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The Dynamics of the Spiritual Thirst in Therese of Lisieux and Mother Theresa of Calcutta
Lachmanová, Marie ; Lachmanová, Kateřina (advisor) ; Brož, Jaroslav (referee)
Dynamics of spiritual thirst is an expression of the exchange of love between God and human being, which is the basic motivation for any Christian ministry. When a man encounters Jesus' thirst for the salvation of men, a desire to respond to this love is enkindled in his heart, most of all by taking part in collaborating in the salvation of souls. The deeper is the unity of the soul with Christ, the more she takes part in His salvific thirst, i. e. she is consumed by the desire to calm His thirst working at the salvation of souls. Both the intercessory prayer of Theresa of Lisieux, who lived hidden cloistered life, and Mother Theresa's worldwide mission of merciful love came out of the same source. It means that the dynamics of spiritual thirst is the deepest motivation of any Christian apostolic work and ministry. Key words Spiritual thirst, merciful love, Holy Spirit, salvation of souls, apostolic work
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Beginnings of Hierarchical Order in the Early Church
PŘIBYL, Stanislav
The issue of ecclesiastical ministries, services and offices has always attracted attention of theological scholars and church ministers. The early Christian Church shows a great variability of its organizational models. The suitable starting point for their explanation is the charismatic phenomena in the earliest Church. In the Epistle to the Ephesians, prophets stand alongside the apostles as those who form the fundaments of Church teaching. According to Luke's Acts, the imposition of hands accompanies the mediation of the Spirit during the process of being entrusted with various services in the Church. There are numerous specifications of charismata in St Paul's letters; at the same time, some of these gifts can transform into permanent offices, like those of leadership or teaching. Early Christians especially revered martyrdom, particularly that of their pastors. Itinerant prophets also enjoyed high esteem. Their pronouncements in ecstatic moments were considered inspired by the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, itinerant missionaries potentially also presented a grave danger of heresies that could spread among the faithful. However, the constitutive role in the Church belonged undoubtedly to the apostles, the only ministry established by the Lord himself. According to Luke's writings, the concept of apostles is reduced only to the Twelve. Nevertheless, Paul in his letters appeals to his personal apostolate. Besides that, a clearer concept of apostolate in the early Church there can be found also, namely that of the missionaries. In the Jewish Christian milieu, the early Church followed in the exercise of the presbyter's ministry, known from the synagogue life. In the Pastoral Epistles, presbyters operate together with deacons and bishops as leaders of the various Churches. In the epistles of Ignatius of Antiochia, dated to the beginning of the second Christian century, the three grades of Church hierarchy, i.e. the deacons, the presbyters and the sole bishop, are mentioned as already existing. This type of monarchic episcopacy soon became the prevalent leadership model of Church organization, known throughout its history.
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