Father Michael Himes, a widely respected Catholic theologian and beloved faculty member at Boston College for almost three decades, recently passed on June 10 at the age of 75. I was drawn to his writings with a book on the public significance of theology called Fullness of Faith (1993). He also is well known for his book and video series, The Mystery of Faith: An Introduction to Catholicism (2004). With his death, I wanted to provide a timely example of his teaching and thought process with the video he did: Catholics: Why We Are a Sacramental People.
Fr. Himes, in a 2012 lecture at Boston College, explained to his audience that anything in creation could be sacramental. “All of us have personal sacraments: people, things, places or events which speak to us deeply and richly of the love of God which we know surrounds us always but of which we are not always aware … and sometimes those personal sacraments may be even more effective as signs of grace for us than the great public sacraments.” That is a beautiful insight into some facets of sacramental thought in the Catholic Church. His lecture can be viewed below.
