturgical [End Page 346] practice, the cross was present in the celebration of the Eucharist during the foundational and influential period between the fourth and eighth centuries” (11). This is a careful and (helpfully) narrow study, historically (limited roughly to the period between the First and Second Nicene Councils), and in terms of sources (patristic texts and specifically Roman liturgical books). Yet unlike many “ritual studies,” which are generally reductionist, this work avoids that unhappy trap because the author is theologically informed and sensitive to the nexus and interplay of the various elements (Scripture, liturgy, asceticism, dogma) which are constitutive of theology and which are unhelpfully compartmentalized or explained away in too many publications. Cardó’s assessment of the evidence is not limited to texts; he even makes use of art and architecture to illustrate his point (e.g., 109). Further, and here is where his readership should be widest, he sees the fruits of this research as potentially helpful in discerning some contemporary questions (more anon). The book is structured in three parts, the first two of roughly equal length. The first treats the relationship between cross and Eucharist in the patristic period, including both Western and Eastern sources. The author organizes his examination of these sources around five themes: (a) the clear correspondence between the Paschal Mystery (in particular the cross) and the Eucharist; (b) the cross as origin of the Eucharist; (c) the identity between the flesh and blood of the Crucified and the Eucharistic elements; (d) the cross as sacrifice; and (e) the cross as both gesture and object in the celebration of the Eucharist. It is the last two which are perhaps the most original and instructive. Cardó, walking the reader carefully through both Western and Eastern sources, demonstrates the universal patristic conviction that it is the sacrifice of the cross which is constitutive of the Church’s Eucharist, an unbloody sacrifice which renders real and effective the saving sacrifice of Christ crucified; thus, the Eucharist—act and elements—is much more than mere symbolic act or pious (but eviscerated) “remembering”: rather, it is under-girded by a robust understanding of the power of anamnesis. Further, Cardó also highlights the cross as gesture (the signing over the elements to be offered) and as object (the representational presence of the cross at the altar) as witnessed by the Fathers, East and West. [End Page 347] In the second part, Cardó turns to the Roman liturgical sources, and in this part he focuses on three Roman sacramentaries (the so-called Leonine, Gelasian, and Gregorian), the Roman Canon, and the Roman Ordines; methodologically (and manageably) his examination is limited to the Roman Rite. In a particularly beautiful discussion (74–104), Cardó unpacks the rich theological content of the sacramentaries relative to his study. In his examination of the Ordines, Cardó pays particular attention to the “signing” with the cross (faciens crucem, consignare, signare) during the celebration of the Mass (118–124), and then turns his attention to the liturgy of Good Friday (and the centrality of the cross) as witnessed by the Ordines. The fruit of his research is a thoughtful engagement with three contemporary questions, in light of what he had discovered in the first two parts of his work: the relationship between the Eucharist as sacrifice and as meal; the sign of the cross and the epiclesis in the Roman Canon; and the history and importance of the altar cross. As for an opposed relation (in the twentieth century at least) between the Eucharist as sacrifice and as meal, Cardó suggests that historically...

Unveiling the Pathos of Life: The Phenomenology of Michel Henry and the Theology of John the Evangelist

From the early centuries, the Evangelist John has been referred to as “the theologian.” And rightly so, for Christian theology, as we have come to know it, is inconceivable without his Gospel and especially its Prologue. Its words have provided the vocabulary for theological reflection thereafter, and it seems certain that, until the middle to the end of the second century, the annual celebration of Christ’s Passion, Pascha, was only celebrated by those who recalled how John had worn the distinctive headdress of the high priest in Jerusalem: the only disciple to remain at the foot of the cross, John was, for them, the high priest of the paschal mystery. It is thus perhaps not surprising that it was especially in John, and his words about the revelation of Christ, the Word and Life, that Michel Henry found a vision of Christianity that resonated with the phenomenology that he had been investigating from his initial magnum opus, The Essence of Manifestation, through to his final Christian trilogy: first, I Am the Truth: Towards a Philosophy of Christianity, then several years later, during which time he read Tertullian and most importantly Irenaeus, Incarnation: A Philosophy of Flesh, and finally, appearing in print posthumously, Words of Christ.

