Part III: the heart of a Catholic University-the School of Philosophy and Theology

The Mission of the Catholic University:

"The basic mission of a University is a continuous quest for truth through its research, and the preservation and communication of knowledge for the good of society. A Catholic University participates in this mission with its own specific characteristics and purposes."

1. Service to Church and society
• A Catholic University, as any University, is immersed in human society; as an extension of its service to the Church, and always within its proper competence, it is called on to become an ever more effective instrument of cultural progress for individuals as well as for society. Included among its research activities, therefore, will be a study of serious contemporary problems in areas such as the dignity of human life, the promotion of justice for all, the quality of personal and family life, the protection of nature, the search for peace and political stability, a more just sharing in the world's resources, and a new economic and political order that will better serve the human community at a national and international level. University research will seek to discover the roots and causes of the serious problems of our time, paying special attention to their ethical and religious dimensions.
•  In its attempts to resolve these complex issues that touch on so many different dimensions of human life and of society, a Catholic University will insist on cooperation among the different academic disciplines, each offering its distinct contribution in the search for solutions
2. Pastoral Ministry
• Pastoral ministry is that activity of the University which offers the members of the university community an opportunity to integrate religious and moral principles with their academic study and non-academic activities, thus integrating faith with life. It is part of the mission of the Church within the University, and is also a constitutive element of a Catholic University itself, both in its structure and in its life. A university community concerned with promoting the Institution's Catholic character will be conscious of this pastoral dimension and sensitive to the ways in which it can have an influence on all university activities.
• As a natural expression of the Catholic identity of the University, the university community should give a practical demonstration of its faith in its daily activity, with important moments of reflection and of prayer. Catholic members of this community will be offered opportunities to assimilate Catholic teaching and practice into their lives and will be encouraged to participate in the celebration of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist as the most perfect act of community worship. When the academic community includes members of other Churches, ecclesial communities or religions, their initiatives for reflection and prayer in accordance with their own beliefs are to be respected.
• Those involved in pastoral ministry will encourage teachers and students to become more aware of their responsibility towards those who are suffering physically or spiritually. Following the example of Christ, they will be particularly attentive to the poorest and to those who suffer economic, social, cultural or religious injustice. This responsibility begins within the academic community, but it also finds application beyond it.
• Pastoral ministry is an indispensable means by which Catholic students can, in fulfilment of their baptism, be prepared for active participation in the life of the Church; it can assist in developing and nurturing the value of marriage and family life, fostering vocations to the priesthood and religious life, stimulating the Christian commitment of the laity and imbuing every activity with the spirit of the Gospel. Close cooperation between pastoral ministry in a Catholic University and the other activities within the local Church, under the guidance or with the approval of the diocesan Bishop, will contribute to their mutual growth.
3. Cultural Dialogue
•  In addition, a Catholic University, aware that human culture is open to Revelation and transcendence, is also a primary and privileged place for a fruitful dialogue between the Gospel and culture.
• Catholic Universities will seek to discern and evaluate both the aspirations and the contradictions of modern culture, in order to make it more suited to the total development of individuals and peoples. In particular, it is recommended that by means of appropriate studies, the impact of modern technology and especially of the mass media on persons, the family, and the institutions and whole of modem culture be studied deeply.
• An area that particularly interests a Catholic University is the dialogue between Christian thought and the modern sciences. This task requires persons particularly well versed in the individual disciplines and who are at the same time adequately prepared theologically, and who are capable of confronting epistemological questions at the level of the relationship between faith and reason. Such dialogue concerns the natural sciences as much as the human sciences which posit new and complex philosophical and ethical problems. The Christian researcher should demonstrate the way in which human intelligence is enriched by the higher truth that comes from the Gospel: "The intelligence is never diminished, rather, it is stimulated and reinforced by that interior fount of deep understanding that is the Word of God, and by the hierarchy of values that results from it... In its unique manner, the Catholic University helps to manifest the superiority of the spirit, that can never, without the risk of losing its very self, be placed at the service of something other than the search for truth"(39).
  47. Besides cultural dialogue, a Catholic University, in accordance vith its specific ends, and keeping in mind the various religious-cultural contexts, following the directives promulgated by competent ecclesiastical authority, can offer a contribution to ecumenical dialogue. It does so to further the search for unity among all Christians. In inter-religious dialogue it will assist in discerning the spiritual values that are present in the different religions.
4. Evangelisation
• The primary mission of the Church is to preach the Gospel in such a way that a relationship between faith and life is established in each individual and in the socio-cultural context in which individuals live and act and communicate with one another. Evangelization means "bringing the Good News into all the strata of humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new... It is a question not only of preaching the Gospel in ever wider geographic areas or to ever greater numbers of people, but also of affecting and, as it were, upsetting, through the power of the Gospel, humanity's criteria of judgment, determining values, points of interest, lines of thought, sources of inspiration and models of life, which are in contrast with the Word of God and the plan of salvation"(40).
• By its very nature, each Catholic University makes an important contribution to the Church's work of evangelization. It is a living institutional witness to Christ and his message, so vitally important in cultures marked by secularism, or where Christ and his message are still virtually unknown. Moreover, all the basic academic activities of a Catholic University are connected with and in harmony with the evangelizing mission of the Church: research carried out in the light of the Christian message which puts new human discoveries at the service of individuals and society; education offered in a faith-context that forms men and women capable of rational and critical judgment and conscious of the transcendent dignity of the human person; professional training that incorporates ethical values and a sense of service to individuals and to society; the dialogue with culture that makes the faith better understood, and the theological research that translates the faith into contemporary language. "Precisely because it is more and more conscious of its salvific mission in this world, the Church wants to have these centres closely connected with it; it wants to have them present and operative in spreading the authentic message of Christ."

