Living the Paradoxes of the Catholic Faith
Explore the "Both... And" paradoxes of the Catholic faith, embracing Faith and Reason, Prayer and Work, and more.
What does it mean to truly be Catholic? The answer to that question is both simple and complicated. Much of what it means to be Catholic is based on the "Both... And" paradox paradigm. (Yes, that's a mouthful.)
The central truths of our faith are "Both... And" paradoxes. For example, God is both Three Persons and One Nature. Another example is Christ is both God and Man. Christ really is both; His two natures do not cancel each other. It's important to remember the difference between a contradiction and a paradox. A contradiction is when two things cancel each other out. A paradox is something beyond our current understanding.
It’s also essential to grasp that something can be both intelligible and incomprehensible at the same time. Some things can be understood partially but not fully.
At Holy Family Academy, there are several important paradoxes we strive to live. The first is our primary mission of cultivating both Faith and Reason. God is the source of both, and they should never contradict each other, though they remain distinct. We strive to cultivate Faith and Reason through both Prayer and Work. We work to maintain the school community through both rules and freedom. We enforce standards through both justice and mercy. We steward our surroundings by both giving God our best and cultivating the spirit of poverty.
Living out these "Both... And" propositions is tricky. It’s not necessarily about finding the mean between two extremes but rather embracing both.
The only way to live the mysteries (paradoxes) of truly being Catholic is by striving for closeness to Christ, Who is both God and Man, and to Our Lady, who is both Virgin and Mother.
