Faith of Our Fathers

On left: Maj Hittinger, XO, 3/4 Marines (1963)

This morning a Father-Son Mass was celebrated at St Thomas High School, Houston, Tx. Celebrating its 110th year as a school, St. Thomas influenced many generations of fathers and sons.

It provides an occasion to think about the role of fathers, starting wit the life of Karol Wojtyla. In a previous post I spoke of the play, Lolek, which portrayed the early life of Wojtyla.

George Weigel's Witness to Hope elaborates on the influence that Captain Wojtyla had on his son. (28-31) He introduced his son to Polish literature, which was to have a deep influence on him. See the article by Ewa Thompson, here. He also taught him about Polish history and a love for his country.

Young Karol would see his father on his knee, praying morning and evening prayers. He read the Bible and prayed the rosary with his son.

Most of all, he taught him lessons of life. "His father's way of life that first planted in the future pope the idea that the life of faith had to do with interior conversion." (30) The gospel is not a promise of easy success; it makes demands, but makes great promises as well. a promise of "the victory of faith for man, who is subject to many trials and setbacks." (See Crossing the Threshold of Hope, p. 104) The spirituality of redemptive suffering is another "imprint of the teaching and example of the most influentialeducator of his early years: his father, the man who took him on a pilgrimage to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, the year after his  mother died." (31) THe note says that John Paul II shared this with Mr. Weigel in a personal interview.

In Gift and Mystery John Paul II said that he was above all grateful to his father for his vocation: "we never spoke about a vocation to the priesthood, but his example was my first seminary, a kind of domestic seminary."

Marines attend Mass after fall of Seoul, 1950

I reflected today at Mass on my father's influence on my faith. He was devout in his attendance at Mass and followed with his missal; I own the missal he used for many years, as it was shipped back from Vietnam with his personal effects and I own a small little Army-Navy Catholic prayer book (pro deo et patria) that he took to Korea during the war, through Inchon and Chosin. It has his serial number and unit "4.2 Mortar Co. 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division." It opens with "Expect the Lord, do manfully, and let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord." (Ps. xxvi.14)  I share here a picture he took of a Mass offered soon after the fall of Seoul, 1950. I recall we frequently had the chaplains over for dinner, always prefaced by a good round of cocktails. He encouraged my brother and I to serve at the altar from 1959-1964. Once I recall being at Church and not singing the recessional song, "Holy God, we Praise Thy Name;" my father whacked me on the behind and said my failure to sing this song was akin to not singing the national anthem; for a Marine, this was a matter for shame. I sang then and I continue to sing hymns of praise for the true fatherland. He attended Villanova University, but he followed Notre Dame football and outfitted us with Notre Dame sweatshirts at an early age. His love of Rockne inspired me to apply to Notre Dame despite my avowal not to attend a Catholic school for college (at age 17, having thought I had my fill).

For one of the best reflections on fatherhood, I turn to Louis Bouyer, Women in the Church (Ignatius, 1979). Here is the passage:

Man, the male, insofar as he is such, is defined by the following paradox: he essentially represents that which goes beyond him, which he is incapable of being in and of himself .  .  .  . on the natural plane, man is able to be a father only in a very partial sense, while on the supernatural plane he can represent the divine fatherhood only through his dependence on the unique image of the Father which is the only begotten Son. (49)

Man, the male, .  .  .  . never exercises, even on the most natural level, any more than a momentary, radically incomplete paternity. He is its bearer or transmitter much more than its cause.

The father is, indeed, a transmitter above all --  "Pro Deo et patria."

We are grateful for the tokens of truth and goodness, for the faith of our fathers.

Solzhenitsyn on the election of Wojtyla as Pope

Professor Mahoney put me on to some passages in the new book by George Weigel, The End and the Beginning. When Cardinal Wojtyla was named Pope, Solzhenitsyn

was convinced that something important had happened. When the news of Wojtyla's election reached the Nobel laureate in his exile in Cavendish, Vermont, he threw out his arms and exclaimed, "It's a miracle! It's the first positive event since World War I and it's going to change the face of the world!" Solzhenitsyn, who admired Stefan Wyszynski, did not know Karol Wojtyla personally, but he knew what his election meant: the Catholic resistance to communism would be rooted in religious conviction and expressed through the instruments and symbols of culture, which Solzhenitsyn believed were the strongest and most effective weapons available. (101)

An Italian journalist has previously said Moscow "would prefer Alexandr Solzhenitsyn as Secretary-General of the United Nations than a Pole as pope." (100-101)

The KGB reported as follows: "Wojtyla holds extreme anti-communist views. Without openly opposing the Socialist system, he has criticized the way the state agencies of the Polish People's Republic have functioned, making the following accusations: basic human rights of Polish citizens are restricted; that there is an unacceptable exploitation of the workers, whom "the Catholic church must protect against the worker's government;" that the activities of the Catholic Church are restricted and CAtholics treated as second class citizens; that an extensive campaign is being conducted to convert society to atheism and impose an alien ideology on the people; that the Catholic Church is denied its proper cultural role; thereby depriving Polish culture of its national treasures." (100)

I have shared with my friends an anecdote about Cardinal Wojtyla's visit to the Catholic university of America in 1976. He impressed us all with his intelligence, humor, and humanity. A fellow graduate student said -- "that man ought to be Pope." I said, "are you crazy, he is Polish and he is a philosopher." The Holy Spirit knew better. Now we know. He was named Pope BECAUSE he was Polish and a philosopher. As a Pole, he confronted communism from within the soviet system on the grounds of the Church's strengths -- culture and popular support; as a philosopher, he understood precisely the claims of the Marxist ideology and he could formulate a more authentic and humanistic account of work, solidarity, and justice.

Solzhenitsyn on art, justice, and God

Professor Dan Mahoney is a professor at Assumption College, Worcester, Ma. He is the editor of the Solzhenitsyn Reader. Last evening I spent some time with Dan talking about Newman and Solzhenitsyn. He shared with Gavin Colvert and I some of his favorite passages.

The editor's introduction has a great introduction to the thought of Solzhenitsyn, including a section on the artist's vocation, through an analysis of the Nobel lecture, included in the volume. Solzhenitsyn compares two accounts of the artist -- the modern account posits the artist as the creator of an autonomous spiritual world. But there is here the great danger of confounding man with God; Solzhenitsyn thinks that the artist recognizes a higher power above himself and "joyfully works as a humble apprentice under God's heaven." He rejects subjectivism and self assertion. And Mahoney says this -- "this artist recognizes that the world is shrouded in mystery." The artist, "rather than attempting to impose his will on reality, responds with receptivity and gratitude to the mystery of God's creation." (xxxii) I refer to these passages because they fit well with Newman's account of faith and mystery. To be sure, Mahoney points out that Solzhenitsyn was not a "dogmatist" in the sense that he was not an ideologue pursuing a rigid line of argument or interpretation. His form of writing followed a new "experiment in literary investigation." But this too respects the contours of reality, and especially the mystery of the human person.
Professor Mahoney noted that Solzhenitsyn's two best characters are peasant type who live humbly, and justly. Ivan Denisovitch is well known through the book, One Day; but included in this Reader is his shorter, and perhaps lesser known, "Matryona's Home." I read the story on the plane today and was overcome by the beauty of his prose and his insight into the depth of a person. The story ends with this: "We had all lived side by side with her and never understood that she was the righteous one without whom, as the proverb says, no village can stand. No any city. Nor our whole land." (56)

Solzhenitsyn was not engaged in mere romanticizing of the peasant. Their commitment to justice was shaken to the core by the Marxist ideology and won back at great price. In the First Circle we can find an argument between Rubin, a Marxist, and Nerzhin, who refuses to succumb to the ideological juggernaut. Rubin bullies him insisting that freedom is bourgeois illusion and justice is a class concept. Nerzhin said "Are they, hell! . . .  justice is never relative." Rubin jumps up as if to hit him and claims again "It's a class concept! Of course it is." Nerzhin waves his arms and proclaims "Justice is the cornerstone, the foundation of the universe!" (127) There are many other great sections and passages in this Reader about the just, about conscience, and the virtues.

And so too are the theological attainments of Orthodoxy, and historic Christianity. As we read through excerpts from the Red Wheel, we found this advice of a priest to someone seeking counsel -- "In each of us there is a mystery greater than we realize. And it is in communion with God that we are able to catch a glimpse of it." (398)

Mahoney also insisted that we read the three early poems of Solzhenitsyn -- they are stunning. One of them was written the very month and year I was born, February 1952. He was in a prison camp recuperating from surgery and he realized he had received a new lease on life. It is called "Acathistus," meaning a song of praise and it is quite Augustinian and Newmanesque, because deeply Christian:

When, oh when did I scatter so madly
All the goodness, the God-given grains?
Was my youth not spent with those who gladly
Sang to You in the glow of Your shrines?

