J. Danielou - Marxist History & Sacred History
Transcript of J. Danielou - Marxist History & Sacred History
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Marxist History and Sacred HistoryAuthor(s): Jean DanielouSource: The Review of Politics, Vol. 13, No. 4 (Oct., 1951), pp. 503-513Published by: Cambridge University Pressfor the University of Notre Dame du lac on behalf of Review ofPoliticsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1405118.
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Marxist
History
and
Sacred
History
By Jean Danielou, S.J.
FOR
Marxism*
history
is the
process
by
which man
transforms
himself
by
transforming
he economic
conditions
of his existence
through
work.
The
expression
of
this
process
on the social level
is
the
class
struggle
through
which
the
rising
class,
corresponding
o
the
economic
infrastructure
f
the
future,
tends
to
substitute tself
for
the
exploiting
class
which
is
the
expression
f the
outworn nfra-
structure.
To
exist
is
to
engage
in
this conflict
and
thus
participate
in the movementof
history.
Now
very
often
Christians,
n
order
to
oppose
Marxism,
remain
on
the Marxist
plane.
They
are
satisfied
to
set
up
one
social doctrine
against
the other. We
propose
o show
in
this article that
while
it
is
true that there
is
a
Christian
social
doctrine,
and
one
superior
o that of
Marxism,
he true
superiority
of
Christianity
does not
lie in this.
Its
superiority
onsists,
on the
contrary,n the fact that it has not only a socialdoctrinebut very
different
dimensions
as
well
and is
thereby capable
of
giving
an
integral
nterpretation
f
humanexistencewhile
Marxism
only
touches
the
surface
of
it.
We
can show this
by
taking
certain
vantage points
which will
permit
us to
see,
paradoxical hough
this
may
at
first
appear,
hat
it
is
precisely
n the
most
supernatural
nd the
most
essential
realities,
those most
peculiar
o
Christianity,
uch as the
sacraments,
hat we
shall find the
profoundest
answer to
the
problems
of
the
present
world.
All
these
realities
will
no
longer
then
appear
as obiter
dicta
in our
lives, but,
on
the
contrary,
s at the
very
heart of life.
They
will no
longer
seem to
be
a
sort of
routine
exercised
o
as
to be
in
the
good graces
of
God,
but
a
real
and total commitment.
It
is characteristicf the
mentality
of men
today
to
conceive he
world
they
live
in
as
one
history.
We
find
it
everywhere.
This is
becausehumanity,with the increasingly reatextensionof its knowl-
edge,
is more aware of
its
growth
and
advancement.
Science has
also
shown
us
that
before our
history
there was
a
whole
human
pre-
*
This article was
originally
published
in Dieu
Vivant,
No.
13,
under
the
title,
Histoire
marxiste
et histoire
sacramentaire.
The
English
translation is
by
James
A.
Corbett,
Associate Professor
of
History
in the
University
of Notre
Dame.
503
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THE REVIEW
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POLITICS
history.
Thinking
which
does
not
consider his
unfolding
n
time,
this
new
dimension
ardly uspected y
the
ancients,
s ineffective.
First
developed
n the
philosophy
f
Hegel,
this idea has assumed
more
and
more
importance
n our
world
of
today,
and
especially
in Marxism.
But the
expressioniven
to
this
awareness
y
Marxism
appears
o
be
very
narrow.
The essentialdea
of Marxism
s
that
the
reality
f
history
s
dialectics
y
which
man
creates
imself,
hat
is,
builds
up
humanity
ittle
by
little
through
he
transformation
f
the material
conditions f his existence.Consequently,he most effectivemen
and
the
trueheroes
f the
modern
world
will be
scientists
nd
work-
ers;
poets,
artists,
hilosophers,
ndsaints
are
of
secondary
mportance.
Thus,
for Marxtwo
categories
f
men
are
absolutely
ssential:
he
scientist
who
invents
and
the workerwho
produces
he
conditions
which
ought
o
improve
he life of
man.
