Self-Awareness and Ministry

Gender, History, and Liturgy

Humanity’s Humble Stable

God’s Love Is Not Utilitarian

Volume 46 Number 6 Nov./Dec. 1987 Rv:vw.w t:o~ R~,~olous (ISSN 0034-639X), published eve~ two months, is edited in collaboration with lhe faculty members of the Department of Theological Studies of St. Lx~uis University. The edito- rial offices are located at Room 428:3601 Lindell Blvd.: St. Louis, MO. 63108-3393. R~vu-:w ~:o~ R~:.~.~t~ous is owned by the Missouri Province Educational Institute of the Society of Jesus, St. Louis, MO. Ol987 by R~-:wt.:w ~:o~ R~..~.~ous. Single copies $2.50. Subscriptions: U.S.A. $11.00 a year: $20.00 for two years. Other countries: add $4.00 per year (surface mail); airmail (Book Rate): $18.00 per year. For subscription orders or change of address, write: R~:v~v:w roa R~:t.mmtts: P.O. Box 6070; Duluth, MN 55806.

Philip C. Fischer, S.J. Acting Editor Dolores Greeley, R.S.M. Associate Editor Iris Ann Ledden, S.S.N.D. Review Editor Richard A. Hill, S.J. Contributing Editor Jean Read Assistant Editors M. Anne Maskey, O.S.F.

Nov./Dec. 1987 Volume 46 Number 6

Manuscripts, books for review and correspondence with the editor should be sent to wm R~:t.t(:totJs; Room 428; 3601 Lindell Blvd.; St. Louis, MO 63108-3393. Correspondence about the department "Canonical Counsel" should be addressed to Rich- ard A. Hill, S.J.; J.S.T.B.; 1735 LeRoy Ave., Berkeley, CA 94709. Back issues and reprints should be ordered from R~:vt~:w wm R~:tot~;totJs; Room 428; 3601 Lindell Blvd.; St. Louis, MO 63108-3393. "Out of print" issues and articles not published as reprints are available from University Microfilms International; 300 N. Zeeb Rd.; Ann Arbor, MI 48106. A major portion of each issue is also available on cassette recordings as a service for the visually impaired. Write to the Xavier Society for the Blind; 154 East 23rd Street; New York, NY 10010. Four Ecclesial Problems Left Unresolved Since Vatican II

Martin R..Tripole, S.J.

Father Tripole is an associate professor of th.eology at St. Joseph’s University; Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania ! 913 !. He,wrote "Suffering with the Humble Chi’ist" for the March,April 1981 issue of this periodical.

Catholic scholars have been.talking about crisis in the Catholic Church for so long a time now that almost everyone has gotten used to it. In fact, too many people have been saying there is a crisis for anyone to ignore the situation. But not everyone uses the term. It depends on whom you tall~ to. Until recently, the higher you went in the Church, the less likely you were to find admission of crisis. For example, Bishop Ja~mes Malone of Youngstown, Ohio, former president of the National conference of Catho- lic Bishops, submitted a report to the Vatican in the summer of 1985 on the state of the Church. in the United States since Vatican II, a report made in preparation for the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops that met in Rome November 25-December 8, 1985.:In his. report, Bishop Malone stated the Church in the United S(ates is "basically sound." The bishop made no mention of cri~is; instead he talked of "confusion" and "abuses" and "false ideas’" and "diffiC’ulties" in various areas of church life.~ While many praised th~report, it was also criticized as "looking at the Church in the United States through ’rose-colored glasses.’ "2 But another high-level member of the clergy has no difficulty speak- ing of crisis. Joseph Cardinal’ Ratzinger,. prefect of the Sacred Congre- gation for the Doctrine of the Faith, surely one of themost powe~rful of- ficials in tlie Vatican, made the ~tiscussion of crisis in the Church today

801 Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 the c.entr~l theme of his Ratzinger Report. This 1985’ publicati6r~ of an exclusive interview given to an Italian journalist caught the attention of everyone and produced much controversy, in’view of the cardinal’s strong views on the Church, as well as the fact that he published them just before the extraordinary synod was to be held. Ratzinger and his in- terviewer discourse at length on "a crisis of faith and of the Church," of "an identity crisis" in priests and religious, a "crisis of trust in the dogma," a "crisis of confidence in Scripture," a crisis "of the moral- ity. "In his summation of "the gravity of the crisis" in the Church since Vatican II, Ratzinger’s tone is markedly different from Bishop Malone’s. The interviewer cites views written by Ratzinger ten years earlier and con- firmed by him for the Report as still valid: It is incontestable that the last ten years have been decidedly unfavor- able for the Catholic Church .... What the popes and the Couhcil Fa- thers were expecting was a new,Catholic unity, and instead one has en- countered a dissension which--to use the words of Paul Vl--seems to have pasg~d over from self-criticism to self-destruction .... it has ended in boredom and discouragement .... one found oneself facing a progressive process of decadence .... [and] erroneous paths whose catastrophic consequences are already incontestable.3 Nevertheless, when the bishops came together at the extraordinary synod, they spoke of sharing in "mankind’s present crisis and dramas" and of the "spiritual crisis.., so many people feel" today, but not of an, y crisis of the Church as such. Less exfflt6d Catholic leaders, theologians, and publishers readily speak of crisis in the Church. The Rev. Robert Johnson, president of the National Federation of Priests’ Councils, in 1985 stated: Priesthood is in crisis. The vocation of the ordained priest is not what it used to be. The data tells us that. Our own experience tells us that also. There is a crisis in numbers. At its zenith in 1970, the diocesan priesthood .in the United States numbered some 37,000. By the year 2000, it is estimated that this population will be 16,000 or 17,000. This would represent a declin.e of some 54%... i in the year 2000 we will have roughly the same number of priests we had in 1925. Meanwhile, the people we were ordained to serve will have quadrupled.4 Edward C. Herr, in a report on "The State of the Church," in 1985 stated that, whereas in a similar report in 1983 there were "hopes that a relatively stableoand tranquil period" was about to arrive in the Church, he must now report those hopes were "naive," that "the tensions and turmoil have increased and show no signs of ebbing."4A He reports the Four Ecclesial Problems recent findings of Dr. William J. McCready, program director of the Uni- versity of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center (NORC), that "a third of the 52 million Roman Catholics in America rarely or never go to church."5 Herr cites an article by James Hitchcock, professor of his- tory at St. Louis University, which lis~ed a catalo~g of ~’problems facing the Church in America" today: REligious orders openly pro.moting dissent Official Church agencies providing platforms for dissent ~"Radical redefinition of the traditional religious vows" Tolerance of "known violations" of chlibacy Growing influence of "militant homosexual network" in seminaries and religious orders Almost total collapse of seminary discipline "Probably a large majority of Catholic colleges hnd universities have become bffectively secular" Widespread deviations from "official liturgical norms" Majority of Catholic students no longer receive an adequate grounding in their faith Bishops and priests "largely refrain from teaching ,, disputed doctrines.’ ,6 ~’ Herr also reports the views of Richard Schoenherr, soc’iologist and asso- ciate dean at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1985, on "a cri- sis for the Church by the year 2000." Acc6rding to Herr, Schoenherr presents ~ a bleak picture of the Church-at the turn of the century. Opportunities to attend Mass will be fewer since each priest will have to serve 4,000 Catholics in a burgeoning Church; laity,.tired of a subordinate position in the Church, will withdraw from active leadership while those who do continue to serve will be laden with greater responsibility .... There will be "an organizational crisis of immense proportion," accord- ing to Schoenherr, with an "ehormous youth drain in theministry," and with more "resigned" than active priests in the United States.7 Norbertine Father Alfred McBride, president of the University of Al- buquerque, also predicts a "ministry crisis" in 2000. He foresees a to- tal of 30,000 priests serving. 65 million Catholics.8 Finally., novelist Mor- ris West, author of many best-sellers on (~atholicism, is reported as see- ing the possibility of "a silent schism" in the Church of the future, as a result of "a defection of millioi~s by a-slow decline into indiffer- ence. ’ ,9 Review, for Religious, November-December, 1987

The fact is: there has been talk of a crisis in the Church ever since the ’60’s--that per_iod which constitutes a kind of a turning point.in the life of the modern Church. That decade, from which date many of the issues whi~c,h ’trouble~the American Church today was equally a problemati~ decade for American society in gene,ra~l., and indeed for the world. In fact, the world is "officially" in a state of crisis---~f sorts. The bishops told us that at Vatican II when they stated the "human race is passing through a.new stag~ 0fits history" where it is undergoing "a true social and cultural transformation" causing a "crisis of gro~vth. "~0 The modern world is experiencing "new foLoas of social and p~sychologi- cai slavery" as well as "imbalances" that lead to "Mutual distrust, en- mities, conflicts, an~’hardships" (~audium el spes 4, 8). According to the bishops, this situation of crisis inevitably "has repercussions on man’s religious life as~ well": it cause,s "spiritual agitation,"4"many peo- ple are shaken" in their convictions, and ’~growing humbers~ of people are abandoning religion fin pr~actice" .(GS 5, 7).. Later in the _same docu- ment, though in the context of a discussion on war and peace, the bish- ops speak of "the whole human family" as having "reached an hour of supreme crisis in its advance toward maturity" (GS 77). While the bishops at Vatican II did not go so far as to say directly that the Church was in a state of crisis, they certainly meant to say that the Church shared in the~crisis situation of the’world in ggneral. It was not long after, however, that writers.started speaking directly, of a crisis in the Church. We may note only a few. Father Andrew Greeley loudly proclaimed that as a fact in an important series of articles he published in diocesan newspapers in 1976; entitled "The Crisis in American Ca- tholicism" (and later in a book entitled Crisis in the Church),~ but the idea of ,the Church. in crisis had already quietly come into standard con- sideratiOn or was .soon to do so through the writings of such renowned historians, scrilSture scholars, and theologians as Raymond Brown, S.S. (B~blical Reflections on Crises Facing the C. hurch),~2 Richard P. McBr~en (he speaks of the "pre.sent crisis within the Catholic Church" in The Remaking oft~ Churcl~),~3 Avery Dulles, S.J. (fie sl~eaks of a "crisis of identity" in the Church in The Resilient Church), 14 and David J. O’Brien (h611spe~iks of the ’~Catholic crisis," the "American crisis," and "an age Of crisis" in The Renewal of A. merican Catholicism).~5 Statistical~d~ta since the end of Vatican II--th~e latest reports of An- drew Greeley’s National °Opinion Research Center in Chicago,~6 from George Gallup Jr.’s continuing analysis of the state of the Catholic Church in America,~7 and from the Notre Dame Study of Catholic Par- Four Ecclesial Problems /805 ish Life~8--provide overwhelming evidence, as far as statistical data is able to do so, that the American Catholic Church is in a state of crisis. ¯ Evidence: American Catholics no longer accept official teaching of the Church simply,on the basis of the fact that it is official teaching; Catho- lics no lbnger go to church, as much as ~hey used to, to fulfill their Sun- day obligation or from ~i sense of duty; they ~ai’e not contributing to the sti~iport of the Church.in a way consonant with their earnings; they are o~penly criticizing the Chui’ch in a way" that seems to i’epresent a new ¯ sense ol~ independence over agains~t the institutional Church" and its offi- Cial teachers. What is going on, and when will it end? Causes of Crisis Since Vatican II ,Numerous publications have been~ritteri since Vatican II seeking to determine the causes of the crisis Which has beset the Church since~that time. The fact is, the ca~iases are manifold, and only a, lhrge t0ine could hope to anal~,ze and cover them all thoroughl)~. What I attempt here is -’C0: fbcus on what I shall call four unresolved antinomi~ek which are re- flected in the thinking and practices of the Church since Va[i~an II. My point is to argue that the bishops at Vatican II not o~nly were aware o,f, but shgred in,. the theologically, antinomous viewpoints which have largely served to. polarize the Church sin.ce~ the end of the Council.° Though there is~ some exaggera~tion in categorizing these viewpoints quite simplyas conservative/traditionalist and liberal/progressivist, I shall do that for want of better terms, and also because the viewpoints do .tend to be of these two types. Though these terms have a political and ideo- logical connotation, their use here is not meant to imply that. What we,mean.by the use of these terms is that there are two oppos- ing movements working in the Church today. The first is inclined to want ,to preserve elements today which were also characteristic of the life of the Chtirch ~before Vatican II,-elements such as hierarchical authority, clerical priority, and institutional identity;~the second is more inclined toward~elements which arose in the life of the Church since Vatican II, elements such as democratic~procedures, equality of membership, unity based on shared convictions and shared authority. ,Neither group is. to- tally opposed to the values identified with the other, except at the outer fringes. Thus~extreme traditionalists---c~illed reactionaries wish no part of what~the Church since Vatican II has come to be identified with; ex- treme liberals~alled radicals--reject automatically whatever was promi- nent in the Church before Vatican II and yearn for a congregationalist type of community. For the larger membership in both groups, the prob- Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

lem is mainly one of emphasis: which set of values, which viewpoint should ,be the dominant one in the .life of the Church?. That question of emphasis is a serious one. In spite of the fact that it is only a question of emphasis, it leads in practice to polarization. Re- cent events in .the .life of the Church.have increased this experience of polarization rather than diluted it, mainly because the traditionalist camp, which had largely fallen into the ~silent majority in ~the Church .in the post- Vatican II peri0d, has gained a new sense of power in the last ten yehr~s. The struggle between these two, groups is now, in my opinion, at the most intense point of conflict the Church has felt since the early pp,s~t- Vatican II days of the Church. What, if anything, can be done to reduce this polarization? I wish in this article only to point to what I consider the four major areas of po- larization which were left unresolved by Vatican II. They continue to re- main largely unresolved by the post-Vatican II Church, even after the Ex- traordinary Synod of 1985, and they need to be resolved before the po- larization can b6 overcome:~I~ t me discuss each of these areas singly_, and at some length:. Saci~ed ~vs."Si~cular ’ The" Catholic Church has had a strong sense of social responsibility throughout the modern era., as shown in a history of concern forrectify- ing inhumane workihg conditions, unjust wages, and unfair labor prac- .tices, starting at least with Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum: On the Condi- tioh of Workers (1891). Nevertheless, there is no doubt that a new and profound theological significance has been given to the role of the Church in regard to such matters since Vatican II. Prior to Vatican II, social activity was generally considered to be peripheral to the primary ¯ work o(the Church, to administer the s~icraments and preach the gospel of salvation in Christ. With Vatican II, the Church seemed to be saying that the .social apostolate was as important to the life of the Church as these two other activities. .A major transformation in the relationship of the Church to the world got underway at Vatican II. The .Chur~hnow saw itself not only right- fully but also dutifully bound to bring the insight and power of the gos- pel into the .arena of world problems, in the hope of changing th~ un- holy conditibns and direction of the life’of the world from within. Church concern for such issues was obvious ifi the countless conventions and publicat!ons on social, political, and moral issues that sprang up in the post-Vatican II era. Most notable was the conference by the Latin Ameri- can bishops at Medellin, Colombia, in 1968, which registered a strong Four Ecclesial Problems / 807 commitment by Latin American bishops to Overcoming the problems of the poor and oppressed in their countries; and the international Synod of Bishops in Rome in 1971, which published the historic document Jus- tice in the World, which, "Scrutinizing the signs of the times..ai~d seek- ing to detect the meaning of emerging history," concluded that "Ac- tion on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel, or, in other words, of the Church’s mission for the redemp- tion of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situ- ation." 19 One of the 9learest examples of how important the new thrust into social and political matters would be forthe American Church may be seen from a 1981 publication of the U.S. Catholic Conference enti- tledA Compendium of Statements of the United States Catholic Bishops on the Political and Social Order. It takes 487 pages to cover the docu- ment~ition from 1966 .to 1980, which includes statements on "war and peace, development, and human rights," as ~eil as "~tbo~tion, birth con- trol, Call to Action (the U.S. Bishops’ Bic~htennial Consultation on So- cial Justice), crime’and punishment, economic issues, family life, free- dom of religion, housing, immigrants, labor disputes, minorities, race, rural America, and television."2° More recently the United States bish- ops have taken forthright and controversial stands ori the matters of war and peace and the American economy,’the former in their pastoral.letter The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise~and Our Response (May 3, 1983), the latter in their Economic Justice foroAll~" Catholic Social Teach- ing and the U.S. Economy (November 13, 1986). In each case the bish- ops argue to. the implications of the gospel message, singling out the im- morality of nuclear warfare or the scandalous operations, in the Ameri- can economic system. The full implications of these strong teachings have yet to be determined. ~, All of this would be cause fo’~ unmitigated joy, were it not for the fact that with. this new emphasis UpiSn the social implications of the Gos- pel, something transcendent in the’ gospel teaching may have been lost. One :of the major problems in the life of the.Church since Vatican II, according to the bishops at the Extraordinary Synod of 1985, has been the lack of recognition and acceptance of a sacral or theological depth to the Churcti’s life--what the synod calls the "mystery" of the Church. The bishops .take responsibility for the fact that this dimension of Churcfi life has been undermined, especially among young people, by a too secu- lar conception of the .Church as a mere human institution. The bishops assert: ~ I~Oll / Review for Religious~ ~November-December, 1987

, a unilateral’presentation of:the 13hurch as a purely institutional structure devoid of her mx.stery has been made. We~are probably not immune from all respon, sibility for th..e fact that, especially the young consider the Chur~ch a pure institution.. Have we not perhaps favored this opinion in them by speaking ~too much of the i’enewal Of the Church’s external struc- tures and too little of God a’hd of Christ? The bisl~ops admit ~that in their eagerness to open the. Church to the ~,orld they h, ave~qot suffici,ently di~tinguishe.d legitimate openness to the world from a secularization of the Church by the world: From time to time there has also been a lack of the~discernment of spir-’ its, with~the failure to correctly distinguish between a legitimate open- ness of the council to the world and ~the acceptance of a secularized ¯ world’s mentality and order of~values, . . . An easy accommodation that could lead to the secularizmion of the Church is to be excluded. /(ls0 excluded is an immobile closing in upon itself of the community of the faithful. Affirmed instead is a’missionary openness for the inte- gral salvation of the wo~ld.21 ~ Part of the problem has been the Church’s eagerness to,enter the social arena with calls for social justice. While it is vital to the Church to em- phasize ~an active concern for social issues, the Church’s concern for these issues should not become so great that it loses sight of .the fact that its deepest life is lived in "mystery" as the Church o_f God, and that the Church is ultimately made,up of the community"of the redeemed in Christ serving his mission of salvation: The primary mission of the Church, under the impulse of the Holy Spirit, is to preach and to witness to the good and joyftil news of the election, the mercy and the charity of God which manifest themselves in salvation history, which through Jesus Christ reach their culmination in the fullness of time and which communicate and offer salvation to man by virtue of the Holy Spir.it. Christ is,the light of humanity. The Church, proclaiming the Gospel, must see to it that this light clearly shines out from her..countenance (ibid., p. 446). Social activism without that sacral ’dimension risks becoming purely secu- lar and human; such activity is totallymconsistent with the life of the Church, however good such acti~ism might otherwise be. To the extent that secularization in its various forms has happened in theChurch since Vatican II, something.inconsistent with what the Church should be arisen .in the community. To restore, a proper~balance, the Church .needs.to’reaffirm the primacy of its religious commitment, and to let that commitment shine before the Four, ,Ecclesial Problems, world..Only.,in the clarity of that commitment conveyed to the.world through its members is it able to seek effective ways of changing the world. These in turn must see themselves as having a primary mission validity to prove to the world the of the sacral~ or transcendent dimen- sion of life as conveyed in the mission of Chrisi. ~n this respecti0ne not ov~erestimate the importance of Vatican II’s and’ the s~,nod’s ne~ly developed and reaffirmed theology 6f the~ laity~ by Which thdrole of the laity in the.promotion of Christian and human values in.,the wo~ld is heightened ai~d theologically validated. Christians need also to find a way to counte~ract, the.increasing intru- sion ~of the power of the secul.ar into their. 9wn lives. To my mind, there is.no ,way for the Church more dramatically and decisively to restore the primacy, of the faith experience to Christian diving than emphatically to reassert its importance in the personal commi,tment to Christ. The "pas- sion"-, for Christ and the commitme~.t, to God’s plan for the world in Christ .have too often been put on the back burner as we enter into the discussion of the problems of the world and seek to resolve them from within, using the naturalistic and,humanistic standards and instruments of action the world is often quite willing at least in,the~i~y to accept. But these are not enough for the Church. We must once again~become "p.as- sionately" committed to Christ and his purposes, and openly manifest to the world that it is primarily these for ~tii~h we stand, If the transcendent dimension, to life is rea!ly crucial to the well- being of the world and~therefore must bepreserved, it will have to come from deeply religiously-committed Christians. For them to be found in any great number, however, a new zeal for Christ and his purposes must be restored. The Church, and especi.ally its leaders both lay and religious, have no greater challenge today. Whether the zeal. necessary to restore the sense of the religious dimension to life in the,world chn be found, however, is not easily answered. Somehow we Christians shall have to enter more deeply into Ourselves, to find out if we really, share strongly a commitment tO Christ and his visi0fi °of the world and ~re willirig to make ~the sacrifices demanded o~°us as we enter into /~ ~riaarketplace al- ready increasingly intolerant of his vie~. W~"shall not~have the impact necessary to the success of the Christian vision merely,, by exporting Chris- tian values in a secularized form. The world does not need to know there is a need for justice nearly so much as it needs t6 kno.w that justice is a dimension of the faith experience in Christ..To seek to alleviate the cries of the poor in social action is really~not the, Christian~mission; rather, our mission is to bring to the poor the vision of~hrist, con- Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 sciously known and passionately calling all people to a commitment to him and to the consequences of that commitment in a life of faith and service. Innovation vs. Traditi6n Th~re is a second, inner-Church conflict to be resolved: between the new and the _old, between innovatidn and tradition. Vatic~’n II met at a crucial point in the life of the Church, when Catho- lic liberal~ were calling for reform while the conservatives wanted to stand by tradition. The bishops who came together represented both view- points. In the final documents they deliberately attempted ~ to draw to- . gether elements from th~ thinking 6f both. camps, hoping to blend their opposing viewpoints.enough to satisfy the desires of each. Apparently both sides were willing to accept compromise. Both also recognized that total consistency was impossible at that time there was simply not enough time to work out the niceties of perfect harmonization, nor was it necessarily desirable. It surely"was expected that the ongoing life of the Church, especially in the work of the theologians under the direc- tion of the bishbps, would work out any incongruities or inconsistencies in thought or prac’tice that ~ight be left over from the Council. And so the Council ended. But as one reporter put it: Yet the Counci’l’s efforts to assimilate modernity and still be true to a 2000-year tradition also created the potential for vast misunderstanding. The Council called upon the Church to uphold, simultaneously, freedom and orthodoxy, culturalopenness and identity, change and continuity, modernity and tradition, hierarchy and participation. That is a tall or- der.22 Avery Dulles, S.J~,.,asks the question that emphasizes the inevitability of the p~:o.b_lem.: Can a Church that simul.taneously moves in thes~ contradictory direc- tions.keep enough homogeneit~y to remain a single social body? . . . Can the Church adopt new symbols, languages, structures and behav- ioral patte .ms 6n a massive scale without losing continuity with its own origins and its ow.n pa~t? (ib!d.) Any break from tradition for any organization necessarily leads to con- fusion. But this would have been a problem even more for the Catholic Church because the break was so abrupt.and deep. Before the Council, many Catholics had~ accepted ex.aggerated acquiescence to unchange as a theological truism, with little or no sense of the role_of history in. the formation’of dogma and Church practice: Because all Church statements Four Ecclesial Problems / I~11

hadotended to be regarded as dogma unquestioningly to be accepted, obe- diential deference to authority was orthodox; freedom ofthbught, unor- thodox independence. Suddenly, after Vatican II, what had been consid- ered un-Catholic was espoused as good Catholicism. Whereas acceptance of lohg-standing traditions was the n~irm for acceptableoCatholic living prior to Vatican II.; now freedom of thought and openness to new ideas and individual conscience became acceptable. This break with tradition, l~owever, was not simply a break from the old frr the neff, but a rever- sal from standards recognizing something as unacceptable to standards recognizing the same as acceptable and even desirable.,Thus ~0nfusion, disagreement, and fallout were inevitable. Also, it is inevitable t’h~t all this leads to a deeper question: what does it mean to be a Catholic and to have the faith? ’ There i~ no doubt a wide spectrum of viewpoints regarding’the theo- logica! role of innovatiori vs. that of tradition, and What, if any, the proper combination ofothe two might be. But in certain areas there is cr’rn~ mon consensus and in other areas a lack of consehsus. There is growing consensus that the break with past traditions ~vas too abrupt and that there is a ;need,to retui’n to some past symbols an’d traditions withou~ renouncing everything new. At the time of the Ameri- can bicentennial, John Coleman, S.J., called for an ""open-ended re- sourcement," a dialogue or "creative engageme,nt" between the tradi- tional Catholic sYmbols and new ones that wouldopen up. or adapt to "new purposes, experiences and questions" in an integrating "process of g~:owth."23 More recently, Greeley has also called for a return to the "experience~’ and-"imagination" .ofoour "Catholic her!tage" so re- cently abandoned as either irrelevant or impeding ecumenism or incom- patible with the modem world. Greeley understands Catholicism .to,stress the "sacramental" presence of the divine in Christian living, and says that this sacramental "religious style" should now be recognized as of the "essence" of the Catholic "insight," andan invaluable feature of the Catholic approach to religio.n.24 ,~There is growing consensus that there is widespread ignorance of the fundamental teachings of Christianity, especially among Xhe young, and that the problem must be addressed quickly. In an effort ~to make Chris- tianityrelevant to our lives, we shifted too quickly from the rigorous for- malism of the catechism and the memorization of.. its teachings to dia- log’oe about the lived experience of the faith. What we lost was a solid understanding of what that faith believed, What is called for today is not necessarily the catechism method, but wtiatever method(s) may be nec- Review for Religiousl November-December, 1987 essary .to restore’to its rightful place knowledg6 about the history of sal- vation in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. A common foun- dation’in,,faith teachings may make it. possible to fost.er conviction, com- mitment, and action. ~ There is lack of consensus on the role of authority in the Church; on the role of the clergy, as well as the Church itself, in social and political activity; and on the degree of freedom to be allowed to personal con- scienc.~e, espec,ially in matters that do not pe~ain directly to formal dogma in the Church, such 9s moral theology and mattgrs of sex. However rig- orous!y..~,~.ne might uphold the tea, chings of the Church on artificial c~?n7 tracept~ion., few would consider the Church’s teachings on the matter as infallibly proclaimed. If that is the case, what degree of disagreement. o if any, is per.missible? In such cases, how much room i~ to be given for private conscience, or for public teaching not fully in accord with offi- cial pronouncements of the Church? VatiEan II clearly gave great weight tO~the right of personal conscience and to scholhrsh!p regarding nonin- fallible teachings, but how far did it intend these°rights’to go? Innova- tors tend toward absolute freedom on noninfallible teachings, traditioii’- ~lists° toward compliance even there. Thes.e,ideologica! disagreements cofistitute adeep source of divisioff in the Chi~rch .today, and represent today’s ~xperience of what it means wheri the old clashes with the new~ The Church has yet to come up with a~th~blogy thgt can provid6 an adequate e~clesiology to handle this prob-

Compatibility Vs~ Contradiction with,,the World ° There is a third ,problem not adequately resolved by Vatican II; which returns once again to’th~e:relationship of the Church to the world: the prob- lem between compatibility of.the Church with the world ~ahd contradic- tian with it? Prior to VatiEan II, the Church had never published an official docu- ment expounding,a posiiive theology on the’r01e of the Church,-in the world. Traditionally, the world had been an arena of evil or temptation to evil. ISatholics were urged to.remove themselves from the.world if they wished to ,attain sanctity, and the priestly and religious life were com- monly acceptrd as means to that end. Those who needed to become, in: volved in the Wodd;~choosing to remain laypersons,’ were allowed to ~be in the world, but .were expected to’ be as unworldly as possible in0the midst of the world: Evefi though Christians learned very well how to, live in~ the world by accepting ,itk ~,alues,~ and acquired the world ~s commodi- ties as instruments of well-being and standards of0success,.this accom- Four Ecclesial Problems modi~tion was often done with a feeling of guilt. That the world Was bad was based on the clear teaching of Christ: his followers did~not belong to the world, the world hated the’m, Christ did not take them out,of the wbi’ld but asked the"Father to "guard them from the evil one" in’ the world (Jn 17:14-15) until they would one day be united with the Father in heaveh. ~ Now with Vatican II, the Church turned toward the world and, in many ways, accepted th~ world for the first time. Th6 Council Asserted the Church’s "sOlidarity with the entire human family," that "nothing genuinely human" is foreign to Christians, that the "joys and the hopes, the griefs hn~l the anxieties of the men of this are" are those of the fol- lowers ofChrist too (LG 1-3). The Council urged Christians to build up the world because "the triumphs of the human race are a sign of God’s greatness dnd the flowering of His own haysterious design" (34). In a remarkable affirmation of the value of secular activity, the Cou0cil "ac- knowledges that human progress can serve man’s true happiness" (37) and that, insofar as "Earthly progress.., can contribute to~the better ordering of human society, it is of vital concern to the kingdom of God" (39). The Council admits~ the world can be "an instrument of sin" and that a "monumental struggle against the power of darkness pervades the whole history of man" (37). Nevertheless, when all is said and done, the emphasis is clearly optimistic--so much so that, when~Karl Barth came back from his visit to Rome during the Council’s first session, he expressed a fear the bishops were bbcoming too optimistically oriented toward the World and suggested they take a miare guarded position. And so the question remains: Is the world a good thing, to be ac- cepted and integrated inio the life of the Christian, or isqt to be rejected because it is infected with sin? The Council urged both; 6f course, but failed to indicate how both were possible, or how and where to draw the line limitinginvolvement~: More importantly, however, the new spirit bf the Coiancil had clearly left the impression that theworld a’s a whole had been sanctioned as a .giaod thing :and that, with Christian and human co- operation and goodwill, there ~vas no reason why the Church and’the World could not easily become assimilated to each other. The question ofqntegration into the life of the world versus opposi- tion trthe world in favor of Christian values’is not a re’rent one. As.Ger- main Gri~ez recently pointed out, much of the history of Christianity can be seen in terms of a "tension between legitimate ~ispirations frr human and this-worldly fulfillment and God’s c~ll to divine and everlasting life.’" Depending upon the emphasis that is greater at any 0h~ torment Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

in Christian thinking, the tendency may be to emphasize "disrespect for the ’merely,’ human" and emphasize fulfillment in God, or, as seems to be. happening ~toda);, to emphasize a reaction against other-worldly spiri- tuality, a reaction which has ’~crystal!ized into various forms of secular humanism." VaticanlI failed to take a stand on this issue, according to Grisez, or more precisely, not knowing how to resolve the tensign be- tween the two tendencies, glossed over them "with ambiguous formu- las." Instead of acknowledging their inability to resolve the problem and implementing a postconciliar process to work on it, the Council Fathers, caught up themselves in the spirit of optimism generated by John XXIII, chose to try to "maintain ,the appearance of unity" and solidarity on this issue and departed. Afterwards, liberals and conservatives began to read in the documents exactly what each had been looking for and ignoring the. opposite, and used whatever political means were available to have their own position dominate. The need now, according to Grisez, is to face up, to the divisions and try to resolve them.25 Others have stressed very pointedly that the orientation of the world today is strongly toward values quite inconsistent with Christian values. The world today is bombarded by powerful influences from the media, which emphasize for commercial purposes a humanism void of religious direction, which preach success in terms of materialistic values and goals such as accumulation of power and money, which proclaim fulfillment of self in terms of satisfaction of sexual drives rather than in love as per- manent commitment to the other, which evaluate persons in terms of utili- tarian norms, whiCh promote personal satisfaction as the criterion for the worth of all activity, which make the ultimate goal of life the achieve- ment of self rather than the donation of self. In such a ,world, there is inevitable contradiction between the values of the world and those of the Christian faith experience, where personal communion with Christ in a community of believers serving the well-being of all is. the standard of value. The humanistic orientation of a world without religious direction risks becoming ultimately a purely worldly humanism antagonistic to Christian values. For many, the opposition is so great at the .present time that, it seems to be moving toward total and absolute contradiction of the values of Christ. The Council Fathers, in recognizing the need to open the Church to the world, did not indicate strongly enough the nature or degree of this opposition, although it must be admitted ’that, even when they did indicate opposition, their words were largely ignored. But ~as Grisez indicates, the opposition is there and must.be faced. By failing to indicate strongly enough the contradiction between the values of the Four Ecclesial Problems / I~15 world and those of Christ, the Council Fathers unwittingly made accom- modation with the ways of the world that much easier. It is that accom- modation that the Extraordinary Synod of 1985 began totry to correct, but a clear theology of contradiction, is still needed. Active vs. Passive Church Life The last root cause of the problems left by Vatican II may be ex- plained in terms of Vatican II’s failure to resolve the conflict between the active and passive dimensions of Christian life. A new spirit of involvement in social and political action, as we have seen, had been emphasized by the Council as an element intrinsic to the life of the Church. This spirit was highly attractive for many reasons: It was new and new things tend to attract; it was optimistic and people tend to like optimism; it was a free and open spirit cgnsequent upon the new theology of the laity, and .more appealing than the more traditional litur- gical and doctrinal elements in Vatican II; it spoke to a strong desire in the ’60’s to become actively involved in the processes of history rather thantransformation to acquiesce of thein them;world itthat not was only~ humanly provided engineered,but theoretical support also justi- for a fied it as providing greater fulfillment of the human potential. In all these ways, this new element of "activism" contra~ted so much with the traditional call for restraint on involvement, and spoke di- rectly to many Catholics who were interested in joining the world in a combined divine-human creative.proje.ct. These were delighted to find there was theological justification and ecclesial approval for using one’s talents in such a project. Personal involvement and responsibility for cre- ating one’s own life in the world spoke more readily to the post-Vatican II age..than acquiescence in the decisions, actions, and authority of oth- ers. At least in the ’60’s, the mentality of the outspoken members of the Church was increasingly liberal, and the .idea of creating one’s future rather than submitting to it was especially appealing to them. Vatican II sanctioned these ideas. It emphasized the theological importance of life in the world and active involvement in the cause of justice and equality, and was to give rise to a dominance after Vatican II of theological move- ments that stressed that same type of involvement. The Church was now also in a position to accept many currents rising in western Protestant cir- cles, such as the new theology of hope and political theology, the theol- ogy of revolution, and finally, in Catholic circles in South American, lib- eration theology. By emphasizing active involvement in creative transformation of the worid, Vatican II unfortunately seemed to downgrade th’e old and less Review for Rel~gious,~ November-December, 1987

captivating styles of spirituality, such as personal prayer, contemplation, and spiritual communion with God alone and in the quiet of one’s room. It became increasingly difficult in modern Catholicism to justify a spiri- tual dimension to !ife unless it was translated into active change of the world. Spiritual terminology began to take on a purely active meaning: prayer, commitment to Christ, concern for the salvation of human be- ings ’~ all these meant to be in active involvement in the world. Monas- tic theology and asceticism .were seriously questioned, for how could any- one iustify removing on~eself from the world when the only important thing wffs to change the world for the better? Those who dared to speak of contemplatio~n or asceticism in tli’e more traditional ways were often seen as outdated and to be pitied for their archaic ways. The new theol- ogy of spiritual activism slowly took over contrbl of the major or- ganizations in the Church: religious orders, diocesan and parish coun- cils, and other Catholic agencies~’ and a new theology of social and po- litical activism translating most or all of Catholic spirituality into causes for peace and justice in the world held sway, The few who dared to criti- "cize these movements as one-sided were ignored. Ct~riously; the more this ~ctivism was promoted as the new and en- lightened foi:m of Christian living, the ~ore vocations to the priestly and religious life went down. The major exception to this trend~was in relig- ious orders, especially of nuns, where the stress On traditional piety was retained--here vocations continued to ~rise or remain stable. But few dared to suggest that this validated’in any way maintaining some room for more traditional contemplative and other-worldly forms of spiritual- ity. " Only recent!y has’ it begun to dawn on many that activism without passivism is un-Christian. A spirituality that is t~otally activated tod, ard htlman creation of the world is inconsistent with Christian teaching, which, while s![essing human~involvement in God’s creation 6f the king- dom; stresses even more that we are ~saved bec~iuse we have been saved in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We receive God,s kingdom far more than we create it. If that is the case, a Christian spirituality of ascetical contemplation is important to the Church because it lives as well as symbolizes the importance of this pass.!ve involvement in God’s crea- tive process. Coleman ohce wrote: It is helpful to consider some of the cultural paradoxes in contemporary American Catholicism. In a nation n6ted for its one-sided, if not patho- logical, emphasis on activism, instrumental rationality, and opt’imistic pragmatism,, Catholic intellectuals seem to have suffered a bout of am- Four Ecclesial Problems

nesia about their classic wisdom concerning contemplation, mysticism, pas.sivity, and receptive acceptance of inevitable and unavoidable lim- its. The Church... in its American incarnation has become almost ex- clusively masculine, with dominant concerns for action, success, build- ing the new e~trth and results (Coleman, p. 553). Christopher Mooney, S.J., argues that in America God rather than hu- man beings was always understood as "the power of our future," the one "from whom the nation had received its mission," and the one "~who works through the structures of society and manifests himself in publi~ affairs." Without that emphasis upon the centrality of God in his- tory, America will lose its sense of destiny.26 Dulles gives personal sup- port to those who argue that "the Kingdom of God is viewed in the New Testament as God’s work, not man’s," that the Church "is seen as ex- isting for the glory of God and of Christ, and for the salvation of its mem- bers in a life beyond the grave," and that in the New Testarfient it "is not suggested that it is the Church’s task to make the world a better place to live in."27 Harvey Egan, S.J., argues that Christians today face "the serious temptation of worsh.iping political pressure groups, causes, move- ments, slogans, and ideo]ogies," and that their social involvement "de- generates into ’pseudo-activism’ " unless it is built upon "authentic in- ner freedom, contemplative peace’; spiritual insight, the love born from prayer, integration, and inner transforrnati6n."28 " What we are asserting, then, is that Vatican II, in its effort to sanc- tion involvement in the life of the world as a legitimate dimensio~ of Christian living, unwittingly tended to downgrade the more contempla- tive, prayerful dimension of’Christian and Catholic spirituality. To that extent, Vatican II opened the doors too widely toward the world and pro- vided a gateway to the development of a secular humanism in contem- porary Catholic life. " Christian humanism without.a strong"spiritual foundation in a prayer- ful dependence upon God and his revelation in Jesus Christ is inevitably doomed to secularism. Once that stage is attained, it is inevitable that Christians begin to question whether there is any valid distinction be- tween Christianity and secular ac..tivism; andsince, once this aberration sets in, there is no real distinction between the two, it is only natural that many Christians find the faith experience unrewarding. It is only in the strength given Christianity by its passive dimension that its activist di- mension has any purpose or will to endure. Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

Conclusibn We have argued that at least in these four ways Vatican II left us a spirituality that is ambiguous, in conflict with itself, and undirected. This may indeed have been the Council’s intention." To some extent, the Ex- traordinary Synod of 1985 served a valuable purpose in attempting to rec- tify these imbalances and ambiguities. It took twenty-five years to real- ize the bad effects and what needed to be corrected. Nevertheless, the ambivalences we have itemized .still reside in the Church and account for much of the conservative-liberal polarization of today. The next stage will be for the Church to reconvene and resolve the ambiguities. It will be an amazing and groundbreaking Council when it does.

NOTES I "Vatican II and the Postconciliar Era in the U.S. Church," Origins 15, 15 (Sep- tember 26, 1985), pp. 225,233. 2 Vivian W. Dudro, "Toward the Synod: General Praise, Some Criticism of Malone Report," National Catholic Register 61, 39 (September 29, 1985), pp. l, 8. The reporter make~ reference to an expression used by Gerrnain Grisez, Professor of Chris- tian Ethics at Mount St. Mary’s College, Emmitsburg, MD. 3 Joseph Cardinal RatZinger with Vittorio Messori, The Ratzinger Report (San Fran- cisco: Ignatius, 1985), pp. 44, 55, 71, 74, 83, 62, 29-30. ’~ In "The Catholic Priesthood," Overview 19, 10 (undated [August 1985]), p. I, citing a report in NFPC:News Notes, March 1984. aA Overview, May. 1985, p. 1. 5 Overview, June 1985, p. 1, citing a report in New ~’ork Times December 9, 1984. 6 Ibid., p. 2. The ’article was in National ReviewS" November 25, 1983. 7 Overview, May 1985, p. 5. Herr is citing an article by Mary K. Tilghman in The Catholic Review of March 20, 1985. The words are Tilghman’s except for the quo- tation from Schoenherr on the "?rganizational crisis." 8 Ibid., p, 6. 9 Ibid., p. 3. 10 Walter M. Abbott, S.J., ed., The Documents of Vatican II (New York: Guild, 1966): "Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modem World" or Gaudium et spes sec. 4 and 5; hereafter, Latin titles used and noted in text. i1 Thomas More, 1979. 12 Paulist, 1975. 13 Harper & Row, 1973, p. 71. 14 Doubleday, 1977, p. 12. 15 Paulist, 1972, citing an article he wrote as early as 1967. ’ 16 Greeley’s first controversial conclusions were published in Catholic Schools in a Declining Church, with William C. McCready and Kathleen McCourt (Kansas City: Sheed & Ward, 1976); his latest is American Catholics Since the Council: An Un- authorized Report (Chicago: Thomas More, 1985). 17 Gallup publishes yearly reports on Religion in Americh, and has just completed (with Jim Castelli) The American Catholic People: Their Beliefs, Practices, and Val- ues (Garden City: Doubleday, 1987). Four Ecclesial Problems

18 Eight reports from this invaluable study of "core Catholic" parishioners’ think- ing and practices hav~ been published so far, appearing in Origins from December 27, 1984, to August 28, 1986. 19 In Justice in the Marketplace: Collected Statements of the Vatican and the U.S. Catholic Bishops on Economic Policy, 1891-1984, David M. Byers, ed. (Washing- ton, DC: NCCB/USCC, 1985), pp. 249-250. 20 Quest for Justice: A Compendium... , J. Brian Benestad and Francis J. Butler, eds. (Washington, DC: NCCB/USCC, 1981), pp. v-vi. 21 Synod of Bishops: "The Final Report," Origins 15, 27 (December 19, 1985), pp. 445,449. 22 E. J. Dionne, Jr., "The Pope’s Guardian of Orthodoxy," New York Times Maga- zine, November 24, 1985, p. 45. 23 John A, Coleman, S.J., "American Bicentennial, Catholic Crisis," America, June 26, 1976, p. 553. 24 Andrew M. Greeley and Mary Greeley Durkin, How to Save the Catholic Church (New York: Viking, 1984), pp. xviii-xix, 35, passim. 25 Germain and Jeannette Grisez, "Conservatives, liberals duel over leaking barque," National Catholic Reporter 22, 5 (November 22, 1985), p. 14. 26 Christopher F. Mooney, S.J., Religion and the American Dream: The Search for Freedom under God (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1977), pp. 35-36. 27 Avery Dulles, S.J., Models of the Church (Garden City: Doubleday, 1974), pp. 94-95. 28 Harvey D~ Egan, S.J., Christian Mysticism: The Future of a Tradition (New York: Pueblo, 1984), p. 234. The Autumn Years: A Touch of God

Joseph M. McCloskey, "S.J., and M. Paulette Doyas, S.S.N.D.

