The Most Holy Trinity (Mt 28:19-20)
The Feast of the Holy Trinity is celebrated the first Sunday after Pentecost.
Opening Prayer Intentions 7:05-7:20
Trinity Prayer
God for us, we call You Father
God alongside us, we call You Jesus
God within us, we call You Holy Spirit.
You are the Eternal Mystery that enables, enfolds, and enlivens all things
Even us, and even me.
Every name falls short of your Greatness and your Goodness.
We can only see who You are in what is.
We ask for such perfect seeing. Amen
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen.
The Mystery of the Trinity
The Holy Trinity is a great mystery of the Church.
The Church teaches that there is only one God but our one God is made of three Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
God the Father has no origin, which means He didn’t come from anyone.
The Son comes from the Father.
The Holy Spirit comes from both the Father and the Son.
The Son is also called Logos, or “Word.” God created the universe through the Word. As it says in John 1:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. Through him all things were made, and without him not one thing came into being.
The Son brought to humans intimate knowledge about the Father, and the Holy Spirit brings us grace, guidance, and holiness.
When God became man, Jesus gave us the opportunity to experience the Trinity, especially in sending us the Holy Spirit.
We praise the Holy Trinity every time we pray by beginning and ending our prayers with the Sign of the Cross.
“Mystery” of the Trinity
A Christian mystery is any truth that is unknowable except by divine revelation.
This means that normal reason would not have brought us to it. For example, who in their right mind would have developed the idea of three Persons in One God? Indeed, the reason others have tried to get rid of this idea over the years was precisely because it was too hard to wrap one’s brain around.
Again, we only came to this because God revealed it to us.
That doesn’t mean we don’t use our “reason” to explain mysteries as best we can. Absolutely. That’s one of the reasons we came up with the word, “Trinity.” But it is not likely we will completely understand, or fully appreciate, it in this finite lifetime. When we enter the infinite, we will understand infinite things better.
Scripture
Q: Does the word “Trinity” appear anywhere in the Bible?
No. Neither does the ‘Bible.’ Sometimes we give names to things later. It’s what humans do.
Q: Are there scriptural references to Jesus and the Holy Spirit also being God?
Yes, here are a few.
1. In Genesis 3:22: “And the LORD God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us.’” Who is saying this and who is “us”? The word “Elohim” is used which is a plural word for God (Yahweh is singular). It is interesting to read the Jewish interpretations of this: some say God must be referring to Himself and the angels; others say it means that He is the God over all other (pagan) gods, etc.). Then again, if we didn’t have the New Testament, we would be scrambling to explain it also.
2. Speaking of Elohim, it occurs over 2500 times in the OT. From a grammatical standpoint, Elohim actually means “Gods,” but, again, the Jewish people treated the sense of the word as singular. And, in fact, the 3 in 1 is singular, because He is One God!
3. John 10:30. Jesus says, “The Father and I are one.” He also says, “To have seen me is to have seen the Father.” (Jn 14:9). If you were Jesus, how would you explain this differently?
4. John 15:26. Jesus says, “But when the Advocate comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me.” All three are in play here.
5. Matt 28:19. Just before his Ascension, the Trinity is specifically spelled out when Jesus says,
“Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Note how each of their names are carefully separated as individuals (“and of the xxx”). Yet, Jesus only says “name” once, in the singular. He doesn’t say names in plural or say “name of” before each. Three distinct persons are identified and one “name.” This is because they are three, and they are one.
6. Acts 13:2. There are times in where one could assume the reference to the Spirit is only referring to the “Spirit of God. However, in numerous other passages the HS is speaking to the Apostles. “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
In another example, after speaking of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Paul says in 1 Cor 12:11: “All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” The HS not only speaks on his own, he has his own will, which is an attribute of a person.
Q: Is the Trinity a logical contradiction?
It’s a finite problem but not really a logical contradiction.
The first logical clarification we need has to be the three persons thing! When we hear “three persons,” what are we talking about?
