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Issue 5.3 of the Review for Religious, 1946.
MAY 15,,1946 LoUis" J. Faerbe~ .0 "David Sfanley~ .R~licjious Personalify and Perseverance ~rT~Th,is’ D e~ig nificj He’a ~,f for Ofhers ~. .... ".L ........ Leo A. Co~essel ~.:’,Ave Maria, James ’A. Klelst~ Remedies for P~rhcul~r Friendship ..... Ger~i~,Kell~ ’Books Reviewed ~uest!o~sAnswered Communications NUMBER 3
VOLUME+ V ’ " MAY 1+5( 19+6 NUMBER~ ’ CONTENTS " " ~ELTGTOUS PE~SON~LTTY AND ~E~SEVE~ANCE~ ~COMM~ICAT~ONS ............ " .... THIS DESIGNING HEART David Stanley, S,J ..~... .’ ’~,’ .. ’:.. ,1+.51535 + ~ ,BOOKS gECEIVED ". . .’... .~ . . , ..... ’ . . ". .~ +.160 MERIT FOR O~HERS--Leo A. CoresseL S+J. . + ..~.... . I 61 M+RIAN+LIBRARY . . ’. ............. ~ 170 AVE MARIA--James R. Kleist S.J. .. ........ : .’ ." 172 REMEDIES FOR TH~ PARTICULAR FRIENDSHIP _ _ ¯ .,. Gerald Kdly, S.J. 179 BRO~R LAWRENCE ON THE PRESENCE OF GO~ Augustine. Klaas, S.~. " . . . .,, . ¯BOOg vmw , ~ /1,87. ~ Practice of the Presence of God: The ~an Who ,Built the Secret Door:, - Wh~t Say Your
Chungking Listening Post: The Golden Years
~e Spiritual Do~trin¢’ of F~ther ~ouis Lallemant: A Tryst with the, Holy Trinity: The Trinity and the Uni~ty of the Intellect: A Histo~ of tht Catholic ,Church: A Pattern to the Flock from the Heart . . . ": 201 QUESTIONS AND" ANS~RS~ ’ 17. Moral Obligations of Operating-room Supervisor. . . . ’. .~. 211 18. Term of O~ce of Mother Assistant and Genhral Councilors . 215, 19. May Sister In~¢rt or Remove Tabernacle K~y? . . . ~. ". ~15. " " 20. Duties of Superior Regarding Reports about Subjects, . ., . . 215 21. Dispensation from Fasting for Religious in Active Work ,.~ .. 216" OUR cONTRIBUTORS’ ~ ’ ~ " 216 R~VIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, May," 1946. Vol. V,. No~ 3~ Published monthly: January, March, May, July~September, and November at the College Press, ~06 Harrison Street, Topeka, Kansas, by St. Ma~ s College, St. Ma~s, Kansas
~th’ ecclesiastical ~approbat+on., Entered as secofid cla+s matter.+2anuarL 15, 19+2, at the Post O~ce, Topeka, Kansas, under the act of March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Adam C. Ellis, S.3., G: Augustine Ellard, S.3., Gerald Kelly, Editorial Sec’reta~y: Alfred F. Schneider, S.J. " " Copyright, 1946, by Adam C~ Ellis. Permission is hereby gianted for quotattons 6f ~easonabl¢ length, provided due credit be given this-review and th’e auth6r3" ~ubscription,price: 2, dollars a year.. Printed,,in U. S.A2 B~foro wri¢in~ ~o us. Oloas¢’c~asulf no¢~ce on insMo back cover. ~ ~ri ........ Rel Pie {AUTHOR’8 IN~ODUCTORY ~O~: The p+esent +.~ject is + large and delicate one. and the onl~ r~on .why the~author d~red ~to undertake itv.was that it had been Originally a~igned him for discussion at the Regt~nal Vocatton’ Conference held last 2~nuar~,ar the~athofic~University of *Amefics~unde~.ithe ~au~ices:o~the~Mid~ionarg :~nion ~of the Clergy. Because~of its favorable reception at this, meeting, it was thought~d~trable to gtve ttthe wt~er" auOtence whtch-’the ’present penodtcal affords. vtew ~of.,a. healthy ~eligi6~s~er~- sonalit~..~ It~was felt that.thls ~kind of natural approa~ wouldhelE..,Us not see more clearly wh~ leakages have occurred among our ranks but also to increase our awarenesstof t~e grandeur: off,our chin state of.~hfe,~to deepen our~ sense of .faction~.with t~e. sphere, of,,work, assigned~us by~,Divine Providence ~and 3o ~safe~ guard ou~ own sta~thty and perseverance. ~ + - .....~ Whtle. the ongmab~raft was’mtende~prtmartl~’ for~,our teaching Brothers. the disc~s ~
their ~s~ol~ings: ~ to "~ ind~e ~Hi~: ~Nis~matdfial cteiti~n~), Nis~f6tm~l ~xtfiniic~:gl~ry~ glorg~ g~en~ ~N~m by His,.mtelhgent~ ~reat~res~man~/.and His formal intrinsi~ glorg (n~mely that .which "sh~gh :the ~kno~wledge:~nd~ love,
~[~the~,infinite~,pe~fe~tion + ++’~ut+ .we not++ in+r+~uently++forg&,++tha+++
