McInerny | by Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.

McInerny | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.  | January 29, 2010

Ralph McInerny died in South Bend this morning. Several of his children were with him. Many friends knew he was dying.

He was the best of men. He lived with a light heart and a careful eye.

McInerny introduced many of us to Aquinas. Not that we had not read him before, but McInerny gave us the greater view. I still recall the sudden realization that I had on reading something in McInerny about how philosophy and revelation are related. There were things in revelation that could also be known by reason, a fact that suggested the sources of reason and revelation knew each other

One wonders if Notre Dame can be Notre Dame without McInerny. He taught so many students there. Indeed, McInerny saw the world and the Church through the lenses of Notre Dame, but the place seemed to be drifting. He always thought the idea of a “research” institution was rather silly. Why would one want to know the little things without first having the big picture?

McInerny was behind so many good tings. Almost single-handedly he enabled Catholic intellectual things to be both intellectual and Catholic. He was behind the old Crisis, the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, and the Maritain Center and its many works at Notre Dame. If an institution was not doing what it should, he founded something that did.

McInerny was a happy, witty man. He had a lovely wife who preceded him to Paradise. He had children and grandchildren. He was always a pillar of sanity for us all. His autobiography, I Alone Am Left to Tell You, is most amusing, but its very title reveals turns in the society, in the university, and yes in the Church that never should have been taken.

McInerny gave the famous Gifford Lectures in Scotland several years ago. This is an honor of high rank which he deserved for his philosophical work.

If he could help it, McInerny never missed a football game. If he was at a conference in some distant city on Saturday during the Fall, he would never be there during the hours of the game. The recent years, with the losses and second-ratedness, were agonizing for the true fan he was.

We have the impression that when God called him, he was ready. He had lived a full life and knew it. What, we might wonder, is his legacy to us? It is that of intellectual courage, I think. He was not fooled by the temptation of prestige, of placing the criteria of the world over that of truth.  Because of him, I think, many of us were able to rely on his voice and his courage.

McInerny was born in St. Paul, of which he had many fond memories. He tried the seminary. He gave it a good shot, but it was not for him. But once he settled into Notre Dame, he found his place. And yet, this “place” was not always identical with the place where a man of letters and insight needed to be. The pursuit of truth can be a lonely task even in the midst of glittering things.

His death assures us that a living voice and a wisdom we relied on is not there except in memory. Yet, we can read him as long as we wish. He lives on in his words and, yes, in his children and students.

McInerny was a happy man in a happy marriage. He did not need to count his blessings. They were simply there before him. McInerny pursued the truth all his life. He was a true professor who knew his priorities. They were not himself. He was a generous man who gave us all his most precious gift: a love of truth, an appreciation of wit, and a delight in our search for what is.

Comments

[Dr John James]

Eternal rest grant to him, O Lord, with all Your saints, forever, for You are rich in Mercy.

[Kirk]

A true gentleman. I will never forget the time I spent one-on-one with him over breakfast less than 10 years ago. I, a nobody in the eyes of the world, am enjoying breakfast and philosophical conversation for half an hour or more, with the renowned, legendary philosopher, and he seems to have no other concerns and is just focused on me and our conversation.

I remember little of the conversation, but I remember the person and his quality. May God bring him swiftly to Paradise. Let's all offer several prayers for his repose!

[Brian J. Schuettler]

Lest we forget his other achievements, Professor McInerny was the only Catholic fiction writer to be honored with having his character, Father Dowling, brought to prime-time American television (NBC/ABC 1987-1991).

A truly remarkable man.

[Mark Brumley]

A great Catholic man, a great Catholic philosopher, and a great Catholic writer has passed on to his eternal reward. God bless him. And thanks be to God for all the good he brought to the world through Ralph McInerny.

[W.]

Very fitting that he passes the day after the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas.
For a man who was a homo ecclesiasticus, it would be also fitting for us to pray the Office of the Dead today.

[Ellen Rice]

Mark Brumley, Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ and Ignatius Press played an important role in bringing Ralph McInerny's works and wisdom to the world. Well done!

[Mary Jo Anderson]

Fr. Schall neatly identifies what shines through Professor McInerny's corpus, "intellectual courage." How many of us were drawn to his affable manner ("But summer is too hot without ice cream: Here, try the strawberry.") only to discover his unflinching love of truth and the courage to make it known in season...and out.

[Dan]

I never met him but I sure would like to have. Mary Jo mentions his "affable manner." It comes through in spades in his writing. So many of the American Catholic (or is it Catholic American?) greats have died recently: Cardinal Dulles, Fr. Neuhaus, and now Prof. McInerny. We really are so much poorer for it.

[Jackson]

There are videos of him on youtube. For instance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkms2uPsAY0

[Clara Sarrocco]

A number of years go The New York C.S. Lewis Society sponsored a weekend symposium. We asked Dr. McInerny if he would accept the invitation to be the keynote speaker. Not only did he graciously accept but made no demands for an honorarium and went out of his way to find a reduced air fare to make things easier for us. He was truly a kind, derstanding and generous man. He made our weekend an overwhelming success for which we will always be grateful. May he rest in peace.

Clara Sarrocco
Secretary
The New York C.S. Lewis Society

[RP]

Legend has it that Jesus told St. Thomas Aquinas in a mystical vision that Thomas had written well of Him. I imagine St. Thomas will say the same thing to Dr. McInerny when they meet in heaven!

[Kmbold]

Oh dear, I do hope he understands now how I just had to write to him and express my utter dismay with that appalling TV series of Father Dowling. How could he let it happen? He never responded...But I greatly enjoyed his writing. There was always at least one big laugh.

[Dr. Patrick Foley]

I never met Dr. Ralph McInerny, but I read enthusiastically several of his books on St. Thomas Aquinas and Jacques Maritain. My own love of the world purview of St. Thomas Aquinas, resulting in my being considered a Thomist, was much deepened by my study of Dr. McInery's works over the years. Let us all pray for the soul of this saintly and joyous Catholic Thomist.

Dr. Patrick Foley

[Dr. Eric Lund]

Thank you, Fr. Schall, for the beautiful words in loving memory of a beautiful Catholic American man, Dr. McInerny. Whether we are fathers and husbands in sacramental married life or Fathers, Brothers and Shepherds in sacramental ordination life, we have a true Catholic American seeker and finder of Truth in our dearly departed brother, Ralph. Thank you, Fr. Schall, for your words of comfort and love, which echo deeply in my heart and soul. And God bless Dr. McInerny, his family and friends, his beloved Notre Dame, and us, his American Catholic brothers, sisters, and children.