John Paul II and Young People, Munich 1980

In the Marienplatz, Munich

At the base of the shaft of the Mariensaule, a column crowned with a statue of the Virgin Mary, we find inscribed "Johannes Paul II 19.11.1980" to commemorate the last day of his trip to Germany in 1980. He celebrated Mass in the Marienplatz and during his homily he addressed the youth. This homily reveals his deep understanding of and his concern for youth. It should continue to be heard by youth, parents and teachers.

He tells them that knowledge of truth is basic for the building of the inner human being. One can be mature only "with the truth and in the truth." For this purpose of maturing in Truth "lies the profound meaning and importance of education." And the "entire educational system from the schools to the university" must serve this purpose:

they must help young people to know and understand their world and themselves, they must help them see what gives existence and works of man in the world their full meaning -- God. Man cannot live without knowing the meaning of his existence.

Catholic higher education still makes this a secondary or tertiary aim. And John Paul knows that the search for truth, becoming oriented to the truth of God, is not easy and so he says "I would like to call out to you young people -- Do not be not be cheated or deceived!"

He notes that sometimes the youth suffer as a result of their parents who neglect them or are careless or even oppose the formation of faith. The schools pressure the young to become over-achievers. The professional future is often insecure. The world is filled with violence and confusion. Leaders themselves have become disoriented and may have fallen from faith and truth.

But Pope John Paul II says the root of our problem is "an uprooting of God in the heart of man and an uprooting of God from society." Man is deified instead of God, against God, without God. This is now visible he says under "atheistic presuppositions of many systems today." Obviously John Paul has in mind the communist system still in place in 1980, but also he sees it in the west, the free west, where the atheistic presuppositions spread out each year and grow deeper in our culture. It is painful to admit that our "system" now runs on the presuppositions of atheism, that human life finds its fulfillment without God and against God. And the youth breathe it in and are acclimated to the toxic fumes of consumerism and the liberalism of the autonomous self. In the middle of this homily we hear the true eloquence of the Pope:

Anyone who denies the fundamental truth of reality, who makes himself the measure of all things and, in doing so, puts himself in God's place, anyone who feels that he can get along without God, the creator, without Christ, the redeemer of man, anyone who, instead of seeking God, pursues idols, has always been fleeing from the most basic and saving truth.

That passages hearkens to his own Redemptor hominis, and it contains allusions to the ancient philosophic struggle against sophistry as well as the basic truth of Genesis 1.

Pope John Paul then identifies the ways the youth may "flee from the most basic and saving truth." They may be tempted to just resign and give up; or withdraw into themselves as if an expanded "inner consciousness" will provide the truth. More often the very inner life is being destroyed through alcohol and drugs, or through the allure of experimentation and thrill of pleasure seeking. Others react to these mistakes by fleeing to cults and sects where their very idealism and enthusiasm is abused and where their freedom or conscience is diminished. Even the search for justice can be a flight from the truth when utopian dreams are substituted for God.

Pope John Paul II sees at work in the modern world "the mysterious power of evil and iniquity." The loneliness of youth, the temptations of isolation and forlornness, leave the youth at the mercy of such powers. And so he delivers the message of the Good news to the young -- the good shepherd, Christ, "gathers up man on the dark path of his loneliness and disorientation and leads him back to the light." (See Ezekial 34:12 -- the shepherd will deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered in the cloudy dark day.")

Christ frees the heart of man in truth from the contradiction of demeaning or deifying the human person. In the true humanness of Christ we find the love of active concern and protection, especially of the young. Christ wants to accompany the young as they mature in their humanness. Through the Word and the Sacraments he nurtures and strengthens us.

In the 1,000 year history of Christian faith in Bavaria we can see many examples of faithful response to the call of Christ. St. Korbinian, Bishop Benno von Meissen, St. Elizabeth of Wartburg, and Father Rupert Mayer, S.J.

Pope John Paul II concluded his homily to the people of Munich on that day by exclaiming: "Dear young people! Open your hearts to Christ's call! Your human life is a 'unique adventure and enterprise,' that can be a blessing or a curse."

May the voice of John Paul the Great continue to sound out today.

Conscience, Newman and "White Rose" Resistance to Hitler

White Rose Memorial at Univ Munich

Benedict XVI learned about Cardinal Newman's "theology of conscience" from a German scholar, a resident of Munich, a translator and cultural critic named Theodor Haecker (1879-1945). He is known for his consistent opposition to the Nazi regime, which took steps to silence him (see his "Journal of the Night") Haecker, a Catholic convert, translated Newman's works into German. Professor Haecker was close to the White Rose, a German resistance movement in the Second World War. Newman's writings on conscience were a key inspiration of the White Rose – in particular of Sophie Scholl, a student beheaded in 1943 at the age of 21 for distributing leaflets urging students at Munich University to rise up against the Nazi regime. Find a summary here.

In 1983 Pope John Paul II said "Moral conscience does not close man within an insurmountable and impenetrable solitude, but opens him to the call, to the voice of God. In this, and not in anything else, lies the entire mystery and the dignity of the moral conscience: in being the place, the sacred place where God speaks to man." (General Audience, 17 August 1983) Conscience binds one to act in a way that nothing else can. No person, no human law can morally bind one to act against conscience. Conscience binds because it refers to a source beyond self.

Newman suggests, for example, that "conscience does not repose on itself, but vaguely reaches forward to something beyond self, and dimly discerns a sanction higher than self for its decisions . . .we are accustomed to speak of conscience as a voice . . . or the echo of a voice . . . like no other dictate in the whole of experience." Grammar of Assent. (By the way, Haecker translated this work into German which then served for the benefit of the young students in Munich and later for Josef Ratzinger.) In Difficulties of Anglicans, vol. II, Newman speaks of conscience as "the voice of God." (It is actually written in the Letter to the Duke of Norfolk, but found in 2:246-249). This is a different view, he acknowledges, from the modern one, taken from literature or science wherein conscience is "another creation of man." The rule or measure of the modern age is utility (expedience or greatest good for the greatest number) or state convenience or fitness or pulchrum (beauty). Newman argues that these standards are too abstract or impersonal to account for that "reaching forward" or that sense of apprehension or satisfaction that comes from the "voice of conscience." Newman says conscience is "the aboriginal Vicar of Christ." In 1990 John Paul wrote a letter on Newman. He pointed out that conscience, according to Newman, is as a way to acquire truth and to make "contact with the reality of a personal God." This teaching on conscience is lived out his Newman's life: "By following the light of his conscience, Newman made a journey of faith which he has described with force and clarity in his writings."

In the modern world, conscience remains as perhaps the chief testimony to the presence of God. The courageous young students at the University of Munich were martyrs for the truth of conscience.

As for Haecker, Alexander Dru, his translator, said: "Haecker was among the few who immediately recognized the character of ihe Nazi regime. He published his first article attacking it at the moment in which Hitler came to power. In consequence, he was arrested and, after his release, forbidden to lecture or to broadcast. His Journal was written at night, and the pages hidden, as they were written, in a house in the country. This book, reminiscent in form of Pascal's Pensees, is his last testimony to the Truth and a confession of faith that is a spontaneous rejoinder to a particular moment in history. It is written by a man intent, by nature, on the search for truth, and driven, by circumstance, to seek for it in
anguish, in solitude, with an urgency that grips the reader."  A complete on-line version of this remarkable but little known journal may be found at the following site by clicking here.

South Africa & The Fragility of Justice

South African President Nelson Mandela talks with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican on June 18, 1998. Mandela thanked the pope for the Catholic Church's help with education and health care for black South Africans during apartheid. Pope John Paul II visited South Africa in September 1995.

