Introductory notes for readers of this thesis - Theses - Flinders ...

Later, now and then he spoke of his pupils, but when he did so he really meantfriends. The relationship of ‘his’ audience to him can best be illustrated by thestory of the watch. For his silver jubilee as a priest on 26 July 1957 his closestcircle of pupils at that time gave him a watch. I had bought it in Switzerland andhad engraved on the back: ‘26 July 1932–1957—1 Cor. 4.15’…‘Though you hadcountless schoolmasters in Christ, you did not have many fathers’ 49 .John O’Donnell50 also comments on Rahner’s personal relationship with students. Henotes that Rahner’s Jesuit brothers held him in awe, and tended to keep him at a distance.Rahner, shy and reserved by nature, found it hard to bridge the gap; it is easy to imaginehis sense of isolation. He took great delight, however, in a series of contacts with studentsarranged for him by his secretary, involving drives in the country—Rahner reportedlyloved being driven at high speed.Vorgrimler’s excerpt from a personal letter (11 March 1962) sheds light on Rahner’sbroader pastoral disposition:Again all good wishes. I must go back to the parlour. Early today I needed all myhuman and Christian eloquence to talk someone out of committing suicide. Iwonder whether I have succeeded? And what should have been done thismorning, the Hamburg lecture, is still not done 51 .Harvey Egan reflects on both the humanity and pastoral compassion of Rahner, assertingwho would not be fascinated by a theologian who loved carnivals, ice cream,large shopping malls, and being driven at very high speeds—one whose olfactorycuriosity cost him many dollars in New York when a large department storedemanded that he purchase all the perfume bottles he had opened?…[he] had anuncanny alibility when it came to finding money, food, clothing, and shelter forthe needy and down trodden who sought him out. He possessed the knack, too ofshanghaiing others into assisting him with his practical works of charity. One ofthe things I remember most vividly is how we two went grocery shopping in alarge supermarket and drove two hours to take the food to a widow and to find hera place to live. One of Rahner’s last public acts after the celebration of hiseightieth birthday was to appeal for funds to purchase a motorbike for amissionary in Africa 52 .49 Vorgrimler, Understanding Karl Rahner, 29.50 See, Life in the Spirit (Rome: Gregorian Press, 2004), 7.51 Ibid, 30.52 From a text, later adapted as the introduction to the author’s translation of Rahner’s major biographicalinterview with Meinhold Krauss. Egan’s manuscript, cited here, was accessed directly from him throughemail correspondence.15