Archbishop Menamparampil on Teilhard de Chardin, Mysticism and Engagement with Culture

Posted on November 13, 2013 by William Ockham
Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil

Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil

It is the mission of modern mystics to bring joy to people in the streets, slums, hospital and prisons.” — Archbishop Emeritus Thomas Menamparampil

I came across a great article in Don Bosco India on a speech given by Archbishop Emeritus Thomas Menamparampil to 450 heads of India’s Catholic religious congregations.  Archbishop Menamparampil cites Teilhard de Chardin and other great mystics as powerful examples of how to promote the Christian message in a materialistic culture that is often a spiritual desert. I was not previously aware of Archbishop Menamparampil but he was lived an exemplary life as a leader of the Catholic church in India, receiving the nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for his efforts in bringing peace to Northeast India. I encourage you to read the entire article here but set forth below is an excerpt:

“Living in a society that seeks to marginalize profound and abiding values, people hunger for depth and search for insights into the ultimate destiny of humanity,“ the archbishop said. 

In the context, then, of our times what the religious should ask themselves is how they may add the dimension depth to their lives, breathe a spirit into their commitments, relationships and services; how they may give unction to their words and thoughts; bring a spark of light to the uncertainties of the day; how they live out the mission that Jesus has given of becoming the light of the world and salt of the earth, the prelate said.

After explaining the mystic`s pilgrimage and encounter with God, Archbishop Menamparampil said, “There is the return to plain ordinary life. It is not a return to passivity, but to a sense of duty to be creative and fruitful. Thus the mystic becomes a fellow-laborer and partner with the rest of humanity in building up the world.“

The archbishop presented briefly the cosmic vision of Teilhard de Chardin who sought “to harmonize religious beliefs with the most recent scientific discoveries. The spirituality the Jesuit mystic proposed was one of passionate involvement, a mysticism of action calculated to bring about transformation in the fields of science and development, the archbishop noted.

Teilhard saw human desire for progress itself as the dynamism propelling the world to its destiny. In this sense, human beings are co-creators, architects of their own destiny, and therefore active agents in the cosmic evolution.

Without ever meaning to abandon their traditional forms of ministry the mystics ought to enter into new levels of society; new social, cultural and psychological fields; into the world of ideas, attitudes and values; into causes like those for peace, defence of life, probity in society, protection of minorities, and good governance.

“As citizens in a democratic state, we have a national responsibility. In a globalized world, we have a global responsibility. As committed citizens we ought to cultivate this sense of universal responsibility in ourselves and foster it in others,“ he said he defined the “prophetic role“ as inviting people to think and judge for themselves.

“That is what Jesus did. Compelled to think for themselves, people reflect deeply and change. Drawing forth an openness to change is the prophetic ministry,“ said the archbishop who insisted on thinking with the `thinking element` in society, by which he means co-searching with those that provide a practical philosophy of life in a particular community.

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Teilhard de Chardin Quote of the Week (November 11, 2013): Cosmic Consciousness

Posted on November 12, 2013 by William Ockham

cosmic_consciousness

“When we read the evidence of certain Christian mystics, or even simply what many perfectly ordinary people may tell us in confidence, we cannot but quite seriously question whether there may not be a sort of cosmic consciousness in our soul, more diffuse than our personal consciousness, more intermittent, but perfectly well-defined-a sort of feeling of the presence of all beings at the same time, so that they are not perceived as multiple and separate but as forming part of one and the same unit, at least in the future … Whether this consciousness of the universal is a reality, or whether it is the materialization of a wish, of an expectation—that is a question for the psychologists to answer, if they can. The least one may say is that many people have believed that they have experienced ‘cosmic consciousness’, so that, even if it is not an independent source through which we are introduced to a consideration of the Whole, at least it shows —since we tend to objectivize our dream-how immensely strong is our feeling of the importance of the Whole.”

Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre (2002-11-18). Christianity and Evolution (Harvest Book, Hb 276) (Kindle Locations 703-710). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.

