Should we suffer a tragedy or heartbreak, or experience the loss of a loved one, our faith can be deeply shaken. We might wonder why God would allow such a thing to happen, or if he really cares. We might even doubt that he exists at all.
Jesus knows that any of us can be tempted to think this way. Even his disciples weren’t immune. After his death, they were devastated, scared and confused. They hadn’t really understood Jesus’ words about resurrection. The crucifixion, they assumed, was the end of the story.
Our Lord anticipated this. That’s one reason why he allowed Peter, James, and John to witness his transfiguration. He wanted to give them something to hold on to, when all else seemed lost. Should they fall into the pit of despair, Jesus wanted them to recall that mountaintop. Their darkness, he hoped, might be broken by his light.
That’s Jesus’ hope for us too. He invites us to recall the times he’s broken into our lives, whenever we feel that our lives have been broken. It’s always better to light a candle than curse the darkness. Yet when we can’t even light a candle, we can still cherish our glimpses of the Light.
The Story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11, (which we read earlier today in the Mass), is a memorable story for most. And yet it has a strange angularity to it.
On the one hand it seems to be a retelling of what is described in Genesis 10 of the table nations who spread forth from Noah’s sons, filled the earth and began to speak different languages. Chapter 11 seems to want to re-tell what we already know, supplying us with the inner details.
Further, the reaction of God seems a bit strange, almost human. He (the text has God speak to himself in the Plural “us” – Augustine sees the Trinity in this use of “us” (City of God 16.6)) seem almost to fear man becoming too powerful. Thus God does was seems antithetical to God, he divides the human family. We are more familiar with God wanting to unite us!
Let’s take a look at this odd little text and see what we can learn.
Now the whole earth had one language and few words. And as men migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built. And the LORD said, If now, while they are one people, all speaking the same language, they have started to do this, nothing will later stop them from doing whatever they presume to do. Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. (Gen 11:1-9)
One Language? Note that the text indicates that the human family originally spoke one language. Other ancient texts seem also to affirm this. For example a Sumerian tablet tells from an extra-biblical perspective the story of a time when all language were one on the earth. (cf, Samuel Noah Kramer, “The Babel of Tongues: A Sumerian Version,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 88, 108-111).
one language and few words – the Hebrew is, ‘echad saphah . . ‘echad dabar which is translated in other Bibles as “one language, and of one speech.” But the RSV (quoted here) seems to imply that concepts and thoughts were also expressed with fewer words. Later things become more complex even among those sharing the same language as words came to have nuances, shades of meaning. This can lead to greater precision but it also tends to set up debates. Often on this blog I will use words in their general analogical sense only to find objections come from highly trained theologians who prefer that I use words only in the strict theological sense. I, in turn, object that average people would be lost in such highly technical terms and insist on speaking in an ordinary sense. Precision is good, but there is also the danger of obscurity. The debate continues dear readers! But it would appear that, at least from the standpoint of the ancient experience, concepts were shared with fewer words. Is this better or worse? You decide!
The Story takes place in Shinar – That is Sumer, the land of the Sumerians, The area later called Babylon, modern day Iraq.
They build a tower with its top in the heavens – Such towers or Ziggurats are a common archeological feature of this part of the world. They look like tall, stepped pyramids.
The Problem – The tower itself was not the problem. Thinking it could reach to God in Heaven was the sin involved. (St Augustine sees the pride in that they thought they could avoid a future flood (as if anything was too high for God! – Tractates on John 6.10.2). The later verse calling this place Babel is significant. Babel is the Hebrew word meaning “gate of God” or by extension – “gate of (to) heaven.” Hence what they really think to do is to try and ascend to heaven, and God, by their own strength. Bad idea here! Remember Adam and Eve had been barred from paradise because they could no longer endure the presence of God. NEVER think you can walk into God’s presence by your own unaided power. Only grace can do this. We cannot achieve heaven on our power. We do not have a ladder tall enough or a rocket ship powerful enough. They are committing a serious sin of pride here.
To make matters worse – they do this saying let us make a name for ourselves. So, they are not even seeking to enter heaven to be with God but, rather, to make a name for themselves. Now that’s pride with a capital P and the rhymes with T and that stands for Trouble. Yes, (to quote the Music Man) we’ve got trouble right here in river city (Mesopotamia = the land between the rivers).
