United States Catholic Catechism for Adults

50 • Part I. The Creed: The Faith Professed

what they perceived as a Calvinist view of an angry God and depraved human nature. The movement lasted about a dozen years, but its vision had a much longer influence. It is best remembered in Emerson’s apho risms on self-improvement, Thoreau’s essays, and the short-lived Brook Farm communal experience. In seeking to justify the divine quality of people, Brownson was frus trated by the fact of human sinfulness. The premise of natural goodness was not enough. He found a satisfying answer in the Catholic doctrines of the Incarnation and Redemption. He and his family were baptized Catholic by Bishop John Fitzpatrick in Boston on October 20, 1844. For most of the next twenty-six years, he published his magazine quar terly The Review , writing most of the articles himself. As a journalist and critic, he examined the important religious, moral, and political issues of his time. When he founded The Review , he said, “I hoped to startle. I made it a point to be as paradoxical and extravagant as I could without doing violence to my own reason and conscience.” Since he switched positions often, he was at times denounced by liberals for his conservatism and by conservatives for his liberalism. Throughout his career, Brownson stressed the Church’s mission of renewal and the responsibilities of Catholics toward culture and civiliza tion. He died on April 17, 1876. He is buried in the crypt of Sacred Heart Basilica on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. Brownson’s story is of interest to us because his journey of faith led him to acknowledge the self-revelation of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While he struggled with the mystery of God, he also pondered the mystery of evil. He found the satisfying response in the gift of faith that brought him to Catholicism. • GOD IS HOLY MYSTERY

It is right and just to sing of You, to bless You, to praise You, to thank You, to worship You—for You are God ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible, always existing and ever the same, You and Your only begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit.

—Anaphora of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom