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The Light of Truth The Lord is my Shepherd

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The Light of Truth The Lord is my Shepherd Contents Page ‘God speaks to his children’

Psalm 23 ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’

Fr. Richard Ho Lung - ‘with joy in my heart’

The Good Shepherd - A Reflection

Bishop Fulton Sheen on ‘the Psychology of Despair’

The nature of Philosophy and Theology

Pope Benedict on the Truth of Scripture

Fr James V. Schall on The Meaning of Dogma

Richard’s Conversion Story

The Lord’s Footprints

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A chairde, ‘God speaks to his Children’ is a child’s bible which Aid to the Church in Need has been producing and distributing since 1979. To date almost 50 million children’s bibles in over 160 languages have been produced and distributed all over the globe. ‘God speaks to his Children’ however is more than a book title it is a reality, a truth and a truth which inspires all men of all times and all places to lives of selfless love to God and their fellow brothers and sisters. In this bulletin, one such heroic witness to Love in the Truth (Caritas in Veritate) is profiled, Fr. Richard Ho Lung who testifies to “the joy in his heart” as he serves the poor and the abandoned in his native Jamaica. The life and ministry of Fr. Richard almost inevitably brings to mind the parable of the Good Shepherd who is willing to abandon his life for his flock. Fr. Fr. Richard Ho Lung Vima Dasan SJ an Indian priest who recently served in the diocese of East Anglia has written a short reflection on the parable of the Good Shepherd which is carried herein in a slightly amended form. Also contained herein is Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s short reflection on the ‘Psychology of Despair’. Without hope there is despair and real hope must be grounded in reality, in truth and in a God

who loves each one of us individually and who we can get to know. Philosophy and more especially Theology are the two sciences through which we come to a formal knowledge of this God who defies all of our human expectations and surprises us with his boundless love. Fr. Holden and Fr. Pinsent have penned a short essay on the Catholic Church’s contribution to the evolution of both these sciences. Pope Benedict XVI, an outstanding Theologian in a short address takes up the theme of Gospel truths and how such truths are to be gleaned from a study of Sacred Scripture. In which regard he notes that ‘an inseparable unity exists between Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition’ since both come from the same source. God does indeed speak to his children and his children need a teaching authority to fully hear what is being said and fully appreciate what is being asked of them. Benedict’s address is followed by a substantial essay by Fr. James V. Schall of Georgetown University on the meaning and importance of dogma in the defence and presentation of truth. Ultimately of course it is up to each one of us to embrace the truth for ourselves and all of us have our own way of encountering the truth. Few of us however have had as harrowing a life’s journey as that which Richard describes in his conversion experience. Richard’s testimony brought to mind a little story about ‘the Lord’s footprints’ which is reproduced herein.

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Unintentionally the bulletin commenced with one Richard, a priest, testifying to the joy in his heart after having listened avidly to the Word of the Lord and lived a life of Charity in Truth among the poorest of the Jamaican poor and concluded with another Richard who arrived at the same place having, at least initially, listened reluctantly to God’s Word.

spoke to his Children and his children were attentive and able to understand. Beannachtaí,

J F Declan Quinn

Chesterton wrote that ‘coincidences are spiritual puns’, in both cases God

Psalm 23 ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’ 1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want; 2 he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; 3 he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

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Fr. Richard Ho Lung ‘with joy in my heart’* The winner of numerous national music awards, the recipient of one of his country’s most prestigious honours, poet, playwright and academic – but at the end of the day Fr Richard Ho Lung is simply a servant of the poor. Few people in his native Jamaica have received more accolades for their public service than this founder of a missionary order which has now spread as far as the Philippines and Haiti. Brought up by Buddhist parents in the Jamaican capital, Kingston, Richard Ho Lung was sent to the highly respected St George’s College in the city. He converted to Catholicism and joined the Jesuits. After studies in the USA, he was ordained a priest in 1971. Achieving a PhD and other post-graduate degrees in English literature and theology, he went on to become a lecturer in English literature at the University of the West Indies in 1973. He was associate pastor of a parish in Papine, Jamaica, and while there grew increasingly appalled by the people’s poverty, which he saw for himself. The turning point in his life came in May 1980 when more than 140 elderly women died after a fire broke out at a care home in Kingston. In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need nearly 30 years later, Fr Richard explained: “What happened to those women created a terrible disturbance within me. I felt that if Christ was on earth, he would not delay. He would act”. In 1981, Fr Richard made the difficult decision to leave the Jesuit order, which he

loved. He founded a religious community of men dedicated to serving the poor and disadvantaged. Consisting initially of only four members, the Brothers of the Poor, as they were first called, began to live as a religious community. They shared all things in common, followed a common spirituality and reached out to those most in need. That same year, Fr Richard’s community opened the Faith Centre, in central Kingston, looking after the elderly and the destitute. He would later say: “During those days when the ministry started, I was really saddened to know people lying naked on street corners, some suffering with no food. People were dying from lack of medical attention or care. I knew something had to be done”. Getting started was not easy. It was difficult to recruit volunteers for such unglamorous, labour-intensive work. In the years that followed, the work grew to encompass helping children and adults with Down’s Syndrome and teaching Scripture to young men held in custody. In 1987, Jacob’s Well came into being, housing destitute adults. Barely two years later, an unused warehouse was acquired and converted into the Good Shepherd Centre, providing shelter for 60 homeless people in Kingston. In 1994, the Lord’s Place began, supporting people with a variety of urgent needs. The humanitarian focus of Fr Richard’s order was continually complemented by the spiritual focus that first inspired his unique mission. What had begun in 1981 as a fledgling initiative trying to give some hope to the poor grew to become a religious community involving hundreds of people. Support for Fr Richard’s work also came

