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S1E8: The Spirituality of Study · Mentoring In Ministry

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  Welcome to the Mentoring in Ministry podcast. In each
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  episode we approach various catechetical
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  topics from different perspectives.
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  Now Father Dan, I want to speak with you really about any
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  advice you might give to those who
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  are taking these workshops from us from the Catechetical
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  Institute. If I can put it like
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  this, how to develop a love for learning
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  and really build it into your life. I mean, I
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  know that somebody like yourself, you are
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  a professor at the university, but you have
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  lots of other commitments and you're having to fit your
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  study into your ordinary, everyday
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  life and you've become, during your life,
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  what I'd call a lifelong learner. Would you
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  like to give any thoughts or suggestions or some advice to
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  those who will be taking these
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  workshops?
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  Yeah, thank you, Petroc. It's a very good
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  question. And a couple of things come to my
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  mind. Obviously, you would know as well as I some of those
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  conditions that would contribute
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  to becoming a lifelong learner. And to think in terms of
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  lifelong, I think that's the first
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  thing to keep in mind is the first time you encounter a
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  mystery won't be your last. So
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  you really don't need to even pretend that
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  you're going to exhaust it the first time
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  around and then have it mastered because I
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  don't think we ever really master mystery.
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  I think it is something that we encounter on the first
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  round and we keep deepening as
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  lifelong learners and it renews itself for
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  us all the time because these mysteries are
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  living mysteries. I think the other thing
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  is it's easy with theology to think of it as
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  having some kind of ancient root that doesn't really relate
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  to the contemporary world. And
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  one of the things I've learned over the years, and you can
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  even see this, for example, with
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  the Second Vatican Council, that when you take these
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  apparent dusty doctrines of the
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  past of centuries old and bring them into
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  the present as the Second Vatican Council
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  did and properly adapt them to the present age, they
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  immediately and always project you way into
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  the future and get ahead of you because the doctrines,
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  again, of the Catholic Church are
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  alive and that's why we become lifelong learners. We never
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  fully exhaust any one of them, which of
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  course brings me to one of the basic practices if you want
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  to get practical about this and that is
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  the need for prayer. I cannot overemphasize the need for
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  prayer because prayer is what keeps us
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  in living contact with the mystery of what we study, which
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  is Christ. Christ is a mystery. Yes,
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  he's a man, but he's also eternal God living and true. And
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  all the mysteries that he instituted
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  when he was among us for us to stay alive to mystery and
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  not permit it to become a problem
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  that we seek to solve as much as a mystery to understand. I
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  mean, to make that simple little
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  distinction can really save you a lot of stress. Yes, we
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  work hard, we labor hard, and we seek to
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  understand mystery, but if I look at mystery as a problem
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  to be solved and then I attempt to solve
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  it, you're just going to be frustrated, like kicking up
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  against the goad. And prayer is what keeps the
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  mystery alive for us so that we continue to seek
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  understanding of it as opposed to explaining it
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  and fully exhausting it. Again, just that one-time
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  encounter and then the next time around it'll be
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  richer. And that's the lifelong learning that keeps going
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  on. But I think prayer is also important
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  for us in as much as it keeps our mind clear, it
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  strengthens our mind, it purifies the mind,
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  but it also purifies the will. And the will, it takes
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  determination to continue seeking to
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  understand Christ in his mysteries. And that can be
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  difficult sometimes, especially maybe when
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  we're not feeling up to it. We need to bring ourselves to
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  the desk, and that can be hard
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  sometimes in our busy lives. I think we can all attest to
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  that, how hard it is sometimes for us
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  to bring ourselves to the desk when we are so busy. But
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  with prayer, we also generate a thirst
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  within us to do so, so that when we get into the work of
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  study, which is what it is, it really is
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  a work of study, it becomes pleasant by way of the
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  discovery as we come closer to Jesus, who is this
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  truth that we seek to understand as we encounter the
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  mysteries of the faith. And see, prayer
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  strengthens the will and purifies the mind for that kind of
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  activity, which is so interior,
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  and it's so that it helps us stay the course. You can be
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  very bright, but if you haven't the will
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  to study, you'll never get to the desk and that mind won't
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  be exercised. So the will is also a
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  part of the total gift to Christ in study, to give your
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  whole mind, your whole heart, and both
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  together. And prayer is what helps strengthen that, I
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  think. Sure. Thank you for that. Some
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  really good thoughts on what we call the spirituality of
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  study. So many reasons we can
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  find so easily not to study or not to build a habit of
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  learning into our lives. But you've
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  said some things which will be on the one hand very
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  reassuring, that we don't try and master
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  everything immediately, that it's going to take time. But
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  also in a way that that is the
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  great benefit of this study, that we're studying a God and
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  his truths which is infinite and so
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  so enriching for our lives. And I think just that very
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  attempt to set aside regular time is an
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  incredible witness to those around us, for the value of
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  building that into our lives.
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  So thank you, Father DanPattee, in this catechetical
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  conversation about the spirituality of study.
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  Thank you for listening to this episode of Mentoring in
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  Ministry. You can also find us
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  on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube at the
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  Catechetical Institute or join our online
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  community of catechists at franciscanathome.com/
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  guild. Link to all of those in the
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  show notes. This podcast is an outreach of Franciscan
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  University of Steubenville's Catechetical Institute.