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worth noting . . .
THE TRUE PRIEST . . . To be a priest of Jesus Christ in his holy Church is a lofty call. A vocation to the priesthood is one of the greatest graces that God can give to a man. It means that he shares ontologically and personally in the salvific mission of Jesus—he gives his life for the salvation of souls. In this issue Fr. Donald Haggerty, a seminary professor in New York, offers us his profound reflections on the nature of the priest in the form of a letter to a newly ordained priest. What he says applies not only to the newly ordained, but also to those ordained for many years.
MUSIC AND MORALS . . . There is much wisdom in the writing of ancient Greek and Roman writers. They reflected not just on the effects of music, but also on the causes. They saw clearly that different types of music affect the soul and the emotions of the human person differently. Therefore some music is socially constructive and some is socially debasing, leading to rebellion and chaos. That is obvious in many rock concerts. In this issue Fr. Basil Nortz, O.R.C., writes that civilizations are determined by their music and not the other way around. Those who love classical music and those who like modern music will be challenged by this essay.
VOCATIONS ON THE RISE . . . After Vatican II, with all the changes in religious life, vocations plummeted. Many vowed religious left their congregations and very few entered. Thus the number of nuns in the USA now is less than half of what it was in 1965—and the average age in many groups is over 70. But there is a change in the wind. In this issue Fr. Albert DiIanni, S.M., says that many young people now want to serve God as nuns and priests in congregations that emphasize spirituality, prayer, consecration and communal living. Some older orders are changing in that direction and new ones have been established which are thriving.
THE NEW COVENANT . . . In the book of Genesis we read that God entered into a covenant with Abraham. A covenant is an agreement or contract between two parties; both bind themselves to do certain things to fulfill the covenant. In the Bible we have the Old Covenant with Abraham, etc., and the New Covenant instituted by Jesus in his blood. In this issue Dr. Dermott J. Mullan links the notion of covenant to religion and points out how “religion” means binding us again to God. He sees the culmination of this in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and in the reception of the Holy Eucharist. He stresses that there is a wealth of meaning in the idea of “covenant”.
—K.B.
Back to Homiletic & Pastoral Review Table of Contents April 2002