tortured and tormented soul did you find a place for words like these?
Yes, you are a mystery. You love your enemies. You recommend them to
your Father. You pray for them. And my Lord, if it is not blasphemous to
say it, you pardon them with the most implausible excuse there is: they
did not know what they were doing. Really they knew it all” (49).
Rahner, man of prayer, then moves to a profoundly personal plea:
“Speak these merciful words of your boundless love over my sins also.
Say to the Father in my behalf: ‘Forgive him, for he did not know what
he was doing.’ Really I did know it. I knew all of it. But your love I did
not know” (49-50).
We who are privileged to minister the mystery of the Eucharist at the
table and receive his body and blood in Communion touch the depths
of Christ’s boundless love in this sacrament. It is mercy . . . and life . . .
and healing for sinners, for you and me and all of us together.
In this Issue
You’ll find much for fruitful reading and meditation in this issue, which
is certainly right for the final weeks of Lent, the Sacred Triduum, Easter,
and the Easter Season.
We feature two lengthy reflections, both of which I suggest you read in
smaller sections over several sittings. The first, on the Jewish prophet
Jonah, reveals a person whose ministry and underlying attitudes
represent the very antithesis of divine mercy. Owen Cummings helps
us to understand Jonah’s world and the biblical story’s enduring
challenge. The second is Capuchin Ed Foley’s beautiful examination
of the theology and liturgy of The Friday We Call Good.
Ending where we began, Dennis Billy, CSsR, introduces us to the
theology and eucharistic teaching of the late Jesuit theologian Karl
Rahner.
God’s blessings on you in this paschal season!
Anthony Schueller, SSS
Editor
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