The Teaching Pope Today (Vatican Info. Service)

PSEUDO-DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE: MEDIATION AND DIALOGUE
(Emphasis added by blogger)

VATICAN CITY, 14 MAY 2008 (VIS) - In today's general audience, held in St. Peter's Square, the Holy Father resumed his series of catecheses on the Fathers of the Church, concentrating his remarks on the figure of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite whose aim, said the Pope, was "to place Greek wisdom at the service of the Gospel".

Benedict XVI explained how, during a period marked by "harsh disputes following the Council of Chalcedon", this sixth-century author affirmed the fact that "the light of truth ... eradicates error and brings the good to shine forth. With this principle he purified Greek thought, bringing it into relation with the Gospel".

The Pseudo-Dionysius used Greek polytheism "to show the truth of Christ and transform the polytheistic world into a cosmos created by God" in which "all creatures together reflect the truth of God".

"Because the creature is a glorification of God, the Pseudo-Dionysius' theology becomes a theological liturgy. God is found, above all, by praising Him and not just through reflection".

This Father of the Church created the first "great mystical theology. ... With him the word 'mystical' took on a more personal and intimate meaning: it expresses the soul's journey towards God. ... The Pseudo-Dionysius shows that at the end of the road to God is God Himself, Who comes close to us in Jesus Christ".

"Today Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite assumes fresh relevance", said the Holy Father. "He appears as a greater mediator in the modern dialogue between Christianity and the mystical theologies of Asia, the well-known characteristic of which lies in their conviction that it cannot be said who God is, that He can be spoken of only in negative terms, ... and that only by entering this experience of 'no' can He be reached".

Dialogue, said Benedict XVI "does not accept superficiality. It is when we enter deeply into the encounter with Christ that a vast area for dialogue opens before us. When one meets the light of truth, one realises that it is a light for everyone: disputes disappear and it becomes possible to understand one another, or at least to speak to and approach one another".

"Rescued Ones"

I have come across more than one Catholic remarking ruefully (and understandably) how they or others were told repeatedly in contemporary U.S. Catholic settings, such as Catholic schools or parishes, that God loves them. The rueful implication was that such statements were apparently used to substitute for actually informing Catholics about all of the moral law and all of the commandments. That incomplete instruction was and is a tragedy, a very big tragedy. I can also testify that the failure of Catholic institutions to pass on the Church's clear moral teachings led many of us into grave sin and awful mistakes. Yet, two wrongs don't make a right. Just because it was or has become common for some to talk a lot about God's love and at the same time tragically hide or misrepresent the Church's moral teachings does not mean that we now, in turn, have license to also engage in a similarly tragic misrepresentation by now trying to hide or deemphasize the life-changing fact that God--more specifically, Jesus--loves each one of us so much that he would have chosen to die at Gethsemane even if only you existed.

To hide or deemphasize the fact of the infinite love of Jesus for you and for me would be heretical because biblical revelation emphatically forbids it. No, not even the incompetence of those who spoke about God's love to us in the past but never warned us about specific mortal sins can separate us from the love of Jesus:

Romans 8:38-39 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord [all Scripture quotes are from the English Standard Version].

We also can recall the two most famous passages about God's unshakeable love for every single one of us:

John 3:16 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

1 John 4:8-13 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit [emphasis added].

Notice how these biblical passages are balanced: God shows his love by saving us from our sins. In the Catholic charismatic circles in which I am active, there is a lot of constant talk about Jesus loving each one of us. Yet, at the same time, there is no deemphasis on sin and on the Church's moral teachings. Frankly, we see talk about Jesus' personal love for us as inseparable from the reality of sin. The love of Jesus is so life-changing and is such good news precisely because that love is what saves us, and what it saves us from is the darkness, slavery, turmoil, confusion, blindness, despondency, despair, and sickness of sin. It doesn't make sense to talk about the love of Jesus if that love is not salvific, if that love does not save us. Save us from what? From sin. Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to the Church to give us the full truth about our predicament and about what is and what is not sin. Once we clearly see our predicament, then we can truly appreciate the love of Jesus, the love that literally saves our lives.

On the other hand, it also does not make sense to talk on and on about sin without also proclaiming the love of Jesus that saves from sin. Once again, as a Catholic, I am astonished at the extremes so many of us tend toward in our discourse. On the one hand, theologically liberal Catholics don't want to mention sin at all or simply refer to "social sin," as if our private sins did not have grave social, familial, or communal consequences. On the other hand, some theologically traditional or conservative Catholics don't want to mention the unconditional love of Jesus because it might lead some to think that we can act without consequences. Both positions are extremes that are in fact heretical, even if unconsciously so, as shown by the biblical verses already quoted.

Frankly, I confess that I think that charismatic Catholics are a good example of getting the balance just right. (Pardon the narrow use of the term "charismatic"--all Catholics, without exception, are called to be charismatic; I am simply using the term in its common usage to designate those who have experienced a new outpouring of the Spirit and of his charismatic gifts in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal). Jesus' love is so great precisely because it saves us from so much darkness produced by sin. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal proclaims the unconditional love of Jesus which calls us to repentance and conversion that lead to salvation and healing from the darkness and sickness of sin. The response to that dramatic rescue is praise--which is why we are delighted to praise, glorify, thank, and bless God in words both known and unknown, even by clapping at times, and certainly by singing exuberantly. One praise song captures our situation well with this phrase: we Christians are the "rescued ones." To be a "rescued one" is to know that Jesus loves us enough to always be ready to rescue us if we freely accept his love. To be a "rescued one" is also to know that we were certainly in dire straits and are intent on avoiding those same dire straits in the future. Catholics are "rescued ones" who must always talk both about the amazing love that rescued us and also about the pit from which we were rescued and into which we do not want to fall again.

