Go Tell What You Have Seen and Heard

 

Presented to :
Women For Faith and Family Meeting
October 24-26, 1997
St. Louis, Missouri



I am deeply honored and happy to have been asked to deliver the Keynote Address at this meeting of the Women For Faith and Family. The work that this organization has accomplished, and continues to accomplish, is in itself, a glowing and eloquent tribute to what Catholic lay people can accomplish with conviction, determination, faith, truth, and love. I want to commend the organizers of this gathering for the excellent work that they have done in arranging for our being together here this evening. I especially want to extend a particular word of thanks to my dear friend and personal hero, Archbishop Justin Rigali, for his graciousness in allowing me to speak here in his Archdiocese, as well as for the wonderful hospitality that he always shows to me when I come to St. Louis.

In theological literature, even today, and certainly in times past, the word for a "Creed" was "Symbol." This word "Symbol," when used as a synonym for "Creed" does not mean a sign of something, but, rather, it comes from the Greek word "Symbolon" which means two things joined together. In ancient times, when people signed or agreed to an on-going contract or treaty, a precious object, such as a ring or a gold coin, was often cut in half on that occasion, and then half was ceremoniously given to each party to the contract. From time-to-time, when the parties would meet, it was a ritual gesture for them to put the two parts of the precious objects together to show that they still were in agreement with the continuation of their contractual arrangements.

The Creeds of the Catholic Church were meant, then, to be the joining together of two things, namely, in Latin, the traditio and the reditio, which means, of course, the handing over and the handing back.

The Creed, as a handing over and a giving back, seems to have had this quality from the very inception of our Religion. In St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians, 11:23, he said, "I handed on to you what I have received from the Lord."

This traditio and reditio were evidently an inherent part of all creedal affirmations, and this is basically what I would like to speak to you about this evening. Namely, that our Christian life is, in a certain sense, a traditio and a reditio. It means that we receive something and then we are expected to give it back. Once, in an informal setting, I remember hearing Pope Paul VI say quite casually that the Catholic Church must be intrinsically conservative in the sense that it is the duty of the Church to conserve undiluted, unmutilated, and undistorted the Gospel, that is to say, the Good News of Christ, His message, as it comes down through the centuries in tact, unsullied, and unpolluted. This is what has been handed on to us. Now, it is a part of our obligation, as clear from the New Testament, not to bury what we have received in the ground, but, rather, to hand it on to others, to make the talent show a return on the investment that God has made in giving it over to us. When we recite the "Nicene-Constantinople Creed" at Mass each Sunday, this is in effect, bringing forth our half of the gold ring or the gold coin, and matching it up to that other half which is in the possession of Christ and His Bride and Body, the Church.

This is our re-constituting, re-affirming, and re-establishing once more the ongoing contract, the everlasting and new covenant that we have entered into as Catholics through Baptism and Confirmation with our Divine Lord. Reciting the "Creed," then, each Sunday should bring to mind that for each of those phrases, and each of those words and sentences that we so casually enunciate, there have been countless martyrs who have given their all to assert the truth of that which is now in our possession, and which is given over to us so that we might not only preserve it in tact, but pass it on now and into the future.

As you may know, the City of Rome, as several other cities of antiquity, is surrounded by catacombs, the burial places of the early Christian community. One of the most fascinating of the Roman catacombs is that of St. Callixtus, which is located on the Via Appia, not far from the famous Quo Vadis Chapel. In the catacomb of St. Callixtus, there are many important areas that are worth exploring and learning about. Two of these areas are the tomb of St. Cecilia, and the Chapel of the Popes.

It is, perhaps, best there in the dark subterranean passages of the catacombs of St. Callixtus, that one can appreciate standing before that Sepulchre that once held the body of St. Cecilia, as well as that chapel which contained the earthly remains of twenty predecessors of Pope John Paul II, successors of the Galilean fisherman, the meaning and price of traditional reditio.

These twenty Popes who were martyred, St. Cecilia, as well as the other martyrs, contained not only in the catacombs of St. Callixtus, but throughout the world, then and into the 20th Century, constitute growing examples of the Christian obligation, once there has been a traditio, to provide to God, and, indeed, to God's world, a reditio even at the cost of one's life.

