Verbum Vitae

The Role of the Ministry of Lector and Acolyte in the Context of the Instruction for Parishes in the Service of Evangelisation (June 29, 2020) and the Letter Spiritus Domini (January 10, 2021)

Bogdan Biela — 2024-06-27

The principal weight of the Church’s responsibility for evangelization rests on the parish. However, the pastoral practice shows that there is no sufficient principle to organize the missionary life of the parish as a community of communities. This frequently leads to confusion in a multitude of activities, which contributes to the failure of the parish to fulfill its principal evangelizing mission. Firstly, the article shows how the introduction of ministries of lector and acolyte into the life of the parish may help revitalize the basic functions of the parish, which are: martyrdom, liturgy, and diakonia. Men and women who discovered their specific vocation to the ministry of lector and acolyte may become pillars of concrete parish groups and apostolic work realized in the parish. It is closely related to a proper understanding of the ecclesial dimension of each of these ministries. In view of the above, the article presents pastoral inspirations of the Instruction of the Congregation for the Clergy The Pastoral Conversion of the Parish Community in the Service of the Evangelising Mission of the Church, and the indications of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter Spiritus Domini. Secondly, the text presents the liturgical ministries in the light of the hierarchical, charismatic, and spousal dimension of the mystery of the Church. The final part of the article describes the pastoral dimension of these ministries in realizing the evangelizing mission of the Church.

Pope Francis' apostolic letter Spiritus Domini, regarding the access of women to the ministries of lector and acolyte (10.01.2021), is a call to consider the role of these ministries in realizing the building of the parish community of communities. This call is, in turn, expressed in the Instruction of the Congregation for the Clergy The pastoral conversion of the Parish community in the service of the evangelising mission of the Church (29.06.2020). The article shows that introducing the established ministries of lector and acolyte into the life of the Church can help revitalize the basic parish functions, which are: martyrdom, leiturgy and diakonia. To appoint someone for service in the community is to make them a pillar on which the concrete apostolic work realized in the parish can rest. It reaches its peak and expresses itself most fully in the liturgy and extends to all areas of the life of the parish community. Accordingly, the permanent establishment of lay men and women for the ministry of lector and acolyte should be based on the discernment of a God-given vocation. Adequate preparation should include not only liturgical matters but also the ability to undertake a specific mission in the parish community. The aim shall be achieved when the ecclesial dimension of each of these ministries is properly understood.

References to Scripture in the Old Polish History of the Three Kings. Quotations, Allusions, Echoes

Zofia Bryłka-Baranowska — 2024-06-27

The article analyzes the references to Scripture in Historyja trzech kroli (History of the Three Kings), an Old Polish apocryphal work preserved in a copy from 1544. The references to the Bible are divided into quotations, allusions and echoes. Quotations were introduced either by reference to a particular location or author of the biblical text, or to an unspecified “prophet” or “evangelist.” Sometimes they were not signaled in any way. Then the quotation could only be identified by recognizing the passage to which it refers. Allusions to the Old and New Testaments mostly consisted of references to characters, places, and events, without quoting the text of Scripture itself. The featured echoes most often consisted of narrative parallelisms between the story of the Wise Men from the East and the first Church. References to Scripture in the apocryphal work served to emphasize typology and create parallelisms between biblical history and the story of the three kings. The text emphasizes the role of the Gentiles in salvation history while belittling the role of Israelites.

The Figures of Adam and Eve in the Old Polish Apocrypha of the New Testament

Wojciech Stelmach — 2024-06-27

The aim of the article is to analyze fragments of the Old Polish New Testament apocryphal texts, which refer to the figures of Adam and Eve. Although it might seem that the First Parents are marginal characters for New Testament works, studies show that they play a very important role in the soteriological and exegetical context. The article compares selected fragments of Old Polish apocrypha with the basis of the translation and interprets the translator's decisions regarding the use of the figures of Adam and Eve in the medieval Polish text. They allow us not only to create antitypical pairs: Adam – Jesus and Eve – Mary, but also to explain the nature of original sin and its role in the work of salvation.

The Critique of Secularism by Talal Asad as a Chance to Look for New Ways of Proclamation

Janez Vodičar — 2024-06-27

In democratic societies, it is taken for granted to withdraw religiosity from public life. In this paper, we point to Talal Asad’s critique of this taken-for-grantedness. Using his genealogical method, he attempts to find the origin of this relegation of religiosity to the private sphere. The concept of secularity, he argues, is primarily an expression of the power of those who insist on enlightened reason. At the same time, secularism becomes, in a sense, a new religion, the only one acceptable in a democratic society. While we point out the causes of the secularization process, we also point out the aspects that are problematic in such a conception of religion. The Church’s response must take into account the process of secularization, but it must not fall into the same logic that led to this process in the first place. We point out the danger that the separation between the sacred and the profane, the physical and the spiritual, is increasing even in the new religious movements. We therefore propose a form of proclamation that involves the whole person and addresses him or her in everyday life.

Ontological Dimension of Community Education Refers to Augustine’s Thought in The City of God

Carolus Borromeus Mulyatno — 2024-06-27

To educate each person integrally as a member of society, ethical principles with an ontological dimension are needed. This qualitative research with literature study method aims to explore the ontological dimension of community education refers to Augustine’s thought in The City of God. The results of this study show that community education is synonymous with building the City of God, which is characterized by human relationships with God so that they are able to use freedom driven by altruist love to implement social responsibility for the realization of peace, justice and happiness in common life. Education of conscience plays an important role in developing the sensitivity, concern and responsibility of each person to realize true happiness in life together. True happiness, which is the goal of everyone’s life, has a moral, relational-dialogical, dynamic and affective character. Altruistic love, which stems from man’s relationship with God, is an ethical principle in social life. At the same time, the idea of each person’s relationship with God and his presence in conscience confirms Augustine’s position on the ontological dimension of the morality of living together. Augustine’s ideas about the ontological dimension of social morality have influenced moral education in the Christian tradition and philosophical discourse over time.

The Crisis of Western Culture and Secularism

Jan Perszon — 2024-06-27

The subject of this article is the crisis of Western culture (Christianity) in terms of its sources and consequences. The author attempts to present the diagnosis of European culture by John Paul II and Benedict XVI. They associate its crisis with the internal weakness of Christianity (the Catholic religion) and the influence of philosophical trends and ideologies with the purpose of creating a “new culture” on the ruins of the old one. Postmodern thought, which not only breaks with the rationalism of the Enlightenment but questions (in the name of individual freedom) the truth and the ability to get to know it, plays a special role in this respect. The anti-Christian narrative adopted by intellectual elites in the West, which in some manifestations becomes an ideology of secularism, is thus a consequence of philosophical assumptions. The author suggests that the popularisation of a model of life according to the principle “as if God did not exist,” i.e. the acceleration of de-Christianisation processes (e.g. in Poland) is significantly related to the development of the so-called new media, especially in the form of virtual reality.

Isaiah 6:1–3 and Angelomorphic Christology. An Approach to Understand Origen’s Isaiah Exegesis

Antti Laato — 2024-06-27

This article deals with Origen’s interpretation of Isaiah’s vision in Isa 6. Origen refers to his Hebrew Master’s statement in Orig. Princ. 1.3.4 where two Seraphim are identified with Christ and the Holy Spirit. The main scope in the article is to put the Hebrew Master’s opinion in balance with Origen’s own Christology. The problem is approached from the method of biblical argumentation by using ancien reception historical ways to understand scripture. The Hebrew Master’s statement is related to three important themes: First, the angelomorphic theophanies in the Old Testament provide a general background for the idea that Christ (and the Holy Spirit) can be identified with Seraphim. Second, Origen relates Isaiah’s Seraphim to Cherubim in the Ark of Covenant and use Hab 3:2 to illustrate his Christology. Third, the Christology of the Ascension of Isaiah provides a good parallel to understand the Hebrew Master’s statement about Seraphim. The main result in the article is that Origen’s own Christology is well balanced with the statement of the Hebrew Master. Origen’s teachings about Christ can be characterized as high and subordinate Christology, and its roots are in early Jewish-Christian circles.

Attitudes Towards Marriage, Sexual Morality, and Parenthood of Individuals Associated with Shalom Centre in Mitunguu, Kenya

Jacek Goleń — 2024-06-27

Attitudes to marriage, sexual morality, and parenthood are currently undergoing substantial cultural transformation, noticeable also in mission countries. For this reason, the Catholic Church has in recent years treated pastoral care of married couples and families as an urgent concern. The article presents results of empirical research conducted among a selected group of Catholics in Kenya as well as conclusions and postulates for Catholic formation and pastoral care of families. It indicates a need for education that would help individuals overcome unethical conjugal and familial attitudes. It also emphasizes the value of positive attitudes to parenthood present in African culture and accentuates clear progress in rejecting a conviction that marriage without children is pointless. The text points out urgent need for formative and pastoral work to eradicate corporal punishment of children and indicates challenges related to the education of women.

