Humbling

Excert from a book by a young Catholic priest named Henri Perrin who sought to identify with the working poor of France by working in the factories as a "priest-worker." Here, he talks about some young middle class young Catholics in his day who sound frighteningly like myself. Perhaps you may find yourself here, too.

“I retain from this and other meetings I had during the holidays with young Catholics the painful impression that many of these young people are, so to speak, branded with a kind of impotence. Many of them come from ‘comfortable families’—materially and morally (middle-class education)—and, for all their zeal and generosity, retain the imprint of a deep indifference, the indifference of people who don’t have to fight against life. It is as if, because they “possess” the Truth (!) and a minimum of comfort in their daily living conditions, they have been established forever in quiet happiness. Their generosity appears as a virtue of perfection—praiseworthy, no doubt—rather than as a vital necessity, as it is for someone who has to pull himself and others out of destitution. The outcome seems to be a sort of impotence or spiritual infantilism.”


I was inspired to put this quote on my blog after reading from Jacob's blog. Check out his post here.