Bookish wisdom, though, sparkled and beckoned,
and it rushed through my arrogant mind,
The world's mysteries seemed within reckon,
My life's lot like warm wax in the hand.

My blood seethed, and it spilled and trickled,
Gleamed ahead with a multihued trace,
Without clamor there quietly crumbled
In my breast the great building of faith.

Then I passed betwixt being and dying,
I fell off and now cling to the edge,
And I gaze back with gratitude, trembling,
On the meaningless life I have led.

Nor my reason, nor will, nor desire
Blazed the twists and turns of its road,
It was purpose-from-High's steady fire
Not made plain to me till afterward.

Now regaining the measure that's true,
Having drawn with it water of being,
Oh great God! I believe now anew!
Though denied, You were always with me. . . .

Many thanks to Professor Dan Mahoney for this Reader, a tremendous labor of love for Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

Dogma and liberal arts

Although we agree with Cardinal Dulles, that Newman would exclude the teaching in extensio of pure dogma, because theological dispute is beyond the training of those in secular discipline. (Avery Dulles, John Henry Newman (Continuum 2002); and Newman emphasized the connection of Christian knowledge to its secular aspect in culture, history literature and the like. (p. 141).

Yet, religious dogma relates us to the mystery of God:

"the Catholic dogmas are, after all, but symbols of a Divine fact, which, far from being compassed by those very propositions, would not be exhausted, nor fathomed, by a thousand." OUS XV, 332;

"A Revelation is religious doctrine viewed on its illuminated side; a Mystery is the selfsame doctrine viewed on the side unilluminated. Thus Religious Truth is neither light nor darkness, but both together; it is like the dim view of a country seen in the twilight, with forms half extricated from the darkness, with broken lines, and isolated masses." Essays Critical and Historical  41-42

Newman has in mind as "dogma" the creeds; he was especially drawn to the Athanasian Creed. As a critic of rationalism and the expulsion of mystery from religion, and from human existence, Newman saw a vital role for religious dogma in human life. Newman describes a Rev Brownside, in Loss and Gain, as follows:

Revelation to him, instead of being the abyss of God's counsels, with its dim outlines and broad shadows, was a flat, sunny plain, laid out with straight macadamised roads. Not, of course, that he denied the Divine incomprehensibility itself, with certain heretics of old; but he maintained that in Revelation all that was mysterious had been left out, and nothing given us but what was practical, and directly concerned us.

A recognition of mystery is salutary for education, and dogma brings this along with it. So here are some positive reasons for education having an orientation and respect for religious dogma.

First, dogma, and the faithful response to revelation, builds up the grand vision of the cosmos, nature, man and God that helps to sustain great culture. Dante, Milton, Shakespeare, Bach, Dostoevsky, Solzhenitsyn . . . all inspired by the historic faith, i.e., dogma.

Second, dogma, by formulating and preserving a mystery about God, predisposes the student towards mystery and combats the deadly rationalism which seeks to reduce all things to scientific causation or calculation of utility in morals.

Third, dogma refers back to the mystery of faith – the sacraments and the liturgical seasons. Newman preached in the liturgical year. He lived under the sway of its mystery.

Fourth, we can properly relate faith and reason, as urged upon us by Pope John Paul II in Fides et ratio. We need a philosophy consonant with the word of God. It recovers its sapiential dimension; it is realistic about being; and rises to its full scope and stature in daring to think about being, God and the good.

Finally, it provides the center for the true enlargement and formative action of mind. We discover God. Finding the beginning in the end, the end in the beginning, and the like.

The notion of mystery, the back side of dogma, is salutary for education because it allows the heart and mind to strain forward towards a fuller vision of reality. Recall how Newman's grand description of liberal education says it is "almost" like supernatural virtue:

It is almost prophetic from its knowledge of history; it is almost heart-searching from its knowledge of human nature; it has almost supernatural charity from its freedom from littleness and prejudice; it has almost the repose of faith, because nothing can startle it; it has almost the beauty and harmony of heavenly contemplation, so intimate is it with the eternal order of things and the music of the spheres. (VI.6)

Almost . . .; but not quite. Liberal education provides neither moral character nor eternal salvation; but it gets close. But without the pull of dogma and mystery, liberal education collapses under the weight of rationalist skepticism and utilitarian calculation.

Dogma and the Enlargement of Mind: A Contradiction?

Thursday evening I will give a talk at Assumption College, Worcester, Ma. entitled "Dogma and the Enlargement of Mind: A Contradiction?"

 I will speak about Newman's life long struggle against "liberalism" or "rationalism" as he articulates it in the Apologia and his Biglietto speech (when he learned he was to be made a Cardinal in 1879), in which he describes liberalism in religion as "an error overspreading, as a snare, the whole earth." (see Biglietto speech here) We must understand these terms not at all primarily in a political way, but as a  disposition towards religion and as a method for intellectual inquiry. After defining the terms, I will sift through some early sermons to see the development of this theme in terms of faith, holiness and conscience. We shall thirdly look at his classic account of education, The Idea of a University, to consider how the notion of enlargement of mind as the goal of education (Discourse VI) serves as check on what could be the misinterpretation of Newman as an advocate of a blindly pious attitude or a stultifying dogmatic approach. Does Newman maintain a consistent account through these various writings and different aspects of learning?

Cardinal Dulles points out in his book on John Henry Newman (Continuum 2002) that Newman emphasized the connection of Christian knowledge to its secular aspect in culture, history literature and the like.  p. 141. He would exclude the teaching in extensio of pure dogma, because theological dispute is beyond the training of those in secular disciplines.

But I argue that dogma, by formulating and preserving a mystery about God, predisposes the student towards mystery and combats the deadly rationalism which seeks to reduce all things to scientific causation or calculation of utility in morals.

What is dogma? "The principle of dogma, that is, supernatural truths irrevocably committed to human language, imperfect because it is human, but definitive and necessary because given from above." Development of Doctrine 325

Newman says  "the Catholic dogmas are, after all, but symbols of a Divine fact, which, far from being compassed by those very propositions, would not be exhausted, nor fathomed, by a thousand." OUS XV, 332

Or again -- "No revelation can be complete and systematic, from the weakness of the human intellect; so far as it is not such, it is mysterious. When nothing is revealed, nothing is known, and there is nothing to contemplate or marvel at; but when something is revealed, and only something, for all cannot be, there are forthwith difficulties and perplexities. A Revelation is religious doctrine viewed on its illuminated side; a Mystery is the selfsame doctrine viewed on the side unilluminated. Thus Religious Truth is neither light nor darkness, but both together; it is like the dim view of a country seen in the twilight, with forms half extricated from the darkness, with broken lines, and isolated masses. Essays Critical and Historical  41-42

The notion of mystery, the back side of dogma, is salutary for education because it allows the heart and mind to strain forward towards a fuller vision of reality. Thus notice how Newman's grand escription of liberal education says it is "almost" like supernatural virtue:

That perfection of the Intellect, which is the result of Education, and its beau ideal, to be imparted to individuals in their respective measures, is the clear, calm, accurate vision and comprehension of all things, as far as the finite mind can embrace them, each in its place, and with its own characteristics upon it. It is almost prophetic from its knowledge of history; it is almost heart-searching from its knowledge of human nature; it has almost supernatural charity from its freedom from littleness and prejudice; it has almost the repose of faith, because nothing can startle it; it has almost the beauty and harmony of heavenly contemplation, so intimate is it with the eternal order of things and the music of the spheres. (VI.6)

 Almost . .  but not quite. Liberal education provides neither moral character nor eternal salvation; but it gets close. And faith and reason mutually support each other. One without the other is feeble or weak.

O'Malley on Blessed John Henry Newman, part 2

O'Malley comments further on Newman (in "The Thinker in the Church: The Spirit of Newman," Review of Politics, Jan. 1959, reprinted in John Henry Newman, edited by Joseph Houppert (B. Herder Books, St Louis, nd):

"Newman wished to reunite the mind and spirit, the mind and man's complete being, a unity destroyed by the rationalistic and aridly academic domination of modern thought." He sought to do this, O'Malley explains, by renewing the "importance of the intuitive, the knowledge of the heart in an age in which knowledge by logic made men sceptical." O'Malley says curiously that Newman "lived in the mind entirely," yet "his thought was alive with love and feeling: his whole being animated his mind and his utterance." Is such a thing found or tolerated in academia today? Is such a thing even thought possible in the world today? So Newman wrote as more than a "demonstrator" but as a "communicator" -- "with pulsating power and wondrous style, of the truth of existence." He struggled "valiantly to redeem the time of man and to restore the world of the fallen to the purity of its creation by God."

Thus Newman's thought is thoroughly "humanistic" O'Malley claims, but according to the theocentric humanism of a Maritain, or the "Intelligence in service to Christ the King," a la Gilson. Both are cited by O'Malley as ways to approach Newman.

Here is one of Newman's descriptions of man, natural man (From Idea of a University, §9):

Man is a being of genius, passion, intellect, conscience, power. He exercises these {230} various gifts in various ways, in great deeds, in great thoughts, in heroic acts, in hateful crimes. He founds states, he fights battles, he builds cities, he ploughs the forest, he subdues the elements, he rules his kind. He creates vast ideas, and influences many generations. He takes a thousand shapes, and undergoes a thousand fortunes. Literature records them all to the life . . . .He pours out his fervid soul in poetry; he sways to and fro, he soars, he dives, in his restless speculations; his lips drop eloquence; he touches the canvas, and it glows with beauty; he sweeps the strings, and they thrill with an ecstatic meaning. He looks back into himself, and he reads his own thoughts, and notes them down; he looks out into the universe, and tells over and celebrates the elements and principles of which it is the product. Such is man: put him aside, keep him before you; but, whatever you do, do not take him for what he is not, for something more divine and sacred, for man regenerate.

And such a man can be redeemed, and regenerate through Christ. The wounds of nature, O'Malley says, and "the mortalities of time," can be restored by the grace of Christ. O'Malley refers us to one of the single best sermons of all, "The greatness and littleness of human life," a long and pulsating passage, for the grand finale:

The regenerate soul is taken into communion with Saints and Angels, and its "life is hid with Christ in God;" [Col. iii. 3.] it has a place in God's court, and is not of this world,—looking into this world as a spectator might look at some show or pageant, except when called from time to time to take a part. And while it obeys the instinct of the senses, it does so for God's sake, and it submits itself to things of time so far as to be brought to perfection by them, that, when the veil is withdrawn and it sees itself to be, where it ever has been, in God's kingdom, it may be found worthy to enjoy it. It is this view of life, which removes from us all surprise and disappointment that it is so incomplete: as well might we expect any chance event which happens in the course of it to be complete, any casual conversation with a stranger, or the toil or amusement of an hour.

Let us then thus account of our present state: it is precious as revealing to us, amid shadows and figures, the existence and attributes of Almighty God and His elect people: it is precious, because it enables us to hold intercourse with immortal souls who are on their trial, as we are. It is momentous, as being the scene and means of our trial; but beyond this it has no claims upon us. . . .

Why should we be anxious for a long life, or wealth, or credit, or comfort, who know that the next world will be every thing which our hearts can wish, and that not in appearance only, but truly and everlastingly? Why should we rest in this world, when it is the token and promise of another? Why should we be content with its surface, instead of appropriating what is stored beneath it? To those who live by faith, every thing they see speaks of that future world; the very glories of nature, the sun, moon, and stars, and the richness and the beauty of the earth, are as types and figures witnessing and teaching the invisible things of God. All that we see is destined one day to burst forth into a heavenly bloom, and to be transfigured into immortal glory. Heaven at present is out of sight, but in due time, as snow melts and discovers what it lay upon, so will this visible creation fade away before those greater splendors which are behind it, and on which at present it depends. In that day shadows will retire, and the substance show itself. The sun will grow pale and be lost in the sky, but it will be before the radiance of Him whom it does but image, the Sun of Righteousness, with healing on His wings, who will come forth in visible form, as a bridegroom out of his chamber, as His perishable type decays. The stars which surround it will be replaced by Saints and Angels circling His throne. Above and below, the clouds of the air, the trees of the field, the waters of the great deep will be found impregnated with the forms of everlasting spirits, the servants of God which do His pleasure. And our own mortal bodies will then be found in like manner to contain within them an inner man, which will then receive its due proportions, as the soul's harmonious organ, instead of that gross mass of flesh and blood which sight and touch are sensible of. For this glorious manifestation the whole creation is at present in travail, earnestly desiring that it may be accomplished in its season.

These are thoughts to make us eagerly and devoutly say, "Come, Lord Jesus, to end the time of waiting, of darkness, of turbulence, of disputing, of sorrow, of care." These are thoughts to lead us to rejoice in every day and hour that passes, as bringing us nearer the time of His appearing, and the termination of sin and misery. 

O'Malley on Blessed John Henry Newman, part 1

Frank O'Malley was a great teacher at Notre Dame. A biography may be found on the website of the Center for Ethics and Culture (click here)

O'Malley spoke prophetically to his confreres at Notre Dame and the Catholic world in 1959 in an article on Newman. He noticed how men cry up his name, and dishonor it in their actions.

Even while we take the name of Newman, move against his spirit. We are daily capable of demonstration, systematization, “objectivity,” analysis, examination, and self-examination, not to mention administration. But we are not capable of Newman’s power of “communication,” of his “realization,” of transforming by our touch all that comes before us in human existence. We do not live in the reality, the self-subjection of the liturgy. We live by formulas and slogans and calculations. We weave arguments and wield propositions but we lack spiritual vision. We are not people of the heart, people of love. We are, as any occasion requires, narrow and partisan and prejudiced.

We like our realities to be huge, statistical and public. We seem incapable of true inwardness as well as openness, of “marveling.” We work hard to organize and mechanize the spirit, to destroy its standards and values and hierarchies. We level the spirit and bury it and, in unmarked graces, we bury ourselves with it. Our poor spirit is clearly not the rich and full spirit of Newman. It is instead the spirit of the age. But we are pharisaical. We breathe the name of Newman and incinerate his being.

I shudder to think how this is so true even today at Catholic institutions, maybe even more so. But O'Malley saw the contours of the Land of the Lakes and the chase after the secular models and standards.  So how can we really follow in Newman's way?

O'Malley says first of all we must liturgical. In liturgy we encounter the very rhythm of Christian existence, "stirred and centered by the life of Christ." Liturgy demands "self-subjection, the disciplining of the inner life, never the flagrant and chaotic cultivation of the ego in the arbitrary and capricious." How hard this for denizens of academia, both professorial  and administrative.

Quoting his beloved Newman,

Christ Himself vouchsafes to repeat in each of us in figure and mystery all that He did and suffered in the flesh. He is formed in us, born in us, suffers in us, rises again in us, lives in us; and this not by a succession of events, but all at once: for He comes to us as a Spirit, all dying, all rising again, all living. We are ever receiving our birth, our justification, our renewal, ever dying to sin, ever rising to righteousness. His whole economy in all its parts is ever in us all at once; and this divine presence constitutes the title of each of us to heaven; this is what He will acknowledge and accept at the last day. He will acknowledge Himself,—His image in us,—as though we reflected Him, and He, on looking round about, discerned at once who were His; those, namely, who gave back to Him His image.

And lastly we find in O'Malley, as in Newman, as deep awe of the real presence. In Loss and Gain we find Newman's "famous description of the marvelous Action of the Mass":

It is not a mere form of words,  —it is a great action, the greatest action that can be on earth. It is, not the invocation merely, but, if I dare use the word, the evocation of the Eternal. He becomes present on the altar in flesh and blood, before whom angels bow and devils tremble. This is that awful event which is the scope, and is the interpretation, of every part of the solemnity. Words are necessary, but as means, not as ends; they are not mere addresses to the throne of grace, they are instruments of what is far higher, of consecration, of sacrifice. They hurry on as if impatient to fulfil their mission. Quickly they go, the whole is quick; for they are all parts of one integral action. Quickly they go; for they are awful words of sacrifice, they are a work too great to delay upon; as when it was said in the beginning: 'What thou doest, do quickly'. Quickly they pass; for the Lord Jesus goes with them, as He passed along the lake in the days of His flesh, quickly calling first one and then another. Quickly they pass; because as the lightning which shineth from one part of heaven unto the other, so is the coming of the Son of Man. Quickly they pass; for they are as the words of Moses, when the Lord came down in the cloud, calling on the Name of the Lord as He passed by, 'the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth'. And as Moses on the mountain, so we too 'make haste and bow our heads to the earth, and adore'. So we, all around, each in his place, look out for the great Advent, 'waiting for the moving of the water'. Each in his place, with his own heart, with his own wants, with his own thoughts, with his own intention, with his own prayers, separate but concordant, watching what is going on, watching its progress, uniting in its consummation;—not painfully and hopelessly following a hard form of prayer from beginning to end, but, like a concert of musical instruments, each different, but concurring in a sweet harmony, we take our part with God's priest, supporting him, yet guided by him.

Lolek - The Young Wojtyla as a Man of the Beatitudes

Lolek is a play about the early life of Pope John Paul II. It is a powerful one man, two act play that captures the intensity of the life and times of Karol Wojtyla. The play was written, directed and performed by Jeremy Stanbary of Epiphany Studio Productions.

It is a very well done production. Stanbary takes up the persona of Lolek with great enthusiasm and believability, accent and all. It was as if we were looking into a portal of time to Poland and the life of Wojtyla.

The personality of Karol Wojtyla shines through; a strong, endearing man who suffered much as a young man and who responded to the call of the priesthood. The play begins with his birth in 1920, Lolek being the diminutive form of Karol, and it ends with his ordination soon after World War II.

Many things stand out. Overall, the play reveals a man who learned to live the Sermon on the Mount early in his life and his holiness grew throughout.

From his parents he learned a deep and sincere piety. His mother taught him about the Mother of God. His father prayed the rosary with the family and would pray his nightly prayer on his knees. The lived humbly in a time of distress. Blessed are the poor in spirit. He was very talented and gifted, but he showed a kindness and humility to his classmates and friends. Blessed are the meek.

Wojtyla endured great suffering as a youth. He was tried by fire. His mother died when he was 8; his beloved older brother, newly graduated as a medical doctor, died of scarlet fever when Karol was twelve; his father died during World War II. By age 21 Karol was alone in this world, an orphan, with no siblings. In the play, the recollection of the death of his brother, Edmund, was very well done. He recounted how his older brother, 14 years his senior, showed him such kindness and love, and was then snatched from life at age 26. I felt wracked with such sadness that I wanted to fall down on my knees and weep with him. From his tremendous grief, Karol did not learn bitterness but love and a deeper devotion to God and the Blessed Mother. Blessed are those who mourn. He also saw his country trampled upon by Nazis and Communists; friends and fellow citizens were beaten, arrested and killed; cultural centers were destroyed. Great evil was visited upon the land. And yet a  great hope and love of justice burned in the heart of Karol Wojtyla. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice.

Wojtyla saw up close the cultures of death and the harbingers of the modern degradation of life on a systematic scale. Only conversion to God and the descent of the Holy Spirit will redeem us and make life human and bearable. Humans must bear the burden of charity and love for their fellow man. Blessed are the merciful.

He had great potential as an actor and a man of letters. He was beloved by his peers. He listened for the word of God. He sought the will of the Father. He responded to the call to priesthood.  Blessed are the pure of heart.

In 1946 he completed his studies and on November 1, the Solemnity of All Saints he was ordained to the Priesthood. His priestly ordination was performed by Adam Cardinal Sapieha in his private chapel. The next day he celebrated his first Mass in the crypt of St. Leonard, located in Wawel Castle, Kraków, the royal residence of Poland.

The play ends with the newly ordained Wojtyla on his knees in priestly garb. Well, the Lord did not fail to honor his generosity and sacrifice. He suffered much more. His love for God and man increased. He stepped onto the largest stage of all. "All the world's a stage." And he used that stage to preach the Gospel of Christ and to be a sign of reconciliation. Blessed are the peacemakers. He was loved world-wide. But, of course, there were some who thought him "the retrograde pope, the silencing pope, the pope who has ignored the revolutionary changes" (from a PBS documentary). "Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake."

Almost 60 years later he was laid to rest in the Vatican, John Paul II the great.

Thank you to Epiphany Studio Productions and to Adore Ministries for bringing this play to Houston in memory of John Paul II.

“Sancto subito!” or “Sainthood Now!” 

Maritain on the terrible sign which the Council has inscribed upon the wall

Jacques Maritain understands Vatican II as a long culmination following ten centuries of Church history. I cannot here recount his deep analysis of the inquisition and crusades in On the Church of Christ; it is the most profound extraction of its rationale, its error and its spiritual significance. Maritain ends his analysis by noting that the Church must always fight heresy, and heresy is rampant today. Most of all he says we need the witness of truth in charity. Here are his concluding thoughts:

The Council made itself heard at the term of a long process which led to a complete reorientation, to a revolution with regard to ten centuries of history. To tell the truth, what is called for there is simply to return in an explicit prise de conscience to that which in the real life itself and the profoundly lived experience of the Church has always held the first place: has she not for soul grace with its free gifts, for life the love of charity? . . .

The defense against heresy, which remains always for the Church a supreme duty, has ceased to be the purely and simply supreme and absolutely first concern. That which, according to the teaching of the Council, must henceforth be for the personnel of the Church the absolutely first concern is the love of Christ (His love for us, and our love for Him) to be manifested to men, and the truth of Christ to be communicated to them. . . .

Meanwhile, it remains nevertheless singularly desirable that when they touch upon things where nothing has sense except through the love of Christ, -- which caused Him to die on the Cross, -- and through the truth of Christ, -- that truth in order to bear testimony to which He came into the world, -- men, and especially Churchmen, know a little of what they are speaking. The great renewal called for by the Council is first and above all, and in an absolutely necessary manner, an interior renewal, in living faith. In its absence there is nothing to be hoped. Such is the terrible sign which the Council has inscribed upon the wall.

It is by the soul, in which God dwells secretly, that it is necessary to begin, and for this it is necessary first to believe in the soul. It is to the plenitude of supernatural charity that it is necessary to aspire, and for this it is necessary first to believe in the supernatural order and in grace. It is to the truth hidden in the transcendent God, and revealed by Christ to His Church, that it is necessary to adhere with all one's heart, and for this it is necessary first to believe in the transcendence of God and in the Church of Christ. It is to prayer and to the life of prayer that it is necessary above all to give oneself, and for this it is necessary first to believe truly in prayer. It is the Cross of Jesus that it is necessary to embrace, and for this it is necessary first to believe truly in the Incarnation of the uncreated Word, and in redemption through the Cross.

 See On the Church of Christ, chapter XIII, found here (and surrounding chapters)

John Paul II On Evil and Suffering

A student at UST, Joseph Ramos, was the leader for a discussion of the theme of evil and suffering in Crossing the Threshold of Hope. He found an interesting passage in Salvifici doloris that captures the key insight of Pope John Paul II:

Even though Paul, in the Letter to the Romans, wrote that "the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now", even though man knows and is close to the sufferings of the animal world, nevertheless what we express by the word "suffering" seems to be particularly essential to the nature of man. It is as deep as man himself, precisely because it manifests in its own way that depth which is proper to man, and in its own way surpasses it. Suffering seems to belong to man's transcendence: it is one of those points in which man is in a certain sense "destined" to go beyond himself, and he is called to this in a mysterious way. §2

Joseph pointed out that John Paul II has said, it has been shown throughout history that evil has caused mankind to question the existence of God and the nature of his existence. For example, every religion on earth, or the denial of such religions, is precisely the result of a conclusion about the nature of God and his existence.

These passages from Crossing the Threshold of Hope are worth pondering: “ God . . . desires to justify himself to mankind.” (62);  “His wisdom and omnipotence are placed by free choice at the service of creation.”(63) ; “If suffering is present in the history of humanity, one understands why his omnipotence was manifested in the omnipotence of humiliation on the Cross.”; “Christ is proof of God’s solidarity with man in his suffering”. In calling our attention to the true location of the omnipotence of God in the humiliation of the Cross, John Paul II is returning to the question concerning how we must understand God’s essence. What does it mean if God’s power is most perfectly manifest in the humiliation of the Cross?

Joseph proposed that the paschal mystery is as much a revelation of the nature of God as any other theophany. The paschal mystery reveal to us something about the life of God. It reveals something that had never previously been said of God: God suffers--even at the hands of sinners, those whose existence is dependent on Him! If suffering is an aspect of the divine life, it follows that suffering must be a transcendent property of human life.

Maritain on Christian Philosophy

Pope John Paul II commends Jacques Maritain in his Fides et ratio:

We see the same fruitful relationship between philosophy and the word of God in the courageous research pursued by more recent thinkers, among whom I gladly mention, in a Western context, figures such as John Henry Newman, Antonio Rosmini, Jacques Maritain, Etienne Gilson and Edith Stein .  .  .  [they] offer significant examples of a process of philosophical enquiry which was enriched by engaging the data of faith. One thing is certain: attention to the spiritual journey of these masters can only give greater momentum to both the search for truth and the effort to apply the results of that search to the service of humanity. It is to be hoped that now and in the future there will be those who continue to cultivate this great philosophical and theological tradition for the good of both the Church and humanity.

