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Daily Scripture

+ 7th Week of Easter

We are to be consecrated in truth.

Readings: Acts 20:28-38 Psalm 88:29-30, 33-36 John 17:11b-19

Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they may also be consecrated in truth. [John 17:18-19]

Read the Gospel very slowly and if possible, out loud and if necessary, three times! Although John’s literary style is quite complex, the farewell prayer of Jesus is as powerful as is Paul’s farewell message in Acts.

It is not likely that these passages are the actual words of Paul and Jesus. They are compositions that Luke and John or whoever wrote in their name and are based on the oral tradition of the sayings of Jesus and the preaching of Paul. They were written in the style of farewell addresses of prominent leaders of their times in order to win the attention of early believers to whom the message of truth was entrusted.

The ‘truth’ that is being proclaimed is not from a catechism nor is it a defined doctrine or dogma. It is the core truth about the God who spoke through the prophets and then through Jesus about the universality of God’s love.

During this time of immediate preparation for Pentecost, we are invited to think about our own responsibility to pass on the ‘truth’ of God’s goodness entrusted to us in Christ and how we are to live that truth in our daily lives, each in our own unique way. No one of us can do this alone and so we much join hands literally and figuratively within the community of believers everywhere.

To live the ‘truth’ is to live in the Spirit of Jesus Christ the fruits of which are charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, moderation, self-control, reverence, etc. I’m sure you memorized these ‘fruits of the Holy Spirit.’

These are the true ‘marks’ of our authenticity as believers.

The Unfinished Church

Thursday July 7, 2005

The Unfinished Church, Ecclesiology Through the Centuries, Bernard P. Prusak, Paulist Press, New York/Mahwah, NJ, 2004, paperback, 404 pages

Movement is a more descriptive word than institution to describe the reality of the Church and this appears to be the conclusion of Dr. Prusak in his splendid book entitled, ‘The Church Unfinished.”

In 341 pages, this superb ecclesiologist takes the reader on an encyclopedic and somewhat kaleidoscopic tour of the evolution of the Church from its apostolic foundation in the teachings of Jesus to its post Vatican II mix of the old and the new. The book concludes with a look into the future with no firm promises or predictions of what the Church will look like in generations to come but with reasons for hope without ducking some crucial issues and questions.

It has been said that it takes an orator six hours to produce a six-minute speech – one hour per minute. Therefore, it should not surprise us that this book took over five years to complete. Dr. Prusak is painstakingly thorough in all his endeavors.

With a Licentiate in Sacred Theology and a doctorate in Canon Law, Dr. Prusak is a blended and balanced scholar. He is an historian of much breadth and depth. His grasp of biblical theology, his appreciation of the influence of political forces on the development of church structures and discipline, his insight into the impact of the human element on the Church’s mission and ministry and his innate sensitivity for people in the pew all combine to make this a remarkably informative book.

The first five chapters take us through 1900 centuries of history with an emphasis on facts but with an interpretation faithful to facts rather than speculation so often characteristic of progressive writers. There is no spin in these pages. The facts are amply documented with fifty pages of notes most of which pertain to original sources. There is also an index of modern authors extending for eleven pages.

An understanding of Peter’s role among “The Twelve” and the role of the pope and bishops throughout the Church’s history is crucial for a complete understanding of the papacy and its relation to the college of bishops today.

Chapter 6 is basically a commentary on the documents of Vatican II with an emphasis on “Lumen Gentium – Dogmatic Constitution on the Church” and “Gaudium et Spes – Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World.” However, he does not neglect the “Decree on Ecumenism,” the “Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church” and the “Declaration on Religious Liberty.”

Notwithstanding all of the above, and recognizing the sound philosophical and theological assumptions by which a world Church may be guided in its progress into the future, Chapter 7, “Restoring a Future to a World Church” fulfills the purpose of this treatise. Despite the desire for change by proponents of reform, new models of Church always contain elements of the old. We need to look back in order to move forward. Moreover, despite the guidance of the Holy Spirit, there are always unexpected influences that skew change in unanticipated directions. Quantum theory is not antithetical to the conviction to Christ’s promise that God will not abandon the Church.

Dr. Prusak’s commentary on the willingness of Pope John XXIII to risk a more intentional outreach to the world is a refreshing reminder that the Church must always be in dialogue with the world if it is to achieve its end. Jesus did not reject the world but embraced it. Before his arrest and crucifixion, Jesus prayed, “As you have sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world…. I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.” [John 17:18-21]

The accent of Vatican II was on dialogue with the world and the collaboration of Christians with people of good will everywhere in the pursuit of the common good of humanity.

This quote from Chapter 7 sums it up nicely:

“’What humanity is,’ the philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey writes, ‘only history tells us.’ Like human life, the life of the catholic or universal Church is lived forward but understood backward. Catholic tradition does not, however, simply involve remembering and preserving the past. The final chapters of Catholic identity are a work in progress, like a book without a final chapter and a back cover. The Church’s catholicity includes sweeping spatial and temporal dimensions. It involves an ever-expanding memory, embracing the immense richness of past and present times, places and cultures, and at the same time an openness to assimilating, and possibly being transformed by, a future history in which God offers a surplus of possibilities. What the Church is, only the entirely of its history will fully reveal.” (Looking Ahead, p 333)

We are only in the first trimester of a Church still in its embryonic stage. There’s a lot more to come and if the past is any indicator of the future, there is every reason to keep hope alive.

“The Unfinished Church” will not be an easy read for Catholics who have little or no knowledge of Church history. However, in my opinion, it is an essential read for anyone serious about Church reform. Prusak is faithful to history but he allows history to make its own assessment of the past and open the doors to the future.

Dr. Bernard Prusak, STL, JCD is the head of the Department of Theology and Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at Villanova University.