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ONGOING FORMATION PROJECT
MONTHLY DOSSIER
OCTOBER 2011 – YEAR 2 – No. 22 |
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SECTION I: MONTHLY THEME |
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Topic 10: The “Drama of Atheistic
Humanism” (EN n.55-58) Comments, excerpts and questions
by Ewald Kreuzer, SFO In the following excerpts from “Evangelii nuniandi”, Pope Paul VI focuses on new forms of atheism
and secularism. He distinguishes between “secularism” and “secularization”.
This is an important distinction for us to understand given the use of the word
“Secular” in the name of our Franciscan Order. This analysis by the Holy
Father also helps us to understand our specific vocation and mission as
“Secular” Franciscans. This will be an important theme of the 2011 General
Chapter in Sao Paulo (Brazil) this month. 55. Drama of atheistic humanism. […] From the spiritual point of
view, the modern world seems to be forever immersed in what a modern author
has termed "the drama of atheistic humanism." [Cf. Henri de Lubac, Le drame de l'humanisme athee, Paris 1945]
On the one hand one is forced to note in the very heart of this contemporary
world the phenomenon which is becoming almost its most striking
characteristic: secularism. We are not speaking of secularization, which is the effort, in
itself just and legitimate and in no way incompatible with faith or religion,
to discover in creation, in each thing or each happening in the universe, the
laws which regulate them with a certain autonomy,
but with the inner conviction that the Creator has placed these laws there.
The last Council has in this sense affirmed the legitimate autonomy of
culture and particularly of the sciences.[Cf.
Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium
et Spes, 59] Here we are thinking of a true secularism:
a concept of the world according to which the latter is self-explanatory,
without any need for recourse to God, who thus becomes superfluous and an
encumbrance. This sort of secularism, in order to recognize the power of man,
therefore ends up by doing without God and even by denying Him. New forms of atheism seem to flow from it: a man
centered atheism, no longer abstract and metaphysical but pragmatic,
systematic and militant. Hand in hand with this atheistic secularism, we are
daily faced, under the most diverse forms, with a consumer society, the
pursuit of pleasure set up as the supreme value, a desire for power and
domination, and discrimination of every kind: the inhuman tendencies of this
"humanism." In this same modern world, on the other hand, and this
is a paradox, one cannot deny the existence of real steppingstones to
Christianity, and of evangelical values at least in the form of a sense of
emptiness or nostalgia. It would not be an exaggeration to say that there
exists a powerful and tragic appeal to be evangelized. 56. Non
practicing Christians. Today there is a very large number of baptized
people who for the most part have not formally renounced their Baptism but
who are entirely indifferent to it and not living in accordance
with it.[…] It is often the result of the uprooting typical of our time. It
also springs from the fact that Christians live in close proximity with
non-believers and constantly experience the effects of unbelief. Furthermore,
the non-practicing Christians of today, more so than those of previous
periods, seek to explain and justify their position in the name of an
interior religion, of personal independence or authenticity. Thus we have
atheists and unbelievers on the one side and those who do not practice on the
other, and both groups put up a considerable resistance to evangelization. […]
Atheistic secularism and the absence of religious practice are found among
adults and among the young, among the leaders of society and among the
ordinary people, at all levels of education, and in both the old Churches and
the young ones. The Church's evangelizing action cannot ignore these two
worlds, nor must it come to a standstill when faced with them; it must
constantly seek the proper means and language for presenting, or
representing, to them God's revelation and faith in Jesus Christ. 57. The
Church´s duty. Like Christ during the time of His preaching, like
the Twelve on the morning of Pentecost, the Church too sees before her an
immense multitude of people who need the Gospel and have a right to it, for
God "wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the
truth." [1 Tim 2:4] The Church is deeply aware of her duty to
preach salvation to all. Knowing that the Gospel message is not
reserved to a small group of the initiated, the privileged or the elect, but
is destined for everyone, she shares Christ's anguish at the sight of the
wandering and exhausted crowds, "like sheep without a shepherd" and
she often repeats His words: ''I feel sorry for all these people." [Mt
9:36; 15:32] But the Church is also conscious of the fact that, if the
preaching of the Gospel is to be effective, she must address her message to
the heart of the multitudes, to communities of the faithful whose action can
and must reach others. 58. Small
communities. The last Synod devoted considerable attention to these "small
communities" or comunidades de base,
because they are often talked about in the Church today. What are they, and
why should they be the special beneficiaries of evangelization and at the
same time evangelizers themselves? […] In other
regions, on the other hand, comunidades de base
come together in a spirit of bitter criticism of the Church, which they are
quick to stigmatize as "institutional" and to which they set
themselves Up in opposition as charismatic communities, free from structures
and inspired only by the Gospel. Thus their obvious characteristic is an attitude
of fault-finding and of rejection with regard to the Church's outward
manifestations: her hierarchy, her signs. They are radically opposed to
the Church. By following these lines their main inspiration very
quickly becomes ideological, and it rarely happens that they do not quickly
fall victim to some political option or current of thought, and then to a
system, even a party, with all the attendant risks of becoming its
instrument. The difference is already notable: the communities which by their
spirit of opposition cut themselves off from the Church, and whose unity they
wound, can well be called communautes de base, but
in this case it is a strictly sociological name. They could not, without a
misuse of terms, be called ecclesial communautes de
base, even if while being hostile to the hierarchy, they claim to remain
within the unity of the Church. This name belongs to the other groups, those
which come together within the Church in order to unite themselves to the
Church and to cause the Church to grow. These latter communities will be a place of evangelization, for
the benefit of the bigger communities, especially the individual Churches.
And they will be a hope for the
universal Church to the extent: - that they seek their nourishment in the
Word of God and do not allow themselves to be ensnared by political
polarization or fashionable ideologies, which are ready to exploit their
immense human potential; […] - that they remain firmly attached to the local Church in which they
are inserted, and to the universal Church, thus avoiding the very real danger
of becoming isolated within themselves; - that they maintain a sincere communion with the pastors whom the
Lord gives to His Church, and with the magisterium
which the Spirit of Christ has entrusted to these pastors; - that they never look on themselves as the sole beneficiaries or sole
agents of evangelization- or even the only depositaries of the Gospel - but,
being aware that the Church is much more vast and diversified, accept the
fact that this Church becomes incarnate in other ways than through
themselves; - that they constantly grow in missionary consciousness, fervor,
commitment and zeal; - that they show themselves to be universal in all things
and never sectarian. […] Questions for reflection and discussing in fraternity 1. What is the difference between “secularism” and
“secularization”? 2. How do you understand and interpret the word
“Secular” in the name of our Secular Franciscan Order? 3. How can “small communities” support evangelization? 4. How are Secular Franciscan fraternities similar
to / different from these “small communities”? |
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SECTION II:
SPIRITUALITY AND SOCIAL DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH |
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Topic 7 of 9: St. Luke the Evangelist Celebrating the feast of St. Luke the Evangelist (October
18) may have a special flavor for Secular Franciscans this year, considering that
the theme of the SFO General Chapter, to be held in Brazil this month, is: Evangelized to Evangelize. In
preparation for this event, the CIOFS Ongoing Formation Project has been addressing
the topic of Evangelization which
also connects with the call of Blessed John Paul II for the entire Church to engage
in a New Evangelization. But, how
can St. Luke help us to celebrate this General Chapter and to respond to the
prompting of the Holy Spirit to renew our mission of evangelizing the world? Nowadays, there are many Scriptural studies on the writings
of St. Luke (the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles), in the main
languages of the world, that can help us to understand and better appreciate his
work; in addition, many Bible editions have introductions to each one of its books.
Let’s suffice for now to look at a few aspects of Luke’s life and works that
may strengthen and encourage us to live according to the gospel. Based on the
New Testament and in the early Church’s tradition, it is possible to know
something about the life and personality of this Christian author.
Luke was not one of the apostles nor an eyewitness
of the events of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, yet he decided to
research the tradition available to him in order to write down a narrative of
those events in an orderly way as we can read in his Gospel’s prologue: Since many have
undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled
among us, just
as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word
have handed them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew,
to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of
the teachings you have received (Lk 1:1-4). In some ways Luke acts as a historian but mostly as a
theologian of God’s plan of salvation for all peoples, as revealed in Jesus
Christ. He is an educated Hellenist committed to transmitting the Christian
message to his fellow Hellenist believers coming from the pagan world,
inculturating it masterfully. He knows well the Greek version of the Bible
and the Jewish world. He is a consummated Greek writer who also knows to be
faithful to his sources, which he uses with creativity and great originality.
He writes the third Gospel most likely between A.D. 75 and 85 in a
Hellenistic environment and the Acts of the Apostles around A.D. 90. This
inspired author presents Jesus’ prophetic ministry as a long journey towards
Jerusalem and the Church’s mission as a journey towards the ends of the world
and the Gentiles. Like St. Luke, we have also received a rich
tradition in the Church which we are to study, meditate and bring to life,
sharing it with the new generations and cultures. We are also called to be
faithful and creative in conveying the message of God’s plan of salvation for
all humanity in ways that can really touch the lives of the people of our
time. Salvation is still God’s gift to a broken world suffering from growing
social disparities and fragmentation, ideologies and terrorism, human
trafficking and forced migration, materialism and political oppression,
unemployment and diverse kinds of physical, mental and spiritual illness,
etc. For the sake of our evangelizing mission let us learn from Luke’s
special sensitivity for God’s mercy and forgiveness, the poor, the material detachment
and total dedication to Christ, prayer, the power and guiding presence of the
Holy Spirit, the role of women in Christ’s life and in the Church, the joy of
God’s salvation, etc. The Secular
Franciscan, committed to following the example and the teachings of Christ,
must personally and assiduously study the Gospel and Sacred Scripture. The
fraternity and its leaders should foster love for the word of the Gospel and
help the brothers and sisters to know and understand it as it is proclaimed
by the Church with the assistance of the Spirit. (Const 9, 2) Service
in the economy (Compendium of
the Social Doctrine of the Church, n. 563-564)
563. Faced
with the complexity of today's economic context, the laity will be guided in their action by the principles of the
social Magisterium. It is necessary that these principles be known and
accepted in the area of economic activity itself; when they are ignored,
above all the principle of the centrality of the human person, the quality of
this activity is compromised [Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,
Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics
in Political Life (24 November 2002), 3: Libreria
Editrice Vaticana,
Vatican City 2002, p. 8]. The commitment of
Christians will also be translated into an effort of cultural reflection
aimed at a discernment of the current models of economic and social
development. Reducing the question of development to an exclusively
technical problem would deprive it of its true content, which instead
concerns “the dignity of individuals and peoples” [John Paul II, Encyclical
Letter Sollicitudo Rei
Socialis, 41: AAS 80 (1988), 570]. 564. Economists,
those working in this field and political leaders must sense the urgency of
rethinking the economy, considering, on the one hand, the dramatic
material poverty of billions of people and, on the other, the fact that
“present economic, social and cultural structures are ill-equipped to meet
the demands of genuine development” [John Paul II, Message for the 2000 World
Day of Peace, 14: AAS 92 (2000), 366]. The legitimate requirements of
economic efficiency need to be better harmonized with those of political participation
and social justice. Concretely, this means that solidarity must be made an
integral part of the networks of economic, political and social
interdependence that the current process of globalization tends to
consolidate. [Cf. John Paul II, Message for the 2000 World Day of Peace, 17:
AAS 92 (2000), 367-368] In this effort of rethinking, well organized and
destined to have an effect on the way economic realities are seen,
associations of a Christian inspiration active in the economic field — organizations
of workers, business leaders and economists — have a precious role to play. Questions for reflection and discussion in fraternity 1.
How can we imitate St. Luke’s passion to know and
share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our world? 2. How can
your fraternity implant the leaven of the gospel in the economic field in an
active and effective way? |