I recently had reason to re-read some passages by Jacques Maritain. In one of his last works, Approach without Shackles or Untrammelled Approaches, he questions whether we ought to use the term "Christian philosophy" because it may suggest a form of dictation or a shackle on the work of reason. But Christian philosophy liberates the intelligence. So Maritain admits he is too harsh to criticize the phrase "Christian philosophy." Obviously there is something called Christian philosophy, as long as Christians philosophize. Maritain is clear about this -

After all, a Christian can be a philosopher. And if he believes that, in order to philosophize, he should lock his faith up in a strongbox- that is, should cease being a Christian while he philosophizes -- he is maiming himself, which is no good (all the more as philosophizing takes up the better part of his time). He is also deluding himself, for these kinds of strongboxes have always poor locks. But if, while he philosophizes, he does not shut his faith up in a strongbox, he is philosophizing in faith, willy-nilly. It is better that he should be aware of it. When one becomes aware of it, then one is forced to admit that there is a "Christian philosophy." It is philosophy, and its work is a work of reason, but it is in a better position to perform its work of reason.  Peasant of Garonne, p. 142

It would be absurd impugn the notion of Christian philosophy , perhaps because it is an embarassment among the secularists, or perhaps it demands that we come to know and live our faith. Philosophers have many reasons they may resist the light of faith. The great Peter Geatch even said that he was afraid that Christian who philosophizes could apostasize. We saw what Newman says about the "high Lords of Light," demons in the Gerontius. The ancient pride of Adam, and Lucifer, raises high his head, when our Lord praises the little ones to whom the Father has revealed the secrets of the kingdom. So faith actually sets the philosopher free; free from the cursed pride, free from the endless subtlety, free from the games of sophistry, and free from the moral disorders that pull the soaring mind to earth to crash in the roughs and bogs of passion and self-seeking. No, our friend Jacques would never pull back from the life of Christian philosophy. He just wants us to understand what a great gift it is. So after admitting that he was lacking in gentleness, here is his reformulation of the issue:

Given the naturally high estate proper to philosophical problems and at the same time the limitations of human intelligence, as well as the wounds of nature which affect the human mind itself, we should not be surprised that even among the greatest minds philosophy considered simply as such might very well become a stumbling block. .  .  .  .  And when, thanks to the efforts of Albert the Great and of St. Thomas (and these two men alone were able to carry it off), Aristotle entered into the service of theology, in the midst of astonishingly contrary circumstances and at the cost of how many battles, an immensely important turning point in history was passed which saved the Christian intelligence and its entire future. Whether there is question of a philosopher or of any man of faith, that faith impregnates the Christian intelligence completely. It deputizes philosophical reason to the single search for Truth, delivering it from its subjection to the world and from any form of servility to the fashions of the times. This is why what we call "Christian philosophy" is a philosophy set free, and ought to be called philosophy understood fully as such.

The Catholic university needs to nurture and raise up such thinkers. St Thomas is their guide.

The philosophy of St. Thomas (and especially his metaphysics) is not merely a Christian philosophy, but is the Christian philosophy par excellence.  .  .  . "For us to repeat what Thomas Aquinas did" means, in reality, "to descend once more from revealed truth to the philosophies of our time in order to enlighten them, purify them” and ransom the truths they hold captive." An immense task," as Gilson wrote, "but one in which Thomas Aquinas has gone before us and can still show us the way." In this immense task, he can of course show us the way, provided we go forward with him. And this is dreadfully urgent. Peasant of Garonne, p. 146

May the Lord preserve the Center for Thomistic Studies at the University of St. Thomas, and may their faculty remain true to their faith and be authentic Christian philosophers.

Pope John Paul II on suffering and the rejection of God

In Crossing the Threshold of Hope, Pope John Paul II makes a profound comment about those who reject religion because of evil and the problem of suffering. (read chapter, "Why does God tolerate suffering?" -- see text here and scroll down to the chapter) He says that they set themselves up as the judge of God, and in turn judge themselves. He says there is an "underhanded conspiracy." I think of the spate of  books pretending to be objective and reject religion and God. They fear a God of love, the Pope said.

Therefore, the condemnation of God by man is not based on the truth, but on arrogance, on an underhanded conspiracy. Isn't this the truth about the history of humanity, the truth about our century? In our time the same condemnation has been repeated in many courts of oppressive totalitarian regimes. And isn't it also being repeated in the parliaments of democracies where, for example, laws are regularly passed condemning to death a person not yet born?

And is it not found in the scientists and celebreties who publish their scribbles denouncing God. Pilate at least had some dignity of office (which he squandered). These men put out their own shingle and get paid handsomely for their travesty.

Here is the truth they miss. "God is always on the side of the suffering. His omnipotence is manifested precisely in the fact that . .

He freely accepted suffering. He could have chosen not to do so. He could have chosen to demonstrate His omnipotence even at the moment of the Crucifixion. In fact, it was proposed to Him: "Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe" (Mk 15:32). But He did not accept that challenge. The fact that He stayed on the Cross until the end, the fact that on the Cross He could say, as do all who suffer: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mk 15:34), has remained in human history the strongest argument. If the agony on the Cross had not happened, the truth that God is Love would have been unfounded.

The late  Fr Jaki would say that Darwinianism should be attacked on its despair over the meaning of life and its cruel rejection of love. "The judgment of God becomes a judgment of man."

The Man of Suffering is the revelation of that Love which "endures all things" (1 Cor 13:7), of that Love which is the "greatest" (cf. 1 Cor 13:13). It is the revelation not only that God is Love but also the One who "pours out love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit" (cf. Rom 5:5). In the end, before Christ Crucified, the man who shares in redemption will have the advantage over the man who sets himself up as an unbending judge of God's actions in his own life as well as in that of all humanity.

Augustine frequently cited Romans 5.5 to explain the grace of God. We are helpless before our own cruelty, sin, despair. But the God who is Love is also the One who "pours out love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit."

Thus we find ourselves at the center of the history of salvation. The judgment of God becomes a judgment of man. The divine realm and the human realm of this event meet, cross, and overlap. Here we must stop. From the Mount of the Beatitudes, the road of the Good News leads to Calvary, and passes through Mount Tabor, the Mount of the Transfiguration. The difficulty and the challenge of understanding the meaning of Calvary is so great that God Himself wanted to warn the apostles of all that would have to happen between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

We do indeed stand at the center of the history of salvation. The judges of God become more numerous and they clamor for his blood. But the friends of the beatitudes also increase. From the "mount of the Beatitudes" we can know the truth about life and verify it daily, on that road to Calvary. Blessed are the poor in spirit . .  . Pope John Paul II live the life of the Beatitudes and he radiated joy and confidence.

Pope John Paul II on Mission

To conclude the meditation of Catholic Action -- we should consider comments by Pope John Paul II on mission. The more limited notion of Catholic Action now becomes a call to evangelization, and re-evangelization of the Catholic population itself.

The entire mission of the Church, then, is concentrated and manifested in evangelization. Through the winding passages of history the Church has made her way under the grace and the command of Jesus Christ: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation" (Mk 16:15). "...and lo, I am with you always, until the close of the age" (Mt 28:20). "To evangelize," writes Paul VI, "is the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her most profound identity." . .

the "good news" is directed to stirring a person to a conversion of heart and life and a clinging to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; to disposing a person to receive Baptism and the Eucharist and to strengthen a person in the prospect and realization of new life according to the Spirit.

Certainly the command of Jesus: "Go and preach the Gospel" always maintains its vital value and its ever-pressing obligation. Nevertheless, the present situation, not only of the world but also of many parts of the Church, absolutely demands that the word of Christ receive a more ready and generous obedience. Every disciple is personally called by name; no disciple can withhold making a response: "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel'' (I Cor 9:16).

The Hour has Come for a Re-evangelization Whole countries and nations where religion and the Christian life were formerly flourishing and capable of fostering a viable and working community of faith are now put to a hard test, and in some cases are even undergoing a radical transformation as a result of a constant spreading of an indifference to religion, of secularism and atheism. This particularly concerns countries and nations of the so-called First World in which economic well-being and consumerism, even if coexistent with a tragic situation of poverty and misery, inspires and sustains a life lived "as if God did not exist." This indifference to religion and the practice of religion devoid of true meaning in the face of life's very serious problems are not less worrying and upsetting when compared with declared atheism.

Maritain on Catholic Action, part 3

Maritain notes that “the most sincere love risks not performing any good, or even performing a great deal of evil, unless it passes through the Word and through Truth.” The lay apostle must be intellectually formed. This is the work of Maritain’s intellectual life: “An immense and difficult task here imposes itself upon Christian intelligence.  . . the effort must be freed from these myths and errors” such as individualism, original goodness, progress, majoritarianism and the like. The achievements of the modern age must be radically challenged, not to create some new synthesis, but to purify them through Catholic doctrine. Here is a summary of his political philosophy: “the criticism of liberalism must lead to a doctrine of  the pluralistic state, the criticism of  anarchic democracy to a doctrine of an organic and personalist democracy, the criticism of anthropocentrism to a doctrine of integral humanism.” On the positive side, the various sectors must be analyzed through ethics  and the ethical must become theological: “Let us not forget that the social, the economic, and the political, are intrinsically dependent on ethics, and that, by this title, for this formal reason, the social, the political, and the economic, are concerned with eternal life, and therefore with the pastoral ministry of  the Church.”  The Catholic mind must be illuminated by a doctrinal firmament and so relies upon theological wisdom.

