April 2001CONTENTS
April 2001
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So many weddings include the reading from St Paul's hymn to love. Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, Professor of New Testament at the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem, shows how we need to see Paul's understanding of love in the full context of his theology. Then we can see why it is best summarised by Augustine's dictum: 'Love, and do what you will.'
What does it mean to live as a chaste celibate in a cynical world? Seán Sammon, a Marist brother and author of An Undivided Heart, is currently Vicar General of his Order. Here he suggests that to embrace a life of celibate chastity today is naïve and foolish. Naïve because the choice defies social convention; foolish, because to embrace and live well a life of celibate chastity leads inevitably to a revolution of the heart.
How does God's love shape our family relationships? Léonie Caldecott, a writer and cathechist, lives with her husband and three daughters in Oxford where she is also Associate Director of the Centre for Faith & Culture. Here, in a series of meditations, she reflects on the demands of married love in the context of Cana and the Paschal Mystery.
In a society where love is defined primarily in terms of erotic relationships, can that definition be broadened? Vivian Boland, an Irish Dominican who lectures in theology at St Mary's Strawberry Hill, and at Blackfriars, Oxford, draws on the Christian traditional teaching on love and concludes that 'nothing is more urgent...than to proclaim to all the world: it takes three to make a love story'.
Jesus at the Last Supper told us to love one another. Most people would agree that in the abstract this is a good idea. Stephen Wang, who is a priest of the Archdiocese of Westminster working in the parish of St Mary and St Andrew, in Dollis Hill, draws on his pastoral experience to identify this love. 'I wanted to look around the parish and see how this kind of love is embodied in the lives of ordinary parishioners.
How can parents, catechists and priests overcome a child's reluctance to experience the sacrament of reconciliation on such grounds as 'it's too embarrassing'? Rory Fox, a school RE teacher living in Cambridge, has listened to children talking and suggests some ways in which the sacrament can be made 'more accessible to future generations of the Church'.
Celine Mangan is a Dominican sister teaching Scripture at the Milltown Institute, Dublin. Here she offers some reflections on the lectionary readings for the Sundays and holy days of May.
Where can social and pastoral workers go to find some good warm clothes or bedding for people in their care? There may be young single mothers desperately seeking baby-clothes, or older people whose cold-weather clothing has become threadbare and inadequate. Fortunately, there is a resource to hand: the Catholic Clothing Guild. This is their story.
Books
Rhidian Jones
T&T Clark, £19.95
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Donald B.Cozzens
The Liturgical Press, £
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Jack Dominian
Darton, Longman & Todd, £9.95
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Paul Davis
McCrimmons, £14.95
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