Contemplata aliis Tradere

A meagre contribution to the mission and work of the Order of Preachers: my reflections, thoughts, ideas and the occasional rant on matters mainly theological, philosophical and ecclesiastical, drawn primarily from my reading and experience of life and the world. Striving to be always Catholic, firmly Christian and essentially Dominican, flavoured with dashes of Von Balthasar.

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A son of the English Province of the Order of Friars Preachers (Dominicans); born in Malaysia but have lived in the USA, Singapore, the UK & the Philippines for varying durations. A pilgrim and way-farer, a searcher for Truth on the journey of Life... "Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine, There’s always laughter and good red wine. At least I’ve always found it so. Benedicamus Domino!" - Hilaire Belloc

Friday, August 12, 2005

Centenary of Von Balthasar's Birth


Today marks the 100th year after the birth of Hans Urs Cardinal Von Balthasar, one of the most prolific and noteworthy Catholic theologians of the 20th century, and reputedly, Pope John Paul II's 'favourite' theologian.

To commemorate this great man and thinker, I would like to share with you some of my favourite reflections from his book 'Grain of Wheat: Aphorisms':

“Christ’s love possesses the utmost tact. It knows how to combine the most intense demands with the most exquisite unobtrusiveness.”

“Humility is not a virtue but the realization that we lack every virtue…”

“Time is the revealer of love through its manifoldness, through its slow unfurling of millions of possibilities. Time is the fully unfolded intensity of love, since within Time love can take on the wonderful meaning of a story, of a process.”

“To live with another within the compass of one heart: I must move to the side, must make myself small, so that the other has space and does not feel crowded.”

“The multiplication of loaves is a symbol not only of the love of God but also of the love of neighbour: multiplication by lavish squandering is the natural image of every true love. In the end we collect infinitely more than there was at the beginning…”

“A truth has full resonance only when proclaimed out of the fullness of a lived tradition one has made one’s own.”

1 Comments:

Blogger Fr. D.L. Jones said...

Nice post!

6:26 pm  

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