In Saecula Saeculorum

 October 22, 2023                    29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

"Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God."
- Matthew 22:21

In this Sunday's Gospel, the Pharisees present Jesus with the false dichotomy between earthly and Heavenly responsibilities. There are many false dichotomies which, if unrecognized, create unnecessary divisions between the faithful and the world (surely our world is polarized enough as it is!). Such false dichotomies include faith vs. reason, evangelization vs. tolerance, and one in particular which I hope to address here: sacred vs. secular.

Etymologically speaking, the word secular derives from the Latin word saeculum, which means generation/age. The Latin phrase in saecula saeculorum appears at the end of several doxologies and literally translates to "in the age of ages" (modern English translations have this as "forever and ever"). Now, you may have encountered generational nicknames such as Baby Boomers, Gen-X, Millennials, and Gen-Z, each marked by distinctive cultural features indicative of the "spirit of the times," or Zeitgeist, if you wanna be all fancy. The German word Zeitgeist derives from the 19th-century philosopher G.W.F. Hegel, sometimes nicknamed "the Protestant Aquinas," who pondered a great deal about this idea of a spirit of the times. Each of us is a product of our time, our cultural history, and our interactions with others. We've no doubt observed that people who grew up in a different generation (a different saeculum) may have a very different way of thinking from ours.

Yet despite generational differences, we also observe that the collective values of human civilization over the centuries has tended toward convergence, harmonious coexistence, "peace on earth and good will toward men." Martin Luther King said, "...the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." Orthodox philosophical theologian Richard Swinburne writes, "...there is no reason to suppose that the moral views of most of us would not converge over time, given exposure to each other's life experiences and each other's arguments." Even atheist scientist Steven Pinker, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature, shares with Christians the commitment to objective moral values and notes a forward-moving arrow of moral progress. As Pope St. John Paul II wrote: "Although times change and knowledge increases, it is possible to discern a core of philosophical insight within the history of thought as a whole... It is as if we had come upon an implicit philosophy, as a result of which all feel that they possess these principles, albeit in a general and unreflective way." (Fides et Ratio, Art. 4)

I invite you to consider that the cultural practices of our respective generations -- our saecula -- need not compromise our spiritual goals any more than "rendering unto Caesar" ought to compromise "rendering unto God." To use the case of music as just one example: despite some older generations' aversion to contemporary worship music due to its "secular sound," a large part of the development of church music over the centuries, from Gregorian chant to the many varied types of sacred music today, owes to the influence of secular music. Vatican II states: "The Church also acknowledges new forms of art which are adapted to our age and are in keeping with the characteristics of various nations and regions. They may be brought to the sanctuary since they raise the mind to God, once the manner of expression is adapted and they are conformed to liturgical requirements." (Gaudium et Spes, Art. 13)

My favorite expression of the marriage between the worldly and the spiritual comes from Christian philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, in his account of the ideal religious person, which he calls the Knight of Faith:

He takes delight in everything, and whenever one sees him taking part in a particular pleasure, he does it with the persistence which is the mark of the earthly man whose soul is absorbed in such things. He tends to his work. So when one looks at him one might suppose that he was a clerk who had lost his soul in an intricate system of book-keeping... And yet, and yet, the whole earthly form he exhibits is a new creation by virtue of the absurd [i.e. mysteries of faith]. He resigned everything infinitely, and then he grasped everything again by virtue of the absurd.
- Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling

Kierkegaard's Knight of Faith reminds me of a homily given by our former parochial vicar, Fr. Joseph Kim, who shared how he would always invite Jesus to spend TV time with him. I think Fr. Joseph's homily is a pleasant reminder that God is never lost in the earthly business of our saeculum; it is we who sometimes forget that He's there. To see beyond our age is simply to recognize the constant hand of God in ages past, in the age of present, in ages to come, in saecula saeculorum.

 With my peace,
Carlo Serrano, Music Director