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Vatican Hosting Multi-Discliplinary Conferences on the Beginning and the End of the Universe

Posted on November 11, 2013 by William Ockham

big_bang2

The Vatican is hosting another conference on the intersection of faith and science, this time on the scientific, philosophical and theological intersections of the Big Bang and the end of the universe. This conference follows up on the conference last year celebrating Teilhard de Chardin as part of the Year of Faith and the conference earlier this year on Evolution and the Emergence of the Human Being.  It is unfortunate that the Vatican has not done a better job of promoting these conferences or that it not been more widely publicized in the United States. While these conferences are academic in nature, the topics are great examples of the work the Vatican and the Catholic Church is doing to use science, philosophy and theology to better understand the universe and what it means to be human. Set forth below is information on the latest conference.

From Vatican Insider:

The Pontifical Gregorian University in collaboration with the Vatican Observatory is to hold a two-day research conference on the origins of the universe on November 11, 2013 and another one on the end of it on March 31, 2014. The theme will be discussed from scientific, philosophical and theological perspectives.

In a recent interview, Fr. Louis Caruana, S.J., a professor of Philosophy of Science and Nature at the Gregorian University, underlined the significance of the interdisciplinary approach chosen. “Sometimes we have scientists speaking in a philosophical or theological way and other times we have philosophers talking about science but ideally we would have specialists speaking about their own disciplines,” the Maltese Jesuit told religious news and information portal Aleteia.org.  Hence there will be experts from all these fields speaking about the origins and end of the universe at the conference.

Speakers at next Monday’s meeting include the Jesuit researcher Gabriele Gionti, from the Vatican Observatory, who will talk about the Big Bang, its historical evolution and some other ideas linked to the theories of quantum gravity; Professor Ľuboš Rojka from the Faculty of Philosophy at the Gregorian University, who will speak about the origins of the universe and the Kalãm Cosmological Argument; and Professor Michelina Tenace, Director of the Department of Fundamental Theology at the Gregorian will talk about creator and creation and the theological meaning of creatio ex nihilo today.

“The relationship between faith and science is to be understood as a dialogue between the fathers of culture. Dialogue is always preferable to indifference,” Fr. Caruana said. “This dialogue has always existed throughout history in one form or another. Over the past ten years this has received a great deal of attention, particularly thanks to John Paul II’s pontificate and his encyclical “Fides et Ratio”. There is still a lot left to do, also because science is constantly advancing.”

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Ignatian Prayer Adventure – An Online Retreat

Posted on November 10, 2013 by William Ockham

This has been on my mind and this blogpost was the final call for me to say yes. The timing is great for the Advent and Christmas Seasons.

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Sunday Reflection, 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (November 10, 2013): God of the Living and the Dead

Posted on November 9, 2013 by William Ockham

Say_Hello_Heaven

This weekend is the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. The readings can be found here. We are approaching the end of the liturgical year and the theme is on the afterlife. One of the hallmark beliefs that separates Christianity from the first century Judaism that it came from is the certain belief in the afterlife which resulted from the Resurrection. First century Jews had differing beliefs on the afterlife, ranging from the Sadducees in today’s Gospel who did not believe in the afterlife to the Pharisees who did.

Today’s reflection comes from Jessie Rogers, a biblical scholar originally from South Africa who currently lives in Ireland. I encourage you to read Jessie’s entire reflection here but set forth below is an extended summary:

“We are an Easter people. As we conclude when we recite the Nicene Creed: “I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.” That may sound to some like ‘pie-in-the-sky’ escapism. It certainly can be that if it insulates us against engaging fully with life now, or makes us careless and indifferent to issues of social justice and quality of life for all God’s creatures. What difference should belief in the resurrection make to how we live life now?

