1. “SPE SALVI facti sumus”—in hope we were saved, says Saint Paul to the Romans, and likewise to us (Rom 8:24). According to the Christian faith, “redemption”—salvation—is not simply a given. Redemption is offered to us in the sense that we have been given hope, trustworthy hope, by virtue of which we can face our present: the present, even if it is arduous, can be lived and accepted if it leads towards a goal, if we can be sure of this goal, and if this goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey. Now the question immediately arises: what sort of hope could ever justify the statement that, on the basis of that hope and simply because it exists, we are redeemed? And what sort of certainty is involved here?
Faith is Hope
2. Before turning our attention to these timely questions, we must listen a little more closely to the Bible's testimony on hope. “Hope”, in fact, is a key word in Biblical faith—so much so that in several passages the words “faith” and “hope” seem interchangeable. Thus the Letter to the Hebrews closely links the “fullness of faith” (10:22) to “the confession of our hope without wavering” (10:23). Likewise, when the First Letter of Peter exhorts Christians to be always ready to give an answer concerning the logos—the meaning and the reason—of their hope (cf. 3:15), “hope” is equivalent to “faith”. We see how decisively the self-understanding of the early Christians was shaped by their having received the gift of a trustworthy hope, when we compare the Christian life with life prior to faith, or with the situation of the followers of other religions. Paul reminds the Ephesians that before their encounter with Christ they were “without hope and without God in the world” (Eph 2:12). Of course he knew they had had gods, he knew they had had a religion, but their gods had proved questionable, and no hope emerged from their contradictory myths. Notwithstanding their gods, they were “without God” and consequently found themselves in a dark world, facing a dark future. In nihil ab nihilo quam cito recidimus (How quickly we fall back from nothing to nothing)[1]: so says an epitaph of that period. In this phrase we see in no uncertain terms the point Paul was making. In the same vein he says to the Thessalonians: you must not “grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Th 4:13). Here too we see as a distinguishing mark of Christians the fact that they have a future: it is not that they know the details of what awaits them, but they know in general terms that their life will not end in emptiness. Only when the future is certain as a positive reality does it become possible to live the present as well. So now we can say: Christianity was not only “good news”—the communication of a hitherto unknown content. In our language we would say: the Christian message was not only “informative” but “performative”. That means: the Gospel is not merely a communication of things that can be known—it is one that makes things happen and is life-changing. The dark door of time, of the future, has been thrown open. The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life.

Mudika Kapel Borromeus mengundang rekan-rekan seiman sekalian pada Selebrasi Agung Misa Penutupan Bulan Rosario 2011

Tema Misa : Maria, Ratu Perdamaian
Tempat : Kapel Hati Kudus Yesus, Suster-Suster Cinta Kasih Carolus Borromeus
Jl. Surya Kencana 2, Bandung
Waktu : Senin, 31 Oktober 2011, pukul 17.00 WIB
Selebran : Pst. Herman, SMM

Misa akan diawali dengan Doa Rosario bersama dan akan dimeriahkan dengan paduan suara gabungan Legio Maria unit Borromeus.

Mari muliakan Sang Ratu melalui Misa Kudus ini.

AD MAIOREM DEI GLORIAM.....

Catholic Church History
Pagan Imperialism (49 B.C.-313 AD) IV. Ordeal of the Church (249-313)
22. Reaction of Flight: Monasticism
IV
Ordeal of the Church
22. REACTION OF FLIGHT: MONASTICISM
A. Introduction: Background of Monasticism
(1) DOMESTIC ASCETICISM
Ascetic comes from the Greek asketes, "one who practices"; that is, one who does not
merely admire the evangelical counsels, but tries to live according to them as much as possible.
Since holiness is a mark of the Church, it is to be expected that no Christian generation would be
devoid of those devoting themselves without reserve to Christ. The origin of monasticism during
the third century does not imply an access of fervor in the Church; rather, it denotes the addition
of a new means of attaining an old objective. During the first two centuries asceticism had been
practiced at home, in the environment of the family and the Christian community. Large numbers
of Christians of both sexes vowed themselves to virginity the better to embrace a permanent state
of fidelity to Christian asceticism; St. Justin about 150 says that "many men and women from sixty
to seventy years of age, brought up from childhood in the law of Christ, have kept pure" (Apology
I, xv, 6).

