Episode 14- Regnum Novum: Bringing forth the New Evangelization through Catholic Social Teaching with Omar Gutierrez – Pope Pius XI and “QUADRAGESIMO ANNO” , Pope Pius XII and the Radio Addresses.

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We live at a very special time. The confluence of many things has brought forth the clear need to be able to articulate the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church in a way that is accessible and applicable. This is not to be an effort where high-minded theories are to be bandied about. Rather, this is a time of opportunity wherein we can apply the Social Doctrine to the concrete so as to bring about a New Kingdom, a Revolution. – Omar G.

Pope Pius XI  (31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939.  He issued numerous encyclicals including Quadragesimo Anno, highlighting capitalistic greed of international finance, and social justice issues, andQuas Primas, establishing the feast of Christ the King. He took as his papal motto, “Christ’s peace in Christ’s kingdom”.

 

Venerable Pope Pius XII  born Eugenio Marìa Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (2 March 1876 – 9 October 1958), reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958.

Also visit Omar’s “Discerning Hearts” page Catholic Social Teaching 101

Episode 13- Regnum Novum: Bringing forth the New Evangelization through Catholic Social Teaching with Omar Gutierrez – Pope Leo XIII and “Rerum Novarum”

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We live at a very special time. The confluence of many things has brought forth the clear need to be able to articulate the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church in a way that is accessible and applicable. This is not to be an effort where high-minded theories are to be bandied about. Rather, this is a time of opportunity wherein we can apply the Social Doctrine to the concrete so as to bring about a New Kingdom, a Revolution. – Omar G.

Pope Leo XIII (2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903), born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci , was the 256th Popeof the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903. He was the oldest pope (reigning until the age of 93), and had the third longest pontificate, behind his immediate predecessor Pius IX and John Paul II.

He is known for intellectualism, the development of social teachings with his encyclical Rerum Novarum and his attempts to define the position of the Church with regard to modern thinking. He influenced Roman Catholic Mariology and promoted both the rosary and the scapular. He issued a record eleven encyclicals on the rosary, approved two new Marian scapulars and was the first Pope to fully embrace the concept of Mary as mediatrix.  He is also the author of the St. Michael the Archangel prayer, among others.

Also visit Omar’s “Discerning Hearts” page Catholic Social Teaching 101

Episode 9- Regnum Novum: Bringing forth the New Evangelization through Catholic Social Teaching with Omar Guiterrez – Value 5 The Common Good, Universal Destination of Goods, Subsidiarity, Participation, Solidarity part 3

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We encourage you to visit “Regnum Novum – A New Kingdom: A Revolution” Omar Guiterrez’s blog site

We live at a very special time. The confluence of many things has brought forth the clear need to be able to articulate the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church in a way that is accessible and applicable. This is not to be an effort where high-minded theories are to be bandied about. Rather, this is a time of opportunity wherein we can apply the Social Doctrine to the concrete so as to bring about a New Kingdom, a Revolution. – Omar G. from Regnum Novum

From episode 9… Point 5: The Common Good, Universal Destination of Goods, Subsidiarity, Participation, Solidarity

These are the five principles laid out in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. If we understand these principles, then the work of the Revolution can begin. We are made now for a New Kingdom with Christ as our King in all things. Let us discover this place together, and make the devil cringe and know the suffering of defeat.

In this episode we focus on “Subsidiarity”.

Also visit Omar’s “Discerning Hearts” page Catholic Social Teaching 101

Special Episode- Regnum Novum: Bringing forth the New Evangelization through Catholic Social Teaching with Omar Guiterrez – The recent decision by the Department of Health and Human Services and its implications on Catholic Social Teaching.  How is the Catholic to understand this?

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We encourage you to visit “Regnum Novum – A New Kingdom: A Revolution” Omar Guiterrez’s blog site
From Omar’s blog post entitled “A Primer On the HHS Rule, What You Need to Know”

What the Obama Administrations Health and Human Services Department (HHS) has done is an attack, which is why Catholics need to be well-informed about what is going on so that they can tell their neighbors about it. So, here are the facts….click here.

