EPub Priestly spirituality meaning
Great essays on the spiritual life of the priesthood Balthasar interweaves theology with spirituality very well Not all of the essays are A class but are worth reading once If you have to choose the best essay in it is The Priest I Seek for its pastoral exhortations but I would also recommend perhaps the longest one whose name escapes me wherein he develops both the Marian and Petrine dimensions of the priesthood 118 Excellent book I think it will be one that needs to be returned to again and again 118 I think it was the second chapter that was complete fire Honestly a really great book for seminarians and priests to come to an understanding of the Priesthood and its marian dimension 118 Short essays on the priesthood The stronger parts are philosophical and focus on the identity of office and mission in the person of Christ mostly as a critique of the sociological and psychological descriptions of the office that dominate the public discussions The weaker parts were when this is spun out into a theory of gender roles within the church 118
Priesthood and crisis are two words that appear to be very closely related Or so it has seemed for the past thirty years and The crisis in the priestly ministry is constantly showing new sides however the issue of the priest s own self understanding for example the interplay of the various different vocations within the Church and the struggle in the face of a plethora of different offices and ministries to discern what constitutes the specific priestly dimension and identity Again and again in his theological writings Hans Urs von Balthasar has addressed the fundamental issues of of ce and ministry of priesthood and discipleship He has uncovered the foundations from a biblical and theological historical perspective and has offered answers to the current problems of priestly existence This book presents the confrontation with relevant trends and at the same time the opposing current generated by von Balthasar since he does not follow popular positions but instead gives us the very core of the Gospel and of revelation like rye bread In order to illuminate the spirituality and meaning of the life of the priest of today von Balthasar goes back to the origins to the apostles to their calling and above all to that moment from which their apostolic mission and their entire Christian existence originates the Paschal mystery of Jesus On the eve of his death Jesus establishes the Eucharist and the priesthood immediately after his Resurrection he bestows on the disciples the power to forgive sins entrusts his sheep to Peter and sends them out into the whole world Thus von Balthasar considers the life and mission of today s priests in continuity not only with the first apostles but above all with Jesus himself The person and mission of Jesus Christ stand at the center of priestly spirituality Hence all the reaections in this work revolve unswervingly around Jesus Christ and his mission Jesus is the source and norm of priestly existence Only when God made manifest in the figure of the Savior Jesus Christ is understood as the center from which this priestly existence springs and only when this enduring center is proclaimed can the bold presumption of the Lord in entrusting his mission to weak men be understood in confident trust and attract new followers even in lean times Priestly Spirituality.