Father McCloskey is Director of Shalom House-Retreat Center; P.O. Box 196; Montpelier, Virginia 23192. Sigier Paulette teaches at the College of Notre Dame; 4710 N. Charles Street; Baltimore, Maryland 21210.

Autumn colors stimulate our aesthetic sense. Leaves grown old are beau- tiful to behold, a truth of creation that gives dying its own color. In, our later years our activities are like autumn leaves before they fall to the ground; each one is a jewel in our crown, worn with pride but sometimes hard to see against the perspective of a cold winter. Winter follows autumn; it is the winter we fear. Winter allows us to view the forest of our lives without being lost. in details. The forest stripped of its foliage, our lives are open to scrutiny; unencumbered by duties, we have the chance to really see ourselves. But autumn, with its warnings of dying, allOws us to look at winter with a hope of new birth. Autumn brings a special brand of happiness which belongs to God and is worth reflecting upon. Our autumn years do not have to be unhappy ones if we appreci- ate the meaning of our lives. No one likes to think about growing older, yet the truth is, we have been aging since conception. There is no es- caping autumn; growing older can bring colorful changes into our lives even if we must yield to a certain amount of inactivity. Love frees the spirit. Alienation brings loss of heart and dims our ap- preciation of life. Passion for life belongs to love, yet the passion for life wanes and we yearn for something more when we feel ourselves no longer needed. The mid-life crisis is a taste of what is to come as we ex- perience doubts about our work and what we have been doing with our lives. Glory, honor, and power are perpetual temptations of life, even when we are not sure just what it is we want. We struggle to hold on

820 The Autumn Years / 821 t~J the possibility and potential of doing something wonderful. As We be- come tired of trying to’h61d on and despair cofifronts us, we finally real- ize that life has-a meaning--being in God. "When we finfilly face themeaning of life, the idea of sitting on a porch watc.hing the rest of the world go by.does not have to seem terri- ble. The autumn years are su~ounded by the storms of others’ activities and the job still gets done even when we are no longer bearing the brunt of the heat of the-day. As ’we watch the jobget done, we cab laugh at ourselves for all the times we pictured ours61ves as indispensable. We db not have to identify who we are by what we do. We identify ourselves by not doing; we may be retired. The constant round of activities which ful~d Our lives’belongs to those who follow. ~The fruitful year~ of.prbd~ictio~ ~nd hyp~’activity seem unreal as we watch them’in others.The mystic in life touches us; we watch, like con- templatives in prayer sitting on our autumn veranda, the storm of God’s love come up in the for.m~ 6f others’ work. God bring.s beauty into our lives as we appreciate what others Ho. ’People need our affirmation a~ad appreciation. L’ife is not over because wecan no longer do, it is just be- ginning. Today is the first_day of the rest of our lives, no matter how old we are. Traumatized by thoughts of our past, we can miss the colors of now. Anxious ,about tomorrow, we are sometimes only half present to what we are dbing. E~;en as yesterday can dampen our enthusiasm in what w~ are doing, anxiety over tomorrow can keep us from being fullyi.nvolved now. We live in an age of. activity and our .minds resemble motor boats, chugging noisily over the wavesof what must be done. There has to be a po.int where we cut the m0tor, give up the noises we make, and just glide, delighting in the freedom of knowing that our work may be almost finished. As we grow older, spirituality can give meaning to the lessen- ing activity in our lives. Slowing down without feeling worthless is what spirituality can help us..do.,No ~matter how old we are, idleness can threaten self-worth. We become :victims ,of our own doing, as thoughts of What we could, do to make our lives worthwhile prod us to keep go- ir~g: "If we stop, that magic momentof doing something great may be missed." Pushing ourselves t6 exhaustion, we do not have time for our- selves now. We fail to apigreciate what we are right now. Unusual are the autumn souls, really alive t6dayin the richness of yesterday’s expe- rience, y6t still open to tomorrow’s vision of life with new meaning. Many still search for the secret of iife--f6und in living wholeheartedly 822/Review for Religious, Novemb.er-December, 1987 the fullness of now--in some nebulous fountain of youthful actiyity. We need to open ourselves up to’where we are and who we are right now. Spirituality’s ultimate goal consists in seeing God face to face. This means "being" with God. All of life, everything we have ever done, everything we have ever been, is a preparation.that we might "be." Be- ing does not imply vegetating. There is a responsibility to b~ for one an- other attached to being for Christ. Whatever. we do for the least one of our brothers or sisters, even when we are not aware of doing it for Christ, is accepted by, him as bei.ng done for himself. In identifying himself as the "I am who I am" God, God reveals himself as reachable in the here and now. The only moment in time truly real is now, touching the "Eternal Now." Living in the now, for even a moment of time, garners those nows of life when we opened our hearts to being loved. These moments become sacramental. We live the "Sac- rament of the Present Moment." ’There are seven sacraments that the Church recognizes as special moments in life where Christ wants to be present in our lives and is giving himself. In these sacraments of the Church, Christ does the work. In the sacrament of the present moment we can make a moment sacramental by our ~illingness tb make Christ present frr each otlaer.° Living in the present, with what good there is, frees us of what anchors us to the past. Because it only takes a moment to love for a lifetime, we have tliE poss!bility of being Christ lovers by giving of who we are to the least person we meet, in any moment of our lives. We are children of the Father. God takes us as his own because we are precious to him. The Psalms tell tls that.: "Before you were born, I knew you!" (Ps 139). We are loved because Of who we are even be- fore we had accomplishments to boast of. Saint Paul teaches us in Ephe- sians 1 : 1-13 that God’ s love is deserved in the goodness of Christ. Christ is our Way and our Truth and our.Life. Saint John’s first epistle on Love teaches us that .all of life is a preparation for the opening of our hearts, now, to the fullness of the Lord of Life coming into our hearts. All of life is a preparation for this very moment We are living! Wisdom brings knowledge of how to live in God’s love, and the contemplative in action lives in God’s love by letting God ,work one hundred percent. Doing in God’s love becomes being in his love. What becomes of paramount im- portance is how much love we.can accept in Christ, and how much Christ we live for God and each other in return. ~ Being does not happen jus.t because we are old enough. Incapacita- tion is always a possibility when being is thrust upon us. Being is maxi- The Autumn Years mized by freedom and life, but a lot of dying has to take place in each of us before we are really free to love for the sake of Christ. Growing older is part of tile stripping process of b~coming free to let God do all he can in our hearts. Love needs time to mature. The Church says of the young saints that they fulfilled a long life in a short time, so that even th~ child saint can be old when considering years spent on earth. It only take~ a moment to love for a lifetime, andthe meaning of the greatest love of all is giving of one’s life for the sake of a ne.ighbor. Giving can be done by being for another. If we think we can do things for ourselves alone, our whole life is wasted. Being in the autumn years can become adoing for others. Being is knowing how to love. Love is being present to the need of another ffhich sometimes in- volves pain. As humans, we would rather bypass the cross and get right to the resurrection. But we are unrealistic if we think the resurrection is possible without,the crucifixion. There can be no spring without the autumn and the winter. Resurrection portrays Christ reaching out to the hurt and pain of his disciples. Christ is our holiness, and the fruitfulhess of our lives in Christis found in how much of Christ’s death we are will- ing to accept forbthers. The ultimate, decisive word of God, in the hu- manness of Christ, is Christ’s dying on the cro~s. His suffering gives ~m~aning to our pains and our dying even When we do not relate it to our autumn years. Everything we did or woul~t have liked to do becomes as nothing in the light of Christ’s suffering and death. He took care of it all. The ultimate, decisive word of God, sp6ken in the humannness of Christ, comes to us in his d~athon the cross. Counselors and sigiritual directors bften meet couples whose mar- riages have revolved around doing’for their offspring, and who now’com- plain about lack of meaning to their lives with’6ut~ their children. After the childi-en are growr~ and off on their own, these pai’ents have not learned how to accept each other, to be with each other. Many priests and religious brothers and sisters have the same problem. So many years found them in their work that they never learned to enjoy each other. So intense was the doing, the~ never discovered the secret of being, for them- selves or others. They ~vere all so busy doing in the spring and summer of their lives that they gave n~o thought to the autumn and winter that had to follow--when doing became more difficult. Working at accomplishing something involves the danger of making doing the meaning of life. The need of another opens our lives to the rush of the Spirit filling us with God’s love. The second comings of the Spirit to the Church are pe6ple filled with love who reach out with their gifts 1~24 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

to the needs of others. The problem is no~ whether we did enough in our lifeti~ae, but whether we did~:.what we di~l-~vith love. We may complain that we have never had any.thing werth doing. Ye’t each time we moan about not being satisfied with what we have done, or regret not hax~ing done enough, always w~tnting to do more with our liyes, we limit our love of God to wh~t.we are ci6ing noV, rather than bringing all we have done in our lives t~ ~,hat we do. Life teaches us toAive in God’s love. We do not deserve God’s love, but we can accept it. We waste love, think- ing of all we could have done or w, ould~have liked to d~o.~God.’s love frees us to giv~ ourselves.~ It brings the wisdom whichohelps us to ,put aside our accomplishments or hopes of achieveme.nt, and opens our hearts to be filled with God’s love in Christ. The awareness of Christ in our lives frees us to live in the Father’s love. ~ The victory won by:Christ when he "took captivity._captive," when he took away the scandal attached t6 our suffering and dying; allows us share in the resurrection when we take up our crosses and follow him. Christ calls us in our inadequacies, our brokenness, our nakedness, our need of others, to be part of the resurrection by claimiong~the foothold in heaven we have in him. Our needs bring Christ into our lives. We be- come other Christs by.-lett!ng him do in our live~s. Growing older ih a world with so many younger,~people frees us to be.in their love, even as we learn to be in God’s love. If we were.really and truly competent enough to do it all by ourselves, we would never~ need God. Needing God and other’s allows our captiyity to-be taken cal~tive by ~hrist. Aristotle, the great philosopher and teacher-some centuries before Christ, said that. a person could become a philosopher only after forty years of age. It is only When we have enough .experience of life that we begin to find the meaning of life, 19v.e, and values which have to do with being rather than doing. All of life’s acc6mplishments are insignificant if we are unable to be in the love of God., if we are unable to be in the love of our brothers and sisters around us. Loye is God’s relationship to us, and theGod Who gives all in our lives receives it back When we are able to offer our lives in Christ, when we try to be his life by our love for each other... We are called to be lov- ~ers. Even as the doing of our early years is the beginning of love, it is in the need for each other of our autumn years that love is completed, the love which allows us to~be in the f~ullness of Ch,r!st who lives.Eithin us. Our world needs us and we. should be proud to be aging ,in God’s love, .basking in the autumn .years of life, content to be in his love for the sake of all who are still able to do’in his love. We are now like th’e " .,Th~ Autumn Years / 825

Eternal Word of the Trinity, always receiving from the F~ther, even as we are"i’eceiving from others who love us. We are created iri the image and likeness of the God who is Trinity. Trinity has its counterpoini in the mystery of indwelling, where G6d is found in the still point of our lives. Family and community are the outer reaches of this m~yst~ry of indwelling where God lives in the love of our hear~sl and in how we reach out to our brothers and sisters. We are told bY the first commandment of life to love God. We would not know how to do this if Christ had not told us he lok, ed us just as the Father loves him. Christ asks us to live in’his l~v~e, and tells us we love him by keep- ing the commandments which show us the ways we ~hould devil with one another and God. Faithfulness to the commandments is faithfulness to one another. How can ~ve lov~ the God we do not see, if we do not love the neighbo~ we do see? God’ is love and we live in his lo~ve in the way we love 0n~ another. Wherever there is. ipve, G~I is. Lo~,e calls us to be like the G~d we image and brings us into commu.nity a~ men and women 6reated to lok, e 6ne another. Spirff~al life can be traced_back to T~rinity: in’:-TTinit~,, being and do- !ng meet in the total giving and receiving,of the Father and th6 Son. The Father holds b~ck nothing of himself. The S,on, totally receiving of th~ Father, has nothing the Father has not given him. All of life i~ a combi- nation of these two forces, the active and passive 0"f life. The principles of life find in Trinity the °meaning and the sourceof love. Even if we have spent a.. life totally, giv, ing all we are in order that the mystery of the Trinity m_ay be comple.ted in us, the autumn of our lives finds meaning in rec~eiving./~s the child needs parents to grow, so too we grow in those moments when our heart~ need each other. We ac- cept the richness o~each otl~r’~/~ifts when we are willing to need one another from the depths of our being..Then the beauty of life finds the special expression of th6oTrinity completed in the giving and~:eceiving which touches Being, and that very_ being i’s love. Love is God’s, relatioriShip ~to us, ’~n.d the God whb gives ~11 lives in our lov~ when w~ are able,t0 ~J.ffer bin: lives in Ch~rist;.wfien ~.t~ry to live his life by our love for each other. We are called to be lovers. But most of all we are c~lled to be loved in Christ. Autumn years bring the kisses and the embraces of our..,Lord which are felt even in the hurts and the pains of our body’s resistance to the call of our Lord .to our eternal reward. The warnings of sufferings do not have to be a threat, in our hope of the resurrection, as a lifetime of love and work in response to the call of God’s love claims relationship to Christ. Our pains in letting Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 go of our work,:and our good health bear relationship to the ultimate word of God’s love in the passion and death of Jesus Christ and offer the love of God in the resurrection. Even as the dping of our early years is the beginnin.g of love, the letting go of the autumn years completes our love as we feel the need for God and each other. The Christ who is in the least one of otir brothers and sisters is now in us, allowing us to be Christ in our need. We become the Christ to whom we have given hll our life, as all~the good we have done for others comes back upon us. Our world awaits a generation of people proud to be’aging in-his love, basking in the warmth of love which ~omes their way in the autumn of life. Mary is the ultimate model of being for Christ, being for God. She accompan’i~d the Church of theresurre6tibn by being present to their needs and helping them to remember her Son in the many ways of a mother’s love, as she took care of h.er. children in the trust given to her by Jesus from the ci’oss~ Because Mary was so present to the needs of the Cl~urch before h_er Assumption, the early Church learned to respect her as mo(her, oA very significant part of the spiri.tuality of the autumn years in the lives of m_any is their devotioh to Mary by following her ex- ample in praying for the Church. The work of the autumn years is the same as Mary’s; the" limits of that work ar’~ the size of oiir heart. Even as our autumn years are the time for being as much as we can be, they are the time for loving as much as we can love. Mary has taught us how to li~,e, h’ow to love, and how to be, both by her love for her Son and by the way she lived with the early Church. Just as Mary’s autumn years were filled with the touch of God, her presence brought that same touch of God’s love to the ea~:ly Church. Mary and God’s touch would always be close. So too our autumn y.ears can have the touch of God strength- ening the Mystical,.Body of Christ. Mary is therole model of our autumn years and our patron as we pray: Heav.enly Father,.help us to understand the meaningof growing older in wisdom and knowledge. Allow us to gracefully accept the slowing down in the autumn of life. May we be as loving as Mary in her autumn years, presefit to the needs of c’bmpanions~ filled with I.ife and its inys- ter~, so that all will feel free to share your gift, to find your love within us. Open us, O Father, to a concern for.the liu~an race. Fill our hearts with living in the fulfillment of your abiding love every’moment of every day. Help us to be so resonant and filled with the meaning of the mo- ment that we may:be truly able to love,.as you.loved. May we eagerly look forward to the "being’.~’of the autumn years, reaping the golden rewards, fully open to the winter-that is to come, where all is wanned ~bY your love. ~ Community Dialogue and Religious Tradition

Sebastian MacDonald, C.P.

Father MacDonald is provincial superior of the Holy Cross Province. He may fie reached at Passionist Community; 5700 North Harlem Avenue; Chicago, Illinois 60631.

Dialogue is a common form of community experience today. It is an en- deavor which has the capacity of exposing the wealth of tradition latent in a community. Such tradition is often the unspoken element bonding a community together, the ineffable cementing relationships.

It can be a mistake, of course, to uncritically commend the rgle of dialogue in religious life, Given the negative experience of it that many religi~us have encountered the past few years, citing its advantages must be balanced with recognizing its difficultie~ and disadvantages. ~’hese latter largely center about the conflict and division that often occurs among community members, as the~y encounter in one another ap- ¯ parently irreconcilable positions on often fundamental and basic aspects of religious life. Dialogue, as the publi~c articulation of these p~ositions, can add to an already~latent conflict. Once public positions are taken by community members, this may freeze a division that has always be~n there, but, here- tofore, private, and to that extent, potentially malleable. By enhancing the feeling elenaent, dialogue can be a further obstacle to community build- ing. II. An aspect of the problem which needs to be recognized is the often

827 828 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

~restrictive or constrained, nature of community dialogue. At times it does not allow full expression of opinion on the part of all present, as when, should everyone address an issue, the frequent result is that the depth of conversation is shallow and glosses over deep feelings and heartfelt con- victions. This may result in one side gradually prevailing, in a community dif- ference of opinion. An unequal division occurs on an issue when the ma- jority silences the minority, or articulate spokespersons cause members who support an opposing opinion to withdraw in some way and possibly to absent themselves from community dialogue: If this happens, an unspoken element remains in the community, fu- eling even more the disagreement raised to prominence by the public dia- logues that have taken place. Just because ~something is unspoken does not mean that’it ce~ases to exist or exert its influence. lie " To offset this development, a full-blown community dialogue be- comes desirable, where each member has the opportunity, and actively utilizes it, of fully expressing himself or herself regarding fundamental issues of religious life, as well as seCondary but still importantelernents. ’. Adults who live together for a period of time accumulate a rich de, posit of spirit and. tradition. Any community bonding that ’Occurs must respect that. richness. But where dialogue is restricted and constrained, and opinions go un, expressed, monologue prevails, not genuine dialogue. There may be an appearance of dialogue, as community members dutifully assemble ac- cording to schedule. But if they do so reluctantly and,. fearing r~ancor, sniping or misrepresentation, do not speak from their hearts on issu.es, then only a facsimile of dialogue is present, with peopl~ merely going through the motions of conversing With one another. Honest ~elf, expression is a duty and a respons.ib~ility, together with a willingness to listen to ~thers, who may voice positions in conflict with ~eeply held convictions. Th!s kind of community dia.logue is an art form riot come by easily, spontaiaeous!y or naturally. It has to be worked at with grace, balance and harmony to make the conversation helpful and productive. There is a rich mother-lode of spiritual exp.erience in religious com- munities that beg~ to be exposed, recognized and admired. It is a thing of beauty that often eludes written or spoken form. Congregational documents, such as Constitutions and Regulations, do,not always capture the "tradition" of a religious community which, Community Dialogue and Tradition / 1t29 in large part, is often inexpressible. But it does strive to see the light of day and to be ack.nowledged for what it is, a major cementing factor in a community’s life and existence. .Religious life is one of faith. In our efforts to explain it in its com- munal form, we refer to other kinds of community living, especially the family. However, we know that these comparisons are only partially sat- isfactory. The physical bonding factors which account for the stability of communal units such ,as the familY explain much of the emotional and spiritual quality present there. ~ The vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, however, are bonding factors of a different type, which must be described as intangibles. The ~faith quality and spirituality of religious community is intelligible only in their terms. Indeed, religious life is designed to witness to the kind of community living together based on such values. This witness is, hope- fully, given to one another, and to those who observe religious in prac- tice. The spirituality of the "apostolic community,’~’ about which we hear so much today, consists of this faith witness on the part of religious bound together by such "intangible" vows accounting for their life and work together. Precisely because the "anchors" for the faith quality of religious life are intangible, it is possible they will be submerged, sliding beneath the surface and remaining invisible, unless they are consciously and delib- erately disengaged and exposed to view. Community dialogue is one way of allowing this to happen. IV. The fuller the attention and exposure that a tradition of religious life receives, the more promising the access it provides to building and unit- ing a religious community together. Tradition can be ineffable, or expressible only with difficulty for the reasons given above. If this .occurs, it is not acknowledged, responded to or accounted for, despite its important role in the community. Tradition often constitutes the very center of religious life in com~ munity. It can explain the reason behind who they are and the values they abide by. When these are not plainly evident to otliers, their lives as com- munity members can in large part go unappreciated by and even un- known to their fellow religious. Can this be community? Unwritten and unspoken tradition bonds a community together, but it needs to be acknowledged and dealt with. Practices regarding poverty, prayer, silence, fraternal relationships, and so forth, often refer to expe- Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 riences that flow deeply and silently, possibly never seeing the light of day, exc6pt symbolically and representatively. It is imperative that they emerge in community dialogue. Otherwise an explosive energy build-up results, driving co-existing lives in opposite directions, into inevitable collision. This is the hidden resistance so often experienced as divisive in community dialogue. It rep- resents the unspoken ground on which people take stands, inadequately explored and investigated with their fellow religious. Much of this tradition is rooted in religious and sacred ~aeaning, and concerns God himself. This adds a dimension of strength and power to values that weigh heavily upon a community that fails to discover them, unspoken and hidden in the depths of certain members who feel that the way they experience God in their lives is not esteemed by others. V. Tradition within the smaller confines of religious community reflects Catholic tradition within the Church at large. It is endowed with a ver- sion of catholicity in its capacity to bind together those who share it. On the other hand, a schism or division can begin among those religious who do not share a common tradition, or fail to appreciate or even perceive its presence. A religious community is like "a little church" in this re- gard. Community dialogue is at its best when it provides full scope to re- ligious experience. In this way it discloses a deposit of reasons and val- ues that give meaning to people’s lives and make them real. If it suc- ceeds in this, it helps build community on a solid foundation of full, hon- est, and authentic exchange between people intent on sharing life to- gether. Conclusion Living by a largely unwritten tradition containing rich personal and communal experiences, we stand to benefit by an exposure of this "tra- dition" to others through, dialogue. Hopefully it will win their esteem too, and bind religious more ~closely together. God’s Love Is Not Utilitarian

William A. Barry, S.J.

This is the final of Father Barry’s series of four articles which began with a considera- tion of our resistances to God. He may be addressed at Saint Andrew House; 300 Newbury Street; Boston, Massachusetts 02115.

A number of years ago---more than I care to remember--as a brash young scholastic I was° engaged in a spirited conversation with some other Jesu- its, priests and scholastics. We were discussing the reasons for being a Jesuit. During the discussion I found myself more and more dissatisfied with the reasons given. I had seen married and single lay men and women who were at least 9s dedicated to being,followers of Christ as any of us. My own parents were examples of rather remarkably unselfish lov- ers. I could not believe that God was more pleased with us than with them~ Nor could I accept the notion that God wanted me to be a Jesuit in order to save some part of the world. That just did not ring true to my experience and reflection. At one point I blurted out something like this: "I’m a.Jesuit because God wants me to be happy and productive. God"s love for me has led me to choose this life, just as his love for o~hers leads them to choose their way of life." I am not su.re I understood all the implications of what I said, nor was I sure that the implied theology would stand up to scru- tiny. But that outburst has stayed with me through the years, and I have pondered its meaning off and on. In the process I began to enunciate a conviction that God’s love is~not utilitarian; i.e., God does not love me or anyone primarily in order to achieve some other goals. In this article I want to unpack some of the meaning of this conviction, impelled by a number of recent experiences of directing retreats and giving spiritual direction. 831 ~1~12 / Review for Religious, N~vember-December, 1987

My youthful outburst was occasioned by the realization that much of the reasoning that justified being a religious presumed that being one was a great sacrifice, indeed, even painful. So the life had to be justified or made palatable. But I did not feel that my life entailed any more sacri- fice than anyone else’s. I was rather happy, all things considered, and would not have traded my life for anyone’s. So I felt that the "call" to Jesuit life was God’s gift to me, his way of loving me. To put the same thing in another way: I felt that God wanted me to be a Jesuit because that was the best way for me to be happy and productive. That convic- tion has not changed since. Over the years I have come to believe that all God wants of any of us is to let him love us. I hax;e also come to believe that one of the most difficult things for us to do is precisely to let God love us, to receive his love. We resist his advances, his overtures of love as though they were the plague. In three earlier articles I have tried to probe the sources of that resistance.l In this article I want to focus on what I have come to believe is God’s desire in bur regard. Sebastian Moore,2 in his latest book, makes the point brilliantly: God desires us into being. Before ever we were, God desired us so much that he made us, and made us desirable and lovely. And he desires, that we find him lovely, that we love him. But that can only happen if we !et ourselves believe and experience that we are, as it were, the apple of his eye. To the extent that we believe and experience that God finds us de- sirable, to that extent will we be in love with him. People who have let God, demonstrate his love for them often affirm that it is a love without any demands, an3; strings attached. This is a diffi- cult point to grasp, so let us try to be clear. Often enough we are afraid of God’s closeness because we fear the demands he will make of us. "He may askme to go to Ethiopia." As far as I can te!l, when God comes close, he does not c6rrie with a list’of demands or conditions for continuing to remain close. For example, he does not seem to say: "Yes, I love you, but I will only keep on loving you if you [fill in the blank]." Infact, he does not even seem to say: "I love you, but I will only keep on loving you if you stop this pai’ticular sin:" God seems to be just what the First Letter of John says he is, namely’love ,’and uncon- ditional love at that. All he seem~ to want is to be able to love Us, to be close and intimate with us. Does this mean that God has no standards, no values? By no means; but his Values are not perceived as demands by those who have let him come close. Rather they find themselves desirous of sharing his values, God’s Love Is°Not Utilitaridn / I]~13 of being’ like him--not because God’demands that they do so, butobe- causethey are happier and more alive when they live according to God’s values. For example, I realize that I am happier, more alive and more purposeful when I can desire to forgive as Jesus forgives, to love as Je- sus loves. Married men and women have found themselves most fulfilled when they have:remained faithful to their marital commitments, even when the grass looked greener elsewhere. Religious have discovered that their great- est happiness lies in giving themselves wholeheartedly to the demands of their vows, even when the bloom seems off the rose, as it were. Many Christians have also discovered that they are most alive and happy when they give themselves as wholeheartedly as possible to living with and working with and for the poor. Of course, at times all these people weaken, and are helped to stay the course by some negative sanction, for example, fear of loss of face, or of sinning and disappointing God, or of hell. But at bottom the motivation for sticking to their lasts is the desire to imitate the God who has so unconditionally and faithfully loved them. In other words they want to be perfect as’their heavenly Father is perfect. Of course, they cannot .do this. Sin is an ever present reality which even the holiest of saints must contend with. However, those who have experienced God as lover do not experience him as contemptuous of their sinfulness but as compassionate and patient. In their best moments, when they are aware of God’s love, they recognize that all they have to do is to ask forgiveness and healing for their lapses, and to desire to have their hearts made more like the heart of Jesus. And they can hope that continued contemplation of Jesus will transform their hearts almost by osmosis. Now, perhaps, we have come to the key that opens the last door to insight. Jesus is the perfect human being, we believe, the one who most fully realizes the potential of humanity. When all is said ~nd done, What is the central insight Jesus had? Was it not that Yahweh, the creator of the universe, the unnameable, unfathomable mystery, is "Abba," "dear Father," "dear Mother," Love itself? To the maximum extent possible for a human being Jesus knew God, and he experienced God as Love.3 Let us reflect a bit on Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan. I realize that I am reading into the text, but I find it intriguing that the synoptics pic- ture God as saying that Jesus is his beloved in whom he is well pleased before Jesus has begun his public ministry. What has he done to elicit such praise? Perhaps "all" that he has done is to allow God to come ~134 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 as close as God wants to come; perhaps "all" that he has done is just to let himself be loved as much as God wants to love him. Perhaps Jesus is so dear to God just because he let God do what God has always wanted to do: reveal himself as our lover par excellence. It is also intriguing to speculate that Jesus’ fundamental salvific act may have been, not dying on the cross, but rather accepting God’s love as much as it is humanly possible to do. Then the following of Christ might mean not so much doing iheroic deeds, nor even wanting to love as Jesus loves, but much more fundamentally, desiring to let oneself be loved as much as Jesus was and is loved. PerhaPs the world will be saved when a critical mass is reached of people who deeply believe and expe- rience how much they are loved by God. What I have been saying may strike some readers as advocacy of a "me and God" spirituality. It is true that this can all sound very narcis- sistic. But in practice, it is the exact opposite. Those who let themselves be loved by God find in doing so that their own love and compassion for others is enormously increased. This trans- formation does not happen because God demands such love of them. In fact, these persons know that for years they tried to be loving in response to what they took to be God’s demands: they made resolution after reso- lution, and failed miserably. Now without effort, almost, they find their hearts going out to others, and especially to the neediest. They are sur, prised themselves at what is happening to their hearts. The more they al- low themselves to be loved unconditionally by God, the more loving they become. And the love of these persons, like that of Jesus, is a tough love. They speak the truth, but it is a truth that is not contemptuous, nor an- grily demanding--at least while they are aware of being loved. This last aside is a necessary nod to realism. For even the holiest of saints has days he or she regrets. Moreover, as they become or are made aware that they are socio-political beings, i.e., constituted at least in,part by the social and. political institutions into which they are born or freely enter, they begin to undergo what Father Gelpi calls a socio-political,conversion, and take steps to make these institutions more just’ and caring through organizing, networking, lobbying, and protesting where necessary.4 Moreover, people who let God come close realize, without self- contempt, how far they fall short, and always will fail short, of being like Jesus. They know. from experience why the saints protested so strongly their sinfulness. They feel over and over again how much God loves them and how much God desires to shower them with his love, and God’s Love Is Not Utilitarian they see themselves turning their backs on him, resisting his advances, refusing his invitations to intimacy. They find themselves to be enigmas because the experience of God’s closeness fulfills their deepest desires, yet they fight him off. In spite of being such sinners they know that God still loves them. Hence, they view themselves and all human beings more and more with the compassionate eyes of God. I have begun to suspect that the notion of God’s love as utilitarian is a defense against God’s love. IfI convince myself that God loves me for the sake of other people, then I do not have to face the enormity of being’ loved for myself alone by God. Many people shelter themselves from the full implications of God’s love by seeing themselves as the ob- ject of that love only as part of a group. In other words, God loves all people, and I am included under the umbrella,,as it were. Now there is a truth in this notion, but I can use it to keep God’s love very impersonal and distanced. So, too, God’is kept distanced if I conceive of tiis love for me as utili- tarian. "He loves me for what I can do for the people of Ethiopia." It is a very subtle way of keeping God at a distance: he does hoi loveme so much as Ethiopia. It is also subtly Pelagian: God loves me for what I can do for him. Interestingly enough, it is also a subtle way both to puff up my ego, and also to make sure that I am never satisfied with my- self. On the one hand, I am aware of all that I am doing for Ethiopia; on the other hand, I am constantly reminded of how much more there is to be done, and may also be reminded that others have done more. One person on, a retreat, for example, felt that if God really loved her, then he would be using her in more important ways. She discovered that such reasoning was making her unhappy and keeping God at arm’s length. Perhaps the burden of the argument thus far can be summed up in an experience of another retreatant. He had experienced deeply that Je- sus knew he was a sinner and would always be a sinner. Jesus commu- nicated to him in a gentle, loving way how he had betrz’yed him in the past, and that he would do it again in the future. Yet he looked at him with enormous tenderness and love. The retreatant felt that Jesus said to him: "I love no one more than I love you--but I love no one less than I love you." God does not love some people more because of what they do, or what they will do. He is just greatly pleased that anyone lets him come as close as he wants to come. If God’s love is not utilitarian, does this mean that it is meaningless to ask whether God has a will for me apart from letting him love me and Review for ’Religious, November-December, 1987

loving him in re~urn? If God will continue to love me whether I become a doctor, a carpenter,.a social worker, or a Jesuit, does ’it matter at all to God which I become, as’long as I am happy? To take the question one step further: if God will continue to love me even if I~ continue to sin, does it matte~r to God whether I stop sinning or not? In other words, if we say that God is unconditional Love and that he is not utilitarian in his love, do we not eviscerate of meaning such traditional Christian and Catholic notions as the discernment of God’s will, the exist~ence of hell, the call to co.nversion from sin, the person as.God’s instrument and vo- cation? Perhaps John was addressing some of the ~same questions when he has Jesus say; For’God so loved the world that he gave’his only Son~ that whoever be- lieves in him should not perish but hav6 eternal life. For’God sent the Son into the world, nbt to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not b.elieve is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has ~ome into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every .one wh6 does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his’ deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is true comes to the light, thi~t it may be clearly seen that his~deeds have been wrought in God (Jn 3:16-21). A comment by Raymond Brown on this passage and others in John, may show us a path out of the, dilemma: We believe that the translation of krinein as "condemn" in these pas- .sages (also in 8:26) is clearly justified by the contrast with "save." Nev- ertheless, the statement that Jesus did not come to condemn does not ex- clude the very real judgment that Jesus provokes .... The idea in John, then, seems to be that during his ministry Jesus is. no. apocalyptic judge like the one expected at the end of time; yet his presence does cause men to judge themselves.5 In other words, Jesus does not condemn, but his presence brings out what people really are like. He, the human presence of God on earth, loves people and wants their good, indeed their absolute good, which is union with God, and he continues to love even those who spurn the of- fer, They condemn themselves. Let us see where this path leads us. When we love people unselfishly (insofar as this is possible for a hu- man:being), we want their good. We want them to be as happy, fulfilled, right with God and the world as possible. We want them to fulfill all their God’s Love Is Not Utilitarian / 837 potential, "to be ttie best that they can be," as the commercial for the Army dins into our memories. At our best ~ve do not demand all this as a condition for our love, but we want it because we love. If this is the case with us, we can imagine what God desires. In his ’,~’Contemplation to Obtain Love,’? Ignatius of Loyola tries to help us to imagine all that God’s love wants. In an almost poignant line he’says: "I will ponder with great. affection how much God our Lord has done for me, and how much he has given me of what he~ possesses, and fi- nally, how much, as far as he~ can, the same Lord desires to give.himself to me according to his divine decrees."6 God creates a world that he sees is "very good" (Gn 1:31) for his loved ones to live in. He wants them to be co-creators with him of this evolving world. The Garden of Eden image in Genesisl is awonderful symbol of wl~at..Gbd wants for those whom he lo~,es into existence. He °wants us to li~,e in harmony ~vith, and with reverence for the universe and all that is in it, because that is the way to ou~r greatest li~lppines’s and fulfillment both as individuals and as brothers and sisters. Moreover, he wants to giye himself to us "as far as he can"; limita- tion comes not just. from our fin.itude, but also from our perversity. God, however, will not compel us to accept what is for. our good. Does GOd puni.sh us for our perversity? It is an age-old tradition that ascribes natural disasters to God’s wrath. The Old Testa.ment is~ replete with such ascription~s, beginning with Genesis 2. In the New Testament Jesus is asked: "Rabbi, ,whq,sinned, this,man or his parents,~ that he was born blind~?" He a.nswers: "It was not that this man sinned, or his par- ents, but that the works of God might be made,manifest in him" (Jn 9:2- 3). To say the least, this answer is enigmatic, but it does belie the as- cription of disasters to God’s wrath ~at sin, On the hypothesis that God is Love I want to say that we punish our- selves by turning away from God’s love. God remains steadfast in his love. But hatred, suspicion, prejudice, fear--these and other emotions-- are the product of our sins and the sins of our forebears. And they are not emotions that are for our peace. In other wor.ds, God made us broth- ers and sisters and desired us to live in harmony and mutual love, but we human beings have brought on ourselves the disharmony and distrust that now threaten the world as we know it. And if anyone does remain willfully and perVersely turned away from God’s love and the love of neighbor to the end, then he or she chooses eternal unhappiness. But ~God’s love does not change into ’something else. Review for Religious, November-De~cember, 1987

But what abgut the man born blind? What about the child with Down’s syndrome? What about natural disasters such as the eruption of the volcano in Colombia which destroyed.~a town and took 20,000 lives in one day? We want to know why such things happen. It lies close to hand to ascribe such events either to the punishment of God, or fate, or to the stupidity of the victims. Social psychologists speak of the ."just world hypothesis" in .describing such attitudes. According to this view, everybody believes the world is a place where people generally get what they deserve and deserve wffat they get. To believe that our own good deeds and hard work may come to naught and, indeed, that we can encounter a calamity for totally fortuitous rea- sons, is simply too threatening to most of us. And yet we see people whose lives have been shattered and who seem like us in every way. Are these paraplegics, blind people, sufferers from cancer really innocent vic- .tims, and are we, therefore, candidates for s~ffering the S~me fate? The just world hypoth.esis posits that in these circum~stances we are likely to reject that possibility as intolerable and to conclude that those stricken individuals ~re really wicked, or at least foolish, and deserve their fate.7 Some of these calamities may be caused by human sinfulness or stu- pidity at some time in history. In the United states and in Latin America people still experience the effects of the evil of slavery and of greedy colo- nization. Other calamities may just be random events in a finite world; e.g., some Of the effects of genetic disorders. Others may be caused by someone else’s perversity, but the victim is seemingly picked out at ran- dom: for ~xample, the drunken driver plows into John Jones’ car, hav- ing just barely missed ten others, and out of the blffe John is dead~ and his daughter is maimed ~for life, through no fault of theirs. The "just world hypothesis" reminds us of the friends of Job or the disciples who asked Jesus about the sin that caused the man to be born blind. It will not work in the case of innocent victims of either random events, the pre- sent sins of others, or the effects of historic evils. How do we square the unconditional love of God with such calami- ties? In experience, people who engage God directly in a relationship, and who look at the world realistically, have the "just world hypothe- sis" pulled out from under them. They see that Jesus, the sinless, be- loved Son, died horribly, and that no bolts of lightning took vengeance on his killers or saved him. As they develop their relationship with God, they may find themselves raging at him for.the seemingly needless suf- fering they ,undergo or see others experience. Somehow or other they dis- cover a God who is beyond what we conceive as justice, a God they can God’s Love Is Not Utilitarian hope in and live for, No more than the author of the book of Job can they explain it; but for sure it i~ not the answer proposed by the "just world hypothesis." People who have de’0eloped such a relationship with God experience the deep m~ystery of creation and co-creation. God loves into existence not only the stars that so bedazzle us in the night sky but also the vol- cano~that erupts suddenly and engulfs a whole city killing 20,000 peo- ple, ’and he loves those people into existence. God not only loves into existence Jesus and Mary, Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, and the lovely people who have lok, ed us in our lives, but also Herod and Hero- dias, Genghis Khan, Lucrezia Borgia, Hitler and the torturers of politi- cal prisoners:of our day. People who meet this God at a deep level sense a bottomless ~compassion and pain at the heart of the world, yet a vibrant hope for life. They become more compassionate--and passionate-~ them- selves. Perhaps they can understand that it was not bravado that kept the martyrs joyful in their s.ufferings and dying. Perhaps, too, they can un- de¢stand how the poorest of the poor still are capable of tremendous acts of generosity toward their fellow sufferers, just as they can understand the great cruelty o.f which the poor are also capable. Thus far we have threaded our path oiat of the seeming dilemma of the coexistence of God’s unconditional love and-punishment for sin and hell. We have also seen a way’of explaining the call to conversion from sin. God wants the best for us and that best includes our turning away from sin and toward living a life that is consonant with a relationship of mutual love with the Lord. Sin does not produce happiness or harmony or peace of mind. Nor does it create harmonious relationsh~p.s between people, or political and social and religious institutions that work toward such harmonious and just relationships. So God’s love for us desires that we be converted on all the levels postulated by Gelpi, the affective, the intellectual, the moral and the socio-political.8 Note, however, that God does not make such’integral conversion a condition for continuing to love us. He desires it b~ecause it is for our good; bu~ he does not demand it as the price of his love. Now let us mo4e on to the issue of the discernment of God’s will, especially as this regards the question of a vocation to a way of life. Traditionally Catholics have believed that God has a plan for each per- son. He ’calls some to the religious or priestly life and others to the mar- ,ried state. It is true that the term "vocation" was most often restricted to the religious or priestly life. "He-hasa vocation" was shorthand in Catholic circles for saying that an individual felt called to religious or Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 priestly life. But a. more careful use oftanguage:also,saw married life as a calling. A further problem, of course~ is that this language left in limbo those who remain single (and not religious or priests) either vol- untarily or involuntarily. At,any rate, does God call people to a particu- lar way of life? And if. so, how is this calling consonant with the non- utilitarian nature of his love? ~ 0 Again we return to the idea that the lover wants the good of the be- loved. I will use the case of Ignatius of.Loyola to illustrate a way of under- standing God’s call in terms of his~love, without~making that love. utilitar- ian.9 ~ Inigo (his original name) was a hell-raising, ambitious, vain, coura- geous man, a’.man who dreamed of doing great exploits. At Pamplona, according to his own account, he was the rallying point, in resisting the French attackers. When he. was severely wounded in the leg, the defend- ers immediately surrendered. God seems to have used this crooked line to write straight. During his 10ng convalescence Inigo continued his dreaming. He dreamt of doing great knightly deeds to win fame and honor and the favor of a great lady. These daydreams.would absorb him for up to four hours’at a time. The only books at hand for him were a life of Christ and a book of the lives of the saints. When he read these, he began to dream of doing what Dominic and Francis did, and again he would become absorbed for hours. Notice that in both cases ~his ar- dor, ambition, bravery, and even vanity were operative. Finally, after some time of alternating daydreams, he began to notice a difference. When he was thinking about the things of the world, he’took much de- light in them, but afterwards, when he was tired and put theha aside, he found that he was dry and discontented. But when he thought of going to Jerusalem, barefoot and eating nothing but herbs and undergoing all the other rigors that he saw the saints had endured, not only was he con- soled when he had these thoughts, but even after putting them aside, he remained content and happy. He did not wonder, however, at th~s; nor ~:. did he stop to ponder the difference until one time his eyes were opened a little, and he began to marvel at the difference and to reflect upon it, ~ realizing from experience that some "thoughts left him sad and others happy)~0 ~’ This was the beginning of Ignatius’ own discovery of the discernment of spirits, a discernment that eventually led him to found the Society of Jesus, with enormous consequences for the Church and the world--and for not a few individuals who in almost four hundred and fifty years have joined this Society. God’s Love Is Not Utilitarian

How are we to understand this story of a vocation? I would maintain that ~God’s 10ve for Inigo involved his desire that Inigo use his great ener- gies, his ardor, his ambition in ways that would make. him most happy, most fulfilled, and most useful to others. I believe that it mattered a great deal to God how Inigo used his talents, for Inigo’s sake first of all, but also"for the sake.of others .whom God loved. However, God would not have loved Inigo any the less if he had missed the opportunity for dis- cernment, and had ~ontinued on his course toward "worldly" achieve- ment. But he might have been greatly saddened that Inigo did not choose what was for his greater happiness and peace. Later in life Inigo himself might have felt the sadness as he pondered how his life had gone since his recuperation. Only God could so love us that he would allow us the freedom to turn away from receiving all that he wants .to give us, and still keep loving us unconditionally, even when we so chopse. ., It seems to me that a consi.stent cleaving to the central insight of the New Testament, that God is "Abba," does not force .us to give up any truths of.faith and has several distinct advantages. The preceding pages have shown some ways of understanding traditional truths that hold in the forefront that" God is unconditional love, a love that is not utilitar- ian. Su(h an understanding demonstrates an intrinsic connection between the love of God and the search for his frill. Because God loves me, he wants the best for me. Because and insofar as I love God, I want the best for him, which is that he may give...himself to me as much as he can. The way of life God wants for me is the best way for me to receive his love and to be a co-creator with him. Hence, in my better moments, I try to the best of my ability to discern wfiere his love leads me. I do not try to find his will for fear that he will punish me, but rather for fear that I will miss the way that would allow him to give me more of him- self. I also try to find his will because I.know that his love desires more good for all those whom I will touch in my life. Perhaps we can understand in a slightly new way an axiom attributed to Ignatius (and often put inversely). Loosely translated the saying goes: "Pray as if everything depended on you; work as if everything depended on God." 1 ~ It is very important for me to pray in order to know how and where God wants to love me, how he wants to gift me. It is important not only for me, but also because of others. The more I let God give him- self to me as far as he can, the more "sacrat~entally" present he is to others with whom I interact. And once I have discerned God’s way, I can work without ambivalence and self.concern, trusting that God will accomplish whatever else he intends. Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

One final question occurs. Suppose that Inigo’s eyes had not opened up during his convalescence, and that he had gone on to worldly exploits. Would he have been given another chance? That is, of course, an unan- swerable question. But God would surely continue to love him and, we presume, continually offer him a call to a radical conversion of heart. ~If, later in life, he were to have his eyes opened, he’might have to come to terms with those earlier missed opportunities. Repentance would be in.~order, but a wallowing in his "spilt milk" would not be an appropri- ate response to the God of love. Conversion’means to accept my past pre- cisely as my past, i.e., both mine and past, and to surrender in freedom to the new and mysterious future offered by God’s love now. But an historic moment surely would have been lost if Ignatius had gone an alternate route instead of the one he did take. There are conse- quences to our choices. Hence, it is incumbent on all of us who minister to help people who stand, or soon will stand, before serious life choices to become discerning Christians. Historic consequences may be at stake. -And now a final word. For the past year and a half I have been com- ing at the same issue from different angles. At first I was intrigued by a strange resistance to God’s initiative, a resistance that clearly was a run- ning from a positive experience of God’~ presence. My curiosity pro- duced the three articles for this review mentioned earlier. Then a few experi,ences with direcfees prompted this article. I want to end where I began, with the first article. We need to be mind- ful that there is a force within us ~hat does hate the light, that seems to want to thwart all God’s loving desire to give us of himself. We need to be on the alert to discern the presence of that force, but also to rely on thos~ various sayings that have given people hope through the ages, sayings like: "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God" (Mk 10:27) or "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made per.fect in weakness" (2 Co 12:9).

