VOLUME FOUR:    
CLERICAL AND CONSECRATED LIFE AND SERVICE

In the original plan for The Way of the Lord Jesus, the fourth and final volume was meant to provide for the first time a Christian, systematic, professional ethics for the Church members a sociologist might call the “religious elite”—bishops, presbyters, and members of religious institutes whether or not ordained. When Grisez finished volume three, Difficult Moral Questions, in June 1997, he at once began work on volume four by publishing in numerous places a letter briefly describing the project and requesting suggestions, and mailing similar letters to many bishops and religious superiors.

Those requests elicited dozens of helpful replies, many of them enclosing relevant publications or unpublished materials. Grisez also spent almost the entire month of March 1998 in Rome talking with priests working in various curial offices and with professors at the universities. Those conversations significantly shaped his thinking about the kind of work that was needed and how it might be organized, so that he became ready to begin outlining the book.


 

“Tentative Outline — Plan of Research”    

Peter F. Ryan, S.J., provided very substantial help in articulating the first draft of the outline. However, he was not responsible for—and may not have agreed with—everything in its second draft, which Grisez completed 1 November 1998 and at once began circulating for comments. Not many came, and by May 1999 Grisez had finished with the outline and begun research for the volume.

The tentative outline’s table of contents fills nearly four pages with the titles of eight chapters and each chapter’s major sub-headings, and the document itself fills 129 pages with over 57,000 words. Still, tentative must be taken seriously: every sentence that seems to express an asserted proposition was meant to be a question. Of course,  the outlines for chapters four through eight, which Grisez never drafted, manifest opinions he regarded in 1999 as worth testing by research and hoped to develop, along with the earlier chapters, into a comprehensive and acceptable work.

Grisez publishes his tentative outline and research plan here, copyright © 1999, and reserves the right to make and distribute copies for sale. But he hereby grants everyone the right to print and distribute without charge copies of this tentative outline and research plan provided the source is identified, the complete title is quoted, and this copyright information is included.

Open the Document (PDF)  


 

“Chapter One: Theological Presuppositions”    

As 2003 began, Grisez saw no end in sight to the research he considered necessary for volume four. Still, he felt he needed to begin producing a draft of the book and decided to postpone further research until he completed a draft of the whole book and began revising it—which never happened.

Preliminary work, including the advice gathered before he drafted the outline for the volume, had convinced Grisez that many of the problems with attempts after Vatican II to renew clerical and consecrated life and service resulted from inadequacies in the theological frameworks that had been taken for granted. He therefore planned to devote the first chapter to theological presuppositions, that is, to assumptions necessary for, though not included in, a sound theology of clerical and consecrated life and service—assumptions not already treated in Christian Moral Principles or not adequately treated there.

In June 2003, he had a draft of the chapter and sent out many copies for comment. The response was excellent, but Grisez was already drafting chapter two and put off revising chapter one. In fact, he did so only after five years, in the summer of 2008, when he began revising chapters one and two for use in an elective course he was going to offer in the seminary.

By 2008, Grisez was convinced that the true ultimate end of Christian life is the kingdom of God and that the topics of personal vocation and evangelical life should be included amongst theological presuppositions. Thus his revised draft of chapter one treats:
    A:  The Ultimate End of Created Persons: The Kingdom of God ... 1
    B:  Free Choice, Divine Creativity, Evil, and Suffering ... 65
    C:  The Deposit of Faith, Infallibility, and Inerrancy ... 87
    D:  Jesus the Priest: Obedient Son and Self-Sacrificing Servant ... 113
    E:  Hell: The State of Definitive Separation from God ... 135
    F:  The Church: God’s Family and Salvific Agency in the World ... 159
    G:  Christian Living, Holiness, Personal Vocation, and Evangelical Life ... 185
This 2008 revision of volume four’s first chapter fills 221 pages with over 125,000 words, enough for a fair-sized book.

Grisez publishes the revised draft of chapter one here, copyright © 2008, and reserves the right to make and distribute copies for sale. But he hereby grants everyone the right to make and distribute without charge copies of the chapter or its sections provided the source is identified and this copyright information is included.