We need to establish that there is a clear difference between the words “being” and “person.”
“Being” just means to exist (to be!). We encounter many things in life that have “being,” such as rocks, trees, and clouds; but they are not persons.
Then, there are other, higher beings – such as you and me – that have personhood, right?
Okay, so far in this little exercise we have beings that have 0 persons (rocks, trees…) and we have beings with 1 person (you and me), correct?
Well, if beings can have 0 or 1 person, is it illogical to suggest that, theoretically, a being may have 2 or more persons?
No, it’s not.
Okay then. God, who is a supreme being, has revealed to us that He has 3 persons. Get over it.
Yes, indeed, that is a little unusual and outside our box, but it is not a logical contradiction.
Okay, this will be more fun. How about we look at some analogies to the Trinity?
For instance, take water. Water can be three things – water, vapor, and ice – and they are still all one thing - H2O. Yes? This may not be a perfect depiction of the Trinity, but again, we’re just showing that it isn’t a logical contradiction.
Q: I said it wasn’t a perfect comparison. What part of this analogy would you say is incompatible with the Trinity?
A water molecule (H2O) must either be liquid, or gas, or solid (ice), but it can’t be all three at one time. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all exist at the same time.
Now, if said God was just One Person with 3 masks, so that he wore a different mask depending on the situation, then water would be a good analogy.
Q: How about an egg? In ONE egg, you have THREE separate parts – the white, the yoke, and the shell – all composing one full egg. What do you think?
It is an interesting comparison, however each of the parts could not be said to be “the egg.” In other words, not any one of them is the egg. In the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each fully God.
Q: Before we look at another analogy, can we define what the Trinitarian criteria are for a qualifying analogy?
There are three:
1. All are distinct Persons (distinct)
2. Each Person is fully God (deity)
3. There is only One God (absolute unity)
Simple, right? haha
Q: How about three colors juxtaposed? How the analogy works: Take three projectors, each of which projected a circle: one red, one green, and one blue. At the intersection of the three circles the color white appears. Mysteriously, the three primary colors are present in the color white, but only one shows forth.
The analogy is not perfect if we look at the white as a blending of colors, because the Father, Son, and Spirit do not “blend” to make God. But if we think of all three colors maintaining their identity (color) in the white, then we would have a good analogy.
Q: What about a team? A team has different members and yet they are one? The more unity they have, the more successful they will be. The more divided they are, the worse they are. Does anyone see a relevant message here?
Perhaps we are meant to be united? It wouldn’t just apply to teams, but everything humans do – clubs, companies, musical groups, you name it. Unity is what the Trinity teaches us. Unity is a primary goal of the Holy Spirit, by the way. Unity is also a function of love. I know, small coincidence, God is love.
Q: What about a family?
Perhaps the best image of God to be found in the realm of human analogy is the human family.
When God said, “Let us make man in our image” (Gen 1:26-28), the passage goes on to say, “male and female he created them” and “be fruitful and multiply.” In His own words, God seems to set forth His image as the married and fruitful couple. The first goal of the family is to learn to live and love together, and then with others in the world.
Before this passage in Genesis, God took woman from the side of man, indicating an equal relationship. But then he reunites them in Gen 2:24, “A man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”
What is God trying to teach us? How to be like the Trinity, which is separate but One, united in love? And when we do that, we create life, just like God creates?
Conclusion: I don’t think the images of the Trinity and the images we are talking about are a fluke. We have a design and a purpose so there are no flukes. We are being asked to develop the family like the Trinity. Then Jesus comes to show us how to carry that same mindset into the world and practice the same thing, commanding us to love each other. When we do this, we are doing what we are supposed to do; we are also doing our part to make “thy kingdom come,” right here. We are practicing the kingdom!
Closing Prayer Trinity Poem
Trinity: more verb than noun, more circular than hierarchical…
Each giving/sharing everything with the other in a symphony of reciprocating love, within and beyond space and time.
