 |
Monday thru Friday at
www.DailyCatholic.org
See why so many consider the
Daily CATHOLIC as the
"USA Today for CATHOLICS!"
e-mail: DailyCatholic@dailycatholic.org
|
|
St. Francis of Assisi spoke of 'Perfect Joy' to Brother Bernard. He said that if all the masters of theology, all the prelates and Kings of the world converted and joined the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans), that true perfect joy was not there.
He went on to say that if we went to the unbelievers, schismatics, apostates, etc. and brought them to the faith, that true perfect joy was not there. Nor was there true perfect joy if we understood all the language of angels and men, could perform miracles (even raising the dead), and all things in Heaven and on earth.
Needless to say, Brother Bernard was perplexed, where then was this perfect, true joy to be found. And here was what St. Francis said:
This takes a little time to see. At first one might think St. Francis is telling us to be door mats for the world. Or that God punishes us for chuckles and grins. But what he is really showing us is total and true self abandonment to the will of God.
Let me try and give you an example. A soldier is ordered to attack a certain position. Personally, he sees no reason for it, and knows that it probably means his death, but he attacks anyway. Why? Because he may not know the 'bigger picture'. His attack is part of a larger plan, and he 'trusts' his commanders that his 'sacrifice' is for a greater good. If he doesn't, it may well cause the deaths of many others.
St. Francis de Sales calls it "holy indifference". Not a coldness of heart, or lack of emotion, but rather an 'indifference' to themselves, self immolation, the death of self will and the birth of the will, heart and mind of God in ourselves.
St. Paul writes; "For the love of Christ controls us, because we are
convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And He died for
all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for Him who
for their sake died and was raised" (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)
and
" I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ
who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the
Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2: 20).
Many want to think they have this 'divine life' within them without dying to themselves. We hear of people speaking of finding the 'god/dess' within. Recall the tempting of the serpent? "But the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil'" (Genesis 3:4-5) It is like Christ knocking at the door of their hearts and being told He's already inside.
In his "Praise of Virtues", St. Francis of Assisi hails Queen Wisdom, holy Simplicity, holy Poverty, humility, holy Charity, and obedience. "There is no one in the entire world who can possess any one (of them) unless he first dies to himself."
Our Lord said: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If any one serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves Me, the Father will honor him" (John 12: 24-26). Also see Matthew 10:39; 16:25; Mark 8:35; and Luke 9:24; and 17:33.
Our Lord was in agony in the garden, yet He said; "Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42). Can we do different? Why do so many say; "Not Thy will be mine be done?"
In our prayers, especially the one our Lord gave us, we pray, "Thy kingdom come, Thy 'will' be done on earth as it is in Heaven." Why do we seem to think that 'our' will is the same as His? Everytime I see a poll about how many Catholics disagree and disregard Church teachings on abortion, artificial contraception, sexuality, etc., I'm reminded of a speech someone once gave, "Only the will of the nation is the will of God." (SS 'motivational' speech)
Every Mass, we're 'supposed' to give one another the 'sign of peace'. But
this peace is the peace of Christ.
"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I
give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid"
(John 14:27)
and
"I have said this to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you
have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John
16:33).
and
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat
or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not
life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of
the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your
Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which
of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are
you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;
they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the
field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not
much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious,
saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we
wear?' For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your Heavenly Father knows
that you need them all. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and
all these things shall be yours as well" (Matthew 6:25-33).
I think back often to a line from the movie "Song of Bernadette," which says that we are not promised happiness in this world, only in the next. If we die to ourselves and live for God, we may not be 'happy', but we will know the perfect joy, the peace of Christ.
Or maybe we will be happy?
So, when you feel discouraged, upset, sad, for whatever reason. Remember; "In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). May you find perfect joy in the Peace of Christ. A Peace that the world cannot give, nor given as the world gives it.
Pax Christi, Pat
On the other hand, theology must look to the ultimate truth which Revelation entrusts to it, never content to stop short of that goal. Theologians should remember that their work corresponds “to a dynamism found in the faith itself” and that the proper object of their enquiry is “the Truth which is the living God and his plan for salvation revealed in Jesus Christ”. (108) This task, which is theology's prime concern, challenges philosophy as well. The array of problems which today need to be tackled demands a joint effort—approached, it is true, with different methods—so that the truth may once again be known and expressed. The Truth, which is Christ, imposes itself as an all-embracing authority which holds out to theology and philosophy alike the prospect of support, stimulation and increase (cf. Eph 4:15).
To believe it possible to know a universally valid truth is in no way to encourage intolerance; on the contrary, it is the essential condition for sincere and authentic dialogue between persons. On this basis alone is it possible to overcome divisions and to journey together towards full truth, walking those paths known only to the Spirit of the Risen Lord. (109) I wish at this point to indicate the specific form which the call to unity now takes, given the current tasks of theology.
93. The chief purpose of theology is to provide an understanding of Revelation and the content of faith. The very heart of theological enquiry will thus be the contemplation of the mystery of the Triune God. The approach to this mystery begins with reflection upon the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God: his coming as man, his going to his Passion and Death, a mystery issuing into his glorious Resurrection and Ascension to the right hand of the Father, whence he would send the Spirit of truth to bring his Church to birth and give her growth. From this vantage-point, the prime commitment of theology is seen to be the understanding of God's kenosis, a grand and mysterious truth for the human mind, which finds it inconceivable that suffering and death can express a love which gives itself and seeks nothing in return. In this light, a careful analysis of texts emerges as a basic and urgent need: first the texts of Scripture, and then those which express the Church's living Tradition. On this score, some problems have emerged in recent times, problems which are only partially new; and a coherent solution to them will not be found without philosophy's contribution.
94. An initial problem is that of the relationship between meaning and truth. Like every other text, the sources which the theologian interprets primarily transmit a meaning which needs to be grasped and explained. This meaning presents itself as the truth about God which God himself communicates through the sacred text. Human language thus embodies the language of God, who communicates his own truth with that wonderful “condescension” which mirrors the logic of the Incarnation. (110) In interpreting the sources of Revelation, then, the theologian needs to ask what is the deep and authentic truth which the texts wish to communicate, even within the limits of language.
The truth of the biblical texts, and of the Gospels in particular, is certainly not restricted to the narration of simple historical events or the statement of neutral facts, as historicist positivism would claim. (111) Beyond simple historical occurrence, the truth of the events which these texts relate lies rather in the meaning they have in and for the history of salvation. This truth is elaborated fully in the Church's constant reading of these texts over the centuries, a reading which preserves intact their original meaning. There is a pressing need, therefore, that the relationship between fact and meaning, a relationship which constitutes the specific sense of history, be examined also from the philosophical point of view.
95. The word of God is not addressed to any one people or to any one period of history. Similarly, dogmatic statements, while reflecting at times the culture of the period in which they were defined, formulate an unchanging and ultimate truth. This prompts the question of how one can reconcile the absoluteness and the universality of truth with the unavoidable historical and cultural conditioning of the formulas which express that truth. The claims of historicism, I noted earlier, are untenable; but the use of a hermeneutic open to the appeal of metaphysics can show how it is possible to move from the historical and contingent circumstances in which the texts developed to the truth which they express, a truth transcending those circumstances.
Human language may be conditioned by history and constricted in other ways, but the human being can still express truths which surpass the phenomenon of language. Truth can never be confined to time and culture; in history it is known, but it also reaches beyond history.
96. To see this is to glimpse the solution of another problem: the problem of the enduring validity of the conceptual language used in Conciliar definitions. This is a question which my revered predecessor Pius XII addressed in his Encyclical Letter Humani Generis. (112)
This is a complex theme to ponder, since one must reckon seriously with the meaning which words assume in different times and cultures. Nonetheless, the history of thought shows that across the range of cultures and their development certain basic concepts retain their universal epistemological value and thus retain the truth of the propositions in which they are expressed. (113) Were this not the case, philosophy and the sciences could not communicate with each other, nor could they find a place in cultures different from those in which they were conceived and developed. The hermeneutical problem exists, to be sure; but it is not insoluble. Moreover, the objective value of many concepts does not exclude that their meaning is often imperfect. This is where philosophical speculation can be very helpful. We may hope, then, that philosophy will be especially concerned to deepen the understanding of the relationship between conceptual language and truth, and to propose ways which will lead to a right understanding of that relationship.
