Personal Note: The slow grind of the mills of the Curia

So, as a theist in the Roman Catholic Christian tradition, I was chuffed to be directed by nateprentice to some online articles noting that John Henry Cardinal Newman may be one step closer to formal canonization as a saint: evidently a medical miracle attributed to his intercession is under review; if confirmed, it would render him eligible for beatification. This process probably looks rather silly to outsiders (and, let's face it, some insiders aren't that happy with it, either -- for a very readable, if now slightly dated, treatment of the subject, see Kenneth Woodward's Making Saints), but regardless of that, I'm just pleased to see another person notable for thinking deeply about his faith making his way, however slowly, into the calendar. One hears a lot preached in my denomination these days about the witness of individuals who lived out the humbler versions of the Christian calling, which is a natural outgrowth of theology calling for a preferential option for the poor and a useful corrective to the idea that sanctity is something to which only They (i.e. the wise, the great, the consecrated) can aspire, but it can sometimes fall into a sort of world-turned-upside-down triumphalism. I've heard a few too many sermons lauding, say, the utility of the "Little Way" of St. Thérèse of Liseux as more profound theology than all that intellectual stuff people keep getting hung up on. I have nothing against Thérèse's basic theological insight -- love and serve the Divine as you are able, and in so doing you will become more able -- but I myself find the intellectual side of my faith tradition fascinating and, without prejudice toward anybody whose engagement takes place on other levels, occasionally feel compelled to note (as a priest of my acquaintance used to say) that one can praise God with an intelligent thought, too.

I will admit that St. Thérèse's prose style drives me bonkers, though. Give me Newman's Ciceronian periods any day ...