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14 pages, 209 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Loss in Light of the Last Things: Christianity, Eschatology, and Grief in Inside Out

by Matthew John Paul Tan

Religions 2024, 15(8), 897; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080897 - 25 Jul 2024

Viewed by 1680

With reference to the film Inside Out, we show how Christian eschatology helps us understand the personal experience of grieving loss, generated by capital’s demands for labor hypermobility and its resultant disjunctures in a person’s biography. Inside Out cinematically portrays, in seemingly unremarkable moments, an inbreaking of a redemptive eschatological moment. We organize our case around two eschatological themes, those of judgement and death. The first section links a person’s affective experience, the structures that generate those experiences, and the last things; we make our case using Merleau-Ponty’s account of the intervolved body and Affect Theory’s relationship to Foucauldian power. The second section investigates what becomes of loss and restoration when they are refracted eschatologically, using Guardini’s idea of biographical death, Critical Theory’s conception of the Messianic, and Bonaventure’s conception of the convergence of opposites. We ultimately propose that, seen in the light of the last things, grieving over loss and its opposite, the restoration of what was lost, converge into one and the same thing. A third section will circle back to Inside Out and highlight the contours of the restoration of that which was lost in light of the two eschatological themes above. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Perspectives on Ecological, Political, and Cultural Grief)

17 pages, 280 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Emmaus Account as a Paradigm for Liturgical Formation of Families: Principles and Pastoral Applications with Reference to Pope Francis’ Desiderio Desideravi

by Marco Benini

Religions 2024, 15(1), 111; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010111 - 16 Jan 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1814

Abstract

This article addresses the need for liturgical formation that Pope Francis recently highlighted for the whole Catholic Church in his apostolic letter Desiderio Desideravi. The current American Eucharistic Revival encourages engagement in this. Based on a detailed spiritual–liturgical reading of the Emmaus account (Lk 24:13–35), the article develops guiding principles for liturgical catechesis and considers their practical applications with a particular focus on families. The first principle underscores the connection between liturgy and life, which makes catechesis relevant for daily life, e.g., by including testimonies of parents. A second principle outlines the pivotal importance of symbols and suggests methods to enhance their understanding. Fostering active participation in the liturgy, the third principle, is a practical consequence because the celebration itself forms the participants. Moreover, liturgical catechesis connects explanation and experience, as the mystagogical catecheses of the Church fathers demonstrated. Along with Pope Francis, this article also highlights Sunday as a gift and discusses ways of integrating families in the Sunday Eucharist. Finally, the last principles shed light on the task of the priest as the “catechist of catechists”. This article both explains the biblical basis of these principles and outlines practical ways to implement liturgical catechesis for families in parishes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Liturgical Formation, Culture and Christian Imagination)

9 pages, 231 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Relationship between Philosophy and Theology in Inter-War German Catholic Scholarship

by Tracey Rowland

Religions 2023, 14(11), 1403; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14111403 - 9 Nov 2023

Viewed by 1511

Abstract

This paper provides an introduction to the thought of four German Catholic philosophers of the inter-war era described by Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI as the most influential on his generation of seminarians. The focus of the article is on how they understood the [...] Read more.

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Continental Philosophy and Christian Beliefs)

15 pages, 291 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sitting on the Lakeshore: Guardini’s Letters from Lake Como Retold

by Enrico Beltramini

Religions 2023, 14(9), 1131; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14091131 - 4 Sep 2023

Viewed by 1595

Abstract

In his Letters from Lake Como, Romano Guardini distilled the characteristics of a cultural shift from a rural community to an industrialized society. Decades later, he would complete and refine his vision of that shift in The End of the Modern World. In the two books, but especially in Letters, Guardini argued for the possibility of a conciliation between a Christianity that differs from medieval Christianity, or Christendom, and an artificial, technologically infused culture that is no longer rooted in the rural life of pre-modern civilization. In this essay, I return to Guardini’s concept of a Christianized industrialism, a modern culture that is embedded in technology and yet open to transcendence. I show the groundlessness of such a concept in continuity with Hans Urs von Balthasar’s concise assessment of Guardini’s work, which Balthasar saw as firm and groundless. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Theologies)

16 pages, 247 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Transcending the Technocratic Mentality through the Humanities

by John Sullivan

Religions 2021, 12(9), 676; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12090676 - 25 Aug 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2698

Abstract

Catholic education has a long tradition of engagement with the liberal arts and especially the humanities. The place of the humanities today in the curriculum is under threat for several reasons, one being the predominance of the technocratic mentality. This paper revisits (in three steps) the contested issue of the role of the humanities in education. First, I review arguments about the role of the humanities within education. Second, some of the defects of the technocratic mentality are pointed out. Third, a Christian lens for viewing the humanities is deployed. Here I propose that the humanities play a valuable role in nurturing the imagination, thereby contributing both to a capacity to transcend the technocratic outlook and to the development of the holistic and humanising education that is central to a Catholic worldview. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catholic Education and the Liberal Arts)

13 pages, 208 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Catholics, Culture and the Renewal of Christian Humanism

by John Sullivan

Religions 2021, 12(5), 325; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12050325 - 6 May 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4208

Abstract

If Catholic educators are to equip students to engage with contemporary culture in a way that is credible and winsome, they need first, to be able to draw upon the living tradition of their faith appreciatively, critically and creatively, and second, to articulate a renewed form of Christian humanism. This paper addresses the second of these prerequisites by taking two steps towards the development of a Christian humanism for our times. First, I propose a rationale for the task of rethinking the case for Christian humanism as a resource for both cultural engagement and for educational practice. Second, I consider three potential sources and guides for becoming confident and competent in communicating this renewal of Christian humanism: Jacques Maritain, Romano Guardini and Pope Francis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catholic Education in Detraditionalised Cultural Contexts)

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