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Hans Urs von Balthasar, Covid-19, and the redemption of human anxiety

Anxiety, says Sister Gill Goulding, C.J., “is something that can help us, in a strange way, to endure our Christian beliefs in the world we live in here and now—we live partly towards the kingdom of God, but not entirely in that situation, as we live in a world torn by sin and division.”

(Image: Francisco Moreno | Unsplash.com)

Sister Gill Goulding, C.J., belongs to the Congregatio Jesu, a religious order of women missionaries who follow the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus, and serves as a professor of Systematic Theology in the Jesuit theologate of Regis College at the University of Toronto. She holds B.A., M.Th., S.T.L., and Ph.D degrees from various British universities, has won several theological awards, and served as a theological expert at the Synod on the New Evangelization in 2012.

The author of several academic works on the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar, Sister Goulding’s specializations include his 1952 book The Christian and Anxiety (English translation published in 2000) and she recently joined the Balthasar Project of Ignatius Press as an affiliated scholar. On Monday, October 19, on the feast day of St. Paul of the Cross, I interviewed her by telephone about this work of Balthasar as it applies to the Coronavirus pandemic. The following transcript of our interview has been edited for style and length.

CWR: In a sentence or two, what does Hans Urs von Balthasar teach us in his book The Christian and Anxiety about that topic?

Sister Gill Goulding: In what was originally a 1952 essay, he attempts to re-value Kierkegaardian anxiety so it could be of use to the Christian, illustrating how anxiety rightly understood is a part of Christian existence—and making it possible (as he says on p. 79), for the Christian “to participate in the fruitful anguish of the cross.”

CWR: How does Balthasar understand the concept of anxiety?

Sister Gill Goulding: He opens the horizon of anxiety beyond the merely human. So it’s not just a human phenomenon, but it has a theological dimension, and he integrates human anxiety into the divine relationship. In other words, for him, it would be into the Theo-Drama.

He’s talking about the redemption of human anxiety by integrating it into the paschal mystery, and into Christ’s anxiety in the garden of Gethsemane and when hanging on the cross. So he’s basically reclaiming anxiety from the monopolistic hold that existential philosophy had attempted to place on it—and he returns it to the loving perspective of the Creator.   

CWR: How do we apply this theology of anxiety to our current Covid-19 pandemic situation?

Sister Gill Goulding: In a sense, it’s clear that people are anxious during this time, and that that anxiety can take a number of different unhealthy forms—in a sense of increasing addiction, a sense of being overwhelmed by news, a sense of constantly watching television reports, all those sorts of things. I think people can be reassured by the sense that anxiety is something that can help us, in a strange way, to endure our Christian beliefs in the world we live in here and now—we live partly towards the kingdom of God, but not entirely in that situation, as we live in a world torn by sin and division.

So it can help us, I think, to understand our participation in the larger action and ourselves as persons. Anxiety in this sense is not a way of being, or a state of human existence. Rather it can be a powerful and helpful tool through which, ironically, we can seek meaning and understanding.

CWR: So if Balthasar were alive here and now, what do you imagine he would say about Covid-19 from this theological perspective?

Sister Gill Goulding, C.J.

Sister Gill Goulding: I think there would be a sense in which he would say that Christian anxiety can transform human anxiety. Through grace, there is a renewed sense of what anxiety is—that it’s a part of the human condition, not something we should fear, but something we can bring to a different level of patience with ourselves and even a sense of joy. On an existential level, there’s a difference between an anxiety that is just let loose rampant and something seen as something being possibly related to the human condition and indeed rooted to Christ’s experience of anxiety.

CWR: If you could pick a patron saint of anxiety for people to seek out in these times, who would it be and why?

Sister Gill Goulding: I have three. Today’s feast is the feast of St. Paul of the Cross, who says somewhere: “Let us throw ourselves into the ocean of God’s goodness, where every failing will be cancelled and anxiety turned into love.” Later, recalling that the Passionist priest Dominic Barberi brought Newman into the Church, and I think his famous poem “lead kindly light amid the encircling gloom” could make him a very helpful patron saint in this time.

And the final one, because I think so many people have been brought to her during this time, is Julian of Norwich. She lived through two waves of the bubonic plague and still managed to have the sense, through her revelations, that all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well. She had a sense of being called to hope in and through those events.

CWR: How do you pray with anxiety in your own life?

Sister Gill Goulding: I take it to the Lord—that’s not to say I don’t pull it back, because I think that’s a common human reality, but I don’t try to bury it. I think it’s very important that we acknowledge it and take it to our prayer, because there’s no other way in which it can become fruitful.

CWR: If you could say one thing to Pope Francis about Balthasar and anxiety, what would it be and why?

