Carla Mae's Blog

On the "Evil" of Falling in Love as a Comitted Celibate, as Expressed by an Archbishop: Ah, ...I do not agree with the archbishop...it is not bad for a priest to fall in love with a woman...it is the Spirit's way, often of opening him up to God. What is bad is that we do not discuss this within priestly formation, and so the priest is torn when it happens to him. Celibate love must be white hot, for blue heat will not do. The loving celibate must know how to love more, not less. The love must be so intense that neither his own or the other person's life style is to be disturbed. But loving...we are made for it...it must not be feared. It must instead cauterize our celibate souls.

On Taking About God Today as Triune: to an Inquirer The tension between fear and love for God will plague us until Jesus' message is accepted more widely. It is not only part of the history of the Catholic Church, but of many other traditions. What we don't understand, we fear. Jesus asks total trust of us. It would seem that is the only intelligent choice...either we trust him because of who he is, or we don't. What is important to keep in mind is the fact of the Holy Spirit continuing to work with us like a tender Mother, opening us ever more to a fuller truth. It isn't so much that we were "wrong" as that we are learning under God's guidance.   Your explanation to the dear man who couldn't believe in God was not far off at all. All of our images are incomplete, because we do not have full knowledge of the Mystery, so not to sweat about it. The Mystery of God is so immense and so rich that in explaining it, we simply do the best we can trying ...

The Eclipse and Recovery of Beauty: A Lonergan Approach. By John D. Dadosky. Buffalo, NY: University of Toronto Press, 2014. 255 pages. $65.00. It is a rare treat to read a book with a title that so clearly captures the very purpose of the book. This book with this title does just that. For those whose eyes glaze over at the mention of Bernard Lonergan, John Dadosky is not one of those writers who further muddies the waters by the use of Lonergan language and a convoluted style. Dodosky explains things. Whether you agree with his conclusions or not, he is clear. Straight out from the Preface he tells us why he is writing “…to propose an intellectual framework for recovering beauty in the West.” (xi) Dadosky bases his research in Thomas Aquinas and Lonergan, convinced that others who have worked with the aesthetics of Thomas have not made the turn to the subject, perhaps fearing a Kantian influence. Calling himself a meta- physician , Dadosky sets out to “…clarify and arti...

When you go to a theology conference, you can have remarkable side experiences. Such it was when Carla Mae Streeter, OP attended the College Theology Society 60 th Annual Convention May 29-June, 1, 2014, held at Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, PA. The Conference theme was “God Has Begun a Great Work in Us” The Embodiment of Love in Contemporary Consecreated Life.” Carla Mae was a respondent to a paper in Sacramental Theology given by Aquinas adjunct professor, Dr. Joseph Marcos. A Benedictine Arch-abbey, St. Vincent’s is the first of the United States’ Benedictine foundations. But surprisingly, Latrobe is also the home of the famous beloved children’s television star, Mister Rogers. The Mister Rogers archives are housed at the beautiful Mister Rogers Center on campus, an ecologically constructed building that is a marvel to see. The arch-abbey has also given land to Latrobe for an efficient set of wetlands adjoining the college campus. Drawing water from the abandoned coa...

                                           History and Method in Sacramental Theology                                                          Joseph Martos                                           College Theological Society Annual Convention          ...

Natural Law in Jeans and Sun Glasses: A Social Justice Reflection and Update on Current Issues before the Missouri Legislature Carla Mae Streeter, OP Aquinas Institute of Theology St. Louis The natural law tradition is far from archaic. To the astute observer it is like a basso continuo playing behind the clash of the headlines. Subtle and contextual, it continues to bring order out of contemporary chaos, despite the efforts of those who would declare it obsolete. Where is the evidence for this? Joseph W. Koterski, S.J., philosophy professor of Fordham University, has some valuable insights to share with us. He reminds us that Aristotle’s approach to nature was very empirical, and when the medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas built his synthesis on this approach, he offered human culture a solid foundation that can ground our rational discourse even to this day. What is this foundation and how might we use it? We might describe this foundation as four pillars...

Origin of the Universe By Dr. Tom Sheahen Q.         In the movie “God is Not Dead,” in one scene it was said that physicist Stephen Hawking proved that the universe just created itself, by the law of gravity. Is that depiction accurate?             In one sense I can answer “yes” to your question about accurate depiction: Hawking really did write in his 2010 book “The Grand Design” that the universe created itself.   On the other hand, on the matter of whether Hawking is right, I would emphatically say “no.”             Stephen Hawking is an eminent physicist who has contributed some very innovated ideas about the behavior of black holes, and our understanding of cosmology is better because of that. Also, Hawking has Lou Gehrig’s Disease (A.L.S.) which makes him a very sympathetic figure.     ...