Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Summer Table at Catholic Sensibility
Hopefully your fourth was filled with good American fare: fireworks, potato salad, perhaps even some baseball and apple pie.
As we lumber to a finish in our six-month look at Gaudium et Spes, I wanted to let you know we'll be taking the rest of July to look at Dei Verbum, Vatican II's document on Divine Revelation. Following that, we'll turn our attention to Lumen Gentium in August and probably run with that through early October.
After that, it's anybody's guess as to where we'll go from there. I did a broad overview of the Constitution on Liturgy a few years back, and maybe that will be worthwhile to repeat in detail. I'm also thinking of putting Liturgiam Authenticam under a microscope as well. I can't promise I won't be less gentle than conservative Catholics are with the Roman Missal, but it might be an interesting exercise.
Before heading into that territory, I think we'll have daily posts on the minor Vatican II documents. (Remember we've looked at the clergy trilogy last year as well as the documents on the laity, on non-Christian religions, and on religious freedom.) In no particular order, these would be the declaration on Christian education, and the decrees on mission activity, religious life, ecumenism, Eastern Rite Catholicism, and social communications.
Vatican II is well worth a close study and examination. As much as I value the resources of the Catechism and the Compendium, the council documents themselves are not wholly contained in the more popular summations, and are well worth a thorough look. My belief is that the Spirit of the Council remains with us today, and I'm far from willing to concede we're ready for retrenchment.
