| Richard McBrien, 1936 - 2015 |
Richard McBrien entered the saving waters of baptism in 1936 and was ordained a presbyter of the archdiocese of Hartford in 1962. He lived out his baptismal and presbyteral commitment primarily as a teacher. Teaching was one of the most important roles of Jesus himself who was often called rabbi. Dick taught in the classrooms of John XIII Seminary, Boston College, and since 1980 at the University of Notre Dame. Fr. Ted Hesburgh, who would later become a close friend, invited Dick to Notre Dame to become chair of the theology department in 1980.
But his role as a teacher went far beyond the classroom walls of these institutions. He wrote twenty-five significant books, published a weekly article in the Catholic Press for 45 years, lectured extensively throughout the country, and frequently appeared in the ublic media to address Catholic issues. The extensive quantity and deep quality of his teaching work testify to his discipline, intelligence, hard work, and commitment.
No Catholic theologian in the United States has made a greater contribution to the reception of the Second Vatican Council. He was the preeminent public intellectual in the Catholic Church in this country in explaining Vatican II Catholicism not only to Catholics but also to the broader public. His magisterial work Catholicism, published in two volumes in 1980 sold over 150,000 copies and was translated into four languages. In 1994, he published a completely revised and updated edition. His writing well illustrates the definition of theology proposed by St. Anselm: faith seeking understanding.
No theologian has even attempted to do what Dick did so superbly in Catholicism. The book shows not only a deep familiarity with all aspects of theology but also an uncanny ability to summarize and present this material in an intelligent and appealing way. The characteristics that make Catholicism such a singular and significant book came through in all his many writings. He was truly a master teacher.
Richard McBrien dedicated his life to working in the Catholic theological tradition. In the very first pages of Catholicism, he describes his own work not as a polemic theology but as a mediating theology. McBrien insisted on both continuity and discontinuity between the pre- and post-Vatican II eras. He knew in depth and appreciated the Catholic theological tradition, recognized that history both roots and relativizes theology, and pointed out that neither excessive progressivism nor excessive conservatism does justice to the living tradition of Catholicism.
Forthrightness and honesty marked his approach to theology and discussions about the Church. Fr. McBrien addressed head-on the controversial issues that arose in the life of the Church while many others often put their heads in the sand. As a result, many very conservative Catholics saw him as a b ete noir. I could not help but think in the last few months that Dick's approach was vindicated and supported by Francis, the bishop of Rome, who called for honest discussion and disagreements in the recent synod of bishops. Francis recognized that such disagreements and discussion testify to the vitality of the Church.
Yes, Dick wrote and spoke often to Catholics seeking an understanding of their faith, but he also contributed with great depth and insight to the theological community of scholars. Dick's primary theological interest was ecclesiology -- the theology of the church. His last book, The Church, published in 2008, is the only comprehensive, up to date, one volume English language ecclesiology existing today. Michael Fahey, himself a well-respected academic ecclesiologist, maintains that this book holds pride of place with regard to works in ecclesiology. All previous works in ecclesiology dealt only with the internal reality of the church. Dick's book, however, gives great importance to the social mission of the church in the world. This explains the quotation on the first page of the program today: "action on behalf of justice is a constitutive dimension of the Gospel. "
His friends and family -- his two surviving siblings, Dorothy and Harry, and the entire McBrien family -- have known him as a loving, devoted, generous, and caring person. His caretakers often came to visit him when they were off duty. His family and a few friends celebrated Christmas at his home. His nieces Mary Catherine and Elizabeth played Christmas carols on their musical instruments. Dick said later that it was the best Christmas he ever had.
The last few years of illness and suffering have obviously been difficult for Dick, who described himself as a prisoner of the chair. One can only conclude that the readings and hymns he chose for the liturgy today sustained, nurtured, and comforted him in this difficult time: "God How Great Thou Art," "Be Not Afraid," "The Lord is My Shepherd," "You are Mine." He knew that the powerful love of God never abandoned him. He was also helped by his loving family and friends who cared for him. But no one more so than his good friend Beverly Brazauskas. In these years, she has given exemplary witness to what it means to love one's neighbor as Jesus first loved us and to carry one another's burdens.
We gather here today to celebrate and give thanks for the life, work, and friendship of Dick McBrien, but we also experience sorrow and mourn the loss of one who has been a friend to many and an eminent contributor to the life of the Church. However, we also gather as people of faith who believe that, as the letter to the Romans reminds us, the strongest power in this world is the power of God's love that overcomes all obstacles, even death itself. Dick was a person of faith and in his life tried to love neighbor and others as God first loved us in his service of teacher to so many. We celebrate and pray that he has fallen into the arms of a loving God who welcomes him the eternal banquet.
Charles E. Curran
Rev. Ted Hesburgh CSC remarks
On November 17, 2014, the Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame -- now age 97 -- spoke about his close friend the Reverend Richard P. McBrien. He recalled that in 1980, as the University's president, he recruited Dick McBrien to assume leadership of the University's Theology Department and to develop it into one of the top international faculties of Catholic theology. Father Hesburgh immediately added that Father McBrien fulfilled this request "in his quiet and thorough way" and thus richly contributed not only to the University of Notre Dame but also to the church around the world.
In Father Ted Hesburgh's words, "Dick McBrien and I were always on the same wave length, especially regarding Catholic theology. . . . He and I became good friends, deep friends. . . . I think that he knew that he had my full confidence. I supported him 100%. . . . I have enjoyed his company, and I have sought it often. . . . He is a really good guy who -- like many good people -- was fully immersed in his work. He is one of the most influential Catholics in the nation because of his writings, especially his weekly column, "Essays in Theology."
When Father Hesburgh heard some sentences from his "Forewords" in three of Richard McBrien's books, he smiled broadly and said, "Yes, it's all true." Below are these sentences from these "Forewords."
"Foreword," Catholicism (1994):
"Even I, as a theologian who followed the council closely, needed the systematic and comparative insights of [Richard McBrien's] Catholicism. I wish that every one of our students could take the course "Catholicism" taught by Father McBrien each year. Those who do are no longer theologically illiterate Catholics."
"Foreword," The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism (1995):
"I would be remiss if I did not conclude [this Foreword] . . . with a word of sincere thanks to the [encyclopedia's] General Editor, Father Richard McBrien. Without his inspiration, his planning, and his long days and nights of writing, rewriting, and editing over a span of years, this wonderful gift to all of us would never have seen the light of day. Scholarship is a lonely task, and good scholarship in a work of high quality and [of] great need is a gift beyond all calculation. But then, as John Henry Cardinal Newman said, 'Calculation never made a hero.' Richard McBrien, in producing this unique encyclopedia, is indeed a rare hero."
"Foreword," The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism (2008):
"Like his monumental volume Catholicism, first published in 1980 and still in print more than a quarter century later, Father Richard McBrien's new book on the Church fills an evident and long-standing gap in the field of ecclesiology. . . . I salute Father McBrien for his achievement and wish him and the Church a full measure of success in this still young twenty-first century and third Christian millennium. My prayer [for Richard McBrien,] for the Church and for all who read or consult this book is the same as my own daily invocation, 'Come, Holy Spirit.'"
No comments:
Post a Comment