JEZUS CHRYSTUS, NASZA NADZIEJA

Questions about man, his freedom and liberation, are very important for human existence. Jesus Christ and His paschal mystery are the roots of Christian hope. Jesus is hope’s bearer, however He requires our trust. Jesus Christ fulfills in Himself all the Messianic promises, especially the one of salvific newness of life in the New Covenant, also called the new humanity. The central sign of this newness is the coming of God’s Kingdom. The universality of the Resurrection’s gift brings us hope that all human beings might experience new life. The salvific gift refers to the renewal of the world in the renewal of all men. And yet, the voice of the culture of death—which is the negation of man, his dignity and his hope—is loudly heard in today’s world. The culture of life, on the other hand, brings real hope, especially when it is marked by respect for life. The Christian attitude is one of thanking and praising the Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ is the hope of the people,of the world, and, therefore, of the new evangelization.

Ritual Brobosan Sebagai Penghormatan Terakhir dalam Liturgi Pemakaman Jawa-Kristiani

The Catholic Church provides occasions for funeral rites so as to illuminate the death of the faithful within the paschal mystery of Christ. The Church administers the funeral and offers prayers for its departing members to escort them to the afterlife. Funeral ceremonies are held to comfort the bereaved family, but also to strengthen the faith of the people. Therefore, the funeral ceremony could be seen as a pastoral means to foster the faith of the believers and at the same time to evangelise the gospel. Inculturation could be seen as a process to help the faithful experience God’s saving presence in the liturgy from their respective cultures. In this article, the author views the funeral of the faithful as an entrance for inculturation, bringing Christian liturgy towards the local culture, which in this paper is the Javanese culture, and vice versa. The Javanese culture has its own philosophy in escorting the departing souls through its rituals. This article attempts to integrate what has been a ritual of death in the Javanese culture, i. e. brobosan, which shows a gesture of giving respect to the departed, in the Catholic funeral liturgy, particularly in the last part of the rite.

El matrimonio en el Misterio de Cristo

El matrimonio en el Misterio de Cristo

La Teología de la Cruz en las Liturgias Occidentales

In the last few decades special attention has been given to the so-called "theology of the cross". This theory is promoted primarily by protestants, who beginning with Luther, see in that expression the true theology in which God manifests Himself through appearances contrary to His proper nature; thus putting forth a theory which contradicts all other knowledge concerning God attained through his works. One of the recent authors who has most developed this aspect of Christian theology is J. Moltmann. Moltmann presents Christology basing it on the Cross and more concretely on the "forsaking of christ by God" on the Cross: not so much in the sense that this forsaking is a simple absence, silence or passiveness on the part of God, but that it is a positive and incomprehensible act of God Himself. As a consequence, the theology of the Cross would be for him (J. Moltmann) a hermeneutic principle relative to God Himself and not a simple expression of the mystique of suffering. The author, without denying the many positive aspects that this theology of the cross might have among protestants, attempts to point out that the liturgical tradition of the Church, in very close union with the Holy Scriptures, the Magistery of the Church, the teachings of the Popes, the councils and the teaching of the masters of the spiritual life, offers a wide perspective of the mystery of the Cross, allowing it its true dimension. It is understandable that protestants authors know little of the liturgical tradition of the Church, but what is not understandable is that catholic theologians overlook it. The liturgical tradition of the Church in the Orient as well as in the Occident coincides in this matter, although the author limits himself to an exposition of the theology of the Cross in the occidental liturgies. Among the many aspects studied by the author we find the Cross as related to the Redemption-Paschal mystery, as the antithesis of the tree of Paradise, as the triumph over Satan, as suffering, and as sacrifice; the author speaks about the sacraments, "dormire in cruce", the mystery of the Cross, protection, martyrdom-abnegation-ascetical struggle, the folly and glory of the Cross, and the cult of the Holy Cross. The author calls attention, as he has done in other publications, to the necessity of incorporating the liturgy into the teaching of Theology, because the liturgy is one of the most expressive instruments of the Faith of the Church, an instrument that is at the same time prayer and should have a major influence and efficacy in forging an authentic spiritual life. That is the reason why it can not be lightly affirmed, as some people do, that the Cross should be relegated to cemetaries or sacred buildings, or that the Cross should be considered only as a simple ornament or commercial object. The Cross is for the Church the focal point, the integral and essential element of the paschal mystery of Christ.