Catholic Church History
Pagan Imperialism (49 B.C.-313 A.D.) III. Growth of the Church (107-248)
15. Reaction to Simplification: Monarchianism
III
Growth of the Church
15. REACTION TO SIMPLIFICATION: MONARCHIANISM
A. Introduction: Speculative Reaction
Gnosticism had peopled the theological world with a confusing horde of eons. Despite its
Christian terms, practically it amounted to a relapse into polytheism. Then during the latter part of
the second century, just when Gnosticism was at its height, there appeared a severe monotheism
which virtually denied the Trinity. Dearth of documents prevents categorical affirmation of a link
between these two religious trends. Yet it can safely be presumed, by analogy with subsequent
theological controversies, that deviation from the Catholic via media in one direction is ever apt to
prompt a reaction which will veer to the opposite extreme. Thus against Nestorianism arose
Monophysitism; and Fideism attacked Rationalism. It seems legitimate to assume, then, that the
ultramonotheism of Monarchianism was to a degree a speculative reaction to Gnostic polytheism;
that its rationalizing tendency represented surfeit of "superior knowledge."
Monarchianism is the term applied to these heresies which tried to simplify" the divine
Trinity into a Unitarian monarchy, either by denying or subordinating two of the Persons. This
general tendency is sometimes subdivided into Dynamic Monarchianism or Adoptionism, and
Modalistic Monarchianism or Modalism. The first form, which contemporaries, indeed, did not
term Monarchianism, considered the Son as the dynamis or power of the Father, and Christ as
but an adopted son of God. The second group held that the Son and the Holy Ghost were only
modes or phases of the Father. The system of Paul of Samosata, finally, may be considered as a
composite of various elements of the foregoing systems.
B. Adoptionism
(1) ORIGIN
Theodotus the Tanner. According to St. Epiphanius (Panarion, LIV, 1) the founder of
Adoptionism was Theodotus, a rich tanner of Byzantium, who enjoyed a reputation for learning
and piety among his fellows. During persecution, however, he had the weakness to deny the
Faith. Unable to endure the loss of prestige, he moved to Rome. Even here a Byzantine visitor
reproached him for his apostasy. Theodotus made excuse by saying: "It is not God I have
denied, but a man." This assertion be tried to justify by the text, "If anyone blasphemes the Son of
Man, it will be forgiven him, but be who blasphemes the Holy Spirit, it will never be forgiven."
From these efforts at self-justification, the first version of Adoptionism seems to have arisen.
Theodotus claimed that Jesus was but a just man, born of a Virgin, upon whom "Christ"
descended in the form of a dove. This divine descent, attributed to the Holy Ghost, made Jesus
the adopted Son of God. Theodotus, then, certainly denied the divinity of the Second Person of
the Blessed Trinity; whether be held that the Holy Ghost was distinct from the Father is not
entirely clear (Eusebius, History, V, 28).

