Franciscan at Home

Un proverbio chino dice, “el hombre sin virtud es el inhumano”. Esta es una declaración muy radical, una que es políticamente incorrecta. Es una afirmación que escandaliza a nuestra obsesión igualitaria. Sin embargo, aunque la declaración sea bastante inofensiva para nuestros oídos, parece resonar en lo profundo de nuestra alma. ¿Por qué? Joseph Pieper, en su libro titulado Faith, Hope, Love (Fe, esperanza y amor) sugiere la respuesta al declarar que la virtud es “el mejoramiento de la persona humana”, “lo máximo de lo que puede ser el hombre”. “Es el reconocimiento de la potencialidad del ser de la persona. Es una perfección de su actividad”, y “la constancia de la orientación del hombre hacia la realización de su naturaleza, es decir, hacia el bien”.[1] En otras palabras, tanto un sabio chino como un filósofo contemporáneo están de acuerdo en afirmar que la virtud hace de la persona que la posee un ser humano realizado, un ser humano que está plenamente vivo. Por otro lado, una persona que no está creciendo en la virtud es una persona cuyo ser moral y espiritual está atrofiado.

Todos deseamos ser plenamente vivos. Si tal es el caso, necesitamos aprender más acerca de las virtudes y practicarlas con celo. Entre todas ellas, la magnanimidad y la humildad son de la mayor importancia. Se habla sólo raramente de estas virtudes. No obstante, Aristóteles decía que la magnanimidad (literalmente, “la grandeza del alma”) es “la corona de todas las virtudes”, mientras que, para los cristianos, la humildad es la raíz de todas las virtudes. Sin la magnanimidad, las virtudes no alcanzan la plenitud de su potencial y sin la humildad, las virtudes se degeneran, convirtiéndose en vicios de autosuficiencia. La magnanimidad y la humildad son dos lados de la misma moneda, la cual se llama liderazgo cristiano. Siguiendo la iniciativa del erudito francés Alexandre Havard, quisiera presentar a la magnanimidad y a la humildad como dos virtudes que constituyen la esencia del liderazgo. Las virtudes naturales de la prudencia, la justicia, la valentía y la templanza son los cimientos del liderazgo; y las virtudes teologales de la fe, esperanza y caridad dan estructura a nuestra capacidad para dirigir. La magnanimidad y la humildad, en palabras de Havard, son “las virtudes de la grandeza visionaria y de la devoción al servicio.” [2]

Hace poco conocí a un líder de esta índole. Soy profesor de seminario y miembro del equipo formador. Hace un mes, fui con catorce seminaristas en un viaje misionero a Perú. Pasamos una semana en una parroquia llamada Santísimo Sacramento. Nuestro anfitrión es el rector de esa parroquia. Su nombre es P. Joseph y es originario de Wisconsin, pero fue ordenado en Perú y ha servido a su comunidad por más de veinticinco años. Llegar a conocer a P. Joseph fue un verdadero placer. He aquí un hombre lleno de celo apostólico, visión y humildad. La filosofía de vida de P. Joseph se podría resumir de esta manera: “No hagas pequeños planes porque no tienen el poder para inflamar a los corazones humanos”. A menudo repetía esa frase y vivía de acuerdo a ella. Es un volcán de ideas y programas nuevos. Sin embargo, lo que más desea es que “su” gente cumpla con la vocación que Dios les ha dado para alcanzar “el estado de hombre perfecto y la madurez que corresponde a la plenitud de Cristo”.[3] P. Fr. Joseph es un gran hombre y hace de todos los que se asocian con él mejores personas. Exhibe las cualidades del liderazgo cristiano: la magnanimidad y la humildad.

As we reflect in this issue of The Catechetical Review on “living the virtues,” we recall St. Paul’s words that faith, hope, and love remain, “but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor 13:13). For the benefit of our catechetical readers, we are reprinting here the homily of his Holiness for the meeting of reflection and spirituality, “Mediterranean: Frontier of Peace” in Bari, Italy on February 23, 2020.

Last year while preparing to speak at a diocesan event on Catholic Social Teachings (henceforth CST) I came across a link on the USCCB website that offered a series of quotes from Pope Francis on the CST. Thinking I might find a pithy quote to use in my address, I opened the file only to find that it contained an overwhelming 378 pages of statements from our Holy Father on various aspects of the CST. Following in the footsteps of Pope Benedict XVI, Pope St. John Paul II, and the other Popes of the modern period, Pope Francis has tirelessly devoted himself to proclaiming the CST.[1] When I look at the staggering amount of energy and ink that our recent Popes have spent proclaiming the CST, I am struck not only by the importance that they give to the CST but also by the way they locate the CST at the center of authentic Christian discipleship.