This
philosophy
s
obviously
a
dynamic
ne
for
those
two
classes
of
men
because
t
makes
hem
the
essential
gents
of
history.
The
stages
n
the
history
f
human-
ity
are the
greatages
of
stone,
of
iron,
of
steam,
of
electricity,
f
radioand
of
atomic
energy.
This is
the
only important
eality.
All
the
rest is
suprastructure.
he
leverswhich
guide
human
progress
are
techniques;
he
only
way
to
develophumanity
s to
develop
technique.
What
gives
force
to
this
position
s
that it is not
only
a
matter
of
making
man
aware
f
things,
but
of
helping
him
to commit
im-
self by showing imthe reasonandvalueof this commitment.1t
is
not
simply
a
vulgar
materialism,
ut a
humanism,
conception
f
man. As
such
Marxism
s
the absolute ontradictionf
Christianity:
man s
the
supreme
alue
or
man;
he
is
his own creator.
To
recog-
nize
God is
degrading
nd
vilifying;
o
reject
him
is the
essential
condition
f a
realistic umanism.
Henceforth
e cannot
onfront
Marxism
ith
a moreor less
pale
Christian umanism.
If
Christian
hought
sometimes eems
weak
alongside
Marxism,
t
is because
Christianity
oes
not
rely
enough
n
its
essential
rinciple,
n
the
fact
that t
is
a
religion
f
God,
a divine
conception
f
history.
For the
Christian
t
is not
only
a human o-
ciety
which
s
built
up
in
history
but a divine
destiny
of
man.
We
shall
only
overcomeMarxism
when
we realize hat
it is
Christianity
1
See
Karl
Lowith,
Meaning
in
History,
pp.
42-43.
504
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MARXIST
HISTORY
AND SACRED HISTORY
whichmakes
history
eal.
Christianity
s
also
fundamentally
ne
his-
tory
and
not
a
conception
f
an
idealworld
moreor
less outside
f
human
ealities,
ndsort of added o them. As an
interpretation
f
total
history,
Christianityives
history
ts
definitive
meaning.
The
history
of the
world,
n
the Christian
ense
of the
word,
s
essentially
acred
history,
he
history
of the
great
worksof
God
in
time
in
which,
with
the
irresistible
ower
of His
creative
pirit,
He
builds
the
true
humanity,
he
eternal
City.
Hence,
if we wish
to
find
the
Christian
meaning
of
history,
we
must know how to
go
beyondapparentnd externalhistory n order o penetrateo the
real one
which s
built n the
depths
of man.
Only
the
Holy Spirit
can
give
us
an
understanding
f
this.
We
find
the
essentials f
it
in
Scripture,
n
account f the
great
works f
God
and
a
description
or
us
of
the
ways
of
God and
of
the
mannern whichHe
does
things.
It
is, therefore,
n the
measure
n
which
we live
by
Scripture
s
the
true
reality
hat
we
shall
discover
nd
understand
he
universe
c-
cording
o
God.
Scripture
egins
with an historical ffirmationf the
creation,
then
shows
us the
continual
ctionof
God
through
vents: He
chose
Abraham
s
head
of
His
people
and
madean
alliancewith him to
lead
his
people
n
His
ways.
And
here
we
cometo
an
important
idea: this
Sacred
history
which
God makes
s
opposed
o
that
which
man
wishes
o
make
(the
one
that Marx
discovered).
From he
be-
ginning
here
are
two
histories.
There s
the
one
men
wish
to
make
becauseof pride,the flesh,imperialismnd domination;t is the
bloody
history
of
wars,
persecutions
nd
captivities.
or
many
men
this is the
only
history.
But
beside his
human
history
here is he
history
which
God makes.
Through
t
God buildsHis
kingdom
nd
leads
men
according
o His
ways.
The
Old
Testament
ives
a
typical
example
f
these
wo
tendencies
n the
conflict
between
he
prophets
and
the
powerful
ho
always
ersecute
hem.
