I was surprised to hear the other day that the hymn "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine" is sung in some Catholic Churches. It is apparently popular among devotees of a more charismatic kind of worship. Although at a push, the hymn could be interpreted in a Catholic sense, it is certainly not intended to be so understood. "Blessed assurance" is a watchword among evangelical protestants, referring to the certainty of predestination and certainty of the gift of perseverance for those who are among the elect.
As Catholics we do believe in predestination, in the sense that God has prepared eternal bliss for those whom he foresees, in his infinite wisdom, will merit eternal life. Here on earth, we are not certain of our "election" or of final perseverance. Such supposed certainty is a sin of presumption. We pray with confidence to our heavenly Father, knowing his mercy but not taking it for granted.
Hence, the Council of Trent condemned the following errors:
If any one saith, that a man, who is born again and justified, is bound of faith to believe that he is assuredly in the number of the predestinate; let him be anathema. (Council of Trent. Canons on Justification. canon 15.)We do not have a "blessed assurance" but a blessed hope.
If any one saith, that he will for certain, of an absolute and infallible certainty, have that great gift of perseverance unto the end,-unless he have learned this by special revelation; let him be anathema. (canon 16.)
17 comments:
My friend the author/genius Jeremy Pitt-Payne once had a very colourful disagreeement with some clerics/seminarians regarding the last verse of 'how great thou art' and its universalist/perseverance intimations...
Has it got to the stage where we really don't think about what we say or sing?
From St Ignatius of Loyola's Rules on thinking with the Church:
"The Fifteenth Rule. We ought not to fall into a habit of speaking much about predestination. But if somehow the topic is brought up on occasions, it should be treated in such a way that the ordinary people do not fall into error, as sometimes happens when they say: "It is already determined whether I shall be saved or damned, and this cannot now be changed by my doing good or evil." Through this they grow listless and neglect the works which lead to good and to the spiritual advancement of their souls."
http://www.saint-mike.org/library/rule/excerpts/rules_orthodoxy.html
Much of the shocking liturgical innovations and shocking interpretations of the Teaching of the Church are borne of the sin of presumption.
"We'll just rip up 1500 years of Holy Tradition. God won't mind! He's on our side."
"I won't bother, as a Bishop/Priest to preach this more unpopular message of the Gospel. Times have changed. God won't mind!"
"I'll stand for Holy Communion. God won't mind/I'll receive, even if I'm not in a State of Grace. God won't mind! He's on my side!"
What about those who complete nine consecutive first Friday devotions to the Sacred Heart? Saint Margaret Mary's revelation contained a promise that devotees will not die in his displeasure and His Heart will be their refuge. Does her revelation exempt them from that last rule or must they still not presume on their own salvation?
A quick comment "Blessed assurance" was written by Fanny J Crosby, a Methodist. The Methodist concept of assurance goes back to John Wesley:
"I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation. And an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."
Whatever assurance this was, it was not a Calvinist assurance, as Wesley and most of his successors were Methodists. They believed that salvation actually wasn't inevitable once they were "saved", rather that they were in danger of hell if they fell away again.
All the best.
Gerrardus - yes, the Methodists (and indeed the Salvation Army) had a modified form of "assurance" but it was always a theological conundrum for them to explain what happened with "backsliders".
Jonathan - all such promises of final perseverance are conditional on co-operation with grace. They cannot be an excuse for presumption, just a help to trust in God. The revelations to St Margaret Mary were particularly an antidote to Jansenist pessimism.
This hymn was sung in Westminster Cathedral as the recessional hymn for two years in succession at the Annual Mass for Altar Servers organised by the Archconfraternity of St Stephen.
Sorry - my memory has failed me - I must be getting old! The hymn I was referring to was 'To God be the glory', not 'Blessed assurance'.
To God be the glory, great things He has done;
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life gate that all may go in.
Refrain
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He has done.
O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.
Refrain
Great things He has taught us, great things He has done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer, and higher, and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.
Refrain
Not a "joyful hope"?
What do you think about "Amazing Grace" being sung at Catholic funerals? It sounds very Protestant to me, but I would like to know what your opinions are. Thanks.
An interesting discussion. I'm pretty sure these distinctions fly straight over the heads of most Catholics/Christians. Maybe they should be spelt out a bit more explicitly at Mass?
Has it got to the stage where we really don't think about what we say or sing?
Respectfully, I suspect the "critical mass" passed that stage some time ago. Had any discussions about the Creed, recently? I have.
"Well that's just some bizarre conjecture! Where did you get that from?"
"You sing it every Sunday"
Peter
I used to play the organ and this hymn was a favourite of our otherwise orthodox (though anti-latinist) pp. I always felt as if I was playing in a gospel tent in Frinton when I played it - but as he let me have full rein with all my trad favourites I never said anything.....and he backed me up over my boycott of Eagle's Wings. So you win some, and you lose some...
I've always liked the hymn Blessed Assurance and personally have never interpreted it in any way other than "Blessed Hope" "the grace of final perserverence in grace" Perhaps someone more talented than I could "Catholicise" the lyrics?
dillydaydream,
Yes, it is sung in my parish as well, again principally as an organist's favourite. She does, however, play it while most of the church are processing to receive communion; whether this is to deliberately avoid the spreading of error too widely I do not know!
A further thought on this prompted by ServusMariaeN's comment: it seems to me that the assurance being averred lies in Jesus, and His role as the way, truth and life, the gateway to the Father and the reward of Heaven, rather than in an absolute expectation or entitlement of such reward. Jesus is the person through who that promise can be made good - if one keeps faithful.
It would have been interesting to have discussed this with you this morning, Fr Tim, but we were on a flying visit down south and there was a christening party waiting after 10:30 Mass!
altho i had never sung blessed assurNCE IN MY LIFE AFTER STANDING IN A HEAVY DOWNPOUIR OF RAIN TO CATCH A BUS TO GO TO CONFESSION ON MY WAY HOME AFTER CONFESSION THE SONG BLESSED ASSURANCE CAME TO ME AND I QUIETLY SA NG THAT SONG AS MUCH AS I COULD REMEMBER HEARING IT SOMEWHERE MAYBE ON TV. I THEREFORE BELIEVE GOD CAN USE ANY SONG FOR HIS GRACES TO FLOW THRU.
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