Francis J. Moloney – “Salesians beyond 2000” in “Journal of Salesian Studies”

In the article, Fr. Frank looks at the images of God and Community and poses questions that young people in Western Societies are facing on the threshold of the Third Millennium. He moves from the contemporary to the scriptural, and looks at the figure of Jesus and questions of discipleship as posed in the New Testament. What is the significance of discipleship in the Gospels? How does this significance speak to our reality? to our vocation as Christians, and as Salesians? These are the questions of the middle portion of Fr. Moloney’ s reflections.

He sums up his presentation with a look at the disciple of Jesus as the “revelation of the Power of God,” not because of the disciple’s strength, but because of his or her weakness. “We live in communities and exercise our apostolic life marked by our failures,” Fr. Moloney reminds us. Thus the way forward in the new Millennium, as for the earliest disciples, is that for all our limitations and failures, we continue to trust that God has a plan for salvation.

Frank Moloney’ s article has a strong, biblical foundation. It is no accident. He is considered Australia’s foremost Catholic biblical scholar. Currently professor of New Testament Theology at Catholic University in Washington, Frank has served as Foundation Professor of Theology at Australian Catholic University and, last year, was reappointed by Pope John Paul II to the International Theological Commission for a third five-year term, making him one of the commission’s longest-serving members. We are grateful that Frank has added his contribution to our Journal.

Contents:

• God
• Community
• Young People
• Making Sense of our Nonsense
  • A Vocation to Follow Jesus
  • The Cost of Discipleship
  • The Mission of the Disciple
  • The Disciple as the Revelation of the Power of God
• Conclusion

Reference time period: 1980 – 1999

Reference institution:
Institute of Salesian Studies