Friday, July 6, 2007

Fascinating question.

Fr. Schall, SJ, wrote a thought-provoking article for June 2007 Homiletics and Pastoral Review: "The culture of modernity and Catholicism."

Lofty name, I know, but BE NOT AFRAID: the periodical is quite brilliant. If any of y'all find your Sunday homilies lacking in, er, inspiration, it includes a homily for every major feast day and Sunday each month as well as articles like this. They're worth checking out on the web.

Schall's article opens with a quote from Pascal (hearts) and this:

“According to the modern project, philosophy or science was no longer to be understood as essentially contemplative and proud but as active and charitable; it was to be in the service of the relief of man’s estate; it was to be cultivated for the same of human power; it was to enable man to become master and owner of nature through the intellectual conquest of nature.”

– Leo Strauss, The City and Man, 1964.

This quote illustrates the point I've been making about the modern project vs. the Aristotelian/Catholic understanding of philosophy and its role in politics.

And the article is quite provocative. Did the Catholic Church during Vatican II fail to address the fundamentals of modern thought? What would it mean for Catholics truly to take on or evangelize modernity's specific culture? What is the culture of modernity? Is it compatible with Catholicisim?

(Ah-ha! Rock on philosophers, rock on.)

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