Bulletin Column –
August 4, 2019
Fr.
Benedict Groeschel, in his fascinating book Spiritual
Passages (highly recommended!), said that God reaches out to each person
individually in one of four ways: truth, beauty, goodness, or unity (often
known as the transcendentals). Each
person resonates with a different aspect. For some, they come to God by
studying about Him – reading His Word, learning about the Catholic Faith. For
others, it’s more about the experience of beauty – seeing their child’s first
breath, watching a tremendous sunset, or listening to Beethoven. Still others
are attracted to God by the witness of saints – both saints in Heaven and those
still here on earth. Finally, some have God as the unifying factor in their
life. Over the next few weeks I’d like to take a look at each way God reaches
us.
A few years
ago I was in a Catholic conference about faith formation. They were discussing
why so many young people leave the Faith after Confirmation, and were critical
of the typical “classroom” model for passing on the Faith. The presenters
brought up this idea about the ways God reaches us, and they said, “In modern
times, we have to move away from the classroom setting because we live in a
post-truth society. Young people are not interested in the truth – instead we
need to show them beauty and goodness.” I thought that was false and was the
furthest thing from the truth (pun intended!).
Many people
are still drawn to God through truth.
I recall a particular young man in my Confirmation class eight years ago, who
at 13 was asking all sorts of particularly deep questions. It was clear he was
really wrestling with the Faith even though his family did not attend Mass or
pray together. By the end of the year-long class, he was so convinced of the
truth of the Faith that he started forcing his parents to drive him to Mass
every week. When he was old enough, he drove himself to Mass and now he is
discerning the priesthood! God used Truth to draw him to Himself.
There is an
elegance about our Catholic Faith that resonates deeply within the human
person, because we all want a truth to build our lives on. In a way, the truths
of the Catholic Faith are interwoven as a web, with each truth touching on
other truths. For example, because
the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Christ, we must confess our serious sins
before receiving It. And because we confess our sins, then we must live the
moral life. But the goal of the moral life is union with God, and the most
perfect form of union with God on this earth is to receive the Eucharist. And
we’re back at the beginning!
We are
blessed, in the 21st Century, to have a theological library at our
fingertips that the Church Fathers would have loved to read. For free on the Internet, I can find the entire
Bible, the complete works of St. Thomas Aquinas, every document that the
Vatican has ever produced, the complete works of the Church Fathers, Mass times
for every city in the world, talks and presentations by the best speakers in
the world. There’s no excuse for not discovering the Truth of our Catholic
Faith! (Some great websites include: www.newadvent.com;
www.vatican.va; www.biblegateway.com; and www.masstimes.org).
All people have the ability to appreciate
and understand the Truth; for some people, though, the Truth is how God draws
them to Himself. These are those who sit back while pondering or discovering a
new aspect of our Faith, and are just in awe. I remember a professor in college
who, when speaking of the Gospel of John, would actually break into tears,
being so moved by the encounter with God in Truth.
If God
moves you through Truth, that is wonderful! Continue to study the Faith to
encounter Him. He will reveal Himself through His Word and the teachings of the
Magisterium. If you have never had a deep encounter with God through Truth, do
not despair…there are three other ways in which God reaches out to us…stay
tuned for next week!
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