Catholic Charismatic Center on the Web

This site provides a discussion forum for questions on the Renewal and also provides informational resources. Here is the link.

The Charism of Discernment

I will share again excerpts from Fr. Cantalamessa's book Come, Creator Spirit, as I did yesterday in the post on purity. Today's topic is the charism (that is, Holy Spirit inspired gift) of discernment whereby Christians can distinguish between what comes from the Holy Spirit, what comes from our own minds, and what comes from the Evil One. A charism is more than common sense and shrewdness (although those strengths are indeed natural gifts from God for which we should express humble gratitude). A charism is supernatural: "the Holy Spirit helps us evaluate situations and to direct our choices, not only on the basis of human wisdom and prudence, but also in the light of the supernatural principles of faith" (p. 333).

Here are some excerpts on a charism that we all need and that we all should ask for because we must all make eternally significant choices in life. The excerpts follow in quotes, along with my comments.

1. How to tell if something is from the Evil One? "Paul gives the same objective criterion of discernment that Jesus gave: the fruits. The 'works of the flesh' show that the sinful desire giving rise to them comes from the old nature, and 'the fruits of the Spirit' show that the desire from which they spring comes from the Spirit (see Ga 5:19-22). 'For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh' (Gal 5:17)." Note that the desires of the flesh are not merely desires for sexual activity outside of true marriage; the desires of the flesh could also be the Vatican cleric who puts ambition above Gospel service, or simply the person who is compulsively and intemperately attacking, slandering, and criticizing others. Self-righteousness is as much a desire of the flesh as lust. So is greed and lust for control and power over others.

2. How to choose between two goods? "Saint Ignatius Loyola developed his teaching on discernment mainly as a response to the needs of such a situation. He suggests that we take note of one thing in particular: our own inward dispositions, the intentions (the 'spirits') that underlie our choice. . . . Ignatius Loyola suggested practical ways to apply these criteria. As an example, when two possible choices are open to you, it is good to settle on one of them as though that were without question your choice and to stay with that for a day or more; then stop and evaluate how you really feel in your heart about that choice. Are you at peace about it, is it in harmony with all the other choices you have made, do you feel inwardly encouraged to follow that route, or on the other hand does it leave you under a veil of disquiet? Repeat the process with the other choice open to you. Do it all in an atmosphere of prayer, of abandonment to God's will and openness to the Holy Spirit" (p. 334). See the links to the works by Fr. Timothy Gallagher on Ignatian discernment in "Resources for Catholic Renewal" in this blog's side margin to investigate this rich Ignatian wisdom further.

3. Fr. Cantalamessa then gives a good biblical overview of discernment as follows: "When you come right down to it, it is simply a question of putting into practice the advice that Jethro gave to Moses: Put the questions to God, and wait in prayer for God's answer (see Exod 18:19). A deep-seated habitual disposition to do God's will whatever the situation puts you in the best position to discern well. Jesus says: 'My judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me' (John 5:30)' " (p. 334).


Fr. Cantalamessa has more insights into the charism of discernment that I will share with you the next time that I post. God is ready to give us an abundance of overflowing gifts and charisms. It's just plain dumb not to ask in humility as He has told us to do so. Below is an extended excerpt from the Gospel of Luke that touches upon many of the themes of discernment that we have noted above:

Luke 11:10-20 (English Standard Version; emphasis added): 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" 14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. 15 But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons," 16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. 18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Note the themes in the above passage: asking in faith for gifts from the Father (it's not a matter of pride, unhealthy ambition, or selfishness; many of us have the mistaken, often unconscious notion that we are being selfish if we ask for good things--it seems to be, possibly for many of us, a notion from our early childhood training that we are misapplying in the theological context); that the Father, the Creator of the universe, is good and wants to give us good gifts (if you have never known a good human father, it may take time and grace to really come to trust in this great truth about the universe); that even Jesus was slandered and falsely accused of engaging in demonic activity (you will hear this horrible slander directed even today, for example, against charismatic prayer in tongues although this prayer charism, derived from the Isaian gift of piety, is focused on praising and glorifying God; the attack tactics of Satan have an eerie consistency to them); that Jesus responded to this awful slander against him by pointing to the fruits of his ministry, a ministry that was attacking and overcoming the rule and kingdom of Satan in the lives of the people whom Jesus healed and freed. Read and reread the excerpt from Luke. The Scriptures are inexhaustibly rich for you and for me for the choices that we will make this very day and this week in our lives.

Scientific Study on Glossolalia (Speaking in Tongues)

In a recent post, I commented on a neuroimaging study on speaking or praying in tongues (technically called "glossolalia"). The study is available for free on the web at this PDF link. (Here is the normal/HTML web link.) A N.Y. Times article from November 7, 2006, explains the findings of the study at this link.

Note: This post on praying in tongues actually dovetails with today's other post on purity. Private prayer in tongues helps withstand temptations against purity. This help against temptation makes sense. Let me draw an analogy. In economics, we speak about the phenomenon of "crowding out," when excessive government spending crowds out private investment because excessive government borrowing in financial markets "crowds out" private firms that are also seeking funds in the same financial markets. In the same way, praying in tongues precisely because it is such a complete surrender to praise of God "crowds out" what is contrary to the vision of God. It comes down to not leaving a vacuum for the Evil One to enter.

