Celebrating the recent publication of two Oblate authors
Saga of a Missionary Bishop
By Bishop Denis Croteau, OMI
The eldest boy of twelve children of a Québec asbestos miner and his wife, a devoted homemaker, Denis Croteau heard God’s call to the priesthood at a very early age. After classical studies, an Oblate Novitiate at Richelieu, his ordination into the priesthood and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Ottawa, Denis received his first posting to the Northwest Territories of Canada. He spent his first twenty-six years as a missionary priest where, in his earlier days, he ministered to the Tlicho people visiting their camps by dog team in winter. During the pontificate of John Paul II, Denis was called to become Bishop of the Mackenzie-Fort Smith Diocese in June, 1986, a position in which he served for another twenty-one years.
In his compelling saga, Bishop Denis Croteau sketches a vivid and personal depiction for the reader of his years as priest and as Bishop during which he confronted many challenges in his faithful mission of bringing the frontier church into the renewal introduced by the Council of Vatican II.
Bishop Croteau retired officially at age seventy-five but remains active in the Northern Church, visiting missions by plane and road to alleviate the shortage of priests and to continue his life’s mission.
Narrative Time in the New Testament – Essays on Mark, John, and Paul
By Fr. Normand Bonneau, OMI
The book is a collection a dozen of my articles and papers, all previously published over the last twenty years in learned journals or in conference proceedings, in which I use a narrative approach to interpret select New Testament passages. In the book, the items appear in the original language of composition (eleven in English, one in French), although a few were first published in French translations. My interest in a narrative approach, and more particularly the aspect of time in narrative (hence the title of the book), stems from my curiosity regarding the impact and effectiveness of the oral proclamation of the Scriptures in the context of liturgy. The blurb on the back cover succinctly explains the book’s what and why:
“Human beings live in time; time produces story, the lifeblood of narrative – all the more so for the biblical story which has been, and continues to be, intimately woven into the lives of countless people throughout the generations. Narrative as literary genre is well represented in the Scriptures as a whole, not least in the New Testament, accounting for approximately three-fourths of its overall content. That so much of the Bible is expressed in this communicative mode cannot be merely incidental to its interpretation. The essays collected here aim to illustrate how a narrative approach applied to a number of New Testament passages, particularly in the way they deal with time, can enhance appreciation of the Bible’s capacity to make its message present, thus contributing a vital and consequential dimension to the perennial endeavor of faith seeking understanding.”
The book is volume 8 of a new series, Terra Nova, which features the work of Canadian theologians. It is available on the Peeters Publishers website (Leuven, Belgium) and sells for 54 euros (plus shipping).
