March 2003 Christian Spirituality - an historical sketch      (A New Series) By George A Lane SJ

Introduction A renewed interest in Spirituality is part of the total renewal that is taking place in the Church as a result of the Second Vatican Council. The Church's effort to achieve an deeper understanding of herself and the roles of the various clerical, religious, and lay groups within her forms a backdrop against which a renewal in spirituality is taking place. In recent years there has been a growing interest in the psychological aspects of spirituality and religious life. Much of this interest has been directed towards the understanding of the unique human person who seriously tries to live a spiritual life. This psychological dimension has ushered in a much more humane approach to many aspects of religious life which was much needed to counter the ultra-mechanical piety of the 19th and early 20th centuries. But besides the psychological dimension of renewal, there is a theological dimension. The theological import of theologians, and others must be carefully studied and taken into account if we are to arrive at a valid contemporary spirituality. We must never forget that the chief problem confronting any kind of renewal is how to balance the changing with the changeless, how to balance the demands of contemporaneity with the treasures of the past. This is the problem we face in attempting to formulate a spirituality which is at once vital for our time and solidly grounded in the best traditions of the past. Keeping in mind, then, this basic problem of renewal, it will be valuable to make an historical-theological survey of Christian spirituality. Why do we take this approach? In so much of the work of Vatican II the direction of renewal has been solidly based upon and influenced by the past. We look to the sources of Christian life and try to discover how it has developed. In much the same way, Vatican II urges religious communities to look to their origins and to understand the original inspiration of their founders. In this way they can be true to their traditions and at the same time chart out a programme of vital renewal. In short, Teilhard de Chardin has summed it up in The Future of Man when he says, "Everything is the sum of the past; nothing is comprehensible except through its history." Failure to grasp the historical perspective so often condemns people to relive the mistakes of the past. How can we arrive at an authentic programme for seeking union with God in our present time in our particular way of life within the Church? Basically we have to keep the past and the future in mind in order to arrive at a valid spirituality for the present. We must preserve the best traditions from the past and look to the future for our goals; from these two perspectives we can address the present in a much more effective way.

- To Be Continued -