Papal Preacher's Pentecost Homily

"Power From Above" by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, ofmcap

Feast of Pentecost A - 2008-05-11

> Acts 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13; John 20:19-23. Everyone has on some occasion seen people pushing a stalled car trying to get it going fast enough to start. There are one or two people pushing from behind and another person at the wheel. If it does not get going after the first try, they stop, wipe away the sweat, take a breath and try again. ... Then suddenly there is a noise, the engine starts to work, the car moves on its own and the people who were pushing it straighten themselves up and breathe a sigh of relief. This is an image of what happens in Christian life. One goes forward with much effort, without great progress. But we have a very powerful engine ("the power from above!") that only needs to be set working. The feast of Pentecost should help us to find this engine and and see how to get it going. The account from the Acts of the Apostles begins thus: "When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all together in the same place." From these words, we see that Pentecost pre-existed Pentecost. In other words, there was already a feast of Pentecost in Judaism and it was during this feast that the Holy Spirit descended. One cannot understand the Christian Pentecost without taking into account the Jewish Pentecost that prepared it. In the Old Testament there were two interpretations of the feast of Pentecost. At the beginning there was the feast of the seven weeks, the feast of the harvest, when the first fruits of grain were offered to God, but then, and certainly during Jesus' time, the feast was enriched with a new meaning: It was the feast of the conferral of the law and of the covenant on Mount Sinai. If the Holy Spirit descends upon the Church precisely on the day in which Israel celebrated the feast of the law and the covenant, this indicates that the Holy Spirit is the new law, the spiritual law that sealed the new and eternal covenant. A law that is no longer written on stone tablets but on tablets of flesh, on the hearts of men. These considerations immediately provoke a question: Do we live under the old law or the new law? Do we fulfill our religious duties by constraint, by fear and habit, or rather by an intimate conviction and almost by attraction? Do we experience God as a father or a boss? I conclude with a story. At the beginning of the last century a family from southern Italy emigrated to the United States. Not having enough money to pay for meals at restaurants, they took bread and cheese with them for the trip. As the days and weeks passed the bread became stale and the cheese moldy; at a certain point their child could not take it anymore and could do nothing but cry. The parents took the last bit of money that they had and gave it to him so that he could have a nice meal at a restaurant. The child went, ate and came back to his parents in tears. The parents asked: "We have spent all the money we had left to buy you a nice meal and you are still crying?" "I am crying because I found out that one meal a day was included in the price and this whole time we have been eating bread and cheese!" Many Christians go through life with only "bread and cheese," without joy, without enthusiasm, when they could, spiritually speaking, every day enjoy every good thing of God, it all being included in the price of being Christians. The secret for experiencing that which John XXIII called "a new Pentecost" is called prayer. That is where we find the "spark" that starts the engine! Jesus promised that the heavenly Father would give the Holy Spirit to those who asked for him (Luke 11:13). Ask then! The liturgy of Pentecost offers us magnificent words to do this: "Come, Holy Spirit ... Come, O Father of the poor, Ever bounteous of Thy store, Come, our heart's unfailing light. Come, Consoler, kindest, best, Come, our bosom's dearest guest, Sweet refreshment, sweet repose. Rest in labor, coolness sweet, Tempering the burning heat, Truest comfort of our woes!" Come Holy Spirit! [Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic] Source link.

Pope Invites All of Us to Rediscover Baptism in the Holy Spirit

This invitation is what the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is all about--it is an invitation to all Catholics because all Catholics are called to be charismatics by virtue of the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. What the Pope is urging and what the Catholic Charismatic Renewal also urges, in obedience to Peter, is the "rediscovery" of our Baptism in the Holy Spirit and openness to all the gifts and charisms that the Holy Spirit sees fit to grant us in his sovereign prerogative and wisdom.

Here is an excerpt from the Pope's remarks, available in full at this Zenit.org link:

"In my message for World Youth Day 2008, I invited young people to rediscover the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives and, therefore, the importance of these sacraments," the Holy Father added. "Today I would like to extend this invitation to everyone: Let us rediscover, dear brothers and sisters, the beauty of being baptized in the Holy Spirit; let us be aware again of our baptism and of our confirmation, sources of grace that are always present.

"Let us ask the Virgin Mary to obtain a renewed Pentecost for the Church again today, a Pentecost that will spread in everyone the joy of living and witnessing to the Gospel."

Source link.

A Grand Strategy for Purity: Outflanking the Enemy Through the Spirit

Papal preacher Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa gives the grand strategy:

Living in purity is one of the very sure ways of coming to experience the Holy Spirit. Yet we know how sensitive this question is, and how difficult it is to be truly pure of heart. What does one do so as not to give in and fall? There is a whole gamut of negative ways (don't do, don't say, don't look, don't touch), but the Scriptures and the Fathers have shown us a powerful, positive way that unfortunately is often neglected: Fall in love with genuine beauty, choose carefully the "body" with which you want to become as one. This is the direction in which the Spirit urges us in the real situation of our life, where we cannot simply rely only on the negative means. For the "flesh" has all sorts of ways to get at us, and it assails us everywhere, from within and from without. The little defenses are no longer enough; we need a grand strategy, one that will resolve the problem. Saint Paul suggests one where he writes: "Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, 'The two shall be one flesh.' But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him" (1 Cor 6:16-17).
There is tremendous power, often unrecognized, in this last little sentence. No one who has repeated it quietly in his heart has ever failed to experience its efficacy. There is in our fallen selves a proclivity toward the material and the fleshly, but God has given us a remedy worthy of his wisdom: the risen body of the Lord. That is the place where the tension between flesh and spirit is finally overcome and where the body has already attained that freedom from slavery to decadence for which the whole of creation yearns. It is like an anchor of safety firmly lodged beyond the reach of the storms we endure or the struggles we wage. Moreover, the body of the risen Christ is a real body, though living "according to the Spirit"; we can join ourselves to that body, in intention, by faith, and sacramentally in the Eucharist. One with the body of Christ, the purity of that body is ours too. The Jews in the desert, bitten by snakes, were healed when they looked upon the bronze serpent; we, bitten by sensuality, are healed when we run to look to him who, for this very purpose, was lifted up on the cross for us (see John 3:14-15).

Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, Come, Creator Spirit: Meditations on the Veni Creator (Liturgical Press, 2003), pp. 251-52 (emphasis added).