~++ ~s+,L~+ma~ beings,, made. after the+~ima~e anflqikeness+ +s+affol~ihg+of~ our o+firglorie~+similar in:,pattern tS’-~at of ++he+~reator+i+Fof +x+mplet+we+ha+++Ou+++~n~O+~malrint¢i+- sic 91or~,.]by~which+ we:~ain that~Ccur~te +view~of 0ur+elvd+ in +~+~plan+ of Divine+ P+ovidence +~hich+gives,us~ the+ ~o++i+~ tidn of.our+ true personal .worth: ~ By, thts we +do’~not~ tmply a degree of conceit
on the.eon+rary~~ we simply+~e~n that +we+recognize the,powers tha+.residewithin+ fis, some oLthem entirely ne+~i~Na+fir+,++ and~that+we+~ealize the +sig~++nce .of+our .place in:God’s +reative+act: BT so ackn~+ledgimg Louls J. FAERBER Review ior Religiou~ the inherent benefactions He has conferred on us, .we are ~ibli(
to~~etfi’r~i proper21"ionor and glory to Him. To mini- ¯ mize,:thjs aspe¢~ 6f-0urselves is to think less of oursdves t~hg.Y~’~imsel[~3~s and to give little credit to Him as a ie~ult. ~~ ~: :’ ’ ~ ...... lraport6nce of True Self-Evaluation It is of utmost importance for us as religious,
not only ’for thesake of our mental and spiritual, health b6t alsoto provide a natural and wholesome incentive toward perse-verance, thatwe p!ace this kind of accurate °value-,o.n our-selves. ,:We must realize that as m&vtduals,we have.~:in inh~ren’t" importance and worth, apparent to God, Which:we must make apparent :to ourselves. We have a-secret Strength of our own ’which flowi iiito our members from :the fountain,head of Christ..With’ St:.:Paul, ,we can~’d0[all ~hingslin Him who, strengthens ,us.~’Zhis is our. 9ior.t) ~i~i~h :should" form the-essential makerup of Our personalities giving us th~at~ inward confiddnce, stability, and courage W.hich .we need ,to .fulfill adequately our specifid ~nissions :ih life ........ ’, However," we:as religious ar~ able, ~o ~u~taih this sense 6f personal" worth within ourselves in directly :’the opposite :way,from which people in-the .world do, since our props of personality.’are~ so .radiCally. different ~ ,:First
a pers.on:s sense ~of-~orth,. is incfeased,:by:.,~ the amount of money" which he.~possessesrby the.. property~hich he owns and, uses, by ~the .power he can exercise over, his material possessions or his home. We, 0as,feligious
:do not rely on-thi~ .as a, prop of personality. We have given-that up.through o,ur vow,.,of poverty ...... Secondl~/, xhe.. intrinsic g1_org of a person’ in,.t, he world ,is supported by, the free,exerci~e~of his will, his ability,,to-livehis life his own. ,way, his right,to,be a. free agen~t in con-, 1°46 .. RELIGIOUS PERSONALITY AND PERSEVERANCE strueting the..affairs~i3f,,hisdife. We~have surrenderedthat vital.’prop of. personality, likewise, through our,’.vow ..,of obedience. - ~ ,: : ..... o..~Thirdl~c,.one of: the most, powerful rhainstays of per-sonality is .the sharing of one’s life with. a life~6mpanibn of oiie!s-choice to complement one’s own being, ~.the: rearing of one’s.own family~ the priv!lege of marital love With all its joys _ and sorrows.~ This...pOwerful prop we :,ha~e renounced too, through our v.ow of ch.astity. ,, - ,~-.~ The Apostolate, Our Pillar ¯ All’~thr_ee.~f these props to human personality,wek, now, are power.ful ones in r~ende.ring.~the indivi.dual,.proper SUl~
pgrt in his journey thrg.ugh l.i,~e otpwa..rd his ultimate~ super~ nat,,urgl goal.° But’ in our attempt to.shorten .the way and x6 gain our goal morse directly, more securely, more fully,,
and, at the same time. to do the greatest amount of good for others, w~ laave cut away those props from under us, anidwe hav~ s~ubStituted ~’stron~erand miglh.tier one iastead. We have, ~onseructed0 °6u:r. religious fives :. 6n:-a single: ~up-port., which
allows~,us-~gre’a’Cer Se~urity
~"g~eater digni(Y, greater satisfaction ’and ¯happiness,’and. a greater sense .of worth’: We have buttressed our lives on the mighty: pillar of. tile apostolate. : .... "’~ ~ "~ It’isii’ noble kind of life ,
re haveoadopted, ,,nobly" Sup2 po’rted.-. ~
