Friends:

I have come to enjoy the International Students Reception sponsored by the
Consortium Student Board. In my early years as executive director, I did not know what to expect--and I learned a lot about others' views of American culture.

The event on Friday evening, November 3 at WTU was very enriching--not only did
I have excellent food [courtesy of Student Board representative Mark Winterbottom.]but I enjoyed excellent conversation--one student from CUA told me of his work in the University radio station [I did not know there was such a station] to present the gospel message in an understandable way.

The discussion, led by Professor Thomas Schartl of CUA, himself newly arrived from Europe, was very interesting. It was the first time in memory that the students shared some of their theological perspectives--which varied considerably and were much influenced by country of origin.

I was informed by these quite diverse perspectives.
I always have a lot to learn.

Time for more coffee!!

Peace,
John

EcuBlog from Fr. John Ford

“Why Would Lutherans Celebrate the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe?”—this is the question raised by Professor Maxwell E. Johnson, a Lutheran professor of liturgical studies at the University of Notre Dame. Johnson’s “theological meditation” on the well known apparitions in Mexico in 1531, emphasizes three reasons for celebrating “Mary of Guadalupe”: first, she proclaims the Gospel to us; second, she embodies God’s unmerited grace for us; third, “she is a type and model of what the Church is to be in the world.”

This short essay, which could well serve as a launching pad for ecumenical discussion between Protestants and Catholics, appeared in The Treasure of Guadalupe, edited by Virgilio Elizondo, Allan Figueroa Deck, and Timothy Matovina (Lanham-Boulder-New York-Toronto-Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2006), 87-94. An appendix in this small book provides an English translation of the Náhautl account of the apparition (109-120).

Friends:

A little coffee and reflection on the Science and Religion Luncheon Today at WTU.
Twenty five of us came together to have lunch and then to listen to Fr. Jim Salmon of Loyola College speak of the famous Jesuit paleontologist Teilhard de Chardin and complexification! This is not a topic for the faint-hearted.

Salmon is a Jesuit. He has taught both Chemistry and Theology at Loyola and elsewhere. There were many scientists in the group and they asked probing questions on the science underlying current views of Chardin's thinking. Likewise views on metaphysics were in play.

The basic lecture was accessible to the uninitiated but the discussion drew in the specialist.

One hardly needs coffee if one is listening to such a stimulating discussion.

Peace,
John