Sister Gill Goulding: I think Pope Francis is very influenced already by Balthasar. You can see that in his writings, along with De Lubac and Guardini, both of who were also influenced by Balthasar himself. So I would like to life up the convergences of Balthasar with his latest encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, because it seems to me that one of the things about anxiety is that when it is transformed—not taken away, but transformed—it actually becomes a means of service to others. So there’s a possibility of reaching out to others.

CWR: What is your favorite Scripture passage for anxiety and why?

Sister Gill Goulding: First of all, I think Psalm 42 is helpful, the lament of the people in exile and that constant theme of why are you cast down, my soul, hope in God. I think of the last verse of Matthew’s gospel after the great commission, I am with you until the end of time. And I think of Isaiah 49, around verses 14-15, where we hear that we haven’t been forgotten—a woman can forget her child easier than God could forget us.

CWR: What do you hope people who feel anxious about Covid-19 might take away from Balthasar’s work on this subject?

Sister Gill Goulding: Well, the painful moment of anxiety is part of our human experience. Its place is not to be feared by those who long for meaning and some certainty life. I think it does remind us, once more, of that sense that the whole of our life is given to us by God. Sometimes it seems we can only recognize that when things go well. But the fact is that all of our life, with our anxiety and suffering part and parcel of it, is all one life and therefore to be valued—ultimately to be acknowledged as a gift, but of course in anxiety and suffering we don’t see it like that.

CWR: What are your hopes for the future?

Sister Gill Goulding: I think our horizons will be expanded more, particularly to the most vulnerable, who sometimes are the most anxious. It seems to me that given the state of our common home, this idea of integral human development will grow. I think the interrelated nature of reality and the sense we all share the vulnerability of anxiety and fragility tells us that there’s more to say about creation.

CWR: Any final thoughts?

Sister Gill Goulding: It seems to me it’s possible that anxiety can be embraced at a moment where, perhaps, the most important longings and desires of our hearts are revealed—including being frustrated, if that paradox doesn’t sound odd. And I think that anxiety in that way draws us even closer to God and to each other, because God is always closest to us in those moments where we don’t see him and where he seems most distant. For people to have that sense that God’s love does penetrate the darkness and anxiety of sin and suffering. It reminds me very much of the third point of the Contemplatio of St. Ignatius, where God labors, and I would say God labors most in those areas where we don’t see it.


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About Sean Salai 15 Articles
Dr. Sean M. Salai, D.Min, is a pastoral theologian. He is the culture reporter at The Washington Times.

9 Comments

  1. We read: “I think Pope Francis is very influenced already by Balthasar. You can see that in his writings [noting Fratelli tutti], along with De Lubac and Guardini…”

    Yes, but following the Second Vatican Council, von Balthasar and De Lubac, together with Ratzinger/Benedict, founded Communio, as the ALTERNATIVE to the Concilium faction, and, incongruously (?), it is Walter Kasper—a member of the anti-Benedict St. Gallen group—who has been touted as “the pope’s theologian” (e.g., David Gibson, National Catholic Reporter, April 6, 2015).

    But, what does von Balthasar have to say NOT only about such theologies in tension/ contradiction, but also about the more basic fit between theology and philosophy? Balthasar concludes his massive corpus:

    “All true solutions offered by the Christian Faith hold, therefore, to these two mysteries [the distinction of “nature and grace”], categorically refused by a human reason that makes itself that absolute. It is because of this that the true battle between religions begins only after the coming of Christ. Humanity will prefer to renounce all philosophical [!] questions—in Marxism, or positivism of all stripes, rather than accept a philosophy that finds its final response only in the revelation of Christ. Foreseeing that, Christ sent his believers into the whole world as sheep among wolves. Before making a pact with the world [a too-easily misunderstood “pluralism of religions”?], it is necessary to meditate on that comparison” (the concluding lines in My Work in Retrospect, Ignatius, 1993).

    Theologically and philosophically, Balthasar is about the irreducible DUALITY (not dualism) of created nature AND uncreated/divine grace….So, today, “influenced of von Balthasar,” how to best affirm “fraternity” (and “the spirit who blows where he will,” John 3:8), without possibly under-proclaiming the definitive Incarnation?…

    (“The Christian dispensation, therefore, as the new and definitive covenant, will never pass away, and we now await no further new public revelation before the glorious manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ (cf 1 Tim 6:14, Tit. 2:13)” [Dei Verbum, n. 4]).

  2. Thank you ; had not realized that the Feast of St.Paul of The Cross was on Oct 19th
    ? as though , these times too have been perfectly prepared for us , to help us to learn to live in the Divine Will , dawning upon as the sunrise of grace to help dispel the darkness of self will from humanity …
    our anxieties , very likely also fueled, such as that of the widow who lost the coin … humanity as a whole , sensing the loss of many ‘coins ‘ ,
    even the loss of the Groom Himself , as holiness as His Will..
    ..and the Divine Will , having foreseen these times , also having prepared the remedy , of the Rising of same , for the 3rd day ..