The word "martyr," we know, means, in Greek, "witness," and this duty to witness is, of course, an inherent constituent of one's very Christianity. Jesus (Acts 1:8) bestowed the function, as well as the name of witnesses, on His early Church, and this function and name has come down to us. What we have received in the traditio, it is our duty now to pass on. We are to be witnesses to Him and to that which He has spoken to us.

Not only is Jesus the exhaustive, final and definitive Word of God, the love and mercy and forgiveness of God made visible among us, but He also in that ontological fact is the Bearer of a message, comprehensible and coherent to which all Christians must not only adhere, but which they are obliged to pass on to others.

Just as the Disciples of John the Baptist who queried Jesus were required to go and relate to John what they had seen and heard, just as the holy women who first encountered the empty tomb, were instructed by the angel to deliver a message to Peter and his Disciples, and just as the entire Church was instructed by Jesus, on the occasion of His Ascension, to go out into the whole world and preach the Good News, so, even today, the twin aspects of Christianity, traditio and reditio, are confided to us as our very serious and important responsibility.

It is clear, then, that we are summoned to go and tell, that is to say, we are summoned to be witnesses, perhaps not in a bloody way, although that cannot be excluded, nevertheless, we are called upon to be in the very word witness, also, martyrs.

There are several characteristics that should distinguish a witness, and the first of these, of course, is truthfulness. Implicit in the very act of witnessing, is the obligation and duty to relate precisely what has been experienced, that is to say, seen, felt, heard, and here comes the first rub in regard to what I have said very clearly is our obligation. We must, of course, constantly distinguish the actual facts of truth from distortions, and, most of all, from personal opinions, purging as much as possible, the biases and prejudices that come from our own subjective outlook. We know that when we pour water into a pitcher, the water assumes the shape of the pitcher to the extent, also, that we are each individually the products of our own up-bringing and our own past experiences, we give to that which is to the truth which is filtered through our personality a certain kind of configuration. It is important, then, if we are to be witnesses and martyrs, that this personality of ours acquires to the greatest extent possible the personality of our Divine Savior. Pure and perfect objectivity is never attainable in this world because we are by the nature of our being, creatures in whom the subjective and the objective conpenetrate and interpenetrate.

If we are to be faithful in the reditio, therefore, we must be as careful as possible in receiving, that is in the traditio that which is passed on to us, and rather than allow that to be changed or in any way distorted by our own lives or personalities to, rather, make our own lives and personalities change in conformity with what is passed on to us.

Oftentimes, we are far more self-centered and use ourselves as the standard for all our measurements, forgetting that there is an objective truth, just as there is an absolute and objective standard of morality to which we must conform ourselves, rather than the other way around. This kind of subjectivism, particularly that subjectivism which mistakes, in a large measure, the place of conscience in the balance of moral judgement, seems to have extended itself over a large portion of our present day culture.

One time, a group of American tourists were exiting from the Vatican museum, and a very brash lady announced, in a very loud voice, that she saw nothing worthwhile in that place, and did not understand why their tour guide would insist upon taking them through that museum, whereupon one of the Italian guards at the door, speaking in Italian to another, said, "What a foolish lady. She thought that she was judging the works of art in the museum, but they were judging her." The remarks of that Italian guard, are, of course, quite appropriate. We might think sometimes that we are judging the traditio, that is to say, God's Word, passed on to us, but it is really that Word which is standing in judgement against us.

It is this Word of God to which we must constantly bear witness, and which we must, with all the strength of character that we can muster, set forth in the eloquence of our own lives, and in the eloquence of our very words. This duty of evangelization, of course, is not one that falls only to Bishops, priests, and religious, but that is borne in a very heavy measure by the entirety of the Church's membership.

In recent times, of course, we have not only the benefit of some excellent translations of Sacred Scripture into our own language, enabling us to penetrate ever more deeply into the beauty, the integrity and the splendor of God's Word as set forth in those revealed documents, but we also have, particularly from the Holy See, a precious and growing treasure of documents enabling us to bear witness with the greater sense of ease than even our fellow Catholics could in years past. We have, for instance, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which, in itself, calls us to the duty of witnessing, as well as providing us with a most important tool and instrument by which this witnessing can be accomplished. We have also a marvelous supply of pontifical documents from the mind and pen of our Holy Father. One can immediately call to mind, for example, the "Gospel of Life" and the "Splendor of Truth," two encyclicals that are fine specifications and applications of God's Word to contemporary human and moral situations.

