CHAPTER 8

Stimulating is the realization of the fact that the convulsions and revolutions which in recent generations have changed the political, as well as the intellectual face of the earth have passed over the Church of God like a storm on a high mountain. Her organization has not been changed; her doctrine has not been touched. And yet she lives with the times; in fact, she dares to point out to the rulers of states the ways to the future. At the same time this unchangeable steadfastness within the Church is not unconditioned. Indeed, there are few centuries in which the Church has lived as rapidly as she has in ours. How far away we are from Pius IX, from a State-Church, from neo-gothic church architecture! How different even today the appearance of divine worship and the feastday celebrations of our Catholic youth!

What characterized Catholic life around the mid-nineteenth century was a constant "restoration," a laborious overthrow of that oppressive confusion which the period of the Enlightenment had brought into religious life. Now it was that men turned to the religious art of the Middle Ages and to the deep faith which spoke from it. There was a return to theology and to the philosophy "of the past." During a flourishing period of systematic apologetical labor, poisonous elements were removed with increasing resoluteness from the life-streams of Catholic thought. This was the preliminary work that had to be accomplished before a wide-spread harvest might be hoped for. But there were definite signs of the coming spring.

The first forward thrust showed itself in the forces which took hold of the best in the religious heritage of the preceding centuries and guided it further. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament developed into the great Eucharistic World-Congresses; devotion to the Sacred Heart grew more deeply into the life of communities and families in a variety of ways; Marian devotions flourished and advanced under many different forms, especially under Leo XIII.

On a second front movements now appear which lead back far beyond the religious spirit of the Baroque, beyond even that of the Middle Ages. The defense against Liberal Protestant theology called for historical work which, in its turn, led to a closer contact with early Christianity. In the catacombs Christian antiquity was seen to come to life again. A renewal of early monasticism led to a renewal of sacred music, to a new appreciation of ancient forms, and to serious thought about the divine worship of the Church. Now a Pius X became possible, one who would not only call the Christian people to participation in the Church’s music but would also, with explicit reference to the example of the early Church, call them to frequent reception of the Body of Christ, and, with a holy unconcern, vindicate the right of children to the Bread of Heaven. Hardly had the first amazement subsided than a new hunger for nearness to Christ arose – a hunger for life with the Church. The New Testament and the vernacular Missal were soon in the hands of hundreds of thousands. And thus there arose what we now call the liturgical movement. The reading of the liturgical texts led to a realization that with open voice we should pray together, sing together, and together celebrate the Sacrifice in holy assembly.

It is precisely here that we meet a third wave of the renewal. This surges up from the reaction to the exaggerated intellectualism of the nineteenth century and consists in a turning to sound nature; to the full breadth of powers and abilities which have been given to man and which call for development during the period of youth; to a concern for the pre-rational powers as well since only upon these as a foundation can the house of the mind be securely built; to social conditions, so badly neglected by the individualism of the preceding century; in a word, to a sound man and a sound ordering of his living conditions. This movement, to be sure, does not belong to the sphere of the Church alone, nor is it pre-eminently hers. Every phase of intellectual life, and notably education, has been strongly affected by it. The new social and political structures, with all their recurring changes, reflect its influences, as well, of course, as the influence resultant upon the collapse of ideals which had been anticipated in this area. Still it is an old truth that even religious renewal presupposes in a special way a sound natural basis. Hence it is that the popes of recent times have lifted up their voice time and time again, calling attention to the laws of the order of creation upon which all human culture must be raised, in marriage and the family, in political and economic life.

Especially in three areas has this sound return to nature had an immediate effect on the religious field: in religious education, in the life of young students, and in pastoral organization. In the area of religious education we find the catechetical movement which seeks to put blood and life into the pallid concepts of religious instruction, which stresses a presentation at once visual and adapted to children, and which attempts to build more and more bridges between instruction and the lives of the children. Thus, to begin with, it has been able to put more vitality into catechesis, and then into our catechisms, thereby notably strengthening the educative power of religious instruction and perhaps offering something of a substitute for the waning educative role of the family in our large cities. In the second area we find the Catholic youth movement which with amazing instinct and bold directness seeks to live religious life to its fullness and in its sacramental depths. Lastly, we find that the newly awakened understanding of the laws of community enterprise has contributed greatly to the organizational structure of the Church’s pastoral ministry. A feeling for the parish community has been newly aroused. Once again the first place has been given to a sense of solidarity in faith among those living in the same area, to their organization into natural groupings, and to a spontaneous participation in the distinctive parish-centered activities of the pastoral apostolate. Thus a natural foundation has been established for all the other forms of the Church’s life and organization. The life of the Church at large cannot be built up in any better way than from the living cells of the Church in miniature.

We perceive, then, not a few signs of encouraging renewal in the picture of the Church today. In the midst of collapsing cultures and moral degradation there are numerous indications of a sound, burgeoning new life in many different areas. No program for pastoral work in general, nor one for the proclamation of the faith in particular, could be drawn up without linking it to these promising beginnings. There is a danger, though, that the very abundance of these new efforts, springing up from so many different quarters – and all seeking what is best – may create confusion. Aware of the wasteful and damaging competitions of the past, we can only hope that we now come to realize what is surely God’s will, namely, that all streams should unite in one mighty current of renewed life, that all voices join together in one chorus, so that, like the Apostles on Pentecost, we may proclaim the wonderful works of God (Acts 2:11).

Here we intend to consider all the movements mentioned above under one viewpoint alone: what they can contribute to our central task, that of a renewed consciousness of faith, so that Christ, as our Savior, may stand forth living and dominant in the vision of the faithful, and that men, groups, communities may once again be captured and animated by the Good News.

Unquestionably great progress has been made in recent years along these lines. For three centuries or better the work of theology, as well as that of the pastoral ministry was orientated toward the defense of the faith against the revolutionary attacks of Protestantism. This was the Counter-Reformation. The noise of battle raging around the basic structure of Catholic doctrine had to subside before the Church, once more in enjoyment of its possessions, could again calmly unfold its doctrine for her children. Great strides have been made in this direction during the last few decades. This was brought out most effectively by Father Georg Bichlmair, S.J., in a talk he gave at the "German Catholic-Day," held in Vienna in September 1933, when he surveyed the life of the Church in our time in terms of the passionate demands of the early Reformers. Ever so many of these demands, he observed, have been clarified today and restored to their organic proportions (for example, the role of the laity in the Church, the lay priesthood, a holiness of works vs. an interior piety, the mediatorial role of Christ, the Bible). In this light, we can say then, as he noted elsewhere, "The time of the Counter-Reformation is over, the time of the positive Reformation can begin" (Die Jesuiten, Koln, 1933, p. 132). And this reform has already begun!

The watchword for it was given to us by the saintly Pius X: Instaurare omnia in Christo – "To re-establish all things in Christ" (Eph. 1:10). Within this one inspired word, renewal in Christ, the previously mentioned movements and strivings are called by their distinctive name; by it they are summoned together into one great total-movement. There is question of raising up what has fallen and collapsed, of building up again the spiritual temple, and this with the powers of truth and grace which are found in Christ.

lnstaurare omnia in Christo! We will be better able to understand the meaning of this text if we see it in the context in which St. Paul wrote it. It was God’s purpose, which He carried out in the fullness of time, "to gather together all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth." Just as a speaker gathers together all the main points of his talk in one powerful concluding word, so God, when the time for it had come, gathered together the whole of creation into a new order in Christ, giving it a center, a head, in Christ. This is the new architectural design according to which the world is to be patterned by God’s will. A constant awareness of this, as a vital background for all we say and do, would seem at least today a basic condition for a successful proclamation of the Christian message. Hence we should look upon this inspired word of Paul, re-echoed by Pius and understood in its fullest sense, as the statement of the program for a religious renewal today.

It would be well at this time, before we get down to a treatment of particular tasks and applications, to consider the importance of the entire program. First of all, the focusing of everything on the Person of the Savior should contribute to an easier and more vital understanding of the distinctive content of our message, to a recognition that "the many" doctrines of faith are the development of a single vitally dynamic nucleus, and to an awareness of the grandeur and beauty of Christianity.

Secondly, by proceeding in this way the faith can and should be fixed more deeply in the soul. The concentration of doctrine around its distinctive central core brings about a more secure hold on individual beliefs, precisely because they are seen within a cohesive unity. For one thing, it is not so easy now for critical opinion to separate individual component doctrines from the structured whole of revelation, contending, let us say, that papal infallibility or the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament is "unbelievable"; the integral whole is there to decide the issue. Moreover this core-centered unity makes for a better psychological evaluation of the rational basis for the whole of faith, of the actual pertinence of the doctrines of faith for the world of the intellect at large. For to the extent that particular points are brought into relationship with the Person of Christ and illumined by Him, the foundation of the whole of faith, namely, the fact of revelation, becomes ever more visible. It is Christ who towers up for all to see at the midpoint of world history, so much so that today even pagan nations join us in reckoning the centuries from the time of His coming. Christianity is neither human teaching nor human wisdom. Its unheard of doctrine and challenging claim that a bridge has been built that leads to God – to eternal life in His own home – and that this bridge is none other than Christ, all that the Church has proclaimed and promised, all that she gives and demands is but the unfolding of that new dispensation which, in Christ, was given to the world.