Today I have the privilege of hearing from two Catholic men who were present at some of the challenges of our time; the first is Neil P. van Heerden from South Africa. Mr. van Heerden joined the Foreign Service in 1961 and served in Tokyo, Tapei, Tehran, Washington (Political Counsellor) and intermittently at Head Office in Pretoria where he held various posts including Head of Policy and Planning and Head of the Africa Division. In 1980 he was appointed Ambassador to Germany. He served as Director General of Foreign Affairs 1987 – 1992. He was the leader of the South African delegation in negotiations for Namibian independence and the Angolan peace initiative, 1987 – 1990. In 1992 he was appointed Ambassador the European Union in Brussels. He led the South African delegation in negotiations with the European Union for a trade and development Agreement, 1994 – 1996. In 1996 he retired from the Foreign Service and accepted the appointment of Executive Director of the South Africa Foundation in Johannesburg. Mr. van Heerden is a convert to the Catholic faith.

On 2 February 1990, three months after the fall of the Berlin wall, then State President FW de Klerk released Nelson Mandela from prison and announced the measures that would lead to majority rule and "change the political landscape forever." The process of change led to 69% of the white population endorsing the referendum on the reforms which would empower the black majority.

Mr. van Heerden said that justice required such a change as did the awareness that the alternative "was too ghastly to contemplate." but as we seen in the recent movie Invictus, Nelson Mandela was a key person in the event. van Heerden quoted from Mandela's Memoirs: "I always knew that deep down in every human heart, there was mercy and generosity. No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin . . .; people must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate they can learn to love."

Pope John Paul II said in Redemptor hominis that the human heart "beats and pulsates" with what is most deeply human: "the search for truth, the insatiable need for the good, hunger for freedom, nostalgia for the beautiful, and the voice of conscience." So we may despair of human beings. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice . . .  they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the peacemakers  . .  they shall be called the children of God.

Mr. van Heerden said that the churches formed an important part of civil society throughout and after the transition to democracy. He said that an important literary prize was awarded for a book on the life of a Catholic priest Dennis Hurley who distinguished himself as an anti-apartheid activist.

There was a need for  a "Truth and Reconciliation Commission." There needed to be admission of guilt and expression of remorse.

There were many "shining moments of tolerance" in the midst of the great challenges. These moments he said were like "layers of human engagement which helped but did not provide rhe complete explanation as to why we avoided the apocalypse."

Mr van Heerden continued: "Thinking back to my childhood in the remote countryside where I grew up in the Karoo, I know with some certainty that there was a bond between people which transcended all divisions, which connected us and went beyond just tolerating each other -- it was more like the weft and weave of a cloth. In my view this bond cannot be underestimated in searching for answers to what has been described as the miracle of the Rainbow Nation."

Deo gratias.

The people of South Africa deserve our admiration and prayers.

Thank you Mr. van Heerden for your journey and reflections.

Archbishop Burke on Canon Law and Shari'a pt 2

Archbishop Burke laid out the following for understanding the context for understanding of Shari'a, the Muslim concept of sacred law:

1. Every aspect of religious and civil life is covered, so there is no autonomy of the temporal order as we saw in the Catholic approach to canon law.
2. The issues surrounding the relationship and over all coherence of positive law and moral law do not emerge; Islam is nomocratic, issues are decided by law, not theology or philosophy.
3. The Moslem awaits a time in history for the sovereignty of their rule and its law to be accomplished in this world.
4. The law lacks certainty because of the various sources for the law and the various authorities who interpret it

Archbishop Burke used the following texts for these remarks:

Wael B Hallaq, An Introduction to Islamic Law (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2009)
Samir Kahlil Samir, SJ 111 Questions on Islam (Ignatius Press, 2008)
Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam (Modern Library 2003)

"The comparison of the two laws underlines a fundamental difference of understanding the world," the Archbishop concludes. Indeed, it was Bernard Lewis who pointed out that the difference is great "in the attitudes of these two religions, and of their authorized exponents, to the relations between government, religion and society." (Crisis of Islam, pp. 5-6)

As the Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, Archbishop Burke is well positioned to provided such a clear account of canon law, and the various scholars of Islamic law he cites simply highlight the distinctiveness of the Catholic religion.

Archbishop Burke on Shari'a and Canon Law

Archbishop Raymond L. Burke

Archbishop Burke addressed the 11th Deutsch-Amerikanisches Kolloquium in Wilbad Kreuth, Bavaria. He made a very interesting comparison of the context for understanding canon law and Shari'a. I will provide a summary, in this blog, of his account of canon law; in the next blog of Shari'a.

Canon law presupposes a faith in the heavenly city with a view of this life as a journey. The temporal order is respected for having a certain integrity even if ultimately subordinated to the eternal life. A distinction is drawn between the things of God and the things of Caesar (Mt 22:21). The law of Caesar is respected but conscience may lead one to refuse to obey an unjust law. "The Church does not view any particular order as definitive or perfect, but she works tirelessly in every political order for that good which serves man's freedom during this earthly pilgrimage."Law is a "rule of conduct enacted by competent authority for the sake of the common good." (Catechism n 1951). There are many types of law -- canon law is "the body of disciplinary norms which serve the good order of the Church so that she can fulfill her mission of the sanctification of man and of the world." The teaching of the Faith, liturgy and holiness are obviously of more importance than canon law, but they require that the Church have a just and good order through canonical discipline.

Archbishop Burke cited some passages from Venerable Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Constitution entitle Sacrae disciplinae leges (1983).

the writings of the New Testament enable us to understand still more the importance itself of discipline and make us see better how it is more closely connected with the saving character of the evangelical message itself.

This being so, it appears sufficiently clear that the Code is in no way intended as a substitute for faith, grace and the charisms in the life of the Church and of the faithful. On the contrary, its purpose is rather to create such an order in the ecclesial society that, while assigning the primacy to faith, grace and the charisms, it at the same time renders easier their organic development in the life both of the ecclesial society and of the individual persons who belong to it. 

In actual fact the Code of Canon Law is extremely necessary for the Church. Since, indeed, it is organized as a social and visible structure, it must also have norms: in order that its hierarchical and organic structure be visible; in order that the exercise of the functions divinely entrusted to her, especially that of sacred power and of the administration of the sacraments, may be adequately organized; in order that the mutual relations of the faithful may be regulated according to justice based upon charity, with the rights of individuals guaranteed and well defined; in order, finally, that common initiatives, undertaken for a Christian life ever more perfect may be sustained, strengthened and fostered by canonical norms.

Bishop Burke concludes from these passages that "canon law is limited to the service of the right order of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ. . . It does not pretend in anyway, to have application in matters  which are governed exclusively by civil legislation." In fact, it even "accepts directly provisions of civil law as its own and obliges the observance of the same."

The sources of canon law includes scripture and tradition. Collections of law have been gathered; and the law was codified by Benedict XV in 1917. Based upon the initiative of Blessed Pope John XXIII and the work of Pope Paul VI, in 1983 Pope John Paul II promulgated the revised code. The Roman Pontiff is the supreme Legislator in the Church. But judicial power is distinct from the legislative power. The judicial power has two purposes: "vindication of rights" or "declaration of judicial facts" and "the imposition or declaration of a penalty for delicts." The ecclesiastical judge "applies the canonical legislation in force to particular questions which are brought before the Church's tribunals."

Archbishop Burke's summary is as follows: "The ultimate source of Canon Law is Christ Himself. The Roman Pontiff and the Bishops in communion with him, together with their co-workers, the priests are sacramentally configured to Christ Head and Shepherd of the flock, so they may act in His person as Head and Shepherd in every time and every place of the Church. Even as Christ declared that he has not come to abolish the law and the prophets" but "to fulfill them," even so those who act in His person as Head and Shepherd have the duty to make laws by which the faithful may more readily do the will of the Father in all things, fulfilling or Lord's command: "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Mt 5:17)

On Religious Freedom and Fr Rauscher SJ

Rev Anton Rauscher SJ

Rev Anton Rauscher SJ presented a speech on "Religious Freedom in a pluralistic society" at the 11th German American Catholic Conference in Munich Germany. Fr Rauscher  was the director of the Catholic Social Science Center in Monchengladbach. He has written numerous articles on Catholic social teaching. He spoke about the two sides of Catholic social teaching concerning religious tolerance. On the one hand there is a concern about the right of truth and the need to speak about the truth of revelation and the truth of revelation. On the other hand, there is the right of the person to seek the truth and to live according to the truth as one understands it. The right of personal conscience is the basis for tolerance. But too many have failed to mention that conscience imposes a duty on the person to seek the truth.

