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The Great Reward

This Rock Volume 20, Number 8   November-December 2009     Reasons for Hope By Cherie Peacock   Letters   What Dante Can Teach Us about Envy By Anthony Esolen   Communion vs. Partnership   Citzens of One True City   Stewards of the Kingdom: Authority in the Early Church By Fr. Dwight Longenecker   Matteo Ricci, S.J.: An Apologist for Dialogue By Anthony E. Clark   What Have I Done for Christ?   The Great Reward   The U.S. Bishops, Health Care, and Public Policy By Jeffrey A. Mirus   Damascus Road In Search of True Worship By Margaret Finley   By the Book We Can Work It Out By Tim Staples   Eyes to See Architecture of Principles By Michael Schrauzer   Truth be Told How Fact Becomes (Anti-Catholic) Fiction By Robert P. Lockwood   Quick Questions    Subscribe    Permissions

In considering Matteo Ricci’s intense academic and spiritual activity, we cannot but remain favorably impressed by the innovative and unusual skill with which he, with full respect, approached Chinese cultural and spiritual traditions. It was, in fact, this approach that characterized his mission, which aimed to seek possible harmony between the noble and millennial Chinese civilization and the novelty of Christianity, which is for all societies a ferment of liberation and of true renewal from within, because the gospel, universal message of salvation, is destined for all men and women whatever the cultural and religious context to which they belong.
—Pope Benedict XVI, in a letter to the Bishop of Macerata, Italy, May 18, 2009

From his first contacts with the Chinese, Fr. Ricci based his entire scientific and apostolic methodology upon two pillars, to which he remained faithful until his death, despite many difficulties and misunderstandings, both internal and external: First, Chinese neophytes, in embracing Christianity, did not in any way have to renounce loyalty to their country; second, the Christian revelation of the mystery of God in no way destroyed but in fact enriched and complemented everything beautiful and good, just and holy, in what had been produced and handed down by the ancient Chinese tradition.
—Pope John Paul II, in a speech to the Gregorian University in Rome, October 24, 2001

I am leaving you on the threshold of an open door, that leads to a great reward, but only after labors endured and dangers encountered.
—Matteo Ricci, S.J., on his deathbed (China in the Sixteenth Century: The Journals of Matteo Ricci, 1583-1610, 563)