Sunday 7 November 2010

Duns Scotus Should be Saint & Doctor


Blessed John Duns Scotus Church, Glasgow
Gorbals Chapel open again
September 14, 2010
The Blessed John Duns Scotus Chapel in the Gorbals has re-opened for worship, five years after a fallen candle sent it up in flames.
The blaze started on 7 July 2005, the same day London’s transport system was targeted by suicide bombers. In the interim five years, the congregation have had to pray and take Mass in the adjoining church hall.


November 8
Blessed John Duns Scotus
(c. 1266-1308)

Comment:
Drawing on the work of John Duns Scotus, Pope Pius IX solemnly defined the Immaculate Conception of Mary in 1854. John Duns Scotus, the "Subtle Doctor," was beatified in 1993.
Father Charles Balic, O.F.M., the foremost 20th-century authority on Scotus, has written: "The whole of Scotus's theology is dominated by the notion of love. The characteristic note of this love is its absolute freedom. As love becomes more perfect and intense, freedom becomes more noble and integral both in God and in man" (New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 1105).
Quote:
Intelligence hardly guarantees holiness. But John Duns Scotus was not only brilliant, he was also humble and prayerful—the exact combination St. Francis wanted in any friar who studied. In a day when French nationalism threatened the rights of the pope, Scotus sided with the papacy and paid the price. He also defended human freedom against those who would compromise it by determinism.Ideas are important. John Duns Scotus placed his best thinking at the service of the human family and of the Church.

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