Cardinal Wojtyla becomes Pope John Paul II!!

Check out the video on elevation of Karol Wojtyla to the papacy in 1978
Deo gratias!!!

click here

Maritain on Catholic Action, part 2

The second thing Maritain observes about Catholic action is that it will overcome the “separatism and dualism which have reigned too long in the Christian world.” Modernity has fractured life: “the Christian world obeyed two opposed rhythms, a Christian rhythm in matters of worship and religion, and, at least among better men, in things of the interior life; and a naturalistic rhythm in things of  the profane life, the social, economic and political life, things too long abandoned to their proper carnal law.” An “organic and vital unity” must be restored. Maritain argued against the dualism and separatism from the beginning of his career. Catholic action is a “precious sign” and actually “efficacious” of the restoration.

Pope John Paul II gives an example of this restoration of the unity of faith and life in his letter to the Americas:

“On a continent marked by competition and aggressiveness, unbridled consumerism and corruption, lay people are called to embody deeply evangelical values such as mercy, forgiveness, honesty, transparency of heart and patience in difficult situations. What is expected from the laity is a great creative effort in activities and works demonstrating a life in harmony with the Gospel.” (Ecclesia in America #44)

Pope Pius XI called Catholic Action the “apple of his eye.” The Fathers at Vatican II challenged Christians to overcome the split between faith and life.  Maritain's remarks on Catholic Action help us to understand the continuity of the Church's attempt to engage secular and modern culture from within.

Maritain on Catholic Action, part 1

Maritain envisioned a level of action, where “the spiritual is considered as joined to the temporal.” Here the action of  the Christian belongs  also to the apostolate, “but to the apostolate as touching things of  earth; I mean so far as it has for its purpose to infuse evangelical vitality into the temporal life.”




He made a series of four remarks about Catholic Action.

First, Maritain says that those who engage in Catholic Action must be rooted in prayer. In deed, Catholic Action springs from prayer. He said: “I have always insist that all souls are called in some degree to the contemplation of the saints, which, because it is a contemplation of love, abounds in action. But now, and as corresponding to this call of God deep in our hearts, we are to meditate on another call, the call to action, apostolic action, which the Church addresses in some degree to all the faithful.” But Catholic action depends upon contemplation. As an apostolic work, by its very nature, Catholic action must  “proceed from a superabundance of contemplation.” It may not be contemplation in its “typical and sublime form,” but at least “masked contemplation.” It is the Holy Spirit who must form Catholic action.

Maritain has a very eloquent and important statement about the spirit of Catholic Action:

Behold of  what spirit they are, who enter the lists for Catholic action. This spirit requires them to turn first toward wisdom and contemplation. This spirit is by definition an evangelical spirit. It does not ask us to train troops so as to execute orders at beck and call, disregarding or denying the 'interior man' and his conscience in order to act, to speak, to write or vote as the journal of  a party prescribes; it asks us to prepare human persons to understand in the depths of  their conscience the word of  the Church herself and to discern the meaning of  it.

Although Catholic Action in the 1930s and 40s was more of an organization spreading across many nations, Maritain understood the importance of personal initiative. It was not to be a party spirit that animates it.

The last line indicates the great function of Catholic education if evangelization is to be an outcome for the process: “To prepare human persons to understand in the depths of  their conscience the word of  the Church herself and to discern the meaning of  it.” The prayer is based on contemplation and love of God. The prayer allows the person to seek God and discern the depth of conscience, that "herald of God."

Newman on Enlargement of Mind

Newman says that education should aim at "true enlargement of mind." He discusses what this “enlargement” might be through a series of experiences -- what does one experience the first time he discovers something new -- not necessarily through reading alone but through the other senses such as by traveling, looking in a telescope, beholding strange animals, meeting peoples from other cultures, abandoning religious views, acquiring religious views. Newman’s prose induces in the reader that primary sense of wonder. Travel from England to the mountains, the Alps perhaps; travel from a quiet village to a bustling metropolis; one is “borne forward and find[s] for a time that he has lost his bearings.” Or again, he says in viewing the heavens through a telescope one may experience something to make the mind “almost whirl around and make it dizzy.” Strange animals in their “strangeness and originality” may “throw us out of ourselves into another creation.” Physical science in revealing “exuberant riches and resources” elevates, excites, “almost takes away his breath.”I think of Newman’s contemporary Gerard Manley Hopkins who writes in “Hurrahing in the Harvest” :

SUMMER ends now; now, barbarous in beauty, the stooks arise
Around; up above, what wind-walks! what lovely behaviour
Of silk-sack clouds! has wilder, wilful-wavier
Meal-drift moulded ever and melted across skies?
I walk, I lift up, I lift up heart, eyes,	5
Down all that glory in the heavens to glean our Saviour;
And, éyes, heárt, what looks, what lips yet gave you a
Rapturous love’s greeting of realer, of rounder replies?
And the azurous hung hills are his world-wielding shoulder
Majestic—as a stallion stalwart, very-violet-sweet!—	10
These things, these things were here and but the beholder
Wanting; which two when they once meet,
The heart rears wings bold and bolder
And hurls for him, O half hurls earth for him off under his feet.

There is an ecstatic dimension to Newman's idea of enlargement -- and of faith as well. He uses images of being thrown forward or upward. Surprisingly Newman examines both the loss of religious belief and the acquisition (conversion) of religious belief as experiences of enlargement -- wonder at the mystery of the things and the sense of liberation from narrowness and confines of previous settled opinion. Both allow one the opportunity to examine opinion and make an ascent.  But the examination, the new seeing, the envisioning of possibility, but be further worked over -- “the enlargement consists not merely in passive reception into the mind of a number of ideas hitherto unknown to it, but in the mind’s energetic and simultaneous action upon and towards and among those new ideas.” (VI.5).
Liberal education requires the “action of a formative power, reducing to order and meaning the matter of our acquirements.” This means that  for enlargement to occur, this knowledge must be made our own.  But this is no mere subjective appropriation; its requires that dialectical ascent -- there  must be “comparison of ideas with another.” It is not the “mere addition to our knowledge that is the illumination; but the locomotion, the movement onwards, of that mental center, to which both what we know, and what we are learning, the accumulating mass of our acquirements, gravitates.”

Newman names the great intellects of mankind (the likes of Aristotle, Aquinas, Newton, Goethe) as having a mind which could take a “connected view of old and new, past and present, far and near, and which has an insight into the influence of all these one on another; without which there is no whole, no center.”  (VI.5). Newman criticizes then those who merely memorize facts -- they are like a dictionary with no grammar; antiquarians, annalists, naturalists -- all of whom have fact with no philosophy, or knowledge of relation and connection. And to add a concluding note, Newman proposes for our thought a humorous but profound counterpoint -- that of  seafaring men (with due respect to the Navy officer) who

range from one of the earth to the other; but the multiplicity of external objects, which they have encountered, forms no symmetrical and consistent picture upon their imagination; they see the tapestry of human life, as it were on the wrong side, and it tells no story. They sleep, and they rise up, and they find themselves now in Europe, now in Asia; they see visions of great cities and wild regions; they are in marts of commerce, or amid the islands of the south; they gaze on Pompey’s Pillar, or on the Andes; and nothing which meets them carries them forward or backward, to any idea beyond itself. Nothing has a drift or relation; nothing has a history or a promise. Everything stands by itself, and comes and goes in its turn, like the shifting scenes of a show, which leaves the spectator where he was. (VI.5)

Is this not a parable describing our student in the midst of contemporary higher education, experienced and jaded beyond their years by multi-culturalism or reduced to mere spectators at the latest deconstructive sport of their professors? They view the tapestry from the wrong side (reductionism) and have no story. Nothing has history or promise; these are Bloom’s souls without longing. They have no formative power; they have no center; they cannot even begin to recollect and trace the lines of the great circle of knowledge which Newman sees as the joy of liberal arts education.  He goes on to say you may be near such a man and

expect him to be shocked or perplexed at something which occurs; but one thing is much the same to him as another, or, if he is perplexed, it is as not knowing what to say, whether it be right to admire, or to ridicule, or to disapprove, while conscious that some expression of opinion is expected from him; for in fact he has no standard of judgment at all, and no landmarks to guide him to a conclusion. Such is mere acquisition, and, I repeat, no one would dream of calling it philosophy.

