The Face of Mercy / Daniel Conway

The heart of what it means to be human, and the God who loves us

(En Espanol)

On June 19, the 400th anniversary of the birth of the brilliant French layman Blaise Pascal, Pope Francis published an apostolic letter reflecting on his life and work. The Latin title, “Sublimitas et Miseria Hominus,” translates into English as “The Grandeur and Misery of Man,” and it summarizes the writings of Pascal, who was amazed at the fundamental contradiction that is at the heart of what it means to be human.

“In a century of great advances in many fields of science,” the Holy Father writes, “accompanied by a growing spirit of philosophical and religious skepticism, Blaise Pascal proved to be a tireless seeker of truth, a ‘restless’ spirit, open to ever new and greater horizons.”

Pascal’s “brilliant and inquisitive mind” sought the truth in every realm—science, philosophy, art, politics, sociology and theology. He was a true man for all seasons who sincerely believed that human reason can only arrive at truth when it is informed by faith.

Pope Francis believes that Pascal can be an example for all who seek the truth regardless of their beliefs. He observes:

For this reason, I believe that it is fitting to describe Pascal as a man marked by a fundamental attitude of awe and openness to all reality. Openness to other dimensions of knowledge and life, openness to others, openness to society.

For example, in 1661 he developed, in Paris, the first public transport system in history, the “five-penny coaches.” If I mention this at the beginning of this letter, it is to make clear that neither his conversion to Christ, which began with the “night of fire” on 23 November 1654, nor his masterful intellectual defense of the Christian faith, made him any less a man of his time. He continued to be concerned with the questions that troubled his age and with the material needs of all the members of the society in which he lived.

Pascal did undergo a dramatic religious conversion at the age of 31, just eight years before his untimely death. Here is the way the pope describes this epiphany or encounter:

On 23 November 1654, Pascal had a powerful experience that even now is referred to as his “night of fire.” This mystical experience, which caused him to weep tears of joy, was so intense and so decisive for him that he recorded it on a piece of paper, precisely dated, the “Memorial,” which he inserted in the lining of his coat, only to be discovered after his death. While it is impossible to know the exact nature of what took place in Pascal’s soul that night, it seems to have been an encounter which he himself acknowledged as analogous to the encounter, fundamental for the whole history of revelation and salvation, that Moses experienced in the presence of the burning bush. (Ex 3)

For a mathematician to experience God as personal, not abstract or theoretical, is itself a powerful witness. “This is not the abstract God or the cosmic God, no.” Pope Francis quotes Pascal. “This is the God of a person, of a call, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God who is certitude, who is sentiment, who is joy.”

No wonder Pope Francis, who so often speaks about the “joy of the Gospel,” is impressed with what this man of science and philosophy has to say about his encounter with the living God.

“Yet while faith is reasonable,” the pope writes, “it remains a gift of God and may not be imposed.”

“We do not prove that we should be loved by setting out the reasons why; that would be ridiculous,” Pascal tells us with his subtle humor, comparing human love and the way that God beckons us. Like human love, “which proposes but never imposes—the love of God never imposes itself.”

Pope Francis concludes his reflection on the life and writing of this great man who possessed a lustrous, inquisitive mind in love with God with these words: “May the brilliant work of Blaise Pascal and the example of his life, so profoundly immersed in Jesus Christ, help us to persevere to the end on the path of truth, conversion and charity. For this life passes away in a moment: Everlasting joy in return for a single day’s effort on Earth.”
 

(Daniel Conway is a member of The Criterion’s editorial committee.) †