Newest Releases

Bookstore

Library Catalog

Mar. Lib. Class.

Special Articles

Resources & Queries

VLC Information

VLC Readings

Marianist Links

Programs

Internship

Who's Who

FAQs

Click on Image to Order

One of the great criticisms in current times against Catholic teaching, rightly or wrongly, has been that Catholic teaching has seen faith primarily as an intellectual exercise of some kind. I doubt very much that we could direct this accusation at Father Chaminade. For him, faith is a question of conforming our life to that belief. Faith is not simply an intellectual assent to a truth which remains speculative. It is an intellectual assent to truth which takes over a person’s life. From this point of view, I suppose we could say of Father Chaminade that he was a man of faith in the sense that he was aware of the divine. I believe this is a very fundamental aspect of our Marianist heritage. He insists on this time and time again in his writings and his conferences—unless we live by faith, we cannot be faithful to our mission. We cannot become what God wants us to be. To live by faith means to be aware of the divine—not simply to know it exists; not simply to say “yes” to certain propositions of faith, but to be aware of the divine. . . . We know how easy it is to lose sight of this, how easy it is to reduce human life to the superficial aspects which are visible. How easy it is to live our lives as though there were no God!

Click here to view Table of Contents