The cynical question of Pilate, "What is truth?" is, of course, filled with irony in the context in which it was asked because standing before Pilate was the One Who announced Himself to be Incarnate Truth. Jesus said, "I Am The Truth." Not only did He tell the truth, but in his Divine Person, in His human nature, he was, and is truth itself. Bearing witness to the truth, which He announced was the purpose for His coming into the world, gave us an example, and a mission, and supported by His grace, we, too, as His followers, those who bear the name Christian, must see our purpose in life as bearing witness to the truth.

In one of his wars, it is said that Alexander the Great came upon a soldier cowering behind the lines, trembling in fear and terror. Because he judged him to be a coward, the great conquering King of Macedonia walked up to the man and said, "What is your name, sir?" and he replied, in atrembling voice, "Alexander." "That is my name," said the King, and "now you must either change your name or change your conduct." We are given the name "Christian." We are given the name "Catholic," and these names we bear justly only if we make our own the very purpose of the Incarnation itself, which is to say, Jesus came into the world to bear witness to the truth, and so we, too, must be witnesses to the truth and, thus, truthful witnesses.

The second characteristic of a witness, of course, is that he or she must be courageous. Valor and fortitude are an important part of witnessing. If sloth and folly may prevent us from bearing witness as we ought, that is to say, we are, in the words of Jesus, "Standing about all day idle," so we could also be prevented from carrying out the reditio aspect of our Christian obligations by a strong sense of cowardice. Brash, or foolhardy behavior, of course, is not what is called for in a witness, nor are bombastic or flamboyant activities or statements which call attention to oneself rather than to one's message. At the same time, there are those who would use caution and prudence, which are correct values, as excuses for masking their own fearfulness in courageously standing forth as one who gives to others that which he has received from the Lord.

In this regard, let us return very briefly in our imagination once again to the catacomb of St. Callixtus, and there descending the stairways into the underground gloom, find the tomb of St. Cecilia. Her body was taken from the tomb in the year 821 by Pope Pascal I, and placed in the Basilica in Trastevre in Rome that had previously been the site of her home. When in 1599 the sarcophagus containing her body was opened, the witnesses to the opening were astonished to see her body incorrupt, and her partially severed head still generally attached to the body. It was by beheading that she suffered martyrdom. What was more astonishing that that, however, was the fact that her hands were arranged in such a way that one had the forefinger pointing while the other had the threefingers pointing, indicating her trinitarian belief in one God and Three Persons, and so, she bore witness even in her dying gesture to her belief in that which was given over to her. Her reditio was an eloquent and integral presentation even in her death of the traditio that which she had received.

In the Chapel of the Popes, there is a very beautiful poem carved into the wall. Pope Saint Damasus, who was the Pope at the end of the 4th Century, wrote, "Know that here lies united an Army of saints. These venerable tombs enclose their bodies while the Kingdom of Heaven has already welcomed their souls...here lie the brotherhood of Popes who have guarded the Altar of Christ...here are young men and children, the elderly and their chaste offspring who died desiring to conserve their virginity..." The accounts of the martyrs and their sufferings for Christ, as well as their tombs, are most moving to those of us who now live, and who are summoned to bear witness with the same kind of courage and fortitude that enabled these holy men and women to carry out their duty of reditio because of the privilege they had of receiving from the Lord, that is to say, the traditio.

Among the errors which Pope John Paul II points out in his encyclical Faith and Reason is a type of relativism called historicism. This is the denial of the enduring validity of truth. Historicists claim what is true in one period may not be true in another. Thus, in the words of the Pope, "For them, the history of thought becomes little more than and archeological resource, useful for illustrating positions once held, but for the most part outmoded and meaningless now." It is said that recent surveys show theoverwhelming majority, in the vicinity of 90% of American high school students, do not see anything intrinsically wrong with lying or cheating on examinations, and only feel that it is wrong if one gets caught. Implicit, of course, in such an attitude are that there are no ultimate sanctions, and that if one can "get away with it," that is all that counts in the whole field of morality. Obviously, it is simply not the morality of justice or truth, but every aspect of morality that is touched by such an attitude. It may have been wrong in the past to lie and cheat, but, according to American high school students, it is now perfectly legitimate to do so as long as you do not get caught.

