"When I got to college, I threw myself into two things: partying and philosophy. The mix was a deadly cocktail for what little faith I had left, and within months of being in college I lost my faith entirely. I stopped praying, stopped going to Mass, stopped going to confession, stopped reading Scripture, etc. All I knew how to do anymore was party and raise adolescent kinds of questions about the existence of the external world. The philosophy of Descartes, and his method of doubt, indeed the enlightenment project generally speaking, is a most excellent means of silencing one's conscience in the name of 'reason.' And silence my conscience I did. Silencing it brought me temporary relief from the haunting voice. Doing so in the name of 'reason' tickled my ego to no end. Whenever I thought of faith at all, the only question I could ask was 'how can faith possibly be reasonable? what rational justification is there for believing this stuff?' These questions continued for years.
"After four years of partying, broken relationships, and rationalizing it all in the name of 'reason,' I became pretty conceptually and morally bankrupt. The prodigal son was waking up in the pigpen, and things were stinking up good. Certain books in philosophy triggered my wake up, and certain other books guided my way back to the Father's house. ... I think my story is testimony to the simultaneous greatness and wretchedness of philosophy. Philosophy can drag someone into hell, but it can also raise you up and set you down right in front of heaven’s door for you to knock."
— Brother James Dominic Brent O.P., "From Agnosticism to the Priesthood (Part I)" (highly recommended)
Today is World Day of Prayer for Vocations! Please pray that more hear the call as did Brother James Dominic.
