Vatican II ‘...not just about the Church, but the entire world’

Some 200 of the faithful attended the second diocesan symposium on the documents of Vatican II. They heard presentations on Gaudium es Spes, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World and Dei Verbum, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation. Alfredo Cardenas, South Texas Catholic

"Gaudium es Spes was meant for you, you are in the front lines,” Bishop Wm. Michael Mulvey told members of the laity at the second Vatican II Symposium sponsored by the Diocese of Corpus Christi as part of the Year of Faith.

The Second Vatican Council adopted Gaudium es Spes, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World in December 1965 as part of a series of charters spelling out and explaining church doctrine and its mission. In addition to Gaudium es Spes, the council also adopted Sacrosanctum Concilium, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (1963), Lumen Gentium, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (1964) and Dei Verbum, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (November 1965).

Earlier this year the diocese held a symposium on Sacrosanctum Concilium and Lumen Gentium. On March 9, some 200 faithful gathered in the St. Joseph Hall at the Corpus Christi Cathedral to hear presentations on Gaudium es Spes and Dei Verbum.

Father Donald Nesti, CSSp, Director of the Center for Faith and Culture at St. Thomas University in Houston, told the audience that Gaudium es Spes was intended to “assist the faithful to live in the world, not just in liturgy.”

“It’s not just about the Church, but the entire world,” Father Nesti said. “God’s covenant with us makes us unique but not separated.”

Gaudium es Spes includes two parts. The first is doctrinal in nature and treats the dignity of the human person, the community of humankind, human activity throughout the world and the role of the Church in the modern world. The second part delves into the dignity of marriage and the family, proper development of the culture, economic, political and social life and fostering peace and promotion of a community of nations.

The Church, Father Nesti said, is linked to mankind and history; it is not removed from the world but is in the world. He said that in talking about the dignity of the human person, many Catholics think about abortion and euthanasia, “but the dignity of the human person goes far beyond that, in our responsibility for people in the world,” the dispossessed and the poor. Charity, he said, is the essential ministry of the Church in the world.

“The world needs to be blessed through us because of God’s covenant with us, which makes us unique; but not separate. It heightens our responsibility,” Father Nesti said.

The Church is a communion in its diversity; it is not an individualistic society in which “we just think about ourselves.” And we must not just reach out to fellow Catholics, or our Christian brothers, but our concerns must extend even to those who do not believe in Christ and even to the opponents of Christianity.

Catholics need to engage the world responsibly through dialogue and participation. The Gospels, “rooted in the Lordship of Christ and the Incarnate Word,” provide a road map on how Catholics can live in the world, Father Nesti said.

The Year of Faith, Father Nesti said, “is window washing time.” Catholics need to take the window of faith, as represented by Jesus, and clean it up “so we can see the world clearly.”

“We must see God clearly. We must see the human person clearly,” Father Nesti said. “You are formed by your culture but you are also formed by your faith.”

Catholics should be looking to be united in Christ and be a united witness as Church. Father Nesti reminded his audience of words from Gaudium es Spes often quoted by Bishop Mulvey, that we have a responsibility to “make Church the home and school of communion.”

Father Nesti told the laity that their vocation requires them to transform society. “You are the ones that have in your hands the transformation of the world. It is your job,” Father Nesti said.

In Dei Verbum the Second Vatican Council sought to set out the Church’s teaching on divine revelation, “so that by hearing the message of salvation the whole world may believe, by believing it may hope, and by hoping it may love.” The council, Father Tom Norris said, hoped to share the Good News. Father Norris, Paluch Professor of Theology at Mundelein Seminary, spoke at the symposium on Dei Verbum.

“During the Year of Faith, we should study this document to learn not only what we believe but why we believe it,” Father Norris said.

Revelation, he said, precedes religion and the scriptures. They are the muscles of the Christian faith but they came after revelation; indeed revelation is the source of faith, love and charity. God loved us first before we loved Him.

Father Norris explained revelation using three paradigms. First he used an analogy of immigration; secondly he explained revelation as the intersection of searches–of God for man and man for God; and in the third example he used the mystery of the cross.

Every immigrant must do two things. First, the immigrant must adapt to the people and culture they are now living amongst. Second, they must bring elements of their homeland with them to minimize their homesickness.

Father Tom Norris explained that in Dei Verbum, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, the Second Vatican Council set out the teaching on divine revelation, “so that by hearing the message of salvation the whole world may believe...” Alfredo Cardenas, South Texas Catholic

The immigration of Jesus to Earth is at the heart of Catholic faith, Father Norris said. Jesus adapted perfectly to His surroundings. He made Himself one with the people in everything except sin. At the same time, He brought with Him the life of His homeland in heaven, the life of mutual love between the Father and the Son.

“He gave us a share in the life of Himself, the life of love and died to give us the life of His homeland,” Father Norris said.

From time immemorial man has been in search for his origins, for the purpose of life. In its many forms, this search has been a search for God from below, a search for communion with the divine. God too has been searching for man from above. In the fullness of time, God sent His beloved Son to fulfill this longing.

“At that moment, our search from below and God’s search from above intersect, they bond and you find a God-man Jesus the messiah,” Father Norris said.

Finally, Father Norris said, “Divine revelation is what we look at on the cross of Calvary.” The eternal God occupies the cross. It is the victory of life over death.

“Calvary shows the depth of the love of God. The cross is a Trinitarian event,” Father Norris said.

He concluded by pointing out that the “key word of the council is communion because it is the life of the Trinity.”