ONE of what I consider to be perks of my job as chaplain in a boys' school is when some of these boys just spontaneously confide to me their stories of the first stirrings of love in their heart.
I always welcome these occasions and encourage them to speak. For one I enjoy it tremendously when they start to describe how they have fallen in love—all in raw-fresh, unprocessed details reminding me of novels by Jane Austen and Emily Bronte.
Yes, young as they are, they are already quite capable of making those initial forays, often awkward and clumsy, into the vast, tricky field of love. They just need someone to listen to them. I only hope they can do it also with their own fathers. But, alas, this is not so most of the time.
I also listen to them because I know I have a big job to do with their often intoxicating predicament. There's a lot of explaining to do, of clarifying, of warning and even of scolding. Most of time, I need to give them alternatives to engage their romantic energies somewhere else.
They might appear dazed as they look like they are in some fantasy world, but I see them as souls needing a lot of help to be extended closely, perseveringly and delicately.
It's no easy job at all. The important thing for me is that they continue to have confidence in me. So even if I have to say very strong, unpleasant things to them, I have to make it clear that I'm always with them, no matter what.
Of course, I have to be quick to point out what is good and noble in their experiences. But I need also to tell them what are wrong, dangerous, incomplete, confusing, etc. Indeed, not only a good knowledge of love is needed. Also a lot of human psychology is needed too.
For example, how do you explain to them that love is much more than just a certain feeling of attraction? I know all about “eros”, “filia” and “agape” as the different kinds or steps in loving, but how you do transmit this to them without killing their attention?
The ideas of commitment, fidelity and loyalty are most of the time unknown to them. The idea that when one goes steady with someone, that means he is already thinking of marrying—this connection is not made.
I asked one thirteen-year-old boy why he now has a girlfriend. And he just replied, “for inspiration, Father.” Yes, it's charming, this innocent response. But I can't help thinking of the many danger that lurk just nearby. The devil can always take advantage of human weaknesses.
Which brings me to the realization that many of these boys are hapless victims of what they see around. Yes, the culture can be very dangerous. And the errors, inadequacies and confusion are constantly reinforced, for example, by media and the entertainment world.
A cursory look at the newspapers, TV shows, billboards, movies, etc., quickly give you the impression that what is projected are simplistic, shallow images of goodness and human love, heavily based on what is material and sensual. The spiritual aspects of goodness and love are set aside.
My occasional viewing of movies in boat trips reveals that many of these movies just play upon the emotions of people, without giving due attention to the ethical rightness of the details portrayed there.
The noontime variety shows on TV notoriously present cheap and inane gimmicks and games, effectively hooking people to the idea that what is fun is simply what is sensibly pleasurable. There is no effort to link them to what is spiritually healthy.
In fact, I get the impression that what is considered effectively funny is when one not only ignores, but also ridicules spiritual values. Those behind the production appear to be completely awkward and uncomfortable with spiritual values. This is a dangerous trend.
This is quite ironical a development. Since the world is supposed to be getting bigger in terms of population and more complicated, there should also be a stronger and clearer projection of what is truly good for man. But what do we have?
Because of greed or laziness, people with position to affect culture and social life appear oblivious to the greater responsibility they are having as they plunge deeper into their pursuit of quick profit and whatever would constitute as instant success.
We have to wake up from this nightmare!
Friday, January 27, 2006
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Christian humanism needs social doctrine
CHRISTIAN humanism is the Christian vision of man, of what he is and of what he ought to be. It is based on Christ’s revelation of who we are, a revelation now being taught and elaborated in a living way by the Church.
To Christian believers, no one knows man better than Christ himself, perfect God and perfect man. “It is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man becomes clear,” the Catechism asserts. (359)
What man is, who we are, is really quite a puzzle. We are better off studying the seemingly infinite space of the universe than learning about us.
We may have been able to map the very complicated human genome, but I
don’t think we have lessened the mystery a bit. In man, every piece of knowledge
will seem to push us to a deeper mystery about ourselves.
St. Augustine could only gasp: “Man is a great deep, Lord. You number his
very hairs and they are not lost in your sight. But the hairs of his head are easier to number than his affections and the movements of his heart.”
But more than a vision, Christian humanism is a way of life, very dynamic, never static and confined to ideas and concepts, theories and doctrines. It is a spirit that animates persons and peoples, cultures and societies.
While a product of grace, Christian humanism is also a result of human effort. It is attainable only when we have a vital union with Christ. And with that union, there is that vital acting out of Christian presents, all done with love.