Summary:

The Catholic university should integrate faith and reason within itself, through interdisciplinary dialogue, in order to effectively engage with the surrounding culture. It should be concerned with the formation of its students and staff, ensuring that living out the Christian life is encouraged and prioritised, as all the intellectual knowledge of theology in the world is meaningless if one's relationship with God is not a living, dynamic reality. All of this work finds its purpose and fruit in the work of evangelisation, the task of bringing all people we encounter to Christ.

Notre Dame: University of Awesome

Convert me!

New page up top, provocatively titled "Convert me!"

I wanted it to say "Why aren't you Catholic?" But Blogger didn't like it because it was too long.

Go check it out! Comment there, not here.

It sure does.

Why I attend an anglican bible study [re-post]

The response when I tell people this (who know I'm Catholic) is invariably one of confusion. "But... why would you want to do that? Aren't you Catholic?" :s

Well, there are a number of reasons!

1. The wounds that disunity in the Body of Christ has caused grieve me deeply

I think the divisions in the Body of Christ are a cause for great scandal. Unity will not happen with the majority of our Protestant brethren via institutional dialogue, because many have rejected a hierarchical understanding of the church, and so mostly operate as local congregations. Thus, dialogue must take place in the context of authentic friendships, which will not just happen. We must seek each other out in love, willing the good of each other, helping each other to daily draw nearer to Christ. If we are not intentional about it, we will remain mostly in our own circles, a recipe for things remaining as they are.

Just to be clear though: this is not about "befriending" and then just waiting and hoping that the other will convert, with friendship as the means to an end. Rather, it is about desiring that every person possess the Ultimate Good, which is the only thing that will truly fulfil them, namely, God. But not just any conception of God. The fullness of God as He has revealed Himself, in the Word made flesh. As Catholics, we believe the Church and Christ are "just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter." (St Joan of Arc) In other words, the Church Christ founded is His Body, the Incarnation continued, and therefore to encounter the whole Christ, as He intended, one cannot be separate from His Church. As Christians, we desire every person to have this encounter, since we love everyone. But even more so for our family and friends. Thus, a desire for the other to know the Truth is inextricable from a genuine friendship. The friendship is not the means to the end, rather both parties coming to know God and being transformed by that encounter is the end of all true friendships.

Thus, I imagine it would equally be the desire of a non-Catholic who thinks that Catholicism is wrong that their Catholic friend come to know the truth, because they are friends, they love them, and they want the best for them Excellent! But the fact of whether one party "converts" or not should be independent from the reality of the friendship, which will endure regardless, if it is authentic.

If this still sounds somewhat utilitarian, consider how the Apostles evangelised. Did they continue with their normal lives waiting for random opportunities to share Christ? No! They left everything, travelled around specifically so that they could bring Christ to those who didn't know Him, establishing Churches. How did they do this? By preaching, certainly, but also the witness of their lives and their genuine love for all those they met. They stayed for weeks or months in a place, developing genuine friendships with people, and it was in that context that many came to Christ.

So, if this is really where I think our responsibility lies, then I can do no less than to act on it in some way. And going out of my way to go to a non-Catholic gathering is one of the ways I have done so.

2. Pursuit of the Truth

Continuing in the above vein regarding Truth, if I'm wrong in being Catholic, I'd like to know about it. And if I'm right, and the Catholic Church is the one founded by Christ, then that fact is so mind-bogglingly awesome, that I want other people to know it. We are all searching for the truth, and so if we want the best for other people we will necessarily wish them to know the truth. And getting them to know the truth involves telling them what you think.

This applies especially to my separated brothers and sisters in Christ. If Catholicism is true, and contains the fullness of the Christian life as Christ intended it to be, then Protestants are really missing out. It's heartbreaking to see people who obviously love Jesus earnestly, but can't experience the profound riches the Church has to offer, Number One being the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. How much would I have to hate someone NOT to tell them about the unbelievably amazing things they're missing out on?

However, just telling other people your position without listening to theirs, or doing so and completely excluding the possibility that you are wrong, never works. From the other person's perspective, they think they are right, and as long as they unwaveringly stick to that mindset, it won't matter what awesome argument you give them, they won't listen.