By remaining firmly-established ~n thi~.fuhdd2 mental prop, we grant ourselvds the full blossoming"of0Ub. natures, we cause our lives to be, most fruitful, and" ulti2 mately we are enabled t6 render high,est: honor ~ind glory,~f6 God. ",Howe
cer, this pillar i~ made strong and trustworthy because it is imbedded in that ~most °reliable foundation which wecall the interior life. ’~ Theie we should stand, therefore
as distinct religious personalities, fashioned after the’ Divine Model, supported LOUIS ,J. FAERBER ,, ’° ~ Ret~ieto for ,Religious by~.ou~, ap~st01ic ~,work Whose, strength,, ~s-,~.~mpl~t~!y ~omr mensfirate~with :the,strengths.of the ~underlying~ fg~ndation ~ur interior life. ¯ .~-.- .:,.~ ’: ~hatwe keep 66rselves firmly fi~ed~is of cruCial, i~por-xance::: ~hen.once ~we b~gin~to sdarcb~’for. ~hv~rops of~per-sonality-~ hich.tfie~people in th~.~w6rld’ enjoy
andWhiCh ~e had’ once ~rej&ted, an’d whdn ~e attempt~t6 u~e.them~for "ourselves, we~ gradually~ find. our lives ~becoming disjointed and Unbalanced~’, ~e ~: graduall¢,, becomd3 misfits,~ in~.:our respective religious communities, and we make our lives truly abbminabi(. ~ Bcoyn .t.i.n.uing retins course of substi-tuti~ ~do#fi~ff,~ w~ ~ide~i~Abl7 ’falFft6m 0U/’ 6nceThlg~ sta-tidn and fihd’6urselVes b’filsid~*ffid" ihs~tutd, r~dficed~ to ’the ~lifd~bf.the,’~bm~6~ ~fin’i~ th’d Gorld.
A he~lth~’~ligi~us personahtF wtll~ not endure a dbubl¢ t’~le: it fifids itq~6s-sigle~ to’~bi b0th"~"hot" fihd ~cold"
’it c~n~0t "’sCr~e’ two masters. - ...... ¯ ~ Bre~kddwn, b¢ Reti~(oas Personatitv~ ~.~,,.This breakdown, of~,r~igious.,~personality, ~hich" cab mihates in o defection, from-.~the ~.rd.igiousf:state ~ takes place :usually in two:waqs: either.-the religious.: goes back, a fter
the props ~he once :forsook and so. s~pplants~his elemental~ reli-gious support, or he neglects his pillar of strength~therebg n~¢ding~,, to
~fall~: back ~on the standards of ~:the,~world. ~hrough
ghe, fir~L~ay
*he~ exposes himself unn(dessarily, to-q~ n$~gation.:~ith th~ p~ople~and.,things 9f the twgrld.~,~ By ~iskation i~. fami!ie~ ~.(,for.mere social.reasons), by. pursuing t, heexcessigk p!e~s¢~e~,,o~*the:wor!d, "by ~mi~ing with
per-sQos ~of~the.opp0,ke~sex
~and by the .many Other ~.~ays
that ~1¢ad to ,th¢ giolation~of~the ~:vo~s
he..~weakgns his. pi!lar,,of religious support and sees it g~adually~ crumbling .awa,~:~.. Or conyersely, he.may ngg!~-~h~ mainstay, of~his xeligi6as life ~ (,his ,pillar ~of~ a~osto!ie ~activity~ grounded in,~th~’ dnteri0r RELIGIOUS PERSONALITY AND PERSEVERANCE lif~), ’and~inde, by~re~akoli 6f his ~wnmeglect
he no 1ofiger feel~ seeure or satisfied With himself, and because~ hishtilnan personality demands some. support, h~ inevitably goe’s out after-that which the ordinary props will give him. In considering-this latter ~aspect, ~,we need-to recognize that the apostolate must be complemented,by a strong and sturdy~ interiorolife, and vice versa, the interior life needs the apostolate to give .it necessary expression. Love of God and love-of neighbor are the two comniandments ~hi~h Christ.intimately joined together. They are indisp_en~sable to one another...They cannot stand separatel, y. No sooner is the one weakened,, than the other falters by the very fa~t. But the more basic one, of course, is the love of God showing its~¢lf~ by interior aets~ for one must first gu,arante.e the.,~vit~ality of h.is, own union.,~ith Christ before, he can afford to devote his time to the salvation of others. ’Even in, the structure of the apostolic pillar itself we find tha~.the essential element is prayer.., It is this..which gives religious personality that .telling power which acts directl~ion Souls and serves as pcirnac~/~ cause, while all the other activities are merely secondar~ ~and gain their success only through the efficacy of the former.. ~This is~born out in action so rep.e~atedly, as for example i.a~ the- life of the Cure 9_f Ars who was so weak inf talent yet so strong.in prayer, it~ har~dly,~needs ela.boratig~n here. T~hatiis .wh¥.
!~. ~",Hand,s.,,l_if..t, e4 .uE,~, ,s~id ~C~ssueL,.~,’s~.as,,l?:,up. more battalions t.b.a0 hagds tha,.t strike " :.. Gauses of Det
ections ...,,, ~ Let us first’~onsider some of the .ways in which’.the pillar ,6f ~tbe,,iapostoli~te is weakened. :thereby precipitatin~,:tbe ~falling-off Of our religious.. " .It,loses its strength: ¯ ". ..... 1. @hen.-. the:,work- of the apostolate degeneral~e~ t6 -rd:er~’..acti~ity efbr acti~ity’s sake alone? ~ Thiif 15appens, for iix~mple~ when /eligious empl0yed~ in athletics (athletic directors" oi: co,aches) lose the religious, objectivesof their w6rk
or when:those pursuing higher studies failto harness theii"endeaizbrs tO their pros’pect.iveap6stoiic’ goalsi~ ~or wheh those~4ngagett ’in public lectures substitute their own renown and i~ersonal ambitions’ for their once high strivirigs fo bring souls.cloSer to °God: or when classroom work4oses its connection with. the salvation of souls and resolves itself ~to a mere routine jo~
:.-. ~ i2. -~,tien an .individual is made to retain an assignment in .the apo’stolat.e bver a,period of, ,years for which’~he ,has 3, when’ imp~t~dent a:nd short-sighted superib~s’make the
view, ofobedienceo obnoxious thr0iagh’eonstaht ~:~arping regarit.ing:~ insi~iaificant det~iils.of a: subordina"ti~"s ~w0rk: s6-as to. make him:wholly, disgu~ted :witfi, his. rol~ :in: the" iip’6s tolate ~ ’ ~ ~:,-:. 4? :when, the nature and ekte’ht Of"the -worko~issignett,- a ,?i’e’ligi6u~: ~rov~s: ~o:b~ "so oner0us:,that he. :find~ hin
iieIfo. too exbatisfdd ~0: do justice’ to his spiritual.e~erci~es
:’~ ’ ’~ ,’,~ ~- :-5)’ ~henrthose: tfigaged in manuaI :Workf~iil to saric(i~y ~th~ir. laBofsthr0ugh: the ’16~rit:~r ~Sf ififenti6i~f~ flSus ~eveti’ri’g 1:50 May, 1946 RELIGIOUS ISERSONALITY AND PERSEVERANCE ~ ~ 6. when religious
, under the plea. that theft labors.are of tl-iemg~!ve~ p~ayers, excuse themselves from.’the exercises of
mental’~ p’rayer, :forgetting that,their, apostolic :pil.lars~ even when Composed p’rincipally of.,.irit~rcessbry~.-prayeri need to be grounded in ,,the bedrock of interior union with God, which~cannot.~be contract~d~except by mental prayer. In summary, ~t can be sa~d that the most commo~ cau?e of defections is the weakeningoof tl~ int~ri~d~ii~e neglec~t of mental prayer and tile religious exerdses 0f the rule, with the consequent l~ss of the spirit of faith.° ~ ~ ~°~ A Dan~er Greatei" than Defections When th~ above~-de~crtbed erosion sets in affd’under: ~in~the f~br°i~ of religious life for an i
adividual~ ’it is ~reall y best for th~ institute that lie drop off:
for
as’~St, 3bhi~’the Baptis~ said of Christ, "Whose fan is in’his
hando~ind~fie Will thoroughly’~leanse his flooi~" (Matthew" 3’:’12). ~...This does not pri~clude all-out ~fforts~in preventing :the ieligious from reaching his fi~ai de~l~5~:able’state. However,~when:it is i~i~ached, °it is best that the individual leave~. :Least harm is done this way. ~No ir~ternal decay has the chance of setting in, thus eridangering:the:,life of: the institute itself. ¯ ~ ~, Th~ gre’a~test~’danger in thiS rei~ard is a’mbng th~se wlq0 habitually violate poverty. The others (~¢iolators Of obedience Or chastity) must of necessity eventually leave. \vhile these are still able to hangon. - They-build, their own little "nests" for themselves, have no concern fbr the apos-tolate, and their interior life is~ no~hing. Meanwhile, an ififinite amount of harm can be done by them on~,the other members through bad example and all the: unwholesome influ~en~e that emanates from them., These" are a real " blight to the community, and it is believed that the institute suffers~much more from this kind than from°il~s defections. Christ must~have meant this when He compared His’own "LOUIS J. FAERBER discipl~s~ to salt: "You are the :salt of the~earth. But if the salt lose its savor, wherewith shall it be salted?. ,It is good for nothing any more but to be cast.out and to be trodden on by men,", (Matthew 5:13.) Some S~feguards ¯ The foll~iwing points are suggested ass?me,. Safeg,~~rds against defections: 1) A solid and thorough formation of cahdidafes in theirprep~tion°~o~r the re!igiotis ilfe, ~vhich is soiicit~usly continued dunng ifie period of collegiate training.