Much of the Old Testament has no firm conception of an afterlife. The belief in the resurrection of the righteous sufferer emerged during a time of extreme crisis and persecution under the tyrant Antiochus IV Epiphanes (ca 167 BC) which is reflected in our first reading. When strong faith in a just, powerful and compassionate God comes face to face with torture and death for obedience to that faith, a general hope of national deliverance is not enough. The faith that survives such an onslaught looks with expectation beyond the catastrophe to God’s just intervention beyond the grave. Courage to face such extreme opposition demands extreme hope.

But a resurrection faith is not only called for in the face of death. Our lives are strewn with crises and endings, little deaths which may be transformed by little resurrections. Both St Paul and the Christians to whom he wrote were facing difficult times. As Paul prays for the Christian community and asks them in turn to pray for him, the prayers can be offered with confidence. The resurrection of Jesus, God’s stamp of approval on his faithful life and the guarantee that death is not the end for those who follow him, is the basis for the encouragement and good hope which enable them to endure.

* * *

The Jews in Jesus’ day held various views on the afterlife (or lack of it); it was a subject that was still up for debate. The Sadducees, a Jewish sect drawn from the upper classes, did not believe in the resurrection. Their question to Jesus makes clear how irrelevant the whole notion was to their way of making meaning in their lives. How different their situation was from that of the martyrs! Their lives were probably comfortable enough so they weren’t looking hopefully for God’s intervention in the future. Resurrection was just an abstract notion for them, a concept which, read literally in conjunction with certain Mosaic laws about marriage, could produce interesting theological conundrums. The law they quote to Jesus has its roots in the old Israelite view of the afterlife. Because there was no clear belief in an existence beyond the grave, one lived on in one’s children. A person who died without an heir to carry on their name would sink into oblivion, hence the law that provided for an heir through the brother of the deceased man. They were probably quite taken with their own ingenuity in pitting one understanding of ‘afterlife’ against another to produce a ridiculous hypothetical situation. Jesus claims that their question is based upon a wrong understanding of resurrection as simply a continuation of life as it is now. But then he returns to Moses’ words to make a case for the resurrection. I love the concluding words of Jesus: “God is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to God all are alive.” When we remember those who have died we can take comfort from the fact that to God, the ground of all being, those whom we experience as absent are in fact alive. God will not allow even death to break the relationship of love with God’s own.

Resurrection faith is not ‘pie-in-the-sky’ after all. It is a powerful symbol of openness to the future even in the darkest circumstances. It is trust in the justice and love of God which triumphs over the worst catastrophe.”

Jessie Rogers Reflection on the Readings from 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

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John Haught and Why Ultimate Reality is a Personal God

Posted on November 8, 2013 by William Ockham
John Haught

John Haught

One the leading scholars on Teilhard de Chardin is John Haught, Senior Research Fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University.  Haught has written numerous books on Christian evolutionary theology and the symbiotic relationship between faith and science including Science and Faith: A New Introduction, God and the New Atheism: A Critical Response to Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens, Deeper Than Darwin: The Prospect for Religion in the Age of Evolution, God After Darwin: A Theology of Evolution, and Responses to 101 Questions on God and Evolution. Haught has served as an expert witness on cases involving the teaching of evolution in schools, with Haught being critical of both “intelligent design” and scientific materialism. Haught’s writings have been very influential in my introduction to Teilhard de Chardin and my own personal journey back to Catholic faith.

I was recently reading an interview with John Haight by author Carter Phipps. While Cohen’s interview was generally favorable, Cohen could not understand Haight’s belief in a personal God. As Cohen described it, he “found it difficult to understand what could be gained by holding firm to what seemed like an outdated notion.”. Haight’s answer is a succinct yet powerful argument in favor of a personal God:

“We do tend to be anthropomorphic, and therefore there’s always a danger of emphasizing the personality of God to the point of idolatry, if you will, of diminishing the infinity, the transcendence, so as to make it somehow manageable,” he acknowledged, pausing for a moment of contemplation before continuing. “Now in our own ordinary experience of the world, the experiences that are most impressive, most challenging, most exciting are of another person, a ‘thou,’ a subject. So to me, the problem with denying the personality of ultimate reality is that if God is somehow impersonal, nonpersonal, if ultimate reality lacks ‘thou-ness,’ then it is somehow less intense in being than I am. And I wonder if I can surrender the completeness of my being to what I take to be impersonal or nonpersonal.

