“When Ecclesiastes 7:12 explained that ‘wisdom gives life to those who possess it,’ its author needed point no further than Ronda Chervin as an explanation of what he meant. In this engaging dialogue, Chervin lays out the divisions in our Church and reveals the grace that’s necessary to heal them.” – Dr. Sebastian Mahfood, OP, co-author with Dr. Ronda Chervin of Catholic Realism.
“Most Catholics sense that since the time of Vatican ll the Church has been experiencing a crisis, which they would generally describe as an experience of unprecedented division, which, disturbingly, is most clearly manifest in the area of doctrine. While this is certainly true… there is more to this crisis. Dr. Chervin, the most articulate, female Catholic philosopher in the Church today (70 published books and counting!) opens up this issue (which has been around for so long now that people are beginning to accept it as the “new normal”) in a truly fascinating way, that is, in itself… unprecedented. By way of a friendly, but intense dialogue with a colleague, Dr. Chervin demonstrates (as only a philosopher can) that the spiritual struggle of the modern age, which is the underlying basis for the crisis in the Church, is the “politically incorrect” question of… the truth. As Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger pointed out in his book… Truth and Tolerance (Ignatius Press, 2004; p.193): “The confidence to seek for the truth and to find it is never anachronistic: it is precisely this that maintains the dignity of man, that breaks down particularism, and that leads men toward one another beyond the bounds of their cultural settings on the basis of their common dignity.” Dr. Chervin’s new book, by way of a dialogical approach (which has been championed by the Greek philosopher Socrates, the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, and the Catholic philosopher St. John Paul ll) shows that in the midst of this crisis, there is hope… as well as an opportunity for growth and healing.” — Fr. Lawrence Edward Tucker, SOLT, author of The Prayer of Jesus Crucified, Adventures In The Father’s Joy, To Whom The Heart Decided To Love, and The Redemption of San Isidro.
Ronda Chervin has a Ph.D. in philosophy from Fordham University and an M.A. in Religious Studies from Notre Dame Apostolic Institute. She is a convert to the Catholic faith from a Jewish but atheistic background. She has been a professor at Loyola Marymount University, St. John’s Seminary of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Our Lady of Corpus Christi, and Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Connecticut. More than sixty books of hers have been published by Catholic presses in the area of philosophy and spirituality. Dr. Ronda presents on EWTN and Catholic radio. Her many books include Quotable Saints, Seeking Christ in the Crosses & Joys of Aging, Catholic Realism and Voyage to Insight.
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This presentation of readings in Catholic philosophy in the twentieth-century reveals a remarkable diversity of views. Dr. Vincelette presents this diversity in the selection of resources that serve as a companion to his Recent Catholic Philosophy: The Twentieth Century. This is Catholic thought expressed in its finest way, raw and unsaturated, across the intellectual fabric of forty-nine important philosophers whose thought has shaped our current century.