Thus, it is nurtured in an atmosphere of prayer, recourse to the sacraments, assimilating the doctrines, developing the virtues and waging unrelenting ascetical struggle. It’s never just a natural human life.
It’s a life of grace, of freedom and responsibility, of truth and charity. It is a life that blends well the temporal and the eternal, the material and spiritual, the personal and the social.
Right now, it is in the social aspect of man that needs to be developed. This is agonizingly neglected. Christian humanism, we have to understand, is not possible without this indispensable component.
Thus, in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, its first section talks about an integral and solidary humanism that the book tries to promote and pursue.
Let me just cite Point 16 of the Compendium to give us an idea of the enormous challenges we are facing today insofar as Christian humanism depends on the learning and the living of the Church’s social doctrine.
“The first of the great challenges facing humanity today is that of the truth itself of the being who is man. The boundary and relation between nature, technology and morality are issues that decisively summon personal and collective responsibility with regard to the attitudes to adopt…
“A second challenge is found in the understanding and management of pluralism and differences at every level: in ways of thinking, moral choices, culture, religious affiliation, philosophy of human and social development.
“The third challenge is globalization, the significance of which is much wider and more profound than simple economic globalization, since history has witnessed the opening of a new era that concerns humanity’s destiny.”
Let’s not forget this more important concern even as we try to sort out our present problems, personal or political. Developing a true Christian humanism with strong support from the social doctrine is a big responsibility of everyone.
To Christian believers, no one knows man better than Christ himself, perfect God and perfect man. “It is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man becomes clear,” the Catechism asserts. (359)
What man is, who we are, is really quite a puzzle. We are better off studying the seemingly infinite space of the universe than learning about us.
We may have been able to map the very complicated human genome, but I
don’t think we have lessened the mystery a bit. In man, every piece of knowledge
will seem to push us to a deeper mystery about ourselves.
St. Augustine could only gasp: “Man is a great deep, Lord. You number his
very hairs and they are not lost in your sight. But the hairs of his head are easier to number than his affections and the movements of his heart.”
But more than a vision, Christian humanism is a way of life, very dynamic, never static and confined to ideas and concepts, theories and doctrines. It is a spirit that animates persons and peoples, cultures and societies.
While a product of grace, Christian humanism is also a result of human effort. It is attainable only when we have a vital union with Christ. And with that union, there is that vital acting out of Christian presents, all done with love.
Thus, it is nurtured in an atmosphere of prayer, recourse to the sacraments, assimilating the doctrines, developing the virtues and waging unrelenting ascetical struggle. It’s never just a natural human life.
It’s a life of grace, of freedom and responsibility, of truth and charity. It is a life that blends well the temporal and the eternal, the material and spiritual, the personal and the social.
Right now, it is in the social aspect of man that needs to be developed. This is agonizingly neglected. Christian humanism, we have to understand, is not possible without this indispensable component.
Thus, in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, its first section talks about an integral and solidary humanism that the book tries to promote and pursue.
Let me just cite Point 16 of the Compendium to give us an idea of the enormous challenges we are facing today insofar as Christian humanism depends on the learning and the living of the Church’s social doctrine.
“The first of the great challenges facing humanity today is that of the truth itself of the being who is man. The boundary and relation between nature, technology and morality are issues that decisively summon personal and collective responsibility with regard to the attitudes to adopt…
“A second challenge is found in the understanding and management of pluralism and differences at every level: in ways of thinking, moral choices, culture, religious affiliation, philosophy of human and social development.
“The third challenge is globalization, the significance of which is much wider and more profound than simple economic globalization, since history has witnessed the opening of a new era that concerns humanity’s destiny.”
Let’s not forget this more important concern even as we try to sort out our present problems, personal or political. Developing a true Christian humanism with strong support from the social doctrine is a big responsibility of everyone.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Renewal and obsession
IT’S again New Year! Don’t you find it strange, even funny, that what’s supposed to be new is feeling like it’s an old, stale thing repeated and repeated so many times, “ad nauseam”, in an almost mindless routine every year?
Yes, that’s what is likely to happen if we are not careful. We can harden in our ways, get trapped in our complacency, imprisoned in our world of ideas, really quite dead although we can manage to look alive, and even lively.
Yes, human as we are, we are quite capable of these things. We are good in hiding and disguising what really is inside us. We can go formal, without the substance, often not knowing that this is very toxic to our soul.
Thus, we can drown ourselves in sounds, sights and spirits, all meant to arouse the senses while putting the soul to sleep.
