Intellectual reasons

[0331]

A few thoughts:

I’m always amazed at how deeply spiritual the intellectual giants like Aquinas and John Henry Newman (among many many others) are. For example, I often read a meditation Newman wrote, in which he ends ‘I ask not to know, I ask only to be used.’ And St. Thomas’s prayers, hymns, and other writings show such a deep love for God…his famous line ‘Nothing if not you, Lord’ sums it up.

I bring up those examples because they show that the heart and the intellect are not opposed to each other in love of God. We know and worship the Lord with our entire being—hearts and minds alike.

Of course, converts in the Amazon probably won’t be reading the Summa. But on the other hand, the New Atheists and other people we engage in the West, in this New Evangelization, may be reached with a deep intellectual approach.

 

[ontheway1]

This is exactly the point of this discussion. Those of us already in the pews don’t have to deal with the “intellectual stuff” if we choose not to. The contention here is that the happy-sappy approach to the young generation simply does not work. And there is a way to do both. JPII as a young priest worked with college-age kids all the time. He said special masses for the young people, held lenten recollections and even went on camping and skiing trips with them. He was able to combine relaxation with reflection.
I am not suggesting that camping is the answer. But, maybe my priest could resist the temptation to start every sermon with reference to a tv sitcom he watched the night before?