The
prophets
ave he
Christian ense
of
history
and,
through
he
spirit
which
enlightensthem,
hey
act as
though
ntroduced
y
Godto theveritable
meaning
of
the
destiny
f
humanity.
In the
middle
of
history,
he
Son of
God
Himself,
by
His In-
carnation,
ame
on
earth
o
assume
umanity,
o
unite
Himself o
it,
to
purify
t
with
His
blood
and
to
lead
it
forever
nto
the
kingdom
of
the Father
fter
having
iberated
t from
death
and
sin.
Whatman
seeks
is
precisely
liberation;
e
wants
to
shakeoff
the
captivity
505
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THE REVIEW
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which
weighs
heavy
upon
him.
This
captivity,
owever,
s not
eco
nomicbut
spiritual.Original
in
is
not
capitalism,
he essential
vil
for
Marxism. Even
a
humanity
reed-
f all
socialmiseries
would
still
remain
n
an
integral
misery:
hat
of
sin.
When Marx
said
that once man
was freed from
his
economic
ondage
he
would
be
happy,
Marx
was
wrong
or
there
remains
piritualmisery.
Thus
in
Soviet
Russia,
people
may
be
liberated
n
the
economic
evel,
but
they
exist,-and
strikingly
o-in a
profound
piritual espair.
The
Marxist
ffort
s,
therefore,
uperficial
nd
does
not
descend
into the veritable epthsof humanmisery. Of coursewe should
fight
against
ocial
misery;
ut such
misery
s
simply
he
repercussion
of
another
muchmore
profound
nd
intimate
ne:
sin,
death,
Satan.
The one who
liberatesrom
his real
captivity
s
Jesus
Christ
nd
He
alone. The
meaning
f
history
s the
Marxists
ay,-and
we
agree
with them
here-is
to
free
man,2
but
we
say
that
only
Jesus
Christ
and
those
who live in
Him can
do
it.
These are
the
missionaries
and
contemplatives,
he
real
saviors
of
humanity.
As
long
as we
fail to realizehatsocialreaction
gainst
Marxism
s
inadequate,
s
long
as we
do
not
enter
into the
reality
of
Christianity
nd act
accordingly,
e shall
retain an
inferiority omplex.
Although
we
have our
dutieson.the social
and
economic
lane,
hey
are not all.
There
s
something
more
important
nd
deeper:
he
continuationf
the
work
of
Jesus
Christ
n the
salvation
f
humanity.
To
be
sure,
Marxism
oes not
deny
absolutely
hat
Christianity
is a greatand beautifulhing,that it brought veritable evelation
into the world.But Marxism
ays
hatwhat
Christianity
ccomplished
in
the
past
is over
and
done
with;
now it
is
in
a
stateof crisisand
a
new
humanity
s
beginning.
We
are
beyond
Christianity
n the
road
o
a
religion
f
the
new
times.
The Christian
f
today
answers
this
with
a
profession
f
faith: one
does
not
surpass
esus
Christ
or
in
Him
the
end
of
things
s
reached.He
alone
s the
last,
the eter-
nal
youth
of
the
world. He is
always
he
new
beyond
Whom
here
is
absolutely othing,
n
Whomthe
end
of all
things
s attained.
With Him the
essential vent
of
humanity
as
occurred;
onsequently
we
should
not
expect
rom
progress,
whatevert
may
be,
anything
whichhas the
importance
e
possess
n
Jesus
Christ.We
have
in-
finitely
more
n
Himthan
any
technique
r
any
revolution
an
bring.
2
Garaudy,
Le
communisme
et la
morale,
p.
71.
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MARXIST HISTORY AND SACRED
HISTORY
For
the
Marxist,
history
has
not
yet
set its
course:
he
looks
toward
the
future.
For
the
Christian,history
is
substantially
ixed
and
the
essential
element
is at the
center,
not at
the end.
There
is
thus
no
total
risk. The
acceptance
of
salvation
given
by
Christ-
which is not our work-is
an
aspect,
in
the
eschatological
rder,
of
this
recognition
of
our basic
dependence,
a
dependence
onstituting
the
fundamental
religious
attitude.
Does this
mean
that
there is
nothing
more
to
be
done?
Yes,
if,
after
the event
of
the
Redemp-
tion,
no
fundamental
ask
remained
to be
accomplished.
But
the
Redemptions a realityof incomparableynamism;or what is ac-
quired
by right
for all
humanity
remains
ndeed
to
be transmitted
to
all
men. There
is
the
mystery
of
missionsand
the
grandeur
f the
missionary
deal. Sacred
history
s
the
history
of
the
present
n which
we
live,
of
which we are the
instruments s
the
prophets
once
were
who
worked
o
extend
to
all
peoples
what
Jesus
Christ
brought
o
us.
In
Le
Christ el le
temps
Cullman observes that
in war there
comes
the
day
when
the
decisive
battle
is
won,
afterwards he
day
of
the
triumphal
marchunder the arch
of
triumph.3
Betweenthese
two
events
there is a
certain
lapse
of time.
The Resurrection
s
the
Stalingrad
of the
Redemption,
he
day
when the
battle
is won.
But
Christ
wished
to
permit
us to
participate
n the
victory-and
some
battlesremain o be
fought.
Total
victory,
however,
does
not
depend
on
them;
it has
already
been
won. Christian
hope
is
the certitude
of
this
victory
with the
expectation
f
our
coming
into
possession
of
peace. Presenthistoryis that of combats hroughwhichGod deigns
to associate
us
with His work until
Christ has
taken on His
full
stature n breadthand
depth
in all
hearts.
This
is
what
fills
present
history,
much
more
than the
conflicts
or the
alliances
between
nations
and
classes.
If
we
act
often
like
worldly
men and
allow ourselves
to be
taken in
by apparenthistory
t
is
because
we
do
not see
things
deeply enough.
The
sacraments
are
the
historical
actions,
corresponding
o
the
particular
haracteristics
f the
time
which
extends
rom
the Ascension
to the
Last
Judgment,
hat
is
to
say,
of the time
in
which we
live.
What
characterizes
his
time
is the
fact that
it comes
after the
essen-
tial
event
of
Sacred
history
by
which the
world
has
already
reached
its
end and
hence-as
certain
Protestants
clearly
saw-it
can
add
3
Christ
et
le
temps, p.
100.
507
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nothing
o time.
Jesus
Christ s not
surpassed.
On
the
other
hand,
the
glory
of
Jesus
Christhas
not
yet
been
visibly
manifested.This
time,therefore,s characterized,
econdly,
y
this non-manifestation,
by
this
hidden
spect.
And
finally
ime's
proper
ontent
s the
extension
o
all
humanity
f the
reality
cquired
y
Christ.
Now
these
are
precisely
he
characteristics
hich he
actions
of
sacramental
tructure
resent.
On
the
one
hand,
hey
are never
any-
thing
but
imitations,
representations
f the
Death
and
Resurrec-
tion
of
Christ:
We whohaveall been
baptized
n Christ
esus
have
beenbaptizedn death. The sacramentsresimplya reproduction
of the
sacerdotal
ction
of
Christ
by
whichall
things
have
attained
their
end.
Still,
the sacraments
avea hidden
aspect.
Only
the
sign
is
apparent;
ts
reality
emains
nvisible.For
ndeed he
reality
f the
Resurrection
s not
yet visibly
manifest.
This
is
admirably
xplained
by
St.
Paul
(Col.
III,
1-4):
Risen,
hen,
with
Christ,
you
must
lift
your
thoughts
bove,
where
Christ
now
sits
at the
right
hand
of
God.
You
mustbe
heavenly-minded,
ot
earthly
minded;
ou
have
undergone
eath,
and
your
life is hidden
away
nowwithChrist n
God.
Christ s
your
life,
and when
He
is
made
manifest,
ou
too
will
be
made
manifest
n
glory
with
him.
Thus
the sacramentsonstitutehe
events
of
a
time
which
s
the
tension
between
he Resurrection
nd
the
Parousia.
