Word to the Wise
Friday, November 12, 2021 - Friday in the 32th Week in Ordinary Time
[Wis 13:1-9 and Luke 17:26-37]All men were by nature foolish who were in ignorance of God, and who from the good things seen did not succeed in knowing him who is, and from studying the works did not discern the artisan; but either fire, or wind, or the swift air, or the circuit of the stars, or the mighty water, or the luminaries of heaven, the governors of the world, they considered gods. Now if out of joy in their beauty they thought them gods, let them know how far more excellent is the Lord than these; for the original source of beauty fashioned them. [Wisdom]
NOVEMBER 12 ST. JOSAPHAT
[
The worship of "nature" is as old as the human race. Archaeologists and anthropologists debate when the human race became sufficiently aware or conscious of some meaning in natural forces that surrounded it to accord to it a respect and awe that amounts to worship. To study such things is to study the history of religious faith in human beings. Scholars such as Joseph Campbell (The Hero with a Thousand Faces) have sought to find single explanations of this phenomenon in their studies of mythology across great cultural divides. St. Paul was amazed and frustrated by it (cf. Romans 1:18-23; Acts 17:16-29). But, how does one study faith from the outside?
Indeed some have tried to study faith on the inside, such as Sigmund Freud (The Future of an Illusion) who sought to explain faith negatively as a psychological phenomenon. In the end, faith in God has survived all who have tried to study it and academically consign it to museum status.
For those of us who are Christians, faith is the expression of a relationship with God who is not only manifested in creation but has appeared in the person of Jesus Christ. Efforts to relativize Christianity by simply placing it alongside other religious traditions (studies in comparative religion - mostly on the academic level) have not succeeded in destroying the power of faith. This may be due to the fact that faith is part of the encounter with a love that transcends all studies. It is the ultimate hope of enjoying this great love for all eternity that transcends all efforts to study it. AMEN