I do believe in the importance of neuter language about God, and this is why I follow theologians who refer to God as mystery. God is depth, the inexhaustible depth dimension. God is infinite beauty. God is infinite goodness. So when I use the term ‘personal,’ I’m not using it in the anthropomorphic sense of the one-planet deity that our scientific consciousness has outgrown. But if I subtract the mystery of subjectivity from being altogether, I’m left surrendering myself to something that lacks what I consider to be the most impressive type of experience that we can have in our worldly existence, and that’s the experience of another person. So God is at least personal. God is also more than personal. God is this infinite, inexhaustible depth dimension. And even if this depth expands to the multiverse, and even if I have a vision of reality that includes trillions and trillions of worlds, if at the core of that reality I don’t sense the pulse of personality, then in some sense that whole of totality is less intense in being than I am. And I don’t believe that.” (emphasis added).

 

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Spiritual Leadership in the Ignatian Tradition

Posted on November 7, 2013 by William Ockham
Rev. Adolfo Nicolás, S.J. and Pope Francis

Rev. Adolfo Nicolás, S.J. and Pope Francis

I had previously written on leadership style in the Ignatian tradition based on the principles set forth by Chris Lowney and as evidenced by Pope Francis. America Magazine recently had a transcript of a speech by the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Very Rev. Adolfo Nicolás, S.J., to the board chairs and presidents of the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States. Despite different characterizations, Fr. Nicolás’ speech echos the same Ignatian leadership principles articulated by Mr. Lowney. I encourage you to read the entire speech here but set forth below is a summary:

“Leaders who make good decisions can do so only when four prerequisites are present: a community of shared values, freedom, generosity and selflessness.

The first prerequisite is a community committed to shared values. God’s will is best found in a group of people, not inside someone’s head or individual consciousness. Whether it is the church, a religious congregation or an apostolic work; whether it is a board of directors, a faculty or a group of students, the community is a crucial ingredient. You need to have community to be able to discern.

* * *

The second prerequisite is freedom. The one responsible for the final decision cannot predetermine the outcome. The process must be open and free. Furthermore, those who contribute to a valid decision must be free to say what is on their minds without fear of recrimination or deleterious consequence. The participants in the discerning community must be committed to doing all they can to make sure that all positive and negative dimensions of a decision are carefully considered. At the same time, these people must dedicate themselves in freedom to the outcome of the process. I have seen, when I was provincial, individuals who would not enter into the process of institutional discernment, for example, but later, if the vote did not favor their own plans, they would come to me to say, “As provincial, you can’t permit this.” In that moment you have to tell them, “You have had your opportunity to participate but did not want to, and now you want to use your power. This power is illegitimate.”

The third prerequisite is generosity. St. Ignatius wanted his followers and, in fact, anyone who made the Spiritual Exercises, to put all their gifts and talents at the service of God who has given everything. Generosity was so crucial to Ignatius, as we know from that prayer, “Lord, teach me to be generous, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to seek any reward other than knowing I am doing your will.” Generosity is necessary if a good decision is going to be made.

Finally, selflessness is necessary, a humble altruism that surrenders my own preferences to a greater good. For Ignatius, “the greatest need” always stands out. Surrendering what I personally think of as important to a bigger, more important transcendental value puts everything into proper perspective; it also makes possible all the smaller and less important choices that go into accomplishing a great goal.”

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The Development of the Idea of God in the Bible

Posted on November 6, 2013 by William Ockham

union

Today’s Questions, an outstanding blog that I follow had a great article on the development in the understanding of God in the Christian Bible. I strongly encourage you to read the entire post here, but set forth below is the introduction.

