Two Centuries of Faith

Check out this neat online exhibit, Two Centuries of Faith, sponsored by the Church in the 21st Center at Boston College.


http://www.bc.edu/sites/libraries/exhibits/c21/index.html


"The Catholic Church has changed and contributed to the city for two centuries, influencing the life, the culture, and the institutions of the Commonwealth," said Thomas O’Connor. Its legacy is rich; the future holds hope.

Prayer of the Day

We must love them both, those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject, for both have labored in the search for truth, and both have helped us in finding it. - Saint Thomas Aquinas

Prayer for the Day

It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view. The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts; it is beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is the Lord's work...

Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No sermon says all that should be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness. No program accomplishes the Church's mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

That is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one day will grow, we water seeds already planted, knowing they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that affects far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do everything, and to do it very, very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the Master Builder and the worker. We are workers, but not master builders...minister, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future that is not our own. Amen.

-Oscar Arnulfo Romero

Transforming the Church

"...We participate in the transformation of culture not by assuming that the Church has all the answers, but knowing that the Holy Spirit is at work in in the Church and in the world, bringing about the fulfillment of God's plan for God's creation. We are engaged in a process of discerning where are how Gospel values are actually at work and in place in the world and in the Church."

 Robert R. Rivers
"Evangelization in the Contemporary Catholic Church"
C21 Resources Spring 2010

Consecrated Life in the 21st Century

"When I think of my hope, my dream, and my wish for consecrated life in the 21st century, it is moments of grace such as these that are my source of inspiration--in the present and for the future. Amidst the shadows cast by our divisions and tensions, whether real or perceived, these moments of grace reflect the light that shines upon and through the bonds of affection, solidarity, and mutual concern that continue to hold consecrated persons together in God's love and service to God's people. Amidst the scandals associates with our sins and failures, such moments of grace are manifestations of the good, the true, and the beautiful ways in which God's holy manner of working shines upon and through our charism- an our very lives!" - Sr. Margaret Eletta Guider, O.S.F. "Let Your Life Shine"

C21 Resources Spring 2011
The Vocations of Religious and the Ordained

C21 Quote of the Day

Jesus said, "You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before people, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

Matthew 5:14,16

Prophetic Witness

There is much that twenty-first-century women who are Catholic and love their faith tradition find disheartening about the current institutional church. It is disappointing, for example, that the thousands of women who make up a majority of the workforce of the church have little or no voice at ecclesial polity tables... Fortunately, these dispiriting dimensions of Catholic church life in the twenty-first century do not represent the full story... Without a question, some of the most exciting and creative theological work being done on the world stage today is by Catholic women. One hundred years ago, women were not welcome in the theological community of discourse. Fifty years ago, it was still most unusual for a woman to choose theology as a career. But today, in graduate programs throughout the United States, the number of women doing advances theological degrees frequently surpasses that of men. In historically unparalleled ways, women theologians today, solidly trained and choosing theology as their vocation invite us to stand up anew and reclaim the riches of the Catholic tradition in more emancipatory and expansive fashion. This volume gathers many of their voices.  - Colleen M. Griffith

This excerpt is from "Prophetic Witness: Catholic Women's Strategies for Reform". The book is apart of C21's award winning Book Series.  In 2010, this book won first place in the gender category by the Catholic Press Association.

http://bc.edu/church21/publications/c21bookseries/prophetic_witness.html

Passing on the Faith

"Our young people want to see ideals of the Gospel lives in our lives. One of the worst results of the current scandal in the Church can be a cynicism about the call to holiness in the Church. We run the risk of being overwhelmed by the bad example of priests and bishops and need to remind people that there have always been saints and sinners in the Church. The Church's task is to call everyone into conversation. We have our successes and our failures. The saints are the success stories and our young people need to know it. It helps them to see what we, their teachers, are struggling on the same path to holiness. "

"Passing on the Faith"
Most Reverend Sean P. O'Malley, OFM CAP
Archbishop of Boston

The following is an excerpt from the keynote address for a Church in the 21st Century conference held at Boston College on September 16, 2004. A free streaming video of the Archbishop's presentation can be viewed at http://bc.edu/church21/webcast.html

Prayer for the Day

Falling in Love with God
Nothing is more practical than finding God,
that is, falling in love
in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination,
will affect everything.
It will decide
what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you will do with your evening,
how you will spend your weekends,
what you read,
what you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in love,
stay in love,
and it will decide everything.