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in conjunction with his growing reputation as musician. He started a concert theatre group called Father Ho Lung & Friends complete with the motto ‘We must give our best to the Lord and to the Poor’. To date, Fr Richard has clocked up more than 300 compositions including reggae, calypso, jazz and operatic music. Receiving numerous awards, the young Jamaican singers and actors perform extracts from the Bible as well as modern religious musical drama. But for all the support he has received, demand for the expansion of his ministry has far exceeded what Fr Richard’s order could provide. By the late 1980’s, he began looking for recruits outside Jamaica. In 1992, the year the order changed its name to Missionaries of the Poor, they opened their first foreign mission in Warangal, India. There, the missionaries helped lepers and destitute children. The new mission soon

attracted novices to the order. In 1993, Fr Brian Kerr, a founder member of the order, travelled to the Philippines to work in a slum in Nada city. A year late, two Missionaries of the Poor went to care for 150 sick and homeless people in CapHaitien, Haiti. Today, there are more than 550 missionaries with new centres opening in Uganda, Kenya and North Carolina, USA, as well as Orissa, the state in eastern India which in 2007-8 experienced severe anti-Christian persecution. The challenges do not seem to deter recruits to the order. Recent reports showed that worldwide the Missionaries of the Poor were attracting more than 60 novices every year and by mid-2008, over 300 were in formation. Key to the growth of Fr Richard’s order has been the blessing it quickly received from

Fr. Richard Ho Lung with Pope John Paul II

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Pope John Paul II, who himself visited the order’s work both in Haiti and Kingston, Jamaica. On 7th October 1997 the Vatican recognised the Missionaries of the Poor as an official Religious Community of the Church. In front of a packed congregation at Kingston’s Holy Trinity Cathedral, on 25th March 1998 the Missionaries of the Poor, the first male religious community founded in the English-speaking Caribbean, was formally erected as a Religious Institute of Diocesan Right. Recognising the importance of the order’s work in nine missions worldwide, C a t h o l i c o rg a n i s a t i o n s have given key support to help meet Fr. Richard the demands Ho Lung of massive development and expansion. Aid to the Church in Need’s help includes funds to build a chapel in Kingston for the brothers. Help is urgently needed for formation centres to keep pace with the number of new brothers. In 2008, Fr Richard told ACN: “We have got a lot of vocations and we do not have the infrastructure yet to meet the needs of people wanting to join. You could say it is a bit of a problem but it is a good one to have”.

In Jamaica, the Superior General of the Missionaries of the Poor has become a legend in his own lifetime. In 1990, the Governor General of Jamaica conferred on Fr Richard the Order of Distinction. In October 2008 he was awarded one of his country’s highest honours, the Order of Jamaica, which he received for services to the poor and destitute. Now in his 70’s, Fr Richard has lost none of his quiet determination and priestly zeal. When a local newspaper reporter recently paid him a visit in Kingston, he said: “I have found that in good times and bad times you have to be faithful to God. And it is with joy in my heart when I think of all his promises, knowing that I’ve done his will and really tried to serve my fellow men, especially those who have been forgotten and who have fallen by the wayside – just like Christ did during his time on Earth”. He adds: “I am happy that, as best as I can, I have lived a simple life and have done good work without seeking any personal advantage in return. I love working to bring a positive sense of God’s love to others. There’s nothing more fulfilling”.

* Adapted from: John Pontifex and John Newton ‘Heroic Priests’ Aid to the Church in Need, London, 2010.

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The Good Shepherd - A Reflection* One day a young shepherd was tending his flock in the vicinity of Mt Tabor. Suddenly three Bedouin rustlers appeared. The young man knew what he was up against, but he did not flee. He stood his ground and fought to keep his flock from failing into the hands of the outlaws. The fight ended with the young shepherd laying down his life for his sheep. “I am the Good Shepherd”, declares Jesus, “who lays down his life for the sheep” (Jn 10:11). We are the sheep. To take away our sins, he died on the cross. He did so out of sheer love for us. There was no selfish motive in his death. He was not like a hired shepherd who tends the sheep for money. Jesus was not merely doing his job. He was committed to love us. False teachers

and false prophets do not have this commitment. Our Good Shepherd laid down from the cross, they borrowed a bed on which to lay his head. They borrowed an ass in the mountain pass for him to ride to town. But the crown he wore and the cross he bore were his own. Our Good Shepherd continues to care for us. He gives himself in the sacraments, especially in the Eucharist. As Pope St Gregory said: The Lord laid down his life for his sheep that he might convert his Body and Blood in our sacraments and satisfy the sheep whom he had redeemed with the nourishment of his own flesh. Our Good Shepherd still heals the sick, a ministry which he began with his apostles. It was in the Lord’s name that St Peter cured a crippled man. “In the power of the name of Jesus, that cripple stood perfectly sound” (Acts 4:10). The Lord Jesus literally lays down his life for his sheep even today through those servants of God such as Archbishop Oscar Romero. The Archbishop was shot dead in San Salvador on March 24, 1980 with a single shot to the heart after saying Mass, because he spoke out against tyranny and for freedom, because he demanded human rights for his people under oppression. Yes. The love of our Good Shepherd for us is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Is our own love for our fellow human beings as determined as Christ’s love for us? Can we say that we are true followers of our Shepherd in our care, concern and selfless service to others? A layman said to a priest after Sunday service, “You preachers talk a lot about

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giving but when you get right down to it, it all comes to basin theology”. The clergyman asked, “Basin theology? What is that?” The layman replied: “Remember what Pilate did when he had the chance to acquit Jesus? He called for a basin and washed his hands of the whole thing. But Jesus, the night before his death, called for a basin and proceeded to wash the feet of his disciples. It all comes down to basin theology. Which one will you use?” Our Good Shepherd expects all of us to be good shepherds to one another according to each one’s vocation in life. • Husbands and wives by doing more than enough for each other,

• Parents by making extra sacrifices for the good of their children, • Teachers by spending extra hours to instruct weak students, • Doctors and Nurses taking up extra work to show they care for their patients, and • Parishioners by generously supporting their parish community. In a word, all of us are called to be deeply concerned about each other and committed to each other’s welfare.

*Adapted from: Vima Dasan SJ ‘His Word Lives’ St. Pauls, London 2007.

Sonnet 94 They that have power to hurt and will do none, That do not do the thing they most do show, Who, moving others, are themselves as stone, Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow, They rightly do inherit heaven’s graces And husband nature’s riches from expense; They are the lords and owners of their faces, Others but stewards of their excellence. The summer’s flower is to the summer sweet, Though to itself it only live and die, But if that flower with base infection meet, The basest weed outbraves his dignity: For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds; Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds. William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

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Archbishop Fulton Sheen on ‘the Psychology of Despair’*

heart the radical tug between the infinite craving and the finite satisfaction, between the sweet rind and the bitter pulp.

