Studies in Rome

Hi everyone,

My Mum and Dad have headed back home after an enjoyable stay here in Rome. I am so grateful for the time to catch up and relax and look at some special places in Rome.

For me, its back to lectures, and we have had an excellent lecturer ever day this week, speaking about "Discipleship, following Jesus who walked on the earth"

Fr John Fuellenbach has given the talks and they are very inspiring. I hope to be able to give a more full summary soon. His talks are based loosely around his new book, "Throw Fire".

A little taste of his book can be found in the following link, although his lectures are more general to the topic of discipleship  and the nature of the God we are called to be follow.

http://www.tere.org/secondary/gcse/index.html


He has also written some classic books:  namely:
*The Kingdom of God: Message of Jesus Today by John Fuellenbach (Paperback - Mar 1996)

 

*Ecclesiastical Office and the Primacy of Rome: An Evaluation of Recent Theological Discussion of First Clement (Studies in Christian antiquity) by John Fuellenbach (Hardcover - 1980)

 

 *Church: Community for the Kingdom (American Society of Missiology) by John Fuellenbach (Paperback - 2 Jul 2002)

 

Having engaged with these excellent talks, it is clear how our discipleship must reveal itself in practical and concrete ways in our lives and actions. So, it is very relevant and timely that the Pope's latest general audience was on the topic of St Ambrose, and particularly how it is often not as much WHAT we say but how we live what we are saying that brings home the truth of Jesus' good news: (see Pope's message below)

cheers everyone,

paul

AMBROSE: CATECHESIS INSEPARABLE FROM LIFE WITNESS

 

VATICAN CITY, OCT 24, 2007 (VIS) - During today's general audience, Benedict XVI continued his series of catecheses dedicated to Fathers of the Church, turning his attention to the figure of St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan. The audience, held in St. Peter's Square, was attended by more than 30,000 people.

 

  It was from Origen that Ambrose (ca. 340-397), considered to be one of the four greatest Doctors of the Church, learnt to know and comment the Bible. It was Ambrose, the Pope explained, who "brought meditation upon the Scriptures into the Latin world, ... introducing the practice of 'lectio divina' to the West." This practice "guided all his own preaching and writing which flow, in fact, from his listening ... to the Word of God."

 

  With him catechumens "learnt first the art of correct living" in order "to be prepared for the great Mysteries of Christ." His preaching was founded on "the reading of Sacred Scripture" with the aim of "living in conformity with divine Revelation.

 

  "It is evident," the Pope added, "that the preacher's personal witness and the exemplary nature of the Christian community influence the effectiveness of preaching. ... From this point of view, one decisive factor is life context, the reality of how the Word is lived."

 

  Benedict XVI recalled the fact that St. Augustine in his Confessions recounts how his own conversion was not due "chiefly to the beautiful homilies" of Ambrose, whom he knew in Milan, but above all "to the witness of the bishop and of his Milanese Church, who sang and prayed together like one single body." Augustine also tells of his surprise at seeing how Ambrose, when he was alone, would read the Scriptures without moving his lips, because at that time reading was considered as something to be proclaimed out loud in order to facilitate its comprehension.

 

  It is "in such reading, ... when the heart seeks to achieve an understanding of the Word of God, that we catch a glimpse of Ambrosian catechesis," said the Holy Father. "Scripture intimately assimilated suggests what must be announced to convert people's hearts. ... Thus catechesis is inseparable from life witness."

 

  "Those who educate in the faith," he continued, "cannot run the risk of appearing like a clown who plays a role, ... rather he must be like the beloved disciple who rested his head on the Master's heart and there learnt how to think, speak and act."

 

  St. Ambrose died on Good Friday, his arms open in the form of the cross. "Thus," the Pope concluded, "he expressed his mystical participation in the death and resurrection of the Lord. This was his final catechesis. In the silence of words, he spoke still with the testimony of his life."