Open Chapter One (PDF)  


 

“Chapter Two: Clerical and Consecrated Life    
as Forms of Evangelical Life”

As Grisez drafted chapter two during 2003–04, his work was slowed by two problems.

First, he realized that an adequate understanding of consecrated life requires close study of the various forms it has taken from apostolic times to our day. That realization led him to research and draft a treatment of those form’s origins. That treatment became an extremely long section in the middle of the chapter.

Second, the most commonly received account of the superiority of celibacy/virginity for the kingdom’s sake had been proposed by several Church Fathers, affirmed by St. Thomas Aquinas, and claimed by Pius XII to have been solemnly defined by the Council of Trent. As Grisez considered that account, however, he could not reconcile it with relevant truths of faith. After nearly a year of striving and failing to solve that problem, he concluded that the received account had not been solemnly defined and that it needed to be amended.

Still, by the beginning of 2005, Grisez was close to completing a draft of chapter two. But the death of his wife, Jeannette, early that year delayed his completion of the draft until November 2005. The chapter he then circulated for comment filled 242 pages with over 113,000 words, divided into five parts:
    A:  The Call to Holiness and Evangelical Life ... 1
    B:  Jesus’ Lifestyle, His Commendation of It, and Its Superiority ... 46
    C:  The Development of Diverse Forms of Consecrated Life ... 70
    D:  The Essence and True Excellence of Consecrated Life ... 154
    E:  How Ordained Ministry and a Lifestyle Like Jesus’ Are Related ... 196
This lengthy chapter seemed essential, because the proper responsibilities of clerics and consecrated persons flow from their commitments, and their commitments ought to be specified by what clerics and consecrated persons are called by God to be and to do.

The 2008 revision of chapter two no longer included section A, which had become the final section of chapter one. In order to shorten the readings for seminarians, the 2005 section C was omitted, though Grisez planned to revise it thoroughly and include it in the published version of the book. Thus the 2008 revision of chapter two had only three sections:
    A:  Jesus’ Lifestyle, His Commendation of It, and Its Superiority ... 1
    B:  The Essence and Excellence of Consecrated Life ... 26
    C:  How Ordained Ministry and a Lifestyle Like Jesus’ Are Related ... 68
So, while readers will find in the 2008 version of chapter two an improved treatment of what it includes, they will find important parts of Grisez’s view of consecrated life only in the longer, 2005 version, especially in its very long section C.

Grisez therefore publishes both versions here, copyright © 2005 and 2008, and reserves the right to make and distribute copies for sale. But he hereby grants everyone the right to print out and distribute without charge copies of either or both versions of chapter two or their sections provided the source is identified and this copyright information is included.

Open unrevised (2005) version of Chapter Two (PDF)  

Open revised (2008) version of Chapter Two (PDF)  


 

“Chapter Three:    
Responsibilities Common to All Jesus’ Close Collaborators”

By “close collaborators” here, Grisez referred to celibate clerics and vowed religious. In this chapter he meant to articulate and explain all the norms relevant to members of both those groups. He began drafting this chapter in March 2006 and completed the draft at the end of January 2008. The chapter has nine parts:
    A:  Making and Faithfully Keeping the Commitment to Close Collaboration ... 3
    B:  Essential Features of Close Collaborators’ Spirituality ... 27
    C:  Spiritual Friendships and Celibate Chastity for the Kingdom’s Sake ... 64
    D:  Working Together: Exercising Authority and Practicing Obedience ... 85
    E:  Special Problems of Cooperation among Close Collaborators ... 108
    F:  Appropriately Using Economic and Other Resources ... 131
    G:  Silence, Communication, Witness, and Self-Presentation ... 149
    H:  Fostering and Discerning Vocations to Close Collaboration ... 165
    I:  Participants in Formation and Requirements for Its Soundness ... 183
As formatted here, the 120,000 words of this chapter fill 212 pages.

Although Grisez sent out the draft for comments in February 2008 and received many helpful replies, he never revised this chapter in light of the comments received. Still, lest the chapter remain unavailable, he publishes the draft here, copyright © 2008, and reserves the right to make and distribute copies for sale. But he hereby grants everyone the right to make and distribute without charge copies of chapter three and of its sections provided the source is identified and this copyright information is included.

