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there, makes possible the insertion of grace into the external, historical field ofhuman life 61 .The word of scripture does not come to believers as an absolute external truth, separatedfrom their everyday existence. The word of scripture comes to individuals to reveal andbring to light the absolute truth of their silent, ever-present existential reality. Theministry of preaching is a delicate and nuanced work of spiritual formation and certainlyshould never be exercised as a dogmatic, manipulative, or uncritical use of rhetoricalpower. Egan notes Rahner’s conviction that those who are called to proclaim this savingword should themselves have first been thoroughly mentored in an experientialknowledge of the rhythms of silence in the Christian spiritual tradition. Egan also notesRahner’s view that preachers should be involved in a rigorous dialectic comprisinga) meditation on the theology of the church in order to grasp its essential,spiritual meaning;b) thinking deeply about contemporary cultures’ worldviews so that preachersas-spiritualdirectors proclaim a truly spiritual word in a language and formthat is comprehensible, and consistent with the intellectual frameworks of thehearers 62 .Rahner’s theology of the preached word asserts that preaching is ultimately a ministry ofthe exposition of the ever-present, inner, graced narrative of the silent word; before theyare qualified to speak, preachers must first enter silence in a personal and prolonged way.Would-be preachers must be in touch with the supernatural existential of their own beingand have experienced the formation of a spirituality of both biblical text and Christiantheology. Preachers cannot—must not—simply pass on religious phrases that they havenot spiritually embraced and discerned. Preachers must enter the sacred silence of thespiritual heart of the text, and listen until they know how to be the midwife of the newbirth as word-of-grace-in-history effects a sacramental connection and awakening toconsciousness of word-of-grace-as-existential. This is a ministry into silence throughword, and to silence by word.61 K. Rahner, TI IV, 259.62 Karl Rahner – Mystic of everyday life, 115-116.143
In light of the implications of Rahner’s view, all would-be proclaimers of the word maywell cry out, with St Paul, ‘who is equal to such a task?’ 63 . Rahner’s own feelings ofvulnerability in relation to the ministry of preaching, in juxtaposition with his highconviction of its sacramental efficacy, are palpable in these words:Receive us [priests/preachers] as the ambassadors of Christ. Exert your heart andmind by God’s grace to hear God’s word in these human words of ours, ourstruggling, lamentable words that often seem to have paled—the holy, blessed,mighty word that brings us God himself and his everlasting life. If you accept uson these terms with brotherly understanding and forbearance, always gazingthrough us at the Lord who sent us, then dear brothers and sisters, our word willbring into your lives the consolation, the strength, the eternal life that is offered toyou in God’s word. And this word entrusted to the priest by holy mission can bespoken into the concrete situation of an individual human life with an ultimateauthority, an ultimate power, an ultimate relevance, such that, in accordance withGod’s promise, what he has done for…[people] now becomes present in that lifein ultimate truth, deed, and power. Then this word is called the sacramental64word .The primacy of scripture in the theological processFor Rahner, the proclamation of scripture has primacy in the theological process because‘theology is a derivative of the primary reality of the kerygma itself’—a ‘scientificreflection’ on the experience of the word 65 . Rahner’s theology of the word should be readas his careful, deliberate reflection on his lived experience of the scripture and hisobservation and interpretation of the lived experience of the church, and not as theoriginal source of his views about scripture. Rahner also celebrates the movement back toa creative and charismatic exploration of biblical/exegetical sources—as opposed to amere cerebral propagation of a fixed, received tradition 66 —in modern theology, andregards dogmatic theology’s attentive listening posture in its relationship to the scripturesas ‘the most direct and ultimate source of Christian revelation 67 .63 2 Corinthians 2: 16b.64 Prayers and meditations, Griffiths, J. ed. (New York: Crossroad, 1981), 29.65 Egan, Karl Rahner – the mystic of everyday life, 105; Ackley, The church of the word, 49-50.66 Karl Rahner in Dialogue, 354.67 K. Rahner, Prayers and Meditations, 89.144
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‘A Spirituality of silence’An i
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Chapter 4: The human experience of
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Summary of thesis:This thesis offer
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The particular angle from which thi
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somewhat superseded by more recent
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Rahner: I have nothing against that
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One brief but notable spiritual inf
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dialectic between these two, has le
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odies of knowledge, history and alt
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superiors, having decided that he w
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High School Week, Rahner began his
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Earlier in this chapter, Rahner’s
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These anecdotes testify that Rahner
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As you see, at the top of the carto
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Central to Rahner’s thinking is t
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Kilby notes that in regard to this
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Introduced by Cardinal König to a
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influence will continue to spread a
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We see from Rahner’s pastoral con
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European power 4 , and that he was
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Over a period of days and weeks, th
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The outcome of this encounter: the
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Modras has pointed out that Ignatiu
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Rahner the Ignatian spiritual direc
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facilitate this joyful and liberati
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Rahner’s often-quoted comment tha
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The master of the Exercises in no w
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Endean argues that Rahner is interp
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The Ignatian Exercises—especially
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provision of appropriate spiritual
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their existential encounter, they a
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Chapter 3: Spirituality of silence
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which the spiritual pilgrim finds t
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Lord, to pray my whole life long wi
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Encounters with silence: strictures
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a long highway filled by a column o
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gaze; they prefer to stay safe, ris
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This experience is life’s true es
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Christians can experience the full
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Rahner does not claim for himself t
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example, it would limit God to say,
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will and love of God: then the diam
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Echoes of Ignatius’ Exercises are
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Chapter 4: The human experience of
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proximity, the silence that leads e
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‘listening to the freely proffere
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approach; he is not arguing against
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must occur in history—time, space
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The most obvious criticism of Rahne
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Schleiermacher: seeking to build a
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ecognised in his Christological ass
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inability or unwillingness of the e
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Kanyini—an Australian Aboriginal
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The film Kanyini demonstrates the c
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estless and always in a hurry to ge
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considered the sole and ultimate au
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We define spirituality as a conscio
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supportive conversation with expres
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A glance at table 4 75 (above), Hug
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In the worldview of contemporary Au
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It certainly seems somewhat disinge
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A good starting point for examining
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Christian contemplative-prayer trad
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Of course, a small number of the vi
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For better or for worse, and despit
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energy, intellect, prayer, love and
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Rahner, K. Karl Rahner - Prayers an
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Kelly, G.B. (ed.). Karl Rahner - th
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Van Vorst, B. ‘Kung and Rahner: d
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Harden, J.A. ‘Ignatian Spirituali
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Tyson, P. ‘Contemporary Australia
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