Again can we not see the contemporary educated teacher and student? There is no standard of judgment. There is no capacity to disapprove, no capacity to truly admire. We ridicule everything, and become cynics; or we admire everything and become facile.  The way to enlargement of mind is to find the center. The center is God; it is through theology one is ultimately educated in liberal arts. Paradoxically, the embrace of dogma leads to the true enlargement of mind.

Blessed John XXIII and Vatican II

I share three good quotes on the intention of Vatican II.

1.1. "The greatest concern of an ecumenical council is that the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine be guarded and taught by more effective understanding." Blessed Pope John XXIII

Comment: In other words, the intention was not change doctrine, but to guard it and equip the faithful to better understand the deposit of faith.

1.2. "The sacred Council has set out to impart an ever-increasing vigor to the Christian life of the faithful; to adapt more closely to the needs of our age those institutions which are subject to change; to foster whatever can promote union among all who believe in Christ; to strengthen whatever can help to call all mankind into the Church's fold." On Liturgy, #1

Comment:  evangelization is the purpose to the Council, first through witness of life; and thus we need to emphasize even re-evangelization; some institutional features do need to change -- the liturgy is not mentioned here, it is not an institution; opening up the college of Cardinals to greater international participation is an example; union among Christians is a mandate, done properly of course (See Ut Unum Sint); evangleization is clear in the last item as well.

1.3 "Our council will hand down to posterity an image of the Church: this hall filled with holy pastors who profess the same faith and breathe out the same love; who are joined together in a society of prayer, discipline, and an eager devotion to the task; and who all -- what is truly remarkable -- have a single wish, namely to offer themselves like Christ, their teacher and Lord, for the life of the Church and the salvation of the world. But our council hands down to posterity not only an image of the Church, but also the patrimony of her doctrine and precepts, the deposit entrusted to her by Christ himself. Her people have constantly reflected on this deposit through the centuries and have turned it into their own flesh and blood, as it were, by giving it expression in their way of life. This deposit of faith is now illuminated in so many of its parts and has come to be established and arranged in its fullness and integrity. This living deposit of faith constituted by the divine power of truth and grace is capable of giving life to everyone who receives it devoutly and by it nourishes his own life." Pope Paul VI, Closing Homily

Comment: This is a powerful and inspiring statement by Pope Paul VI. It is apparent how great is his love of "the patrimony of her doctrine and precepts, the deposit entrusted to her by Christ himself." How important is this notion of the deposit of faith -- it is our treasure. The liberals did seek to squander it and hide it after the council, but that was not the intent. What a great endorsement of the task of theology: "This deposit of faith is now illuminated in so many of its parts and has come to be established and arranged in its fullness and integrity." Fullness and integrity are a thing of beauty -- and it is efficacious if studied with the love of wisdom and holiness: "This living deposit of faith constituted by the divine power of truth and grace is capable of giving life to everyone who receives it devoutly and by it nourishes his own life." Last words of the council are a challenge to us. No need to blame the liberals as I just did, or blame the sixties etc. Here it is: do we receive devoutly the truth and grace of God? Period. Do we give thanks every day for how our lives are nourished by it?

Guardini as a "Pilgrim of the Absolute"

Romano Guardini is famous for his book The Spirit of the Liturgy, a work which influenced Pope Benedict XVI to write his own book of the same title. Back in the 1940s Sheed and Ward published a nice paperback version of it which included The Church and the Catholic, another masterpiece that is extremely hard to find.In this book Guardini makes some profound statements about being a Catholic, describing the liberation that results from personal growth in Catholic life (The truth shall make you free). In the conclusion he proclaims this notion that would surprise those who are influenced by contemporary liberal opinion:

Genuine Catholicity, which is seriously convinced of the supernatural and dogmatic character of Catholicism, is the most open-minded and the most comprehensive attitude, in existence. (p. 114)

But paradoxically he says in The End of the Modern World, the man of the new age must  accept "absolute demands." Thus, the CAtholic of the new millenium is "definitely un-liberal, which does not mean he has no respect for freedom. The 'Liberal' attitude is that which declines to incorporate absolutes into existence because their either-or engenders struggle. It is far easier to see things in any light, the 'only important thing' being 'life' and 'getting along with others.' Values and ideas are but personal opinion." (pp. 201-202)

So in The Church and the Catholic Guardini says we must realize "how deeply we are sunk in relativism." (Did Pope Benedict first formulate his notion of the dictatorship of relativism after reading Guardini?) Guardini explains that relativism is precisely the denial of an absolute, or at least an attempt to  "restrict the influence" of absolutes (which by definition is to deny its absoluteness). Such people are adrift, they temporize. "Man becomes uncertain and vacillating. His judgments are no longer steady, his valuations are hesitating. He is no longer capable of action based on firm conviction and certain of its aim. He is at the mercy of fashions. . . fluctuations of opinions . . . moods." In short, Guardini wishes to show us how relativism destroys character and leadership: "he cannot overcome error by truth, evil and weakness by moral strength, the inconstancy of the masses by great ideas and responsible leadership." (pp. 59-60)

The Church stands as a breakwater against the tides of relativism. (p. 75) It does so by confronting us with the Absolute or the "unconditioned." Her dogma, her morals, and her liturgy are three "essential expressions of the absolute." Guardini warns that neither philosophy, nor culture, will release us from our lack of freedom, from the one-sidedness and relativism of the modern age. Only the eternal, independent Church can do so, for "she is the one living organism which is not one sided in its essential nature" (p. 87). Guardini fills in much detail. The Spirit of the Liturgy fulfills one dimension of this life. And this he arrives at the conclusion stated at the outset concerning the open-minded character of the Catholic mind. To be open minded, he claims, means "the intellectual outlook which sees and values all objects as they really are."

So I cannot help thinking -- how should we educate leaders of faith and character? Teach them the absolutes of Catholic faith. Immerse them in the dogma, morality, and liturgy of the Church. A radical notion -- and untried. Sounds strange to Catholic ears and no doubt oppressive to liberal ears. But we should at least ask -- can one base education for leaders of faith and character on the denial of the absolute, or can true education be provided by those who squint at "the absolute demands" Guardini says should characterize the leader in the new age?

Guardini queries us further, "Is her inner nature visible in her members?" No one can evade that question, he says. He also says that "we are all responsible" for the Church, each in his own way. "Upon each one of us depends the degree of harmony between the nature of the Church and her outward semblance."

"It requires the vision of love and of faith to see the inner nature of the Church beneath expressions so often defective."

Vatican II on Catholic Action

In a document titled Apostolate of the Laity there is a brief discussion of Catholic Action:

These types of apostolate, whether or not they go by the name of Catholic Action, are today doing a work of much value. They are constituted by the combination of all the following characteristics:

(a) The immediate end of organizations of this class is the apostolic end of the Church; in other words: the evangelization and sanctification of men and the Christian formation of their conscience,so as to enable them to imbue with the Gospel spirit the various social groups and environments.
(b) The laity, cooperating in their own particular way with the hierarchy, contribute their experience and assume responsibility in the direction of these organizations, in the investigation of the conditions in which the Church's pastoral work is to be carried on, in the elaboration and execution of their plan of action.
(c) The laity act in unison after the manner of an organic body, to display more strikingly the community aspect of the Church and to render the apostolate more productive.
(d) The laity, whether coming of their own accord or in response to an invitation to action and direct cooperation with the hierarchical apostolate, act under the superior direction of the hierarchy, which can authorize this cooperation, besides, with an explicit mandate.

Organization which, in the judgment of the hierarchy, combine all these elements should be regarded as Catholic Action, even if they have forms and names that vary according too the requirements of localities and peoples.

The council most earnestly commends those institutions which certainly meet the requirements of the Church's apostolate in many countries; it invites the priests and laity working in them to develop more and more the characteristics mentioned above, and always to give brotherly cooperation in the Church to all other forms of the apostolate.

