THE SERVANT CHURCH

My favorite writers on the Church are Adrian Dulles and Edmund Schillebeeckx, neither of whom were notable liberals. Both have significantly influenced my concept of the Church as well as that expressed by the Bishops at Vatican II: Dulles in delineating various models of Church, Schillebeeckx in forming my vision of the Church as the Body of Christ who acts and speaks through it in the world today. Richard P. McBrien’s “The Church” is probably the best and most readable book on the subject in fifty years. When I started to formulate my vision for the Church of the future, not the heavenly New Jerusalem, but the church down and dirty in its members, I tried to put that vision in words in the context of the world today. I think it is the same vision as that expressed by Vatican II in the document De Ecclesia ("About the Church".)

My vision harks back to the early church we find in the Acts of the Apostles. It is the church described by Paul who wrote, “Have that mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus,

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE COUNCIL - PART II

Of the 70 draft documents submitted by the Curia for discussion, the bishops rejected 69 and asked that they be rewritten. The draft on the Liturgy was debated with massive support for sweeping changes. At an early session of the council an American bishop pointed out that most participants lacked fluency in Latin and offered to finance a system for simultaneous translation of the proceedings. At the suggestion of Cardinal Suenens, the bishops decided to start with the Constitution on the Church from which most of the other documents would follow. While the council was in recess in 1963, Pope John XXIII died and was succeeded by Pope Paul VI, a progressive committed to the ideas of his predecessor.

Where is the Church?

Welcome to my blog! I was born in Ireland, but I have lived much of my life in America, mainly in Florida. Those of you with an Irish background may find my blog title familiar, from the old Irish blessing "May the road rise to meet you and the wind be always at your back."

We all like to reminisce about the past and sometimes share our vision of the future. I recall sitting late by the fireside enthralled as my father and old friends shared memories of events and characters from their youth. In fact, I remember upon my arrival in New York sharing some of their stories with neighbors from home now living in the Bronx.

However, I want to share other musings from my concerns about the future and the past of an essential part of my life in both countries, the Church.