03/23/2006 Bishop Robert Vasa

BEND — At the beginning of Lent, I suggested or proposed that the reading of the 42 paragraphs of Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, would be a very worthwhile and beneficial Lenten exercise. I am pleased to receive numerous reports that many of you are doing precisely that. Since the beginning of Lent, I have read through the encyclical in preparation for the latest set of FaithWorks presentations, the first of which took place at Pendleton a week ago.

Then, in the course of the presentation, I tried briefly, and sometimes not so briefly, to comment on each paragraph. This Sunday the FaithWorks presentation was at Vale, and once again I went through a majority of the encyclical making various comments and explanations. By the time I am finished with the five locations, I will have had the privilege of thoroughly going through this encyclical no less than seven times. I tell you this, not as any kind of boast, but rather to encourage you to persevere in your reading of this encyclical.

I think the reading of the encyclical, as opposed to a commentary or study guide about it, has many advantages. First, I am a firm believer in the need for even those who consider themselves “average” Catholics, to have an exposure to the direct and primary sources of the Church’s teaching. This is why I have also strongly encouraged the reading and use of The Catechism of the Catholic Church.

There we see and read the clear and authentic teachings of the Church and not what someone else says it says, claims it says, or claims it does not say. There are several Canons in the Code of Canon Law, actually Canons 16–18, that concern themselves with the interpretation of the Church laws. Canon 16 tells us that the “legislator authentically interprets laws.” Then we are told that “ecclesiastical laws must be understood in accord with the proper meaning of the words considered in their text and context” (Canon 17).

Thus the first answer when one is asked, “What does the Church teach?” is very simply, “What do the words say? What is the text?”

Reading the “direct sources” puts us in touch with the words themselves. We may not always understand everything, and we may not always understand properly, but at least we have the solid foundation of the words themselves, read in their own proper context.

The second advantage to reading the encyclical, or other first-hand sources, is that it puts us in a proper relationship with the one who is writing. In this case, it puts us in a more direct relationship with our dear Holy Father and with the Church he has been chosen to lead. As the Geico commercial touts, we “do away with the middle man.”

Certainly we may need commentaries and explanations to better understand the fuller context of some of the words but, unfortunately, our age seems to be filled with commentators intent not on making the mind of the writer or legislator or Church more clearly known, but rather very intent on explaining why the true meaning of the words is actually nearly the opposite of what the words of the text actually say. As I would imagine the Geico gecko saying, “Where do these guys come from anyway?”

Finally, I believe that the more we read materials such as the encyclicals, we grow in our own appreciation of our ability to receive the teachings from the one who gives them.

The argument, sometimes used in regard to The Catechism of the Catholic Church, is that it was intended only for bishops and theologians. Here I apply the canonical principle found in Canon 17.

In the Apostolic Constitution, Fidei Depositum, written by Pope John Paul II on the occasion of the publication of the Catechism we read: “Therefore, I ask all the Church’s Pastors and the Christian faithful to receive this catechism in a spirit of communion and to use it assiduously in fulfilling their mission of proclaiming the faith and calling people to the Gospel of life.” Sometimes commentators will then excerpt the following sentence to give an entirely different interpretation to the words just used.

The Holy Father continues: “This catechism is given to them that it may be a sure and authentic reference text for teaching catholic doctrine and particularly for preparing local catechisms.” The “middle men” tell us that the pope clearly intended for the general faithful neither to receive nor read this book itself but rather that only properly trained theologians should access it in “preparing local catechisms.” I think the meaning of the words themselves is clear.

The Holy Father then continues: “It is also offered to all the faithful who wish to deepen their knowledge of the unfathomable riches of salvation (cf. Eph 3:8).” To find in these clear words of Pope John Paul II the “interpretation” that neither he nor the Church ever intended the Catechism for the general use of the “average Catholic” would leave the Geico gecko spinning. Such interpretations certainly leave me spinning.

If I could choose just one of the beautiful points of Pope Benedict in his encyclical, it would be the beginning of paragraph 37. In some ways I feel — notice I am clearly giving you my opinion at this point — that this sentence is the very heart of and reason for the encyclical itself.

Pope Benedict beautifully writes: “It is time to reaffirm the importance of prayer in the face of the activism and the growing secularism of many Christians engaged in charitable work.” This same notion is presented in paragraph 34: “Practical activity will always be insufficient, unless it visibly expresses a love for man, a love nourished by an encounter with Christ.”

As I reflected, in a very general way, on the presentation and possible reception of the encyclical, I realized that there will be some who will look to this encyclical as a literal call to action, and that is not entirely wrong.

The Holy Father certainly does call the lay faithful to recognize that “the direct duty to work for a just ordering of society . . . is proper to the lay faithful.” It seems to me, however, that such an “interpretation” is wrong if that is seen as the primary or even exclusive call of the Holy Father in this encyclical.

I believe this encyclical is first and foremost a call to genuine holiness, genuine unity with Christ and with His Church. Then, as Pope Benedict notes, “love of neighbor will no longer be for them a commandment imposed, so to speak from without, but a consequence deriving from their faith, a faith which becomes active through love (cf. Gal 5:6).”