Also visit Omar’s “Discerning Hearts” page Catholic Social Teaching 101

Episode 7 – Regnum Novum: Bringing forth the New Evangelization through Catholic Social Teaching with Omar Guiterrez – Value 5 The Common Good, Universal Destination of Goods, Subsidiarity, Participation, Solidarity part 1

[powerpress]

These are the five principles laid out in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. If we understand these principles, then the work of the Revolution can begin. We are made now for a New Kingdom with Christ as our King in all things. Let us discover this place together, and make the devil cringe and know the suffering of defeat. “Love”

Discerning Hearts is blessed to present Omar F. A. Guiterrez, M.A. , Special Assistant to Archbishop George Lucas of the Archdiocese of Omaha, in a groundbreaking series which breaks open the heart of Catholic Social Doctrine.

We encourage you to visit “Regnum Novum – A New Kingdom: A Revolution” Omar Guiterrez’s blog site

We live at a very special time. The confluence of many things has brought forth the clear need to be able to articulate the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church in a way that is accessible and applicable. This is not to be an effort where high-minded theories are to be bandied about. Rather, this is a time of opportunity wherein we can apply the Social Doctrine to the concrete so as to bring about a New Kingdom, a Revolution. – Omar G. from Regnum Novum

From episode 7… Point 5: The Common Good, Universal Destination of Goods, Subsidiarity, Participation, Solidarity

These are the five principles laid out in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. If we understand these principles, then the work of the Revolution can begin. We are made now for a New Kingdom with Christ as our King in all things. Let us discover this place together, and make the devil cringe and know the suffering of defeat.

In this episode we focus on “The Common Good”.

Also visit Omar’s “Discerning Hearts” page Catholic Social Teaching 101

My good friend Omar Gutierrez describes the ache and the joy in our hearts better than I ever good…Rob, May the choir of angels bring you home…pray for us!

From Regnum Novum – Some readers may have heard of the passing of Deacon Robert Jergovic, a Deacon of the Archdiocese of Omaha. Apparently, Deacon Greg Kandra shared the prayer request for Rob on his blog The Deacon’s Bench and has since then reported that the request has received more responses and activity than any other. The original post received over 400 facebook likes. As he noted, this is a testament to the man that Deacon Rob was.

Deacon Rob

I only had the pleasure of meeting him and his wife once. My wife and I were graced with sharing a meal with them at a mutual friend’s inviting home. We were taken with Rob and Lisa, with their faith, with their attitude about life, their quiet surety. Who wouldn’t be? After five kids they adopted two girls from China and are in the process of adopting another girl who is deaf. These are “kingdom people” folks. Rob struck me as just such a self-possessed man of faith…not just sincere, but good. Sometimes that is the only word to use. It is “good.” He was “good.”

After his heart attack, the community here in Omaha truly came out in prayerful support of him and his family. One evening, many gathered to pray the rosary for him, and not just one mystery but all four. When the young priest came out to lead us, a priest himself full of God’s grace, he said that we prayed for Our Lady’s intercession and that of John Paul II’s and that we prayed for “a miracle.”

The word and the frankness of the intention jarred me at first. How radical is that, after all… to pray for a miracle. Emotions welled up within me. They were mixed. On one hand I was uncomfortable with praying for something so…well…big. On the other hand I was encouraged by the faith of the priest and of those there.

As we began the Joyful Mysteries, it didn’t take me long to note all the wondrous things of salvation history. An angel appears to a virgin, who conceives a child without knowing man. An old woman becomes pregnant and carries a healthy boy to term. Wise men from afar travel miles to see the king who is a baby, and angels appear to the simple shepherds as the world slept. What is not possible with such a God? If it were His will… (more…)

“Dispose the day…”  OK, I really didn’t understand the significance of St. Crispin and St. Crispinian except for their presence in the robust guy “band of brothers” speech from Shakespeare’s Henry V…very macho “rouse the troops” moment in the play… I just figured they were warriors too…(besides I’m more of a  “Midsummer Night’s Dream” kind of Shakespeare girl anyway…)

                          

That is until I read Omar F. A. Gutierrez’s fantastic blog post bringing it all together!  Treat your brain and heart by visiting his blog  Regnum Novum

Here, once again, is Omar Guiterrez breaking open for Discerning Hearts the beauty of Catholic Social Doctrine….
(it’s amazing where you can find it if you have eyes to see and ears to hear)

Today marks the feast of Saints Crispin and Crispian, brothers who were martyred by beheading in Rome sometime during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian (emperor from 284-305 AD).

