Newspaper Page Text
9
KNOW YOUR FAITH
Leisure Activities
In Search of Silence
By Fr. Carl J.
Pfeifer, S.J.
There is “a time to be
silent, and a time to speak”
says the Old Testament sage,
Qoheleth (3:7). Summer is an
ideal opportunity to do both.
With the increased leisure of
the summer months there is
often more time to be with
friends, with the family, to
talk. Summer rings with the
sounds of happy conversation
on picnics, at the beach, on
trips, or just around the back
yard. Summer is a great time
to talk.
It is also a natural season
to be silent—if one can find
any quiet in today’s
technological world. It is
necessary to search out
silence, to look for moments
of stillness. The din of city
noises rarely subsides, and
even at the beach the rock
beat pulses incessantly from
transistor radios and portable
TV sets along the shore,
drowning out the soothing
cadence of the gentle waves.
We even have a new crisis
with a new name, “noise
pollution.” The environment
is literally polluted with noise
to such a level that scientists
consider it a health hazard.
So you have to really look for
silence.
Surprisingly, satisfying
silence and quieting stillness
is discovered by many people
who may never find a break
in the relentless noise of
contemporary life. Perhaps
for only brief moments at a
time, they are able to find an
inner peace, and secure
stillness. In these moments
they are able to listen and
hear sounds of hope, of
peace, of life and of love.
There is a level of hearing
that is activated only in inner
silence, aided by precious
moments of external quiet,
but not wholly dependent on
them.
Just as we need to learn to
look at ordinary things in
order to see how
extraordinary the ordinary
really is, we also need to learn
to listen and hear. We can
gradually learn to notice, to
wonder, to see something of
God’s presence and activity in
the visible world. We need
also to learn to hear his voice
in the confused voices of our
age, the sounds of modem
life, and the sounds of
silence.
Moses climbed the
mountain and heard God’s
voice in the midst of the
deafening roar of a
thunderstorm (Ex
19:16—25). Elijah heard God
not in a storm but in the
gentle, whistling breeze (I Kgs
19:12). The Old Testament
describes the sun and moon
as speaking of God,
proclaiming His glory (Ps 19).
This Judaeo-Christian
tradition is continued in our
own time as Vatican Council
II teaches that “...all believers
of whatever religion always
hear His revealing voice in the
discourse of creatures”
(Church in the Modem
World, 36).
The Council urges us to try
to acquire the inner silence
that allows us to hear God
speaking to us of His love, His
presence, His care, His call, in
the varied voices of our time.
In the confusing voices of our
age, the voice of God can be
heard- but only if we learn to
find within ourselves an inner
silence. “Be still, and know
that I am God” (Ps 46:10).
To be silent enough to hear
God speaking to you is not
easy. For some it is not
possible without professional
assistance. No formula can be
prescribed in a brief
newspaper column, but one
or two suggestions may help
during the summer leisure
hours.
First, try occasionally to
notice some particular sound
and be present to it,
attentively listening to it.
Perhaps you may notice the
chirping of a bird, the steady
patter of rain falling, the
happy voice of your child at
play, the sound of a car
passing by, the notes of a
musical instrument. Just
listen, forgetting cares,
worries, absorbing,
appreciating the particular
sound.
Second, on occasion, stop
momentarily what you are
doing, take notice of
whatever sound is most
apparent and in your own
words speak to God about
what you hear. You might
thank him for the sound of
music, the tone of voice of
your husband or wife; praise
(Continued on page 6)
Scripture In The Life
Of The Church Todav
The Strain and the
Gain of Being
Christian
By Fr. Walter M.
Abbott, S.J.
In Chapter 3 of St. Paul’s
Letter to the Colossians we
find this remarkable
sentence: “Everything you do
or say, then, should be done
in the name of the Lord
Jesus, as you give thanks
through him to God the
Father” (3:17). I call it
remarkable because it is a
sweeping statement, covering
all of life, things great and
small, and, unlike many other
verses of Scripture, it was
obviously meant to stand by
itself as well as in its context.
It is a statement for all
seasons. Be fair to yourself,
however, realize that
obviously it is an ideal, not a
statement about the fact of
every Christian’s life. The fact
is, of course, that Christians
often fail to act or speak “in
the name of the Lord Jesus.”
