Denver Catholic

18 FEBRUARY 24-MARCH 9, 2018 | DENVER CATHOLIC W hen teaching college stu- dents a few years ago, I was shocked when I asked my students to tell me what they knew about Pope St. John Paul II. It wasn't much. We went on to read George Weigel's defi nitive biography of John Paul, Wit- ness to Hope (Harper Perennial, 2004), and the stu- dents were blown away by the greatness and compelling life of the Pope. The class made me real- ize how quickly the memory of even monumental fi gures can fade away if we do not work deliberately to con- tinue their legacy. The fi rst place to begin "getting to know" John Paul better would be Weigel's biography, mentioned above, along with the sequel, The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II -- The Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy (Random House, 2010). In addition, I would recommend John Paul's interview book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope (Knopf, 1995) and his trilogy of greatest encyclicals: Fides et Ratio, Evangelium Vitae, and Veritatis Splendor. The great Pope left us an enormous legacy of writings to explore, but especially relevant now are his "Letter to Families," Familia- ris Consortio (an exhortation on the family), and the Theology of the Body. For those looking go deeper in their knowledge of John Paul II, three new books can help us to remember and continue his great work for the renewal of Church and society. GEORGE WEIGEL LESSONS IN HOPE: MY UNEXPECTED LIFE WITH ST. JOHN PAUL II (BASIC BOOKS, 2017) The fi nal volume of a tryptic of the Pope, Weigel provides a memoir of his interactions with John Paul and an account of how he became his biog- rapher. For those who love Witness to Hope, Weigel provides a fascinating account of how the book came about, tracing his work within the Vatican, Poland, and across the world. It nar- rates his own story as seminarian, lay theology student, writer, and his activity in politics, including writing speeches for a leader of the pro-life movement in Congress. His work caught John Paul II's attention, especially his book chronicling the Church's role in the fall of Commu- nism, The Final Revolution. Weigel gives testimony to the providence that prepared him to write John Paul's biography and the friendship they developed in their common witness to the hope that comes from Christ. Perspectives Conscience and grace: A Lenten meditation T he scriptures of Lent in the Church's daily liturgy invite two related refl ections. The weeks immediately preceding Easter call us to walk to Jerusalem in imitation of Christ, so that, at Easter, we, too might be blessed with baptismal water and sent into the world on mission. The preced- ing weeks, those immediately follow- ing Ash Wednesday, propose a serious examination of conscience: What is there in me that's broken? What's impeding my being the missionary dis- ciple I was baptized to be? This Lent, that examination of conscience might well include some serious thinking about what "con- science" means. That often-contentious subject has returned to the center of the world Catholic conversation, thanks to the forthcoming 50 th anniversary of Humanae Vitae, Blessed Paul VI's prophetic encyclical on the morally appropriate means of family planning, and the ongoing discussion generated by Pope Francis's apostolic exhortation on marriage, Amoris Laetitia. In that conversation, voices have been heard urging a view of conscience that is curi- ous, even dangerous: Under certain circumstances, conscience may permit or even require that a person choose acts that the Church has consistently taught are intrinsically wrong – such as using artifi cial means of contraception, or receiving Holy Communion while living the married life in a union that's not been blessed by the Church. Those propounding this idea of "conscience" urge us to recognize three things: that the spiritual and moral life is a journey; that when the Church teaches that some things are just wrong and no combination of intentions and consequences can make them right, the Church is proposing an "ideal" to which the most "generous" response may not always be possi- ble; and that confessors and spiritual directors should be compassionate and discerning guides along the often rocky pathways of the moral life. No reasonable person will con- test the last claim. I'm grateful that I've been the benefi ciary of such thoughtful guidance, and more than once. But the other two claims seem problematic, to put it gently. If, for example, "conscience" can command me to use artifi cial means of contraception because of my life's circumstances, why couldn't con- science permit, or even require, that I continue to defraud customers if my business is in debt and my family would su˜ er from its failure, even as I work my way into a better, more honest fi nancial situation? Why couldn't "conscience" permit me, on my journey toward the "ideal," to continue to indulge in extracur- ricular sex while my spouse and I work out the kinks in our marriage? Inside the idea that "conscience" can permit or even require us to do some- thing long understood to be wrong, period, where's the circuit-breaker that would stop a couple from "dis- cerning " that an abortion is the best resolution of the di¡ culties involved in carrying this unborn child to term, although under future circumstances they would embrace the "ideal" and welcome a child into their family? The further claim being made here – that God can ask me, through my conscience, to do things that do not cohere with the teaching of the Church – fractures the bonds between God, the Church's teaching authority, and conscience in perilous ways. Christ promised to maintain his Church in the truth (John 8:32; John 16:3). Has that promise been broken? The Council of Trent taught that it's always possible, with the help of God's grace, to obey the commandments – that God wills our transformation and helps us along the way to holiness. Has that teaching been rescinded? Replaced by a "paradigm shift" into the radical subjectivism that's emp- tied most of liberal Protestantism of spiritual and moral ballast? Vatican II taught that within my conscience is "a law inscribed by God?" Is God now telling me that I can violate the truth he has written into my heart? To suggest that the Church teaches "ideals" that are impossible to live undervalues the power of grace and empties the moral life of the drama built into it by God himself. Lent does not call us to confess that we've failed to live up to an unachievable "ideal;" Lent does not call us to be self-ex- culpatory like the Pharisee in Luke 18:10-14, who went away unjustifi ed. Lent calls us to embrace the humility of the Gospel publican and confess that we have sinned, knowing that God's mercy can heal what is broken in us if we cooperate with his grace. Remembering John Paul the Great: Three new books The Catholic Di§ erence George Weigel is a distinguished senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. GEORGE WEIGEL The Catholic Reader R. Jared Staudt, PhD, is a husband and father of six, the catechetical formation specialist for the Archdiocese of Denver, a Benedictine oblate, prolifi c writer, and insatiable reader. DR. R. JARED STAUDT

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