Cardinal George's Plans for America

[Sonny1954]

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, has written a just-published book titled The Difference God Makes: A Catholic Vision of Faith, Communion and Culture. In a particularly interesting portion of the book, Cardinal Francis writes that both conservative and liberal Catholics pay too much attention to the Bishops and not enough to Christ.

He writes that liberals take many of their cues for Catholicism from the secular culture around us, while conservatives cling to a narrow, triumphalistic view of Catholicism which is sealed off from the larger world. Instead, he advocates a return to what he calls “simply Catholicism”, exemplified by Mother Teresa and the Catholic Worker movement.

It sounds like an interesting book which I am anxious to read. A review can be found at
ncronline.org/news/people/cardinal-georges-plan-evangelize-america

 

[chicago]

So… has anyone else picked up the book yet?

I bought it the other day and am working my way through the initial chapters.

Initial impressions:

He’s SO heady. A couple of years ago, I asked him to try to bring just this message (which he has repeatedly talked about for some years) to a more generalized audience. He noted that he has written extensively about the challenges which our Calvinistic culture creates on a more academic level, but wasn’t sure how to reach the average, popular audience. A book like this provides such an opportunity. As such, I believe that it will prove to be a longstanding influence for American history, cited for centuries. That’s how important is it. And he’s spot on in his analysis. Really, we all need to listen. He’s challenging the Church in a more determined, dynamic way than perhaps any bishop has for a LONG time. But… the problem remains that most readers will find his significant scholarly approach difficult to understand. I fear that it will, thus, go over the heads of any sort of average readership and the important message be lost. My hope would be that he can follow up with a more incarnational, illustrative approach through the telling of tales from his own life experience in ministry that show via anecdote to which one can readily relate and identify just what some of the practical sort of challenges are and HOW we can respond to them better in a Catholic cultural manner.

All in all, he’s obviously challenging us to get beyond the radical extremes (which are all way off base) and, rather than find some sort of “compromise” that lies in-between, look HIGHER to a truth which only the Church can uniquely offer.

I’ll continue reading his extensive essay in the coming days and weeks. Hopefully, others will pick up the tome, too, and offer some insight of commentary here as I also progress.

 

[JReducation]

I would like to chime in here with some observations. The Cardinal is putting an old idea out there again. It’s not revolutionary, except in the sense that the Gospel is always revolutionary. Basically, what he is putting out on the table is an encouragement for people to drop campaigns, liberal or traditionalists, and adapt the contemplative life of the saints. The saints did not spend as much time focusing on the faults and failures that they saw in the Church. But they did not leave with their heads in the sand either. They understood their Church. They knew that there is always room for positive growth. But they also appreciated what good they found in their Church. Therefore, they loved the Church, not just by words, but in their daily lives. Everything they did they did for the Church. In the Church they found Christ.

When he invites us to look at someone like Blessed Mother Teresa, he’s asking us to look at Christ. Our faith is about Christ. Mother did not spend time debating the merits of one form of liturgy over another or the merits of women’s ordination. She understood both sides of this issue. But if we focus on her life, where did she really put her time and energy? She put it into prayer, penance, community live, caring for those whom Christ loves and giving of herself. When the opportunity presented itself, she commented on the issues. But she did not make that her daily preoccupation. She trusted the promise of Christ to protect his Church. Sometimes, we all fall short on that trust. We desperately want to rescue the Church, rather than work with the gifts that we have been given and respond to Christ as he presents himself to us.

I heard a talk by Archbishop Chaput saying something similar once. He said that the bishops cannot lead the sheep unless the sheep do their part. But unfortunately, there seems to be a shortage of contemplatives in our Church. We have to become more contemplative. We have to make time for silence, prayer, work, time with God in front of the Blessed Sacrament. We have to become a more ascetic people. Fasting, abstinence, and other works of penance must return to our daily lives… We can’t depend on bishops do to that for us. They can serve as spiritual guides, but we must put on the table what it is that we are working on.

That being said, yes the Cardinal is a scholar and writes at a level of theology and pastoral language that most Catholics in the pews do not speak. But there again we have to ask ourselves a question. When did Catholics give up being the academically elite? There was a time when the brightest minds in the arts, literature, science, mathematics, history, law, rhetoric and other areas were Catholics. Catholics were artists, masons (the good kind), painters, musicians, carpenters and fantastic trades men and women. Today’s Catholic may have become the victim of the techno-babble world. We have lost our ability to read and understand what our ancestors did, because we have tossed away what has been part of our Catholic heritage. We have to learn how to learn again. It would be a better idea than ask our Church to dumb down for us. This is what we have done to our academic institutions. Just look at the results. How many PhDs do we have who can’t solve a simply problem or understand anything that is outside of their field?

