Well, really, am I to understand that Catholicism or Christianity is only worthwhile if embraced by “the intelligent”?
Isn’t that rather a slap in the face for the millions and billions of people who never perhaps achieved some sort of ‘intellectual’ trophy but who used every ounce of whatever brain, muscle, and soul God gave them to hold and teach the Catholic faith for themselves and their friends/ family and anyone else they encountered?
I often think, like the story of Christ’s rich man and the eye of the needle, it is harder for the ‘intelligent’, especially in more recent times, to come to the Kingdom of Heaven. Like any one who holds ‘something’ he considers ‘his own’ (the rich man credited his many possessions and found them ‘greater’ than Christ’s call); likewise many --not all, but many-- ‘intelligent’ people consider their intelligence ‘greater’ than Christ’s call as well.
I often think of St. Louis De Montfort, who spoke of the many scrupulous devotees of Christ, those who believed themselves (with reason, to be fair) to be intelligent and belittled the ‘common man’ and the 'common practices while themselves trying to come up with the most creative ways to justify going against those ‘common’ things, like devotion to Mary, childlike faith in God, frequent attendance at Mass and the sacraments, recitation of traditional prayers like the rosary. They were so convinced of how bright and clever they were in jettisoning those things which were ‘only good for the less intelligent and worthwhile’ who could not understand the lofty thoughts which ‘improved’ on the word of God and the teachings of Holy Mother Church.
IOW, I am pretty certain that, in any list of ‘intelligent’ Catholics who were called to the Faith, they themselves would list their own ‘intelligence’ dead last in their self-evaluation, and their main concern would be how best to live the Faith they embraced, with heart, soul, mind and strength.