SNAILS, snakes and scorpions cannot despair; neither can cabbages, camels or centipedes. Only man, with the infinite and the eternal in him, can despair. The greater the expectation, the more keen can be the disappointment. The more there is to hope, the greater is the grief at not realizing it. Man alone, of all creatures, has a soul which is capable of knowing the infinite; he alone has aspirations beyond what he sees and touches and feels; he alone can attain everything in the world and still not be satisfied. That is why, when he misses the infinite and the eternal for which he was made and which alone can satisfy, he despairs.

When, however, the desire for perfection and the infinite is placed beyond this life, there is no occasion for despair.

The yearning within man for truth and love and beauty and perfection indicates that something is lacking for the fullness of life. This yearning is related to hope which, in its simplest form, is a gaze toward the future. A farmer cannot plant seed in the springtime, nor the mother press a child to her breast, nor the scientist conduct his research without hope. No spade would ever be dug into the earth, nor pen put to paper were there not some expectation of good to come from it.

Those who are familiar with the thinking of the world for the last two centuries will recall how the world has swung from an unbounded optimism in human affairs to a despair which today engages and demands the attention of psychiatrists. Optimism today is at a discount. Men clamour less for happiness than they do for security. All the philosophers of the past argued to the existence of God and moral law, from man’s innate craving for Archbishop Fulton Sheen

That hope for which we look may be in time, or it may be beyond time. If the ultimate and final hope is in this world, despair is inevitable. What peace is there in possessing, if death with its “shuffling off the mortal coil” means the breaking of all communication with what we hoped? There is then felt within the

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happiness; today, man’s deepest yearning is for some economic security. This change in outlook may be likened to different attitudes of sea voyagers. In former days, man’s first concern on taking a sea voyage was a port and a comfortable cabin: today, the first thing the traveller does is to look for a lifebelt. Many today are very uncertain as to whether or not there is a destiny to the voyage of life: in fact, they would rather not dwell upon the problem, for they know it makes ethical demands upon them which they are unprepared to make. The age that expects a future life and the perfection of happiness beyond this life has a calm and peace which the turn of events cannot disturb. But when a man loses hope, and has no God to whom he can turn, then he must be in a hurry to get something out of life. The believer can wait; the pagan must hurry. The gate threatens to close; then all is over. Hence, the impatient scramble and scuffle to acquire as much as possible before the sun sets.

Secularism is the logic of despair. When the ultimate hope of personality is denied, then there are no longer any limits to crass earthliness which unleashes itself with boundless ferocity. The rapidity of wars, the almost incessant revolutions which disturb our modern world, are born of that frantic despair to salvage something before the world is taken away. Those who have hope are like a child with a kite. The kite may conceivably be so high in the clouds that it cannot be seen; but the one who holds the string feels the tug of it. Once our hope is in God, we feel the pull and tug of it on earth. But as the heir must believe in his title to the inheritance before he can hope in it, so there must be faith in things beyond, before we can hope. With such a strong basis for hope, despair fades away.

* Adapted from: Fulton J. Sheen ‘Thoughts for Daily Living’ St. Pauls, New York 2008

“The World is trying to experiment with attempting to form a civilized but nonChristian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide.” T.S. Eliot

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The nature of Philosophy and Theology* “Not acting reasonably is contrary to God’s nature … Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence or threats”. Benedict XVI, Regensburg Address.

The Catholic record Philosophy is the ‘love of wisdom’ and wisdom deals with first causes and principles. Questions like, “What is knowledge?” or “What is being?” or “Is there a God?” belong to philosophy. Philosophy developed in Greece over the period 6C to 3C BC, the most influential philosophers being Plato (d.347 BC), our source for Socrates, and Aristotle (d.322 BC). Catholicism regards philosophy as intrinsically good. The faith has drawn greatly from Greek philosophy and has itself stimulated new philosophical insights. The early Christian St Justin Martyr (d. 165) saw hints of God’s revelation in the insights of Socrates. The word homoousious, St. Thomas Aquinas translated as (1225-1274)

‘consubstantial’ or ‘of one being’ in the Creed, is from Greek philosophy. St Augustine (d. 430) drew from Plato and made many novel contributions, stimulating, for example, the study of the will. St Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274), absorbed and transfigured the philosophy of Aristotle. The many other Catholic philosophers include St Anselm (d. 1109), Bl Duns Scotus (d. 1308), Suarez (d. 1617) and Blaise Pascal (d. 1662). Recent figures include St Edith Stein (d. 1942), Elizabeth Anscombe (d.2001) and Alasdair MacIntyre. Philosophers not only ask questions but also propose answers that can have far reaching effects upon how we view the world, society and ourselves. Catholic thinkers have been active in defending the following principles: • that the Human person is irreducible to matter and has an immortal soul; • that the human persons have free will, and do not simply act like machines; • that the virtues are important for human perfection and happiness, unified by divine love (caritas); • that God has created beings that can be the causes of their own actions, i.e. secondary causation; • that certain things, especially living things, have natures or final causes; • that there is objective good and evil and natural law, rooted in the nature of things; • that matter is good, not intrinsically evil; • the principle of non-contradiction,

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one meaning of which is that opposite statements cannot both be true. In addition, Catholics largely founded theology, the discipline of applying reason to what has been revealed supernaturally. Unlike religious revelations that are lists of divine commands from some distant deity, or a mix of chaotic and incredible stories, Catholic thinkers have worked on the basis that God is a God of reason and that the truths that He reveals fit together in a coherent, extraordinary way. The discipline of uncovering this order is called ‘theology’, which St Anselm described as ‘faith seeking understanding’. On one hand, theology helps protect religion from fundamentalism. On the other hand, by making revelation credible to reason, theology also helps to oppose cold rationalism without faith. Beyond uncovering ordered truths about God’s revelation, however, theology also seeks to describe what it means to know and love God, in the sense of an ‘I’ –‘You’ (second-personal) relationship, the fruit of which is friendship with God.

Catholicism, Philosophy and Theology: The deeper Connections The link between philosophy and faith can be traced to many sources in Scripture. For example, philosophers often refer to God in terms of Absolute Being, the same language that was also used in the Old Testament when God revealed His name to Moses, “I am who am” (Ex 3:14). Furthermore, philosophy is the love of wisdom and the Catholic Old Testament includes an entire book devoted to wisdom, personified as 12

a woman beloved of God. In the New Testament, Jesus repeats the ‘I am’ phrase of Exodus (John 8:58), once again bringing to mind an association between the God of Revelation and the Absolute Being of philosophy. St John also refers to Jesus as the Logos, meaning ‘word’, ‘ordering principle’ or ‘reason’ (John 1:1), highlighting an essential harmony between God and reason. The Link between the faith and theology may be rooted in the kind of relationship that the Catholic faith believes that God has established with us. By means of Baptism, we become adopted children of God, partakers of the Divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) and members of the Church. A child is not an instrument or slave, following orders from a remote deity without hope of making sense of these orders. On the contrary, since God has willed to become Our Father as well as our creator, it is reasonable to trust that he wants us to understand – and that he has made it possible for us to understand – what he has revealed. As Jesus says, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). According to this passage, knowing God and loving God are intimately linked, implying the possibility and value of theology in helping us to seek the face of God.

* Fr. Marcus Holden and Fr. Andrew Pinsent ‘Lumenthe Catholic Gift to Civilisation’ Catholic Truth Society, London 2011.

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Inspiration and Truth of Scripture by Pope Benedict XVI* The life and mission of the Church are necessarily based on the Word of God, which is the soul of theology and at the same time the inspiration of all Christian life. Consequentially the interpretation of Sacred Scripture is of capital importance for the Christian faith and for the life of the Church. In his encyclical Providentissimus Deus, Pope Leo XIII offered Catholic exegetes new encouragement and new directives on the subject of inspiration, truth and biblical hermeneutics. Later, Pius XII, in his encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu, gathered and completed the preceding teaching and urged Catholic exegetes to find solutions in full agreement with the Church’s doctrine, duly taking into account the positive contributions of the new methods of interpretation which had developed in the meantime. The vigorous impetus that these two pontiffs gave to biblical studies was fully confirmed and developed in the Second Vatican Council, so that the entire Church has benefitted and is benefitting from it. In particular, the Conciliar Constitution Dei Verbum still illumines the work of Catholic exegetes today and invites pastors and faithful to be more regularly nourished at the table of the Word of God. In this regard the Council recalls first of all that God is the Author of Sacred Scripture:

“The divinely revealed realities, which are contained and presented in the text of Sacred Scripture, have been written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. For Holy Mother Church relying on the faith of the apostolic age, accepts as sacred and canonical the Books of the Old and the New Testaments, whole and entire, with all their parts, on the grounds that, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit they have God as their author, and have been handed on as such to the Church herself” (Dei Verbum 11). Therefore since all that the inspired authors or hagiographers state is to be considered as said by the Holy Spirit, the invisible and transcendent Author, it must consequently be acknowledged that “the books of Scripture, firmly, faithfully and without error, teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the sacred Scriptures” (ibid. 11). From the correct presentation of the divine inspiration and truth of Sacred Scripture certain norms derive that directly concern its interpretation. The Constitution Dei Verbum itself, after stating that God is the author of the Bible, reminds us that in Sacred Scripture God speaks to man in a human fashion and this divinehuman synergy is very important: God really speaks to men and women in a human way. For a correct interpretation of Sacred Scripture it is therefore necessary to seek attentively what the hagiographers have truly wished to state and what it has

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pleased God to express in human words. “The words of God, expressed in the words of men, are in every way like human language, just as the Word of the eternal Father, when He took on Himself the flesh of human weakness, became like men” (Dei Verbum 13). Moreover, these indications, very necessary for a correct historical and literary interpretation as the primary dimension of all exegesis, require a connection with the premises of the teaching on the inspiration and truth of Sacred Scripture. In fact, since Scripture is inspired, there is a supreme principle for its correct interpretation without which the sacred writings would remain a dead letter of the past alone: Sacred Scripture “must be read and interpreted with its divine authorship in mind” (ibid. 12).

Three Criteria for Interpretation In this regard, the Second Vatican Council points out three criteria that always apply for an interpretation of Sacred Scripture in conformity with the Spirit that inspired it. First of all it is essential to pay great attention to the content and unity of the whole of Scripture: only in its unity is it Scripture. Indeed, however different the books of which it is composed may be, Sacred Scripture is one by virtue of the unity of God’s plan whose centre and heart is Jesus Christ (cf. Lk 24:25-27; Lk 24:44-46). Secondly, Scripture must be interpreted in the context of the living tradition of the whole Church. According to a statement of Origen: “Sacra Scriptura

principalius est in corde Ecclesiae quam in materialibus instrumentis scripta”, that is, “Sacred Scripture is written in the heart of the Church before being written on material instruments”. Indeed, in her Tradition the Church bears the living memory of the Word of God and it is the Holy Spirit who gives her its interpretation according to the spiritual meaning (cf. Origin, Homilae in Leviticum, 5,5). As a third criterion, it is necessary to pay attention to the analogy of the faith, that is to the consistence of the individual truths of faith with one another and with the overall plan of Revelation and the fullness of the divine economy contained in it.

“Indispensable Reference Point” for Research The task of researchers who study Sacred Scripture with different methods is to contribute in accordance with the above-mentioned principles to the deepest possible knowledge and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture. The scientific study of the sacred texts is important but is not sufficient in itself because it would respect only the human dimension. To respect the coherence of the Church’s faith, the Catholic exegete must be attentive to perceiving the Word of God in these texts, within the faith of the Church herself. If this indispensable reference point is missing, the exegetical research would be incomplete, losing sight of its principal goal, and risk being reduced to a purely literary interpretation in which the true

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Author God no longer appears. Furthermore, the interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures cannot only be an individual scientific effort but must always be compared with, inserted in and authenticated by the living Tradition of the Church. This rule is decisive to explain the correct relationship between exegesis and the Magisterium of the Church. The Catholic exegete does not only feel that he or she belongs to the scientific community, but also and above all to the community of believers of all times. In reality these texts were not given to individual researchers or to the scientific community, “to satisfy their curiosity or to provide them with material for study and research” (Divino Afflante Spiritu 49). The texts inspired by God were entrusted in the first place to the community of believers, to Christ’s Church, to nourish the life of faith and to guide the life of charity. Respect for this purpose conditions the validity and efficacy of biblical hermeneutics. The encyclical Providentissimus Deus recalled this fundamental truth and noted that, far from hindering biblical research, respect for this norm encourages a u t h e n t i c progress. I would say, a rationalistic hermeneutic of faith corresponds more closely with

the reality of this text than a rationalistic hermeneutic that does not know God.

