The Testimony of Moses in the Fourth Gospel: Beyond the Passover Feast, and into the Wilderness

By examining the narrative framing of the Eucharistic Discourse (Jn 6:25-71) around the ancestral journey through the wilderness as recorded in Numbers, this paper highlights the intimate connection that the Fourth Gospel has to its Jewish context. In the Fourth Gospel’s Eucharistic Discourse, Jesus is not framed by the Passover Lamb, which the people offer to propitiate the Divine, but as manna from heaven, a gift from the Divine to the people, brining Life into the world. In the spirit of Nostra aetate, I conclude with some proposals for future interreligious dialogues that could fruitfully take place within these new parameters.

Cries from the Cross: Jesus and the Wrongfully Convicted

This paper endeavors to affirm the humanity, make known the pain, and lift up the prophetic witness of wrongfully convicted individuals. I bring forward their spiritual journeys and place them in dialectical relationship with Jesus Christ. When we understand Jesus’ death as utterly wrongful and position him in radical solidarity with the wrongly condemned, we see that when the State wrongfully incarcerates, cages, and executes, Jesus too is crucified.

From De-Humanization to the Flourishing Feast: A Study of Ecological Conversion by means of a Triple Colloquy with Pope Francis, Pope John Paul II, and Bernard Lonergan, S.J.

This paper will first source Pope Francis’s notion of ecological conversion with Pope John Paul II’s writings that advocate for an awakening of humanity to a harmony with nature and one another. Second, using Bernard Lonergan’s notion of conversion as the foundational structure of religion, this paper will establish ecological conversion as an authentic movement into living more consciously as a member of the body of Christ. Finally, this paper will address how ecological conversion can reverse the destructive cycle of decline by drawing all of creation to the great heavenly feast.

Incorporating Queer, Housing Insecure Perspectives into Eucharistic Theology

This paper uses queer systematic theology and theological anthropology to argue that the Christian Eucharistic tradition is one of radical table fellowship rooted in desire for intimacy with the margins. Including queer people, the issues facing the community, and queer theory at the Eucharistic table therefore requires that we take homelessness seriously and consider alternative approaches to economic justice.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Peruvian Catholic Church:

This paper examines the Peruvian Catholic Church's responses to the challenges of COVID-19, and how this context might constitute a new stage of the Peruvian Church’s reception of Vatican II. First, it values that the Catholic Church has performed a significant social contribution by distributing humanitarian aid, providing spiritual accompaniment, and articulating the civil society to face the needs raised by COVID-19. This paper argues that such response relates to the process of reception of Vatican II in Peru. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Peruvian Church developed pastoral structures and ecclesial networks that specialized in engaging with and serving the world. Nowadays, the Church offers those strengths to the State and society. Second, this paper examines how the pandemic presents opportunities for a new discernment of the "signs of the times" by highlighting some pastoral challenges the Peruvian Church needs to address in light of Peru’s new social reality and Pope Francis’ call for Church reform.

Experiencing Uncommon Faithfulness:

The challenges confronting the church in the 21st century, especially that of persistent systemic racism, call for a methodological shift in ecclesiology. This paper explores the meaning and benefits of Natalia’s Imperatori-Lee’s narrative ecclesiology within the context of race in the United States Catholic Church. By turning to the story of God’s people, especially the silenced and oppressed, ecclesiology is empowered to challenge false histories and overturn theologies which justify oppression. Furthermore, the work of the Holy Spirit and the responses of the faithful are made evident in lives of “uncommon faithfulness,” such as those of Black Catholics in the US. To be guided by narrative ecclesiology today, members of the church must engage in an embodied struggle for liberation and so hear the story of God’s people anew.

“Not There as Strangers or Silent Spectators”:

What is Holy Thursday with no Eucharist to break and share? What is the sign of peace with no physical embrace? What is a Catholic, Sunday service without a priest, deacon, or consecrated hosts? Six months ago, these were hypothetical questions reserved for academics, for sacramental and liturgical theologians. In March, these became the questions of every Catholic who could no longer inhabit the pews of their church. Many churches quickly adapted to the pandemic with the practice of live streaming or uploading videos of the Sunday Mass, with the only difference in the service being the lack of a congregation and choir. These churches sought to provide ‘the same’ Sunday services under unprecedented circumstances and with little previous experience with online worship. However, a streamed mass could not possibly be the same for the laity without physical participation, the call and response between the priest and the assembly, and the reception of the Eucharist. This paper argues that virtual, interactive, lay- led Sunday services can more faithfully imitate the spirit of the Vatican II document, Sacrosanctum Concilium, in fostering the full and active participation of the assembly than streamed or pre-recorded masses. Despite being a departure from what was previously considered acceptable Sunday worship, in the time of pandemic there are broad dispensations from the obligations of the faithful to attend a Sunday mass. Therefore, lay Catholics are not restricted to a binary choice between viewing mass in a physical or virtual way, and have the freedom to seek out opportunities to pray together in ways that foster their full and active participation in Sunday worship.

The Female Standard:

The year 2020 has made plain many injustices present in the systems and worldviews of American society. In a divisive election year, the factor of “electability” was of key importance in the effort to nominate a candidate to oppose the sitting President. In considering the question “Where do we go from here?”, we ought to wrestle with our communal decision that the female candidates vying for the Democratic nomination were categorically unelectable or less electable simply because of their femaleness. This paper seeks to explore how interpretation of our Scriptures has played a role in sustaining the societal structures which foster inequality. And, more importantly, how our Scriptures can fruitfully be interpreted to validate female leadership. Using the example of the story of Martha and Mary in the Gospel of Luke, this paper will problematize modern readings that have created a culture of devaluing female leadership. The history of interpretation of the story of Martha and Mary has evolved in many phases, the most relevant being that interpretation has narrowed from a story of discipleship for all Christians to a story that only has meaning for women. Reflecting on both Scripture and current gender studies commentary, this paper will call into question the unreasonable expectations of American women and consider where we ought to go from here.

Clarifying the Task of the Church in a Secular Age

This paper argues that a proper theological understanding of the church-world relationship must avoid the tendency to dichotomize the two. Instead of regarding the world as a godless place, Christians must affirm in faith that the world is fundamentally graced, since it is the product of God’s desire to communicate Godself. First, this paper draws upon the work of philosopher Charles Taylor to elucidate the meaning of “secularity” in the Western context. Then, the paper appeals to Karl Rahner’s theology in exploring the prophetic and dialogical functions of the church with respect to society, which entails the church’s own self-critical task as a listening, discerning, and synodal church. Rather than privatizing faith, the minority status of the church in society allows it to fulfill its mission more authentically as servant and sacrament of God’s kingdom. Finally, this paper proposes that any impingement of the ostensible sacred-secular divide starts with the works of mercy because these directly confront the contingencies and vagaries of human life, touching upon our innate need for one another.

Seeking Grace in the Chasm:

A hermeneutic of unity between beauty and virtue, inspired by the work of Gregory of Nazianzus, offers a way to seek the Holy Spirit’s presence in the apparent chasm between the church and the secular realm. This paper describes beauty’s role in Gregory of Nazianzus’ poetry and orations and analyzes how adopting Gregory’s hermeneutic of unity between beauty and virtue can strengthen the church’s relationship with the secular sphere. The paper’s second part draws on Karl Rahner’s conception of the anonymous Christian to detail how a willingness to recognize virtue’s beauty in the public sphere can open the ecclesial community to the Holy Spirit’s movement both within and beyond the church.