That the saints lived is certainly true. The story of these brothers, however, comes to us from a late account that has little to suggest it’s authenticity. Generally, though, we know them to be from Rome, to have worked in Soissons, Gaul (now France), and to have been shoemakers thus earning them the title of patrons for shoemakers, cobblers, and those who work with leather.

The tale is that these two brothers, perhaps twins of noble blood, caught up in the zealous care for their faith and in love for Christ, left Rome in the 3rd century in order to spread the Gospel in Gaul. They took up the trade of the shoemaker and would not charge the poor who requested their services. By their example, and not, it seems,by any grand preaching, these two were good witnesses to the faith and converted many. When Maximian was appointed co-emperor in 285 and came to Gaul, the brothers were accused and brought before a character named Rictiovarus, whom we don’t exactly know existed but whose seathing hatred for Christians is legendary. At any rate, they were tortured mercilessly, but when the attempt to kill the saintly brothers through drowning and burning  failed,  Rictiovarus was driven into such a desperate fury that he threw himself into the fire prepared for the brothers thus killing himself. Eventually, Crispin and Crispian were beheaded which is a very effective way of killing someone…unless you’re St. Winifred, in which case that might not always work.  There are several things I’d like to draw out about these saints. The first is that it was on this day 595 years ago (1415) that King Henry V led his horribly outnumbered English army into battle against the French at Agincourt, the battle so wonderfully remember today for the speech written by Shakespeare in Henry V,( a version of which can be seen above with Kenneth Branagh.)

The second thing is this, brought out in an edition of Butler’s Lives of the Saints, namely that Sts. Crispin and Crispian are a wonderful reminder that sanctity is not only for the cloistered hermit who has removed himself from society. These two never embarked on some large speaking tour throughout Gaul. They did not write any large tomes explicating the faith for the masses. They are not known for levitating or bilocation or magically producing shoes no one today can replicate with all our modern technology. No, they were simply saintly shoemakers. They were holy artisans is all, and this is a good thing. In this way they are almost the perfect patron saints for laborers, heroes of the Social Doctrine of the Church.

I’m reminded of a line from the Part I Chapter 3 of St. Francis de Sales’ classic Introduction to the Devout Life where he says:

 It is an error, nay more, a very heresy, to seek to banish the devout life from the soldier’s guardroom, the mechanic’s workshop, the prince’s court, or the domestic hearth. Of course a purely contemplative devotion, such as is specially proper to the religious and monastic life, cannot be practised in these outer vocations, but there are various other kinds of devotion well-suited to lead those whose calling is secular, along the paths of perfection. The Old Testament furnishes us examples in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, David, Job, Tobias, Sarah, Rebecca and Judith; and in the New Testament we read of St. Joseph, Lydia and Crispus, who led a perfectly devout life in their trades:–we have S. Anne, Martha, S. Monica, Aquila and Priscilla, as examples of household devotion, Cornelius, S. Sebastian, and S. Maurice among soldiers;–Constantine, S. Helena, S. Louis, the Blessed Amadaeus, 2 and S. Edward on the throne. And we even find instances of some who fell away in solitude,– usually so helpful to perfection,–some who had led a higher life in the world, which seems so antagonistic to it. S. Gregory dwells on how Lot, who had kept himself pure in the city, fell in his mountain solitude. Be sure that wheresoever our lot is cast we may and must aim at the perfect life.

