Tag: beatitudes

On
Dr. John P. Joy

Minimum requirements mentioned, but go beyond

To the editor:

Mr. Studinski made a great point in the December 7 issue about the importance of many other things that weren’t mentioned explicitly in my November 23 piece about what it means to be a practicing Catholic, such as the Works of Mercy and the Beatitudes.

But there was a reason for emphasizing the commandments. The terminology of “practicing Catholic” is one typically used to specify a minimum requirement for fulfilling certain functions within the Church (e.g. catechist, school teacher, godparent, etc.). And in the moral life, although the Works of Mercy and the Beatitudes are certainly more perfect than merely observing the commandments, yet still observing the commandments is the minimum.

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On
Elizabeth Durack

Faith practice, good works do not need to be in competition

To the editor:

A Catholic Herald letter by Kenneth R. Studinski calls guidance about what it means to be a practicing Catholic “a list of assumed credentials for an acting Catholic,” however he says being a “practicing Catholic” requires the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.

I reflect that Works of Mercy that are authentic Christian charity are fruits of the life of grace that we received first at Baptism and have and preserve through faith by the sacraments, prayer, embrace of Catholic teaching, and ordered participation in the life of the Church. It is reductionistic to call these things “assumed credentials” when they are profoundly necessary to our incorporation in the Body of Christ and having His life, the life of grace.

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On
Kenneth R. Studinski

More to being ‘practicing Catholic’

To the editor:

I am writing about John Joy’s piece in the Diocese section of your November 23 edition.

I am concerned that the conference of Catholic educators, John, and others have missed the point of the Bible and the Church. What was given as the “meaning to be a ‘Practicing Catholic’” is more a list of assumed credentials for an acting Catholic but not a practicing Catholic.

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On
Fr. Steve Grunow

In Christ, we are baptized to become saints

Word on Fire
Fr. Steve Grunow

Each November the Church celebrates the Solemnity of All Saints. The saints are the great heroes of our faith. The Church describes a saint as a person of “heroic virtue.”

This means that while many Christians might be willing to settle for lackluster accomplishments as disciples, the saints engage their relationship with the Lord Jesus with vigorous creativity and absolute dedication. Most often, the work of the saints will go unnoticed and unseen.

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On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Blessed Teresa inspires us to live the Beatitudes

One of my favorite books is Blessed Are You: Mother Teresa and the Beatitudes, by Eileen Egan and Kathleen Egan, OSB (1992). When Pope Francis announced that Blessed Teresa would be canonized in 2016, I took the book out again.

Each chapter of the book offers a short meditation on one of the Beatitudes, Blessed Teresa’s own reflections on that Beatitude, and how she and her order – the Missionaries of Charity — lived that Beatitude.

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