From Passion to Paschal Mystery: A Recent Magisterial Development concerning the Christological Foundation of the Sacraments by Dominic M. Langevin

Reviewed by: From Passion to Paschal Mystery: A Recent Magisterial Development concerning the Christological Foundation of the Sacraments by Dominic M. Langevin Roger W. Nutt From Passion to Paschal Mystery: A Recent Magisterial Development concerning the Christological Foundation of the Sacraments by Dominic M. Langevin, O.P. (Fribourg, CH: Academic Press Fribourg, 2015), vii + 403 pp. It is common for theologians and historians of religion to document the ebb and flow of doctrinal, moral, and spiritual accents throughout the history of the Church. Sometimes by accident and sometimes by necessity, the treasures of one epoch can be underappreciated or neglected by a later one. It goes without saying that, as St. Paul insists in 1 Corinthians 15, without the doctrine of Christ's [End Page 1031] resurrection from the dead (and the Ascension into heaven) the Christian faith is null. Accepting the centrality that the resurrection has for the Christian profession of faith, however, does not of itself make it evident today how the resurrection relates to the Church's doctrine of the seven sacraments and the significance of the sacramental life in the economy of salvation. In From Passion to Paschal Mystery, Dominican theologian Fr. Dominic Langevin wrestles with the question of the efficacy of the Church's sacramental worship in relation to the major events of Christ's life. That the risen Christ acts in the Church in and through the sacraments is hardly an object of theological dispute. What is more difficult to explain, however, is which events of Christ's life on earth established the sacraments of the New Law as ex opere operato causes of grace. In pursuit of answers to questions such as these, this book "explores [the] appreciation granted to the Paschal mystery by the Second Vatican Council and the succeeding magisterium" (1). It is important to note that Langevin's work is not simply a liturgical consideration without reference to the Church's sacramental doctrine. Rather, he seeks to track identifiable emphases in magisterial teaching precisely with reference to the sacraments. By means of this sacramental focus, he documents a development in magisterial teaching: "The magisterium over the last fifty years has emphasized that the sacraments are founded upon and communicate the entire Paschal mystery of Christ's Passion and Resurrection" (1). Furthermore, by accentuating the recognition of both the Passion and resurrection in more recent magisterial teaching in relation to the sacraments, Langevin provides a "contrast with an earlier focus upon the Passion of Christ as the proper locus of sacramental attentions" (1). The book is divided into two sections. Part I identifies the teachings of the magisterium in Pius XII's Mediator Dei, the Second Vatican Council's Sacrosanctum Concilium, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Part II provides a reflection on this data through the resources of speculative, historical, and dogmatic theology. The first three chapters make up part I and document "a transformation with regard to" the teaching of the magisterium in "its understanding of the foundation of the sacraments in the life of Christ" in the fifty years between Mediator Dei and John Paul II's promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (225). The transformation that Langevin uncovers pertains to the precise manner in which the sacraments are related to Christ and his incarnate life. In Mediator Dei, the Church's liturgy is cast in relation to the virtue of religion, by which the Church shares in Christ's worship of the Father. As a [End Page 1032] result of this ordering, "the Passion of Christ is the event of greatest importance for human salvation, both objectively and subjectively, including in the sacraments' participation in that salvation" (225). Vatican II's Constitution on the Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, provides an implicit nod, Langevin demonstrates, toward viewing the sacraments in relation to the entirety of the Paschal mystery. For example, he points to §61, which teaches that "divine grace [flows] from the paschal mystery of the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ, from which all of the sacraments and sacramentals derive their power" (227). This affirmation stands as an important springboard from Mediator Dei to post–Vatican II magisterial teaching. Moreover, Langevin demonstrates that the...