A further insight into the pride comes from the concept of naming. Recall that, in Genesis 2, Adam named all the animals and decided what to call them. But God named man (Gen 5:1). To name something or someone is to know something of its essence. Parents name their children. In the ancient world this was very significant. Today this is less so. But ultimately, it is God who names us. In so doing it is he who declares our essence. It is pride, in this ancient sense, for man to try and “make a name” for himself.
Why did they do it? The stated purpose for this prideful act is that is must be done lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. Hence they act in this way to build the tower and make for themselves a name to preserve unity among themselves. But wait! Isn’t this good? Yes, but, though unity is precious to God, it is not a work of Man but must be based on God and his truth. Without God, unity can merely become a despotic source power that is abused. Consider atheistic Communism and secular socialism. Concentrated, centralized power can be a serious problem indeed, if God is not its center and source. Praying for unity is not wrong, but God alone must be its source. Otherwise you can be sure that despotism is on the way.
Comical!And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built – a humorous description. The great tower, so high as to reach to heaven, was really so puny that God had to come down to see what it was!
What is God Worried about? The text says, This is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. – God almost seems worried that man will become too powerful. It is true; as the text demonstrates, man thinks he has become godlike in his power. Had not Satan said, to tempt him, you will become like gods! (Gen 3:5). But what God seems to be getting at is even more negative. In effect God says, if He does not intervene, the depths of our depravity will know no limits. Thus he intervenes and puts limits on us lest wickedness know no bounds. So God does two things: He confuses their speech and He scatters them abroad.
Conclusion – Unity is good and to be sought for. But unity is not an absolute or shall we say, detached good. The greatest virtue in terms of our salvation is humility. Unity is a great good, but if it fuels our pride we’ll all just go to hell together. Hence, in this case God saw fit to humble us by scattering us and confusing our language. Unity in wickedness is best scattered. Only unity for good is praiseworthy. Of this St Jerome says,
Just as when holy men live together, it is a great grace and blessing; so likewise, that congregation is the worse kind when sinners dwell together. The more sinners there are at one time, the worse they are! Indeed, when the tower was being built up against God, those who were building it were disbanded for their own welfare. The conspiracy was evil. The dispersion was of true benefit even to those who were dispersed. (Homilies 21).
Bringing it close to home – I’d like to conclude with the rather remarkable words of St. John Chrysostom who makes this story a little more personal for us:
There are many people even today who in imitation of [the builders at Babel] want to be remembered for such achievements, by building splendid homes, baths, porches and drives. I mean, if you were to ask each one of them why they toil and labor and lay out such great expense to no good purpose, you would hear nothing but these very words [Let us make a name for ourselves]. They would be seeking to ensure that their memory survives in perpetuity and to have it said, “this house belonged to so-and-so,” “This is the property of so-and-so.” This, on the contrary, is worthy not of commemoration but of condemnation. For hard upon those words come other remarks equivalent to countless accusations – “belonging to so-and-so, the grasping miser and despoiler of widows and orphans.” [Such behavior will] incite the tongues of on-lookers to calumny and condemnation of the person who amassed these goods. But if you are anxious to for undying reputation, I will show you the way to succeed in being remembered…along with an excellent name…in the age to come…If you give away these goods of yours into the hands of the poor, letting go of precious stones, magnificent homes, properties and baths. (Homilies on Genesis 30.7)
What are you and I building? Careful. Babel might not be a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, after all.
In the article above I mentioned the song from music man “Trouble in River City” Just for fun, here it is:
For many of us- and I include myself- the first thing we do in the morning is reach for the snooze bar on the alarm clock! However, I know of some who make it a practice to immediately rise from bed, kneel on the floor, and pray the word “Serviam,” Latin for “I will serve.”
This single word, “Serviam,” reminds those who pray it that our Christian vocation- our purpose in life- is to serve God, serve the Church, and serve our fellow human beings. Our Lord stressed this very point in today’s gospel: If we wish to follow him we must deny ourselves; we are to lose our lives for his sake and that of the gospel. To put it another way, Christianity is more about what we can do for Jesus, than it is about what Jesus can do for us. The Christian life is one not of selfishness, but surrender; not of self-fulfillment, but of self-sacrifice; not of self-service, but of service to the Lord.
So perhaps the prayer in our heart today might be “Serviam,” as we, in the words of the Mass dismissal, “Go forth to love and serve the Lord.”
We humans are contingent beings. That’s just a fancy way of saying our existence depends on another. The dictionary defines contingency as: dependentfor existence, occurrence, character, etc., on something not certain, liable to happen or not; uncertain; merely possible.
Of course our main contingency rests on a necessary act of God, who wills that we should exist and is the primary cause of our existence. Consider the dignity that this bestows. Whatever my imperfections or challenges, I exist because God wills that I exist. I am here for definite purpose known fully to God. There are none of us here who are a mistake or accident, none of us who have no purpose. All of us have this dignity bestowed by God that: Before I ever formed you in the womb I knew you and appointed you (Jer 1:4).
We are also contingent based on any number of secondary causes. Most notably we are dependent upon the fact that our parents met. This of course had billions of necessary connections that had to take place for it to happen. First they had to exist and that had depended on their parents meeting and all the right combinations happening for every ancestor, going back through the generations for thousands of years. All this was necessary for me to have the exact genetic combination that make me, me.
And once they did exist our parents had to somehow meet. And their meeting was contingent upon billions of factors that led to the moment in just exactly the right combination. For example:
There was any number of dangerous moments in the years leading up to their meeting when either of them could have lost their life, yet, the moment passed.
Scarlet fever almost killed one, but did not.
Perhaps one of their fathers could have taken a job in a distant city and moved the family there, but did not.
Perhaps one or both of them could have gone to a different college than they did, but did not.
Perhaps one of them could have had a flat tire on the way to the party where they met, but did not.
Who knows, any number of third party factors may or may not have intervened.
Perhaps someone was missing from the party due to a cold that fateful our parents met each other, instead of the one who was missing.
Yes, we are very contingent beings. The number of possible combinations that came together exactly as they did so that we exist just as we do is mind-boggling.
Our contingency also reminds us the profound debt we owe to others. Consider how profoundly we build on the foundations that others have laid, how we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, either in time or in some causal chain. All of our technologies depend on previous insights and discoveries, stretching back to the beginning. Simply going to the store and buying groceries sets up a necessary chain too massive to really imagine:
There are the farmers,
There are all the industries and people who supply the farmer
The seed suppliers
And all the research and development behind the vigorous hybrid seed
There are the fertilizer suppliers
There are the processes, tools, tool makers, truck drivers etc., et all who help the fertilizer suppliers
There are all the tools and machines the farmer has
And all the industries and people that make and supply those tools and machines.
There are the farm workers,
Truck drivers and all who supply and equip them including the entire oil industry that makes the gas that runs the trucks.
There are railroads that help move the product, and all who laid the rails, perform maintenance, built the rail bridges. And all who supplied them everyone of them.
There are the local food processors, warehouses and distributors and all who make and supply their equipment, supplies and materials and maintain it and improve its efficiency of the processors.
There is the local store and all its employees, equipment, training of employees, suppliers and providers of maintenance, tools, their suppliers
And on and on.
All this, and more beside, so I can pick up a tomato and put it in my basket.
As I walk about my parish I am struck at the mind-boggling number of things and people that make possible what we do every day. The causal chain stretches back in time and widely across the current time. It amazes me to think how much I depend on others to do what they do so I can do what I do.
Had others not scrimped and saved to build the Church, where would I be?
Had others not maintained it, where would I be?
If parishioners were not generous now and in the past, what resources would I have?
If others had not effectively handed on the faith, who would be in my pews?
And what of me?
What will happen to others after me if I fail to do what I must?
How critically do I see my own role in the great causal chain?
What if I fail to be generous?
What if I squander resources?
What if I fail to make improvements?
What if I fail to evangelize or witness to the faith?
What if….?
It is perhaps too much for us to think about. But every now and then it is good to think how dramatically contingent we are, and how interconnected, and dependant on others we are for even the simplest things.
