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December 28, 2005
Pope Benedict XVI and Faith and Reason
At Christmas we contemplate God made man, divine glory hidden beneath the poverty of a Child wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger; the Creator of the Universe reduced to the helplessness of an infant. Once we accept this paradox, we discover the Truth that sets us free and the Love that transforms our lives. On Bethlehem Night, the Redeemer becomes one of us, our companion along the precarious paths of history. Let us take the hand which he stretches out to us: it is a hand which seeks to take nothing from us, but only to give. - Pope Benedict XVI in his Urbi et Orbi Christmas Message
When one relies on nothing more then faith, he runs the risk of his faith becoming superstition. When one relies on nothing more then reason, he runs the risk of become super-rational. Neither being a good place to be in. John-Paul II reminded us of all this in Fides et Ratio. So, Faith and Reason need to be joined together somehow, but they seem to be completely opposed. Pope Benedict XVI shows how the two are joined in his Urbi et Orbi Message. Only through the person of Jesus Christ can we come to recognize the truth and learn how to love. It is Jesus Christ who bridges the gap between the world of Faith and the world of Reason; it is Jesus Christ who bridges the gap between nature and grace. Only through Jesus Christ can we make sense out of this world.
As the Second Vatican Council reminds us, and as John-Paul II so often quoted (in fact, this was his most cited quotation if I am not mistaken): "Christ, the final Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear" (Gaudium et Spes 22). It is only through Jesus Christ that the things of this world are made clear. This world, once wounded by sin and death, has been given healing and new life in Jesus Christ. When one is able to accept this truth, and it can be a very long journey to do, are we set free and able find the true meaning of love.
Posted by cr3do1 at December 28, 2005 06:02 PM
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