Tradition Being faithful to the Church means, in fact, fitting into the current of the great Tradition. Under the guidance of the Magisterium, Tradition has recognized the canonical writings as a word addressed by God to His People, and it has never ceased to meditate upon them and to discover their inexhaustible riches. The Second Vatican Council reasserted this very clearly: “all that has been said about the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgment of the Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God” (Dei Verbum 12). As the above-mentioned Dogmatic Constitution reminds us, an inseparable

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unity exists between Sacred Scripture and Tradition, because both come from the same source: Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal. Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit. And Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the Apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. He transmits it to the successors of the Apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching. Thus it comes about that the Church does not draw her certainty about all revealed truths from the Holy Scriptures alone. Hence, both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal feelings of devotion and reverence (Dei Verbum 9). As we know, this word pari pietatis affectu ac reverentia [equal feelings of devotion and reverence] was created by Saint Basil and then absorbed into Gratian’s Decree, through which it entered the Council of Trent and then the Second Vatican Council. It expresses precisely this inter-penetration between Scripture and Tradition. The ecclesial context alone enables Sacred Scripture to be understood as an authentic Word of God which makes itself the guide, norm and rule for the life of the Church and the spiritual growth of believers.

As I have said, this is in no way an obstacle to a serious and scientific interpretation but furthermore gives access to the additional dimensions of Christ that are inaccessible to a merely literary analysis, which remains incapable of grasping by itself the overall meaning that has guided the Tradition of the entire People of God down the centuries. In a world in which scientific research is assuming ever greater importance in numerous fields, it is indispensable that exegetical science attain a good level. It is one of the aspects of the inculturation of the faith that is part of the Church’s mission, in harmony with acceptance of the mystery of the Incarnation. May the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God incarnate and the divine Teacher who opened the minds of His disciples to an understanding of the Scriptures (cf. Luke 24:45), guide and sustain you in your reflection. May the Virgin Mary, model of docility and obedience to the Word of God, teach you to accept ever better the inexhaustible riches of Sacred Scripture, not only through intellectual research but also in your lives as believers, so that through your work and your lives you may make the light of Sacred Scripture shine ever brighter before the faithful.

* Pope Benedict XVI: ‘Address to the members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission’, April 23, 2009 (with minor amendments.)

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Fr James V. Schall on

The Meaning of Dogma Catholicism has always taken dogmatic statements seriously because it realizes that the failure to state the truth properly often leads to error. By Rev. James V. Schall SJ, Georgetown University “If the average man is going to be interested in Christ at all, it is the dogma that will provide the interest. The trouble is that, in nine cases out of ten, he has never been offered the dogma.” Dorothy Sayers, “Creed or Chaos?” The Whimsical Christian (New York: Macmillan, 1978)

“I suppose I have got a dogmatic mind. Anyhow, even when I did not believe in any of the things called dogmas, I assumed that people were sorted out into solid groups by the dogmas they believe or disbelieved.” G.K. Chesterton, ‘The Autobiography’ (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, [1936] 1988), CW, XVI, 167.

Contrary to popular assumptions, the terms “dogma” and “doctrine” are not intrinsically bad or evil words. No doubt, they can, in popular parlance, stand for a kind of rigidity in which careful consideration or reconsideration of an argument or a truth is rejected. The motive of this refusal is often traced to an unwillingness to frankly admit that problems concerning the presentation or meaning of a subject are at issue. But essentially, a dogma is intended to clarify, to state what can be stated about an ultimate issue or with something connected to it. We not only

long to behold reality in itself, to see God “face to face,” and know that we do, but we long to understand, to make sense of what it is we behold or hold in faith or in observation. The world of reality and the world of mind are parallel to each other, but the latter depends on the former for its truth. Truth, as Aquinas said, is the conformity of the mind with what is, not the opposite, not the conformity of reality with whatever the mind wants it to be. Dogma, its statement, and what the dogma is about, its object, are not contradictory to each other. If they were, we could know nothing about anything. Our minds and the world would never meet or check one another. The latter, the dogma, depends on the former, on what is. The what-is-to-be-known always stands as prior to and as the basis of our statement of what is known. A dogma is simply the stating accurately, in the best way we can, in the language we know, what we know. The mind is, as Chesterton said, a “dogma-making” faculty. To deny the mind this capacity to state what it knows is to deny what it is to be mind in the first place. We are the rational animals, the mortal beings in the universe who both are and know what is not ourselves. Often in more recent times, a curious “fear” has arisen that the dogmas of Catholicism might indeed prove to be true. Thus, what has come to be challenged is not so much the dogmas themselves, in their articulated intelligibility, but the mind’s very power to know anything at all including dogma. To obviate any possibility of a truth of things and of human things that man did not give to himself, we propose, as a first

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line defence, that we can know nothing but what we formulate for ourselves. Since it is claimed as a consequence that we are obliged by nothing in being, we are guaranteed freedom to do, not what follows from the objective order of things, including human things, but what we want, whatever we choose. No objective “givenness” can correct us. For nothing objective can be known. This denial of any relation between mind and things generally begins with the epistemological problem, namely, with separating any connection between our senses and our mind. Following a tradition from at least Locke, if not Epicurus, we are said to know only an “image” of reality, not reality itself. But, in fact, what we know through our sensory powers is not a picture or image, but the thing itself. We know this reality through the normal workings of our senses and mind as they relate to each other in an orderly fashion.

Plato (left) and Aristotle (right), a detail of The School of Athens, a fresco by Raphael. Aristotle (384BC -322 BC) gestures to the earth, representing his belief in knowledge through empirical observation and experience, while holding a copy of his Nicomachean Ethics in his hand, whilst Plato (424/423 BC- 348/347 BC) gestures to the heavens, representing his belief in The Forms.

