South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 45, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, March 5, 2010 Page: 7 of 20
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SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC • MARCH 5,2010
COMMENTARY/LETTERS
Turning Inner Chaos into a Peaceful Garden
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
Almost all spiri-
tualities have a spe-
cial place for deserts,
wilderness, and other
such places where
we are unprotected
and in danger from
untamed nature, wild beasts, and
threatening spirits. This concept has
deep roots inside both ancient reli-
gions and the human psyche itself.
In ancient Babylon, for example,
wild, uncultivated terrain was seen
as something that was unfinished by
God and which still participated in
the formless chaos and godlessness
of pre-creation. It was seen both
as unfinished and as a place where
dangerous forces lurked, beasts and
devils. Thus when people took pos-
session of wild, uncultivated land, it
was understood that certain religious
rites had to be performed which, in
essence, claimed the land for God,
for civilization, and for safety. For
ancient Babylon, a cultivated garden
was a safe and sacred place whereas
an uncultivated desert was dangerous
and in some dark way in opposition
to God.
Similar ideas were present too in
other cultures which saw wilderness
as a place inhibited by satyrs, cen-
taurs, trolls, and evil spirits. Myths
and folklore abound with these im-
ages. Medieval Europe, as seen in
our fairytales, added the idea of “deep
and dark forests” to this concept.
These too were seen as uncultivated,
dangerous places, places where bad
spirits or evil persons might capture
you or as places within which you
might hopelessly lose your way. Deep,
dark forests were not places you were
to venture into without proper
guidance.
But it was also understood
that these wild places were not
meant to lie forever untouched
by us and God. The idea was
present inside of Christian
spirituality that we, men and
women of faith, were meant
to help God finish creation by
taming these wilds, exorciz-
ing the bad spirits there, and
turning the wilderness into a
garden. And so Christianity
developed the idea that men and
women armed in a special way with
divine light and protection, monks
and nuns, could and should go into
these uncultivated places and turn
the unsafe wilderness into a safe gar-
den. Among other reasons, this was
why medieval monks and nuns often
chose uncultivated places to start up
their monasteries and convents.
This fear of wild, uncultivated
regions was also partly behind the
church’s fear of inquiry into and
exploration of outer space. Galileo
knew this first-hand. The church had
been warning: Stay away from certain
dark places.
In subtle ways both this concept
and its concomitant fears are still
with us. What frightens us today is
not untamed geography (which we
faith is meant to rid
us of fear, in ear
of the wild beasts and
demons that lurk inside
the deserts of own minds
hearts, and energies.
now see as inviting peace and quiet).
Rather for many of us, the untamed,
the wilderness, is now visualized
more as a gang-infested area within
a city, crack houses, singles’ bars.
Strip-clubs, red-light areas. These
are understood as lying outside our
cultivated lives, split off from the
safety of home and religion, godless
places, dangerous, a wilderness.
But what frightens us still more,
are the untamed and uncultivated
deserts within our own hearts, the
unexplored and dark areas inside of
us. Like the ancients, we are fright-
ened of what might lie in hiding
there, how vulnerable we might be
if we entered there, what wild beasts
and demons might prey on us there,
and whether a chaotic vortex might
not swallow us up should we ever
venture there. We too fear
unexplored places; except our
fear is not for our physical
safety, but for our sanity and
our sanctity.
And this fear is not without
its wisdom. It is wise to not be
naive. For centuries parents told
their children frightening fairy
tales about evil things lurking in
1 dark forests, looking to devour
little children or bake them in
ovens. These stories were not
told to children to give them
nightmares but rather warn them not
to be naive about whom or what they
met. Not everyone can be trusted and
it is wise, particularly when you are
young, vulnerable, and unarmed, to
stay together, to stay away from dark
places, and to be safe.
Nonetheless our Christian faith
invites us to go into those areas, face
the wild beasts that dwell there, and
turn those dangerous regions into
cultivated land, into safe gardens.
After all that is what Jesus did: He
went into every dark place, from the
singles’ bars of his time into death
and hell itself, and took God’s light
and grace there. But he wasn’t naive.
He heeded the advice of the old fairy
tales and didn’t venture there alone.
He entered those underworlds with
his hand safely inside his Father’s, not
walking alone.
