A Meditation on the Sins of the Intellect

When I was in the seminary, my Moral Theology Professor, Fr. Robert Zylla (R.I.P.), encouraged us to meditate on the sins of the intellect during the third sorrowful mystery (The Crowning with Thorns). In his years of teaching he had surely witnessed the intellectual pride that could beset theologians and seminary students who figured they knew a few things. And added to this human tendency to intellectual pride was the rather prideful sense of the 20th century that we had somehow “come of age.” Dissent from church teaching was rampant and what came to be called the “hermeneutic of rupture and discontinuity” was in full flower. Many dismissed things merely because they were “old” and “pre-Vatican II.” Our advanced technology, tall buildings, terrifying weapons of war, and astonishing techniques of medicine had mesmerized us; we confused mere knowledge with wisdom. Knowing how to get to the moon and back is impressive, but only wisdom and humility, with lots of grace and mercy, can get us to Heaven.

Yes, the sins of the intellect must be consistently monitored and curbed with proper humility and docility (the Latin root docile means to be teachable) to the teachings of the Church. Garry Wills, a noted dissenter during those heady times, coined the phrase Mater si, Magistra no (Mother yes, Teacher no) to indicate that there was no need for him or others to accept the Church’s teaching authority. So sad, yet so emblematic of our times. Many today simply sniffle and dismiss the need for any teaching from the Church.

Our intellect is our greatest strength yet also our biggest struggle. We think we know a few things. And we do know a few things, very few. And insisting that we know so much, we shut down and will no longer listen to the Wisdom of God in His Church, time-tested, stretching back for millennia, the glory of the saints, and a treasure more precious than gold for those who love the Law of the Lord.

For meditation during Holy Week, I read through Jesus of Nazareth, Part II (Holy Week) by Joseph Ratzinger. In it, he writes of the dangers and sins of the intellect as he meditates on Jesus’ words from the cross, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Consider this teaching on the sins and limits of the intellect from one of the great intellects of our time:

Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34). … The theme of “not knowing” returns in St. Peter’s sermon in the Acts of the Apostles … “Now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers” (3:17). … The theme of not knowing also appears in one of St. Paul’s autobiographical reflections. He recalls that he himself “formally blasphemed and persecuted and insulted Jesus” then he continues, “But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief” (1 Tim 1:13).

This combination of expert knowledge and deep ignorance certainly causes us to ponder. It reveals the whole problem of a knowledge that remains self-sufficient and does not arrive at Truth itself.

We encounter the same combination of knowledge and failure to understand in the story of the wise men from the East. The chief priests and the scribes know exactly where the Messiah is to be born. But they do not recognize him. Despite their knowledge, they remain blind (Matthew 2:4–6).

Clearly this mixture of knowledge and ignorance, of material expertise and deep incomprehension occurs in every period of history. For this reason, what Jesus says [from the cross] about ignorance … is bound to be unsettling for the supposedly learned today. Are we not blind precisely as a people with knowledge? … Ignorance diminishes guilt, and it leaves open the path to conversion. But it does not simply excuse, because at the same time it reveals a deadening of the heart that resists the call of Truth [pp. 206-208].

Consider well, especially as you pray the third sorrowful mystery (the Crowning with Thorns), the sins of the intellect; it would make Fr. Zylla happy. As a parting thought, I ask you to ponder the danger described by St. Paul: For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools (Rom 1:21-22).

Save us, Lord, from our foolishness and transform our minds!

I’ll admit this video is a little on the light side given the topic, but the point is that we don’t even understand those closest to us. How, then, can we understand that which is above us?

We need a Catholic prayer ping!

My Prayer to Our Mother Mary

Hail and praise be unto thee, Mary, whom God Almighty has exalted above all of his other servants!!

God has entrusted us unto your care and graciously grants any request that you make of Him on our behalf, if it is in accordance with His Divine Will.

Our hearts burn with zeal as we honor you, Our Mother.

We love you as a child loves a mother and you love us as mother loves her children.

Please guide us, your little ones, to our Eternal and Almighty Father God through our prayers and through your love for us.

Many in this world may slander and degrade you while still claiming to exalt God, please forgive them and pray for them for they may dishearten your devoted children.

May we be made worthy of the promises of Christ through your prayers.

You love us so freely and we are so unworthy of it.

You love us because God and Christ loved us first.

Mary, Mother, I love you.

Amen.

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If the sorts of things we have been seeing happen in this country within the last year or two don’t convince someone that we are in the end times, then I don’t know what it will take.

Each generation believes they are witnessing the end times. Genocide has plagued humanity for centuries. Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by genocide scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. The 20th century toll included the death of 12,000,000 under Hitler, 7,000,000 under Stalin, 1,700,000 under PolPot .... See More. The difference now is that we can witness it on television.

As the author of the Book of Ecclesiastes reminds us:

What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun.
Even the thing of which we say, “See, this is new!” has already existed in the ages that preceded us.
There is no remembrance of past generations nor will future generations be remembered by those who come after them. ... Ecc 1:9-11

There’s way more Bible prophecy being fulfilled than that.

Israel has again become a nation. The political situation is aligning with what is required for the countries mentioned in end times prophecy to fulfill them.

The technology is in place to enforce, ruthlessly, a one world government using the mark of the beast.

The religions of the world, are moving towards a one world religion.

The prophecy of Daniel that in the end knowledge with greatly increase and men will run to and fro across the face of the earth is happening.

Evil is rising almost exponentially between the violence of islam and the moral collapse almost everywhere in the world. Scripture tells us that as in the days of Noah, it would be at the end. And in the days of Noah, “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”. We’ve surpassed Sodom and Gomorrah in depravity by all appearances.

It’s not just an isolated incident, here and there. It’s the culmination of MANY factors that are all necessary for that final judgment known as the Great Tribulation, to play out.

This world is ripe for God’s judgment and with the technology we have in place that enables us to almost completely destroy ourselves and have evil take control, against our will. You can continue to blow it off with that platitude, but do so at your own risk.

It’s not just an isolated incident, here and there. It’s the culmination of MANY factors that are all necessary for that final judgment known as the Great Tribulation, to play out.

You raise some excellent points. It's interesting that you should post them today when, the universal Catholic Church celebrates Divine Mercy Sunday. During the course of Jesus' revelations to Saint Faustina on the Divine Mercy He asked on numerous occasions that a feast day be dedicated to the Divine Mercy and that this feast be celebrated on the Sunday after Easter. Read More.

In His messages to St. Faustina, our Lord spoke of His Second Coming:

You will prepare the world for My final coming. (Diary 429)
Speak to the world about My mercy ... It is a sign for the end times. After it will come the Day of Justice. While there is still time, let them have recourse to the fountain of My mercy. (Diary 848)
Tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice, is near. (Diary 965).
I am prolonging the time of mercy for the sake of sinners. But woe to them if they do not recognize this time of My visitation. (Diary 1160)
Before the Day of Justice, I am sending the Day of Mercy. (Diary 1588)
He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice. (Diary 1146).

This morning, Pope Francis issued a proclamation calling for a Jubilee Year of Mercy to begin on December 8. I will be posting it separately.

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