Two key words emerge from such a meditation: gratitude and responsibility. Thank you Lord, for the endless number of people who, each day, and stretching back in time, make possible what I enjoy today. Thank YOU Lord, who are the first cause of everything there is. Please Lord, keep me faithful to my task and help me to be a strong link in the chain of all things.
This song says, I need you, you need me, we’re all a part of God’s Body. Stand with me, agree with me. You are important to me. I need you to survive. And as this song is sung watch people build great pyramids. Consider how dependent the ones on top are for those below them to be strong and to do their part. This is us: contingent, dependent, and responsible.
Most of us are probably comfortable with the idea of God performing miracles. It’s what we expect God to be able to do! The concept of a suffering God, however, is a bit harder to us to swallow. It confounds our expectations, leaving us confused, maybe even angry.
This explains why Peter rebuked Jesus when he spoke of his coming suffering and death. And that’s why Jesus insisted to Peter that his thinking was wrong.
Exactly why God chose to suffer with us in Jesus will always be something of a mystery, this side of heaven. However, we do have a few clues. God is love- Jesus revealed that to us. And all of us suffer- it’s part of the human condition. And in a suffering world it would be hard to conceive of God as love, if he himself were removed from the suffering. If he were, we might think of God as uncaring, or indifferent.
But love is never indifferent. On the contrary, love is always concerned; love is always involved. So maybe it was inevitable, then, that God wold suffer with us in Jesus, in order to express his love for us. As St. Leo the Great wrote, “There was no other reason for the Son of God to be born, than that he might die on a cross.”
On February 2 the National Conference of Catholic Bishops released a report on Religious life. The study was conducted by the very reputable Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA).
The Bishops’ report is interesting and informative for what it says, but also has puzzling omissions in the topics covered, which seem to amount to ignoring the “elephant in the room.” The “elephant” is the rather obvious fact that religious communities that preserve traditional elements such as the habit, common prayer, communal life, focused apostolates and strong affirmation of Church teaching, are doing well in comparison to orders that do not. Indeed some are doing quite well.
That data regarding the strength of tradition is covered in an earlier 2009 CARA report commissioned by the The National Religious Vocations Conference (NRVC). Strangely the bishop’s report did not seem to want to go near the topic of tradition. Hence I would like to look at some data from both the 2011 report and the 2009.
Let’s start with the 2011 Bishop’s Report. The Full report is HERE. The numbers are from CARA and refer to sisters who made their Solemn Vows in 2010. The comments are just my own.
Scope – 311 Superiors responded to the survey and this represents 63% of Religious Congregations in the USA
Most lay fallow – It is striking that the report indicates that 84% of Religious Communities had no one profess solemn vows in 2010. 13% had one woman profess solemn vows and only 3% had between 2 and 9 women profess solemn vows. While this is only a picture of one year it shows that a large number of communities are in very serious shape.
Missing Data? The report must have excluded some of the more fruitful congregations since I personally know of two communities that had more than 9 women enter.
Diversity – 62% of newly professed sisters are Caucasian, 19% are Asian or Pacific Islander, 10% are Hispanic. This suggests a lot of work needs to be done to reach the Hispanic (Latino) Catholic communities in the US which are very underrepresented in the numbers entering.
Older sisters less diverse – An astonishing 94% of sisters overall are Caucasian but this number is sure to drop a bit as the numbers in point four begin to shift forward in the years ahead.
Converts – 13% of newly professed sister in 2010 were converts.
Big Families Factor – A remarkable 64% came from families of 5 or more children. See pie chart at upper right. This confirms the long held notion that decreased family size is a significant factor in the decline of religious vocations.
School Connections – 51% of new professed sisters attended Catholic elementary school. For decades Catholic Schools had been an engine of vocations for sisters. That seems a wash today and is likely due to the fact that most schools have few if nay Sisters teaching.
Parish connections – 2/3 of the Sisters had participated in parish youth ministry programs and/or young adult ministry or Newman clubs.
Liturgical Connections – 57% had been involved in some sort of liturgical ministry.
Devotional Connection – 74% of the New Sisters had participated in Parish retreats, 65% prayed the rosary frequently, 64% participated regularly in Eucharistic Adoration. 57% had taken part in regular Bible Study programs. Hence parish life and traditional pious factors play and important role as does more more modern forms such as liturgical ministry and Bible Study.