He also gives a practical tip for each new day:

[A] good practical step would be to consecrate our mind to the Paraclete. "Consecrate" means "to entrust to, to hand over to, to reserve solely for." Decide that, from this moment on, we will use our mind to know only what is true and for the glory of God. . . . That is a consecration that we would do well to renew every morning. One of the ancient Fathers has said that our mind is like a mill: it will grind away all day at the first grain that we put into it in the morning. We would do well to be quick to put in, very first thing in the morning, God's good clean grain--good thoughts, God's words--for if we do not, the demons will not miss their chance to feed it with tares.

Cantalamessa, p. 252 (emphasis added).

In this consecration, Philippians is a good place to start:

English Standard Version Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

There is also something you can do at the end of the day, before you go to sleep. It's a practice described by St. Josemaría Escrivá: stretch out your arms as if you were on a cross and pray three Hail Mary's for purity (preferably before an image of Mary). It's not a magic ritual. Rather, it is one example of a dramatic and very purposeful invocation of Mary's Spirit-filled intercession to let true beauty (she is true beauty!) abound and overflow even in the subconscious thoughts and images that emerge in our dreams.

In the end, a sign that the grand strategy works is this result:

In this way, there is no need to deny the beauty of the body or to regard human sexuality as something vile [our sins and psychological wounds have unquestionably made it vile in many instances, many lives, and even within many marriages; but that is not the authentic and normal nature of human sexuality but rather a radical distortion and falling away from its true stature]. This way, rather, is "from beauty to Beauty." As one of the ancient Fathers has said, "A man may know that his heart is pure when he is able to look on all that is beautiful and see nothing as impure."

Cantalamessa, p. 252 (bracketed comments added by blogger; emphasis added).

The way of the Pharisee, whether ancient or very modern, does not work in the long run. Saint Paul prefigures what we have just read from Fr. Cantalamessa:

RSV Colossians 2:20-23 20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, 21 "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" 22 (referring to things which all perish as they are used), according to human precepts and doctrines? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting rigor of devotion and self-abasement and severity to the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh [emphasis added].

We have for too long popularly misrepresented the Christian and genuinely Catholic approach. It is an approach that relies on the Spirit, not on ourselves alone. That is good reason to celebrate this Pentecostal season as a season of authentic liberation so that, as Paul wrote, "where sin increased, grace abounded all the more" (Romans 5:20; RSV). The lexicons tell us that the Greek word that Paul uses here for "abound" has the meaning of "overflow." Grace or charis abounds or overflows as we expectantly ask for and so receive a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Note: Fr. Cantalamessa's book quoted above and others can be found in the side margin links entitled "Resources for Catholic Renewal." I especially recommend this particular book because in it Fr. Cantalamessa gives us the fruit of his wide, deep, and erudite familiarity with the Church Fathers, obviously obtained through many years of close study; he is recognized as a highly qualified theologian. Fr. Cantalamessa is also the Vatican's papal preacher to the Pope and the curia in Rome and is a well-known, international leader in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

Asking for a New Outpouring of the Holy Spirit

COME, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and kindle in them the fire of Thy love.

V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray:

O GOD, Who taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that, by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be always truly wise, and ever rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.


Source link here.

Let's "personalize" this ancient prayer for private devotion even further by focusing on our personal relationship with the Holy Spirit (my additions and changes in red). The changes in red simply emphasize more what we are already praying by implication whenever we use the traditional, corporate wording (see the Friday post on Aquinas for the theological background of this prayer for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit):

COME, Holy Spirit, fill my heart anew and kindle in me the fire of Thy love.

V. Send forth Thy Spirit and I shall be created
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray:

O GOD, Who taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that, by the gift of the same Spirit, I may be always truly wise, and ever rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

St. Thomas Aquinas Explains the Charismatic Renewal

As Pentecost approaches, it is worthwhile to begin to pray expectantly for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit. To receive that new outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the central practice of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is quite simple and sublime: people pray with you to be "baptized in the Holy Spirit." It's not a new sacrament. It's simply prayer to be "flooded with" and "immersed" in the Holy Spirit. It's prayer for a new outpouring or sending of the Holy Spirit. Catholics, including myself not too long ago, naturally and understandably ask: is this new sending of the Holy Spirit consistent with Catholic sacramental theology which holds that we receive the Holy Spirit in the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation?

Let's allow St. Thomas Aquinas to answer the question, as presented in the comments of accomplished theologian Fr. Francis Sullivan, S.J., formerly of the Gregorian University in Rome and lately of Boston College:

The two key words which for St. Thomas express what happens when the Holy Spirit is given or sent to us are inhabitation and innovation: the Holy Spirit dwells in us, in such a way as to make us new. Now, of course, in Catholic teaching this takes place initially at the moment when we become Christians, when we are "born of water and the Spirit" (Jn 3:5) [that is, when we receive the Sacrament of Baptism]. But St. Thomas also asks the question whether we can speak of a sending of the Spirit to a person in whom he is already indwelling, and if so, how this is to be understood. His answer is as follows: "There is an invisible sending also with respect to an advance in virtue or an increase of grace . . . . Such an invisible sending is especially to be seen in that kind of increase of grace whereby a person moves forward into some new act or some new state of grace: as, for instance, when a person moves forward into the grace of working miracles, or of prophecy, or out of the burning love of God offers his life as a martyr, or renounces all his possessions, or undertakes some other such arduous thing" [Summa Theologiae I, q. 43, a. 6, ad 2um]. . . . [W]hen we look at the "new acts"or "new states"of grace which he [Thomas] gives as examples of the fruit of such a new sending of the Spirit, we do not find the kinds of grace which are traditionally attributed to the reception of the sacraments. All of the examples he gives would fall under the heading of charismatic, rather than sacramental, graces. And there is nothing in the context that would in any way suggest that a new sending of the Spirit, with such effects as these, could only be had through the reception of a sacrament. I conclude from this teaching of St. Thomas that there is no reason why Catholics, who believe that they have already received the Holy Spirit in their sacramental initiation, should not look forward to new "sendings' of the Spirit to them, which would move them from the "state of grace" in which they already are into some "new act" or "new state of grace." Now if we recall that in biblical language, "sending the Spirit," "pouring out the Spirit," and "baptizing in the Spirit" are simply different ways of saying the same thing, the conclusion follows that it is quite in accord with traditional Catholic theology for baptized and confirmed Christians to ask the Lord to "baptize them in the Holy Spirit." What they are asking him for, in the language of St. Thomas, is a new "sending" of the Holy Spirit, which would begin a decisively new work of grace in their lives.


