Bible Study - Science topic

Dear Carole Obure Obure. The Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church is not a research work, it is the fruit of the effort made by the Bishops in communion with Pope Leon XII (Magisterium of the Church) to respond to any social conflict known in 1891 (times of the Industrial Revolution) and that over time has been updated to the extent that the needs of our temporal reality have required it. The principles of the common good, the dignity of the human person, solidarity and subsidiarity have never been lost validity since they have their foundation in the Gospel.

In some ideas I agree with you. Some rulers still belonging to some religion can be much less religious than they say they are, especially in works (corruption). However, that is not proper to the rulers, it is natural for any human being who has not internalized and made the Christian message his own.

But, that a governor has made public a call to his people to put as a possible solution to corruption the Christian message is a great opportunity.

But, it is an obligation as Catholics to evangelize. (See Pope Francis' last encyclical "A call to holiness")

I think the current situation in Venezuela (I am Venezuelan) is not secret. Maybe different culture but our circumstances are the same or differ in mode, however I think it is the best time to land very spiritual Christian messages in social messages.

I recommend the following books:

Klein, W. W., Blomberg, C. L., & Hubbard, R. L., Jr. (2004). Introduction to biblical interpretation (2nd ed.). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. ISBN-13: 9780785252252

Fee, G. D., & Stuart, D. (2014). How to read the Bible for all it’s worth: A guide to understanding the Bible (4th ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. ISBN 13: 9780310517825

As a survivor of my Mothers traumatic death, I was asked to be a speaker for a bereavement course and to integrate some of the things I had learned through my grief journey with a group psychology students. During this time, I integrated some of my insights from having been a researcher on a suicide / traumatic death study as well as my insights from a Christian faith perspective that aided in my journey. I am uploading you a document I created for myself  which outlines some of the scriptures that relate to the ritual of tearing / rendering clothes as an expression of grief in the Old Testament as well as a New Testament perspective (taken from a pastoral website) of the temple veil being rended as an expression of Gods grief after the death of Yeshua (Jesus).  I hope this gives you some place to start in understanding the ritual of rending clothes as an expression of grief. The insights certainly helped me on many levels and I do believe that such traditions and practices are helpful for the mourning process.

In Australia, NCLS Research has conducted studies of church attenders every 5 years since 1991 through the National Church Life Survey.    We have highly detailed information about the participation of church attenders in their congregations over 20 years.