“The idea of God is found in all ancient civilizations and still alive today in different forms of spirituality.  The Biblical literature reflects the development of the idea of God in the Hebrew tradition which is transformed in the New Testament by Christ and his followers to reach out to all nations since the first century AD. With Abraham a tribal local God is worshiped. Moses finds that God is in more than one territory. Hosea speaks of God in terms of love. In Jesus Christ, God becomes human so as to restore fallen humanity to his eternal love (Trinity in One God). Central to Christian thought is the idea that “God is Love” (1 John 4:8).”

The Appearance of the Idea of God:
How has the idea of God come into human consciousness? Research in anthropology since the 19th century brought to light a number of discoveries in ancient Greek, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Babylonian, Persian, Roman, Indian and Chinese cultures. Among the well known are James Fraser, Franz Boas, Mircea Eliade, and René Girard. In those authors and others we recognize the interaction and development of history, religion, psychology, and culture. Probably the most influential introduction of religion in the 21st century is Joseph Ratzinger’s “Truth and Tolerance” published in 2004. For thousands of years, in every region and country a polytheist, or pantheist plethora of gods were worshiped.  There were gods for every material or spiritual need; a god for rain to bring rain to farmers; a god for fertility to bring offspring to mothers; a goddess of love that inspired reflections and poetry, and the Sun as the source of fire and food as well as many other gods and goddesses. The need of humans for worship has never lacked.

The post then goes on to trace the biblical developments from many gods to one God to the Trinity in one God.

George Farahat blogpost on The Development of the Idea of God in the Bible

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Teilhard de Chardin Quote of the Week (November 4, 2013): Longing for Unity

Posted on November 5, 2013 by William Ockham

hand_love

“Ultimately, the only thing that has any importance is the Whole, in which alone unity can be effected. Parallel with (and in a sense identical with) our intellectual need of unity, we experience, deep within us, an affective and spontaneous need for union. Man is not drawn towards the One (that is, the Whole) by his reason alone, but by the full force of his whole being (is not our thought the act of our whole being?). On earth we are essentially separate, incomplete —a point made, you may remember, in Plato’s Phaedrus. We are seeking desperately for our completion; and we cannot find it by wedding ourselves to any element of the world taken in isolation. What we reach out to grasp in our aspirations is something which is diffused throughout, which permeates, everything. Fundamentally, we have but one passion: to become one with the world which envelops us without our ever being able to distinguish either its face or its heart. Would man worship woman if he did not believe that he saw the universe mirrored in her eyes? And does man continue to love woman when (by his own fault) he has reduced her to no more than one poor closed individual, opening the road for him to no further extension either of his race or of his ideal?”

Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre (2002-11-18). Christianity and Evolution (Harvest Book, Hb 276) (Kindle Locations 692-700). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.

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Feast of St. Charles Borromeo (November 4)

Posted on November 4, 2013 by William Ockham
St. Charles Borromeo

St. Charles Borromeo

Today is the Feast of St. Charles Borromeo. I have fond personal feelings for this saint, not necessarily because of his life (which was significant) but because of a wonderful prayer experience I had at St. Charles Borromeo parish in Harlem, New York this past Spring. It was only after this experience did I learn of the tragedies that the parish suffered over the past decade. It many ways it was a microcosm of both the corruption of the Church and how it can be transformed by a committed group of faithful parishioners. The life of St. Charles Borromeo and his efforts to reform the Church is an excellent model for the Church.

Chalres Borromeo was the cardinal archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584. Borromeo was among the great reformers of the Church in the troubled sixteenth century. He was responsible for establishing many seminaries and increasing the level of education for priests. He was also a key figure at the Council of Trent. 

Charles Borromeo was born in 1538 the son of Giberto II Borromeo, Count of Arona, and Margherita de Medici, in the castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore, in the north of Italy. Through his mother he was related to the famous Medici family. He was educated at Milan and Pavia. He had a speech impediment but was able to overcome it through his was both intelligence, work ethic and religious devotion.