Fr. Francis A. Sullivan, S. J., Charisms and Charismatic Renewal: A Biblical and Theological Study (Eugene, Oregan: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2004), pp. 70-72 (bold emphasis added).

Note that Fr. Sullivan asserts that St. Thomas contemplated that charismatic gifts would result from such a new sending of the Holy Spirit. Here is Fr. Sullivan's further comments on the results of a new sending of the Holy Spirit:

We have seen that when St. Thomas gave examples of the "new acts" or "new states of grace" into which a person could be moved by a new sending of the Spirit, he named the grace of working miracles, of prophecy, of offering one's life as a martyr, and of renouncing all one's possessions. There is a striking parallel between these gifts of grace mentioned by St. Thomas, and the charisms which St. Paul listed at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 13: "If I have prophetic powers, . . . if I have faith so as to remove mountains, . . . if I give away all I have, . . . if I deliver my body to be burned . . ." (1 Cor. 13:2-3). It is evident that St. Thomas judged it likely that a new sending of the Holy Spirit would result in a person's receiving some charismatic grace.

Sullivan, at p. 77 (bold emphasis added).

Connect the dots: the charismatic renewal is not only biblical but also Thomistic! Do not be afraid to pray for a new outpouring or sending of the Holy Spirit or to have fellow Catholics pray with you for a new outpouring or sending of the Holy Spirit. It's a request that is traditional, Catholic, and Thomist, and so will be the results that will make this season of Pentecost very different for you and for me and for the whole Church.

Election Update from Karl Rove

Rove is known to many as President Bush's chief political strategist who is now in private life working as a political commentator. Here is the link to his current analysis of the presidential race. Here are the highlights: 1.) Obama will be the Democrat nominee; 2.) McCain is the best nominee the Republicans could have put forward given the dynamics of this election year. The general election will be very competitive. For Catholics, the choice is crystal clear: McCain is pro-life; Obama is enthusiastically pro-abortion. Start thinking now how you will participate in the general election campaign. Consider a McCain lawn sign or volunteering for the McCain campaign. But the most important thing you can do is to tell the people you know that you support McCain because he is pro-life. Word of mouth witnessing is the best "persuader." McCain will work to reverse Roe v. Wade. For Obama, Roe v. Wade is holy writ.

My own reflections on the state of the election are these:

1.) We have seen a stunning, welcome, and historic defeat of the Clinton duo--an arrogant, morally confused blight on American politics, society, and culture since 1992;

2.) We now have in Obama a doctrinaire leftist nominee for the Democrats who is unfit to be President simply by virtue of the highly ambiguous and tenuous nature of his affection for the United States of America;

3.) McCain will provide a fresh Republican face, reformist, pragmatic, and conservative, that will defy the ideological stereotypes of Republicans in recent years.

Hedge Psychology: Old and New

The old saying is that "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions." We can modify this saying to also say that "the road to Hell is paved with perfectionist intentions." We see the truth of this modified saying in the disastrous utopian political projects of history from the French Revolution of the eighteenth century to the Communist and Nazi fiascos of the twentieth century. Yet, we also see the eventual curse of perfectionism in religious practice. In the Gospels, we see the Pharisees as a rigorous group of devout Jews who go so far in the quest for rigorous perfectionism in religious practice that they end up being the prime opponents and persecutors of the Lord God's Messiah.

The trend toward greater perfectionism and avoidance of transgression is seen in the rabbinic practice of seeking to build a "hedge around the Torah" so as not to easily violate any of its commandments. For example, if a prayer had to be recited before dawn, the rule became that you should recite the prayer before midnight. The stricter, earlier midnight deadline made it less likely that the commandment to say the prayer before dawn would ever be broken. Here is how one author describes the "hedge" practice:

This discussion [about when to recite the prayer] provides an example of the Rabbinic Jewish practice of "making a hedge around Torah." That is to say, laws were often applied more strictly than was dictated by the original statement of the law in the Hebrew Bible. This was done so that a person might break the new application of the law and yet not break the original law itself.

Source link.

You can say, "Well, isn't that laudable?" Yes and no. It is laudable in intent, but when avoiding transgression becomes the central focus or obession the results can be disastrous. Eventually, you arrive at a legalistic mentality obsessed with drawing ever tighter boundaries. Like most human manias, the limits of reason and balance get drowned out in compulsive tendencies which themselves are so very human in our fallen condition of insecurity and fear, desperately seeking a sense of self-worth and safety.

We see the pattern in the Gospels where even healing on the Sabbath ends up being viewed as a transgression (see Matthew 12:10-13). Carrying out the healing mission of the merciful God of Israel ends up being, from the rigorist perspective, in violation of the Law! That's what Jesus called "straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel" (Matthew 23:24).

