Spiritual Theology of the Priesthood

Spiritual Theology of the Priesthood PDF

Author: Dermot A. Power

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 1998-01-01

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 9780567085955

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Hans Urs von Balthasar's writings have pastoral implications that even now are barely recognised and hardly developed. Here a pastorally experienced theologian, who knew von Balthasar personally, unfolds this pastoral dimension for the first time. Integrating Christology and Ecclesiology with the profound spirituality that for von Balthasar is inseparable from authentic theology, Fr Power demonstrates the paradoxical grandeur and weakness of the Catholic priesthood. He highlights the roles of the Catholic priest as servant, bridegroom, shepherd, victim, teacher, prophet, celebrant and minister of reconciliation. At a time when many priests feel their identity called into question, this book offers new hope for the renewal of the priesthood in the Catholic Church.

Spiritual Theology of the Priesthood

Spiritual Theology of the Priesthood PDF

Author: Dermot Power (Fr.)

Publisher:

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 9781472550071

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"Hans Urs von Balthasar's writings have pastoral implications that even now are barely recognised and hardly developed. Here a pastorally experienced theologian, who knew von Balthasar personally, unfolds this pastoral dimension for the first time. Integrating Christology and Ecclesiology with the profound spirituality that for von Balthasar is inseparable from authentic theology, Fr Power demonstrates the paradoxical grandeur and weakness of the Catholic priesthood. He highlights the roles of the Catholic priest as servant, bridegroom, shepherd, victim, teacher, prophet, celebrant and minister of reconciliation. At a time when many priests feel their identity called into question, this book offers new hope for the renewal of the priesthood in the Catholic Church."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Theology of the Priesthood

Theology of the Priesthood PDF

Author: Jean Galot

Publisher: Ignatius Press

Published: 2014-02-25

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 1681495864

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Since the end of Vatican II, in 1965, more active involvement of the laity has led many people to wonder about the priestಙs place in the Church. In this masterful work, theologian Jean Galot, S.J., clarifies the nature of the priesthood. He explains how the Jewish priesthood, the perfect priestly ministry of Jesus, and the role of the Twelve help us understand the ministerial priesthood. He considers how the ಜpriesthood of the faithfulಝ and the ministerial priesthood relate to each other, and how the latter is, by Godಙs design, necessary for the former. Theology of the Priesthood carefully examines the priestಙs role as minister of sacrifice and the sacraments, prophet of the Word, and leader of the Church. These and other aspects are summed up, according to Galot, in the priestಙs ministry as shepherd. This ministery is itself a sharing in Jesusಙ role as Shepherd: ಜThe priest does not draw the inspiration for his pastoral zeal from his own feelings, from his own personal resolve to create a better worldಝ, Fr. Galot writes. ಜHe is shepherd on the strength of Godಙs pastoral intention and represents specifically Christ the shepherd. Consequently, he is called upon to fulfill his pastoral mission not according to ideas of his own and his own personal ambitions, but in keeping with Godಙs own dispensation and the design of salvation devised by the Father and carried out by Christ. Like Jesus himself, the priest is at the service of the Father.ಝ The book also explores the spiritual life of priests, including the role of celibacy. It concludes with a discussion demonstrating that the male character of the ministerial priesthood is based on the will of Jesus and is not contrary to womenಙs dignity on their role in the Church.