At Vatican II Cardinal Bea worked for a better understanding of religious freedom. In Gaudium et spes we find the following statements on conscience:

16. In the depths of his conscience, man detects a law which he does not impose   upon himself, but which holds him to obedience. Always summoning him to love good and avoid evil, the voice of conscience when necessary speaks to his heart:   do this, shun that. For man has in his heart a law written by God; to obey it is   the very dignity of man; according to it he will be judged. Conscience is the   most secret core and sanctuary of a man. There he is alone with God, Whose voice  echoes in his depths.  In a wonderful manner conscience reveals that law  which is fulfilled by love of God and neighbor. In fidelity to conscience, Christians are joined with the rest of men in the search for truth.   

17. Only in freedom can man direct himself toward goodness.  . . . authentic freedom is an exceptional sign of the divine image within man. For God has willed that man remain "under the   control of his own decisions," so that he can seek his Creator spontaneously, and come freely to utter and blissful perfection through loyalty to Him. Hence man's dignity demands that he act according to a knowing and free choice that is personally motivated and prompted from within, not under blind internal impulse nor by mere external pressure.

This freedom of conscience is the basis for religious tolerance. Fr Rauscher argued that this was not a novel teaching at Vatican II, even if Pope John XXIII emphasized the right of the person over the right of truth.But there is a continuity of teaching.

On Dec. 6,1953, Pius XII addressed a discourse to the National Convention of Italian Catholic Jurists. He spoke on the problems of religious liberty in the growing community of nations:

The duty of repressing moral and religious error cannot therefore be an ultimate norm of action. It must be subordinate to higher and more general norms, which in some circumstances permit, and even perhaps seem to indicate as the better policy, toleration of error in order to promote a greater good. Thus the two principles are clarified to which recourse must be had in concrete cases for the answer to the serious question concerning the attitude which the jurist, the statesman and the sovereign Catholic state is to adopt in consideration of the community of nations in regard to a formula of religious and moral toleration as described above. First: that which does not correspond to truth or to the norm of morality objectively has no right to exist, to be spread or to be activated. Secondly: failure to impede this with civil laws and coercive measures can nevertheless be justified in the interests of a higher and more general good.

The endurance of the Faith in Münich

In 1980 Pope John Paul II visited Munich and spoke at this site, Marienplatz, where this ancient statue of Mary stands between the two city halls, old and new. It provides a point of reference and orientation in more ways than one to the citizens of this fair city.

It is amazing how Munich built up their churches after the war. I found a plaque thanking the American soldiers for liberating Münich in 1945. And as I toured the city I visited many of the churches in the city, each on which was utterly demolished in 1944-1945 often by American bombs. But each was slowly and painstakingly built again rising from the ashes of defeat. The Cathedral, Mariakirche, is prominent of course, but so is a Dominican church, St Cajetans and a Jesuit church, St Michaels. And I should not forget the impressive baroque achievement of St Peters.

All the churches were filled with worshippers and visitors on a Friday afternoon. The churches of Munich are a testimony both to their civic mindedness and their piety.

Grüss Gott!!

Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, OP on Zeal

The entire blog today is directly from Fr Garrigou's  Three Ages of the Interior Life. Fr Garrigou (1887-1964) was a mentor and teacher to both Jacques Maritain and Karol Wojtyla.

Zeal should be not only enlightened, but also patient and meek. While preserving its ardor, and indeed in order to preserve it, zeal should avoid becoming uselessly irritated against evil, pouring itself out in vain indignation and sermonizing indiscriminately. The Gospel shows us that in the service of the Lord, the Boanerges, or sons of thunder, as James and John were, become meek. Zeal should know how to tolerate certain evils in order to avoid greater ones and not itself turn to bitterness. What is only less good should not be cast aside as evil; the smoking flax should not be extinguished nor the broken reed crushed. We should always remember that Providence permits evil in view of a superior good, which we often do not yet see, but which will shine forth on the last day under the light of eternity.

To be patient and meek, zeal should be disinterested, and that in two ways: by avoiding appropriating to self what belongs only to God and what pertains to others. Some people are zealous for the works of God, but, motivated by unconscious self-seeking, they consider these works too much as their own. . . . When they are less sure of themselves, less persuaded of their importance, and somewhat broken or at least more supple, the Lord will use them as docile instruments. They will then completely forget themselves in the hands of the Savior, who alone knows what is necessary to regenerate souls.

Let us not appropriate what belongs to others. Often we wish to do good, but we desire too greatly that we should do it in our way. We should not wish to do everything, or hinder others from working and being more successful than we are. Let us not be jealous of their success.  . . .

He wished to convince particularly the sons of Zebedee, James and John, of this when their mother came to Him and asked for them the first two places in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said to them: "You know not what you ask. Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink? They say to Him: We can. He saith to them: My chalice indeed you shall drink; but to sit on My right or left hand, is not Mine to give to you, but to them for whom it is prepared by My Father. . . . " Thus our Lord taught the sons of Zebedee to dominate their natural ardor by humility and meekness, in order to transform it into a pure and fruitful supernatural zeal. Similarly He cures us sometimes by rebuffs and trials administered to our self-love and pride. He corrects us thus until we no longer wish to do our work; then, after permitting the lower part of our nature to be broken by events, and when selfishness has been overcome, He makes use of us for His work, the salvation of souls. Then zeal, though it preserves its spiritual ardor, is calm, humble, and meek, like that of Mary and the saints, and nothing can any longer crush it: "If God be for us, who can be against us?"

Such are the qualities of zeal, which is the ardor of charity, an enlightened, patient, meek, disinterested, and truly fruitful ardor that glorifies God, imitates our Lord, snatches souls from evil, and saves them. It is clear that this zeal should exist, that too often it is lacking, and that it is in the normal way of sanctity. But to subsist, it should be kept up by profound prayer, by prayer that is continual and like an almost uninterrupted conversation of the soul with God in perfect docility.

for on line source click here

Raissa Maritain on fighting error

Jacques and Raissa Maritain were zealous souls in pursuit of truth. Their love of Catholic faith inspired an apostolic life in the realm of academia and art. But they must have experienced at times the frustration of those "sons of Thunder," the apostles James and John, who encountered opposition. They wanted to call down fire upon those who opposed them: "And when his disciples James and John had seen this, they said: Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them?" Our Lord rebuked them, saying: "You know not of what spirit you are." Luke 9:54-55.

The Maritain's obviously struggled against the same temptation as that experienced by Zebedee's sons.  Raissa Maritain recorded the following thought in her journal:

It is very hard to see error increasing and spreading endlessly and submerging souls. . . . Certainly, if we are Christ's, we know that "our kingdom is not of this world," and that, if the divine Truth wished to triumph in time, nothing could be easier for Him. "I would ask my Father and He would send me twelve legions of angels . . ." One knows that and yet one ardently longs for the triumph of Christ here and now, everywhere and in everything. And this longing makes the heart impatient, demanding and afflicted.During silent prayer, I felt that the good God wanted to calm me, which he did, in a moment, by insinuating into my soul a feeling which I might express thus: error is like the foam on the waves, it eludes our grasp and keeps reappearing. The soul must not exhaust itself fighting against the foam. Its zeal must be purified and calmed and, by union with the divine Will, it must gather strength from the depths. And Christ, with all his merits and the merits of all the saints, will do his work deep down below the surface of the waters. And everything that can be saved will be saved. For our God has chosen to reign in humility, and it really seems as if he wishes to show himself only just as much as is necessary in order that the visible Church shall endure to the end and that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Raissa's Journal, p. 157

The Maritains did know of what spirit they were -- "for our God has chosen to reign in humility." The courage of the Maritains was balanced by their humility.