NOTES 1 William A. Barry, "Resistance to Union: A Virulent Strain," REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, 44 (1985), pp. 592-596; "The Desire to ’Love as Jesus Loved’ and its Vicissitudes," REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, 44 (1985), pp. 747-753; "Surrender: The Key to Wholeness," REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, 46 (1987), pp. 49-53. 2 Sebastian Moore, Let This Mind Be in You (Minneapolis: Seabury, 1985). 3 After I had finished this article I came upon Francis Baur’s Life in Abundance: A Contemporary Spirituality (New York/Ramsey: Paulist, 1983) who uses process the- ology to develop a spirituality based on the definition of God as love. While some- God’s Love Is Not Utilitarian what hortatory and at times polemical, the book can serve as a theological underpinning for the more experience-based assertions of this article. 4 Donald L. Gelpi, "The Converting Jesuit," Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits, XVII, no. 1 (Jan. 1986). 5 Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John: I-XII. The Anchor Bible, vol. 29. (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1966), p. 345. 6 The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. trans. Louis Puhl. (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1951), no. 234, p. 102. 7 Edward E. Jones, Amerigo Farina, Albert H. Hastorf, Hazel Markus, Dale T. Miller, and Robert A. Scott, Social Stigma: The Psychology of Marked Relatiohships (New York: Freeman, 1984), pp. 59-60. 8 Gelpi, op. cit. 9 What follows is based on The Autobiography of St. Ignatius Loyola, trans. Joseph F. O’Callaghan. ed. John C. Olin (New York: Harper & Row, 1974). 10 lbid, p. 24. ~ The Latin version can be found in "Selectae S. Patris Nostri Ignatii Sententiae," no, II, in Thesaurus Spiritualis Societatis Jesu (Roma: Typis Polygiottis Vaticanis, 1948), p. 480. Gaston Fessard, in a long appendix to volume I of his La dialectique des Exercices Spirituels de saint Ignace de Loyola (Paris: Aubier, 1966), traces the historical background of the saying. He demonstrates that although not from Igna- tius’ hand the saying does express the dialectic of his spirituality.

Vocation She said she wished to be a shrub And sit in silence, lost, obscure In some dim woods where no one ever comes and she could muse and watch the quiet winds go by. But He who long ago observed a brambled bush Looked at her once among the ferns. He looked but once; the winds became a storm And now she burns, she. bu.rns! Ruth de Menezes 2819 D Arizona Avenue Santa Monica, CA 90404 Novitiate: Captivity or Liberty?

Mariette Martineau

Mariette Martineau, a novice with the Sisters of Mission Service, had recently com- pleted sixteen months of formation at St. Albert, Alberta, when she wrote these re- flections which she hopes will benefit others in novitiate life. She may be reached at Box 2861; Merritt, British Columbia; VOK 2BO, Canada.

~l~hat are the realities of being a novice in a religious community in the Church today? Since the exodus following Vatican II, communities have been growing smaller and older. Novitiates have been created and re- created to meet the ever changing formation needs of both the commu- nity and the candidates. How often have novices of today heard this com- ment from one of the older members of their community, "How for- tunate you are to have such a novitiate, full of prayer and study! In our days .... " Come and journey with me as ! reflect on my novitiate experience. I am on the last Stretch of that journey ~as I am presently completing a six-month apostolic experience before returning to Edmonton in June for immediate preparation for vows scheduled to be, celebrated in August. I have often asked myself, particularly in the early months, "Is this no- vitiate experience one of captivity or liberty?" When I first arrived at the novitiate I experienced what I like to call the "honeymoon" phase. Life was fairly flexible as time was granted to unpack, to explore the h6use a6d neighborhood, and most importantly to meet the new commuriity and ito become comfortable with the direc- tor. The excitement of not knowing exactly what to expect and of enter- ing into the newness of activities energized me and I felt that I had made a good decision. Reality soon set in, and the struggling began. Before I entered, I prom- ised myself that I would give me, the community, and God a year to dis-

844 Novitiate: Captivity or Liberty cover if this was truly the way of life for Mariette to grow fully alive. I am thankful for that commitment for there ~vere many times during th’ose first few.months that I was ready to pack my ba~s and leave~. My director was also aware of that commitment and when times were rough she gently reminded me of it. The challenge to let go of one’s independ- ence-socially, financially, emotionally, and so forth---can be a painful one. If I had chosen to leave at this stage in the novitiate procesS, I would have been leaving not because I had chosen the wrong way of life but because I was unable to release certain things in my life and give all to God. The second phase or reality of novitiate after the honeymoon phase is this ti~e of purification, of letting go. Tears can be an enriching and cleansing experience! One’s schedule soon seems to become another’s schedule as ’the director sets her expectations before you and challenges you to integrate and balhnce your time between formal classes, prayer, spiritual reading, community, household chores, writing papers, and per- haps weekly apostolic experiences andthe ~ccasional weekend work~ shop. Your life no longer seems to 15e yoOr own; anger and depression sometimes become an everyday experience as you strive to fully enter into the year. One has usually left a job behind and now feels like a "non- producer," dependent on the community for food, shelter, recreation. Suddenly you have to keep an account of the money you spend and have to ask someone for that money. You now have to ask permission before disappearing in the community car or going out with a friend. In some ways you feel that your personal autonomy is being threatened and you no longer have control over your life. You do not understand all the things that are being ’asked of you. In fact, some of the requests make no sense at all, This calls for trust--in tile community and in the forma- tion personnel. Trust that they do know what they are doing and have your growth as their priority, while attempting to see if you do indeed have the charism of this community. The Yes I said when I ei~tered soon grew into a series of "yeses" that were not always easy to say. I must point out that it was not a "yes" to°having things done to me but a yes that said, "I will enter into the process that you have set before me." During this phase the novices may find themselves projecting a lot of anger at their director. It is they who are setting down the guidelines, they who are enforcing them. The director is the one called to tell the novice, "This year is a time to place some relationships on the back burner, a time to get in touch with who you are, your relationship with God and the community in which you have chOsen to live out that rela- Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

tionship." The director is the one who has been given the sometimes pain- ful responsibility of making the novices aware of areas in their lives that need growth. "I do not feel that you are using your time properly--Do you realize that you snapped ~at Suzanne during supper last night?--You are too,much of a perfectionist." A novice, like anyone; finds it painful to look at her brokenness. I sometimes found myself saying in response, "What about Sister Perpetua? I look great beside her and she has been in the community for twenty years." It is much easier to focus on some- one else’s areas of growth rather than your own. In the midst of all of this is the fear of reje6tion: One can begin to foc~s entirely on the nega- tive while neglecting to hear the affirmation that is also present. During the novitiate phase one journeys closely with the director. The goal is to have someone to process the year with you, to guide you, to challenge you,. to affirm you, to see if you do have a vocation to religious life. I found this aspect of my journey difficult. As. much as I wanted to dis- cover if I was in the right place, I feared rejection and wanted to appear as someone who had it all "together," I wanted to be an instant relig- ious, comfortable with poverty, celibacy, community, and obedience. Simply put, I wanted to be perfect and got angry with myself and: others when I was not. Directors often tell their novices to be prepared for a time of regres- sion following their initial entry into novitiate. One can hear this with the mind but the heart sometimes gets in the way. One cannot understand why she feels depressed, angry, without energy, and without the finesse she had when she entered. Insecurity may be another reality, but doubt is always good because it challenges one to dig deeper. The gift during this time of grieving and regression is the realization that, "Hey, I am not going crazy! I am just striving to say good-bye to some excess bag- gage. I am feeling the loss of many things and many people. I am spend- .ing so much energy on being angry, I need some way to deal with the anger in a more creative way. I want to grow and become me fully alive, but that hurts and I just cannot seem to grow fast enough." A novice was asked one time, "When did your novitiate start?" She replied: "Nine months into it!" Another reality of novitiate life is the focus on community. One no longer, has the freedom to skip supper when she feels like it and go shop- ping instead. Recreation often takes place in the community context, and outside contacts can be limited and are often with other religious. One may get the sense of dead air--I need to.see other people! The challenge is to enter into the times of community and group activity while remem, Novitiate: Captivity or Liberty / 1~47 bering to also enter into moments of aloneness. We all need some de- gree of personal space. In relation to community, the novice who enters and places before herself the goal of reforming the community will find herself in conflict and perhaps will receive an invitation to leave. It is similar to marrying someone with the intent of changing that person into the person ~hat you think he or she should be. Those of us novices who are still young when we enter often bring with us our youthful idealism. This idealism is not wrong, and may indeed carry with it challen.ges to the community. But we must remember that novitiate is a dialectical proc- ess; both the community and the individual have so.mething to leai’n from each ot~her. Neither is perfect and neither should be expected to be per- fect. A line from a friend says, "I love you as you are in the middle of where you are." How does one know when to leave? After haying earlier stated that I had committed myself (t° myself) for a year, what would have caused ~e to leave? If at any point in that year the person of Mariette completely disappeared, I think it would have been time to pull out. If I had to die to all that I was, I think I would have been in the wrong place, perhaps simply at the.wrong time, or forever. Dialogue with the director is ex- tremely important during this discernment.’ She is an objective observer, trained to help one make such decisions. Naturally the decision is always our own, and one always has to keep before herself the freedom to stay or to leave. Again I would say, trust the formation personnel, as it is easy to get entangled in one’s emotions and make a decision to leave for the wrong reasons. I would not encourage anyone to leave while in the mid- dle of the grieving process. One can expect to say some good-byes to journey companions dur- ing novitiate. Some people will be with us until the end of the journey, others are called to different places before then. Good-byes can be pain- ful, especially if you have shared a deep relationship with the person leav- ing or if you have difficulty accepting the reasons for leaving. Each time someone left, it was an opportunity for me to reexamine my own rea- sons for staying or to find some good reasons to leave. Usually new life followed these reflections especially if I had been given the opportunity to sa~, good-bye to the person leaving and/or to ritualize her departure with the community--whether it be my own or the intercommunity no- vitiate of which I was a member as I was the only novice in my own com- munity. I strongly encourage and invite novices who have decided to con- tinue their journey in a different direction to realize the importance of saying good-bye to their directors and their communities. "848 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

The happie,st phase of the novitiate seems to come too late. You feel ready to enter into the process, you have develop.ed new relationships, ygur, anger and depression no longer seem to have control over you, the journey inward has become a challenge that energizes you. And guess what? It is time to move on, perhaps to an apostolic experience or fur- ther studies or even vows. It is gratifying at this time to look at how one was at the beginning and how one appears to be now. Signs of growth are evident and as you reflect back you. feel yourself wondering,. "Was I, really like that? Did I make life that miserable for others in the house, especiall3~ my director? . . ." Now may also be a time of increased heal- ing, reaching out in love and forgiven, ess in a deep and meaningful way to those wh6 have journeyed so f,,aithfully with ’you. One still does not haveit ~11 "together" bu~’acknowledges the joys and pains of being a pilgrim. Is novitiate a time of captivity or liberty? It can be a time of captiv- ity, ofimprisoning one’s self in anger, loneliness, schedules, pride, in- security, or one’s past, But it is designed to be a time of liberty. A time to spend kvitli,y.ourself and God, journeying towards wholeness by being -given the gift to leave behind many of the earthly cares that can take over our existence. It is a time to begin to d~velop the"skillS and behavior pat5 terns that a religious needs to integrate her life choice of prophet into the world" and the Church today. Community in Religious Life and the - Church: Some Reflections

Angelo M. Caligiuri

Monsignor Caligiuri is Episcopal Vicar for Religious in his diocese. His reflections here represent his part in dialogues between bishops and religious in several areas of the country and discussion with various religious superiors and other vicars. He may be reached at the Office of the Vicar for Religious; Diocese of Buffalo; 100 South Elmwood Avenue; Buffalo, New York 14202.

During the final months of 1985 and the first months of 1986, through- out the dioceses of the United Sti~tes, diocesan bishops met with their re- ligious to dialogue about six areas of mutual concern. These areas of in- terest and concern surfaced from the series of listenin~ sessions held the previous year under the leadership ~nd guidance of the special Pontifical Commission established by our Holy Father, under the chairmanship of Archbishop John Quinn of San Francisco. As a result of these listening sessions, .each diocese prepared a writ- ten report on what was heard and these reports were sent to Archbishop Qtiinn and his committee. From a reading and evaluation of the many reports, the committee saw the following subject areas surfacing as mer- iting further dialogue between th~ bishops.and the religious: Obedience, Community, Structures of Authority, Charism and Identity, Consecra- tion and Mission, and Public Witness. My intent in this article is to offer some reflections on one of these areas of concern---Community. Now, as an even passing acquaintance with the literature on relig- ious life indicates, there is no shortage of books, articles, tapes and other material addressing the reality of community in religious life. I And it should not be surprising that community has been and continues to be

849 1~50 / Review f6r Religious, ~November-December, 1987 a central subject of ongoing reflection and dialogue among religious, since religious life, as it has been and continues to exist in the Church, has always included "community" as one of its essential characteris- tics. Indeed, one of the areas that has occasioned the greatest amount of reflection and soul searching in religious life since the renewal chapters called for by the Second Vatican Council is precisely the area of com- munity. As religious institutes, obedient to the mandate of the Council, undertook a prayerful process of renewal, this process confronted them with the reality of the sociological, ministerial and numerical changes that were profoundly impacting on the reality of community living in their congregations. It is no surprise then that religious institutes at both the congrega- tional and the local level have devoted much energy, prayer, research and time to considering the reality and meaning of community for them. The Congregational Level At the congregational level, once the official period of experimenta- tion following the chapters of renewal had expired, religious institutes undertook the rewriting of their constitutions in the light of their reflec- tion upon their lived experience. And for many congregations, as they embarked upon this lengthy process, one of the areas that surfaced as de- manding the greatest amount oLdiscussion and discernment was their un- derstanding of community. As they attempted to articulate and own what community meant for them within the context of their own charism and their, own real lived experience, many had to confront the growing ten- sion between the demands of "community" and the demands of the apos- tolate, from within an entirely new perspective. They found themselves struggling with the relationship between community and mission, and with the question of which, if either, of these had p.rimacy in their insti- tute’s understan.ding of its charism. And the profound and prayerful re- flection on this question, as well as the serious and honest searching out of their history.and charism, have led many congregations to a new un- derstanding of their existence as active apostolic institutes and to a re- newed consideration of the meaning of apostolic spirituality. The Local Level While institutes at the congregational level, through their chapters and assemblies, have been able, for the most part, to articulate in their constitutions their understanding and vision of community in a way which is acceptable to all, at the level of local houses, what it means to Religious Community and the Church live in community has been and continues to be a source of great con- cern and tension. Given the smaller numbers of religious living in a lo- cal house and given the different ministries in which the religious are en- gaged, it is no longer possible to expect that every member of the local community will be able to be present for all community prayer, meals and recreation. And this reality, brought about by the demand~ of diverse ministries, has given rise to the sincere and painful efforts to diffcover just what it does mean to live in community today at the local level.2 One of the most trying and frustrating experiences of local commu- nities at their first goal-setting meeting of the year is to try to find dates when all can be present for some kind of communal sharing and interac- tion. And as the year progresses, nothingperhaps causes more negative feelings than a member’s inability to be present for a previously agreed- to evening together. As local communities move more and more away from being places where all the persons are involved in the same minis- try and are following a more or less similar schedule, and as reflection on what community means leads persons to realize that it is more than common life and that it involves, at least to some extent, quality of pres- ence, the meaning and living of "community" at the local level appears to have the potential of being a source of greater tension and stress. Community and the Christian Life The Christian life, life in the Spirit of God, is essentially communi- tarian. Unity with one another in the Spirit of Christ is at the heart of Jesus’ teaching. How clearly this is seen, for example, in Jesus’ prayer before his passion, death, and resurrection when he prayed: "...that all may be one as you, Father, are in me, and I in you; I pray that they may be (one) in us, that the world may believe that you sent me" (Jn 17:21). The life that is ours in the Spirit is a life that is essentially Trinitar- ian. We are baptized into the Trinity and share the life of the Trinity, a life of relationships, a life of knowing and beingknown, loving and being loved. The movement of God’s Spirit within each believing per- son is a movement that leads to quality relationships, to a greater know- ing and being known, loving and being loved among persons. It is a move- ment towards community. As Christians, we are called to become a people and we celebrate as a people.3 Community is central to our Catholic understanding of life. This is so clearly highlighted in the renewed rites of the sacraments, all of which have a clear communitarian content and context. The central act of our worship as a people of God is Eucharist, which is 1152 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

¯ . ,a memorial of his death and resurrection; a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is con- sumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.4 In describing the meaning of beiri~ a disciple of Jesus~ the Scriptures emphasize so 6ften that what is important is the quality of presence to one another, how we are with and for each other. This is at the very heart of Jesus’ teaching. Love of God and iove of neighbor are simply two sides of one and the same reality. How often the Scriptures challenge us to be forgiving, ~understanding, merc.iful, caring, compassionate, and more (see, e.g., Rm 12:3-21; Col 3:1-17; Ga 5:13-25; 1 Jn 4:7-21; Ep 1:1-14). The central mystery of all Christianity is the truth that God has re- vealed himself to us as Trinity, as a community of three persons bound up in a common life of knowledge and love. And because the life we are born into and share as Christians is the life of the Trinity, the communi- tarian dimension of Christian spirituality is not an accident of history, but rather something that flows from the reality of God himself and so is at the very heart of the Christian life. Christianity then, because it is Trinitarian, is essentially communi- tarian. It is a real life, and life is relationships. Community and R~inewal in the Church This truth of the communitarian dimension of Christianity has been e~pressed, rediscovere~l and highlighted at various times and in various renewal movements throughout the history of the Church. The Acts of the Apostles gives us a clear example of how the early disciples of Jesus understood this communitarian dimension of Christi- anity and lived in what today we might call communes, sharing even their material goods with one another (see, e.g., Ac 2:42-47). And apart from the hermits who, though living alone, had a real sense of belonging to a community of hermits, the early movements to- wards what we now know as religious life reflected a deep desire on the part of those so attracted to live with others who share the same belief in Jesus and to develop the quality of their life together in a community setting. And so it .is that from the time of Benedict on, the communal dimension of a consecrated life becomes a central qualifier of religious life, even as religious life itself becomes a vehicle of renewal ~in the broader Church’. ~ Religious,Community and the Church

Various renewal movements in the Church today are based upon a revitalization of this sense of belonging, this experience of community. The late Father Riccardo Lombardi, S.J., in his Movement for a Better World, based his whole approach on a Trinitarian theology and on fa- cilitatin~g the kinds of groupings that would enable persons to experience their unity in diversity as members of a believing and loving comm, unity. The v. ery~ successfui and effective movement spawned by Canon Car- dijn in Belgiu.m and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century was based upon the coming together of believing Christians to share faith, prayer, and reflection on the Scriptures; and they used their experience of a community of believers as a basis froha which to move out to minis- try an~l mission in daily life. The Catholic Family Movement in our coun- try, based upon Cardijn’s insights, pr6ved very effective. The entire Jocist movement, including the Young Christian Workers and Young Christian.Students, was based upon a living experienc~ of small com- munities of believers coming together in faith to see, judge, and act; (om- ing together to share their faith and prayer and to move out from this sup- portive group to a realistic apostolate in their real-life situations. The success and-appeal of the charismatic prayer groups and ’the en- tire charismatic movement, to a’~certain extent, is grounded in the sense of belonging and commitment to one another which participants develop as they gather .together to share .their.faith .and belief in the Lord. ¯ The appeal and success of the Cursillo movement and the striking ef- fectiveness of Christian base communities in South America and other parts of the world, also attest to the centrality and life-giving power of the experience of Christian community. ¯ The same can be said with regard to the obvious success, and appeal of the Renew program throughout the United States and Canada and other part, s of the worid. This proFessis one which is. .rooted i~n the~ocomin~g to- gether of small ,grou~ps ~within a parish setting to share their faith, to pray over the Scriptures, to experience how the Lord is at wor~k in the lives of their brothers and, sisters, and to~ rfiove o~t from this life--giving com- munity to work in a concrete way f~r the building up of God’s kingdom of justice in their da!ly life. Some Reflections on Community and Religious Life Now I think it is obvious that the call to renewal which wasissued by the Second Vatican Council to religious throughout the world’, has gen- erated over the past twenty years a new interest in and awareness of the reality of religious life within the broader faith community of the Church. The Council has brought about a new vitality in religious, life itself and 854 / Review for Religious~ November-December, 1987 has occasioned, a growing understanding of the theology of religious life, emphasizing its rootedness ifi the consecration of baptism,5 and the gifted- ness of religiou’s life itself for the broader faith community of the Church. 6 In the history of religious life, a.nd especially in the history of the ac- tive apostolic communities that have arisen since the sixteenth and sev- enteenth centuries, it seems ~lear that when we speak about the gift which these institutes are t0~the Church, we speak primarily in terms of their apostolic ministry. Whether it be their commitment to special for- eign missions, tO the hospital and health-care apostolates, their commit- ment to education o~ to other specific works of charity and justice within their local geographic communities, religiou~s institutes, up until the time of the Second Vatican Council, have, for the most part, been readily iden- tifiable by, and have been almost totally identified with, their specific apostolic works. , ~ . That this, situation no longer obtains is a given in the experience of the American Church today, and the diversity of ministries in which the members of.a particular religious institute are engaged no longer make it possible for ~most congregations to be identified with one exclusive min- istry. Now within the context of ~his developing reality and experience of religious life in today’s world and Church, it seems legitimate to ask the question, what is the specific gift which religious life is to the Church today? I would like to suggest that the gift of religious life to the Church of today, the specific gift for which the Holy Spirit has raised it .up within the Church, is to witness to community. ’Now to suggest this is not to ,suggest something new or startling. However, to suggest this at this par- ticular time in the history of religious life in ~he Church is, I think, to ~get a new sense of the relationship of community to religious life and of what religiou~ life can be for the broader faith community of the Church, and ultimately for the world. If we begin by granting that C6mmunity cannot be simplistically re- duced to common life and that the simple being together of persons is not necessarily an example of Christian community, I think we can say not only that.community, in the sense of growing in the quality of our relationships with one another, is the horizon towards which all Chris- tians are called and to which they are led by the Spirit of God within them, but also that, in a special way, this is the consciously owned and Religious Community and the Church acknowledged goal towards which, in faith, religious move in their lo- cal communities.7 I would like to suggest that by consciously and intentionally willing to be together with their sisters or brothers in a special kind of living situ- ation with freely accepted and publicly celebrated bonds, obligations, re- sponsibilities, and accountability to their brothers and sisters, religious strive to move as best they can toward the ideal of true Christian com- munity, towards true quality relationships with one another. Fully aware of the fact that the only perfect community is the Trinity and clearly ac- knowledging the limitations of their own human nature and of the all-too- human world, religious strive to experience as best they’can what being together in the Lord is like, so that from tl~,is experiential knowledge they can work for the building up of this type of community among those to whom and with whom they minister in the broader faith community. Apart from the witness of the specific apostolic activities that they are engaged in--activities which must necessarily reflect their own per- sonal gifts and talents; as well as the needs of the local church in which they minister, activities which.can in’most cases also be carried out by lay persons--religious, as religious, in their being,together-in-faith, wit- ness to Christian community. Without reducing the age-old debate about how to resolve the ten- sion between activity and contemplation to a"~siniplistic resolution, and without trying to minimalize the seriousness of the discussions taking place wit!ain religious insti.tutes as they discern whether their identity is rooted more in their being together, that is, in community, or in their mis- sion-as they grow in their understanding of the interr~latedness of these two values, I would like to suggest that it is their being together in faith that leads to mission and that the mission that they are prim.arily sent on is that of building up communities of faith.. In other words, the kingdom of God which the Spirit of God leads all Jesus’ disciples to build up..in their lives can be described as allowing the love of God, the Holy Spirit, to reign more and more in our lives, so that our actions and our relationships become more and more expres- sions of and reflections of the love of God in us. But the love of God necessarily leads us to a love of neighbor. So that the ultimate mission of Jesus then, the mission he gave his Church and which the Church in turn entrusts in a special way to religious institutes, is "...to bring all things in the heavens and on earth into one under Christ’s headship" (Ep l:10). It is to lead all people into the unity of Father, Son, and Spirit; Review for Religious, November-Decembe~r, 1987 to lead,them to become more and more forgiving, understanding, com- passionate, caring; in a word, to become more and more community. , Given the reality of the experience of religious institutes since the Council, and given, the obvious appeal and attractiveness of the h~art of the Christian messagei~.which is the call to be with our brothers and sis- ters in love, the call to be one in Christ, I would like to suggest that .at this particular time religious life is a gift of the Spirit to the Church, as a witness to the broader faith community of’ the reality of community in the Lord, a witness to what being and living together in the Spirit of God can mean. To be sure, in saying this I am saying that community is much more than common life, that it is much more than simply doing things together and being together within the same four walls. I am, in fact, saying that it is to consciously own and commit one- self to be with. one another in faith and to share that faith. It is to com- mit oneself to and to be concerned for one another, not just functionally, bu.t personally. Itis .to be. willing to accept the ~iscipline and ascetici.sm demanded by, a genuine commitment of our.person to the person of the others wit~h~ whom we live, in ~faith. An.d how important it is to clearly acknowledge that it is a together~ness "in faith." For it is faith alone and faith-inspired visions that can explain and ground the kind of being to- gether which we call religious life.8 And of all the countercultural witness that the Church and religious within the ~hurch can give to our world today, perhaps none is more needed tfian the witness of persons of diverse backgrounds and person- alities actually li~,ing together in faith, in t~ope and in love; persons con- sciously striving tO be understanding, forgiving, caring, and accepting of one another because of their commonly ~hared and celebrated faith in Jesus Christ. A being together that empowers them to go forth in their various mifiistries, to do things that are more difficult and least desirable, to work for the building up of God’s kingdom by challenging the broader population-to take seriously their humanity, and to respect the dignity of e~ach person’by witnessing to the fact that it really is possible to live one’s life in and for love. To freely choose to live a simple lifestyle and to be dependent upon one’s sisters or brothers for one’s room and board, as well as for one’s minimal personal necessities, can be a powerful witness to a.world mired in materialism and caught up in consumerism. To freely commit oneself to a celibate lifestyle in order to develop and nurture truly loving, car- ing, forgiving, compassionate, faithful, and life-giving rel~itionships that empower for ministry and service, speaks challengingly to a world which Religious Community and the Church / 857 so easily places things above persons, a world in which a rampant eroti- cism aqd self-centeredness tends to reify persons into objects for one’s self-gratification and self-aggrandizement. And by ,freely choosing to ~dis- cern and follow the Lord’s will for them within the context of their par- ticular religious, institute and by freely choosing to allow their exercise of freedom to be qualified by the expectations and charism of their re- ligious institute, as well as by"their commitment to their i’eal brothers and sisters in the institute, reiigious clearly cha-llenge a world that tends to absolutize power, authority, and freedom, to ask itself how it uses its power and authority and what it is free for. Conclusion During the past year in the American Church, religious have engaged~ in a series of dialogues with the diocesan bishops of their local churches. One of the six topics discussed at these dialogues is the reality of com- munity. This dialoguing about community, as wel’l as the reflections and dis- cussions about community that have taken place during the rewriting of constitutions, have taken place at a time when, within the broader faith community of the Church, there is a growing rediscovery of the essen- tial communitarian dimension of the Christian life itself. It has taken place at a time when so man~, of the successful renewal moyemehts within the Church are built around an experience of sharing ofie’S faith, one’s prayer, one’s life, in small groups with one’s sisters and brothers in faith. As religious institutes discuss in a prayerful way the relationship be- tween community and mission; asthe nionastic origin of much of the spiri- tual regimen of apostolic communities is identified and legitimately cri- ti~lued; as serious discussion takes place~about the meaning of apostolic spirituality; and as some authors suggest that we are beginning for the first time to have truly apostolic religious communities, I would like to suggest that perhaps the unique gift which religious life is to the broader faith community of the Church, that the specific way in which the Spirit enriches today’s Church through religious institutes and their unique charisms, is by their witness to what living together in the Lord can be, their witness to the effort to grow in truly loving, forgiving, caring rela- tionships with one another; relationships which SUl~port and energize them for their various ministries; relationships which all model the qual- ity presence they strive to facilitate and call forth in their various ap- ostolic activities--in a word, their witness to Christian community. 858 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

NOTES

~ See, for example, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, volume 44, November/December 1985, where there are three articles devoted to the reality of community and religious life. 2 See Kristen Wenzel, O.S.U., "Expectations of Community Along Life’s Jour- ney," REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, volume 44, no. 6, November/December 1985, 815- 828, for some helpful approaches to addressing this question. 3 See Lumen Gentium, no. 9, and Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 26. 4 See Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 47. 5 See Perfectae Caritatis, ~no: 5. 6 See "Directives~for the Mutual Relations between Bishops and Religious in the Church," has. 10-12. 7 See Sister M. Victoria de Castejon, R.S.C.J., "Apostolic Community Life: Prin- cipal Locus of Formation," U.I.S.G. Bulletin, no. 69, 1985, 33-44. s To be sure, the growing body of anthropological, sociological and psychological literature on community can be very helpful in coming to a better understanding of the human reality in which and on which grace works and builds. But none of these human sciences can ever totally’~ explain or describe religious community, which is radically the work of God’s Spirit and the result, ultimately, of a mutually shared faith.

REVIEW for RELIGIOUS

THE PERFECT GIFT at Christmas or any time of the year Subscribe for a priest friend ¯ your spiritual director ¯ Sisters with whom you work ¯ a missioner for whom you care ¯ anyone interested in what is being written today on religious life and spiritual thought ORDER TODAY! .Each recipient will be informed of your gift. Send your remittance along with the name, address, and zip code of those for whom you are subscribing (in- clude your name and address also) to: REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS Dept. J P.O. Box 6070 Duluth, MN 55806 The Meaning of Suffering

James Kelly, S.J.

Father Kelly teaches Scripture. His address is: Jesuit Community; Milltown Park; Dublin 6, Ireland.

Suffering is the harshest reality of life that there is. It exists..everywhere-- though in some places more than others. Even a qui~k glance at the gos- pels shows us how serious a role it had in Christ’s life, too. Not only is his passion described with comparatively great length, but tensions are noted from the moment of his birth~due to poverty, rejection, hostility and misunderstanding. Some of this, however; .was just part of every- day human existence, whose sufferings are vividly described in the book of Sirach: Much labor was created for every man, and a heavy yoke is upon the sons of Adam .... Their perplexities and fear of the heart.., their anxious thought is the day of death... ; there is anger and envy and trouble and unrest, and "fear of death, and fury and strife. And when he ¯ rests upon his bed, his sleep at night confuses his mind ....He is troub- led by the visions of his mind (Si 40:1-2, 5-6). In brief, pain and turmoil are ~xperienced by all, though not to the same extent. Their religious meaning is dealt with here. Basically Good Like death, suffering has to be seen as fundamentally coming from God. While it is true that it affects us all as a result of sin in the very beginning of creation (Gn 3:15-19), it does in a real sense come from him. "Does evil befall a city, unless the Lord has done it?" (Am 3:6). While at times we are responsible for our own troubles,~ nevertheless it is directed by God for our good, and can have a redeeming and sanctify-

859 RevieW for Religious~ November-~December., 1987 ing effect on us and others. The task of each one, then,~ is to draw the spiritual richness out of the pain that assails him or her, and to discover how it all is an expression of love. It is a great mystery. The Bible gives us many explanatio.ns of suffering but it can never be explained adequately by just one of these. For example, it is never purely corrective but is educative or purifying or sanctifying as well. Its aim is always to draw the bes~ out of fis, though often we would like to be successful in different ways. Obviously, very frequently, if we are to derive the greatest benefits from it, our view of it and of our own life must radically change. This may involve a long process. Someone car- rying the burden of pain and stress may be tempted to look on God as harsh and inconsiderate.~ He or she may be so baffled by it all, and won- der and complain, saying: "Why does God treat me in this way?" Yet suffering is a typ~ of language through which God communicates to us. We must learn its terms and vocabulary, and come to grips with the comp0sitio~n..0r lecture that it sets before us. It m.ay involve a diffi- cult and s.ev~re" l~arning IJrocess. But the key to deciph~er the text :or th’~ dictionary is Gbd’s word or revelation. A Corrective Punishment Many find it hard to accept that God punishes in any ~ay.2 Perhaps they have in mind a vengeful type of sanction. God’s chastisements, how~ ever., are always guided by his mercy. A moderate acquaintance with the Bible shows how genuine such a viewpoint is. An old biblical o,utlook on life in general is t~hat the good. farewell, while things, go wrong for the ~;ickedi~The bad bring their own misfor- tunes upon themse!ves, while fortune fav.0rs the~ upright. "In all that he (the good) does, he prospers . . . but the way of the wicked will per, ish" (Ps 1:3-4). Length of days is seen as depending on good conduct: "The fear of the Lord prolongs life but the years of the wicked: will be short" (Pr.10:27). Goodness guides a person wisely along, while evil de. stroys him: "The integrity of the upright guides’them, I~ut the crooked- ness of the treacherous destroys them" (Pr 2:6). "An evil man is en- snared in his transgression but a righteous man sings and rejoices" (Pr 29:6), .~ Suffering--in this view--follows automatically from wrongdoing, or is planned by God’s providence to strike after it. This is a consequence of the covenant relationship: See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and eVi’i~ If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God ’ . . theft yoti shall live The Meaning of Suffering

and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you. But if your heart turns away... I declare to you this day thatyou shall perish (Dr 30:15- 18). The prophets can foretell with accuracy that destruction and sorrow are in store for the chosen people--suffering having to follow as part of an inevitable divine justice. "Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully .... Shall I not punish them for these things?" says the Lord (Jr 9:8-9). The sufferings of Israel point to its guilt: "There is no faith- fulness, ~and no knowledge of God in the’land .... Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in itlanguish" (Ho 4:1,3). Pardoning people and allowing them to gaily go on sinning is not in keeping with God’s goodness: ¯ How can I pardon you? Your children°have forsaken me, and have sworn by those°who are not gods. When I fed them to the full, they com- mitted adultery and trooped, to "the houses of harlots. They were well- fed lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.’Shall I not pun- ish them for these things, says the Lord; and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this? (Jr 5:7-9). ~ The prodigal son could easily interpret what happened after his sins as a punishment for them. "A great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want" (Lk 15:14). ~]esus referred to the reality of such punishments when he said after curing the man at the pool of Bethsaida: "Sin no more that nothing worse befall you" (Jn 5:14). A Call to Repentance Still all this suffering is not outside th_e embrace of God’s love. For all that he wills in any way has a purpose. "Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you" (Dt 8:5). Behind it all is ~i 16ving God: "For the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights" (Pr 3:12). "Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten; so be zealous and repent" (Rv 3:19). He has in mind the holiness’0f all: "He disciplines us for our good that we may share his holiness" (Heb 12:10). While suffering as a punishment always springs ultimately from God’s anger, it must be al- ways remembered that his fury is a part of his love. His intolerance of sin leads to his attempts to correct the sinner. Such suffering may be severe and prolonged: "Man is also chas- tened with pain upon his bed and with continual strife in his bones" (Jb 33:19). But with it goes healing: "Behold, happy is the man whom God reproves; therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty. For he Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 wounds, but he binds up, he smites, but his hands heal" (Jb 5:17-18). His anger only lasts for a time (Ps 30:5). It is a call--though in a strange way--to repentance. "Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast lo.ve, and repents of evil" (Jl 2:13). A humble return to him causes a change in his heart. "When God saw what they (the Ninevites) did, how they turned from their evil way, God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did not do it" (Jon 3:10). The sinner, moved by God, prays to,be delivered from such pain: "For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever with me. I confess my iniquity, I am sorry for my sin .... Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation" (Ps 38:17-18,21). Each person has to try to discover the religious meaning of his or her suffering, insofar as it is possible to do so: This may take time, and in the meanwhile the pain and turmoil may be crippling, distressful and be- wildering. But eventually the sufferer may see that this period was only temporary, and that it was overseen by a wise and loving God. As A Trial The temptation to see God in the light of suffering as acting toughly, arid expos.ing Pe, ople to risk and failure, i~ based on a false view of things. He is al~vays concerned w.ith the well-being of all. And suffering is an effort on God’s part to help people to rise to a greatness that other- wise they would not reach, and to allow them to prove in fact the genu- ineness of their faith and virtue. By clinging to faith in the face of dis- appointment, distress and pain, the seriousness of an individual’s belief is established. Through suffering a true heart is known. For this reason God tested or tempted the Israelites: And you shall remember all the ways which the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, test- ing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandment~ or not (Dt 8:2). The trials that God assails us with can be most severe. They can shat- ter our lives so much, that we may feel that we will not be able to carry on. Abraham must have had similar reactions when God asked him to sacrifice his only and longed-for son--the pride and joy and hope of his life. And yet, with perhaps trembling feet, he obeyed. The only light or security he had was his belief.that God’s commands must be obeyed. He :surrendered to his wish, recognizing it as more precious than all that was most dear to him. It was an emotionally very battering decision to make. The Meaning of Suffering

In Job’s case, all that is humanlyattractive to him in life is taken away from him, and in a sense nothing remains but a consciousness of pain. Those who try to console him are not up to the task, though their advice is not lacking. The matter is too deep, even mysterious, for them. Yet Job’s faith in God remains firm as he works through his problem. His pain, groans and sighs are a wordless dialogue with God, which he endures, until light finally pierces through. Pain is the language that leads to a higher understanding of God. He is all wise and good, even when he does not appear so to human eyes. Somehow through the torment, be- wilderment and darkness of suffering in a paradoxical way hope in a lov- ing God blossoms. God has his own good and loving purposes, though many must struggle in times of distress to grasp this." The suffering servant, as described by the second qsaiah, was se- verely tested, and all for the sins of others. "Although he had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth" (Is 53:9). And yet very generously he went serenely through it all. "Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearer~ is .dumb, so he opened not his mouth" (Is 53:7). The pinnacle of suffering of this kind is.found in Christ’s own death. However, in his case there were othermore important aspects to it, but this element was undoubtedly there. When the New Testament speaks of his endurance--’ ’Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross" (Heb 12:2)--it has in mind its protracted and trying nature. But here a great mystery is involved, succinctly put in the Epistle to the He- brews: "Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered" (Heb 5:8). His suffering brought a lived dimension to his fi- delity. And it is the only thing that puts its genuineness beyond ques- tion. Imposed suffering is always a test or trial. Those who inflict pain on the just man in the book of Wisdom know this: "Let us test him with insult and torture that we find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance" (Ws 2:19). However, it is never purely this. It is al- ways a process of growth, or refinement or a preparation. "The testing of your faith produces steadf~astness" (Jm 1:3). "The crucible is for sil- ver and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tries hearts" (Pr 17:3). But it all leads to or is a preparation for receiving wisdom or God himself. Wisdom only comes to those who are found worthy of it. For at first she will walk with him on tortuous paths, she will bring fear and cowardice upon him, and will torment him by her discipline until she trusts him, and she will test him with her ordinances" (Si 4:17). Review for ReligiouS, November-December, 1987

Such suffering or testing establishes one as worthy of God. "Behold God tested them and found them worthy of himself; like gold in the fur- nace he tried them" (Ws 3:5-6). Peter sees the same result following on suffering: ~ ¯ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer v~arious trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which’,though perishable is tesi~d by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 P 1:7). In line with all this, Christ was made perfect through suffering (Heb 5:8). His trials paved the way for his resurrection. He was "crowned with glory and hohor because of the suffering of death" (Heb 2:9). Suffering as Mysteriously Redemptive and Sanctifying The full significance of suffering can only be grasped by pondering on arid entering into the spirit of Jesus’ death on the cross. "Christ died for us" (Rm 5:8.). "Jesus was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification" (Rm 4:25). "And he died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died~and was raised" (2 Co 5!15). Jesus did not suffer for himself but only for others. All was under- taken purely out of love--’ ’for us." They display charity in its perfec- tion, as the Son of God died to free us from sin. and to give us the full- ness of eternal life. He carried or bore all our ’sins and ailments on the cross: "He himself bore our sins in’ his body on the tree" (I P 2:24). "He took our iniquities and bore our di’seases" (Mt 8:17). And they all have redemptive value for all. All our human suffering is somehow included in that of Christ on tl~e cross, and so shares in his redemptive work, and is of benefit to others. It is part of the birth pangs that bring about a redeemed world. Those who bear the burden and the cross of pain, somehow in~ the manner of Christ, know that their endurance is most noble, generous and of benefit to others. They are mankind’~ greatest benefactors. After his resurrection, his disciples were glad to be able to share in his sufferings. After being beaten and commanded not to preach in Je- sus’ name, "then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishor~or for the name" (Ac 5:41). Paul sees the power of the resurrection flowing from his wounds-- "always carrying in the bodY the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies" (2 Co 4:10). He rejoices in his sufferings, seeing them as a necessary prolongation, and sharing in The Meaning of Suffering

Christ’s sufferings: "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church" (Col 1:24). Peter sees suffering as part of the Christian calling: "For Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps" (1 P 2:21). This calls not just for passive acceptance but to somehow joyfully grow through it. The Mystery Deeper But suffering still leads us more deeply into the mystery of the Trin- ity. Christ’s sufferings must be seen as existing somehow from all eter- nity. They are included--though not physically--in his eternal self- giving to the Father. There was some element there which fully corre- sponded with what he later had to endure. Suffering, then, in some sense is a part of God’s life. In line with this, it would be wrong to presume that the Father and the Holy Spirit were not untouched by the sufferings of Jesus on the cross. Not to be moved in some way, while others are suffering, is hardly the mark of true love! Furthermore, it would seem odd that God is not in some way preoccupied with and disturbed by the persistent sin and cor- ruption of the world! Perhaps we should not. exclude a rightful melan- cholic element-~ften a stimulant to gre~it creativity--from his love. And perhaps, too, we should realize that our sufferings, which may weigh us doyen and leave us depressed and moody, can lay the foundations for something positive, when they are in.corporated and made to blend fully with true love--which happens when we reach full maturity in Christ. Finally However much we suffer, through our own fault or not, all is gov- erned by Christ’s mysterious love. And through it all Christ leads us to be like himself, and to enter more deeply into the life of the Blessed Trin- ity. It is all very strange to us. But somehow it leads us to grope in the darkness towards light.

NOTES

~ The Apostolic Letter of Pope John Paul II On Suffering urges caution here: "And even if we must use great caution in judging man’s suffering as a consequence of concrete sins..." (Par 15). 2 "While it is true that suffering has a meaning as punishment, when it is connected with a fault, it is not true that all suffering is a consequence of a fault and has the nature of a punishment," Pope John Paul II, On Suffering (Par ! 1). Gender, History, and Liturgy in the Catholic Church

Donald J. Keefe, S.J.

This article is an adaptation of a paper delivered on December 8, 1986, at the Thirty- second Meeting of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Consultation in the United States of America (ARC-US), held in Jamaica, New York, December 7-10, 1986. Father Keefe is professor of theology at Marquette University. His address is 615 N. 1 lth Street; Miiwaukee, Wisconsin 53233.

it is my somewhat delicate task to speak upon the vexed question of the possibility of the sacramental oi’dinati~n of women to the Catholic epis- copacy insgfar as this possibility may or may not be controlled by their being women rather than men. This assignment is further complicated by my having already addressed this body upon the general subject of the ordination of womenI and by my consequent hope to offer sorfiething more substantial here than a mere repetition of what may easily be read elsewhere and at leisure by anyone interested. While these remarks then presuppose a general acquaintance with what I have heretofore written together with an interest in delving some- what further into a subject which is after all of continuing concern to those who attend meetings such as this, it is perhaps as well to recall the foundation of the argument for the restriction of priestly orders, and a fortiori of episcopal orders, to men. This argument rests entirely upon the factual sacramental representation of the One Sacrifice of Christ "by the work done" in the Eucharistic celebration, a ~sacramental-historical o event which is the source and cause of the Church.2 If one does not un- derstand :the Eucharist to be the concrete and historical representation of the Sacrifice of Christ,3 there can be no well-grounded theological ob- jection to the ordination of women, for whenever the Eucharistic liturgy

866 Gender, History, andLiturgy / ~167 is not so understood, it no longer invokes the marital symbolism of sac- rifice, as this is set out in Ephesians 5:31. Again, if the Eucharist is not seen also to be the cause of the Church, no problem arises over the ordi- nation of women to the episcopacy or to the priesthood. This latter af- firmation is no more than a corollary of the former, for it rests upon the same conviction that if the primary presence of Christ in the Church is held to be by faith alone, however this may be explained, the Eucharis- tic presence of the risen Christ cannot be identified with the event of the One Sacrifice by which we are redeemed. If the Mass is not the offer- ing, in the person of Christ, of the sacrifice of Christ, there can of course be no question of an authorization4 or ordination to offer the One Sacri- fice in the person of him who alone can offer it.5 Over the truth of these Roman Catholic. postulates the Catholic and the Protestant6 confessions, particularly with respect to their views of Church and Eucharist, notoriously diverge. One may ask whether this must be so; in fact the ecumenical desire to transcend an old polemic7 continues to produce theologies of ordination~ 0f Church and of Eucha- rist which look not so much to a mere.praxis of intercommunion as to a doctrinal unity which nonetheless thus .far remains elusive.8 This is not the place to survey those efforts; the recent Vatican reac- tion9 to the A.R.C.I.C. "final report" signals the continuing failure of our best efforts to achieve the doctrinal accord we seek. This failure is of course one which pervades the history of ecumenism: the World Coun- cil of Churches has never achieved a synthesis of the two ecclesial inter- ests, doctrinal and pastoral, whose administrative joinder formed that body in 1948,1° while within Roman Catholicism itself a comparable ten- ~sion has become evident over the past twenty years: for example, the con- troversy over a "double magisterium." More and more, the intra- and extra-mural religious debates which mark our age are seen to turn upon the liturgical, the religious signifi- cance of sexuality; and of course the ordination of women offers a pa- rade instance of this contemporary cause of controversy. Quite clearly it is not merely an ecumenical issue, for it now divides Catholics as it divides Protestants and Jews~. The preoccupation with sexuality pervades contemporary theology because it is in this realm that modernity poses the most critical challenge to traditional belief and practice--which is to say, to contemporary life in the Church. ~ While the meaning of sexuality is of obvious moment for human b~- ings generally and for the Judaeo-Christian tradition more particularly, it is the Roman Catholic Church~that has the greatest investment in its ~161~ / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 religious significance, for Roman Catholicism lives by’ its sacramental signs, the most fundamental of which, the Eucharistic fulfillment of the Old Testament covenant between .God and his bridal people, is marital or nuptial in its structure; so much is this the fact that within the Roman Catholic tradition this Eucharistic nuptiality underwrites the sacramen- tal quality of marriage. 12 While the doctrinal range of Anglo-Catholicism may be such as to prevent any apodictic statement on the matter, at least by a Roman Catholic theologian, it does :appear that the central issue as between those Anglo-Catholics favoring the admission of women to the episcopacy or the priesthood, and the Roman Catholic opposition to such admission is that of the significance of Christ’s masculinity; if it be granted that the bishop or priest acts concretely "in the person of Christ," is masculinity dissociable from that "person"? A decade past, the Anglican theologian R. A. Norris spoke to this question,13 and it does.not appear that the intervening years have seen any ecumenical progress toward resolving the contradiction between the position he then took and that which as I believe underlies the Roman Catholic understanding of Orders. In Norris’ opinion, the scriptural and patristic record provides no support for finding any religious significance in Christ’s masculinity. While one may take issue with this exegesis, by now it should be clear to all of us that a confessionally disinterested read- ing of the Bible and the Fathers is possible only for those who consider Christianity itself to be thus disinterested--a point of view I will with- out discussion suppose to be alien to Catholicism whether Anglican or Roman. It is not then by a return to the lists of historical-critical scholarship in which debate over Norris’ position would once more engage us that we may discover, understand and transcend our differences, for it mis- conceives and mislocates them. We do not disagree seriously over mat- ters which diligent study may resolve; four and a half centuries of such labor stand in the way of that academic optimism. Our disagreement rests finally upon different experiences of history, and these cannot be tran- scended merely by the acquisition of novel information. ~4 These experiences diverge on the level of existence itself, and we are discovering that this diversity has an inescapable liturgical expression. ~5 Our differences are finally not simply academic: they are liturgical and therefore at bottom religious. In what follows, the religious quality of these,differences will be explored. The most fundamental and the most archaic liturgical symbols are sex- ual;16 all western philosophy has its remote origin in the pagan reading Gender, History, and Liturgy of that symbolism as it was found in the Dionysian-Orphic religious tra- dition of the Greek world. ~7 Inasmuch as Christianity consists in conver- sion from paganism, so the meaning of its symbols is also the product of a conversion from the historical pessimism which those symbols in- voke, evoke and express in their pagan guise, and which pervades the classic tradition of Greek philosophy. The meaning of sexual symbols is of course the quality of their cor- relation or polarity; the spontaneous evaluation or interpretation of this polarity, because it reflects the most fundamental experience of the hu- man condition, is an utterly basic characterization of existence, of the reality which is human and historical. This interpretation of sexual sym- bols connotes and in fact constitutes and reinforces, however liminaily and inchoately, a judgment or decision passed upon the goodness ornot of history itself. As Eliade has shown, this evaluation, insofar as uttered in the symbols of the pagan liturgy, is negative: the preservation of the cosmos requires a liturgical flight from history, and in fact all pagan mo- rality is resumed in an unrefl~ctive ~obedience to this cosmological pre- cept, which as cosmological proscribes as profane all exercise of free per- sonal responsibility in history.~8 The flight from history is always a flight from woman, 19 for the suf- fering consciousness which spurs that flight knows no more radical li- turgical symbol of its frustration and anxiety than the paradoxical, in- compatible and yet irreducible polarity of the masculine and the femi- nine. The alternating Platonic and Aristotelian philosophical analyses or rationalizations of the cosmogonic pagan liturgical symbols of the hieros gamos ("sacred marriage") are at bottom no more than alternative ex- pressions of this flight: the feminine, once viewed as incompatible with the masculine because qualitatively irreducible to masculinity, must either (1) be opposed to the masculine in an irreconcilable standoff which is the very structure of the pagan experience of history as irrational, am- biguous, absurd and unhappy, or (2) be suppressed by the masculine in the name of an abstract rationality whose ideal and nonhistorical criteri- ology for the true and the real forecloses all personal exercise of histori- cal responsibility by damning whatever is radically new and free for its nonconformity to timeless paradigms. This irreducibility of personal re- sponsibility to the impersonal ideal is precisely its unpredictability, its irreducibility to the mythic past, and the disorder, randomness and un- intelligibility which consequently mark it. To these options, classic in Greek philosophy, as typified by Plato on the one hand and his stubbornly contrary student Aristotle on the 1~70 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 other, gnosticism has added a third, well known to the pagan liturgical tradition if less so to its classic philosophical rationalizations. This third option is the merger of the historically polarized feminine and masculine symbols into a primordial androgynous One or Human- ity. This merger is achieved by the reduction of this cosmic dichotomy to an ineffable, precosmic or primordial identity as seen from the view- point of eternity, an identity which is thereupon identified as the Alpha and the Omega of cosmic space and time, at once the primordial source from which this cosmos is fallen as well as its eschatological redemp- tion from all its inherent injustice of differentiation and qualitative dis- tinction--which is to say, from all inequality--by the ideal, a priori and monist nullification of the significance of all historical particularity,2° The pagan "ontological hunger’’2~ for the ineffable ideal unity of being can find no sustenance in history, only a continual frustration. This frustration can be denied ?~ la Aristotle, "transcended" after the man- ner of Hegel or overcome by a Marxist political praxis, but always and inevitably this is done only at the price of denying or transcending or over- coming the historical free responsibility of concrete human beings. Over and over again, from Plato to Engels to the present-day liberation praxis, marriage provides the test case for this historicist and cosmological sup- .pression of historical particularity. This is simply because miarriage pro- vides the clearest instance of irrational, idiosyncratic and obstinate per- durance in the positive valuation of the unique personal particularity of individuals. The free decision to marry, which even in its pagan format establishes and insists upon a special, indeed a unique, relation of pri- vacy between these two particular human beings, a relation which as ex- clusive22 is incapable of rational justification and so must be accounted unwarranted and absurd, is a decision that at once establishes, under- writes and insists upon that which from the view of the pagan liturgy is always and everywhere wrong, the perennial "injustice" ascribed since Anaximander to unique personal high-profile significant historicity, and therefore to any intimation of a responsible personal dignity able and in fact. destined to affirm itself against all historical erosion and relativiza- tion. The nonhistorical or cosmological morality of paganisms old and new is a function of a nonhistorical freedom, a freedom that is experienced as impinged upon, diminished and denied by every discrete historical structure and event, by every confident concrete reality which is encoun- tered in space and time. The pagan liturgy, as did later the pagan ration- ality, existed and yet exists to nullify the oppressive and burdensome sig- Gender, History, and Liturgy / 871 nificance of all of these, to reduce them to triviality and insignificance, to relativize them all in the name of an eternal return to the cosmogonic moment ol~ truth before it fell into the vagaries of matter and in that fal- lenness became corrupt, disunified and thus ambivalent, its formal sim- plicity contradicted by the irrationally random multiplicities of cosmic time and space. The pagan morality, in which responsibility is so viewed, cannot but look upon marriage as the paradigmatic symbol of our cosmic fallenness into the supposedly chaotic differentiation and multiplicity from which humanity must, be redeemed. The nuptial masculine-feminine polarity is then the r~dical symbol of what is wrong with the world: to affirm the value, the irreducibility, of that polarity is to act in a manner unrespon- sive to the pagan liturgical symbolism, and therefore to act immorally. The pagan marital liturgy has always struggled with this ambiguity, which is inseparable from the pagan experience of marriage.23 The Christian conversion which underwrites the sacramental and his- torical celebratii~n of marriage transforms the masculine-feminine sym- bolism from a static structure of oppression, of cosmogonic fallenness, into the constitutive event of free historicity, the marital covenant which in the book of Genesis is the radical pattern of the good creation. In that covenant, husband and wife each encounter in each other’s concrete free historicity a unique and irreplaceable dignity which is indeed qualita- tively and irreducibly different from their own, and yet which in this mu- tual freedom of marital love is encountered precisely as good:, that is, as responsive, responsible, complementary and indispensable to their own reality, for only in and by this marital covenant is human dignity recog- nized, discovered and appropriated; only in this covenantal event does the free responsibility of a man evoke the free responsibility of a woman; only here does the free nuptial responsibility of a woman evoke the free nuptial responsibility of a man. In this mutuality each affirms not self but a qualitatively irreducible other in a moment of selflessness by which the irreducibly unique masculine or feminine self is realized, received, made actual in the covenantal self-forgetful freedom that is love. This is the concrete paradigm of human existence as historical rather than as cosmological; it is not idea, not structure, but the. free event of our im- aging, covenantally,~the Triune God. This discovery is liturgical; it entails a free conversion, a free entry into a free and irrevocable society, one which at once is freely realized in history and yet transcends history as its formal principle, as the free- dom by which the variety and mutability of temporality becomes mean- 1172 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 ingful,, significant, historical. The heretofore random and incalculable character of this now free historicity is encountered as transformed and exorcised, no longer demonic but the very goodness of a world whose truth is at one with its historicity, at one with its nuptiality. Within.this liturgical community the truth of the human condition, because freely given and appropriated freely in history, can no longer be imprisoned within the narrow and immanent necessities of a categori- cal or mathematical rationality. This is perhaps the most-general state- ment of the "good news" which the Christian receives in faith: that the entirety of reality and of truth is free, incapable of enclosure in any con- ceptuality. Historical rationality is in consequence of this faith to be ex- ercised in the continual appropriation of mystery, riot in the nullification of the new as a thing unintelligible until reduced to the p’0tentialities of the past. This gift of free historical truth is the revelation and the covenant; its receptive appropriation and affirmation is the worship of the Lord of history, and implies a conversion and liberation from all the inexorable determinisms which pure rationality in its demythologization, whether cosmological or anthropological, of the primitive pagan liturgy cannot but construct. Calvin cogently observed that the mind is a factory of idols;24. left to its own "devices" it is rather a forger of chains. Nor is this paradox; the irrevocability of the covenantal commitment, whose free- dom is immune to all relativization by the circumstance and fatality of a fallen world, rests upon nothing but the providential, covenantal, and redemptive dominion of God over our history which is his creation. This dominion is the mission of the Lord of history, of the Word made flesh, by whose One Sacrifice for his people, his bridal Church, the covenant is actual. Marriage thus viewed is nothing other than the ’liturgical ap- propriation of this historical Wisdom, this covenantal Providence, which is to say, of the covenant itself, the very form of history;~that by which history is good. Sacramental marriage is therefore the :very sign and ef- fective or constitutive symbol of the good creation whose goodness is the historical truth and freedom of the New Covenant, given and received in the worship of the Lord of history, and only there. Marriage as the sacramental sign of the New Covenant thus flatly con- tradicts the pagan pessimism, the pagan .liturgy, the pagan view of the world, whether ancient oi" contemporary. Sartre somewhere observes that hell is other people: .the pagan liturgy knew this before any sophisticate ever thought of existentialism. The pagan liturgy requires in and by all of its multitudinous symbolic forms that the covenantal freedom which Gender, History, and Liturgy

Christian marriage affirms and appropriates be continually suppressed in favor of the faceless anonymous mimeticism of the we-saying commu- nity. Only in that community’s conformist flight from free and personal responsibility is society seen to be secure from all the hazards, incalcu- lable because unpredictable, and from all the risks and terrors of an un- covenanted free history--and paganism knows no other history, for the pagan gods,~whether primitive, Gnostic or secular, have no historical re- ality and cannot be worshiped in covenantal freedom. The flight which all pagan worship requires from the chaos indisso- ciable from the randomness and incalculability which the supposed arbi- trariness of free personal responsibility is thought to connote is therefore also a flight from personal responsibility in and for history; it is by that fact a flight as well from historical significance and from personal sig- nificance, and so is an a priori refusal of the covenantal dignity and re- sponsibility which sacramental marriage attributes to all historical exis- tence. As all paganism finds history finally irredeemable, so also is found to be the man-woman relation, the universal symbol of that pagan mel- ancholic consciousness, of its despair and its servitude to idols of its own manufacture. Wherever found, paganism is characterized by and finds " indispensable to cosmic security the denial of the dignity, the signifi- cance of one’s concrete existence as this unique and quite irreplaceable man or woman, who can love and can be loved only because and as unique, as historically significant because incapable of assimilation to or by any other. In the Platonic and Neoplatonic philosophical tradition which has so deeply colored the patr~istic theology, this p~ssimism with regard’to in- dividual personal existence finds expression as misogyny, a°distrust and fear of feminine resistance to all the rational masculine ideal formalities, whose security is their character as absolute, as unrelated to any nonideal, nonrational, nonmasculine reality; the logic of this pagan heri- tage prevented Origen and Augustine from seeing in the’tr]relationality of the marital covenant any image ofthe Triune God.25 The concretely lived relation between man and woman thus is the lo- cus, the effective sign, of the pagan experience of radical ambiguity and contradiction in history which we have called historical pessimism. Within that pagan historical existence, within that liturgical experience, that pagan consciousness, of the irreducible masculine-feminine differ- entiation as disorder, there is no possibility of assigning priority as be- tween the relation itself and its interpretation: the two are given together Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 in the liturgical consensus of the pagan culture as a matter of necessity, for no liturgical alternative is presented to the cosmological conscious- ness. In the absence of any experience of the free event of the covenan- tal revelation of order in history under God, the pagan consciousness of disorder in history, having identified difference with injustice, cannot but experience, in the radical antagonism placed by the pagan symbolism be- tween masculinity and femininity, an equally radical injustice, redeem- able only by the abolition of the randomly differentiated individuals who constitute historical humanity itself. It is to this abolition of the injustice symbolized by sexual differen- tiation that the pagan liturgy, whether primitive or sophisticated, relig- ious or secular, ,is directed; its "ontological hunger" is fed, is .satisfied, only with the programmatic nullification, continuing for as long as his- tory shall endure, of whatever significance may be assigned the man- woman relation itself and thus upon the denial of any dignity which may be attributed to masculine or feminine existence; this dignity must be abol- ished, as in the popular feminist eisegesis of Galatians 3:28,26 by sub- mitting it to the nonhistorical solvent of abstract justice which can rest content only when every intimation of a qualitative equality irreducible tO quantitative identity has been expunged. These liturgical abstractions from history to an ideal unity or identity are referred to and fulfilled in the pagan eschaton, and it is to the immanentization of that eschaton that all paganism looks: Plato’s Rbpublic is the classic expression of this per- ennial ambition. In the Roman Catholic liturgy the same concrete man-woman rela- tion iS the subject of a continual conversion, from pessimism to opti- mism, from necessity to freedom, from antagonism to love, from cos- mological to covenantal responsibility. So converted, it historically signs and in signing makes present as history, as free responsible community, the good creation by the free covenantal appropriation of the only real freedom, the only real equality, the only real dignity, the covenant of- fered and received in the covenantal worship of the Lord of history. This free appropriation is the communitarian, covenantal and historical im- aging of the Triune God, and as the undertaking and exercise of the one free historical, responsibility.that is covenantal, that is the one valid ex- pression of love, it is always a most basic, a liturgical expression of the worship of the Lord of history and of the historical good creation which in that worship is received as one’s own unique historicity, one’s cove- nanted existence. Gender, History, and Liturgy

The pagan accounts of the origin of the gods and of man attest to this fact: the sacred marriage is the basic idiom of all cosmogonies, all of which take for granted the evil of the material order--which is to say, its resistance to the abstract purity of nonhistorical unity, truth and good- ness, and therefore its meaninglessness, which is to say, its randomness-- for in the absence of faith in the revelation of the covenantal freedom of reality, of the covenanted goodness of creation, the pagan must so read any free departure from the abstract and formal necessity which gov- erns the really real, the unqualified identity, the abstract and thereby ab- solute unity of being unpolluted by the unnumbered relati~,ities of time and space and by the absurd randomness of history. The pagan quest for meaning, for being, for the truly human good, despairs of any discovery of it in the cosmos, and that despair is only the more explicit as the hu-. man quest and question become ever more ideal in the self-denying con- sciousness of a pseudo-wisdom which has arrived at the level of philo- sophical abstraction from all the concreteness of historicity. We have seen that the philosophical rationalizations of the pagan lit- urgy used the masculine-feminine relation uttered in that liturgy as the fundamental analytical device whereby the absurdity of existencd might become express; this is true not only in Platonism, for Aristotle himself, who notoriously insisted upon the intrinsic rational compatibility of form and matter, nevertheless also was forced by his own logic .to put outside all space and time the ultimate principle of his version of cosmological rationality, whether this be designated as divinity, as agent intellect or as prime mover. True to Plato’s prediction, he never escaped the ideal forms of intelligibility, despite his insistence upon the substantial union of form and matter. When the medieval Christian theologies began to exploit systemati- cally this pagan wisdom, this m(lancholy historical consciousness, it be- came apparent that there the structure of reality, of existence in space and time, is experienced as given over to rational nece.ssity, whether the necessity be stated in the binary logic of mathematics which for the fol- lowers of Augustine as of Plato provides the rationality of physical phe- nomena, or in the immanent structure of a material noumenal essence locked into the ideal necessary reasons discovered in the discursive analy- sis of its own intrinsic causality. These alternatives still dominate the con- temporary theological discussion; insofar as unconverted to a free be- cause covenantal rationality, modern theologians still seek for the nec- essary reasons underlying the reservation of orders to men, or seek in Review.for Religious, November-December, 1987 the resources of a contemporary phenomenology the rationalist criteria for judging that liturgical practice.27 Such efforts are beside the point; within any theological community the liturgical symbolism which utters its consensus judges and cannot be judged; wherever such symbolism is encountered, it represents within a corhmunity of worship the most fundamental understanding of the actual human condition, and to submit its truth to any supposedly higher crite- rion of truth is to enter upon the appropriation of that higher truth, and therefore upon conversion to another and superior religious symbolism. This, as I believe, is the point at which we now stand, as we have indeed stood since the Reformation. The only real issue between us is whether the Mass is the One Sacrifice of Christ, represented sacramen- tally and really by a bishop or a priest under a bishop’s authority, acting in persona Christi--for in no other persona can the One Sacrifice be of- fered. So offered, it is the dynamic unity of history, the Event which joins the Old Covenant to the New, which links the Jesus of history and the ~Christ of faith; this sacrifice, this nexus, this free historical actuality of the good creation, is the nuptial union of the second Adam and the second Eve, the One Flesh of the "holy society by which we belong to God." Within the Roman Catholic tradition, that society is marital; it is at one with the Sacrifice of the Eucharistic celebration, in which the Bride- groom gives himself totally to and for his bridal Church in the freedom of his mission from the Father, and receives from his immaculate Bride that which is indispensable to the New Covenant, all that she, in her cre- ated and covenantal and immaculately free dignity, has to give: the nup- tial Body of which he, by her self-giving, her "sacrifice of praise," is the nuptial Head.28 In this marital union, the Head is represented sacramentally by the bishop, or by the priest who a~sists him; only thus does the one acting in the person of Christ represent the Body, the Church, the Bride. That this representation is not to be subsumed to sociopolitical categories con- cerned finallyowith the quantitati~,e distribution of power should be self- evident; the priestly representation of the Head is marital and covenan- tal, one which not only cannot exclude but in fact invokes the qualita- tively and irreducibly distinct representation of the Church by the laity, a representation which as covenantal, as responsibly responsive to that of the Head, cannot be servile or submissive; at.the same time, it is irre- ducible to that of the Head, and so cannot be supposed to imply the ca- Gender, History, and Liturgy pacity of the Body to represent the Head: this would be to identify irre- ducibly distinct authorities. We have seen that this episcopal responsibility, as covenantal, at once affirms and requires the liturgical significance of masculinity and femininity in the free covenantal mutuality which we have here briefly examined. To say only this much is to leave much unresolved; most par- ticularly in this present context it leaves unexamined the nature of the authority of women in the Church. That their authority in the Church is analogous to their authority in marriage is axiomatic; their authority is then that of the Body, which is distinct from but not less than that of the Head. Even when the theological ground is thus cleared for the examina- tion of the meaning of this feminine ’authority, by an insistence that the Covenant is the criterion of all Church authority, it remains extraordinar- ily difficult to free one’s inquiry of the overburden of the cosmological and monist image of authority as power. When so" misunderstood, the bishop’s authority immediately becomes unqualified, and any limits upon it are~ quantitative, the result of a mere political and therefore arbitrary distribution of power. The impression is then inescapable that the entirety of ecclesial authority is realized in a quasi,monarchic and despotic epis- copacy, whose power insofar as it is reserved to the bishops is denied t6 and oppressive of the laity: to underw~rite such a situation with mari- tal and covenantal imagery then becomes derisive. But the cosmological imagination provides no more than a parody and a caricature of reality; it cannot serve a theological purpose, and our reliance upon it has in fact stultified the entire contemporary discussiofi ,of the place of women in ttie Church and equgll~ has blocked an adequate theological understand- ing of episcopal authority in the Church. Someone has observed that it has not pleased God to make his peo- ple safe by dialectic, which we may understand to mean, by theology. The basis of our freedom,~ our responsibility and our concretely histori- cal existence is liturgical and Eucharistic: it is this that sustains the free- dom of Church and society, and the dignity of men and women, and all authority in the Church. There is no other recourse; to seek one none- theless is precisely to abandon the questioning which is theology, and ~vhich is integral to the faith. Theology must continue to seek and con- tinually to discover in the Eucharist the firm foundation which no dia- lectic can provide, and without which, sustenance it must degenerate into an ideology finally contemptuous of history. Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

NOTES

~ The essay presented on that earlier occasion was later pub.lished as "The Sacra- ment of the Good Creation: Prolegomena to the Discussion of the Ordination of Women," Faith and Reason 9 (1983)pp. 143~154; it referred to earlier articles on the same subject: "Sacramental Sexuality and the’Ordination of Women," Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology (ITEST) Seminar on Hu- man Sexuality, August 23-25, 1976 Proceedings pp. 13-28, reprinted in Communio 5 (1978) pp. 228-251; "The Ordination of Women: A Roman Catholic Assess- ment," The New Oxford Review 47 (1980) pp. 12-14. Another essay developing the same themes is "Mary as Created Wisdom: The Splendor of the Good Creation," The Thomist 47 (1983) pp. 395-420. 2 This is the neuralgic point, whether for the Reform or for the contemporary Catho- lic advocates of the ordination or consecration of women. The theologians who have defended such conferral of orders on women have done so, without significant ex- ception, in terms of a revision of the Roman Catholic liturgy and ~o of the Roman Catholic sacramental doctrine. E.g., Edward Kilmartin, "Apostolic Office: Sacra- ment of Christ," Theological Studies 36 (1975) pp. 243-264; "Ecclesiastical Of- rice, Power and Spirit," Catholic Theological Society of America Thirty-seventh An- nual Convention Pro~ceedings, 37 (1982) pp. 98-108; Bernard Cooke, Ministry to Word an’d Sacraments, History and Theology (Philadelphia: The Fortress Press, ! 976); see also his Sacraments arid Sacrhmentality (My.stic, CN: Twenty-third Pub- lications, 1980); John R. Donahue, "Women, Priesthood and the Vatican," Amer- ica 136 (April 2, 1977) pp. 285-289; Edward Schillebeeckx, Ministry: LeaderShip in the Community of Jesus Christ (New York: Crossroad, 1981); John Coleman, "The Future of Ministry, ~’ America 144 (March 28, 1981) pp. 243-249; "’Ministry in the 80s," Call to Growth/Ministry 9 (1984). To these may be added the several programs for the revision of Roman Catholicism provided by such feminists as Rose- mary Reuther and Elizabeth Schi~ssler-Fiorenza. 3 The Second Vatican Council emphatically ,repeats the Tridentine doctrine on the sacrifice of the M.ass: see Lumen Gentium 3, 10, 28 (Flannery~pp. 351, 361,385); Presbyterorum Ordinis 5, 13, 14 (Flannery l~p. 865,871,887,888,890); Optatam Totius 4 (Flannery p. 711); Christus Dominus 30 (Flannery p. 582); and Sacrosanc- tum Concilium !, 7, 47 (Fiannery pp. 3, 4, 16). 4 D. J. Keefe, "Authority in the Church: An Essay in the Theology of History,;’ Communio 7 (19.80) pp. 343-36,3. 5 E. J. Kilmartin, op. cit., thu, s proposes the priority of the prese.nce-by-faith of Christ in the Church, over the therefore secondary presence which is Eucharistic; so also does John R. Donahue, "Documentation and Reflection: A Colloquium ori the Can- terbury Statement," Anglican Theological Review 57 (1976) pp. 82-95. The bish- ops at Vatican II had reaffirmed the doctrinal tradition on Orders (Dei Verbum 7 and ¯ 8 [Flannery pp. 753-754] and Presbyterorum Ordinis 5 [Flannery p. 871])as they had reaffirmed the sacrificial character of the Mass, which "presence by faith" can- not support. 6 These adjectives were found inescapable in the early ecumenical discussion~ held by the World Council of Churches, and.on that warrant are used here without preju- dice. Gender, History, and Liturgy

7 Vincenz PfniJr, "Beyond an Old Polemic: sola fide/opus operatum," Origins 8 (1979) pp. 478-480; see also "Recognition of the Augsburg Confession by the Catho- lic Church," in The Role of the Augsburg Confession: Catholic and Lutheran Views, ed. Joseph E. Burgess (Philadelphia: The Fortress Press, 1980), pp. 1-26. 8 See, for example, Lutherans and Catholics in Dialogue, III: The Eucharist as Sac- rifice (New York and Washington, 1967); Das Opfer Jesu Christi und seine Gegen- wart in der Kirche: Klgirungen zum Opfe}’charakter des Herrenmahles, eds. Karl Leh- man and Edmund Schlink, ser. Dialog der Kirchen, III (Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder; G6ttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1983). 9 See the statement of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, pub- lished as "Observations on the Anglo-Roman Catholic International Commission Final Report," Origins !1/47 (1982) pp. 752-756. 10 David P. Gaines, The ~Vorld Council of Churches: A Study of Its Background and History (Peterborough, NH! R. R. Smith, 1966), especially pp. 332ff. i i For a cogent description of the destructive impact of modernit~ upon Roman Catho- lic sacramentalism, see Gustav Martelet, Deux mille ans d’ Eglise en question: crise de la foi, crise du pr~tre, I (Paris: Cerf, 1984). ~2 Pope John Paul II has developed the traditional nuptial symbolism, at first in the series of papal lectures collected in Original Unity of Man and Woman: Catechesis on the Book of Genesis (Boston: St. Paul Editions, 1981), Blessed are the Pure of Heart: Catechesis on the Sermon of the Mount and Writings of St. Paul (Boston: St. Paul Editions, "! 983), Reflection on Humanae Vitae: Conjugal Morality and Spiritu- ality (Boston: St. Paul Editions, 1984), The Theology of Marriage and Celibacy: Catechesis on Marriage and Celibacy in the Light of the Resurrection of the Body (Boston: St. Paul Editions, 1986), and more formally in his Apostolic Exhortation on the family, published as The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern WorM: Familiaris Consortio (Boston: St. Paul Editions, n.d.), and in his encyclical letters of March 4, 1979; Redeemer of Man: Redemptor Hominis (Washington, DC: Publi- cations Office, U.S.C.C.), of November 30, 1980: Rich in Mercy: Dives in Miseri- cordia (Boston: St. Paul Editions, n.d.) and of May 18, 1986: On the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church and the World: Dominum et Vivificantem (Boston: St. Paul Editions, n.d.). ~3 R. A. Norris, Jr., "The Ordination of Women and the ’Maleness’ of Christ," Anglican Theological Review 6 (1976) pp. 69-80. ~4 Cuilmann and Bultmann have long been at odds over the religious significance of’history; see the sharp exchange of a dozen years ago between Alfons Stickler and Brian Tierney in The Catholic Historical Review 60/3 and 61/I, in which very much the same issue surfaced. For an indication of its impact upon priestly formation, see the lectures on that subject by Bishop Thomas Murray, "The Local Community and the Future Priest," Origins 12 (1982) pp. 428-431, and by Bishop Kenneth Untener, "A Vision of Future Ministry," Origins 13 (1984) pp. 552-556. ~5 For a discussion of the reality of experience as historical, see Eric Voegelin, Or- der In History, 1I: The World of the Polis (Baton Rouge: The Louisiana State Uni- versity Press, 1957), pp. 16, 19. 16 Their primacy has been traced to the paleolithic period: see Mircea Eliade, A His- tory of Religious Ideas, I: From the Stone Age to the Eleusinian Mysteries. trans. by Willard. R. Trask (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1978), pp. 20-22. ~t110 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

17 Francis M. Cornford, From R~ligion to Philosophy: A Study in the Origins of West- ern Speculation, coll. Harper Torchbooks: The Cloister Library (New York: Harper and Row, 1957), pp. 7-1.2, 70-7.1, 210; see also W. K. C. Guthrie, Orpheus and Greek Religion: A Study of the Orphic Movement, second edition, revised (London: Methuen and Co., 1952), pp. 129ff., 157ff. 18 Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. trans, by Wil- lard R. Trask. A Harvest Book (San Diego, New York, London: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1959). 19 The manner and the implications of this flight have been described by Karl Stern, The Flight from Woman (New York: Fa~ar, Strauss and Giroux, 1965), and by Henri Marrou, The History of Education in Antiquity (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1956), chaps. 2 and 3. For a luminous statement of the Roman Catholic alternative, see Henri de Lubac, L’~Tternalf~minin (Paris: Aubier-Montaigne, 1967), especially pp. 179-225. By way of contrast, see Juan Segund.9’s dehistoricizing criticism of the sac- rament of matrimony in Theol.ogyfor the Artisans of a New Commuhity, vol. 4: The Sacraments Today (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1974), pp. 81ff. 20 Aioys Grilimeier, Christ in the Christian Tradition, I: From the Apostolic Age to Chalcedon (451), second, revised edition, trans. John Bowden (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1975), pp. 80-84; see also Hans Jonas, The Gnostic Religion (Boston: The Beacon Press, 1958), and Jean Dani61ou, A History of Early Christian Doctrine Be- fore the Council of Nicaea, I-II; I: The Theology of Jewish Christianity, trans, and ed. John A. Baker (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd, 1964), especially chaps. 2 and 10. It is interesting that so stalwart a defender of orthodoxy as Gregory of Nyssa could be seduced by this dualist protology: see In Cantica Canticorum, horn. vii, (PG 44:916B), cited in Gr~goire de Nysse: La crdation de l’homme, intro J~ean Laplace, S.J.; notes Jean Dani61ou, S.J. (Paris: Editions du Cerf; Lyon: Editions de L’Abeille, 1943), p. 56. For the hermetic gnosis, see A.-J. Festugi~re, O.P~, La R~vdlation d’Herm~s Trism~giste i-iv (Paris: Librairie Lecoffre; J. Gabalda, 1944- 1954), iv: Le dieu inconnu et la gnose, third edition, 1954, especially pp. 32-53. The Marxist indictment of marriage is well known; see Frederick Engels, The Ori- gin of the Family, Private Property and the State in the light of the researches of Lewis H. Morgan. Coll. The Marxist Library: Works of Marxism-Leninism, v. 22 (New York: International Publishers, 1942) especially pp. 47ff., also the citations collected by Robert Tucker, ed., The Marx-Engels Reader (New York: W. W. Nor- ton & Co., 1978), pp. 734-759. Much of the contemporary feminism is fueled by this rhetoric of the supposed "fall" from the romantically conceived felicity of a primitive communism governed by Mut- terrecht into the oppressive authoritarian structures of patriarchal society: e.g., Elizff- beth Gould Davis, The First Sex (New York:.Penguin Books, 1972). The evidence for a primitive matriarchy was presented in the last century by J. J. Bachofen, Das Mutterrecht: Eine Untersuchen iiber die Gynokratie der alten Welte nach ihrer re- ligiOsen und rechtlichen Natur, second, unrevised edition (Basel: Benno Schwabe Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1897); see also Myth, Religion and Mother Right: Selected Writings of Johann Jacob Bachbfen trans~ Ralph Manheim, with a preface by George Boas and an introduction by Joseph Campbell, Bollingen Series 84 (Princeton Uni~ versity Press, 1967). See Christopher Dawson, The Age of The Gods: A Study~in the Origins of Culture in Prehistoric Europe and the Ancient East (.London and New York: Sheed and Ward, 1933),.especially pp. 87-107, W. K. C. Guthrie, TheGreeks Gender, History, and Liturgy / 881 and Their Gods (Boston: Beacon Press, 1954), especially pp. 265-266, and Walter Burkert, Greek Religion, trans. John Raffan (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1985), passim, especially p. 351,n. 22. 21 The phrase is Eliade’s; see his The Sacred and the Profane for an account of its dynamics. 22 E.g., N.D. Fustel de Coulanges, The Ancient City: A Study of Religion, Laws and Institutions of Greece and Rome (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1955), chap. 2. 23 Fustel de Coulanges, op. cit., pp. 44ff. 24 Institutes, Bk. 1, Chap. ! I, §8. 25 H. Crouzel, Th~ologie de l’image de Dieu chez OrigOne, coll. Th~ologie 34 (Paris: Aubier, Editions Montaigne, 1956), Virginit~ et mariage selon OrigOne, coll. Museum Lessianum, sect. th6ologique, no. 58 (Paris, Bruges: Descl6e de Brouwer, 1962), pp. 135ff.; see pp. 52-53, 84, 142. Augustine, De Trinitate xiv, 2, 4; xv, 3, 5; see Etienne Gilson, Introduction gt l’~tude de saint Augustin, coll. Etudes de philosophie m,~difivale xi (Paris: Vrin, 1929), pp. 279-292, for commen- tary. 26 Under the stimulus of "by faith alone," Luther interpreted Ga 3:28 in the sense made familiar by contemporary advocates of women’s orders: see Karen Bornkamm, Luthers Auslegungen des Galatersbrief von 1519 und 15~1: ein Vergleich (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter & Co., 1963), pp. 277-280. 27 E.g., "Women and the Priestly Ministry: The New Testament Evidence," Catho- lic Biblical Quarterly 4 ! (1979) pp. 608-613, 616, and the Catholic Theological So- ciety of America Thirty-third Annual Convention Proceedings 33 (1978) pp. 271- 272. 2s Gerald Emmett Cardinal Carter, Archbishop of Toronto, has made this point in "Do This in Memory of Me": A Pastoral Letter on the Sacrament of Priestly Or- ders (Toronto: The Mission Press, December 8, 1983).

Colloquy of God With a Soul That Truly Seeks Him

Price: $.30 per copy, plus postage.

Address: Review for Religious Room 428 3601 Undo, Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri 63108 Prayer, Maintaining a Human Perspective

Laurel M~ O’Neal

Sister Laurel lives as a solitary (hermit) giving some spiritual direction and writing. This article is from a larg.er work in progress tentatively entitled, The Lord’s Prayer: Paradigm of Perspective. Her address is: 80 Lafayette Circle, No. 1; Lafayette, Cali- fornia 94549".

