Rev. Tortorelli shows how von Balthasar saw in the incarnation and the life at Nazareth a model for the Church of the ordinary life. Von Balthasar’s vision of the Church is presented here in a profoundly beautiful manner.
He saw the baptism of Jesus as a sign of God’s solidarity with sinners and the invitation to answer the question “Who do you say I am?” as an invitation to a place of peace, struggle, and beauty. The life of Jesus and the role of the three Maries in the Gospel accounts capture the task of the Church contemplation, witness and Mission.
The understanding of the Church as the spotless bride of Christ is offset by the image of the Church as being the faithless harlot always in need of repentance. For the priests and servants of the Church, the spirit of contemplation, the disciple becomes a doer of the word as well as a proclaimer and emerges as an other Christ. As such a priest must be willing to lay down his life for the sake of the sheep. The contemplative prayer of the Church is oriented towards the kingdom of God that takes shape among the people where the hidden depths of God are revealed in the liturgy.
The contemplative priest is called to be the good shepherd of the flock and be both a keeper of the law and a great lover of God and the people. The priest with his orientation toward word and sacrament sets free the other charisms of the people. The priest, like the Church as a whole maintains a penitential heart relying on the mercy found in Christ and extending that mercy into the world.
Produced in collaboration with the National Institute for Clergy Formation of Seton Hall University.
CDAH546
2 CDs, 1 ¾ hrs.
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Author: |
Rev. Kevin Tortorelli, OFM |
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Copyright: |
2006 |