Sanctity can be found through the work which God has given us no matter what that might be. Indeed it is to be found in the guardroom, in the shop, in the court, in the home. This is the message of the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church. Sanctity and evangelization can be found through the labor of everyday life. It is less what you do than the way you do it, and the way to do anything is with the love of Christ.

Third, I want to point out that with saints whose stories are in doubt it can be tempting  to write them off as the incipient pap of bygone days. There are some who actually claim that the Church has managed its control over the laity throughout the centuries by inventing such stories. I’m not making that claim, but many are tempted to think that there never was such a saint, or that we cannot glean any lesson from them, or that, poor bumpkins that they were, those ignoramuses of the early years of the Church meant well if they weren’t always truthful. This sort of temptation is what Chesterton called “chronological snobbery.” Somehow we image that in our Enlightened age we appreciate truth much more than the people of the early centuries. This would be a terrible mistake.

Stories do evolve over time, and tales can be embellished but we should never forget three things: first, that the stories were told because of some real event or real person, even if we don’t remember their name and even if our collective memories have gotten the details wrong. Second, the miraculous is not impossible. We believe in things seen and unseen, so why presume the fantastical must be unreal? Third, someone in heaven answers to the name of these saints in question. That’s what matters.  – Regnum Novum

Thanks Omar!  My visits to DSW will never be the same again.

Episode 11- Regnum Novum: Bringing forth the New Evangelization through Catholic Social Teaching with Omar Guiterrez – Value 5 The Common Good, Universal Destination of Goods, Subsidiarity, Participation, Solidarity part 5

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These are the five principles laid out in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. If we understand these principles, then the work of the Revolution can begin. We are made now for a New Kingdom with Christ as our King in all things. Let us discover this place together, and make the devil cringe and know the suffering of defeat. “Love”

Discerning Hearts is blessed to present Omar F. A. Guiterrez, M.A. , Special Assistant to Archbishop George Lucas of the Archdiocese of Omaha, in a groundbreaking series which breaks open the heart of Catholic Social Doctrine.

We encourage you to visit “Regnum Novum – A New Kingdom: A Revolution” Omar Guiterrez’s blog site

We live at a very special time. The confluence of many things has brought forth the clear need to be able to articulate the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church in a way that is accessible and applicable. This is not to be an effort where high-minded theories are to be bandied about. Rather, this is a time of opportunity wherein we can apply the Social Doctrine to the concrete so as to bring about a New Kingdom, a Revolution. – Omar G. from Regnum Novum

From episode 11… Point 5: The Common Good, Universal Destination of Goods, Subsidiarity, Participation, Solidarity

These are the five principles laid out in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. If we understand these principles, then the work of the Revolution can begin. We are made now for a New Kingdom with Christ as our King in all things. Let us discover this place together, and make the devil cringe and know the suffering of defeat.

In this episode we focus on “Solidarity”.

Also visit Omar’s “Discerning Hearts” page Catholic Social Teaching 101

Episode 10- Regnum Novum: Bringing forth the New Evangelization through Catholic Social Teaching with Omar Guiterrez– Value 5 The Common Good, Universal Destination of Goods, Subsidiarity, Participation, Solidarity part 4

In this episode we focus on “Participation”.

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These are the five principles laid out in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. If we understand these principles, then the work of the Revolution can begin. We are made now for a New Kingdom with Christ as our King in all things. Let us discover this place together, and make the devil cringe and know the suffering of defeat. “Love”

Discerning Hearts is blessed to present Omar F. A. Guiterrez, M.A. , Special Assistant to Archbishop George Lucas of the Archdiocese of Omaha, in a groundbreaking series which breaks open the heart of Catholic Social Doctrine.

We encourage you to visit “Regnum Novum – A New Kingdom: A Revolution” Omar Guiterrez’s blog site

We live at a very special time. The confluence of many things has brought forth the clear need to be able to articulate the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church in a way that is accessible and applicable. This is not to be an effort where high-minded theories are to be bandied about. Rather, this is a time of opportunity wherein we can apply the Social Doctrine to the concrete so as to bring about a New Kingdom, a Revolution. – Omar G. from Regnum Novum

From episode 10… Point 5: The Common Good, Universal Destination of Goods, Subsidiarity, Participation, Solidarity

These are the five principles laid out in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. If we understand these principles, then the work of the Revolution can begin. We are made now for a New Kingdom with Christ as our King in all things. Let us discover this place together, and make the devil cringe and know the suffering of defeat.

