“SPE salvi,” is the title of the second encyclical of Pope Benedict issued last November 30. It’s lifted from St. Paul’s “In hope we were saved.” (Rom 8,24)
After his first encyclical on charity, “Deus caritas est,” comes this magisterial treatise on hope. If the pattern continues, his third should be on faith.
The Pope seems intent in popularizing these three crucial virtues, lowering
them from the ivory tower. Also called theological virtues, as distinct from human virtues, they have God, rather than us, as primary object.
We need them to live the supernatural life, our life with God. In Christian belief, that’s what our life ought to be.
These theological virtues, God’s gifts first before being products of our efforts, attest to God’s grace in us. As such they serve as the source and goal of our human virtues like prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, etc.
In fact, the human virtues are confirmed authentic only when they are inspired by these theological virtues. Otherwise, they just appear as virtues, not the real McCoy.
Our crying need today is to realize how our life is made supernatural by the practice of these theological virtues. With these virtues, we can expect better consistency in our Christian life, whether in the personal or social aspect, material or spiritual.
In this new encyclical, the Pope wants us to develop theological hope with God’s grace and our all-out effort. This is hoping in God, and not in some idols like money, power, popularity, etc., that we tend to create.
This is the hope that does not frustrate nor defraud us. Based and animated
by our firm faith in the living God, this hope is no rip-off, no bluff. It’s no phantom of our intelligence.
It brings God to us, the future to the present, eternal value to our temporal affairs. It gives us serenity amid trials. It makes us persevere in our struggles, enabling us to renew ourselves as often as needed.
Faith and charity form the proper orbit for hope to develop. Straying from
this orbit, hope weakens and can die. Or it can devise escape mechanisms by
concocting false hopes.
This is what we see aplenty these days. On one side, many people are losing hope, sinking into discouragement, depression and despair. The growing number of mental cases and aberrant behavior worldwide attest to this observation.
On the other, we have many people creating complex webs of theories and ideologies to prop them. If not inspired by God, these things can only spawn injustice, coercion, deceit, hidden worries, etc.
Sooner or later, their errors or fallacies show, dooming their systems. Their doctrines cannot explain away our ultimate problems—our natural limitations and, worse, sin and evil in all its forms, and death.
In this encyclical, Pope Benedict explains the nature, characteristics and dynamics of Christian hope. He also tells us how to develop it insofar as it depends on us.
In it, the Holy Spirit in a way speaks to us in vintage Ratzinger style—a richly textured analysis using many brilliant threads of Scripture, tradition and magisterium, theology and philosophy, history and culture, even anecdotes. It’s simply breathtaking!
It reminds us strongly of basic truths. God began something good in us, and
is bent, no matter how much we spoil his plans, in consummating it. We have reason to be optimistic, patient, cheerful. It dissolves anxieties.
We are beings created and outfitted to hope, because we always long for something which always transcends what we can find here. Thus, hope springs eternal. It leads us to eternal life with God, ultimately hope’s only proper object.
This hope is not merely “informative” but “performative,” terms the Pope
used to distinguish between intellectual hope and a life-changing one. Hope involves action, not passivity.
It’s not individualistic, not only personal hope, but also social. It’s a hope that truly saves us. I invite my readers to read this document.
Now that everyone wants to be “cool,” please know that the real secret to being “cool” is when we live this unfailing virtue of hope. This is no mere makeover, dude!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Prophets or troublemakers?
I’D SAY to my friends and brothers in the clergy who figure prominently in some political issues lately to relax and take it easy. You’ve been causing distress, confusion if not scandal among the people.
Even young students in a technical school came to me to ask bluntly if these clerics were acting as prophets or as plain troublemakers fired up by some nasty bitter zeal.
I was happy to note that they appeared to have an understanding that priests carry out a prophetic or teaching mission in the Church. This is not common even among the professionals.
They’d been studying the catechism, bless their souls, and must have read about the role of priests in the Church and in the world. I learned later that they were studying the Church’s social doctrine.
It was not easy for me to explain, especially if you want to pair truth and charity together. And also to control surging emotions on the heels of some controversial clerical actuations and pronouncements.
Truth is these young ones have a point in asking and in expressing some discomfort. There is a growing perception that some clerics are abusing their position to get entangled in issues so complex they are at least debatable yet.
Aggravating this is the fact that these clerics have become media creatures playing media games.
Definitely we have a problem. Something has to be done. I hope some clear
indications from Church authorities can be made about this matter that is not anymore funny and is dragging stupidly.
One complained that the words and actions of the clerics did not correspond
to their dignity and neither were they proportionate to the gravity of the issues involved.
“They were shouting, and painting the targets of their complaints as if these were the devils themselves, incapable of doing any good thing,” he said. “It was just too simplistic, too one-sided, too opinionated.”
“I may agree with them in some points or give them the benefit of the doubt,” he continued, “but these do not entitle them to act the way they did. They were so self-righteous.”
I held my peace, waiting for an opening. I did not like to hear these words. But I was already amazed at how this 17-year-old, practically still a child, could already talk about serious matters.
