RBWords - Volume 37 - Number 9: September 2024
Something to Think About
R. B. WORDS - VOL. 37 - NO. 9 - SEPTEMBER 2025 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT - The election of the American Augustinian friar, Robert Prevost OSA, to the papacy as Leo XIV has stimulated expectations across the spectrum of world-wide opinion in and outside of the Catholic Church. In our own USA, one of the frequent Catholic conversation-starters is, “What do you think of our new pope?” And one hears, “What do you think he will do about church teaching on this, that and the other?” Often the latter question is rooted in what the questioner thinks about Pope Francis! A careful reading of the many books Pope Francis authored or official documents will show that very little if any matter of faith changed, but a great change of attitude occurred. At the same time, I would invite all those concerned about “change” to read Cardinal Newman’s AN ESSAY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. The history of Catholic tradition is much bigger than the period after the Council of Trent (1545-1561). Pope Leo will be conscious to maintain continuity of faith while fostering legitimate diversity of observance. His recent interviews with Catholic media show a good grasp of the Catholic reality in the USA. At the same time, that reality is not necessarily the standard for all the rest of Catholicism. Pope Leo XIV was a missionary and bishop in Peru for 20 years and also headed the Vatican body that vetted candidates for the episcopacy around the world. He was also the Prior General (head honcho) of his religious order for 12 years, headquartered in Rome, and traveled all over the planet visiting his Augustinian brothers and sisters. His grasp of the BIG PICTURE will inform whatever he says and does as the leader of our Church. IT’S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.
It Has Been Said
When Aquinas explained the passage from Ephesians on the depth and breadth of the wisdom and mystery of God in the incarnation of Jesus, he dwelt not on atonement but love: “Whatever there is in the mystery of the redemption and the incarnation of Christ - all of it is the work of love.” To recall that God’s love for men and women is a friendship (friends like to be with friends) is to understand incarnation not as a freakish miracle but as the fulfillment of a loving plan for the human race: a familiarity, a shared life. Because it is difficult to believe in the love of God, God proves it by the event of incarnation: “God wished to draw near to us and he did so by taking our flesh.”
From THOMAS AQUINAS - THEOLOGIAN by Thomas F. O’Meara, O.P.
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