Have you ever found yourself struggling to see God in the world around you? Does it seem as though our faith-life and our daily-lives often have a sharp line of demarcation between them? Are we able to look with new eyes and see elements of faith and glimpses of God even in the secular world around us?
I’m reminded of the story of Jesus feeding the multitudes and after all those present were fed, there were many fragments left over that were gathered up into baskets (Jn 6:10-13). Those who had been there to hear Jesus speak and had their hunger fed both spiritually and physically with a kind of “fullness” of God. But imagine if others had come after the “crowds” had dispersed and had seen nothing but a few fragments that had not made it into the baskets? Would they have understood what had just transpired? Or perhaps would they have only appreciated a “fragment” which incompletely satisfied but was, none the less, something of God?
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Can we see some of these "fragments" in today's society and culture; a kind of sprinkling of God's grace among the masses? Perhaps even our own lives contain only "fragments" of faith
It might be said that St. Dominic’s heart was for the spiritually confused. He lived and developed the Dominican Order’s charism to contemplare et contemplata aliis tradere or contemplate and share the fruits of that contemplation. Different than other monastic orders of his day, St. Dominic’s followers took the faith and knowledge borne of their deep prayer and study in solitude and brought it ‘to the streets’. St. Thomas Aquinas, perhaps the greatest theologian in Church history, (and a notable Dominican!) had as his primary goal to seek Truth (big “T”), Veritas. He was not afraid, however, to see the seeds of even a fragmented truth in the words and works of others, such as Aristotle, for example. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, in his forward for the book “Seeds of the Word, finding God in the Culture”, by Bishop Robert Barron, writes, “At the Second Vatican Council, the document Lumen Gentium acknowledged the good that exists in other religions as well as in those who have never heard of God, saying ‘whatever good or truth is found among them is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel. (Lumen Gentium, 16).” Quoting early Church Fathers and catechists such as Justin Martyr and Clement of Alexandria, Cardinal Dolan suggests that, “not only are elements of truth found in popular works in our culture, but they even help to prepare the way for the full acceptance of the Gospel!”
This column will attempt to look for evidence of Fragments of Faith in our own time and place, in particular, through our human expression in Art: music, books, movies, plays and other media. Perhaps we can see in these “fragments” a bit of truth to gnaw on and allow God, in and through us, to cultivate the fullness of His Bounty!
This column will attempt to look for evidence of Fragments of Faith in our own time and place, in particular, through our human expression in Art: music, books, movies, plays and other media. Perhaps we can see in these “fragments” a bit of truth to gnaw on and allow God, in and through us, to cultivate the fullness of His Bounty!
FEATURED THIS MONTH
Draculaby Br. Pio Benedict
This fragment of faith is in reference to the most famous story ever written by author Bram Stoker, Dracula. At this time of year, what could be more fitting? Stoker was a Protestant who was raised in the predominantly Catholic Ireland. His most famous story of all contains many truly Catholic symbols such as the Eucharist being used to ward of pure evil, the use of holy water, the symbol of the cross and even the persona of Dracula himself, a portrait of the antichrist. Religion is an important part of this book. During this season try it out if you’ve never read it. It might have an influence on you like it did for me. |