What is culture? I ask you "Do you have culture?" "Sure," you say. Where do you find it? In the pictures hanging on your walls, the books in your personal library, the programs you watch, the questions you ask, the interests you share. All these have something to do with culture. There is an American culture, a European culture, an African culture. In this country alone there are many sub-cultures: a Mid-Western culture, a Southern, a North-Western, the Black culture, the Native-American culture, etc. The culture we grew up in has molded and shaped the ways we think, our values, and our perceptions.

The Christian culture I want to discuss now may seem cloudy, nebulous, misty, but it is as real as the air that surrounds us.

In his first public address after accepting the burdens of the papacy, Pope John Paul II said this:

Do not be afraid! Open, indeed, open wide the doors to Christ! Open to his saving power the confines of states, and systems political and economic, as well as what is inside a person. Only he knows! Today too often people do not know people are uncertain about a sense of life on earth. Invaded by doubts they are led into despair. Therefore - with humility and trust I beg and implore you - allow Christ to speak to the person in you. Only he has the words of life, yes eternal life. (Oct. 22, 1978: AAS 79 [1978], 947)

When Pope John Paul visited the United States in 1987, it was said that "the Church in the United States of America can coast of having the largest number of educated faithful in the world." Speaking to the bishops of this country in Los Angeles, on Sept. 16, he made these remarks:

Primarily through her laity, the Church is in a position to exercise great influence upon American culture. This culture is a human creation. It is created through shared insight and communication. It is built by an exchange among the people of a particular society. And culture, while having a certain dynamic endurance, is always changing and developing as a way of life. Thus the American culture of today stands in continuity with your culture of fifty years ago. Yet it has changed; it has been greatly influenced by attitudes and currents of thought.

But how is the American culture evolving today? Is this evolution being influenced by the Gospel? Does it clearly reflect Christian inspiration? Your music, your poetry and art, your drama, your painting and sculpture, the literature that you are painting and sculpture, the literature that you are producing - are all those things which reflect the soul of a nation being influenced by the spirit of Christ for the perfection of humanity?

I realize these are difficult questions to answer, given the complexity and diversity of your culture. But they are relevant to any consideration of the role of the Catholic laity, "the largest number of educated faithful in the world." I doubt if the Holy Father was overly impressed with the impact American Catholics are having upon their culture, despite all their education.

What all goes into a culture? By "culture" we mean all those "factors which go into the refining and developing of humanity's diverse spiritual and physical endowments. It means the efforts of the human family to bring the world under its control through its knowledge and its labor. It means the efforts to humanize social life both in the family and in the whole civic community through the improvement of customs and institutions. It means efforts to express through its works the great spiritual experiences and aspirations of all peoples throughout the ages. And, finally, it means the efforts to communicate and to preserve them to be an inspiration for the progress of many, indeed of the whole human race" (GS 53). In this sense, culture must be held as the common good of every people, the expression of its dignity, liberty and creativity, and the testimony of its course through history. In particular, only from within and through culture does the Christian faith become a part of history and the creator of history ( Christifideles laici 44a).

Every society is shaping its own culture. When you visit another country, you discover a new culture which is different from the one in which you grew up. One of the advantages of travel is that you gain a frame of reference by which you can evaluate your own culture. Good elements within a culture are to be encouraged; harmful elements are to be discouraged and corrected. All this presupposes a set of standards which are true, objective, and universal. We naturally look to the Church as a reliable moral guide in these matters.

When a culture becomes disassociated from Christian faith and human values, it flounders and dissipates its energies. If we cast off the anchor of Christian principles, then we cast ourselves into a brave new world of uncharted waters. Nor can we simply draw upon the moral capital of previous generations. Our generation must replace spent capital with its own newly acquired moral capital. If we are ignorant of the principles which successfully shaped the Christian culture of previous generations, then we have lost our patrimony. Good principles must constantly be taught, explained, and advocated. Standards in education, family life, human sexuality, medicine, economics, and the arts do not remain static. They can be watered down and even lost. Just as the price of freedom is eternal vigilance, so also is eternal vigilance the price of good moral standards. 

Science and technology are powerless to give an adequate response to the pressing questions of truth and well-being that burn in people's hearts. Physicists can develop ways to unleash the explosive power of atomic energy. They can assemble atomic bombs. They are not very good in setting limits to how such a power is to be used. Medical technology can produce human life in a test-tube, and alter human genes. It is not particularly good at explaining why we should do this, or when this is morally indicated.