They
are
a me-
morial f the
Resurrection
nd
the
permanent
prophecy
f
its
manifestation. he
Eucharist,
s a
document f
the
New Alli-
ance prevents s fromforgettinghe essential ventby which his
alliancewas
definitely
oncluded:
he
union
n
the
person
of
Jesus
of the
divine and
humannature
and
the
introductionf human
nature
purified
y
the
Blood
of
the
Cross
nto the
sphere
of the
Trinitary
ife.
And
the
Eucharist,
s
an
eschatalogical
eal,
s the
prefiguration
f
the
heavenly
banquet,
of
the communication
y
Christ
f
the fullness
f His
goods
o His
own n
the Houseof
His
Father.4
Thus
during
he
delay
of the
Parousia,
he Eucharist
pre-
vents
humanity,
n this foretaste f celestial ood, from
tiring
of
waiting
nd
from
returning
o terrestrial
ood.
But
I
have
not dwelt o far on
the
last
characteristic
f our
time.
Between
he
Ascension
nd
the
Parousia
ts
special
unction s
mis-
sionary
ctivity,begun
at
Pentecost
nd
continuing
ntil
the return
4
Yves
de
Montcheuil,
La
signification
eschatologique
du
repas
eucharistique
n
Recherches de
Sciences
Religieuses,
1946,
pp.
10
sqq.
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of
Christ,
since,
the
Gospel
tells
us,
the
condition
of this return
is
the
evangelization
f the
wholeuniverse. Now
the
sacraments
re
the essentialnstrumentsf
this
mission
which s
the
reality
f
pres-
ent
history
under
he
appearances
f
profanehistory.
The mission
of
the
Apostles
s,
properly peaking,
o
baptize:
Go,
teachall
nations,
baptizing
hem
n the
name
of
the
Father,
nd
of
the
Son
and
of the
Holy
Spirit.
Indeed
it
is
Baptism
which
unites
one
to
the
messianic
ommunity,
o
the
Church
nd
whichmakes
hose
who
have
received t
participants
n
messianic
ifts.
Confirmation,
ar-
ticipationn the anointing f Christby the Spiritat the beginning
of
His
public
ife
furnishes
he
Christian
dult,
according
o
Cyril
of
Jerusalem,5
n
a
stable
way,
with
prophetic
harism hich
makes
f
him,
by
preaching
nd
by
witnessing,
n
active
agent
of
the
mission.
And the
Eucharist
s
the
sacrament
f
unity
which
gathers
bout
he
Christ f
glory,present
n the
community,
ll nationsn
order
o
offer
them
through
His
hands
o the Father.
It is
these
sacramental
ctions
which
are the
great
eventsof
the
present
world-much
greater
han
great
works
of
thought
or
of
science,
much
greater
han
great
victories
r
revolutions,
hich
ill
the
pages
of
apparent
istory,
ut
do
not penetrate
o the
depths
f
real
history.
These
are
grandeurs
f
the
order
of
intelligence
r
of
the
order
of
bodies.
But
the
sacraments
re the
grandeurs
f the
order
of
charity. Jesus
Christ,
Pascal
said,
did
not
make
any
great
inventions
ut he
was
holy, holy
to men
and redoubtable
o
thedevil. This is whatwe havenot sufficientlyealized.And this
is
why
we
allow
ourselves
o
be
so
impressedy
the
grandeur
f the
flesh
or
of the
intelligence
hile
forgetting
hat we are the trustees
of the
designs
f
Trinitary
harity.
By
the
importance
e
give
them
we
make
dols
of
human
glories,
f
Science,
f
Money,
of
History,
of
the
State;
whereashe
first
commandment
s:
Thou
shalt love
the
Lord
Thy
God with
thy
whole
heart,
and
with
thy
whole
soul,
andwith
hy
whole
mind,
and
with
hy
whole
trength.Nowthe
works
f the
power
f
God
among
us arethe
sacraments.