Progress is only ever made when two people, in mutual respect, bring their thoughts and arguments (here I mean logical arguments, not heated and angry debates) to the table, and come ready to admit that they were wrong if the evidence so persuades them. That doesn't mean never being certain you are right (as obviously there is an objective truth), it just means being open and humble enough to honestly listen. (However, such conversations don't in reality happen that often at bible study. I don't like to derail the flow of discussion to go off on what would look like a massive tangent to everyone else but to me seems very much related.This is due to the phenomenon of Catholics being able to agree with a lot of things Protestants say, but with the caveat, "Oh, but what about this? Without it you're not getting the complete picture!" E.g. Both would agree that the Church is the Bride of Christ, but from the Catholic perspective this is closely linked to the Eucharist, as the Bride becomes one flesh with Her Bridegroom in the marriage supper of the Lamb, and thus truly becomes the Body of Christ.)

This is why I love it when people try to convert me. It's great! It means they care enough about the fact that (from their perspective) I don't have the fullness of the truth, and they want me to know it. Awesome! This means we can have a real discussion!

3. I love thinking about the differences between Catholic and Protestant Theology

The more I learn about paradigms other than my own, the more I understand other people, as well as why I'm Catholic. Precisely because I can't really understand how anyone can look at the evidence and not be Catholic, I find learning about other's positions really interesting. It's also a great exercise in compassion and understanding, trying to get inside someone else's worldview.

4. I learn a great deal about communal Christian life.

I'm attending for my second year running. In the first year, one thing that really impressed me was the way that this church went about doing life together. It was more than just an hour on Sundays. Pretty much everyone commits to attending weekly bible study, and making it a priority. They also commit to contributing to church life in some way, whether it be by leading a junior bible study, cooking dinners for after church (for the whole congregation!), meeting up with particular individuals to read the bible together (extra to their personal reading, and to bible study), being intentional about getting to know everyone in the church, knowing what's happening in people's lives and what they're struggling with, and finding ways to help and support them. The culture is one that promotes the attitude towards the people you go to church with as a family, and it's beautiful to behold. This is something very much lacking in pretty much all Catholic parishes, and it's appalling. I'm learning lots about what a vibrant community of love should look like in action.

5. I'm studying Theology, and would like to be able to communicate what I learn effectively.
This only happens when I practise communicating it. (Although as I said before, this doesn't happen all that much, so it's a lesser reason.)

6. I'm not great at unravelling Scripture, and it's good practise.
Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, personal reading of Scripture is encouraged and recommended in no uncertain terms by the Church (in her documents and Sacred Tradition, and by all the Saints), but in practise, too few of our shepherds see it as a priority. However, there is hope! This is on the mend, happily. But change will be slow.

7. It's just good to read God's Word in fellowship, and it's hard to find Catholic bible studies.
I'm hoping to contribute to rectifying this in some small way.

8. It's great fun!

Here's what we do:
7:30- arrive, pray briefly and have dinner together. It's prepared by a different person each week, and we all chip in five bucks to cover their costs.
8:00- begin with prayer, then read and discuss Sacred Scripture. A page with questions is passed around so we can take notes. Attention is always given to application to real life.
9:00- everyone shares what are apparently called "prayer points". These are just things you'd like people to pray for. Everyone prays for someone else (aloud!). Except me. I really can't do the praying aloud thing. Unless it's the Mass or something.
9:30- official end time, but frequently we end up chatting for a while longer, accompanied by hot chocolates. (or tea, etc.)

In conclusion, bible study is awesome.

"Carpe Veritatem" Unveiled

I know you're all wondering, why Carpe Veritatem?

Well, firstly, it's Latin for "seize the truth", which I think succinctly captures one of humankind's deepest instincts. We all yearn for truth, and spend our whole lives pursuing it, and when we think we have found it, we seize it, make it our own, and sometimes it has a profound effect on us, and changes who we are, and the course of our lives. An obvious example of this is when someone experiences a conversion. But we undergo many mini-conversions everyday, as we seek and discover more of the truth of reality, regarding the world, and what it means to live a fully human life, as our daily experiences and our responses to them gradually shape us.

So, pretty awesome stuff. But just to make it even more awesome, the phrase is sort of an amalgamation of two of my favourite movie lines.

The first is from the movie Dead Poets Society:

Setting aside the sense of the finality of death, and the lack of an afterlife that Keating seems to espouse, I think he captures the sense of urgency we ought to have. Death is certainly final, in a sense, for once we die, we have no more opportunity to turn to God, and according to how we have chosen to spend our finite amount of time, we send ourselves either to eternal bliss or eternal suffering. So the time to seek the Way, the Truth, and the Life is now.

That segues into the second movie, The Passion of the Christ, rather nicely.

Here we see a glimpse of Pilate's personal search for the truth. Later in the movie, we see him discussing this moment with his wife, and he asks her if she recognises the truth when she hears it, implying that he struggles to do so. He seems not to understand the urgent necessity of seeking ultimate truth, as he instead dwells on the immediate problems he faces.

So, as Christians, we ought to understand the pressing need to turn wholly to Christ, and hold fast to Him. And having found Him, we are called not to keep this wonderful encounter with Truth itself to ourselves, but to share it with others. Those who are open to seizing the Good, the True and the Beautiful when they encounter it will do so more rapidly than those who are yet to see the need for it. Yet this quest is intrinsic to what it means to be a human person, as we were created by God to be completely satisfied by naught but Him.

So what are you waiting for?

Carpe Veritatem...