A saint's prescription

WHAT attitude should we develop, what preparation should we take in the face of developments that are constantly growing and ceaselessly multiplying?

To be more specific, what should a child of God, a member of the Catholic Church, a Christian believer do to maintain his Christian identity in the face of the dizzying pace of events and developments around him?

The question came to mind as I read in St. Josemaria Escriva's book, The Way, the following point:

"Formerly, since human knowledge -- science -- was very limited, it seemed quite feasible for a single learned individual to undertake the defense and vindication of our holy Faith.

"Today, with the extension and the intensity of modern science, the apologists have to divide the work among themselves, if they want to defend the Church scientifically in all fields.

"You… cannot shirk this responsibility." (338)

I believe this is a point that needs to be considered by us. Not only is it urgent. It also involves -- even demands -- a complicated and extensive response from us.

It cannot be denied that with the accelerated rhythm of changes and innovations, we often find ourselves confused, harassed, lost. This is when we can tend to loosen our grip of the Christian faith.

From here, we can even lose our faith completely, or at least get into some compromising situations that often lead to immoral behavior, marked by deceit, uncontrolled love of pleasure, attachment to earthly things, etc.

From here, our capacity to think properly is undermined, since the absolute and ultimate values are forgotten and are replaced by the transitory but more exciting relative values.

In other words, our thoughts would be blocked from considering the eternal truths. They would just get entangled with merely temporal matters.

This, of course, can only mean trouble for us, as it detaches and separates us from the ultimate dimensions proper to our being, and confines us to a limited view of the reality that governs us.

That's why, we sometimes see people who, having lost their faith, claim that faith and religion are obsolete, and that we are now simply on our own, making our own world completely at out own designs. This is scary!

St. Josemaria also offers some ideas with respect to this concern. In his other book, The Furrow, he said:

"Since you want to acquire a Catholic or universal mentality, here are some characteristics you should aim at:

o "A breadth of vision and a deepening insight into the things that remain alive and unchanged in Catholic orthodoxy;
o "A proper and healthy desire, which should never be frivolous, to present anew the standard teachings of traditional thought in philosophy and the interpretation of history;
o "A careful awareness of trends in science and contemporary thought;
o"And a positive and open attitude towards the current changes in society and in ways of living." (428)

I believe these ideas are most relevant today to guide us in our increasingly tricky life. They encourage us to strike a healthy balance between openness and prudence, between old and new, between the eternal and temporal.

Yes, we should not be afraid of new things. In fact, we should embrace and enjoy them.

But there has to be a clear guide as to how to do all these things, since we are not born yesterday and we know that not all things new are good or even convenient.

A consequence of this attitude would be to develop an interdisciplinary approach to studying and tackling issues and problems.

While it is true that we should pursue our field of specialization, we should also try to develop a wider and integrated perspective of things.

I think this is the challenge facing all of us today, especially Christian believers who have to learn how to retain our identity and our dignity in the face of the explosion of things happening in different aspects of our life.