Isabel Gómez-Acebo: The Face of God Who Shows Us Jesus (II). Gómez-Acebo reserved this second part to talk about three other faces of God, less common but very necessary: the friend God, the tender God, and the joyful God. An exposition from her own experience. An argument in favor of emotions, setting aside that exaggerated interest in truths about God. “Tenderness is an activity that arises from the depths of the soul, where God dwells.”
Isabel Gómez-Acebo: The Face of God Who Shows Us Jesus (I). The theologian dedicated the first part to three very important and more developed faces of God: the liberating God, the Father God, and the universal God. Speaking about the universality of God made us think. “We cannot stop at just the image of Jesus. For Muslims, for Buddhists, the image of Jesus is not theirs. One must take the leap to the God of Jesus. Jesus Christ raises differences. Jesus is the way for us Christians. For others, Jesus is not the way. The God of all is the one who is the way.”
José Ignacio González Faus: The Church and its Renewal (II). Faus breaks down very concrete points that, in his opinion, should change: The Papacy, The Roman Curia, or the role of women in the church.
José Ignacio González Faus: The Church and its Renewal (I). In this first part, the theologian speaks of a church of equals, which must be “poor” and “of the poor,” going one step beyond Pope Francis when he says “for the poor.” To talk about the reform of the church, it is necessary to first ask ourselves what the Church is. We can say that it is necessary because faith is intrinsically communal. The Vatican II definition of the church as the People of God speaks above all of unity in equality. It also explains that if the Church is a Sacrament of salvation, its reform will have to do with its “significance” for humanity.
José María Castillo: Religion and Gospel. The theologian reflects on the scope of God’s transcendence, which prevents us from knowing the divine and therefore, religion and gospel remain on another plane. He champions the figure of Jesus as the way to know the fullness of humanity that brings us closest to God. Finally, he offers a masterful interpretation of religious phenomenon as a human need. Conversely, the gospel does not arise from need, but from generosity, and it does not seek to heal my own limitation, but that of others.
Carmiña Navia: Mary and the Woman of Today. It is essential to change and update the images of Mary of Nazareth, abandoning that submissive maiden with downcast eyes. It is also not a valid solution to corner her and silence her figure because we do not know how she fits into our current culture. A revision of canonical and apocryphal scriptures, as well as popular traditions that have transmitted us values such as strength and comfort in our daily struggles, is necessary.
Juan Antonio Estrada: The Laity. Throughout the centuries, the church has been clericalizing, setting aside the laity. They have not only had their voice and vote taken away. They have even been deprived of the gospel, leaving the Beatitudes and other evangelical counsels for the “elite” of consecrated persons. How this process has been and what it has been based on. The theologian encourages us to change the model of the church, return to lay ministries, and enhance the capacities of communities.
Juan Antonio Estrada: The Church (II). Today’s society has little in common with that of centuries ago, and it is necessary to rethink the model of the church: an inculturated, global, communal, conciliar, collegial, and ministerial Christianity, understanding ministries as a service that respects and enhances the community. Following the theoretical exposition, there is an interesting debate in which some of the ideas developed are further concretized.
Juan Antonio Estrada: The Church (I). The church is going through a structural crisis prompted, among other causes, by the changes in theology over the last fifty years and the loss of prestige due to financial and sexual scandals. But above all, it faces a change of era and the definition of a new Christian paradigm. It involves rediscovering the church, thanks to a new understanding of the foundational charisma of Jesus of Nazareth and greater knowledge of the primitive church. It is also important to review the keys to renewal attempted by the Second Vatican Council that have since been silenced.
Fray Marcos: Fullness is starting point, goal, and path (II). Another consequence of living from true being is that all Manichaeism is overcome: there are no good people and bad people, religions better than others, good or bad events. Judgments are also inhibited; we do not judge anyone nor ourselves. Religiosity based on “programming” disappears. An extremely interesting debate opens up after the exposition.
Fray Marcos: Fullness is starting point, goal, and path (I). To explain reality, human beings have gone through many stages: archaic, magical, mythical, logical, scientific knowledge, and in our time, a more intuitive, transpersonal, or non-dual type of thought is emerging. Hence the talk of fullness and the overcoming of the terms salvation, justification, or redemption.
Andrés Torres Queiruga: Rethinking Hell. The author enumerates three starting points. Whatever we want to say with the word “hell,” it can never be considered a punishment from God. What is certain is that it has to do with our freedom. And finally, not using hell to practice pastoral fear because that is incompatible with the God who creates out of love. We are not judges of anyone. From here, we enter the field of hypotheses and the one proposed by Torres Queiruga is very reasonable; it is compatible with the goodness of God and with the spirit of the gospel.
Andrés Torres Queiruga: on the problem of evil. If this topic is not addressed with sufficient rigor, terrible things are affirmed about God. Every petition prayer whose end is to “convince” God to free us from some evil implies an image of God who can do everything, but who for whatever reason does not want to prevent the evil of the world. In such a God, the theologian says “I could not believe” and presents a series of very interesting arguments to focus on the problem of evil without doubting God’s mercy, omnipotence, or existence.
Vicente Haya: Loving Jesus more in Aramaic. Knowledge of Semitic languages and specifically Aramaic, the language in which Jesus spoke, can open up extremely interesting horizons for Christians to approach a more real Jesus, and from this knowledge of his language and expressions, a more authentic love will arise.
Fray Marcos: To serve is the fullness of humanity. The triple announcement of the Passion and the three episodes of the disciples, demonstrating that in one way or another they were concerned with being first, form a brilliant narrative. With it, the evangelist wants to tell us that Jesus’ vital experience and that of the apostles were on very different planes. The Master’s message is not understood by applying rationality. Nor will we discover who we truly are and what God who dwells in us is like if we do not have our own inner experience, setting reason aside.
