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A Council That Will Never End: Lumen Gentium and the Church Today, by Paul Lakeland, OCD. Liturgical Press, 2013.
Lumen Gentium from Vatican Council II changed our ideas about faith, holiness, baptism, and the nature of the Church. As this document marked its 50th birthday, Lakeland selected three themes from this document, carefully studied these texts, and pointed out some questions left unanswered. The author does
not neglect writing about all the items he appreciated about the text, but he also names what he calls inconsistencies. He points out what he says ails the Church , and invites his readers to work to establish a more humble Church, a Church which is more focused on its mission in the world.
In the Introduction, Lakeland mentions what he calls a part ( an Important part!) of the ecclesial tradition (Lumen Gentium) and claims it will still be here a thousand years from now, still pointing to the shape of the changed Church of the 1960’s, remaining the most important document of the sixteen documents
ratified by the Council. Lumen Gentium continues to be the basis for current thinking about the nature and purpose of the Church.
In Part One of the three parts, the author writes first of the ministry of the Bishops, their roles, and episcopal leadership in the American Church today. Part Two concentrates on the ministry of the laity, their vocation, and their lay ecclesial ministers. Part Three provides a search for a humbler Church, salvation for its members, who is my neighbor, and an ecclesiology of humility.
This book would not be complete without a few words on Pope Francis and
the possible direction he is giving the Church since he was elected Pope.
“What we should expect to find consistent will be his focus on
the poor, and making their concerns and their world the center of the Church’s priorities……It seems like both the bishop’s palace and the stock market will be displaced by the stable at Bethlehem and this can only be a good thing.”
Thanks to Sr. Irene Hartman, OP for this review.
Paperback, Kindle
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St. John Chrysostom: (d. 407): September 13.
The ambiguity and intrigue surrounding John, the great preacher (his name means "golden-mouthed") from Antioch, are characteristic of the life of any great man in a capital city. Brought to Constantinople after a dozen years of priestly service in Syria, John found himself the reluctant victim of an imperial ruse to make him bishop in the greatest city of the empire. Ascetic, unimposing but dignified, and
troubled by stomach ailments from his desert days as a monk, John became a bishop under the cloud of imperial politics. If his body was weak, his tongue was powerful. The content of his sermons, his exegesis of Scripture, were never without a point. Sometimes the point stung the high and mighty. Some sermons lasted up to two hours.
His lifestyle at the imperial court was not appreciated by many courtiers. He offered a modest table to episcopal sycophants hanging around for imperial and ecclesiastical favors. John deplored the court protocol that accorded him precedence before the highest state officials. He would
not be a kept man.
His zeal led him to decisive action. Bishops who bribed their way into office were deposed. Many of his sermons called for concrete steps to share wealth with the poor. The rich did not appreciate hearing from John that private
property existed because of Adam's fall from grace any more than married men liked to hear that they were bound to marital fidelity just as much as their wives were. When it came to justice and charity, John acknowledged no double standards.
Aloof,
energetic, outspoken, especially when he became excited in the pulpit, John was a sure target for criticism and personal trouble. He was accused of gorging himself secretly on rich wines and fine foods. His faithfulness as spiritual director to the rich widow, Olympia, provoked much gossip attempting to prove him a hypocrite where wealth and chastity were concerned. His actions taken against unworthy bishops in Asia Minor were viewed by other ecclesiastics as a greedy, uncanonical extension of
his authority.
Theophilus, archbishop of Alexandria, and Empress Eudoxia were determined to discredit John. Theophilus feared the growth in importance of the Bishop of Constantinople and took occasion to charge John with fostering heresy. Theophilus
and other angered bishops were supported by Eudoxia. The empress resented his sermons contrasting gospel values with the excesses of imperial court life. Whether intended or not, sermons mentioning the lurid Jezebel (1 Kings 9:1—21:23) and impious Herodias (Mark 6:17-29) were associated with the empress, who finally did manage to have John exiled. He died in exile in 407. americancatholic.org site
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