In this article, I recall some of the basic truths of the CST and explore their intersection with Christian discipleship in order clarify how these teachings should shape the life of every believer through the virtue of mercy. Viewing the CST in this way enables us to see how the CST can serve as a measuring stick for faithful discipleship by emphasizing specific truths that challenge us and guide us in our attempts to concretely imitate Jesus in our love for neighbor.

Dispelling Some Myths

Before exploring the central components of the CST and how they relate to our Christian discipleship, it could be helpful to dispel some common myths about the CST that can hinder people from adequately prioritizing and properly implementing the CST in their daily lives.

The CST are not the Church meddling in worldly affairs nor claiming authority over the political domain. The CST never lose sight of the proper distinction between Church and state and the respect that each sphere is owed by the other. Likewise, the CST never amount to the Church telling Catholics to vote for specific politicians or usurping the genuine citizenship of each Catholic.

The CST are not the Church acting like a know-it-all by claiming a competency in secular areas (such as economics, politics, or medicine) that are beyond the scope of the Gospel. In turn, the CST do not seek to offer concrete solutions to complex technical questions or practical problems in various human endeavors.

The CST are not peripheral teachings that align with certain political parties or other groups of people that embrace socialism and various ideologies. Dedicating oneself to these teachings never amounts to aligning oneself with a specific political party or secular ideology. Likewise, these teachings are not merely for a certain type of person, the so-called activist who feels compelled to right the wrongs of this world.

The CST do not make sense only for those people who have a certain lifestyle or advanced knowledge of political and economic theories. You do not have to be a hipster or like granola to make the CST central in your life. You do not have to be professor of political philosophy in a tweed jacket or smoke a pipe to preach and practice the CST.

The CST are not a mountain of Magisterial documents devised to confront the political and economic issues created by the shortcomings of modernity. While the problems of modernity may accentuate the value of the CST, there are no historical limitations or cultural parameters to the origins and importance of the CST.

Contrary to these myths, the CST embody how the Church offers itself as an expert in humanity and as a guardian of the Gospel call to love our neighbor. The CST demonstrate the universal value of the Gospel by showing its intersection with every sphere of human life. At the same time, the CST are decisive for every Christian disciple who hears the great command to love our neighbor as Christ has loved us. They can provide us with the keys to understanding some central aspects of Christian discipleship by fostering the virtue of mercy in our social lives.

To order any of these Bishop Fulton Sheen books or dvds, call 800-651-1531 or visit www.ignatius.com.

This is a paid advertisement and should not be viewed as an endorsement by the publisher. 

To learn more about our online graduate degree progam, click here, or call 800-783-6220.

To learn more about and to download the free Discipleship Quad Kit in English click here, and in Spanish click here. Or call 740-283-6315.

 To register or to get more information about the Theology of the Body June 2020 Conferences, visit RuahWoodsPress.com/Training or call (513) 407-8672.

This is a paid advertisement and should not be considered an endorsement from the publisher.

By the time Venerable Madeleine Delbrêl was 20, she had converted to Catholicism from the strict atheism of her youth. Nine years later, in 1933, she was living as a missionary with two companions in Ivry, “the first Communist city and more or less the capital of Communism in France.” She decided to live in this community because she remembered the pain of not knowing God; her goal was not simply to evangelize them, but to befriend them. She lived there until she died in 1964.

Venerable Madeleine Delbrêl had an exceptional love for the Church and perceived that there was a profound link between Christ, the Church, and evangelization. “The work of the Church is the salvation of the world; the world cannot not be saved except by the Church.” In our current atmosphere of skepticism towards structures of authority and of the Church herself, she is a voice that reminds us how to love the Church, and how to bring Christ to the world in and through her.

Madeleine considered each person in the Church to be an essential part of the Church’s mission; there was no one who did not have a part to play. “We are not the Church unless we are the whole Church: each member belongs to the whole body.” Each person’s part was specific and vital: “And we are not the whole Church unless we are in precisely the place meant for us in the Church, which is the same as saying that we are precisely in our place in the world, where the Church is made present through us.”

These words are comforting and hopeful, but we always seem to struggle to find our purpose and direction. Delbrêl’s view is that we do not have to go crazy finding exotic projects: “Mission means doing the very work of Christ wherever we happen to be. We will not be the Church and salvation will not reach the ends of the earth unless we help save the people in the very situations in which we live.” These situations, these people where we live, have been entrusted to us. When we don’t take this mission seriously, the world suffers.

Her words profoundly challenge me. I am often dreaming of my next “important project,” but fail to see the people and the situations that are very truly before my eyes.