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1. Romanticism, Fideism, Integralism, and Voluntarism
Chateaubriand
Bautain
Newman
Blondel
2. Phenomenology
Scheler
Von Hildebrand
Stein
Henry
Spaemann
Dussel
Chrétien
Falque
3. Neo-Thomism
Garrigou-Lagrange
Gilson
Maritain
Pieper
Wojtyła
Haldane
4. Transcendental Thomism
Rousselot
Maréchal
De Lubac
Lonergan
5. Existentialism
Lavelle
Marcel
Ulrich
6. Analytical Philosophy
Duhem
Geach
Anscombe
Dummett
MacIntyre
Taylor
Van Fraassen
7. Postmodernism
De Certeau
Caputo
Marion
Lacoste
Kearney
Recent Catholic Philosophy:
The Twentieth Centuryby Alan VinceletteEn Route Books & MediaWhat a wonderful resource this turned out to be, along with Dr. Vincelette’s accompanying work A Reader in Recent Catholic Philosophy. For the purposes of this review I will look at some of my own personal favourite recent Catholic philosophers.To begin with, Dr. Dietrich Von Hildebrand. Humanly speaking, I owe him so much. I read his books in the eighties and it made so much sense, especially with regard to the current crisis in the Church. Some might accuse him of an undue pessimism. I think he was right in his analysis. He is surely one of the great defenders of the Catholic Faith in our age. His book Ethics is an attack on moral relativism. Dr. Vincelette notes that the phenomenology adopted by Von Hildebrand is a suitable means to demonstrate the error of relativism, as phenomenology rejects any explanation which fails to do justice to our experiences. We are not limited by the senses as we can also reflect on mental experience. To claim that only what is physically experienced by the senses, as Hume and the Positivists do, is to limit what we mean by experience.For Von Hildebrand, something has value independent of our need for pleasure. To delight in a value is a sort of added extra. A value has intrinsic goodness. It calls us to transcend self-centeredness. Our response to value means being called to reverently submit to something greater than ourselves. We are obliged to give it an adequate response, to do good and avoid evil. Thus morality comes to a fundamental choice which is above the subjectively satisfying. Von Hildebrand is thus a moral realist.I had the privilege of listening to Peter Geach a few years before he died. When I asked him a question after his talk, he responded by quoting from Dr. Faustus! He was one of the earliest Catholic analytical philosophers. He challenged the views of many of his predecessors, including Bertrand Russell. It was Geach who invented the problem of the “stuck potholer.” Is it wrong to intentionally kill a rotund individual blocking the entrance to a cave in order to save other lives? Yes, it is. Geach also wrote a philosophical explanation of why God does not change in himself when he hears our prayers and acts accordingly.Geach was married to Elizabeth Anscombe, one of the most outstanding philosophers of the twentieth century. I attended some of her lectures in the eighties, when she was suitably attired in a manly suit. She was a student of Wittgenstein and his literary executer. She was a courageous defender of the unborn. Her great work Modern Moral Philosophy helped to launch contemporary virtue ethics. Dr. Vincelette notes that the work is often misunderstood by those who claim it rejects natural law theory. Actually, she argues that if you reject the existence of God, you should also give up on concepts like moral obligation. The main problem with modern moral philosophy, according to Anscombe, is in its embrace of a utilitarian point of view that rejects the principle of intrinsically evil acts.Etienne Gilson was an outstanding historian of philosophy in the Thomist tradition, although he did not consider himself a Neo-Thomist. He was critical of the subjectivism of Descartes. If we proceed from thought to the world, we are unable to avoid being trapped in our own minds. We must begin with being. There is no need to make the existence of the world a postulate that needs to be proven. The realist knows.Like Anscombe, Alasdair MacIntyre is highly critical of modern moral philosophy as it has focused on utility. Morality must return to the Aristotelian idea of virtue. True virtue requires acting for the sake of a genuine human end. Such a virtue-based ethic requires being situated in a social setting and in a narrative tradition.Dr. Vincelette has given us a splendid overview of some of the great recent Catholic philosophers. A work to return to again and again.– Pravin Thevathasan, Editor, Catholic Medical Quarterly
Dr. Alan Vincelette is the Wilfred L. and Mary Jane Von der Ahe Chair of Philosophy at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California. In addition, he serves as an Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut.
Dr. Vincelette specializes in ethics and the philosophy of love as well as the history of Catholic philosophy, having written on such topics for the New Catholic Encyclopedia, the Continuum Encyclopedia of British Philosophy, and the Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Philosophers, among other works, and he continues to teach in these areas for seminarians and laity of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the Diocese of Norwich, and nearby dioceses.
