As I was reading the lengthy and magnificent document that Pope Francis wrote about the synod on the family, I felt as though I was reading the thoughts of a parish priest. Some of the pope’s insights reminded me of the type of encouragement and instruction that a parish priest might give to a couple preparing for marriage.
My taste in theatre and film seems strange to some of my friends. I can understand why, though I think I can offer a good justification for my artistic preferences.
Helping college students to think deeply about philosophical questions is not easy. The task of the teacher is to make philosophical questions real for the students, to help them make the questions and topics in a course their questions and topics.
Our culture may deceive and trick us into thinking that our ultimate fulfillment will be reached when we possess something or some set of things. It is just not true that some possession will fulfill the human heart. The truth is that the activities that will fulfill us are loving and being loved.
There is no way to summarize Cooke’s writings in “The Essential Writings of Bernard Cooke: A Narrative Theology of Church, Sacrament and Ministry.” They cover too much territory in the history of theology and in Cooke’s journey toward his theological synthesis. But I can quote his insights.
