Don’t be discouraged by anxieties and troubles, life is full of them.
Saint John Baptiste de la Salle
Saint of the Day Quote: Saint John Baptist de la Salle
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Useless to whom?
CAG – To your own spiritual and personal development. I guess St John DLS is saying piety and learning go hand-in-hand. You can’t be blindly pious without understanding the purpose of your piety and you can’t be all understanding without the humility and devotion otherwise your own intelligence can falsely inflate your sense of self.
It makes sense- it’s balancing the spiritual/emotional with the practical/physical: Head and heart in balance.
I’m open for correction.
Piety is a virtue, built on humility, without which no one enters the Kingdom of Heaven (St. Augustine)
Education is not a virtue, and it is often a source of pride and arrogance.
“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.”
~ Jesus (Matthew 11:25)
🙂
Education is not a virtue, and it is often a source of pride and arrogance.
Piety is also a source of pride and arrogance. It can make you think you are more holier than the next person.
Education is humbling. Makes you realise how insignificant you are in the scheme of things. It can also make you gauge how smart or stupid you are compared to the next person. It also makes you realise how little you know the more you get into a topic. Hence “piety without learning produces a useless one”.
We are very lucky we are part of a Faith which allows us to question, reason and understand- and ultimately to get closer to the Truth on topics. Muslims are pious but lack that freedom to question without the threat of eternal damnation.
You have an excellent understanding of the virtues because you were educated in them. Maybe formally, maybe informally. I think sometimes we take our education for granted. My grandmother was illiterate. My mother was allowed to go to school up until grade 5. Both had/have strong Faiths. We have many uneducated (and educated) individuals in our family. They would both say they value a formal education because they didn’t have it. Education is freedom in so many ways. Particularly for our Faith.
“Piety is also a source of pride and arrogance”
Only if it’s false piety. Can true faith be a source of pride? Hope?
The bottom line: many saints attain the beatific vision through their piety … I’m not so sure the same could be said for education.