For most of us, prayer during desperate, frustrating, seemingly futile, or insignificant moments is itself often an exercise in desperation, frustra- tion, futility, or insignificance. At these times most of us have accused God of r~emaining remote and distant, and often we have attempted to blunt the sharpness of that accusation by clothing it in the~misleading lan- guage of a shallow and inadequate pseudomysticism. We say, for in- stance, that God has "hidden himself" or "withdrawn" from us, and, in fact, we turn away from the actual ,situation at hand, focusing instead on the supposed "absence of God." In the worst cases our prayer de- generates into attempts to induce God to return .and redeem the situation in the way we believe best. All of this activity is irresponsible and es- sentially cowardly. Certainly it is inimical to prayer. Properly under- stood, prayer allows no appeal to God’s "remoteness," and certainly it is never an occasion preventing us from drinking as deeply as possible from the cup of human experience. The fundamental premise on which all prayer is based and in which all prayer is .enabled is the assertion that, in Christ, God has drawn near to us. Prayer is always the recognition of this nearness. Prayer involves neither summons nor dismissal; thai is, we do not actually ask God him- self to draw near to us in prayer as thoUgh he has in some way remained distant from us. Rather, in prayer we open ourselves to the fact of his

882 Prayer in Human Perspective / 11113 presence. Prayer does not have the character of invitation so much as it does of welcome and appreciation. Although the soundness of this premise rests on a clear Christologi- cal basis, that is, we know this is true because this is what the birth, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus reveal to us, we can begin to develop the assertion by appealing to our fundamental experience in prayer itself. Prayer is the interpreted experience of being comprehended by God. (Isaiah describes the experience as one of being "held in the hollow of his hand. ") In prayer we are known by God. In prayer we are loved by God. And in prayer we are served by God. Prayer is the appre- ciation of his comprehension of us. If we have prayerfully atiended to any moment in our lives, we know that we have been known. Of course it is true that if our prayer is successful, we too will have known, loved, and served God, but the priority of experience is clearly God’s total grasp of us. The psalmist, who shares the Isaianic experience, sings of this pri- ority with wonderful awe and eloquence in Psalm 139: O God, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit and when I stand .... You come upon me behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Being known so is too wonderful for me; it is be- yond me in every way, I cannot attain it.. Neither is the psalmist’s experience unique; his is simply the articu- lation of one intoxicated by his appreciation of something we have all known in those moments of our lives we have genuinely privileged with our attention. Simply, we are graced by the presence of God at all mo- ments in our lives; the tragedy is that we do not grace all of those same moments with our own presence. Stating this in another way, we could say that prayer is the experience of God as the God he wishes to be for us rather than as we alone are aware of needing him to be, or even as we alone believe him to be., Prayer begins, ends, and is sustained by our concern for ~ind commitment to the life of God; we pray when we attend to God’s knowledge, love,-and service of us. We pray whenever we ap- preciate how very surely, gently, and~completely he holds us. Such an understanding of prayer undergirds our ability to "pray al- ways," for it implies that we can learn, to recognize, welcome, and ap- preciate God’s presence not only in our most positive and profound ex- periences but in the most negative and, perhaps more importantly, the most prosaic and homely~as well. Praying well insists we learn to regard even the negative or the seemingly insignificant as the potentially sig- nificant locus of revelation, profound in its capacity to mediate God’s commitment to us. We must believe not only that God is near to us in Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 the apparently profound, but also that he is always profoundly near; to pray it is necessary to believe that, in Christ, God both is and belongs to the ordinary. If we understand this we can live secure in the conviction that, al- though the "content" of our prayer may range from the profoundest full- nesses of union through the vast expanses of "ordinariness" to the deep- est emptinesses of abandonment, they remain experiences of his near- ness, experiences of his commitment to us, potential experiences of rest and (dis)closure, all calling for proper appreciation. It is certain that we must learn to discern and v~lue the significance of’~ach particular expe- rience, but it is equally certain that, in Christ, God has drawn near to us in all experience and will not depart from our midst. As long as we feel we must exclude negative experiences such as doubt and despair from the r~alm of faith or the province of prayer, or that we can blithely disregard the "mundane," we can be sure our prayer will remain severely inadequate and deeply troubled. For if the primary experience in prayer is that of being comprehended by God, to question that he knows, loves, and serves us in any of the moments of our life is to question the integrity of his comprehension, that is, the in- tegrity of his commitment to and apprehension of his own creation in gen- eral. The result is human uncertainty and tentativeness in the face of di- vine assurance, and we will not be able to avoid asking whether his knowl- edge of us is incomplete, his love inadequate, and his grace uncertain if we cannot believe that his presence is the ground of all of our exis- tence and experience. To exclude God, to assert his absence from any moment or mood of his creation, particularly in our confession of our own sinfulness, ’is to abandon prayer. But note well: the failure of prayer results not when we experience absence, emptiness, or even abandonment; if that were the case, much of our lives would cease t~ reflect God’s real relationship to his creation in any way. The failure of prayer results when we forget that, when we experience these or any other feelings with regard to God, we pray by attending to how God experiences us in these moments. Fail- ure to evaluate the situation in this way signifies we have forgotten the fundamental experience of prayer and marks the most critical loss of per- spective possible. Individual experiences themselves are wrongly inter- preted if our attention is focused on our initiative rather than upon the initiative of God. Thus despair, for instance, does not imply the :absence of prayer, or its emptiness or sterility, and. it certainly does not represent the absence of God; rather, it is a particularly difficult and intense, if mis- Prayer in Human Perspective takenly interpreted, experience of God’s nearness in conjunction with hu- man brokenness and isolation. But such an understanding of prayer is also necessary if we are to pray at all--and for an even more significant reason: God is not some- one subject to the coercion and whim of a human summons. It is true that the language of prayer uses expressions of "invitation"; but it does so only as expressions of our desire for increased intimacy and in acknowl- edgment of the need for better appreciation on our own part. It is tragi- cally misunderstood if it is interpreted as a form of summons, no matter how graciously extended; for, no matter how "graciously extended," it will lack the humility appropriate to humanity and necessary for prayer, and summon a "god" who can only be inadequate to the role and a parody of the name. Prayer is the gift and activity of God, attended to by sinners. It will always be inadequate insofar as it does depend upon our appreciation; however, prayer is possible only because God has acted, has loved us, has determined to serve us in our need. Our prayer is require.d if God’s activity is to come to fruition; it is never required, however, to summon God into action. If such an image lingers in our understanding of prayer, we can be very .certain that we have arrogated the divine initiative to ourselves and diminished both ourselves and God in the process. Yet at the same time that we renounce our ability to summon God on the spot, we presume God’s nearness. The Christ event gives us the right to this particular presumption. In life, in death, and in our despair- ing over both, God has drawn near. Whether our experience sings of ec- stasy or screams in doubt, fearl and hopelessness, above and below all we presume God’s nearness. Prayer is always an act of presumption, but it’is the only form of presumption God’s presence allows, and thus prayer is always an act of profoundest humility. That God has drawn near, we, who are sometimes aware of our seeing and touching and tasting of the Risen Lord, cannot doubt. But the paradox that we cannot doubt even when we feel we must and even when~we are only aware of doing so, must reduce us as it did the psalmist, and certainly as it did Jesus, not to arrogance but to awe. Compelling Love

William F. Hogan, C.S.C.

Father Hogan has been a frequent contributor to these pages. His address is: Fratelli Cristiani; Via della Maglianella 375; 00166 Roma, Italy.

I’leading and studying the lives of founders and foundresses can result in a powerful sense of their faith, their trust in God’s providence, their bold- ness in living charity in action. What they accomplished by the power of God was prophetic in their day and it said somettiing then. Their lives and spirit still speak now, even though times and needs may be differ- ent. From a purely human viewpoint, most of them should never have succeeded in founding institutes of consecrated life because of the fra- gility of the beginnings ~ind the obstacles encountered. But zeal for the Lord and love for people, especially thrse in need, compelled them to keep going despite the odds. Would these same men and w~m~n of daring faith and love recog- nize the institutes they founded, were they to return to earth? An inter- esting question that deserves reflection. And the question has a basis in what ordinarily transpires in the institutionalization of a charism, the pas- sage of time, the accumulation of traditions, the development of apos- tolic institutions, and so forth. C~nsideration of this po!nt might well pro- voke further inquiry as to the prophetic service dimension of much of the ordinary ministry in which the religious are engaged and the dy- namics of faith-love with which it is undertaken. Without a doubt no institute exists that does not feel the need to re- capture the spirit of its founder/ress and of its beginnings, while retain- ing the fruit of positive historical developments and being freed of hin- drances. When a group engages in dreaming about return to its original spirit and shares concerning what would have to be done, invariably the

886 Compelling Love / 887

word conversion is heard. Surely a safe answer since we are always in need of conversion! But what kind of conversion? What has to be turned from in order to turn to Christ and his good news in the way shown by those gifted with a founding charism? Many answers will suggest them- selves and open up areas for consideration. One such might be the side effects of emphasis on professionalism in ministry and the ways in which a professional stance is appropriated. Professionalism has an important role to play in ministry; but along with its blessings’it can give rise to difficulties for the unwary, especially in terms of a productivity and utili- tarian philosophy. Further, some secular values may make inroads when the professional dimension is not kept in perspective; witness to poverty and simplification of lifestyle would be particularly vulnerable. Bureaucracy and structural, change probably are other areas that would surface as offering matter for conversion. Every institution even- tually becomes laden with some bureaucracy, if for no other reason than its size and organization aspects.~ Civil requirements and formalities bring with them complications for institutional apostolates, and at times some religious experience frustration from these and the energy that must be expended in their regard. Structures need periodic examination and evalu- ation lest they merely continue without serving the purpose for which they were originally established and perhaps impede ministerial effec- tiveness. Yet at the same time most of us would admit that it can be too easy to place the blame on structures and avoid the issue of personal con- version. Conversion of attitudes or of heart underlies all other conversions; it isthe most important of all and the hardest to address because it in- volves cost to the self and our manner of living. As the charism of the founder or of the foundation becomes institutionalized with the passage of time, its dynamism can be slowed down and pass more to the intel- lectual realm than affect .the personal lives of the members. Even the call of Vatican II, repeated frequently by the Church since then, to return to the charism, can be more easily responded to on an intellectual plane than actually incorporated in an enduring way in daily living. To speak of the spirit of one called to found a religious institute or of the grace of foundation is to speak 6f profound rel.ationships with the person of God, and especially of a moving faith in the person of Jesus Christ, find- ing expression in a love for God and people that would break through human limits. This love is a constituent of the founding charism. Like charisms, love can become institutionalized and gradually lose its character of love even while services are being rendered. There is a 11811 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 lack of soul in such love and one wonders whether it proceeds from the Spirit of God or from human routine. Christian discipleship invOlves more than service as such; a disciple must witness to and possess the spirit of the master--in this instance, the Spirit of Jesus. Just as Elisha asked for a double portion of the spirit of Elijah (see 2 K 2:9), so the follower of Jesus must be concerned with his Spirit. Charity goes beyond services, professi.onalism, structures, ~good works to the very person of Christ and his attitudes and whole manner of being. The word charity/loye is commonplace in religious circles and we think we know allabout its imeaning. We acknowledge that it is not sim- ply a series of "do nots" to be avoided, but a positive reality marked with sensitivity, care, affirmation, encouragement, and so forth. Yet there is another element to love: it has to be a compelling force in our lives or it will become inoperative in contrast to the way Jesus lived it and religious foufiders witnessed to "doing the truth in love" (Ep 4:15). Biblical concordances are replete with references to charity; many of them bring out the idea of love as an impelling, compelling drive. Among them could be cited: The love of Christ impels us... (2 Co 5:14). Over all these virtues, put on love, which binds the rest together and makes them perfect (Col 3:14). Out of love place yourselves at one another’s service. The whole law has found its fulfillment in this one saying: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Ga 5:13-14). May charity be the root and foundation of your life. Thus you will be able to grasp fully, With all the holy ones, the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s love, and experience this love which sur- passes all knowledge, so that.you may attain to the fullness of God him- self (Ep 3:17-19). My prayer is that your lov~ may more and more abound, both in un- derstanding and wealth of experience, so that with a clear conscience and blameless conduct you may learn to value the things that really mat- ter, up to the very day of Christ (Ph 1:9-I0). This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you (Jn 15:12, 17). If love plays an important part in the Christian life, then the whole man- ner of living must be characterized by charity. Love cannot be exercised on occasion: rather it is to be an abiding reality constantly pushing us on--a driving force in life. Compendiums on virtues used’to speak of zeal, zeal for the glory of God and in the service of neighbor (see Ps 69:9; I 19:139). Modern spiritual literature does not frequently touch on Compelling Love / 889 zeal, but that dimension of love should be a focal point of examination concerning conversion. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "I will gladly spend myself and be spent for your sakes. If I love you too much, will I be loved the less for that?" (2 Co 12:15). Whether we can sincerely say the same is a question that provides food for thought. Adolphe Tanquerey’s classic, The Spiritual Life, distinguishes be- tween beginners, those advancing and the perfect in his treatment on fra- ternal charity. ~ He describes perfect souls as those who "love the neigh- bor unto the immolation of self: ’In this we have known the charity of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren’ (1 Jn 3:16). This is what apostolic laborers do. Without shedding their blood for their brethren, they give their life- blood drop by drop, forever working for souls, immolating themselves in prayer, in study, even in the recreation they take."2 Tanquerey’s word- ing may not be very appealing today; however, the underlying concept of love impelling the person to live and be for others while living and being for God still rings true. Such is spirit manifested by Jesus and what marked religious foundations in their beginnings: zeal, compassion, pas- sionate love. Institutes die or approximate living death when the dynamism of char- ity fades and devolves to simply doing good works. Zealous, compel- ling love that is recaptured should be able to transform old institutions and prompt us to overcome some of the institutional dimensions through a change of mentality. Today’s calls to creativity in ministry and renewal of institutional apostolates will not be heard when love is in a rut and does not push us to action; and creativity not linked with burning char- ity could easily, be superficial and passing, for lack of in-depth roots. Only compelling love as a foundation can move us to take the risks of creativity in a lasting way, the love of God poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Rm 5:5). Religious identity today, as in the past, is linked up with the faith- charity that flows from the experience of the loving Christ. Witness is not service alone, but service proceeding from a being profoundly rooted in Christ’s love by the Spirit for the Father and for sisters and brothers. And even apart from the ~erv.ice, the witness primarily consists in the be- ing. Without the person being rooted in love, the service-ministry can degenerate into perfunctory action. The passionate charity that impels one to self-giving is ultimately a gift from God, an outpouring of the Spirit or an awakening to respond to God’s power and presence within us. Gifts do not affect us or become 890 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 operative within us unless there be receptivity--an openness to really be- lieving that God can change us and a desire for the change. The chal- lenge of conversion may well be to desire that God change our hearts and to pray genuinely for the gift of compelling love that characterized the origins of our institutes. The potential is there, but its fulfillment is hin- dered without the desire and the prayer. This is not a new message; how- ever, we may unfortunately be slow to accept it no matter how often or in how many ways our God attempts to teach us.

NOTES

~ Adolphe Tanquerey, The Spiritual Life, H. Branderis, Translator. Newman Press, Westminister, MD; 2nd. ed., 1930; nos. 1240-1251. 2 Ibid, no. 1250.

From silence music is born and except for the silence there would be no music

A Silent Coming

His coming is in sacred silence Not the stillness of a hollow void Before the deadening clap of thunder,, But the sacred silence filled to expectation, The expectation of unwearied waiting.

And in the quiet air of frosty night .A child’s cry splinters the stillness As pain and joy blossom into song For God has shattered the faces of the clock And clothed himself in frail mortality.

He sees now with eyes and feels with hands And fashions speech with tongue and breathes the air We breathe and walks this global earth of ours: His breath of being warm to melt bur fears, His Christmas coming a d.aily round of years.

Marcella M. Holloway, C.S.J. 6321 Clemens Avenue St. Louis, Missouri 63130 Integrating Self-Awareness and Ministry

Connie Halbur, S.S.S.F.

Earlier, Sister Connie had published "Unconditional Forgiveness" (Jan/Feb, 1983). She is working as a school psychologist at St. Coletta School (Jefferson, Wisconsin 53549), which offers a residential setting for developmentally disabled persons.

In the period since Vatican II, religious have focused more intensely than ever before on the development of the self. They have participated in sensitivity sessions, counseling, personal growth workshops, personal- ity assessment, and similar techniques. They have read extensively., and they have furthered their education. Certainly, ministry was not ignored during this period; indeed, religious tended to become frantically in- vol ved ! In recent years, they have focused on ministry anew, in perhaps a "more mature rhanner, collectively speaking. It appears to this writer that in the course of this new focus on ministry, interest in personal growth through self-awareness may be wafting. If this be indeed true, it may be seen as a normal, healthy human drive toward equilibrium; some may find it necessary to rest from the intensity of self-probing for a time, and to keep a balanced view of reality by means of looking away from them- selves temporarily. It would seem, however, that the time is right, at least for many reli- gious, to reform their lives in such a way that ministry and self- awareness nurture each other deeply. This article is based on the prem- ise that ministry can be significantly enriched as a consequence of deep- ening self-awareness. Given our experiences of the last twenty-five years, we have, at this time in history, the invitation and opportunity to integrate ministry with personal growth through self-awareness more corn-

891 Review for Religious,, November-December, o1987

pletely than ever before. It is assumed here that spirituality plays a key role both in self-awareness and in ministry. Indeed, the spiritual life is the energy linking the two. In the usual course of events, subliminal perceptions, feelings, de- sires, needs and expectations have a notable effect on our behavior. These inner dynamics also can be expected to influence’our ministerial functioning. While most of us are at least vaguely aware of this, many do not realize the degree to which it is true. Many of us believe (or wish) that we can successfully put.aside the awareness and effects of percep- tions, feelings, needs, desires and expectations as we go about our min- isterial duties. While we may think our attempts at doing this have been effective, those we serve know or at least sense otherwise. Fortunately, they also sense and benefit from our many gifts and positive inner dy- namics, as well as from those that we try ~to leave behind. Certainly, it is often not only necessary but also healthy to be only minimally con- scious of our inner dynamics as we minister, but we cannot magically obliterate their effects. It should be noted here that at times what we per- ceive as negative may in fact have positive effects in our ministry. Our perceptions, feelings, needs, desires and expectations have much to do with who we are. In fact, who we are is ministry; we are truly gift to each other. Before proceeding further, I w~uld like to make a few general re- marks about perceptions, feelings, needs, desires and exp.ectations. Fol- lowing that, I will give a number of examples showing the relationships between these inner dynamics and behavior. The term perception is used here to designate our way of seeing a certain reality. Thus, a perception is a belief or attitude, although it is usually not stated explicitly.as a belief or attitude. Perceptions tend to have a feeling quality about them. This is evidenced by the fact that we often use the word feeling when. we speak of them. We may say, for ex~ ample, "I have a feeling there is going to be trouble." To be more ac- curate, we should say, "I perceive signs that there will be trouble and I feel uneasy about it." Perceptions may be accurate, or they may be false. They may be general, such as, "All people are basically selfish," or they may be specific, such as, "Brother X is a cheerful person." They may be conscious, or they may be subliminal. In fact, many of our perceptions operate in our lives for a long time without our being aware of them. (This article will emphasize the value of becoming aware of sub- liminal, perceptions.) Self-Awarehess and Ministry

Usually, perceptions are generalizations drawn from numerous experi- ences. For example, if we have had many experiences, especially in child- hood, of significant others being selfish, as relating to us as if we were only useful to them, we are likely to generalize that perception extend- ing it to include all or most people, assuming that they will be selfish and exploitive. When we meet someone whom we experience as unsel- fish, we tend to await the eruption of the selfishness which we suspect is beneath the more agreeable surface. Perceptions may also be learned from actual instruction, such as a parent telling a child that a specific group of people is musically inclined. Perceptions are also,"picked up" from the attitudes of significant oth- ¯ ers~, or are absorbed from the culture in which we live. The most dy- namic, and the most resistant to change, are ordinarily those perceptions which are learned in childhood. Frequently, these perceptions are rein- forced later on in our religibus communities or in our work settings. It is not uncommon t;or subliminal pe~;ceptions to be contrary to consciously held beliefs. Feelings, actions and expectations often flow from percep- tions. However, as Assagioli,states,~ the progression, sometimes moves in the other direction. Feelings are as truly a way of knowing as are perceiving and think- ing. They~ are less likely to be swayed by cultural expectations or per- sonal self-definitions. Instead, they "say it like it is." While it is pos- sible to manufacture a feeling by our actions or wishes, these feelings have a different quality, and usually do not last long, andour inner sense tells us’that they are not real.2 While fe, elings are an important factor in determining who we are, we should not make tile mistake of saying, "I am what I feel." As Assagioli3 states, "We are dominated by everything with which our self becomes identified. We can dominate and control everything from which we disidentify ourselves." He clarifies this in an- other place:4 I have emotions, but I am not my emotions: My emotions are diversi- fied, changing, sometimes contradictory. They may swing from love to hatred, from calm to anger, from joy to sorrow, and yet my essence-- my true. nature~oes not change. "I" remain. Though a wave of an- ger may temporarily submerge me, I know that it will pass in time; there- fore, I am not this anger. Since I can observe and understand my emo- tions, and then gradually learn to direct, utilize and integrate them har- moniously, it is clear that they are not myself. I have emotions, but I am not my emotions. Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

Lest we get the impression from this statement that its author deval- ues feelings in favor of thinking, we need to read further: I have a mind, but I am not my mind. My mind is a valuable tool of discovery and expression, but it is not the essence of my being. Its con- tents are constantly changing as it embraces neff ideas, knowledge and experience. Often it refuses to obey me! Therefore, it cannot be mygelf. It is an organ of knowledge in regard to both the outer and th~ inner worlds, but it is not my self. I have a mind, but I am~not my mind. Feelings which we extensively deny or repress tend to have a strong negative power over us," and in a sense form a kind of subpersonality within us, whereas feelings which have come to consciousness are more easily redirected and integrated. It should also be noted here that we can form a habit of resp6nding to certain situations with a specific feeling. Thus, changing the feeling involves changing the habit. Furthermore, cer- tain feelings appear to be characteristic of some cultures or subcultures. However: it is probably more accurate to say that these culture-specifi~ feelings actually arise out of cultural p~rceptions and beliefs. The term need is used here to mean that which must exist if the .indi- vidual is to survive and’ grow in some aspect of personhood. The person may or may not be aware of this need. What is a need for one.person may not be a need for another person. For example, one adult may truly need a gre~t deal of nurturance, perhaps because she or he did not re- ceive it as ’a child, whil~ another.person may thrive with very little nur- turance. It is unlikely that for any one person all needs will be met. Life is seldom so propitious as to supply all that is needed for gr~)wth in all areas of personhood. In fact, in some cases we consciously have to sac- rifice one aspect of personal growth for another. In speaking of needs, there is a possible problem of perceiving something zis a need when iff- deed it is not. Not even the most prominent of personality the6rists agree on what .a need actually is, and what is mere preference.5 The word desire is used here to mean our preference for doing, hav- ing, or being. Desires are not essential for personal growth but may en- hance it. Like perceptions;feelings and t~eeds, they may be conscious or unconscious. Usually, we are not as likely to suppress our awareness of desires. An example of a desire is: a person who is a foreign mission- ary may also wish to be a classical musician. He or she may consciously have given up music for the sake of the missions, or the individual may resist the awareness of this desire, fearing that it may mean that he or she is not truly devoted to missionary work. ~ Self-Awareness and Ministry / 895

Expectation, in the present context, means that which we assume will exist or happen. Expectations often arise out of perceptions, needs and de’sires. They, too, may be conscious or unconscious. Expectations are particularly relevant as regards our living together and our working to- gether. They are often operative before or during community or staff meet- ings. For example, we may go into a living situation expecting a high degree of personal freedom. We may not have had the opportunity to evaluate the situation to see if our expectation is likely to be met. There- fore, we would not have thought about alternative responses if it is not met. It is important to be aware of our expectations so that we can ap- proach situations realistically, and not become upset or confused because we have been caught by surprise. Examples For the purpose of clarity, and to stimulate self-awareness in the reader, I would now like to present some examples of perceptions, needs, desires and expectations, and give some possible alternatives of feeling and behavioral responses. In some cases I will also suggest possible re- actions of those with whom the minister deals. I will state each percep- tion and expectation asia quotation--although we are seldom so clearly conscious of them as to be able to state them succinctly. In fact, often when we do become clearly conscious of them, we realize that they are oversimplified and distorted. Perceptions 1. People who think a lot about themselves are selfish, or proud, or unstable. A person who holds this perception may feel scorn or pity for those "who think a lot about themselves." Behavioral responses should take many fo~rms. We might ignore, or reject the opinions of those "who think a lot about themselves, ’~’ or we may avoid their company. Or we may choose a situation or’profession in wtiich we are in a position to change or help these persons. O we may merely tolerate them. In any case, if such persons are among those to whom we minister, or with whom we work, the underlying perception and the negative feelings will almost cer- tainly be detected b~, them, with consequent hurt. Such a perception may easily sabotage the good that could have been done. Fortunately, the ill effects may be balanced by other, m6re positive perceptions in the min- ister. 2. In order to be valuable, I must be needed by those to whom I min- ister. Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

A nurturant feeling response flows naturally from this attitude, but there will probably also be anxiety about acceptance and worth. Persons harboring this perception may tend toward-messianism, or may treat those to whom they minister as needy children or as little brothers or sis- ters, and may unwittinglytry to keep those to whom they minister in a dependent position. They are apt to be quite ready to give advice. They may tend iaot to take adequate time for prayer and leisure, and are un- likely to be playful. When they do play, they conduct themselves like adults dutifully playing with children in’their charge. The helping pro- fessions are attractive to these persons, and they may indeed do much good within them. However, it is probable that those served may read- ily accept the service when they are in crisis, but may later withdraw from contact with the minister. 3. People are basically good and well-intentioned, and even though they may blunder and even sin, they will soon return to .goodness. Feeling responses could vary on a continuum from healthy .trust to naive gullibility. While this minister may sometimes take unnecessary risks, he or she is also likely to treat others with respect. 4. In order to be valuable, one must be right and very knowledge- able. Therefore, I must be right at all times. It is unlikely~that this perception would be held on a conscious level for any length of time! Yet it is not, I believe, an uncommon perception. Some feelings flowing from this perception are anxiety, anger, depres- sion, and exhaustion. Behaviors vary from those which have positive ef- fects on persons served, to those which alienate persons served.They in- clude diligence, thoroughness, conscientiousness, gi.ving advice readily, resisting the suggestions of others, haughtiness, defensiveness, acting in a know-it-all manner, and treating colleagu.es and those they serve as in- ferior. Highly structured situations, positions ~as consultants, and some positions of authority attract persons holding this perception. 5. If l like to do or have something, it must be wrong. Someone will surely disapprove. Feeling responses associated with this attitude are those of inferior- ity (actually a perception and a feeling), anxiety, guilt~ and possibly an- ger at being so deprived. Behavioral responses include hesitancy, inde- cisiveness and behaving like a fearful or dependent child. Having ex- perienced persistent feelings of inferiority, perhaps from having been criti- cized and put down often as a child or young person, this minister may have a genuine understanding of the so-called underdog. Self-Awareness and Ministry

6. Most people in authority °are power-seeking, vindictive, and pu- nitive, or at very least, exacting. The obvious feeling responses here are resentment, distrust or fear of authority figures, and anger that one is considered inferior to them. Some persons holding this per(eption may prefer to work independently, and riaay be quite effective in that setting. Others may be very rule- abiding and fearful of using their own initiative. Some may want all ex- pectations regarding them clearly delineated, and may hold a corollary belief that they are bad if they think for themselves. Another group may clandestinely or openly oppose all authority figures, or may try to get into p~ositi.ons of authority themselves in order to avoid having someone else in authority over them, or to get revenge, although the latter will probably be displ~ed onto persons who have never been in. positions of authority. Some may have a habit of justifying everything they do, as if to placate a real or imag!nar~ critic. 7. I am basically a balance.d person, and even though I may have my ups and downs, 1 usually stabilize quickly; "~’ Persons holding this perception are like!y to feel trusting and self- confident, but may also experience a wholesome blend of anxiety. They are inclined to treat those served with respect, as equals. They may at times be resistant to awareness of less than desirable inner dynamics. Those they serve are likely to look on them as stabiliz.ing influences. 8. To forgive is to.b~¢ weak. This is, I believe, a ~ommonly held belief, although~it is probably subliminal in many religious persons. Concomitant feelings are a fear of beirig psychologically powerless and of damage to one’s self image. The non-forgiving person is likely to feel anger, resentment, bitterness, ha- tred, scorn, or guilt. It is possible that the individual may, not.be aware of these feelings, and may unconsciously act them out on those whom ,she or he serves..Other~behavioral responses are revenge, assuming a strong demeanor, avoidance of the person with whom one is~in conflict, talking behind’the other person’s back, pretending that nothing hap- pened, or trying to forget (without forgiving). In order to justify their own non-forgiveness, these persons may tend to emphasize the justice of God in their ministry. The deleterious effects of non-forgiveness on ministry are obvious. 9. A person is not a good religious if s/he is not available for work whenever anything needs to be done. The person holding this perception may feel valued, if that person is able to work long hours! However, the individual may also feel used, Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

and therefore resentful. He or she may °feel angry if work does not ;allow~ development of other aspects of life, and indeed the person may resent people who seem to impose this restrictive self-definition on him or her. Again, it is possible that these feelings would exist only on an .uncon- scious~level. The religious who holds this perception and who assu~es that others also ~hold it may in fact work very hard, but his or her world may become quite small. Needs 1. A person whose makeup is highly creative may be in a situation which allowsf0r very":iittle spontaneous, original, or divergent thinking, and little ~r no artistic expre~ssion. The volume of work may be such that the individual has no time or energy left for creative pursuits’. Yet..; by nature, this person’s primary mode of dealing with the world is creative. ’While the creative person usually manages to make th~ besi out of even this situation, it will probably not be er]~ugh to ~llow for growth in this area of personhood, and unfortunately, many people believe that a loss of this kind is not significant. As Arieti6 states, "Whereas the average person early in life learns to check his own imagination’:and to pay more attention to the requirements of reality than to his inner experiences, the creative person follows a different course. He feels himself to be in a state of turmoil, restlessness, deprivation, emptiness and unbearable frus- trati6n u~l~S~ he expresses his inner life in Ol’~e or another creative way." I would also suggest that existential anxiety, and depression could re- sult from being in this situation; the person simply has a sense that she or he is not’what she or he was made to be.~ This minister may (on- sciously or unconsciously resent those with whom or for whom she or ~he works. Personal behaviors may include inefficiency, gruffness, and disrespect for those served, but this is by no means always the case. This creative person may experience great loneliness because of the sense of not fitting in. The psychologically heal~thy person who is in this situation may, at best, be able’ to use it for personal growth in some other area, such as a deep appreciation for the day-to-day plight of those in ~imi- larly depressing situations. 2. The minister who has been in a consultative or administrative ~posi- tion for a long time’.may, genuinely need an experience in the field in or- der to restore a balanced view of his or her world. If this need is not met, the individual may feel unrealistically confident. A sense of being out of touch with those served may be repressed for a long time. However, a feeling of success may coexist with the :out-of-touch feeling. For awhile, energy and enthusiasm are high, but when they begin to wane; Self-Awareness and Ministry it is h sign that the person ineeds a change of some kind. If the need is not met, the minister may begin to resent those being served, and may look down on them, or become impatient with them, or avoid interact- ing with them. If, however, the minister senses the need for a c~aange, there may understandably be fear of the letdowns, theperceived humili- ation,,.the narrowing of.perspective and sphere of influence, the sense of loss, and the feeling of talents not being used or appreciated. Thus, the needed change is likely to be delayed. 3. The minister whose work does not provide for much sustained con- tact with signific~int others may have a real need for more frequent close and supportive relationships. If, further, the place of work is geographi, cally distant from significant others, the person may begin to experience strong feelings of alienation and isolation, along with depression and anxi- ¯ ety. Certainly, people vary in their need for close relationships, but it is a rare person who can suffer this deprivation.for extended periods with- out ill effects. For a v.ariety of reasons, some ministers deny this need, and may frantically apply themselves to their work in order to prevent an awareness of it from surf, acing. Since it takes much "energy to sup- pr~ess the awareness as well as the concomitant feelings, it woiald not be surprising’to find thi~ minister exhausted, or 6xperiencing some physi- cal ailment: In a sense, the bo.dy steps in to help the rn’inister find caring relationships! It can also be expected that the quality of work may even- tually deteriorate. If the minister could b’~ aware of theneed., then he or she might also become aware of feelings of resentment toward’persons being served and toward coworkers, and might say (o’them, silently, "I do hot want to be with you. There is nothing wrong with you, but it is beCause I have to be with you that I feel so lonely!" Fortunately, aware- ness usually allows t~or constructive resolution. Desires ,/, 1. A religious may t~ruly desire to have children and to parent. This desire for parenting may exist alongside an equally sincere desire to be a celibate minister. If the religious is not conscious of,the desire, feel- ings of frustration, unfulfillment, emptiness, confusion and loneliness ,may ~be perplexing, and may lead to nbn-constructive behaviors. These persons may unwittingly relate to those served as if they were their chil- dren. Or they may become irritable and impa.tient. On the other hand, whether.they are conscious.of the desire or not, they may be very nur- turant people, They may, be caring and sensitive of others’ .needs. 2. Some religious may have become very tired of being constantly on the move and having to break relationships; they desire to settle down, 90.0 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 and to enjoy sustained relationships where they do not have to dread the separation and where they do not have to spread out their affection among so many.. They may have resorted to avoiding close relationships in the past in order to. avoid the pain of separation. Some may have be- lieved that any close relationship would automatically exclude and hurt others, and would be selfish and wrong. Others may have feared what close relationships could lead to. These ministers~ may be very lonely and even despondent, especially if they are unaware .of their desire. Others may have become irritable and discontented, with obvious effects on those they serve and on their coworkers. Such a minister engaged in evangelization may wonder- why his~or her message is viewed skepti- cally. On the other hand, the minister who becomes aware of the ~desire to settle,down and have close relationships may become very conscious of,. the loneliness inherent in some types of work, and thus become con- siderate of persons engaged in such v~ork. .Exp~ec~tations 1. In this meeting, everyone’s op~nion wil.l be heard and reslJected. Feelings experienced before the meeting may be~ hopefulness and enthusiasm. If, ho.wever, the p.erson has also pickled up "vibes" sug- gesting that the meeting may not go well,.a.nd has not yet become clearly conscious of such, he or she may alsoexpefience vague feelings of anxi- ety. This minister probably, perceives self and others as valuable, and as having mu~h to offer, and so will go into the meeting with an open mind, and will listen intently as others offer opinions. If the expectation was accurate, the positive feelings’~ill become even s~ronger, and will be en- hanced by feelings of satisfa~t’i~on. I~owever, as most ministers know, meetings often do not turn out so well! If a fewpersons or a group domi- nate the meeting, or engage in p~litical maneuvering, the minister may feel confused, demeaned, used, or angry, and may become defensiv(, hostile, or lapse into silent, submission. In a more fortunate ~ituation, the .minister may constructively confront those who are dominating the meet- ing, and may, after the meeting, suggest a process for future meetings that would prevent domination. 2. The end product of this meeting will be decision X. A person may have this expectation for a variety,of reasons, among which is the perception that one person or group (or the minister herself or himself!) will dominate the meeting and get their view through, no mat- ter what. In contrast, the minister may.have evaluated the situations re- lated to the alternative decisions incorrectly, not realizing that some of ,the other alternatives are equally plausible. The minister may simply as- Self-Awareness and Ministry / 901

sume that decision X is the only fight way to go, :and may doubt that any- one would hold any.otherview. Or the person may have inaccurately sized up the opinions ofthe other participants. The person may go into the meeting feeling confident, determin~ed, or resentful, angry, depend- in’g on which perception led to the expectation. The feelings experienced during the,meetin~ ~may be another matter, depending on what actually occurs. Behaviors will be contingent upon what feelings are experienced, how the person perceives what is happe,ning, and the habits and values of the person. . ,, , .3 .. I expect to find camaraderie and deeposharing in this living group. This expectation may be based on an accurate perception of the grofip, or it may be based solely on one’s needs or desires. If it is accu- rate, the person will~ probably feel hopeful and eager. Some mild feel- ings of,,anxi_ety could also be expe~.c.~.ed. If the expectation be inaccurate, and the person has picked up "vibes" to that effe~ct (actually, ,a contrast- ing pe.rception), feelings of. apprehe~nsi6r~°~ah b~ exp,~ec, ted. If the percew tion is based completely on one’s needs and desires, feelings of anxiety ~ .may. p~redominate. The range of feelings and behaviors which may occur if the expectation is false may include discom:agement, .hurt, anger, lone- lines.s, bitterness, constructive confrontati~h, quarreli.~ng, isolation from ea.ch~, other, becoming so busy that interaction is infrequent, deciding to move, or ,simply making the best of it. The u.npleasant experience may lead the person t0’a deeper awarene~.s of personal expectations in the next movb; or the individual may give up on de~rivi0g any satisfaction fi’om any living experiences~ Eventually, this latte~ reaction could be harm.ful to one’s~ ministry s, ince ministry and the quality of living .together fiur- iure each other. ¯ Resistance to the Inner Search -. Religious may have many reasons for placing the inner ~earch low On’ their list of priorities. Perhaps some who hadoearlier wh.oleheartedly sought personal fulfillment in the numerous opportunities offered since Vatican II have become disillusioned. They, did not find in these activi- ties the fulfillment of an elusive and prbbably unexpressed goal, the an- swer to haunting questions, or the solution to most of their problems. Many personal growth techniques, used in the past twent)~-five years seemed to have as their end mere self-awareness; the enhancement of the person as minister was not often explicitly stated, even though the pro- viders may have seen it as a desirable by-product. At any rate, these ac- -~tivities appeared to some to foster childish self-centeredness. Surely, it is possible for the participator to become self-centered regardless of the 91~2 /Revie)v. for Religio~us; November-December, 1987 goals of the provider. Forthis reason it is.~iinportant to have a guide in the process of inner search; and to periodically test. and balance one’s focus by means of relationships with and service to others. Personal growth is a gift~ not only for the searcher, but also for al! those.with whom the searcher interacts. However, there are times in life when we are called to, concentrate more ~ntensely on what is within. Sheila Murphy7.states: It is only by turning inward, by assessing personal resources and beliefs, that a woman establishes her personal philosophy of life and can iden- tify her unique place in history. As such, the ~fiidlife transition is ex- tremely self-centered; it is an absolutely necessary retreat into the self that_must be experienced before the remainder of life can be.lived mean- ingfully. As such, it sometimes disrupts routine functioning. Unfortunately, this apparent selfishness has alienated some persons. Another reason for resistan"ce to self-awareness lies in the "fad as- pect" of personal growth sessions and similar hctivities. Perhaps some persons did participate in activities because it seemed the thirig to do. Others, observing this movement an°d disliking fads, also reject the good that may tome from these pursuits. .Self-awareness is a sometimes risky business which takes much time and energy. It is often necessary, Or at least helpful, to be by oneself think.,,to pray, to alloff feelings to surface and to expr.ess them, to fanta- size, tb reme.mber, and to create. Shortage of time or’lack of psychic en- ergy and stainina may prevent some persons from delving deeply into the inner self. ’Indeed, .the inner search can be fearful. We may justifiably be af~ai~l of what lies beneath the surface. Perhaps lurking in our psychologidal basements hre some unacceptable monsters! Perhaps,we will even find something we call,sin, either our personal sin or the collective sin of hu- manity. We fear losing the sense of equilibrium we now enjoy and be- coming, overwhelmed by these inner forces. We fear the dislodging of our current self-image. Truly, what we find may not fit the definition of who we believe we should be. We cringe from the rejection of those who wonder what is happening to us, who may see us as becoming unstable. We dread the loss of the admiration we received for our work orienta- tion..Benea~h all of this is a fear of nothingness. Perhaps we ar~ unaware that there are also treasures in the basement. Buried treasure is seldom found in a tidy. state; it is usually surrounded with debris! It is necessary to sort through all the debris to find the treasure. And, indeed, some of~ the. debris itself may turn out to be treasure. Self-Awareness and Ministry / 903

Many religious sense and fear the contrast between consciously held .beliefs~and values, and what may be deep within. It is truly I~umbling to admit, even to ourselves, that we have certai~ perceptions, feelings, -needs, 9r" desires. Therefore, we try to operate as if keeping these reali- ties a secret from ourselves will also hide their existence from others. Our culture further discourages us from searching within by its activity and work orientation, its materialism, and its tendency to view feelings ,and p~sychological needs as weak or childish. Complicating this further is our mission orientation; we believe very strongly in this mission ori- entation, yet now we also can~feel called to the inner search. Or we may feel called to perfection and holiness; yet we sense something very im- Perfect and unholy within. We may feel pulled in two different direc- tions, so we,postpone awareness,as if by doing so we would deprive what is hidden of e~istence and power. The contrasts’and conflicts are more than we care to bear. We religious, with .our or!._entation toward perfection, may tend to feel unduly guilty and ashamed when we discover the dark side of our humanity. Furthermore, some of us have simply given up on personal growth, suffering enough pain and depression as it is, without risking the -possibility of more. Finally, on a more positive side, ma.ny persons wisely put the inner search aside for awhile, for the’sake of balance, clearer perspective, or service. These persons generally resume the search later on when the time is right. Attraction to the Inner Search Perhaps the most dynamic force leading to self-awareness is the in- ner urge toward growth given to us by God. The call to be a fully hu- man individual in relation with others is a force that can be resisted only at the cost of existential anxiety and feelings of emptiness, isolation and depression. The search within is a powerful way to bring about grow.th, although it is n~t the only way. The urge to growth is a central theme in the-theories of many psychologists, among whom are Jung, Maslow, Assagioli, ~nd some existentialists. We do not always recognize where the call to be more than we are is coming from, and so we may begin our search outside of ourselves rather than interiorly, in accomplish- ments, acquisition of possessions, and social activities. Eventually, we sense that the call is coming from within, and after having spent much time and energy becoming self-aware, we discover th~at.we are also "out there." Thus, the integration of self-awareness and self-expression in serv- ice of God and others begins.. 904 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

