A thinking Church
The Editor

Nationalism, genocide and justice
Adrian Hastings
How can we explain the 'ethnic cleansing' in former Yugoslavia? Adrian Hastings, Emeritus Professor of Theology at Leeds University, looks at the history of nationalism and its links with genocide. The search for justice in many areas of conflict, from Kosovo to Northern Ireland, may be helped if it can be widely recognised that 'there is something basic to ethnic nationalism which leads on to genocide.'*

Jesus, Wisdom and our world
Elizabeth A. Johnson

Fire in the soul
Paul Murray OP
How do we evangelise when the gap between faith and culture is so great? Paul Murray, who teaches spirituality at the Angelicum in Rome, suggests that the contemporary secular searching for contact with the divine mystery provides one opening. 'Ministers of the gospel must not just communicate the truths about God, but undertake the preaching of the search for God through prayer.'

Where shall we find rest?
David McLaurin
In these summer months we may travel on holiday or pilgrimage in search of refreshment. David McLaurin, a priest and novelist, working at Ratcliffe College in Leicestershire, bases this article on a retreat he gave in Venice. Christ can give us rest from our age's anxiety. Light and refreshment come from 'the sight of that face we have been seeking all our lives'.

In the Jewish-Catholic tradition:
Edith Stein (1891-1942)
Pamela Hayes RSCJ
Edith Stein, who was canonised last year, died in Auschwitz in August, 1942. Here, Pamela Hayes, who is a religious of the Society of the Sacred Heart, and teaches at the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology in Cambridge, shows how useful it is to 'recall some of the instances of Edith's inner journey so as to see her death as a coherent part of her thought and story.'

Preaching and teaching the Word
Kevin McKevitt
Kevin McKevitt, formerly Senior Lecturer in English Literature at Newbury College, is married with two children and is a permanent deacon in the diocese of Portsmouth. He offers some reflections on the lectionary readings for the Sundays and Solemnities of August.

PASTORALIA

Another way to the mountain-top
Martin Webster
Martyn Webster, Director of the Westminster Cathedral Centre for Spirituality, suggests ways in which parishes can prepare for weeks of guided prayer.

Culture, history and the parish
Judith F.Champ
Last month's issue concerned the future of the parish. Here, Judith F. Champ lecturer in church history and pastoral theology at Oscott College, asks whether our model of parish, successful in the past, fits future needs.

Book reviews

Postscript:Three Wise Men
Vicky Cosstick

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