I Prefer Paradise

Dear friend,

 

Cloister or quarantine? Throughout this craziness I've been trying day-by-day to see this as a time of cloister to be spent strengthening bonds with my wife and children and turning to God in prayer. But, there are certainly days when I feel stuck against my will - stuck at home, stuck trying to figure out what God wants of The Newman Idea, etc.

 

I was having one of those days last week, feeling the weight of fear and anxiety that comes with these times, when the high-pitched voice of my 4-year old rose above the dull roar of the home schooling din. The rest of kids joined him in the chant a moment later. It took me a moment to realize he was chanting "paradiso, paradiso, preferisco il paradiso." It's a line from a movie about St. Philip Neri : "I prefer heaven," St. Philip's orphans sing to the pope. "I prefer heaven," Philip replies when he is offered the chance to become a cardinal. "I prefer heaven," I whispered to the Lord. I prefer heaven to whatever plans I have made that may be faltering now.

 

St. Philip Neri was one of St. John Henry Newman's heroes. When Newman converted he chose to forego the Jesuits, Dominicans, and Franciscans and became one of Philip Neri's Oratorians. Newman's life can be read as a story of God pointing him, through many travails, beyond Newman's own plans to God's mission for him. St. Philip Neri is the same way. He traveled to Rome intending to become a Jesuit and a missionary to India. God had other plans. In the movie after the orphans sing "preferisco il paradiso" for the pope, he grants Philip permission to start his oratory but also offers him the opportunity to finally be a missionary to India. After a pause, St. Philip responds, "I have my India right here."

Life has a way of throwing us curveballs. When I graduated from Tulane with a BS in Computer Science I never thought I'd be back at Tulane(with a PhD in Theology!) helping students integrate their faith with their classes. God is still revealing to me what my mission is and will become. My work at The Newman Idea , like Philip Neri's work, is showing me what God wants. This is not what I would have chosen 15 years ago, but this is what God has placed before me, and I couldn't be happier! My India is right here! Before being cloistered I was blessed on a weekly basis by our students, especially those informal chats outside of class. The joy I've received from answering questions about graduate school, vocation, or just discussing the homily is hard to describe. But ultimately my mission and yours and Philip Neri's isn't simply about our happiness. It's about the people God calls us to serve. Although the future remains uncertain, God recently confirmed me in my work for The Newman Idea. One of our students recently wrote the following to us:

Hey Professors,

     I wanted to reach out today saying how much I have enjoyed this IKON class over the semester. This class has taught me how to actually think for the first time in my life by integrating every aspect of my life together instead of keeping knowledge in separate boxes! I can only thank you two so very much for putting this class together and sharing these phenomenal readings (I love anything from Newman). Even though the class has moved onlin e , I still look forward to it every week because I know after class ends, I have so much to consider not only for a week but for MONTHS to come....Now I can make connections in what I am learning faster than before.

 

   Again, thank you Dr. Delio and Dr. Brumfield! Bringing the Newman Idea to Tulane is INVALUABLE to helping young college students learn what it means to think and include a faith perspective. Thank you both for following creating the Newman Idea to bring integral thought to campuses where we need it more than ever!  

 

I'll leave y'all with this quote that a friend shared with me and I think perfectly encapsulates what this class is helping to solve:

 

"The trouble with modern education is you never know how ignorant people are. With anyone over fifty, you can be fairly confident what's been taught and what's been left out. But these young people have such an intelligent, knowledgeable surface, and then the crust suddenly breaks and you look down into depths of confusion you didn't know existed."

 

- Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited

 

Indeed, whatever the future holds, God knows we he is about! Let us as St. John Henry Newman and St. Philip Neri to pray for us that we may prefer heaven and God's plans to our own. Thank you for journeying with us. Please let us know how we can be praying for you. Please continue to pray for us and support us!

 

Josh