cormacburke.me.ke - General

Brave New Ireland

webmaster — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 16:23:02 +0000

Brave New Ireland (Position Papers (2015, no. 492), pp. 11ss)
For the last forty years we have been forming a generation to think that the fewer ties or commitments one has, the freer one is. This is just not so. Freedom is useless unless it ends in a choice. And perhaps it is worse than useless if one has been taught that all choices must be temporary, because nothing can give more than a passing satisfaction, nothing in fact is worth a definitive or binding choice. Always keep yourself 'free' for something or someone else. That is the philosophy our new generations are being taught.

Christian optimism: and God's logic

webmaster — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 07:29:47 +0000

Christian optimism: and God's logic (Homiletic and Pastoral Review: May 2010, pp. 26-41)

For the Christian mind, today's world appears to offer little that is encouraging. To all appearances, the most fundamental institutions and values are in rapid disintegration: marriage and the family, human sexuality, the sense of the unique dignity of human life and of the respect due to it before birth and at the moment of death. Moreover, our modern society seems dominated by a lack of solidarity, growing suspicion, distrust, separation, alienation, opposition and even hatred.

Modern man seems to have turned away from God, and to no longer care about him. "European culture", according to John Paul II, "gives the impression of a 'silent apostasy' on the part of men who are sated, who live as if God did not exist" (Apostolic Exhortation, Ecclesia in Europa, no. 9). In the last few years the apostasy has become less and less silent.

Law and Medicine in the Service of the Person and Society

webmaster — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:40:19 +0000

(A lecture given in Wellington, New Zealand, 1994, to a combined meeting of the SS. Cosmas and Damian Guild and the St. Thomas More Society)

'Every Abortion is a Tragedy': Barack Obama

webmaster — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 04:26:14 +0000

'Every Abortion is a Tragedy': Barack Obama (Position Papers, 474, Dec. 2013, pp. 25-28)

The recent interview of Pope Francis, published in September 30, 2013 in America magazine [1] moved many people deeply, especially with his insistence that we live in a wounded world which has the right to expect healing of those wounds from the Church. His repeated insistence clearly came from his heart; "the thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds.... Heal the wounds, heal the wounds."
He is not referring to bodily wounds so much as wounds of the spirit. Knowing well that this will provoke "scandal" among some, I would firmly assert that by far the greatest number of wounded people in today's world are the millions, the tens of millions, of women who, over the past decades, have had an abortion; and, admit it not, are still suffering from the wounds of this tragedy.

Eine weise Einsicht in das moderne Leben

webmaster — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:34:59 +0000

On the web I recently came across a German version of part of a 1999 lecture of mine (at http://www.doulos.at/eine-weise-einsicht-in-das-moderne-leben)
I reproduce it here; and - for the help of those whose German is at about my level - the original English passage.

******

Eine weise Einsicht in das moderne Leben By Wolf Paul (2012/10/23)

Vor ein paar Jahren gab es hier in Österreich heftige Kontroversen in den Medien und anderswo über einen bestimmten, inzwischen verstorbenen römisch-katholischen Bischof. Ich war nicht sehr erstaunt, als ich eines Tages herausfand, daß der Mann gleich nach seiner Priesterweihe begann, Kirchenrecht zu studieren, und schließlich zu unterrichten, bis man ihn eines Tages zum Bischof ernannte und ihm eine Diözese unterstellte. Er hatte nie als Priester in einer Pfarre gearbeitet, und war von seiner Persönlichkeit her kein Hirte, sondern ein Jurist.

L'Aborto

webmaster — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 12:32:27 +0000

L'ABORTO
Che cos'è l'aborto?
Fino a venti o trent'anni fa alla domanda «che cos'è l'aborto?» si rispondeva molto semplicemente: l'aborto è l'uccisione di un bambino non ancora nato, l'uccisione di un essere umano, la cui peculiare debolezza consiste nell'incapacità di sopravvivere fuori del seno materno. Si davano due valutazioni morali di questa azione:
1) era un omicidio giustificabile in alcuni casi. Questa fu la posizione di molti non cattolici, anche se, ovviamente, non di tutti;
2) era un omicidio non giustificabile, ossia era sempre un assassinio e, pertanto, non poteva mai essere lecito. Fu la posizione dei cattolici, condivisa, in genere, dai greci ortodossi e da numerosi altri gruppi o sètte.

Pastors and Penance (Position Papers, no. 262: Oct 1995, pp. 259-264)

webmaster — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:41:40 +0000

Recent decades have seen a remarkable fall-off in the number of Catholics frequenting the sacrament of Penance, one of the two sacraments which they can - and used to - receive frequently. The phenomenon, it should be added, characterizes the "developed" Western world. Africa is certainly an exception; so, it seems, are the countries of Eastern Europe. But allowing for such exceptions, we are in the presence of a pastoral phenomenon that is remarkable, and cannot be without significance. How should we regard it? Are there lessons to be learned from it? Does it matter? If it does, what to be done about it?

Inculturation: John Paul II and the Third World (East Asian Pastoral Review 32 (1995) pp. 277-290)

webmaster — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 13:37:10 +0000

"The Split between the gospel and culture", said Pope Paul VI, "is without a doubt the drama of our time"[1]. The drama is still being played out today in two main theaters, each with very distinctive features.

The Mass Explained (Scepter Limited, Nairobi: 2002)

webmaster — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 06:25:47 +0000

The Mass Explained
INTRODUCTION
To judge the "quality" of the Christian life of a community is always a difficult task, and perhaps a foolhardy one. There are so many factors that should be taken into account. And the most important of them are hidden!
Nevertheless, if the Holy Mass is the central act of our Catholic life, then Mass-going must surely remain one of the most indicative of these factors. With good reason therefore we consider the number of people coming to Mass, not only on Sundays but also very specially on weekdays. With even better reason we try to assess the "quality" of their participation in the Mass; their understanding of its nature and their application to their own lives of what it should mean for them. And we often think of the ways in which we can help them.

LIBERTAD Y FELICIDAD (Arvo, Salamanca, 1995)

webmaster — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 11:46:09 +0000

En mi opinión, entre los derechos humanos más preciados, junto con el derecho a la vida y a la libertad, se cuenta el de buscar la felicidad. Pero, de manera parecida a como pueden perderse la vida o la libertad, puede perderse la felicidad; o, por mucho que se busque, puede fracasarse en el intento de encontrarla. El fallo puede proceder de no buscar donde puede encontrarse, o de no hacerlo de la manera adecuada. Existen reglas precisas para la búsqueda de la felicidad y también ?una vez que se ha alcanzado?, para su conservación; de manera parecida a como hay reglas para la búsqueda y la conservación de la propia libertad, y para la misma vida. La existencia humana tiene reglas; si no se observan, el resultado puede ser su pérdida, o al menos la incapacidad para lograr que sea libre y feliz.