An Open Mind

One of the more interesting thinkers in the British Isles today has to be Brendan O'Neill, an Englishman of Irish descent, an "ex-Catholic" who is now an atheist, an atheist in the full and most open meaning of the word.   

 

While in recent times we have come to associate atheism with anti-faith and for us, anti-Catholic, atheism does not have to mean that.  O'Neill offers us a positive example of one who does not believe in God, but is willing to reflect on religious issues with an open mind.  He has been writing for some time on the Catholic Church and his views are always worth reading because he has some excellent insights.  I attended a lecture he gave in Dublin some months ago and I was mightly impressed. I found myself saying: "If only some of our Catholics were as good as this atheist!"

 

For one thing he sees that the media's coverage of the Church is not as objective as it ought to be, and I would like to draw your attention to one of his recent articles in the Telegraph on that exact point.  

 

 

In Need Of Prayer

As no doubt you know the writer Christopher Hitchens has died, succumbing to cancer.  It is said he died nobly, passing away writing, which was the joy of his life.

I am deeply saddened by his death. He was a man with great talent and ability, but one who used it to denigrate not only those who believe in God, but even God himself.  I hope and pray that in those milliseconds before his death he encountered God and embraced Him, seeking reconciliation and mercy.

He had a particular hatred for Blessed Teresa of Calcutta: his book Hell's Angel was an attack on her mission and her life of service to the poor.  I think it caused Blessed Teresa some suffering, but I have no doubt that she was moved to pray for him and for his conversion.  I have no doubt that when she entered heaven she was praying for him with great earnestness:  may her prayers produce much fruit.

Ironically, while Christopher was lolling in his atheism, his brother, Peter, had a conversion and is now a great defender of faith in general, and of the Christian faith in particular, of which he is a member - he is a member of the Church of England.  I have no doubt he too was praying for his brother. 

Let us pray for them all: that the Lord will grant mercy to Christopher and consolation to his family.   We commend them to the intercession of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

At The Table Of Bitterness, Where Poor Sinners Eat

Here's an interesting idea for you, posed by a friend of mine in conversation today: why not ask the Holy Father to declare one of the saints a patron saint of atheists and non believers?  And to suggest that one of the best candidates for the job is none other that the sister herself, St Therese of the Child Jesus?

Now that struck me as interesting for a number of reasons, one of them being personal.  Only last week I met a man who is a professed atheist, but yet shared a number of ideas in common with the Church.  In my prayer I gave him into the hands of St Therese and asked her to look after him and guide him to the faith.  My friend's suggestion seems like a confirmation of that act of entrustment.

For those who know St Therese's real life, as opposed to the sentimental image, such a proposition would make sense.  If ever there was one who understood the darkness of non belief it was Therese.  Yes, there have been saints who started out as atheists and then came to faith, but as you read Therese's writings you see very clearly that God was leading her through this dark night of unbelief for a reason.  It was to prefect her love of course: if she was to be love at the heart of the Church, then she only had love - even her faith was to pass away - as it will for all of us, as St Paul teaches us: love remains.

Have a quick read of these extracts from Therese's writings.  The first details that profound darkness into which her soul entered:

[Jesus] permitted my soul to be invaded by the thickest darkness, and that the thought of heaven, up until then so sweet to me, be no longer anything but the cause of struggle and torment.  This trial was to last not a few days or a few weeks, it was not to be extinguished until the hour set by God Himself and this hour has not yet come.  I would like to be able to express what I feel, but alas!  I believe this is impossible.  One would have to travel through this dark tunnel to understand this darkness.

And:

Then suddenly the fog that surrounds me becomes more dense; it penetrates my soul and envelops it in such a way that it is impossible to discover within it the sweet image of my Fatherland; everything has disappeared!  When I want to rest my heart fatigued by the darkness that surrounds it by the memory of the luminous country after which I aspire, my torment redoubles; it seems to me that the darkness, borrowing the voice of sinners, says mockingly to me: “You are dreaming about the light, about a fatherland embalmed in the sweetest perfumes; you are dreaming about the eternal possession of the Creator of all these marvels; you believe that one day you will walk out of this fog that surrounds you!  Advance, advance; rejoice in death which will give you not what you hope for but a night still more profound, the night of nothingness.”

This third extract is more familiar, it brings to mind Therese's sitting at the table of unbelievers (she speaks of herself in the third person):

She is resigned to eat the bread of sorrow as long as You desire it; she does not wish to rise up from this table filled with bitterness at which poor sinners are eating until the day set by You.  Can she not say in her name and in the name of her brothers, “Have pity on us, O Lord, for we are poor sinners!”  Oh! Lord, send us away justified.  May all those who were not enlightened by the bright flame of faith one day see it shine.  O Jesus! if it is needful that the table soiled by them be purified by a soul who loves You, then I desire to eat this bread of trial at this table until it pleases You to bring me into Your bright Kingdom.

See also Michael Gallagher's article on her trial of faith here.

In these we are given a glimpse of her trial of faith, one which makes her truly a woman of the modern age, or to take Pope Pius XI's description of her, as the greatest saint of modern times.  She endured what modern man and modern women endures even today - the reality of doubt, the absence of faith, the night of uncertainity - but in her love was her anchor and so her trial purified her love.

There is no official patron saint of atheists and non believers, St Otteran has been described as the patron, but that is based on a silly, untrue story about him.  The granting of a patronage must be based on a reality, and St Therese's experience is reality enough for her to be proclaimed.

So, there's something for you to think about and comment on.  If any Carmelites are reading this, especially Discalced, we might get our heads together and see if there is anything that could be done.  I presume a few bishops will come in handy here.

Therese's "first child": Henri Pranzini, converted on the scaffold before his execution for murder, thanks to her prayers