OPINION:
ON FAITH: LESSONS FROM AN AMERICAN BELIEVER
By Antonin Scalia
Edited by Christopher J. Scalia and Ed Whelan
Foreword by Justice Clarence Thomas
Crown Forum, $22, 256 pages
Looking for the perfect Father’s Day gift? A welcome addition to your summer reading list? A timely inspiration to dig deeper in your faith? “On Faith: Lessons from an American Believer” fits all three bills.
This treasure of a book offers a glimpse into the central role Catholicism played in Antonin Scalia’s personal life and the late Supreme Court justice’s understanding of religious liberty in our public life.
Christopher Scalia, the eighth of Justice Scalia’s nine children, and Ed Whelan, a former Scalia clerk and now head of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, are the co-editors of this volume. Their previous collaboration was the 2017 New York Times best seller, “Scalia Speaks: Reflections on Law, Faith and Life Well Lived.” This time around, they focus on the justice’s views on faith in American society and its protection under the law, as expressed in speeches and Justice Scalia’s better-known opinions and articles. The new book’s special charm comes in the reflections of people close to Justice Scalia on the impact his Catholic witness had on their lives.
Especially moving is Justice Clarence Thomas’ foreword. “Nino did not discuss his faith with me often,” he writes, “but his deep belief in God was implicit in everything he did.” By most accounts, the lives of these two giants of American law prior to sitting together on the U.S. Supreme Court appeared to be a study in contrasts. But, as Justice Thomas observes:
“For different reasons and from different origins, we were heading in the same direction. So we walked together and worked together for a quarter century. And along the way we developed an unbreakable bond of trust and deep affection.”
Such is the friendship between two Christian gentlemen.
Justice Scalia had been collecting his speeches on religion for publication prior to his February 2016 passing. The completion of this effort would not have occurred without the efforts of Justice Scalia’s wife, Maureen, and their children. Christopher’s insightful editorial commentary precedes many of the chapters and two of his siblings offer touching submissions. The Scalia family’s contributions should come as no surprise. As Taylor Meehan, a former judicial clerk, remarked, “[T]he most visible sign of the justice’s faith was his marriage to Maureen and their nine children.”
Justice Scalia knew that any man of faith must be earnestly committed to his vocation as both spouse and father, even if he may fall short at times of its perfect realization. This commitment requires a hefty dose of humility and a sincere abandonment to God. Justice Scalia had a particular affinity to prayer that perfectly summarizes this necessary mindset. It is St. Ignatius’ Suscipe:
“Take, O Lord, and receive my entire liberty,
“my memory, my understanding and my whole will.
“All that I am and all that I possess You have given me;
“I surrender it all to You to be disposed of
“according to Your will.
“Give me only Your love and Your grace;
“with these I will be rich enough, and will desire
“nothing more.”
Justice Scalia knew that living as a man of faith also brought with it particular challenges that had to be met with grace and courage. In one speech (“On Being Different — the Christian as Pilgrim”) readers will find wise and encouraging advice on swimming against our day’s (any day’s) cultural currents. “It is enormously important, I think, for Christians to learn early and remember long that lesson of ’differentness’; to recognize that what is perfectly lawful, and perfectly permissible, for everyone else — even our very close non-Christian friends — is not necessarily lawful and permissible for us.” He later added:
“When the values of Christ and of the world are so divergent — so inevitably divergent — we should not feel surprised if we find ourselves now and then ’out of step.’ In fact, we should be worried if we are never that way. As Christ told us, we are supposed to be out of step. We must learn to accept it. Learn to take pride in it.”
Following Christ’s “out-of-step” footsteps was a central part of the late justice’s journey.
“On Faith” paints a portrait of man who was so much more than an accomplished American jurist. In his commitment to God, family and country, Antonin Scalia lived his long and distinguished life as an “American believer.”
• Andrea Picciotti-Bayer is legal adviser for The Catholic Association Foundation.
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