They sin. Therefore they
spend at least some of their
time doing penance and do
not always “give thanks
through him to the Father.”
The remarkable sentence
does have a context, and it
shows Paul has not forgotten
the problem he touched upon
at the beginning of the letter.
Here you see the two parts of
the problem.
On the one hand, Paul
writes, “Christ’s message in
all its richness must live in
your hearts” (3:16). But
then, as if to give some
illustrations of what it means
to do and say everything in
name of Jesus, he writes:
“Wives, be obedient to
your husbands, for that is
what you should do as
Christians. Husbands, love
your wives, and do not be
harsh with them. Children, it
is your Christian duty to
obey your parents always, for
that is what pleases God.
Parents, do not irritate your
children, or they might
become discouraged”
(3:18-21).
In the heart of the family,
even the Christian family,
there are tensions, failures,
even agressive acts that are
destructive of love. In the
Christian family all-husband
and wife, parents * and
children-are members of
Christ. Yet this special
sharing in the life of Christ,
who is God, does not
eliminate the possibility of
sin’s dreadful entrance.
It is part of the mystery of
life, continued in the mystery
of Christian life, that from an
all-perfect God have come
creatures who can sin.
It is simply a fact that even
with the Christian family the
preacher must plead, as St.
Paul does here, “Put on
compassion, kindness,
humility, gentleness, and
patience. Be helpful to one
another, and forgive one;
another, whenever any of you
has a complaint against
someone else. You must
forgive each other in the same
way that the Lord has
forgiven you” (3:12-14).
We know from other parts
of Paul’s letters and from the
Gospels that we do not and
simply cannot do all this by
ourselves. When we do these
good things it is the result of
a gift from God with which
we cooperate.
Paul says that God has
called us together in the one
body of the Church to the
peace that Christ gives. That
peace, he says, is to be “the
judge” in our hearts (3:15). It
is not automatic, however.
Paul has to add, “Teach and
instruct each other with all
wisdon” (3:16).
Apparently it helps to sing.
Twice Paul urges it (3:16).
Apparently it helps to have a
spirit of thankfulness. Three
times he urges it (3:15-17).
Apparently it helps to be fair
first of all to the members of
one’s own family. In four
different ways he says so
(3:18-21).
Apparently there was a
considerable source of evil in
relations between slaves and
masters. Paul devotes five
sentences (in the original
Greek) to them (3:22-4:1).
I am not just playing with
numbers. It just happens
that’s the way Paul wrote. He
doesn’t keep it up. He moves
on to something that applies
to all, “Be persistent in
prayer, and keep alert as you
pray, with thanks to God”
(4:2).
Apparently even in the
moments of love given to us
by God, when we have the
grace to pray, we can droop
and fail. We all know it is so.
Even in this pure thing of
loving prayer God has not so
bound us to him that we
cannot do otherwise.
As if it were not difficult
enough to live the Christian
life to our own and our
family’s satisfaction, Paul
reminds us of that
paradoxical role to which
each of us, even though weak,
is called:
“Be wise in the way you
act toward those who are not
believers, making good use of
every opportunity you have.
Your speech should always be
pleasant and interesting, and
you should know how to give
the right answer to every
person” (4:5-6).
Now, properly dazed by
the scope of the painful and
glorious thing it is to be a
Christian, you are in a better
position to make an act of
faith in what it means. I draw
your attention to a sentence
in Chapter 3 which I have
deliberately kept until now:
“You have put off the old
self with it habits, and have
put on the new self. This is
the new man which God, its
creator, is constantly
renewing in his own image, to
bring you to a full knowledge
of himself. As a result, there
are no Gentiles and Jews,
circumized and
uncircumcized, savages,
slaves, or free men, but Christ
is all, Christ is in all!”
(3:9-11).
This new creative and
renewing activity of God may
often be hard to discern, on
account of Christians’
failures. The faith that does
see it is all the more clearly a
gift from God.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. Why is it essential that
the Christian life begin in a
family setting?
2. What attitude does Paul
have toward singing?
•'I
I
THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE, within the atmosphere of nature’s beauty, can blend sight and sound
for those times we feel the need to be silent and to meditate as suggested by the Old Testament.
