Jesus tell us that he will send us the Holy Spirit, called the Spirit of truth, to lead us and guide us to all truth. We hear the word “truth” talked about all the time, but sometimes what we think is the truth can be our own perspective or how we see things, even though we don’t want to admit it.
On May 28, 195, French philosopher and politician Marc Sangnier passed away. In 1894, he founded a movement called “Le Sillon,” which means “The Path” or “The Furrow” in English. Le Sillon was a religious and political movement that aimed to bring Catholicism into dialogue with the reality of the world, to be a religious alternative to Marxism and the anti-clerical labor movement that drew away a lot youth and young adults from Catholicism in France and in the rest of Europe. Sangnier was inspired by the groundbreaking social encyclical Rerum Novarum issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, calling for the Catholic Church to address the major social issues in the world. Sangnier’s movement, which became very popular, seemed to have the approval of many bishops and even Pope Pius X. However, some traditionalists in the Church began to see the movement as too Republican and too modernist, as moving away from the Church Magisterium and hierarchical authority. A papal letter condemned the organization in 1910, after which the movement dissolved itself. Sangnier retreated to the sidelines. Although he still promoted the cause of democracy and social justice, his voice never regained the prominence it once had.
Now we have Pope Leo XIV who specifically chose that name influenced by Pope Leo XIII and the encyclical Rerum Novarum. Many of the saints and theologians who influenced the development of the faith were condemned or judged harshly in the own day. It is only through the lens of history that we can see the positive influence that they had. How is God sending us out in the world? How is the Holy Spirit working in our lives?
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