Words of Wisdom from Archbishop Fulton Sheen
The way we live has an influence on the way we think. This is not a denial of the intellectual factors in belief, but merely an attempt to emphasize a neglected element. Some people imagine that they can bring a person to Divine Love merely by answering a doubt he has expressed. They assume that men are irreligious only because they are ignorant; that if atheists read a few good books or listened to a few choice arguments in favor of Divinity, they would immediately embrace the Faith. Religion seems to them to be a thing to be known, rather than a Personality to be embraced and lived and loved. But our Divine Lord, Who is truth itself, could not convince the Pharisees and certain sinners; they were intellectually confounded by His knowledge so that, after one encounter, no man dared question Him again – but still they did not believe. Christ told those who watched the resurrection of Lazarus that some of them would not believe, though one rose daily from the dead. Intellectual knowledge is not the “one thing necessary”: not all the Ph.D.'s are saints, and the ignorant are not demons. Indeed, a certain type of education may simply turn a man from a stupid egotist into a clever egotist, and of the two, the former has the better chance of salvation.
Many men today are ignorant, full of prejudice and mis-information about the Faith, and it is regrettable that they have had no opportunity for instruction, for acquiring knowledge of the Truth. But though God can be discovered by study, instruction, and reading, these alone will not bring one to God. There must also be a willingness to accept the Truth personally, that is, in all its implications. It is easy to find Truth; it is hard to face it, and harder still to follow it. Modern education is geared to what it calls “extending the frontiers of truth,” and sometimes this ideal is prized and used to excuse men from acting on old truths already discovered. The discovery of the size of a distant star creates no moral obligation; but the old truths about the nature and destiny of man can be a reproach to the way one lives. Some psychologists and sociologists like to rap their knuckles at the door of truth about mankind, but they would run away if the door ever opened, showing man’s contingency on God. The only people who ever arrive at a knowledge of God are those who, when the door is opened, accept that Truth and shoulder the responsibilities it brings. It requires more courage than brains to learn to know God: God is the most obvious fact of human experience, but accepting Him is one of the most arduous.
(excerpt from Lift Up Your Heart)
Reflection on the Archbishop's Words
In the present meditation, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen touches on a theme that was central in his thinking, namely, “The way we live has an influence on the way we think.” As he says, it is “a neglected element” in our approach to life on a personal level, which, in turn, will ultimately affect the moral and spiritual direction of America and the present course of world events. The Archbishop acknowledges that arguments in favor of truth are absolutely necessary for people to believe in God and to live the way they should. But what he goes on to stress is that it requires more than simply learning about the truth to become a believer. One must also accept along with the understanding of truth, the moral responsibilities that truth will oblige us to do and not do. In other words, the Archbishop is reminding us that we cannot have a religious belief in God that simply goes from the neck up; it cannot be all cerebral. It is the many emotions and passions below the neck, such as anger, lust, envy, and avarice in the heart, that block sincere and total acceptance of the necessary consequences of living the truth. As Jesus put it, “It is what comes from out of the heart of a man that defiles him” (cf Mk 7:20).
A thought of Blaise Pascal is apropos: “The heart has reasons of which reason knows nothing.” These “reasons” are the pre-judgments of the heart. (The English word prejudice comes from the Latin pre-judicium. “Pre” is before or prior to; “judicium” is a judgment or decision.) These pre-judgments of the heart exist even before a person considers the argument or evidence of a case. They operate like the old saying: “I’ve got my mind made up; don’t disturb me with the facts.” Some pre-judgments can be good. Our convictions are examples of this. We use our convictions to choose what is right in the face of the moral choices we make each day. Faith is another example of a good pre-judgment, which moves my mind to accept the mysteries of my Catholic religion even when these mysteries are not self-evident to my mind.
However, many pre-judgments can have a negative effect, such as racial or religious prejudice. If a person is closed off to truth in his heart by his pre-judgments, he will not even accept these truths when their proof is either self-evident or overwhelming. Such was the case of Lazarus being raised up from the dead, which the Archbishop cites. What was the pre-judgment in the hearts of those who failed to become Jesus’ disciples even when they had witnessed this great miracle? It was probably the fear that they would be expelled from the synagogue if they believed in Jesus (cf Jn 9:22). It was “politically incorrect” to do so! A contemporary example of negative pre-judgments applies to the case of abortion. It is evidently the killing of an unborn, innocent human child. The scientific evidence for this child being a distinct, living human person is absolutely overwhelming. So how do pro-abortionists miss the evidence? Their inner pre-judgments in favor of no restriction and no consequences on their behavior make them block out the intellectual evidence. They use language manipulation to avoid expressing the real truth. So, there is no “human child” but on a “tissue formation” or “a product of conception.” But what else besides a human child does a human pregnant mother ever give birth to? It would be intellectually and scientifically honest for abortion advocates to simply admit that there is an unborn human child in the womb of the mother, but that the Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade permits a “legalized murder” of that innocent child.
In Sacred Scripture, the Greek word used for conversion is metanoia. This does not mean a “change of one’s head,” but a “change of one’s heart.” We can only bring about a moral conversion back to God when people are willing first to open their hearts to God, so that then they can open their minds to the fullness of His truth. As the Archbishop said in the conclusion in his meditation, “God is the most obvious fact of human experience, but accepting Him is one of the most arduous.” Let us pray for those whose hearts are closed to God and to His truth!
(Fr. Andrew Apostoli, CFR is the Vice-Postulator of the Cause for Canonization of Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Please visit our website!)
