Quick Links: Letter, Hungry for More, Moral Authority, Making the Connection, Further Reading, Next Steps
Hungry for More: Letter One
We no longer live in a culture of dialogue but assertion. We talk over each other and do not know how to listen. Consequently, we often sit around our family table in silence, or just make small talk. We have trouble finding ways to have meaningful conversations about important topics. We got to this place by no longer being able to think our way through issues but rather, by emoting. We despair of finding any truth that can become a common ground for dialogue for the very reason that truth itself in our culture has become elusive, or relative. In the interest of justifying feelings, we create our own truths based on those feelings, and elevate them as reasonable alternatives to real truths. When each person has their own set of competing “truths,” no dialogue can begin. Anger and downright hostility quickly settle into many conversations that have to do with things that really matter. Who wants to discuss sensitive issues in this climate?
We as a church community must find common ground to go forward. For us, this common ground must be Jesus Christ Himself who proclaimed, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6). If we can embrace Jesus together, we have an excellent path toward a fruitful dialogue. Truth is located in a person, Jesus Christ, who, when we are in an authentic relationship with Him, offers us the most vital relationship with truth.
St. John of the Cross, a doctor of the Church, provides us with guidelines in how to develop an authentic relationship with Jesus when he says,
First, have a habitual desire to imitate Christ in all your deeds by bringing your life into conformity with his. You must then study his life in order to know how to imitate him and behave in all events as he would.
-The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Chapter 13.3
Often, we read or listen to the Gospels passively, or to gain some comfort, or some insight. St. John of the Cross tells us that we must read the Gospels with a specific intention to be in vital union with Christ, and thereby imitate and behave like Him. This takes the application of our whole being toward a specific goal, to be like Christ in all things. In our letter the challenge for us is to think like Jesus, to possess the compassion of Jesus, and to be obedient to the Father as Jesus was. If we are in vital union with Jesus, the Truth, we will think, feel, and act increasingly more like Jesus.
If we are committed to being like Jesus in all things, then we have common ground to continue with our dialogue on sexual morality. It will be challenging for us all, because we all need to conform ourselves to Christ, and this is the hardest thing for us to do in life.
This passage from Archbishop Lori’s A Light Brightly Visible 2.0, expresses the spirit with which we want to proceed together in Bearing the Beams of Love:
An encounter with Christ is that moment when, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we truly open our hearts to our Savior, understand the depth and beauty of his love for us, and find ourselves forever changed and transformed by Him. Once we have done so, we view the Scriptures and the Church’s teachings, the liturgy, our life of prayer, and our moral life in a new way. Far from being burdensome, these things become beautiful and precious, and move from the periphery of our lives to the center. For when we have fallen in love with Christ, our lives acquire a new horizon of hope that enables us, even now, to live differently, and to strive eagerly for holiness, that is, an ever-deeper participation in God’s Triune glory and self-giving love (p. 11).
Such an encounter will transform us from silence or assertion to meaningful dialogue, to a place where we can talk with each other with the mind, compassion, and obedience of Jesus.
Moral Authority
Sources for Catholic Teaching
Scripture References
John 16:13-14 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority , but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
Luke 10:16 “He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
Catechism References
450 From the beginning of Christian history, the assertion of Christ’s lordship over the world and over history has implicitly recognized that man should not submit his personal freedom in an absolute manner to any earthly power, but only God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
2032 The Church, the “pillar and bulwark of the truth,” “has received this solemn command of Christ from the apostles to announce the saving truth.”… “To the Church belongs the right always and everywhere to announce moral principles, including those pertaining to the social order, and to make judgments on any human affairs to the extent that they are required by the fundamental rights of the human person or the salvation of souls.
2467 Man tends by nature towards the truth. He is obliged to honor and bear witness to it: “It is in accordance with their dignity that all men, because they are persons…are both impelled by their nature and bound by a moral obligation to seek the truth, especially religious truth. They are also bound to adhere to the truth once they come to know it and direct their whole lives in accordance with the demands of truth.
Vatican Documents
Benedict XVI, Pope. Charity in Truth: Caritas in Veritate. San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 2009.
This is an encyclical letter written to the bishops, priests and deacons, men and women religious and the lay faithful and all people of good will on integral human development in charity and truth. In it Pope Benedict says, “Charity is at the heart of the Church’s social doctrine…without truth, without trust and love for what is true, there is no social conscience and responsibility, and social action ends up serving private interests and the logic of power.”
St. Iranaeus (c. 200): “For where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God, there the Church and every grace. The Spirit, however, is Truth.” Against Heresies 3, 24, 1.
Making the Connection
A Real-Life Example
Robert Powell is an English actor who, in his early career came off debonair, playing espionage roles and the like, with little to no interest in religion or Jesus Christ. Then he was asked to play the role of Jesus in the 1970 film, Jesus of Nazareth. Powell realized he had a very rudimentary knowledge of Jesus and the Gospels. In preparation for the role, he made an intense study of not just the Gospels but all of Scripture. He came to the conclusion that he could not act the role of Jesus without believing in Jesus. By meditating on the life of Christ with the express purpose of imitating Him on the movie set, Powell experienced a conversion and became a Christian.
This illustrates the power of intentionally reading the Gospels with the purpose of imitating Christ. WE can become like Christ by imitating Him. It was said that during and after the filming of the movie, people noticed how different he was; he was humble, joyful, peaceful. In this letter we are challenged to think like Jesus, feel like Jesus, and to be obedient like Jesus. When we do this, we enter into a profound conversion; a conversion from acting out of our “old, natural” self to acting like Christ.
Further Reading
Additional Reading Materials
On this radical call to discipleship as a common ground for discussion, see Archbishop Lori’s A Light Brightly Visible 2.0 on the Archdiocesan website.
Bartunek, John, L.C. The Better Part. Hamden, CT: Circle Press, 2007.
The Better Part is a tool that can be used to learn and grow in the practice of mental prayer. It is both instructional and a companion to daily meditation using the gospels. The author describes it as a catalyst to help you learn to pray better, to make your meditation more personal and personalized, and to help you learn to follow the Holy Spirit’s lead more readily.
Bennett, Art and Lorraine. Tuned In: The Power of Pressing Pause and Listening. Huntington, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, 2017.
This book discusses the technological distractions (social media, phones, etc.) which create obstacles to our ability to listen and communicate in our relationships. The authors use real-life examples along with scriptural reflections and practical advice to help us improve our relationships through the art of better listening.
Ratzinger, Joseph. Christianity and the Crisis of Culture. San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 2006.
This book was written by Cardinal Ratzinger shortly before his election to the papacy (Pope Benedict XVI). He explains the philosophies of relativism, math, and science that deny any metaphysical reality or objective truth which ultimately leads to the destruction of freedom. He offers spiritual renewal as the solution and anecdote to these pervasive false ideologies.
Next Steps
Ready to Take the Next Step?
How can we help our families become more comfortable talking about difficult issues? Study, Prayer and Practice!
📖Study
Through this series of letters, Fr. John presents a model for discussing sensitive topics around the table of our church family. You can develop an environment within your own family where conversations about difficult matters are not avoided but instead can be explored through open, respectful dialog.
To have constructive moral discussions with Catholic family members, start by showing love and respect, even when disagreeing. Focus on seeking common ground and understanding their perspectives, rather than immediately arguing. Study and prepare to share your own views in a clear and compassionate way, drawing on both faith and reason.
💖Prayer for Communications
From the message of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, for World Communications Day 2021
Lord, teach us to move beyond ourselves,
and to set out in search of truth.
Teach us to go out and see,
teach us to listen,
not to entertain prejudices
or draw hasty conclusions.
Teach us to go where no one else will go,
to take the time needed to understand,
to pay attention to the essentials,
not to be distracted by the superfluous,
to distinguish deceptive appearances from the truth.
Grant us the grace to recognise your dwelling places in our world
and the honesty needed to tell others what we have seen.
✝️Practice
Try putting these principles into practice as you think through some hypothetical moral dilemmas:
- For children, check out The Daily Dilemma Archive from goodcharacter.com
- For adults, look at 9 Moral Dilemmas That Will Break Your Brain to get inspired