The then Cardinal Ratzinger, somewhere, recommended St Augustine's Confessions, because in that book Augustine had somehow captured not only his own personal story but also the general outline of of what it means to be ont he Christian journey. We should all pick it up and read it again:
"Too late have I loved Thee, O Beauty, ever ancient, ever new! Too late did I love Thee: For behold, Thou wert within, and I without, and there did I seek Thee; I, unlovely, rushed heedlessly among the things of beauty Thou madest. Thou were with me, but I was not with Thee. Those things kept me far from Thee, which, unless they were in Thee, were not. Thou calledst, and criedst aloud, and forcedst open my deafness. Thou didst gleam and shine, and chase away my blindness. Thou didst exhale odours, and I drew in my breath and do pant after Thee. I tasted, and do hunger and thirst. Thou didst touch me, and I burned for Thy peace."
I have always loved the way Augustine's story is his own specific, personal story, and at the same time touches such universal themes, reaching the universal through the particular.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's quite true: in fact, while so many people have studied the Confessions from a theological perspective, people might also enjoy looking at the book from an artistic perspective, thus informing the theological truth contained in it even more. That would be a Balthasarian approach!
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful stone facade that I have to visit at least once every time that I am in Zacatecas, Mexico. The banner coming from the angel's mouth says ("backwards," of course) "Tolle, lege; tolle, lege."
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