97. The interpretation of sources is a vital task for theology; but another still more delicate and demanding task is the understanding of revealed truth, or the articulation of the intellectus fidei. The intellectus fidei, as I have noted, demands the contribution of a philosophy of being which first of all would enable dogmatic theology to perform its functions appropriately. The dogmatic pragmatism of the early years of this century, which viewed the truths of faith as nothing more than rules of conduct, has already been refuted and rejected; (114) but the temptation always remains of understanding these truths in purely functional terms. This leads only to an approach which is inadequate, reductive and superficial at the level of speculation. A Christology, for example, which proceeded solely “from below”, as is said nowadays, or an ecclesiology developed solely on the model of civil society, would be hard pressed to avoid the danger of such reductionism.
If the intellectus fidei wishes to integrate all the wealth of the theological tradition, it must turn to the philosophy of being, which should be able to propose anew the problem of being—and this in harmony with the demands and insights of the entire philosophical tradition, including philosophy of more recent times, without lapsing into sterile repetition of antiquated formulas. Set within the Christian metaphysical tradition, the philosophy of being is a dynamic philosophy which views reality in its ontological, causal and communicative structures. It is strong and enduring because it is based upon the very act of being itself, which allows a full and comprehensive openness to reality as a whole, surpassing every limit in order to reach the One who brings all things to fulfilment. (115) In theology, which draws its principles from Revelation as a new source of knowledge, this perspective is confirmed by the intimate relationship which exists between faith and metaphysical reasoning.
98. These considerations apply equally to moral theology. It is no less urgent that philosophy be recovered at the point where the understanding of faith is linked to the moral life of believers. Faced with contemporary challenges in the social, economic, political and scientific fields, the ethical conscience of people is disoriented. In the Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, I wrote that many of the problems of the contemporary world stem from a crisis of truth. I noted that “once the idea of a universal truth about the good, knowable by human reason, is lost, inevitably the notion of conscience also changes. Conscience is no longer considered in its prime reality as an act of a person's intelligence, the function of which is to apply the universal knowledge of the good in a specific situation and thus to express a judgment about the right conduct to be chosen here and now. Instead, there is a tendency to grant to the individual conscience the prerogative of independently determining the criteria of good and evil and then acting accordingly. Such an outlook is quite congenial to an individualist ethic, wherein each individual is faced with his own truth different from the truth of others”. (116)
Throughout the Encyclical I underscored clearly the fundamental role of truth in the moral field. In the case of the more pressing ethical problems, this truth demands of moral theology a careful enquiry rooted unambiguously in the word of God. In order to fulfil its mission, moral theology must turn to a philosophical ethics which looks to the truth of the good, to an ethics which is neither subjectivist nor utilitarian. Such an ethics implies and presupposes a philosophical anthropology and a metaphysics of the good. Drawing on this organic vision, linked necessarily to Christian holiness and to the practice of the human and supernatural virtues, moral theology will be able to tackle the various problems in its competence, such as peace, social justice, the family, the defence of life and the natural environment, in a more appropriate and effective way.
99. Theological work in the Church is first of all at the service of the proclamation of the faith and of catechesis. (117) Proclamation or kerygma is a call to conversion, announcing the truth of Christ, which reaches its summit in his Paschal Mystery: for only in Christ is it possible to know the fullness of the truth which saves (cf. Acts 4:12; 1 Tm 2:4-6).
In this respect, it is easy to see why, in addition to theology, reference to catechesis is also important, since catechesis has philosophical implications which must be explored more deeply in the light of faith. The teaching imparted in catechesis helps to form the person. As a mode of linguistic communication, catechesis must present the Church's doctrine in its integrity, (118) demonstrating its link with the life of the faithful. (119) The result is a unique bond between teaching and living which is otherwise unattainable, since what is communicated in catechesis is not a body of conceptual truths, but the mystery of the living God. (120)
Philosophical enquiry can help greatly to clarify the relationship between truth and life, between event and doctrinal truth, and above all between transcendent truth and humanly comprehensible language. (121) This involves a reciprocity between the theological disciplines and the insights drawn from the various strands of philosophy; and such a reciprocity can prove genuinely fruitful for the communication and deeper understanding of the faith.