The qualities singled out by St Louis de Montford as constituting "the spirit of Mary" are these pairs: meek and strong, zealous and prudent,  humble and courageous, pure and fruitful. I am struck by the very pairing -- how difficult it is to keep the qualities in balance. The Maritains did it well, as did Pope John Paul II. We are more often like the young and yet unformed James and John. Jesus had to rebuke them. Mary provides an example and she became John's teacher after calvary. The words continue to move hearts -- "Son, behold your Mother." The heart consecrated to Mary will put aside his own spirit because it is tainted by the darkness, or perhaps "briney" as Augustine once said. Since the spirit of Mary is the spirit of Christ (why else would he say "Son behold your mother"?) we strive to take on the spirit of Mary and be better conformed to Christ -- meek and strong, zealous and prudent,  humble and courageous, pure and fruitful. (See True Devotion §258)

Action and contemplation, re: Martha and Mary

Yesterday we heard the story of Martha and Mary; our Dominican preacher, Fr. Juan Torres, said that we should not interpret this story as follows: action and contemplation are rivals in conflict with each other and Jesus teaches that contemplation wins. No, Jesus is teaching the proper ordering of action and contemplation. Action proceeds from contemplation. The one thing necessary is attentiveness to the word of God and the loving response in faith. The rebuke to the activist comes through loud and clear; but we have missed a deeper point if we walk away with a supposed affirmation of contemplation along the lines of Greek philosophy or academic idleness. Jacques Maritain rightly says that Christ has established a "reversal of values," a "transvaluation" of values, if you will, by displacing the proud intellectual contemplative of old, so loved by the Greek and Roman philosophers, who sought assimilation to the detached and self-sufficient god of the philosophers. They are displaced by the little ones who have the secrets revealed to them, the humble ones who wait upon the Lord. As Pascal experience, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is a living fire, transforming life. Detachment, idleness, peaceful self sufficiency, are not the fate of the men and women of the Beatitudes.

Here is Maritain's explanation of the Christian reversal of the ancient philosophical ideal:

Supreme wisdom and supreme contemplation are no longer the summit of human science and philosophy but the abyss in man of the gift of the uncreated Spirit which makes him experience, in faith through Charity and the union of love, what no effort of the human intelligence can comprehend, and the things of God known as unknown. The very notion of contemplation changes its meaning, because from now on it designates an experience in which love instructs the intelligence, and a veiled communion with subsistent Truth, Life and Goodness, a communion which is under the very touch of God. Christian contemplation exists not for "the perfection of him who contemplates and does not terminate in the intellect, like the contemplation of the philosophers. It exists for love of Him who is contemplated and does not terminate in the intellect for the sake of knowing but passes into the heart, for the sake of loving,” (St Albert the Great) because it proceeds itself from love. And for this same reason it does not terminate in a theoretical accomplishment but superabounds in action. Jacques Maritain, Challenges and Renewals pp 202-203; from Moral Philosophy, p. 83.

 That description fits Mary's portion perfectly --  she was instructed by love himself, not veiled, but in the flesh. We participate in the same contemplation, but veiled, as Maritain says, through signs. Contemplation will lead to action, out of love. For when the Lord of Love instructs your intelligence it will indeed "pass into the heart, for the sake of loving." Fr Torres said this story must be interpreted in light of the parable of the Good Samaritan in which our Lord instructs us "to go and DO likewise." The story of Martha and Mary teaches us the dynamic interplay of action and contemplation, and the rebuke to the activist is far less interesting than the burning love of the saint.

I believe this is a harder lesson for the academic than it is for the practical person who is busy getting things done. So perhaps it is fitting that we need an Aquinas, with impeccable academic credentials, to explain the relationship to us. (See Summa II-II 179-182, judicious selections may be found in the Classics of Western Spirituality, Albert and Thomas: Selected Writings, Simon Tugwell, Paulist Press,1988). Fr Torres plucked out just the right passage from Aquinas -- contemplation inspires and guides the active life (II II 182.4), especially response to obj. 2.

Maritain's reference to the great Dominican and teacher of Thomas Aquinas is from De Adherendo Deo, chap. 9, a fitting source for backing up the words of the Dominican at Holy Rosary in Houston, Tx.

The Christian Family and the Spirit of Truth

A statement by Jesus concerning the Holy Spirit has always perplexed me. John 16:8-11 is a strange text.

8 And when he comes, he will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.


8 et cum venerit ille arguet mundum de peccato et de iustitia et de iudicio: 9 de peccato quidem quia non credunt in me; 10 de iustitia vero quia ad Patrem vado et iam non videbitis me; 11 de iudicio autem quia princeps mundi huius iudicatus est.

Another translation uses the term "convict" the world concerning sin. I recently found a passage in Karol Wojtyla's marvelous book, Sources of Renewal: the Implementation of Vatican II, a discussion of the prophetic office of Christ and the ways in which Christians share in that office (pp. 244-247). He refers to a passage in Lumen gentium to explain how the family is prophetic: "where Christianity pervades the entire mode of family life, and gradually transforms it, one will find there both the practice and an excellent school of the lay apostolate. In such a home husbands and wives find their proper vocation in being witnesses of the faith and love of Christ to one another and to their children. The Christian family loudly proclaims both the present virtues of the Kingdom of God and the hope of a blessed life to come. Thus by its example and its witness it convicts the world of sin and enlightens those who seek the truth." (§35)


So now a double perplexity -- how and why does the family "convict the world of sin." This is an obvious allusion to John 16:8. Must married people be "accusing" people and pointing out defects -- is this not a recipe for self-righteousness? Wojtyla does not offer much commentary on this aspect, only to say the family must be part of evangelization. Later he will discuss the role of married couples in their openness to life, mutual charity, and education of the young. (291) He cites another fascinating passage from Vatican II, on the Apostolate of the Laity (§11): "This mission-to be the first and vital cell of society -- the family has received from God. It will fulfill this mission if it appears as the domestic sanctuary of the Church by reason of the mutual affection of its members and the prayer that they offer to God in common, if the whole family makes itself a part of the liturgical worship of the Church, and if it provides active hospitality and promotes justice and other good works for the service of all the brethren in need." The family should be a sanctuary. That term is also used to describe conscience -- a place to encounter God in depth of the soul. It is a place where the word of God may resound. It is a place where reverence for truth is honored and practiced. It is a place where the law of free-giving is practiced. And a place where we can find down-to-earth patience and affection for each other and hospitality towards others. A place where mutual forgiveness is found.

Now can we put the puzzle together regarding convicting the world of sin. I found these comments by a bible scholar helpful: "the purpose of the Paraclete's convicting work is gracious; that is, the Paraclete exercises this convicting ministry to bring the world to recognize its need, and so to turn to Jesus, given that the world's unbelief prevents it (apart from the work of the Paraclete) both from ever facing its own need and from turning to Jesus." by D. A. CARSON, THE FUNCTION OF THE PARACLETE IN JOHN 16:7-11 JBL 98/4 (1979) 547-566.

Here is Carson's loose expanded translation of Jn 16:8ff

When the Paraclete comes, he will convict the world of its sin (that is, so convince it of its sin as to drive home self-conscious conviction of sin), its righteousness (that is, what the world takes to be righteousness but which is woefully inadequate or tainted), and its judgment (that is, all of its false assessment of spiritual reality, culminating especially in its false assessment of Jesus):
-- its sin, because the (the people of the world) do not believe in me and are by this unbelief self-excluded (apart from the work of the Paraclete) from the one source that would reveal their need to them; -- its righteousness, because I am going to the Father and will no longer be present in the same way to convict them of their sin. The Paraclete will therefore take over this ministry from me. Moreover, you believers will no longer see me either; but the Paraclete will enable you to discharge faithfully your responsibilities as witnesses. -- its judgment, because, with the condemnation of the prince of this world, the age of salvation and of condemnation has already dawned, and it has become terribly urgent that the people of the world change their false and sinful assessment of spiritual reality before it is too late.