Priestly Spirituality

Priestly Spirituality PDF

Author: Hans Urs Von Balthasar

Publisher: Ignatius Press

Published: 2013-09-26

Total Pages: 86

ISBN-13: 1681493934

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Priesthood and crisis are two words that appear to be very closely related. Or so it has seemed for the past thirty years and more. The crisis in the priestly ministry is constantly showing new sides, however-the issue of the priest's own self-understanding, for example, the interplay of the various different vocations within the Church, and the struggle, in the face of a plethora of different offices and ministries, to discern what constitutes the specific priestly dimension and identity. Again and again, in his theological writings, Hans Urs von Balthasar has addressed the fundamental issues of of?ce and ministry, of priesthood and discipleship. He has uncovered the foundations from a biblical and theological historical perspective and has offered answers to the current problems of priestly existence. This book presents the confrontation with relevant trends, and at the same time the opposing current generated by von Balthasar, since he does not follow popular positions but instead gives us the very core of the Gospel and of revelation, like rye bread. In order to illuminate the spirituality and meaning of the life of the priest of today, von Balthasar goes back to the origins, to the apostles, to their calling, and above all to that moment from which their apostolic mission and their entire Christian existence originates, the Paschal mystery of Jesus. On the eve of his death, Jesus establishes the Eucharist and the priesthood; immediately after his Resurrection he bestows on the disciples the power to forgive sins, entrusts his sheep to Peter, and sends them out into the whole world. Thus von Balthasar considers the life and mission of today's priests in continuity not only with the first apostles, but above all, with Jesus himself. The person and mission of Jesus Christ stand at the center of priestly spirituality. Hence all the reaections in this work revolve unswervingly around Jesus Christ and his mission. Jesus is the source and norm of priestly existence. Only when God, made manifest in the figure of the Savior Jesus Christ, is understood as the center from which this priestly existence springs, and only when this enduring center is proclaimed, can the bold presumption of the Lord in entrusting his mission to weak men be understood in confident trust and attract new followers, even in lean times.

God and Eros

God and Eros PDF

Author: Colin Patterson

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2015-10-12

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 1498280137

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What can God and eros have to do with each other? Against Nietzsche's claim that Christianity poisoned eros, God and Eros rereads the mystery of human love as an ecstatic sharing in the mystery of the triune God who is Love. Body, sex, and affectivity, far from being locked in a lower order called "nature," instead belong to a sacramental order that is permeated by the call to love. In presentations designed to appeal to a general audience, the faculty of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family, Melbourne, approach this mystery through the lens of St. John Paul II's "theology of the body," with the goal to both introduce and more clearly illumine its major features. In particular, emphasis is placed on how a theology of the body is not just about "sex." Rather, it is above all about how each and every person--no matter what her state of life--is stamped by the watermark of being-from and being-for. Working within this broader perspective, God and Eros offers the reader a lively, engaging, and at times challenging tour of the full "ethos of the nuptial mystery."

A Life of Daring Simplicity

A Life of Daring Simplicity PDF

Author: Michael A. Becker

Publisher: Liturgical Press

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 0814638244

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If priests want the people entrusted to their care to develop a meaningful spiritual life, they must provide a living example of what that is. In A Life of Daring Simplicity: Daily Meditations on the Priesthood Michael Becker helps priests provide that example. Monsignor Becker has gathered a powerful collection of reflections drawn from an impressively wide array of great spiritual guides. Pope Saint John Paul II is well-represented here and so is Karl Rahner. We also hear from Catherine de Hueck Doherty and Adrian Von Speyr, Pedro Arrupe and Columba Marmion, and many more. Each passage challenges priests to reflect on their own vocation. Every page is filled with holy wisdom that will nourish priestly ministry and invite readers to embrace "a life of daring simplicity"--words used by Pope Saint John XXIII to describe his own life. Each day includes a Scripture verse, an inspiring insight on the priestly life, and a closing prayer or question to prompt deeper reflection. Spend a few minutes every day with these meditations and you will deepen your own commitment to your ministry and find ever more zeal to serve those entrusted to your care.

