Saturday, March 8, 2014

Sinner and Theologian

Currently I am reading Christ and Spirituality in St Thomas Aquinas by Jean-Pierre Torrell, OP. In it I found a very though provoking quote that has helped validate me in my current journey so to speak.

As many of you are aware, and as I have mentioned in previous posts, I am a gay catholic who lives a gay lifestyle, yet still adheres to the Catholic faith intellectually. Often I find myself defending the teachings of the Church from people, friends, facebook and even other catholics.

I have a seminarian friend who I knew from before I entered the seminary (obviously I am no longer there, and now he has entered the seminary), we catch up once a year to discuss philosophy, theology, debate current Church politics and so forth. Often I find myself giving him suggested books or authors to read.

This quote by Fr Torrell has helped validate me in a sense, that by helping my seminarian friend and sometimes through this blog, I am a theologian (in the broadest sense of the term) even though to many my faith may be seen as to be dead. Any and every time I teach/discuss with anyone Sacra Doctrina I am fulfilling the role of a theologian and helping to santcify (or bring closer to God) the other person, even though I myself am in a state of sin and therefore I do not have sanctifying grace present in my soul. My state of soul, does not affect the truth that I am conveying

One can practice theology with a dead faith. I ought to remark, however, that this objection does not touch on theology as such, but only on the theologian. We thus pass from what is de jure to what is de facto . The latter might justify all kinds of reservations, but it remains that, de jure, "theology is a pious science"' [Chenu]. Although the loss of charity does not bring about the dissolution of the theological habitus, nevertheless it constitutes a fate as violent as that of  dead faith. The diminished habitus that we designate by this name still allows a person to adhere to supernatural truths, but the absence of charity radically deprives the theologian of his or her ability to cling to these truths in a life giving manner





In cruce latebat sola Deitas,
At hic latet simul et Humanitas,
Ambo tamen credens atque confitens,
Peto quod petivit latro pœnitens.
Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intueor:
Deum tamen meum te confiteor.
Fac me tibi semper magis credere,
In te spem habere, te diligere.


St Thomas Aquinas - pray for me