Your Triune workings from the heights of heaven throughout the physical dimensions of the universe
Is the Living Art of Creation
Filling up its own canvas according to the rhythmic omnipotence of Your Mind
And graciously including the improvisations of free will beings.
Knowing that you allow us to be aware of this evolving Canvas of Creation while having a presence in it
Is the epiphany of lightning bolts!
And, yet, it is just a glimpse of Trinitarian anteroom.
Thank you hardly seems sufficient.
***
Almighty and everlasting Lord,
who has granted your servants in the confession of the true faith,
To acknowledge the glory of an eternal Trinity, and in they power of your majesty to adore a Unity:
We beseech You that by the strength of this faith we may be defended from all adversity, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
end
Oh Lord……that’s it!
Q: What is the common denominator between love and making a profit?
TRANSPOSITION
Transposition – a logical inference for converting meaningful data, usually from a more complex to a less complex state.
For instance, to explain multiplication in terms of addition and subtraction.
More complex à Less complex or simpler
3x10=30 3+3+3+3+3+3+3+3+3+3+3 = 30
Calculus Basic arithmetic
Symphony Banjo & harmonica
Life-3D Art-2D flat paper/canvas
Greek (5m words) Latin (40,000 words), English (170,000 words)
Spirit Nature
The psychology of Transposition is that whoever is in the lesser complex would gravitate to what the/she knows In fact, they would not only tend towards the traditional but even defend it because it is the only reality they have. .
This seems an ideal time for transposition. Not sure if it too rigorous for your group. CS Lewis is my go-to guy here (again, LOL). Transposition lays out that the Higher cannot be reduced to the Lower. As a result, we can never, from the perspective of the Lower, wrap our minds around characteristics of the Higher, except by common analogy. “if the richer system is to be represented in the poorer at all, this can only be by giving each element in the poorer system more than one meaning. The transposition of the richer into the poorer must, so to speak, be algebraic, not arithmetic. if you are to translate from a language which has a large vocabulary into a language that has a small vocabulary, then you must be allowed to use several words in more than one sense. if you are to write a language with twenty-two vowel sounds in an alphabet with only five vowel characters then you must be allowed to give each of those five characters more than one value. if you are making a piano version of a piece originally scored for an orchestra, then the same piano notes which represent flutes in one passage must also represent violins in another. As the examples show we are all quite familiar with this kind of transposition or adaptation from a richer to a poorer medium. The most familiar example of all is the art of drawing. The problem here is to represent a three-dimensional world on a flat sheet of paper. The solution is perspective, and perspective means that we must give more than one value to a two-dimensional shape.
Let us now return to our original question, about spirit and nature, God and Man. our problem was that in what claims to be our spiritual life all the elements of our natural life recur: and, what is worse, it looks at first glance as if no other elements were present. We now see that if the spiritual is richer than the natural (as no one who believes in its existence would deny) then this is exactly what we should expect. and the sceptic’s conclusion that the so-called spiritual is really derived from the natural, that it is a mirage or projection or imaginary extension of the natural, is also exactly what we should expect; for, as we have seen, this is the mistake which an observer who knew only the lower medium would be bound to make in every case of Transposition. The brutal man never can by analysis find anything but lust in love; the Flatlander never can find anything but flat shapes in a picture; physiology never can find anything in thought
Transposition
More complex à Less complex or simpler
(can’t always be done with equal effect)
(Multiplication) 3x10=30 à 3+3+3+3+3+3+3+3+3+3+3 = 30 (Addition)
Musical piece Symphony à≠ Banjo & harmonica
Life-3D à≠ Art-2D flat paper/canvas
Greek (5million words) à≠ Latin (40,000 words), English (170,000 words)
Love (5 words) à≠ Love (1 word)
Anamnesis (repeat actual reality) à≠ Remembrance
Parable à≠ Many explanations, deep meanings
Spirit à≠ Physical Nature
The Trinity à≠ 3 persons in 1 nature/substance
God’s joy à≠ Human joy
Loves explained…
Love (5 words) à Love (1 word)
Greek loves: Eros, Luda, Philia, Storge, Agape à≠ English love (must be explained)
Something complex à convert to à Something simple
Multiplication/division à Addition/subtraction
10x10 à 10+10+10+10+10+10+10+10+10+10
Music written for a soprano or grand piano à Same played on a flute
Story in parable form à Story explained (who was whom, what was what, why, etc.)