.A second powerful force precipitating the inner search is the call of reality¢ the call of truth and,.,wisdom. We sense that there ismuch more to truth than the knowiedge we have accumulated. There are those elu- sive realities for which we have no name. There are those pers.onal ex- periences we,do not comprehend. There are puzzling questions about re- lationships. And there-is the haunting question of the meaning of life. Some of us succeed in .putting these questions .aside, ~,living a rich and productive life without trying to answer them, perhaps discovering .mean- ing and truth in the course of our day-to-day existence. But others inten- tionally search for the answers, and if the search goes well, become more integrated persons, thereby enriching others withtheir presence. I believe that God ’works in both ways. Closely related to the call of reality and wisdomds the experience many persons have of the transpersonal or collective unconscious.8 These experiences are both puzzling and enticing, and since we seldom find an explanation for them in our ordinary daily activities, we look for answers within,ourselves. But here, too, once, we receive some clarity from :within, we realize that the reality and its signs were also "out there;" in myth; in art, in literature;oand in the customs people treasure, and we wonder, gently, why we did not see it before. ’ ~ ~ In this context we sh0uld~also mention psi phenomena (paranormal experiences), such as clairvoyance, telepathy, and psychokinesis. Per- ohaps for al few persons, these experiences have been. a factor in begin- ning their inner search. The world of dreams has its own dynamism, suggesting that there is more to reality than our cofisciousness shows us. Dreams in~,ite us to search our own personal inner world for truth and guidance. Some per- sons find that their dreams also delve into transpersonal realities.9 Finally, many of us a~e’tlriven to deeper self-awareness because of l~ersonal problems, emotiohal concerns, and conflicts, whether inner or interpersonal. Furthermore, some see the need to rid themselves of im- perfections. These p~rsons attempt tb understand and purify their motiva- tions, and to correct the root causes of what they perceive to be imper- fections.- " Benefits .of Self-Awareness While it is true that no matter how weak, disintegrated, or sinful we arewe can do good for others, it is also true that when with God’s help we become m~re ifi~tegrated we have even more gifts to offer. It is also often observed that those who have experienced much disintegration, but who have begun to unite their inner selves, tend to be very credible wit- Self-Awareness and Ministry nesses.,Perhaps this is so because they .serve and vcitness not as superior to those.to whom they minister but as equals,,mu_ch as J~esus is so cred- ible to us because he knows what it is to be human. W~ ail.come to min- istry weak, incomplete, and in need of healing. The humility that we learn through self-awareness may be our greatest git~t to those served. It leads us to respect them more deeply, and enables us too.be more under- standing, caring and considerate, reducing sharply any tendencies we may have had t6 be harsh, critical, judgmental, or rigid. Because the process of self-awareness often leads to an even closer relationship with God, the love that is the substance of that relationship spills over onto~those whom we serve. Perhaps while we are in the most intens~ and upsetting phages of self-awareness, we may try to be protec- tive of ourselves, and thus feel less free to ~erve with love, and even have less energy for service. However, this situation is likely to be temporary, and’in the long run we will be less self-serving than before we began our search. This is the case because self-awareness tends.to reduce noncon- structive defenses such as power-seeking and defensiveness in their vari- ous forms. This search diminishes distrust of others, while enhancing our respect and admiration for the beauty in others and ourselves. The more integrated we become, the freer we ~are to love. We have lessodifficulty with forgiveness, and although we will never completely be spared in- terperson~al conflicts, .our manner of cpping with them will improve. Self- awareness also helps us to get rid of some of those rough edges which others find annoying. The quality of our living together can also im- prove, making it more satisfying, and thereby freeing us to minister with more energy. Self-awareness often has the effect of making us more self- confident, although this may not be so. initially. We become less fearful of ministerial tasks and situations. Those of us who formerly tended to suppress feelings often discover that allowing them to rise to consciousness changes them from something to be f~ared to something which makes our service more dynamic and warm: If, on the other hand, we had poor control of our feelings, we now find that we are more in command of them. It is well known in psychology that perceptions, feelings, needs, de- sires and expectations which are unconscious tend to have a destructive power over us. By resisting awareness of these unconscious entities, we actually’allow them.to sabotage our lives and ministry. Self-awareness frequently transforms them into constructive forces. The painful aspects of the inner search often make us keenly aware of our need for God ~nd give us.a clearer sense of our position with respect to God. We share 906 / Review for Religious; November-December, 1987 deeply the experienceofJob. However, we also discover in these expe- riences previo,~usly unknown goodness and power. We learn to marvel at and enjoy these gifts of God to us, and eagerly wish to share them with others. In the process Of ~xamining our inner dynamics, we may spontan(- ously begin to’examine why we are engaged in ministry, or why we are engaged in this pa~icular mini.stry. Our motivations are then likely to be- come purer-~or we may realiie that we need to make stJme changes. We are less likely to use ministry for self-service. Facilitating Self-Awareness Life has a way of triggering self-awareness; major adjustments de- manded by such events as death, illness, conflicts, as well as numerous others, both positive and negative, disturb our equilibrium and puzzle us, forcing us to search for meanings. At some point, we may become fa- tigued from the effort required to bury painful realities. Or we may have discovered by experience that some of our former perceptions were false, and therefore not to be feared. We may also have had sufficieflt good experiences so that we now feel strong enough to risk exposing some for- merly feared inner dynamics. Or-we may realize that we can get along without that which we~once thotight made us valuable. At any. rate, for one or all of these reasons, we are now ready to face what lies beneath our surface consciousness. As we proceed in our search, it is essential continually to ask the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We also can ask our brother, Jesus, to join us in our venture. Many techniques are currently available to assist us in achieving self- awareness. Among these are retreats, counseling, formal and ~nformal assessments, writing an autobiography, bibliotherapy, reading for per- sonal growth, various w6rkshops and lectures, support groups, a~d-simu- lation games. Many of the above suggest approaches or follow-up which Can be carried out independently. We also may create our own ap- proaches, similar to those which are given below. Some Methods of the Inner S~arch After writing an autobiography, we may ask ourselves:~ 1. ~t’ ~vhich time in my life did I feel most confitlent, fearful, tense, pe~iceful, energetic, angry, lonely~, bitter, carefree, loving~ hopei~ul...? What was happening in my life at that time that seemed to cause these feelings? We ~night trace one particular feeling’through life, perhaps ar- tistically illustrating the rises and falls in that feeling. Self-Awareness and Ministry / 907

2. In what situations was I most assertive?’When did I accomplish the most? When did I seem to plateau or even stagnate with regard to accom- plishments or ministry? 3. What talents or abilities do I have that I have not been able to use yet, either in my ministry or for my own enjoym’ent? 4. Which people in my life have been most supportive? Which, persons have been most influential with regard to my ministry? Who stood me as’I made major changes in my life, or did I stand alone? 5. With what type of person do I feel most at ease? In my living situa- tion? In my ministry? 6. What unforeseen and perhaps unwanted events changed the course of my life and ministry? Now that these events are in the past, do I believe that the turn of events was good in the long run? 7. If I had to limit myself to three adjectives’ in summarily describing my living situations thus far, what would they be? My ministry? 8. ~What’ would I disc6ver if I were to comialete each of the following senten~ces briefly, with thee first words that come to mind?: ¯ -M6st of my superiors have been -Most 6f my work situations have been -The people to whom I minister are usually -My coworkers nearly always -Most people are basically -The feeling that most of my coworkers have toward me is ~. -The feeling that most of the persons whom I have served had about me was -What I do is (adjective). -My life with God has been -What I wanted most from life was "What 1 w]anted most from community was -My biggest drawback in ministry has been -My greatest asset in ministry has been -My g~reatest drawback in living together has been -My greatest asset.in living,together has been -I remain in com~nunity because -I continue to share my life and ministry with this particular group of men or women in community because Another technique many persons enjoy is allowing themselves to dream spontaneously, beginning with the phrase, "If only .... i’ .:Th.e Content of the various ’_’dreams" could correspond with different aspects of our life, such as ministry, leisure, and so forth. A related technique is inventing scenarios. For example, we might, in fantasy, create a new Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 religious community, or a new parish structure. What would these be like? What would the people be like? What would be happening? When interacting with others, or when with God in prayer, we do well to periodically and quickly reflect on how we are feeling at the mo- ment. While this could be carried to extremes, with the result that we would focus more on ourselves than on God or the othe~ person:, it is un- ¯ likei3} that’ most people woulid do so. The skill is somewhat difficult to learn, but thbse who have acl~ieved some success with it find it very help- ful not only for self-awareness, but also for gaining clearer understand- ing of what may be going on subliminally in their interactions. A related skill,0 which may_. be even more difficult to acquire, is inter- preting our own muscular responses. A sEecific ~xarnple Of this deals with a worker in an institutional setting who discovered that whenever she wasin the presence of a demeaning or cruel p.erson, her shoulder mus- cles tightened, even though tha~t~.persgn had not said or done anything demeaning or cruel, and even though she had not been aw~i’e of those traits in that person before. Thus, she has learned that if her sh~’~i~r mus- cles t~ighten, she needs to ask herself what she is noticing about the other person; perhaps that other person has a tenden.cy to be demeaning or cruel~! Muscular responses are not the same for all. We must simply learn from our experiences how our muscles behave in certain situations. A related technique involves noticing our own body language. An approach which is often quite revealing consists in listing vari- ous people or situations in our life, leaving ample space for writing un- der each heading. ,We then list the feelings and behaviors typical of us when in that situation. We may find considerable differences from cate- gory to category. For example, we may discover that when we~ are with a certain person(s), we tend to act ignorant. Awareness helps us to real- ize that we do so in order to appease that person, whom we perceive is likely tb become threatening if not in command or if not viewed as more knowledgeable or experienced. It can be seen from thi’s example that by working backwards from the behavior or feeling to the~underlying per- ception, need, desire or expectation, ’puzzling problems in a relationship or other situation’can be clarified. ’ Recently, dream analysis has enjoyed a good deal’of popularity. Many find dreams to be a rich source of information and guidance. It is n.6.w generally agreed that although no expert can tell you what ybur dream means, it ¯is usually beneficial to share ybur dream with another person wh~o has some knowledge of dream work. In a current and prom- ising work, Gendlin~° suggests that besides obtaining guidance from Self-Awareness and Ministry / 909 other persons, we can use our bodily responses to verify our hypotheses about dream meanings. Although there are periods in our lives when we concentrate more intensely on self-awareness, it is well to listen to our inner sense which tells us when it is time to rest a little from our search. A good friend or mentor may also guide us in this mattei’. Furthermore, it is advisable while pursuing the inner search to balance our self-study with sound theo- logical or other professional input. Doubtless, we can trust that God will provide us with ample oppor- tunities for integration through self-awareness. As these occur, we increas- ingly discover not only our individuality, but also the degree to which the persons we are extend into other persons and situations, and they into us. This experience is, I believe, a form of love and a realization of our oneness with all being.

NOTES

~ Assagioli, Roberto, The Act of Will. Baltimore, Maryland: Penguin Books, Inc., 1974~ p.~52. 2 For examples of the constructive use of actions to bring about feelings, see A~- sagioli,op, cit:,"pp. 52-55.~ 3 Assagioli, Roberto, Psychosynthesis: A Manual of Principles and Techniques. New York: The Viking Press~ 1965, p. 22? 4 Assagioli, The Act of Will, pp. 214-215. 5 Murray, Masiow, Horney,~ Fromm, Lewin, and to a lesser extent,. Harry Stack Sul- livan~are among the personality theorists who;.emphasize needs. For a summary of their theories, see Hall, Calvin S., and Gardner Lindzey, Theories of Personality. Third Ed., New York: John Wiley and Sons~ 1978. (Earlier editions: 1957 and 1970). 6 Arieti, Silvano, Creativity: The Magic Synthesis. New York: Basic Books, lnc~., Publishers, 1976, pp. 30-31. 7 Murphy, Sheila M., Midlife Wanderer." The Woman Religio’us in Midlife Transi- tion. Whitinsville, Massachusetts: Affirmation Books, 1983, p, 38. 8 For a concise explanation of these~’c.o.ncepts, see .Hall and Lindzey, op. cit., pp. I 19,r 125. 9 Fora statement of Ju, ng’s theories on dreams.and transpersonal rea!ities, see Jung, Carl G., et ai., Man and His Symbols. New York: Dell Publishing Co., Inc., 1964, 15p. 56-90. Io Gendlin, Eugene T., Let Your Body Interpret Your Dreams. Wilmette, Illinois: Chiron Publications, 1986. Christmas Happens in the Humble Stable of Our Humanity

Eugene G. Barrette, M.S.

Father Barrette has contribued to these pages before. He may still be addressed at his generalate: Missionari di N.S. de la Salette; Piazza Madonna della Salette, 3; 00152 Roma, Italy.

In the January:February, 1987 issue I shared with you my journey into a major crisis and my experience of Southdown, the therapeutic center in Canada which guided me out of the crisis. We do not usually travel such a route without acquiring a new way of seeing things. For us priests and religious especially, such an experience often transforms our experience of Scripture, of prayer, of spiritual realities in general. The Paschal Mystery immediately comes to mind. We understand it and even live it in a more vital way because we have lived our Good Fri- day: have agonized in our garden of confusion, doubt, panic; have been convinced that the darkness would never end and that we were not only broken and aban~doned, but very truly dying, as persons; and then w( ex- perienced Easter when the crisis passed,, when ’there was renewed energy, vision, hope, a sense of new life--ye.s]borri~again. It is a rhythm that people who suffer bouts of depression experience over and over again. It is a rhythm in which all of us share through the cycles of beginnings and endings, losing and finding, falling and rising,~ that make up our lives. However, my own crisis, and continuing struggles, have also ledme to perceive, appreciate and experience Christmas in ~a totally new way. , The’~seed for the following ’reflection was sown by Father Bill Clark, S.J., during a day of retreat at Southdown while I was there.

910 Our Humanity’s Humble Stable

As I approached my first Christmas after Southdown, I looked’back and felt,that I had been living a "Christmas year" after treatment. It was a time in which Jesus was born and came alive for me in’ways that had never happened before. As I reflected on this I began to realize why this was so, why there was a new sense of Jesus alive in me now. I found the answer in the simplicity and the power of the images of the Christ- ~mas story itself. Many of you have undoubtedly understood and experi- enced the parallels in your lives before. But for me it was discovery: the all too concrete, unethereal, and ongoing power of Incarnation; Christ- mas that continues here and now. Like all’of us, I have spent ~ny life preparing for and trying to live ~the presence of the Lord in my own unique way. That’s basically what we are called to do--and be--isn’t it? At the heart of our faith, our Church, our sacraments, and our spiritual life is that wonderful truth: Je- sus lives in us, we live in him, and we are to continue his p~’esence ih our world. Yes, I would often preach about having to incarnate Jesus here and now in our words, actions, loving, and so forth. Somewhere along the line, perhaps because of a mistaken understand- ing of my religious formation, I thought that one of my prime tasks as regards this making Jesus present was to "prepare" for Christ’s a6"ival in me; to create a place not r~erely "worthy"’ of him, but even more, a "perfect" place to receive him. What energy, what efforts, what "exercises" went into trying to have the "place-of-Me" spic and span, whitewashed to dazzling bright- ness. If the place was ready, perfect, .then naturally the Lord would c6me and abide there. Problem was, all this drive to create the "worthy- perfect" place simply meant that I completely ignored the place that in fact existed, me as I was, as I am! ; .My choices in life, my vocation, words, and works of a "religious or spiritual purpose," were various way~ of trying to "herald" and pro- claim his presence. I thought my ministry, especially when particularly effective, was a bit like starbursts indicating, "He is here." Many peo- ple came through the corridors arid rooms of my life. I continued to rush to do more. But I was like a person dashing in and out of his house, only touching surfaces, never dwelling there. When I dared stop for a breather, when I was alone, the corridors and room echoed empty to me. And there was seldom a bright star leading the way to anywhere--just scary emptiness that I would quickly expel with activity-filled confusion. Slowly my house began to shut down. Fewer and i~ewer rooms were open or available to myself and to others. I was becoming a stranger to 912 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 my own house. I certainly sensed no "presence" there. And yet I was so busy supposedly preparing~for Jesus to live in me! ~ I knew something was not quite right. But I didnot want to look too deeply at the.roots of the difficulty. So almost blindly I kept going. I never stopped living in expectancy..I did not give up the belief nor the hope that he would come, that he would be born in me. And so every now and then I would frantically set about once again ’,:preparing the worthy place." I would begin, give up, begin again, leave it unfinished. I would build a little, tear it down, build something new, but seldom bring it to completion. I would get blueprints, a "way" from one spiri- tual guide~ then from another, then from another. I would try to-~be still, try to be apostolic. No matter what I did, nothing seemed to be work- ing. Instead of becoming better prepared and beginning to "feel at home," I began to feel homeless. I began to panic because I felt not only was I not at home, I was being evicted. And the Guest had not even ar- rived yet! It was at this point, in the midst of panic and desperation, that I real- ized a census had to be taken of my own land. And so I undertook a jour- ney.that I knew!, had to make, but did not want to. It all seemed wrong-- certainly not according to "plan.". It is frightening tO. leave one’s home ground, the territory one is familiar with. There was enormous resistance and fear. While I journeyed into my census-land, something in me began to say, "It is time, It’s going oto happen now. The Lord is ready to arrive now." "Happen now? You’ve got to be :kidding!.I have no place pre- pared. I’m not even ’at home.’ All I have around me are pieces in hor- rible disarray." That was very scary. But I was not alone. Companions on this census- journey began to tell me that I had in fact~come home. And they pointed if out to me--a~very humble, messy place. Very, very tentatively I en- tered it, shocked and in some ways almost repulsed. I did not like it. I was ne~arly overwhelmed with the compulsive= need to put it all in order, to prepare it, turn it into a "worthy place"..r~by trying to make it "per- fect." I wanted to run, wanted to deny that this was my home, wanted tohowl: "S6mething is going to happen. You, Lord, are going to come. But in the name of God, it can’t happen here." In ~he midst of the denials, the panic, the tears, one day it was as if the l_J)rd put his finger to his lips and~then to mine, in a sssh motion: "Be still. It is night. Be silent:" I looked in fear. Dark night. I waited. Silent night. It was then that I learned, in the very depth of all that I am, Our Humanity’s Humble Stable / 913

that I live in clay: footed arid vesseled. And it was then I learned that I "prepare" for his coming only by being still, waiting, listening, watCh- ing. Yes, it was then th_a.t I learned, unbelievable as it is, that Jesus comes not into a "prepared, worthy place," but into the stables of our lives, with the stra~v on the floor, the dung in the corners, and the sharp ani- mal smells. Jesus can come and live only in our "real home," which can only be the truth of our lives. He does not and cannot come into the iplastic and often sterile "worthy places" that we so busily try to pre- pare for him. There is never room for him in these inns of our own mak- ing. No, he comes into that most unexpected of places, the humble sta- ¯ ble of our humanity. This is true not only for us as individuals, but for us as communi- ties. Jesus comes truly alive into our midst only when we live in the truth of our lives, which includes our strengths and gifts, but also the humble admission, without all kinds of excuses and rationalizations, of our clay- ness--our frailties and infidelitieS. I~t do~-no good to try to gloss~oVer our brokenness and to act as if we ahd our communities are better, pre~ pared or more worthy than they actually are. Jesus seldom breaks into and through our strengths. But as Christmas so vividly reminds us, he comes into our need: into what needs transforming, what needs redeem- ing. Christmas calls us to live in the truth of our lives~ To say yes, with love, to that tr~th. It is in that truih that we are set free to humbly wait for Jesus to come and be born in the unexpected, in our neediness, in our poverty. It is there that we receive the gi’eatest of all Christmas gifts: his presence and his love ~.that transforms~ us not into a "perfect place," but into a truly "worthy place," a place made worthy by his loving, rec- onciling presence. ~ ~t is only when we allow ourselves this Christmas experience that we begin to have "feet that bring glad tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salv, ation, . . comforting God’s peoplg." It is only when ,we let the Prince of Peace touch our ow~n lack of peace and bring his peace to it that we ourselves become channels of his peace. It is only when we ourselve’s walk into the darkness of our own lives and open the doors of this darkness to the light of Jesus that we bring through our own lives the Light that. we celebrate this season. A crisis was the necessary road that led me home--not the home I expected or wanted, but the home that is the truth of me. And it is only there that Christmas happens; Jesus becomes flesh, again, in the unex- pected-me. And you. Aelred of Rievaulx: Twelfth-Century Answers to Twentieth-Century Questions

Richard Wanner, S.D.B.

Father Wanner gives retreats a~d finds thi~ subject of vital interest to those to whom he gives conferences. He may be reached at the Salesians of St. John Bosco; 1100 Franklin Street; San Francisco, California 94109.

Our twentieth-century search for r~eaning has invaded most areas of hu- man life..Relationships and friendships have become a focal point for much social, psychological, and religious concern. Ha~rdly a weekend goes by without a communications workshop or seminars on journal keep- ing or some other attempt to deepen human understanding. Books and television programs abound on such to’pics. Questions for society very quickl~, become questions for the Church and religious communities as well. A Question of Friendship ~ Similar concerns are focused ,6n the areas of anxiety and loneliness~ We human ’beings search for communion with others with such energy ’that it would not take a shrewd observer to conclude that our relation- ships are less satisfying than we might hope.. It becomes a case of pro- testing too much. We speak about what we lack. It might well be that if our relationships were ordinarily satisfying, we would take them for granted and .write and speak about them less. The search or hunger for bonding is found in families wracked by di- vorce as well as by young people seeking to find their way. Religious communities are not immune to this quest. Meetings endlessly seek to discern th~ meaning of community itself~even when the lived situation

914 Aelred of Rievaulx / 915

seems far from any definition or description. Why is it that we have come to such a state? Are these concerns signs of growth or decline, or both? The answers to such questions are varied, each with enough truth to sell the next book. Perhaps our changing times have something to do with it. Perhaps it is due to changing family situations. Or it may be due to the uncertainty of the future and the stresses such questioning brings. Then we recall that our century has witnessed severe atrocities in terms of wars and treatment of minority groups. Perhaps, too, the hunger we feel might be a surfacing of the deep longing and yearning that is meant to bring us to God. Whatever our response to the present drive for fulfillment in relation- ships, we cannot deny the fact. People are less and less satisfied with surfa.ce living. We get tired of running to and from relationships. Per- haps we are now ready to listen to the voices that stir within us. We be- come more ready to face difficult questions. Living at a time of Church renewal with its stress,on community lit- urgy and a biblical approach also prods believers to reconsider their val- ues, New descriptions of the Church and, of parish and religious com- munities abound. The scriptural call to be one in.ianity draws us to greater intimacy and authenticity. Various authors attempt to help us understand ,~what is going .on in this time of change. In accordance with their own experience and depth of reflection, they can articulate for us what we cannot always articulate for ourselves. That may explain the surprising popularity of teachers such as Leo Buscaglia. His classes~ on loving have been popular in universi- ties, on television, and on the lecture circuit. However, his approach, popular as it is, often leaves one with a feeling of dissatisfaction. Inti- macy still sounds too easy and too simple a matter of positive self- image and the will to reach out. While those~ elements are necessary, the painful moments of relationships which strive for some sort of perma- ¯nence seem to be given too little stress. Our own experience tells us that the joy of life dbes not come without moments of difficulty and real stress and pain. After a time suct~ teachers~dO not seem to speak to us deeply enough and we look for more. Others have contributed from a religious perspective. As a matter of fact, books and articles abound on the themes of friendship, intimacy, relating, and similar topics by such authors as Wendy Wright (Bond of Perfection), Donald Go’ergen (The Sexual Celibate), Sandra Schneiders (New Wineskins), Keith (~larke (The Experience of Celibacy), and Bene- dict Groeschel (The Courage to be Chaste). No doubt a sore spot of twen- Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 tieth-century living has been touched. All thosewho attempt to under- stand and explain, help us to come to terms a little more with our deep pains and joys in the :struggle for friendship. For religious people, there has been a growing awareness that such an experience of relationship is part of the Paschal Mystery of our lives. It is encouraging to see that God’s action can be near us in,the up-and-down experience of daily liw ing. Various authors stress that our own drive to be busy and get things done, leads eventually to difficulty. So does the temptation to solve all in the relatignship itself with no look to any further horizon. Jean Vat nier, the founder of l’Arche ~cgmmunities, speaks of the loneliness and vulnerability experienced~by persons in our society today. He concludes that "people cannot live as if they were on a desert island. They need companions and friends with whom they can share their lives, th6i~: vi- sions, and their ideals." ~ He further states that the needs of a family and the needs of a community, religious or not, are quite similar. "The two essential elements of !ife in community are also paff’of the life of a fam- ily: interpersonal relationships and a sense of belQnging and orientation of life to a common goal and a common witness.’.’2 Ignace Lepp and The Ways of Friendship: A Twentieth-Century Response One of the most satisfying authors to reflect on friendship and inter- personal relationship is Ignace Lepp. In The Ways of Friendship, he ap- plies his point of view as psychologist and priest to our questions. "My long practice as a depth psychologist has enabled me to verify the im- portant role friendship can play in promoting authentic existence ~,nd to observe the distress of those who are deprived of it. I am convinced that :friendship is one of the most fundamental of existential k, alues, that it can make a man’s life infinitely more beautiful and fruitful.’’3 Lepp gives us a goo~d example of a hu.m.ane twent!eth-century under- standing°of friendship and both its values and difficulties. We will look at some of his twentieth-century insights before considering those of a twelfth-century monl~, Aelred 6f Rievaulx. Value in Absence We are often made aware of the value of something in its absence. Loneliness is one of the deep sorrows present in some way in most lives. Clark Moustakas, in books such as Loneliness and Loneliness and Love, attempts to help us face the value of this existential experience. He sees the unhealthy state of someone who has no friend~ and the kind of sad- Aelred of Rievaulx / 917 ness which pervades such a life. A friendless person lacks a dimension of life which helps supply nerve and energy. This condition leads to a life which se.ems purposeless or merely filled with random energy which is far from satisfying. Lepp says: "The existence and the nefariou.s char- acter of the extraordinary loneliness in modern man seems incontestable. We must ask: Is this situation irreversible and irremediable or is ~ther~ some solution?’’4 Of course, some explorers of human behavior feel there is no solution. Sartre is one who considers the possibility of mean- ingful~relationship and comes up with a negative answer, at least in .the- ory ..... Fortunately, Lepp does not. come to the same dismal, conclusion. ’,~’The most universal and, in our opinion, the noblest of all fg(ms of in- terhuman communication, the only one capable of solving our loneliness~, is friendship. He who has no friends can only have a very pessimistic view of life an~ the human condition, whatever joy..he may otl~erwise derive l~rom life.~ A tr~ue friei?dship, on the contrary, g.uaramees .~appi- ness and ev’en joy in tl~e midst of the worst tribulations."5 i;ositive Approach--Diffichlt Steps ~r Thankfully, Lepp does provide us with a positive view of friendship despite the difficulties to be encountered. He is aware that the viewpoint of history has not always been the same. At times the stress has been more on individualism or on doing rather than relating. In religious~com- Themunities desire there,had for a type been of.equality a great which concern needed about safeguards the evil of was divisiveness. also Pre~’ sent. Both are real concerns. Almost.all members of religious communi, ties can remember well-intentioneff~formation personnel who spo~e of love and affection for all, ye_,t would counsel against individual friend- ships. Unfortunately,being a friend to all may result in being a: re~al friend to no one. Thedifficulties seemed too powerful, and therefore were avoided entirely.Again, times change and today the approach dif- fers. Placing friendship onsolid ground is important. Lepp reminds us that Jesus had friends and that some were clearly closer to him than others, "This is also true of those who kri~w and imitated him the best, the saints and ascetics. Even in monasteries of strict obser.vance, where the rule forbids particular friendships, friendships are, born and flourish. How- ever, it is true that errQrs in the teaching of asceticism and detachment lead many r.eligi0us men to believe it is a duty to fight an inclination to- ward ’particulai friendships’ (as th6ugh there could be a friendship that is,not particular!) and to agcuse themselves of it as a fault in confession Review for Religious, November-December, 1983

or before the Community. I do not believe that such a repression of one of the noblest, if not the noblest, sentiments of the human heart can fa- vor~spiritual progress. The evidence is cl~ar: friehdship is the. most uni- versal.of all ,inte.rhuman relationships in the emotional order."6 ¯ Qualities: Readiness, Strength, Emotion How do we embark on friendships?-Which qualities are necessary? Certa!nly, generosity and openness or availability are basic as is a kind of deep strength. Despite r.epeated failures, there is also a negessary drive to move beyond ourselves into new possibilities. Add in human needs for both similarity arid difference, mutuality and reciprocity, dialogue andcommunion. In addition, friendship must be willed and have a spark ~)f emotion. Development of a friendship takes a conscious effort after the original fittraction.7 - Can friendship help or hinder spiritual progress? Certainly the effort t~ relate make~ u~s aware of ourselves and our po~verty. We do not always respond as we would like or feel we should with odr selfishness getting in the way more often than we would like. Despite its trials, leaving aside ¯ the pursuit of friendship stunts our religious and emotional growth, lead- ing to an unreal life. Some commentators do see affectivity as incompatible with religious or priestly life. They consider friendship as distracting from the intense pursuit of spiritual life for anyone. Lepp cannot a~.cept this view.8 Since friendship demands a genuine response from the persons involved, it would seem essential that illusions be chipped away and that self- knowledge be deepened. These are~iready movements of ttie spiritual life. Likewise, the sense that a friendship~ is due to more than personal effort can make the persons involved more aware of the giftedness pres- ent in the mystery of relatifig. This becomes another way in which to rec- ognize God’s loving action. ~ At various times in the history of the Church, a severe asceticism has banished the possibility of friendships and stressed the role of the indi- vidual alone With God. It is possible.that the implicit support of family, community, coworkers, and others"may have been sufficient. Certainly, we continually see relationships breakingfgrth Which are contrary to that type of understanding. It may~ be that needs for one’ or some are not needs for all: This can also be said of~ relationships between men and women, a~concerh in our times. Lepp says: "It seems to me that the magnificent success and the spiritual fecundity of such friendships ~bsolves friend- ship between men and women of its few failures; in any case, we are not Aelred of Rievaulx / 9"19 so impressed by failures as to declare such friendship impossible."9 Termination of Friendship As Aelred of Rievaulx will show us in his treatise on Spiritual Friend- ship, Lepp also concludes that some friendships fade away for some rea- son or other.: In some cases it can be due to separation, the changes peo- ple experience, .betrayal," the discovery of another friend, and. the.’limi- tation of time and energy: Such terminations can be very painful or they can simply and quietly disappear. "Nonetheless, its imperfection and limitations n~otwithstanding, friendship represents one of the most pre- cious values~of the human condition. It is certainly worth the effort to commit ourselves courageously to the experience Of friendship."~° The insights of Ignace Lepp i0 his little and profound work on friend- ship help us to understand the outpouring of literature and media atten- tion given to relationships in our day. The images of separation and dis- sonance displayed byour popular,artists and musicians simply h,ighlight an underlying experience of loneliness striving for union and harmony. In our current passion for solving the mystery of friendship and the personaland interp’ersonal growth involved, we often lack the depth of someone like Father Lepp who brings dimensions of faith and spiritual- ityqnto areas normally touched in a more shallow manner. Relationships, intimacy, friendship seem to be such obvious twentieth-century concerns that we often feel that we must be the first people to undergo this expe- rience. It come~ as somewhat of ~i .surprise to discover that a twelfth- century monk, Aelred of Rievaulx, has been unsurpassed in many ways in his discussion of’these topics. Certainly Aelred wrote for monks in what he hoped would be a community of friends. Although his purp.ose might have been directed to a more narrow audience, there no longer seems to be a goodtreason to limit his considerations to a monastic or religious community setting. Certainly his comments do clear away some of our illusions about relig!ous life in" the past and perhaps the present. Aelred of Rievaulx and Spiritual Friendship: A Twelfth-Century Response There is no doubt that today’s concerns are echoing some twelfth- century themes, and for this reason Aelred’s writings are gaining re- newed interest. In the last few years a number of books and articles dis- cussing Aelred’s thought have been released. Prior to that, Aelred stood quite in the shadow of St. Bernard. Even Pourrat’s well-known work on spirituality grants Aelr~d a mere eight lines and those in a footnote!~I Fran- cisde Sales, who is noted for,ills own long-standing friendship with Jane 920 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

de Chantal, makes no reference :to Aelred in his discussioia on friendship in his Introduction to the Devout Life. Francis does mention Augustine and Bernard. Aelred and Twelfth-Century Community , Thomas Merton supplies some help for understanding the present in~ terest~in writers such as Aelred inhis introduction to~The Monastic The~ ology ofAelred of Rievaulx by Amadee Hallier. He says: "Only in the forties and’fifties has there been a studyoof.the monastic writers as origi- nal in themselves and not merely copies. We now see the.rn asia litera- ture.~rich in biblical culture, a genuine theology, and a humanism full of psychological insight with plenty of relevance for our own day.’’~2 Merton goes on to say that the mon~ks of that time were not given to abstractions. Rather, they reflected on their deeply lived experiences of the mysteries of~faith. They, affirmed the Word made flesh rather than deny hu.manity. For this reason Merton sees the concept of man common to the monastic tradition as very important for an und.erstanding of the times and their theological expression. He sees Aelr~ed’s approach.as a pedagogy centering on the formation of the whole person as a member of a community. Man is seen as an openness or capacity.-He is someone fulfilled in the totality of living which is~ love. God is love. The open- ness and freedom in a person are the ways we can understand God’s pres- ence as God’s image at the core of man’s being. A community is meant to be one in love, in God. The purpose of, monastic edfication is to edu, cate in authentic freedom by loving and being creative.~3 This type of education is’ not meant to be simply speculative; rather, a person is directed to respond to others freely and creatively. ~’Love is educated by other loves, freedom by other freedoms." 14 Aelred, then, is not someone on his own and,~isolated. He is part of his time and traditions. His manner’ of speaking and thinking may not have ~been as radical in the twelftl~ century as, it might have been at times and’places nearer to our own. The Enthusiasm and Daring of Renewal Louis Bouyer is another respected commentator on the history of spiri- tuality and monasticism who sees some similar themes in both the twelfth and twentieth centuries. After Vatican II, and even in the years immedi, ately before the Council, there was a sense of renewal which touched Scripture, liturgy~ and the study of the Fathers. There was a similar move- ment to a more radical Christianity in’the twelfth Century as well. At that time the Cistercians attempted to rediscover the roots of their monastic Aelred ofRievaulx / 921 life~ Their study and.search led them to a greater depth in areas of rel.ig- ious living. Renewed insigh(gave birth to enthusiasm and daring as well asia sense of deepened purpose. Flexibility in other areas of living, was a result of a firm foundation. Bouyer feels that the midtwentieth~c.entu~ ry shares a similar experience to that of the twelfth-century reform. Another similar situation in history could also be the reform of the’sixteenth cen- tury. At such times people are less concerned with institutions and ab- stractions; instead,’they seek deep personal experience once m3re..~5 Courtl~ Love In the time of Bernard and Aelred there was a new expression of courtly love. This understanding of chi~,alry was a breakthrough in un2 derstanding an~ experien.ce, that was apparem!y new. The genius of Ber- nard and Aelred seems .to be their ability to appl~, this approach to spiri- tuality. (In Our own da~,, Ro~semary Haughion uses this breakthrough~as a basic feature of her work The Passionate God.) The appreciation of this al~proach brougl~t’with it a ~reater understanding of love and rela- tionships. We could say’that in some way this type of movement is tak- ing place once more today. Bouyer notes that while the majority~f peo- ple respond in a shallow manner or continue in activistic pursuits, there is a return to asceticism, prayer; and solitude. He notes that even in the very active United States there is an appreciation of the monastic tradi- tion. 16 In various parts of the world, young people are also lookifi~ for depth, as seen in the attraction of Taiz6 and the many youth facilities available for prayer arid retreat. The type of renewal at Citeaux in the twelfth century created a ten- sion around it. The Cluniac.~monasteries readily saw the renewal’ as an aberration. With courage the reformers returned to their primitive and ba- sic traditions. They did not tamper~with an established order in order to make changes for little reason; rather, their changes were .in keeping with their traditions, the Gospel, and the signs of the times. They refused to be molded into rigid patt.erns. They remained occupied with one theme: the love of God and of their brothers and sisters, the love with which God loved us and the love with which we ought to love God in return. A look at the twelfth century may not answer all our twentieth-century ques- tions, but it may shed more light than we would expect. Even a brief glance will show us that those filled with the fervor of renewal were in- spired to undertake experiments in a faithful manner.~7 The sense of freedom and integrity is associated with those who have developed in maturity, while those who are irisecure do not take risks, or at least,do not take them in a faithful way. When we look at the mo- 929 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

nastic renewal of the twelfth century, we do°find people who are grow- ing and developing as full persons. Aelred fits iuto that kind~ of atmos- phere. He both added to the development of the times and gained from its eriergy. , Learning from Life Aelred’s early experiences .certainly were important for him and hclped~make his later contribution possible. Hewas born in 1109 at Hcx- ham in the English-Scottish border area. His father was a parish priest. The latter fact did not seem to cause consternfftion in those days. The " ~eforms brought by Wil|iam the Conqueror woul~l soon make changes, however, and Aelred’s father h~ad to hide in exile. As~part of his educa- tion, Aelred \vas sent to the court of David’Of Scotland, where he be- came a friend of David’s son, Henry. Henry, in fact, is the famous Henry II of England °who struggled with Thomas Becket of Canterbury. It may also have been at this time that Aelred became acquainted with Cicero and.the De Amicitia, which would later-be a p.rime source for. his own work- on Spiritual Friendship. ~8 It can ~be assumed that Aeired had a .warm personality to make friends in high places. This sense of availability led him to be ready fo~ more in his life. When he.visited the new monastery of Rievaulx, he was captivated by it, finding the monastery to be the place for him. At that time hard- ship, heavy work, plain fare, and a strict rule of religion were to be found at Rievaulx combined with.,a spirit of prayer and a pr~0mise of peace. It may be that promise which the court did not provide.19 ,, ~ Soon Aelred became master of novices, a demanding position at any time. ’Given the time of renewal and the large influx of new candidates, the task was more formidable. Such a large g~:oup of new members could change the spirit, for better or worse,.of the entire monastery, If the°po- sition of novice master is anything, it is relational. This would be an, ¯ other area of Aelred’s experience which would supply sensitivity to the theme of friendship. " Very quickly, Aelred was asked to take on chores outside the mon- astery. This included mediation with the nearby diocese and demanded that he journey to Rome. On the way he had,the opportunity to stop at Clairvaux and meet Bernard. Jean-Leclerq’calls Aelred a man most like Bernard although keeping his own personality.Z°oThis providential, meet- ing caused Bernard to see the value of this young man .and he encour- aged Aelred to write. The Mirror ,of Charity was the first result. Aelred of Rievaulx / 923

