Le Coeur du Christ pour un monde nouveau (The Heart of Christ For a New World)
Compiled by B. Peyrons, Edited by L'Emmanuel, Paray-le-Monial 1998, pp.278.
This is a publication which collects and presents the "acts" of the Congress on the Spirituality of the Heart of Jesus, held in Paray-le-Monial in 1995. At this Congress the spokesmen represented various congregations or movements and each one had to respond to the question of whether or not, in the message of the Heart of Jesus, there could still be found the sustenance capable of renewing our life of faith and the very life of the world. Agreement was widespread even though, since many different traditions were represented, the values which were highlighted were very different. Therefore we have: in the tradition of St. John Eudes, a rich trinitarian biblical perspective; in that of Fr. Francisco Hoyos, the centrality of the consecration; in that of Fr. de Clorivière, the deep unity of the two Hearts, that of Jesus and that of Mary; and, in the spiritual experience of Mother Mary of Jesus (from Liegi), the boundless tenderness of God for His creatures.
Fr. Jules Chevalier, founder of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (Issoudun), emphasized, in his turn, the centrality of the Heart of Jesus in revelation, and the centrality of the heart of man in Christian life. He therefore invites us to contemplate the Heart of God which, driven by the weight of an infinite love, communicates with His creatures by means of the Heart of Christ, in order to unite them in love and to constitute in Christ one single heart and one single soul... No less original is the thought of St. Michele Garicoïts, founder of the Priests of the Sacred Heart (Bétharram). He sees the whole mystery of redemption in the infinite love of the Son of God who, sent into the world for our salvation, responds with the Ecce venio of the incarnation: an expression which is the summation of His gift of love right up to the cross and glory, and which becomes, for the believer, a proposal, an ideal, of a life totally given in response to the love of God, to the expectation of His fellow man, and to the urgency of the mission.
Another soul who was fascinated by the love of the Heart of Christ is Theresa of Lisieux. But, in order not to spend too much time on this, let us move on and discuss the contribution of Fr. A. Perroux and his presentation of Fr. Leo Dehon as one who lived "a life consecrated to the Heart of Jesus" (pp 149-172). He does not illustrate the doctrine of Fr. Dehon, but, by showing us three instances, presents how he lived his spirituality:
1. The first moments in which certain elements were put in evidence; elements which would later converge and become a part of the formation of his future character.
2. His spiritual itinerary during the continual quest for the will of God: which took place in the context of the "French School". It was through this patient quest that he was first "initiated into the love of the Heart of Jesus".
3. And then the third instance, the broadest and best motivated. Here is where the author presents the concrete and "typical" manner in which Fr. Dehon understood and lived the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus: a manner very common in the Church of his time (cf. pp. 158-172).
In the writings and in the daily life of Fr. Dehon, more or less all of the aspects of this spirituality are present: the Heart of Jesus, symbol of all His love for the Father and for mankind; the mystery of the pierced side, the site par excellence of the divine love which gives itself; the definite necessity to continually learn from Jesus, "meek and humble of heart", in order to become His true disciple; the ecce venio, as an attitude which leads to a life of oblation and reparation for love - a love which sees, in the Eucharist, the center and the sustenance of the entire Christian life; a love which, both by receiving sustenance from the Eucharist and by the gift of the Spirit, urges one towards a "charity" which aims to be two things at the same time: the radiance of the charity of Christ and the commitment to effective solidarity towards the lowest of the low, towards the poor, towards those who come last in the Church and in society.
Particularly original in Fr. Dehon, the author emphasizes, is his need to see unified, in the Heart of Jesus, all the aspects of his thought and action: theology and spiritual life, religious life and missionary activity, total dedication to the "Kingdom of the Heart of Jesus", and also the continuation of his social and political commitment. Cf., in particular, the paragraphs: "Le Coeur de Jésus c'est tout l'Evangile" (The Heart of Jesus is the Whole Gospel) (p.160); "On ne peut aimer Jésus sans l'aimer dans ses frères" (One Cannot Love Jesus Without Loving Him in His Brethren) (p.167); and a recollection of the title Fr. Dehon chose for his magazine: "The Heart of Jesus in Souls and in Societies" (p.168). It was a title with which Fr. Dehon expressed his commitment to "a kingdom of effective justice and charity for all". His, therefore was not a spirituality which is "resigned" and "passive" when faced with the problems of the Church and of history, but a spirituality in which there is strongly felt, concludes Fr. Perroux, the imperative need for an effective "convergence of both the consecration of love for the Heart of Jesus and the struggle for justice in charity" (p.169).
A volume offering such a varied and rich panorama regarding the manner in which we conceive and live the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus in contemporary times, should not be missing in any of our communities. (A.T.)
Etica y economía: Economía de mercado, Neoliberalismo y ética de la gratuidad (Ethics and Economy: Market Economy and the Ethics of Free-giving) Compiled by J. C. Scannone and G. Remolina, Editorial Bonum, Buenos Aires, 1998. pp.498
This book tackles one of the most difficult theoretical and practical problems of the end of the current millennium: how to reconcile contemporary, neo-liberal and globalized economy, with the demands of an ethic which is truly committed to insuring the common good. This is the fifth publication which the Latin American Jesuit Team of Philosophical Reflection has put together. The first number of the series which this team published was entitled: Para una filosofía desde América Latina, (For a Philosophy From Latin America), Bogota 1992.
They are, therefore, a team of scholars which is endeavoring to restudy, in a more evangelical and "Latin American" perspective, all the great problems which concern Man and Society.
This fifth volume is about the tension which exists between a free-market and the ethics of free-giving: a tension which the authors intend to address "positively". Since the first two articles of this volume analyze the "market" in its aspect of being a human and social reality, involving inter-human relationships in freedom and in reciprocal respect, they illustrate the importance of an ethical "humanizing" perspective. The third article seeks to present a philosophical criticism of neo-liberalism and proposes the conditions for its humanization. This time the reflection begins with a metaphysical view of "nosostros y la nostridad" (the "we" and "solidarity"), which must become a style of life both on the level of business and on the various levels of civil, political and economic society, as well as those of world politics.
The fourth article is a commentary on the book by Peter Ulrich, entitled: "A Transformation of Rationality and Economic Activities". This is not an external view, which would only lead to confusion. It is a view which shows how the economy, when seen in its entirety, cannot fail to also involve society and ethics, even with regard to the legitimate autonomy of the various levels or values. And it seems that this renewed understanding of the work of Peter Ulrich is opening up substantial prospects of solidarity on the practical operative plane in the economy of the Latin American people.
The third part of the volume, dedicated to operative and practical "projections", is also very interesting. The ninth chapter, in particular, comments on the relationship between work, education and the imaginary collective in the poor working-class areas of greater Buenos Aires. According to the author, this imaginary collective is characterized by three component parts: one traditional, one modern and one post-modern. And these components condition both the idea and the performance of work: since it is more personal, creative, flexible and independent, knowledge, management and community become determining factors.
These are only some of the numerous and difficult aspects relating to the free-market of a world which is in the process of an increasingly rapid transformation. As can easily be understood, the authors do not set ethics and economy against each other, nor market economy against the ethics of free-giving and solidarity; on the contrary, they point out the close relationship between them on all levels: both theoretical and practical. It is therefore not a question of renouncing efficiency and rationality in economy, but, on the contrary, of opening it up to more global and truer perspectives; in other words, promoting an economy which is more rational and efficient, precisely because it is more human. This, more or less, is the evaluation which was given when the volume was presented at the Faculty of Religious Sociology of the Gregorian Pontifical University at the beginning of January 1999. (A.T.)