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmJNzyqCmwc – good talk , on learning to live in the Divine Will , could be helpful site to those who want online retreats on same ;

    Another similar good site – https://radiomaria.us/learning-to-live/

    The sneaky cats of the self will of humanity , to be tied to the footstool of The Throne of Holiness , all heads and hearts to , to be carved free of same , to be instead filled with the Light and Love of the Divine Will , as it existed in the peace and holiness of the Holy Family –
    https://luisapiccarreta.me/the-virgin-mary-in-the-kingdom/day-twenty-five

    The little ‘ newborns ‘ , with the cat like neediness and frantic cries , if tied up , unless fed the milk of the Divine Will – may our times recognize that many of our spiritual fathers , including and esp. so the Holy Father himself is doing just that , by his own persistent efforts to point to us the role of The Mother ..
    and if he is misunderstood as a ghost , in the midst of the storm , he too ready with the grace to forgive all , doing his role to extend the hand of blessing of The Father , to all – may we be blessed to know how to take in same , in gratitude .

    Glory be to the Most Holy Trinity !

  3. Pardon , forgot to mention how low levels of Magnesium ( as well as Calcium ) can also be a cause of anxiety ; of the many forms of supplementing same, the easily available ( on line ) form of MG . Chloride as salt , applied to the body ,as salt water massage, thus absorbed through the skin can be an easy , inexpensive remedy ; said to be good against the virus too .

    Plenty of info on line too on role of Magnesium in many ailments .

    Those who desire to celebrate the Divine Will prevailing in the nation , through a daughter of The South , a good , low calorie dish of gumbo with okra or even raw okra , low in calories , okra also called as ‘lady’s fingers ‘ , good as an aid in weight loss as well – can also invoke The Spirit , to take dominion , through the fingers of The Mother , to help the nation too , to help shed the unruly weight of self will , to become all lean and agile ,to go around to thank Him , with all , the Holy Father and The Church – ‘ Thy Kingdom come , Thy Will be done ‘.. 🙂

    https://www.southernexposure.com/blog/2019/01/all-about-okra-cultivating-cooking-and-history/

      • Bless Father !
        Unsure if those ‘new agey ‘ words about ‘ channeling ‘ are not meant as caution
        and if so , more prayers please , also to help dispel unnecessary fears / misunderstandings about the truths in Divine Will gift – which also has very good insights about the Holy Eucharist and priesthood that can be edifying for all , esp. in these times – cannot now locate the one relevant article on same , by Fr.Ianuzzi , read just a while ago , myself as one just beginning to tip toe into the waters . 🙂

        As far as the mention of okra ,in the previous comment , with its history of origin in Ethiopia , connections to Solomon who was gifted with all the wisdom about plants and such and thus St.Hildegard too – ? that same root ..

        The crowns and channels of grace that The Father desires to bless us all with –
        may the hands and hearts of many be ever more open to same !
        God bless !

  4. J.P.G. what you said was perfectly innocent. My response was intended solely as humor and any affinity with Saint Hildegard is of course fine. Although you’re correct that channeling is a spiritually unhealthy new age term referring to invoking the dead. Forgive my use of the term. Yes. We benefit from the “channels of grace” from Our Lord as you say. You have my prayers always.

    • Thank you so very much , for your kind words and offer of prayers – 🙂
      Hope its echoes would be there too , along with the prayers at every Holy Mass , helping myself and many others ,
      to tell The Lord , with and for all – ‘love You , love You …. in every heart beat …
      in every breath …’ , thus to make up for the oceans of negligences in same .. 🙂

      God bless !

  5. I don’t know what this Jesuit nun is on about (one more Jesuit speak)

    Matthew 10: 27 27 What I tell you in the dark, utter in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.[e] 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s will. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

    Philippians 4:6-7 Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

    It is natural to be anxious because we want to be in control. But when we relinquish that control to God knowing that He has our best interest at heart, then that anxiety goes.

    Children who live in loving families do not have anxiety. They know that Mom and Dad will always come through for them.

    But children who live in dysfunctional families will have high levels of anxiety.
    The goal is to reach these people and impart to them Christ.

    If our society have high levels of anxiety now it is because the world is hacking at its connection to God and the Jesuits are helping that cause. At a time when we need to be in Church is precisely when we are locked out. No wonder people are anxious.

    • Thanks for reading, Mr. Santos. Actually, Sister Gill is not a “Jesuit nun,” as there is no such thing — there are no female Jesuits. But she belongs to a religious congregation that has chosen to follow the Jesuit constitutions, just as the Dominicans follow the Rule of St. Augustine, lacking their own rule. I appreciate you sharing your perspective on anxiety. God bless!

5 Trackbacks / Pingbacks

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