Pius XI on Catholic Action

Pope Pius XI

Maritain's summary of Catholic Action according to Pope Pius XI account is as follows:

What is new is the insistence with which Pius XI has clarified the nature of Catholic action, precisely stated its meaning and made its applications explicit, the central, essential importance which he attaches to Catholic action, his affirmed will to develop it everywhere, the solicitude with which he watches over it. Has he not said that it is as dear to him as the apple of his eye? Has he not written of Catholic action that it is that which the "supreme Head of religion is known to prize and cherish most?" And recently he said yet again: "Whoever strikes Catholic action, strikes the Pope." (And he added: "Whoever strikes the Pope, dies.") He himself has given, and with especial solemnity, the definition, which has now become classic, of Catholic action: "participation by the laity in the hierarchical apostolate," and again: "Catholic action in sum is nothing other than the apostolate of the faithful, who, under the guidance of their bishops, put themselves at the service of the Church and assist her in the integral fulfillment of her pastoral ministry." These words, which should be retained and carefully weighed, show how far, in the thought of the Pope, Catholic action is a thing of the Church and has the same finalities as the Church's pastoral ministry itself: laymen are called to assist the Church in the integral fulfillment of her pastoral office; they are called to the apostolate, to that same apostolate with which Christ has charged the Twelve and their successors; and they receive for this an explicit mission. I have always insist that all souls are called in some degree to the contemplation of the saints, which, because it is a contemplation of love, abounds in action. But now, and as corresponding to this call of God deep in our hearts, we are to meditate on another call, the call to action, apostolic action, which the Church addresses in some degree to all the faithful.

"Catholic Action and Political Action: On the Three Levels of Action"
Scholasticism and Politics, (1939)

Yves Congar explains that since the French Revolution the idea and practice of Catholic Action has been underway as a way to confront "aggressive and widespread unbelief, the disappearance of props to the faith provided by political power." The structures of the world are separated from Christ by "hostilility or indifference", full of new forces, unknown values, heedless, often ignorant of Catholic faith. Lay People in the Church, (1956) p. 359

Congar continues: With Pius XI Catholic Action took on a new tone and meaning, along three lines: "i. the insistence on the properly apostolic nature of Catholic Action; ii. the generalized character of the appeal and the wide scope of the movement; iii. the pronounced aspect of a lay task, corresponding to the Christian's engagement in the more clearly recognized secular field." p. 362

Vatican II outlined this concept and task with great precision and depth; Pope John Paul II perfected the account with his stirring call for lay apostolate in Christfideles laici (1988). Again we see confirmation of Benedict's Hermeneutic of Continuity in this development by way of deepening.

Brief Anecdote on the Hermeneutic of Continuity

From approximately 1988-1992 I served as Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Theology at the College of St Francis in Joliet, Illinois. As part of an effort to beef up the department and strengthen the Catholic identity of the College, by order of the President, I hired three new people to teach theology. One of them was a recent convert named Scott Hahn. Scott took on the assignments with great gusto and verve (as did the other two as well). For an introduction to theology course Scott compiled an impressive list of readings for the students, including The Catechism of Christian Doctrine by one Pope St. Pius X. The students were also reading the Bible, some excerpts from Vatican II, Augustine, Aquinas et al.

One afternoon as I was preparing a class on Plato's Republic, a sister from the sponsoring religious order came flying into my office and angrily demanded to know why Mr. Hahn was using the Catechism of Pope Pius X? She insisted that he CANNOT do that! I was taken by surprise and felt put on the defensive, so I sputtered but that would be Pope SAINT Pius X, and what could be wrong with reading him? (I believe it was ST. Philip Neri who urged his followers to select books by auhors whose name began with an "S" e.g., Saint Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas etc.) But then I realized I had to engage the issue, so I asked "why"? The answer was that Vatican II has superseded the pre-Vatican II theology (by definition?) and it was inappropriate to continue to use the text. I expressed my scepticism about that view of things, but pointed to the many other fine books he was using (such as Vatican II) and made some gesture towards the principle of academic freedom for professors to use their professional judgment in the classroom. She was not convinced and we parted. I was put on notice, the venture in strengthening the Catholic identity at the institution was a precarious one.

I should have inquired further -- exactly what has been superseded? There may be two possible answers I could think of -- one, pertains to Doctrine. I do not know how one could maintain doctrine has changed, but I have heard some say (at that time prior to the Catechism of John Paul II) that certain doctrines were either dropped or put at the margins -- such as mortal sin, purgatory, sacrifice at the altar (meal is more suitable today) and the like. Or perhaps the dread of the pre-Vatican material was its style and format. Pope St Pius X used a question/answer format requiring memorization of answers. See it here. Post-Vatican II catechetics pretty much eliminated memorization and strong cognitive content of the faith. The balance is yet to be restore. Of course, Pope John Paul II attempted to rectify this situation in his letter on catechetics.

Among other things he emphasized integrity of content (leave nothing out) and he did insist on a use of memory.

In order that the sacrificial offering of his or her faith should be perfect, the person who becomes a disciple of Christ has the right to receive"the word of faith" not in mutilated, falsified or diminished form but whole and entire, in all its rigor and vigor. Unfaithfulness on some point to the integrity of the message means a dangerous weakening of catechesis and putting at risk the results that Christ and the ecclesial community have a right to expect from it. Catechesi tradendae

I owe much to Scott Hahn for bringing this book to my attention. Of even greater note is that Catechism of Trent. It is a beautiful and powerful work, still worth reading from cover to cover. I will save that for a later day.

Pope Saint Pius X on Catholic Action

To find further points of congruity between the teachings of Vatican II and the great Popes of the early 20th century is not only edifying for the truth of the faith discovered and confirmed, but also instructive for the those who may still harbor some notion of the discontinuity and fragmentation of the Church by Vatican II. The liberals and conservatives who  wish to point a finger at each other, need to do some self-examination. Peter continues to encourage us in the faith and challenge us to take up the task of evangelization. A case in point is Pope Saint Pius X initiatives concerning Catholic Action. Now we speak of lay apostolate; in fact, the Decree on Lay Apostolic is a true hinge of the documents Vatican II. In a series of posts I would like to discuss the concept and challenge of Catholic Action and Lay Apostolate.

A story was told about Pope Pius X -- he was speaking with a group of Cardinals and he asked them what they thought was the things most necessary at the present time to save society. [Obviously they need Christ, but how?] Some responded, "Build more Churches." Another, "Build Catholic schools." "But" countered a third, "we need more priests." "No, no" Pope Pius reportedly said, "what is most necessary at the present time is to have in every parish a group of laymen who are at the same time virtuous, well-instructed, determined, and really apostolic." [Katherine Burton, The Great Mantle, 1950, pp. 179-180]

The great motto of Pius X was "To restore all things in Christ." It is from Ephesians, i., 10, in latin -- "instaurare omnia in Christo." It could be renew all things in Christ. It is appropriate that he was a great champion of the reception of the Eucharist -- Fr G. Vann, OP. wrote:

The Eucharist is the greatest restoring power in the world, and for the world : in it all things are made new. It is then the greatest affirmation of the value of created things, of their goodness, for if anything were wholly evil it could not be restored; and so it is the great affirmation also of the unity of all things in that single act of worship and sacrifice which is the Cross.

Through Catholic Action the great restoration of all things to Christ would gain its ground. The Pope is till waiting for his laymen. It is a "vast work" or a "vast field" -- we hear this from Pius X to Vatican II and John Paul II.

Here is Pope Saint Pius X in his encyclical on Catholic Action to the Bishops of Italy, written in 1905:

The field of Catholic Action is extremely vast. In itself it does not exclude anything, in any manner, direct or indirect, which pertains to the divine mission of the Church. Accordingly one can plainly see how necessary it is for everyone to cooperate in such an important work, not only for the sanctification of his own soul, but also for the extension and increase of the Kingdom of God in individuals, families, and society; each one working according to his energy for the good of his neighbor by the propagation of revealed truth, by the exercise of Christian virtues, by the exercise of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

But the instrument must be prepared for the job:

Only when he has formed Jesus Christ in himself shall he more easily be able to restore Him to the family and society. Therefore, all who are called upon to direct or dedicate themselves to the Catholic cause, must be sound Catholics, firm in faith, solidly instructed in religious matters, truly submissive to the Church and especially to this supreme Apostolic See and the Vicar of Jesus Christ. They must be men of real piety, of manly virtue, and of a life so chaste and fearless that they will be a guiding example to all others.

It is interesting how Pius X acknowledges the formidable obstacles the lay apostle will face, especially by other men:

The calumnies of enemies, the coldness and frightfully little cooperation of even good men, sometimes even the jealousy of friends and fellow workers (excusable, undoubtedly, on account of the weakness of human nature, but also harmful and a cause of discord, offense and quarrels) -- all these will weaken the apostle who lacks divine grace. Only virtue, patient and firm and at the same time mild and tender, can remove or diminish these difficulties in such a way that the works undertaken by Catholic forces will not be compromised.

The Pope John Paul II Forum for the Church in the Modern World is a vehicle for Catholic Action or Lay Apostolate. Whoever seeks to be "firm in faith, solidly instructed in religious matters, truly submissive to the Church" and thereby find a way to restore all things in Christ is welcome to be a part of this Forum. Pray that by grace we may be "patient and firm and at the same time mild and tender."