Encouragements – 52% of new sisters report being encourged to enter religious life by another sister, 44% by a friend 39% by a parish priest.
Only 26% say their mother encouraged them on only 16% say their father encouraged them.
Discouragements! – An astonishing 51% say their parents or family members actively discouraged them from entering! This is quite an awful statistic actually. The very ones who should encourage are off message.
OK a lot of good information. But in the end the report seems to dodge the question as to why 84% of Religious Congregations had no one profess vows. I do not blame CARA for this since they likely received the scope of the survey from their patrons at the USCCB. The question remains though, why do some congregations show success and others not? What are the factors that most influence women to enter certain orders and not others?
Fortunately another CARA study mentioned above was commissioned by NRVC in 2009 and it does explore such questions. The full report is HERE and the findings are these:
Scope – The response rate in this survey was higher, about 80% of Religious in the US had their community respond to the survey. Most of the communities that did not respond were small larelgly contemplative communities.
The Survey includes both men and women.
How many in Formation – Three-fourths of institutes of men (78 percent) and two-thirds of institutes of women (66 percent) have at least one person currently in initial formation (candidate or postulant, novice, or temporary professed). However, almost half of the institutes that have someone in initial formation have no more than one or two. About 20% of the responding institutes currently have more than five people in initial formation.
Aging – Over all religious are an aging population. 75% of Men are over 60 and an astonishing 91% of women are over 60.
More diverse – Compared to men and women religious in the last century, those coming to religious life today are much more diverse in terms of their age, racial and ethnic background, and life experience. 21% are Hispanic/Latino, 14% are Asian/Pacific Islander, and 6% are African/African American. About 58% are Caucasian/white, compared to about 94% of older professed members. This show a significantly higher percentage of Latinos than the smaller 2010 survey above.
Critical Factors – Younger respondents are more likely than older respondents to say they were attracted to religious life by a desire to be more committed to the Church and to their particular institute by its fidelity to the Church. Many also report that their decision to enter their institute was influenced by its practice regarding a religious habit. Significant generational gaps, especially between the Millennial Generation (born in 1982 or later) and the Vatican II Generation (born between 1943 and 1960), are evident throughout the study on questions involving the Church and the habit. Differences between the two generations also extend to questions about community life as well as styles and types of prayer. Ah, so here is the elephant that the 2011 report chose to leave unexplored. The italics in this sixth point are a direct quote from the CARA report and it makes it clear that data confirms what we already know anecdotally. Tradition and the respect for it is an important factor for younger vocations, as is fidelity to the Church.
Generation Gap – Millennial Generation respondents are much more likely than other respondents – especially those from the Vatican II Generation – to say that daily Eucharist, Liturgy of the Hours, Eucharistic Adoration, and other devotional prayers are “very” important to them. Pay attention Religious orders.
Communal life – When asked about their decision to enter their particular religious institute, new members cite the community life in the institute as the most influential factor in their decision (followed closely by the prayer life or prayer styles in the community). Most new members indicate that they want to live, work, and pray with other members of their religious institute, with the last being especially important to them. Responses to an open-ended question about what most attracted them to their religious institute reinforce the importance new members place on this aspect of religious life. When asked about various living arrangements, most new members prefer to live in a large (eight or more) or medium-sized (four to seven) community and to live only with other members of their institute. Younger respondents express even stronger preferences for living with members of their institute in large community settings. Findings from the survey of religious institutes suggest that that new membership is negatively correlated with the number of members living alone. That is, the higher the number of members who live alone, the less likely an institute is to have new members. Imagine wanting to live in community when you enter religious life. Here too we see that tradition is confirmed and the loose knit apartment style, dispersed living of many dying congregations is simply being rejected by younger people seeking religious life and to live, work and pray in community
The Habit – The responses to the open-ended question about what attracted them to their religious institute reveal that having a religious habit was an important factor for a significant number of new members.