We
said above
hat
there
was
a
greater
aptivity
haneconomic
ap-
tivity
and
capitalistic
nslavement,
hat
the
greater
captivity
was
5
Le
symbolisme
des
rites
baptismaux,
Dieu
Vivant,
I,
p.
42.
6
In his
last volume
of
poems
Tu
aimeras
'Eternal,
Edmond
Fleg
shows
admirably
this
apostasy
from
the
one
God
and
this
cult of modem
idols
among
the well-known
Jews
of
the nineteenth
century,
Rothschild, Marx,
and
Einstein.
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spiritual aptivity,
nslavement
ot
to the
powers
f
money,
but
to
the
Powers
of Darkness.Now
Baptism
lonedelivers
s from
this
captivity.
One alone indeedliberates s from
spiritual
aptivity,
Jesus
Christ,
Who
by
His
Death
descended
nto the
kingdom
f
death,
nto the
profoundestbyss
of
misery,
nd
Who,
by
His
Res-
urrection,
rashed
orever he
doors
of
deathand
came
out theCon-
queror
of
Hell,
openingup
to
all
humanity
he
road
of
spiritual
liberation.
Baptism,
t.
Paul
tells
us,
makes s
die
with
Jesus
Christ
in
order
o
arise
with
Him
and
ascend
with
Him
to the
right
of
the
Father. Given in the first Christian enturyduringthe Paschal
night,
Baptism
appears
learly
here as the continuation
f
those
great
worksof
liberation
ccomplishedy
God
in
delivering
His
people
rom
the
yoke
of
Egypt
n the course
f
the first
Easter
nd
in
the
deliverance
f
His
Son
from
the
yoke
of
Hell
during
he
second
Easter.
And
the
third
Easter s
thus
not
a
simple
iturgical
commemoration
f the
two
others,
but
the effective
ontinuation
f
the
same
reality.
The
mystery
f
liberation,
aptism
s alsothe
mystery
f crea-
tion.
It
is,
according
o
St.
Paul,
palingenesis,7
secondGenesis.
At
the
beginning
f
the
world,
he
Spirit
of
God,
hovering
ike
a
dove
over the
primitive
aters,
aised
up
in
them he
biological
ife
of
the
firstcreation. t
is this same
Spirit
which,
he
Gospel
ells
us,
covered
Mary
with
His
shadow,
bumbrabit
ibi,
to raise
up
in her
by
His all
powerful
irtue he
second
reation,8
hat of the universe
of grace,of theworldof divinized umanityf whichChrists the
Orient,
he
eternally
ising
sun. Now
Baptism
s
this recreation
f
each man.
Plunged
nto
the
waters
vivified
by
the
energies
f the
Spirit,
he
comesout
regenerated,
eborn;
ecreated
n
Christ
and,
henceforth,
elonging
o
the
second
creation.Marxism
ees
in
man
the
demiurge
f
humanity
hich
t creates
perpetually
y
transform-
ing through
work
his
economic
nfrastructures.
ut it
can
no more
liberateman
from
his more
profound
aptivity
han
t can raise
up
a
really
new
humanity,
or
Jesus
Christalone s the
really
New Man,
the
homo
novissimus.
What is
true
of
baptism
s
likewise
rue of
all the
sacraments
and
of the
economy
f
all
Christianity
hich
s sacramental. shall
note
only
one other
example:
he
Mass.
This is
essentially
he
pres-
7
Titus, III,
5.
8
Le
symbolisme
des rites
baptismaux,
Dieu
Vivant, I,
pp.
37-38.
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HISTORY
ence,
subsisting
nder
he
sacramental
ode,
of
the
sacerdotal
ction
of
Christ.Now
this
sacerdotal
ctionof
Christ
y
which
He
glorifies
perfectly
heFathers theend of
history,
hefulfillmentf
creation,
the
success f
the divine
plan.