 So the great insight, I think, is this. The Christian family, by being a family, through the aid of the Holy Spirit living in authentic love, will have a prophetic role. It will "convict" the world, persuade and rouse the conscience, on these matters:

The sin is unbelief and the failure to see in Jesus the way, the truth and the life. But Christ  reveal man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear - it is sacrificial love. (Redemptor hominis) Life has a meaning, a depth, a hidden glory in free-giving, reverence, patience, hospitality, forgiveness. It is palpable. It can be manifest, especially in hospitality. The family could reveal the need people have to live a truly human life in love. The family is not just a "refuge in a heartless world" -- for that sound too defensive. It is a sanctuary, a font of life and love.

To convince or convict on righteousness? -- Hazel Motes (Wise Blood) said "a man with a good car don't need no justification." We laugh at that bumpkin.  But we are that man. Things justify us; we live for having over being, as JP2 said. Money. Prestige. Or maybe freedom and power. There are the world's standards of what is righteous. But in the Christian family the world should see Christ. Self-sacrificial love. Does marriage (faithful until the end) or does the child and family bring the human person crashing down from the height of freedom and power? Or exalt and revere the person? The Holy Spirit will use the family for persuasion on what is right.

And on judgment. The Prince of the world appeals to beauty, pleasure and the illusion of mastery and possession of the heights. He is cast out already, and every day he rises to fall. The scandal of the man with the cross passes by -- we barely recognized him in his suffering. But who shall rise? Who shall enter? Who shall inherit the earth? Who shall be comforted? Who shall have mercy shown them? Who shall be satisfied? Who shall see God? Who shall be called children of God? Will it be the proud and powerful who live for themselves, and use each other by mutual consent? Or the little ones in the humble sanctuary of the family who live in service for each other? Brothers and sisters, do we not know? Can we show the world so the Holy Spirit can do the work Jesus promised?

John Paul II on Our Lady of Mount Carmel

In a letter of 25 March 2001 to the Carmelite family on the 75oth anniversary of the bestowal of the scapular, Pope John Paul II said "I too have worn the Scapular of Carmel over my heart for a long time." The practice is consistent with his total consecration learned from St Louis de Montford.

He recalls that Mary was a woman of deep contemplation of Christ as only a loving Mother could sustain -- attentive to Jesus at home, on the roads, at Cana, to the foot of the cross. Thus, "she already lives in herself all that every believer desires and hopes to attain in the mystery of Christ."

John Paul II also reminds us that the scapular is a "habit," that is, clothing given us by our mother, to signify Mary's protection, but also to signify the deep, personal habit as "a permanent orientation of one's own Christian conduct, woven of prayer and interior life." As a philosopher-pope, he knew of course that one of the ten basic categories of Aristotle is that of State or habitus or possession (echein, “to have”). Aristotle gives as examples  ‘shod’ (wearing shoes) and ‘armed’ (wearing armor, a helmet for example). To put on something over ones nakedness is one of the basic, irreducible categories of of being. How we are clothed, literally and figuratively, disposes us to act and determines in some way how others respond to us.

Thus, this pious practice should "inwardly mold" us and conform us to Christ.

On the theme of "being clothed," there is an interesting point made in the "Doctrinal Statement on the Brown Scapular" (1996). It points to the biblical symbolism of a mantle as a sign of protection from on high or of power transmitted to one of God's messengers. See Gn 37:3, on Joseph's coat; 1 S 18:4, on Jonathan's mantle given to David; Is 61:10 on the Lord's garment of salvation; and 2 K 2:14ff on Elijah's mantle falling on Elisha. This last example was put to a marvelous use by the Little Flower, Therese of Lisieux. Elisha dared to ask Elijah for "a double portion" of his spirit. He receives his mantle. So Therese, as a little one and a feeble one, begs of the saints  to receive a two-fold inheritance, (Mnscpt B, c. 9), i.e., to be clothed in their love. The little ones can be clothed from on high.

Thomas Aquinas in his prayer before communion acknowledges that we come before God as one "poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth." Thus he prays, "I implore the abundance of Your measureless bounty that You would vouchsafe to . . . enrich my poverty and clothe my nakedness." And in his prayer after communion, St. Thomas asks that the communion be a "helmet of faith and a shield of good will." Armor.  We know he read Aristotle's categories very closely.

The scapular is a fitting sign of our fundamental relationship to God and his generous response as well as a sign of our striving to develop the habits or virtues of the Christian life. "He has wrapped me in the cloak of integrity." Is 61:10

Sacraments and signs of hope for families

John Paul II spoke about Christ as the vine who nourishes and protects the family. In his Letter to Families (§18) he provides some detail about how the family is nurtured by the sacraments:

Dear brothers and sisters, spouses and parents, this is how the Bridegroom is with you. You know that he is the Good Shepherd. You know who he is, and you know his voice. You know where he is leading you, and how he strives to give you pastures where you can find life and find it in abundance. You know how he withstands the marauding wolves, and is ever ready to rescue his sheep: every husband and wife, every son and daughter, every member of your families. You know that he, as the Good Shepherd, is prepared to lay down his own life for his flock (cf. Jn 10:11). He leads you by paths which are not the steep and treacherous paths of many of today's ideologies, and he repeats to today's world the fullness of truth . . .

Do not be afraid of the risks! God's strength is always far more powerful than your difficulties! Immeasurably greater than the evil at work in the world is the power of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which the Fathers of the Church rightly called a "second Baptism". Much more influential than the corruption present in the world is the divine power of the Sacrament of Confirmation, which brings Baptism to its maturity. And incomparably greater than all is the power of the Eucharist.

The Eucharist is truly a wondrous sacrament. In it Christ has given us himself as food and drink, as a source of saving power. He has left himself to us that we might have life and have it in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10): the life which is in him and which he has shared with us by the gift of the Spirit in rising from the dead on the third day. The life that comes from Christ is a life for us. It is for you, dear husbands and wives, parents and families! Did Jesus not institute the Eucharist in a family-like setting during the Last Supper? When you meet for meals and are together in harmony, Christ is close to you. And he is Emmanuel, God with us, in an even greater way whenever you approach the table of the Eucharist.

John Paul II on protecting the Family

The family is the cell of the good society and the locus of a civilization of love. The family is vulnerable to forces and trends of an "anti-civilization" at work in technological, liberal, consumerist societies. Christianity is needed to protect and nourish the family from the corrosion of modern liberalism. Here are some thoughts from Familiaris consortio:

But Christ -- the vine from which the branches draw nourishment -- is needed so that this cell will not be exposed to the threat of a kind of cultural uprooting which can come both from within and from without. Indeed, although there is on the one hand the civilization of love, there continues to exist on the other hand the possibility of a destructive "anti-civilization," as so many present trends and situations confirm.  Who can deny that our age is one marked by a great crisis, which appears above all as a profound "crisis of truth"? A crisis of truth means, in the first place, a crisis of concepts. Do the words love, freedom, sincere gift, and even person and rights of the person, really convey their essential meaning? This is why the Encyclical on the "splendor of truth" (Veritatis Splendor ) has proved so meaningful and important for the Church and for the world -- especially in the West. . . .

Why is the splendor of truth so important? First of all, by way of contrast: The development of contemporary civilization is linked to a scientific and technological progress which is often achieved in a one-sided way, and thus appears purely positivistic. Positivism, as we know, results in agnosticism in theory and utilitarianism in practice and in ethics. In our own day, history is in a way repeating itself. Utilitarianism is a civilization of production and of use, a civilization of things and not of persons, a civilization in which persons are used in the same way as things are used. In the context of a civilization of use, woman can become an object for man, children a hindrance to parents, the family an institution obstructing the freedom of its members. 