(NC PHOTO by Orville Andrews)
Let’s Take A
Stepping Around
the Puddles
By Dolores Curran
The snow was melting,
leaving a patchwork of
puddles on our front lawn. I
grasped my toddler’s hand
and we set out across the way
to deliver an item to my
neighbor. Half-way across I
notice our journey wasn’t
proceeding very smoothly.
Instead of walking together in
a rhythm, we were straining,
pulling away from one
another.
I looked down and
discovered why. As I
carefully circled around each
puddle, Steve just as carefully
headed for it As I gently and
subsconsciously steered him
to the dry spot, he firmly and
deliberately tugged me
toward the more exciting wet
ones.
I studied his shoes and
speculated. Was the fun
worth the leather? Yes, I
relaxed my pull and let him
lead. What glorious freedom.
He headed for the first slushy
pile of snow and splashed
through with great zest. He
shivered with excitement and
headed for the next wet
challenge. By the time we
reached our neighbor’s
shores, this two-year-old
Columbus had a smile on his
face that told the world he
had conquered it. Ignoring
my neighbor’s quizzical look
at Steve’s shoes, I completed
my business on her front step
and we began our return.
This time I let Steve
navigate on his own while I
watched. Heedlessly, he
plunged into puddles, leaped
into snowbanks and generally
exhausted himself in the cold
muddy mess. He stumbled
onto our front step, sat a few
minutes and then
complained. “I cold.”
“Yes, I’ll bet you are,” I
replied.
“I wet, too. I wanna go
in.”
He went in. He waited
awhile on the rug and looked
at me expectantly. Then, “I
got wet shoes.”
“Uh-huh,” I replied.
He tugged and tugged,
finally asking, “Help me take
my shoes off.” I did and then
he wanted his wet slacks off
so we worked together on
those. I ended up re-dressing
him from bottom out- a
process every mother knows-
but it was at his request.
I tell the incident because
it is a microcosm of child
development. While we’re
busily steering our children
around the puddles, they are
looking at them longingly,
wondering about the
consequences of stepping in
them. The more we draw
them aside, the more they are
drawn to the puddles. If we
have our way, they will never
experience the freedom of
the puddle OR the
discomfort of wet clothing.
And it’s the wet clothing we
must allow them to
experience.
So many of us today try to
prevent our children from
experiencing discomfort or
pain that they actually grow
up without experiencing it.
Sometime in life, they are
going to run into the puddles.
Unless we intend to hang
onto their hands forever,
carefully avoiding the
learning experiences which
lead to maturity, they will
learn the consequences of
their pleasure much too late
for us to be of help in
re-dressing them. How much
better for us to let them taste
the puddles and the wet
clothing at a young age.
A boy wants a paper route.
Break
His parents warn to spare him
the misery of those early
mornings and snowy days so
they steer him around that
puddle and raise his
allowance instead. He
experiences no discomfort,
no wet clothing. But what
about later, when he gets his
first job and has little
confidence in his untried self?
Wouldn’t the early puddle
have been worth the wet
clothing?
A girl wants to try
door-to-door seed selling as a
money raiser but her parents
want to spare her the
humiliation of slammed doors
so they steer her around the
puddle and give her “make
work” jobs instead. They
both know it is meaningless
activity for which she is
earning money but...
A weak son wants to go
out for football but his
parents want to spare him the
embarrassment of being cut
from the team....
A girl wants to wear an
outlandish costume she has
created but her parents are
afraid the other kids will
laugh....
A boy wants to discuss sex
with his parents but they are
embarrassed so they steer the
conversation around the
puddle....
A teenager longs to tell his
parents about a drug problem
but they want to pretend it
doesn’t exist....
Puddles are there for a
purpose. We don’t have to
plunge our children into
every one we see but we must
allow them free rein to
explore them now and them
Each new experience in a
child’s life has its joy and its
price. If we give the joys only
when they are young, they
will pay double price later
when they are older.
