As a liberal arts institution grounded in such Benedictine hallmarks as community, stewardship, and hospitality, Belmont Abbey hosts a variety of public conferences, concerts, panels, and lectures throughout the academic year. If you’d never made it to one of these before, I highly recommend the experience, and since I recently had the pleasure to attend one such Honors College event, 鈥淎 Day of Reflection: The Life & Thought of Joseph Ratzinger,鈥 I thought I鈥檇 take this opportunity to share a brief glimpse of what is, after all, just one of the fruits of an almost 150 year tradition of excellence and virtue at 海角社在线.
During the conference, Dr. Elisa Torres Neff’s thoughtfully selected speakers reminded me once again why the liberal arts tradition – including the theology and philosophy to which Joseph Ratzinger contributed so substantially – not only provide a formative education for Abbey undergraduates, but also invite each of us to deeper humanity throughout our lives: as we grow and thrive individually, in our families, and in our communities.聽
鈥淲hy would you leave the love that has a face?鈥 Dr. Ron Thomas asked in his opening lecture, exploring Christianity鈥檚 deeply personal and relational character: the 鈥渄ynamic law of love鈥 by which Ratzinger opposed both nihilism and materialism throughout his life. In fact, across the subsequent panels and lectures, this relational emphasis surfaced again and again. In his keynote address, for example, Dr. Richard DeClue of the Word on Fire Institute identified the Trinity and its essential communion as unifying themes across Ratzinger鈥檚 expansive theological and philosophical writings.
Ultimately, Ratzinger evokes an intricate coherence between God鈥檚 relational being – as One in Three – and our own communion with Christ and each other. In a way, this overarching connectedness transfigures the Benedictine hallmarks themselves, from community and stability, to love, prayer, and stewardship. Formed in God鈥檚 image and likeness, our earthly communion and community participate in divine life, ultimately tying the Benedictine way, itself, to the heart of our created humanness.聽
The liberal arts help us to see ourselves and our world more authentically. And the questions and conversations they inspire at events like last week’s conference remind us that communion – our shared life in Christ – can permeate and illuminate our understanding. Last Saturday I certainly learned about Joseph Ratzinger, his life and thought and his extraordinary cultural influence, but by the end of the day I’d also begun to recognize my own experience – and even the Benedictine way itself – at newly lit angles.聽
So today I invite you to join me in a quick prayer of thanksgiving for the Trinitarian mystery at the heart of our lives – and for the ways God invites us to know and to love Him in active, reflective communities like the Abbey family.
