CATHOLICWEBPHILOSOPHER: God, the supreme and ultimate point of all human longing (From the "Confessions" of Saint Augustine)

Friday, March 11, 2011

God, the supreme and ultimate point of all human longing (From the "Confessions" of Saint Augustine)

What exactly do I love when I love? What is it that I seek? I asked the earth and it said, “It isn’t I”. I asked all that is in it, but they simply made the same confession. I asked the sea, the deep, the living creatures that creep, yet all of them responded:

“We are not what you love; look beyond us”.

I asked the breeze which blows the entire air with its inhabitants, and it too responded: “It isn’t I”. I asked the heavens, the sun, moon and stars, yet from them too came the reply: “We are not what you love; we are not what you seek”.

And I said to all those things around me: “Tell me then, what is it that I seek?” And they all replied with one voice: “It is the one who made us”. My question was the attention I paid them, and their response to me was their beauty, that which drew me towards them all.

Then I turned inwards, toward my very self, and I asked: “Who are you?” And the reply came back: “I am but a man, look beyond me, go to that which lies even deeper”.

All the beautiful things of the earth, and even that which is most intimate to me, they say but one thing: “It isn’t us that you seek, look deeper, look beyond”. And so I did, and found what it is that I truly love when I love the external things of the earth, and the innermost part of me; and as I inquired, I found the reply: “It isn’t I, but the one who made me”.

What do I love when I love? What is it that I seek? He who is higher than my highest, the one deeper than my deepest, the one more intimate to me than my most intimate thought, God who made me.

- From Augustine's "Confessions", X.

Thoughts in Solitude (Thomas Merton)

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
And the fact that I think
that I am following your will
Does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire
in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything
apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me
By the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore I will trust you always
though I may seem to be lost
And in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
And you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Amen.

The Priest: A Prayer on a Sunday Night (Abbe Michel Quoist)

Tonight, Lord, I am alone.
Little by little the sounds
died down in the church.
The people went away,
And I came home,
Alone.

I passed people who were
returning from a walk.
I went by the cinema
that was disgorging its crowd.
I skirted café terraces where tired strollers
were trying to prolong t
he pleasure of a Sunday holiday.
I bumped into youngsters
playing on the footpath,
Youngsters, Lord,
Other people’s youngsters
who will never be my own.

Here I am, Lord,
Alone.
The silence troubles me,
The solitude oppresses me.

Lord, I’m 35 years old,
A body made like others,
ready for work,
A heart meant for love,
But I’ve given you all.
It’s true of course, that you needed it.
I’ve given you all, but it is hard, Lord.
It’s hard to give one’s body;
it would like to give itself to others.
It’s hard to love everyone and to claim no one.
It’s hard to shake a hand
and not want to keep it.
It’s hard to inspire affection,
only to give it to you.
It’s hard to be nothing to oneself
in order to be everything to others.
It’s hard to be like others, among others,
and be an other to them.
It’s hard always to give
without trying to receive.
It’s hard to seek out others
and to be oneself unsought.
It’s hard to be told secrets,
and never be able to share them.
It’s hard to carry others
and never, even for a moment, be carried.
It’s hard to sustain the feeble
and never be able to lean on one
who is strong.

It’s hard to be alone,
Alone before everyone,
Alone before the world,
Alone before suffering,
death,
sin.

Son, you are not alone,
I am with you.
I am you.
For I needed another human vehicle
to continue my Incarnation
and my Redemption.
Out of all eternity, I chose you.
I need you.

I need your hands to continue to bless,
I need your lips to continue to speak,
I need your body to continue to suffer,
I need your heart to continue to love,
I need you to continue to save,
Stay with me.

Here I am Lord,
Here is my body,
my heart,
my soul,
Grant that I may be
big enough to reach the world,
Strong enough to carry it.
Pure enough to embrace it
without wanting to keep it.

Grant that I may be a meeting-place,
but a temporary one,
A road that does not end in itself,
because everything to be gathered there,
everything human, must be led to you.