THE JOYS OF CHILDHOOD are a fragile and proper part of growing up, but the pain and
discomfort experienced are no less important as an ingredient for their free development into
adults. (NC PHOTO by Carolyn Wells)
f
PAGE 5-dulv 15.1971
Question
And Answer
I
By Fr. Richard P. McBrien
Q. As a Protestant reader of your column, I have
been impressed with the many positive things you
have been able to say about Christians such as myself.
I realize that this is part of a new mood and attitude
of many Catholics, but is it something endorsed by
your Church’s leaders? Do you think that we’ll ever
get together again? How will such a reunited Church
look?
S
A Ecumenism is both a movement and a state of
mind. As a movement it can be defined as the sum
total of “those activities and enterprises which,
according to various needs of the Church and
opportune occasions, are started and organized for
the fostering of unity among Christians” (Decree on
Ecumenism, Second Vatican Council, n. 4).
As a state of mind, ecumenism is an attitude of
openness toward Christians of different traditions in
order to learn from their distinctive experiences and
example and in order to purify and deepen our own
commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ
“There can be no ecumenism worthy of the name
without a change of heart,” the Decree on
Ecumenism continues (n. 7). “For it is from newness
of attitudes, from self-denial and unstinted love, that
yearnings for unity take their rise and grow maturity.
We should therefore pray to the divine Spirit for the
grace to be genuinely self-denying, humble, gentle in
the service of others, and to have an attitude of
brotherly generosity toward them.”
Ecumenism, both as a movement and as a state of
mind, has been endorsed many times by the official
leadership of the Church. The Decree on Ecumenism
is, of course, the most important document on this
question.
Will we ever get together again? It is difficult to
improve upon the concluding remarks of this same
Decree on Ecumenism: “This most sacred Synod
urgently desires that the initiatives of the sons of the
Catholic Church, joined with those of the separated
brethren, go forward without obstructing the ways of
divine Providence and without prejudicing the future
inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Further, this Synod
declares its realization that the holy task of
reconciling all Christians in the unity of the one and
only Church of Christ transcends human energies and
abilities. It therefore places its hope entirely in the
prayer of Christ for the Church, in the love of the
Father for us, and in the power of the Holy Spirit”
(n. 24).
To my knowledge no one has as yet devised a
precise blueprint for the united Church of the future.
Oftentimes, however, Christians of various traditions
assume that the reunited Church of the future must
somehow look like their own churches do even today.
This is especially true of many Catholics, who think
that reunion means that all non-Catholic Christians
accept the authority of the pope, the Code of Canon
Law, the seven sacraments, the compendium of
Catholic doctrinal formulations, and so forth, in
exactly the sense in which these realities are presently
understood and/or exercised.
In other words, there are many Christians,
Catholics included, who confuse unity with
uniformity. However, the Decree on Ecumenism
reminds us that such an identification is unnecessary
and may even be harmful to the future of the
ecumenical movement: “While preserving unity in
essentials, let all members of the Church, according to
the office entrusted to each, preserve a proper
freedom in the various forms of spiritual life and
discipline, in the variety of liturgical rites, and even in
the theological elaborations of revealed truth” (n. 4).
On that last point, the decree also stated: “When
comparing doctrines, they should remember that in
Catholic teaching there exists an order or ‘hierarchy’
o f truths, since they vary in their relationship to the
foundation of the Christian faith” (n. 11).
Thus, it is certainly necessary for unity that alL
Christians accept Jesus of Nazareth as Lord, but it is
of far less importance-and not essential for
unity-that all Christians believe in the existence of
angels or that Mary is the mediatrix of all grace.
Q. Are there any insurmountable reasons why the
Catholic Church could not, at some time in the near
future, join the World Council of Churches?
A. No. One reason for Catholic reluctance to apply
for complete formal membership in the WCC was our
belief that full unity already exists in the Catholic
Church. The goal of all ecumenical strivings is to
bring “those others” into this preexisting Catholic
unity. Ecumenism, in this view, meant a “return”
rather than a “restoration” or a “reintegration.”
I do not wish to suggest that these questions are
now fully resolved and that there are no reasons at all
for continuing our present relationship with the WCC,
limiting our participation to the sending of official
observers to the world assemblies and to various
study commissions. However, you asked if there are
any “insurmountable” reasons-theological or
doctrinal-and I should argue that there are, in fact,
none.