We shall not be able, however, to profit by these two advantages unless we hold fast to a third point, namely, the right understanding of Christocentrism. Above all else, it must not be interchanged with theocentrism but rather brought into proper relationship with it. Christ is not the ultimate in Christianity. It would be a fundamental mistake were one universally to say Christ where formerly one had said God. This would be but a new version of that indistinct religious nomenclature which resulted from an extreme anti-Arian defense posture. Christocentrism refers to the content of salvation-doctrine – how it was revealed by God, how it was proposed by the Church, how it was received by the faithful and expressed in their religious life. Christocentrism implies, therefore, that all the dispositions of God’s salvific will, and all doctrines based thereon, come together in Christ and in Him find due order and understanding. Theocentrism is another matter. It refers to the order of things as they were before revelation and as they will be after it, and it implies that God is the center in whom all beings, men included, have their origin and to whom all of them must return. The Christocentric order must be thought of, therefore, as built into the theocentric; it has to do with the way by which men are de facto to seek God; it presupposes an understanding of the natural order of creation.

Many things have greater significance for religious teaching than one might imagine – scholastic philosophy, for example. It rightly glories in the confidence it has in natural reason, in the ability of this reason to pass from experience to the realm of being – to the world and to God – in its power to show the order within the work of creation and to deduce the laws into which human life must be fitted. On the knowledge of this order, the whole of morality depends. But it is an order that has been inconceivably elevated and illumined by the fact that God has established His Son’s Kingdom within it.

It would be a great mistake, then, if anyone, out of an imprudent zeal for Christocentrism, wished to see nothing else but Christ. It would likewise be a mistake were he to feel that he should set aside what nature and reason tell us about God so that he might listen to revelation alone, or to think from the standpoint of the religious task before us such things as earthly work and vocations, beauty in nature and art, were not worthy of consideration. This would lead to a supernaturalism or a spiritualism, less blinded perhaps than the naturalism, say, of the Enlightenment, but false nonetheless. Christian preaching must encompass an open, outward-looking knowledge of the world and man should at least be familiar with the starting points of significant problems in science, art, history, technology, medicine, politics, social sciences.

In the following chapters we shall survey in greater detail the various ways by which our proposed task may be accomplished. First of all we shall consider the old established ones for the direct proclamation of the faith – preaching and catechetics. In this section we shall be largely concerned with considerations which may serve as vantage spots for a general survey of the scene, keeping our goal always in mind: the renewal of a Christian consciousness, a genuine appreciation of the Church’s treasures, a holy pride in belonging to the Church and sharing in her life. We should not think, however, that the task before us will be achieved by some sort of powerful, bold assault; nor should one imagine that on a definite day a new era will begin, that all will be solved by a magnificently planned series of sermons, meriting perhaps the quip: Ecce nova facio omnia ("Behold, I make all things anew"). The proposed orientation toward Christ and His salvific work should not be proposed to congregations of the faithful as something altogether new, if it is to be lasting and effective, nor as something that we ourselves have determined upon and are going to carry out with our own human industry. Human efforts should approach God’s works with the greatest reverence, always humbly adapting themselves to the laws by which all life, of nature and of grace, is divinely regulated. Even today the Kingdom of God is the leaven which slowly works through the mass. It is a plant, a seed, which must grow quietly. What man can do in this regard is little indeed.

This growth cannot be furthered by the means of preaching and catechizing alone, as experience shows. At times fruitful understanding has not been the outcome of will-controlled thought processes. In any event, the Church’s life, particularly as found in well-ordered divine worship, is admirably suited to bring about a true understanding of the Christian message. This is particularly true of ordinary people. They come to know and understand the teachings of faith best of all through the feasts which the Church celebrates in their regard. Added to this is the fact that we are dealing for the most part with average Catholics who have a good enough knowledge of particular doctrines of faith but whose view of the integrated totality of the Christian message is obscured somewhat or is concentrated on peripheral points. There is need, then, of directing their attention to the unifying central core of their beliefs. With this end in view we should learn to make the most of the trends and beginnings which we find everywhere today. There is largely question of bringing a latent implicitly-lived Christocentrism to the more conscious levels of Catholic life, a goal which the liturgical movement has aimed at for quite some time.

The following observations, then, will attempt to sketch the paths of instruction which lead to the mystery of Christ, but they will also be concerned with doctrine that is lived and prayed, especially with the Church’s liturgy.

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