., At the age of thirty-three, Aelred was named abbot of Revesby, one _~0f the da’ughter monasteries of Rievaulx.’He continued to busy himself ~..with affairs of Church and state, clearly making his mark with those of importance as well as on tho~e with whom he lived. In 1147 we find him back at Rievaulx as abbot. He will spend the rest of his life there, much of it as an invalid needing quarters near the infirmary. Despite ill health, he continued to make th~ visita~tion of the various monasteries. Aelred’s energies might well have .been sapped by this kind of.busy work. Many people find that their energy level sinks after s~ch wgrk and that little remains for the taxing duty of relating to others. This was not true for Aelred. He continually met~people, sometimes’being quite literally be- sieged by monks. It is no ~,onder that friendship errferges as a theme for him. His treatise on friendship was written over a~number of years (1147- 1164) and shows the growth in understanding and maturity he experi- enced. Now and then it seems to show some of the ambivalence he must have faced in trying to respond to the questions posed by tradition as well as by,~the monks and his own hear.t. Aelred certainly had every right to author a book on friendship. Of all the twelfth-cen.tury personalities, many of whom wrote on the place of love in spirituality," he seems to have been gifted with a combinatiori of temperament and expri-ience to make this possible’.’ Friendship: An~Opening to Spiritual Life o Bouyer comments that it is in Aelred that we find the humanism of Citeaux most fully manifested. He is formed by the classics, the.Bible, and the Fathers, especially?Augustine. He shows himself to be interested in all [hat is human. He is attentive to shifts in.psychology. Clearly he tried to show that. monastic life did not have to avoidthe temper of the times, which was~.so interested in the fact of love. The desire of the heart had a place in personal development and in Christian spirituality. "In ~this process, relationships with 9ther people might well play just as large a part as the purely interior life.’’z~ In this manner of speaking, the development of friendship is a de- velopment of the spiritual life. When friendship is true, it can be one.of the great ways in which God comes. A true friendship can be seen as a preview .of heavenly joy. We See, then, that friendship is the theme and key of Aelred’s mo- nastic theology. Perhaps today he would see more widely and apply !the theme of friendship to parishes of friends and to a Church of friends. This growth in friendship demands a growth i~n personal freedom, as Father Lepp has reminded us. Our loving and willing go together; consent is" 924 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

part of’ friendship, and that act demands freedom. The result ci~n be be- yond.’expectation. As Halliei" says, "Friendship-with other human tie- ings fi; an.,epiphany of friendship .with Gbd."~-2 Aelr6d’s.comment on the opposite state is appropriate: "To live Without friends is to live like a be,ast, With no one to rejoice with him in adversity, no one to whom to unburden his mind if any annoyance crosses tiis path or with whom’to ~ sharesome unusually sublime or illuminating .inspiration. He is entirely alone.ffho is without a friend" (SF 2:10).23 Certairily Lepp and other com- mentators would agree. ¯ Communities of Friends . For ~elred the monastic community was called to become a.commu- nity of friends. He, w0uld have been surprised to find his writing under lock and key not long after his death~. ,The times changed quickly, and °the vibrant themes of one era are considered dangerous by another.24 In the~monastic life, friendship was not an extra; it was part of the m’on~stic discipline. It was in this way [hat the brothers grew in h.o!iness. The love for.one another became tile basis" for the .love of God:~ In this Way, f_riendship is not an obstacle to suppose~d "spi~ritual friendship"; -it becomes spiritua! perfection inasmuch as it is authentic.2~ Of course, we.are broken and sinful people.. ~his fact makes it diffi- cult for us to love well. Christ becomes the healer in the relationship and gives the gift of friendship~ Hallier quotes Bonhoeff~r,:who"say~~’’G6d and reality are torn apart except where they cothe together in Christ."26 Current psychologists tend to avoid the religious dimensionof rela- tionship although their statements appear ~im~plicitly religious and’pe~rhaps they are. Aelred cannot e×plain true friendship without ~an expli~it!y re- ligious understanding. - ¯ Douglas Roby, Edmund Harvey, and Aelred Squire.add to our knowl- edge and appreciation of Aelred. From .their writing we can see that Aelred did have a unique contribution to rhake. While he followed in the tradition of his times, he most clearly statedthe importance of friend- ship in unambiguous terms. His own deep experiences of,friendship and caring for others, his perception and observatiofl, stood him in good stead. 27 Harvey also observes that Aelred’s affection breaks through in all his writings, including The Mirror of Charity. There is a passionate Outpour- ing~of grief when narrating the death of his friend Simon. "You cannot read those throbbing pages without feeling the intensity of his love and sorrow which after eight hundred years is still fresh and poignant. His ’cries.of grief, his memories of his friends, his prayers, his faith in the Aelred of Rievaulx / ~195 joy of the departed, joined with the sense of his own loneliness and deso- lation, pour forth, not in ordered sequence, but as the natural outpour- ing of his heart, as he feels himself plunged in a sorrow too deep for him to endure." Harvey quotes Aelred: "I was wretched, I grieved and groaned, from the depths of my heart I drew long sighs."28 Harvey further quotes Ae.lred when considering his friends before he entered Rievaulx. "I left them in body indeed, but never in mind and affection.’ ,29 Douglas Roby has supplied a fine introduc~tion to the Spiritual Friend- ship. In it he notes that Aelred had a warmth of love which sought to reconcile enemies. "He was a man gre.at enough to prove that greatn.ess does not need to be brutal, and that to be a saint one does not have to despise human affections." In the words of Dom Knowles (Monastic Or- der, p. 240), "No other English monk of the’~twelfth century so lingers ih the memory. Like Anselm of B’ec hE escapes.from his age, though most typical of it, and’spe~iks directly to us~., ,,. of his restless search for One to whom he’~might give the full strength of’his love!’’3° Seeking the Lord Together In’communities there is~ always the fear of factions. Benedict’s rule stresses equality for this reason. Divisions are to be av6ided. Favoritism could be a problem, so could grumbling and certainly homosexuality. These problems :aroused’caution and ~made the limited writing on the topic understandable. Aelred, rather than being put off by th~ difficulty, embraces the topic with enthusiasm, seeing the necessity of relationships as part of the good Christian life. Yet Aelred is not naive and knows that there are dangers and corrupt relationships~. For this reason he stresses relationships with the good, those who are seeking the Lord. He also stresses the importance of testing relationships overtime, saying that the "beginnings of friendship ought to possess, first of all, purity of inten- tion, the direction of reason, and the restraint of moderation; and thus the very desire for such friendship, so sweet as it comes upon us, will presently make friendship a delight to experience, so that it will never cease to be properly ordered" (SF 2:59). A "spiritual friendship is ce- mented by similarity of life, morals, and pursuits of the just" (SF 1:38). In the end we will choose to call friends only those "to whom we can fearlessly entrust our hearts and all its secrets; those, too, who, in turn, are bound to us by the same law of faith and security" (SF ! :32). True friendships occur among those who are seeking the Lord with a sense of discipline. "Turn your attention briefly to the manner in which friendship is, so to say, a stage toward the love and knowledge 926 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

of God. Indeed, in friendship there is nothing dishonorable, nothing de- ceptive, nothing feigned; whatever there is, is holy, voluntary, and true" (SF 2:18). Aelred does not expect that every monk can’~become friends with ev- eryone else. The spark of emotion that seems necessary does not seem to occur with everyone. Still, there’ can be love even of the enemy.3~ Throughout the i~istory of spirituality, commentaries are written on the love of God and the love of neighbor. For Aelred, loving the neigh- bor is not a lesser gradation of the love of God. Rather the love of neigh- bor is necessar~ if we are to love God. For this reason Aeired can write ’that "God is friendship and that he who abides in friendship abides in God" (SF 1:70-71). Such deep love is no[. present in the beginning. Aelred is tolerant with such loves since the3)~can grow and mature. He agrees that making friends is not easy and that some people are more gracious than others while there are some who are simply difficult to ge.t along with. The ele- ments of love make the difficulty clear: love and affection, security and happiness (SF 3:51). Even with all the possible preparation, friendships do not always seem to last. Aelred gets past the difficulty stated by Jer- ome that a failed friendship never was one by saying that the love is still present although not acted upon. A number of causes exist for the break- down of friendship: insults, attacks, arrogance, betrayal of secrets, be- trayal of the friend or one for whom the friend is responsible (SF 3:23- 26, 46). Aelred suggests that the pain of breaking up can be avoided by careful testing beforehand. The effort involved in the testing may be dif- ficult, yet ~Aelred feels it must be done. Roby does not feel that Aelred is indiscriminate in stressing friend- ship with his monks. "He had confidence in the fervor of his audience. He did,not hesitate to warn of the dangers and snares of false friendship, but clearly~,the advantages of friendship for the truly spiritual man out- weighed the dangers of the unconverted.’’32 As one studies Aeired and his commentators, a feeling of closeness begins to develop. Aelred seems to be one figure from history who would be at home in our century and its concerns. Perhaps that is why authors such as Squire can speak so delightfully about him. Aelred is not a cloudy mystic; he is a realist living in a man’s world, Yet for all the rough, ness of his age, there is something very fine about him. Aelred Squire sees his namesake as one "who never appears to have been insensible to a personal tie .... ,,33 Hailier quotes Le Bail saying, ~’He himself loved with an intense love. Even yet there is warmth of feel- Aelred of Rievaulx / 927 ing running through his works.’’34 People Matter Aelred valued people. He did not forget his friends. When he was on trips, he took care to stop and visit, for he knew that separation made friendships more difficult to sustain. In addition to Ivo, Walter, and oth- ers in his own monastery, Waldef, Reginald, and Godric are mentioned as friends. Even in matters of devotion, Aelred tends to the human. Rather than an abstract approach to God, Aelred’s favorite way is the person of Je- sus-as is seen in his various writings, especially his essay on Jesus at the Temple. It is also true that Aelred was an idealist. He lived in an age of chiv- alry and at a time of vibrance in his own order. He lived with men who were aware of their worth and the value of their projects and plans. Al- though Aelred knew, the motives of human action, he found it hard to see that people could live for less th~n the ideal. To be aware that one is a man with capacities of’ r~ind and heart crying out for fulfillment was for him the mark of a fully alive person.35 While Aelred knew that the search for friendship_could hold some back, he also knew how supportive it could be in a difficult !ife. There was an obvious formati~,e factor in relationships Which made difficulties in the process worthwhile. His own experience as abbot, the one wfio cares for the others, must have moved him deeply. His own life experi- ences, including sickness, led to the calm maturity of his later life when he finished the treatise. It is interesting that Cicero, too, finished his work on friendship after a time of suffering over the death of his daugh- ter and while facing political disaster and old age. In all this, friendship is not to be merceriary or merely for one’s ad- x~anta~e~ Rather, it should lead to unselfishness. Cicei’o could not under- stand how one would wish to live "without being a comfort to anyone, taking no delight in another’s good, causing no trouble to others by one’s faults, loving no one, and caring to be loved by no one" (SF 2:52). "Those who take friendship out of life would seem to take the sun out of the world" (SF 2:49). He continually reminds his companions to move slowly. This is a dif- ficult demand. A person is guided to look for fidelity, intention, discre- tion, and patience. These make true friendship possible. "The best kind of friend to make is the man .who is growing all the time by overcoming his faults in the constant practice of virtues, and is all the more reliable 928 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 for the kind of maturity which comes from having temptations and diffi- culties and being used to deal with them steadily.’’36 Friendship becomes a joy over time. Openness, cheerfulness, equal- it~ (even when in different authority positions) help to move the relation- ship along. The call for conversion anda refinement in response to one’s friends leads to a necessary and continuous purification of the relation- ship. Squire comments: "All that lies behind the work on Spiritual Friend- ship can never be known to us, but its significance for Aelred’s life must run through every year of it, giving a~ hidden meaning to all its eventu- alities. It is clearly linked to the deepest of his personal problems, and his stability in striving for their solution, and in helping others to do so too, is the mark of uncommon bravery of spirit."37~ ~’ The reality of his struggle is apparent. How can relationships be any- thing but refining and purifying for persons who strive to follow the Gos- pel way of life? Friendship can certainly act as a paradigm of the spiri- tual life. We are not to consider failure in so important a matter as a dis, aster. In Asking the Fathers Squire quotes Augustine: "Am I telling you hot to love anything? Far from it! If you do not love anything y9u will be dolts., dead men, despicable creatures. Love~by all means, but take care what it is you love"38 (Enarr 1 1 in Ps 31:5). All of us feel ourselves to be in deep water .about friendships at least now and then. Avoiding them is not the solution. The fear we have of love is something we con- tend with. Even in a virtue as warm as friendship, courage has a place. Without facing the problems involved, we are not.moral people. Squire points out that, when we begin to love, "tOe tendencies to disin- tegration begin to appear." This is certainly not an easy way to live.39 We have seen monastic living as a training ground in perfection through friendship. We might have expected to find a different kindof asceticism opei"ative. Yet it is through friendship that the person is led to face himself and his motivations, to repent continually. This is hardly a cheap and easy way of living. Aelred places real challenge upon us with demands much more real than those of the many who preach to us of "quick-sell" relationships and intimacy today. Proponents of such an approach seem to forget the cracks in each of us and the need we have for healing at our very roots. For this reason, a religious understanding of friendship is of the utm6st importance. Psychological approaches on their own never seem to be completely satisfying. Friends as Life Givers For Aelred, the friend is ultimately the one who gives his life for an- Aelred of Rievaulx / 929 other. He really means that. The way of friendship is the way of Jesus. It is the way of the cross and the way of the resurrection. This point of view places a remarkable value on personal relationship for weak and vul- nerable human beings. Loving well over a long period of time is demand- ing. It is affirming to note that this life of seeking friendship is also the way of virtue. Good people, or those who are striving, have the possi- bilities of being friends. Those who are sinful and know it, can still be part of the spiritual journey. We know that as we come close to people, relating often becomes more difficult. Tensions and annoyances can be magnified and the glow of beginning friendship is soon over. The kind of fidelity required is the persistent type that can continue despite disap- pointments and the daily antagonisms which seem too frequent. Friendship, then, is not the way of least resistance. Like any other way to God, it demands a true depth response from real and struggling persons. As Aelred found, modern person of the twelfth century that he was, friendship is worth the struggles and surprises for those who perse- vere. With him we see "how the friendship which ought to exist among us begins in Christ, is preserved according to the Spirit of Christ, and how its ends and fruition are referred to Christ" (SF 1:8). The great hymn of spiritual friendship moves to a crescendo-like con- clusion in the manner reminiscent of the "Song of Joy" of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The friends are seen to be united, praying for one an- other, aware of joys and griefs, agreeing on everything. The final lines are, in fact, a passage into that future bliss Aelred so desired: And thus a friend’praying to Christ on behalf of his friend, and for his friend’s sake desiring to be heard by Christ, directs his attention with love and longing to Christ; then it sometimes happens that quickly and imperceptibly the one love passes over into .the other, and coming, as it were, into close contact with the sweetness of Christ himself, the friend begins to taste his sweetness and to experience his charm. Thus ascending from that holy love with which he embraces a friend to that with which he embraces Christ, he will joyfully partake in abundance of the spiritual fruit of friendship, awaiting the fullness of all things in the life to come. Then, with the dispelling of all anxiety by reason of which we now fear and are solicitous for one another, with the removal of all adversity which it now behooves us to bear for one another, and above all, with the destruction of the sting of death together with death itself, whose pangs now often trouble us and force us to grieve for one another, with salvation secured, we shall rejoice in the eternal posses- sion of Supreme Goodness; and this friendship, to which we admit but 930 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

few, will be outpoured upon all and by all outpoured upon God, and God shall be all in all (SF 3:128).

NOTES

~Jean Vanier, Community and Growth (Ramsey, NJ: Paulist, 1979), p. ix. 2 Vanier, p. x. 3 Ignace Lepp, The Ways of Friendship (New York: Macmillan, 1966), p. 8. 4 Lepp, p. 17. 5 Lepp, p. 21. 6 Lepp, p. 25. 7 Lepp, pp. 29-37. s Lepp, p. 50. 9 Lepp, p. 80. 10 Lepp, p. 127. 11 p. Pourrat, Christian Spirituality." In the Middle Ages (New York: P. J. Kenedy and Sons, 1924), p. 78. 12 Thomas Merton, Introduction to Amedee Hallier, The Monastic Theology of Aelred of Rievaulx (Shannon: Cistercian Press, 1969), p. vii. 13 Merton, pp. ix, x. 14 Merton, p. xi. 15 Louis Bouyer, The Cistercian Heritage (Westminster: Newman, 1958), pp. xi, xii. 16 Bouyer, p. xiv. 17 Bouyer, pp. 13, 14. is Douglas Roby, Introduction to Aelred of Rievaulx, Spiritual Friendship, tr. Mary Laker (Washington: Cistercian, 1974), p. 6. 19 T. Edmund Harvey, St. Aelred of Rievaulx (London: H.R. Allenson, 1932), p. 11. 20 Jean Leclerq, The Spirituality of the Middle Ages (New York: Seabury, 1982), p. 205. 21 Bouyer, pp. 125, 126. 22 Amedee Hailier, The Monastic Theology of Aelred of Rievaulx (Shannon: Cister- cian, 1969), p. xiii. 23In the text, citations from Aelred of Rievaulx, Spiritual Friendship, tr. Mary Laker (Washington: Cistercian, 1974), are given in parentheses with book and paragraph number. 24 Roby, p, 43. 25 Hallier, p. xii. 26 Hallier, p. xii. 27 Roby, p. 12. 28 Harvey, pp. 28, 29. 29 Harvey, p. 63. 30 Roby, p. 14. 31 Roby, p. ’19. 32 Roby, p. 38. 33 Aelred Squire, Aelred ofRievaulx: A Study, (Kalamazoo, Cistercian Publication, 1981), p. 66. 34 Hallier, p. 28. 35 Squire, p. 98. 36 Squire, p. 109. 37 Squire, p. 111. 38 Aelred Squire, Asking the Fathers (Ramsey, NJ: Paulist, 1973), p. 70. 39 Squire, Asking the Fathers, p. 74. Father Daniel F.X. Meenan, S.J.

Father Daniel F.X. Meenan, S.J., editor of R~v1~w FOR R~LIOOUS for the past twelve years, died in St. Louis of throat and lung cancer on Sep- tember 21. A native of Larchmont, New York, he had been educated for the priesthood in the Jesuit provinces of Maryland and New York and ordained in 1959. After funeral Masses in St. Louis and New York, he was buried near the North American Martyrs Shrine in Auriesville, New York. He was fifty-nine years old. After Vatican Council II, he edited the U.S. edition of the hundred- year-old Sacred Heart Messenger until in late 1966 its publication was discontinued. From 1972 to 1975 he served as assistant director of the Ignatian Spirituality Center in Rome, where he published his book, lg- natian Insight: Vision or Chimera? In other years he did apostolic work in Quito, Ecuador, gave lay retreats, and taught theology. Over many years he gave frequent spiritual conferences and directed an uncounted number of individual ret~reats. His "Colloquy of God with a Soul that Truly Seeks Him" was pub- lished anonymously in the November 1976 issue of this review. An Oc- tober 1983 address of his, "On Dreaming Dreams, or The Making of a Revolution," was printed in the July/August 1984 issue. We published posthumously in our last issue the article he wrote in July 1987 when he was virtually on his deathbed: "To Be Priest: An Al- ternative World View." Though we count on his keeping this world of God’s and ours in his prayerful view, this review will miss this priest. Homily of the Funeral Mass in St. Louis September 24, 1987 Editors move commas around, striving to improve the quality of a good

931 Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 manuscript. Father Daniel F.X. Meenan has submitted the manuscript of his good life and his good death to God. Writers often enough wince at the well-intended changes editors make. Father Meenan may wince a time or two as the divine Editor touches up his manuscript--that would be his purgatory. But a moment~ later he would be filled with joy at so skillful a touch-up from an infinitely good Editor. He wrote his entire life for that one Trinitarian Reader. In the end he wrote it in labored breaths and in blood coughed up onto white handkerchiefs. Someone has said that our lives are writ on water. There is a sad truth to that, but the fuller truth--particularly true in Father Meenan’s case, I think--is that our lives are lived in thirst. Aware or unawares, we thirst for the living God, as the deer longs for the living waters of a stream. In recent months Father Meenan had been unable to so much as drink a cup of cold water. One evening in June he said to me with a wistful yet peaceful smile that he was longing to drink a good glass of water, to feel its coolness going down his throat--for his water intake, and his food as well,-were by way of a tube in his belly--no taste buds down there. During his hospital stays and here in the Fusz Pavilion he always had a warm smile and a thank you for the nurses--for every attention they gave.him. Once when he could still drink a little, but when his weight was fifty pounds below what he hadweighed in his prime, a nurse at St. John’s Mercy offered to bring him some 7-Up. He smiled a yes. After some minutes she came back apologetically with some diet 7-Up. He smiled and said in his weakened .voice, "That’s OK; I can stand to lose some weight." The nurse, with a merry laugh that I think was close to breaking her heart, determined then and there togo off and get some real 7-Up for this marvelously cheerful man, who could quench his thirst with a deeper thirst--and all without, complaining. Over the recent months and years, when people inquired about him and his health, he invariably said, ’~’Fine." He meant it. He meant what St. Ignatius of Loyola meant when he said, "Sickness is no less a gift than health." Bad health, d~clining health, was a gift from God, and he liked it fine. He loved it, and he loved the Giver. .He certainly felt the pain and the dwindling of his vigor and even of his voice. Such limitations., were frustrating to him and frustrating to those helplessly trying to help him in his last weeks--but he knew they were not the end. The end was and is the resurrection; the end was and is love permeating an~d transcending the undoubted pain. Daniel F.X. Meenan, S.J. /~133

One evening in midsummer, when he was feeling weak and uncom- fortable, he had me drive him on a special excursion for someone close to him. We were back within an hour or so. I said, "That was a good idea, but I hope you didn’t wear yourself out too much." He replied, "All our lives we overexert ourselves from time to time." To many of us he seemed to overexert himself much of the time, but never in a conspicuous way. He did it as a matter of course. But in fact, I think, he did not "overexert himself." The love of God in him was overexerting him. The faith God had given him was compel- ling him. His hope in God was sweeping him along. His thirst was driv- ing him, like the deer, over crags and logs toward the stream of living water. Like a deer, he was also shy, perhaps sometimes to the point of seem- i6g impersonal and aloof. But he was not impersonal and not aloof, and his shyness was far from total. A visiting Jesuit, after one table conve~’ sation with him about St. Ignatiu.s’s Spiritual Exercises, noted his intense and ~hehrtfelt convictions and said of him this paradox: "He is very dis- tant and very clbse and personal at the same time." " I .[h. ink it true to s~y his personality, was permeat.ed with as much of the mys.tery of the infinite tripersonality o.f Gbd as he could hold--no won- der there was some mystery about him. Father Meenan had no intention of trivializing his faith-vision, his Ignatian vision. He was in love with God, but also in awe of God (and so he wanted to be buried in violet vestments--as prie.st and as penitent). Only God--in this matter our own devout opinion, however well founded, is hot worth very much---can judge how well he lived that vi- sibn. But that vision is what he stood for; the love inspired by that vi- sion i~ what he strove for. In~ a homily given well before his c~ncer was discovered, Father Meenan once said: "[In this reading John is speaking] not of sweet, con- soling love--as we would like to feel it--but of the love that the Father showed his only~ and beloved Son in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross .... Oh, tile draining and the tyranny "of God’s love! God loved his Son most, thus the Son suffered most." He said, too: "My utter surrender to Him has to exhaust my power to be." In directed retreats Father Meenan would ask: "Did Mary just ac- cept that Christ should leave her when he started out on his mission? Or did she send him? Did Mary just accept that her Son was to die on the cross for us? Or did she will it?" These words are a way of suggesting St. Ignatius’s Third Degree of Humility and also a passage in the Jesuit Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

Constitutions:."They who.., are serious about following Christ our Lord love and warmly desire.., to be clothed in the same garments and wear the same attire as their Lord, out of love and reverence for him. [On some wise conditions which St. Ignatius laid down] they should wish to suffer.., and to be considered and treated as fools, their whole de- sire being to imitate our Lord Jesus Christ, by being clothed in his gar- ments and raiment, since he first so clothed himself for our greater spiri- tual benefit, and gave us an example to lead us to seek, as far as pos- sible with God’s grace, to imitate and follow him, seeing he is the true Way which leads meo to life." The way of love, the way of the cross to the resurrection. "Take, Lord, and receive all . . . I have .... Give me only~thy love and thy grace, and I am rich enough and ask for nothing more." "If anyone would serve me, let him follow me .... My soul is troub- led now, yet what should I say--Father, save me from this hour? But it was for this that I came to this hour.". Father Meenan came to such an hour, though he would not have encouraged me to say so toniffht. Father Meenan loved the view from Art Hill in Forest Park--his fa- vorite spot in all of St. Louis, with its hills and vales and trees and water golden in the setting sun. In early August he wen~ there by wheelchair and car with his brother and sister; to the amazement and delight of the Pavilion staff he went there again from his sickbed on August 30, and once again only eight days befol:e he died. Though he did not fiaention it, I like to think that the Chase-Park Plaza Hotel to the northeast--also golden in the early evening sun--reminded him of the "New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, beautiful as a bride prepared to meet her husband .... The One on the throne said, ’See, I make all thin~s new! I am the Alpha and the Omega [and perhaps all the commas in between], the Beginning and the End. To anyone who thirsts I will give drink without cost from the spring of life-giving water. He who wins the.victory shall inherit these gifts; I will be his God and he shall be my son.’ " May God take his son Dan to himself, and may we follow after. CANONICAL COUNSEL

Departure of a Religious Priest or Deacon

Richard A. Hill, S.J.

This department of canonical information and reflection is written by Rev. Richard A. Hill, S.J., Professor of Canon Law at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, where he may be addressed; 1735 LeRoy Ave.; Berkeley, CA 94709.

When a religious who is also a deacon or a priest (presbyter) decides that he wishes to leave his religious community, he and his community are confronted with a problem peculiar to an ordained religious. When a re- ligious is ordained a deacon, he is now said to be incardinated, as a cleric, into his religious institute, just as a diocesan seminarian is incar- dinated into his diocese by diaconal ordination. The reason for the ex- tension of the concept of incardination to religious and to some mem- bers of apostolic societies is to ensure, to the extent that this is ever pos- sible, that unattached (literally, acephalous or headless) or transient (vagi) clerics are never allowed. They must always have an Ordinary with whom they are in communion as clerics. If a departing priest wishes to continue to exercise his ordained min- istry, he must have first found a bishop who is willing to receive him

935 Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 into his diocese with a view to eventual incardination. The same is true with respect to a religious deacon, but I will not continually repeat "dea- con" in this essay. While this may prove to be problematic in individ- ual cases, it is usually a relatively smooth transition to life as a diocesan priest. I am speaking here of the religious priest who requests an indult of departure from his superiors, not of one who has given cause for dis- missal from his religious institute. If the latter were to be the case, the process of dismissal of a religious would have to be followed and the de- cree of dismissal would have to be issued by the superior general and subsequently confirmed by the Apostolic See or by the diocesan bishop in the case of a priest who is a member of a diocesan religious commu- nity. In this case the decree of dismissal would have to indicate that the dismissed priest is prohibited from exercising his ordained ministry. There is no question, at least at the time of dismissal,~ of finding a bishop who is willing to receive him into his diocese. This might come about some time later. Canon 693 of the revised Code of Canon Law opens by stating a fact., namely, the actual practice of the Holy See. If the religious who is re- questing an indult to depart from his institute is a cleric, "the indult is not granted before he finds a bishop who will incardinate him into the diocese or at least will receive him on probation." In effect the canon is denying that a departing religious can lawfully leave the ordained min- istry a~ well. One is not simply free to resign from the clerical state. Some- thing further is needed, but the canon does not specify what this is. What is to be done? The only alternative is what is now called "loss of cleri- cal status," which is treated in canons 290-293. There are three distinct circumstances in which laicization, as it is commonly called, can occur: by a finding of the Apostolic See that his ordination was invalid (canons 1708-1712) or by dismissal from the cleri- cal state for certain very grave crimes committed by the cleric (can. 1336) or by way of an indult. The case I am considering falls into the third category. "A cleric loses clerical status by a rescript of the Holy See which is granted by the Holy See to deacons only for serious rea- sons and to presbyters for very serious reasons" (can. 290, 3°). The rescript or written response is an indult, that is, the grant of the favor requested by the priest or deacon. It does not imply any wrongdo- ing on his part and therefore does not require a penal procedure as does dismissal from the clerical state. It can be granted by the Apostolic See alone and therefore not by a diocesan bishop or a superior general. It is Canonical Counsel / 937 by its nature perpetual and the cleric cannot be later reinstated as a mem- ber of the clergy without another rescript of the Apostolic See (can. 293). By a grant of laicization, if I may use this somewhat odious expres- sion, a priest loses all the rights, for example, to financial support, and all the obligations deriving from ordination, except the obligation of celi- bacy, which can be dispensed only by the pope himself (can. 291). There are enough instances of departing religious priests who do not intend to marry, but sincerely want to have their status in the Church regularized. By rather sharply distinguishing loss of the clerical state without the dispensation from celibacy and with it, it becomes, it seems tO me, a vi- able option in securing the good standing of the departing religious cleric in the Church without the need to seek eventual incardination into a dio- cese. Should he later wish to be free to marry in the Church, the proce- dure most recently established by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith would have to be followed. Tl~at is an altogether different proc- ess and one that is admittedly relatively rarely successful. Can. 290, 3°, states as was noted above, that the reasons for request- ing and for granting the rescript or indult of laicization must be serious or grave (graves causas)on the part of a deacon and very serious or grave (gravissimas causas)in the case of a priest. A parallel distinction of causes or reasons is found in canons 688.2 and 691. I: A religious in tem- porary profession should have serious reasons for requesting an indult to leave the community before the temporary vows have lapsed, whereas a religious in perpetual vows must have very serious~reasons (gravissi- mas causas)for requesting such a grant. There is an inconsistency in the ,~imerican translation of these canons inasmuch as gravissimas causas in can. 290, 3°, is translated as "most serious reasons" and in can. 691.1 as "very serious reasons." I prefer the latter translation in both canons because I believe it more accurately reflects the superlative in Latin when there are no terms of comparison. Readmission into the body of the clergy, while not unheard of, is achieved only with considerable difficulty and lengthy probation. What the legislator is especially concerned about is that a priest, especially a religious priest who is also professed of vows, shall have discerned the request for laicization with great care, that he shall have arrived at the decision to request this indult in a mature and prayerful way and with the assistance of prudent counselors. He should have been aware that a person does not easily move out of and back into the clerical state. Both perpetual profession and ordination possess an absolute and definitive 938 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 character, which can be properly compared to the choice of marriage, and they deserve to be equally worked at. I am not ~presently aware of any prescribed procedure to be followed in petitioning laicization without dispensation from the obligation of celi- bacy. Since it ,is an integral part, in my opinion, of the process of peti- tioning the indult to leave religious life without having a bishop who will receive the petitioner into his diocese, it must be handled by the supe- rior general and his council (can. 691.1). This implies th~it the superior general, himself convinced that departure and removal of clerical status is the proper route io be followed, has to make the case suasive with the Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes, whereas the dispen- sation from the law of celibacy must be processed through the Congre- gation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In the absence of specific norms from CRIS, I would advise the religious ordinaries to follow the proce- dure, in an analogous way, of petitioning the celibacy dispensation, aware that the reasons for petitioning laicization as such have to be very serious, but can easily be much broader and more common. Although discussing the subject of this essay is not particularly pal- atable, we have to explore a reasonable and dignified way to legitimize the departure of a deacon or priest from religious life when he does not wish or intend, for very good reasons, to exercise his ordained ministry as a member of the diocesan clergy. I have heard it said too often that can. 693--"the indult is not granted by the Apostolic See until he has found a bishop’ ’--leaves only two options: civil marriage, which causes ipso facto dismissal, or the employment of the formal dismissal process which, in the case I have been considering, is nothing more than a cha- rade. Voluntary loss of the clerical state is not in itself blameworthy or shameful and canon law provides for it. Views News Previews

Programs and Courses Saint Louis University’s Institute of Religious Formation is accepting ap- plications for the 1988~89 academic year, its 18th year of assisting men and women to meet the initial and ongoing spiritual formation needs of the contemporary Church. Co-directors of the institute are Joan Pitlyk, C.S.J. and Don Reck, S.J. They are assisted by faculty member.s and pro- fessional and experienced formation personnel from Saint Louis Univer- sity and elsewhere. IRF is a nine-month certificate program which combines specialized class- work, graduate professional credit in spirituality, spiritual direction, con- temporary formation, Scripture, psychology, and systematic theology, together with workshops covering various practical aspects in these ar- eas. Regular corporate-reflection sessions provide an opportunity to as- similate the elements of the program and to develop plans for future min- istry. The second semester concludes with a 30-day individually directed re- treat based on the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, fol- lowed by a week-long seminar of reflection on the experience and an in- vestigation of the Exercises as a tool for retreat ministry. For information write: Institute of Religious Formation; Metropolitan Col- lege; Saint Louis University; 221 North Grand Boulevard; Saint Louis, Missouri 63103.

939 940 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

The nine-month Biblical Spirituality Program, sponsored by Chicago’s Catholic Theological Union, is directed by Carroll Stuhlmueller, C.P., and Joann Gehling, F.S.P.A. One-third is spent "on site" in the land of the Bible, and two-thirds at the Catholic Theological Union. There is also the possibility of adding another year of study leading to an M.T.S. tlegree. To ~quire about the 1989-90 school year, write: Director: Bib- lical Spirituality Pr6gram; Catholic Theological Union; 5401 South Cor- nell Avenue; Chicago, Illinois 60615. The San Damiano Center will offer the following programs: January 3- 10, 1988, 8-Day Retreat; January 29-31, Enneagram: A Personality Sys- tem, conducted by Sister Virginia Sampson, S.U .S.C., to enable partici- pants to grow in their understanding of others and themselves; February 5-7, The Spirituality of Mark’s Gospel, exploring themes of Mark’s spiri- tual message as presented by Father Paul Sansone, O.F.M.; February 12- 15, Intimacy, Sexuality and Relationships, topics to be developed by Pat Livingston; February 19-21, Francis and the Office, of the Passion~ dis- cussed by Father Cyprian Rosen, O.F.M., in celebration of Lent and Eas- ter. Write ’for application to: San Damiano Center; Our Lady of Angels Convent; Aston, Pennsylvania 19014. Workshops and Retreats The Institute for the Study of Psychology and Spirituality is offering a one-day workshop on The Emerging Laity, March 19, 1988. The pres- entation by Evelyn and James Whitehead, consultants in education and ministry, will explore the promise of partnersh.ip (cle~rgy and laity, women and men,~; changing images of Christian ministry and the chal- lenging conversations required for partnership to flourish; the tensions that often arise between women and men working together in the Church; and, finally, conflict as an expectable and s~metimes even graceful dy- namic of partnership in ministry. For further information write: Director of Institute Programs; Neumann College; Aston, Pennsylvania 19014. For those interested in eremitical life, Marymount Hermitage in rural Idaho extends three invitations: to priests--use the chaplain’s hermitage free of charge for retreat/sabbatical (1 week--1 year) and offer Mass daily for the community (or inquire about serving as the regular chap- lain); to women (ages 25-45)-~come and see if you are called to this way of life; and to women (religious or lay)--make a solitary retreat in the desert (3-30 days). For an informative brochure write: Marymount Her- mitage; Mesa, Idaho. Views, News, Previews / 94"1

Linwood Spiritual Center, conducted by the Sisters of St. Ursula, offers private or directed retreats and spiritual programs. Scheduled are: En- neagram Workshop, Phase I, December 4-6, Sister Ruth A. Duffy, S.N.D.; 30-day Retreat, January 3-February 3, 1988, Rev. Frank Whelan, S.J., and Linwood staff; Spirituality of Identity and Freedom, January 8-10, 1988, Rev. Bruce Anspach; Guided Retreat for Women, January 15-17, 1988, given by the Linwood staff. For brochure, write or call: Mrs. Agnes Hart; Linwood Spiritual Center; 139 S. Mill Road; Rhinebeck, New York 12572. Tel. (914) 876-4178.

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,oO*W % REVIEW

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The Desolate City: Revolution in the Catholic Church. Anne Roche Mug- geridge. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1986. Pp. 219. $16.95. This is a fascinating, troubling, and very sad book. Other recent books have dealt with the subject of radical changes in Roman Catholicism--Dietrich yon Hilde- brand’s The Devastated Vineyard and l.,ouis Bouyer’s The Decomposition of Catholi- cism (both strongly philosophical and polemical); James Fitzpatrick’s Jesus Christ Before He Became a Superstar (a popularly written, satirical approach); and Os Guin- ness’s The Gravedigger File: Papers on the Subversion of the Modern Church (akin to C. S. Lewis’s classic The Screwtape lx, tters, this is a .quasi-fictional approach, brilliantly done, purporting to be intercepted files and papers of a literally diabolical plot to overturn the Church). While each of these books makes a valuable contribu- tion to the literature on changes in the Church, Anne Muggeridge’s book easily tran- scends and in fact supersedes them all. Like C. S Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, or her own feisty father-in-.law, Malcolm, Anne Muggeridge belongs to that blessed yet too rare breed--the passionate thinker. From start to finish, one feels confident in the grip of a keen, clear and reasoning mind that cares deeply about its subject, believes in fact that its subject is the most crucial concern for modern believers. Nowhere in the book, though, does one hear a single strident, false or fanatical’note. Anne Muggeridge knows whereof she speaks and sets before the reader, as none of the above-mentioned books do, the vast scope and depth of the revolution in the Roman Catholic Church. Her theme, stated forthrightly at the very start, is the destruction of the Roman Catholic Church by forces and persons within the Church. There is a brilliantly con- cise overview of the modernist crisis in the last century, from which the modem revo- lution takes its~origins, though the real roots, Muggeridge insists, reach back to the Reformation. What makes her study cohere is her use of a revolutionary paradigm 942 Reviews / 943 to synthesize and organize her vast array of facts and observations. Given the array of facts, one is impressed by their relevance and by the masterful way in which they are woven into the overall texture and pattern of the book. Her facts are consistently and discreetly footnoted. Muggeridge writes fairly of the various opposing forces in the "revolution’" within Catholicism. One sometimes finds her treating her foes with greater fairness than they display toward their opponents. Finally, however, one is impressed not primarily by the facts and arguments Mug- geridge has assembled here--and these are formidable --but by her profound faith and commitment to the truth of Catholicism. More than an argument, or a history, this book is a powerful lament of noble proportions. Nowhere is this more’evident or moving than in her final chapter, where she looks with a wise and discerning eye over her ruined Church and gives voice to an elegy that finds its final expression in the passage from Lamentations that gave her book its title: How doth the city sit desolate that was full of people; how is she be- come as a widow that was mistress among nations. Among her lovers there is none to comfort her; all her friends have despised her, they are become her enemies. All her gates are broken down: her priests sigh, her virgins grieve, and she is oppressed with bitterness. And from the daughter of Sion all her beauty is departed. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, con- vertere ad Dominum Deum tuum. Out of that somber lament for a Church in ruins, the clear note of hope sounds through- out this 15ook: "Jerusalem, Jerusa(em, turn again to the Lord your God." Anne Mug- geridge believes, and helps us to believe, that the conversion will come about in the end ’~not by arguments, nor beauty, nor order, but through the witness of Catholics whose lives are faith incarnate." In his book Heretics, Chesterton tells a parable that seems to capture much of Muggeridge’s vision in The Desolate City. He writes: Suppose that a great commotion rises in the street about something~ let us say a lamp-post, which many influential persons desire to pull down. A grey-clad monk, who is the spirit of the Middle Ages, is approached upon the matter, and begins to say, in the arid manner of the School- men, "Let us first of all consider~ my brethren, the value of Light. If Light be in itself good .... " At this point he is somewhat excusably knocked down. All the people make a rush for the lamp-post, the lamp- post is down in ten minutes, and they go about congratulating each other on their unmedieval practicality. But as things go on they do not work out so easily. Some people have pulled the lamp-post down because they wanted the electric light; some because they wanted old iron; some be- cause they wanted darkness, because their deeds were evil. Some thought it not enough of a lamp-post, some too much; some acted be- cause they wanted to smash municipal machinery; some because they wanted to smash something. And there is war in the night, no man know- ing whom he strikes. So, gradually and inevitably, to-day, tomorrow, or the next day, there comes back the conviction that the monk was right 94_4 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

after all, and that all depends on what is the philosophy of Light. Only what we might have discussed under the gas-lamp, we must now dis- cuss in the dark. Those of us who have found the lamp of Catholicism dimmed in recent years have much to learn from Chesterton’s parable, but even more to learn from Anne Mug- geridge’s book. This is an important, brilliant and moving book. No one who cares for the Church and for keeping the Catholic faith alive can afford to miss it.--James M. Deschene, O.S.B.; P.O. Box 1272; Pawtucket, Rhode Island 02860.

The Practice of Faith: A Handbook of Contemporary Spirituality. By Karl Rahner, S.J. New York: Crossroad, 1986. Pp. xv 316. Paper, $14.95. Both Augustine and Thomas undertook an Enchiridion, an attempt at a brief treatment of Christianity organized into the structure of faith, hope and charity. This bids to be Rahner’s equivalent. To begin with, some caveats to the emptor: this is not a "book" in the usual sense of the word, planned by the author as a unit, but a posthumous selection by editors of pieces of Rahneriana dealing with more or less kindred topics. Only six of the pieces are previously unpublished, though a good number apparently appear in English for the first time. Quite a few others, however, are taken from the Theological Investiga- tions. The articles span twenty years and more, and differences of position and unevenness of translation occasionally stand out. Nevertheless, the fact that Rahner wrote out of a single, synthetic vision aids the unity of the collection; and some read- ers will find it a service to have scattered writings gathered into one handy package. The contents are sixty-five short pieces, with an average length of five pages. "Faith" includes such topics as faith today, sacraments, mysticism and prayer. "Love" covers the two commandments regarding God and neighbor, relation of Church and world, the Sunday precept, religious life, detachment and asceticism. "Hope" comprises the virtue of hope, courage, peace and justice, death and eternal life. Characteristic throughout is Rahner’s muscular intellectuality; one seeking senti- mental uplift should look elsewhere. The most basic insight of Rahner’s work, here as elsewhere, is the relation of the finite to the Infinite. The human person lives at the crossroads of this tension, always dealing with limited things, yet ever haunted by a yearning (often unthematic, some- times denied) for the All. In such disparate contexts as detachment, death and Christology the same dialectic reappears under new guises. Here also, as elsewhere, one notes Rahner’s omnivorous theological curiosity. Questions other theologians find too banal, or perhaps too embarrassing, he will unflinchingly engage. And to whatever he turns, he inevitably brings a freshness. As in many of his pictures, the personality that emerges through the book is for- bidding as well as appealing. Rahner is rather dour and, at least in his writings, humorless. In spite of his many appeals to experience, he belongs to that generation of Catholics who do not easily share themselves: the whole book reveals little more of his personal story than one would learn of Thomas by reading the Summa. Yet a steadiness of purpose emerges; through a notably turbulent time he never lost his head. Always open to new questions, he was unfailingly committed to the basic Catholic truths of God, Christ and Church. Reviews / 945

The book is too disparate a collection, probably, to be read straight through. It might be used in snippets as "meditation-starters," but it may be too intellectual for that purpose. Perhaps it would best be employed for occasional spiritual reading. It is unlikely that this handbook will be remembered as long as those of Augustine and Thomas; but it offers an opportunity to familiarize oneself with Rahner’s later thought, and assess his enduring significance.--Terry J. Tekippe; Notre Dame Semi- nary; New Orleans, Louisiana 70118.