Unveiling the Plant Living in the Desert (Jer 17:6): A Multidisciplinary Approach

Andrea Lamonaca — 2024-06-27

In the context of the study of plants in the Bible, some translation problems are related to the identification of the plant species referred to in the biblical text. One of the unresolved problems concerns the plant living in the desert of Jer 17:6, because the botanists’ proposals have not been understood in the same way by the exegetes: it is not clear whether it is a tree, a bush or a shrub and to which plant species it refers. After presenting the general characteristics of the study of plants in the Bible, the research presents proposals for identification by botanists and how these have been received by exegetes. The study of the biblical context integrated with the dynamics of plant growth allows a better understanding of the two opposing metaphorical images of Jeremiah: the plant living in the desert and the tree that grows along streams. The analysis indicates a generic tree which, due to the difficult environmental conditions, cannot develop as such and remains smaller in size. The best translation is therefore a generic shrub, which also allows the different interpretations to be reconciled.

Divinity of the Historical Jesus. Incarnation in the Light of Jesus Quest

Marcin Walczak — 2024-06-27

The flourishing research on the historical Jesus, which has been growing for several centuries, cannot stay without influence on systematic theology. One of the fundamental problems remains whether and to what extent it is possible to reconcile the image of Jesus emerging from historical research with the Christian dogma of the incarnation. This article attempts to answer the question of how belief in the deity of Jesus can be reconciled with the historical approach to him and to his life. The deity of Christ will be presented as a theme not independent of, but closely related to, the historical picture of Jesus. The first part will examine three approaches to the question of the relationship between the historical reconstruction of the person of Jesus and the belief in his deity. The second part will show what kind of belief in the divinity of Jesus is incompatible with the historical-critical approach to the Gospel texts and the life of Jesus. Finally, the third part will attempt to show which understanding of the divinity of Christ is compatible with the historical-critical approach. Belief in the incarnation of God in Jesus seems always possible, even in times of critical historical consciousness. The results of historical research on the person of Jesus not only do not refute such a belief, but also help to find its proper meaning.

"Fire from Hell," or "You are the Salt of the Earth." On the Interpretation of Matthew 5:13

Dan Shapira — 2024-06-27

This essay is an attempt to explore different contexts of the phrase “you are the salt of the earth” found in Matt 5:13, one of the most confusing expressions used in the whole of the New Testament. The author deals with its original meaning, exposing in the process the earliest layers of transmission of Jesus’ sayings. Versed in the Hebrew scriptures, Jesus combined the meanings of MLḤ in Exod 30:35 (incense salted is potent/good/pure/holy) with that in Isa 51:6 and Jer 38:11–12 (something MLḤ might vanish away/wax old/become rotten) and put it in a new context. Jesus’ pun – loaded with multiple layers of meanings and shades of meanings – was lost in translation as simply “salt.”

Anna Kuśmirek, and Marek Parchem, eds. and trans. Prorocy wcześniejsi. Vol. 1, Vol. 2, bk. 1 and Vol. 2, bk. 2 of Targum Jonatana. Edycja tekstu aramejskiego, przekład na język polski z wprowadzeniem i notami (Warszawa: Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego w Warszawie, 2022)

Krzysztof Kowalik — 2024-06-27

Books review:

Anna Kuśmirek, and Marek Parchem, eds. and trans.
Prorocy wcześniejsi. Vol. 1 of Targum Jonatana. Edycja tekstu aramejskiego, przekład na język polski z wprowadzeniem i notami. (Warszawa: Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego w Warszawie, 2022). Pp. 935. ISBN 9788382811889;

Anna Kuśmirek, and Marek Parchem, eds. and tr ans. Prorocy późniejsi. Vol. 2, bk. 1 o f Targum Jonatana. Edycja tekstu aramejskiego, przekład na język polski z wprowadzeniem i notami. (Warszawa: Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego w Warszawie, 2023). Pp. 735. ISBN 9788382812206;

Anna Kuśmirek, and Marek Parchem, eds. and trans. Prorocy późniejsi. Vol. 2, bk. 2 o f Targum Jonatana. Edycja tekstu aramejskiego, przekład na język polski z wprowadzeniem i notami. (Warszawa: Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego w Warszawie, 2023). Pp. 742–1382. ISBN 9788382812206.

Michał Karnawalski, 2022. Heaven for Elijah? A Study of Structure, Style, and Symbolism in 2 Kings 2:1–18, European Studies in Theology, Philosophy and History of Religions 30 (Berlin – Bern – Bruxelles – New York: Lang, 2022)

Janusz Lemański — 2024-06-27

Book review: Michał Karnawalski, 2022. Heaven for Elijah? A Study of Structure , Style, and Symbolism in 2 Kings 2:1–18, European Studies in Theology, Philosophy and History of Religions 30 (Berlin – Bern – Bruxelles – New York: Lang, 2022). Pp. 381. ISBN 978-3-631-87134-8.