Understanding the Religious Priesthood

Understanding the Religious Priesthood PDF

Author: Christian, OSB Raab

Publisher: Catholic University of America Press

Published: 2020-10-14

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 0813233232

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Most contemporary theologies of Holy Orders consider priesthood mainly in its diocesan context and most contemporary theologies of religious life do not consider how ordained ministry functions when it is internal rather than external to religious life. Understanding the Religious Priesthood provides a history and theology of religious priesthood that contributes to our understanding of this vocation’s identity and mission. It uncovers what religious priesthood shares with diocesan priesthood and non-ordained religious life and what makes it different from both those other vocations. Christian Raab begins by tracing the history of religious priesthood from its origins in the early Church to the eve of the Second Vatican Council. He demonstrates that religious priests often faced questions about how to reconcile their two callings, but that they also provided answers in their theologies and spiritualities of priesthood and religious life. Meanwhile, they made key contributions to the Church’s life and mission. Raab then investigates the teachings of the Second Vatican Council on priesthood and religious life. Observing that the Council presented priesthood according to a diocesan typology and presented religious life without sacerdotal associations, he argues that the lack of imagery of religious priesthood contributed to a post-conciliar vocational identity crisis among religious priests. He then seeks to remedy this lacuna by appealing to the biblical images for religious priesthood Hans Urs von Balthasar offered in his theology of vocations. Raab argues that Balthasar’s imagery is a promising way forward for understanding the identity and mission of religious priesthood. In a final part, Raab provides a substantial theological articulation of religious priesthood which illuminates its liturgical signification, ecclesial mediation and mission, and ministerial identity. Here he draws not only from Balthasar but also from Pope John Paul II, Yves Congar, Jean-Marie Tillard, Brian Daley, and Guy Mansini to construct his profile.

Balthasar and Prayer

Balthasar and Prayer PDF

Author: Travis LaCouter

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2021-12-02

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 0567701905

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This study renders an original and constructive Catholic theology of prayer drawing on the work of Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988). Travis LaCouter explores the trinitarian, Christological, ecclesial, anthropological, and eschatological dimensions of prayer in Balthasar's theology, and shows how these combine to give a powerful account of prayer's proper theological scope and purpose. There is also a critical dimension of prayer which is arguably underdeveloped in some of Balthasar's key texts, but which LaCouter shows to have significant dialogical potential with contemporary accounts of parrhesia since Foucault. This approach demonstrates the centrality of prayer to Balthasar's entire theological system and does so in a way which itself constitutes an exercise in Catholic systematics. This study is also distinctive for establishing a method of proceeding through Balthasar's sprawling oeuvre (and the similarly vast secondary literature) by arguing for three “categories” of texts in Balthasar's writings and, separately, three “waves” of Balthasar readers. Thus, this study is a resource not just for those interested in prayer but for anyone interested in reading Balthasar today.

The Theology of Priesthood

The Theology of Priesthood PDF

Author: Donald J. Goergen

Publisher: Liturgical Press

Published: 2017-02-28

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 0814683746

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By engaging in conversation with those whose experience, perspectives, and theological traditions vary from their own, the contributors to The Theology of Priesthood explore in detail the fundamental questions being asked about the ordained priesthood today. Priests, deacons, and students of theology will find these articles an engaging means to understanding Church, ministry, and priesthood more deeply. The Theology of Priesthood includes ten essays that explore facets of ordained ministry and the ministerial priesthood. Paul Philibert, OP, begins with an overview of issues involved in the contemporary discussion on priesthood within the Roman Catholic tradition. Frank Quinn, OP, addresses the significance of language as it pertains to priesthood and ministry and how language is manifested in rites of ordination. Thomas O'Meara, OP, situates the discussion on priesthood within the context of an expansion of ministry in the Church since Vatican II and the implications of this expansion for ministry in the future. Stephen DeLeers articulates a theology of priesthood grounded in Vatican II and post-Vatican II documents which focuses on the primacy of preaching. Thomas Rausch, SJ, then takes up the issue of diversity within ministerial priesthood as he reflects on priesthood within the context of apostolic religious life. Jack Risley, OP, returns to the question of the relationship between ordained ministry and lay ministry. The final three articles reflect on ordained ministry from distinctive perspectives. Benedict Ashley, OP, takes the Letter to the Hebrews as his starting point. Paul Wesche looks at priesthood through the lens of an Eastern Orthodox priest. Donald Goergen, OP, asks what insights African theology, specifically African Christology, might offer a contemporary Catholic theology of priesthood. Paul Philibert, OP, provides a concluding reflection. Donald J. Goergen, OP, is a preacher, teacher, lecturer, author, and theologian who taught systematic theology for many years. He was also previously the provincial for the Dominican friars of the Central Province. He is the editor of A Theology of Jesus series, and Being a Priest Today published by Liturgical Press.