At the age of 22 he received a doctorate by which time his uncle, Cardinal Angelo de Medici had become Pope Pius IV. Ecclesiastical honours were now heaped on the nephew, including ambassadorships, protectorates, the administration of the diocese of Milan and an appointment as cardinal, which made Charles in effect Secretary of State for the Papal States. He was responsible for the administration of the Romagna and the March of Ancona as well as supervision of the Franciscans, the Carmelites and the Knights of Malta. He was thus at the age of 22, practically the leading statesman of the papal court. In compliance with the pope’s desire, he lived in great splendour.

As all this required his presence in Rome, the government of the Milan diocese was delegated to deputies. Nevertheless, he was anxious to leave the luxury of the papal court and even become a monk. He was persuaded, however, to remain in his present position and to move back to his diocese as soon as it was feasible.

He strongly supported his uncle, the pope, in re-opening the Council of Trent for its final session. The council’s continuance and conclusion were largely due to Charles’ energy and diplomacy. Many important doctrinal and disciplinary decrees were passed at this session; Charles was particularly prominent in the drafting of the official Catechism. He was also responsible for the reform of the liturgical texts and church music, in which he was a patron of the composer Palestrina.

It was only in 1564, at the age of 26, that he was ordained priest and consecrated bishop. As papal legate for all Italy, he held a provincial council at Milan, which promulgated the Tridentine decrees.

In the following year, 1565, he was called to the deathbed of his uncle, the pope, and obtained from his successor, Pius V, permission to live in his diocese of Milan. In the following year, he began its reform. He was the first resident bishop there for 80 years.
Charles began by personally adopting a very simple style of life and gave much of his considerable revenue away to the poor. He held councils, synods, reformed the administration and made regular visits to parishes. In order to deal with the serious question of clergy formation, he founded seminaries, which were copied in many other parts of the Church. He also was concerned with the moral reform of those already priests and set up a confraternity to teach Christian doctrine to children in Sunday schools. He was helped in all of this by religious orders, including the Jesuits (established in 1540) and the Barnabites (founded by St Antony Mary Zacaria).

He was generous in helping the English College at Douai and his personal confessor was Dr Griffith Roberts, a Welshman. He had a devotion to the English martyred bishop, John Fisher, whose picture he kept by him. He himself was active in visiting even remote areas of his diocese, removing ignorant or unworthy priests, preaching and catechising at every opportunity.

His reforms were vigorously resisted by some. He came into conflict with civil authorities and there was even an attempt by a disgruntled friar to assassinate him in 1569.
In 1570 and again in 1576 he came to the aid of his city, in one case feeding people during a time of famine and later in providing nursing care for victims of plague. During the plague, he personally went about giving directions for nursing the sick and burying the dead, avoiding no personal danger and sparing no expense. He visited all the parishes where the contagion raged, distributing money, providing accommodation for the sick, and punishing those, especially clergy, who were remiss in carrying out their duties.

In 1580 he was visited at Milan by a group of young English Catholics returning to their country. They included Ralph Sherwin and Edmund Campion, future martyrs. In 1583 Charles was sent by Rome to Switzerland to deal with superstitious practices and also with the heresies of Calvin and Zwingli.

Constantly on the move, he was already worn out by the age of 46. He died in Milan on the night of November 3, 1584 and was buried in his cathedral. His sanctity was immediately recognized and he was canonized in 1610, just 26 years after his death.

He is best remembered for the reform and education of the clergy and in the work of catechesis. Above all, in contrast to so many of his peers, he gave an outstanding example of a zealous and reforming pastor in a very important diocese at a time when such renewal was much needed.

St. Charles Borromeo is the patron saint of catechists, catechumens and seminarians.

Sources:

Living Space
St. Charles Borromeo Church, Harlem
Catholic Encyclopedia
Wikipedia

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