Friar Edward J. Ondrako, OFM Conv. noted that English theologian and philosopher Saint John Henry Newman chose the Feast of the Presentation to preach his 15th, and ultimate, Oxford University Sermon. It’s not uncommon for philosophers to choose meaningful dates to celebrate milestones. 

So too, on the occasion of his Golden Jubilee, Fr. Ondrako has published Remembering Forward: Critical Engagement with Modernity, his collection of 24 sermons that he preached during his Jubilee year.

Each reflection, any of which can stand on its own, is based on the perspective of Cyril O’Regan’s “Gift of Modernity” that theologically compares and contrasts what he describes as the three positions of theologians: cheerers, weepers, and shadow-seers.

Ten chapters include a reproduction of a fresco, one of a series painted by the thirteenth century Cenni di Pepo (Cimabue), an Italian mural painter and designer of mosaics. These frescoes exist today in the Upper Church of San Francisco in Assisi.

Fr. Edward J. Ondrako,  a Franciscan Conventual priest of Our Lady of the Angels Province, is Research Fellow on the Pontifical Faculty of St. Bonaventure, Rome and a Visiting Scholar, at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and, Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.), each in Humanities/Humanistic Studies, Master of Arts (M.A.), Theology/Theological Studies, Master of Social Work (M.S.W.), and a Master of Theology. 

Fr. Ondrako is also the author of Rebuild My Church: Peter Damian Fehlner’s Appropriation and Development of the Ecclesiology and Mariology of Vatican II (Lectio Publishing, 2021). Remembering Forward is published as a full-color electronic book, available on either (Apple) iTunes or (Amazon) Kindle. See details »