Catholic Church History
Pagan Imperialism (49 B.C.-313 A.D.) II. Foundation of the Church
10. Primitive Christian Life and Liturgy
II
Foundation of the Church
10. PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN LIFE AND LITURGY
A. Jurisdiction: The Ruling Power
(1)THE PAPACY
Papal primacy. The history of the papacy is not a record of gradual usurpation by the
bishops of Rome, but exhibits from the first a divinely appointed primatial government. Yet the
details of universal supervision evolved slowly. Habitual and minute regulation of local churches
necessarily had to await improved means of communication. Centralization of ecclesiastical
government in Rome was in part conditioned by thee means: it will be farther advanced during
the Christian Roman Empire than during the Dark Ages. Primitive Christian communities, ardent
in pristine charity, generally required little coercion. The apostolic period accordingly had no need
for titles of "Your Holiness, tiaras, consistorial etiquette, and special technical formulas. These
were accidental trappings of the papacy, added when it became a temporal world power. Yet it is
well to note that even at this early date there was veneration for the material chair of Peter at
Rome and feasts in its honor appear with the earliest liturgical calendars. St. Peter's First Epistle,
of unchallenged authenticity, is alike the first papal encyclical. Therein are found none of the
modern titles, for Peter was ever mindful of his threefold denial which he even published to the
whole Church through St. Mark's Gospel. Yet his own writings lay particular stress on obedience:
to the king, to governors, to masters, to priests. These exhortations come with special fitness
from the chief ecclesiastical authority who, however, did not forget Christ's words: "You know that
the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them. . . . Not so is it among you . . . whoever wishes to
become great among you shall be your servant" (Matt. 20:25, 26).
Roman curia. During the apostolic period it would seem to be premature to speak of a
formally organized papal curia: we hear nothing of cardinals and congregations. Yet, if we can
put any reliance on the Liber Pontificalis and Apostolic Constitutions, St. Peter employed Sts.
Linus, Anacletus, and Clement as vicars and auxiliaries. St. Clement certainly sent legates to
Corinth. Both he and St. Evaristus are described as establishing administrative subdivisions in
Rome, and early popes are represented as ordaining bishops, priests, and deacons. The early
lives of the Liber Pontificalis are believed to be a somewhat arbitrary reconstruction and
compilation made at a later date from sources both authentic and inauthentic. While therefore
untrustworthy in details, these accounts may preserve an underlying substance of truth.

Catholic Church History
Pagan Imperialism (49 B.C.-313 A.D.) II. Foundation of the Church
7. The King's Viceroy: Petrine Primacy (30-67)
II
Foundation of the Church
7. THE KING'S VICEROY: PETRINE PRIMACY
A. Petrine Primacy at Jerusalem (30-50)
(1)CHRISTIAN BEGINNINGS (30-36)
Church of the Cenacle. According to the chronology adopted, the date of Christ's
Ascension would be May 18, 30. On this day the Church numbered some 620 members: about
500 in Galilee and 120 in Jerusalem. With Christ's visible departure, ecclesiastical leadership fell
to His viceroy and legates. "All these with one mind continued steadfastly in prayer with the
women and Mary, the Mother of Jesus" (Acts 1:14). Mary would be mother of Christ's mystic
body as well as of His physical. The first disciplinary act of the apostolic college under Peter's
presidency was to provide for its perpetuation: the disciple Matthias was promoted to the
apostolic office vacated by the treason and death of Judas of Kerioth (Acts 1:15).
Pentecostal initiative. Pentecost, May 28, galvanized the Church and her hierarchy into
action. Though she already had her invisible bead, Christ, and a visible bead in Peter, she
remained lifeless until the Holy Spirit, soul of the mystic body, descended on the Cenacle. At
once Peter preached the first sermon of the Church to a group of Pentecostal pilgrims from the
Diaspora. He recalled the Messianic prophecies fulfilled in Christ, and his words were accorded a
divine unction, for on that very day the Christian membership was increased by 3,000. For
continued stress on the Lord's resurrection, several apostles were arrested. But the Sanhedrin
eventually dismissed them, first with an admonition, and then with corporeal punishment. The
Jewish leaders feared to provoke both Rome and the people by another tumult, and the
conscientious Gamaliel was advising caution. But miracles brought human calculations to
naught, and the Church increased rapidly.

Catholic Church History
Pagan Imperialism (49 B.C.-313 A.D.) I. Preparation for the Church
5. The Jewish Preparation: Religious Environment
I
Preparation for the Church
5. THE JEWISH PREPARATION: RELIGIOUS ENVIRONMENT
A. Introduction
(1) RELIGIOUS PREDOMINANCE
Transitional note. Within this Graeco-Roman secular civilization, but not of it, was
Judaism. Even before the Church encountered Greek philosophy and Roman politics, she had
been established on a Jewish social and religious structure. Especially during the first generation
of her existence the Christian Church lived in a predominantly Jewish environment. In truth, this
Jewish influence was primarily religious, but the Jews made their contribution not in virtue of any
intrinsic genius, but by reason of their choice by Providence as the vehicle for preserving the true
religion until Christ's coming. God's part in this religious preparation has already been treated.
Here, then, we are chiefly concerned with the instrumental role of the Jews themselves in
preparing for the Church, that is, with those human characteristics used by God in making known
His "good news" to men.
Religious characteristics. "A prior two circumstances characterize the situation: First,
Christianity did not come from Judaism from without, but sprang from its bosom; second, Judaism
like Christianity was a purely religious system. It was not a monarchy or oligarchy purely, but
rather a theocracy. God was the ruler of a chosen people, governing them through His law. For
this reason the problems of Church history in the Jewish world are expressly religious in nature.
The advantages which favored the rise of Christianity in the Jewish world as well as the
disadvantages which threatened its existence and retarded its growth have their source in the
strictly religious sphere."

Catholic Church History
Pagan Imperialism (49 B.C.-313 A.D.) I. Preparation for the Church
4. Roman Preparation: Political Environment
I
Preparation for the Church
4. ROMAN PREPARATION: POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT
A. Political Survey
(1) GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
Predominance of politics. In things of the mind Hellenistic civilization was paramount,
and its influence was still alive when the Church was founded. But in political affairs the
environment had changed. The Greek state was gone, incorporated into the Roman Empire.
Adequate understanding of the Christian environment, therefore, demands examination of
another secular culture, the Roman. "The Roman world is not so much theoretical or
philosophical as practical. More specifically it is by nature political and finds its expression in the
Roman State; in fact, one might say it is the Roman State. The Roman world is the world of the
state, of administration, of politics. It is also the world of self-assurance and esteem for positive
law and consequently possesses a strong sense of order and obedience to law. It possesses
likewise a great appreciation for broad and comprehensive unity and for colonization."
(2) THE ROMAN REPUBLIC
Military expansion. The Italian tribes who invaded the Italian peninsula some thousand years
before Christ were of the same race as the Hellenes. But Italy, in contrast to Greece, offered
good prospects for agriculture, and but mediocre facilities for commerce. Early Italians became
farmers, sober and conservative. Among them, the Roman city-state rose to leadership. Unlike
Greek city-states, Rome gained willing subjects by bestowing on them in varying degrees the
chief privileges of her citizenship. Then, provoked by the Carthaginian contention that the
Mediterranean was a closed sea, Rome overthrew this power in a century of war to become
mistress of the West. Shortly thereafter, as already outlined, circumstances invited intervention in
the East. By 133 B.C. Rome had become the chief Mediterranean power.
Social crises. But this constant acquisition of provinces overtaxed the digestive powers
of republican government. The senatorial aristocracy and equestrian plutocracy, hitherto publicspirited,
now exploited Roman dominions for their own advantage. A senatorial clique farmed out
provinces and public lands to financeers and exploiters of the equestrian order, while their own
large-scale Italian farms were worked by slaves taken in war. Thereby was created a class of
landless and impoverished citizens who degenerated into city mobs to be cajoled by "bread and
circuses." Further extension of Roman citizenship ceased, and subjects were governed for
Rome's benefit. The Gracchi, indeed, tried to effect social reforms on behalf of the common
people by resuming colonization. But their effort to convert the tribunate into a prime ministership
provoked senatorial hostility: the privileged classes succeeded in blinding the fickle and selfish
masses into repudiating their champions. Yet the cleavage between a wealthy oligarchy and an
impotent democracy continued. Constitutional reform having failed, the stage was set for
generals and demagogues to essay redress through dictatorship. For a half century or more,
Marius, Sulla, and Pompey plunged Rome into civil war in reaching for power. Though
unsuccessful, they prepared for the Empire founded by Julius Caesar and Octavian Augustus.