Edward Sri Q&A

Home News Edward Sri Q&A
Edward Sri Q&A

Edward Sri is a professor of theology and vice president of missions and outreach at the Augustine Institute in Denver, Colo. Sri teaches classes on scripture, salvation history, moral theology, and spiritual theology. He has written several books, including “Men, Women and the Mystery of Love” and “A Biblical Walk Through the Mass.” Last Thursday, Sri gave two lectures at Hillsdale College: one on Mary and one on Christian relationships.

What was your faith like growing up?
I was raised Catholic and have always been involved in my faith, but it certainly grew when I was in college. I went to a big secular school, Indiana University, and my faith was challenged there, in the classroom and outside the classroom. In that period of having to answer people’s questions about why we trust the Bible and why we have to follow this moral law, I was challenged to dig deeper and study and understand my faith better so that I could, first of all, understand it better, but also defend it to others.
What do you tell young people when they ask you about the application of your lectures and books to their real lives?
I am always asked personal questions about their lives, because I think what the Scriptures and

John Paul II offer us does strike a chord with our own experience, and we’re looking to ask, “Ok, now how do I apply this more to my life?” I would just go back to the difference between that more self­giving love and self­getting love. Asking, “Do I look at my relationships, romantic relationships especially, more on an inward level? What do I get out of it? What’s in it for me?” That’s not a mature love, and not one that’s going to last the test of time. A fuller love is one that imitates Christ and focuses on what’s best for the other person. It’s one that’s looking outward, seeking the good of the other person.

As a father of six (almost seven), you will be celebrating 15 years of marriage to your wife this summer. How did you meet your wife?
My wife was the first woman FOCUS [Fellowship of Catholic University Students] missionary, so
I had known her before, but we fell in love through our common work at FOCUS. It was great, because looking back, it’s very much like we were talking about, working side by side toward a mission of evangelization and sharing the gospel, and I think that experience formed a lot of good relations for us. Hopefully, we are raising our kids in the Gospel as well.

What’s your opinion on popular self­help books about dating and relationships?
I’m sure many people from a kind of secular perspective may pick up on good insights into how to build relationships well. But often times they focus a lot on self, even that phrase “self­help” makes the focus on me, and what’s important is to try to build a love that gets out of ourselves. Jesus is the model for what true love is. He gave His life for us, and he didn’t get anything out of it. It’s total sacrifice. And I don’t see that most of the popular self­help books out of Barnes & Noble do anything in that direction, at least not a lot. You’re only going to find happiness when you live in imitation of Christ.
Would you consider Pope John Paul II, whom you speak a lot about, a role model of yours?
He would certainly be one of them. He was the pope through most of my life and certainly during my days of graduate school when I was studying theology. He’s offered us in his book, “Love and Responsibility,” and in his series of addresses, the “Theology of the Body,” some profound insight into what it means to be a man, what it means to be a woman, and the mix between men and women. I find it so helpful for young people to build strong relationships today in our dating and in our marriage. The world needs that today.