First of a Series

When I asked Eugene Kennedy how he came to write his book “Would You Like to Be a Catholic?” (St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2003) his answer stunned me.

Professor Kennedy said that someone he knew was interested in becoming Catholic and he wanted to give him something to read to help him learn about Catholicism. Looking around for a book to give the man, Gene could not find anything that he liked, so he decided to write a book. That kind of intelligence and talent amazes me. Not only did he write a book, he wrote one that is excellent for both non-Catholics and Catholics who wish to reflect on the meaning of being a Catholic. I am going to recommend it to several people I know who are in ministry.

“Would You Like to Be a Catholic?” is one of those books that I occasionally have come upon that I can read more than once. It is a book that I wish I had the talent and skill to write. Kennedy has an enviable talent to state profound truths in a highly readable style. Over the last 30 years, I have read several books by him in which he used his vast knowledge of psychology to provide insights that might help a reader to better self-understanding and might help the reader deal with some emotional problems or weaknesses. The same clarity and insight that he brings to psychology he brings to Catholicism.

Noting some of the ways that we unfortunately misuse religion, Gene points out that we can relegate it to some corner of our life or domesticate it by dragging it out for some civic celebration such as the Fourth of July. He mentions that we can even use religion as a consumer good, like a pill we take when we are feeling down.

But Kennedy, who is now a professor emeritus of psychology at Loyola University in Chicago, insists that religion is something special, not to be reduced to any of the ways that we might misuse it. He insists that religion is tougher and more humanly demanding than the ways that we have misused it. If we take religion seriously, our lives will change and a deep religion will bring out the best in us. I believe the depth of Catholicism calls our humanity to a new level. He writes the following:

“For the great Doctor of the Roman Catholic Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, religion ‘denotes properly a relation to God.’ Just as we fail in human relationships if we give only a portion of ourselves to them, so the relationship we call religion fails if we invest only part of ourselves, or on a part-time basis, or only when we need a favor or a deliverance. Those are the signs of an immature relationship – a child’s relationship. We must grow through these, ‘put away the things of a child,’ as St. Paul expresses it, to achieve an adult relationship with God.

“Centuries after Aquinas, in his classic work ‘The Varieties of Religious Experience,’ philosopher William James described religion as ‘a man’s total reaction upon life.’ This catches the flavor of the Catholic theologian’s understanding that religion has to do with the whole of human existence. Religion is never fully expressed, therefore, by a part of us or on a part-time basis.”

A priest friend and I have been involved in some formal discussions with groups of non-Catholics and Catholics, both Catholics who practice their faith and Catholics who might describe themselves as ex-Catholics. Both of us are stunned by the lack of knowledge about the faith that we find among those who no longer practice the faith.

These are very educated people, professional people who have successful, prestigious careers as doctors, lawyers and publishers. While they are very knowledgeable in their field, they are abysmally ignorant about the faith. They are operating on what they remember from some catechism class they attended as children. My priest friend and I find this amazing. We think that educated, intelligent people should pursue the meaning of their religion seriously before rejecting it.

Reflecting on Gene Kennedy’s comments, I have come to believe that my own practice of Catholicism was once quite immature. That is fine when you are a child but we ought to grow in the faith and “grow up” in the faith. I hope that I am now living my faith maturely. Certainly the goal that each of us should pursue is an adult relationship with God. We are the children of God but that does not mean that we should be childish. God and Catholicism call us to maturity.