Positivism and utilitarianism -- John Paul does not shy away from philosophical analysis of culture. For positivism I would suggest we introduce the word "reductionism." In our fragmented view of the world, we allow the mystery of the person to be dissolved into economic units, psychological complexes, sociological variables, etc. C. S. Lewis in Abolition of Man has an excellent account of the reduction of nature to what is controllable, quantifiable and this leads to the Abolition of Man. Utilitarianism is pervasive in our moral reckoning, and this in turn eliminates the moral absolute and the very notion of intrinsic good or evil. So when  John Paul mentions specific examples of the attacks on the family, we can trace them to the reductionistic/utilitarian mind set that pervades the media, the university, and popular culture. For example certain sexual education programs treat the person as a pleasure machine and teach technical means for preventing pregnancy.  Respect for fertility, self-control and character -- these do not fit with the reductionist and utilitarian model.  The idea of safe sex is not at all safe in the ecology of the person as a whole. He also mentions pro-abortion tendencies which "vainly try to hide behind the so-called right to choose (pro-choice) on the part of both spouses." The right to choose can make such an impact because we have lost a sense of good and evil as intrinsic to certain types of acts.

The overall impact of these principles of the liberal "anti-civilization" is the subversion of the family -- because the family must flourish in an atmosphere of respect for the whole person and a whole life over time, with an awareness of the profound mystery behind sexuality and love. The "law of free giving," mentioned yesterday, emerges from a depth of the person beyond the reach of calculation of interests. The hostility to the family is such that one neither finds himself nor feels "secure, as spouse, parent, or child." This does not bode well for the future of civilization. Without spouse, parent, child -- the origins of life are evaporated. The future is gone; and the present becomes one of enslavement. In fact, as John Paul spoke in Redemptor hominis about the abuse of freedom leading to self-degradation, the enslavement of the new sexual agenda is a prime example touching many:

The contemporary family, like families in every age, is searching for fairest love. A love which is not fairest, but reduced only to the satisfaction of concupiscence (cf. 1 Jn. 2:16), or to a man's and a woman's mutual "use" of each other, makes persons slaves to their weaknesses. Do not certain modern "cultural agendas" lead to this enslavement? There are agendas which "play" on man's weaknesses, and thus make him increasingly weak and defenseless.  

Pope John Paul II wavers between hope from the joy in the good of love and the sadness from seeing the human so deeply marred. The witness of the family is stirring and deep through its fair love and joy:

The civilization of love evokes joy: joy, among other things, for the fact that a man has come into the world (cf. Jn. 16:21), and consequently because spouses have become parents. The civilization of love means "rejoicing in the right" (cf. 1 Cor. 13:6). 

The present prospects are not favorable to the family; we must face this fact, just as John Paul had to hunker down with the Polish church against the communist oppression for decade after decade.

But a civilization inspired by a consumerist, anti-birth mentality is not and cannot ever be a civilization of love. If the family is so important for the civilization of love, it is because of the particular closeness and intensity of the bonds which come to be between persons and generations within the family. However, the family remains vulnerable and can easily fall prey to dangers which weaken it or actually destroy its unity and stability. As a result of these dangers families cease to be witnesses of the civilization of love and can even become a negation of it, a kind of countersign. A broken family can, for its part, consolidate a specific form of "anti-civilization," destroying love in its various expressions, with inevitable consequences for the whole of life in society.

The Church  places its hope in Christ; to return to the first passage cited above: "Christ -- the vine from which the branches draw nourishment -- is needed so that this cell will not be exposed to the threat of a kind of cultural uprooting." In our next blog we will explore the signs of hope for the family today.

On the Civilization of Love and the Family

John Paul uses the phrase "civilization of love" as a forerunner to the notion of the culture of life. We usually think of civilization in terms of its upper achievements of art, literature or political order. But John Paul suggests that we look to the foundation first, to the family. Here is his account of civilization of love:

The phrase is linked to the tradition of the domestic church in early Christianity, but it has a particular significance for the present time. Etymologically the word civilization is derived from civis (citizen), and it emphasizes the civic or political dimension of the life of every individual. But the most profound meaning of the term civilization is not merely political, but rather pertains to human culture. Civilization belongs to human history because it answers man's spiritual and moral needs. Created in the image and likeness of God, man has received the world from the hands of the Creator, together with the task of shaping it in his own image and likeness. The fulfillment of this task gives rise to civilization, which in the final analysis is nothing else than the "humanization of the world."  

In a certain sense civilization means the same thing as culture. And so one could also speak of the culture of love, even though it is preferable to keep to the now familiar expression. The civilization of love, in its current meaning, is inspired by Gaudium et Spes  §22: "Christ... fully discloses man to himself and unfolds his noble calling." And so we can say that the civilization of love originates in the revelation of the God who "is love," as John writes (1 Jn. 4:8, 16); it is effectively described by Paul in the hymn of charity found in his First Letter to the Corinthians (13:1-13).  . . .

the family is the center and the heart of the civilization of love.  Yet there is no true love without an awareness that God "is Love" and that man is the only creature on earth which God has called into existence for its own sake. Created in the image and likeness of God, man cannot fully find himself except through the sincere gift of self. Without such a concept of man, of the person and the communion of persons in the family, there can be no civilization of love; similarly, without the civilization of love it is impossible to have such a concept of person and of the communion of persons. The family constitutes the fundamental cell of society. JOHN PAUL II LETTER TO FAMILIES 1994 §13. 

It was a commonplace that the family is the fundamental cell of society. Life depends upon the healthy cell; without the healthy cell, we have cancer, and death. There are many reasons why it is the fundamental cell. John Paul gives a precise reason in his exhortation on the family -- it has to do with the "law of free-giving" --

 The very experience of communion and sharing that should characterize the family's daily life represents its first and fundamental contribution to society.  The relationships between the members of the family community are inspired and guided by the law of "free giving."  By respecting and fostering personal dignity in each and every one as the only basis for value, this free giving takes the form of heartfelt acceptance, encounter and dialogue, disinterested availability, generous service and deep solidarity.     Thus the fostering of authentic and mature communion between persons within the family is the first and irreplaceable school of social life, an example and stimulus for the broader community of relationships marked by respect, justice, dialogue and love. The family is thus, as the synod fathers recalled, the place of origin and the most effective means for humanizing and personalizing society. Apostolic Exhortation FAMILIARIS CONSORTIO  (On the Family)  (December 15, 1981) §43.

 Any adequate political philosophy or  program for political action must start with an authentic understanding of and promotion of the family. We know how far the U.S. has strayed from an understanding of the nature of the family and how its policies consistently undermine it.

John Paul II on Saint Benedict

To remember Saint Benedict on his feast day I turn to the words of Pope John Paul II 

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II  TO THE MONKS OF THE ABBEY OF MONTE CASSINO (Friday, 18 May 1979)

A representative man and a real giant of history, St Benedict is great not only because of his holiness, but also because of his intelligence and industry, which succeeded in giving a new course to the events of history.

We will recall only the essential elements of his interesting and adventurous life. Born about 480 at Norcia, that is, in the inland mountains of Umbria, Benedict studied rhetoric in Rome for some time, then, frightened or disgusted by the corruption of the environment, he withdrew in solitude to Lake Aniene, at Subiaco, where as many as thirteen monasteries were constructed. Forced to leave the valley of the Aniene, Benedict made his way to this high hill which dominates the village of Cassino. In 529 he founded the famous Monastery here and dedicated himself to the evangelization of those peoples who were still pagan, while his sister Scholastica directed the convent of religious women.

About the end of the fifth century, the world was upset by a tremendous crisis of values and institutions, caused by the end of the Roman Empire, the invasion of other peoples and the decay of morals.

In this black night of history, St Benedict was a luminous star.

Endowed with a deep human sensitivity, in his project for the reform of society St Benedict looked particularly to man, following three main lines:
— the value of the individual, as a person;
— the dignity of work, understood as service of God and brothers;
— the necessity of contemplation, that is of prayer: having understood that God is the Absolute, and we live in the Absolute, the soul of everything must be prayer: , "Ut in omnibus glorificetur Deus" (Rule).

In short, therefore, it can be said that St Benedict's message is an invitation to interiorness. Man must first of all enter himself, he must know himself deeply, he must discover within himself the aspiration to God and traces of the Absolute. The theocentric and liturgical character of the social reform advocated by St Benedict seems to follow exactly the famous exhortation of St Augustine: "Noli foras ire, in teipsum redi; in interiore homine habitat veritas" (Vera rel. 39, 72). St Gregory, in his famous "Dialogues" (Migne, P.L. 125-204), in which he narrates St Benedict's life, writes that he "lived alone with himself under the eyes of the one who observes us from above: solus superni spectatoris oculis habitavit secum" (Lb. II, C. III).

Let us listen to St Benedict's voice: from interior solitude, from contemplative silence, from victory over the noise of the external world, from this "living with oneself", there is born the dialogue with oneself and with God, which leads right to the summits of asceticism and mysticism.

More on St. Benedict, see
Newman, on the mission of St Benedict

Pope Benedict XVI General audience on St Benedict

Philosophize in Mary

John Paul invokes the Seat of Wisdom in the concluding section of Fides et ratio and exhorts the reader to philosophize in Mary (“Philosophari in Maria.” §108) He considers the life of Mary “a true parable illuminating the reflection contained in these pages.” Mary lost none of her humanity is giving assent to Gabriel’s word; so too “when philosophy heeds the summons of the Gospel's truth its autonomy is in no way impaired.” All the more do its enquiries “rise to their highest expression.”

We know of John Paul's devotion to Mary, through the "True Devotion" of St Louis de Montford and the motto "Totus tuus." So it is not surprising to see this exhortation. But what more does it mean?  St Louis provides a meditation for doing all things "by Mary, with Mary, in Mary, and for Mary." He says that in Mary we discover "the true terrestrial paradise of the new Adam." In this paradise, he says, there is the true tree of life, which has borne Jesus Christ, the fruit of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which has given light to the world." (§261)

Earlier in Fides et ratio John Paul talks about the cross ("the true tree of life") as the authentic critique of those seek self-sufficiency. (§23) The cross is a challenge to reason  - but "reason cannot eliminate the mystery of love which the cross represents, while the cross can give to reason the ultimate answer which it seeks." Mary stood at the foot of the cross. To philosophize in Mary and with Mary is to stand there also to consider the meaning of the sacrifice.

"Only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light. . . . Christ fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear." (Gaudium et spes, §22)

Evangelicals on Pope John Paul II

"John Paul II, our common teacher, calls us to recognize the splendor of truth and the fullness of life, that luminous presence the New testament calls the glory of God in the face of Christ." These generous words, by evangelical leader Timothy George, are a fitting conclusion to a remarkable book entitled, The Legacy of John Paul II: An evangelical assessment, edited by Tim Perry  (IVP Press, 2007) (ISBN 978-0-8308-2595-0)

I am in the process of writing a review of this book for the JOURNAL of INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES; I will post it when it is available. Their website is worth exploring; find it here. This journal reflects some important work guided by editor Oskar Gruenwald.

The book under consideration contains a comprehensive collection of in-depth analyses of the major encyclicals of Pope John Paul II by evangelical thinkers. These essays stand as first rate essays on the thought of JP2 and they also provide helpful perspectives, criticism, and reflection on the state of evangelical thought today. It is well worth finding and reading.


The book is not uncritical, but it does show to what a remarkable degree Pope John Paul II has made a deep impression upon the protestant Christian community as well as the Catholic.Timothy George also said "Billy Graham made the comment that the pope was the most significant Christian leader in the last hundred years. I think he's absolutely right. And what the pope has been able to do is offer a visible, articulate, winsome, attractive, embracing face to world Christianity." See his interview on JP2 here.

On Vacation and contemplation

During the summer  months in 1996, John Paul II spoke about vacation and its link to contemplation. He pointed to the spiritual meaning of rest and recalled the passage from Genesis -- on the seventh day the Lord rested from his work. Rest from work, there is the link. But many people do not take a rest from work. For many of us, vacation is either something to be dispensed with (employers will cash it out after all) or something to be planned out with numerous activities. So the link of vacation and contemplation seems incongruous.

Here are some of Pope John Paul II's thoughts on vacation and rest: "In presenting us with the Lord who blesses the day dedicated par excellence to rest, the Bible wants to make us notice the need that man has to dedicate a part of his time to experiencing the freedom of things, to examining himself and cultivating a sense of his own greatness and dignity inasmuch as he is God's image.  . .  . Vacations should not be seen as a simple evasion, that impoverishes and dehumanizes, but rather as significant moments in the very existence of the person. In moments of rest, and especially during vacation, man is invited to become aware of the fact that work is a means  and not the end of life, and he has the opportunity to discover the beauty of silence as a space in which to find himself in order to open himself to acknowledgment and prayer. Man, freed from the pressing tasks of daily  life, has the opportunity to rediscover his own contemplative dimension recognizing God's imprints in nature and especially in other human beings. This is an experience that opens him to a renewed attention to people who live near  him, beginning with his family." (Angelus, July 21, 1996)

This is a very rich passage and worth expounding.

We must dedicate our time for this purpose; it does not happen, especially not in the world of total work such as ours. Do we experience the "freedom of things"? Our busy schedule of work propels us past the things of this world; we stop only to use things. The freedom of things, what does it mean? Things have a weight, a beauty, a "glory demanding to be recognized" (Maritain). Iris Murdoch wrote a memorable passage on art as a "spiritual discipline" --

"By opening our eyes we do not necessarily see what confronts us. We are anxiety ridden animals. Our minds are continually active, fabricating an anxious, usually self‑preoccupied, often falsifying veil which partially conceals the world. . . . The appreciation of beauty in art or nature is not only the easiest available spiritual exercise; it is an entry into the good life, since it is the checking of selfishness in the interest of seeing the real. It shows us the world with a clarity which startles and delights us simply because we are not use to looking at the real world at all, looking at the world with a clarity that does not belong to the self‑centered rush of ordinary life. It is important too that great art teaches us how real things can be looked at and loved without being seized and used without being appropriated into the greedy organism of the self."  from The Sovereignty of Good

Vacation can be a time to see "the world with a clarity which startles and delights us." Trees, stars, mountains, ocean. I would also add -- traces of the past, of those who went before. One thing I love about America is how every small town  (and large) puts out historical markers and preserves historical sites. I enjoy meandering through America this way. I recently enjoyed standing in that place where Mr. Lincoln first entered into public service and made his first protest against slavery (I just stood at the old state capitol building in Vandalia, Illinois, see link) It may be small, but the place evokes wonder and gratitude. Mountains and oceans, always a place for rest,  speak for themselves; but this small town memory, I also take to be "the freedom of things."

We are often criticized in this country for being a culture of cars and for our mobility. But there is another side to it. How I have enjoyed my travels across and through America in this small town meandering. How it links us to the past, to others, to the common land and joins our narrative. Even old Route 66 has become a monument of American mobility, yet now fragmented and grown over with weeds. Sic transit gloria mundi -- even the allure of the road and sparkling cars. There are deeper trails. I discovered to my surprise on the genealogical trails, my Scottish ancestors, McVeys, came to America in the mid 1700s, and every single generation moved to the next state over. Amazing -- there it is -- Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Nebraska, Montana. I do not know much about them; but I suspect their reasons for moving were varied and included opportunity, adventure, love, war.

Perhaps Maritain had something else in mind when he coined the phrase "contemplation at the crossroads." But I think these sturdy pioneers, some of them religious, some of them not, had much that sparked their wonder during their sojourns. The thought of their hardy lives sparks mine.

