Penetrating Words

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I have been blessed today by my reading regimen, which has included Sacred Scripture, The Confessions of St. Augustine, and news reports of the recently-commenced synod of bishops in Rome.  In all of the perused passages, two passages stood above the rest.  Such words resounded  deeply within my mind and heart (and I hope that they will resound your minds and hearts, too).

St. Augustine wrote: "...unhappy is the man who knows all this [scientific knowledge], but does not know you; happy is he who knows you, even if he does not know such things" (Confessions, Book V, Chapter IV).  Although they were simple at first glance, those words required me to pause and ponder.  In those moments of meditation, God revealed to me something about myself.

In recent days and weeks, I have been quite perturbed about the lack of "meaningful" scholarship that I have produced in recent months; that I haven't been able to read many theological and historical books and then write deep philosophical reflections.  In short, I have felt like I haven't been living up to my "intellectual potential."

St. Augustine's passage helped to clarify where my head and heart ought to be.  God revealed that He wants me to focus my intellectual energies on the tasks that He has given to me in the present (especially developing and teaching courses to youth and a few adults in our parish).  Moreover, He informed me that He would rather transform my heart than my mind.  I was reminded that my God would rather greet me in Liturgy and prayer than in a book or an essay, in the places where we can truly be in communion.

That revelation was only cemented when I read a brief remark from Cardinal Francis George (Archbishop of Chicago) about contemporary intellectuals.  "Too often," he said, "the contemporary imagination has lost the image of God as actor in history.  The contemporary intellect finds little consistency in the books of the Bible and is not informed by the regula fidei.  The contemporary heart has not been shaped by worship and the submission to God's word in the liturgical year."  From personal experience (as a graduate student and part-time university instructor), I know that this trend is rampant among intellectuals who don't seek to know God.

Many times, I have watched professors and students ridicule and question religious belief and practice.  Yet those same people (in my estimation) are rarely able to acknowledge or appreciate the things in life that are truly fulfilling: faith, family, communal accountability, etc.  Instead, they have replaced true Providence and fulfillment with something artificial, something that is produced by other, equally-misled intellectuals.

My conclusion, then, must be to worry less about what I am or am not producing, and worry more about what God is producing in me.  Because of this conclusion, my prayer must be to let God remove my own biggest obstacle: me.  O God, please help me overcome my pride!

God bless! 

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