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The Very Rev. Peter Samuel Kucer, MSA, has produced quite a grand opus in his collection of works on Sacred Scripture, Marian Devotion, Catholic Church History, East and South East Asian History, Catholic Apologetics, God the Father and the Priesthood, Eastern and Western Civilization, and Political Science. Each of his books provides wisdom for the beginner and clarity for the educated. – Dr. Sebastian Mahfood, OP, Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Holy Apostles College & Seminary
The Very Rev. Peter Samuel Kucer, MSA, STD serves as President-Rector at Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, CT. He received degrees from Middlebury College, Holy Apostles College and Seminary, the Dominican House of Studies, and the Catholic University of America. He is intent on putting his educational background at the service of the New Evangelization promoted by the recent popes.The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
“For Aquinas, ‘the Beauty of God is the cause of the being of all that is.’ And this magnificent beauty generationally overflows from Our Lady’s abundant heart to each of us, furnishing the great message of life, as well as being the very balm which prepares us for death and union in her arms. A Love Letter to Mary is one of the great books needed in all stages of life, from the joys of new beginnings, to the dark business of suffering, and at death when our final words should sing with beauty and praise. — Dr. Caitlin Gilson, Associate Professor of Philosophy at University of Holy Cross and author of Subordinated Ethics: Natural Law and Moral Miscellany in Aquinas and Dostoevsky
“With his gift of poetic prose – a style that is, at once, academically adroit yet profoundly personal – and on the heels his breakout sensation Mary: The Rosary, the Relationship, and Dragons, Keith Berubé has established himself not only as a most gifted theologian, but also as a missionary of the Marian maxim, ‘De Maria Numquam Satis.’ In this present work, Berubé has assembled some of the world’s finest tributes – or, as he calls them, “Love Letters” – to the Queen of Heaven and Earth. He draws these from the typology of the Blessed Virgin contained in such Old Testament figures as Rebecca, Rachel, Judith, Esther, and Created Wisdom. He also draws these from the odes and prayers of the great Saints throughout the history of Christendom and from the myriad of beautiful women throughout the history of Western Art and Literature, who, whether knowingly or unknowingly, represent the Blessed Virgin. — Jayson M. Brunelle, M.Ed., CAGS, author of The Blessed Mother’s Plan to Save Humanity: Marian Revelations and Necessity of Total Consecration
Mr. Keith Berubé, author of Mary, the Beloved and Mary: The Rosary, The Relationship, and Dragons, holds holds a B.A. and an M.A. in Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville and has taken doctoral studies at Holy Apostles College and Seminary. His MA and doctoral studies focused on Mariology and he is currently writing his doctoral dissertation at the University of South Africa under the direction of Dr. Jennifer Slater and the co-direction of Fr. Peter Kucer, MSA, currently serving as the Interim Rector-President at Holy Apostles College and Seminary. His doctoral thesis concerns the eschatological reality of Mary and the intimate relationship God desires people to have with her. Mr. Berubé writes Marian articles for Homiletic and Pastoral Review, is featured in the upcoming 2019 edition of Fr. Donald Calloway’s Marian Journal Mater Misericordiae, has given various radio interviews, and has appeared on Mother Angelica’s EWTN. He teaches at Queen of Heaven Academy and resides with his wife and their five children in Columbus, Ohio.
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Acknowledgements
Foreword: Bishop Fintan Monahan of Killaloe Diocese, Ireland
General Introduction
Part I: Before
Nothing
Osmosis
Beginning
Guest Poet and Poem: Ravi Shankar
The Three Christs
-for Doug Andersen
Part II: Awareness
Guest Poet and Poem: Russell Rogers
Where is He?
A Trilogy of Cases:
Part I: Locked
Part II: Naked
Part III: Rat-to-Bird
Sharing
Flowers
The Picture
Vulnerable
News
A Trilogy of Tones:
Black
White
Grey
Awakening
Guest Poet and Poem: Fr. Antoine Altieri:
La Grand Santé (Great Health)
Part III: Technological Leaping
Skin Deep
Flitting
Phoneheads
Guest Poet and Poem: Richard Bowdery
Nomophobia No More
Part IV: Grace
Denatured
Boiling Point
Changing
You and I
Aftermath
Guest Poet and Poem: Annabelle Moseley
A Prayer for Setting the Table
For Annabelle Black, in honor of her 100th Birthday
Part V: The Sacraments
Bread of Love, Wine of Glory
Immersion
Regenerative
Part I: A Ringed Pair
Part II: Whirlpools
Part I: The Priest-Shepherd
Part II: The Domestic Shepherd
Guest Poet and Poem: Teresa J. Herbic
Marks of Eternity
Part VI: Writing
Words Torn from Tears
A Pain-Breaking Word
Failure’s Fog
Clots
Gaps
Soundings
Matter
Guest Poet and Poem: Dr. Mary Anne Urlakis
The Empty Lot
Part VII: After
Three times – Now a Fourth, Fifth and Sixth:
Part I: Dying…
Part II: The Plight of All
Part III (I): Visiting
Part III (II): The Plight of Passing
Part IV: He was Among Us
Part V: One Life Uprooted
Immobile
Comfort
Unreachable
Guest Poet and Poem: James Sale
Could I But
Epilogue
End Word: John O’Brien, Frater at OFM (Franciscan)
“How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth.”
“I was recommended this book by a friend. It’s a series of Poetry & Prose both from the author & guest writers. There is a brief introduction of the guest writer which gives an insight into their faith & perception on life. The book is laid out in individual topics and of a life that anyone of us might face. I would also say that they could be used as prayer in some instances. Sometimes, it’s hard to put prayer into words, but these writings bring the concept of Christ and God a little closer to ourselves. These are also reflections on life, family, friends and times enjoyable or times of sorrow. The book is an easy read and the pieces are thought provoking & inspiring. Also, the honesty of the author about his path to faith and how it was achieved can encourage others who are still unsure about themselves. One piece that inspired me was: ‘Sitting in front of the cross of Christ I realised that He was immobilised, pinned to it by nails, metal, wood & wounds as unforgiving as deterioration due to illness & injustice. Pray for us to remember them; & in remembering them, I beg you to help them.'” – Gillian Cockwill
“Our times can be described as one enthralled by the quickening, with the passing of time seemingly accelerating amid the buzz of modern technology. In Honest Rust and Gold, Francis Etheredge and his guest writers offer heartfelt poetry as a means to pause and make sense of our hectic world – and indeed, ourselves. Underlining the many penetrating themes encompassed throughout this work is a sense of vulnerability, which for the Christian is a reminder of our constant need to trust and lean on God, especially when we are hurting. As Etheredge reflects in the introduction to the poem “Bread of Love, Wine of Glory,” “God is not remote […] but is so close as to take into Himself all our pain.” Honest Rust and Gold provides a beautiful collection of faith-filled poems for anyone seeking a spiritual oasis of consolation. — Eric Manuel Torres, BHlthSci, MOrthoptics (LaTrobe), MNSc (Melb), GradDipTheol, MTS (CTC/UDiv), CertIIIBAdmin (S.Russo), AOBR, MOA, RN, Assoc. Member CMAV. Catholic theologian and bioethicist.
“In Attention and Will, Simone Weil stated ‘Attention, taken to its highest degree, is the same thing as prayer. It presupposes faith and love.’ This insight has never been better realized than in Francis Etheredge’s transcendent Honest Rust and Gold: A Second Collection of Prose and Poetry. Just reading this exceptional collection of poetry and prose is a spiritual experience that brings us closer to the infinite beauty of God.” — Gordon Nary, Editor of Profiles in Catholicism
“How heavy and uninviting the term “lay spirituality” can seem! But what if it were written by a poet-theologian who could present needed insights in images so beautiful you couldn’t resist the invitation to grow. On marriage, for example, this very realistic part will help any who can’t stand just looking at ideal couples and feeling rotten in comparison! Honest Rust and Gold: A Second Collection of Prose and Poetry is deep, incisive, penetrating! Get it! Read it!” — Ronda Chervin, Emerita Professor of Philosophy at Holy Apostles College and Seminary, author of more than fifty books about spirituality, presenter on TV and Radio.