In this episode we focus on “Participation”.

Also visit Omar’s “Discerning Hearts” page Catholic Social Teaching 101

Episode 9- Regnum Novum: Bringing forth the New Evangelization through Catholic Social Teaching with Omar Guiterrez – Value 5 The Common Good, Universal Destination of Goods, Subsidiarity, Participation, Solidarity part 3

[powerpress]

These are the five principles laid out in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. If we understand these principles, then the work of the Revolution can begin. We are made now for a New Kingdom with Christ as our King in all things. Let us discover this place together, and make the devil cringe and know the suffering of defeat. “Love”

Discerning Hearts is blessed to present Omar F. A. Guiterrez, M.A. , Special Assistant to Archbishop George Lucas of the Archdiocese of Omaha, in a groundbreaking series which breaks open the heart of Catholic Social Doctrine.

We encourage you to visit “Regnum Novum – A New Kingdom: A Revolution” Omar Guiterrez’s blog site

We live at a very special time. The confluence of many things has brought forth the clear need to be able to articulate the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church in a way that is accessible and applicable. This is not to be an effort where high-minded theories are to be bandied about. Rather, this is a time of opportunity wherein we can apply the Social Doctrine to the concrete so as to bring about a New Kingdom, a Revolution. – Omar G. from Regnum Novum

From episode 9… Point 5: The Common Good, Universal Destination of Goods, Subsidiarity, Participation, Solidarity

These are the five principles laid out in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. If we understand these principles, then the work of the Revolution can begin. We are made now for a New Kingdom with Christ as our King in all things. Let us discover this place together, and make the devil cringe and know the suffering of defeat.

In this episode we focus on “Subsidiarity”.

Also visit Omar’s “Discerning Hearts” page Catholic Social Teaching 101

Episode 8- Regnum Novum: Bringing forth the New Evangelization through Catholic Social Teaching with Omar Guiterrez – Value 5 The Common Good, Universal Destination of Goods, Subsidiarity, Participation, Solidarity part 2

[powerpress]

These are the five principles laid out in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. If we understand these principles, then the work of the Revolution can begin. We are made now for a New Kingdom with Christ as our King in all things. Let us discover this place together, and make the devil cringe and know the suffering of defeat. “Love”

Discerning Hearts is blessed to present Omar F. A. Guiterrez, M.A. , Special Assistant to Archbishop George Lucas of the Archdiocese of Omaha, in a groundbreaking series which breaks open the heart of Catholic Social Doctrine.

We encourage you to visit “Regnum Novum – A New Kingdom: A Revolution” Omar Guiterrez’s blog site

We live at a very special time. The confluence of many things has brought forth the clear need to be able to articulate the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church in a way that is accessible and applicable. This is not to be an effort where high-minded theories are to be bandied about. Rather, this is a time of opportunity wherein we can apply the Social Doctrine to the concrete so as to bring about a New Kingdom, a Revolution. – Omar G. from Regnum Novum

From episode 8… Point 5: The Common Good, Universal Destination of Goods, Subsidiarity, Participation, Solidarity

These are the five principles laid out in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. If we understand these principles, then the work of the Revolution can begin. We are made now for a New Kingdom with Christ as our King in all things. Let us discover this place together, and make the devil cringe and know the suffering of defeat.

In this episode we focus on “The Universal Destination of Goods”.