Thus, the data of this earlier CARA report confirms what most Catholics already know: those who have vocations to religious life have a strong preference for the practices of tradition. A strong and enthusiastic love of Christ and his Church, fidelity to his teachings expressed through the magisterium, the wearing of the religious habit, vigorous common life and common prayer, a focused apostolate, joyful and faithful members of the community, all these are essential in attracting new vocations. Of course.
Death wish? This has been clear for some time now and why some religious communities do see the obvious and adapt is mystifying to say the least. The clear message of the Holy Spirit who inspires vocations, the clear admonition of Rome which has strongly requested the return to the habit and other reforms, and the obvious preference of the young people who vote with their feet, is a clarion call. Communities that follow these simple truths are growing, some are growing rapidly. Communities that refuse to follow these simple truths would appear to have a death wish.
Picture – My own parish convent is occupied by an order that does follow these truths and they are bursting at the seams. They have just out-grown our convent which housed over 25 of them. They have now moved to another larger convent and left four sisters behind here. I have no doubt that our convent will fill again soon for the Servant Sisters of the Lord are a growing order who obey well the Holy Spirit and thus attract many many vocations. Their picture solemn vows is posted above. God is faithful, he is also clear as to what it takes for a religious community to thrive.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, we often say. And neither, as a matter of fact, are the saints of God.
We see this hinted at in today’s gospel. Jesus touched a blind man to restore his sight, but his first attempt was only partly successful. The man could see, but his vision was blurry; people looked like “walking trees.” It was only after Jesus touched him a second time that his sight was fully restored.
What happenned here? Did Jesus need a “do over” in order to get it right? Not at all. Instead, this story is meant to remind us that it takes time to become the saints Jesus wants us to be. To see the way Jesus wanted him to see, Jesus had to touch the blind man twice. For us to see the way Jesus wants us to see, he’ll need to touch us many, many more times than that.
When it comes to sainthood, you and I are works in progress. If we ever think the work is complete, we’d better think twice! There’s always much more to be done. We need patience with ourselves; we need patience with others, too.
Rome wasn’t built in a day. 3,000 years later, it’s still under construction! And “pardon our dust,” so are we. But that’s okay: Our Lord was a carpenter. He knows how to finish the job.
Consider a five year old child who, though physically the size of a five year old, had not yet learned to talk or walk, who could only lay in his crib and who ate no solid food, only mother’s milk. Most of us would consider this a great tragedy. It would be a case of arrested development. And surely, as he failed to pass expected milestones and make the usual progress in maturity, his parents would consult doctors and experts in an anxious search for the cause of the problem and a cure. No one would fail to see the problem or shrug it off.
Now, compare the response above to the usual response to arrested development in the spiritual order.
Consider a young adult, say 25, who had gone on to physical maturity, and even earned a college degree. Perhaps he has just landed a job in a cutting edge field and is both technically smart and talented. But, despite being a highly trained expert in his secular field, his spiritual development is arrested and he has progressed little since second grade. In some ways he has even gone backward since, in second grade, he still knew his Act of Contrition and the Hail Mary.
Now, though thank God, he still goes to Mass, he is incapable of expressing much of anything about his faith. He knows there is a God and has heard about Jesus but does not know for sure if Jesus is God, he thinks so but he’s not sure. He is aware of the Bible’s existence but cannot name all four Gospels and would not even be sure exactly where to find them in the book. He’d eventually find them but it would take a lot of time. Names like Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, David, Peter, Judas, et al., sound familiar to him, but he cannot tell you much about them, except that they are in the Bible. He has heard the word sacrament but cannot give an example of one and is not sure he’s received them or if that is just something priests and nuns get. Every now and then he thinks to pray but he really does not know what to say or how to do it. Sometimes he remembers a prayer from Mass, but when he tries to say it, he gets stuck since there aren’t other people around him saying it and helping him along. He DOES know the Our Father though! We have to give him that.
Now, mind you, this is a smart guy, he has a lot of knowledge in his field which is highly technical. A lot of people seek him for technical advice and he is a real problem solver in the corporation, keeping the computers and other critical peripherals updated and in good functioning order. But spiritually he is an infant.
