PODCAST | On Faith and Reason
On Faith and Reason is a new talk on the St. Josemaria Institute Podcast by Very Rev. Peter Armenio who explains the urgency with which today’s burning issues (marriage, children, life, evolution, suffering, death, etc.) require not only an appeal to supernatural authority but also to science and nature.
In this new talk on the St. Josemaria Institute Podcast, On Faith and Reason, Very Rev. Peter Armenio stresses the urgency with which today’s burning issues (marriage, children, life, evolution, suffering, death, etc.) require not only an appeal to supernatural authority but also to science and nature.
Fr Armenio addresses specific issues and situations confronting everyday life and how lay people in the middle of the world are often looked to by those around them (at home, work, school, etc.) “to be able to articulate these burning issues…” and “to point out with humility, with understanding, with mercy, that faith seeks understanding and that moral truth gives joy and gives fulfillment, gives freedom, makes for happier families, better society, and greater meaning in life.”
This new podcast is a recording of a talk delivered by Very Rev. Peter Armenio at a recent event in Chicago. Fr Armenio is the Vicar of Opus Dei for the Midwest in the United States and Theological Advisor to the St. Josemaria Institute.
“The Longing for God”
“Mankind awaited the coming of the Savior for centuries. The prophets had announced his coming in a thousand ways. Even in the farthest corners of the earth, where a great part of God’s revelation to men was perhaps lost through sin or ignorance, the longing for God, the desire to be redeemed, had been kept alive.
“When the fullness of time comes, no philosophical genius, no Plato or Socrates appears to fulfill the mission of redemption. Nor does a powerful conqueror, another Alexander, take over the earth. Instead a child is born in Bethlehem. He it is who is to redeem the world. But before he speaks he loves with deeds. It is no magic formula he brings, because he knows that the salvation he offers must pass through human hearts. What does he first do? He laughs and cries and sleeps defenseless, as a baby, though he is God incarnate. And he does this so that we may fall in love with him, so that we may learn to take him in our arms.
“We realize once again that this is what Christianity is all about. If a Christian does not love with deeds, he has failed as a Christian, besides failing as a person. You cannot think of others as if they were digits, or rungs on a ladder on which you can rise, or a multitude to be harangued or humiliated, praised or despised, according to circumstances. Be mindful of what others are — and first of all those who are at your side: children of God, with all the dignity that marvelous title entails.
“We have to behave as God’s children toward all God’s sons and daughters. Our love has to be a dedicated love, practiced every day and made up of a thousand little details of understanding, hidden sacrifice and unnoticed self-giving. This is the “aroma of Christ” that made those who lived among our first brothers in the faith exclaim: See how they love one another!
“(…) I always speak about real daily life, about the sanctification of work, of family bonds, of friendships. If we aren’t Christian in these things, where will we be Christian? The pleasant smell of incense comes from some small, hidden grains of incense placed upon the burning charcoal. Likewise is the ‘aroma of Christ’ noticed among men — not in a sudden burst of flame, but in the constant red-hot embers of virtues such as justice, loyalty, faithfulness, understanding, generosity and cheerfulness.”
St. Josemaria Escriva
Christ is Passing By, no. 36
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All texts and images of St. Josemaria Escriva © Studium Foundation
Rev. Peter Armenio
Rev. Peter V. Armenio was ordained a priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei in 1980. He is the author of several books published by Midwest Theological Forum, including Highlights of the Catholic Faith. He also served as President of the St. Josemaria Institute from 2006 to 2012. He has been working in campus ministry for the past 30 years and also preaches recollections and gives spiritual direction in Chicago.
