Food and Faith Sunday: John Paul II

This is a chapter from the first encyclical of John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis (The Redeemer of Man), published in 1979. It summarizes a theme heard frequently during his pontifical mission, which may have been his primary theme: love is sacrificial act, as demonstrated in the incarnation and the cross. Man's hope, his very identity, is secured to those realities.
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8. The human dimension of the mystery of the Redemption

Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it. This, as has already been said, is why Christ the Redeemer "fully reveals man to himself". If we may use the expression, this is the human dimension of the mystery of the Redemption. In this dimension man finds again the greatness, dignity and value that belong to his humanity. In the mystery of the Redemption man becomes newly "expressed" and, in a way, is newly created. He is newly created! "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus".
The man who wishes to understand himself thoroughly and not just in accordance with immediate, partial, often superficial, and even illusory standards and measures of his being-he must with his unrest, uncertainty and even his weakness and sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near to Christ. He must, so to speak, enter into him with all his own self, he must "appropriate" and assimilate the whole of the reality of the Incarnation and Redemption in order to find himself. If this profound process takes place within him, he then bears fruit not only of adoration of God but also of deep wonder at himself. How precious must man be in the eyes of the Creator, if he "gained so great a Redeemer, and if God "gave his only Son "in order that man "should not perish but have eternal life". In reality, the name for that deep amazement at man's worth and dignity is the Gospel, that is to say: the Good News. It is also called Christianity. This amazement determines the Church's mission in the world and, perhaps even more so,"in the modern world". This amazement, which is also a conviction and a certitude ---at its deepest root it is the certainty of faith, but in a hidden and mysterious way it vivifies every aspect of authentic humanism ---is closely connected with Christ. It also fixes Christ's place ---so to speak, his particular right of citizenship-in the history of man and mankind. Unceasingly contemplating the whole of Christ's mystery, the Church knows with all the certainty of faith that the Redemption that took place through the Cross has definitively restored his dignity to man and given back meaning to his life in the world, a meaning that was lost to a considerable extent because of sin. And for that reason, the Redemption was accomplished in the paschal mystery, leading through the Cross and death to Resurrection.
The Church's fundamental function in every age and particularly in ours is to direct man's gaze, to point the awareness and experience of the whole of humanity towards the mystery of God, to help all men to be familiar with the profundity of the Redemption taking place in Christ Jesus. At the same time man's deepest sphere is involved -- we mean the sphere of human hearts, consciences and events.

Do You Know FW's Population Ranking?

For the fun of it. Rank the following cities by population. (Note: within city limits, not metro area)

El Paso
Minneapolis
Fort Worth
Seattle
Baltimore

If you get them all right, you're pretty good, because all but one are close. The answers are below. I used the first letter of the city to denote that city, e.g., M= Minneapolis.

Fort Worth ranks 18th in population nationally. Not bad. More interesting to me is that the Dallas and Fort Worth metropolitan area ranks number 4 in population. Ahead of it are -------------- ? That should be pretty easy.

Finally, where does the Fort Worth-Dallas metro area rank in world population? Before or after 25? 50? 75? Do you know the world's largest 3 cities by population?

I'll put those below the city size rankings.

If you get them all right or even most you are a walking Wiki.

Answers:-------------------------------------------------
City population size: FW=18,B=19,EP=21,S=23,M=47
Metro area size: NY=1, LA=2,Chi=3,DFW=4
World's largest metro areas: Tokyo=1, Mexico City=2, New York=3. DFW=53

Dishwasher Talk?

Do you have a dishwasher story? How to load, how not to load. Why some people are dishwasher adverse. Why your visiting mother insists on re-doing your just loaded dishwasher.

If you do, Lisa Davis, a free-lance writer would like to hear from you. Mrs. Davis is writing an article for the FW Star-Telegram and wants your story. If you have a funny story, or just want to express an opinion on "fork tines up or down", email her at: boblisadavis@bellsouth.net

And I, who never lets the truth get in the way of my opinion, will say this about that --- Dishwashers work on a very simple principle: clean, hot, moving water and light soap = clean dishes. There are no elves, no magic potions and no microwaves that mysteriously clean the dishes once the door is closed . . . therefore, and this is the important part, if you don't leave space between the dishes for the water to work, or if you restrain the free flow of said water, the dishwashing will not work. It's that simple, moving water and a little soap and they will be clean. I don't care if the fork tines are in, out, or sideways, if water can't get to them they will not be clean. That's it, I'm done. I'll leave the rest for my email to Mrs. Davis.

Oh . . . she'd like to hear from you by November 12. Thanks.