"For this reason the Church calls upon the lay faithful to be present as signs of courage and intellectual creativity in the privileged places of culture, that is, the world of education - school and university - in places of scientific and technological research, the areas of artistic creativity and work in the humanities. Such a presence is destined not only for the recognition and possible purification of the elements that critically burden existing culture, but also for the elevation of these cultures through the riches which have their source in the Gospel and the Christian faith" (CL 44b).

Here is the way the Vatican II document Gaudium et spes explains the relationship between the Gospel and culture. It presents this as a challenge to the entire Church, but especially to her faithful. "The good news of Christ continually renews the life and culture of fallen humanity; it combats and removes the error and evil which flow from the attraction of sin which are a perpetual threat. She never ceases to purify and to elevate the morality of peoples. In this way the Church carries out her mission and in that very act she stimulates and makes her contribution to human and civic culture. By her action, even in its liturgical forms, she leads people to interior freedom" (GS 58).

Pope Paul VI, in his exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi, specifies what the Church seeks to do when she evangelizes. "The Church evangelizes when she seeks to convert, solely through the divine power of the message she proclaims (cf. Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor 1:18; 2:4), both the personal and collective consciences of people, the activities in which they engage, and the lives and concrete milieu which are theirs. Strata of humanity are transformed: for the Church it is a question not only of preaching the Gospel... to ever-greater numbers of people, but also of affecting and as it were challenging through the power of the Gospel, mankind's criteria of judgment, determining values, points of interest, lines of thought, lines of thought, sources of inspiration and models of life, which are in contrast with the Word of God and the plan of salvation. All this could be expressed in the following words: What matters is to evangelize humanity's culture and the cultures of the human family ... The split between the Gospel and culture is without a doubt the drama of our time, just as it was of other times. Therefore, every effort must be made to ensure a full evangelization of culture, or more correctly of cultures" (EN 18-20).

Mass Media

Good use of the media is one way, especially television. EWTN is a prime example here, and Mother Angelica is one of today's great communicators. This satellite network has the potential of being a major influence in building up the fiber of faith in our culture, certainly that of Catholics. What better way to nourish faith than to bring some o the best known, living examples of faith right into your living room? Mother Angelica thinks that if St. Paul were alive today, he would be using social communications, like satellite television. No diocese on its own can match the resources EWTN brings before its cameras.

Looking beyond EWTN, producers of television shows have a responsibility to promote the moral order. Producers are not responsible solely to their sponsors and advertisers. The Vatican II document on social communications (Inter mirifica, 1963) corrected an erroneous understanding of ethics and aesthetics. "The Council proclaims that all must accept the absolute primacy of the objective moral order. It alone is superior to and is capable of harmonizing all forms of human activity, not excepting art, no matter how noble in themselves. Only the moral order touches man in the totality of his being as God's rational creature, called to supernatural destiny. If the moral order is fully and faithfully observed, it leads man to full perfection and happiness" (IM 6).

This means that men and women with living, practical faith, need to enter the communications industry and help give it good direction. In your family it means monitoring the programs that come into your living room. Glorified violence, irresponsible sex, and crass materialism do not build a Christian culture.

Education

Another way in which practicing Catholics can influence their culture for the better is through education. If Catholic schools, from the early grades to colleges and universities, are doing their job, then they are evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the American culture. You cannot influence a neighborhood or city for the better if you simply reflect its values back. If a society's values are decadent and demoralizing, then you must become counter-cultural. Good example makes a difference. People notice. Usually, people admire someone who lives by his or her principles. Unfortunately, those who set a good example must be willing to pay a price. Good role models are often ridiculed, their motives impugned, and their opposition to the status quo is not appreciated. The good Lord Himself experienced this. Can the disciple expect any better treatment?

We need to remind ourselves that right is right even when nobody is doing it, and wrong is wrong even if everybody is doing it. One person on the side of God's moral order is a majority. Catholic schools are a perfect place to foster what is good in the American culture, and to protect young people from the snares and seductions of secularism. Of course, if the faith of students and their teachers is not regularly nourished by the Sacraments, then they cannot sustain the immense pressure to conform, and gradually sink into the general melting-pot.

