When the Buds Burst Open, You See for Yourselves and Know that Summer is Now Near (Luke 21:30)

'Vulnerability brings us together'

ELIZABETH RENZETTI

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

December 26, 2008 at 11:37 PM EST

"[Jean Vanier] is officially retired, and not responsible for the day-to-day running of the foyers. 'Now, I'm free to do what I like, and what I like is to announce the message: That people who are weak have something to bring us, that they are important people and it's important to listen to them. In some mysterious way, they change us. Being in a world of the strong and powerful, you collect attitudes of power and hardness and invulnerability.'"

Let him with ears to hear, hear!

Note: the community which started with Jean Vanier, Philippe Seux, and Raphael Simi is called l'Arche — not to be confused with Frank Schaeffer's fictional satire of L'Abri, which he called L'Arche also. An interesting and perhaps significant coincidence, n'est pas?

Balthasar and Rahner on the Laity

There's a new post up at Deep Furrows on Balthasar's critique of Karl Rahner's theology of the laity: "What is a Lay Person?"

Although Rahner articulated this position, it's a pretty common one in the Church today.

The post is based on Balthasar's article, "The Essence and Significance of Secular Institutes," printed in The Laity and the Life of the Counsels: The Church's Mission in the World: Ignatius Press, 2003.

The Rahner article cited by Balthasar is "On the Lay Apostolate" (Schriften zur Theologie 2:339-73).