... or rather the close of my first semester of seminary studies. Final exams begin December 15, and I leave for home the following Saturday, to return on the feast of the Epiphany for a few days of retreat and to begin the new semester.
This semester has flown by, and from my experience in the acceleration of time in college, it is a bit nerve-wracking that things are already moving so quickly. It is a reminder of the brevity of our lives on earth and an encouragement to make the most of them in service to God in each other, which was the theme of this morning's homily by Fr. Bill Brown, OMV, director of our St. Joseph Retreat House in Milton.
In Metaphysics the last couple classes, we saw Aristotle's proofs for the existence of God, and Aquinas' perfection of his proof. Then we took two of the 5 angles given to arrive at the divine attributes. It was a very gratifying exercise to take the list of divine attributes and discuss how each of those two angles of proving God's existence requires each of the divine attributes to be true of God. Metaphysics is a very interesting subject because it considers first what is in common to all things, and how we know that different things are different, and then abstracts further to comprehend things we cannot perceive directly with our senses, particularly the angels and God. It is most fascinating that the ancient philosophers that provide the foundation for this study and the later extensions by scholastics, the first of whom is St. Thomas Aquinas, did their thinking over 2000 years ago, without the benefit of divine revelation to conclude that there must exist a God who is one, all-powerful, all-knowing, and infinite. Based on divine revelation, Aquinas extended Aristotle's crowning work with the additional aspect of God as creator and as the effective and final cause of the existence of all things.
An interesting thread of argument I have encountered in participating in Wikipedia is that the Catholic Church focuses too much on the intellectual aspects of our relationship with God and our understanding of our own reality and purpose. Some Wikipedia editors who claim to represent Eastern Christianity (this is as accurate as I can be, as you know that Wikipedia requires no verification of identity; we can only rely on the precise text found there as given and that is corroborated by verifiable sources) argue that the Catholic teachings of Aquinas and Augustine, which form the vast majority of written philosophical and theological understanding, are too mental, inaccessible to all people by nature of our diversity, and too distant from the intimate understanding and communion we can achieve by contemplation and ascetic practice. The Greek term that means contemplation and a "soul-to-soul" "vision" of God is "noesis." The reality is that the Catholic Church teaches that contemplation is indeed a method encouraged by the mystics for communion with God on this level that transcends the limitations of human thought and also teaches that the simplest among us may come to know God and be saved, in many cases, more easily than those who have been given the grace of a profound intellectual knowledge and understanding (wisdom) of God. Further, evangelization in today's world requires communication with words and pictures that stimulate the intellect in order to awaken the soul, and so a coherent and well-developed intellectual formulation of the faith is required to encourage the modern man in his technological society to bridge the infinite gap between him and his Maker.
In Catechism class and in recent events around the world (as well as my participation on Wikipedia), I have been drawn to explore the Catholic Church's stance on ecumenism and "interfaith relations," as some put it. As modern society experiences more challenges, both from within and from natural events, it would seem that all believers in Christ should live up to Our Lord's desire "that [we] all be one" in observing His commandments and practicing the rituals He established in His Church. The beautiful diversity of the members of the mystical Body of Christ on earth shows the capacity for His truth to transcend all cultural traditions and give meaning to the lives of all human beings. The similarity of so many other non-Catholic Christian traditions is evidence of a yearning for the fullness of the truth revealed by Christ and His Apostles and safeguarded by the infallible Magisterium of the Church He founded. The activities of religious traditions that seek to do good but do so in a fractured way or do so in a way that compromises the good of others can greatly encourage Christian unity. The best thing that we can do as stewards of creation and of the truth maintained in the Catholic Church is to live the fullness of the faith, cultivating in ourselves by God's grace and the intercession of our Most Holy Mother the theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love and practicing an authentic Christian spirit of service and good will toward all. The Church calls this "spiritual ecumenism" and reflects the Gospel witness that shows others "we are Christians by our love" for all.
May we all effect an unwavering example for the world, an example of the love of the Light of the World; let us be the Salt of the Earth, a quiet beacon of hope in this noisy and despairing world. By the grace of the Prince of Peace, let us bring Him to all the poor souls in this world and them to Him.
Love the Immaculata!
Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca
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