Lord, tonight, while all is still
and I feel sharply the sting of solitude,
While people devour my soul
and I feel incapable of satisfying their hunger,
While the world presses on my shoulders
with all its weight
of misery and sin,
I repeat to you my “yes”
—not in a burst of laughter, but slowly,
clearly, humbly.

Alone, Lord,
before you,
In the peace of the evening.

Lord, help me to keep my promises

Loving Father,
you have placed in my heart
a deep and unquenchable
yearning and thirst
to know you intimately,
and to follow in the footsteps
of Jesus your Son.

Send me the light of your grace,
the fire of your Spirit,
that he may pry open my heart,
and in it set a fire
that will forever burn
for love of you,
for love of your people,
for love of your Church.

Grant me openness of mind and spirit
that I may always listen attentively
and welcome generously
your subtle and gentle promptings
as I reflect, meditate,
and grow in love daily
for the most precious gift
you have given me:
the call to a life that is full,
a life that is whole,
a life that is complete,
a life that is holy.

And if it be your will
that I live this life
in the priesthood of Jesus your Son,
grant too that I may, with your grace,
remain faithful to it,
to its joys and sufferings,
to its challenges and triumphs,
to its gifts and demands,
to the end of my life.

Help me to keep the promises I’ve made
just as you have promised
to remain with me always
to strengthen and guide me,
to heal and protect me,
to comfort and admonish me,
till I see you face to face.

This I ask in your Son’s name,
He who is my Lord,
my Savior,
my model, pattern and guide,
now and forever.

Amen.

De Profundis

Out of the depths I cry to you,
do not abandon me, O Christ,
in my deepest and darkest hour of need.

Give me again the courage and joy
of knowing your aid.
Strengthen my weary soul,
and steel my feeble frame.
Restore me to your friendship and use me,
unworthy instrument that I am.

I abandon myself to your great mercy.
Ever more conscious of my unworthiness,
I beg you, O Lord of life,
Christ, in your great compassion,
show mercy to one who calls upon you
with his whole heart, mind, body, and soul.

Take me unto yourself, O Christ.
Hide me once more
in the shadow of your wings,
take my hand, guide and lead me.
Be my father, my brother, my friend,
my light, my life, my all.

Be the air that I breathe,
be the ground beneath my feet,
be the one whose name I utter
when I first awake,
be the one who stands by me
at night as I sleep,
be the hours that govern my day,
be the thoughts that fill my mind,
be the emotions that move my heart,
be the passions that set me on fire,
be at every step my feet take,
be every action my hands make,
be every word I speak,
be every sound I hear,
be every sight I see,
O Christ be always with me.

Come into my life and save me,
heal me of my wounds
and redeem my unworthiness.
Be my worth, my joy,
my triumph, my all.

Christ, be my life. Let me be reborn
into your life and your love.
Guide my life, and claim me as your own.
Take me into your heart,
and let my life be lived for you alone.

Out of the depths, I cry to you,
O Christ, Lord of life,
claim me as your own,
and never let go.

Amen.

Preaching

A priest is a messenger of the Gospel, the bearer of God’s Word, a proclaimer of the ‘magnalia Dei’, the great and wonderful things that God has done, to himself, to those whose lives he has touched and who have touched his life, and finally to the world at large in which a priest acts as a kind of ‘mystagogue’, a ‘diviner’ or ‘discoverer’ of God’s deeds. In that way, a priest’s very life is entwined with his preaching, and his preaching is intimately bound with the life of those to whom he ministers. Life and preaching form a seamless garment, woven together by the Spirit of God which connects and animates both. Put simply, a priest must proclaim the Good News, and his life is the single greatest medium of such proclamation. But it is also the greatest source, second to none, from which he must ‘mine’ God’s hidden deeds.

We ourselves are therefore our very first listeners. A good homily is one that a priest delivers to himself before anyone else. The preacher must preach to himself first. If he is stirred by what he says, if he is moved to his core, not just emotionally, but in a way that makes him act upon the intensity of his feeling by creating some change in his world—however small and insignificant it might be—then he will know that he is preaching well. He will know that his homily is ‘good’. He must be convinced of what he says. He must believe it with all his heart, live it with his whole life, and share his conviction. Then he will set the hearts of his hearers ablaze—because the Spirit has set his heart on fire first.

