Carla Mae's Blog

Reflections On Some Responses to Francis’ Amoris Laetitia Carla Mae Streeter, OP Francis released his Apostolic Exhortation, “On the Joy of Love,” on March 19, 2016, the Feast of St. Joseph. The document was the pope’s long awaited response to the Synod on the Family, which concretized Francis’ vision of the Church as a participative community engaged in a participative event. A questionnaire was issued beforehand, with the explicit invitation to speak freely on the issues. It was to be an experience of a truly listening Church.   What followed the publication of the Exhortation was a variety of responses. I will name two that the reader might want to pursue, while commenting mainly on one of them. The first response I reference appeared in Commonweal on May 20, 2016, and was entitled, “A Balancing Act: Reading ‘Amoris Laetitia.’ The article featured perspectives from Peter Steinfels, Paige E. Hochschild, William L. Portier, Sandra Yocum, and George Dennis O’Brien. ...

As September comes, we look toward the harvest in the fields, and liturgically toward the fruit the Spirit has coaxed into ripeness in the spiritual gardens of our souls. We have just celebrated the Transfiguration of the sacred humanity of Jesus and the Assumption of the humanity of Mary, his mother. Both of these feasts point to what we ourselves shall be.   As if the Church is deeply pondering this remarkable revelation, she offers us three more feasts of the Mother of God in this month: Mary’s birthday on September 8, the feast of her Holy Name on the 12 th , and then the feast of her Sorrows on the 15 th , right after the feast of the Holy Cross. Could the Church be trying to tell us something as the Sunday readings look for sweet fruit from us? Then, as though three were not enough, in the earlier calendars there was a fourth feast of Mary: Our Lady of Ransom on September 24. No longer on the liturgical calendar, this was the ancient feast of Our Lady of Mercy. It comm...

Have you ever wondered why Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is so prominent in Dominican spirituality? Yes, there are the stories of Mary’s appearances, guiding Dominic in the foundation of the Order, and the use of the prayer beads that became the rosary, to give folks access to scripture before the printing press arrived in 1443. But why would Mary take such an interest, not only in the Dominicans, but in other Orders as well? We might find a helpful clue from the lay woman Chiara Lubich, foundress of the Focolare Movement, who died recently in Rome. Chiara calls Mary the transparency of God. Her insight suggests that Mary’s present state as a risen human is something like a “see-through lady.” Her humanness has become the very radiance of God, who shows in her and through her. This would give us a hint of our very own future. Is that how it will be with us? Will the grateful love we have lived day by day, and the faithfulness we have struggled to maintain, be the agents of our tra...