Pedro Arrupe, S.J.

From Crisis to Renewal

Check out the inaugural event for C21 from 2002 on a discussion of Church crisis and the road to renewal.

http://www.bc.edu/church21/webcast.html?09.18.02_From_Crisis_256K_S.mp4#feature-area

For hundreds of C21 webcasts from events that you my have missed, go to the following web address:
http://www.bc.edu/church21/webcast.html#feature-area

Student Apostles

For over a century, Catholic college students have played an important, yet all too often under-appreciated, role in the life of the Church. Inspired by their faith and moved by their youthful idealism, young Catholics have sought to live the gospel in a wide variety of ways- from establishing small faith communities on college campuses to launching national and international campaigns for social justice. Every day around the world, millions of undergraduate and graduate students are living out a truly apostolic vocation, one that is rooted in the call of Christ.  Given the complexity of life today, Catholic students, now more than ever, need to discover this sense of the student vocation. They need to discover what is means to be a follower of Christ. The primary challenge is to empower students to see themselves as active and responsible members of the Christian community. -Kevin Ahern

The following excerpt is from the C21 Resource publication from the Fall of 2010

One of the focal issues for The Church in the 21st Century Center at Boston College is "Handing on the Faith to the Next Generation." The center understands the important vocation that students have. C21 lectures, publications and student events such as Agape Latte and Veritas et Venium engage in a conversation about topics related to their lives.

Check out our student corner on our website!
http://www.bc.edu/church21/studentcorner.html

Women in the Church

Sr. Margaret Guider, O.S.F, Associate Professor of Missiology at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, speaks about the role of women religious in past, present, and future.  Below is the webcast of her event from April 13, 2011.
http://www.bc.edu/church21/webcast.html?04.13.11_Guider_Md.mp4#feature-area

For hundreds of other C21 webcasts click the following link:
http://bc.edu/church21/webcast.html

Ignatian Spirituality and Prayer

Following the example of St. Ignatius, Jesuit life centers on the imitation of Jesus- focusing on those priorities which constitute Christ's mind, heart, values, priorities and loves.  In true Ignatian Spirituality is the spiritual exercise, the examen of consciousness. Where did you see God today?

New Media and Catholic Spiritual Practice

In an age of technology, it may come as no surprise that Americans use new media to support and sustain spiritual activity. Almost two thirds of those who have access to the Internet, about 82 million Americans, have used it for spiritual or religious reasons. This online activity did not replace a faith community but was  used mostly in addition to affiliation with a congregation.  - Barbara Radtke

- The following excerpt was from C21 Resources Spring 2009 Newspaper

For more C21 Resources go to bc.edu/church21 for interactive magazines, newspapers and other publications!

The "Hook Up" Culture

The "hook up" culture is proliferating college campuses everywhere today.  Well known Professor Kerry Cronin has spoken at several Church in the 21st Century events. In the spring on 2010 she spoke at Agape Latte. Her topic focused on the "Imperfect Art of Dating" where she talked about the imperfections and challenge of dating as she has heard from her own students perspectives. Below is the webcast for this event.
http://bc.edu/church21/webcast.html?AGL_02.02.10_Cronin_256K.mp4#feature-area

You can browse hundreds of C21 webcasts at the following link: http://bc.edu/church21/webcast.html

How well is the Church using digital and social media?

Below is the link to an interesting article by Fr. James Martin S.J. His article literally delves into the Church in the 21st Century, asking how well we are using technology to spread the Gospel.

http://americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=12931

Please comment if you have any suggestions as to how the Church in the 21st Century Center at Boston College can continue to use technology and social networking!

The Eucharist: At the Center of Catholic Life

The Eucharist is undoubtedly the center of Catholic life. It is a many faceted jewel thats sacramental real presence encompasses word, event, and object. It is fundamentally relational, an event that draws us more and more fully into the mystery of God.  At a time when so many experience an absence of meaning and hope in their lives, Christians, nourished by the Eucharist, are sent forth to be heralds and stewards of Christ's healing presence. (John Baldovin S.J. and Robert Imbelli : C21 Resources)

The following promo for our year long theme was made by one the members of our Student Advisory Board:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v​=68X1LnU8FKI