Spring 1976

VOLUME 15

NUMBER 1

SPRING, 1976

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VOLUME 15

SPRING 1976

NUMBER 1

A SPIRITUAL LIFE HANDBOOK

Articles FOREWORD SPIRITUALITY AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN AMERICA SPIRITUAL LIFE IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN SOCIETY PSYCHIATRY, PSYCHOLOGY AND SPIRITUALITY TODAY

3 George J. Dyer 5 A rchbishrYJJ Joseph L. Bernardin 13

William C. McCTeady

27

James J. Gill, S.J.

SAC RED ScRIPTURE: PURE AND PERENNIAL SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL LIFE

39

Edward Malatesta, S.J.

HISTORY OF SPIRITUALITY: A KEY FOR SELF-UNDERSTANDING

55

Gervais Dumeige, S.J.

SPIRIT, ROLY SPIRIT, SPIRITUAL LlFE

71

J..ouis John Cameli

CHARISMATIC RENEWAL AND THE SPIRITUAL LIFE

87

Harry C. Koenig

FORMS OF FRAYER IN CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY

89 Agnes Cunningham, sscm.

SALVATJON, LJRERATION AND

CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY

105

Robert Faricy, S.J.

THE CONTEMPORARY MINISTRY OF SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

119

Sa>Ulra M. Schneiders, /HM.

136 152

Timothy K. Johnson, S.S.

A SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE AUTHORS

OUR CO VER: St. Bernard by Ferenc Varga. tional Sculpture Society.

Permission of the Na-

FOREWORD Nearly three decades ago Mortimer Adler wrote How to Remi a. Book. On the assumption that Adler was on to something, a word or two about the strateg>' of this Spiril1tal Life Randbook may be useful to the reader. Brielly, there are four components to the strategy-and four sections to the Handbook: experience, Christian sources, systematic rellection and praxis.

The theologian will recognize this way of understanding as one of severa! methoctologies employed today in his discipline.

A glanee at sorne of the "classical" testbooks on ascetical theology will immerliately show the difference betwcen their way of approaching the Spiritual Li fe and that employed here. They were intent on a systematic presentation of Catholic spirituality which they could justify in biblical and traditional sources.

Jurlgemcnts could then be made about contemporary experience in the light of this systematic unrlerstanrling.

The Handbook begins with our experience as a Spirit-shot people. The first three articles are concerned with this experience. Not only do they describc the phenomenon of Catholic spirituality in the United States, but with the aid of the behavioral sciences they attempt to unpaek it as fully as space allows (Bernardin, l\fcCready, Gill).

With this renewed self-understanding it is possible for the reader to move in the next two articles to a rellection on the biblical sources and historical experience of the Christian community. Hopefully, this is a mutually disclosive moment, with our tradition and our consciousness illuminating one another (Malatesta and Dumeige). \Ve now have the possibility of a systematic understanding of the Christian Li fe: its grounding in man and its tlowering in the Spirit (Cameli). The attempt could not have been made carlier, for it is possible only in the confrontation of our newly horizonerl awareness and the sources of our faith. Finally, we may tu rn to praxis-the critical relationship between theory anrl practice. Tt is to this end that the remaining articles are 3

4

CHICAGO STUDIES

devoted as they reflect on Pentecostalism, prayer, spiritual direction and the Church's ministry to the world (Koenig, Cunningham, Schneiders and Faricy).

This way of understanding is clearly only one of severa! that might have been employed. As the bibliography indicates, the litera ture of the Spiritual Life is vast; and here, as elsewhere in theology, "pluralism is the name of the game."

This little volume is an attempt on the part of its eleven au thors to address what Sandra Schneiders describes as a wid&ly felt need on the part of Christians for spiritual guidance. I wish to thank ali of the authors but especially Edward Malatesta of the Gregorian University's Institute of Spirituality.

Without his ad vice and encouragement the Handbook would not have been possible.

Archbis/wp Joseph L. Bernardin

Spiriluality and the Catholic Church in America What factors shape the spirituality of the Catholic Church in America? What are the dominant traits of th at spirituality?

Archbishop Bernardin's bToad experience allows him a unique perspective on these questions. ln this bicentennial year, we Americans have become accustomed to think with a sharpened historical perspective. Even the topic, "Spirituality and the Catholic Church in America," deserves treatment that is nuanced because of this moment of history which is ours. As an approach to this challenging task, it may be useful to speculate how differently such an essay might have been written 200 years or lOO years ago.

At the time of the Declaration of Independence, there was but one Catholic among the signers of that noble document.

The minority status of those few thousand Catholics in the original 13 colonies, and the missionary character of their relation to the \\"Orld-wide Church, accounted for a defensiveness and depenrlence on the spirit of the "Oid World Church" which woulcl leave their stamp on the ensuing decades of church life.

If anything, it would not even have occurred to those original U.S. Catholics to speak of the characteristics of an "American Catholic Church."

Imagine, then, the outlook of those who celebrated the centennial in 1876. Unforseen waves of immigrants from Catholic Europe had catapulted the miniscule U.S. Catholic community 5

6

CHICAGO STUDIES

into a sizable minority. The joining of the West and South west to the United States meant the addition of many people from the deeply-rooted and rich Hispanic-Catholic tradition. Great churchmen, like Archbishop Purcell and Bishop England, had represented the faith to their countrymen and built vigorously to provide for the needs of the faithful. They could look back at sorne violent outbursts of "anti-popery" bias, but they could also enumerate siguificant steps toward full participation in American !ife. They could retlect on the great degree in which American Catholics had shared in the dream of this, special kind of government. There was no subsidy of clergy, church, or parochial schools, to be sure. But then the government did not seriously hinder growth either. The piety of the European church had survived transplanting. In fact, it was thriving; it was the strength of the people. Not only did church buildings and devotional services replicate Catholic Europe; the re were even fiestas, parades and processions in the ethnie neighborhoods, to say nothing of the full religions !ife at the church school.

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN AMERICA-1976 It would sm¡ely be a treasure to have a centennial document on the spirituality of the American Catholic Church of 1876.

'Without it, one's imagination conjures an assessment which bears marked differences from the account which we shall attempt for 1976. Our assessment of the American Catholic Church in 1976 should be a chastened vision. Ali of us have known a technological society which enjoys instant communication and which is vulnerable to being mesmerized by the electronic media. We have grown up in America: a Catholic has been President of these United States. Fears, which were still prevalent in sorne parts of the country, that Catholics would take over the government, have been alleviated. Factually, Catholics were unable to obtain majority opinion (judicially and popularly) in severa! crucial issues. But we are in a fair position, by reason of our heritage, to take a wholesome look at ourselves, and the temper of our spirituality.

In making sorne kind of analysis of ourselves, it would be weil to remember that there are three kinds of factors which shape our spirituality:

AMERICA

7

1) The developed free world: 2) The Catholic heritage ; 3) The place: America ; the vision : America.

The developed free world must be seen for what it is; a broad participation in goods and services, in opportunities and problems, in consumerism, in urban secularity. There may be exciting possibilities for advancement of culture, for a widebased sharing in the !ife of the spirit, but there is a great danger of exploitation, a huge problem of loneliness, and a widespread fear of private violence or the malfunctioning of machines. Moreover, there are profound implications for spirituality when the issue of justice confronts the inevitable selfishness of the pursuit of the good !ife. The "haves" are separated from the "have-nots" by a gaping cleavage--and that has to be disturbing to conscientious people.

It has always been the Catholic genius to include ali strata of people within its membership and leadership. The peasant can become Pope; hence, the anonymity, rootlessness, and mobility---often extolled technological aspects of !ife--are challenged by the "Catholic" focus on people, on commitment, on place. The Catholic American, who cherishes what was passed down from the apostles, naturally values heritage, continuity and tradition.

If America has been a place, a vision, and a people, it has likewise been a time in the his tory of God's people. Americans, at times, speak as if time itself began in 1776-or at !east in 1492. "Catholic" brings to America its genius as it displays a sense of the relativity of ali time-before and after Christ-and of ali places, governments and economie orders.

But what about spirituality? The word itself does not desc. ignate the whole of church life-its growth, its institutions, the interacting of its groups and individual members. "Spirituality" denotes the pa1ticipation of each of us in the Paschal Mystc1-y of Christ, in his dying and rising. To be more precise, while we often use "holiness" to describe the !ife which is ours by our baptism, by "spirituality" we in tend the packaging which helps us cherish and preserve the gift of holiness.

It is the complex of our activities and attitudes which determine the quality of our participation in the Paschal Mystery. Spir-

8

CHICAGO STUDIES

ituality, then, embraces our daily effort to abide in God's love, to carry our cross, to radiate the joy of Christ's resurrected life which we share. St. Paul teaches us that there are many gifts of service to the commuP.ity, many charisms. We believe there are, likewise, many modes of spirituality, many ways of pm¡suing this pearl of great priee-the following of Christ.

Renee, to speak of the spirituality of the Church in America could be the greatest arrogance-if one were to designate a few characteristks and imply that all American Catholics are thereby spoken for. Nor would it be fair to claim as special to the Church in our country what is the patrimony of Catholics everyivhere, especially in this post-Vatican II world. Again, there is always the danger that one in a position of leadership will speak more of what he wou Id like to see than of what really is to be found. With these cautions in mind then, I shall now single out. sorne of the dominant traits of the spirituality of the American Church in 1976.

SOME TRAITS OF ĂœUR SPIRITUALITY

Foremost, our contemporary Catholic life in America is "eucharistie." The religions life and devotion of our people is centered on, and draws its strength from, the celebration of the Eucharistie liturgy to a degree that is truly remarkable.

While the Catholic heritage in America has constantly expressed its devotion to the Mass, recent increaserl participation has struck a responsive chord in all sectors of the Catholic Church in America. The recent study conducted by NORC, under the sponsorship of the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions, has shawn a very impressive percentage of satisfaction with liturgical changes.

It would seem that there are three additional factors which are brought into focus by this eucharistie orientation of our spirituality: 1) thankfulness, 2) devotion to the Scriptures, and 3) the relation of li turgy and Ji fe. Each of these traits. has its roots in the celebration of the Eucharist but extends beyond the liturgy.

If we Catholics share with other Americans an abiding sense of gratitude for the blessings of our land and the special oppoitunities we have had, our thankfulness is broadened and intensified by our frequent sharing in the Eucharist-the su-

AMERICA

9

pre me act of thanks. New Testament writers point out thankfulness as a noteworthy trait of those reborn in Christ (Col. 1 :12). 'Vould that our thankfulness and our cherishing of God's good gifts keep in perspective for us the relative unimportance of the comforts and conveniences our culture takes for granted.

A singular blessing of the liturgical reform initiated by the Second Vatican Council is the attention given to God's word in Scripture. The new lectionary for Sunday Mass provides a contact with most of the New Testament and a significant portion of the Old Testament, to say nothing of the Scripture readings which accompany other liturgical celebrations. Catholic priests are making a greater effort than ever before to allow their sermons, their homilies, to be directecl and inspired by the readings from Scripture. And there are indications that something truly wonclerful is happening in the love for and devotion to the Scriptures among Catholic Americans.

Lectures and courses on the Bible are consistently the most popular among adult education offerings. An everincreasing number of small groups meet regularly for shared prayer based on the reading of the Bible. Bible-centered spirituality is hardly a "Catholic" prerogative, but surely a trait of contemporary Catholic spirituality in a way unmatched by preceding generations.

The concern for the proper ordering of liturgy and life has inspired the choice of the theme for the 41st Eucharistie Congress, to be hel cl in Philadelphia this coming summer: "The Eucharist and the Hungers of the Human Family." Eight of the hungers of man will receive special attention, each on a separa te clay of the congress: hunger for God, hunger for bread, hunger for freedom and justice, hunger for the spirit, hunger for truth, hunger for understanding, hunger for peace, hunger for Jesus the bread of !ife. No one daims that this program is necessarily a representation of American Catholic spirituality. But it is fair to claim for a characteristic of our contemporary Catholic !ife a desire to translate our creed into deeds, a determination to let the fervor of our piety ignite a passion for doing something to correct injustice and help others-in a word, to have our liturgy. make a difference in our life. The energy involved may be an "American fever";

..

10

CHICAGO STUOIES

the resolve not to escape into comfortable "churchiness" may be a common possession of many churches in our land, but the mode of "compenetration," which is ours uniquely, has much to do with the sacramental and incarnational orientation of our Catholic !ife and worship.

RECONCILIATION

Another dominant trait of our cm-rent church !ife is the concern for interior renewal through reconciliation. It is a welcome, if not inevitable, phase following the decade of institutional reform which took place after the close of the Second Vatican Council. It could be argued that Amerlcans have been particularly noted for "taking a fresh start" by merely "moving out \Vest" so to speak; that is, moving away from troubles and difficult relations with people. This is just the opposite of the re-establishment of ties implied by reconciliation.

The occasion for a vigorous effort this year to appreciate the many facets of reconciliation is the implementation of the liturgical reform of the sacrament of Penance. But-as the introduction to the new ritual makes very clear-the ramifications involved in this program are broad and deep. That was the reason our Roly Father chose "reconciliation" as the theme of the Roly¡ Year last year. The whole of Christ's workand that of His Church, obviously-is reconciliation of the human family with God and with one another.

It would be appropriate to mention here also the attention given, in this program of renewal of the sacrament, to the spirit and works of penance. They are seen from the positive perspective of the healing of our sinfulness and ali its ramifications. Moreover, they often aid us in our efforts to win our brother. Indeed, asceticism and self-discipline--an indispensable component of any authentic Christian spiritualitygive promise of flourishing once more under the inspiration of these motivations drawn from the over-all vision of reconciliation.

It may be that in naming this dimension of reconciliation, we have been more predictive than descriptive. But there are already signs that there is an eager audience for this word about forgiveness. Please God, that dedication to the word

..

AMERICA

11

of reconciliation, as well as an openness to His gift, characterizes our Church in the years to come. If we are to be unique -individually and as a Church-may it be as a "forgiving people," as peace-makers, whose primary concern is to bring about the kingdom of God. Many more traits deserve exploration in any full account of contemporary spirituality. Sm¡ely they are expressed by the many significant trends which mark the "seventies" and distinguish this decade from the "sixties." Such trends would be the prayer movement, the charismatic movement, the increased interest in special ministry, the attraction of monasteries and other places which provide a "desert experience," the rapid growth of concern for spiritual direction, the shift in priorities of all kinds of groupings whereby regular retreats or at !east sorne time for prayer is a part of the over-all agenda.

Other trends could also be noted. But then, that's the purpose of the severa! articles in this special issue of Chicago Studies.

All this sm¡ely is a sign of hope. That there are so many facets deserving close scrutiny indicates a certain richness and complexity to our contemporary spirituality. Our hearts are in the right place, and we trust that the Lord who has begun a good work in us will bring it to fruition.

WiUiam G. McGready

Spiritual Life in Conlemporary American Society Quality concern for the transcendent remains high among Americans. The author explores the nature of people's expressed religious needs and the possible responses religious leadership might make to it.

An editor of a prestigious literary magazine enjoys telling of his favorite technique for responding to those critics who write, "the quality of your journal is nowhere as near as good as it was a few years ago !" His answer is a simple form letter, "Thanks; it never was !" It is tempting to apply the same dictum to the current queries about the state of Americans' spiritual lives. Ali about us we hear that our sociey is not as concerned with things spiritual as it used to be. The abiding question is "relative to what ?" Religion is multi-dimensional in nature and different aspects of it are more prominent than others at different times in history. ln this article we will use recent data from national surveys to circumscribe the multifaceted concept of religion in our society, and to describe the spiritual needs of contemporary Americans.

Robertson (1970) makes the distinction, in the process of defining religions culture, between the empirical and the super13

14

CHICAGO STUDIES

empirical segments of reality. In a religious culture the superempirical takes precedence over the empirical, and religious action is simply that action which is inlluenced or shaped by the individual's understanding of this distinction. This rather common-sense definition is useful for social scientists because it lends itself to being operationalized and tested with data collected from specifie societies. To the extent that people in a society acknowledge the distinction between the empirical and the super-empirical, or transcendent, they exist \vithin a religious culture. To the extent that people act upon their understanding of the distinction, they are acting religiously.

We therefore have two overlapping frameworks with which to examine religion within society. We can focus on the extent to which people do or do not honor the transcendent component of reality and. subsequent to that, we can look at whether their conception of the transcendent is expressed more through organizational or "spiritual" activity, or through both.

RELIGIOUS CULTURE IN AMERICA

The first task is to estimate to what extent our society pays any attention to the transendent nature of reality. There has been a consistent popular support for believing in God in our society for many years. Most national surveys report that weil over ninety percent of the population say that they do believe in God. On a recent NORC sm-vey (5046, 1972) only live percent of the respondents did not fee] it was important for their children to believe in God, and this proportion held up even for those people who, themselves, did not believe in God. The underlying question is not whether people will say they believe in God, obviously most will, but rather how they define "Cod" and their relationship to Hi m. Is this simply an example of conformity to a social norm, devoid of substance; or is it Ă n indication of a religious perspective in our culture which recognizes the transcendent and ranks it above the empirical?

In Table 1 we can see that these data (5046, 1972) support the claim that American culture is religious in a more detailed way than simply agreeing that there is a God. Three-fifths of the American population believe in !ife after death and in the underlying nature of God's love with regard to human events.

More than three-quarters of the respondents fee] that mean-

'

15

SPIRITUAL LIFE IN AMERICA

TABLE 1 Responses to Religious Culture Questions for Total Sample (percent) Items ~an

survives after death.

God's love is behind everything that happens.

The universe is not governed by chance. ~eaning can be found in suffering and injustice. l\fy prayers are heard.

Y es

No

Don't Know

61

34

5

67

32

1

53

44

3

78 88

20 11

2 1

(N=1467) ing can be found in tragedy and that their prayers are heard, and a majority of Americans think that the universe is not governed by chance. It is worth noting that these propositions do not get the same high endorsement that the 'existence of God' gets on most surveys, but they are still endorsed by a majority.

This is an indication that these questions are tapping a more genuine dimension of religion than the former, which is quite susceptible to 'lip service' responses.

Recently we have embarked into the 'sociology of ultimate values' (~cCready and Greeley, 1976) as opposed to the more traditional study of the sociological context of religion. This approach borrows extensively from the theoretical works of Clifford Geertz, Peter Berger and Thomas Luclanann. These men have in common that they are ali concerned with the 'feedback' dimension of religious beliefs. That is to say that they see religious belief as both the cause and the result of other factors in human !ife. In this context, religion is a concern with the ultimate questions of !ife, the questions about meaning and purpose to human existence in the face of facts which would seem to indicate chaos. As anthropologists have pointed out, ~an is the only organism on Earth that is aware of his own termination. No other animal has the .opportunity, or the curse, of being able to reflect upon its death. The evi-

CHICAGO STUDIES

16

denee of our own mortality is overwhelming and inescapeable and because of this we are compelled to aiTive at a qualitative decision about the nature of existence after death, or else face the resultant chaos in our present lives. We have to make the judgement as to whether transcendent reality is benevolent or not, whether it is perhaps malign, ot¡ if it is simply neutra! and therefore of no concern.

As part of the research into people's ultimate beliefs we devised a typology derived from responses to a series of questions as to how they thought they would react in a time of tragedy. Through a procedure which is described in the final report (McCready and Greeley, 1976) we constructed five types of ultimate values. In Table 2 the population is distributed across these types generating another estimate of the degree to which our culture is religious or not.

TABLE 2 A Typology of 'Ultimate Values' in the American Population (percent) Types Religious Optimist Hopeful Secular Optimist Pessimist Diffuse N on-codeable responses Total

Percentage 22 22 14 24 18 (10 cases) 100 (1467)

As can be seen from this table, 44 percent of the population falls into either the Religious Optimism or the Hopeful category. (Given that only 19 percent of the people in this country identify themselves as 'Republicans' we can say that religion is at !east better off than the GOP.) Our Ultimate Values typology is an attempt to get at the world view of the respondents through their reactions to life-crisis situations, and the first two types are, in different ways, both religious world

SPIRITUAL LIFE IN AMERICA

17

views. Religions Optimism assumes that 'ultimate reality' is benevolent and that God will take care of ali troubles and difficulties, while Hopefulness realizes the existence of both good and evil in the world and still believes in the triumph of good, although it may be close. The f01mer functions by denying evil, the latter by affirming goodness.

Secular Optimism assumes a benevolent natural order and makes no reference to God. Pessimism assumes that there is nothing except what we see before us and that we are better of!' if we accept the state of things as they are; it includes a certain fatalistic quality. The Diffuse type consists of those people who did not pick one of the other dimensions with any consistency and who therefore have no crystallized world view.

As an indicator of religions culture this typology works qui te weil because it distinguishes between two perspectives toward the transcendent, one which operates by denying evil and the other by affirming goodness. Slightly more than one-fifth of the respondents espoused the latter, Hopefulness, which is the more complete Christian perspective. These people tended to be women, middle-age<! and in the middle income range, and either Protestant or Irish Catholic. Although Catholics in general were less hopeful thau Protestants, those who had received more than 10 years of Catholic schooling were more so, which means that this world view can be intluenced by the educational climate and is not just a social given. The state of religions culture, as measured by world view, appears to be quite strong.

Almost one half the population espouses sorne form of transcendent world view, while more thau a fifth hold to a specifically Christian set of ultimate values summarized by Hopefulness.

A thire! approach to looking at the leve! of religion in our society is to askpeople how religions they think they are. It turns out that there are sorne interesting denominational differences on this point, so a Protestant-Catholic distinction will be introduced at this point. There are very slight differences between these two groups rega1路ding their belief in Gocl, and the differences in ultimate values are Im路gely a result of education and region. However, "'heu it cornes to how religions people felt they were路 at varions times in their lives, Protestants and Catholics have different patterns of self-description.

Protestants tend to describe themseh路es as having been near

18

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CHICAGO STUDIESC

TABLE 3 Scores on Religions Self-Image Scale for Protestants and Catholics: Estimated for Past, Present and Future (standard points) Religions Self-Image Scale: As a child As a teen-ager At the present time/ Five years from now

Protestant

Catholic

-.04 .05 .14 .16 (904)

.25 .13 -.01 -.04 (363)

the mean of religiousness as children, and steadily getting bet-ter as time goes by. (Standard points have a mean of zero· and a standard deviation of one.) Catholics, on the other hand, describe themselves as highly religions as children, one-quarter· of a standard deviation above the mean, and steadily decreas-· ing. lt should be pointed out that neither group sees themselves. becoming very non-religions in the future and that the mean. for this scale is about six on a scale of ten points.

It may be that these data reflect peculiarly Protestant and' Catholic ways of being religions persons. In sorne recent. seminars on. religion and social ethics at NORC, Frs. David" Tracy and Andrew Greeley have observed that there are Prot-. estant and Catholic styles of theologizing and political activity.

The Protestant is dialectic and is characterized by negation or a present position and a belief in the ultimate perfectability or the social order. The Catholic style is analogie and is charac-· terized by the belief that the social order is organic and malleable, but not perfectible. It would appear that Protestants think of their own religions development as a steady growth toward the 'perfect' while· Catholics see themselves as moving · more toward the mean, which could be interpreted as a compromise with their own human nature. As they got older they· realize that they are not religions in the way they once were, but neither do they turn away from religions questions alto-. gether.

Clifford Geertz (1973) has commented that Man is a 'crea-

•

SPIRITUAL LIFE IN AMERICA

19

ture suspended in webs of meaning whcih he himself has spun.

There is no indication in these data that there is any Jess spinning being done in contemporary society, but that there may be a greater variety of webs than ever before. Religious convictions may express themselves in multiple ways. Dogmatic beliefs, ritual practices and doctrinal adherences all change over time. There is no evidence that' convictions about the nature of transcendent reality change at the same rate. Man is not born with a set of instincts to guide him through life, he must learn to organize and interpret experiences in order to be able to respond to them. In doing this we develop systems of meaning and interpretation which are then passed along from generation to generation, developing slowly as they go.

Sometimes, these meaning systems take form in rules and explicit beliefs and rituals, other times they do not. It is not necessary that our interpretive schema be codified in arder for it to exist. There are times in human history when rules and codes change and we fall back on our culturally derived systems for interpreting experience. Our society, and in particular the Catholic segment, is at such a point. We have seen that contemporary America is not devoid of religions culture, but how does the practice of religion and the experience of the spiritual !ife relate to the culture we have described?

RELIGlOUS PRACTICE:

Ă&#x203A;RGANIZATlONAL VITALITY

Church attendance is the best estimate available of organizational vitality for two reasons. First, it is a measure on which we have over-time data, and secondly it is the most visible way of participating in the life of a religious organization.

As can be seen in Table 4 there are strong differences in the participation patterns of Protestants and Catholics, with Cathclic church attendance declining steadily during the past decade, and Protestant attendance remaining stable. Among those Catholics under thirty years of age, the decline is even more dramatic. Their pattern of church attendance is almost identical to that of the Protestants and this is particularly true of the well-educated young. â&#x20AC;˘ The next question, having demonstrated a decline in organizational pal'ticipation for the Catholics, is whether or not this decline has had anything to do with people's feelings about

CHICAGO STUDIES

20

TABLE 4 Gallup Poil Estimate of Weekly Church Attendance for Catholics and Protestants: 1965 to 1974 Year

1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974

Catholics

67% 68 66 65 63 60 57 56 55 55

Protestants

Difference

38% 38 38 39 38 37 38 37 37 37

-29 -30 -28 -26 -25 -23 -19 -19 -18 -18

their involvement in a religions culture or their feelings about being religions people. This, and other questions about recent changes in the American Catholic population, are discussed at great length in the forthcoming report of a NORC study of the effects of Catholic education (Greeley, McCready and McCourt, 1976), but a brief explanation of the causes of the decline in religions practice is gi ven here so that we may examine the claim that Catholics are not going to church as often as they once did because they are not as religions as they once were.

We can see from the data presented in Table 5 that the primm-y cause of the decline of both Mass attendance and praying hacl to do with rules and not with spirituality. The major factor in the drop in church-going was the unpopular ruling on birth control contained in the encyclical Humanae Vitae.

This document, released in the mid-sixties, came at a time when a majority of American Catholics had already expressed their approval of artificial birth control. They had expected sorne modification of the traditional teaching, and when tradition was reaffirmed instead of modified, they felt deceived and abandoned. The changing attitudes toward divorce and remarriage and the decreased acceptance of Papal authority in matters of

SPIRITUAt tiFE IN AMERICA

21

TABLE 5 Proportion of the 1963 to 1974 Decline in Catholic Religious Practices Accounted for by Intervening Factors (Proportion of Decline) Intervening Factors Attitudes toward the Mass in English Changes in attitudes toward divorce laws Changes in attitudes toward birth control Changes in attitudes toward Papal authority U naccounted for Total Proportion Total Decline

Mass Attendance

Prayer

.00

.00

.26

.33

.48

.30

.26 .00 1.00

.25

(-21%)

.12

1.00 (-12%)

conscience also contributed to lowering the chnrch attendance leve!. Prayer, althongh declining Jess dramatically, was subject to the same forces. The one element in Table 5 which was attributable to the innovations of the Vatican Conncil is people's attitude toward the English liturb'Y. and this factor had no effect on either Mass attendance or praying.

There has been a serious decline in church attendance among Catholics and a Jess serious decline in praying. Religions practice and confidence in institntional leadership have both suffered during the last decade. However these setbacks seem to be the result of poor ecclesiastical decisions rather than of a general retreat from 'the sacred' on the part of the members of churches. How can we obtain an indication of people's relationship with the transcendent and the sacred? Has this element of our religions culture declined as weil? This is a key question in any discussion of the state of contemporary spiritnality.

RELIGIOUS PRACTICE: THE SPIRITUAL LIFE

One indicator of the well-being of the spiritual !ife in our

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CHICAGO STUDIES

society is the extent to which people do or do not have experiences of being in contact with transcendent reality. Many spiritual excercises, such as meditations and retreats, may or may not be interpreted as varieties of devotional behavior. The 'mystical' experience however, is clearly different from devotional practice. Research on the prevalence of 'transcendental experiences' indicates that about one-third of the population will say that they have had such experiences, and that this proportion is quite consistent over time (Bomque and Back, 1971).

Research on 'mystical' experiences; done at NORC, arrives at approximately the same proportion by asking the question; "have y ou ever felt as though you were very close to a powerful spiritual force that seemed to lift you out of yourself ?" Reports based on these data have appeared in severa! publications, (Greeley, 1975; 路 Greeley and McCready, 1974; McCready, 1974), and will be bricfly summarized here. Mystics are quite ordinary in their demographie profile and tend, if anything, to be middle-aged Protestants of moderate means and education, or Irish. They give no signs of being 'kooks' or in any other way unusual. They score very high on the Bradburn scale for psychological well-being, and appear to be very happy with their lives. Mystics come from families which were supportive and religions, although not pal路ticularly "churchy ." Their own religions proclivities are rather subdued in the sense that they generally belong to a church, but are not particularly involved in its operation. They describe their ecstatic experience(s) in very J amesian terms of being ineffable, noetic and transient; and they say that they are triggered by a range of religions, aesthetic and sexual activities.

For our present pm路poses, the crucial factor that emerges from this line of research is that mysticism is relatively stable in our society and that it is a normal experience for people to have. If anything, there are sorne signs that it is becoming easier for people to talk about these experiences and not to fee] as though they must explain them away. lt may weil be that more people have mystical experiences in their backgrounds than are willing to say, and as it becomes more permissible to admit them, more will emerge into the public eye. These are essentially 'spiritual' experiences even though they are not

SPIRITUAL LIFE IN AMERICA

23

of the same variety as the 'visions of saints' reported in earlier times with such frequency. One way of interpreting the persona! profiles of these mystics is to say that they are people with healthy spiritual lives, as indicated by a measure that seems closer to spirituality than most quasi-devotional social indicators.

We are currently doing in-depth interviews with a small sampling of people who have had mystical experiences and the most powerful charaeteristic that cornes through is the total peace and confidence they derive from the interlude(s). Many describe themselves as having a direct line of communication with either¡God or a Spiritual Power that sounds very much like the traditional description of God. The mystic has a very strong and resilient interpretive schema in the Geertzian sense, and also tends to have a religious world view. These people no not need churches to explain reality to them, they know for themselves the benevolent nature of the ultimate reality. However, churches may be able to learn something from mystics about the practice of the spiritual !ife.

Another encouraging sign of spiritual health can be found in our recent sm¡vey of the Catholic population as regards their reasons for attending Mass. In a report on the changing attitudes toward liturgical innovations (McCready, 1976) we have observed that young people are more likely now than they were in 1963 to say that they go to Mass to worship God. This is only true of course among those young people who still go to Mass frequently. However, their change away from reasons such as "it's a sin not to go/' or "my parents make me go," bespeaks an understanding of the spiritual nature of the sacrifice and their part in it.

