Moral Authority and the Passionist Charism

Reflection Questions

1.  If the prophetic tasks of the Church are to A) exxpose the wrongs or the shadow side of society, and B) to offer a vision of hope in the future — who might be a contemporary prophet for you?

2.  Can you resonate with the concept of "ars moriendi" (the art of dying) or the inevitability of decline?  Where does this lead?

3.  With which of Richard Rohr's "Counterfeit Programs for Happiness" can you currently identify? (the need for A) security, B) approval, C) power, D) belonging to a tribe).  What works for you as a kind of an antidote?

Reference Books:

Bernardin, Joseph, The Gift of Peace, Loyola University Press, Chicago, 1997.

Gaillardetz, Richard, While I Breathe, I Hope, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, 2024.

McMickle, Marvin, Where Have All the Prophets Gone? Reclaiming Prophetic Preaching in America, The Cleveland Press, Cleveland, 2006.

Rohr, Richard, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2011.

Rolheiser, Ronald, The Holy Longing, Doubleday, New York, 1999.

Jack was born and raised in Chicago near the Passionist Immaculate Conception Monastery and Church. He earned a social psychology degree from DePaul University in Chicago, professed Passionist vows in 1973, earned a MDiv from Catholic Theological Union and was ordained 1976. His various ministries include itinerant preacher, campus minister, vocation director, retreat center preaching team member at our retreat centers in Houston, Texas, and Citrus Heights, California, and pastor of St. Agnes in Louisville. Presently, he is local superior at St. Vincent Strambi community in Chicago. His hobbies include the arts and cooking.