Garrigou-Lagrange was ahead in his prophetic teachings. Remember his dates, 1877-1964. Too bad more clergy did not pay attention to his teaching.
His explanation of the cult of social justice has led to the false acceptance of sin in Europe and in some states in America. When one loses sight of the goal of perfection and the intimate relationship with the Trinity, to which we are all called, one falls into movements which are human centered and relativistic. As man becomes more and more his own idol, he relates all society and culture back to his own needs and desires, instead of concentrating on the one thing necessary-the pursuit of God.
As usual, his words are in black italics, as are other quotations and my comments are in blue.
II. THE QUESTION OF THE ONE THING NECESSARY AT THE PRESENT TIME
What we have just said is true at all times; but the question of the interior life is being more sharply raised today than in several periods less troubled than ours. The explanation of this interest lies in the fact that many men have separated themselves from God and tried to organize intellectual and social life without Him. The great problems that have always preoccupied humanity have taken on a new and sometimes tragic aspect. To wish to get along without God, first Cause and last End, leads to an abyss; not only to nothingness, but also to physical and moral wretchedness that is worse than nothingness. Likewise, great problems grow exasperatingly serious, and man must finally perceive that all these problems ultimately lead to the fundamental religious problem; in other words, he will finally have to declare himself entirely for God or against Him. This is in its essence the problem of the interior life. Christ Himself says: "He that is not with Me is against Me." (5)
I learned in the 1970s that one could no longer be mediocre, a wishy-washy Catholic. One had to be totally dedicated or one would be swept away with the crowd of lukewarm Catholics into hell. Christ said,
Christ the Son of God said this: But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, not hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth. Revelation 3:16 DR
The great modern scientific and social tendencies, in the midst of the conflicts that arise among them and in spite of the opposition of those who represent them, converge in this way, whether one wills it or not, toward the fundamental question of the intimate relations of man with God. This point is reached' after many deviations. When man will no longer fulfill his great religious duties toward God who created him and who is his last End, he makes a religion for himself since he absolutely cannot get along without religion.
Even the ancients knew that man had a duty to worship the gods, but man worships himself, which, in my opinion, is the symbol of so-called gay marriage. SSM creates an idol out of one's own gender. One worships one's self.
What could be more of a symbol of our day than the worship of self as we witness the pursuit of unnatural sex now accepted in most of Western Europe. The icon of idolatry--
To replace the superior ideal which he has abandoned, man may, for example, place his religion in science or in the cult of social justice or in some human ideal, which finally he considers in a religious manner and even in a mystical manner. Thus he turns away from supreme reality, and there arises a vast number of problems that will be solved only if he returns to the fundamental problem of the intimate relations of the soul with God.
The culture-wars are a direct result of this attitude of moving away from the pursuit of the Love of God.
It has often been remarked that today science pretends to be a religion. Likewise socialism and communism claim to be a code of ethics and present themselves under the guise of a feverish cult of justice, thereby trying to captivate hearts and minds. As a matter of fact, the modern scholar seems to have a scrupulous devotion to the scientific method. He cultivates it to such a degree that he often seems to prefer the method of research to the truth. If he bestowed equally serious care on his interior life, he would quickly reach sanctity. Often, however, this religion of science is directed toward the apotheosis of man rather than toward the love of God. As much must be said of social activity, particularly under the form it assumes in socialism and communism. It is inspired by a mysticism which purposes a transfiguration of man, while at times it denies in the most absolute manner the rights of God.
Garrigou-Lagrange answers the ideology of Gramsci neatly.
This is simply a reiteration of the statement that the religious problem of the relations of man with God is at the basis of every great problem. We must declare ourselves for or against Him; indifference is no longer possible, as our times show in a striking manner. The present world-wide economic crisis demonstrates what men can do when they seek to get along without God.
Without God, the seriousness of life gets out of focus. If religion is no longer a grave matter but something to smile at, then the serious element in life must be sought elsewhere. Some place it, or pretend to place it, in science or in social activity; they devote the selves religiously to the search for scientific truth or to the establishment of justice between classes or peoples. After a while they are forced to perceive that they have ended in fearful disorder and that the relations between individuals and nations become more and more difficult, if not impossible. As St. Augustine and St. Thomas (6) have said, it is evident that the same material goods, as opposed to those of the spirit, cannot at one and the same time belong integrally to several persons. The same house, the same land, cannot simultaneously belong wholly to several men, nor the same territory to several nations. As a result, interests conflict when man feverishly makes these lesser goods his last end.
Since the early 19th century, the Popes, the Church, have been involved in spiritual warfare against communism and socialism. Sadly, in Europe and increasingly in America, the battle has been lost on the larger stage. Garrigou-Lagrange shows us the errors, just as did Pope Pius IX and X and all after.
St. Augustine, on the other hand, insists on the fact that the same spiritual goods can belong simultaneously and integrally to all and to each individual in particular. Without doing harm to another, we can fully possess the same truth, the same virtue, the same God. This is why our Lord says to us: "Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God and His justice; and all these things shall be added unto you." (7) Failure to hearken to this lesson, is to work at one's destruction and to verify once more the words of the Psalmist: "Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it." (8)
Has your life been in vain, pursuing comfort, status, acceptance? Take it from one who has lost all these things and resides in the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus. All else is vanity, and in the humility of nothingness and littleness, one experiences the God of Augustine, Abraham, John the Baptist..
If the serious element in life is out of focus, if it no longer is concerned with our duties toward God, but with the scientific and social activities of man; if man continually seeks himself instead of God, his last End, then events are not slow in showing him that he has taken an impossible way, which leads not only to nothingness, but to unbearable disorder and misery. We must again and again revert to Christ's words: "He that is not with Me, is against Me: and he that gathereth not with Me, scattereth." (9) The facts confirm this declaration.
I have lived in England for a total of more than 12 years and I have never heard a sermon on our duties as Catholics to God. Those duties begin with the carrying out of our baptismal vows and continue with our life in and with the Church. I suppose most clergy have not realized that the worship of God, that is, religion, is our first duty. In the section following, Garrigou-Lagrange reminds me of Bonhoeffer's distinction between cheap and costly grace.
We conclude logically that religion can give an efficacious and truly realistic answer to the great modern problems only if it is a religion that is profoundly lived, not simply a superficial and cheap religion made up of some vocal prayers and some ceremonies in which religious art has more place than true piety. As a matter of fact, no religion that is profoundly lived is without an interior life, without that intimate and frequent conversation which we have not only with ourselves but with God.
Without an interior life, nothing is good or true.
All the issues of the day...and here is a link to the encyclicals mentioned here.What a great teacher Pius XI was on modern issues, like his predecessors.......http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius11/
The last encyclicals of Pope Pius XI make this clear. To respond to what is good in the general aspirations of nations, aspirations to justice and charity among individuals, classes, and peoples, the Holy Father wrote the encyclicals on Christ the King, on His sanctifying influence in all His mystical body, on the family, on the sanctity of Christian marriage, on social questions, on the necessity of reparation, and on the missions. In all these encyclicals he deals with the reign of Christ over all humanity. The logical conclusion to be drawn is that religion, the interior life, must be profound, must be a true life of union with God if it is to keep the pre-eminence it should have over scientific and social activities. This is a manifest necessity.
To be continued....