Greek à English
Greek (5 million words) à≠ English (170,000 words)
Scripture written in Greek à≠ Scripture in English (need constant verification to explain nuances)
Anamnesis (repeat actual reality) à≠ Remembrance
Greek loves: Eros, Luda, Philia, Storge, Agape à≠ English love (must be explained)
Eros à physical or sexual attraction
Luda à playful affection, such a laughing with mere acquaintances, flirting, dancing with strangers
Philia à deep friendship (Philadelphia = city of brotherly love)
Storge à family love, especially between parents and children
Agape à most radical/highest love; selfless/sacrificial love, extended to all people, not just friends/family.
C.S. Lewis calls it “gift love.” God’s love for humans.
Agape love doesn’t just stand alone; it has the qualities to raise every other type of love to its highest potential.
God communicating to humans
God à Greek à English
God à Hebrew à Greek à Latin à English
The Word à 33,000 à 5 million à 40,000 à 170,000
Spiritual à Nature
Acts 29:1-6 When they had been brought safely through, then we found out that the island was called Malta. The natives showed us extraordinary kindness; for because of the rain that had set in and because of the cold, they kindled a fire and received us all. But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.” However he shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. But they were expecting that he was about to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.
An image that presents the Evangelist holding a chalice from which a snake emerges condenses a little-known story of the saint.
Generally, John the Evangelist is seen accompanied by an eagle. The eagle, as is well known, is an animal with wide field of vision, which allows it to see for long distances. Thus, he has been associated with the vision of the Apocalypse (literally, “Revelation”) that the saint had on the Greek island of Patmos where, according to St. Irenaeus of Lyon, the evangelist wrote the Book of Revelation.
He is also represented, more commonly, seated while writing, or surrounded by some of his disciples (the so-called “Iohannine School”), dictating some of his letters, or perhaps the Gospel.
But there is a less common iconographic model, in which the saint appears holding a chalice with his right hand, from which a green snake emerges, while bringing his left hand to his chest.
The image is related to a certain memorial of the day of St. John the Evangelist, which is celebrated on December 27. Until well into the 20th century, it was a tradition to bring bottles of wine or cider that day to Mass, which would then be blessed.
Thus, every time a bottle of wine or cider was opened in the house, a little of that wine blessed at the feast of St. John the Evangelist was to be poured into the new bottle.
In some regions, this wine (which is nicknamed “Saint John’s Love”) is given to the bride and groom when they get married, or it is administered to those who are going to die, as a sacramental.
The tradition comes from a story associated with the biography of the saint: it is said that, while in Ephesus, John was offered a glass of poisoned wine. Before drinking, he blessed the drink and the poison came out of the cup in the form of a small green snake.
The Stairway of Doubt & Faith
At times, Father, all of this Spiritual beauty strikes me as a bit too incredible,
so please help my occasional incredulity.
For though you have already proven the truth of our relationship a million times,
my lower, cretinous ego never seems satisfied surrendering to that which it can’t control.
Alas, I suspect the ego is my Jedi trainer!
Every person’s faith is unique: not two in human history are the same;
yet there is a common denominator to advancing faith, and it is the same:
handing our doubts back to You rather than descending the stairway and walking away.
Only then do we find ourselves atop the next step, looking back, wondering how we ever doubted in the first place.
Although I’d prefer you had given me a perfect, unwavering faith,
I now realize that this implies certainty and certainty does not require faith.
