Discerning What Is Christian | The Foreword to Hans Urs von Balthasar's Engagement
with God | Margaret M. Turek
Six years after the promulgation of
the conciliar constitution Gaudium et Spes (On the Church in the
Modern World), Hans Urs von Balthasar published
this programmatic little book under its original title In Gottes Einsatz
leben. [1] Both texts aim to set
forth an understanding of the role of the Church in the world. Both appreciate
that a dynamic program of openness to the world is an exigence flowing from her
missionary nature. Indeed, in the years leading up to the Council, von Balthasar
had been urging the Church to dismantle the barriers protecting her from the
world, precisely in order that the Church be free to fulfill her mission. In an
earlier (and equally programmatic) work, Razing the Bastions, von Balthasar had
called for "an ever deeper and more serious incarnation" of the
Church in the world. [2] Since the Church exists to bring the salvation of
Christ to all, he had argued, she must follow Christ's path of
"descent" into the world and assume Christ's form of life. This
entails acting and suffering for the sake of "the least" among us (Mt
25:40) and bearing responsibility in and with Christ for the destiny of all.
Yet while the Council Fathers in Gaudium et Spes enter into dialogue with the whole of humanity,
recommending measures for the building up of society in the light of the
Gospel, von Balthasar here sets forth "a discourse ad intra, within the Church". [3] This inward turn on
his part does not signify a turning away from the world. Such a reversal he
could only regard as a desertion of the Christian mission. Rather, von
Balthasar speaks chiefly to the Christian for the purpose of priming him to be
an effective and credible instrument of God's involvement in the world. This preparation
requires above all a reflection on the indispensable elements of Christianity.
"Every program of mission to the world", he insists, "must at
all times contain what Guardini called 'the discernment of what is
Christian'." [4]
Continue reading...
To be a Christian. To be able to spot a Christian. One day a while ago, a young man was at our home to do some work for us. My husband hires men from the probation center frequently. The first thing the young man said was: "You are a Christian aren't you." I had not idea what prompted this. We then had the nicest conversation. To this day, I wish I had asked him but the conversation did not go that way.
You know what? I can spot a Christian.
This book is timely. Very timely! Fr. Mark, EWTN, today said that business men tell him that it is very difficult to be honest today. Jezebel's intrigue-he elaborated on in his sermon. Timely indeed.
That sacrificial love-keeping the Christian principles, being in our culture-hard as it is; but we are on the way to the ultimate goal he talks about. Those business men will make a difference. Faithful Christians do not fail. And it is springtime in our church a famous Pope said so.
Posted by: Rose | Monday, June 16, 2008 at 08:25 PM