Another error which our Holy Father points out in his encyclical that derives, as does relativism and historicism, from a denial of the link between truth and freedom, is the error of scientism. In our time there are undeniable triumphs of scientific research and contemporary technology. Our ancestors who lived at the turn of the last century would be flabbergasted and utterly dumbfounded to see what we are doing here at the close of this century. Unheard of and astounding feats of science and technology are falling upon us every day, and we are profiting from so much of what is accomplished in those fields. At the same time, there is no intrinsic contradiction between faith and science, between religion and reason. But, there are those in the field of science who fall into the philosophical error of scientism, maintaining that if something is technically possible, it is, therefore, morally admissible. Those who follow the false teaching of scientism would maintain, in certain kind of materialistic way, that ultimate questions about the meaning of human life and about the destiny of humanity are not really in the purview of the human mind to grasp.

The Pope also warns, in his encyclical, about the error of pragmatism. For us Americans, this is an especially dangerous cultural inclination. Pragmatism, too, divorces truth and freedom, and as a result, it makes all our judgments exclude any ethical principles, and makes all that we judge dependent on results alone. One of the great apostles of pragmatism was the atheist-philosopher John Dewey, the American who has influenced and continues to influence American public education to a very large extent. The Pope remarks that there is a growing support for the concept of democracy which is not grounded upon any reference to unchanging values. Whether or not a line of action is permissible is decided by the vote of a parliamentary majority. The denial, theoretically or practically, of the connection, of the necessary connection between truth and freedom which leads to such things as relativism, historicism, scientism, and pragmatism, all inevitably lead, as the Pope points out, to nihilism, which is the denial of all human dignity, and indeed, the humanity and identity of human beings as images of God Himself. I think the tragedy of Littleton, Colorado, and so much else of what goes on in our society, the self-destructive tendencies of so many people, are all illustrations of nihilism.

The complaint is often made that religion and religious wars have been deleterious to mankind in the course of man's journey through history, but our century proves that non-religion, atheism, are far more destructive than religion or religious wars. One thinks of Nazism and its neo-pagan racism; one thinks of the even more horrendous horror of Communism, which is inherently and intrinsically atheistic. Marxism and all of its socialistic manifestations are a certain formula for a nihilistic outlook.

Walking into a new century and into a new millennium, let us then, not be like the deceived frogs of the French kitchen, gradually warmed until we are boiled in the ghastly slime of relativism, historicism, pragmatism, scientism, and ultimately, nihilism. Since we are celebrating the Year of the Father, and since the theme of our Congress this year is the Heart of the Father, let us understand that this Father Who would never give His children a stone when they ask for bread, or a scorpion when they ask for an egg, will bestow on us in Jesus and through His Holy Spirit, every good thing. We must reach up and cooperate with His grace, and thus, confront those aspects of our culture which can only bring ruin and harm in time and in eternity to us, and to those who are journeying with us across this desert called life to the promised land of heaven.

Since this is a Marian Congress, and since the feast we celebrate is that of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, allow me to conclude this talk with the words by which our Holy Father concludes his encyclical Faith and Reason:

"I turn in the end to the woman, whom the prayer of the Church invokes as Seat of Wisdom, and whose life itself is a true parable illuminating the reflection contained in these pages. For between the vocation of the Blessed Virgin and the vocation of true philosophy, there is a deep harmony. Just as the Virgin was called to offer herself entirely as human being and as woman that God's word might take flesh and come among us, so too philosophy is called to offer its rational and critical resources, that theology, as the understanding of faith, may be fruitful and creative. And just as in giving her assent to Gabriel's word, Mary lost nothing of her true humanity and freedom, so too When philosophy heeds the summons of the Gospel's truth its autonomy is in no way impaired...In Mary, the holy monks of antiquity saw a lucid image of true philosophy...May Mary, Seat of Wisdom, be a sure haven for all who devote their lives to the search for wisdom. May their journey into wisdom, sure and final goal of all true knowing, be freed of every hinderance by the intercession of the one who, in giving birth to the truth and treasuring it in her heart, has share it forever with all the world."

Thank you.