This
Sunday marks the 61st anniversary of the death of the Jesuit priest
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Just by his name we can tell that he is going
to be a fascinating person. Teilhard de Chardin has not been canonized a saint yet. He hasn’t been beatified either. Yet,
his journey of faith and his profound writings have attracted a loyal following
among many Christians, especially those who are scientifically oriented. The
fact that he can be described as both “a mystic and a scientist” shows that his
is quite an interesting individual. He
was an accomplished geologist and paleontologist, having had a key role
in the discovery and interpretation of “Peking man” in China in 1929-1930. He
was quite an accomplished theologian as well. Yet,
his theological writings were way before his time; the Church forbade him from
publishing any of his theological writings during his lifetime. In
his obedience as a priest, he complied with that order. Since
his death, his writings have been published.
His view of God in all of creation and the scientific mindset in which
he approaches theology appeals to those in the modern world who approach God
with the mind of a mathematician or scientist. So
many in the world today think that God can not be reconciled to science and
technology, but the writings of Teilhard de Chardin beg to differ. He
was ordained a priest in 1911 and wrote the following in 1916 while serving as
a stretcher bearer in WWI for his native country of France: “There is a communion with God, and a
communion with the earth, and a communion with God through the earth.” He
also wrote this about how we can reconcile our spiritual experience of God with
our humanity: “You are not a human being in search of a spiritual experience.
You are a spiritual being immersed in a human experience.”
The
law of God vs the law of man. The values
of the Gospel vs the values of the secular world. The call of earthly whims and desires vs the
call we have from God. The apostles battled these seemingly different realities
as they came up for trial before the Jewish authorities. The apostles saw their calling to preach the
Gospel as intrinsic to the lives that they lived here on earth. Teilhard de
Chardin, both a mystic and a scientist, both a priest and an earthy human
being, reconciled his faith with his daily lived experiences. His writings still are fresh and profound and
relevant today in the midst of so many books and writings. May we also continue to find our spiritual
way in the midst of our earthly journey.
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