These data are evidence of the paradoxical nature of our eontemporary religious culture. We are in a periO(] of declining institutional vitality, and this is especially true for the Ă&#x2021;atholic church, while at the same time indicators of the quality of concern for the transcendent remain high. "The Catholic <:hurch, whose members represent almost half of ali the nominally religious people in the country, is the most striking example only because its institutional dedines have been so dramatie over the recent decade.

What is the appropriate response of the religions institution

CHICAGO STUOIES

24

to the present situation? Are there ways of responding to people's spiritual needs, which are as high as ever, that do not frustrate and disillusion them? What can churches do to regain the ir credibility as spiritual beacons? The first step is to recognize the situation and it is hoped that data such as these will help do that. The second step is to think about the nature of people's expressed spiritual needs and potential responses to them.

SUMMARY: CONTEMPORARY SPIRITUAL NEEDS

There is no absence of interest in religious questions in our society, and intense religious experiences are as prevalent as ever. People stiJl yearn for an understanding of the transcendant in their lives and for meaning systems to help them cope with ambiguities and confticts. The crux of the problem of religion in our society today is that these inchoate needs of 'religious' people are not being met by religious institutions.

In the name of expanding the rights of individuals to use their own consciences in making moral decisions, religious institutions have abandoned their role as the repositories of meaning systems as weil. It is as though organized religion has gone out of the 'answer business' altogether, instead of simply focusing the scope of questions to he answered. For too many years churches had heen preoccupied with rules. There were ru les for almost everything and it was natural for people to ¡equate rules with religion. Ali of a sudden churches have begun telling people that rules are not the basis of true religion, but they have not J?een very clear as to what the basis is. The fundamental issues for churches today are two: to provide¡ leadership in interpreting human experiences in the light of transcendent symbols; and to promote the expression of spiritual sensibilities from within the lives of their members.

One of the great ambiguities troubling modern men and women is the meaning of human intimacy as experienced in frienclships, marriages, sexual activity, family relationships and other social contexts. Many au thors have notecl the increasing difficulties people are having in forming satisfying intimate relations. The Christian symbols of redemption and resurrection, and the hope and trust inherent in them, have much to say to our modern lives about the possibility of success in in-

'

SPIRITUAL LIFE IN AMERICA

25

timacy. The acceptance of love from the One who created us, is the prototype of surrender in any successful human relationship. It is the precondition to loving others and the basis for loving ourselves.

Religious leaders ought to be speaking their thoughts on these matters, rather than telling people they need to make up their own minds. Priests, for example, ought to be challenging our complacency and pointing to the symbols of the gospel, not denying that they are religious leaders because they are afraid that the laity will think they are too authoritarian. If the laity think that, it is their own problem and there is nothing the clergy can do about it.

The second point, a need for greater latitude in spiritual expression, is even more evident from the current situation.

The banner of expressive and persona! relationships with God has been taken out of the hands of religious institutions and assumed by a whole variety of fringe, sect-like groups. 1t is so diffuse that a map of para-religious organizations today would look like downtown Tokyo. Y ou can't tell the pentecostals from the hari-krishna without a program, and then it ali depends on whose program you use. The explosion of splinter groups based on emotional and expressive religious needs indicates just how abandoned many people have felt by their religious institutions.

Sorne of these groups are harmless and sorne are not, the problem is that it is difficult to tell until one is on the inside.

Traditional religious institutions need to realize that there are legitimate spiritual needs foi¡ persona! relationships with God that need to be met from within their boundaries. As long as they are allowed to go unmet, people will continue to look for these experiences elsewhere. The need for persona!, spiritual relationships will not fade away. The mystical dimension of human li fe ought to be more fully recognized and honored within the religious institutions. Liturgical forms can reflect more of this character than they now do, and people innovating with the styles of prayer can be treated more supportively than they no\v are.

Spiritual needs and sensibilities still thrive within the 'people, even in the midst of so-called secularization. The religious institutions, churches and their clerical inhabitants, have the responsibility of responding to these needs. lt is not sufficient

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CHICAGO STUDIES

to stand aside and say that religion is no longer exclusively identified with ru les, or that people are not as religions as they once were. Religions leadership must accept its. responsibility ¡ to guide the inchoate spiritual concerns of people into concrete expressions and choices. The cleric might weil take a page from the Harry S. Truman-book-of-life with regard to his responsibility for providing religions leadership: "the buck stops here." This outlook could pt¡ovide greatly increased vitality in the lives of both clerical and lay members of our churches.

REFERENCES

Bourque, L. B. and Back, K., ''Language, society and subjective experience," Socicnnetry, 34:1-21. ' Geertz, C., Th6 Interpretation of Cultures, (New York: Basic Books, ' 1973.)

Greeley, A., The SocWlogy of the Paranormal, (Calif.: Sage Publications, 1975.)

- - - , and McCready, W., "Sorne Notes on the Sociological Study of Mysticism," in On the Margins of the Visible ed. by E. Tiryakian, (New York: Wiley, 1974.)

- - - , - - - , , and McCourt, K., Catholic Schools in a Declining Church, (Mission, Kan.: Sheed and Ward, 1976.)

McCready, W., uA Survey of Mystical Experiences," Listening, Autumn, 1974.

- - - , and Greeley, A., The Ultirnate Values of the American People, (Calif.: Sage Publications, 1976.)

- - - , Changing Attitudes toward the Liturgy, (Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1976.)

NORC Survey 5046, Basic Reliefs and Ultimate Values: funded by the Henry B. Luce Foundation, 1972.

Robertson, R., The Sociological Interpretation of Religion, (New York: Schocken, 1970.)

Jarnes J. Gill, S.J., M.D.

Psychiatry, Psychology and Spirituality Today A widely-1·espected priestpsychiatrist looks at sorne of the places where psychiatry and pscyhology œre coming in contact with spirituality today: self-deception, faith-healing, the p1·actice of poverty and obedience, homose:cuality, etc.

Q. Do you see psychology and psychiatry contributing to the

development of Christian spirituality today?

A. Yes, I do, in a variety of ways. But first, I assume that when we speak of "spirituality" we are referring to the inner !ife of the Christian where he relates himself to God. Part of his interior activity is conscious and deliberate, but another part is situated below the level of his conscious awareness.

Psychology and psychiatry are both concerned with whatever occurs in the unconscious as weil as the conscious realm of the mi nd.

Q. With what difference between the two disciplines?

A. Psychiatry is concerned with mental functioning that is unhealthy or self-destructive for the individual or harmful to society. Psychology is more interested in what is normal, healthy or constructive about mental and emotional activity.

Q. You say they contribute to spirituality in a variety of ways.

Can you make any generalizations?

A. 1 think so. Psychology can look at the ideas, feelings, attitudes, motivations, and decisions that are developed within the spiritual li fe of a Christian persan and provide sorne degree of understanding with regard to what is happening and why it is occurring this way in this unique individual. Psychiatry, on 27

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28

CHICAGO STUDIES

the other hand, can shed sorne light on the ways and reasons why certain individuals operate spiritually in mentally or emotionally sick and unrealistic ways.

Q. Are you saying that psychologists and psychiatrists can adequately explain a person's spiritual functioning?

A. Of course not. Only God could gi ve a complete explanation of what is happening, of what part he is playing, and what his grace is doing within the Christian mind or sou!.

Q. Then what's the real advantage of approaching spirituality from the viewpoints of these two behavioral sciences?

A. They can say a great deal about the nature on which grace is acting. They cau point out the human faculties and aptitudes . that await education and development (for example, the imagination in relation to prayer, or moti vat ion in connection with the will), and they cau identify unhealthy attitudes and practices as weil as unsuspected styles of self-deception.

Q. What would be an example of such self-deception?

A. There's one l'rn running into very often these days. (lt is related to both the spiritual direction and the individually directed retreats which many religions men and women are pursuing.) Too many individuals, particularly sorne "contemporary" sisters firmly believe that they are seeking the guidance of certain widely acclaimed priests for onlY. the loftiest of spiritual motives. But they are acting a little Iike the bobbie-soxed adolescents who used to swoon over Frank Sinatra at Manhattan's old Paramount Theatre. At every opportunity they subtly boast about which spiritual guru intimately guided them through eight or thirty days, or ali of last year. l'rn reminded of the competitive early èhristians who irritated St. Paul by self-aggrandizingly bragging that the ir baptismal water had been poured by him, or by Apollos. Psychology can certainly appreciate the fact that a Christian who seeks out a famed spiritual director may in fact be wisely placing herself or himself in the hands of a competent and experienced person. But there may also be unconscious, status-seeking forces at work.

These can block the spiritual growth that might have occurred if the retreatant or directee were a little more deeply concerned about relating to God rather than seeking to achieve an egoinflating relationship. Directors, too, cau be deceived.' Many of the more popular ones find they need to keep a watchful eye

PSYCHIATRY

29

on their own motivations and interpersonal behavior so that they can truly function helpfuily and effectively and not as narcissistic promoters of their own fan clubs.

Q. Where else do you see psychology and psychiatry coming into contact with spirituality these days?

A. In a number of places we would not have expected a decade or two ago. For example, in Catholic Pentecostalism, in relation to poverty, and in the gay apostolate.

Q. How do they relate to Pentecostalism?

A. I see participation in charismatic prayer meetings and faith-healing sessions giving many individuals their first, longsought chance to stand out publicly in the assembly and feel special to their feilow Christians and to God. They have found a way to be spontaneous, emotional, enthusiastic and truly alive in their communal praying.

Q. You don't see them as caught up in a fad?

A. Sorne are, undoubtedly. They have simply discovered the latest in-thing to do. They will drop out when the action moves elsewhere. But most of the Pentecostals I've met and prayed with are sincere and solid, I think. They give me the impression that they are genuinely seeking and interacting with God. Q. Then you think the Holy Spirit is actuaily performing ail the actions that "charismatics" attribute to Him? A. No, I couldn't say that. I often think the speaking or singing in tangues I've been hearing is no more (and no less) Spirit caused than a light-hearted man's tuneless whistling.

But, even so, I wouldn't disparage it. Whatever makes people fee! they are in respectful and grateful contact with their Creator should never be ridiculed, even if the specialness of the "gift" is frequently exaggerated, as I believe sometimes happens in regard to glossolalia.

Q. And what about healing by faith?

A. Psychiatrists know a little too much about the excessive suggestibility of many persans to accept as genuine ail the "cures" or "healings" that are claimed. Lourdes has given us many examples of medical cures and spiritual healings which have been rigorously investigated and found convincing. Obviously there is no reason to think that God's therapeutic interventions to human suffering are confined to the sites of internationally advertised shrines. But I find myself annoyed each

30

CHICAGO STUDIES

time I am antagonistically asked-as happened again recently at the end of a public lecture I was delivering-whether I have any faith. In response to my affirmative reply, on severa! occasions I have been challenged (charismatically?): "Then why don't you quit the practice of medicine, stop giving people prescriptions and pills, stop putting them into hospitals the way you do, and just pray for them with faith-and heal them Jesus' way?" This total Jack of regard for God's more usual way of restoring his children to health invites a psychiatrie explanation. Such excessive enthusiasm for the extraordinary or the sensational strongly suggests an unconscious need on the part of the anti-professional for a prominent role in the healing process that will make him fee! essential, potent, God-favored, and unembarrassed by his Jack of academie training and skill in relation to medical diagnosis, pathology, and pharmacology.

Q. How would you help such an enthusiast become more realistic?

A. I would attempt to help him recognize that every medical. surgical, and psychiatrie cure (like every spiritual or moral healing) involves profound mysteries that ali the sophisticated scientific knowledge in the world will never completely explain.

I would try to help him learn to appreciate the degree of true humility that many Christian physicians, surgeons, and psychiatrists actually achieve. These dedicated and skillful men and women find themselves able to give Gad gladly the credit he deserves for the cures to which they contribute. I find them grateful for the part he has called them to play in the healing process. Their praising of God is, I believe, no Jess spontaneous nor Jess profound than that which rises from the hearts and tongues of the most genuinely charismatic faith-healers.

Q. Y ou mentioned a relationship between psychology and poverty.

A.¡ I had in mind a situation I have seen repeated too frequently among spiritually perfectionistic religious communities-especially small ones-in recent years. As a tâ&#x20AC;˘esult of their sincere efforts to reduce house and persona! economie budgets to the lowest leve! possible, a number of communities have made it virtually impossible for individuals to participate in the cultural activities they formerly enjoyed. Members are not just exhorted, but freqeuntly even coerced into giving up atten-

PSYCHIATRY

31

dance at plays, operas, and the like. The intent is certainly laudable, if it represents an attempt to "identify with Christ's poor." But the cultural trim-down also results in increased sexual difficulties for sorne. Legitimate sources of variety, beauty, and emotional gratification are being eliminated. So what happens? I've seen a series of instances in which the deprived male religious---by way of compensation-begins to spend an excessive amount of time at the apartment or home of sorne attractive woman who welcomes his frequent presence.

Similarly, I've seen many examples of the case of the lowbudgeted nun who feels she deserves a chance to get out of the house, to escape her work, and to make contact with sorne beauty "once in a white." She begins going for drives in the countryside with sorne not-too-occupied priest or other gentleman who senses her impoverishment, enjoys her companionship, and gradually becomes the most exciting thing about her life. The emotional experiences which occasional musical, theatrical, or athletic events fm¡merly supplied in the lives of these povertyvowed religions are being unconsciously sought in substituted relationships. Inevitably, these often result in infatuation, and sexual problems ensue.

Q. Are comparable problems in relation to vowed obedience also turning up these days?

A. Occasionally they do. But it is an old story. Many conscientious people have found that their spiritual or religions life has been upset seriously by the way someone having authority over them has treated them. Not only has tyranny produced chronic frustration and anger, which have made it practically impossible to maintain a !ife of prayer, but many an episode of sexual acting-out on the part of the celibate (or married individuals) has been provoked by his feeling that he has been treated like a child. Sexual activity then results from an unconscious need to prove ( especially to oneself) that one is not a child and can function the way adults do. It also helps dispel the angry feelings.

Q. Speaking of sexuality, what would you say to spiritual directors of religions men and women with regard to homosexual behavior?

A. I don't see how any realistic persan could consider overt, deliberate, even occasional homosexual activity acceptable in

32

CHICAGO STUDIES

the !ife of a vowed, celibate religions person. At a meeting not long ago, the six other American J esuit priest-psychiah;sts and 1 discovered that we were in unanimous agreement that repeated homosexual behavior on the part of priests, brothers, or sisters (just as in adult laity) represents impaired personality development and frequently manifests severe emotional disturbance. lt warrants psychiatrie evaluation and appropriate treahnent.

Q. Should a priest or religions make a decision to leave his or her state of !ife after finding himself or herself involved homosexually?

A. 1 don't think a vocation decision should follow immediately upon the discovery or disclosure of overt (i.e. external) homosexual behavior. That should await the outcome of psychiatrie evaluation and treatment.

Q. Are you implying that treatment will al ways enable a homosexual to become predominantly heterosexual?

A. Not at ali. The outcome of treatment can never be guaranteed. But often a homosexually inclined person can become capable of gaining and maintaining control of his sexual impulses and thus refrain from sexual activity just as a heterosexual unmarried Christian is expected to do.

Q. Is that ali the homosexual needs from therapy-just help to gain self-control in the area of sexual behavior?

A. No. There's something further. Because of multiple earlylife interpersonal experiences which have contributed -to the development of his homosexuality, the homosexual male is not simply inclined sexually toward othel' males, but he is generally unconsciously fearfu 1 of and hostile toward women. Females who are homosexual react comparably toward men. In the pulpit, confessional or office where he does his pastoral counseling, the homosexual priest's sexual problem may be manifest far more evidently in the subtly destructive way he may treat women than in his interactions with men. Homosexuals are often found to be habitually hostile towards persons of the other sex, even when they are able to maintain adequate control over their sexual impulses toward persons of the same sex as themselves.

Q. Will psychiatrie help enable them to correct these unconscious fears?

PSYCHIATRY

33

A. Often it can. But the homosexual person has to want the help and cooperate positively in the treatment. Unfortunately, since the American Psychiatrie Association decided (wisely, 1 believe) to stop diagnosing ali homosexuality as psychopathology, many homosexuals are telling each other that they are perfectly normal and healthy and therefore require no psychiatrie help at aiL What the A.P.A. was recognizing is the fact that not ali homosexuals are in a state of emotional distress or pain, and it would be therefore unfair to them to declare or imply that ali are affiicted with mental or emotional illness. But the A.P.A. certainly did not in tend to deny that the re are many homosexual persons who need and might benefit considerably from psychiatrie treatment.

Q. What should a spi ri tuai director, religious superior, or bishop do when a sexually active homosexual proves either unable or unwilling to resolve his or her problem?

A. The se ven J esuit psychiatrists whom I mentioned ali agreed that any homosexual member of our religions order who would be unable or unwilling to resolve this problem (in others words, successfully refrain from repeated, overt sexual behavior) should be regarded as unsuited for celibate !ife in the Society of Jesus. I would hope that the superiors and other members of each religions order and the bishops and priests of each diocese would give deep and serious consideration to this issue and arrive at sorne definite policy, keeping in mind the well-being of the members, the reputation of the religious body, and the good of the Christian community.

Q. Do you see any overlapping area between psychology and spirituality that needs to be studied or clarified?

A. There are severa! such areas I can see. One of these is centered on the relationship between two human processes, psycho-socio-sexual maturation and spiritual-religious development. We know that a person can be holy and still severely neurotic. But if grace really "builds on nature," can anyone successfully become a fully, spiritually mature person without going through ail the normal developmental experiences (for example, falling in love, and raising children) the way we celibate religious and priests are attempting to do? The psychological study of U.S. priests conducted by Fr. Eugene Kennedy and Dr. Victor Heckler a few years ago raised sorne serious

34

CHICAGO STUDIES

and still unanswered questions about this problem.

Q. Do you regard this as the most important problem persons involved in the spiritual formation of seminarians and religions men and women are facing7 A. No, I don't, sin ce we know that there are at !east sorne celibates who attain a high leve! of human (including spiritual) maturity. What we need to do is study carefully the way they arrived there. We will never be able to measure quantitatively the divine input that was involved. But we can learn much, I believe, by examining the kind of parenting they received, their ideals and models, their interpersonal relationships, their successes and failures, their sufferings, and other !ife-experiences that contributed to the growth in holiness of these remarkably mature ones. What we discover about influences in their lives could be helpful in our teaching and f01¡ming others during centuries ahead.

Q. But you say this isn't the biggest problem we face. Then what is 7 A. The one a recent study of seminarians and young religious has uncovered. Luigi Ruila, a fellow-psychiatrist and brother Jesuit of mine, has just recently published a book entitled: Ente1-ing and Leaving Vocation. He presents in it sorne findings that will challenge spiritual-formation directors for a long time to come. He has found what he calls "vocational inconsistencies" are standing in the way of both the perseverance and the ministerial effectiveness of semina1-y and novitiate recruits. He isn't talking about psychopathology. He is referring, rather, to normal unconscious conflicts the vast majority of these young people are experiencing in connection with their chosen state of !ife.

Q. Can y ou briefly describe these conflicts 7 A. l'Il try. First of ali, we need to keep in mind the fact that most organizations (such as the U.S. Navy, the Green Bay Packers, or the Benedictine Order) generally present their characteristic features, activities, and values publicly. In response, a candidate for membership will spontaneously form an idealized mental image of the type of person he would be as a full-fledged participant in the group. He will develop a set of imagined representations of the ways he would expect to find himself thinking, feeling, and acting in his newly chosen voca-

PSYCHIATRY

35

tion or career.

But residing down deep in the candidate's personality, at a leve! below conscious awareness, are the needs and attitudes which have been shaped and intensified within him by the cumulative experiences of his lifetime. Psychologists describe these as "dynamic," which means they can powerfully influence a person's activities, even though he remains unconscious of them. They will manifest themselves principally in his external behavior, but they also affect his emotions, moods, and reactions to others, as weil as his choices, and even his dreams.

So what is the problem that emerges? Sim ply this. The vast majority of young men and women who express a desire to enter our American seminaries and novitiates these days are manifesting ( through a variety of psychological tests and screening interviews which probe into their unconscious inclinations) serious "vocational inconsistencies" between, at one leve!, their unrecognized needs and attitudes, and at a different leve!, the ways they consciously picture themselves ideally living out their spiritual and apostolic lives. Sooner or later their behavior will begin to contradict the institutional and persona! ideals they have espoused. Then, as I stated earlier, both their perseverance and their apostolic effectiveness will be seriously jeopardized.

Q. This is what the Ruila studies revealed?

A. Essentially yes. The majority of those he tested were found to be in conflict. But he describes the nature of these "vocational inconsistencies" in a much more detailed and technical way than I have. I recommend his book strongly.

Q. vVould you give a concrete example or two of these inner conflicts you are calling "vocational inconsistencies"?

A. One would be the parentally neglected seminarian from a large family who has developed an excessively strong, unconscious need (or yearning) to receive special attention and care from ali the persons he allows to enter his !ife. In a conflicted way, however, he idealizes himself as a future priest who will be consistently, generously, and spontaneously responsive to the needs of others. You can easily recognize the difficulty awaiting him. Unconsciously, while ostensibly providing pastoral counseling or spiritual direction for his parishioners, he will be impelled to manipulate those he serves into functioning

36

CHICAGO STUDIES

as instruments to gratify his own insatiable need. But people will be coming to him expecting that he will be mature and free enough to take care of theh¡ needs. Many will inevitably disappoint him. He will eventually grow hostile toward them, and his idealized spontaneity and generosity will give way to chronic resentment. You can see how his perseverance in the

priesthood will thus be threatened and his pastoral effectiveness will undergo a graduai erosion.

Another example would be the attractive young nun who grew up in the home of an aloof and emotionally cold father.

No one has ever satisfied the intense need for paternal affection she is now carrying through !ife unconsciously. She idealizes herself as one who is capable of persevering successfully within the behaviorallimits of vowed celibacy. But you can imagine how difficult it will be for her to control the strong sexual impulses that will occasionally spring from her deep, unsatisfied heterosexual yearning for affection. If she is a nursing sister, for example, in contact with male patients, she probably won't even realize that her behavior is sometimes seductive. Unconsciously, she will be choosing to act in a manner which invites a type of male response she hasn't bargained for. Yet down deep, a man's tender reply will appeal to her. l'rn sure you can readily see how her relationships with men (at !east the enduring ones) could threaten her religions perseverance and also interfere with her nursing apostolate, which entails meeting the medical and spiritual needs of her patients rather thau using these persons to fulfill her own emotional requirements.

Q. Y ou said that these "vocational inconsistencies" do not represent psychopathology.

A. Generally this is true. You wouldn't cali the seminarian and the sister in these two examples emotionally ill. But because they have chosen to respond to the vocation they fee!

God has offered them, they must inevitably encounter sorne "vocational," conflict-related difficulty.

Q. What are sorne of the implications for "spiritual direction" and "religions formation" you see arising from the Ruila findings?

A. I would expect that most of those who undertake the work of spiritual direction or religions formation in the future will

PSYCHIATRY

37

be devoting themselves seriously to the study of depth psychology. They will need to acquire a comprehensive grasp of this (psychoanalytic) theory-especially the elements related to the unconscious-in order to deal with these growth-blocking intrapersonal inconsistencies. I would hope that no spiritual counselor would assume the difficult task of guiding souls without first completing a carefully supervised training program that will insure that he or she will not do harm to others by reinforcing the unrealistic (idealized) impressions they may have of themselves, or by supporting unrealistic vocational decisions.

Q. Wh at sort of preparation will be needed? Will every counselor have to be a trained psychologist?

A. No more than every automobile driver bas to be a trained mechanic. But you can't be a wise driver unless you have at !east sorne basic understanding of the nature of a car's engine and what you can and should not do to it wh ile you're operating it. Similarly, I would think that every Church-approved spiritual guide should be required to demonstrate a minimal leve! of competence in applying-along with the essential principles of spirituality-the fundamental psychological concepts related to those principles. I believe spiritual counselors should be required to undergo examination and have their knowledge and competence certified, the way pastoral counselors, teachers, psychologists, and psychiatrists are. The delicate vulnerability of souls and the law of Charity wou id seem to demand this.

Q. Who will design the curriculum or establish the training program?

A. Efforts in this direction are going on in a number of places, from Rome to Sidney, Australia. But we are just beginning. I wou id hope bishops and religions superiors would support these projects. They owe it to those in their care to insure that reh¡eat directors and formation personnel are thoroughly prepared. Too many well-intentioned but inadequately trained men and women are engaged in these works because they see them as obviously important to God, satisfying to the helper, and aimed at meeting profound and perennial religions needs. But exposed souls are priceless and delicate. Like open hearts in the surgical operating room, they are not meant for the bands of amateurs.

Edward Malatesta, S.J.

Sacred Scripture Pure and Perennial Source of Spiritual Life Every anthentic form of spirituality will be Biblical, at least in its basic inspiration. For the Bible is not 1ne1¡e/y a unique record of God's intC?¡ventions in History. It is an un7Jamlleled gift by which he add,>"esses and guides us today.

COMMUNICATION BETWEEN COD AND HUMAN PERSONS

The most basic religions problem is that of the possibility and the ways of communication between Cod and humanity.

Those who claim to be atheists can only do so reasonably if they have never really encountered God in any recognizable way.

Those who profess belief in Cod, live that faith and its consequences of love for Him and for others more or less intensely depending upon the degree of their experience of Cod. Every religious person knows that the mystery of our relationship with the Lord has, considered from Cod's side, two complementary facets, his remoteness and his nearness, which evoke on our side the complementary experiences of distance from God and of closeness to him.

An authentic human relationship with Cod will necessarily be marked by the dialectic between remoteness and nearness, distance and closeness. lt cannot be otherwise, because the limited and frai! existence of every human being is infinitely different from the unlimited perfection of the one and only eternal God; wh ile at the same time, to be created by Cod 39

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means to be related to him in ali the fibres of one's being. For this basic relationship of creation to develop into one of conscions and intimate communion with God, recognizable corn-· munication between God and human persans is a prerequisite.

The God who created us did so precisely so that he could communicate with us and \Ye with him. He wished to share his !ife with us, and to empower us to off er our lives to him in a loving exchange du ring our short existence in this world and throughout ali eternity.

God speaks with each of us and invites our persona! response at evet·y stage of our pilgrimage on earth. He encounters each of us in a mysterious, hidden, veiled way in the depths of om· heart, at the cente1· of our personality, in the sanctuary of our conscience. Often God may be an unrecognized guest, an unknown voice, and so the human response to his silent wordso reach out to him as to one who is not clearly perceived. The lifelong dialogue of sorne persons with God may be carried out, from their side, in total darkness until they finally meet, in the perfect light of eternal day the One who was always their unseen Lover and their unsuspected Beloved. Such may be the case for millions of human beings who do not know God explicitly. Other millions may know him in sorne way, but not as the Father of Jesus Christ.

We who profess the Christian faith believe that God hase spoken in a particular way at !east to a small part of the human race : to the people of Israel and to the people of the Christian Church. We cannot discuss here the new awareness that bas. emerged in the consciousness of the people of the Old and New Covenants. \Ve can however at ]east allude to the fact that we have come to recognize ourselves as minorities in the contemporary world, as not the only ones who have profou nd religions traditions, and yet as bem·ers of unique and privileged gifts of communication with God. Precisely at a time when we sense our minority status, we who are distinguished by a faith based upon the Bible have reached new insights into the richness and permanent value of the written Word of God. Progress in the biblical sciences. moves apace with cm-rent reflection on the relationship of biblical faith to other f01·ms of religions beliefs or to Jack of belief, experiences lived by the greater part of the human race. In-

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deed awareness of our religions difference from others has become a stimulus not only to understand them better, but also to deepen our knowledge of ourselves.

THE GIFT OF THE \VRITTEN \VORD

The Bible is first of ali a gift. It is a gift which cornes to us from God himself through the individuals and communities who perceived and welcomed his revelation to them, who retlected upon his Word, proclaimed it to their contemporaries, expressed it in writing, and handed down its written form to succeeding generations. The written Word of God in its definitive canon, the books of the Old and the New Testaments, has been preserved, venerated, announced, contemplated, and scrutinized from age to age. Each time that we pray over or study a page of the Sacred Scriptures, each time that we read from or comment the Word of God in the liturgical assembly, we enter into the mystery of a privileged communication between God and His people. \Ve become debtors to the Lord for "in the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven meets His children with great love and speaks with them" (Dei Verbmn, 21).

We become debtors likewise to ali those who have made it possible for us to benefit from this treasure and who have enriched it by their study, prayer, preaching and example. No Jess than the Body of Christ, the Sacred Scriptures form part of that unique table of Sacrament and Word from which the Christian faithful are nourished.

RECEIVING THE SCRIPTURES

The unparalleled gift of the written Word of God invites from those to whom it is offered attitudes of humble gratitude, trusting faith, docile listening, and generons response. To be in contact with the Scriptures is to be in contact with our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is the Father who speaks to us through the human authors and through the ministry of those who are witnesses to this Word by preaching, teaching and example. He speaks to us in order to reveal His love for us, His will in our regard, the destiny He has prepared for us. But He speaks to us especially of His Son, Jesus Christ. The entire Bible, though composed of many books is really only one book.

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As Hugh of St. Victor (d. 1141) said so weil, "Ali of Sacred Scripture is one book, and that one book is Christ, because ali of Sacred Scripture speaks of Christ, and ali of Sacred Scripture is fulfilled in Christ."

The Old Testament itself witnesses to Jesus and is understood only by reference to the New Testament, while the New Testament is hidden in and prepared by the Old Testament. The books of the New Testament, though fewer in number and size, contain in a highly concentrated way the full splendor of the revelation offered us in the persan of Jesus. The record of his !ife and Paschal M:ystery were reflected upon and proclaimed in the first Christian communities (the Gospels). In narrating the growth and problems of these communities and the activities of the a post! es, especially Peter and Paul, the New Testament reveals the Christian response to Jesus (Acts and the Letters). Finally we are given a reflection upon the !ife of the Church in light of the triumph of Christ and the eternal glory of his elect (Revelation).

The Roly Spirit who was active in those who first received, developed and committed to writing the record of privileged moments iri the dialogue between God and His people, is the Spirit who enables succeeding generations of God's people to receive, understand and live this Word. "The Sacred Scriptures are to be read in the same Spirit by whom they were written."

It is not surprising that the new discovery of the riches of the Word of God is being followed by a new realization of the presence and power of the Roly Spirit in our midst.

The Scriptures have been so much a part of our lives, at !east from the point of view of our material exposure to them, that we may too easily take them for granted. Just as we should pause for a moment to bless God and to thank him for the food we daily receive--and which for many of us is readily and abundantly provided-so we should approach our encounter with the Scriptures in moments of liturgy, private prayer, study and on other occasions with hearts filled with quiet gratitude for a gift which has the Father's gracions initiative for its origin, the Son's obedient sacrifice as its content, the Spirit's constant assistance for its inspiration, and the communities of God's people as its mediators.