Dissonant Harmonies: Tolkien's Musical Theodicy

Dissonant Harmonies:Tolkien's Musical Theodicy Chiara Bertoglio (bio) At the heart of what it means to be a human being are crucial questions which have given birth to all philosophy: where does the world come from? What is the origin of evil? Why are suffering and death part of our world? Human beings of all times and places have tried to provide many answers to these fundamental problems, and several of these answers are deeply intertwined with religious beliefs. Indeed, once the existence of one or more divine beings is posited, these questions may take a more direct and almost defiant shape: if there is an omnipotent and benevolent being, why is the existence of evil tolerated? And why is there such a thing as evil in the first instance? Facing this terrible question, one possible answer is the one we have come to identify with Manichaeism, but which is present in several religions and philosophies, regularly surfacing across time and space: the benign divine being is not absolutely omnipotent, but has to contend continually with one (or more) equally divine beings who are entirely evil (or who have some traits we identify as evil, such as bellicosity). Thus, history is seen as the battlefield between the good and evil powers, and human beings frequently represent the (innocent) casualties of this divine war. The Christian response to the problem of evil and suffering is both simple and complex. It is simple, since it is primarily in the form of an icon, that of the crucified and risen Christ, whose paschal mystery embodies—in a surprising and powerful fashion—both the goodness and the omnipotence of God; it is complex since, beyond this immediate and visible answer, it admits several (and sometimes deeply different) philosophical or theological accounts of how God's benevolence and omnipotence are shown in Christ's Passion and resurrection. One of the most compelling theological explanations of the origin of evil is that of St. Augustine, who, indeed, worked out his philosophical and spiritual theology precisely in response to—and against—the Manichaean view, to which he had himself previously adhered. By this account (very simplistically summarized here), "evil" is in fact a non-entity, a non-being; it is to Being what darkness is to [End Page 93] light, i.e. a lack of goodness.1 To materialize or personalize evil is, for Augustine, to fall into the Manichean heresy. Augustine's view, though enormously influential in the history of Christian thought and of Western philosophy in general, was, however, by no means the only response to the problem of evil. Indeed, several theologies which acknowledged their common origin in his thought ended up with intensely divergent results. With the advent of modernity, in particular, the need started to be felt for a theodicy, a formal vindication of God. Events such as the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 constituted an intellectual and emotional scandal for the culture of their time, and prompted some of the most prominent thinkers to cite God in the tribunal of reason, asking Him to account for the unaccountable suffering of many innocents. Though theodicy frequently assumed the form of an ex-officio defense of God's will, it also implicitly admitted human beings' right to challenge God on the ground of the problem of evil. While this move is theologically problematic, since created beings are by definition incapable of comprehending the fullness of the mystery of God, it has however an authoritative precedent in the Bible itself, where Job, a righteous man, requires from God an explanation for his suffering. The theodicies of Job's friends, which constitute a great part of the eponymous book, are ultimately discarded by God Himself, who reveals His glory to Job. This Old Testament book is therefore doubly fascinating in the effective dialectic between the overall narrative and the speeches: on the one hand, God seems to accept the challenge of suffering human beings, and indeed is more favourable to Job's protest rather than to his friends' well-meaning justifications of God (Job 42:7). On the other hand, God's response to Job is an assertion of His omnipotence and of the inscrutable...

Toward the Paschal Mystery: The Evolving Roman Catholic Funeral Liturgy

Mourners attending a Roman Catholic funeral in the 1950s would have remarked, if they thought about it at all, on the tone of the celebration: the black vestments, the Latin chants, especially the ...

Liturgia sercem pisana! Ks. prof. dr hab. Jan Józef Janicki i jego Mistrzowie

Skoro „liturgia jest źródłem i szczytem życia Kościoła” (KL 10), jak naucza nas Sobór Watykański II, to z niej wszystko wypływa i do niej wszystko zdąża. O takim właśnie rozumieniu tej „cząstki” życia Kościoła niezwykle przekonany jest Jubilat, który dla piękna tej szaty Kościoła, jaką jest liturgia, poświęcił swoje naukowe i życiowe dociekania, dlatego można powiedzieć o nim, że liturgię sercem pisał! Kierunki badań naukowych Księdza Profesora Jana Józefa Janickiego koncentrują się wokół następujących zagadnień: teologii liturgii (podstawowe rzeczywistości liturgiczne, teologia tekstów euchologijnych nowych ksiąg liturgicznych Kościoła, misterium paschalne i jego uobecnienie w Eucharystii i w roku liturgicznym); historii liturgii (wpływy kultury hebrajskiej, helleńskiej i rzymskiej na liturgię chrześcijańską, liturgia pierwszych wieków Kościoła, dzieje ksiąg liturgicznych); historii lat świętych – jubileuszowych (historia ruchu liturgicznego, historia kongresów eucharystycznych, rola świętych w życiu Kościoła w świetle formularzy mszalnych); duszpasterstwa liturgicznego (liturgia wypełnianiem posługi uświęcania we wspólnocie Kościoła, posługa zakrystiana, liturgia w Ziemi Świętej). Wydaje się, że całkowitą drogę „pisania sercem liturgii” zaszczepił mu jeden z najważniejszych teologów i historyków liturgii po Vaticanum II, a był nim benedyktyński mnich z opactwa Maria Laach o prof. Burkhard Neunheuser. Ten wyjątkowy człowiek, profesor Pontificio Istituto Liturgico w Rzymie, stał się mentorem i wskazującym kierunek dla rozwoju naukowego naszego Jubilata.Kluczowe dla nauczania o soborowej liturgii przez o. Neunheusera było zwrócenie uwagi na misterium paschalne, które jest centrum roku liturgicznego i każdej czynności Kościoła. To bowiem Męka, Śmierć i Zmartwychwstanie oraz Wniebowstąpienie Chrystusa, przez które właśnie dokonują się najważniejsze „cuda”, a są to uwielbienie Boga i odkupienie człowieka (zob. KL 5, 6). To jest wydarzenie centralne w historii zbawienia. Skoro Boży plan zbawienia urzeczywistnia się w Chrystusie, to w centrum chrześcijaństwa znajduje się Pascha, czyli ofiara. Kościół bierze aktywny udział w Jego ofierze, Jego ofiarę czyni swoją ofiarą i przez niego zostaje podniesiony z tego świata do Boga oraz uwielbiony. To zaś uczestnictwo w ofierze jest dziełem łaski, potrzebna jest więc wiara, a dokonuje się to w misterium kultu. Wszystko to, czemu służyli przez całą historię odnowy liturgii wielcy jej piewcy tej miary co dom Prosper Gueranger, Pius Parch, Odo Casel, Romano Guardini i inni, a także Burkhard Neunheuser, było niezwykle ważne dla tego, aby misterium paschalne wkorzenić w życie człowieka. I dlatego wydaje się, że tu znajduje się owa nić, która łączy tych wielkich i wspaniałych liturgistów z naszym Jubilatem, który głosi z dużym powodzeniem misterium paschalne.