Also visit Omar’s “Discerning Hearts” page Catholic Social Teaching 101

Episode 7 – Regnum Novum: Bringing forth the New Evangelization through Catholic Social Teaching with Omar Guiterrez – Value 5 The Common Good, Universal Destination of Goods, Subsidiarity, Participation, Solidarity part 1

[powerpress]

These are the five principles laid out in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. If we understand these principles, then the work of the Revolution can begin. We are made now for a New Kingdom with Christ as our King in all things. Let us discover this place together, and make the devil cringe and know the suffering of defeat. “Love”

Discerning Hearts is blessed to present Omar F. A. Guiterrez, M.A. , Special Assistant to Archbishop George Lucas of the Archdiocese of Omaha, in a groundbreaking series which breaks open the heart of Catholic Social Doctrine.

We encourage you to visit “Regnum Novum – A New Kingdom: A Revolution” Omar Guiterrez’s blog site

We live at a very special time. The confluence of many things has brought forth the clear need to be able to articulate the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church in a way that is accessible and applicable. This is not to be an effort where high-minded theories are to be bandied about. Rather, this is a time of opportunity wherein we can apply the Social Doctrine to the concrete so as to bring about a New Kingdom, a Revolution. – Omar G. from Regnum Novum

From episode 7… Point 5: The Common Good, Universal Destination of Goods, Subsidiarity, Participation, Solidarity

These are the five principles laid out in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. If we understand these principles, then the work of the Revolution can begin. We are made now for a New Kingdom with Christ as our King in all things. Let us discover this place together, and make the devil cringe and know the suffering of defeat.

In this episode we focus on “The Common Good”.

Also visit Omar’s “Discerning Hearts” page Catholic Social Teaching 101

Episode 6 – Regnum Novum: Bringing forth the New Evangelization through Catholic Social Teaching with Omar Guiterrez – Value 4 Truth, Freedom, Justice, and Love part 3 “Love”

Discerning Hearts is blessed to present Omar F. A. Guiterrez, M.A. , Special Assistant to Archbishop George Lucas of the Archdiocese of Omaha, in a groundbreaking series which breaks open the heart of Catholic Social Doctrine.

We encourage you to visit “Regnum Novum – A New Kingdom: A Revolution” Omar Guiterrez’s blog site

We live at a very special time. The confluence of many things has brought forth the clear need to be able to articulate the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church in a way that is accessible and applicable. This is not to be an effort where high-minded theories are to be bandied about. Rather, this is a time of opportunity wherein we can apply the Social Doctrine to the concrete so as to bring about a New Kingdom, a Revolution. – Omar G. from Regnum Novum

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From episode … 6. Truth, Freedom, Justice, and Love part 3 “Love“

These are the four values of the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church as they’re enumerated in the Compendium and as they were laid out by, again, Blessed Pope John XXIII in Mater et magistra and Pacem in terris. Without these values, the work of social justice becomes an albatross around our necks. It pulls us down, threatening to poison all the work we do, no matter how well intentioned.

We are seeking to build a civilization of love. Love is an encounter with God. Love begets love, and the experience of love can heal many more wounds than can socio-economic trivialities.

(Truth, Freedom and Justice are covered in other episodes)

Also visit Omar’s “Discerning Hearts” page Catholic Social Teaching 101

 

Episode 5 – Regnum Novum: Bringing forth the New Evangelization through Catholic Social Teaching with Omar Guiterrez – Value 4 Truth, Freedom, Justice, and Love part 2 “Justice”

Discerning Hearts is blessed to present Omar F. A. Guiterrez, M.A. , Special Assistant to Archbishop George Lucas of the Archdiocese of Omaha, in a groundbreaking series which breaks open the heart of Catholic Social Doctrine.

We encourage you to visit “Regnum Novum – A New Kingdom: A Revolution” Omar Guiterrez’s blog site

We live at a very special time. The confluence of many things has brought forth the clear need to be able to articulate the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church in a way that is accessible and applicable. This is not to be an effort where high-minded theories are to be bandied about. Rather, this is a time of opportunity wherein we can apply the Social Doctrine to the concrete so as to bring about a New Kingdom, a Revolution. – Omar G. from Regnum Novum

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From episode … 5. Truth, Freedom, Justice, and Love part 2 “Justice”

These are the four values of the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church as they’re enumerated in the Compendium and as they were laid out by, again, Blessed Pope John XXIII in Mater et magistra and Pacem in terris. Without these values, the work of social justice becomes an albatross around our necks. It pulls us down, threatening to poison all the work we do, no matter how well intentioned.