To Dance with God: Family Ritual and Community Celebration. By Gertrud Mueller Nelson. New York: Paulist Press, 1986. Pp. 245. Paper. $9.95. This book underscores the forgotten value of myth, ritual, and ceremony and attempts to rediscover the meaning of human experience through ritual and celebration within the context of both the family and Church. The author believes we have forg.otten that the Tremendum has revealed itself through the ordinary, and that is what the Incarna- tion is all about. Therefore, the ordinary becomes an epiphany when individuals become consciously aware of symbols and the rich meaning of experience. Ultimately, the author tries to encourage another way of viewing the mythic truth of dogmas in order to honor the wisdom that lies at the heart of religious mystery since she believes that the ritual expression of mystery is an expression of the fundamental human condition. This book is divided into two parts. The first part attends to what has been forgot- ten by exploring the human yearning for transformation, and the ways individuals look for the touch of the Divine. Living becomes an art in which ritual allows individuals to engage in an inner mystery as celebration makes the ordinary the extraordinary. Signs and symbols become containers for the Divine when they are consecrated through atten- tive awareness. All of life, whether it be major moment or smaller event, and espe- cially times of transition in human cycles, offer times of celebration. However, the construction of nourishing rites and ceremonies requires serious consideration of their ¯ elements, and so the author devotes a chapter to examining those elements. The second part of the book reviews the seasons and feasts of the church year which provides forms and formulas needed to make whole every human experience. In addi- tion, the author provides specific suggestions for further creative expression. Rediscovery of themes of the church calendar and application of imagination to rites and the folk customs already available enables new meanings to emerge while creating a worthy container for the divine. The author, who views Church’s heritage as a rich source for family and community expression, gives the reader tools to enable himself or herself to return meaning to the ordinary. To Dance with God blends history, psychology, spirituality, myth, ritual and cere- mony effectively, connecting daily living with levels of meaning and religious experi- ence. The author’s use of personal examples drawn from her own family life makes concrete and understandable what might otherwise be pedantic and superficial. While having a scholarly base, this book maintains a readability that would appeal to a wide audience, especially to those who are searching for practical ways to deepen their own spirituality as well as contribute to family and Church community. Thus, those seeking to establish or deepen family traditions, directors of religious education, liturgy planners, teachers, religious and clergy will find this book valuable.---Mrs. Elaine Korthals; 6 Candice Court; Lancaster, New York 14086. 946 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

The World’s Religious Traditions: Current Perspectives in Religious Studies. Edited by Frank Whaling. New York: Crossroad, 1986. Pp. viii 311. Paper. $14.95. Thanks in great measure to the work of Wilfred Cantwell Smith, it is no longer so sur- prising to hear scholars of religion talk with great sympathy about religious traditions other than their own. Thirteen essays, all by acknowledged experts in their respective specializations, attest to the breadth of Smith’s contribution. The book’s two main sec- tions include both studies of specific traditions and more theoretical approaches to the study of religion. Part One’s essays deal with Hinduism (J. L. Mehta), Confucianism (Tu Wei- Ming), Judaism (L. Jacobs), Christianity (George Williams), and Islam (Annemarie Schimmel). All of these approach their subjects by responding at least implicitly to some key theme in Smith’s writings, such as the relationship between faith (a universal human activity) and belief (the more particularized "content" peculiar to a religious tradition), and the notion of"history of religion in the singular." All presupposes some at least general background in the traditions, and all are for that reason fairly demand- ing reading~ All but the first are clearly written throughout. ’Buddhism is surprisingly and inexplicably missing from the book’s first section. Part Two encompasses seven major issues in religii~us studies: religious pluralism (John Hick), relationship between theology and the comparative history of religion (George Rupp), "Perennial Philosophy" (S.H. Nasr), Dialogical Dialogue (R. Panikkar), relationship between understanding and evaluation (John Carman), thematic comparison (Geoffrey Parrinder), and phenomenology (Ninian Smart). These are excel- lent but rather technical; and, since each author engages Smith at some crucial point, some acquaintance with Smith’s work will make the essays all the more worthwhile. Whaling’s good introductory essay is very helpful on that score, characterizing in a few paragraphs the crux of each essay’s interaction with Smith. Editor Whaling has included an ample index and a bibliography of Smith’s studies in this overall excellent "conversation" with Wilfred Cantwell Smith. Although the work does not deal directly with themes in spirituality, the implications for the study of "global spirituality" are many. To the reader interested in pursuing foundational issues necessary for the study of spirituality on a broader scale, this book is recom- mended, as are Smith’s works (especially his Towards a World Theology).--John Renard, S.J. ; Department of Theological Studies; ~aint Louis University; St. Louis, Missouri 63108. Vladimir the Russian Viking. Vladimir Volkoff. Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press, 1985. Pp. 384. Cloth. $18.95. While this book is not hagiography in the classical sense, it is a good solid historical biography based on the careful and systematic study of legends, traditions and the wide heritage of Russian Orthodox literature on the subject of St. Vladimir, prince of Kiev, and the founder of Christianity among the Russians. Reading like a historical novel, it makes for excellent spiritual reading, and the author’s clear belief shines through on every page. The careful historical style does not detract from the three dimensional char- acter of the man studied.olt not only provides interesting reading, but is also available to nourish Christian piety. As the celebration of the millennial anniversary of Christianity in Russia draws Reviews / 947’ closer, a deeper spiritual knowledge of the origin of the Christian faith among the Rus- sian people becomes a spiritual priority for Christians worldwide. Likewise, the fact that in Russia on a Sunday morning there are more Orthodox Christians in Church per capita than one would find in England and Italy, makes it clear that a knowledge of St. Vladimir puts us in touch with the consciousness of one of the major ecumenical partners we share in our faith in Jesus Christ and the ecumenical hope we have for the unity of the Church. St. Vladimir remains a king, conqueror and saint who is counted "equal with the apostles" in the liturgy of the Russian people. His political and military exploits tend to overshadow his own personal devotion and piety in this recounting, but it is clear that his own spirituality set a stamp on that of Russia. The relationship of the Russian Orthodox Church to the West, its relationship to Constantinople, and the Slavic and Nordic character of its piety makes it a particularly rich vein of spiritual resources for worldwide Christianity. St. Vladimir, a friend and comrade of Norwegian King, St. Olaf, shows himself to be in this biography the heir of St. Cyril and Methodius ih indigenizing the Eastern form of Christianity among the Slavic people. His strong admiration for the great liturgical tradition of Constantinople on the one hand, and his political independence and ecclesiastical affirmation of the Moravian and Bulgarian heritage of Cyril and Methodius on the other, make his life an example of the indigenization so apparent in the emerging Third World theologies of our day. Indeed; his relationships with the West and his ability to balance these with relationships with Eastern churches, at a period when communion is still in place but hostility quite high, is itself an example of Chris- tian reconcilihtion. It is hardly likely that St. Vladimir will become the object of Catholic devotion comparable to a St. Patrick, St. Anthony or St. Stanislaus. However, in the communion of saints, the devotion to the saint whose gift and charism have stamped Russian piety, is an important and invigorating resource for any Christian,-~Brother Jeffrey Gros. F.S.C.: Room 827; 475 Riverside Drive: New York, New York 10115-0050.

New Wineskins. Re-imagining Religious Life Today. By Sandra M. Schneiders, I.H.M. New York/Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1986. Pp. 309. Paper. $10.95. This book is divided into three major parts: I) religious life in contemporary experi- ence and reflection; 2) the vows in contemporary experience and reflection; and 3) reflect- ing on some contemporary challenges. The topics under each of these headings were originally addressed to various audiences over a ten-year period and their content has been refined by the give-and-take of the different group presentations. Sandra Schneiders rightfully claims to write from experience, and as a theologian she tries to reflect upon that experience in the light of Scripture and tradition. Although the book’s title indicates a reimagining of religious life, I find that a truly imaginative approach is too little employed. Schneiders is a clear and organized thinker, and this intellectual approach remains a more obvious strength of these essays over the use of the imagination. She articulates a critical attitude towards many facets of a compar- atively recent religious life tradition which is symbolic of the unimaginative nineteenth- century spirituality. Yet she seems to support and even canonize the directions of reli- gious life taken over the past ten years, which mirror more the contemporary Ameri- 94~1 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 can secular lifestyles and procedures than exhibit an imaginative religious approach. The essays that make the attempt to address a "theology of... " tend to present more information about the past tradition and to be more thoughtful about our present situation. In the essay entitled "Towards a Theological Theory of Religious Life," Schneiders chooses the term movement as central to a definition or understanding of religious life. Her choice of terminology in this essay seems to reflect more a sociolog- ical approach than a theological. But the two essays on profession and on a contempo- rary theology of the vows exhibit better Schneiders’ theological skills. The essay on consecrated celibacy as an icon of the reign of God contains the seed of an imaginative approach. The final essay in the book on prophetic consciousness is a finely nuanced treatment of a specially difficult area in Church life today. This book is a helpful addition to the growing literature on contemporary under- standings of religious life. The audience to whom this book would most appeal is obvi- ously religious women and men. It would provide them with some articulation of their lived experience of religious life and hopefully challenge them to formulate for them- selves a more creative and vibrant understanding of religious life which would ground their attempt to live this form of discipleship in the Church today.---David L. Fleming, S.J.: Weston School of Theology: Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138. Love Is the Measure: A Biography of Dorothy Day. By Jim Forest. Paulist Press, 986. Pp. 224. Cloth. $14.95. The book opens on a note of revolution. The Great Depression is four years old; the country in economic collapse. It is May Day, 1930. Communists parade in Union Square, New York. Dorothy Day, thirty-five, editor of The Catholic Worker, a jour- nal of radical protest calling for improved unionized industrialism, thrusts copies of the paper into the hands of the marchers. Jim Forest’s biography of Dorothy Day, whom some historians term the most influ- ential woman of the twentieth century, is the story of a radical social reformer turned radical Christian. In her teen years, walking her baby brother through the slums of Chicago’s West Side, she acquired an interest, peripheral at the time, in the lot of those being destroyed by squalor and injustice. As she progressively associated herself with the~poor, her heart became totally committed to their problems. Moving to New York with her parents, she took a job as a reporter at five dollars a week for The Call, a Socialist daily. Here her work brought her into contact with poverty more appalling than Chicago’s. She felt that the world’s cast-off people called to her to change the social order. She attended labor meetings, covered speeches by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, involved herself personally in strikes and demonstrations, demanding cooperative rights, suf- fering hunger, imprisonment and physical assault in defense of the workers. In all these militant activities, her soul drew courage from a pressing awareness of the presence of God, who revealed himself to her as she struggled through poverty, loneliness and unhappy love affairs, one of which ended in abortion. Her search for peace culminated in conversion to the Catholic Church. After baptism, she set herself the seemingly impossible task of transforming the structures of society into models of social justice based on the teachings of Jesus. His Spirit was the inspiration for her speeches and writings with his admonition: "Love your enemies" (Mt 5:44) becoming the basis of her pacifism. Jesus’ words "As often as you did it for one of my least brethren, you did it for me" (Mr 25:40) was the motiva- Reviews / 949 tion for The Catholic Worker, and her many houses of hospitality and farm communes and her selfless devotion to social issues. Reading, especially the Bible and the works of the mystics, fed her faith. The words of St. John of the Cross, "Love is the measure by which we shall be judged" from which Forest took his title, became her watchword. To the end of her life she read the works of the great Russians. She felt an affinity for the deep sense of brother- hood inbred in the characters of Tolstoy, Chekhov, Gorki and especially Dostoyevski. Believing that love had to do with action and responsibility, she made her influ- ence felt in all the upheavals of the times: the strikes of mine workers in 1917, the suffragist movement, the influenza epidemic of 1918, the hunger march on Washington, the Great Depression, the Spanish Civil War, the rise of racism with its incipient anti- semitism. Her antiwar position during Franco’s battle with communism and America’s part in World War II brought angry denunciations from Catholics, to whom military defense was a patriotic duty. Covering sixty tumultuous years of American social history, the book is an exposi- tion of how ’one person, by faith in God and an implacable adherence to prin~.ciples, was able to bend political and religious powers in favor of the poor. If now human rights and world peace are part of our national and foreign policies, we can thank Dorothy Day for her part in revolutionizing our ways of looking at the individual, at industry, at society and war. We welcome here Forest’s assessment of the significance of a woman who was leaven in a rebellious environment. Sharing in the anguish of her times, she transcended it, giving it meaning and direction. In brief chapters of three or four pages each, he blends character and events to delineate the maturing of a warm, friendly human being, resisting brutality and injustice with words and deeds to become a shaper of her world. The book is well indexed and helps to keep track of important people and happen- ings. There are also numerous photographs, many borrowed from university archives. l_z~ve is the Measure is easy to read and should appeal to anyone interested in trac- ing Origins of the winds of change blowing through the institutional Church and society. Sister Aloise Jones, O.P.; St.° Scholastica Convent," 17305 Ashton Road; Detroit, Michigan 48219.

Anthony Claret: A Life at the Service of the Gospel. By John M. Lozano, C.M.F. Chicago: Claretian Press, 1985. Pp. 486. Paper. No Price.. In writing this biography, Fr. Lozano attempts to present "a personal portrait of the many-sided, often genial man who was St. Anthony Mary Claret." His focus is to present Claret’s life with "a more detailed study" of the "Saint’s activities in Cuba," which Lozano believes "reveals Claret’s greatness." The book does achieve these goals. Lozano presents a detailed portrait of a per- son who indeed has led a very inspiring and saintly life. Lozano bases this biography on St. Anthony’s Autobiography and other monographs and biographies such as those by Francisco Aguilar (1871), James Clotet (1882), Mariano Aguilar (1894) and Chris- tobal Fernandez (1946). The author, however, provides a more contemporary view of the Saint’s life for the general public. In highlighting the Cuban experience, Lozano delves into the sociological, po- litical and cultural climate of Claret’s day~ In chapters twelve through fourteen, the 950 /Review for Religious, November-December, 1987 author points out St. Anthony Mary’s heroic stand for Christian moral values. Lozano also presents a lengthy analysis of Claret’s position within the Spanish court during an era of the State’s involvement with Church matters. Claret’s obvious neutrality in regard to the political situations of his day may seem quizzical to sonie contem- porary readers. Lozano’s penchant for detail, on one hand, adds color to the already well- regearched study, but on the other, disturbs the literary flow of the work. For exam- ple, while describing the effects of the Cuban experience upon the personality and spirituality of the Saint, Lozano interrupts the story with a detailed elaboration of "locutions" as a spiritual phenomenon (p. 244). In another instance, the author, while describing the voyage of Claret to Spain, offers a "few salient events" from the life of Mother Antonia Paris, Foundress of the Claretian Sisters (p. 257). In his earlier chapters, Fr. Lozano offers further clarification, explanation, or even humor in parenthetical comment. Although this style does have its purpose in writing, in the earlier chapters of the text this technique is disturbingly overused. The author attempts to present Claret in a contemporary light---even offering a bit of psychoanalysis of the saint’s relationship with his mother and the effects of the bond on his later personality development (p. 11). Comments and further com- parisons are frequently interjected relating the life experience and Church of Claret to our post-Conciliar era. The book is intended for a general audience of readers. Though it would appeal to someone interested in the study of important ecclesial persons, it is particularly relevant to Lozano’s immediate Claretian family: the Claretian Missionaries, Clare- tian Sisters, Carmelites of Charity, and Sisters of Adoration and lay associates of these particular groups. The .book would also hold appeal for those persons sensi- tive to the need for social reform and concerned about the historical role the Church has played, particularly in Spain and Cuba. St. Anthony Mary Claret’s life is filled with a variety of fascinating and mun- dane experiences. Typical of the life of a religious leader, Claret sees these ordinary (and sometimes, extrao_rdinary) situations as formative elements in giving birth to an interior call to found a new family in the Church; indeed in giving new life to the Church itself. Fr. Lozano does tribute to his Claretian heritage in this thorough life of its founder. The readers, though cognizant of the occasional didactic inter- ludes within the text, will nonetheless find this work to be perceptive and informa- tive reading material.---Geraldine M. Wodarczyk, C.S.F.N.; Sisters of the Holy Fam- ily of Nazareth; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15229.

BOOKS RECEIVED

ABIN(IDON PRESS: Christmas Wrapped in Love, by Alice Joyce Davidson, pp. 128, cloth, $13.95. The Birth of God: Rediscovering the Mystery of Christmas, by John B. Ro- gers, Jr., pp. 96, paper, $6.95. ALBA HOUSE: Journeying With the Lord: Reflections for Every Day, by Carlo Ma- ria Martini, pp. 51 I, paper, $14.95. The Peaceful Season: Daily Advent Meditations for Everyday Christians, Reviews / 951

by Rev. Roger A. Swenson, pp. xii + 104, paper, $7.95. AVE MARIA PRESS: Prayer and Our Children: Passing on the Tradition, by Mary Terese Donze, A.S.C., pp. 96, paper, $3.95. CROSSROAD: Art as Religious Studies, edited by Doug Adams and Diane Apostolos- Cappadona, pp. viii + 257, paper, $17.95. The Catholic Experience, by Lawrence S. Cunningham, pp. 270, paper, $10.95. The Limits of the Papacy, by Patrick Granfield, pp. viii + 207, cloth, $15.95. Renewing the Judeo-Christian Wellsprings, by Val Ambrose Mclnnes, pp. xvi + 150, cloth, $16.95. The Light of Christ, by Pope John Paul II, pp. 252, paper, $9.95. Christian Spirituality: High Middle Ages and Reformation, edited by Jill Raitt, Bernard McGinn, and John Meyendorff, pp. x×ii + 479, cloth, $49.50. FORTRESS PRESS: The Quest for Unity in the New Testament Church, by Paul J. Achtemeier, pp. xii + 132, paper, no price. Faith Development and Pastoral Care, by James W. Fowler, edited by Don S. Browning, pp. 132, paper, no price. GREGORian PRESS: Telling About God: Volume III, Understanding, by William A. Van Roo, S.J., pp. xiii + 349, paper, no price. GuJaRaT SaHITVA PRaKaSH: Body Broken and Blood Shed, by Luis M. Bermejo, S.J., pp. xvi + 350, paper, $8.00; cloth, $10.00. HARPER anD Row: The Maternal Face of God: The Feminine and Its Religious Ex- pression, by Leonardo Boll, O.F.M.m pp. × + 278, cloth, $16.95. Nietzsche Ill, by Martin Heidegger, pp. xiii + 288, cloth, $20.95. Leadership in a Successful Parish, by Thomas Sweetser, S.J. and Carol Wisniewski Holden, pp. xi + 203, paper, $9.95. A Theology of the Jewish-Christian reality: A Christian Theology of the Peo- ple Israel, by Paul M. van Buren, pp. ×vii + 362, paper, $10.95. ICS P~L~Carlons: The Collected Works of Edith Stein, Volume Two: Essays on Woman, edited by Dr. L. Gelber and Romaeus Leuven, O.C.D., pp. ix + 290. papcr, $7.95. L~G~OR~ P~L~CA~OnS: Listen With Your Heart, by William F. McKee, C.SS.R., pp. 63, paper, $1.95. M~C~,.LAn Co~PAnv: Joshua: A Parable for Today, by Joseph F. Girzone, pp~ 271, paper, $6.95. MEYER S~OnE BOOKS: Prophets in Combat: The Nicaraguan Journal of Bishop Pedro Casaldaliga, translated and edited by Phillip Berryman, pp. ×iv + 114, paper, $8.95. MICHAEL GLAZIER: One Bread and Cup, by Ernest R. Falardeau, S.S.S., pp. 134, paper, $8.95. Being Poor: A Biblical Study, by Leslie J. Hoppe, O.F.M., pp. viii + 191, pa- per, $9.95. The Pilgrim Church and the Easter People, by Norman Pittenger, pp. 112, paper, $8.95. Turning Points in Religious Life, edited by Carol Quigley, I.H.M., pp. 257, paper, $12.95. 959 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

PAULIST PRESS: Catholic°Christianity: A Guide to the Way, the Truth,, and the Life, ~by.Ri~hard Chilson, pp. 472, paper, $6.95. Bless Your People: Scripture and Prayers for Parish Occasions by Cather- o ine H. Krier, pp. 93, paper, $4.95. The Christian Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, by Kenan B. Osborne, O.F.M., pp. iv + 249, paper, $10.95. An Introduction to Bioethics, by Thomas A. Shannon, pp. v + 157, paper, $5.95.: Fire and Light: The Saints and Theology, by William M. Thompson, pp. v + 201, paper, $8.95. SERVAr,rr BOOKS: Miracles Do Happen, by Briege McKenna, O.S.C. with Henry Lib- ersat, pp. xiv + 142, paper, $4.95. Yielding to the Power of God, by Ann Shields, pp. 46, paper, $1.95. TWENTY-THIRD PUBLICATIONS: Prayer Forms: 22 Prayer Forms for Classroom and Youth Group, by Christian Brothers, pp. 57, paper, $6.95. Leading Students Into Scripture, by Sister Mary Kathleen Glavich, S.N.D., pp. 97, paper, $9.95. Masses With Young People, by Donald Neary, S.J., pp. 95, paper, $6.95. UNIVERSITY PRESS OF AMERICA: The Art of Theological Reflection: An Ecumenical Study, by Ronald Gariboldi and Daniel Novotny,pp. xv ÷ 142, paper, $11.50; cloth, $23.50. 1987 INDEXES/VOLUME 46

AUTHORS

ALBERG, JEREMIAH L., S.J., "Simon, l Have Something to Say to You" . 759...... ARBUCKLE, GERALD A., S.M., Beyond the Frontiers: The Supranational Challenge of the Gospel ...... 351 __, Mythology, Revitalization and the Refounding of Religious Life ...... 14 ARSCOTT, BERNADETTE, R.L.R., Is This It, Lord? ...... 86 BARRE’I’rE, EUGENE G., M.S., Christmas Happens in the Humble Stable of Our Humanity ...... 910 __,"Recount His Deeds" ...... :....54 BARRY, WILLIAM A., S.J., God’s Love is Not Utilitarian ...... 831 __, Surrender: The Key to Wholeness ...... 49 BOBEK, JOANNE R., Imaging the Spirit in a Model of Church ...... 542 BRENNAN, ROBERT O., S.J., Prayer and Presence ...... 502 CALIGIURI, ANGELO M., Community in Religious Life and the Church: Some’ Reflections ...... 849 CARRIQUIRY, GUZMAN, What Do the Laity Expect of Religious Life ...... 641 CONNOR. JAMES A., S.J., Staring at the Sky Without Blinking ...... 89 CRISTANTIELLO, PHILIP D., Procrastination ...... ".. 720 DALY, ANTHONY, S.J., The Fathers in the Office of Readings: St. Cyprian of Carthage ...... 681 DAVIS, LEO D., S.J., Learning from the Worldly ...... 187 DELANEY, WILLIAM, S.J., Discernment of Spirits in Ignatius of Loyola and Teresa of Avila ...... 598 DELArqY, VEROr~ICA, R.S.M., The Ring of Eternity: An Experience of Integration ...... 410 DUFFNER, MARGARET C., Finding Heaven in Faith ...... 441 FALARDEAU, ER~qEST R,, S.S.S., Life in the Spirit ...... : ...... 270 FIORELLI, LEWlS S., O.S.F.S., Live Jesus: Key Aspects of Salesian Spirituality .491 FITZ, JAMES, S.M., The Religious as "Sentry": A Reflection on the Prophet Ezekiel ...... 674 FINNEGAN, GERALD F., S.J., Ministerial Priesthood in Yves Congar ...... 523 GALLEN, JOSEPH F., S.J., Canon Law for Religious After the New Code ...... 112 ,GEROMEL, GENE, A Healing of Memories ...... 407 HALBUR, CONNIE, S.S.S.F., Integrating Self-Awareness with Ministry ...... 891 HARRISON, GERALD MARY, I.H.M., Compassion: Vision of Wholeness ...... 745 HOGAN, WILLIAM .F., C.S.C., Compelling Love ...... 886 JOHN PAUL II, "I Have Called You Friends": The Priest Today ...... 7 __, Prayer and the Priest ...... 481 KEEFE, DONALD J., S.J., Gender, History and Liturgy in the Catholic Church . .866 KELLY, JAMES, S.J., The Meaning of Suffering ...... 859 KERN, WALTER, Devotion to the Lord’s Heart: Past, Present and Future ...... 444 KORCZYK, DONNA M., Obedience, Absurdity and the Cross of Christ ...... 371

953 Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

KORTHALS. ELAINE, The Gospel of Jesus, Conversion and Spirituality for Ministry ...... 377 KRAEMER, BARBARA, O.S.F., Implications of the Economics Pastoral for Future Directions in Ministry ...... 94 KRASEVAC, EDWARD L., o.e., Meister Eckhart and St. John of the Cross: Perspectives and Contrasts ...... 612 LORD, DONNA, G.N.SoH., An Experience of Group Spiritual Direction ...... 279 McCLOSKEY, JOSEPH M., S.J., The Autumn Years: A Touch of God ...... 820 McLEOD, FREDERICK G., S.J., Issues and Trends in Spirituality--1986 ...... 211 MACDONALD, DONALD, S.M.M., Invisibly Companioned ...... 67 ., Mary and Our Reconciliation in Christ ...... 321 MACDONALD, SEBASTIAN, C.P., Community Dialogue and Religious Tradition ...... 827 MAGEE, JAMES J., Confidants Help Older Religious With Life Review ...... 233 MANN, WILLIAM, F.S.C., Brothers in the Church: A Vocational Reflection ..... 33 l MARREVEE, WILLIAM, S.C.J., A Christian Response to Suffering ...... 256 MARTINEAU, MARIETfE J., S.M.S., Novitiate: Captivity or Liberty? ...... 844 MARTIN, JOSEPH F., F.I.C., My Clown as Spiritual Director ...... 590 MEENAN, DANIEL F.X., S.J., To Be Priest: An Alternative World View ...... 726 MORENO, ANTONIO, O.P., Water as Symbol in St. Teresa ...... 565 MORNEAU, ROBERT F., Letters of Gratitude--III ...... 429 MURPHY, SHEILA, Vocation Directors and Healthy Sexuality ...... 202 MOTO, SUSAN A., The First Stage to Union: The Active Night of the Senses ... 161 NOTH, MARY TERESA, S.S.M., An Experience of Reunion: One Divided-- Becomes One ...... 383 NEUMAN, MATTHIAS, O.S.B., Modern Media and the Religious Sense of Community ...... " ...... 195 ~, Study as Prayer in Ministerial Formation ...... 552 NICHOLS. GEORGE, It’s Not H~.rd to Prevent Suicide ...... 142 O’CONNOR, DAVID F., The Public and Witness Dimension of Religious Life ...661 O’LEARY, BRIAN, S.J., Ruminating on the Two Standards ...... 571 O’NEAL. LAUREL M., Prayer, Maintaining a Human Perspective ...... 882 O’REILLY, MARTIN, C.F:C., Appropriate Formation ...... 336 PALLISER, MARGARET A., O.P., Fear and "Letting Go" ila the Desert Journey .. 753 ., The Desert and Mission ...... 240 PENNINGTON, M. BASIL, O.C.S.O., Simple Contemplative Prayer ...... 261 QUtNN, JOHN R., Christ: the Heart and Soul of Vocation ...... 3 RAUENHORST, DORIS, O.P:, Takk for Gaven ...... 423 ROSINSKI, BERNARD J., S.C.J., Priest Perceiver Interview:. How Valid Is It? ....533 RUSSELL, KENNETH C,, William of St. Thierry’s Spiral Staircase ...... 771 SHEETS, JOHN R., S.J., Spiritual Direction in the Church ...... "505 STALSBERG, ANNE, Takk for Gaven ...... 423 STOUDT, ROBERT S., Embracing the Whirlwind ...... 693 SVOBODA, MELANNIE, S.N,D., lmages of a Novice Director ...... 44 TACK, THEODORE E., O.S.A., Augustine: Unique Spiritual Master ...... 705 TRIPOLE, MARTIN R., S.J., Four Ecclesial Problems Left Unresolved by Vatican ll ...... 801 WAGNER. ELIZABETH, Eremitism in the Church ...... "...... 582 Indexes / 955

WANNER, RICHARD, S.D.B., Aelred of Rievaulx: Twelfth-Century Answers to Twentieth-Century Questions ...... 914 WILHELM, DONNA MARIE. S.N.D., Growth Producing Tensions in Pre-Novitiate Formation ...... 343 WILLIAMS. GEOFFREY B., S.J., Prayer, Pain and Community ...... 77 WOOD. SUSAN. S.C.L., The Eucharist: Heart of Religious Community ...... 178

TITLES

Aelred of Rievaulx: Twelfth-Century Answers to Twentieth-Century Questions, Richard Wanner, S.D. B ...... 914 Appropriate Formation, Martin O’Reilly, C.F.C ...... 336 Augustine: Unique Spiritual Master, Theodore E. Tack, O.S.A ...... 705 The Autumn Years: A Touch of God, Joseph M. McCloskey, S.J...... 820 Beyond the Frontiers: The Supranational Challenge of the Gospel, Gerald ,4. Arbuckle, S.M ...... 351 Brothers in the Church: A Vocational Reflection, William Mann, F.S.C ...... 331 Canon Law for Religious After the New Code, Jospeh F. Gallen, S.J...... 112 Christ: the Heart and Soul of Vocation, John R. Quinn ...... 3 A Christian Response to Suffering, William Marrevee, S.C.J ...... 256 Christmas Happens in the Humble Stable of Our Humanity, Eugene G. Barrette, M.S ...... 910 Community Dialogue and Religious Tradition, Sebastian MacDonald, C.P. ....827 Community in Religious Life and the Church: Some Reflections, Angelo M. Caligiuri ...... 849 Compassion: Vision of Wholeness, Gerald Mary Harrison, I.H.M ...... 745 Compelling Love, William F. Hogan, C.S. C ...... 886 Confidants Help Older Religious With Life Review, James J. Magee ...... 233 The Desert and Mission, Margaret A. Palliser, O.P ...... 240 Devotion to the Lord’s Heart: Past, Present and Future, Walter Kern ...... 444 Discernment of Spirits in Ignatius of Loyola and Teresa of Avila, William Delaney, S.J ...... 598 Embracing the Whirlwind, Robert S. Stoudt ...... 693 Eremitism in the Church, Elizabeth Wagner ...... 582 Eucharist: Heart of Religious Community, Susan Wood, S.C.L ...... ¯ ...... 178 An Experience of Group Spiritual Direction, Donna Lord, G.N.S.H ...... 279 An Experience of Reunion: One Divided--Becomes One, Mary Teresa Noth, S.S.M ...... ,...... 383 The Fathers in the Office of Readings: St. Cyprian of Carthage, Anthony Daly, S.J...... 681 Fear and "Letting Go" in the Desert Journey, Margaret A. Palliser, O.P ...... 753 Finding Heaven in Faith, Margaret C; Duff net ...... 441 The First Stage to Union: The Active Night of the Senses, Susan A. Muto .... 161 Four Ecclesial Problems Left Unresolved by Vatican II, Martin R. Tripole, S.J ...... 801 Gender, History and Liturgy in the Catholic Church, Donald J. Keefeo S.J ..... 866 God’s Love Is Not Utilitarian, William A. Barry, S.J ...... 831 956 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

The Gospel of Jesus, Conversion and a Spirituality for Ministry, Elaine Korthals ...... 377 Growth Producing Tensions in Pre-Novitiate Formation, Donna Marie Wilhelm, S.N. D ...... 343 A Healing of Memories, Gene Geromel ...... 407 "I Have Called YOu Friends": The Priest Today, John Paul H ...... 7 Images of a Novice Director, Melannie Svoboda, S.N.D ...... 44 Imaging the Spirit in a Model of Church, Joanne R. Bobek ...... 542 Implications of the Economics Pastoral for Future Directions in Ministry, Barbara Kraemer, O.S.F...... 94 Integrating Self-Awareness with Ministry, Connie Halbut; S.S.S.F...... 891 Invisibly Companioned; Donald Macdonald, S.M.M ...... 67 lssues and Trends in Spirituality--1986, Frederick G. McLeod, S~J ...... 21 Is This It, Lord?, Bernadette Arscott, R.L.R ...... 86 It’s Not Hard to Prevent Suicide, George Nichols ...... 142 Learning from the Worldly, Leo D. Davis, S.J...... 187 Letters of Gratitude--Ill, Robert F. Morneau ...... 429 Life in the Spirit, Ernest R. Falardeau, S.S.S ...... 270 Live Jesus: Key Aspects of Salesian Spirituality, Lewis S. Fiorelli, O.S.F.S .....491 Mary and our Reconciliation in Christ, Donald Macdonald ...... 321 Meaning of Suffering, James Kell.v, S.J...... ~59 Meister Eckhart and St. John of the Cross: Perspectives and Contrasts, Edward L. Krasevac, O.P ...... 612 Ministerial Priesthood in Yves Congar, Gerald F. Finnegan, S.J ...... 523 Modern Media and the Religious Sense of Community, Matthias Neuman, O.S.B...... 195 My Clown as Spiritual Director, Joseph F. Martin, F.L C ...... 590 Mythology, Revitalization and the Refounding of Religious Life; ¯ Gerald A. /irbuckle, S.M ...... 14 Novitiate: Captivity or Liberty?, Marictte J. Martineau, S.M.S ...... 844 Obedience, Absurdity and the Cross of Christ, Donna M. Korczyk ...... 371 Prayer and Presence, Robert O. Brennan, S.J ...... 502 Prayer and the Priest, John Paul !I ...... ~ ...... 481 Prayer, Maintaining a Human Perspective, Laurel M. O’Neal ...... 882 Prayer, Pain and Community, Geoffrey B. Williams, S.J ...... 77 Priest Perceiver Interview: How Valid Is It?, Bernard J. RosinskL S.C.J...... 533 Procrastination, Philip D. Cristantiello ...... 720 The Public and Witness Dimension of Religious Life, David F. O’Connor ...... 661 "Recount His Deeds," Eugene G. Barrette, M.S ...... ~...... 54 The Religious as "Sentry": A Reflection on the Prophet Ezekiel, James Fitz, S. M ...... 674 "The Ring of Eternity: An Experience of Integration, Veronica Delany, R.S.M..410 Ruminating on the Two Standards, Brian O’Leary, S.J ...... 571 "Simon, I Have Something to Say to You," Jeremiah L. Alberg, S.J ...... 759 Simple Contemplative Prayer, M. Basil Penningtono O. C.S.O ...... 26 I Spiritual Direction in the Church, John R. Sheets, S.J ...... 505 Staring at the Sky Without Blinking, James A. Connor, S.J...... 89 Study as Prayer in Ministerial Formation, Matthias Neuman, O.S.B...... 552 lndexes / 957

Surrender: The Key to Wholeness, William A. Barry, S.J...... 49 Takk for Gaven, Doris Rauenhorst, O.P., and Anne Stalsberg ...... 423 To Be Priest: An Alternative World View, Daniel F,X. Meenan, S.J ...... 726 Vocation Directors and Healthy Sexuality, Sheila Murphy ...... 202 Water as Symbolic in St. Teresa, Antonio Moreno, O.P ...... 565 What Do the Laity Expect of Religious Life?, Guzman Carriquir.v ...... 641 William of St. Thierry’s Spiral Staircase, Kenneth C. Russell ...... 771

POETRY

CO(jAN, COTHR,~I, C.S.S~’., The System ...... 551 CONLAN, DAVlDA, C.SoJ., Dying Flowers ...... 758 DAVlD~ NOEL. The Front Line ...... 85 HOt.LOW,~V. M,~RCELL~ M., C.S.J., A Silent Coming ...... 890 ~, The Melody Within ...... 406 __, My Kind of Poet ...... 53 ~, Words, Words, Words ...... 660 M,~¢VS, M,~R~’ THER~SE, S.S.C, Good Friday, April I, 1983 ...... 186 M~YI~R, JoAr~ E[.EAI~OP,. I.H.M., And Cain Slew His Brother Abel ...... 619 DE MENEZES, RUTH, Vocation ...... 843 WaP, D, CECI~.IA. S.C., On Mirrors ...... 13 ~, Plows and Furrows ...... 141 ~, Prayer for Peace .,. : ...... 752

CANONICAL COUNSEL

Autonomy of Life ...... 137 Clarification of Dismissal: Canon 700 ...... ; ...... 782 Departure of a Religious Priest or Deacon ...... 935 Election by Consensus--Part 1 ...... : ...... 460 Election by Consensus--Part 11 ...... 620 Schools of Religious and the Diocese ...... 295

BOOK REVIEWS

Adams, James Luther, Wilhelm Pauck, Roger Lincoln Shinn, eds., The Thought of Paul Tillich ...... 312 Arbuckle, Gerald A., Strategies for Growth in Religious Life ...... 789 Arrupe, Pedro, S.J., One Jesuit’s Spiritual Journey: Autobiographical Conversations with Jean-Claude Dietsch, S.J ...... 473 Ashley, Benedict M., O.P., Theologies of the Body: Humanist and Christian .,. 307 Bergan, Jacqueline, and Marie Schwan, "Take and Receive" Series: A Guide for Prayer ...... ~..- ...... 467 958 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

Berzonsky, Vladimir, The Gift of Love ...... 627 Biallas, Leonard J., Myths: Gods, Heroes, Saviors ...... 146 Bromiley, Geoffrey W,, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Volume III, K-P ...... 633 Brown, Raymond E., Biblical Exegesis and Church Doctrine ...... 147 Bultmann, Rudolf, New Testament and Mythology and Other Basic Writings .. 148 Campbell, James, Christ Yesterday and Today ...... 150 Canadian Religious Conference, Women: For What World? In What Church? .155 Carmelites, Companion to the Breviary: A Four-Week Psalter Featuring All-inclusive Language ...... 469 Champlin, Joseph M., Special Signs of Grace: The Sacraments and Sacramentals ...... 795 Cowgill, Carol, Christ Yesterday and Today ...... 150 Dallen, James, The Reconciling Community ...... 471 Daly, Robert J., S.J., Christian Biblical Ethics: Method and Content ...... 148 de Nicolas, Antonio, Powers of Imagining: Ignatius of Loyola ...... 630 DeNevi, Don, Junipero Serra ...... 472 Dillenberger, Jane, Style and Content in Christian Art ...... 631 Dillistone, Frederick W., The Power of Symbols in Religion and Culture ...... 629 Fenhagen, James C., Invitation to Holiness ...... 149 Fickett, Harold, Flannery O’Connor: Images of Grace ...... 626 Finn, Virginia S., Pilgrim in the Parish: A Spirituality for Lay Ministers ...... 150 Forest, Jim, Love is the Measure: A Biography of Dorothy Day ...... 948 Gandlin, Eugene T., Let Your Body Interpret Your Dreams ...... 151 Gilbert, Douglas R., Flannery O’Connor: Images of Grace ...... 465 Green, Thomas H., S.J., A Vacation with the Lord: A Personal, Directed Retreat with Thomas A. Green, S.J ...... 465 Halligan, Nicholas, O.P., The Sacraments and Their Celebration ...... 795 Hauser, Richard J., S.J., Moving in the Spirit: Becoming a Contemplative in Action ...... 474 Hughes, Gerard W., God of Surprises ...... 466 Kehland, Medard, and Werner Loser, eds., The Von Balthasar Reader ...... 790 Koeppel, Josephine, O.C.D., trans., Edith Stein: Life in a Jewish Family 1991-1916 ...... 625 Krailsheimer, A. J., Rance and the Trappist Legacy ...... 631 Leclercq, Jean, Bernard McGinn, John Meyendorff, eds., Christian Spirituality: Origins to the Twelfth Century ...... 791 Leech, Kenneth, Experiencing God: Theology as Spirituality ...... 306 Loser, Werner, and Medard Kehland, The Von Balthasar Reader ...... 790 Lozano, John M., C.M.F., Anthony Claret: A Life at the Service of the Gospel ...... 949 Lutz, Howard F., trans., Reality and Radiance: Selected Autobiographical Works of Emilia Fogelklou ...... 152 McGinn, Bernard, John Meyendorff, Jean Leclercq, eds., Christian Spirituality: Origins to the Twelfth Century ...... 791 Macquarrie, John, Theology, Church and Ministry ...... 794 Meilaender, Gilbert C., Friendship: A Study in Theological Ethics ...... 156 Metz, Johann Baptist, The Emergent Church ...... 634 Indexes / 959

Meyendorff, John, Bernard McGinn, Jean Leclercq, eds., Christian Spirituality: Origins to the Twelfth Century ...... ,. 791 Moholy, Noel Francis, and Don DeNevi, Junipero Serra ...... 472 Muggeridge, Anne Roche, The Desolate City: Revolution in the Catholic Church ...... 942 Nelson, Gertrud Mueller, To Dance with God: Family Ritual and Community Celebration ...... 945 Newbigin, Lesslie, Unfinished Agenda: An Autobiography ...... 313 Pauck, Wilhelm, James Luther Adams, Roger Lincoln Shinn, eds., The Thought of Paul Tillich ...... 312 Pieper, Josef, Problems of Modern Faith: Essays and Addresses ...... 153 Renard, John, S.J., trans., Ibn ’Abbad of Ronda: Letters on the Sufi Path ....310 Rulla, Luigi M., S.J., Anthropology of the Christian Vocation: Volume i Interdisciplinary Bases ...... 792 Schillebeeckx, Edward, God Among Us: The Gospel Proclaimed ...... 305 Schneiders, Sandra M., I.H.M. New Wineskins: Re-imagining Religious Life Today ...... 947 Schwan, Marie, and Jacqueline Bergan, "Take and Receive" Series: A Guide for Prayer ...... 467 Senn, Frank C., ed., Protestant Spirituality ...... 470 Shannon, William H., ed., The Hidden Ground of Love: The Letters of Thomas Merton on Religious Experience and Social Concerns ...... 788 Sheets, John R., S.J., To Believe Is to Exist: Theological Reflections for a Time of Crisis ...... 154 Shideler, Mary McDermott, In Search of the Spirit: A Primer ...... 308 Shinn, Roger Lincoln, James Luther Adams, Wilhelm Pauck, eds., The Thought of Paul Tillich ...... 312 Sloyan, Gerard S., The Jesus Tradition: Images of Jesus in the West ...... 305 Squire, Aelred, Fathers Talking: An Anthology ...... 631 Taft, Robert, S.J., Beyond East and West: Problems in Liturgical Understanding ...... 315 ., The Liturgy of the Hours in East and West ...... 468 Talbert, Charles H., ed., Luke-Acts: New Perspectives from the Society of Biblical Literature Seminar ...... 314 van Kaam, Adrian, Formation of the Human Heart: Formative Spirituality, Vol. III ...... 632 Volkoff, Vladimir, Vladimir the Russian Viking ...... 946 Vorgrimler, Herbert, Understanding Karl Rahner: An Introduction to His Life and Thought ...... 788 Weaver, Mary Jo, New Catholic Women: A Contemporary Challenge to Traditional Religious Authority ...... 155 Whaling, Frank, ed., The World’s Religious Traditions ...... 946 Wright, Wendy M., Bond of Perfection: Jeanne de Chantal and Francois de Sales ...... 626 960 / Review for Religious, November-December, 1987

CASSETTE REVIEWS

Aumann, Jordan, O.P., Writings of St. John of the Cross: Spiritual Canticle and the Living Flame ...... 157 Bellagamba, Anthony, I.M.C., Mission of the Church to the World~ Inculturation, Its Necessity: Pluralism, Dialogue, and Preferential Option for the Poor ...... 637 Cunningham, Agnes, A Contemporary Theology of Mary ...... 477 DeCrane, Susan, r.c., and Tom Leonhardt, S.J., Called to Be Children ...... 157 Doko Video Ltd. of Tel Aviv, The Holy Land: 5000 Years ...... 478 Donnelly, Doris, A Vision for Spirituality ...... 475 ~, Jesus, His Life and His Land ...... 478 Fitzgibbons, Richard P., M.D., and John Harvey, O.S.F.S., Homosexuality: A Time for Forgiveness and Healing ...... 318 Harnan, Nicholas, M.S.C., The Healing Journey: An Invitation to Wholeness ..797 Harris, Maria, Taking Care: A Retreat for Religious Educators ...... 635 Harvey, John, O.S.F.S., and Richard P. Fitzgibbons, M.D., Homosexuality: A Time for Forgiveness and Healing ...... 318 Hayes, Edward, Contemplation: Prayer of Everyday People ...... 797 Johnson, Ann,’ Stress and Spirituality ...... 637 LaVerdiere, Eugene, S.S.S., Good News of the Risen Lord ...... 475 Leonhardt, Tom, S.J., and Susan DeCrane, r.c., Called to Be Children ...... 157 McNulty, Frank, Strengthening the Bonds of Prayer ...... 316 MacKenzie, Terri, Poor Promises ...... 636 Maloney, George, A., S.J., Spirituality in Ministry ...... 317 Morneau, Robert F., A Reading of Realities: Spiritual Direction and Global Spirituality ...... 318 Nicholl, Donald, Holiness Today: Life to the Full ...... 158 Nouwen, Henri, Prayer: The Way to a Transparent Life ...... 798 Osiek, Carolyn, But Jesus Said . . .: New Testament Moral Concerns ...... 638 Pennington, M. Basil, O.C.S.O., A Matter of Love ...... 796 Powers, Isaias, Letters from an Understanding Friend ...... 476 Ripple, Paula, Promises of the Rainbow ...... 798 .Zanzig, Thomas, Making the Gospel Your Own Story ...... 477 INFORMATION FOR SUBSCRIBERS

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