Pope John Paul keeps telling our bishops and university presidents that their primary concern must be to preserve the Catholic character of their institutions. Without this Catholic character, or Catholic identity, the salt goes flat, the yeast loses its power, and the candle grows dim and flickers. Our 235 Catholic colleges and universities in America are to bring a faith dimension to all their departments. If there is no discernable difference between a Catholic college and a nearby state university, then there is no need for the former. Catholic education is more than a business. It is more than a special atmosphere, the sort of thing you would find in a restaurant. In the words of Pope John Paul, it is the place where the synthesis can take place between faith and reason, faith and science, faith and culture.

What shapes, energies, and advances the Catholic character of a grammar school, high school, college, or university? Among the departments two especially make a difference between a "culturally Catholic" school and a "practicing Catholic" school. These are the theology and philosophy departments. Reputable theology must be faithful to the sources of the Catholic faith, which are Divine Revelation, the living Tradition, and the Magisterium. If these are neglected and replaced with various cathechetical trends, psychology or sociology, then the identity of the school has either been lost or seriously damaged.

Philosophy is the best ally of theology. Unfortunately, many people, even educators, are losing an appreciation of philosophy's role in Catholic education. Logic, consistency, rigorous and critical thinking are the hallmarks of good philosophy. The philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas and his followers is the finest synthesis of faith and good reason that the world has ever known. The Magisterium regularly pays tribute to St. Thomas' genius and recommends him to anyone studying Catholic theology. Thomas lived in the 13th century when the faith shone brightly throughout all of European culture. By contrast, today's world and modern philosophy are characterized by pragmatism, empiricism, skepticism, secularism, and an indifference to ultimate questions. Good Catholic schools in our nation can make a great contribution to the American culture.

There are many ways in which you and I can influence our culture for the better. Just be a good Catholic. If you are a Protestant, then be a good Protestant. Put the values of the Gospel to work in your life. Accept the Bible for what it is: the Word of God in the words of men. You can put absolute trust in God's word. When all the philosophers, novelists, journalists, and historians are dead and forgotten, God's Word endures. God has a wonderful plan for human society. This world will never be heaven, but it can be a great place to live for 70-80 years. The point is that God has left many things in our hands, and in our own counsel. Our families, parishes, neighborhoods, schools, organizations, businesses, hospitals, and governments can be very beneficial if we help them become what they were meant to be. Our task is to retrieve, and create, a Christian culture. We are to remove any barriers between faith and life, between religion and day-to-day reality.

God's moral order points us in the right direction. The teaching authority within the Church, which is the Magisterium, keeps us from going too far astray. The rest is left up to us. There is something for each of us to do. Only you and I can use our God-given talents and ingenuity to help make our society what it is capable of being. Only men and women motivated by faith can invigorate human institutions, encourage what is good in them, and discourage what is evil. Only courageous souls, strengthened by their faith, will confront the evils of our times and pour goodness into the emptiness of evil. There is a whole new world to build, and every man, woman, and child is called upon to help build it.

Afterward

Periodically I lead a pilgrimage to famous centers of Christianity as a spiritual director. It is very up-building and edifying to be on location where Christian men and women were very successful in shaping their culture. Our heroes in pervious centuries, the saints, were all very successful in finding ways to allow God's goodness, God's love, God's truth, and God's beauty to shine through our human institutions. Watching and studying others who shaped their culture for the better gives us ideas as to how we can do the same. If you wish to come with me on a pilgrimage to the five great Patriarchates, or centers of Christianity in the early Christian centuries, then write to me in care of this station. 

Sources:

1) Vatican II, Inter mirifica (Decree on the Instruments of Social Communications, 1963).
2) Gaudium et epes (The Church in the Modern World, 1965), Part II, Chpt. II, "The Proper Development of Culture," sections 53-62.
3) Paul VI, Humanae vitae, 1968, #22.
4) Evangelii nuntiandi (Evangelization in the Modern World, 1975), #45 (using the mass media) and #70 (role of the laity).
5) Pontifical Council for the Instruments of Social Communications, Pastoral Instruction on the Means of Social Communications, 1971. See Austin Flannery, O>P>, Vatican Council II the Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents (The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minn.: 1975), pp. 293-349.
6) Pope John Paul II, Catechesi tradendae (On Cathechesis in Our Time, 1979), (St. Paul Editions, 1979), #46, #53.
7) Pope John Paul II in America --- Talks given on the Papal Tour 1987 (St. Paul Books and Media, Boston: 1987).
8) Familiaris consortio (The Christian Family, 1981) (St. Paul Editions, 1981), #76.
9) Christifidelis laici (The Role and Vocation of the Laity in the Church and the World, 1988), (St. Paul Editions, 1988), #44, #51.