~Fhe ~endency is to overload the young~,religious in their scho-lastic work at a sacrifice to their essential religious forma-tion and their interior life. The elements of this religigus formation shquld be painstakingly preserved later on, through the devoted care of superiors of individual houses, when the young religious is confronted with all the .vicissi-tudes of living away from the mother-house and ,en~age,d in the active work of the mission field. o ... 2) As, religious ~approach middle age, to give them a ’half-yeai or an entire year off to devote .their time primarily to their interior life. This will allow tbem,o at the~,same time, to bring ~their mission, among souls ba~k into ~right fOCUS. ~,: 3) A wise~ choice of, superiors w]~o havre an a~equate~ understanding of human nature, whose hearts are large and sympathetic5 where there is, no room for guile or
¢indictive, ness, who have the habit of emphasizing the-positive rather Lhan constantly.harping on the~negative, ~ho are so deeply imbued v~ith thespirit of their foundationthat they b~come in heart and mind~ so to say, other founders, thus shedding the spirit of enthusiasm and zeal on all around them. It is said that superiors govern best when their govern-ment is least eVident~ The special ability aosuper.ior should 152 .l~Ia[l, 1946 ° " COMMUNICATIONS have is, that of- being able to transmit to all the members of 16is’l-iouse the s~nse of concern fo~ the comm6n ~eligiou.s good ~ a!i~ the abilityito delega.te responsibility to others, thus avmg others share directly in his own responsibilities. Z, his-technique serves to heighten the sense of the aposto-latei "in.that it harhesses individual zeal and initiative and al.lows each member ii~turn tO become, the living embodi-ment of the actu~il ideals and ’zealous. put~po~es of the fodnd~r. " " "- ’ornrnunica ions Reverend Fathers: R~l~igi0us teachers have to see that ,their white pupils develop _truly:C~hris.tian attitude" tow. ard the Negro
yet in-seeing tg,this the teacher mus.t ke~ep~in mind-that attitudes which we form of~ourown accord .,are the~ ones that we hold, to most tenaciously. We cannot inculcate.cgrr, ect, attitudes~by simply telling students to thi~k.. They may say~"’Yes
Father---Sister--Bro~her": but they will not be con-vinced.~ "’- T~. get them to convince ,~themselves, p.erhaps we can use the Socratic method in ,its dressed-up form of the round table discussion: .~ In the folio_wing, paragr_aphs we give one example,of how this might be done..in speecl~,.~class. These’-remarks, by the way, are intended for high.~ch0ols of Northern cities. Since most Northern Catholic youth do not thinkthat they act unjustly towards their colored brothers in Christ, the teacher can’t just_ assign a round table discussion on this topic for the next class. If he does the discussion will be applied to_the fellow down South. You have to convince them that the Negro is being treated unjustly right in front of their noses. Get some concrete examp!e from.your own city and have one of the students present it to the. class. Perhaps an account of what actually happened, will clarify the point. In my class the students were of the opinion that Negro housing conditions were bettevthan in many other cities (a fact that 15,3 COMMUNICATIONS ~.was true)_. They a~dmittdd that it was still pretty bad, but they said. that.such a condition-was due to the Negro’s own laziness. Fortuna~dy the "City Fathers" were d~ing their bit to force the problem into clear light. Agroup of Negioes banded together to bet.ter their condition. They found a nice open district in a part of the~ ~ity that was just developing and decided’~to buy three squate blocks for some airy, sunny homes. But such a big deal could not go unnoticed. Outraged real estate agents paid a visit to the ward he.elers. And so pressure was brought tO bear on the city councilors to buy thes~ same three blocks for a playground. Such h move might have been attributed to coincidence had it not been for the’fact th~it there was a new playground only three blocks away from the site in question. No boy was so unsportsmanlike’as not to see the foul. With the conviction that there was strong prejudice in their fair city, the boys realized-that such.action was being winked at if not openl~ appr(~ved".b~ ,their o~n companions and their social equals. Now the stage was set. I drew up an outline for a round table dis-cussion and gave it to the class. I gathered tdgethersome copies of Catholic’ Digest, America, Commonweal, aia~d other Catholic’ maga- Zine’s ~hat corltained-good articles on the Negro question and gave one to each’ individual to read. Then a boy who had ~tarted to take sax0pho
