Faith and Reason, or is it really Faith as Reason?
About a year ago, I was introduced to the ecclesial movement Communion and Liberation (CL). CL was started by Msgr. Luigi Giussani in 1954, while he was teaching in a high school in Milan. The purpose of CL is to educate its members to Christian maturity so that they can more fully and fruitfully collaborate in the mission of the Church in all the spheres of contemporary life. Central to the charism of CL is announcing that God became man, and this man, Jesus of Nazareth, is still a present event in history through His Mystical Body, the Church, and only through and in Jesus can we be more truly human. I know, that’s a mouthful.
I am still a novice in CL, but I am learning so much. A few months ago I started to meet monthly with a group of priests who are involved with CL. We have been studying, in prayer, a work by Msgr. Giussani entitled, Si puo vivere cosi? (”Can You Really Live Like That?”). In the first chapter, Msgr. Giussani presents a very interesting point, namely that faith is a form, or method, of reasoning. He defines faith as “reason mediated by a witness,” and points out that it is a very natural, form of reasoning. In fact in is the form of reasoning and knowledge that underpins all of culture. How do I know that the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia, PA? I was not there. I did not personally witness it or experienced it. I know it through a witness, someone whom I have judged knows something about the matter and has no intention of deceiving me. When I go to a restaurant, do I have to test the food to make sure it is really food and not poison? No, I have faith in the cook.
I think that this is a very important point. It seems that in modern, Western society too often Faith is placed as being opposed to Reason. Some might accept that we can only know some things by Faith, but unspoken is the assumption that this is unReasonable. What Msgr. Giussani is pointing out, and think this has been the major message that Pope Benedict XVI has been preach the past year, is that Faith is Reason, at least one form (and he argues the most completely human form) of Reason.
I know that I am only scratching the surface of what Msgr. Giussani is saying. Of course, religious Faith is through the witness of Jesus Christ and His disciples, for it is through His Mystical Body, the Church, that Jesus Christ remains incarnate, the Word-Made-Flesh (interesting, the Greek word used in the Gospel for “Word” is “Logos” which means “Reason”). One of the things about CL is that we read what we are studying very slowly, very deliberately, so there will be more reflections on this work in the future, but I think it is an interesting beginning.