But let's not unfairly "pile on" the Pharisees. Some Catholics do the same today. I discussed recently with a friend how one spiritual writer drew the lines so tightly on the authenticity of spiritual phenomena that little room was left for God to work as he did among the early Christians in the Acts of the Apostles. In the world of biblical interpretation, we speak of a "hermeneutic (interpretation) of suspicion," whereby certain biblical exegetes compulsively suspect whatever the biblical writers assert. We see the same in the spiritual life: there is a hermeneutic of suspicion applied to spiritual experiences and to charismatic manifestations, an excessive suspicion that can end up neutering God's prerogative to intervene powerfully in our lives today. I compared this situation to having an eight cylinder engine in which the driver adamantly insists on using only one or two cylinders for fear that the engine will blow up and the car will wreck. Yes, you have to be careful in how fast you drive a car; but the manufacturer and designer gave us eight cylinders to use to get down the road, not to keep in perpetual reserve for the rare driver.

The excessive fear and suspicion of spiritual experiences and of charisms end up doing the work of the devil by suppressing the power of the Holy Spirit in the world today. If our hearts are in the right place, in sincere and good faith surrender to and confession of the Lordship of Jesus, then we have every reason to expect, based on the promises in the Bible, that God will bless us with abundant outpourings of his grace or charis. Yes, the New Testament tells us to test in 1 Thessalonians. But consider the context of the passage:

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 (RSV) 9 Do not quench the Spirit, 20 do not despise prophesying, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good, 22 abstain from every form of evil.

Testing goes along with not quenching the Holy Spirit, with not despising the charisms like prophesying. Test and something good will be left over to which to hold fast. The excessive hedge-like approach ends up leaving nothing to which to hold fast. Of course, do not commit evil at all. With these biblical parameters, testing our spiritual experiences and charismatic manifestations becomes reasonable and balanced in nature and thus does not end up quenching the Spirit.

There is a big difference between reasonable testing according to the Bible and peremptorily ruling out of order any strong spiritual experiences or charisms beforehand for most people. In the quest to build a hedge against any false spiritual or charismatic manifestations, some have managed to keep the Holy Spirit from working among many ordinary Catholics. This hedge has become self-defeating and a contradiction, much like how the excessive focus on not violating the Sabbath led some of the Pharisees to condemn actual healings by the "finger of God" (a term for the Holy Spirit according to the exegesis of Luke 11:20 by papal preacher and biblical scholar Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa: "20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you" [RSV] ). Beware of those whose compulsive fear of transgression (I do not address here the question of the psychological origins of such compulsive fear) makes them the unwitting agents of the forces that are happy to see God's hands tied in our spiritual lives and in the world. Again we see that Catholicism calls for reasonable balance, not for excess motivated by nervous fear, manic scrupulosity, and unquenchable insecurity.

Preparing for Pentecost (Vatican Info. Service)

THE CHURCH IS ALWAYS IN A STATE OF PENTECOST
[Bold textual emphasis added by blogger]

VATICAN CITY, 7 MAY 2008 (VIS) - In the general audience, held this morning in St. Peter's Square in the presence of 20,000 faithful, the Holy Father used the occasion of the visit to Rome of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians, to focus his remarks on ecumenical dialogue. The Patriarch, who was present at the audience, also made a brief address in which he reflected on the same theme, also dwelling upon the history of the Armenian people.

Greeting the Patriarch in English, Benedict XVI referred to the statue of St. Gregory the Illuminator, founder of the Armenian Church, which is located in a niche of the Vatican Basilica and "serves to remind us of the severe persecutions suffered by Armenian Christians, especially during the last century. Armenia's many martyrs are a sign of the power of the Holy Spirit working in times of darkness, and a pledge of hope for Christians everywhere".

The Patriarch's presence, said the Pope, "revives our hope for the full unity of all Christians", and he noted the well-known "commitment of the Armenian Apostolic Church to ecumenical dialogue".

"These days of preparation that immediately precede the Solemnity of Pentecost stimulate us to renew our hope in the help of the Holy Spirit to advance along the path of ecumenism. We have the certainty that the Lord Jesus never abandons us in our search for unity, because His Spirit is tirelessly at work to support the efforts we make to overcome all forms of division".

Benedict XVI went on: The Holy Spirit is "a power for the forgiveness of sins, for the renewal of our hearts and our lives. It renews the earth and creates unity where before there was division". When it descended upon the Apostles they spoke in tongues, a sign that "the Babylonian dispersion, fruit of the pride which divides mankind, was overcome in the Spirit, which is charity and gives us unity in diversity".

"Since the first moment of her existence the Church, thanks to the power of the Holy Spirit, has spoken in all tongues and lived in all cultures. She destroys nothing of their history and gifts, but assumes them all in a great and new unity, which reconciles unity with the multiplicity of forms. With its power, the Holy Spirit ... unites divided man in divine charity and thus creates ... the great community which is the Church in all the world".

Pope Benedict then went on to highlight how "the Church is always, so to say, in a state of Pentecost. Gathered in the Cenacle, she prays incessantly to obtain ever new effusions of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, ... and is not afraid to announce the Gospel to the furthest confines of the earth. This is why, faced with difficulties and divisions, Christians cannot resign themselves or give way to discouragement.

"This is what Christ asks of Christians: to persevere in prayer in order to keep alive the flame of faith, hope and charity, and the longing for full unity", the Pope added. He then went on to mention his recent apostolic trip to the United States during which he had made reference "to the centrality of prayer in the ecumenical movement. In this period of globalisation and, at the same time, of fragmentation, 'without prayer ecumenical structures, institutions and programs would be deprived of their heart and soul'", he said.

Finally, the Holy Father quoted St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians where it is written that "the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Today", he concluded, "we too invoke these gifts of the Spirit for all Christians, so that in the joint and generous service of the Gospel they may be a sign in the world of God's love for humanity".

Blogger's Note: Notice how the Pope prays very explicitly for "ever new effusions of the gifts of the Holy Spirit." For him, it's certainly not a matter of this strange but common attitude (often unconscious): "Oh, we have been confirmed, so don't expect or seek any new gifts from the Holy Spirit; you've gotten everything you will ever get. Anything else is strange Protestant pentecostalist talk trying to shortchange the sacraments." The Pope is engaging in authentically biblical and hence authentically Catholic "pentecostal" talk and is not afraid to do so. The Pope does not share the "hedge psychology" described in today's other blog post. Also, if the Church is, as the Pope says, "always, so to say, in a state of Pentecost," that assertion clearly means that the Pope rejects "cessationism," the view that the charismatic gifts were for the early Church only and not for us today. Yet, we should have known that already given past papal statements by this pope and prior popes and given Catechism of the Catholic Church Section 2003.

It is also quite an interesting confluence of events that these pre-Pentecost remarks come at the time that the Pope is meeting with the leader of Armenian Christians. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal is currently very active among Armenian Christians in Turkey. Here is the PDF link to the May 2008 newsletter of Renewal Ministries giving the exciting and providential details (go to page 6 of the PDF newsletter).

Pope Again Encourages Catholic Charismatic Renewal

A reader directed my attention to this May 4, 2008, Zenit.org link in which the Pope and other Catholic prelates again encourage the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. This endorsement is not a surprise at all, but only the latest in regular papal affirmations of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal over the decades. What then do we make of those Catholics who engage in intemperate attacks and distortions against the Catholic Charismatic Renewal? In my opinion, they are rejecting the leadership of Peter on the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. They are playing the game of "cafeteria Catholics"--a category which certainly does not apply only to those with liberal theological views. They are wounding their unity with the Pope, the successor of Peter. There is, of course, of necessity, always room for civil and informed discussion and constructive criticism. In fact, I welcome civil, respectful, and constructive criticism about the Renewal and certainly about anything else that I value. But, when, instead, there are intemperate attacks, reckless distortions, and even outrageously offensive personal insults and slanders, those behind such intemperate assertions are impairing their own unity with the Catholic Church led by the Pope. Such intemperance also raises the issue of the mortal sin of bearing false witness. All of the dangers seem so obvious that you wonder how some people who claim to be so piously devotional and "so Catholic" cross these lines with such aplomb.

In addition, although I am not a canon lawyer, my personal opinion is that such intemperate attacks are violations of Canon Law. Here is Canon 1369:

Can. 1369 A person who in a public show or speech, in published writing, or in other uses of the instruments of social communication utters blasphemy, gravely injures good morals, expresses insults, or excites hatred or contempt against religion or the Church is to be punished with a just penalty.

Vatican source link (emphasis added).

As I read Canon 1369, in my personal opinion, intemperate attacks on the papally approved Catholic Charismatic Renewal are an expression of insult against religion. Yet, all of this is, alas, to be expected. St. Josémaria Escrivá wrote of his own trials when slanders and insults were hurled against Opus Dei throughout his life (they are still happening). Escrivá described it, in some cases, with the ironic phrase the "opposition of the good." At first, Escrivá ignored the slanders: "Don't waste your time and your energy — which belong to God — throwing stones at the dogs that bark at you on your way. Ignore them" (The Way, 14). That's sound advice in many cases. Yet, later in life, Escrivá noted the need to respond and speak out against the distortions. One of his biographers writes: "The period . . . from the autumn of 1964 to the autumn of 1966, was one of continual defamatory campaigning against Opus Dei, by various people. At this time, the founder [Escrivá] advised his children to speak out." Andrés Vázquez de Prada, The Founder of Opus Dei: The Life of Josemaría Escrivá, Vol. III (Scepter, 2005), p. 377. That is also sound advice. The Holy Spirit leads us to discern what approach is best for a particular context. Canon 1369 is a reality that protects all movements and religious orders in the Church--not from constructive, respectful criticism which is a welcome necessity for all (both from within and from without such entities) but rather from the reckless and intemperate who seem to so easily populate the open access medium of the internet.

Yet, we can discern a silver lining even in such attacks. A friend reminded me recently of this Spanish proverb: "Ladran, Sancho, señal que avanzamos." The quote is supposedly from Don Quixote to his squire Sancho (although one source asserts that it is not found in the famous book by Cervantes):

"They are barking, Sancho, a sign that we are advancing."

Yet, let's allow Scripture the last word, in the form of the sane warning of the Pharisee Gamaliel to his fellow Jews in council considering what to do about the upstart Christian movement:

Acts 5:38-39 "38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this undertaking is of men, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!" [Revised Standard Version]

Pope on Waiting for Pentecost with the Rosary (Vatican Info. Service)

ROSARY IS NOT A PIOUS PRACTICE RELEGATED TO THE PAST
[Red emphasis below added by blogger]

VATICAN CITY, 3 MAY 2008 (VIS) - This evening Benedict XVI presided at the praying of the Rosary in the Roman basilica of St. Mary Major, "Marian temple par excellence" in which, as the Holy Father recalled, the image of Mary "Salus Populi Romani" is venerated.

"In the experience of my generation", he said, "May evenings evoke pleasant memories of vespertine appointments to pay homage to the Virgin Mary. ... Today we together confirm that the holy Rosary is not some pious practice relegated to the past, a prayer of distant times to be thought of nostalgically. Indeed, the Rosary is experiencing what is almost a new springtime".

"In the modern world which is so dispersive, this prayer helps us to place Christ at the centre, as did the Virgin who meditated upon everything that was said about her Son and upon what He Himself did and said. When we recite the Rosary we relive important monuments of the history of salvation, we again go over the various stages of Christ's mission. With Mary we turn our hearts to the mystery of Jesus".

"May Mary help us to welcome within ourselves the grace that emanates from these mysteries, so that through us this grace can 'irrigate' society, starting with our everyday relationships, purifying it from many negative forces and opening it to the novelty of God.