ae lessons from a Negro instructor was appointed chairman ofthe discussion. After all this favorable remote preparation,’ thd round table discussibn the following week did the "trick. The boys asked for an extra session.- The result the beginning of a’~hrist-like conviction that would become a part 6f’their very being. From speech class the round table discussion ’was taken to a sodality meeting. °An~d from then on the boys carried the ball.’ Per-haps this same method might be helpful in your own school. Vincent F. Daue~s, S.3. 154 This Designing. Hear David-Stanley’, S.J~ NONE QF US, I imagine, are too oldto remember the happy days when we amused ourselves with the game of o"make-believe." There kvere a hundred versions of the game we invented" we never exhausted all the possi-bilities. Imagination is one of childhood’s dearest preroga-tives: and while our childhood lasted we enjoyed-it to the full. Our journey through youth to adulthood, however, has taught us the rather sad truth that for men and women to act as it: is childish. Yet many a ,religious rising from the Easter medita~ tions.on the glorified life of Christ. may experience that a return to the practice of reparation~to the Sa.cred Heart is disdouragingly like a return to the games we ha"ve out-grown. Our child’s game, i~ would seem, has returned as a nemesis to.haunt our spiritual manhood. For faith’infal-libly tells us, and our paschal medit~itions bring ~home to us, that Jesus Christ is now risen to suffer and die no more. Death is truly swallowed Up in His Resurrection~s victory
death’s sting of pain and trouble and loss ot~ life is gone for-ever from-His immortal and impassible human heart. Uneasi’ly then we turn to consider again our reparation’ of hon0ur to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, that amende honorable "which is. the delight of the.devout soul. Are we realhj able to console the Heart of Christ for the sins, the indifference~ and the coldness of hearts.. Or is this possible only by ,tricking ourselves .into playing "make-believe~’ ? As surely as we know that Christ cannot suffer, no l~ss surely do we know, that His Sacred Heart looks to us in oiir t~irnes foe love and honour and~satisfaction. "The designs of his heart," the Introit of His feast boldly tells ,us, "are 155 DAVID STANLEY Ret
ieto for Religious upon generation after generation."’. And this designing Heart-asks :reparation ofo~us here and now. "Behold this Heart,7 He:cfi~d ,t6 Margaret Mary, "which has so loved men that it has spared nothing... I ask you to ho~Qur Heartby making reparation for the indignity It~[has arercee.i v~eudt. h6wID ~earne l~Sn ensoe d aocutsb to wf ohuart sH riesa ldle~s ~igcnosu-n’ tu~p°o nT uhse problem ~s o~v~ous enough. What ~s the sol.ut~on~. the first.step towards a solution,, le~~ ds I at put time~orld from,God’s point of God is notin t~me
He exists in.eternity. Such a Statem~&, however correct it may be, means nothing
t~. us u~le~c we think it out in our own words. Wha~ do theologians mean~ Time, first of a!~--and this may come as a jg~t if ,you have not thought about it before~is merely a,kind of~b~- product of this ever-changing world of,.~ours.,~[~.It is~.not something, inTitsel~ the :way a bird or~ a bee, a bab~ or a banana’i~s something in itsel.f~.,. It[is ju~t a,:~0nvenigng~yard, r stick men,ha~e inye~.ted t0,1ine’up and correlate the~hanges we experieBce in ourselves a~d.in the ~world abgut~u~.~, Men are born, grow,~p~ ~nd,diq
plants bl0ssgm, bear fruit,~:and decay
the grzss ~’t~at today is’~ sprouts up and will~i~her ¯ tomorrow.. , Summer, succeeding Sp~,ing, passes: ,thr6qgh zUtff~.n jnt9 ~inter, Cha~ge ~e 9~s~rve no~ lyss~ :in.~gur- ~el~es.~than in the thi~gs~.bout us: we~lear.B
we ~grget,,~e eat, and ~We grow hungry again. Even our bodies