As Fr. Corapi and Fr. Meneses once said, “It’s time for Catholics to be educated again.” This is not going to be easy, because too many of us are running around with very busy schedules. There was a time when mystics didn’t sleep because they were either praying , studying or ministering to the poor. Now they can’t sleep because they are too busy working. It’s time for a change, to recover our roots.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[Middleman]

I think I’ll pick up this book. This forum is so filled with the extremes mentioned in the opening post. I haven’t felt encouraged in a long time as a Catholic.

 

[JReducation]

I think I’ll pick up this book. This forum is so filled with the extremes mentioned in the opening post. I haven’t felt encouraged in a long time as a Catholic.

It’s excellent.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[chicago]

That being said, yes the Cardinal is a scholar and writes at a level of theology and pastoral language that most Catholics in the pews do not speak. But there again we have to ask ourselves a question. When did Catholics give up being the academically elite? There was a time when the brightest minds in the arts, literature, science, mathematics, history, law, rhetoric and other areas were Catholics. Catholics were artists, masons (the good kind), painters, musicians, carpenters and fantastic trades men and women. Today’s Catholic may have become the victim of the techno-babble world. We have lost our ability to read and understand what our ancestors did, because we have tossed away what has been part of our Catholic heritage. We have to learn how to learn again. It would be a better idea than ask our Church to dumb down for us. This is what we have done to our academic institutions. Just look at the results. How many PhDs do we have who can’t solve a simply problem or understand anything that is outside of their field?

As Fr. Corapi and Fr. Meneses once said, “It’s time for Catholics to be educated again.” This is not going to be easy, because too many of us are running around with very busy schedules. There was a time when mystics didn’t sleep because they were either praying , studying or ministering to the poor. Now they can’t sleep because they are too busy working. It’s time for a change, to recover our roots.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

I don’t disagree. However, even in eras of olde we found ways to bring the brilliance of faith to the uneducated populance in a cogent way that was both beautiful and to which they could readily relate. Take artistic presentations that translated the truths into story glass pictures or statements with stone. I expect our brightest and best to not only be able to speak at the highest degrees of articulation, but also translate it all in meaningful expression to the masses without at all having to dumb things down but instead elevating understanding through incarnational example.

 

[chicago]

To elaborate…

Cardinal George wrote the right book. It puts what needs to be said by a man who alone can acutely articulate these cultural concerns in a proper context using his intellectual skills at their height.

However, in practical terms, the man is often a most effective communicator not when he is writing or speaking on scholarly levels (that he obviously excels at - albeit reaching a more limited group of like intellects) but rather when he shares his stories from a long life of extensive experience in illustrating some point of principle. I believe that as a follow up, then, it would be worthwhile for him to tell these tales as a way to put flesh on the principles, ideas, and concepts which he articulates in his present essay. Such would make for an excellent complement that might actually prove much more popular and worthwhile in reaching the average audience, ultimately.

 

[JReducation]

To elaborate…

Cardinal George wrote the right book. It puts what needs to be said by a man who alone can acutely articulate these cultural concerns in a proper context using his intellectual skills at their height.

However, in practical terms, the man is often a most effective communicator not when he is writing or speaking on scholarly levels (that he obviously excels at - albeit reaching a more limited group of like intellects) but rather when he shares his stories from a long life of extensive experience in illustrating some point of principle. I believe that as a follow up, then, it would be worthwhile for him to tell these tales as a way to put flesh on the principles, ideas, and concepts which he articulates in his present essay. Such would make for an excellent complement that might actually prove much more popular and worthwhile in reaching the average audience, ultimately.

I can agree with this. I’m not sure if it’s going to be Cardinal George though. My suspisiion is that this may be very difficult for him. The follow-up may have to come from another person who takes his ideas an puts them into “user friendly” language. I’m thinking of someone like Archbishop Chaput. He shares the same ideas as Cardinal George, but he explains himself very clearly. Whether one agrees or disagrees with him, you know what he’s saying.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF