Undertow

Lonergan advanced the metaphor of the "double undertow" to describe the obstacle faced by persons who seek to do good in a (significantly) defective culture.  Having grown up on the shores of the Pacific, I know the force of the aquatic undertow.  Living in this culture, I recall Lonergan's suggestion that reversals of the cultural undertow may come to pass thanks to irony, satire, humor, or other modest-but-powerful means.  Prophecy always needs to be tested.  "Reason" always needs to be purified, as the Holy Father reminds us.  The more shocking the prevailing culture, including its capture of "reason," the more needful will be means tightly calibrated to correct the mistakes at their points of entry.  A corrective that is helpful today, in my judgment, is the Catholic insight that we live under law -- not mere "practical reason."  Yes, we discover, implement, and give specification to that law through and thanks to "practical reason."  And yes, that requires casuistry.  The dilemma between "prophecy" and "practical reason," though helpful to a point, may be false.