Practical & Pastoral Theology
- Mary Eastham
- Drawing together various studies in media, psychology and pastoral ministry, the author
analyses current youth culture with particular focus on the wounded adolescent within
“Generation Txt”. She argues that Christian family counselling agencies and youth ministries
are needed to create an extended family culture for wounded adolescents and their families.
An earlier version of the paper was presented at the Melbourne 2007 Conference of The
Association of Practical Theology in Oceania. [Editor]
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- Michael Foley
- The author appeals to trinitarian theology and Christology to assist in a universal call to
respect all human persons. There is also focus on the Paschal mystery as a means of
motivating civil discourse and respect within all human relationships. Finally, a
dialectical method is proposed. [Editor]
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- Philip Gibbs SVD
- Although HIV/Aids is a worldwide phenomenon, the challenges they pose are always related
to the particularity of peoples, cultures and spiritual traditions as well as the broader political
and economic contexts that impact on behaviours, attitudes and social values. Here the author
presents a practical and prophetic theological response to the challenges of HIV/Aids in
Papua New Guinea—which have reached epidemic proportions. In particular, he explores
how healing must not only be concerned with those who suffer the disease but needs to
include the healing of communities, churches, gender relationships and the wider society.
[Editor]
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- Bet Green
- life, talks and writings of Dom Bede Griffiths. Here, the author focuses on Griffiths’ notion of
God as out-pouring, generative love. It focuses on Griffiths’ insistence that love is relationship
leading to the depth of the Godhead as communion in love. It also outlines his views on human
healing and restoration to wholeness, sensuality, sexuality, integration and unity. The paper was
originally presented at the 2007 Conference of The Association of Practical Theology in Oceania
[Editor]
- The copyright for this image is Dr Damien Casey, Editorial Assistant, Australian Ejournal of Theology
- Paul Tyson
- This paper seeks to nuance the amorphous notion of contemporary Australian “youth
spirituality” into a spectral range of overlapping yet distinct youth spiritualities. These
different spiritualities are identified by reference to the tacit belief and practise
characteristics of different approaches to meaning construction commonly found in
Australian youth. It is hoped that this spectral view is of general interest, but this
paper then moves to a specific youth ministry context and seeks to analyse what
spirituality ‘colours’ Evangelical youth ministry typically targets, what colours it
avoids and whether such an interface with different youth spiritualities is well
theologically and culturally conceived.
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- Kevin Duffy SM
- This article is a theological reflection on Vipassana meditation. Starting with the
practical experience of an introduction to this technique, it asks: what is the place of
such a discipline, originating as it does in Buddhism, in the life of western Christians?
It finds the practice a promising tool in our efforts to make up what Ronald Rolheiser
calls our ‘contemplative deficit’. Comparisons are made with various elements in
Christian spirituality such as ascetical practices like fasting and prayer-forms like the
use of a mantra or prayer-word. It concludes that the primary use of the technique is
as a therapeutic ascetical practice. In a general sense, it may also be termed a
contemplative practice. Whether it is helpful to use the word ‘prayer’ to refer to it
turns out to be a more difficult question.
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- Emma Pierce
- Theology and psychology appear to have perceptions of freedom that are not just
fundamentally different, but may well be diametrically opposed. Exploring two apparently
contradictory perceptions of freedom, both buried deep within the western psyche, may
assist not simply to dispel myths and clarify perceptions of freedom, but to ‘name’ what it
is to be human.
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- Mark Shaw
- Catholic hospitals and other health services provide invaluable care to many in the community.
This article accentuates the pastoral nature of Catholic health care, which is definitive to its Catholic
identity. Discussing contemporary Catholic health care in conjunction with the works of Henri Nouwen
we explore the challenges faced by today’s Catholics in Catholic health care and respond to these issues.
In support of the discussion are the results of qualitative research into the perceptions Perth parishioners
have of Catholic health care’s pastoral nature and Catholic identity. This research aims towards
understanding the challenges facing Catholic health care providing pastoral care within its Catholic
identity.
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- Tom Ryan SM
- In her recent book Blush: Faces of Shame, Elspeth Probyn offers a profile of shame drawing on the disciplines of psychology, sociology and cultural anthropology. She argues that shame is a) inherently value-oriented, b) necessary for human well-being and c) universal or ‘essential’ as a human phenomenon. This approach to shame has significant resonances with the theological anthropology and christian ethics of Thomas Aquinas. In exploring these authors, we can gain a clearer picture of the transformative function of shame in the personal, social, cultural and moral dimensions of human life.
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- Richard Rymarz
- Since its inception over twenty years ago World Youth Day (WYD) has become a
significant social phenomenon. It is one of the largest, reoccurring international
gatherings of young people in the world today. This paper investigates the attraction and
impact of WYD for a particular sub group , called here type A pilgrims, characterized as
a relatively select group who have traveled a considerable distance to attend. Forty one
WYD participants were interviewed and it was argued that they experienced a strong
sense of the other at WYD. This is where participants move from their conventional
world to another place that is different not just in terms of landscape but also in terms of a
new ordering of social and other relationships. Beliefs and practices that were marginal
in their conventional world were made more plausible at WYD by social validation,
strong affective association, more direct engagement of the metaphysical aspects of
Catholicism and a new greater awareness of the cognitive basis of belief.
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