José Ignacio González Faus: The human being, useless passion or hoped-for passion (part II). After what has been stated about the seriousness of evil, González Faus concludes that it is fundamental for theological anthropology to know that the human being needs to be redeemed. And he proposes a phrase that may seem contradictory, but which is part of the dialectical reality that explains the human being: grace comes from outside and at the same time, it is the most intimate part of ourselves.
José Ignacio González Faus: The human being, useless passion or hopeful passion (part I). In this class of Theological Anthropology, the mythical themes of the first chapters of Genesis are addressed: the contradictory constitution of the human being, anthropocentrism, or original sin. The word ‘sin’ recalls ancient moral treatises. We could change the term, but the constatation of evil in our days is evident.
José Ignacio González Faus: The Eucharist and human relationships. The Eucharist is a central theme in Christian life, but it is very unfocused. The passage of time has diverted its original meaning. It should not be an act of worship, but the celebration that no act of worship is necessary. If the Eucharist does not translate into a transformation of human relationships, we are not celebrating the Lord’s Supper.
Fray Marcos: Eucharist on Inner Law. Fulfilling the norm does not guarantee human salvation. Only by discovering and living what I find in the depths of my being can I unfold my humanity. Neither what enters me can harm me, nor purify me. We cling to the commandments of God and the Church, but their external fulfillment does not help us discover and live what is inside us.
Cristina Moreira: Ordination of Catholic Priests.Impressive testimony about the priestly ordination of women in the Catholic rite and in apostolic succession. Although the Code of Canon Law prohibits it, it is impossible to close the field, and since 2002, Catholic women have been ordained. There are now more than 250 priests who exercise their ministry in many countries around the world. They belong to the Association of Roman Catholic Priests (ARCWP).
Fray Marcos: Pentecost Eucharist in Parquelagos. Reflections on the mystery of God and a very practical catechesis of the rite of breaking bread.
Margarita Pintos: Feminist Theology (II), early figures. A look at the origins of feminism and feminist theology. Women’s suffrage, the Bible of women, or the first woman ordained as priest in the USA, in 1853.
Margarita Pintos: Feminist Theology (I), basic principles. An approach to the basic principles of feminism. Starting with its definition (set of ideologies and social movements, very heterogeneous and plural but with the same common goal, which is to achieve more egalitarian societies), this first part explains concepts such as gender, androcentrism, or patriarchy.
Carmiña Navia: Female spiritual traditions in the history of the church. The female presence in the expansion of Christianity was very strong. Diving into history, we discover very important figures such as Thecla, Mary Magdalene, Marcela of Rome, the Desert Mothers, Melania the Elder, Olympia of Constantinople, Hildegard of Bingen, Clare of Assisi or the Beguines, Hadewijch of Antwerp, and Margarita Porete. We realize that in all cases, history has not been fair to their worth: at best they have been silenced, but some were slandered and others burned at the stake. We ask ourselves the reason and find out that it is no different from the one preventing the church today from accepting female priesthood.
Gonzalo Haya: Contradictions in the Gospels. We are so accustomed to the passages of the gospel that we are surely not aware of the great contradictions between the evangelists, and even between two texts by the same author. Reflecting on them makes us discover what kind of truth the evangelical accounts want to communicate or what concept they had of history.
María López Vigil: Another God is Possible. Very practical issues with a common denominator: the conviction that religious beliefs have social consequences. That is why it is so important to deconstruct those false images of God, which are sometimes at the origin of so many social aberrations we contemplate: xenophobia, gender violence, inequality between rich and poor, manipulation of consciences, the bad image of the living body, the exaltation of suffering, etc.
Recital by Fray Marcos: St. John of the Cross, a column in flames (I). The uniqueness of St. John of the Cross lies in the coincidence of having been a great mystic and a great poet. To communicate the ineffable realities of mystical experiences, poetry is the most suitable form of expression.
Recital by Fray Marcos: St. John of the Cross, a column in flames (II). Second part of the recital of poems by the Castilian mystic.
María López Vigil: Blessed are the atheists (I). The atheism referred to by the author is that which leads us to reject those images of God and those images of Jesus that have not served us. The world cannot be changed with certain images of God. Another world is possible, because another God is possible. And for this task, we need to know the historical Jesus and also develop the ethics of Jesus so that he answers the questions that challenge us today.
María López Vigil: Blessed are the atheists (II). Following José María Castillo’s thesis, the controversial topic is addressed of whether the God proposed by St. Paul has anything to do with the one who inspired Jesus of Nazareth.
Eucharist on the First Easter Sunday in Parquelagos. A very interesting graphic document to deepen the accounts of the Resurrection and the symbolism of Bread and Wine.
Homily by Fray Marcos on the gospel of Thomas’ disbelief. Closed doors separate the disciples from the world, where darkness and death reign. The Community is that sphere where there is light, life, and love. It is not Jesus who bursts into the assembly. They are the ones who make the Risen Jesus present. “Where two or more gather in my name…” It is love that makes us experience that Jesus is alive, because Love and Life are the same thing, they are the same reality.
Homily by Fray Marcos on the gospel of the Good Shepherd. The image of the good shepherd that has been transmitted to us has waters in several aspects. The translation from Greek is not so clear: rather than a good Shepherd, what is said is “the only and the best shepherd.” Therefore, it is impossible that they were words from the same Jesus. It is John’s community that speaks. There is also a trap when speaking of sheep that are not from this fold. God is Father of all, and if there is one Shepherd, there is one flock.