Passionist International Bulletin

More documents

Recommendations

Info

seminar on the memoria passionis20have a determined nature. It is “nothing” that it canbecome. It can become anything and it can transcendanything it becomes. And it is precisely intranscending every thing that it arrives at its End,which is the Beginning.The Crucified One, in his “non-entity”, preciselyseems to indicate this: the Nothing that is theBeginning. In its particularity and determination,however, it seems to also indicate the necessity –theologically problematic – of its overcoming. Infact, he too is, above all, a particular form, onaccount of which we ask ourselves, precisely, if itisn’t transcended, surpassed.In any case, no less problematic would be theidentification of the Beginning – essentially rational,metaphysical – with God – essentially revealed,biblical. If Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified One, isto be associated with the Beginning then he couldnot be, in the likeness of the consubstantial Image(Col. 1:15, Heb. 1:3) and Primordial Sacrament, thefulfilled and defined historical Revelation of Godwhich Christians believe him to be. If instead he isto be fully revealed as the Triune God – not as fromthe outside but from the inside, he himself beingone of the Three; therefore, not as a simple manwho is to point to God from below but as God himselfwho from above wishes to positively allow manto know that He is (became) – then from theBeginning He could not be the “image”, the onlypossible manifestation of himself, that theBeginning recognizes as his own, given that theBeginning does not have and isn’t any nature andtherefore can never be “seen” or recognized as“revealed” in something analogous to that fromwhich it is derived. Any reflection whatsoever saysnothing more about its nature except a nature thatanother would talk about, elevated or less elevated,that is imagined within the interior of the ontologicalscale of beings or the me-ontological scale ofnon-beings.The Beginning, being neither the Being nor thecreator of the being, is not, consequently, capable ofparticipation nor conceivable nor decipherable inanalogical terms. Completely lacking of a naturethat one would want to attribute to him, he does nothave a personal face, he does not conclusively projectwithin the world and he does not contain in himselfin any way the essences of the things thatderive from him. It is useless to think that, althoughattempting a revelation, he would be truly and properlycapable of being revealed. The discussion thatconcerns him cannot be analogical – analogy instigatessuspicion – but it is a purely negative discussion,of pure “ineffability”. Nor can one expect toomany negations. The Absolute which is theBeginning is no hidden Absolute— eventually discernable—but the bottomless Abyss, indeterminateand, as such, incomprehensible, unattainable, ineffable.At this point in the nothingness down here –Christ Crucified – we can say little or nothing aboutthe absolute Origin of everything, this included—and here it deals with the most profound truth inthis regard: that it is, in fact, “nothing” of everythingwhich we spontaneously attribute to it: thetitle of Eminent Beginning, Excellent, Supreme,source of every absolute, transcendental perfection,overflowing and abundant with every “infinitedetermination” – an expression, that is speculativelyquestionable.How then can the Beginning that is presumablyGod be the Trinity? In order to be the Trinity, Godcannot be the Beginning (in-distinct, ineffable). Inorder to be the Beginning, God cannot be anyTrinity (personal, revealed), except perhaps “relationally,”relatively that which the world hasderived from that which it is not. Otherwise, relatively,not intrinsically, God would be “Agape”.Fr. Breton has thought about this. Untiringresearcher and also rigorous in Foundation andimpassioned believer in the Crucified One, he is notinclined to deal with divine things lightly and presumptuously,whether from the conceptual as wellas from the linguistic perspective, even imposingupon his readers a particular ascetic and he inviteseveryone to always go beyond themselves inthought and heart. We should never be satisfiedwith prior accomplishments, attentive to the gravetemptation to convert the Absolute into the mostnoble of the idols forged by us.
seminar on the memoria passionisHOMILY FOR THE MASS OF THANKSGIVINGON THE OCCASION OF THE 91ST BIRTHDAY OF STANISLAS BRETON, C.P.AND HIS 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF RELIGIOUS PROFESSIONFr. Ottaviano D’Egidio, C.P.Scripture texts: Isaiah 61:1-3; Matthew 25: 31-41We sing a canticle of praise to God who continuallymakes all things new and who today permits us tocelebrate another Passover of the Lord. A mystery oflove, of communion, of sacrifice and of profoundunity he allows us to share with Him, through Him,and in Him, his own death and resurrection. It is theforetaste of the eternal Easter! God receives us as sacrificeand pleasing fragrance. Also, to Him be praise,glory and thanksgiving for the gift of Fr. StanislasBreton to the Congregation, to the Church and to theworld and for his presence in our midst during thesetwo days of the Seminar and for his 91 years of lifeand 75 years of <strong>Passionist</strong> Religious Profession.In a conference that he gave a number of yearsago, Fr. Breton wrote that: “at the root of so manyvocation crises the fact remains that somethingstopped singing or nothing ever sang. Religious lifemust be dreamed, before it can truly be lived.” And Fr.Breton has been faithful to that dream and he has sungfrom his soul, his “magnificat” at the top of his voiceas he did as a child, when he sang the ‘Requiem’ in hisparish church of Gironde. But he is not embarrassedby this because he knows that “you have not chosenme, but I have chosen you that you may bear muchfruit” (Jn.15:16). A vocation is as fragile and decisiveas a question mark and it requires vigilant care andperseverance.In the first reading from Isaiah we read: “The spiritof the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointedme; He has sent me to bring glad tidings to thelowly, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty tothe captives and release to the prisoners, To announcea year of favor from the Lord…” (Is.61:1) Jesus, in theGospel of Luke applies this same verse of Isaiah tohimself: “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”(Lk. 4:21)Jesus, consecrated and sent by the Father, willbring the joyful news to the poor by assuming theirpoverty; he will bind up the wounds of their hearts byhis own wounds and with his own heart, pierced bythe soldier’s lance (“They will look upon him whomthey have thrust through”) Jn. 19:37; he will proclaimliberty for those in slavery and freedom for prisoners,by being imprisoned with nails on the cross, the cry ofthe slaves; he proclaimed a year of mercy from theLord with his extreme solitude on Calvary: “My God,my God, why have you abandoned me? and by thesarcasm of those who wanted him killed: “come downand we will believe”, far from any mercy!He took our faults upon himself, he carried oursins, thousands of sins pierced his heart. He took ourplace in condemnation, “He became one of us” andhis death has given uslife. And this is the greatestmystery of the love ofGod and of his mercy,“the miracle of miraclesof love”, as St. Paul of theCross refers to thePassion of Jesus. Even onthe cross Jesus is notenclosed within his suffering,nor distant in hispain. Even in thatmoment he forgets abouthimself and he openshimself to hope and certainty:“Today you will bewith me in paradise” (Lk.23:43). In the folly oflove he believes that hisdeath is a plan for life.21
Page 1 and 2: PassionistInternationalBulletinSpec
Page 3 and 4: seminar on the memoria passionisA S
Page 5 and 6: seminar on the memoria passionisIn
Page 7 and 8: seminar on the memoria passionisTHE
Page 9 and 10: seminar on the memoria passionisRET
Page 11 and 12: seminar on the memoria passionisDoe
Page 15 and 16: seminar on the memoria passionisdra
Page 19: seminar on the memoria passionis“
Page 23 and 24: John Paul II’s PontificateTRIBUTE
Page 25 and 26: John Paul II’s Pontificate1Magazi
Page 27 and 28: Passionist Lifemany nations, differ
Page 29 and 30: Passionist LifeThe participants att
Page 31 and 32: Passionist LifeThe Vicariate of the
Page 33 and 34: Passionist LifeSymposium in honor o
Page 35 and 36: New PublicationsAA.VV. I PASSIONIST

Passionist International Bulletin

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?