The written Word of God cannat be put on an equal footing

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with any othe1¡ Jitemture, religions or secular. \Vith humility and with Joyalty we recognize that our heritage, undeserved by us, contains a unique record of interventions of God in human history all centered around the person of Jesus Christ and his Paschal Mystery. Our Sacred Scriptures, to be adequately received, must be received in faith-faith that through the sacred writers God has spoken to His people in the past and that through them He speaks to us today; faith that God has guided his people in the composition and preservation of these books; faith that he guides us today, as he guided past generations, in the interpretation of them; faith that God's Word to us "is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of sou] and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the hemi:" (Heb 4,12).

When with faith we recognize that in the Sacred Scriptures God does indeed speak to us, the consequent attitude on our part should be a respectful and humble Jistening. The exhOii:ation to hear is frequent throughout the Bible ( e.g. Dt 6,4; J er 7.2; Mk 4,3.9; Rev 2,7 etc.). Listening to the Word of God involves an openness and readiness which spontaneously expresses itself in a petition: "Speak, Lord, for your servant hears" (1 Sm 3,9). The faithful disciple will want to sit at the Lord's feet and cling to his every word (Lk 10,39). Along the road of our pilgrimage through life, Jesus himself is our companion, and when we listen to the explanation he himself gives us of the Scriptures, our hearts burn within us (Lk 24, 27.32).

The gift of God's Word is given to us everyday so that our lives may bear fruit in this world. Because God's thoughts are not our thoughts, and our ways not his ways (Is 55,8), we need his Word to instruct us, to transform us, to enable us to cooperate with Him in the work of our salvation: "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my Word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return tome empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it (Is 55,11) ."

In the Gospels, Jesus himself assures us that one who hears

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his words and does them builds the house of his life upon a rock that will resist all storms (Mt 7,24). The teaching of Jesus and the words of all the Scriptures to which His words are the key purify those who receive them (Jn 15,3). They are a mediation of the presence of Jesus Himself within us enabling UR in our turn to dwell in Him. His words prepare us to make petitions which will be answered (Jn 15,7), and bring us the fu !lest share possible in His own joy (Jn 15,11).

Our response to the Word of God should be modelled upon Jesus' own yes (2 Cor 1,19), for "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mou th of God" (Mt4,4; Dt8,3).

PROCLAIMING THE SCRIPTURES

The ministry of the W ord has characterized the people of God from its earliest beginnings. The leaders and prophets of his people have always had the responsibility of being persona! witnesses to the Word and of mediating this Word to others.

As this Word was gradually put in writing to form our sacred books, there was the added duty to proclaim the written Word especially in public assemblies dedicated to the worship of God, and to comment upon and explain the written Word and its implications for the lives of those who heard or read it.

The Christian li turgy is the moment par excellence to present God's Word to his people. When the followers of Jesus are assembled in his name, He joins their prayer to his own prayer, their offering of themselves to his offering of himself to the glory of the Father. The Roly Spirit energizes the Word read and commented upon so that it does not remain a dead letter but becomes a Word of life. Every sensitive and attentive minister of the Word has had the experience of seeing the liturgical assembly moved by the power of God's Word and its meaning for their lives. Nowhere do we better experience that the Word is meant for our instruction and consolation, for our perseverance and harmony ( see Rom 15,4). Moreover, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in l'ighteousness" (2 Tm 3,16).

When the Eucharist is celebrated, the liturgy of the Word prepares for a new encounter with the Lord's Body and Blood. The Jesus pot'trayed in the sacred books is the same Jesus, now per-

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fected and glorious, with whom the faithful commune sacramentally. The gift of themselves to Jesus and of Jesus to them conforms still more perfectly the members of Christ with their Head, and strengthens their unity with him who has been contemplated and responded to in the liturgy of the Word.

The Word is proclaimed also in the celebration of the other sacraments and in the Divine Office. The recently revised rite of Penance olfers further opportunities for experiencing the Word's creative inspiration and efficacious power. The leaders of the Christian community wish ali the faithful at the key moments of !ife, and, as far as is possible, at certain hours of each day, to be exposed to the treasures of the Scriptures. The ministers to whom the spiritual nourishment ot God's people has been entrusted could have no better motive for acquiring and developing their own taste for the Scriptures than that of using weil the frequent opportunities they now have to prepare their people to receive the Lord's grace through this privileged mean s.

STUDYING THE SCRIPTURES

The importance correctly accorded the written Word of God in contemporary spirituality invites each of Christ's followers to a serious study of the sacred text. It would not be too much to say that such study is an obligation, ali the more so in the case of those who are responsible for a ministry of the Word in the Christian community. The striking witness of one clergyman can be a stimulus and encouragement: "I begin on Monday to prepare next Sunday's sermon by studying the original text of and severa! commentaries on the biblical passages to be preached." Fortunately the resulta of the progress made in biblical studies are easily accessible today at different levels, from annotated editions of the Bible and homily hints to scientific commentaries and scholarly articles. Intensive progra.ms of retooling devised for clergy, occasional workshops and study days, as weil as countless summer sessions provide a variety of opportunities for improving one's knowledge of God's Word.

There is something somewhere for everyone, and what is most suitable for each is a grace generously olfered and generously to be accepted.

Ideally each minister of the Word should reserve sorne time

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for regular study of the Scriptures. Many priests, deacons and catechists find that the preparation of the li turgy of each Sunday and even of each weekday can be an occasion for at !east sorne moments of serions effort to familiarize themselves with the historical context, language, style and meaning of the biblical authors. Those who are consistent in their efforts grow in a knowledge of the Bible. Such growth is a joy to themselves and to their people.

CONTEMPLATING THE SCRIPTURES

But for the Bible to yield its treasures and become a living, efficacious Word more is required than study alone. The dialogue between God and His faithful ones which can be occasioned and furthered by the Scriptures requires also those moments of private contemplative prayer where heart can speak to heart. The Old Testsment writers are to be listened to as so many ancestors who illustrate the meaning of Jesus and his Church in the fulness of God's plan of salvation for the nations.

Ail the authors of the New Testsment represent the reflection of the first cominunities on the consequences of the teaching of Jesus. The words and actions of Jesus himself as mediated to us by the evangelists are meant to be pondered peacefully so that they may reveal the heart of Christ to us in ever new ways, draw us to gT0\1' in our love for Him, and strengthen us in our efforts to have in us that mind which was and is in Christ Jesus. Just as a gentle breeze caresses every leaf of the trees which stand in its path, so the words of Sacred Scripture enlighten, heal, and console every corner of our being, every aspect of our lives.

The perfect mode! of those who contemplate the Scriptures has always been and always will be Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our Mother. She was receptive to the Lord's revelation: "Let it be to me according to your word" (Lk 1,38). Her awareness of the needs of ¡others led her to intercede with her Son¡ for them and to recommend obedience to Jesus: "They have no wine ... Do whatever He tells you" (Jn 2,3.5). She treasured ali the mysterious events of Jesus' !ife and pondered them in her heart (Lk 2,19.51). More than for her physical motherhood, Mary was blessed because she listened and obeyed: "Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep

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it" ( Lk 11,28). Her fir\elity to the Incarnate Word during his Passion prepared her to become the Mother and madel of ali Jesus' disciples: "Woman, behold, your son! ... Behold, your mother!" (Jn 19,26-27). As the first disciples awaited in prayer the coming of the Holy Spirit, Mary was in their midst ( Acts 1,14). lt was by the action of the Holy Spirit that Mary first conceived Jesus in her heart and th en in her womb. The same Spirit of the Lord enables his disciples to receive, cherish and love his Ward. The Spirit's role is to guide them to an understandiug of ali the Truth revealed in Jesus (Jn 16,13). The Spirit awakens and nourishes in us the memory of Jesus, His words, and His deeds (Jn 14,25). The Spirit bears witness to .Jesus and makes us witnesses in our tu rn (Jn 15,26-27).

THE WORD OF GaD IN CHRISTIAN TRADITION

The his tory of Christianity demonstrates the esteem in which the Scriptures were held and the earnestness with which saints and scholars ruminated them. The great Saint Anthony, founder of monasticism, upon hearing Mt 19,21 read in church, decided to leave ali and follow Christ in poverty, prayer and service to his neighbor: "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." St. Athanasius tells us that the religions communities which eventually grew up around Anthony applied themselves to reading the Scriptures.

The Rule of St. Benedict, Magna Carta of western monastic life, joins together meditation and reading (ch. 48), and calls every page of bath Testaments the "sm¡est norm for human living" (ch. 73). St. Bernard and the Cistercian tradition excelled in the art of contemplating the mysteries of the life of Jesus. Be mard encourages his monks to experience what they rcad or hear in the Scriptures: "Apply your inner hearing, use the eyes of your heart, and you will learn by your own experience the meaning of what is said." For him "Contemplation results from the condescension of the Ward of God to human nature through grace and the exaltation of human nature to this very Ward through divine love."

But the Bible was not considered to be reserved to monks and contemplatives. The Fathers encourager\ the educated laity

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to read the Scriptures. For example, St. Gregory the Great wrote to a doctor: "Apply yourself, I beg you, to meditate every day the words of your Creator. Learn to know the heart of God in the words of God." The medieval cathedrals are a translation of the Scriptures into the artistic language of sculptured stone and stained glass to which ali the faithful were exposed.

Through the S1:riritual Exerdses of St. Ignatius of Loyola, ali categories of persons have been taught to contemplate the !ife, death and resurrection of Jesus as narrated in the Gospels and to allow their lives to be changed because of such contemplation. One of the early companions of Ignatius, Jerome Nadai, said that the Spiritllfll Exercises have such surprising efficacy because they teach the art of disposing oneself to receive the Word of God and especially the Gospel. In our own day this efficacy is being rediscovered, particularly by persons who make individually directed retreats.

Venerable Mary of the Incarnation (d. 1672) is an example of the inspiration from the Scriptures received by an active woman. "The insights that Our Lord has given me into Scripture did not come to me in reading the Bible, but in prayer.

This holy Word is a heavenly nom¡ishment which has given and still gives me !ife by the Holy Spirit, who exp lains it to me."

Because the great patristic and medieval Tradition considered the Bible a book of !ife even more than a book of study, stress was placed upon going beyond the letter to the "spiritual sense" of the text. This meant, first of ali, carefully to search out with every scientific means possible the meaning of the human author in any given passage or book. But more still was to be sought. The literai sense of any one text was to be enriched by relating it, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to other passages of the Scriptures, to the entire revelation received by the Church, and to the persona! and communal needs of one's times. The long tradition of interpreting Scripture in this full context gave rise to the famous distich: "Littera gesta docet, quid credas allegoria, Moralis quid agas, quo tendas anagogia.

The letter teaches what took place, allegory what to believe,

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The moral sense what you should do, anagogy where you are going."

Père Henri de Lubac has described and documented better than anyone the centuries long tradition of such integral exegesis which extends from Origen (HistoiTe et Esprit, Paris, Aubier, 1950) to the au thors of the 13th century (Exégèse méiévale, 4 vols., Paris, Aubier, 1959-1964).

When the Scriptures were read, taught and preached in such a way, what we now cali exegesis, systematic theology, moral theology, and spirituality were ali done simultaneously and in constant encounter with the written Word of God. The development of the various sciences since the 12th and 13th centuries, and especially dudng the last century and our own, has led to necessary and laudable specialization. Highly refined techniques are now employed in what have become the distinct sciences of exegesis, systematic theology, patristics, moral theology, spirituality, etc. However, the danger of such specialization is that the separate disciplines have little mutual communication, th us remaining closed to complementary insights, and preventing both professors and students from having a synthetic view of Christian faith and Christian !ife. As one factor of unification, Vatican Il, echoing Leo XIII, stated that Scripture "ought to be the sou! of ali theology" (Optatam Tatius, 16). With charactel;stic insight, Father Raymond Brown has suggested that .iusi as during the first forty years of the 20th century the Roman Catholic Church was negative towards biblical criticism, and then during the next thirty years came to recognize many of its positive aspects, so in the final years of this century the Church will be coming to grips "with the impact of biblical criticism on the Roman Catholic understanding of doctrine" (Crises Facing the Church, New York, Paulist Press, 1975, p. 8). One can only hope that this will be so. I should like to add that it would likewise be desirable that exegetes and representatives of other theological disciplines engage in more dialogue, a necessa1-y condition for realizing the enterprise just mentioned, and that exegetes become more sensitive to the implications of the resulta of their work for Christian living in the world of our times. The title and concerns of Father Brown's book are an example of such sensitivity.

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CHICAGO STUDIES THE SCRIPTURES AS NORM OF CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY

In her long history the Church has seen the rise and decline of many movements and schools of spirituality. She will see others appear and then disappear, and still other flourish and remain. The Spirit of God blows where and how he wills (see Jn 3,8). He raises up individual men anrl women, communities and even vast numbers of persons to respond in creative ways to the needs of the Church and of human society in every age.

Life-styles, prayer forms, ways of service, insights into the faith of the Church and into the signs of the times can ali be inspired by the Spirit of the Lord. One way to ascertain his presence and activity is to hold up a way of thinking or acting to the min¡or of the Scriptures. Whatever is good will always somehow reflect the features of Jesus and so bear the imprint of the same Spirit who inspired the Scriptures. In sorne cases conformity or deformity in respect to the Word of God will be evident. In others careful scrutiny will be required. However, anyone who bears the name of Christ cannot go to the Father except through Jesus (Jn 6,44; 14,9), and the Scriptures are a sure witness to him (Jn 5,39).

For this reason every authentic form of Christian spirituality will be biblical at ]east in its basic inspiration; every school of Christian spirituality will bear the traits of the Master.

Moreover the Bible as a common source and norm provides and maintains the underlying unity of ali authentically Christian !ife-styles whether lived in solitude or in community with others, in celibacy or in marriage.

The Scriptures offer also a means of growth, for the wisdom and grace contained in them are inexhaustible. There is always more to learn about Jesus, his !ife, his teaching, his disciples. The action of God in his people under both Old and New Covenants can be better perceived and appreciated. The meaning for us of God's Word in the concrete circumstances of our daily lives is ever to be discovered anew. The Scriptures pr(}vide a medium for an ongoing dialogue between God and each person, between God and each local community, between God and ali His people.

THE \VORD OF GOD AND THE NEW COVENANT

"Covenant" was the term used in the Ancient N ear East to

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designa te the bond of communion which united one person with another, or one people with another. The people of Israel believed that God made a Covenant with Abraham, with :Moses, with David, and finally with the whole people on Sinai during the Exodus. This Covenant was renewed in a very solemn way at the time of King Josiah's reform (2 Kgs 23,1-3) and from time to time in liturgical celebrations. The covenant between individuals or peoples was expressed in solemn words called the covenant treaty. Similarly the Covenant between God and his people was given particular expression in the Decalogue and then in the :Mosaic Law. The words of the Law were considered to be the central part of the entire written Word of God. Indeed the other parts of the books of the Old Testament deal largely with the preparations for Israel's Covenant relationship with Cod, the history of this relationship, and wisdom teaching based upon the Law. That is why an entire theology can be constructed around the concept of Covenant (e.g. Walter Eichrodt's Theology of the Old Testament).

The faithful Israelite kept the words of the Law ever pt¡esent to the memory in order to meditate upon them and to govern every moment of !ife by them. While a piety based upon the Law sometimes led to legalistic formalism and shallow hypocrisy, the Law could, on the other hand, inspire and sustain a profound loving relationship with the Lord, a dedication to Him of one's entire being and al! of one's activities (see Dt 6,4-9 and Psalm 119).

When God promised through the prophets that he would make a New Covenant with his people, He promised as weil that he would put his Law within them and write it upon their hearts (Jer 31,33). He would give them a new heart and even place his own Spirit within them th us enabling them to be faithfui to his commandments (Ez 36,26-27).

The disciples of Jesus believe that the New Covenant was established by means of His Paschal Mystery. Through His loving obedience to the Father's will and His love for His own unto the end (Jn 13,1), Jesus merited for us the gift of His own Sipirt. The Incarnate Word, pierced upon the Cross, became the source of the sacraments which create and noui-ish the Christian c¡ommunity (Jn 19,30-37).

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The ri sen Jesus present in every age to his followers who believe in him and love him even though they have not seen hlm (Jn 20,29; 1 Pt 1,8) is the one whom they remember as they celebrate the mystery of His Body and Blood and as they contemplate the Scriptures which witness to Him. A treasure ever old and ever new (Mt 13,52), the Scriptures which speak of Jesus Christ yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13,8) are the "pure and perennial source of spirituallife" (Dei Verbum, 21).

If in J erome's words "Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ," a knowledge of them which is based upon sound science and living faith provides us with one of the most efficacious means we have "to know Christ more clearly, love him more dearly, follow him more nearly." What John said of his Gospel could be said of the entire Bible. The signs narrated "are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name" (Jn 20,31).

The Sacred Scriptures therefore not only reveal what New Covenant communion with God is. By the action of the Holy Spirit they draw us into this communion by evoking a response of faith and love to the Father revealed in Jesus, priest and mediator of the New Covenant (Heb 8).

THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS

The God revealed to us by the Scriptures is a God of love: "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracions, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness" (Ex 34,6). Indeed his very name is Love (1 Jn 4,8.16). The entire revelation contained in the Scriptures can be synthesized in the form of the two commandments to "love the Lord our God with ali our heart, and with ali our sou!, and with ali our mind" (Mt 22,37; Dt 6,5), and to love one another as Jesus has loved us (Jn 13,34; 15,12; comp. Lv 19,17).

The Christian life, Christian spirituality, is always to be judged by the criterion of love, for that is how we will be judged by our King (Mt 25,31-46). The Word of God has as its pi:-incipal pm¡pose to reveal love to us and to enable us to live a !ife of love. Contact with the Scriptures results in the purification and transformation of our attitudes and our actions so that they may become the attitudes and actions of Christ

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Himself. The same Jesus who prayed in desert places (:ll'l:k 1,35; Lk 4,42), who had compassion on the crowds of people he saw (Mt 9,36), who "went about doing good and healing ali that were oppressed by the devi!" ( Acts 10,38) wishes today to pray in us, and to reach out to others in compassion through us so that they too may know the healing power of the one who loved each of us, and gave Himself up for each of us (Gal 2,20).

By keeping the commandment of love for others, we keep the commandment of love for the Father, as Jesus did (see Jn 14, 31; 15.10; 1 Jn 4,20-21; 5,2-3). Even now, through the Sacred Scriptures, and in other ways, Jesus continues to reveal the Father tous so that we may live lives fi lied with the Father's love and th us be icons of the presence of Jesus: "l have made known to them your name, and I will make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I m them (Jn 17,26) ."

CONCLUSION

A living relationship of faith and love with Jesus, the Father, and our fellow human beings, in the Holy Spirit, through the gift of the Word of God, is the most inti mate form of communication possible on this earth between God and human persons.

So that faith and love can continually grow, the Word of God continues to nourish us. Indeed according to Tradition, the Scriptures themselves "grow" to the degree that they are understood and lived.

By means of the Word, in this !ife we, "beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another" (2 Cor 3,18). But the day will come when the Scriptures themselves will disappear. For when Jesus appears aga in, we will have no further need of a written Word.

We shall contemplate face to face (1 Cor 13,12) the Eternal and Incarnate Word of the Father, as He is, in His glory, and we will become still more like Him ... God's children forever ( 1 J Il 3,2 ; J Il 17,24).

Gervais Dumeige, S.J.

Hislory of Spiriluality-A Key {or Self- Underslanding This m·ticle is not a mini-history of spirituality-that would be sketchy indeed. Instead the autho1· shows the importance of knowing the various periods, persons and spiritual experiences which a1·e 7Jart of our heritage.

Ten years after the Second Vatican Council, the problems raised by the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes remain unanswered in the consciences of many christians. And those problems are well formulated in the fundamental question: "What is man?" Expressed by the Church and by the world, this query is harassing many people. Who am I? What is the aim of my !ife? Have I anything to do in this world?

Strangely enough, it seems that the answers given by the Council have hardly been perceived or taken into account. The texts have been read but not put into practice. Sorne christians are torn between hope and anguish; their life takes the shape of a question mark. They fee! insecure. Their thirst for freedom is met by a feeling of bondage. The steps they ought to take are impeded by the speed, the instability of ali things; and they indefinitely postpone their decision. The fascinating questions return again and again: Who am I, and for what purpose? Sorne men and women are investigating their identity while others confeR-~ they have !ost it. They somehow realize that they are "mysteries," enigmas for themselves and for others. Disconcerted, they long to grasp the sense of their existence, to understand their own self so as to value and love it, finally to be fully alive.

The age we live in makes it difficult to realize one's identity.

A deep uneasiness is brought about in our christian conscious55

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ness by a grievance against the past, a grievance going as far as contempt for tradition. Emotional or affective considerations distort our appreciation of values. Social upheavals have heavy consequences in our persona! lives. \Ve see a relativized vision of man and of the world, a vague impression that the mastery of the world's wealth leads merely to exploiting man, whether it be through ignorance or from the rejection of the Gospel. And yet, it would not be fair to conclude that the world is composed of frightened people, victims of doubt, just drifting away towards unknown lands. There are indeed christians conscious of being strongly anchored by their faith and thus of being able to know in whom they believe and what they must do. They know the goal they must aim at: to love God and their fellow men. The Holy Year has just given evidence of such a christian vitality.

Nevertheless, many are still wondering whether they will discover what they are. They are still questioning. And the sad fact is that the answer cannot be found in the question they put to themselves. The mirror they are contemplating can reftect only their own face, the one they know only too weil. There must be another way of understanding and accepting oneself.

One must get out of oneself and consider other people who have experienced, or are experiencing, the same venture. One must escape from a spiritual and psychological solitude which is neither human nor christian. One must observe other people, talk with them, live in communion with them. And with them all. Not merely our contemporaries, those we live and work with, but others stiJl. Those who in the course of centuries had to work and struggle as we do, experiencing joy and sorrow as we do. Putting away the mil'l¡or in which our sem¡ching eyes see nothing but our own enlarged image, let us try and decipher the existence of others. Let us let go, take the risk of feeling estranged, and reach for others who may, through their own lives, help us to grasp what we are and what we should be. ln a few words, it is the history of spirituality that throws wide open before us the door of the understanding of ourself; it is, we might say, one of the keys to human and christian existence.

SPIRITUALITY

The expression "spirituality" may cause sorne surprise. What

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does it mean exact! y? It has been used for centuries with different meanings, and in its modern significance it is only about forty years old. Is it a problem reserved to specialists? In fact it deals with principles, and with the lived experience of such principles. It deals with convictions that have become behavior, ideas that have not been left on the leve! of abstraction but have borne fruit in the practical !ife of man.

Principles are excellent in themselves; but a !ife which assimilates them, a temperament which gives them concrete existence, is far better. An experience of !ife in the spirit, in the Spirit of Jesus who Jeans us to the Father while it a Iso unifies us, is the element constitutive of a christian. We might somehow paraphrase Pius XII and say that spirituality signifies the particular way an individual christian has of considering God, of going to Him, of conversing with Him and with men. It is the irreplaceable note he has to sing in the vast concert of sanctity.

If it be true that principles are inseparable from !ife, it is true also that their foundations have to be tested. Principles are turned into !ife, !ife is inspired by principles; numberless christians know this from experience. And of these men and women alive in different times and in different ways, creating either individual!y or collective!y in groups, sorne struck themes that would soon disappear while others were the getm of lasting foundations born in the spirit and then concretized in law.

People and groups never cease to come to !ife in the Church.

In order to understand our christian vocation we should return to them al!.

In the future, underground churches, "basic communities," charismatic movements, directed retreats, and many of the current innovations will constitute the history of spirituality. For indeed we mean by the "history of spirituality" innumerable and diversified experiences connected through time. Whether we consider the powerful monastic impulse in the East during the fourth and fifth centuries, or the spatial extension of the missions stirred up in the sixteenth by the zeal for souls, or the quest which today stimulates so many prayer groups, it is al! the same. The history of spirituality would narrate, as objectively as possible, the reactions of the people of God in a large number of local Churches and through many centuries.

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People and facts would be shawn as reflecting an ever evolving human race belonging to a Church stretching out towards her final destiny. This particular history would gather up everything pertaining to the christian !ife, be it the biography and writings 路of Francis of Assisi or the "Markings" of Dag Hammarskji:ild, the contemplations of Gertrud of Helphta or the "Words and Deeds" of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. 路 Now and then we would turn back to remote times. The massive conversion of pagans to the Church when the Roman Empire became christian caused a decline of the spiritual leve! and consequently caused problems for the bishops of that time.

It would be worthwhile and helpful to consider the reactions of St. John Chrysostom, Paulinus of Nola, Ambrose of Milan.

History does not shrink from looking at even the worst of the past; it is a duty. And history fulfills this duty in or der to !end assistance to the men of today, those men who are called to analyze and prepare for the future.

Man is at the same time the heir of the past and the artisan of the present which, under his eyes and as a result of his activity, becomes the future. "No man is an island." No man is without roots, as Thomas Metion said. Our genealogical trees sink into the darkness of ages. True, we belong to a family, we are citizens of a country, of a nation. But we are also merubers of that "People of Cod" which goes ahead in the present timc in quest of the future City. \Ve are not merely generations succeeding each other without a link, we are bound together by a common 路destiny. We are men receiving from sorne of their fellowmen too precious an inheritance to let it perish through fruitless preservation or inconsiderate rejection. And this inheritance constitutes tradition. Tradition hands on to us this legacy.

Using the word "tradition" may seem a provocation, for the word is not popular today. And yet a message has been entrusted, transmitted, received, lived by men in varied circummean a stances. No question here of a lifeless tradition. dialogue with the christians of the past. And so let us appreciate what Chesterton wrote: "Tradition is democracy extended to路 Jife. Tradition means giving the vote to the most obscure of ali classes, our ancestors. Tradition is democracy of the dead.

And so," Chesterton adds, "tradition refuses to submit to the

We

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small and arrogant oligarchy of those who are walking about.''

The past exists. And although sorne would like to simply reject it, it must be taken into account. Sorne are ready to assimilate it peacefully, sorne to borrow from it or to rediscover it with ingenuity. Such is the elever man who pulls new things out of his old treasure. And thus a history of spirituality demonstrates how, beyond temporal circumstances and the diversity of characters, substantial principles and existential beha vi or can be reached : the marks of a true christian: Who could see a difference between martyrdom during the first centuries and the unflinching courage of Thomas Ă Becket murdered in his own cathedral or the staunch loyalty of Thomas More to his Cod and his King or, again, the decision of the young pages of Ugan da in the nineteenth cent ury? The same Spirit was at work in ali of them, a similar conviction strengthened them. They knew who they were, for \Vhom they were giving up their lives. They desired to obey Cod rather than men.

One might say that martyrdom is a rare and extreme case.

Even so, history shows many chrÎstians living in the same courageous way, Justin the philosopher was converted to the christian faith after a long sem¡ch in the schools of philosophy of the ancient world. Charles de Foucauld returned to God after a tempestuous youth. Ronald A. Knox went through the experience of a spiritual Aeneid. Thomas Merton knew a starJess night (in Seven Storey Mountain) before dawn. The same motion drew them to realize that Someone loved them, and they surrendered to Him. We are surprised by the fact that each one kept his personality and yet remained conscious of what he was: a man, that particular man, who agreed to give himself to God. The process may be different. There are sudden changes; and there are also slow ripenings, peaceful certitude rising insensibly as the light at dawn. But it is always the same God who enlightens, and man accepting enlightenment, the same God who gives the courage of yielding to his cali. How comforting to see that 1 can be myself totally as others have been!

Shall we therefore deduce that there exist as many spiritualities as there are human beings? There is but one spirituality, the one that springs from the Gospel of Christ. But history

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shows a thousand ways of living according to the Gospel. There are people who would prefer to be someone else, but any human being has his own style and bears his own stamp. What is worthwhile is to know how the other person has been able to live the Gospel. Not beeause I have to imitate him or her, but because I have to accept rnyself such as I am: sickly or healthy, with or without complexes, weary on account of recurrent falls or proud of pretended virtues. I can answer the cali addressed

by Cod tome; by trying to see how other people are themselves in their interior !ife and in their daily concems, I can find the light and strength to be myself. Louis Grignion de Montfort did not naturally fit into the setting imposed on the seminarians at Saint Sulpice. He was considered odd, and indeed he was.

He was searching out his own way which did not correspond to the somewhat narrow rules of a seminary. The only One we must imitate is Christ when he speaks to his Father or to the crowds, or when he heals the sick.

A HISTORY OF DIVINE ACTIVITY

The diversity of divine guidance is, so to speak, visible in the variety of the "incarnations" of the Gospel. Each hurnan being is different from another, but each one can say "Cod has loved me and given himself up for me." Echoing St. Paul, Saint Angela of Foligno hears our Lord saying: "It is not for fun that I loved thee." Until his death Blaise Pascal kept the memory of the night during which he heard his Savior saying to him: "I shed this drop of blood for thee." Cod will not lead two souls along the sarne path; and even if the paths are the same, the rhythm of the gait will be different. Paul of the Cross, the founder of the Passionists, and Mary of the Incarnation, the Ursuline, were both endowed at first with sublime mystical privileges. Later on, they had to walk in the subdued light of ordinary days. Sorne understood slowly that they were asked to organize comrnunities; such were Pachomius, Ignatius of Loyola, and Charles de Foucauld. The latter elaborated a ¡ number of schemes, but he had to accept being just the seed thrown into the earth. A long time after his death the harvest would come. A spiritual itinerary is always rich in episodes, in tuming points, in events that disturb or contradict man's designs but that are, finally, the best inasmuch as a man accepts

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being guided. The contemplation of these itineraries teaches how unexpected and varied our own path has to be. For in reality it is the work of God in man.

Origen, the Alexandrian in the third century, saw the "energia divina," the omnipotent activity of God, at work in the rapid diffusion of christianity in a pagan secularized world no better than our own. Origen was struck by the fact that the christian faith had succeeded in joining together by a bond of love both rich and poor, humble folk and scholars. Nevertheless, forty years earlier the pagan writer Celsus had observed that, although they adored the One and same God, the christians were split into sects. So we see that the history of spirituality does not relate only human successes; it also includes a long list of mistakes perpetrated by men whose stiffness and indocility hinder the drive impulse, thus impeding it from reaching other men.

God is at work in man, He cornes and relieves man's weakness, He gives and forgives. What is essential for man is to be fashioned by God so that the divine Might may transform him and achieve what man could never dream of. Ali this is taught by the experience of many christians, not only of mystics. A great many people who never left us any writings have experienced the power of God who strengthens the weak. The Chinese benedictine abbot Dom Lou discovered after a lifetime that it is far more important to abandon oneself utterly into the hands of God than to offer him our exploits. Père Peyriguère, who was a hermit in the Sahara, entitled his book (letters to a teaching Sister) : Let yourself be laid hold of by God. And Perpetua, before she went to martyrdom, exclaimed: "It is Someone else who will suffer in me." Seeing how God works great things in frai! human beings may account for God asking what we consider impossible.