Chrzest zjednoczeniem ze śmiercią i zmartwychwstaniem Chrystusa (Rz 6, 1–14)

Paweł ukazuje moc łaski Boga, która przekracza wszelki grzech. Przez chrzest wierzący jest zanurzony w tajemnicę paschalną Chrystusa i obdarzony łaską zbawienia. Parakleza ukazuje chrześcijan, którzy ze śmierci przeszli do życia i stali się „nowymi ludźmi”. „Stary człowiek” opanowany przez grzech został raz na zawsze pogrzebany z Chrystusem. W chrzcie wierzący zostaje wprowadzony w jedność z Chrystusem, w Jego śmierć, zmartwychwstanie i chwalebne życie w Bogu. Wierzący jest więc uzdolniony do otwarcia na posłuszeństwo Bogu i do odrzucania złych skłonności związanych z grzechem. Staje się żołnierzem Boga służącym w armii walczącej o wolność dzieci Bożych i o sprawiedliwość. Jest to możliwe, gdyż jest otwarty na łaskę Boga.

Beyond methodological agnosticism: Ritual, healing, and Sri Lanka's civil war

In April 2010, eleven months after the end of Sri Lanka's civil war, I participated in the Catholic Easter rite in a Tamil fishing village in the Vanni, where the last battle between the Sri Lankan government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was fought. This article explores the way in which the ritual enactments of the paschal mystery, called pasch, came to have enormously therapeutic effects for the survivors during Holy Week. The decisive factors in the villagers’ Easter experience included: the nature of the orthodox rite and accompanying local traditions, the unique historical context in which they found themselves, and their readiness to receive healing and start a new life. The article calls for the abandonment of methodological agnosticism in order for us to understand the villagers’ religious experiences, and contributes to the emerging field of ‘post‐secular’ anthropology.

Rev 5:6-14 as an example of Johannine intertextuality

This study tries to demonstrate that there is an intertextual relationship between Rev 5:6-7 and John 20:19-23. This notion is made on the basis of some linguistic and thematic connection between the two pericopes. The verb ἵστημι, quoted in both writings (John 20:14; Rev 5:6b), expresses the new life of Christ. The position of the Risen Christ (the adjective μέσος in John 20:19, 26; Rev 5:6a) refers to his victory over death. The verb ἔρχομαι (John 20:19; Rev 5:7), could be a common allusion to the Resurrection. Finally, the reference to Christ's death and to the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 20:20a-22; Rev 5:6c-d) shows another contact between the two pericopes, although with two different developments. In this way it is possible to consider the Lamb's power in Rev 5 and in the other pericopes connected with it, be understood in the light of Christ's victory in the paschal Mystery.