CONCEPTION, DEATH, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN

The late John Paul II coined two phrases that have become current in contemporary Christian activism: “the culture of life” and “the culture of death”. These are ideas associated with tendencies within contemporary society that either promote life or lead to its depreciation. In his work, The Gospel of Life, John Paul described what he saw as the biggest threat to humanity today: a monumental debasement of life through drugs, war and arms, abortion, euthanasia, destruction of the environment and the unjust distribution of wealth. These, he said are often caused and supported by economic, social and political structures that do not promote life, but actually conspire against it. Decrying this as a “culture of death”, he called on everyone to promote its antithesis, a “culture of life”.

This evaluation of the current human condition is a radically holistic one. It sees life in its totality, not from a diminished perspective that fragments and compartmentalizes it. Hence, the promotion of a “culture of life” involves upholding the dignity of life in all its stages, from conception to death and every single stage in between. It means that while life begins at conception, it doesn’t end there. While it ends with natural death, its defense cannot begin only when one is near that point. And while improving the “quality of life” is important in safeguarding human dignity, it is an impoverishment of our very humanity when life’s initial and terminal stages are reduced to contingencies that have no significance beyond subjective whim.

It is really unfortunate then that John Paul’s comprehensive view has been broken up lately and the two phrases he coined are sometimes bandied about like slogans in defense of a more truncated understanding of life. This explains to a great extent, why Christian activism is currently split between those who believe they are promoting life but choose to focus their efforts on beginning and end-of-life issues and those who see these as of secondary importance to the more pressing middle-of-life issues of peace and social justice.

It also explains that odd statement describing John Paul II as “theologically conservative”, but “liberal” on social justice issues. By this was meant that while the pope championed social justice, he was also against abortion and the entire gamut of issues usually identified with it, a position called “paradoxical” by some, if not downright “contradictory”—as if the rejection of social injustice and the acceptance of abortion at the same time wouldn’t be.

In reality, the church’s teaching on life is neither contradictory nor paradoxical, but represents an ever-widening thrust towards coherence and consistency. The dignity of the human person, understood in its totality, demands a consistent ethic of life. This requires the creation and promotion of social structures and policies that support the total development of persons, from conception to death, and every phase in between. To be consistent, an ethic that promotes life speaks and acts against any practice that reduces life to a mere object. This would include abortion, euthanasia, war and the death penalty, sexism and an entire range of dehumanizing issues. But it also speaks and acts on behalf of affordable education and health-care, just wages, humane working conditions, social and economic security, sustainable development, peace and the promotion of community, as well as care for the environment.

The promotion of a “culture of life” demands the support of a consistent ethic, not a fragmentary version that devalues life. Such an ethic is founded on the God-given value of each person in every stage and area of life. It is the only adequate and realistic point of orientation for the creation of programs and policies that recognize and uphold the inherent dignity of the human person.

The church’s teaching on the value and sanctity of life is a “seamless garment” that cannot simply be cut up to fit specific and usually self-serving agendas. Any view that does so is ultimately self-defeating. Consider for instance the inconsistency prevalent in certain parts of the first world, between so-called liberals who champion social justice but consider the right to abortion sacrosanct, and so-called conservatives who go hoarse screaming against physician-assisted suicide but have no qualms buying shoes made in third-world sweatshops, some of which exist in first world countries themselves.

Neither are these developed-world inconsistencies. Developing countries are rife with them. After all, a society where the majority of children already born malnourished, will not even finish grade school and stand very little chance of leading full lives is not a society that respects life. A society where many who are poor suffer actual hunger and could not even afford medicines they need to sustain themselves, is not a society that values life. A society where the wealthy believe their responsibility to others is fulfilled once they’ve thrown their scraps to the poor, is not a society that promotes life. And no amount of pro-life rhetoric will change that.