Monday, October 15, 2012

Evening Four

How did great writers like Dante, Boccaccio and Plutarch affect the thinking of Christians during the Renaissance? Is humanism still with us today? In what way did Michelangelo reveal his faith in his artistic creations? What did God accomplish through the rebellion of Martin Luther? What error in holiness motivated Henry VIII to declare himself head of the Church of England? How was God present in the workings of the Council of Trent?
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5 comments:

  1. Deacon TimOctober 19, 2012 at 7:15 AM

    The sinfulness of so many of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church during the centuries before the Reformation shakes off the notion that the Roman Catholic church is without sin. Pope John Paul's many apologies underscore this for me. Christ was so humble and holy and these Vicars of Christ before and during the Renaissance were far from being like Christ. It makes perfect sense that the holy thinkers at the bottom of the hierarchy would rebel at the sin and abuse by those at the top. I am struck by the sincerity and the search for holiness of various reformers like Hus and Luther and Oackam. The effect they had on the Catholic Church to inspire the counter-reformation points to how in the past the Holy Spirit has led the Catholic Church towards reform through the voices of those the Church mistakenly tried to silence by persecution and even execution.

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  2. Mike BaruffaOctober 21, 2012 at 9:21 AM

    Exaclty! I think that if you look at the similarities between the days of the reformation and these days post Vatican II, you can see that once a so-called 'enlightenment' occurs, where man (and women too) seek to rediscover your 'center', your 'oneness', your 'inner-self' or 'inner-peace', you lose focus on the true source of peace, our Lord, Jesus. This rush to find one's self spread in the 1500's like it has since the 1960's. The 1500's gave birth to Protestantism and some 30,000 or more different denominations. The 60's spawned some fractures within the Catholic Church along traditionalist lines and more 'new agey' misinterpretations of Vatican II documents. Some of these riffs remain today.

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    Replies
    1. Deacon TimOctober 23, 2012 at 3:00 AM

      We will always be a Church of visionaries of the faith and protectors of the faith. The Holy Spirit has always answered the prayers of both ends of the continuum in her good time.

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  3. Mike BaruffaOctober 21, 2012 at 9:42 AM

    Oh, and another comment...

    Deacon Michelangelo's appearance during Deacon Mike's presentation and their very entertaining ham -and-egg discussion on the Sistine Chapel was not only very enjoyable but a bit thought provoking... no, thought changing! I will forever look at Michelangelo's Pieta in its correct light. Fiat! As Decon Tim so amply pointed out, this is how Mary lived her entire life! Even in the death of her son, our Lord, the beautiful peace displayed on her face. Fiat! Let it be done!

    If we could only live our lives with half the faith on display in Mary.

    Wow, Imagine!

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