IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
There’s a huge difference between being bright and being wise, between brilliance and wisdom. We can be highly intelligent, but not very wise. Ideally, of course, we should strive to be both, but that isn’t always the case, particularly today.

We’re living in a culture that rewards brilliance above wisdom and within which we pride ourselves first of all in being brighter than each other. Who has the highest degree? Who went to the most elite university? Who’s the most entrepreneurial? Who’s the most popular? Who’s the cleverest scientist, researcher, writer, journalist, television personality, or wit at the office or family table? Who’s the most brilliant? We never ask: Who’s the wisest? Today intelligence is valued far above wisdom and that’s not always good. We’re a highly informed and intelligent people, but our compassion is not nearly on par with our brilliance. We’re bright, but not wise.

What’s the difference between intelligence and wisdom? Wisdom is intelligence that’s colored by understanding (which, parsed to its root, means infused with empathy). In end, what makes for wisdom is intelligence informed by empathy, intelligence that’s grasps with sympathy the complexity of others and the world, and this has implications.

Learning, to be truly helpful, must be matched by an equal growth in empathy. When this isn’t happening, then growth in intelligence is invariably be one-sided and, while perhaps providing something for the community, will always lack the kind of understanding that can help bind the community together and help us better understand ourselves and our world. When intelligence is not informed by empathy, what it produces will generally not contribute to the common good. Without a concomitant empathy, intelligence invariably becomes arrogant and condescending. True learning, on the other hand, is humble, self-effacing and empathic. When we develop ourselves intellectually, without sufficient empathy, our talents invariably become causes for envy rather than gifts for community.

Ironically, at the end of the day, intelligence not sufficiently informed by empathy will not be very bright, but instead will be an arrested intelligence wherein its fault will not be in what it has learned (for learning itself is good) but in where its learning stopped. It will suffer from a hazard aptly named by Alexander Pope, where “a little learning is a dangerous thing,” where we have read one book too many but one book too few!

One might object here and make a plea for science and scientific objectivity. Isn’t empirical science the product of a pure intellectual pursuit which refuses to be colored by anything outside itself? Isn’t the ideal of all learning to be purely objective, to not have a bias of any sort? Where does empathy play a role in pure research? Doesn’t an eye turned towards empathy fudge pure objectivity?

Pure objectivity doesn’t exist, in science or anywhere else. Science today accepts that it can never be purely objective. All measurement has its own agenda, its own angle, and cannot help but interfere (however infinitesimally perhaps) with what it measures. Everyone and everything, including science, has a bias (euphemistically, a pre-ontology). Thus, since all learning necessarily begins with an angle, a bias, pre-ontology, the question is not: How can I be purely objective?” But rather: What serves us best as an angle from which to learn? The answer is empathy. Empathy turns intelligence into wisdom and wisdom turns learning into something that more properly serves community.

However empathy is not to be confused with sentimentality or naiveté, as is sometimes the case.
Sentimentality and naiveté see a fault within intellectuality itself, seeing learning itself as the problem. But learning is never the problem. One-sided learning is the problem, namely, learning that isn’t sufficiently informed by empathy, which seeks knowledge without understanding.

I teach graduate students who are mainly preparing for ministry within their churches and so, for them, graduate learning is, by definition, meant to be more than just scoring high marks, graduating with honor, being informed and educated, or even just satisfying their own intellectual curiosities and questions. By their very vocation, they are striving for wisdom more than for mere intelligence. But even they, like most everyone else in our culture, struggle to not be one-sided in their learning, to have their studies bring them as much compassion as knowledge. We all struggle with this. It’s hard to resist a temptation that’s as endemic in our culture as certain bacteria are in our waters, that is, the temptation to be clever and bright, more informed than everyone else, no matter if we aren’t very compassionate persons afterwards.
And so this column is a plea, not a criticism: To all of us, whether we’re doing formal studies; whether we’re trying to learn the newest information technology; whether we’re trying to keep ourselves informed socially and politically; whether we’re writing articles, books, or blogs; whether we’re taking training for a job; or whether we’re just mustering material for an argument at our family table or workplace, remember: It’s not good merely to be smart, we must also be compassionate.

(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, theologian, teacher and award-winning author, is President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX.)

Guest Column
By Melvin Arrington
Dear incoming Freshmen,
A popular 1960s TV series told viewers, “You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to the outer limits.” These words could well apply to you as you head off to college in a few weeks. Get ready; your horizons are about to expand exponentially and you’ll soon discover that the world is much bigger than you think.
A large number of your class will be leaving home and parental supervision for the first time. From now on, you’ll make your own decisions. Unfortunately, many choose to stop attending religious services during their college years. The latest surveys show that almost one in four Americans claims no religious affiliation; these are the so-called “nones.” College freshmen, don’t become one of these statistics.
The rise of the nones can be blamed, at least partially, on relativism, which now holds sway in our modern secular, materialistic culture. Truth has come to mean whatever you want it to mean, and the determination of right and wrong is largely a matter of personal opinion. When there’s “your truth” and “my truth,” then we have no truth. But you’ve been taught the difference between right and wrong. Remember what our Lord proclaimed in John’s Gospel: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
No matter what some of your professors and fellow students may tell you, faith and science are not enemies. The notion that there is a war going on between science and religion is nothing more than a modern myth. God is truth, and the Catholic Church encourages the pursuit of truth, wherever it may be found.
After all, it was the Catholic Church that fostered and developed the scientific method and founded the university system. Consider these important figures from the history of science: the 13th century English philosopher and Franciscan friar, Roger Bacon, one of the earliest proponents of empiricism and experimental science; the 16th century astronomer and Catholic cleric, Nicolaus Copernicus, famous for overthrowing the age-old geocentric theory of Ptolemy by proving that the earth orbits the sun; and the 19th century Augustinian friar, Gregor Mendel, known as the father of modern genetics. And let’s not forget Father Georges Lemaitre, the twentieth-century mathematician and astronomer who formulated the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe! Bam! Don’t let them tell you the Church is anti-science. Remember, the Catholic Church formed the basis for Western civilization and was, in large measure, responsible for its development over the centuries.
College campuses used to be citadels of learning, somewhat isolated from the problems of the outside world. However, in recent decades the “real world” has invaded our campuses resulting in drug abuse epidemics, sexual assaults, hate speech and racially motivated violence and a host of other evils. For a variety of socio-political, cultural and economic reasons college campuses are no longer safe zones. Choose wisely when making new friends. You’re going to need a strong support group. Here’s my recommendation: check out some of the Catholic Campus Ministry activities at your school.
You will hear a lot of talk of political correctness and left/right politics, but don’t let yourself be distracted by these discussions. Left and right are false categories when it comes to questions of faith. If we truly love those in need, we’ll figure out the best methods for serving them and not worry about whether others label us liberal or conservative.
You already know the importance of acquiring knowledge, but the real goal is to attain wisdom. As you think through the tough issue of the day, you will develop what the academic world calls critical thinking skills, but don’t forget about the role of faith in your life. If your mind is going to soar upward, it’s going to need both wings – reason and faith – in order to arrive at the truth. A bird can’t fly with just one wing.
Ecclesiastes tells us there’s nothing new under the sun. It’s all been thought, said and done before, but it may be new to you. If you haven’t already begun to explore the big questions, now that you are in college you should begin to do so in earnest. I’m referring to questions such as: Who am I? Where do I come from and where am I going? Does human life have a meaning and purpose? Why am I here? How am I supposed to live? What happens when I die? What ultimately matters? And the big one that always comes up as a challenge to Christians – Why does an omnipotent and benevolent God allow bad things to happen to good people?
Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen once acknowledged that it’s not easy for Catholics to explain why God permits evil and suffering, but at the same time he boldly asserted that it’s impossible for an atheist to explain the existence of goodness and love in our world. You simply can’t have love without God, because God is love.
Your college experience should turn out to be some of the best years of your lives. It’s a time to discover things you didn’t know about yourself and the world we live in today. It’s an opportunity to transition to independent living and meet people from different backgrounds. You will form life-long friendships over the next four years or so, and you may even meet your future spouse. Establish a proper balance between studies and social activities, be safe, and stay focused on what’s really important in life. Always remember your family loves you and, more importantly, God loves you.
P.S. And be sure to go to Mass.