We do not know the images, but the thing through our sensory and intellectual powers and their relation to each other. If we only know the image of a thing, we can never know anything outside of ourselves, including one another. And of course, if we cannot know what is not ourselves, we cannot even know ourselves, since the knowledge we have of ourselves comes initially and indirectly through our knowing what is not ourselves. We know ourselves not directly but indirectly through knowing what is not ourselves. The very knowledge of ourselves is a gift from what is not ourselves. Not infrequently, moreover, we find that the very effort to articulate dogmas, itself often a classically “Catholic” endeavour, is under attack because, it is held, human beings substitute or confuse the statement of the dogma or doctrine with the reality itself to which the dogma points. Thus, it is held, we believe in “dogmas” but not that towards which dogmas direct us or to what they articulate. Catholics, for instance, consciously and deliberately say the Creed together at Sunday Mass. This is, at bottom, the Church’s recognition that Catholicism is an intellectual faith whose members know and want to know precisely what it is that they hold about the Trinity and its Persons in relation to us. The Creed is the minimal but most accurate statement of this “holding” insofar as it can be properly formulated by the human mind considering revelation and what it means. When we say this Nicene Creed, the objection goes, we are said to “believe” in the Creed as a statement but not in that to which the Creed points. As a matter of fact, I doubt if very few, if any,

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believing Catholics actually make this subtle confusion, however much they are accused of it for being â&#x20AC;&#x153;dogmatists.â&#x20AC;? But if, in spite of it all, they should do so, it would prove that they do not believe in a reality but only in a statement of reality. While this confusion is possible, the very accusation is, I think, often an effort to prevent us from making the effort to state what the doctrine actually indicates.

something that exhausts the actual reality of what is defined. Nor is it claimed that no better statement can be concocted. This better statement depends on facts. The dogma is always designed to encourage us to pursue a further knowledge, understanding, and indeed love of the what is that we seek to know.

None the less, it is a perfection of the human mind to seek to state, however imperfectly, what reality means through the formulation of a stated dogma. Nowhere in Catholic tradition is it claimed that the dogma or doctrine as a statement is, even by reason of its accuracy,

Catholicism has always taken dogmatic statements seriously because it realizes that failure to state the truth properly can and often does lead to error and confusion. Wars and hatred have no doubt been related to this problem of the accurate statement of the truths of things.

The Nicene Creed (Latin: Symbolum Nicaenum) is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325. I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

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Historical relations with Orthodoxy, with Islam, with Protestantism, with Marxism, with modern liberalism, with other religions, are at bottom rooted in theological questions having to do with the proper understanding of reality, of God, man, and the cosmos. This conflict, however, is one of the sources of scepticism about dogmas. They are said to “cause” wars, mere quibbles over nothing important, so it is said. The argument follows that if we forbid or deny doctrine, prevent or hinder its public expression, we will have peace. If we agree, however, that nothing is true, we will be “free” from all the “fanaticism” of the dogmatists, or so it is claimed. In another sense, this controversy or violence surrounding dogmatic statements, while we do not easily praise it, does witness to the long-range importance of getting things right in our understanding of them. Things, both divine and human things, really are at stake if we misunderstand the meaning of dogmas. Many a beautiful statue or building has been destroyed by an iconoclastic dogma holding that any representation of the divine is evil. Nothing in revelation, however, gives us cause for thinking that its proper understanding and statement is something that makes no difference to ourselves or to the world. The “going forth and teaching” all nations means at least this, that lacking proper “dogmas,” lacking the proper understanding of ultimate things is a detriment to every people. The famous Aristotelian dictum that a “small error in the beginning leads to a greater error in the end,” moreover, has its validity and indeed its history. The idea that “no dogma is true” is itself a dogma. And if it is this “dogma” that claims itself to be “true,” it contradicts

itself in its very statement. So the effort to find the truth of dogmas is in fact unavoidable if we wish to be sane about what the world and our relationship to it means. The term “dogmatic” theology, before its subject matter came to be called the more ambiguous “systematic” theology, used to mean the orderly effort to spell out, in careful philosophic terms, what was revealed to us about God, man, and the world. It was concerned primarily with the truth of what was revealed as presented in clear terms that we could understand and accept. When any one read the various accounts of Christ and the events leading up to him, both remotely in the Old Testament, and more particularly in the New Testament, questions of exact meaning or understanding were bound to occur to anyone with a minimum of curiosity. There was absolutely nothing wrong with seeking to examine apparent

Pope John Paul II (1920 – 2005)

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contradictions or seemingly insoluble problems found in the sources of revelation. Indeed, it would be wrong not to seek to do so. Human beings cannot live with the internal suspicion of a contradiction in things. Seriously to hold the famous “two truth” theory, namely, that a truth of revelation and a truth of reason could contradict each other in the same person and both still be true, is a formula for madness. The human mind is a searching instrument or faculty of our souls whereby we are in a constant state of wonderment about anything that is. Christ calls God his “Father.” He does not call him an “It.” He does not call him a “she” either, nor does he call him a “Form” or an “Energy,” or some static or dynamic abstraction. Maybe Christ was just confused, though that creates other problems. If he was confused, there is no reason to take him seriously. He maintained that “I and the Father are one,” while also asking the Father to let this “chalice” pass from him. It might be all right to hold one or the other of these positions, but both? Surely some inconsistency exists here. It is the function of theology to spell out, in terms of dogmatic statements, the consistency of what happens or is claimed to happen in revelation. Revelation is a claim to truth, a truth we are expected to know about and accept. We are addressed on the basis of truth in what is revealed. This truth will be coherent with all other truth, even the truths of reason, following Aquinas’ principle that grace builds on nature. We cannot help but make an effort to state precisely what is to be held as true and, if possible, why. But then, why would we think that proving

something to be “inconsistent” proved anything wrong with it? Maybe the world is itself “incoherent.” Maybe anything flows from anything. Perhaps no meaning can be discovered so that we just arbitrarily assign meanings as we see fit or as suits our private purposes? On the other hand, what is wrong with suspecting that things fit together? But if they do fit together, we are not wrong to seek to explain why they do. That point brings us to the question of “what is an explanation anyhow?” An explanation is not necessarily true because everyone believes it, though that is an indication to be taken seriously. Rather it is more likely that if everyone holds something to be true, it is because it is evident to the normal mind that there is a valid argument for it. Mathematical propositions are famous for their clarity and inner logic. The easier ones are comprehended by almost everyone who takes the trouble to grasp the terms of their proposition and how they are related. Dogmatic truths, even if they require faith to hold them, none the less bear their own inner logic and consistency. They seem to be addressed to enigmas that philosophic truths or arguments do not in fact fully answer though they approach them. The very fact that philosophy, to be philosophy, must remain open to what it does not know, to the love of wisdom, means that intrinsically it cannot reject positions addressed to itself from whatever source. How does philosophy know that something in its own order, the order of reason, is addressed to it? The short answer for this is that certain things are found in revelation that are likewise found