Open Chapter Three (PDF)  


 

Grisez’s Notes for Chapters Four through Eight    

Grisez never drafted the last five chapters that were projected in the outline for volume four. However, he made notes that he would have used, along with other results of his research, had he drafted those chapters. These notes provide some indications of how questions posed by the outline would have been dealt with. Still, his notes always had a tentative character, for Grisez often did additional research as he drafted and always made corrections and remained open to new insights until a volume was set in type. Moreover, he planned to circulate his draft of chapter four to many religious (especially women religious), of chapter six to retired bishops, and of chapter seven to many priests. He expected not only helpful comments but suggestions of articles and books to study that would enable him to make improvements.

The notes include indented blocks of material, generally copied from Church documents. Grisez did that to ensure that he would take the copied passages into account as he drafted. Usually, drafts would not have included lengthy, direct quotations. Again, some notes will seem more relevant to an earlier or later chapter than where they are. That is because, as Grisez made notes, he put them where he thought they first might be useful and, when he completed a chapter, pushed along notes that seemed likely to be useful again.

There are repetitions and inconsistencies in the notes that Grisez did not strive to avoid as he made them at different times over several years. Still, it would be a mistake to assume that the notes appear in the order in which they were made, for sometimes additions were made at the beginning of a file, sometimes at the end, and sometimes inserted before or after an existing note that Grisez recalled and read before adding to it.

Grisez publishes the notes for chapters four through eight here copyright © 2014, and reserves the right to make and distribute copies for sale. But he hereby grants everyone the right to print out and distribute without charge copies of the notes provided their character, as described above, and the source is identified, and this copyright information is included.


 

Notes for Chapter Four    

According to the tentative outline, chapter four was to deal with responsibilities proper to religious—that is, to men or women who are members of one of the religious orders, congregations, or societies approved either by a pope (to spread about the world) or by the bishop of a particular diocese (to live and work only there). The 184 pages of notes for this chapter were organized under the following headings:
    Introduction: The turmoil in religious life—especially women’s—after Vatican II ... 1
    4–A:  Responsibilities with respect to vocation and the institute’s charism ... 18
    4–B:  Responsibilities with respect to formation ... 35
    4–C:  Responsibilities with respect to vows in general, and dispensations ... 58
    4–D:  Responsibilities with respect to particular vows; current abuses ... 72
    4–E:  Responsibilities with respect to apostolate; differentiation from lay apostolate ... 105
    4–F:  Responsibilities with respect to life in community; mutual communication ... 154
The first section deals with a topic not envisaged in the outline of the book. Notes for the other parts of the chapter indicate that some other unforeseen matters would have been dealt with in the chapter.

Open “Notes for Chapter 4” (PDF)  


 

Notes for Chapter Five    

According to the tentative outline, chapter five was to deal with responsibilities proper to all clerics. The 76 pages of notes for this chapter were organized under the following three headings
    5–A:  Any cleric should identify the acts Jesus wishes him to make present for others’ salvation, and determine precisely what words and gestures will be appropriate. ... 1
    5–B:  A cleric not only should make Jesus’ acts present by appropriate words and gestures done in persona Christi but should do all he can to make Jesus’ acts humanly available—i.e., to promote people’s cooperating with them and being saved. ... 9
    5–C:  On Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons ... 64
The third section deals with a topic not envisaged in the outline of the book. Notes for the first two sections indicate that some other unforeseen matters would have been dealt with in the chapter.

Open “Notes for Chapter 5” (PDF)  


 

Notes for Chapter Six    

According to the tentative outline, chapter six was to deal with responsibilities proper to bishops who are in charge of dioceses. The 164 pages of notes for this chapter were organized under seven headings:
    6–A:  Diocesan bishops’ responsibilities with respect to evangelization and catechesis ... 1
    6–B:  Diocesan bishops’ responsibilities with respect to administering the sacraments and regulating their administration ... 33
    6–C:  Diocesan bishops’ responsibilities with respect to governing ... 49
    6–D:  The diocesan bishop’s responsibilities as pastor of the cathedral parish ... 84
    6–E:  Diocesan bishops’ responsibilities with respect to their clerical helpers and their lay auxiliaries ... 86
    6–F:  The responsibilities of a diocesan bishop and his clergy, on the one hand, and religious communities active in the diocese, on the other, to cooperate with one another ... 142
    6–G:  Diocesan bishops’ responsibilities to cooperate with one another for the common good ... 160
Section E would have been divided into two sections: the first dealing with a bishop's responsibilities in respect to obtaining and forming presbyters, deacons, and lay auxiliaries; the second dealing with his responsibilities for working with and overseeing them.