The
purpose
f creation
s
indeed
he
glory
of
God,
that
is,
the
recognition
f
His
sovereign
xcellence
y
means f
spiritual
iberties.It
is
to
recognize
he
sovereignty
f God
that the
sacrifices
f
all
nationsand
of all
religions
ave
been
made
down
through
he
centuries. But these were
only
figures,
or in
reality,
he
men who
offered hem
belonged
o
the
city
of sin
which,
accordingo St. Augustine,s builton loveof oneself o the con-
tempt
of
God.
The
Passion
of
Christ,
on
the
contrary,
manifests
the
ove
of
God to
the
contempt
f oneself. He
showed
hat
the
will of
the Father s
so
lovable hat
everything
s
worth
sacrificing
to
it,
becoming
bedientuntil
death
and
until the
death
of
the
Cross.
The
Father
s
thereby lorified
or
ever. Now the Mass is
that
sacerdotalctionof
Christ
made
present
y
the
sacrament
o as
to
hold human
iberty
n
the
movement hich
bears
t to the Father
and so to extend he
glory
of God.
Again
and
again
wediscernhe
characteristic
eature
of
sacramentalimes:
it
is
situated
within
he
end
already
ained
which
s
the
glory
of
God.
God is
glorified
n
Christ
and
nothing,
urely
no
vicissitude
f
history,
an alter
this
glorification.
ut this
end
must
extend
o all
men
and
through
Christ
all
glory
must
ascend
to
the Father.
The
Mass
is, therefore,
he
presence
lready
f
the consumma-
tion of things.And he whouniteshimselfo the sacerdotalction
of
Christ n
the
Mass fulfills
he absolute
ction,
hat in which
he
totality
of
his
beingexpresses
tself
and
in
which
he
reason
of
his
existences
made
clear.
Thus
the
Mass
s
the
end
to which
Baptism
is
ordered;
t is not
the
beginning
ut the fulfillmentf the
mission.
The ultimate
im
of all
this
is
to constitutehe
total
community
f-
fering
the
unique
Mass
by
which
all
spiritual
iberties,
aving
been
turned
oward
God,
would
recognize
His
sovereign
xcellence
nd
unitewiththe
Trisagion.
But this
presence
emains
presence
eiled
in
the
sacraments,
elatum.
This sacramental
tatus s
that
of ex-
pectation.
t
corresponds
o
the
delay
of the
Parousia.
This
delay
causes
anguish
or
some.
Daniel
Halevy recently
aid
that it
was
a
greatdifficulty
or
him:
Christ
aid
he
wouldreturn-and
yet
he
has not
returned.And
so nations
have tired
of
waiting
and
have
turned
o other
guides.
But Christalso
said
that
beforeHis
return
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His
gospel
had
to be
preached
o
the
ends
of
the
earth. The
delay
of
the Parousia9s
that
which
he
evangelization
f the
wholeworld
requires.
That is
why
the
patience
skedof individualsnd
peoples
who
were
he first
baptized
s
essentially
ased
on
charity.
They
are
waiting
or
everyone
o
be there
before
entering.
The
Mass
is
the
form
of fulfillmentf the
human ocation
ppropriate
o
the
time
of
expectation
hich
s,
as
Pascal ells
us,
the order
of
charity.
Marxist
history,
acramental
istory-we
have
contrasted
hemas
representing
wo levels
of
reality
and
we
have
tried
to show that
Sacramentalistoryalone embraceshe totalityof human xistence
and reaches he
extremities
f
it.
Does
this
meanthat there s no
communication
etween hem? Is
this movement
f
history,
his
dialecticof
infrastructures
nd
suprastructures
hich
Marxism
de-
scribes
or
us,
completely
oreign
o the
movement
f
Sacred
history?
The
Marxist
interpretation
ertainly
s
foreign
n
so
far
as
it
pretends
to
be
a
total
explanation.
But
it
is not
foreign
n
so
far as the
elements
of
reality
t
uses
constitute
certain
humandatum.
In
other
words,
f
we
consider
hat the
dialectic
f economic
istory
ought
to
bring
a
total
response
o
the
human
problem,
e
say
and
hope
to
have
shownthat
it
is
an illusion. There
is
no
salvation
outside
of
Christ
and
His
sacramental
ork.