Another student butted in to say that he was afraid the clerics involved might cause division among the people.
“Though they were saying they were doing those things on their own personal capacity as citizens, they acted and spoke as priests and bishops, just the same,” he said.
“They were even quoting Church doctrine which sounded out of context to
me,” he continued. “They sounded more like mother statements! Those who don’t agree with them in these issues, and with good valid reasons, would feel alienated from the Church.”
“Besides,” another one spoke, “there are clerics with clearly loose tongues who want to comment on just about any political issue. They only show their political leanings. It does not look good.”
I just told them to keep their views to themselves as much as possible. It’s not good to talk about them openly. I asked them to pray, and to understand that clerics—bishops especially—have a most delicate task of reading the signs of the times. That, I told them, explains part of their actuations.
These comments are actually quite widespread. No matter how I tried to avoid them, they just came, and continue to come, usually in tones of deep disappointment.
This matter ought to be studied thoroughly by our Church leaders to come up with more specific guidelines and corresponding legislations that should include appropriate sanctions.
I know that it would be much better if things are done in private and in confidence, away from the public eye. But if the actuations and pronouncements are made in public, I think the people are entitled to know whether something is wrong and if so, whether the correction is to be made.
This can very well be an SOS, before things really get out of hand.
Even young students in a technical school came to me to ask bluntly if these clerics were acting as prophets or as plain troublemakers fired up by some nasty bitter zeal.
I was happy to note that they appeared to have an understanding that priests carry out a prophetic or teaching mission in the Church. This is not common even among the professionals.
They’d been studying the catechism, bless their souls, and must have read about the role of priests in the Church and in the world. I learned later that they were studying the Church’s social doctrine.
It was not easy for me to explain, especially if you want to pair truth and charity together. And also to control surging emotions on the heels of some controversial clerical actuations and pronouncements.
Truth is these young ones have a point in asking and in expressing some discomfort. There is a growing perception that some clerics are abusing their position to get entangled in issues so complex they are at least debatable yet.
Aggravating this is the fact that these clerics have become media creatures playing media games.
Definitely we have a problem. Something has to be done. I hope some clear
indications from Church authorities can be made about this matter that is not anymore funny and is dragging stupidly.
One complained that the words and actions of the clerics did not correspond
to their dignity and neither were they proportionate to the gravity of the issues involved.
“They were shouting, and painting the targets of their complaints as if these were the devils themselves, incapable of doing any good thing,” he said. “It was just too simplistic, too one-sided, too opinionated.”
“I may agree with them in some points or give them the benefit of the doubt,” he continued, “but these do not entitle them to act the way they did. They were so self-righteous.”
I held my peace, waiting for an opening. I did not like to hear these words. But I was already amazed at how this 17-year-old, practically still a child, could already talk about serious matters.
Another student butted in to say that he was afraid the clerics involved might cause division among the people.
“Though they were saying they were doing those things on their own personal capacity as citizens, they acted and spoke as priests and bishops, just the same,” he said.
“They were even quoting Church doctrine which sounded out of context to
me,” he continued. “They sounded more like mother statements! Those who don’t agree with them in these issues, and with good valid reasons, would feel alienated from the Church.”
“Besides,” another one spoke, “there are clerics with clearly loose tongues who want to comment on just about any political issue. They only show their political leanings. It does not look good.”
I just told them to keep their views to themselves as much as possible. It’s not good to talk about them openly. I asked them to pray, and to understand that clerics—bishops especially—have a most delicate task of reading the signs of the times. That, I told them, explains part of their actuations.
These comments are actually quite widespread. No matter how I tried to avoid them, they just came, and continue to come, usually in tones of deep disappointment.
This matter ought to be studied thoroughly by our Church leaders to come up with more specific guidelines and corresponding legislations that should include appropriate sanctions.
I know that it would be much better if things are done in private and in confidence, away from the public eye. But if the actuations and pronouncements are made in public, I think the people are entitled to know whether something is wrong and if so, whether the correction is to be made.
This can very well be an SOS, before things really get out of hand.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Tower of Babel updated
IT’S obviously a Tower-of-Babel effect that many people nowadays, especially the young ones, are not aware anymore of the story, significance and unfailing relevance itself of the Tower of Babel.
We need to recall that story and, in fact, to familiarize ourselves with it since it’s a phenomenon that continues to affect us, especially as we march toward progress and development. It sure gives us a much-needed sense of prudence in life.
From the Bible’s first book, Genesis, we have this account of this story’s origin. The descendants of Noah decided after the flood to erect a tower in Babylonia. It was intended to reach heaven as a way to make them famous.
God was angered by this presumption, and caused among them a great confusion of languages before scattering them to different places.
The underlying reason for God’s action is that these men had the wrong understanding and intention in how to proceed with their life. They were more interested in themselves than in God, more in their plans than in God’s will.
The story is now the image of any human effort to pursue development without God or even in competition with God. Together with some signs of progress will be an accompanying state of confusion among the people. We can
call this the Tower-of-Babel syndrome, a cruel curveball.
It springs from ignoring the fundamental truth that everything comes from God, and therefore should be handled and used always in accordance to God’s will. It’s actually a ridiculous state of affairs, and yet it’s what commonly happens.
With it, we will get the sensation we are advancing in knowledge, skills and dominion over the world, but we cannot deny either that together with these gains, pursued without God, is a clear distancing we can notice among ourselves.
We can be close to one another physically, yet still far and remote spiritually and morally. We are not referring here to the legitimate differences we can have among ourselves, but rather to an abiding sense of alienation among us.
It’s a story that continues to be played and replayed even up to now. Not even our great strides in our communication technology have increased our communion among ourselves.
On the contrary, what we notice nowadays is greater misunderstanding, envy and even conflict and division. There is widespread distrust and easy, almost automatic mutual suspicion.
Part of the concern we have to tackle is precisely to hitch our development process to God’s plans. It is to inspire, leaven and drive it with God’s truth and spirit.
This is not easy to do, of course. Our tendency is to misappropriate and misuse things that actually come and belong to God—all things do—to be simply our own.
We easily succumb to this vicious virus, plus, the fact that we also get easily intoxicated by any power we enjoy in life. With this potent combination of factors, we effectively have an epidemic of confusion. This is what we see around.
For example, our capacity to know, quite powerful given our intelligence and will, can tempt us to know things simply on our own. There’s hardly any effort to relate such knowledge to God.
This really looks funny, because we fail to realize the basic truth once eloquently spelled out by St. Paul when he talked about knowledge and charity.
“Knowledge puffs up, but charity edifies. And if any man thinks that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know.” (1 Cor 8,1-2)
As a result, we cannot help but get into useless quarrels among ourselves. We have to be most careful of this fine distinction.
While the pursuit of knowledge unleavened by charity can yield some material gains, it can also sow the seeds of discord among us. It will just be a matter of time before things explode.
We need to strongly remind ourselves that in every affair or concern in our life, in every step of the way, we need to refer everything to God and to his plans. Otherwise, we’ll just be building our own version of the Tower of Babel. Let’s stop acting funny!
We need to recall that story and, in fact, to familiarize ourselves with it since it’s a phenomenon that continues to affect us, especially as we march toward progress and development. It sure gives us a much-needed sense of prudence in life.
From the Bible’s first book, Genesis, we have this account of this story’s origin. The descendants of Noah decided after the flood to erect a tower in Babylonia. It was intended to reach heaven as a way to make them famous.
God was angered by this presumption, and caused among them a great confusion of languages before scattering them to different places.
The underlying reason for God’s action is that these men had the wrong understanding and intention in how to proceed with their life. They were more interested in themselves than in God, more in their plans than in God’s will.
The story is now the image of any human effort to pursue development without God or even in competition with God. Together with some signs of progress will be an accompanying state of confusion among the people. We can
call this the Tower-of-Babel syndrome, a cruel curveball.
It springs from ignoring the fundamental truth that everything comes from God, and therefore should be handled and used always in accordance to God’s will. It’s actually a ridiculous state of affairs, and yet it’s what commonly happens.
With it, we will get the sensation we are advancing in knowledge, skills and dominion over the world, but we cannot deny either that together with these gains, pursued without God, is a clear distancing we can notice among ourselves.
We can be close to one another physically, yet still far and remote spiritually and morally. We are not referring here to the legitimate differences we can have among ourselves, but rather to an abiding sense of alienation among us.
It’s a story that continues to be played and replayed even up to now. Not even our great strides in our communication technology have increased our communion among ourselves.
On the contrary, what we notice nowadays is greater misunderstanding, envy and even conflict and division. There is widespread distrust and easy, almost automatic mutual suspicion.
Part of the concern we have to tackle is precisely to hitch our development process to God’s plans. It is to inspire, leaven and drive it with God’s truth and spirit.
This is not easy to do, of course. Our tendency is to misappropriate and misuse things that actually come and belong to God—all things do—to be simply our own.
We easily succumb to this vicious virus, plus, the fact that we also get easily intoxicated by any power we enjoy in life. With this potent combination of factors, we effectively have an epidemic of confusion. This is what we see around.
For example, our capacity to know, quite powerful given our intelligence and will, can tempt us to know things simply on our own. There’s hardly any effort to relate such knowledge to God.
This really looks funny, because we fail to realize the basic truth once eloquently spelled out by St. Paul when he talked about knowledge and charity.
“Knowledge puffs up, but charity edifies. And if any man thinks that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know.” (1 Cor 8,1-2)
As a result, we cannot help but get into useless quarrels among ourselves. We have to be most careful of this fine distinction.
While the pursuit of knowledge unleavened by charity can yield some material gains, it can also sow the seeds of discord among us. It will just be a matter of time before things explode.
We need to strongly remind ourselves that in every affair or concern in our life, in every step of the way, we need to refer everything to God and to his plans. Otherwise, we’ll just be building our own version of the Tower of Babel. Let’s stop acting funny!
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