Open “Notes for Chapter 6” (PDF)  


 

Notes for Chapter Seven    

According to the tentative outline, chapter seven was to deal with pastoral responsibilities—the responsibilities common to bishops of dioceses, pastors of parishes, and other clerics who assist them. The 208 pages of notes for this chapter were organized under fifteen headings:
    7–A:   Pastors’ responsibility to know well those they serve ... 1
    7–B:   Pastors’ responsibilities with respect to evangelization and catechesis ... 11
    7–C:   Priests’ (i.e., bishops’ and presbyters’) responsibilities with respect to the Eucharist ... 50
    7–D:   Clerics’ responsibilities with respect to preaching  ... 99
    7–E:   Responsibilities of clerics in baptizing, preparing those to be baptized, and receiving into the Catholic Church those baptized in ecclesial communities not fully in communion with her ... 113
    7–F:   Responsibilities of clerics with respect to the sacrament of confirmation ... 118
    7–G:   Responsibilities of clerics with respect to the sacrament of penance, personal spiritual direction, and help in rightly forming conscience ... 122
    7–H:   Responsibilities of clerics with respect to marriage preparation and marriage counseling  ... 150
    7–I:   Responsibilities of clerics with respect to the pastoral care of the sick and dying, the sacrament of anointing, wakes, and funerals... 166
    7–J:   Responsibilities of clerics with respect to liturgy of the hours, sacramentals, and blessings ... 174
    7–K:   Pastoral responsibilities of clerics with respect to nonliturgical individual and group prayer, bible studies, devotional exercises, parish missions, confraternities, and so on ... 177
    7–L:   Responsibilities of clerics to elicit and direct the laity’s cooperation in their clerical apostolate ... 181
    7–M:   Responsibilities of parish clergy to encourage, regulate, and support their parishioners’ mutual help in living their Christian lives and doing charitable works toward nonparishioners ... 188
    7–N:   Responsibilities of clerics in managing their diocese’s or parish’s temporal goods ... 189
    7–O:   Responsibilities proper pastors of parishes as such, where other priests are assigned or help out on an ad hoc basis ... 201
Since this chapter was to deal with many matters pertaining to pastoral theology, Grisez planned to study recent works in that field before drafting it. That research surely would have increased and greatly enriched these notes.

Open “Notes for Chapter 7” (PDF)  


 

Notes for Chapter Eight    

According to the tentative outline, chapter eight was to deal with responsibilities of the Church’s supreme authority, i.e., of the pope and of the collegial body of all the bishops including the pope. The 35 pages of notes for this chapter were organized under seven headings:
    7–A:  The Church’s supreme authority should be concerned with the ministry of unity, evangelizing nonbelievers, serving particular churches, and some other matters ... 1
    7–B:  Responsibilities of the Church’s supreme authority with respect to the ministry of unity ... 4
    7–C:  Responsibilities of the Church’s supreme authority with respect to the evangelization of nonbelievers, service to existing particular churches, and other matters it alone can or it can better deal with ... 11
    7–D:  A proposed collegial procedure for the Church’s supreme authority in dealing with injury to communion arising from conflict in which some bishops oppose what others consider essential ... 12
    7–E:  A permanent, representative synod could be established to collaborate with the pope in exercising the Church’s supreme authority in matters other than the ministry of unity ... 19
    7–F:  Responsibilities of ordinaries in cooperating with the Holy See (and/or the permanent synod) ... 25
    7–G:  Various suggestions for the Church’s supreme authority, however exercised ... 27
Obviously, the research Grisez had completed for this important chapter was far less adequate than that for any of the others. The notes therefore provide very few indications of how he would have developed the treatment projected in the tentative outline.

Open “Notes for Chapter 8” (PDF)