Religion and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Religion and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit1 O.P. Romanus Cessario Outside the Confines Within the context of reflection on interreligious dialog and the new evangelization, the topic "Religion and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit" piques the theological imagination. The mind turns with a certain litheness of spirit to a theme that, over the past fifty years, has both animated theologians and appeared in authoritative Church documents. I refer to the claim that the Holy Spirit works "outside of the visible confines of the Mystical Body."2 Lumen Gentium §16, though it makes no explicit mention of the Holy Spirit, sparks thinking along these lines. Gaudium et Spes §22 takes up the "outside" theme, though with specific reference to the Holy Spirit: "For, since Christ died for all men (see Rom. 8:32), and since the ultimate vocation of man is in fact one, and divine, we ought to believe that the Holy Spirit in a manner known only to God offers to every man the possibility of being associated with [the] paschal mystery."3 So also Ad Gentes §15 makes reference [End Page 983] to "the Holy Spirit, who calls all men to Christ by the seeds of the Lord and by the preaching of the Gospel."4 Thus run several significant texts from the documents of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). In 1997, the Interreligious Dialogue Commission of the Central Committee for the Year 2000 published a short report on the "outside" theme titled "Presence and Actions of the Holy Spirit in the World and in Other Religions." The author introduces his essay with these words: "The Christian community lives in the firm belief that it is guided by the Spirit, but God's closeness to humankind, which is accomplished by the power of the Spirit, cannot be limited to the Christian community alone. The Spirit is free, and blows where it wills (Jn 3, 8); wherever the Lord's Spirit is, there is freedom."5 All in all, the words of John 3:8, "The wind blows where it will," have prompted over the past five decades broad considerations and interpretations about what significance this biblical affirmation may hold for Christian life and practice, including its serving as an endorsement for the "outside" theme.6 More recently, in his Presentation of Christmas Greetings to the Roman Curia on 22 December 2014, Pope Francis, citing John 3:8, spoke about the "freedom of the Holy Spirit" to warn against curial "functionalism."7 One may view this [End Page 984] papal admonition as an in-house variation on the "outside" theme. Outside is not always a bad place from which to look. For example, it may be useful for students of comparative religion to draw up a list of values or beliefs found in other religions that may compare favorably with the received gifts of the Holy Spirit, for which the first magisterial reference may be found as early as the late fourth century (382).8 It would be odd, in fact, to think that such things as wisdom, counsel, and piety do not correspond, at least in name, to some of the highest aspirations found among the practitioners of non-Christian religions. More specific examples of possible inquiries also come to mind. One may envisage research into comparisons such as between knowledge and Brahman, understanding and Confucius, and fear of the Lord and the fatwā.9 Moreover, this kind of comparative exercise should be easy to accomplish. Research that aims to establish apparent parallels between Christian and non-Christian categories flourishes in schools where comparative religion has replaced the exercises of Catholic theology. It would surprise me, however, to discover that, today, much fruitfulness for the Catholic Church results from multi-disciplinary investigations. Religious studies, at least in North America, have become increasingly prone to the promotion of religious and ethical relativism. In any event, the pursuit of these correlations would unlikely advance investigations into the place that the virtue of religion holds in the new evangelization. Such a pursuit may even entail odd reversals of theological method. A robust theology of the gifts of the Holy Spirit goes in search of its...

Kenoza križa – forma i sadržaj svjedočanstva suvremenih Kristovih svjedoka

The author of the paper discusses Christian testimony as a fundamental position from which a believer and Christian community start the proclamation of the Truth that is recognized as fundamental for life. Testimony is examined from biblical positions and put in the context of modern society and the context of Christ’s Paschal Mystery in order to develop a reflection on the form and content of contemporary witnesses. In reflecting on the testimony, the author leans on the thought of the Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar and, based on his insights, the author develops some elements of testifying that stem from the Cross of Christ. From the Cross, which represents kenosis, we can read the form of testifying as well as the contents of the testimony, which involves every act of humility of Christian life. The author concludes with some specific expressions of the form and contents of Christian testimony in the contemporary context from the position of contemplating the Cross, all with the aim to present this thought out testimony as a dialogical and integrating element of the Church and the contemporary society.

Algunas claves para considerar la relación entre teología e historia en el pensamiento de Joseph Ratzinger

Considering history as a theological topic is one of the main contributions of theology during the 20th century. Based on this idea, and by establishing a conversation with an essential form of Christology, the article aims to recognize a positive relation between theology and history in the thought of Joseph Ratzinger. This relation is mainly built on the character of Jesus Christ his Incarnation and Paschal Mystery, because through him, God has visited history in a new and transforming way. The article also suggests that Ratzinger extends the relation between theology and history to the presence and action of the Church in the world. Thus, the community of believers reveals historically the communion of the Trinity.