Man
is
radically
n-
capable
of
saving
himself. No
invention,
o
revolution
an solve
the
essential
rama
f
his
destiny.
But
if
profanehistory
does
not
itself
save,
t
is
part
of
what
s
destinedo besaved. Christ idnot come o substitutenotheruman-
ity
for
the one he has
created.l'0
He
came to
liberate his
hu-
manity
rom ts
spiritual
ervitude.
Hence,
vain
as
is
the
pretension
of
human
history
o achieve he
salvation
f
man,
absurd s
it
is
to
think hat in
participating
n scientificesearch
r
political
ctionwe
help
the salvation
f the
world
and
are
agents
of
it,
it
is,
neverthe-
less,
legitimate
o
thinkthat
we are
cooperating
o
build
what
will
be
saved. It is
quite
clear
hat
the manwho will be transfiguredn
glory
will
be
the
one that we
make
here
below. It
is as
trueto
say
that we
constitute
what
will
be
transfigured
s
it is
false
to think
9
Oscar
Cullman,
Le caractere
eschatologique
du
devoir
missionaire,
in
Revue
Historique
de
Philosophie religieuse,
1936,
pp.
210
sqq.
10
This is
the nuance
which should
be
given
to
the
expression
of
Louis
Bouyer
La nouvelle
creation,
c'est
la
mort
de l'ancienne. Christianismeet
eschatologie,
in
La vie
intellectuelle,
Oct.,
1948,
p.
36.
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that
we
work
or its
transfiguration.
hat
is
true
on
the
individual
plane s alsotrueon thetotalplane. Profane istory,hehistory f
civilization
nd
culture,
ome
nto
the
realmof
Sacred
history
n
so
far as
through
acred
history,
rofane istory
onstituteshe
human-
ity
which he
sacramentseal
of
spiritual
miseries nd
bear
nto the
kingdom
f
the Son.
Thus
profane
history
s
assumed
nto
Sacred
history
and
the
Church
n
this sense
participates
n
its
assumption.
ut
profane
is-
tory always
emains
f
secondary
mportance.
his is
what
Mounier
doesnot recognize henhe seems o make he sacralizationf the
new
figures
of the
world
he
constitutivelementof
the
Church,lT
and whenhe
charges
hosewho
oppose
he
liturgical
osmos
o
the
scientific
osmos
with
confusing
utmoded
ormsof
representation
with
the
eternal ssence
f the
religious
ct.
No
one
is
less
attached
thanourselves
o
outmoded
tructures.12 hat s
why
we
denounce
he
illusion
which
sacralizes,
nduly,momentary
nd
dead
structures
in order o see in them heveryfinality f thehistory f our time.
This is
also the
point
on
which
we
disagree
withFather
Montuclard
when
he
writes:
We
realize hat the
progress
f the Church annot
be in
the
hands
of
purely piritual
men.
3
If we
understand
y
the
progress
f
the
Church
ts
adaptation
o
changes
f
socialstructures
it is
quite
clear
hat this is not
properly
he
workof
saints. But
this
conception
f the
progress
f
the Church
emains
n
the surface
f
history,
n
the
very
zone in
which
Marxism
movesand
where
he
transformationf the economicnfrastructuresonstitutes progress
in
which
he Church
merely
becomes
ncarnate.
But
the
real
story
of
the Church
s
not
to
be
found
there. The
real
progress
f
the
Church
s
in the
liberationf
captive
ouls
by Baptism
nd
in the
extension
f the
glory
of God
by
the
Eucharist.The real
protagon-
ists
of this
history
rethe saints.
11
RmrnanatelMounier,
La
petite peur
du
XXe
siecle, p.
103.
12
Christianisme
t histoire,
Etudes,
Sept.,
1947,
p.
166.
13
Je
batirai
mon
Eglise,
Jeunesse
de
I'Eglise,
VIII,
p.
25.
513