Hungry for Something Greater?
We each hunger for something greater. Why? Because God made us to be with Him, fully united, in deep, abiding, eternal relationship. Whether we are just beginning to ask questions about faith, or have been raised Catholic and now yearn for more, or are a saintly octogenarian, we can taste the eternal, wondrous paradise of eternal life, but, as Saint Theresa of Avila described it, we remain pilgrims at the wayside in yearning for home.
Human? Or Humanist?
What does it mean to be human? Saint Pope John Paul II described anthropology, which fundamentally seeks to answer what it means to be human, as critical to our faith journey toward God. To understand who we are, we must come to know who God, our Creator, in whose image we are made, is. And, it turns out, God became fully human, remaining fully divine, to show us what it means to be human. So, when we screw up and proclaim "Och! I'm only human!" what we really mean is, "Och! I was less than human!" and, seeking something greater, we strive to do greater ourselves, with Christ as the North on our compass as we navigate toward God.
Society, on the other hand, gives a very different answer to the question of what it means to be human. Society, fallen into sin, and incapable of self-rescue, has declared the more we advance, the more we solve our own problems and rise out of the quagmire. This is called humanism. Over the last five-hundred years, society has slowly abandoned its Christian foundation, supposedly advancing as intelligentsia (a fruit of unaided human thought) replaced intellect (a graced fruit of faith). The result? Human institutions now crumble and are a shadow of their former selves, all the while proclaiming their supposed progress.
Thus, what it means to be human is the fundamental question of our time. One answer is the height of hubris, the other is bold humility.
Being infused into the fallen world, though we hunger for something greater, it is all too easy to stumble and fall; or head off in the wrong direction, mistaking a lesser good for a greater good, as Saint Augustine explains in his "Confessions." How do we seek something greater when we are so obviously fallible on our own? Simple. We journey with others of faith.
Good, Beautiful, and True
The something greater we hunger for is the Good, the Beautiful, and and the True. Every seed of Good, of Beautiful, and of True yearns to be Catholic when it grows up. But we are each sheep, and need the grace from our Good Shepherd to cultivate eyes to see and ears to hear the Good, the Beautiful, and the True. We can't do it on our own. We need a guide. Christ's full revelation, given us through His Church, is the shepherd Christ has given us.
Reading the stories of the Saints, they all had spiritual directors in some form or other. We need spiritual direction also, but we need it free from the poison infused into it of the intelligentsia of the modern world.
Spiritual Direction, er, Orienteering
Since the founding of the Catholic Church by Christ, Saints have had spiritual directors to aid them in their battle to choose holiness over sin. We wage that same battle in our daily lives, and we benefit from the same faith-filled companionship spiritual direction provides. Not counseling or psychological, spiritual direction is actually far more, aiding the journey of our eternal soul toward heaven. In this sense, it could be called spiritual orienteering, for we each have our own soulscape to navigate, and having companions along the way helps.
Join or Create a Halo
Saints also travel with other saints. Saints Benedict, Scholastica, Patrick, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Theresa the Little Flower, Francis, Claire, and many more traveled with others, often family, who also became Saints. Consider these groupings a halo ... sharing the challenges of running toward Christ over rough terrain; helping pick each other up, when they fall.
We at Cor Sacrae Familiae Quarterly strive to help you deepen the halos you already have (if married, your spouse is your primary halo), and form new ones, and give structure and ideas for how to shepherd each other as companions running toward Christ. In fact, subscribing to Cor Sacrae Familiae Quarterly is much like joining a halo. You become part of us via the comments section (for subscribers).
Who is Cor Sacrae Familiae Quarterly for?
Anyone bold, daft, crazy, brilliant, brave, and humble enough to yearn for something greater and know the only way to answer that call is bold humble obedience to Jesus our Christ.
Whether we're teens seeking to better understand our faith and puzzle out what our free will means, or seeking someone to marry or perhaps discerning our vocation to religous life or the priesthood, or newlyweds wondering what's next after marriage formation, or new parents wondering how faith can help with diapers, work, dinner, the in-laws visiting, parents wondering how to handle toddlers or teens or kids leaving the nest, or retirement, or job loss, or any of life's other many challenges.
Where to End? A New Beginning
Subscribe to Cor Sacrae Familiae Quarterly for $10 per year and share the journey running toward Christ, as we strive to live up to who God made us to be and wield the gifts Christ gives us to build anew the City of God amidst the city of man.