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in philosophy, as if to say that the same mind lies behind both. This is particularly the case if the major issues that philosophy does not answer likewise have coherent or sensible answers in revelation. In his Philosophical Dictionary, Mortimer Adler included, as one of his words to be examined, the word, “dogmatism.” He thought that most people fail to see the proper theological sense of the word as “referring to the articles of religious faith,” as distinct from philosophical questions where “dogmatism is totally inappropriate.” Philosophical questions as such need to be submitted to “rational inquiry” on which their truth or falsity is based. Still, Adler thought, there are some philosophical positions “the affirmation of which are beyond the power of reason to establish.” Philosophy, in other words, recognizes its own limits and with that, it recognizes that it is concerned with a whole that it does not completely grasp. As an example of this latter principle of something reason cannot itself establish, Adler uses the instance of “ontological materialism.” This view holds that “nothing really exists except bodies and their physical transformations.” Using the evidence of logic itself, Adler pointed out that “that thesis, being a denial, therefore is a negation, and as such it is indemonstrable.” That is, we might be able to prove that something is there, or something is necessary if what is there exists. But the proposition “what is not body does not exist” cannot hold on its initial premise about material bodies. Simply because we know that bodies exist, we cannot conclude that what is not body does not exist. Obviously, if something that is not body exists, it exists in a non-bodily

way. Adler suggests that most scientists inadvertently accept the materialist thesis “without a logical qualm.” Evidence of our senses does tell us that material things exist. This is true. “There is no evidence that reality does not and cannot include the immaterial and the nonphysical. To assert that it does not and cannot is sheer dogmatism, of a kind that should be avoided in philosophy.” * It is this kind of “dogmatism” that Catholicism seeks to avoid in its own understanding of the meaning of its dogmas. What, then, is the evidence that what is not physical exists? This alternative is why Plato is always good for us to know. Plato forever stands for the principle that the idea of a thing and the particular existing thing of a certain kind are not the same. The idea or form of a thing is universal. It prescinds from matter. What it is to be a tree may have been acquired from observing many actual trees, but it is not the same as an individual tree, though both have what it is to be a tree in common. The idea of a tree does not change, ever, even if all actual trees cease to exist. Trees come and go, the idea of a tree, or of a man, does not. We may need minds to think these ideas, but they are not material even when we know that the actual tree is largely material. “There is no evidence that reality does not and cannot include the immaterial and the nonphysical.” Indeed, in our very minds in their functioning, we reflectively see that something more than what is material is present. The great encyclical, Fides et Ratio, of John Paul II was particularly concerned with the philosophical knowledge, or lack thereof, of theologians. It was quite aware that everywhere we look in biblical or

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theological questions that, behind them, are basic philosophical questions that can condition how we understand revelation and the propositions explaining it. The Church has prided itself historically in insisting that it had no “philosophic system” of its own, that it was open to any philosophy provided that it could maintain its truth. Yet, the Church has since the Middle Ages been aware of the presence of Thomas Aquinas, with the idea that not every philosophy is equal simply because it claims to be a “philosophy.” Indeed, the Church has frankly stated that not every philosophy can sustain or present a coherent understanding of the truths contained within revelation. Not all philosophical systems are true, even though there is probably a point of truth even in their errors. There are, none the less, philosophies that would make the Incarnation or the Trinity, the basic truths of Catholicism, impossible of understanding or acceptance. It is at this point that an examination of the validity of any philosophy as philosophy becomes imperative. The very fact that faith is itself directed precisely to intelligence, then, would indicate that, in the very effort to understand what is revealed in all its perplexity, there would come about as a by-product, as it were, a deepening of philosophy and a confirmation of that philosophy more capable of explaining the coherent meaning of what is. As Aquinas states, “What comes from God is well ordered. Now the order of things consists in this, that they are led to God each one by the others” (I-II,111.1). If we understand the logic of this position, it means that philosophy, by being what it is, is open to or aware of what are its own limitations. Revelation, on the

other hand, by being what it is, leads philosophy and other disciplines and realities to what they are, to knowing more of what they are than they would without the stimulus of revelation. But it does so on the grounds of reason, not revelation. As I mentioned earlier, there is a sense in the modern world G.K. Chesterton that philosophy has (1874 – 1936) deliberately closed itself off from considering anything to do with revelation out of fear that things might just cohere, that there is a whole that somehow includes both reason and revelation. The human mind in fact is able to invent numerous reasons for not doing what is right. The human person can choose to follow some path or position of its own formulation as a reason for doing what he wants. There is a more sophisticated modern version of this position. Philosophy, it is said, is not in principle to be understood as anything but what the human mind can know by its own powers. This methodological limitation, generally called “rationalism,” would mean that philosophy must a priori reject any “addition” or “deepening” of itself that would, even if true, come from outside its own control, no matter how “real” or fruitful the latter was to this same truth. Philosophic rationalism, on such a thesis, could only reject what was concluded to by philosophy’s own efforts to understand or articulate what is revealed or to resolve the apparent difficulties or contradictions said to be found in revelation. Thus,

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referring to the famous project of whether there can be such a thing as a “Catholic” philosophy, even if what is meant is a genuine philosophical position but one derived from considerations of revelation, we conclude that, if we are not Catholic, we cannot accept the philosophical position gained under its stimulus. We reject what is true even if it is philosophy because of its “tainted” origins in revelation. But this rejection seems like a very un-philosophical act, one that refuses even to consider an issue that arises from revelation, whether one believes it or not. A genuine philosophy would mean, it would seem, an openness to a truth, from whatever source. The question comes down to the matter either of a genuine openness to what is or to a systematic restriction of philosophy to a rationalism that sets limits on what it can think. The meaning of dogma, in conclusion, takes us back to the observation of Dorothy Sayers that was cited in the beginning of these reflections. The normal person, she remarked, is interested in dogma. He wants to know the truth. But it is rarely presented to him in terms in which he can understand. Lacking the proper explanations, many likely go about listening to or concocting ideas that are far from the true understanding of what the faith teaches. And this is the pertinence of Chesterton’s remark, that even before he realized the intrinsic importance of dogma, it was clear that people implicitly organized themselves about dogmatic ideas or positions so that to understand them, it was necessary to examine what they held. Chesterton’s famous book Heretics, which was published a century ago in 1905, was precisely on this point. The real choice is not between dogma 24

and no dogma, but between a dogma that is true and one that is not. In the end, we want to know the truth of things. But we also often do not want to know the truth if it requires us to change our lives. Yves Simon remarked that for intellectuals and academics in particular, one of the most difficult things they face is the necessity to change their minds when they discover that their favourite theory does not prove to be true. But there is the further point that Paul wrote to Timothy, that many would come to believe in almost any sort of doctrine once they refused to accept what the faith held to be true and the explanations of it that we call dogmas. The alternate to a true dogma is not, in practice, no dogma, but a dogma that is not true. If there is anything peculiar about revelation, it is its insistence that certain truths need to be known to be saved. We are to live upright lives on the basis of these truths, to be sure, but revelation does address our intellects with a claim to be true. It is the truth, we are told, that will make us free. As we see and articulate the alternatives, as we see worked out in historical reality the alternatives to the truth of things, we begin to suspect that the effort of revelation to address itself also to our minds is at the heart of what it was about. Generally speaking, we do not live well if we do not think well. This is why, whatever else it is, Catholicism is an intellectual claim that addresses our minds in the name of what any mind can think.

* Mortimer Adler, ‘Philosophical Dictionary’ (New York: Touchstone, 1995), 88.

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Richard’s Conversion Story Growing up I have had experiences with several different protestant churches around my area. I had always enjoyed one or two aspects of that community but there would always be something that I didn’t like. I was first told about God I believe by my grandparents. They had asked me mom had sent me to church. I would usually attend this Baptist church near where I lived. They had a bus that went around and picked people up. Which was great because that meant my mom wouldn’t have to take me. By the time I was ten I had already gone through my parents divorcing and having my mother go through Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. I

had stolen things from stores. Gotten into fights. I would run all around town. My mom didn’t care because she didn’t want us in the house because she was using drugs. My stepfather didn’t have a clue because he spent all day at work, which by the way was a bar that he owned. I began to think that famous atheistic phrase,“If there is a God, why would he allow all of this?” By the time I was 13 my mother and stepfather had separated and times were really hard. I was a teenager and rebellious. I came and went as I pleased. I chased girls all over the place. I listened to a few people but really didn’t heed any wisdom given to me. Instead of thinking that God didn’t exist I began “knowing” that God didn’t exist (if a kid of 13 or 14 can really “know” anything). And even when I professed to people that I didn’t believe in God there were still those times, when I was alone and/or in trouble, I would utter this little phrase under my breath, “God, please help me.” Within a year my stepfather got back together with my mother and they’ve been together ever since. For a while I was fine with believing God to be a myth. I convinced myself that the Bible was a fairy tale drummed up by humans to maintain order-even though I really hadn’t actually read the Bible. But the older I got the more my mind wandered into thoughts like “what happens when I die?” I would literally lie awake at night in terrifying fear picturing my existence ending; not from the outside but from the inside that is my consciousness. Trying to wrap my head around the idea that all

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these experiences that make up who I am would be enveloped in a total void and I would cease to be. I couldn’t do it, but my mind said that that is the outcome. I got my girlfriend pregnant at 20. We were married in a courtroom that summer. She was raised Catholic and I was as stable as a rope bridge. She tolerated me anyway. After a few years (and another baby) I started to get bored with married life. I would do anything to distance myself from my wife so that I could go out and do what I wanted, including trying to ‘hookup’ with other women. At one point I tried to leave my wife by ‘skipping town’. She eventually caught up with me and after much discussion we agreed to continue our marriage. But the peace didn’t last long. Again I was up to doing bad things. This time on the very verge of crossing that point of no return, but I stopped myself. “This is wrong,” I thought to myself, “I shouldn’t be here doing this.” I left. I got home and I told my wife everything I had been up to. A couple years ago I was attending a first reconciliation meeting for my daughter’s Parish School of Religion (PSR) class. My wife and aunt wanted my girls to attend these classes. I didn’t care. I figured that anything has got to be better that the way I grew up. This was different than anything I had known, so I allowed it.

Sitting there listening to the priest speak of forgiveness, what it means to forgive, and how the Lord has endless mercy for those who seek Him. I was moved. Something stirred in me and after the meeting I pulled that priest aside and told him that I wanted to join the church. During my formation, looking back on my life, I realized that despite everything that He created, I needed no further proof than what I experienced In my life. He was there when I asked Him to help me. He was there when I shoplifted those things. He was there when my mom was in rehab. He was there when my mom and stepdad separated, and he also helped them get back together. He was there when my three girls were born happy and healthy. He was there in that room drawing me away from that woman. It wasn’t me that kept myself from making that mistake that would’ve destroyed my life and my family forever; it was Him. You know how they say hindsight is 20/20? That is the point, and that is the truth. He allowed me to go through all of that because He knows me better than I know myself. And He knew that that was the only way that I would search Him out. He allowed all of that so that in time I would know that it was Him.

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The Lord’s Footprints One Night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonged to him and the other to the Lord. When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life. This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. “Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you you’d walk with me all the way, but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.” The Lord replied, “My precious, precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”

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Thank you from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) Each year thanks to the • Donations • Legacies and • Mass offerings of its benefactors in Ireland and around the world ACN is able to • Provide sustenance and the means of survival for c. 20,000 Priests • Support c. 18,000 Seminarians and Religious and • Distribute c. 1.5 million catechetical books for children in 160 languages. Heartfelt thanks for all your prayers and support provided to Christ’s suffering and persecuted Church. May the good Lord continue to bless you and your family, past and present, now and always.

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