Faith is meant to rid us of fear,
including fear of the wild beasts and
demons that lurk inside the deserts
of own minds, hearts, and energies.
We are meant to turn those wild,
dark areas into safe gardens. But we
should heed both our own instincts
and the instinct behind the old fairy
tales: Never venture into the dark
woods naively and alone! Make sure
you are armed with a sturdy creed
and that you are walking hand-in-
hand with your Father.
Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, theo-
logian, teacher, and award-winning
author, is President of the Oblate
Sc/200/ of Theology in San Antonio,
TX. He can be contacted through his
website www.ronrolheiser.com.
Letters
Thank You Holy Family
On November 7, 2009, we lost
our beloved aunt, Martina Jimenez.
Miss Jimenez was 99 years old and
lived a few blocks from Holy Family
Church. Our aunt always prayed and
when she became too weak and not
able to attend Mass she would watch
Mass on television. She was proud
and always told people that she was
a member of Holy Family. Miss
Jimenez never married but raised
her nephew and became a paternal
grandmother to my husband and
his siblings.
On the day of the funeral as we
were leaving the church, I saw an
amazing thing at Holy Family. The
children that were playing outside
were standing at attention and with
their hands together as if they were
praying. What an amazing way to
show respect to someone, especially
our aunt that was 99 years old and
was true to her faith. I wish I would
have had a camera to take a picture
of the children. I can assure you that
what I saw that day, I will not need
a picture to remember the respect
that those very young children were
displaying. I commend the person
that taught these children to show
respect. With so much going on in
Local office helps couples
As I sat listening to the Mass on
EWTN, the dog started to bark for
his morning walk. It reminded me
of St. Francis. He would remind us
to pay attention to animals and their
needs.
For instance, we have need of all
the teachings of our Church, espe-
cially those pertaining to family life,
i.e. holistic teachings about the body
and Natural Family Planning if we
are young adults.
If we are not being taught, we
should bark like the dog and ask
Letters Welcome
%
Letters to the editor are encouraged and welcome. In accordance with the ' n/
Fair Practices Co de of the Catholic Press Association of the United States and
Canada. Letters to the Editor should express opinions that further the common good,
build community, focus on issues and avoid attacks against people.
All letters must be signed by the writer and include a telephone number for verifica-
tion. Letters are subject to editing. Publication of letters does not imply endorsement
by the South Texas Catholic.
Send letters to: Letters to the Editor, South Texas Catholic, P.O. Box 2620, Corpus
Christi, TX 78403-2620. Email to stc@diocesecc.org or fax letters to (361) 693-6701.
Gratitude for mission collection
the world with children, I truly be-
lieve that if we teach our children at
a young age to show respect and do
well, they will carry this with them
the rest of their lives. After we left
the cemetery and gathered to have
lunch, several people were talking
about the children. I’m glad that I
was not the only one that wit-
nessed this beautiful display
of respect. Please thank those
children from our family, if
I had to guess they were in
kindergarten or first grade.
Our aunt would be so proud
of them. God bless you!
Mary Gonzales
Corpus Christi
someone to teach us. We have
need of this knowledge.
I think Jane and my mar-
riage was a success because we
learned these things. And we
all deserve the greatest chance
of success if marriage is our
vocation in life.
John Paul II always taught
about these things. However,
if we are about to get married
we have immediate need of
these subjects and can call the
Family Life Office’s Natural
Family Planning Office to get
information. Call 852-0222 and
bark like a dog.
Thank you for the check in the
amount of $21,938.75 for the General
Fund of The Society for the Propa-
gation of Faith for World Mission
Sunday 2009 from the faithful of
Corpus Christi.
By Jean Denton
Copyright ©2010.Jean Denton
Asking God to continue to bless
you in your mission endeavors,
I remain Fraternally in the Lord,
Rev. Msgr. John E. Kozar
New York
fl'A &OIK&TO
6-iVC ALMS
FOR LENT.
VT
Paul Tisdale
Corpus Christi
THAT
was an-1
AUM-osW
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Beaton, Paula J. South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 45, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, March 5, 2010, newspaper, March 5, 2010; Corpus Christi, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth855655/m1/7/?q=central+place+railroads: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .