the programme entitled "Lent 4.5" being promoted at St. Michael's Cathedral in Toronto. Santa raised a key point: there is nothing about a good confession and abstaining from sin. Instead of focusing on Our Blessed Lord and repentance, it shifts towards a world focused approach. Lent 4.5 is a creation of the Passionist Fathers, Fr. Thomas Berry.
As Christians we know that doing good works (e.g. not polluting etc.) is useless without faith. Just as faith without good works is dead (c.f. Bk of James). The point is to "seek ye first the kingdom of God..." This seems lacking in Lent 4.5. Care for the environment will naturally come about from leading a good Christian life, not the other way around. Now Lent 4.5 is not actually saying this, but it is implied through a de-emphasis on personal conversion and repentance, and the dangers involving the Passionists in one-sided politics (as compared to a differing opinion by MIT's Richard Lindzen).
In 1968, Pope Paul warned that the Church was equally threatened by atheism and a sociological Christianity.
Contrast the Passionist Marxist-influenced sociological approach our Lord's attitude to wealth. The various rich men in the parables probably had much more than 4.5 acres. The problem was not wealth; it is priorities. It is not a sin to be wealthy. It is a sin to abuse one's wealth. Lent 4.5 speaks of priorities, but it seems silent on the reality of personal sin in the deepest sense. This seems to be a point missed by Lent 4.5.
As Christians we know that doing good works (e.g. not polluting etc.) is useless without faith. Just as faith without good works is dead (c.f. Bk of James). The point is to "seek ye first the kingdom of God..." This seems lacking in Lent 4.5. Care for the environment will naturally come about from leading a good Christian life, not the other way around. Now Lent 4.5 is not actually saying this, but it is implied through a de-emphasis on personal conversion and repentance, and the dangers involving the Passionists in one-sided politics (as compared to a differing opinion by MIT's Richard Lindzen).
In 1968, Pope Paul warned that the Church was equally threatened by atheism and a sociological Christianity.
Contrast the Passionist Marxist-influenced sociological approach our Lord's attitude to wealth. The various rich men in the parables probably had much more than 4.5 acres. The problem was not wealth; it is priorities. It is not a sin to be wealthy. It is a sin to abuse one's wealth. Lent 4.5 speaks of priorities, but it seems silent on the reality of personal sin in the deepest sense. This seems to be a point missed by Lent 4.5.
On the other hand, a correct understanding of the relationship between man and the environment will not end by absolutizing nature or by considering it more important than the human person. If the Church’s magisterium expresses grave misgivings about notions of the environment inspired by ecocentrism and biocentrism, it is because such notions eliminate the difference of identity and worth between the human person and other living things. In the name of a supposedly egalitarian vision of the “dignity” of all living creatures, such notions end up abolishing the distinctiveness and superior role of human beings. They also open the way to a new pantheism tinged with neo-paganism, which would see the source of man’s salvation in nature alone, understood in purely naturalistic terms.
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