The Lord’s Koan, by Michael Pakaluk

By Michael Pakaluk, The Catholic Thing, Aug. 17, 2022

Michael Pakaluk, an Aristotle scholar and Ordinarius of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, is a professor in the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America. …

The Catechism of the Council of Trent, also known as the “Roman Catechism,” devotes twelve dense pages to explaining the meaning of “lead us not into temptation.”  The catechism of the Second Vatican Council, simply called The Catechism of the Catholic Church, despite its extensive treatment of prayer, offers in contrast only four brief and independent bullet points  (Nos. 2846-9). The one is a masterpiece of elucidation, counsel, and argument; the other reads a bit like a PowerPoint slide.

This difference is a fact.  Likewise, a fact is the relative lightness of treatment of fear of God, spiritual combat, and the perils of final perseverance in the more recent Council and Catechism, as compared with those of Trent. …

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