The interesting question is, why did his parents and parishioners not experience alarm as they noted arrested spiritual development in him? As he began to go from second grade to third and forth, not only did NOT progress, but he actually got worse. Why did his parents not sound an alarm? Why did the pastor and catechists not experience shock that he seemed to show no progress in the Spiritual life? As his age drew him into high school, not only did his knowledge of the faith not increase but his moral life now began to slide. Soon his language grew bad, he resented authority, was looking at porn on the Internet. His parents were irritated by this, but not really alarmed enough to intensify his recourse to the sacraments or augment his spiritual training. Spiritually he was frozen in time. But no one seemed to notice or care.
But, by God, when almost failed a math course his parents went into action and hired a tutor! After all, this might threaten his getting into a good college! But his failure to grow spiritually never much fazed them. When he went to college they drove up with him, looked at the dorms, met a few of his teachers and attended orientation sessions for new students. But they never thought to meet the College Chaplain or ever to ask who would be spiritually teaching or pastoring their son. You know, that sort of stuff doesn’t really occur to you to ask about.
Well, you get the picture:
It starts, really, with low expectations. Most people don’t really expect that they should grow much in their faith. Advanced knowledge and deep prayer are for priests and nuns. Too many lay people just don’t expect much, and thus are not alarmed when they and their kids know next to nothing about the faith.
Further, the faith is sort of a side issue to many. What really matters is that you study hard to get a career that will unlike the American Dream. Never mind that worldly things don’t last, or that it’s pointless and harmful to climb the ladder of success when it is leaning up against the wrong wall. We’ll think about all that tomorrow. For now just keep pursuing your dreams.
Finally the sense that faith really matters at all is muted today when many have an unbiblical view that almost everyone goes to heaven. This removes any motivation to grow in the faith or be serious about living it in a counter-cultural way. To put it in a worldly way: why work hard or seek to develop yourself when the paycheck has already been deposited, and you’ll get paid no matter what, and can never lose your job?
Scripture – So here we are with a lot Christians who have a very bad case of arrested development. Scripture says:
We have much to say….but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil (Hebrews 5:11-14)
Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. (1 Cor 3:1-2)
Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. (1 Cor 14:20)
My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.” (Jer 4:22)
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. (1 Cor 13:11)
It was [the Lord] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. (Eph 4:11-15)
So then, Scripture is clear that the normal Christian life is
To be constantly growing in our faith.
To go from mother’s milk (of elementary doctrines) to the solid food of more advanced understanding.
To go from being young students to mature teachers.
To exhibit mature knowledge of the faith and also a behavior that bespeaks mature Christianity.
To go from being worldly in our priorities to being spiritual.
To be able to aptly distinguish false doctrine from true doctrine.
To show forth a stability of life and not be easily carried away by all the latest trends and ephemeral fads.
Yes, this is the normal Christian life. Maturity pertains to the human person in general and it certainly ought to pertain to men and women of faith. I pray you who read this blog are well along this path and are seeking to grow. I presume it, in fact.
But many are not Maturing. And I wonder if enough of us in the Church today see this as the horrifically strange and tragic phenomenon that it is. It is really far stranger and far more tragic than a five year old still lying in a crib, speechless and on mother’s milk. It is vastly more serious than the high schooler who is failing math and needs a tutor. To fail math may impact college and a career, but these are passing consequences. To fail in faith impacts eternity, not just for me but others.
Why are we so serious about passing worldly threats and not so about threats that have eternal consequences? In the end arrested spiritual development is by far the most serious of all developmental issues. A parent may give their child every good thing, but if they do not ensure the gift of strong and mature faith, they have given their children nothing but sand slipping thorough their fingers.
Only what you do for Christ will last. Pray God we get our priorities straight and make sure we ourselves and everyone grows up in the Lord. It is true that we must accept the Kingdom of God like a little child in order to enter it. But this text refers to our dependance not our ignorance. God made us to know him and to fail in this way is to miss the whole point and dignity of our life.
Consider a five year old child who, though physically the size of a five year old, had not yet learned to talk or walk, who could only lay in his crib and who ate no solid food, only mother’s milk. Most of us would consider this a great tragedy. It would be a case of arrested development. And surely, as he failed to pass expected milestones and make the usual progress in maturity, his parents would consult doctors and experts in an anxious search for the cause of the problem and a cure. No one would fail to see the problem or shrug it off.