sFjence informs us, are egtirely remade periodically. We have.found it handy to partition this inconstant, unstatic world of our~: into three sections past, pre~ent, future. Only-because we change anti’are changed con-tinuailydoes~ su~ha’ tribartite division have any~me~ning for us. Did we rest immobile, were our world changeless, ’the~e wodld be~ n6 time. 156 Mag, "1946 THIS DESIGNING HEART ~ °That"is jr/st howi-it is ~vith God. ~He is not in time, si’nce ~He:is ~ill-perfec~: ahd-can ’add nothing .to His perfec- ’tiofi~. ,He~ is,° infinite arid’ omnipotenv
~.He? can. suffer no diminution of ~His excellence. He cannot change. ~,To the [Unchangeable,~ to the Infinitely Perfect, time’s milestones are. meaflingless. Arid sooit is we place.God in~etemity-~- a sta~e~ we describe through analogy~xvith the onhi part of time .that is~qur ~own, the. present, the now. ~We, look on eternity, as an unchanging possession of an ever-present DO~.~ Yet Gog must.:bay~ some connection with ti~e
for .whatever ~ real ~bo..~t jt i~
ertain~y one of His _He,has, p~t us, changing creatures intg~existence. ~e, knows: ~is~cre~tgres who are e~ting
in time. .~ow .can ~e~describe ~this connection? An illustration m~ .t0 ~om~, cleargr notiQp~s. ~ : Anyone can tell a~ a glance’that the~center of~ the dial ~p,~ ~9:,W~c~ i~r eqgidis~ant ~fL0~ ~ny 9f~,,~be ~nu~s~ that enc!rcle it. o~,is~Iso pl~i~a~ day ~a~ the six on the dial is muchtcloser tg~@e~eight th~n~t9-the eleven. Aga~ t~ough two, comes ~be~ore,six ,or sevqn,, that fact brings it. no nearer 3qo,th~ ~e~ter.of ~be face? than either of them. :,For o~r pies: ent purpose, let us put it this way: any numbe[.0n
~yhe~dial is.just as.near the center as aqy other you choose all the way round,the ci0ck.- Whatever be the relation of one humber to a~y other, ~.YS ~elative p~siti0n_t0~ the cen~aJ,~ pivotgi ~int~gf~. ~ ¯ ,the~_handsis. , the same as that. of all the 9ther ~gure~. Each is equally present.to th~ point about which.the hands rqtate .... ~ ~ Goming back to. the problem of Goffs relation to time ~past
~nd future have no,reference to.God. The past, is no closer,to Ggd.th~n ~he future just as the two.on’a_watch is no closer.to, the,center than :the six even, though it happens 157 DA\iID STANLEY to come before the six on the border of the dial. :Both numbers areequally present to the center of the watch~ face
past and future are both equally present to God. Once ¯ we gr
~sp this almost incomprehensible fact with our too time-consci0us minds, we can begin to look at~ this world and its history in a startlingly new light. Startling.it is because it is not our way. It is God’s way of looking at time, and it helps tO know the meaning of reparation.. Suppose we consider Christ’s human life ir~" terms our,time-circle. It is a small, thirty-three year slice of the circumference. Any other point in time will be mbre or less close to that tiny sector’. It will be before or after with respect to it. Our own days, for instance~ happen to come nineteen hundred years after the time when Christ was capable of suffering. Our efforts to console the suffering Heart of ,Jesus come too late nineteen centuries too late, it would seem to do Him any good. But take a look at the time circle again, from the center this time. Our age is equally present to God with the golden era of Augustus when Christ walked this earth. Time,- we repe~at, makes no difference to God. Our acts of reparation today are equipresent to Him with Christ’i needs of iuch cbnsolation. All we!1 and good, you say, but it is nbt t~ Christ ds God ~that we seek to make amen~ds. For God a~ God cannot su:ffer, cannot be’in need of our consolaiiofi. Christ cannot suffer in His divine nature. It is~’rather the human heart of 3esus ’that we seek to compassionate and~ ddnsole. And Christ as man was like the rest of us, s,ubject to change. He lived in a definite period of time long before, the present e’ra. If_then, our reparation is to 1~ effective as c0nsolation for the Sacred Heart, our acts must be preserit to Him during the period of His mortal life before the Resurrection when 158- May, 1946 THIS DESIGNING HEART it was possible for them to be of some service to Him. Can we dissolve time’s barriers and get to the human heart ot Christ when it could still suffer? Is there a link betweeh our present acts.and the temporal life of the God-ma’n? ~ .Theologians areagreed, and since the ~hirteenth century have unanimously taught, that even while He was living on this earth Our Lord, as.man, enjoyed beatific knowl" edge. That is to say, He had the vision of God