HISTORY OF SPIRITUAL FRUITFULNESS

Once a christian has seen how people in the past have lived their christian !ife, he may understand that spiritual fruitfulness is more assuredly reached by living with Christ crucified than by sharing the brief triumph of Palm Sunday. Like any other human being, a christian has to suffer. Physical pain, moral sorrow, anxiety about the persons he loves, ali these keep

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threatening him or his possessions. Even in our society where comfort is so valued, suffering is the law for everyone, including christians. But a christian knows why he suffers. He knows how to suffer, that is: in union with Christ. And that gives meaning to his suffering.

This attitude is no "dolorism," no demoralizing complacency, but a heartfelt acceptance of !ife and a cali to follow those who, before him, took the same step. The Law of the Gospel is not the law of this world. Saint Paul says that he "completes what is lacking in the Passion of Christ." And this is the commentary given by Saint Augustine: "It is yours to fil! the measure, but not to make it overftow. Y ou will suffer exactly what suffering of yours has to be enclosed within the whole Passion of Chl'ist. We ali give what we are called to give to this common treasure, we bring our part according to our strength." We should not wonder because an African bishop said this in the fourth century, but we must admire the great number of christians who have put it into practice. It was not easier for them than for us. They have done it. What of us?

THE SCHOOL OF THE SUPERNATURAL

Many in our times are disorientecl. Life is too rich, too dangerons, too complicated. They are thrown into confusion and seem paralyzed. By dint of wondering where to go, they go nowhere. And yet, as men and as chris tians they must choose; it is their nature, since they are free. One of the most tragic dramas of our times is this uncertainty under the pretence of the complexity of !ife, this fear of making a persona! choice, this drawing back from committing oneself. Is that the best attitude? Will it ev er help us to choose and to discern?

Were christians of remote times of a different mold? They discerned, they made up their minds, they committed themselves.

Mademoiselle de Lavallière was a beloved favorite of the King of France, Louis XIV; and yet she resolved to enter Carmel. Angélique Arnauld, ah·eady an Abbess when she was a little girl, decided upon reforming her monastery, to the dislike of a domineering father. After a long time Newman entered the Catholic Church. Founders of religious orders, undeservedly deprived of their dignity and relegated to the lowest ranks, ac-

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cepted and even preferred an apparently unnoticed !ife. They indeed conjectured that the latter would be more fruitful for their Order than their presence. Such were Alphonse of Liguori and Thérèse Couderc, the foundress of the Cenacle. As for Edmund Campion, he threw his challenge at the English authorities. He chose, and this choice led him to Tyburn. The Proconsul Saturninus otfered a christian a delay so that he rnight retract his decision. "There is no need of deliberation whenever a cause is just:" such was the martyr's reply. His choice would remain the same.

A well-known Anglican, C. S. Lewis, in his Screwtape LetleTs, insists on the importance of discernment in the christian !ife. And today, more than ever, spiritual discernment is a point of primary importance. How enlightening it can be to get in touch with other people who once were groping in the dark to see the will of God about themselves, then made up their minds and walked along uncertain paths till they found the clear one, at ]east for a while. How precious also may be the presence of loyal companions in the spiritual journey, who train others to persona] commitment and maturity! Such friends exist, even in our days. John Chrysostom guided the young widow Olympias in her search; Francis de Sales did the same for Jeanne de Chantal. Saint Ignatius of Loyola requires from the person who gives the Exercises that he should assist the retreatant to perceive the will of God;. nothing else. Many christian souls reach spiritual maturity through friendly contacts with others.

LoVE FOR GOD AND LoVE FOR ÜTHERS

The best among christians live fully their !ife with God while at the same time fully at the service of others. 1t would indeed be impossible to approach God, the Father who will save all men, the Son who died to redeem ali men, the Holy Spirit who continues the mission of the Son for ali men, without being carried away in this current of divine generosity. Catherine of Siena writes the following words as having been spoken to her

by God: "You must love me with the same pure love as the love 1 have for you. Yet you are unable to give it tome, because 1 loved you before 1 was loved by you. You must love others for the sake and ho nor of my N ame, because I love them." Any

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of the faithful, any christian mystic, when he achieves union with God longs to transmit this love to his fellowmen. In the twelfth century Richard of Saint Victor wrote: "People who are ready to give up their lives for their neighbors have indeed reached the peak of charity."

And we know how, more recently, christians have been caught by the love of Christ; they snatched themselves from the love of self and gave that love to others. Francis Xavier dreamt of the lands where Christ was unknown and he set out on his long journey, a journey which took him to the frontiers of China. Fatlter Damian lived and died among the lepers on the island of Molokai. Vincent de Paul was struck by the spiritual and materi al distress of country people in France; through him and through Louis de Marillac, the Sisters of Charity were founded.

So many hospitals and educational institutions proceed from a sensitiveness always on the lookout for the needs of others, and from an impulse of a heart ready to give itself to others.

This is the history of foundations in the Jast few centuries.

Long before anyone mentioned "social sense," christians had put it into practice. They realized there was nothing better than to give oneself for the service of those whose human dignity is sometimes disfigured, sometimes flouted or oppressed.

Nonetheless, such people had to purify their outlook and struggle against the prejudices of their milieu. They might have let themselves be drawn by the reactions of others. It was as hard for them as it is for us, and they said so. But they also gave us the secret of their fortitude.

THE PRAYER OF THE CHRISTIAN

That secret was prayer: the contact with God in a constant dialogue--at times a monologue as a test for their faith.

Whether in consolation or desolate, going from doubt to confidence ("Is God with us indeed ?"), from ardent imploring to thanksgiving, from the joy of the divine presence to the bare desert of absence, their prayer, with its particular features, kept on. And it obtained for them the strength they were asking from the one they could not see, the One who apparently did not listen to them although sometimes He had already granted their demand.

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¡'Saint Francis de Sales uses terrifying words to describe a desolate prayer. One feels like a wretched deaf musician who plays music for a prince who does not care a rap for him.

Others knew that the ir petition was granted. Jeanne Jugan; from whom we possess nothing written except her own signature, said to her daughters: "Jesus is waiting for you in the chape!. Go to him when you fee! your patience and courage are worn out, and tell him 'Y ou know what is going on, dear Jesus; I can tu rn to no one but you.' Th en go, and don't bother about the way you will manage. It is enough having told everything to Jesus; his memory is trustworthy." Ali this is true; He is the Lord whose love is unfailing. We possess prayers composed and lived by christians. Sorne are in use and, at times, memorized; they may help th ose who cannot pray.

How WE SHOULD READ HISTORY Supposing that a christian is convinced he has to get in touch with other christians who, in their own ways, have led the same existence before him, how could this be practically achieved? Are there books concerning the History of Spirituality?

In fact, there are works illustrating, though in a condensed style, the great periods of christian spirituality. M. Pourrat was such an author. Between 1919 and 1928 he published four volumes From the Origins Up to Our days. Such "days" were ours fifty years ago. New explorers have recently felt the urgency of renewing and completing the inevitably panoramic views of Pourrat. From 1960 to 1966 a new Hist01¡y of Christian Spirituality in four volumes was published. These were dedicated to the early centuries, the Middle Ages in ali its extension, and Modern time till 1640. The subject is so vast that a synthesis of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries requires time.

A characteristic of this set is the presence of a volume on Greek and Russian spirituality and on Anglican and Protestant spirituality. This acquaints us with the principles and reactions belonging to other confessions. Through brief extracts we ascertain that dissimilarities are Jess striking in spirituality than in dogma. It is not so widely known that a puri tan chaplain of O. Cromwell, Thomas Godwin, has written a book entitled The

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H eart of Christ in H eaven towards Sin ners on Earth. This took

place fifty years before the revelations of Saint Margaret Mary at Paray-le-Monial. It is not widely known that a layman Gerhard Tersteegen, who was a weaver at Mühlheim, was longing for a spiritual purity worthy of the exigencies of Saint John of the Cross: "The more incomprehensible the ways of God, the more divine they become."

Complete Joss of self, and utter abandonment have to be carried out. The Narration of a Russian Pilgrim is known aU over the world. And yet few people have heard of Serafin of Sarrow, a contemporary of Jean-Marie Vianney, the Curé of Ars, and another Francis of Assissi. He was a man who was considered rather odd; he received heavenly visita in his seclusion, a seclusion he wanted as complete silence. He was a man quick to reply: "Where 1 am no longer, come to my tomb.

Whenever you can, come; as often as possible. Whatever is too heavy, whatever happens to you, come and bring it aU to my tomb. Then bend downwards and, as to someone alive, teH me everything. I shall listen to you. Ail your sotTOW will fly away. Just as you talk with someone alive, speak again and again.''

These sources of oriental spirituality are precious for christians of the western world. There exist also four volumes in Spanish done with great precision for a well-informed public.

HlSTORY ACCORDlNG TO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

Other valuable works on this history of spirituality are included in the austere and richly documented columns of the Dictionnaire de Spiritualité, which started in 1935. There we see how spiritual schools evolved and we come across spiritual personalities who are not necessarily canonized saints.

For example, to speak of the United States of America, E. Jarry gives us the chief headings of a period preceding independence, while G. Weigel traces the period which fo11owed it.

Thus, one day it will be possible to write the history of spirituality in the United States. The origins of the catholic community, its growth and unification, the development of religious orders and congregations, the endeavor towards a proper American catholic culture: ail these are included in the Dictionnaire.

The predominant personalities are noted: John Carro11, Eliza-

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beth Ann Seton, John England, the Bishop of Charleston, Mo ther Theodore GuĂŠrin, John Neuman, archbishop of New York, the philosopher Orestes Brownson, Frances Xavier Cabrini.

Then there are discussions of the spiritual problems of announcing the Gospel to the Indians (such as Mother Philippine Duchesne met) and also the liturgy, novenas, associations of lay people, the growth of a spiritual literature, the contemplative life.

Other countries: England, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the Greek Church, are also taken into consideration. They generally have sorne connection wih the United States. Such, then, are the riches of the Dictionnaire de SpiritualitĂŠ. One can only hope that, sorne day soon, these well-informed columns where only specialists and scholars can presently find their way will be reduced and translated. Such a work might open the way for many to that variety of the christian !ife, those numberless expressions through which the one Gospel of Christ can be followed ali over the world.

A HISTORY OF DEVOTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

Movements and devotions contribute to history, too. And they Iikewise deserve our attention. The flowering of the Oriental form of monastic !ife, the development of religions orders, the associations of lay people vowed to prayer and charity: ali these deserve consideration. Then there are developments in other fields: German pietism and methodism as renewed by John Wesley, a renewal which is, in fact, impregnated with the most traditional catholic doctrine and braced by the soundest protestant intuition while still being expressed in a simple popular language ready to impart and convince.

Among the many devotions springing from the powerful catholic root a large place ought to be allowed to the devotion to the Sacred Heatt; its history includes far more than the revelations to St. Margaret Mary at Paray. Then the devotion to Our Blessed Larly shoulrl also dmw our attention. Vatican II, while binding this devotion to the dogmatic Constitution on the Church, has given it vital importance. Also important, in the eyes of the Council, is devotion to the saints. In this regard we are urged to look upon the saints as persons in whom we can trace the action of God, persons who are models by

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their lives, a family for us to live with, a help we can rely on.

As the Preface for Holy Men and Womeri says : "This great company of witnesses spurs us on to victory, to share their prize of everlasting glory."

The devotions to the Holy Spirit, to the Passion of Christ: these underline particular aspects of the christian mystery.

They are witnesses to the sensitiveness of christians in the course of centuries, and they express the social trend taken by individual inspirations. And in this they are representative of ali devotions. As a history would show, devotions point out the danger of drying up, of materialization, of formalism, the need for unceasing renewal. And thus a history of spiritual movements such as Jansenism or quietism, described by Ronald Knox in Enthusiasn~ . americanism which compelled Americans to understand each other and purify their outlook, such a history would provide worthwhile insights especially after Vatican II. A HISTORY OF lNDIVIDUAL PERSONS

Movements have their impact; our times must not fa il to consider them. But individual people, people whose !ife can inspire our meditation, deserve also to be known. Men and women, young people and aged ones, lay and religious, priests and bishops: individuals of ali kinds, ali belonging to the People of God, gave their attention to one problem or another. Let it be a need for education or for physical assistance, their intuition was so powerful that it desires the name "charisma." It drew to them faithful souls who shared their ideal, put it into practice, and committed themselves to the same vocation. And although these individuals were fashioned by their times, they also acted on their times to the extent of determining the bearings of the next era.

Men and women canonized by the Church are more frequently spoken of. And yet there are others whose sanctity is known to God alone. Those whom the Church has canonized (perhaps their statues are over sorne altars, although this is rare now) are proposed on account of their exceptional !ife, that we may more fully realize the vicissitudes and joys of their existence and how they answered the cali addressed to them by God. Sorne of them suffered in the Church, and even through the

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Church they were longing to serve; it is comforting to see that they were conscious of suffering for the Church. Others had to bear patiently the slowness of men ...

SPIRITUAL MASTERS

Spirituality has masters; their list is long, their teaching remains valid beyond time, and we can profit from them. Such are Augustine of Hippo, John Suso, Benedict of Nursia, John of the Cross, Catherine of Siena and Teresa of A vila, Francis de Sales and Pierre de BĂŠrulle, Bernard of Clairvaux. Here again, we are presently without enough information. Still, there exists an excellent collection of short volumes with good documentation, where !ife is shown together with texts. These include a vast selection of christian masters, prophets of the Old Testament, and saints, to whom are joined Mahomet as well as Ghandi, Calvin, and Gregory Palamas. No Jess than forty volumes of great value currently exist; their translation into English would be most desirable.

THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS

Hagiography is a question mark. The lives of Saints exist.

But in certain countries and in our time it is difficult to write the !ife of a saint, and just as difficult to have it read. Our ancestors took delight in the narration of wonderful facts ; now a more accurate interpretation is required. Saints were de¡ scribed as "supermen" whose lives were just a sequence of marvels. And thus hagiography has been compromised by mellifluous style, admiring interpretations, long silences about Jess complimentary events. Ali these are perhaps due to an excess of charity; but it is detrimental to truthfulness. Finally, one must possess an "explorer's" audacity, an extraordinary sagacity, and real sympathy for the qualities of the subject to write a successful biography and be accepted by the public.

The venture is not impossible if one is provided with the right equipment.

THE WRITINGS OF THE SAINTS

Getting in touch with christians of the past is, nevertheless, possible in another way, that is: through their own writings.

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Many saints or saintly people have left to us, unintentionally, a precious inheritance concerning the ir spiritual !ife: their conversion, elevations, reflexions, prayers, memories, sporadic notes. Thus we know something about their progress toward God, how they vitally adhered to the Gospel, how they conversed with other people, how they performed the tasks they had to undertake. Their correspondence, too, is precious. Ali their writings constitute, as it were, an integration of their lives in God. What they were unable to interpret on the spot cornes back now under a new light. lt is finally possible to trace out the way that was God's plan for them: the famous straight line written by God in spite of its many curves.

When we dialogue with the christians of the past, when we listen to them, when we read extracts from their writings, we are at the school of sanctity. In the breviary we find "Lessons" which are not a boring duty. It is enough if one sentence pleases us, attracts our attention, and is used by God to teach us. Such might be the words of St. Ignatius of Antioch: "1 hear a spring in myself, which says to me 'Come to the Father.'" A weil written phrase, long after it has been uttered, may reach the heart. Let us think of the Preces Privatae of the Anglican bishop Lancelot Andrews. Or one may prefer Peter Sterry, a puri tan, when he says: "Spiritual joy is the rite of the Divine Love, of the Eternal Spirit who is Love itself in our souls." And Catherine of Siena: "Eternal God, accept the sacrifice of my !ife for thy MystĂŽcal Body, the Church. 1 can off er nothing else than what you have given to me. Take, Thou, my heart, and stamp on it the face of th y Spouse.''

To understand oneself: this is a challenge and a cali. A necessity. Christians today would find this easier if they would look at other christians and listen to them, if they would listen to God who speaks through others. God works great things in humble souls. In fact, that is the history of spirituality. It fulfills its pm¡pose when it helps men to accept themselves and to accept others.

Louis John Came li

Spirit, Holy Spirit, Spirilual Li(e.

The human farnily shares a deep openness to spirit and an outstJ·etching to some absolute horizon.

It is because of this spiritual rlùnension that the human persan is open to sharing a new li!e in the Spirit.

This article rleals systematically with what does not easily yield to systematic treatment. In speaking of human spirit, Holy Spirit, and their conjunction in Christian spiritual !ife, we must recogn ize the rlepth of the realities un der discussion and the limitecl possibilities for full development in a few pages.

The main direction of the article draws from a definite pastoral need-to teach people about !ife in the Spirit. Teaching requires an ordering of material which often representa an artificial but necessary first step. The present article attempts to arder sorne basic data in a certain pattern to enhance the pastoral minister's self-understanding and ability to communicate instruction and direction concerning Christian !ife in the Spil'it. A somewhat lengthy reflection on the hu man persan as spirit in the world lays the foundation fol' consirlering new !ife in the Holy Spirit.

PARTI: FOUNDATIONSTHE HUMAN PERSON AS SPIRIT IN THE WORLD Ask a persan on the street for associations with the worrl ~jspirit." Sorne Hkely associative words n1ight be uteam," Hseance," "HaJloween," or "The Exorcist." The popular appreciation of spirit centers on élan, attitude, tone, or the mysterious region of the occult. The more erlucated res pondent might draw 71

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on our philosophical traditions and reveal a dichotomous way of thinking by saying "immaterial," "opposed to matter," or¡ "invisible.H Our own systematic understanding and the pastoral task of educating people in "spirituality" demand a better understanding of "spirit" than the popular conceptions or the unquestioned! legacy of our philosophical traditions. Furthermorc, the Incarnation reveals that the economy of grace is both transcendent and immanent, that God cornes to man as man. Consequently, to understand human "spirit" opens the possibility of understanding how God's Spirit touches us, how we grO\v "spiritually," how we as the human family universally shan~¡ a basic stance of openness to !ife in the Spirit. For these reasons, then, which include systematic theological understanding and pastoral pedagogy, we will explore at sorne length the meaning of "spirit" as applied to the human person.

Is THE HUMAN PERSON? This seemingly simple question is open to many responses.

One line of thought says that the human person is one whothinks and talks. In thinking and its symbolic expression of talking, the human person reaches beyond this moment and this place to draw on the past, to project to the future, to situate the¡ self elsewhere. In thinking and talking, one goes beyond the immediate moment and situation, one goes beyond oneself as here and now.

This "going beyond oneself" reveals itself in human development. As one grows normally there is a greater and greater "going beyond" in the development of relationships. The infant and child go beyond the here and now in relating to family and peers, the adolescent to larger social groupings, the adult to marriage, politics, and culture.

The healthy person finds description in "full functioning"movement beyond self in knowing, loving, doing, transforming, searching, and creating. These operations express something universally valid, a shared movement of "going beyond" and a striving toward fuller relationships. In the West the pattern of operational and relational development is extensive, while the East seems to follow an intensive pattern. The West concerns itself with the "more," the East with the "more deeply." The WHO

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basic movement of "going beyond" has universal validity but varying expressions.

Being human, then, involves a "going beyond oneself" as evidenced in thought, speech, growing relationships, and more extensivejintensive operations. In experiential terms, being human means being restless-an experience which we will discuss in greater depth in a little while.

More to our immediate concern, being human involves dimensions of !ife which are non-material but always dependent on, conditioned by, and expressed through what is material. For a clearer understanding of this statement consider what "matcrial" means. What is material is circumscribed by limits of space and time, the here and now. But, as we have seen, being human involves thinking, talking, operating, which lead to relating-all of this depends on, is conditioned by, and expressed through what is material but passes beyond the limits of the here and now. What results is a complex situation, the human condition which is both material and non-material. Following Karl Rahner, we can affirm the human person, not in a dichotomous but integral sense, as spirit in the 1varld.

We can conclude these reflections with two simple but absolutely foundational statements concerning the human person's "spirituallife." First, to be human means to be spiritual in the sense of not being totally identified with the material, indeed, to enjoy a freedom and expansiveness which stretch beyond the circumscribed limits of what is material. Secondly, the human person who is spiritual is never to be detached from the material or bodily dimension of existence. The person is spirit but in the world.

PASTORAL IMPLICATIONS

Although our reflections to this point have not formally incorporated Revelation, there are nonetheless sorne practical pastoral implications which flow from this basic understanding of human person as spirit in the world.

First, a basic, though often forgotten, dimension of the pastoral task is the affi?¡rnation of hurnan spirit. In this enterprise, the pastoral minister shares the task of artists, poets, and musicians always recalling in material forms the spiritual dimension of human !ife. For example, although there are many

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roots of oppression, a major factor is the 1·eduction of people to the leve! of brute beasts, in other words, the deniai of their spiritual lives. The oppressor says in effect, "These people are bound by the here and now. They are animais. Therefore, 1 can do as 1 please." 1t is then that the pastoral minister, indeed, any person of good will raises the voice of protest by the affirmation of spirit . . Secondly, the fundamental understanding of the human person as spirit in the world opens us to a universal vision of humanity. The movement beyond oneself shared universally and expressed diversely puts us in touch with "all men of good will" who share that movement. Ecumenism takes on a broader scope than coming to definite credal agreement. lt can and ought to begin earlier-with all those who accept human spirit. Furthermore, this means that Christians can and ought to accept aids from a variety of sources including non-Christian ones. Propaedeutics of meditation from the East, for example, can serve Christian ])rayer in the measure that they reflect an authentic expression of human spirit and are puri fied in light of the event of Revelation.

Thirdly, to understand human person as spirit in the world means that the measure of pastoral ca re can never be one-sided, as, for example, the phrase "care of souls" seems to imply.

Pastoral care can never restrict itself artificially to one dimension of being human. The li turgy which shares spiritual riches but by way of mnte1·ial signs, gestures, and ritual, is a mode! of integral ministry which respects the human person totallyas spirit in the world.

RESTLESSNESS

We have reflectect on and affinned human spirit. Earlier we spoke of the experience of restlessness as revelatory of that spirit. The "going beyond" in knowing, speaking, loving, doing more and more is shared by the scholar, the artist, the worker, the housewife. Ali are engaged in movement, a going and a stretching. Ali are restless.

This restlessness is very sh·ange. Its origin seems to be something within us, a push outward-something that is very much our own. At the same time, there is something without, a. pull or attraction, which draws us to know a uni verse, love

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a person, conquer limits. Even stranger, our restlessness is unlimited in its scope and its possibility of satisfaction. That is strange, because so much of our experience speaks to us of our limits. \Vhat does the experience of restlessness say about human spirit? It says that we are headed somewhere. Each time we move we do so--however implicitly-because of the absolute range of our outreach, the infinity that is open tous. Not only do we go beyond the here and now, not only are we self-transcending but the virtual horizon of ali that movement is transcendence itself, absolu te spirit totally unbound by any limit. In the language of prayet', Augustine said, "Our hearts are restJess, until they rest in you."

Practically, our people encounter this restlessness every day.

When it becomes bothersome or seems to turn into futility, our tendency, even when there is no evident psychological problem, is to counsel adjustment rather than helping them to see the very movement of their spirit.

In more speculative terms, the condition of the possibility of our self-transcendence is transcendence itself, absolute spirit.

The push from within can be identified with the imago Dei creato1-is in creatnra (the image of God the Creator in the creature) or transcendental memory as sorne authors have called it. The pull from without, the attraction or drawing, is the cali of absolu te transcendence.

THE PROCESS OF THE DISCOVERY OF HUMAN SPIRIT

The descriptive and experiential picture of human spirit sketched above may make intellectual sense. But a question arises. How do I come to grasp this? Where is the path to discovering spirit and helping others in that discovery? These questions embody a more common question: how do I discovei' mysclf as I really am? This question cuts across credal boundaries. It is more ancient than its Greek expression in the imperative "Know thyself." Ultimately, it is a question of how do I come to self-awareness, how do I reflect.

The issue of reflectivity is a crucial one. For many, it cornes at awkward moments, limit situations of death or Joss. In ancient Greece, the medium of drama provided a collective frame~ work for dealing with reflectivity. Today, the analyst's couch

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provides sorne with a backdrop for retlectivity. Without offering specifie techniques, we can begin to understand the movement of reflectivity or the persona! discovery of human spirit by drawing on a symbol which is old in the tradition of Christian spirituality. The symbol consists of a wheel with a rim, spokes, and a hub.

The wheel represents the totality of an individual's !ife. The rim signifies the surface aspects of !ife, its activities, the presently evident leve! of material functioning or involvement. The rim leve! is obvious to any normally functioning person. lt forms the habituai pattern of perception for many if not most people, because it is !ife lived most apparently.

As we move in ward into the wheel, we encounter the spokes.

The spokes serve as !ines of action. Motion here is slower than at the rim. The spokes organize and sustain movement. This leve! is Jess obvious, for it includes the organization and interaction of the material and the spiritual. The spokes organize for functioning. They partake of that reality called )Jsyche, the psychological self. Emotional upheaval which breaks the movement of the rim calls for help, a psycho-therapeutic intervention so that full functioning can be restored. Perhaps, only rare moments reveal to individuals the fragility, complexity, and crucial role played by the spokes. Beyond the spokes, at the very center, lies the hub. It is quiet and still yet from it emanates the dense power and force that give movement to the whole. The hub remains a mysterious center. It is the source.

To pass beyond it means to surface again on a spoke.

Reflectivity-or meditation in its widest sense-is the penetration of the wheel going from rim through spokes to center.

Retlectivity is not meant to stay at the center but to emerge again and return and begin again, each time with a shifting angularity, each time recognizing that the grasp of one's persona! center is elusive and incomplete.

A possible structure for such reflectivity might include the fullest possible comprehension of the outermost pattern, then the consideration of the grounding possibilities of that pattern, and, finally, the source of possibility. The requirements for retlectivity are manifold. The outward pull, the dispersive force of the rim's activities, needs overcoming. That means, first of ali, dissatisfaction with remaining on the rim or surface living.

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Then, an effort or exercise, perhaps by technique, is necessary to move inward, to see the possibilities and lines of inner organization. Finally, there must be courage, a courage which overcomes the dark fear that accompanies the movement inward. That fear experiences !ife movement but wonders, "Is it going anywhere? is there a destination?" That fear conceives the center and source as possibly chaotic and generating futile movement under the guise of organizing spokes. Fear needs courage.

When people ask us to teach them how to pray, we may immediately turn to Scriptural or traditional teachings on prayer.

But, in light of our present considerations, perhaps the first step in prayer means growth in human reflectivity, a movement beyoncl surface living. Does this unduly complicate the simple teachings of Jesus in the Gospels on prayer? His teachings, recall, presumed a deep set of perceptions-seeing growth in a seed, the dynamics of persistence in human relationships, the organizing motivations for praying publicly or privately, and so forth. A contemporary pedagogy of prayer can do no Jess in appreciating the basic human presuppositions of dialog with the Lord.

CoNCLUSION

After this lengthy reflection on human spirit apart from the context of Revelation, do we have anything that speaks to Christian spirituality? Yes, indeed we do. In the context of faith, we believe that the Word became tlesh, that God cornes to man as man. Th us, if God's Spirit is to touch and share !ife with human persans, He does so as they are. The "point of contact" of God's Spirit will be that dimension where the human person is open to relationship-namely, existence as spirit in the world. The initial gracions contact of God and the human persan and the ongoing spiritual !ife grow and unfold not in terms of an added superstructure but precisely in that which make a human person to be spirit in the world.

Furthermore, in terms of the openness that al! people share in virtue of their being spirits in the world, we begin to perceive that our search, our retlectivity as Christians is not unique, that spirituality in its most general sense as a reflection of who we are as human beings is a shared reality. Con-

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sequently, there are possibilities of multiple stances of human spirituality. Surprisingly, for example, the JV!arxist who is an avowed atheist and materialist but a dedicated and true 1\l:arxist has a "spirituality." His self-transcending commitment to revolution stretches beyond the here and now and relates him in sorne fashion to an horizon that defies the boundaries circumscribed by time and space. The Hindu or Buddhist, whose exotic style may not be appreciated or understood by the Western Christian, witnesses to a !ife in quest, a movement self-transcending, going beyond, and he does this utilizing techniques born of a wisdom of experience which can be shared in a Christian context.

There is, in short, a rleep open ness shared by the human family to spirit and an outstretching to sorne absolute horizon. We walk together in that. To the extent that the Christian believes that he searches and finds in a graduai process of discovery a loving persan and not an abstract absolute or a bloodless ideal, there is a unique Christian spirituality. To the extent that the Christian believes that he not only searches but has been found, his spil'ituality is unique. To the extent that the Christian accepts not only ongoing patterns of sem¡ch and discovery that is abstractive and shared by ali but goes beyond to see a unique historicalrelationship emerge from that search and discovery, his spirituality is indeed unique.

But if the Christian is to share the good news of his spirituality, grow in it, and utilize the good of ali people of good will, he must understand his own human spirit which is touched by the Lord and is shared by ali peoples.

This is the purpose of an often neglected dimension of Christian spirituality-its human foundations.

PART II: GIFT-LIFE IN THE SPIRIT We have spent considerable time in reftecting on the human person as spirit in the world. It is because of this spiritual dimension that the human person is open to sharing new !ife in the Roly Spirit. Indeed sharing in this !ife in the Spirit, experiencing the gift of the Spirit characterizes the New Testament Church. The giving of the Spirit to believers is seen and experienced as the culmination of saving history. It is the fulfillment of prophetie hope preached by Jeremiah (31 :31-34),

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Ezekiel (36:24-28), and Joel (2:28-29). The mission of Jesus leads to His Paschal Mystery in which he "gave up his spirit" (Jn. 19 :30).

The new giftedness of believers happens because they can receive God's Spirit. Furthermore, the new and gracions gift that is given is not "spiritual" in a sense sometimes imagined, that is, touching a sphere of life, or reflecting an attitude, style, or piety. The Spirit given to believers is radically rooted within, interiorized, and become a new principle of ]ife and action.

The depth and dynamism of the Christian's spiritual life or life in the Spirit is evident in reading Paul's description of the believer and- the Spirit in Romans 8. The Christian's li fe is touched to the core ( corresponding to the persona] center described above in Part I). The Christian's being or living or existing is according to the Spirit (v. 5) oris in the Spirit (v.

9). The Spirit dwells or lives in believers (v. 9, v. 11). From another perspective, the believer has the Spirit of Christ (v. 9), who gives life to the morta! body (v. 11).

The Spirit, to continue from Paul's description, does not remain a static possession. There is a certain dynamism and movement at work. Thus, Paul uses the striking images of "walking according to the Spirit" (v. 4), "being led by the Spirit" (v. 14), and having the first fruits of the Spirit while we await the redemption of our bodies (v. 23). Th us the Spirit not on ly touches the persona] center of the bel iever but becomes part of that self-transcending movement and experience of restlessness which we noted above.

In short, the gift of the Spirit in the life of an individual touches ali dimensions of life--the core, the movement of "going beyond," the body.

SOME PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

Before we touch some deeper questions, severa] practical perspectives present themselves. Each perspective will in sorne measure shape the practical approach of one who seeks to deepen spiritual life or help another to do so.

First, the unfolding of life in the Spirit takes place within the total context of life. The gift of the Spirit does not add a new superstructure but rather acts as a transformative leavening from within.

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Secondly, if life in the Spirit takes place within the total context of life, then it takes place amid the particularities and concreteness of this person here and now. To speak of life in the Sph;t in general, as we have been doing, is as valid and invalid as to speak of life in general. Special calling, persona! history, physical capabilities and limitations, intellectual aptitude and achievement-all these go to form the particular configuration which emerges as this person's life in the Spirit.

Thirdly, the gift of the Spirit is not,a destruction and remaking of the person. Nor is it a reversai of ali that was before.

Even Jess is it a "taking ovet¡" of the individual by an alien force. Sorne fundamentalist groups, for example, envision a retooling of personality, the adoption of new linguistic patterns, the appropriation of a new set of psychological eues as essential to the experience of living in the Spirit. Furthermore, within these groups one enters only on the condition of accepting a "dictatorial principle" which determines behavior, thinking, and feeling-a persona) experience which resonates communally in the acceptance of a certain rigid authoritarian leadership within sorne sects. Rather than ignoring or seeking to destroy the val id hu man factor (which is created "good" by the Lord), a more biblically authentic perspective of life in the Spirit sees an inner transformation of the person, the growth into a new persona] identity in Christ which does not represent a total disjunction with the past nor a suppression of freedom but a birth of new freedom.

HOW DOES THE SPIRIT WORK?

We have been speaking generally about two things: the human person's openness to life in the Spirit and the actual bestowal of that !ife. To understand Christian spirituality (at ]east, its general contours) we must probe more deeply to examine how the new life in the Spirit cornes about. We can pose this as a question: How does the Spirit work?

Biblical and Church tradition ascribe a number of functions to the Roly Spirit: initiator of mission, giver of prophecy, evoker of the remembrance of Jesus, animator of prayer, and so forth. One other function of the Roly Spirit plays a crucial role in understanding Christian spirituality. That is the unitive function. FDI¡merly, the unitive function found concrete

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realization in the unitive stage of spiritual life belonging to the last frontier of mystical theology. Our contention is that the unitive function of the Spirit belongs to the whole of the Christian !ife as the reality and the interpretative key of Christian spirituality.

Contemporat-y theology of the Trinity sees the correlation of intra-Trinitarian !ife and extra-Trinitarian missions. Karl Rahner has noted this correlation as the identity of the "immanent" Trinity and the "economie" Trinity. Within Trini" tarian !ife, the Spirit personalizes the relationship betwee"n the Father and the Son as their bond of mutual love. The unitive function of the Spirit emerges strikingly in the Priestly Prayer of Jesus in John 17, "That they may be one, Father, even as you and I are one." Praying for the gift of unity among believers, Jesus prays for the gift of the Spirit in the Church, who is the personalized expression of the oneness of the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit, then, who in Trinitarian !ife personalizes the relationship of unity between Father and Son exercises (we will omit the theological discussion of whether and how this is proprium or by appropriatio) a similar unitiverelational function in the lives of believers.

First, life in the Spirit establishes us in a relationship to Trinitarian !ife-in the Spirit, through the Son, to the Father as Paul notes in Ephesians 2:18. This unitive-relational work of the Spirit reveals the highpoint of Christian spiritual life.

Secondly, we enter into that Trinitarian life of community, because the Spirit unites and relates us to the Son. Again, Paul speaks of believers as being baptized by the Spirit into the one body of Christ (1 Cor. 11 :13). The Spirit, then, which is given us makes us sons and daughters in the Son (see Gal. 4 :6; Rm. 8 :14-15). Pneumatic or spiritual existence effects such a relationship with Christ that Paul says, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (Gal. 2 :20). Th us, !ife in the Spirit is not to be distinguished from life in Christ or the life of discipleship. It is rather the Spirit as unitive and cohesive force which elfects a new Christocentric life in the believer. But Christocentrism itself does not say the last word.

Christ's eternal stance is ad Patrem (to the Father). Consequently, union with Christ in the Spirit means being in relationship with and movement to the Father (see Eph. 2 :18).

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Thirdly, the unitive-relational work of the Spirit which culminates in drawing the believer into Trinitarian life by effecting a relationship with Christ "begins" on the more visible leve) of uniting and relating the believer to the believing community and the believing community within itself. The believing community which receives the promised Spirit (see John 13-16) and lives in the unity of the Spirit (see the consecratory prayer of Jn. 17) becomes the place and time of the availability of new li fe in Christ. The Spirit relates and unites this community in itself and relates it to Christ as His Body (see 1 Cor. 12). Consequently, Christian spirituality can or ought never to be an individualistic enterprise. Its measure of authenticity always depends on the leve! of relationship to the believing community. True Christian spirituality must be truly ecclesial.

To summarize the unitive and relational work of the Spirit from the perspective of the individual believer, we can note the initial relationship effected is that of believer to community which is the Body of Christ. The relationship to Christ means relationship to the Father. Ali dimensions of relationship effected in the Spirit culminate in the believer's entrance into Trinitarian life.

To conclu de this section, we can correlate the actual economy of how the Spirit works with our understanding of the dynamism of human person as spirit in the world. vVe noted the movement of human person which we cal! a "going beyond" or process of self-transcendence as expressed in ever-expanding operations and relationships. N ow, in the Christian context that movement remains and finds transformation. The individual continues to expand relationally. The scope and the quality of the relationships expands infinitely into the depth of relating to a believing community, identification with Christ, and sharing in Trinitarian !ife. The self-transcending movement of the human person was said to have an infinite horizon or outreach.

N ow, in terms of Christian spirituality, the horizrm of ultimate actuation is no mere absolute of an abstract sort but, in fact, the community of the three Divine Persans. Thus, once more, we note the continuity of human !ife in the Spirit and, at the same time, its radical discontinuity and novelty.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATION: SEARCH FOR A "NEW" SPIRITUALITY

In recent years, many people have voiced their dissatisfac-

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tion with the "old" spirituality. At the same time, they fee! the need for a "new" spirituality. Unfortunately, although there are nagging doubts about the legacy of the past and genuine yearnings for something more authentic for the present and the future, no one seems to be able to pinpoint the difficulty.

What exactly is it in the "old" spirituality that makes it unappealing? What sort of "new" spirituality will respond to contemporary needs?

Many possible answers present themselves. But in light of our discussion on the unitive-relational work of the Spirit, one especially strong 1¡esponse eme1¡ges.

The "old" spirituality (which, in fact, cornes to us in solidifiee! form from the nineteenth century and is not so "old") pictured Christian spirituality as adornment of the sou!. Vices were to be ferreted out and to be replaced by the brilliant raiment of virtues. Not only does this approach to spirituality betray a certain individualistic orientation which makes it unappealing to contemporary people, but it also seems to promote a very static and therefore unattractive ideal. This sort of spiritual viewpoint perhaps takes its roots a few centuries earlier when a process of psychologizing and introspection became dominant in spiritual thinking. The ultimate source of this viewpoint may well go back to the early Middle Ages when the unfortunate split between theology and piety took place. Whatever the historical roots, this view of spirituality can !end itself more to the ancient Greek ideal of coming to aretĂŞ (perfection in oneself) than a specifically Christian ideal which is necessarily pneumatocentric, Christocentric, and, ultimately, theocentric.

Furthemore, spirituality as adornment leaves little room for the integration of action and commitment in the world and even less for the total process of integrating inner and outer !ife.

This, I submit, is the "old" spirituality (please note: not "traditional") that is fur many good reasons being rejected today.

In place of the "old" spirituality, what emerges from our Scriptural retlections on the work of the Spirit and what has deep and constant roots in our tradition is an image of spiritual !ife as a life of relationshi]>. Viewed in this perspective Christian spirituality takes on a distinctive, engaging, and ultimately a more human and a more divine face.

If the question is asked, "Relationship to what orto whom ?"

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The response can only retum to the unitive-relational work of the Spirit who brings together the believer and the very !ife of the Trinity, the believer and the Lord Jesus, the believer and the believing community, the believing community with itself and its !ife for the world.

This perspective of spirituality as relationship obviously offers something dynamic. It emerges as entirely different from the picture of static adornment. lt brings out with greater clarity that there is no single ideal to be chiseled out. Interpersonal relationships tend to a multiplicity of expressions.

Does the relationship effect any real change in the person?

Does not the relational perspective weaken the reality of real change in the very being of the person? Traditional categories of causality (mainly physical) would respond negatively. A broader and more nuanced framework of causality would inelude a specifically personal-relational type of cause which would effect true ontological change. That is, in being more related, one is more. Furthermore, it is precisely that unique causal force effected by the being-with and the being-to another which brings about change.

The relational perspective highlights an extremely important reality which we can name pm¡ticipatory analogs of relationship. That is, the various dimensions of relational !ife are not simply discrete or separate Jevels but share in a common inspiriting. Th us, the major distinctive levels of relationship are twofold: human-human relationships (including: human-human, individual-community, individual-in-community to world) and human-divine relationship. These two major levels of relationship are mutually reflective, reciprocally expressed, and singly sourced in the work of the one Spirit. Thus, for example, marriage which is a human-human relationship can become in the sacramental economy a mirror of God's covenant love in the world, the arena in which the love of God is expressed, and is such by the work of the Spirit who binds man and woman together in love. A Iso, as an example, a !ife of dedicated service to the poor, the sick, the uneducated-again a human-human relationship--actualizes the love of God and expresses one's relationship to Jesus by showing love for one's brothers and sisters.

The varions levels of relationship can rightly be considered

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participatory analogs, because the same Spirit actuates the relationships. Furthermore, this perspective of Christian spiritual !ife as relational !ife rooted in the Spirit flows directly from the teachings and !ife of Jesus. In His negative critique of the Pharisees, Jesus condemns the disjunction of a special religious sphere of relationships and one's day to day relation~hips to family and community. Positively, Jesus teaches the unification of ali relationships on a continuum with Himself as the constant in ali relationships (see Mt. 25 :31-46). He further develops this teaching in tenns of the greatest commandment and the new commandment of love.

PATTERNS IN CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY

If there is one Spirit at work, then there is obviously one spirituality. But if !ife in the Spirit is relational, then the one sprituality gives birth to many spiritualities in tenns of expression and realization-as many as are the number of relationships. In ali of this, a basic triadic pattern emerges which captures a basic pattern in spiritual relationship and can assist us in understanding sorne traditional and still valid categories.

The basic triadic pattern of the dynamism of relationship, specifically spiritual relationship, is: openness, actuation, and growth. The specifie meaning of these terms will become evident as we illustrate them. Thus, the Gospel cali is a cali to new relationship. It finds expression in the imperatives: change, believe, live (see Mk. 1 :15). One must change or be converted to disintegrate the old relationships which block and act as obstacles for the new !ife of relationship which is offered. There must be openness. Secondly, one must believe or accept the new relationship with God which is offered. There is a moment of actuation, the coming to faith which gives birth to the new relationship. Finally, there is the cali to live out that new relationship of faith. A process of development must take place which means the unfolding in !ife of ali the implications of the relationship, a deepening of the relationship itself.

In Christian !ife style, the same triadic pattern emerges.

There is the initial opening in freedom through asceticism, followed by a commitment to a specifie fonn of living, and, finally, the ongoing integration and consolidation of the way of !ife embraced. Similarly, in prayer openness in preparation

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precedes the moment of reflective listening or meditative dialog and finds its natural growth in a time of simple or contemplative presence which expands the whole experience of prayer.

Finally, the liturgical cycle itself provides an example of spiritual-relational patterns. The seasons of Advent and Lent are characterized by an attitude of opening. The celebrations of Christmas and Easter actualize the central saving mysteries.

The "time of the year" after Christmas and after Pentecost represent the growth in assimilation of the central mysteries.

CONCLUSION

Our scope has been to systematize Christian spirituality. To do this, we noted the key elements which lead from one to another: human spirit, Roly Spirit, and spiritual !ife. The thread which runs through our analysis is the continuity of human experience in itself and in the Roly Spirit and at the same time the radical discontinuity or novelty of human persan transformed by the Spirit in community, in Christ-life, in relationship to the Trinity. Practically, the schema of systematization presentee! here offers a possibility (in skeletal f01¡m) for drawing people to a deeper understanding of who they are as a gifted people in the unity of the Roly Spirit.

Harry C. Koenig

Charismalic Renewal and the Spiritual Li{e.

The author offers sorne reflections on the Cameli article in light of the charismatic experience.

While highlighting the chansmatie concerns which surface in the general study of spirituality, Msgr. Koenig gives a concise description of the charismatic movement.

Reading Cameli's deep theological analysis of !ife in the Spirit, many Catholics will ask the question: How does ·thé Roly Spirit opera te existentially in the world today? Sorne, such as Cardinal Suenens will answer that we are experiencing a New Pentecost. Especially in the Unites States, a new phenomenon called the Catholic Charismatic Movement or Renewal is growing rapidly. Frayer groups are mushrooming throughout our nation as weil as in Canada, Europe and South America.

These prayer groups trace their origin to a faculty group at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh who began praying together in 1966. Frayer in these groups can be described as spontaneons, biblically oriented, acknowledging Jesus as Lord, giving adoration and praise to the Father.

Many of these prayer groups meet weekly for an hour at the minimum. They enthusiastically read Roly Scripture, sing joyfully, man ifest a spirit of union and friendship which is contagions. Led l:u·gely by lay men and women, they seek clerical guidance. Sorne groups are totally Catholic; while others are ecumenical and welcome Protestants to join in their prayer.

Catholic Charismatics manifest a love for the Church and the sacraments. Many prayer groups climax their meetings with the Eucharist.

In Charismatic prayer meetings the spiritual gifts mentioned 87

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in the New Testament display themselves, especially tongues and prophecy. As St. Paul writes in I Thess. 5:21, these gifts should be tested, and discernment by proper Church authority is necessary. Another feature of these gatherings is the gift of spiritual healing, which frequently results in reconciliation between those estranged on many scores. It is claimed that physical healings also take place, although to my knowledge these have not yet been certified by the Church.

How does the Catholic Charismatic lliovement correspond to the essential elements of Cameli's analysis? First, there is recognition of the spiritual !ife through steady prayer, Scripture reading and the reception of the sacraments. These Catholics have discovered Jesus as "a loving person, not an abstract absolute or bloodless ideal" and this "is a unique Christian spirtuaiity."

Secondly, among the Charismatics the Holy Spirit "becomes a new principle of !ife and action .... There is a certain dynamism and movement at work "thus enabling them in Paul's words to "walk according to the Spirit" and to be "led by the spirit." Their prayer !ife establishes them "in a relationship to Trinitarian !ife ... in the Spirit, through the Son, to the Father ... This unitive-relational work of the Spirit reveals the highpoint of Christian spiritual !ife."

Charismatics realize that their prayer-Iife is not "an individualistic enterprise 'but' mnst be truly ecclesial." They love the Church, relate to the believing community and wish to share their discoveries with their fellow Catholics.

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal is real !ife in the Spirit.

Charismatics find abundant and genuine joy in prayer, in loving their neighbor and in executing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Apparently not ali are called by the Spirit to Charismatic pray er; but for th ose who are attracted rich spiritual experiences are awaiting. In these days of crass materialism sponsored by ali the media of communication we ought to praise God that the Catholic Charismatic Renewal proclaims the spiritual nature of man and off ers substantial nourishment for the sou!.

Agnes Cunningham, sscm

Forms of Prayer in Christian Spirilualiiy What form is prayer to take today? Will ils expression today differ from that of the fifteenth or the fi/th century?

Agnes Cunningham suggests that the most contempomry jdrm of prayer comes to us from the Christian past.

Treatises on prayer ordinarily include a discussion of what are referred to as, "the forms of prayer." In terms of form prayer can be considered in reference to the questions: How do w~r ought we--to pray? In what manner is Christian prayer appropriately and authentically expressed? Thus, the fonns which prayer may take are related not only to the presuppositions of its underlying definition or to a concept of that deity to whom the prayer is addressed. Prayer forms depend, as weil, on the posture of the individual whose prayer somehow gives at¡ticulation to the reality of the persan and to the truth of what he is about.

In the tradition of Christian spirituality, prayer is necessarily perceived as Christian, that is, as deriving from our solidarity with Christ and from the possibility of our approach to the transcendent, triune God in and through the Incantate Ward, the Image of the Father: Jesus Christ. The forms of Christian prayer, bath classic and contemporary, are consequent on this perception. Prayer "in the Name of Jesus;" prayer "in the Spirit of Jesus": what form or fol'lns is such 89

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prayer to take? Will its expression di fier in the twentieth-century from what it was in the fifteenth or the fifth? Will prayer in American society assume forms that are unlike those articulated in the Third or the Fourth World? Will such differences occur? Ought they to occur? \Vc are challenged, as Christians, to search for the answers to these questions. The challenge cornes to us, in part, from the rencwed interest in and recourse to prayer which prevails almost universally today. It cornes, equally, from the accompanying disaffection for fo1ms or modes of prayer associated too readily with a former era or an alien culture. This disaffection extends, at times even on the part of Christians, to Christian prayer itself, as it is commonly understood. Instead, prayer forms which ostensibly stand outside the Christian tradition are adopted for the promise they seem to give of richer persona! experience or more certain contact with divinity.

It is, therefore, appropriate to review the classic forms of Christian prayer. It is also desirable to evaluatc their compatibility with the present mood and temper of the men and women of our generation. Further, it is necessary to probe that dimension where old forms are renewed, if they are not discarded, and where new forms emerge in creative fidelity to perennially authentic values. These three objectives will be pursued in the following discussion of the forms of prayer in Christian spirituality.

CLASSIC FORMS OF CHRISTIAN PRAYER

F01·ms of prayer have not been defined univocally by spiritual writers in the Christian tradition. At times, praycr f01·ms are seen ta correspond ta one or other aspect of an individual's spiritual sentiment (le sentirnent 1·eligieux, as Bremond would say).

At other times, the f01ms of prayer are perceived to derive from the contents or tone of the prayer itself, as weil as from the circumstances and intentions of the individual who prays.

Again, forms of prayer are thought to be determined by the abjects and modes envisioned as proper to the nature of prayer.

Generally speaking, the classic forms of Christian prayer faU into one or more of three basic categories. These may be referred Ü' as: 1) psychological; 2) anthropological; 3) sociological. This terminology, it must be pointed out, is arbitrary

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and adopted only for the sake of distinction and demonstration.

It will not usually be found in the manuals of spirituality. It is to be qualified in every instance as "spiritual." The categories are not meant to be mutually exclusive, so that any one prayer might conceivably be found to reside in the thrcc categories, simultaneously.

The spiritual-psychological prayer form is that in which the ••desire for God/' ~~conversation with Cod," or the "elevation of the sou! to God" finds expression in sorne articulation of interior affectivity.

There is a certain concurrence among spiritual authors regarding the affections thus expressed as forms of prayer. For one, petition, invocation and adoration constitute the essential forms of prayer; for another: adoration, thanksgiving, penitence, petition. One author finds that such "basic forms" as adoration, praise, thanksgiving, petition, repentance and sacrifice span "the whole distance between the ascent to God (Bonaventure's sursumactio) and dialogue with God" ("Prayer," Josef Sudbrack in Sacramentum Mundi 5, Karl Rahner, S.J., et al. New York: Herder and Herder, 1972; p. 79). Another author identifies the forms of prayer as: adoration, gratitude, expiation/reparation, petition;confidence (La Spü·itualité ChTétienne l, P. Poun·at. Paris: Librairie Lecoffre, 1931; p. 325).

The forms of prayer which are included in the category of the affective or the psychological, to sorne extent, bear the character of the primitive human desire for God. They carry the echo of every articulation, of every formulation men and women are capable of in their conversation with the transcendent, persona! God revealed in Scripture. These forms betray the inner conviction that an intimate relation is possible between God and man because of the Incarnation of the Word of Gocl. They affil"rn the cong,.uity of humanity with divinity and the possibility of man's dialogue and union with the divine.

THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL CATEGORY

The category of the spiritual-anthropological includes forms of prayer which correspond to a recognition of two essential characteristics of human nature. In this category, prayer forms are classified as either: 1) vocal or 2) mental. In other words, these prayer forms are consonant with the human acts of speak-

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ing and thinking. In either instance, whether concretely articulated or not, words are seen as necessary to prayer.

There is a great deal of evidence which points to the fundamental relationship which exists between words and prayer.

For example, the classic vocabulary of Christianity includes the following terms, in referring to prayer: proseuchonw.i (to pray) ; proseuche (prayer) ; aiteo (to ask) ; eutonchano (to intercede) . The Apostolic Fath ers understood prayer as speaking to God (dialexis, homilia, conversatio). From the second century on, prayer was associated with petition, request, pleading (preces, oratio).

This emphasis on the vocal form of prayer continued into later ages. Basil the Great defined prayer as the "appeal for good things made to God by devout people" (PG 31 :244).

For Augustine, prayer was "a petition" (PL 38 :409-414). St. John Damascene taught that "to pray is to ask becoming things of God" (PG 94, 1089), wh ile Gregory of Nyssa affirmed that prayer is "speaking with God" (PG 44 :1124). The formula has perdured into the twentieth-century. It is meant to include today, as it has for centuries, ali forms of prayer and dialogue in this domain.

The development of the category of vocal prayer was accompanied by the parallel emergence of an alternate form of prayer: mental prayer. Following St. John Damascene and the early Fathers, St. Thomas Aquinas taught that prayer is the "raising of the mind to God," a "union between God and man" (S.T. lia, liae, clxxx, 1-17; 1, ad 2; 2, ad 3; Ilia, xxi, 1). Mental prayer is not necessarily disassociated from interior words. It may be accompanied by gestures. It resides primarily, however, in the realm of an intimate relationship with God and can be distinguished from vocal prayer much as the "prophetie" is differentiated from the "mystical" in the pm¡suit of Christian perfection (The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, Second edition, F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone.

London: Oxford University Press, 1974; "Prayer," p. 1115).

The understanding of prayer forms as vocal and mental does not negate the expression of those sentiments which explicitate the interior affections and attitudes of man at prayer. In this category, however, adorationjthanksgivingjreparation(petition are considered rather as "species" of a "genus" (Diction-

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<k la Bible. Sur;plemffit VI II; "Prière," A. Gonzalez, col. 558) ; as "objects" of prayer (Dictionrtaire de théologie catholique XIII; "Prière," A. Fonck, col. 169) ; as Christian duties (Pourrat, op. cit.; p. 198). Following St. Paul, we can relate these aspects of prayer to that spiritual sacrifice (Phil.

4:18, Heb. 13 :15) which is to mark the Christian !ife. With St. Augustine, we come to understand that true pietas-the totality of our duties toward God-is fulfilled in love: pietas cultus Dei est, nec colituT iUe nisi amando (PL 33, cols. 557f., 737f.). r~aiTe

THE SOCIOLOGICAL CATEGORY

A third category of prayer forms can be designated as spiritual-sociological. In this category, the forms assigned to prayer are perceived as private or public. Prayer, in this sense, is understood to be both individual and social, because of the action of the one Roly Spirit who is at one and the same time in every individual and in the entire Church. A further distinction in this category can be made in the differentiation of public prayer as either communal(communitarian or Iiturgical.

The spiritual-sociological dimensions of prayer give rise, at times, to an experience of tension in the Christian !ife. It is not always easy to determine the place to be given to private, individual sentiments and needs when one prays in a public manner. Conversely, the Christian who chooses to pray in a "private" manner may not always be inclined to remember that, "to be a Catholic is to carry the whole world in one's heart." Communal concerns and liturgical celebrations are not al ways apparent! y compatible with the priorities established by the individual. A fm-ther difficulty is found in this category in the interplay of literary (prepared and perhaps stereotyped) texts and spontaneous acclamations. This is more frequently experienced within the context of the revised liturgical celebration of the Eucharist than in the past.

Another tension which characterizes the distinction of prayer as "private" or "public" in form is that between the individual, optional prayer and the prayer of obligation. This tension accounts for the desire on the part, even of professional Christians (that is, men and women religious) to seek opp01-tunities for "prayer ... after Mass." These and ·other difficulties that

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mark the public prayer which is proposed as an alternate to private prayer路develop, in spite of the fact that both of these fonns are consonant with prayer that is either vocal or mental, on the one hand; and with prayer that expresses individual, inner affections or postures, on the other.

How "Christian" are the forms of prayer just reviewed?

Where did these concepts originate? How faithful are they to the notion of Christian prayer, itself? The earliest Christian treatise on prayer, written in the late second century by Tertullian (De Oratione, PL 1, cols. 1149-1196), provides one answer to these questions. "Jesus Christ our Lord," Tertullian states in the opening chapter of his treatise, "has determined for us, the disciples of the New Testament, a new form of prayer." This "new form" is made up of spirit and word and reason, for Jesus Christ "has been approved as the Spirit of God, and the Word of God, and the Reason of God." This new form of prayer for Christians, Tertullian continues, "has embraced not only the special duties of prayer, be it venemtion of God or petitions for men, but almost every discourse of the Lord, every record of His Discipline, so that, in fact, in the Prayer is comprised an epitome of the whole Gospel." Tertullian is speaking here of the Lord's Prayer which, indeed, was regarded by early Christians as the type-fm路m of pray er for the disciples of Jesus. Every treatise on prayer from the first centuries includes a commentary on the Lord's Prayer, witnessing to the effort on the part of the followers of Christ to appropriate this form received from Jesus Himself.

THE LoRD'S PRA YER As the "new fm路m" of Christian prayer, the Lord's Prayer is not intended to be either restrictive or exhaustive. The Christians of the fit路st centuries understood that Jesus had wanted to give His disciples a pattern, to indicate a manner in which we ought to pray. In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus taught us what concerns we were to have in !ife and what requests we were to present to God. The form of Christian prayer was to be the consequence of a unique relationship with God, our Father.

From this relationship there would necessarily develop values that reach beyond the moments of formai prayer, to give direction and meaning to our entire existence.

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To what extent are these concepts meaningful to Christians today? What place do prayer, worship and spirituality hold in our lives? Is it possible for Christians to pray in the forms that come to us from the past? Is it correet to speak of a "new form" of prayer that remains proper to the disciples of Jesus?

A contemporary author declares that, "traditional Christian prayer and worship ... need to be rethought at many points" (Paths in Spirituality, John MacQuarrie. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1972; Preface). There are many reasons for this need: development.~ in theology; new ways of thinking about God; changes in the human condition; advances in technology; new sources of power and shifts in the balance of power in our world; new opportunities, new experiences, new dangers confronting us.

It is to be expected that such factors as these will cali for critical and constructive evaluation of the forms of prayer with which we are familiar. It is not to be wondered at that changes will occur as Christians seek more contemporary expressions of an experience that is increasingly perceived as central to their lives: the experience of prayer.

TOWARD A CONTEMPORARY UNDERSTANDING OF PRAYER FORMS

In one sense, the Christian understanding of prayer fm¡ms seems not to have changed in recent times. Christians continue to express their innermost desire for God; they strive to ra ise their hearts and minds to him and to live in union with him; they recognize the need for grace and mercy in their lives and present requests and petitions out of this need to a loving, compassionate Father.

There is, however, a certain implicit rejection of the classic forms of Christian prayer in the promotion of what appear to be new forms, more fitting to the¡ time and situation in which many Christians find themselves today. One conclusion to be drawn from this quasi-rejection seems to be that the older prayer forms have proven to be largely inadequate for the contemporary moment and its accompanying circumstances. In place of the classic forfis of prayer, others are accepted. Three of these, especially, have gained widespread interest and sup-

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port: 1) social action; 2) charismatic prayer; 3) Transcendental Meditation.

The concept of social action as a prayer forrn ought not to be , immediately equated with the "work is prayer" syndrome, repeatedly rejected as "activism," in the history of. Christian spirituality. Prayer, in the forrn of social action, is understood to be primarily evangelical. It is the implementation of the exhortations of Jesus (cf. Lk. 18:1) and of Paul (cf. 1 Thess.

5 :17) to constant prayer. It is meant to be another manner of asking for the coming of the Kingdom, for the realization of . God's Will, for the necessary daily bread, for deliverance from every evH which burdens or enslaves humanity. Social action is embraced as that form of prayer which seeks to be as effective as the gospel itself in its proclamation of the alleviation of human infirmity and misery (cf. Lk. 7:22).

Charismatic utterance or accklmation, as a contemporary form of prayer, is also proposed as evangelical. Certain characteristics of charismatic prayer have given rise to a tendency on the part of many to identify this form of prayer with that of the enthusiasts, the illwninati (not understood in the sense of patristic baptimal theology, it must be noted) or with a degree of religions fanaticism. Charismatics are quick to challenge such opinions with the affirmation that this is the prayer of those through whose "inarticulate groans the Spirit himself is pleading ... for God's own people in God's own way" (Rom. 8 :26-27). Charismatic prayer is explained by those who adopt this forrn, to be the prayer of those who, like Jesus (cf. Mk. 1:10), have been baptized with that Roly Spirit "who explores everything, even the depths of God's own nature" (1 Cor. 2 :10).

Transcendental Meditation has gained many adherents in the last decade among Christians who have grown in the knowledge that, "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in tru th" (Jn. 4 :24). Transcendental Meditation has been offered to Christians in American society as an antidote to the distractions and materialism of our culture. It has promised relief from a too-ritualistic, over-verbalized mode of worship and from an approach to the divine marked by uniformity and stereotype. \Vith its emphasis on spiritual guidance, purification through rigorous asceticism and progressive ad-

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vance in the knowledge of the Good and the True, Transcendental Meditation seems to promise growth in the poverty and simplicity which constitute the core of gospel holiness for the Christian. However, it is not clear that this form of prayer sufficiently avoids the pitfalls of Quietism or the handicaps of an attempted manipulation of the sacred in its pursuit of goals that actually lie beyond the reach of technique and propaedeutic.

AN APPRAISAL

How are we to evalua te these contemporary forms of prayer, which represent, but do not exhaust, the many others which are emerging at the present time? There are both strengths and weaknesses in the three prayer forms considered above. The Christian must be aware of the manner in which his !ife cau be enriched or impoverished by the parameters of the prayer form he adopts.

For example, social action, as a form of prayer, represents the move from an overly-subjective concern with one's individualistic religious affections or sentiments to a more global vision of the role and efficacy of prayer. It heralds the growth in understanding the relational dimensions of prayer, as weil as the continuity between our dialogue with others and our convel'satio with God. It reflects the conciousness of our need to integrale word and action in our lives. As a prayer form in the Christian tradition, social action presupposes a sense of Church, a sense of mission, a sense of Incarnation.

At the same time, social action perceived as a form of prayer remains vulnerable to the threat of activism. Beyond this danger, there is the possibility of a kind of reductionism : where everything is prayer, what is actually prayer? If specifie provision is not made for the renewal of our spiritual energies, cau we hope that the vitality of our !ife in the Spirit will resist eventual dilution? From still another point of view, the caution must be raised against seminal neo-Pelagianism, in the claims of a social action which would minimalize the value of other forms of prayer. The Benedictine formula continues to encourage a healthy dialectic: Ora et labora.

The strengths of the c/zarismatic form of prayer lie in its celeb1 a hon of the creahve presence and the dynamiC action of

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the Spirit of God in the entire Church and in every member of the community of believers. The charismatic form of prayer, as it is currently understood, calls for the enrichment of the community at prayer through the sharing of those unique, diversified gifts which each one has received for the sake of the whole body (cf. Rom. 12 :4-5). Prayer in the charismatic form bears witness to faith and provides support to those whose belief is tested and tried in the circumstances of daily !ife.

The very strengths of the charismatic form of prayer betray its possible weaknesses. Dependencies are easily provoked and sustained in groups subscribing to this prayer form. Unrealistic expectations are aroused as individuals engage in prayer as a substitute for professional counseling, in hope of extraordinary physical healing, in anticipation of specifie spiritual gifts as evidence of the ·quality of persona! faith. The charismatic form of prayer, at a more fundamental leve!, is susceptible to the subtle dangers of neo-Gnosticism. Those who accept the charismatic mode as a form of Christian prayer must be on their guard against the tendency to an exclusive daim to holiness or salvation, as well as to condescension toward those who do not share thei r concept of pray er.

The impoliance of Tmnscendental Meditation is affirmed by those who have been initiated to this form of pmyer, as well as by those who appreciate the priority given to such a value in a society characterized as affiuent-with ali the connotations of that term. Thanks to this fotm of prayer, the length and breadth of the American continent and the frontiers of outer space diminish before the reality and the expanses of an inner world. The noise and rush of urban !ife are challenged by the resonance of physical ·calm and the harmony of intellectual reftection. The stars of a celluloïd, tabloid sky fade before the radiant wisdom of a spiritual master: the Gu11t. What cavent can apply to this form of prayer? · The danger of Quietism in relation to Transcendental Meditation has been mentioned above. Over and above this caution, there is the greater menace that accompanies a form of prayer which derives from a WeltanBchauung in many ways incompatible with the Christian view of reality. An implicit anthropology is contained in the contradictory tetms : "transcendent" and "meditation." Meditation is the action of a thinking human

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person. Transcendence, in the context of the prayer form under discussion, implies a passage beyond the limits of the human. Furthermore, the possible association of this fonn of prayer with al"tificially-induced religious experience indicates its distance from the Christian understanding of grace and the graced person (cf. S.T. la, IIae, eix). In the philosophy which underlies Transcendental Meditation, there is a reluctance to admit the participation of corporality in the encounter with the Wholly Other-the Divine. This reluctance stands under the shadows of Manicheism and of neo-Arianism. To the extent that these shadows deepen, to that extent must Transcendental Meditation remain suspect as a proposed f01·m of Christian prayer.

Is the contemporary Christian, then, condemned to renounce the quest for forms of prayer more in keeping with the reality of the cultural-historie situation that constitutes a significant dimension of the Chdstian faith-experience? Is there no viable alternative to the classic forms of Christian prayer? Must every new fonn prove itself beyond every suspicion before it can be recognized and recommended without hesitation? The search for contemporary forms of Christian prayer remains just that: a search for prayer f01·ms that bespeak fidelity to authentic Christian Tradition in prayer, along with creative production of th ose new treasures which Jesus promised to His disciples (cf. Mt. 13 :52). It is possible th at the most contemporary form of Christian prayer cornes to us from the Christian past.

THE ESSENTIAL FORM OF CHRISTIAN PRAYER

Contemplation is the essential, fundamental form of Christian prayer. It is meant to be the common prayer of every Christian and the normal development of growth of !ife in the Spirit. In the fullest sense of the word, contemplation is the type of eve1y other f01·m of Christian praye!". In its most specifie sense, contemplation is the form of prayer to which eve1y Christian ought to aspire. lt is not easy to define contemplation to the satisfaction of everyone. St. Thomas would have it be "the simple act of gazing on the truth" (S.T. 2a, 2ae, clxxx, a.3, ad 1), along with the delight to which that gaze gives rise. Earlier authors have

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spoken of contemplation as a "spiritual mountain" (St. Gregory of Nyssa) ; the seventh degree of the soul's power (St. Augustine) ; "a grace" (St. Gregory the Great) ; simply, "prayer" ( St. Maximus the Confessor). Later spiritual writers tell us it is "the end to which ali other exercises tend" (St. Francis de Sales); "a state" (St. John of the Cross); "the perfect form of prayer" (Jean Daujat).

In considering contemplation as the essential form of Christian prayer, it is necessary first of ali to set aside those distinctions which have historically figured in debates of the nature of prayer. Discussions of "infused," Hacquired," "natural" or "supernatural" contemplation will not be introduced here. No other definition will be suggested than that of contemplation as the¡ essential, fundamental form of Christian prayer and the prayer form to which ali other Christian ¡prayer must tend.

Emphasis on the Christian dimension of contemplation is not meant to suggest that contemplation is an exclusively Christian prerogative. The contemplative-even mystical-dimensions in every tradition of prayer and spirituality are weil known.

Wherever human beings have aspired to an authentic, deeply spiritual experience in their pilgrimage toward God and their encounter with Him, contemplation has necessarily been essential to that experience.

Christians themselves do not always realize that contemplation is accessible to them nor that there exists in the tradition of Christian spirituality a rich heritage of contemplative prayer that is continued and prolonged today. The early Christians understood that the prayer of Jesus was a prayer of contemplation. The symbolic figure of the orante and the early appearance of Christian virgins, whose !ife foreshadowed the later contemplative orders, signified and explicitated that dimension of the mystery of the Church which was the ecclesia orans.

The prayer of the Church, like the prayer of Jesus, was thought of as contemplation. With the rise of monasticism and the appearance of the monachos who sought the life of solitude (vita contemplativa), contemplation was presented as the fruit of caritas and the condition of sapientia (perfection).

A TRADITION OF CONTEMPLATION

Throughout the history of Christian spirituality, the elabora-

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tion of the doctrine of prayer has pointed to contemplation as the prayer to which every Christian ought, ultimately, to come.

In Western Christianity, the "methods" and "techniques" of prayer and devotion suggested by schools of spirituality were devised to launch the Christian on the journey toward contemplation. In Eastern Christianity, the "prayer of the heart" and the Jesus-Prayer of the Hesychast movement constituted an initiation to that interior pilgrimage which envisioned arrival at contemplative prayer.

In both the East and the West, developments in theology and in liturgical prayer point to the basic expectation that Christian prayer is to be envisioned as contemplation. A Western theology of the Word tlows from the celebration of Jesus Christ as Incarnate Word of God, attentive hearing of the words of Scripture which tell of Him and pondering of His Good News in our hearts (cf. Lk. 2 :51). The predominance accorded the Word in Western liturgy parallels this theological development.

The proclamation of the revealed Word of the Scriptures and its explicitation in homily, discourse and hymns is a constant invitation to be "hearers" and "doers" of the Word. In Eastern theology, Christ is hailed as the Imago Dei, the "image of the invisible God" (Col. 1 :15). He is the Image of the Father and we, in turn, become His images. Eastern liturgies are rich in symbolism to affirm this doctrine. They are marked by the interplay of mystery-now concealed, now revealed-overshadowed by the ever-present summons to advance toward the Holy, reftected in the iconostasis.

It is unlikely that serions challenge could be offered to the affirmation that contemplation ought to be the ordinary prayer of ali Christians. The evidence and literature in classic Christian spirituality are too weighty to be dismissed. How convincing is the proposai that contemplation is the essential, fundamental fonn of ali Christian prayer? Is this a distortion of the concept of contemplation? Is it a departure from Christian tradition? If it is valid, what are the implications of the thesis? How does it account¡ for the integration of the human condition into one's posture before God? THE CONTEMPLATIVE ATTITUDE

The first step toward understanding contemplation as a form

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of Christian prayer is to reeognize that contemplation as prayer is possible only as the outcome of a contemplative attitude toward life. The Christian must learn from the Gospel to see and to hear in a new manner, in a new dimension. At one level, the Gospel is· the constant summons of Jesus to discover in every person and in every event the hidden dimensions of their reality and their truth. This contemplative attitude is oriented toward the continuing encounter with Truth, despite the fractured discontinuity of human existence.

The contemplative attitude is an open-ended posture which depends on and calls for contemplative living. Former spiritual writers have attempted to describe this experience as "the life of faith," "the spirit of faith," "the spirit of prayer." Contemporary authors seek to explore the concepts of inner space, of the penetration of ultimate reality, of the role of leisure in the quest for God. However it may be named, contemplative living consists in the fundamental orientation of one's !ife in harmony with the truth of what one is and of what one is called to be. This orientation addresses the complexity of the individual in those differentiated àspeets that constitute persona] identity. Contemphitive living etfeets the integration of this diversity through a process which leads from death to life.

Contemplative livin·g moves constantly from the negation of being whièh resides in deniai of the wholeness of persona] truth toward the affirmation that is acceptance of God's will to love and save.

As a form of prayer, contemplation stands between cat·itas and sapùmtia in our lives, as the Spiritual Ma.Sters of the Golden Age of Christianity tatight. It mediates between the "becoming things" we petition out of concern for human need and the desire for God which envisions union with Him. It becomes the mode by which we express not only our relationship with the Father of J esu·s Christ but, as Clement of Alexandria held (Paed. 12, 100), our experience of hu man nature, as weil. It is the locus in which the effort to "live as the tru th leads" ( Clement of Alexandria) is made explicit, purifiee\ and transformed.

As a form of prayer, contemplation embraces the dimensions of every other form of prayet-. It integrates those affeetions associated with prayer from the earliest ages of Christianity: supplication, prayers, intercession, thanksgivings· ( 1

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Tim. 2 :1) . Common vocal Christian prayer need be no obstacle along the path that leads to contemplation (St. Teresa of Avila, The Way of Perfection). The prayer of the ascetic, the apostle, the he1mit and the mystic finds expression in that form of prayer which leads to contemplation in its most specifie meaning, because it is contemplative in a more universal sense.

At the conclusion of his "Spiritual Canticle," St. John of the Cross pra ys: "May the most sweet Jesus, Bridegroom of faithfui souls, be pleased to bring ali who invoke His name to this glorious marriage." The journey is to take place, John notes, on earth, "in this Church Militant."

Contemplation, as the fundamental form of praye!", requires that the Christian be engagecl interiorly, as weil as in his ecclesial reality, in a pilgrimage toward the kingdom (cf. Lumen Gentium, 8, 9). It necessitates the utilization of human, terJ"estrial realities as modes of entering into the experience of God. It is open to the adaptation of the living tradition of Christian prayer to the present moment, in ali its incarnational reality. Contemplation is a form of Christian prayer, because the Worcl and Image of the Father retlects the full splendor of the Godhead (Heb. 1 :1-4). He has come to be with us, to walk the pilgrim way with us. He is Himself the Way we must follow, the Truth we must affirm, the Life by which we share now in the glory which is not yet fully revealed (.Jn. 14 :6).

It is possible to speak of contemplation as a form of Christian prayer, even in relation to a !ife of apostolic service or pastoral ministry, because the Christian is called to seek the glory of God revealed in Jesus Christ and to share in this glory as members of His Body, the Church, through the constant, secret action of the Roly Spirit. This perspective reminds us that the doctrine of contemplative prayer, as it cornes to us from the Christian past, is based on the doctrine of God as Trinity and on the doctrine of Jesus Christ as Incarnate Word.

Contemporary discussions of prayer and the form or forms it is to take cannat be pursued independently of this foundation.

The great contemplatives of Christianity have been men and women who understood that entrance into the mysteries of God is the condition for knowing the ecstasy of living and working for God (St. Francis de Sales). They affirmed the "mystical dimension" of religions enterprise in Christian acts of love,

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mercy and compassion (St. Vincent de Paul). Spiritual guides and authors, today as in the past, bear the responsibility to preserve and transmit the heritage of Christian prayer and spirituality in fidelity to its original Gospel inspiration. It is their task and privilege to explore the rich potential of human experience in every age, so as to promote and foster a perennial renewal of these values which assure authentic Christian prayer in the best and most desirable of its forms.

Robert Faricy, S.J.

Salvation, Liberation, and Christian Responsibility Catholic tmdition tells us that the Church is the mediator of salvation. lncreasingly, in the past decade, that salvation is seen as accomplished in man in the concrete circumstances of Ms life in the world.

The purpose of this article is to help to clarify the Christian idea of "salvation-liberation" chietly by presenting in a reflective way sorne of the conceptual forms that the ideas of salvation and liberation have taken in recent Roman Catholic thought. There has been a marked development of Catholic unrlerstanding of salvation especially in the past ten years, since the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudinm et Spes (1965), and sin ce the meeting of the Conference of Latin American Bishops (CE LAM) at Medellin, Colomhia (1968), This development has been in the direction of a greater emphasis on the this-world aspects of salvation and liberation, and in the direction of more stress on Christian responsibility.

The principal theological question as to the meaning of salvation has for sorne time taken this general form: What are the relationships between the persona!, the social, and the universai aspects of salvation? What is the relationship between man's salvation and the salvation of the world? What is the importance for the individual person of the social dimension of salvation? The whole complex question in volves the effort to understand, in terms of person and society and in te1ms of man and world, the meaning of salvation.

Among Catholic theological responses to this question since 105

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World War II, one may distinguish two general and sometimes overlapping positions. There is one view that sees the risen Christ working in ali history, bringing forth the final transformation's first fruits in man's persona! !ife but also--inseparably-in man's !ife in society and in the world. This view underlines the intrinsic inseparability of the persona!, social, and cosmic dimensions of salvation. Fm-ther it understands the arder of creation and the arder of redemption as two aspects of one arder: the arder of creation is contained within the arder of redemption. Again, "natural" and "supernatural" are distinct bath conceptually and in reality, but the "natural" is contained within the supernatural arder. The unity of the orders of creation and redemption, and the unity of the natural and supernatural orders, are emphasized.

Secondly, there has been the view that sees Christ's work as taking place primarily through his word and sacraments to individual persons. There should, oĂ? course, be a real overtlow into the social secular sphere, but that overflow, while good, is not intrinsic to the work of Jesus Christ through his Church.

According to this view, the clear distinctions between natural and supernatural and between the orders of creation and redemption are to be maintained at ali costs; the emphasis is not, then, on their integration.

The history of Catholic thought as to the meaning of salvation has, for the past decade, been the story of the graduai rise and predominance of the first view. Increasingly, salvation has been understood as a process that, by its very nature, has to do not only with the persan as individual, but also with the social dimension of human life-with man's relationship to man, and with the cosmic dimension of human life--with man's relationship to nature. Salvation is, more and more, seen as God's work accomplished in and through man in the concrete circumstances of his !ife in society and in the world.

In this developing understanding of the meaning of salvation, five general influences or currents can be singled out as pai-ticularly important: the spiritual theology of Teilhard de Chardin, the theologies of secularity and of the future, recent North American emphasis on prayer and on the transcendent, the theology of liberation, and the Church's official teaching on her own role in secular affairs.

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Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, scientist and priest, understood the contemporary religions problem as a problem of two faiths that are in apparent opposition: faith in the world and faith in Christ. In his writings, he describes his solution to the problem: faith in the world and faith in Jesus come into synthesis when the world is seen in tenns of its existence in and through Christ risen.

For Teilhard, the world is not hostile, nor is it indifferent.

The Christian can have a positive, persona! relation to the world, a certain interpersonal mutuality with the world. For the Christian, the world has a friendly and even Ioving face because it is rooted in the person of the risen Christ. The Christian, more than others, can and should have faith in the world, faith in man, faith in human progress and in man's efforts to build up the world. And the Christian, more than other men, can and should have hope in the future of man, hope in the world's future. "For the Christian, the eventual success of man on emth is not merely a probability but a certainty. since Christ is already risen-and in Him, by anticipation, the world is already risen" (The Future of Man, New York: 1964, p. 237).

The world moving into the future can be believed in, hoped in, loved, because it is grounded in Christ risen, the guarantor of its ultimately successful outcome. \Vhat is more, because true union of persons is personalizing, union with Christ through involvement in the world is personalizing, makcs for persona) Christian growth and development.

In the light of ali this, there is, for Teilhard, a specifically Christian responsibility for the world. In a world that is moving toward an ultimate synthesis of ali things in Christ, in a world that is in the process of a painful and graduai unification in the direction of its final transformation, the Christian, precisely as Christian, has a heavy responsibility to contribute whatever he can to the f01¡ward progress of society and of the world as a whole. The Christian, as Christian, should take with the greatest seriousness his poli ti cal obligations, his social obligations, his obligations to con tribu te as mu ch as he can to. the work and ¡the research th at are in the direction of the world's f01¡ward progress toward Christ. The Christian should ad vance God's kingdom in every domain; his faith imposes

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on him the right and the obligation to throw himself into the things of the earth.

Teilhard sees Christian m01¡a!ity as having been for too long a naturalistic and static morality of equilibrium, a morality that exista to protect the individual and to protect society. In the past, morality has been understood as a fixed system of rights and duties aimed at maintaining a static equilibrium among individuals. But this is not really Christian morality, because it is not aimed at the reconciliation of ali things in Christ.

A truly Christian ethic is an ethic that is aimed at the highest development of the person, of society, of the world. The primary purpose of a Christian ethic should not be to protect but to .develop, to unify, to move fonvard.

HOPE AND SECULARITY

The impact of the rediscovery and theological reformulation of eschatology by German theologians such as Jurgen Maltmann, Wolfhart Pannenberg, and the Catholic Joannes-Baptist Metz has been great on Catholic thinking regarding the meaning of salvation. In particular, the emphasis on the primacy of the future and on secularity have contributed to a Roman Catholic view of salvation that takes with much seriousness Christian responsibility for this world.

Man today sees himself and society in terms of progress, in terms of moving into a future for which man is responsible, in terms of a world with possibilities for the future, a worldto-be-built. The watchword today is the "new," whatever is closest to the future. It is the future that draws man, that maves him to grow, to transcend present limitations in the direction of a better future. Contemporary man's greatest problem is the problem of the future.

One aspect of the problem of the future is the problem of hope. Hope looks to the future. lt gives us the momentum or impetus to take the next step into the future. Without hope, man is paralyzed, turns to despair, drops out. As the future gains primacy in human consciousness, hope becomes more important as that human quality or attitude that is indispensable in order to cope with the future. Faced with his awesome responsibility with regard to the future, man today tends to Jose hope.¡ He sees the world en~rgy crises, the shortage of

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natural resources, the Jack of food to feed the world, the overwhelming and accelerating increase of the world's population, the recurring crises of the environment. He sees himself, situated in the world, facing his own future and the future of his family, and he feels inadequate to deal with the unknown that the future holds. He !oses hope or, more generally, becomes anxious in the face of the future.

THE PRIMACY OF THE FUTURE

Paradoxically, Christianity has given rise to much of the future orientation in present world culture. In the Old Testament, God reveals himself to Israel in Israel's history. That revelation is a promise and even a guarantee, an announcement of the promised future. Israel's religion and its relationship with God is covenantal, is based on promise, for covenant means promise. The two central categories of the religion of Israel are covenant and exodus. Both are future-oriented categories. Just as God was in covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Moses, so is he always in covenant with his people, promising them the future. And just as God was with his people in the exodus, leading them to the promised land, so is he with Israel in history, leading Israel into the promised future. God is not "up there" nor ~~out there," but "up ahead," leading his people, going before them into the future that he has promised them. God calls his people into the future, into the inheritance that he has for them. There is no essential change in the New Testament. In the resurrection of Christ, God has promised to man the future, the world to come. This future is what man is building toward.

This stress on the primacy of the future in recent German theology has had the result of further focussing theological attention on the problems of man's this-world future. And so it has contributed to the idea that Christian salvation has meaning for man's present and for his future in this world as weil as for his ultimate future in the world to come.

Almost equally important for contemporary thinking about salvation has been the theology of secularity and secularization presented in the writings of Friedrich Gogarten and, later of Joannes-Baptist Metz and the American Harvey Cox. Westem culture, and-increasingly-world culture, has under-

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gone and is still undergoing a progressive desacralization of persons and things and, at the same time, a rationalization of thought--the withholding of emotional participation in thinking about the world. This is a continuing process of transformation, a double transformation: of man's way ¡of understanding the world, and also of his way of unrlerstanding his relationships with the world. He sees the world Jess and Jess as dominated by divine forces and more and more as subject, really or potentially, to his own domination and control. Accompanying this desacralization of man's worldview, there is a progressively objective and unemotional attitude toward the world, a kind of pragmatic and scientific objectivity. Man today sees the world Jess in sacred terms and more in secular terms; this process of transformation of understanding is called secularization.

As human progress goes on, as man continues to dominate nature, he sees nature and ali of reality more in secular terms, as not sacred but secular. This secular and matter-of-fact approach to the world is, in fact, the most important psychological presupposition of human domination of the world.

The increasing secularization of the modern world can be undet¡stood as a graduai and progressive desacralization, or secularization, of areas of the world which are not any longer regarded as sacred. Examples are the secularization of civil government with the clearer distinction between Church and state, the secularization of science with the increasing independence of science from religions thought, and the secularization of nature in the rise of modern science and technology.

The whole process of increasing secularization of the secular sphere has God as its source; as Creator, God makes things to be, to be themselves, and to grow in their own identity and autonomy. God, in his creative activity, makes the world to be world, the secular order to be-increasingly in the process of history-secular. The secularization process, therefore, has Christian value. And there exista a Christian responsibility to be involved in the world as world, in the secular order as secular-not somehow to sacramentalize the secular, but to build iton its own terms, as secular.

The theology of secularity has had the general result on the theological concept of salvation that salvation is now understood

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as not in contlict with the secular aspects of human existence but as bounrl up with them.

PRAYER AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

lt is especially in North America in the past live or six years that the transcendent dimension of Christian salvation has be-

gun to be rediscovered and underlined. Without at ali diminishing the current Catholic emphasis on the importance of the meaning of salvation in this world as weil as in the next, current North American Catholic theology shows two trends that both are concerned chietly with man's persona! encounter with the God who saves.

The first is the great upsurge of theological interest in prayer, and especially in the writings of Thomas Merton. the contemplative Trappist monk whose doctrine centers on contemplation, on social action, and on the relationships between them. In Merton's thought, it is the encounter with God in prayer that is the center of Christian !ife and that learls man to be concerned about injustices to his fellow men.

The second important trend in North American Roman Catholic theology is cmTent retlection on, and within, the movement known as Catholic Pentecostalism or the Charismatic Movement. This retlection rcvolves around the meaning of the outbreak of charismatic gifts such as the gifts of tongues, of healing, and of prophecy. It is, then, most concerned with the salvitic activity of the Roly Spirit acting in the Christian community through charisms. However, even though in many ways a conservative movement, Catholic Pentecostalism seems to advance rather than in any way to rlepreciate the social and "thisworld" dimensions of the Christian meaning of salvation. In fact, its preoccupation with the work that the Roly Spirit is cloing now in this world tends to promote the integration of the "horizontal" and the "vertical" aspects of salvation, to make for the integration of the "natural" and the "supernatural."

SALVATION AS LIBERATION

Almost everywhere in today's world there is a preoccupation with man himself, with his dignity as a pe~¡son, with human rights, with the relationship hetween persan and community,

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and especially with human freedom. There are severa! levels of concern with man's dignity, rights, and freedom. African liberation movements fight for political freedom. Many Latin American countries struggle to be liberated from North American econcnnic domination, and throughout the wol'ld men seek freedom from the power of multi-national corporations. Many Churches seek full religions freedom. There is, then, a concern for the freedom of peoples. At the same time, the re is, in the face of so much contemporary violence against persans, an intense interest in the rights and freedom of the individual persan. There are, nearly everywhere, battles being fought for freedom. There are, for example, the black civil rights movement and the chicana movement and the American Indian movement in the United States, the movement in western countries for women's liberation, and the struggle for ft¡eedom in N orthe rn 1reland. Ali of these, seen globally, mark an important sign of the times: man's search for freedom from ali that oppresses him and keeps him down, free<lom from ignorance, freedom from institutionalized violence, economie and social and political and religions freedom, freedom to be truly human in keeping with man's intrinsic human dignity.

In Latin America, the search for freedom bas given rise to the theology of liberation. "Latin American liberation theology arises out of an experience: the discovery of institutionalized violence and the dimensions of oppression" (P. Berryman, "Latin American Liberation Theology," Theological Studies, 34 ( 1973) p. 364; this is an excellent survey). The theology of liberation became a broad, coherent movement with its own clear identity at the Second General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate (CELAM) in Medellin, Colombia, in the fall of 1968. This meeting set the authoritative orientation for the Latin American Church. Medellin sought to interpret the Latin American signs of the times in the light of faith. The approach to this interpretation called for an integration of the social sciences, politics, ethics, theology, and pastoral reflection.

Traditionalist and developmentalist frameworks were rejected in favor of a revolutionary one. Revolution, however, was defined at Medellin not in terms of violent struggle but rather as the participation of people in societal change not as abjects but as subjects of the change process. Two of the key ideas

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of the Medellin documents are the distinction between dominant and oppressed sectors, and the international system of dependence of the oppressed on the dominators. Important, too, is the concept of institutionalized violence, the idea that, apart from any violence on the part of persans, institutional structures that oppress people, hinder their full development, discriminate against sorne groups, prevent free exercise of rights-these are violent institutional f01¡ms. The need for Christians and for the Church to denounce institutionalized violence and ali f01ms of injustice is underlined. The chief pastoral means is seen to be education for liberation, a liberating education for the oppressed that would make them subjects of their own development, that would make them conscious-through a process of "conscientization"-of themselves as subjects, and of the nature of their situation in society. Finally, the whole process of liberation is understood in the categories of the dea th and resurrection of Jesus.

A POLITICAL Ă&#x153;PTION

As Gustavo Guttierez points out, at Medellin the Latin American Church made a general political option (A Theo/ogy of Libemtion, New York, 1973; this is the classical theological study in the area of Latin American liberation theology). Medell in dealt with the developing countries not in general, as did the Second Vatican Council and Populontm Progressio, but from the stsndpoint of those countries as they exist in Latin America.

The method of the Medellin documents is the method of liberation theology: one begins with reality, with the concrete situation, with "praxis," and pl"Oceeds to see that reality in the light of faith by means of theological reftection; one then maves from the theological reftection to pastoral options, to the action to be taken. The starting point of the Latin American Church's reftection on itself at Medellin was not, then, the Church, but oppressed man. The Church understands itself as at the service of the liberation of man through prophetie denunciation of injustices, through continental solidarity, and through positive action programs to change sinful and violent institutional structures.

Latin American theology of liberation, particularly since

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the :Medellin Conference, has developed the :Medellin themes, especially that of Christian salvation as a liberation from sin that is not only interi01¡ but also in social structures. Christianity is seen to have always been a religion of freedom. An important part of the Church's mission, like that of Jesus, has always bcen "to bring the good news to the poor, to pmclaim freedom to captives, ... to set the downtrodden free" (lsaiah 61, 1). Jesus Christ has freed man and, as Saint Paul says, "Wh en Christ freed us, he meant us to be free" (Galatians 5,1). The truth revealed in Jesus and through his Church makes men free (John 8,32).

In the Old Testament, God frees Israel from political oppression, from "the house of slavery" (Exodus 13,3; cf. Isaiah 43,16), to lead her across the desert to the promised land. And Yahweh said, "I have seen the miserable state of my people in Egypt. I have heat¡d their appeal to be free of their slave drivers. Y es, I am well aware of the ir sufferings. I mean to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians and bring them up out of that land to a land rich and broad, a land where milk and honey flow" (Exodus 3,7-8).

But Israel herself, by her own infidelity to Cod, feil victim to a new ki nd of slavery, but still with a hope to be freed ( Luke 24,21). This hope is fulfilled in Jesus, who "came to save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1,21), and to give his !ife as a ransom so that men might be freed (Matthew 20,28).

Christian freedom is freedom in the Spirit, interior freedom, but this interior freedom is not unconnected with social, economie, and political freedom. On the contrary, the freedom that Christianity brings is freedom from sin, and sin is often found in the very structures of human society as well as in the hearts of men. Sin within the persan has consequences in society, and so it cornes about that situations arise which are objectively sinful even though perhaps involving no immediate subjective responsibility at the time that those situations exist. Sinful structures, social, economie, and political, do exist in society; they are objective states of sin. Situations of unjust distribution of wealth, of oppression of varions kinds, of starvation, of homelessness, of inhuman living conditions; ail these are sinful situations, conditions of institutionalized violence. It is, then, part of the Church's mission to condemn such objectivity sinful

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societal structures, and to work towards overcoming them.

THE DECLINE OF LIBERATION THEOLOGY

Latin American liberation theology, at present, seems to be in a state of decline since 1972 or 1973. Although liberation theology writings are still read in Europe and in North America, in Latin America itself it seems that the post-Medellin theological wave is over. For one thing, many of those engaged in the implementation of pastoral guidelines for liberation have become increasingly engaged in pm¡ely political activities that have little or no religions impmi; some have sim ply !ost hope in the Church hierarchy and now either reject or ignore it.

Further, it appears that many Latin American bishops have, one might say, had second thoughts since Medellin. Pro-Medellin bishops seem increasingly isolated, and the fifth anniversary of Medellin was passed over in silence by CELAM, the organization of bishops. Finally, sorne have carried liberation theology to a kind of extreme, mixing it with varions brands of Marxism, divesting it of what they consider its overly theological elements and putting it in the service of leftist political movements. An example of this tendency is the movement "Christians for Socialism," which exists in Italy as weil as in Latin America, and which often seems at odds with official policies of Roman Catholic Church authorities.

At the same time, the overall effect of the theology of liberation worked out in Latin America has been immense, and its influence will be felt for a long time, especially in Latin America. There are already growing out of liberation theology new trends and new directions. For example, sorne theologians in Brazil, where many Catholics are persecuted, speak of a "theology of captivity," a theology for oppressed Christianity that would meet the question of how to "sing to the Lord in a stJ¡ange land." Out of the theology of sinful social structures is coming a theology of social suffering, of carrying the Cross in solidarity.

The effect of Latin American liberation theology can be seen in two theological developments whose impoliance remains to be seen. The first is "black theology of liberation," which has been developed by black Protestant theologians in the United States following sorne of the leads of Matiin Luther King and

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the specifically Christian elements of the black civil rights movement. This theological movement has taken root in South Africa, and could be important for African Christianity as a whole. Secondly, there is, in North America, an increasing amount of theological reftection on the women's liberation movement. In particular, there have been severa! serious scripture studies in this area, as weil as historical and cultural analyses made from a theological viewpoint. (Note: on U.S. black theology of liberation, see J. J. Carey, "Black Theology: An Appraisal," Theological Studies 33, 684-697; on black theology ¡of liberation in Africa, see B. Moore, ed., Black Theology, London, 1973; on the theology of women's liberation, see June O'Connor, "Liberation Theologies and the Women's Movement: Points of Comparison and Contrast," Horizons 2, 1975, 103113.)

THE CHURCH'S ROLE IN SECULAR SOCIETY

The Church is the mediator of salvation. This is clear; it is the whole Christian tradition. Much, however, depends on what is meant by "salvation." When salvation is Ăšnderstood in the way indicated in this article, then the Church's role in the world is an important one, and it goes far beyond preaching conversion of heart and administering the sacraments.

There has been a substantial development in the official magisterium of the Church with regard to the Church's role in the world. The two great social documents of Pope John XXIII, Mater et Magistra (1961) and Pacem in Ter>-is (1963) have much to say about social justice especially for workers and for the less developed nations, about international peace and cooperation, about the socialization of society, and about the role of the Christian in the world. But they have little to say about the Church's activity in the liberation of man.

In Vatican II's Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudiurn et Spes, although little is said specifically about the Church's role in the world, sorne important general principles are either stated or at !east contained implicitly in the document. The influence of Teilhard de Chardin's thought is clear in Gaudium et Spes, written ten years after his death.

Certainly, the pastoral constitution goes beyond and transcends ali theological systems; it is depenclent on no particular the-

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ology. Yet, it is just as clearly indebted for much of its orientation to Teilhard. In Gaudiu>n et Spes, the order of creation is seen as interior to the order of redemption and, although the natural and supernatural orders are distinct, they are seen as integrated. The worldview is Christocentric and evolutionary.

"Jesus Ch1ist is the goal of human history, the focal point of the longings of history and civilization, the center of the human race, the joy of every heart and the answer to all its yearnings" (Part I, chapter 4). And, although progress is seen as essentially ambiguous because of freedom, and as distinct from the grmvth of God's kingdom, nevertheless man's endeavor in this world is in continuity with the world to come and is of vital importance to the kingdom of Cod (PartI, chapter 3). Furthermore, "men are not deterred by the Christian message from building up the world, or impelled to neglect the welfare of their fellows, but rather they are more stringently bou nd to do these very things" (PartI, chapter 3). Right up un til its final approval by the Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes encountered serious opposition. Nonetheless, it marks an important turning point in Church teaching on the nature of Christian salvation, especially as to the significance of this-world aspects of Christian salvation. In particular, the Church-not only as the people of Gorl, but precise!)â&#x20AC;˘ as institutional-is understood as a servant Church, as a Church-for-the-world.

Pope Paul VI, in Populom>n Prog1¡essio (1967), speaking of the Church's contribution to the development of man and of ali men, says that what the Church has to give is primarily a vision. a global vision of man and of humanity. The real turning point in the development of the Church's teaching on her role in secular matters is Pope Paul's letter to Cardinal Roy, the president of the Pontifical Commission on Justice and Peace, in 1971. This letter, Octo,qesi>na Adveniens, unrlerlines not only the vision that the Church has to give to society, but the action, the active role, of the Church in the secular world.

Not only the Christian but the institutional Church has an important part in the liberation of man. A few months later, in the fall of 1971, Pope Paul approved the document On Justice in the World drawn up by the Synod of Bishops. It speaks of the rights of ali men and of ali peoples to development; of the fact that often economie, social, and political structures oppress

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man; and of the need for the Church to denounce injustice.

It states that action for justice is a constitutive part of evangelization. Thus, the Church's mission includes, as an essential element, action for justice.

The most recent Synod of Bishops, in the fall of 1974, did not producc the expected document on evangelization. However, at the close of the Synod, the bishops made an official declaration, brief but clear and strong. lt stresses that the Church in its mission of evangelization, must announce "the integral salvation of man, or his full liberation"; and it states the need for Church action to liberate men from unjust social and political conditions as weil as from their persona! sins and sinfulness.

CoNCLUSION

What can be drawn from the foregoing presentation seems clear. Recent Catholic theology and recent Church teaching have a message for Christians. Christians are called not so much to save the Church, for the Church's mission is not to save herself but to save the world. Christians are called to be the Church saving the world, to take responsibility now for building the Kingdom in the direction of the Kingdom to come when every tear will be wiped away and God will be ali in ali.

Sandra M. Schneiders, /HM

The Conlemporary Minislry of Spirilual Direction Tlw desire for spü"ituat direction, wùlespread among Catholics, Ùi often left 1vithout a minwterial response. In an attempt to tw-n the situation around, Sandra Schneùlers unpacks the meaning and p1·ocess of spiritual di1·ection as 10ell as the needed competencies of the Spiritual Director.

One of the striking phenomena in the post-conciliar Church is the evident renewal of interest in "spiritual direction" on the part of priests, religions, and laity. In an age characterized by intense social consciousness, serions reserves about authority, and a deep distrust of anything which suggests alienation, this interest can appear regressive and anachronistic. Consequently, before discussing the subject of spiritual direction in itself it might be useful to situate the cmTent interest within the contemporary socio-religious context.

THE CONTEXT OF THE SPIRITUAL DIRECTION QUESTION

The interest in spiritual direction (however the term is understood) is pa1-t of a lm·ger cultural phenomenon of our times which might be called the quest for persona! authenticity through interiority. Although this quest has given rise to a ce1-tain amount of bizarre behavior and unrealistic dabbling in the esoteric, it cannat be dismissed as basically misconceived Ol" ephemeral. It is the result of many factors, the analysis of which is outside the scope of this a1-ticle, but among which are a gTowing disaffection with nm-away consumerism, disgust with the poli tics of power, fear of massive structural injustice, 119

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cosmic insecurity in a nuclear age, and a generalized rejection of the value-system which has made the persan an expendable commodity in a throw-away econorny. The pm¡suit of interiority is basically a search for persona! meaning, a qnest for the "who" and the "'vhy" in a \Vorld of "what" and "ho,v."

The interest of many conternporary Christians in spiritual direction is part of the specifically religions manifestation of this quest, that is, it is part of the cm¡rent interest in spir:ituality in general. Although spirituality is by no rneans exclusive¡ to Christianity, our refiections in this article will deal only with Christian spirituality. For the Christian, the spiritual !ife is faith-life, the relationship of the person with God in Christ through the power of the Spirit within the believing cornrnunity. This !ife has many aspects but the one we are concerned with here is that which has been traditionally called the "interior !ife," that is, the !ife of persona! prayer and ongoing persona! self-evaluation and re-formation.

Prior to Vatican II the ordinary Christian !ife was lived within a complex structure of obligations and practices that tended to obscure the persona! character of the spiritual !ife and foster an illusion of religions adequacy in anyone who "practiced" faithfully. In such a religions context both the interior !ife and social responsibility tended to be underdeveloped aspects of Catholic spirituality. The dissolution of a good deal of the pre-conciliar structure has, fortunately but painfully, thrown the sincere Christian back upon hisjher own resources and many people are spiritually disoriented by a freedorn for which they were not prepared.

From time immemorial, and in every religions tradition which encourages persona! spiritual evolution in its adherents, sorne forrn of spir:itual direction (although seldom called by that narne) has had an important place. Such direction has a particularly important place at the beginning of the spiritual !ife and in times of crisis and disorientation. Consequently, it is not at ali surpr:ising that many post-conciliar Catholics who are trying to develop a mature interior !ife in a context of decreasing religions structure and who are finding thernselves both inexperienced in this domain and disoriented in a rapidly changing Church, are experiencing the need for spiritual direction. Their expressed desire for direction is not always met

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with enthusiasm by those within the ecclesial community to whom it is addressed.

THE l\fiNISTERIAL IMPERATIVE

It is perhaps not inopportune to devote a moment's reflection to two of the major reasons, one speculative and one psychological-personal, for this reserve on the pa1t of those within the community to whom Christians seeking spiritual direction often turn by preference. There is, of course, no essential relationship between any state of life and the ministry of spiritual direction. In the history of Christian spirituality laity, religions, and clergy have exercised this ministry and all three groups are represented among contemporary spiritual directors. N evertheless, it is a fact that most requests for spiritual direction are addressed to priests and religions. This is no doubt due to the justifiable assumption that men and women who are fulltime ministers within the ecclesial community should have both the interest in and the competence for assisting their brothers and sisters in spiritual growth and development. However justifiable this assumption, it is unfortunately not always wellfounded in fact.

One reason that sorne otherwise zealous ministers of the Word are not receptive to a request for spiritual direction is the suspicion that such a request springs from an overly introspective concern with the interior !ife, a concern which needs to be J"edirected toward healthy apostolic involvement in the extension of Christ's reign in this world.

It is undoubtedly true that sorne peoples' interest in the interior life is a flight from reality, but it does not take much experience to recognize this pseudo-interiority. In the Christian wh ose spiritual li fe is fundamentally balanced (or at !east potentially so) the concern for interiority is part of a healthy dialectic among severa! components of the spiritual !ife. The desire to grow in prayer and spiritual judgment, that is, in the interim¡ !ife, is no more the enemy of apostolic involvement than is the liturgical life, the practice of virtue, or theological reflection and study. Any component of the spiritual life can be exaggerated; the solution is not to abandon the component but to integrate it. One of the aims of spiritual direction is precisely this integration. The minister who fem¡s that any

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desire for the intensification of the interi01¡ !ife is a flight from apostolic involvement should perhaps confront the question of whether hisjher own insistence on apostolic involvement might not be a flight from healthy interiority.

This suggests the second (and probably more widespread and fundamental) reason wby sorne men and women involved in ministry shy away from a request for spiritual direction, namely, persona! uncertainty in unfamiliar territory. However wellfounded in fact this sense of persona! inadequacy may be, it does not justify sim ply closing the door on the topic.

Ministry is essentially a response to realneeds and real needs must be determined by a prayerful reading of the signs of the times. One of the clearest signs of our times is the interest in spirituality in general and particularly in the two aspects of Catholic spirituality which have been seriously neglected until very recent times: genuine interiority and apostolic involvement in the quest for justice and peace. Spiritual direction is intimately related to both of these aspects.

This means that the contemporary minister is called, by the situation of and in the Church, to take the same ki nd of interest in spiritual direction that hejshe bas been called to take in liturgy, liberation and justice, group prayer, Scripture, and so on, in the years since Vatican II. The desire for spiritual direction is the expression of an authentic and widespread need in the contemporary Cburch. Consequently, it constitutes an imperative for contemporary minish¡y. The main purpose of this article is to discuss briefly four basic questions concerning the ministry of spiritual direction in an attempt to clear the grou nd for the reader who is trying to situa te this topic within hisjher ministerial perspective.

1. THE MEANING OF SPIRITUAL DIRECTION A. THE PROBLEM OF TERMINOLOGY

Although most people involved in or writing about spiritual direction today would agree that the terminology is unsatisfactory, most also would recognize that there is little possibility of changing it, both because it is consecrated by a very long tradition, and because no one has come up with a really adequate alternative. Rather than attempting to change ali of the

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terminology it seems preferable to learn to understand most of it differently and to gradual\y change, by usage, only what is really unsalvageable.

1. SP1R1TUAL DIRECTION

The tenn "spiritual direction" is somewhat objectionable because it suggests (and historically it has often meant) that the "director" assumes an authoritarian rôle in relation to the "directee," who, by obedience, relinquishes sorne or al\ persona\ responsibility for the orientation of hisjher interior !ife. Today, in the light of modern psychology and of an evolved Christian anthropology, such a relationship would be correctly judged to be alienating and irresponsible. Furthermore, our theological understanding of the dialectic between human and divine freedom makes largely unacceptab\e the conception of obedience upon which such a relationship resta.

Nevettheless, there is a way to understand the traditional term "spiritua\ direction" which would be both tme to the essence of the experience in question and consonant with the evolution of our understanding of God, of the human person, and of the relationship between them. Spiritual direction can be understood as a process, carried out in a one-to-one interpersona\ context, of establishing and maintaining a growthorientation (that is, direction) in one's faith !ife. This process has two moments which are in a constant dialectical t•elationship with each other, namely, listening to and atticulating God's cal\ in one's !ife, and progressively elaborating an integrated and adequate response to that cal\. The term "direction," then, does not designate the activity of one persan upon another ( clirecting himjher) but the final abject of the process (selforientation toward growth in the !ife of faith).

2. DIRECTOR

Althongh the one-to-one relationship which is both the context of the process and an integral part of it is not pm·ely egalitsrian, it is not an authority-obedience nor supet·ior-sub.iect relationship. For that reason the traditional terminology of "director-directee" is even more open to misinterpretation than is "spiritual direction" itself. In fact, "director" is so

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unsatisfactory that many alternates have been suggested and it seems likely that the term "director" will eventually be replaced by something like spiritual "guide" or "companion."

The r么le of this person is analogous to that of the guide in a mountain climb or a wild game hunt. The spiritual guide is a person who, at the request of the primary actor in the direction situation, puts hisjher competence at the service of the other's spiritual project. The guide neither selects nor imposes the goal or even the means. Rather, the guide assists the person in various ways to discover and to achieve that which God is asking of himjher, for example, by helping the person to recognize avoidable pitfalls, to a void the unprofitably dangerons, to see and capitalize on the helpful, to select efficacious means to the goals the person espouses, and especially to objectify the various aspects of his(her experience of God. And the guide is a companion in the inevitable loneliness and difficulties as weil as in the joys of the spiritual !ife.

3. DIRECTEE

The term "directee" is foreign to American ears and can easily suggest alienation. But precisely because it is so unfamiliar it has the advantage of not evoking the difficulty-problematic of a word Iike "client." And, if "directee" 路is understood to mean someone seeking, establishing, and pursuing a direction rather than one being directed by someone else the tenn is perhaps salvageable.

In any case, what is important in the present terJn.inological impasse is not to resolve the question of which words to use.

It is to be very cleat路 both about what we are talking about and what we m路e not talking about and especially _to be certain that both persons in a given direction situation mean the same thing when they use the same words.

B.

DEFINITION OF SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

Spiritual direction could be defined as a process carried out in the context of a one-to-one relationship in which a competent guide helps a fellow Christian to grow in the spiritual !ife by means of persona] encounters that have the directee's spiritual growth as their explicit object. We will examine brietly each of the elements of this definition.

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First, spiritual direction is a process. It is not a single or occasional consultation about sorne particular problem but an ongoing relationship characterized by a certain continuity and consistency. In practice, good spiritual direction usually involves regular (e.g., weekly, bi-weekly, monthly) meetings between the two persons. The rhythm may intensify in times of crisis but the process is essentially not crisis-dominated but growth-oriented. Consequently, a good spiritual direction situation maintains its continuity in times of spiritual well-being as weil as in times of difficulty, the former being no Jess significant in the spiritual !ife than the latter. However, it is not so much the frequency but the regularity of the meetings and the continuity of their content which is most important.

Secondly, spiritual direction involves a one-to-one relationship. This distinguishes it from ail types of group formation, however valuable these may be or whatever rĂ´le such experiences may play in the overall spiritual project in which the directee is involved. Spiritual direction is a one-to-one relationship because its primary concern is with the recognition of God's unique and persona! call to the individual and the persona! and unique response of the individual to that call. Christian spiritual !ife is essentially communitarian, but no matter how intimately we are bound up with one another in Christ there is an ultimately unique dimension of our experience of God because the revelation of God in Jesus, offered to ali, must eventually be internalized by the individual. This internalization of revelation, however analogous to the experience of athers, has ali the intimate and solitary uniqueness of growing up or of falling in love. Spiritual direction is concerned primarily with this persona! experience and thus it involves a one-to-one relationship in which there is no generalization of experience but a concentration on the individual's experience in ail its particularity.

Thirdly, the relationship involves two Christians, one of whom is exereising a particnuw competence in respect to the other who is profiting by this competence. This does not imply that the guide is necessarily a fully mature and perfect Christian. A persan who may be a competent spiritual guide may {and often does) also consult someone who exercises that same rĂ´le of guide for him or her. In the rĂ´le of guide the persan

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exercises the competence he or she possesses. In the r么le of directee hejshe appeals to the same type of competence in another. This is, of course, not just a matter of changing hats and scripts. Levels of competence and stages of growth can be qui te diverse. Someone weil able to guide a high school student may not y et have the competence to guide a mature路 contemplative.

Although many people prefer, as spiritual guide, someone who is more experienced in. the spiritual \ife than themselves, it is not necessarily true that the spiritual guide must be more advanced in the spiritual !ife than the directee. What is important is that the guide who is chosen be competent to assist the directee in the stage at which the latter is. Once a person is spiritually mature hejshe is usually able to assist even those who might be actually more advanced in prayer. However, until a certain leve! of spiritual maturity is attained the question of relative competence remains crucial. We will discuss this question of competence in the section on the director or guide.

Fourthly, the objective of the spiritual direction process is the growth of the directee. This seemingly self-evident point is too easily forgotten, especially when the direction situation arises in an insitutional context such as a seminary or a novitiate. Spiritual direction should not be "used" for disciplinary or evaluative pm路poses or even as a method of forming a candidate for a particular state of life. The only valid objective of spiritual direction is the growth of the directee. 路What growth consists in for the person in question is not to be determined by the guide, much Jess by a third party. It must be worked out by the directee in hisjher relationship with God. The spiritual guide is at the service of the directee's own spiritual project, not of someone else's (or the director's own !) project for the person.

Fifthly, the primary means used in the spiritual direction process is persona! encounter between the guide and the directee. Nonnally, this means face-t(}-face conversations although it sometimes includes shared experiences of another type, correspondence, etc. The nature and content of these encounters will be discussed below in the section on the direction process.

Sixthly, the encounters between guide and directee have the spiritual growth of the latter as their explicit object. Con-

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sequently, spiritual direction is not a by-product or unrecognized component of sorne other process such as group therapy, parish board work, academie counseling, youth group leadership, or the like. Any of these situations may be useful for someone's spiritual growth and ali of them can be utilized for indirect spiritual counseling. But spiritual direction in the strict sense of the ward is a process initiated by the directee for the explicit pm¡pose of persona! growth and development in .the !ife of faith and into which the guide enters by invitation to facilitate that growth.

C. TYPES OF SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

The foregoing paragraphs amount to saying that spiritual direction is a specifie process which can be distinguished from other processes in the spiritual !ife. Nevertheless, there are severa! types of spiritual direction situations which differ in important respects and which can too easily be confused. We will distinguish here only three types whose confusion can have seriously detrimental consequences.

A first type, and one which is not the primary concern of this article, could be called educative spiritual direction. This type of direction process is characteristic of initial spiritual formation situations in which a significant part of the guide's rĂ´le is the imparting of theological, moral, and spiritual information. This type of direction situation is temporary, usually has a fairly explicit beginning and end, and often involves a very inexperienced directee with a very experienced guide.

The educative direction situation tends naturally to involve a certain "authority" pattern simply because of its educative character and of the clear disparity between guide and directee.

Unfortunately, this educative type of direction (and often enough a very unsatisfactory form thereof) is the only kind of spiritual direction many priests and religious have ever experienced. They therefore tend to think of spiritual direction as a return to the seminary or novitiate. Understandably, they have no desire to re-live that experience, even if it was a relatively constructive one, and no desire to involve other adult Christians in anything similar. This is a valid reaction. Educative spiritual direction is usually not what the adult Christian needs or wants. But this means that the guide must de-

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velop sorne other mode! of spiritual direction.

A second type of spiritual direction, and one which is also not the primary concern of this article, is that which we have ali read about in the lives of the saints, namely, spiritual paternity or maternity. This is an extraordinarily, close, usually !ife-long relationship which is very rare and which is usually initiated in and by unusual circumstances. lt is characterized by an intense and filial (though not childish) affectivity and the unreserved totality of the mutual sharing between the two persons. Like true spiritual friendship (to which it is closely akin) it is an extraordinary gift of Gad and not the product of human initiative.

Unfortunately, in houses of formation and in spiritual writing th\s relationship was often implicitly or explicitly presented as the ideal toward which every spiritual direction situation should tend. This is quite simply an error. The relationship of spiritual filiation is rare and not to be sought. It is not necessary for the majority of people, and, in any case, is not subject to our wishing. It is both futile and dangerous to try ta establish such a relationship or to try to introduce its characteristics into the ordinary direction situation. If such a relationship occurs the people involved will know it and they will have both the joy and the difficulty of learning to deal with it.

But it is not the subject of the present discussion. · A third type of spiritual direction, and the kind with which we are concerned here, is fraternal spiritual direction. This situation involves an adult relationship between two mature Christians, one of whom has a certain competence in regard to the spiritual !ife which hejshe is placing at the service of a brother or sister's growth in the !ife of faith. The relationship involves a difference in competence but no superiority or authority. The· real basis of the relationship is the fraternal friendship between two adult children of the same Father.

Consequently, on the directee's part the relationship entails openness and responsiveness but no abandonment of critical j udgment nor alienation of persona! responsibility. A jo1·tiori it must involve no infantilism or psychological regression. The guide is not a parent or su peri or surrogate but sim ply a friend and companion who possesses a certain competence in an area important to the directee. The latter may be, and probably

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is, more competent thau the guide in many other areas, for example, in the apostolate, in hisjher profession, etc., and this can be profitably borne in mi nd by both persans.

II. THE PERSON SEEKING SPIRITUAL DIRECTION ln one sense, namely the purely theoretical one, everyone should seek spiritual direction at !east at certain stages of the spiritnal !ife for the same reason that everyone should make a retreat from time to time. But in the far more important sense, namely the practical one, the only persan who should enter into spiritual direction is the persan who can profit from it. That means, in the concrete, the persan who feels the need of direction and who wants it enough to ask for assistance and accept the demands of the relationship.

A persan is likely to fee! the need of spiritual direction at "growing points" in the spiritual !ife. Such points, whatever may precipita te them ( e.g., simple hu man 'maturation, crises, changes in prayer, changes in li fe situation, etc.), in volve a certain felt need to integrate, or re-integrate, one's spiritual !ife at a new leve!. If the persan feels the n~d of assistance or companionship in undertaking this re-integration hejshe may weil seek the help of a spiritual companion or guide. This request for assistance in progressing in the spiritual !ife normally initiates the direction relationship.

Both the prospective guide and the directee must, dnring the first few encounters, make sorne kind of provisional judgment about the feasibility of the relationship and the chances that it will be productive. The guide is looking, first of ali, for a basic openness in the directee and a predominant concern with the real objective of spiritual direction. It is not only possible but likely that these two essential characteristics will be mixed, at the outset, with other Jess desirable components. Part of the skill of the experienced spiritual guide is the ability to distinguish between a directee with problems and a problem personality who is seeking, in the spiritual direction situation, what should be sought through psychological counseling or sorne other form of assistance.

Secondly, it goes without saying that a minimum of human compatibility between the two persans is essential for an effective relationship.

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III. THE SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR OR GUIDE Spiritual direction is a ministry and, like other ministries, ¡ it arises at the juncture behveen divine vocation and human response. The vocation to this particular ministry, as to others, is heard both in the needs of persons asking for this service and in the natnral aptitude and spiritual inclination which leads a person toward this ministry. If indiyiduals are asking this service of a particular person, that very asking is a fairly good indication to the person that he/she has the qualities that others desire in a spiritual guide. Consequently, even if the person has never considered this ministry it is perhaps time to do so. Often enough the cali to the m.inistry of spiritual direction cornes through institutional circumstances such as appointment to a position which leads almost inevitably to requests for assistance in the spiritual !ife.

The person who feels called to the pastoral ministry of spiritual direction by a persuasive combination of factors may very weil fee! completely inadequate to exercise such a rĂ´le.

Such a reaction is basica!ly very healthy for no one is really adequate to participate in the dialogue between God and the individual person. But this well-founded reaction should not induce apostolic paralysis. A serious response to this vocation, as to others, involves preparation for what is admittedly a difficult and delicate (although deeply rewarding) ministry. Once the initial preparation is assured, ongoing fmmation and growing experience will gradually produce a certain ministerial proficiency.

The requirements for effective ministry in the area of spiritual direction are determined by the final end of the process itself, namely, the spiritual maturity of the directee. Spiritual maturity is a fully-integrated !ife with God characterized by freedom, fidelity, and fruitfulness. Helping another grow taward such maturity requires a certain amount of knowledge. experience, and psychological-spiritual skill.

1. KNOWLEDGE

Christian spirituality is the experience of God that consista in participating in the revelation dynamic centered in Jesus of Nazareth.

Throughout the twenty centuries since that dv. .

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namic was initiated, participation in it has assumed an amazing variety of forms without losing its fundamental identity as the work of the Spirit realizing the filiation of Jesus in the hearta of his disciples. The good spiritual guide needs a basic knowledge of the history of spirituality in order to be able to recognize Luth the fundamental type of spirituality that a given directee represents and also its originality. Hejshe should also have sorne knowledge of systematic spiritual theology, that is. of the structure and function of the spiritual !ife. Thirdly, the prospective guide needs a sound preparation in modern biblical (especially New Testament) study in order to be able to guide the directee in the intensified participation in revelation that the direction situation involves. Finally, a basic knowledge of human psychology is necessary for understanding and dealing with the people one will be called to accompany.

Ministerial preparation programs are still notably deficient in the first two areas and the person who feels called to work in the field of spiritual direction will undoubtedly have to do sorne self-education, at !east by reading, and preferably also. by formai course work. Once the basic spade work in overall history and systematics is done the practicing director can ftesh out this skeleton by reading the great spiritual classics through which hejshe will come in contact with the most profound instances of Christian religions experience that have been recorded. The works of and about Francis of Assisi, Catherine of Siena, Catherine of Genoa, Julian of Norwich, the author of the Cloud of Unknowing, Ignatius of Loyola, John of the Cross, Teresa of A vila, Francis of Sales, Vincent de Paul, and Therese of Lisieux, among others, will supply an increasing knowledge of Christian spirituality and a certain vicarious experience of the inner dynamics of the spiritual !ife.

2. EXPERIENCE

Spiritual direction is a pastoral and, therefore, essentially practical ministry. Consequently, experience is at !east as important as theoretical knowledge. Experience in this field begins not by giving spiritual guidance but by receiving it (although a limited entrance into the ministry of spiritual direc' tion sometimes can begin fairly soon after the persan has entered into the experience him or herself). Seeking a spiritual

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guide and entering seriously into the process of spiritual direction may weil be the most difficult part of the preparation for the ministry of spiritual direction, especiall)• for those priests and religions whose only experience in this area has been an ineffectual or even traumatic component of seminary or novitiate formation. The prospective guide's willingness to enter into the experience is a good test of hisjher seriousness of purpose. If there is anything worse than a deatth of good spiritual guides it is surely the existence of dabblers in this area. Someone who has not had a relatively extended, productive experience of persona! spiritual direction is normally not qualified to exercise this ministry for others. One learns what spiritual direction is ali about by engaging in it, first as directee and eventually as guide.

Once a. pei-son has begun to serve others in the direction situation a dialectic is set up between theoretical knowledge obtained by reading and study, the experience of one's own growth in and through spiritual direction, and the ministerial .experience. The three elements become mutually enlightening and encouraging. As this dialectic develops the person becomes gradually "experienced" in the sense in which that term is used to speak of a person who is sure and sensitive, strong and gentle in dealing with others.

3. PSYCHOLOGICAL-SPIRITUAL SKILL

Fundamentally, the skill of the good spiritual guide consists in the ability to create and maintain a growth situation. The primary inner qualification of the guide is spiritual freedom which enables· himjher to be completely non-possessive and non-manipulative in the direction situation while ensuring a certain forward movement to the process as a whole. To try to move another according to one's own progt·am of "shoulds" is the occupational temptation of anyone working in the area of interpersonal guidance. Teachers and priests are perhaps more beset by this temptation than others because of the over-developed conviction of intellectual and moral "rightness" and of the duty to militantly commun ica te to others the true and the good which is often deeply engt·ained by religions, priestly, and professional formation. The inner freedom necessary to let another find and follow his or her own path under the guidance

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of the Spirit is the result of persona! growth in spiritual freedom. A certain maturity in this area is absolutely essential for an effective ministry in spiritual direction.

Given this primary inner qualification, the person working in spiritual direction will face the challenge of developing a certain skill in the one-to-one spiritual dialogue. The task is to crea te a growth atmosphere, that is, an interpersonal climate in which the directee becomes progressively free of fear, spiritually perceptive, generous, and able to assume responsibility and to take initiative in the spiritual life. To a large extent this skill is a psychological one and counseling techniques will be very helpful.

But it is also a spiritual skill which can only be acquired by refiective analysis of one's own experience of the interior !ife.

The effective spiritual guide must be a person of prayer, that is, a person whose own interior !ife is rich and developing.

The "fee!" for the spiritual movement in another's !ife cannot be taught. It has to be developed "from the inside out" so to speak.

From what has been said about the requirements in the spiritual guide, namely, knowledge, experience, and skill, it should be evident that the organizing principle is experience. Theoretical knowledge helps to illuminate one's own and others' experience. And skill is the ability to relate creatively one's own experience to someone else's. Consequently, the mo5t important component of preparation for the ministry of spiritual direction is to enter¡deeply into the experience of the interior !ife. It is precisely in the context of prayer and experienced spiritual direction that one becomes able to judge when and to what extent one is ready to exercise an active ministry in the field of spiritual direction.

IV. THE PROCESS OF SPIRITUAL DIRECTION The introductory nature of this article prohibits a lengthy discussion of the process of spiritual direction, that is, of what should go on in the direction dialogue, and how to make sure that it does. However, the recent bibliography on this topic is lengthening rapidly and can easily be consulted by the interested reader. Consequently, we will limit om¡selves to a brief indication of the content and object of the direction process.

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Basically, the direction dialogue consists in an open sharing between guide and directee on the fundamental activity of the interior !ife, namely, prayer, both as it is directly experienced by the directee and as it affects his/her daily !ife. The guide's primary effort is devoted to assisting the directee to objectify, appropriate, and then evaluate the experience by distinguishing between what is positive and to be encouraged and what is negative and to be discouraged. The director's contribution to this evaluation process (often called spiritual discernment) and to the formative effort includes listening, questioning, waiting, challenging, encouraging, and, in sorne cases, a certain amount of clarifying. In short, it· includes whatever can facilitate the directee's effort to objectify, evaluate, integrate, and orient hisjher !ife in the light of faith toward a more intense experi~ ence of and response to God in Jesus.

It is also the guide's task to read the signs in the situation in arder to jùdge whether the process ·as a whole is proceeding positively, that is, whether or not the persan is growing.

If prayer is becoming more contemplative, if formai prayer and the rest of !ife are being progressively integrated, if the persan is becoming intel"iorly more free, and if the person's faith commitment is deepening and finding expression in a more balanced, intense, and effective apostolic involvement, then the direction situation is achieving its objective.

It goes wit;hout saying that there is usually no straight-line development in the spiritual !ife. There will be set-backs, declines, eruptions, regressions, and any or ail of the· crises that characterize growth. The director's challenge is to continually evaluate the overall process and to distinguish between the negativities that are inherent to growth and a fundamentally negative situation. Again, only the experience of growing enables a persan to recognize growth in another and to foster it.

N evertheless, even the experiencecl guide can expect to make a certain number of more or Jess serions mistakes in dealing with others' spiritual experience. These mistakes will be Jess serions in proportion to the real freedom and self-determination that the guide has enabled the directee to achieve. Reading and consultation with experienced colleagues are important aids to ministerial growth in this area as they are in any other.

