Pope Benedict mentions Teilhard de Chardin.
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"Toward the end of a reflection upon the Letter to the Romans, in which St. Paul writes that the world itself will one day become a form of living worship, the pope said, "It's the great vision that later Teilhard de Chardin also had: At the end we will have a true cosmic liturgy, where the cosmos becomes a living host." - Source
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Teilhard is a popular guy amongst New Age mystics - the following is a sample of one of their prayers:
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"We reach towards the Omega Point with our hearts and minds. As we strive to create a more conscious, interconnected and harmonious society we are strengthened by Your love and wisdom. We recognize the potential for divinity in our fellow men, in nature and in the species that have gone before us. We revere the Filigree, Solarians and Ur-Mothers for showing us that the great goal of becoming a true body of Christ is possible. Help us make the right decisions to live our lives to the greatest good for our species, support us in times of doubt and trouble and grant us the love we feel for You." - From the prayerbooks of the Liberty chapter of the Association of the Faithful of St. Teilhard.
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Whatever works I guess.
Well, now we're getting close to home.
ReplyDeleteI must admit that once upon a time in a land far, far away (OK, maybe a few miles) I was enamored of Teilhard de Chardin, although never enough to join a sect devoted to him, or, for that matter, learning how to properly pronounce his name.
That was after my "pyramid hat" phase, when I was also reading Thomas Merton, the Cloud of Unknowing and other books on Christian mysticism. Yoga and meditation followed. But my Guardian Angel kept me from going "whole hog" into it and soon thereafter, I began my (still continuing) reversion.
Proof is evidenced by the fact that I can see only one book by Merton (a collection) in my somewhat large library. Pretty much the rest of the spiritual books have or could have imprimaturs (except for a copy of the Dutch Catechism that I keep for unknown reasons because I thought it was goofy then.
Ray, you ol' liberal you! I wonder how soon some of the uber-uber-trad sites are going to cry sede-vacantist after this statement by B16?
ReplyDeleteI'd better start hanging out more often at AngelQueen to see what the boys have to say. Now that I typed that, it doesn't seem that there are too many militantly traddy women, are there?
ReplyDeleteTerry-
ReplyDeleteI’m so glad to see that after all this time you’re still writing thoughtful posts that make people think. Nice to visit your blog again my old friend:0)
As far as Teilhard goes, it’s rather unfortunate that the New Agers have made an attempt to commandeer him to their unsubstantiated and untested, generic spirituality. This stigmatizes Chardin in the eyes of some of our more - shall we say - “insular” Catholic brethren. I personally find some of Chardin’s writing quite beautiful and meaningful. Part of my admiration is derived from the fact that he made a serious attempt to reconcile science and theology, which in his time, ecclesiastically speaking, was a formidable task. I should also mention that Chardin’s writings often involve the use poetic composition, which made them even more incomprehensible to his immediate supervisors and above (this is what got him in trouble). Finally, would our Pope reference in a positive tone the writings of a heretic? Probably not.
Anyhoo, nice to be visit your blog again and I thank you for the prayers and kind thoughts you left on mine. I should be posting again soon
Tom - glad you are back - I check your blog regularly to see if you are posting yet. I definitely thought of you when I posted this and thought you would be pleased to hear that the Holy Father mentioned Chardin. God bless!
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