Here and There . . .

Educational Resources

• Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
  The Church has a timeless, long-standing body of social doctrine that is known, lived, and shared by Catholics in many faith-filled ways. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, a unique, unprecedented document in the history of the Church, serves as a tool to inspire and guide the faithful who are faced with moral and pastoral challenges daily. The Compendium is divided into five sections, an introduction, three parts, and a conclusion entitled For a Civilization of Love. The first part deals with the fundamental presuppositions of social doctrine -- God's plan of love for humanity and society, the Church's mission and the nature of social doctrine, the human person and human rights, and the principles and values of social doctrine. The second part deals with the contents and classical themes of social doctrine -- the family, human work, economic life, the political community, the international community, the environment and peace. The third part contains a series of recommendations for the use of social doctrine in the pastoral activity of the Church and in the life of Christians, above all, the laity.

  Currently available for ordering directly from the USCCB website; looks like it will be on Amazon.com shortly.

• Scott Hahn's St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology offers biblical courses available online (beginner's, intermediate and advanced) for anyone and everyone to make use of. DeoOminisGloria has the links to each.
• Fordham University has Cardinal Avery Dulles' on streaming video - Fordham U.'s McGinley Lectures from 2002; Dulle's Thomas Merton Lecture ("Why be a Catholic?") as well as videos from his creation as a Cardinal in Rome 2001.

Congratulations

• Domenico Bettinelli, Jr. on his engagement.
• To Teófilo (Theophilus), on the anniversary of his blog Vivificat.
• Happy Birthday to Eric Johnson (Catholic Light), on marking his 33rd year. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, he's "reached his peak."

On The Web

• "Catholics and Science Fiction", a two part interview with Sandra Miesel, contributor to Crisis magazine and co-author of The DaVinci Hoax (Ignatius, 2004).
• Continuing with an interview by the Summamommmas, William Luse offers some great advice for young folks approaching marriage.
• Picking up on a discussion between Disputations and Flos Carmeli, Jamie Blosser (Ad Limina Apostolorum) blogs on On Universal Salvation and Christian Charity. Follow up post here.
• Peter Sean Bradley Lex Communis on T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land.
• The Logic of Despair -- National Catholic Register on the reason why "ethicist" and advocate of infanticide Peter Singer isn't that extreme compared to some of the views of certain legislators (and presidential candidates).
• A good article on fasting - "our lost rite", by Eamon Duffy, Professor of the History of Christianity in the University of Cambridge. This is an abridged extract from his Cardinal Hume Memorial Lecture given at Newcastle, 27 November 2003, which as also published in the March 2005 issue of First Things.
• Fr. Jim Tucker of Dappled Things expresses his thoughts on intercommmunion, sectarianism and denominationalism.
• The Resurrection, "updated" - Richard Leonardi takes on a heretical view of the resurrection put forward in a "Catholic Update" pamphlet published by the St. Anthony's Messenger Press. The kind of pamphlets, as Rich says, likely to be picked up by "RCIA candidates, adult faith formation groups, perhaps someone shaky in their faith who wants to be certain of what the Church teaches."
• In Clint Eastwood & the Death of God (National Review Online, Feb. 28, 2005), author Thomas Hibbs (Shows About Nothing) describes the political issues of Million Dollar Baby as subordinate to the real offense of the film: "the way it wallows in the physical and spiritual degradation of its main characters."