We can go through the routine of resolution-making, if only to pacify for a while our spiritual side that cannot be totally shut off in our life.
But the true spirit of the New Year is somewhere else. It is in the recognition that we in this life will always need a constant renewal, that life-long process of having to begin and begin again.
It’s the recognition that first of all is always a fruit of God’s grace and corresponded to very generously by us. It’s recognition that the renewal expected is far from being merely physical or material. It has to be spiritual.
Thus, we need to understand the phenomenon called inertia that often is the
main culprit that spoils our efforts to renew ourselves genuinely.
In the physical world, inertia is easily observable. It means there should be no variation in things. What is still should remain still. What is moving should remain moving. This, of course, cannot and should not be applied to our life.
But in our spiritual life, things appear to be always moving. What would constitute inertia is when that motion goes on its own, detached from God who actually shows the way, sets the pace and makes everything really new.
This is what takes place is an obsession. It’s a certain repetition of acts driven by a certain blindness, narrow-mindedness, rigidity, self-righteousness, bitter zeal, self-indulgence, attachments, etc.
It differs essentially from virtue which also involves some repetition of acts, because a virtue is never blind, rigid, and all that. Virtue first of all is always reasonable, and also imbued with charity, because it starts and ends with God.
Not so with obsession. While it can spur a person to constant motion, it’s a motion that goes nowhere except to one’s harm and perdition. It’s vicious, addictive and enslaving.
Virtue builds a person up. It perfects him, much in the way expressed one time by St. Peter in his second letter:
“Strive diligently to supply your faith with virtue, your virtue with knowledge, your knowledge with self-control, your self-control with patience, your patience with piety, your piety with fraternal love, your fraternal love with charity.” (1,5-7)
This is what we have to understand very well if we want to capture the true spirit of the New Year. Renewal is mainly spiritual, attached always to the power of God and corresponded to with all our might.
Otherwise, we will just drift to some obsession, now made more possible because of the many subtle and not-so-subtle temptations we are having these days.
Happy New Year to all, and good luck!
Yes, that’s what is likely to happen if we are not careful. We can harden in our ways, get trapped in our complacency, imprisoned in our world of ideas, really quite dead although we can manage to look alive, and even lively.
Yes, human as we are, we are quite capable of these things. We are good in hiding and disguising what really is inside us. We can go formal, without the substance, often not knowing that this is very toxic to our soul.
Thus, we can drown ourselves in sounds, sights and spirits, all meant to arouse the senses while putting the soul to sleep.
We can go through the routine of resolution-making, if only to pacify for a while our spiritual side that cannot be totally shut off in our life.
But the true spirit of the New Year is somewhere else. It is in the recognition that we in this life will always need a constant renewal, that life-long process of having to begin and begin again.
It’s the recognition that first of all is always a fruit of God’s grace and corresponded to very generously by us. It’s recognition that the renewal expected is far from being merely physical or material. It has to be spiritual.
Thus, we need to understand the phenomenon called inertia that often is the
main culprit that spoils our efforts to renew ourselves genuinely.
In the physical world, inertia is easily observable. It means there should be no variation in things. What is still should remain still. What is moving should remain moving. This, of course, cannot and should not be applied to our life.
But in our spiritual life, things appear to be always moving. What would constitute inertia is when that motion goes on its own, detached from God who actually shows the way, sets the pace and makes everything really new.
This is what takes place is an obsession. It’s a certain repetition of acts driven by a certain blindness, narrow-mindedness, rigidity, self-righteousness, bitter zeal, self-indulgence, attachments, etc.
It differs essentially from virtue which also involves some repetition of acts, because a virtue is never blind, rigid, and all that. Virtue first of all is always reasonable, and also imbued with charity, because it starts and ends with God.
Not so with obsession. While it can spur a person to constant motion, it’s a motion that goes nowhere except to one’s harm and perdition. It’s vicious, addictive and enslaving.
Virtue builds a person up. It perfects him, much in the way expressed one time by St. Peter in his second letter:
“Strive diligently to supply your faith with virtue, your virtue with knowledge, your knowledge with self-control, your self-control with patience, your patience with piety, your piety with fraternal love, your fraternal love with charity.” (1,5-7)
This is what we have to understand very well if we want to capture the true spirit of the New Year. Renewal is mainly spiritual, attached always to the power of God and corresponded to with all our might.
Otherwise, we will just drift to some obsession, now made more possible because of the many subtle and not-so-subtle temptations we are having these days.
Happy New Year to all, and good luck!
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