"Test Everything: Hold Fast to What is Good"
Cardinal George Pell
This edition of this book was published by Cardinal Pell in 2015. It is a collection of his homilies and frequent presentations in written form at a wide variety of church, secular and academic institutions starting in 1984 (the last is in 2008). It was prior to his horrific experience of being falsely accused, seeing his false accusers enriched by the institution he served and then wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. Cardinal Pell was eventually found innocent in a unaminous verdict rendered by the Australian Supreme Court and released.
I share some of his insights that struck me as I read the book:
In discussing the story of Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac:
"I believe there are moral truths and that humans are constrained to search for these truths, to recognize them. Such truths are not relative to their circumstances and not human constructs." (p 39).
He also provides some advice for parents:
"However, it is clear that good will will never triumph and faith not survive if selfish and overprotective fathers successfully prevent their son's and daughters from entering into the age old struggle of good and evil because they fear the wounds and hurt their children will suffer" (p 41).
"God cannot be reduced to the activities of his followers. God and religion are two different realities." (p 61)
In a section titled "Science and God" Cardinal Pell writes "recent developments in physics and now biology have strengthened the case to God the creator as a first rate mathematician as well as being prodigal and unpredictable in his creation." (p 69)
Cardinal Pell quotes historian Richard Rubenstein concerning the birth of western science "Farsighted popes and bishops...took the fateful step...By marrying Christian Theology to Aristotelian science the committed the West the rational enquiry that would generate a succession of scientific revolutions". (p 73)
The possibilty of disagreement is discussed "The person who is confident of his case need not be abusive, should try to answer objections, does not need to portray his opponents in the worse light always and in every circumstance." (p75)
He explains that "love, especially parent's love, which is real and powerful and invisible, is the best place to begin to understand the essence of God, because love is spritual." (p 77)
In explaining the need for faith he provides and emphasis "All of us, young and old, need to be assured that our deepest personal needs can be met by the riches of the Christian spiritual tradition." (p 91)
"The opium of the people today is the mistaken belief that they will not be judged after death by our good God." (p 120)
The Cardinal shares "I am sure that Joseph had an important role in the development of personality of the personality of Jesus, but that came through nurture, not through nature." (p 221)
The limits of tolerance are explored: "But the decency fairness in our society is not inevitable or permanent, they need to be nurtured, explained and defended to each new generation." (p 236)
The echoes of St. Augustine are throughout the text without specific reference. "Take a minute to try to imagine the one good God, that whirling mystery of love and intelligence, who is found not just in the immensity of the universe or the complexity of the atom, not just in wonderful music or the beauties of nature or the activities of saints; but as the Book of Deuteronomy reminds us again, the one true God who is in our hearts, and in our mouths not just up in the heavens or beyond the seas." (p 259)
On the church and Scientific Research "Nature sustains us, and we have our rightful and unique place in nature's creative process. This is doubly true of research institutes." (p 262)
He examines what is to come in his future when he says "Christianity enables us to bear our losses by setting them in transcendental perspective, not as meaningless afflictions but as sacrifices, consecrated suffering." (p 270)
"We are called to be a light to the world, and it should be possible to recognize Christians through the many good things they do for other people." (p 323)
In prayer Cardinal Pell concludes "Empower us to be another great and immense army of humble servants and faithful witnesses." (p 338)
The reasoning and faith displayed prior to his ordeal (false imprisonment) is the type of intellectual and spiritual exercise that prepares a man to endure abuses. In each of his presentations Cardinal Pell typically considers the interests of those he is speaking to and then recounts the story of faith that built the institution that serves them. He examines how good has emerged from the struggles the faithful often had to endure. His own life came to be a similar story.
