Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit.: Sinner and Theologian

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

1 comment:

AnonymousAugust 11, 2014 at 1:10 PM
I certainly don't think your faith is dead.
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Disclaimer

Please note. I am a Catholic layman, not a qualified theologian or philosopher. What I say and write here are my own personal thoughts and ideas, although I always try to conform my writings to the Magisterium of the Church.

I- with firm faith believe and profess everything that is contained in the symbol of faith: namely,

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: By the power of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. I believe in the one holy catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

With firm faith I believe as well everything contained in God's word, written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the church--whether in solemn judgment or in the ordinary and universal Magisterium--as divinely revealed and called for faith.

I also firmly accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed by that same church definitively with regard to teaching concerning faith or morals.

What is more, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman pontiff or the college of bishops enunciate when they exercise the authentic Magisterium even if they proclaim those teachings in an act that is not definitive.