“This is an excellent book of personal heartfelt reflections and poems that have awakened in me strong feelings and deep thoughts about many similar life experiences lived, explored and shared by the author. His prose and poetry have inspired me to think and feel my own life’s journey, with its challenges, hardships, joys and sorrows. Every reader will relive their life’s experiences, for that is the power of poetry.His meaningful prose and poetry covers a wide range of human experiences and relevant truths today. It is about existence, the meaning of life, family love, the problem of evil, COVID-19, homelessness, technology and its influence on mankind today and much more. His images are moving. A dew drop hanging on a blade of grass, brings us close to the beauty of nature and God. Francis Etheredge has given us a gem in Honest Rust and Gold: A Second Collection of Prose and Poetry, to be treasured and read many times.” — Shay Cullen, www.preda.org
“Everyone sees life a bit differently. Much in the same way, everyone reads a book a bit differently. In being granted the opportunity to review Honest Rust and Gold – A Second Collection of Prose and Poetry, I was struck by the depth and thoughtfully piercing nature of this book. In the General Introduction, the author writes, ‘Maybe this book is like that moment of stepping out of the busyness of life in order to notice what is around us.’ That was, in fact, my experience with this book. It is a ‘stepping out’ but also a ‘stepping up’ to consider greater things, deeper things, more profound things. It is a challenge to touch life, even when it’s a bit dangerous to do so. To explore life knowing that to embark on such a journey is to risk being changed by the journey. And to ask questions that may reveal within us that which we prefer to hold in the shadows. The blend of prose and poetry lends a gentle depth and enhanced flavor to each chapter. If you wish to notice what is around you in order to transform that which is within you, this book will certainly assist in that endeavor.” — Craig D. Lounsbrough, M.Div., LPC craiglpc4@gmail.com, www.craiglpc.com
“Personally, reading this book was like visiting an art gallery; viewing each piece of work as unique, yet part of an overall collection. Each poem, or work, a separate portrait; overall a collection of very detailed portraits of the life of the author. Nothing is hidden. Even the most painful moments of his life are laid bare or ‘Naked’ – one of his works. ‘Failure’s Fog’ is a very moving account of the author’s journey. Etheredge takes his readers on a guided tour of his work, giving a personal insight into his lifelong pilgrimage. He is unafraid to show readers the truth. Each piece of work is intricately linked to the other, with thoughtful and compelling additions from guest artists. On closing the book, I felt as if I’d attended a beautiful yet haunting exhibition that left me pondering the meaning of life. The Christian walk isn’t always easy, but God is always with us. Ever present, His grace sees us through the most desperate and vulnerable moments of our lives. Honest Rust and Gold is a powerful testimony of this truth. Themes include: covid-19, God, death, vocation, meaning in life, abortion, suicide, marriage, family, faith, loneliness, emptiness, brokenness, nature, wisdom, finding purpose in life, failure, angst, poverty, and the dislocation between our own existence and that of others. Etheredge tells us, ‘the book is a dialogue between grace and nature’. I highly recommend reading Honest Rust and Gold, especially if you enjoyed reading The Prayerful Kiss and The Family on Pilgrimage by the same author. ‘… leaving is very different from being left behind.’ (Etheredge) — Kelly Jayne Lazell
Mr. Francis Etheredge is married with eight children, plus three in heaven.
Francis is currently a freelance writer and speaker and his “Posts” on LinkedIn can be viewed here. Poetry; short articles; autobiographical blog; excerpts from books; and “Philosophize: A Ten Minute Write.”
For a list of all of Francis’ books published by En Route Books and Media, click here.
See Francis’ other books, too, entitled Scripture: A Unique Word, From Truth and truth: Volume I-Faithful Reason, From Truth and truth: Volume II: Faith and Reason in Dialogue, From Truth and truth: Volume III: Faith is Married Reason.
He has earned a BA Div (Hons), MA in Catholic Theology, PGC in Biblical Studies, PGC in Higher Education, and an MA in Marriage and Family (Distinction).
Enjoy these additional articles by Francis Etheredge:
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