Catholicism is an abundant table...nutritious, delicious, extravagant, costly, inebriating. I have myself dined sumptuously of the many flavors. And so I have become a quite distinctive Catholic flavor myself. I know no one like myself. Other than the Church herself, I pledge allegiance exclusively to no school, movement, or party. I am a complex compound of many.
My background is standard: raised in a large, happy, pious, stable, working class family in the postwar Church, I came of age in the excitement of the 1960s, even as I was sheltered from the drugs-sex-rock-and-roll of the Cultural Revolution in a semi-cloistered college seminary. But the strongest influences on my Catholic thinking are:
Divine Mercy Revelations. Received by St. Faustina, they were propagated throughout the Church by St. John Paul II, specifically in his Encyclical Dives in Misericordia.
Charismatic Catholic Teachings. Our personal experiences of "baptism in the Holy Spirit" as well as the dramatic global explosion of the last half century were given authentic form, deeply Catholic and yet ecumenically enriched from the Evangelical and Pentecostal traditions, by Ralph Martin and his, largely lay, collaborators.
St. John Paul II Papacy. In addition to his teaching on Mercy, he focused on: the Person/Event of Jesus Christ, the inestimable dignity of the human person, a groundbreaking catechesis on sexuality, an anthropology of work, and more. Along with his teaching he modeled for us Christlike virility.
"Communio Theology" of Ratziner, Balthasar and others. The scriptural personalism of Ratzinger and the aesthetics/dramatics of Balthasar along with the thought of John Paul came to me largely through the American school of the David Schindlers, Hanby, Healy, Lopez, Prosperi, Walker and Co. In the partnership-papacy of JP/Ben we also receive the authoritative interpretation (of continuity) of the Council.
Culture War. Through the 1970-80s, as elite culture, including within the Church, became progressive, with many I reacted fiercely in defense of unborn life, masculinity/femininity, the family, religious liberty and other.
Remaining Working Class Viewpoint. As Catholic adult, I viscerally renounced the now sexually liberational Democratic Party, but as son of a union organizer I retained my allegiance to the worker and the underdog. Now a registered but dissonant Republican, I leaned moderate/liberal on economics.
Neo-Thomism of Gilson and Maritain. In college, these two clear thinkers fortified my Catholicism against the forces raging against it at that very time.
Jesuit Teachers Joe Whelan and Avery Cardinal Dulles. Each is a stand alone: Whelan himself a mystic taught the theology of prayer; Dulles is the model of balanced, encyclopedic, deep Catholic theology.
Catholic Psychologists Including Paul Vitz, Benedict Groeschel, Joseph Nicolosi, Elizabeth Amberly, Conrad Baars, Fr. Charles Curran (not moral theologian), Richard Fitzgibbons and others helped me to harmonize Catholic basics with the emergence of the therapeutic.
12-Step Spirituality. This Catholic-friendly, ecumenical approach offers us a deep, thorough program to address deep addictions and compulsions.
Mimetic Theory of Rene Girard. As received through his remarkable American disciple, Gil Baile, this anthropological theory is Catholic friendly and deeply insightful.
Friendship with the Poor of Mother Theresa, Dorothy Day, Catherine Doherty. These combined Catholic mysticism, closeness to the poor, brilliance and radiant femininity. There are many such: Madalene del Brell, Caryl Houselander, Heather King, and oldies like Rose Hawthorne, Cabrini, and Drexel.
Ivan Illich, again in my college years, along with Ellul and Schumacher, provided a deep critique of techno-bureaucracy that helped me keep my soul intact as I navigated a business career in UPS.
Neocatechumenal Way of Kiko Arguello and Carmen Hernandez. Walking in this way for several years, gave an added depth and perspective to my faith.
Communion and Liberation. Through my daughter especially I am a friend, a "fellow traveler" and admirer of this wholesome movement.
First Things of Neuhaus/Reno encourages me in my moral conservatism against sexual license as well as my strong internationalism in defense of human rights against bad players around the globe. My economics is more left and working class, however, than that of most of the Catholic Neo-Conservatives, more like the New Right of Sohab Amari and JD Vance.
Jewish/Christian Encounter. Reading of Monsignor John Ostereicher, studies at the Seton Hall Institute (with Fr. Frizzell and Rabbi Finkel) and random encounters over the years fed my fascination with Judaism and love for the Jews.
These seventeen influences are a rich blend, you will agree Dear Reader, of the academic, populist, countercultural, mystical, eccentric and non-bourgeois. Strangely, the variety here contains (for me) no contradiction or dissonance. There is, to be sure, creative tension among them. It makes it all more interesting and fruitful. Most of these influences are somewhat dated: I am current or fashionable.
In any case, the six decades since the Vatican Council has been a great time to be Catholic!
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