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Many a Saturday evening, I find myself listening to Fr. Corapi (1) on EWTN, and sometimes I get ideas on what I might write about from something he said. This evening, he was preaching on the Word of God and it occured to me that if we, as Franciscans, do not read the Word of God, we'll never know how to teach other people what Our Lord told us when He was on earth 2000 years ago. In this regard, Fr. Corapi was telling everyone about the "Fathers of the Church" and he remarked that most Catholics had no idea who the Fathers of the Church were. Let me tell you about them. From the second to the seventh or eight century, there were some Catholics and other people whom the Church, much later, declared to be "Doctors of the Church" as well as great teachers of the Catholic Faith. These so-called "Early Fathers" were people like, Saint Alexander of Alexandria, Alexander of Lycopolis, Aristides, Saint Ambrose, Saint Athanasius, Saint Augustine, Saint Barnabas, Saint Basil the Great, Saint Cyril, Saint Gregory the Great, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Saint John Chrysostom, Tertullian, to name only a few. Most Catholics probably haven't read anything they have written although most of it is on the Internet, even in English. An excellent place to begin reading about them and what they have written is in Kevin Knight's "New Advent" website see: http://www.newadvent.org which is an immense amount of Catholic Teaching, and contains: The Catholic Encyclopedia, the Summa of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Early Church Fathers series, the Holy Bible (1749 Challoner edition), and a very complete set of Church Documents (Encyclicals, etc.) - I use this wealth of data very frequently for reference purposes. If you click on the "Fathers" tab (while in the New Advent site), you will find a fully cross-referenced set of extensive notes on the teachings of the Fathers of the Church that will keep you reading until the end of time, unless you are a very fast reader. Holy Scripture is separate from the teachings of the Church Fathers, although the Fathers probably used Holy Scripture in their teachings. Take St. John Chrysostom, he has written extensively on teaching that appears in Holy Scripture - see St. John Chrysostom on the Beatitudes, on our website, for example. This particular text came from the Saint Pachomius Library - another place I frequently use for reference. Most of these texts were translated by people of other Churches (Church of England, in reference to the Beatitudes text) but that is all I can find, and the translated texts are beautiful. The point is, St. John Chrysostom uses Holy Scripture as the foundation for his writings. Given the fact that "printed matter" was sort of hard to come by prior to the invention of the printing press, he must have gotten the Scriptural information from either word of mouth, or handwritten texts. And, that these texts were preserved this long, for people in the 21st Century to study is remarkable in itself. That is, of course, true for the Scriptures as well. The Word of God cannot be suppressed that easily, and the Holy Spirit is no doubt instrumental in all of this. The texts of the Church Fathers, as available on the Internet, are contained in a shelf-full of 37 books, but that these texts as well as most of what New Advent has on its website is contained in ONE CD-ROM is perhaps even more remarkable. Technology has many uses but it is also used most extensively in making available to us the wealth and riches and depths of the Church's teaching. Praise God! He created the people who invented all this Technology, too. When I visit the Holy Scriptures, I almost always use it in book form. When I'm at the computer I'm too distracted to concentrate prayerfully on the text of the Scriptures, and I only use the computer if I need to search for or insert Scripture quotations into teachings and reflections. Besides, I don't think that staring at the screen for hours on end is all that good for our eyes, despite flat LCD screens that do not flicker as the old Cathode-Ray Tubes (CRT) used to do. If you want to teach other people, you should frequently read the Word of God. There are, however, other ways. If you are someone who uses the Four-volume Liturgy of the Hours (Priests, Deacons, Nuns, Brothers, and many ex-religious, too), and if you pray/read the "Office of Readings" you will find a First and Second Reading every day. First Readings consist of Biblical (New Testament) readings, and Second Readings are primarily works by the Church Fathers and other Saints, as well as the Constitutions and writings of the Second Vatican Council and older. These are very fine readings that can invoke deeper understanding of our Faith and Spirituality. As an ex-religious, I still have my 4-volume set, and use them much of the time but not every day (yes, I do pray Morning and Evening Prayer every day even though it isn't mandatory for Secular Franciscans). The 4-volume set is too expensive to purchase for most people, and I am sure there are many priests who use second-hand sets. I used to have a 2nd set which I recently gave away. That 2nd set had come from a brother who had passed away. God rest his soul. He was a Lay Dominican. I gave it to a Lay Discalced Carmelite - so nothing is ever wasted. It is after midnight and the day is done. I hope this somewhat rambling writing inspires someone to read the Word of God and to come closer to the riches of Church teaching in printed or recorded format. Fred Schaeffer, SFO - 8/23/2009
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