Justice requires we know what is due to our neighbor. But even when justice is achieved, it can be cold and impersonal, as Pope John Paul II said. This is why the phrase “social justice” appears so rarely in the Church’s Social Teaching. Justice is the bare minimum, and we are not looking for the minimum.

(Truth, Freedom and  Love are covered in other episodes)

Also visit Omar’s “Discerning Hearts” page Catholic Social Teaching 101

It’s a story of a young man named Giovanni, a pope named Pius IX and a time when….well I’ll let Omar Guiterrez tell the story...(he’s the best kind of  “storyteller” because his stories are exciting, poignant, compelling and…true)

An excerpt from Omar’s Regnum Novum post entitled “Giovanni and His Rome Beneath the Surface”:

It would behoove you to know that at this time in history, not too much unlike our own, the idea that the Catholic Church as we know it actually existed before the Middle Ages was an idea largely held to be ridiculous. Certainly there was a Christianity. But surely nothing like the Church of Rome. The scathing writing of the Enlightenment thinkers from the late 18th and throughout the 19th centuries had convinced most people that the priesthood, and much more so the papacy, was a Roman Catholic myth, invented to justify their inherently corrupting hold on power. Any notion from the average man that these existed before the stupefyingly dark ages of Medieval ignorance was mere pious idiocy. Even before this time, Martin Luther wrote, in his book titled Against the Roman Papacy Instituted by the Devil (catchy title no?),

I am content to be able to say, since I have seen it and heard it at Rome, that it is unknown where in the city the bodies of Saint Peter and Paul are located, or even whether they are there at all. Even the Pope and the cardinals know very well that they do not know.

Yet, in this world of legends and stories Giovanni lived in youthful and pious bliss. So it was that one fine Spring day in 1849, the same year that the Communist Manifesto was published, and at the ripe old age of 22, whilst the Roman birds sung their sweet songs of vernal joy to travelers on the ancient Appian road, Giovanni came across a piece of marble, which looked something very much like this:

Pieces of marble were constantly being found by farmers in the area. It is just a part of living in that world where history grows from the ground like the leaves of the acanthus plant that decorates the Mediterranean. This marble was probably dug up by the farmer attempting to ready his field for planting, and he tossed it toward the road. As fate – or should I say God’s good grace – would have it Giovanni, with all his peculiar knowledge, came across it on this day and at this hour. He examined the thing and began to wonder, as only a youthful lad can and does.

He recalled from his vast reading the legend of a Pope Cornelius who had been sentenced to exile by the new emperor Gallus. The emperor was a useless fellow, who had been put into power by the Roman army after the death of the Christian-hating Decius only to be killed by that same army two years later. Poor Pope Cornelius died in exile but was referred to in the martyrologies as not just a confessor but as a martyr. Furthermore, this Pope Cornelius, who reigned as the vicar of Christ from 251-253 was said to have been brought back to Rome and buried in the legendary Crypt of the Popes in the catacomb of St. Callistus. So perhaps, thought the youthful Italian lad, perhaps this is a marker for Pope Cornelius’ grave, which would mean that he’s buried in that field somewhere, which would mean that underneath lies not just the mythic Crypt of the Popes but also the original burial place of St. Cecilia, who was later moved to the Church in Trastevere that still bears her name, and all sorts of wonders within the famed – but never discovered – catacomb of St. Callistus. Yes, this was the reasoning of young Giovanni. This was the thought process of a young lad who had not lived long enough to know that silly dreams of an ancient Church were passé and never mentioned in polite company. These were the musings of a boy who dreamed to discover something true in an age of cynical doubting. And these were the notions that Giovanni Battista de Rossi took to Pope Pius IX.

To hear the whole story take a listen, and then visit Regnum Novum for the complete text and images…it’s get’s better…it’s SO touching and compelling…and it’s true