He saw Godl as we shall see Him, face to face in Heaven. He"had this vision from the very m~ment He was conceived in the womb of the Blessed Mother
and, moreover, He had it constantly throughout His m.ortal !ife. Indeed, it is certain He had it all through His Passion. This beatific kno~cledge tfiat Offr Lord possessed sup-plies the transcendent connection between our times and His mortal life. These acts of ours, done to console His Sac~ed Heart, Jesus law durifig everymom~nt"bf, t~ose three and.thirty years When.’ He ~till requ’ired: encourage-ment and consolati6n
:’ When He was ~till c~pable of suffering pain and anguish. Just as ~he’~oldriess andindif:- fereSace, the taunts and sinful actions of theJ~ws ofHis native land were present to Christ and c~aused Him anguish: so als0 rilesins of :ill" the world’s history wer~ bef0r~’H~s eyes. He suffered then all these things as l~he~rha~Jpeh fiigw
. du~ing His mortal life they were present ~.6Hi.m
.T.h~t~..is why in His revelation to Margaret Mary He, used the present tense. "In return, I receioe from the~ g~rea.ter par..t only ingratitude by their irreverenceand s~icrilege, and by the coolness and contempt theybaoe forM~ inth:is Shira-ment." Similarly.He was consoled.then by the.l~vihg ~icts o.f .re.pa~ration .that we place now,. inasmuch.as .those were present to Him always as He trod the roads of. Palestine. Perhaps this all seems very’complicated,.and’eadhb’f us 159 DAVID STANLEY is thinkin~ thatAt,would~be bet’ter, to go on making acts of reparation
a~d to leave the "explanatiori tO OuroL0rd, We should: go.~6n~ making reparation, by all means
but ,we should not act asif our amerids to Christ’s suffering humari-ity~ were not he[e and now effective.° They° ~re~he~re and now. effectiv.e.i for the now in which we make ~ur~_lovin.g acts of reparation, is byChrist’s beatific visicm linked to t~h.e time when, from our viewpoint, He,~e£11y~.di~d,need such consolation. ~ For. reparation .,is the. :des!gno ,of H~s.Sa~[~d Heart
: and t~e. ’/designs of his heart a.y~e UPO~q gen~erafion af etrgeneration." ,-~ . ,~," . ¯ 160 h~erit: t:or Ot:hers Leo A. Coressel, S.3. RELIGIOUS learn quickly what it is to pray fovothers. Their own litany of petitions is frequently extended by the intentior[s of friends and passing acquaintances. They are asked to pray for this or that cause, for the con-version of a sinner or for a lapsed Catholic, for recovery from’illness, for work, for a happy death.~ This type ,of help is so ingrained in Catholic thought and is so much taken for granted that we~are prone to for-get or overlook its dignity and value.~ Labor and .prayer ¯ fo~ others are.the ordinary means ordained by God to pro-cure the salvation of souls. Christ died for man on:the cross without his consent. But human~ oop~e_ra~t!on.is neces-sary~ to make Christ’s death effective in indiEidual souls. Each must make usy of the benefits won,f~or: him on Ca!- vary. The infidel, the ignorant, the indifferent, and (he careless must be brought to a kno~vledge and love of Christ’s saving truths. Art expression of this human interdependen& in mat-ters of salvation becgmes a p.rayer iri the "M_ass for the Propagation of the Fait°h. The collect of this Mass reads as follows: "O God, who. desirest that all men should be saved, and come to a l~no~vl~ lge of Thy truth, send we beseech Thee, laborers into Thy,harvesL .and gran~t them grace to Sl6e~ak Thy word in all trust, that Thy words may run and be glorified, and all nationsomay kng..w Thee, the one true God, and Him who’Thou ha~t sen~, Jestis Christ, Thy Son Our Lord.’’I -~ iThe Saint ,Ahd

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“[Untitled],” Center for Knit and Crochet Digital Repository, accessed March 28, 2024, http://digital.centerforknitandcrochet.org/items/show/28346.

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