There are few types of ministry which involve the persan

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more deeply and persĂ&#x201D;nally than that of spiritual direction, but this involvement, with ali the real suffering it inevitably entails, is fruitful not only for the individual directee and for the Church whose health and fecundity are proportionate to the real holiness of he1¡ members, but also for the minister who will experience in and through this demanding service a particulal'ly effective challenge to persona! spiritual growth .

â&#x20AC;˘

Timothy K. Johnson, S.S.

A Select Bibliography on the Spirilual Life The autho1¡ lias cornbed the wh ole field of spirituality for the rnost valuable works in each major area of interest.

"The last ten years have seen many changes in the Church."

One area where that truism is most applicable is in the field of spiritual theology. Vatican II was calied to renew the Church. lt did this in many ways. The renewed popular interest in the spiritual !ife during the last five years is certainly an important fruit of the Council.

The increasing concern with our persona! and communal relationships with God has produced an enormous amount of literature. As with so many other areas, the active clergy have often found it difficult<to stay abreast of ali the developments in this field. The foliowing annotated bibliography is intended to offer sorne guidance in the area of spirituality which attracts an increasing number of Catholics of ali ages.

In an attempt to keep this bibliography as useful as poSsible, 1 have tried to cover the breadth of the field and to restrict the entries to the most valuable works in each area. For clarity and ease of reference, 1 have divided the bibliography into major areas of interest and reserved the complete bibliographical information for the end of the article. By the very nature of spirituality, however, these divisions must be seen as flexible. Any one book might weil fit into two or three of the categories. 1 have grouped them along the !ines of what 1 considered to be the main focus of each work. Finaliy, this bibliography encompasses the most recent works in spiritual theology.

By no means may this listing be considered exhaustive. My hope is that it might offer sorne guidelines to contemporary 136

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Iiterature in spirituality and that it will prove to be enough to whet your appetite.

PARTI: THEORETICAL SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY A. SCRIPTURAL SPIRITUALITY The source of the spiritual !ife is the Holy Spirit who leads us to union with the Father and the Son; and our primary text is God's Word in the !ife of the Christian community.

Therefore, the first and most highly recommended work in spiritual theology is the Scriptures themselves.

Explicit ref!ections on scripture in light of the Christian's desire to grow in the Lord are a key component of spirituality.

David Stanley, professor of New Testament Studies at Regis College, Willowdale, Ontario, has contributed two recent and worth wh ile works in this area. Boasting in the Lord: The Phenomenon of Prayer in Saint Paul is a study on the nature and place of prayer in the !ife of this great apostle. Paul was remarkably silent about his own interiot¡ !ife, but Stanley has assembled a composite picture of Paul's prayer by piecing together hints and fragments of ideas scattered through the letters. This is an informative and readable discussion of the way prayer operated in Paul's !ife. A Modern Seriptuml Approach to the Spiritual Exercises is a con crete example of one mann er in which the modem achievements of biblical scholarship may be used in conducting or making the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Many priests and other Christians throughout the States are finding a great deal of value in directed retreats based on Ignatius' Exercises. For anyone concerned with learning more about this renewed interest in the Exercises or about the use of Scripture in retreats, this book is very worthwhile. The substance of this book was given originally as an ordination retreat, so it also has much to offer for meditation on the priestly ministry.

One has come to expect excellent scholarship, lucid prose, and pastoral insight in the books of Ra;'!Ilond Brown. His books on Mary, the Resurrection, Peter, and the priesthood have offered readable and critical summaries of New Testament thought on these areas. ¡His latest book, Biblical Refiections On Crises Facing the Church, continues this tradition in a slightly

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more popular vein. This book gathers together five talks on catechetics, ordination of women, the papacy, the role of Mary, and modern scholat'Ship on Gospel Christology. The crises concerning these topics are central in our Christian existence today, and these scriptural reflections can weil direct our meditation on them.

Louis Cameli's Ministcrial Consciousness: A Biblica/,.Spiritual Study is an example of the important area of the scholarly study of scriptural spirituality. This book was originally written as a dissertation for the Institute of Spirituality of the Gregorian University. A technical study, this work is a masterful contribution in its area.

B. SYSTEMATIC SPIRITUALITY

Another element of spiritual theology is the systematic reflection on the experience of the Christian in relationship with God. The modern classic in this field is Louis Bouyer's IntroductĂšm to Spirituality. Bouyer, the famous historian from the Oratory, offers this book as "an initiation into the fundamental problems of every spiritual !ife and into the perennial princip les governing the solution of' these problems." He systematically treats the spiritual !ife in ali its phases and elements. I recommend this book to anyone who would like a readable one-volume compendium of spiritual theology.

As valuable companion pieces to Bouyer, I suggest the series of Concilium volumes on spirituality, John Dalrymple's Theology and Spirituality. and John Macquarrie's Paths in Spi1'ituality. The Conciliwn series which began in 1965 as an international review of theology in response to the Council, has consistently offered timely and rich articles on spirituality. In sum, the Concilium articles have amounted to a post..conciliar overview of spirituality. The authors have been weil chosen as representatives of the key scholars in spirituality today. The annual Concilium volume on spirituality has been a worthwhile tool for keeping abreast in this field. Dalrymple's slim volume is a very fine exposition of the relationship between theology and spirituality. In the three parts of this book, he deals with t¡evelation's effect on spirituality, the elements of spirituality as response to revelation, and finally how these elements develop in persona! spiritual growth. It is a weil written, concise sum-

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mary and highy recommendable for all as an introduction to spirituality. John l\facquarrie is a well-known, Anglican systematic theologian. In this book, he brings his great background from that field to bear on the subject ¡of spirituality. l\facquarrie discusses prayer, meditation, and worship in the light of recent theology. He takes account of the modem criticisms of these practices and then proceeds to give them a solid foundation for contemporary thought. This is a readable and helpful companion for those on the spiritual quest.

There are four other books which I offer in this section. They are all systematic, but their principles of organization represent the variety of this field. First, there is Christopher Mooney's Frayer: The Problem. of Dialogue with God. This book is the result of a 1968 Fordham symposium on prayer. The six articles compiled here center around the problem of communicating with Cod in our technological society. David Stanley's contribution on "Contemplation of the Gospels and the Contemporary Christian" is perhaps one of the best articles written on this subject. However, each of the articles is well worth consideration. The second book in this area is Jacques Guillet's The Consciousness of Jesus. This is a systematic study of the biblical and theological conception of Jesus' self-awareness. It requires precise, attentive reading, but its subject is so important for prayer today that it is well worth the time taken.

My final recommendations in this area are two works each organized around one theologian's insights: Karl Rahner's Opportunities for Faith: Elernents of a Modern Spirituality and Thomas Corbishley's Spirituality of Teilhard de Chardin.

This recent book by Rahner is a potpourri of essays and lectures from the years 1968-1970. Taken as a whole, they represent important Rahnerian thoughts on spirituality. 1t is profitable reading and much Jess difficult than many of Rahner's works. Corbishlev work from - focuees on Teilhard de Chardin's . the point of view of spirituality as Teilhard's primary concern.

This is a brief but valuable introduction to the spiritual con tri- ¡ bution of Teilhard's writings, among which The Divine Milieu merits special mention.

C. HISTORICAL-CLASSICAL SPIRITUALITY

Christian spirituality has been lived out through the cen-

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turies and the accrued wisdom of its practice has much to say to today's experience of it. Historie spirituality, however, must be evaluated in light of the whole complex of elements which operated within each era. There is, then, value both to general histories of spirituality for situating the broad developments of Christian experience and to particular studies for focusing on the individual Christian's experience of God. I divide this section into three p'arts: general histories, classical primary texts, and biographies.

The best modern general history of spirituality is the three volume History of Ch1-istian Spirituality by Bouyer, Leclerq, and Vandenbroucke. This work is encyclopedie in breadth and yet informed by the critical scholarship of the best historians of the spiritual tradition. For a precise overview of the Christian experience, this book is highly recommended. James Walsh's Spirituality through the Centuries takes a more limited view of history. Walsh's book focuses on ascetics and mystics in the Western Churcli. It is a sĂŠies of twenty-six essays written by varions historians on sorne of the major mystical figures of our tradition. For those interested in the development of mystical practice in the Church, this book is a must. Discernment of Spirits, edited and introduced by Edward Malatesta, is an example of an historie study of a given subject in spirituality. This book is a translation of the article on "discernment" which appeared in the definitive encyclopedia of spiritual theology, the Dictionnaire de SpiritualitĂŠ. The subject is timely and important, and the study is both scholarly and readable.

Besides general histories, we can learn much from the written journals, studies, and autobiographies. of our sain tl y predecessors in the faith. These works are justifiably called the "classics" of Chdstian spirituality. Sorne of the classics which seem to have the most to say to modern Christians are: the anonymous, fourteenth century, English mystic's Cloud of Unknowing; Theresa of Avila's The Way of Perfection and her .4 utobiography; the Collected Works of John of the Cross ; and the Introduction to the Devout Life by Francis de Sales. The modern editions on the market today provide readable translations and valuable notes for contextualizing these works and for aiding our appreciation of their key insights. Aelred Squire's Asking the Fathers is another example of this genre.

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This British Dominican has gathered the wealth of the Church Fathers' thoughts on the subjects of prayer and meditation. His presentation of the Fathers is an interesting study of a period of history and a subject which are most important.

Finally, critical biographies of the lives and practices of notable Christians offer a worthwhile entry-point for viewing the history of Christian spiritual experience. There are many of these works being produced today. I recommend Gavan Daws' Holy Man: Father Damien of Molokai, Joseph Whelan's The Spirituality of Friedm-ich von Huegel, and C. S. Lewis' autobiographical Surprised by Joy. Each of these makes for profitable reading.

D. PASTORAL SPIRITUALITY

In this section, I have grouped books which are concerned with the the01¡y of spirituality in terms of its concrete, lived experience today. These books draw heavily on the contemporary human sciences and look to renewal of the Christian understanding of the spiritual !ife.

Adrian van Kaam, the director of the Duquesne University Center for the Study of Spirituality, is weil known for his contributions in this field. His latest two books are a continuation of this !ife-long pursuit. ln Se0;rch of Spiritualldentity offers a provocative view of both the spiritual and psychological dimensions of our existence. Van Kaam sees Christian spirituality as a basic discipline that guides us in our search for our deepest selves. "It helps us to discover the fundamental unity between our faith and human life and emphasizes how grace unfolds and develops what is already thoroughly human in us."

This book is the result of van Kaam's many years of study and is perhaps his most systematic presentation of these concerns to date. SpĂš-ituality 0;nd the Gentle Life continues this same basic thrust into the particular area of the gentle !ife style. The book's thesis is that gentleness is the "facilitating condition and fruit of the Holy Spirit." Both books are well worth your ti me.

Another book in this same vein of psychological thought is Henri Nouwen's Re0;ching Out. Again, this author is wellknown for his practical and pastoral thoughts on Christian existence. In this, his latest book, Nouwen explores what he calls

....

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"the three movements of the spirituallife": reaching out to our innermost self-from loneliness to solitude; reaching out to our fellow human beings-from hostility to hospitality; reaching out to our God-from illusion to prayer. This book is rich with spiritual and psychological insight. I highly recommend it.

Rosemary Haughton cornes at this same subject from the point of view of the Transactional Analysis ("Games People Play") school of psychology. Rer book, The Liberated Heart: Transactional AnalysiB in Religions Experience, makes good sense and good reading.

Finally, I would suggest two books ·which deal with pastoral reftections on two different elements of spirituality. William McNamara, a Discalced Carmelite and founder of the Spiritual.

Life Institute, writes on the variety of communication with God in The Human Adventu1·e: C(mternplation for Evenjman.

He sees the nub of the act of contemplation as artlessness or naïvete. "There is no method or formai technique for realizing union with God." Prepa1·ing for Spiritual Direction by Jean Laplace is probably the most up to date and useful book on this important subject. It is aimed at anyone seeking more kriowledge of the practice of this work; and it makes most worthwhile reading.

PER!ODICALS AND COLLECTIONS

I gather these two elements of contemporary spiritual bibliography at this point because more than any other works they transcend the principle of division between theoretical and practical. I recommend three periodicals for keeping up to date both on the field of spiritual theology and on the bibliography of works in this field: The Spiritual Life, published by the Discalced Carmelites in Washington, D.C.; The Way and The Supplement to The Way, published in England; and the Review for Religious. Theseare excellent periodicals. For the diocesan priest, the Review for Religions might sound like the most foreign of the three. However, the bibliography and the "topical index" in this bi-monthly periodical are the largest and most comprehensive to be found. It is weil worth the investment simply for those two items.

In terms of collections, I note tln·ee aga in. In a very scholar-

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ly vein, there are the Cistercian Fathe1·s and the Cistercian Studies series. These two series seek to make available good English translations of the Cistercian Fathers and relevant studies in the area of monastic spirituality. Although they might be a bit too erudite for most, these series offer a great deal for the interested few.

A more popularly oriented collection is the Religious Expe1-ience Se1·ies under the general editorship of Edward Malatesta.

This is a new series of paperback volumes which deal with a variety of elements in Christian existence: contemplation, celibacy, imitation of Christ, and methods of prayer as examples.

This series seeks to make available English translations of contemporary works in spiritual theology. They are weil chosen topics and weil translated articles and books by important authors. These volumes are recommended to a wide ranging audience interested in continuing education in spirituality.

PART II: PRACTICAL SPIRITUAL THEO LOG Y A. "HOW-Tû'S"

Many books might be seen as guides in how to pray by the example of the author's prayers and meditations that they off er.

But the explicit manual on how to pray is a rare book. This is not a subject like popular mechanics that cau be easily shared.

It is rather an art which one learns from experience and careful attention to the rhythms of one's own relationship with God. Three books, however, stand out in this area. Ali three stem from roots in the East and ali are concerned with sharing Eastern insight with Western men. Perhaps the successful "how-to" book has to be restricted to such an effort. These three are certainly successful and weil worth reading.

Arch bishop Anthony Bloom's Beginning to Pmy is a remarkably practical, down to earth introduction to prayer. Bloom is a Russian emigré and Russian Orthodox Metropolitan of Western Europe with residence in England. This thin volume is rooted in Orthodoxy and full of wisdom concerning prayer. He begins with the experience of God's absence as the source of prayer and guides the beginner through the initial steps of learning how to pray. The Way of the Pilgrim is a fascinating Russian folk tale of one man's search for God and how he

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learned to pray. This book is an introduction to the increasingly popular "Jesus prayer"-a mantric recitation of "Jesus Lord, have mercy on me." It is one way to pray, and it is delightfully presented in this book. Jean-Marie Déchanet presents Yoga in Ten Lessons which does exactly what its title implies.

It is a handbook for step by step guidance to mastery of this technique. This Benedictine monk is an authority on the subject and his presentation is clear and straightforward.

B. Ams-"SPIRITUAL READING"

Often one hears the complaint, "What I really need for prayer is just sorne good book to get me started !" Yet, good books are sometimes hard to find and even harder to recommend. Spiritual reading depends very much on individual tastes. For sorne a magazine or newspaper can be the source of very fruitful meditation. For others a book of poetry is best.

For still others the genre of literature which bills itself as spiritual reading is the only way. In this section, I will deal with this last category only. Ali of these books are good, readable, and have been found useful by many. For annotation's sake, I will note sorne of the books in this section with sorne brief explanation of content. Let me repeat, however, that ali on the list have been found to be good. sources of spil"Ïtual readinggood aids in fostering growth in our experience of God. Dom Helder Camara's The Desert is Fertile is a group of reflections and prayers on the ministry by the famous Brazilian archbishop. James Carroll has written a number of books of poetry and reflection. Tender of Wishes was his ïirst book and· its provocative them es and expressions still re tain the ir ability to evoke prayer and meditation. A Terrible Beanty is a book about conversions in prayer, poli tics, and imagination. Edward Carter's The Spirit is P1·esent is a book on "them es of Christian spirituality." Carlo Carretto is one of the Little Brothers of Charles de Foucauld. His two volumes, The Gorl who Gomes and Letters from the Desert, have become very popular in the last two years. They are companion volumes and explore the challenges of the cali to love, silence, poverty, and faith. Rene Voillaume, another Brother of Charles de Foucauld and wellknown for his previous books, offers Faith and Contemplation.

He ad dresses this latest book "to th ose Christians who want t<>

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rethink their vocation as sons of God and in relation to the needs of men in our world today."

Edward Farrell is spiritual director of Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit and a widely known retreat master. His three books are gems of spiritual insight: Pray er is a Hunger, Disciples and Other Strangers, and Surprised by the Spirit. His reflections on prayer and the place of silence and solitude in responding to the Spirit are challenging. These are avowedly meditation books and rich orres at that. In terrns of meditation books, Dag Hammarskjold's Markings and Thomas Merton's Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander are still most valuable sources for prayer and reflection. Merton's posthumous Asian Journal is also a must for people who have been inspired by his writings over the last thirty years. And for the confirmed Merton-phile, Brother Patrick Har's Thomas Me.rton(Monk: A Monastic Tribute is a necessity. This book, edited by Merton's long time secretary, is a collection of articles and poems written by monks and nuns most of whom knew him personally.

I want to cali attention to two last books in this area jus~ so that they are not !ost in the maze of ali these words. Malcolm Muggeridge's Some.thing Beauti{ul for God is the story of filming an interview for the BEC with Mother Theresa of India. The British commentator's persona! response to Mother Theresa and her own words themselves reveal sorne of the Spirit-filled power of this woman of the Church. Catherine de Hueck Doherty's Poustinia: Christian Spirituality of the East for Western Man is also weil worth your time. The lady is a Russian emigrĂŠ and founder of the Madon na House. Poustinia is Russian for a desert, a forsaken, arid place with little vegetation. The book is about the need for solitude as a condition for prayer and sh9ws how even in the marketplace the heart itself can be a poustinia.

C. SP!I!ITUALITY FOR SPECIAL GROUPS

In an age of specialization, everyone has to have his own thing. This section is a brief introduction to sorne of the major areas of group spirituality and sorne of the key works in each.

CHARISMATICS: Much has been written on this subject of late. It is important to be aware of the dynamics involved in this active group of Christians responding to the Spirit. Car-

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dina! Suenen's book, A New Pentecost, and the Malines statement are both weil balanced analyses of this phenomenon in the Church. John Haukhey's The Conspiracy of God: The Holy Spi.rit in Men is an examina ti on of the various ways the Holy Spirit has manifested Himself in the Christian community from the time of Christ to the present. Francis MacNutt's .Healini; is a most informative work on a subject which is coming into ever greater prominence. It is the work of a Dominican who has long been in vol ved with this phenomenon, and it is a very persuasive book on one more sign of the Spirit's presence in the world.

HO USES OF PRA YER: Bernard Haring's Pmyer: The Integration of Faith and Life is a very fine introduction into the nature of houses of prayer, how they function, and what they offer. Even more, Hiiring's book shows the fruit of these ho uses in .its· plea for prayerful integration of Christian living.

LAITY: Michael McCauley edited a collection of essays by leading Catholics on their own spirituality entitled On the Run: Spi·rituality for the Seventies. Though perhaps limited to a spirituality for only leading Catholics, it does offer sorne good ideas for al! of us growing in the Lord, Eugene Kennedy, the well-known author, has a new book called The Heart of Loving.

It is a cogently written, beautifully illustrated book. Though not limited to married couples, it can be most helpful reading fm· them. New Comnwnities for Chris tians by Francis Drolet is a book about that form of spirituality called Christian Life Commimities which represent the post-Conciliar renewal of the Sodalities of Blessed Virgin Mary.

MINISTERS: For those not aware of them, Henri Nouwen's Creative Minist1-y and Wounded Healer are excellent books on ministerial spirituality, The USCC's Spiritual Rene?Va/ of the American Priesthood is a fine call for renewal and a useful chatt for directing the change in American priestly spirituality.

Finally, there is a new book which treats an old but crucial subject and does it weil. This is Donald Goergen's The Sexual CeliIJate. He addresses the question of "how do we understand celibacy in the context of the theology of the sexual !ife and in what does the sexual !ife of the celibate consist?" From both a theoretical and pastoral viewpoint, he enters the world of both the sexual and the spiritual !ife of the celibate. It is a major con-

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tribution and challenge to priestly spiritual growth. Sorne have seen ambiguity in his pastoral advice, but with careful, attentive reading the value of his argument is clear. I recommend it.

This bibliography is brief, and these annotations are the same. There is a great deal that has been and is continuing to be written on our !ife in the Holy Spirit. I hope that these few works may be read and may 'be seen as only a beginning and a sign of our growth.

PARTI: THEORETICAL SPIRITUAL THEO LOG Y A.

SCRIPTURAL SP!RITUALITY

Brown, Raymond. Biblical Rejlections on Crises Facing the Church. New York: Paulist Press, 1975.

Cameli, Louis. Ministerial Consciàu.sness: A Biblical--Spiritual Sturly. Rome: Analecta Gregoi·iana, 1975.

Stanley, David. Boasting in the Lord: The Phenomenon of Pmyer in Saint Panl. New York: Pau list Press, 1973.

-.,----, A Modem Scriptural Approach to the Spiritual Exercises. St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Resources, 1971.

B. SYSTEMATIC SPIRITUALITY Bouyer, Louis. Int·roduction to Spirituality. Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1961.

Corbishley, Thomas. The Spirituality of Teilhard de Chardin.

New York: Pau list Press, 1973.

Dalrymple, John. Theowgy and Spi1·ituality. Notre Dame: Fides (Theology Today Series #18), 1970.

Duquoc, Christian (ed.). Concilimn volumes: 9, 19, 29, 39, 49, 59, 69, 79, 89, (and vol. 96).

Guillet, Jacques. The Consciousness of Jesz~•. New York: Newman, 1972.

1\Iacquanie, John. Paths in Spi-1~tuality. New York: Harper and Row, 1972. ~fooney, Christopher. Pmyer: The Problem of Dialogue with Cod. New. York: Paulist Press, 1969.

Rahner, Karl. 0]Jportunities for Faith: Elements of a Modern Spirituality. New York: The Seabury Press, 1975.

Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. The Divine Milieu. New York: Harper and Row, 1960.

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CHICAGO STUDIES C. HISTORICAL-CLASSICAL SPIRITUALITY

Anonymous. The ClmuJ. of Unknowing. Garden City, NY: Image-Doubleday, 1973.

Bouyer, Louis, et. al. A HistOr'lJ of Christian Spirituality (3 volumes). London: Burns and Oates, 1968.

Daws, Gavan. Holy Man: Father Damien of lvlolokai. New York: Harper and Row, 1973.

Fedotov, G. P. The Rw;sian Religiow; Mind. New York: Harper and Row Torchbooks.

John of the Cross. Collected Works. Washington, D.C.: Institute of Carmelite Studies Publications, 1964.

Lewis, C.S. Surprised by Joy. New York: Harcourt, Brace, J ovanovich, 1973.

Malatesta, Edward (ed.). Discernment of Spirits. Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1970.

Francis de Sales. Introduction to the Devout Life. Garden City, New York: Image-Doubleday, 1972.

Squire, Aelred. Asking the Fathers. New York: MorehouseBarlow, 1973.

Theresa of Avila. Autobiography. (trans by E. A. Peers) Garden City, New York: lmage-Doubleday, 1960.

- - - . The Way of Perfection. (trans by E. A. Peers) Garden City, New York: Image-Doubleday, 1964.

Walsh, James. Spirituality through the Centuries. New York: Kenedy. , Wh elan, Jose ph. The Spirituality of Friederich von Huegel.

New York : Newman Press, 1972.

D. PASTORAL SPIRITUALITY

Haughton, Rosemary. The Liberated Heurt: TransactionalAnalysis in Religious Experience. New York: The Seabury, 1974.

Laplace, Jean. Preparing for Spiritual Dü·ection. Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1975.

McNamara, William. The Human Adventure: ContemjJlation for Everyman. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1974.

Nouwen, Henri. Reaching Out. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1975.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Van Kaam, Adrian. In Seanh of S71iritua/ Jdentity. Danville, N J: Dimension Books, 1975.

- - - . Spi1·itualüy and the Gentle Life. Dan ville, NJ: Dimension Books, 1974.

PERIODICALS

Review for Religions. Bi-monthly. Subscription: PO Box 6070; Duluth, llfinn. 55802. ,';piritnal Life. Quarterly. 2131 Lincoln Rd. NE; Wash. DC 20002.

The Way. Quarterly. 39 Fitzjohn's Ave.; London NW3 5JT. England.

COLLECTIONS

Ciste1·cian Fatl1C1'S anrl Ciste,·ci<m Studies. Spencer, Mass.

Cistercian Publications.

The Religions ExJlerience Series. E. Malatesta (ed.). St. Meinrarl, Indiana: The Abbey Press. Ten volumes to date.

PART Il: PRACTICAL SPIRlTUAL THEO LOG Y A.

1

'How-To's"

Anonymous. The Way of the Pilg1·im. New York: Seabury Press, 1972.

Bloom, Anthony. Beginning ta Pray. New York: Pau list Press, 1970.

Dechanet, J-IlL Yoga in Ten Lessons. New York: Cornerstone, 1971.

B. AIDS-"SPIRITUAL READING" Abhishiktananda (H. le Saux, OSB). Prnyer. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1973. van Breemen, Peter. As Bread th at i., Broken. Den ville, NJ: Dimension Books, 1974.

Camara, Dom Helder. The De.•ert is Fertile. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1974. .

Carroll, James. Tender of Wi.,hes. New York: Pau list Press, 1969.

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- - - . A Tarible Eeauty. New York: Newman Press, 1973.

Carter, Edward. The Spirit· i.e P1·esent. Canfield, Ohio: Alba House, 1973.

Carretto, Carlo. The God. who Gomes. Mary knoll, NY: Orbis, 1974.

- - - . Letters from the Desert. Mary knoll, NY: Orbis, 1972.

Doherty, Catherine de Hueck. Poustinia. Notre Dame: Ave Maria, 1975.

Farrell, Edward. Prayer is a H1mger. Den ville, NJ: Dimension, 1972.

- - - . Swvrised l1y the Spù·it. Den ville, N J: Dimension, 1973.

- - - . Disciples and Other St·mngen. Den ville, NJ: Dimension, 1974.

- - - . The Fathe,· is Very Fmu/. of Me. Denville, NJ: Dimension, 1975.

Gibbard, Mark. Apwentiee.e in Lo,e. New York: 1\forehouseBadow, 1974.

Hammarskjokl, Dag. MarkinrJs. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, ] 964.

Hart, Patrick (ed.). Thomas MertonjMonk: A Monfliltic Tt·ibnte. New York: Sheed and 'Nard, 1974.

Maloney, George. Listen, Prophets! Den ville, NJ: Dimension, 1975.

Merton, Thomas. Coniectw·es of a Guilty Bystande1·. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1966.

- - - . The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton. New Directions, 1973.

Muggeridge, Malcolm. Something Beautiful for God. New York: Harper and Row, 1971.

1\futo, Susan. Ap1·oaching the Sacred: An Introduction to Spiritual Reading. Den ville, N.J: Dimension Books, 1973.

Voillaume, Rene. Faith and. Contemplation. Denville, NJ: Dimension Books, 197 4.

C.

SPIRITUALITY FOR SPECIAL GROUPS CHARISMATICS

Haughey, John C. The Conspiracy of God: The Holy Spi1it in Men. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1973.

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151

Ma eN utl, Francis. Il ca.lin!J. N ulre Dame: A vc Maria Press, 1974.

Suenens, Leon. A New Pentecost. New York: Seabury-Crossroads, 1975.

Theological and Pa-'toral Orientatio>~• on the Catholic Chm·ismatic Renewal ("Malines Statement"). Notre Dame, Communications Center, 1974.

HOUSES OF FRAYER

Haring, Bernard. Prayer: The lntegrntion of Faith and Life.

LAITY

Drolet, Francis. New CommnniUes for Chris tians. New York: Alba House, 1972.

Kennedy, Eugene. The Her~;~·t of Loving. Ni les, Illinois: Argus Communications, 1973.

McCauley, Michael ( ed.). On the Rnn: Spiritnality for the Seventies. Chicago: Thomas More, 1974.

MINISTRIES

Goergen, Donald. The Sexnal Ce/.ibate. New York: Seabury, 1974.

Lm·kin, E. and G. Broccolo (erl.s). SpiTitual Renewal of the American Priest./wod. Washington, DC: USCC, 1973.

Nouwen, Henri. Creative Mini.stry. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971.

- - - . The Wonnded Hea/er. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1972.

AUTHORS IN THIS ISSUE Archbishop Joseph L. Bernardin is the Archbishop of Cincinnati and President of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Louis John Cameli, an assistant prof essor in Ascetical Theology at St. Mar:fof the Lake Seminary, Mundelein, Illinois, he received his S.T.D., with a specialization in spirituality, from the Gregorian University's Institute of Spirituality in 1974.

Agnes Cunningham, sscm, S.T.D., is Chairman of the History Department and a professer of Patristic Theology at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, Mundelein, Illinois. She has given retreats to bath active and contemplative religions women in the United States, Canada and France.

Gervais Dumeige, S.J., was president of the Institute of Spirituality at the Gregorian University from 1959 to 1975 and has lecturerl on the history of Spirituality. Editor of a collection : H istory of the Oecumenical Councils, he has published severa! articles on Ignatian Spirituality and on Apostolic Life.

Robert Faricy, S.J., S.T.D., is professer of Spiritual Theology, Gregorian University, Rome. He is author of Tielhard de Chardin's Theology of the Christian in the World; An Invitation to Build God's WorÚ/,; and Spirituality for Religious Life. He has published articles in Theological Studies, A me'l'ican Ecclesiastical Revie¡w, Horniletic and PMtora.l Revie?V, Chicago Studies, etc . .Tarnes J. Gill, S.J., is an associate psychologist at Harvard University Health Services and an Associate Clinicat Professer at Stritch School of Medicine (Loyola University of Chicago).

Timothy K. Johnson, S.S. is a doctoral candidate in the Institute of Spirituality, Gregorian University, Rome. He is a priest of the Diocese of Oakland and member of the Society of Saint Sulpice.

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Harry C. Koenig, S.T.D., is director of the Cardinal Stritch Retreat House, Mundelein, Ill., and liaison with charismatic prayer groups for the Archdiocese of Chicago.

William C. McCready, Ph.D., assistant Professor of Sociology at Loyola University (Chicago), is Senior Study Director of the National Opinion Research Center and a member of the Study of American Pluralism.

Edward Malatesta, S.J., S.T.D., S.S.D. teaches Scripture in the Institute of Spirituality at Gregorian University. He is general editor of The Religimu; Experience Serns and engages in retreat work for priests, seminarians, and religious.

Sandra M. Schneiders, i.h.m., S.T.D. (Gregorian University) teaches New Testament and Spirituality in the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, Califomia. She is a faculty member of the Institute of Spirituality and Worship, Jesuit School of Theology.