Twisted Words? On Presenting the Faith Whole-Heartedly

“As far as theological views of this sort are concerned, finally, quite a number of people have the abiding impression that the church’s faith is like a jellyfish: no one can get a grip on it and it has no firm center. It is on the many halfhearted interpretations of the biblical Word that can be found everywhere that a sickly Christianity takes its stand—a Christianity that is no longer true to itself and that consequently cannot radiate encouragement and enthusiasm. It gives, instead, the impression of being an organization that keeps on talking although it has nothing else to say, because twisted words are not convincing and are only concerned to hide their emptiness.” 

—Joseph Ratzinger, In the Beginning: A Catholic Understanding of the Story of the Creation and Fall (1981), p. 8.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, in a homily given when he was Archbishop of Munich and Friesing, hit the proverbial nail on the proverbial head here in describing the typically modern approach to theology and faith. The sense you get from some folks is that it's all a mystery, there are various schools of thought, it's all so hard to sort out, and who can really say? And anyway, what with all the modern advances in something or other, and our superior knowledge and insight—I mean, it's 2016!—we surely have progressed beyond the conclusions of Bronze Age tribes and medieval monks, haven't we? So instead, let's re-cast our faith in the mold of whatever the prevailing opinion of the day is, always ready to cast it aside when it too becomes, gasp, outdated.

This seems the default position among many, and no wonder it's been a less than attractive option on the spiritual menu. Who wants lukewarm soup? Who wants half-cooked potatoes? Who wants kale... at all? A watered down wine will be spat out by anyone with any taste for the stuff, and a watered down faith will not satisfy anyone in any lasting way. It is a fact easily established by sociological data that parishes and dioceses that preach sound doctrine and celebrate beautiful liturgies have high Mass attendance, attract high numbers of converts, and produce high numbers of vocations, while parishes and dioceses that bend over backward to accommodate the direction the winds are blowing this week are sparsely populated and quickly dying out.

This is due to the simple fact that the truth fulfills us and makes us free to live our lives in accordance with our God-given nature, to live in friendship with God and fulfill the call to goodness, and that the truth of beauty and the beauty of truth are more attractive than any amount of ear tickling. Truth satisfies, beauty satisfies, goodness satisfies, because these are of God, and God alone satisfies.

Good Ol' St. Joe

Today is the solemnity of St. Joseph, the foster father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the guardian of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the patron of the universal Church. Such an august occasion ought not to pass without at least a passing remark.

I will focus on one aspect of this great and holy man. Some people object to the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary by claiming it ludicrous and unrealistic that a married couple would live their whole lives without enjoying marital relations. "Who could possibly do that?" they say. Well, with God, all things are possible, as a rather highly placed authority once said. The union of Mary and Joseph was not intended to be one for the purpose of producing children together, but rather of providing a safe and loving and pious home for their son, the Son. Of course, they loved each other, and expressed that love by the love they showed to Jesus. And Joseph showed his love for Mary by honoring her place in salvation history as the New Eve, the new Ark of the Covenant, the Temple and Spouse of the Holy Spirit. Joseph's love for Mary was beyond physicality. Joseph "teaches us that it is possible to love without possessing," as Pope Benedict once put it.

St. Joseph serves as a model for consecrated religious, who give their lives for love of God and neighbor without holding onto anything themselves. He can also serve as a model for married couples, to help them remember that there is more to relationships than the physical dimension: there is a deeper, spiritual dimension, which must take precedence, that the physical may take its proper place and thus be fruitful and joy-giving. May we look to St. Joseph in our time of need.