Cars and roads will not keep us from contemplation. But constant work, an attitude of self-sufficiency, and worry about the next acquisition will. So it may be salutary to hit the road. And watch for those sparks of wonder -- off in the purple horizon, in the dim lit forests, at the side of the road, and in every town you enter. I hope we never neglect summer vacation. High gas prices and exorbitant airfares may hurt us more than we know.

I have assumed all along, but better say it now, one does not go alone. Pope John Paul II spoke of "a renewed attention to people who live near  him, beginning with his family." You do not need my commentary on this feature, both in its deep challenge and its rich reward.

Pope John Paul II on the Declaration of Independence

In his first visit to the United States in 1979 Pope John Paul II gave a homily in Philadelphia (October 3 1979). He spoke of the political heritage represented by the signing of the declaration and the ringing of the liberty bell. He said "there are easily recognized strong connections with basic religious and Christian values. A sense of religion itself is part of this heritage." There is a strong afirmation of the moral basis for the political order. Here is a longer excerpt:

"Philadelphia is the city of the Declaration of Independence, that remarkаble document, containing a solemn attestation of the equality of all human beings, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights : life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, expressing a 'firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence'. These are the sound moral principles formulated by your Founding Fathers and enshrined forever in your history. In the human and civil values that are contained in the spirit of this Declaration there are easily recognized strong connections with basic religious and Christian values. A sense of religion itself is part of this heritage. The Liberty Bell which I visited on another occasion proudly bears the words of the Bible: 'Proclaim liberty throughout the land' (Lev 25 :10). This tradition poses for all future generations of America a noble challenge: 'One Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all'.

Can these truths even be spoken in public now thirty years since the Pope visited that noble city and affirmed  the presence of God and religion in our heritage? Has newspeak erased our history?

Here is another passage fro his homily at Logan Square:

"How then can a Christian, inspired and guided by the mystery of the Incarnation and Redemption of Christ, strengthen his or her own values and those that are embodied in the heritage of this nation?  . . Let me touch upon a few important points. These values are strengthened: when power and authority are exercised in full respect for all the fundamental rights of the human person, whose dignity is the dignity of one created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1 :26) ; when freedom is accepted, not as an absolute end in itself, but as a gift that enables self-giving and service; when the family is protected and strengthened, when its unity is preserved, and when its role as the basic cell of society is recognized and honored.  . . .  Human-Christian values triumph by subjecting political and economic considerations to human dignity, by making them serve the cause of man—every person created by God, every brother and sister redeemed by Christ." §4

Finally, he links our heritage with his own recent reflections upon human dignity and the Redeemer of Man:

"I have mentioned the Declaration of Independence and the Liberty Bell, two monuments that exemplify the spirit of freedom on which this country was founded. Your attachment to liberty, to freedom, is part of your heritage. When the Liberty Bell rang for the first time in 1776, it was to announce the freedom of your nation, the beginning of the pursuit of a common destiny independent of any outside coercion. This principle of freedom is paramount in the political and social order, in relationships between the government and the people, and between individual and individual. However, man's life is also lived in another order of reality : in the order of his relationship to what is objectively true and morally good. . . . In my first Encyclical I wrote in this regard : 'These words contain both a fundamental requirement and a warning : the requirement of an honest relationship with regard to truth as a condition for authentic freedom, and the warning to avoid every kind of illusory freedom, every superficial unilateral freedom, every freedom that fails to enter into the whole truth about man and the world' (Redemptor Hominis, 12). §5-6

Pope John Paul II loved the United States and he called us to live up to our noble heritage. Even more than it was thirty years, the United States needs to be re-evangelized if it is preserve its liberty under law.

Evangelization as fitting for the Catholic university

If we run over the components of evangelization outlined by Paul VI it is striking how fitting evangelization should be intrinsic to the Catholic university -- and how solicitous must a Bishop be for the well being of universities within his diocese.

Renewal of humanity, witness, proclamation, adhesion of the soul, joining the community of believers, participation in signs, apostolic work. These activities are fitting for places where the young congregate and learning is advanced. The success f Newman Groups at Texas A&M or University of Illinois show the power of the word among the youth when Catholics are willing to put themselves out for the young.

I have always liked this passage from Ex corde (§48) in which he quotes Paul VI:

"The primary mission of the Church is to preach the Gospel in such a way that a relationship between faith and life is established in each individual and in the sociocultural context in which individuals live and act and communicate with one another. Evangelization means 'bringing the Good News into all the strata of humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new.... It is a question not only of preaching the Gospel in ever wider geographic areas or to ever greater numbers of people, but also of affecting and, as it were, upsetting, through the power of the Gospel, humanity's criteria of judgment, determining values, points of interest, lines of thought, sources of inspiration and models of life, which are in contrast with the Word of God and the plan of salvation.' (from Evangelization in the Modern World)"

In a university setting, the activity of challenging received standards of judgment, and using the Socratic method for questioning the settled assumptions of secular culture, should be a part of every classroom. Witness of life and proclamation of the truth of Christ could be quite natural in this setting. But again, it is clear that faculty are instrumental for this to happen. Who will educate the educators?

Evangelization: various elements play off each other

Evangelizatio est processus implicatior variisque elementis compositus, cuiusmodi sunt: renovatio humanitatis, testificatio, nuntiatio aperta, animi adhaesio, ingressio in communitatem, acceptio signorum, apostolatus opera. Pope Paul VI,   Evangelization in the Modern World §24

The renewal of humanity is one element in evangelization, as you can see from the above passage from  Evangelii nuntiandi. All the elements must be related together into a whole and play off of each other. The first element, "renovatio humanitatis" receives more treatment because renewal, radical newness,  is the purpose or end of evangelization. "Behold I make all things new."

But there follow six more elements. "Testificatio," or witness, is an element closely connected to "nuntiatio aperta," or explicit proclamation. They are two sides of the same coin. Witness of life establishes trust, attraction and inquiry. Proclamation gives the reasons for our hope, the narrative of salvation in Christ. Notice that the title of the work is taken from "nuntiatio," viz., Evangelii nuntiandi. Proclaiming the gospel has pride of place. Someone must express the content of faith out loud.


At some point the Holy Spirit works through inner persuasion and the inquirer/seeker adheres to the truth in his soul, "animi adhaesio." And there would result some expression in response, I believe, or Jesus is Lord. This is an act of faith.

But faith dwells in a communion of faith, so there must be ingressio in communitatem, entry into a community. That commitment to the fellowship or communion of faith makes the act of faith concrete and real. A friend of Augustine would say "walls do not make the Church," but he did not want to stand with the Christians in opposition to his conservative Roman friends. He did finally come to stand with Augustine and the fellowship of believers.

 The believer and the community live by signs and sacraments, hence there emerges the "acceptio signorum." This term should be translated by more than "acceptance" it means reception of sacraments, attention to and participation in the sacred signs that abound with meaning such as the liturgical year, the sign of the cross, icons, music, and the sacraments proper. The "acceptio signorum" is a vital part of evangelization and re-evangelization. For many with languid belief those signs must be re-activated and made to pulsate with the energy and the grace of the Holy Spirit, renovating their personal life and the lives of those around them and the surrounding culture.

Last, but not least, is the work of apostolate, "apostolatus opera." Pope Paul VI says that this is the "test of truth." It is unthinkable, he says, that one would accept the word, give oneself to the Kingdom, and not go forth to witness and proclaim this truth. The kingdom of God is like the yeast -- it grows and expands. The increase should be thirty-fold or sixty-fold, even one hundred-fold.

It struck me when reading Augustine's Confessions how his story of conversion was but one open frame around many previous frames of conversion stories. There is the story of St. Anthony, who heard the story of the gospel concerning he rich young man; then roman administrators heard the story of Anthony and they convert; Ponticianus heard these stories within stories . . . down to Augustine, who upon hearing these stories (and the witness of his mother and St Ambrose) turns his life toward God. And we the readers can add our own frame and story, linking out to one more soul.

Evangelization is a complex phenomenon, as Pope Paul VI explained. But there is a simple truth at its core, it is the living Word of God.