By Fr. Antony Christy, SDB –
Joan of Arc is a legendary figure in both history of the world and of the Church. But if I were to tell you she was just 19 when she died, would you be surprised?
For the incredulous feats attributed to her, a span of mere 19 years is without exaggeration, unimaginable. She was born on 6th January 1412 and she was burnt at stake in 1431 on 30th May (celebrated as her feast day). This Maid of Orleans played a crucial role in the political standoff between France and England, beginning from the siege of Orleans to the crowing of Charles VII as the King of France. She was born in a peasant family and was brought up with a strong faith.
In 1429, when she was just 17, she began to have visions of Archangel Michael, St. Margaret and St. Catherine of Alexandria, who brought her messages from the Lord. When she insisted that she has to meet the King to deliver a message, no one trusted the teenager and she predicted two events that happened just as she had said.
Convinced, they brought her to the King, who did not believe her instantly either. He had to see another miraculous event before he entrusted a section of his army to her. Joan of Arc instantly rose to the status of a heroine of France, achieving something that no one dreamt of – saving France from the English.
But on 23rd May 1431, she was captured by the enemies, the Burgundians who wanted to kill her as a defiance of the King whom she represented. A pro-English Bishop Beauvais Pierre Cauchon condemned her as an heretic, assisted by the English Commanders and sentenced her to be burnt on two counts – that her visions were heretic and her cross-dressing was against the Christian orthodox. While she was ready to give up her male dress, which she adopted only for the practical reasons of combat and her virginal protection, she would never give up on the authenticity of her visions – because the only reason she did all that she did was, in her own words, “for my Lord wills that I do so“. Perceiving the ill willed political motives, the Church reopened her case and declared her innocent in 1456 and she was canonised in 1920.
Dear Young Friends,
– how politically informed are you today? Do you realise the call and the continuous revelations that the Lord keeps giving you in the social events?
– apart from passively reacting to the political events within your four walls or from your social network, what have you done so far pro-actively?
YOU CAT
HOW WE ARE TO HAVE LIFE IN CHRIST is Part III of the YouCat and the first section of this part explains why are we put on earth and what are we supposed to do in it and how the Spirit of the Lord helps us to do it. We are understanding in parts, the very first chapter in this section, THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON (Questions 279-321).
The part we summarise today (Questions 291-309) speaks to us about important elements that make our human existence dignified: reason, passion, conscience and virtues. Reason is a gift that God has placed within us to differentiate good from bad and we have it inherently. As we said already in the last issue, choosing by one’s own will to do good is freedom.
Choosing evil is abuse or misuse of freedom and evil cannot be deliberately chosen even if there is a possible good that can come out of it. Here is where violence as a means to achieve good cannot be a deliberate Christian choice. Passions are strong emotions and distinct feelings that help us make choices. In themselves passions are admirable, but when they are distorted they can lead one to evil.
This is where Conscience comes into play: it is the inner voice that moves a person to do good under any circumstances and to avoid evil. However, conscience has to be formed, though it is innate and endowed with reason, because it can be misinformed or misled or totally suppressed. When a person’s conscience is well formed and alive, the person feels bad immediately when he or she makes a wrong choice – this is what we call guilt.
The inner disposition which makes a person tend towards good and grow closer to God, is called a Virtue. Faith, Hope and Charity are called Supernatural Virtues because they are virtues bestowed by God which every person should grow in during one’s lifetime. Faith is our capacity to respond to God and commit personally to God; Hope is our trust and confidence in God who has a plan for us; and Charity or Love is the power by which we give ourselves to God by our self-giving to each other.
– Do you take time everyday to examine your choices and see how balanced and tending towards good they are?
KNOW YOUR CHURCH:
Do you know about Ecumenical Councils?
Certainly you have heard the term Vatican Council II or simply Vatican II, haven’t you? Do you know that it was the 21st Ecumenical Council held in history? That means, there have been 20 of those councils before! What are Ecumenical Councils and what do they do?
Beginning in this issue, we shall understand this wonderful phenomenon called Ecumenical Councils in the Church. The word Ecumenical, comes from the Greek root oikoumenikos, which means, ‘the inhabited world’ or house or habitation or let us put it simply as, one universal home. So when we see Ecumenical, it means the Universal Church, with all its members represented. Ecumenical Councils are assemblies of Patriarchs, Cardinals, Bishops, Leaders of Religious Congregation and remarkable people in the universal Church, each with their specific roles, rights and responsibilities, participating in discussions of varied nature, taking up current issues that affect the faith and life of the Church on earth, convoked by the Pope.
Though, not counted formally as an Ecumenical Council, we have a symbolic inspiration for this in the Earliest Apostolic Church, the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15). Ecumenical Councils are a sign of Unity of the Church. Though it is not ideal to say that a Council is gathered to resolve a crisis felt by or within the Church, it has been the experience that every Council so far, has given a much needed clarity at the most needed time in history. We shall take a historical trip through the councils thus far.
DO CAT
SAFEGUARDING CREATION – The Environment (Questions 256-269) – We begin with a new section today and we shall summarise here just one part of that section (viz. Questions 256 – 262). We are created human beings and we have a special call – to be stewards of creation. It does not mean we preserve the status quo, as it exists. But we are called to develop it, enrich it and make it bear fruit, apart from maintaining it. That is where the challenge begins – in the name of improving and using, we have created a crisis that is felt globally today: the ecological crisis.
Ecology is not a technical challenge; every Christian (person) has an ecological vocation. Lack of due respect and the plundering of nature has led us to the present ecological crisis. Though Church has no special ecological competence, it has the responsibility to challenge its members and the whole humanity to seek a sustainable and integral development, considering the earth as the ‘common home’ – this is what Pope Francis has done in the encyclical – Laudato Si, the care of the Common Home.
There are two key words here: Integral and Sustainable. Integral Ecological Development is the capacity to look at today’s problems in one integral vision: not as two problems, one ecological and another, social. The Church calls every person today towards a conversion that allows him or her to see the interconnectedness of the whole universe and the entire humanity. By not dong it we may run the danger of depriving the future generation of their real and due needs! This leads us to the next key issue: Sustainable Development which we shall understand in the next issue.
– What have you done on your part to promote ecological balance and care?
Fr Antony Christy is a Salesian Priest from 2005, who has a Masters in Philosophy (specialisation in Religion) and a Masters in Theology (Specialisation in Catechetics). He is currently pursuing his doctoral research in Theology at Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Walking with the Young towards a World of Peace and Dialogue is the passion that fires him on.