(Melvin Arrington is a Professor Emeritus of Modern Languages for the University of Mississippi and a member of Oxford St. John Parish.)

Reflections on Life
By Berta Mexidor
“ For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.” (Romans 8: 2)
Faith in God and permanent prayer are the palliative with which thousands of undocumented immigrants maintain for years a life outside immigration law. “But if, while we sought to be justified in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners, is Christ a minister of sin? God forbid.” (Galatians 2:17)
When a person decides to become an illegal immigrant, most of the time he or she has weighed the great dilemma and consequences of its actions. Many immigrants come to the United States with the certainty of finding laws much more humane and reasonable than those of his country of origin. “And the law came in besides, that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly.” (Romans 5:20) In a joint statement, the bishops of Mississippi stressed that the role of the church at this time is “to provide comfort, material assistance and strength to separated children, parents and families and to those traumatized.”
In the raids conducted, people arrested, were found in their places of employment. Many did not have legal documents to work or remain in the United States. Some people were quickly released to continue with their lives, yet others were released with electronic bracelets, while waiting for a court appearance. Some of those detained will choose to return to their home countries voluntarily. Others, depending on their legal situation, will be deported or prosecuted criminally, while their relatives can only hold on to the divine and man’s laws.
In the bishops joint statement, they point out “to say that immigration reform is a contentious and complex topic would be an understatement.” Millions of people want to come to the United States for the humanization of their laws, contributing to a healthier life for every citizen, economic and personally. Many must wait for years. Thousands are waiting around the world, trusting the system, others resign themselves to stay in their countries and cast away the dream of living in America, the” promised land,” the “American dream.”
There are others who, in a situation of abuse, poverty and despair, cannot wait or do not have the financial means or education and decide to cross the border by risking their lives and that of their children. The vast majority subject their children to a situation of hopeful illegality when they bring them across the border. Others are procreated here in the States and are in fact American citizens. Their parents raising them with the hope of a better life and a possible immigration solution for their family members.
Generally, this illegality is not planned, therefore, there is no contingency plan present. There is no talk of hidden pain before children, some of whom grow up without knowing all the legal implications of the complex situation of their parents and relatives are going through.
Unfortunately, some immigrants take advantage of the laws and commit deceptive acts. These negatively affect American society and all immigrants.
The expectations of undocumented immigrants are to work and to live in a much healthier society than they left behind. None want to be captured, but each of them knows that capture is a possibility of the situation in which they find themselves. No person is fully prepared to face the authorities and much less to see their children suffer throughout the process.
The vast majority of immigrants are simple, fervent Christians, good parents and family people who aspire for a better life for their descendants. Some voices try to vilify the immigrant or consider them a victim. Immigrants are neither one nor the other. They are just people. When they break the law, it is only as a last resource for family improvement. With much humility, many are aware of the transgression, but the human misfortune in which they live drives them into an act of courage with civil or criminal consequences.
Many immigrants are Catholics much like you. The church is the center of understanding, spiritual help and the place to share experiences with people in the same situation or with those who share the same faith. They ask God for forgiveness for their sins and mercy as a reward under the received promise of “ But go ye and learn what this meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice: for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:13).

(Berta Mexidor is Mississippi Catholic contributor, manages content for Mississippi Católico. Native of Cuba, in the U.S. for 18 years and hold a master’s degree in political sciences.)