"The Rosary", the Pope added, "when it is prayed in an authentic manner - not mechanically and superficially, but profoundly - brings peace and reconciliation. It contains the healing power of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, invoked with faith and love at the heart of each Hail Mary".

Benedict XVI then called on those present to ensure they remained united to Mary during these days leading up to Pentecost, "invoking a renewed effusion of the Holy Spirit for the Church". He also entrusted them with "the most urgent intentions" of his ministry: "the needs of the Church, the great problems of humanity, peace in the world, the unity of Christians, and dialogue between cultures", as well as the pastoral objectives of the diocese of Rome, and the "solidary development" of Italy.

The Pendulum Reacts

An Anglican writer, Lauren F. Winner, has written an insightful and at times shocking book on chastity (there is a cottage industry in such books nowadays, as the pendulum reacts to the inhuman extremes of the so-called sexual revolution, better termed "sexual chaos") with the eye-catching title Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity (Brazos Press, 2005). She is really an apparently theologically conservative Episcopalian, but the label "Episcopalian" has been so depreciated by the choosing of an actively homosexual "bishop" in New Hampshire that it's become pretty useless for clear communication of where someone stands theologically. For the sake of clarity, she's better off being called a theologically conservative or evangelical Anglican.

Of course, not all the content is theologically correct--she is apparently very reluctant to accept the correct and Catholic view of birth control. Yet, what is amazing and welcome is that she recognizes the problem that contraception has created by tearing the sexual act from procreation and thus from its inherent, nuptial meaning (yet, nowhere, as I fallibly recall, does she even use the adjective "nuptial" in this serious, non-trivial sense in her writing, at least in this book!). You can tell that she is troubled by the contraceptive culture, but she really does not know where to go with her troubles (see pp. 65-67 and note on pp. 166-67). Again, thank God for the papacy and for Pope Paul VI in particular in 1968 who refused to bow down and serve the contraceptive culture of our times (we are approaching the 40th anniversary of that great act of Petrine courage and audacity this very summer, on July 25, 2008). Only Peter has been the rock on this issue--not a surprise for Catholics and something that Catholics should not take for granted. The dramatic role of Peter in bucking the contraceptive onslaught is also something that our separated brethren who think like Lauren Winner should think very hard about in deciding why they continue to be alienated from the rock of Peter and continue to find it dispensable.

Yet, what is most amazing is that she does not discuss at all (based, again, on my fallible recollection) John Paul the Great's Theology of the Body which raises, analyzes, and definitively addresses all the issues and concerns that she has. I even, fallibly, scanned the endnotes of the book and could find no citation of anything written by John Paul the Great. (In fairness, she does mention Catholic theologian Christopher West very briefly, on p. 104, and cites his book on John Paul II in an endnote, at p. 169; but she does not at all directly engage the thought of John Paul the Great ). That's utterly amazing. It's like discussing Relativity Theory and making no mention of Einstein's role. What does this astounding omission tell us? It might tell us that there is a great uneasiness and fear in engaging Catholic thought at its most powerful because it might lead to big lifestyle changes, not just in the bedroom but also in institutional affiliations and social networks. Cardinal Newman (who has recently been approved for beatification) gave up a lot in nineteenth century Anglican England to become Catholic. Apparently, the social cost is still high in many circles. This uneasiness reminds me of the analogous uneasiness of some Catholics toward the Catholic Charismatic Renewal--there seems to be a fear that if indeed the Renewal is the work of the Holy Spirit, then they would have to get with it, so to speak. Thus, at times, you see great and irrational hostility and distortion directed toward the Renewal which, in my opinion, is a sign of great uneasiness at the changes that its authenticity implies for all Catholics. I think the same situation applies to thoughtful Protestants who fear the healthy temptation of becoming Catholic.

But back to the content of the book itself! The book tells the sad but very common story (promiscuously common, to make a pun) about a woman who threw around and outrageously wasted her sexuality for years. The good news is that she indeed found Jesus, changed, repented, and has been made new. The bad news is that the consequences of the promiscuous past still hover around her, emotionally and psychologically. Jesus forgives sin, Jesus makes us new; but we still have to deal with the consequences of unnatural acts--and lack of chastity is unnatural for human beings, just as all other sin is also unnatural for all human beings. The writer even mentions at one point how she at times misses the "exciting" sex of her promiscuous past when compared to her now married sex life (p. 152). That's just the tip of the psychological iceberg of the terrible consequences that premarital sex can have for a marriage. I dare to respectfully and humbly suggest that Ms. Winner should take a look at Neil Lozano's book Unbound (see this blog's sidebar link in "Books for Catholic Renewal") for the next step in her continuing conversion. It's no use hiding it--those who can still avoid and preempt these psychological problems should be clearly warned, or else the suffering of others has been effectively wasted. A friend of mine mentioned this Spanish proverb the other day: "Palo dado ni Dios lo quita." Here is the translation: "Not even God takes away a blow that is given." The meaning is simple: our free acts--whether violent or sexual or verbal--have real consequences that we must live with, even if we are eventually forgiven and made new. That's why our free acts--each one of them--matter. Doing free acts, one at a time, is how we form our minds and hearts and shape our souls and our futures. The great lie of the sexual chaos we have been living with is that somehow all these acts are "private" and therefore do not count in the long run and can be conveniently kept secret or otherwise pushed under the rug (or, to, ironically, borrow from Freud, repressed). Yet, these acts do count. Lauren Winner does a good job of showing that sexual acts--each one of them--is inherently social and communal in its consequences. Now, she needs to "go all the way" and see that her correct analysis also applies to each act of contraception. But that's a conclusion that may put her in the Tiber, not the Thames. Those of us on the other side of the Tiber would welcome her with open arms. We like good writers.