Moreover, certainty stops the learning process while simultaneously attracting power, arrogance, and ungratefulness.
Just as money is the currency that enables all transactions in our material world,
Faith is the currency that enables all spiritual transactions.
Lord, forgive my weakness of faith as I learn my way.
Keep me from falling away from You.
Help me as grow in my relationship with You
so that I may see my this world with Your eyes.
May I breathe the same air as you for the rest of time.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart and you will find rest.” - Mt 11:28-29
Jesus You
Trinity Humanity
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Mt 11:28-30
Ego vs Love
On the contrary, notice that the minute we let selfishness enter the equation (the exact opposite ingredients of above: meanness, disrespect, dishonesty, discouragement, blame, self-centered gratification), then love and relationship take a hit. Continued egocentric behavior – a danger for all of us our entire lives – leads humans to the end.
If the Trinity stands for anything besides God and love, it is unity. It is even in the name and it is what love does. It does the opposite of divide, it unifies.
As the love of the Trinity expands outwards, it reaches out to us. “God and Man” is about seeking unity, just as it is for “Heaven and Earth” and “Spirit and Body.” It is why God became man. The Holy Spirit, which we see as the love that unifies the Trinity, has in fact come to us. Personally and collectively.
Unifying ourselves with God and heaven has been our goal from the beginning.
The first Temple was built for this very purpose by King Solomon about a thousand years before Christ. These ritual gatherings of prayer and worship were “liturgical gatherings”.
The Holy Spirit comes to Mary and the Apostles on Pentecost (May 23)
Praying
1. Christianity is about having a relationship with God.
2. All relationships are based upon communications.
3. Prayer is communication with God.
You will sometimes hear non-Catholic Christians refer to a relationship with God differently than Catholics, almost as if it is a one-and-done thing. Catholics believe that like any relationship, Christ invites us into a relationship that HE helps develop as we grow and mature spiritually. Our evolving life with God is an action packed journey of truth, faith, trials, and wisdom. It’s everything but one-and-done.
The reason we are discussing Prayer and the Mass at the same time this month is because they go together. All our prayers have their purpose, origin, and destination in the Mass. When you consider that what Jesus did for humanity, it’s like starting the clock starts over on Creation. The Mass stands still in time at 00:00 00/00/0000.
Halo
Music and prayer.
Rosary can be active, meditative, or background. How?
When you have music in the background, do you need to be focused on the words or the notes? No.
I'd like to see how Satan can get your mind to stray in wrong ways with Mary all around you.
Can Mary handle the devil?
Gen 3...
This Eucharist is just the way we were given for attaching ourselves to him, to go through his passion vicariously with him. For this we must do, and so that on the other side, we will be given glorified bodies just like he showed us after the Resurrection.
If God is love then the blueprint of the universe has to be love. How can it be anything less? Are all the animals and the earth and stars aware of this? Perhaps not, but then maybe we can appreciate the high perch we've been given in this universal blueprint. But to be part of the blueprint at this level, we need to participate in it. How else could God assist us in this effort than to become one of us and show us the way, in spite of our/humanity’s tendency to create our own self-blueprints; and in spite of what awaited him? How could God ensure a more personal relationship with us, his blueprint members, his body of Christ, that to give all of us - not just those at the Last Supper - his personal, entire humanity and divinity in the Eucharist?
As much as I have tried to satisfy the intellectual explanations for this ongoing loving sacrifice God has made on our behalf, it doesn't come down to intellectual assent. It is a act of faith and choice to participate in God's universal blueprint of love and forgiveness that is extended to us, so we can extend it to others. That is how we turn faith and love into verbs and, in the process, form of an intimate relationship with God.
Lastly, Jesus is emphasizing Himself. This is MY body, This is MY blood, Do this in remembrance of ME. Because HE is the 2nd person of the Trinity who has come to take us home with Him.
Aquinas
I think it is also useful to point out that when Thomas Aquinas (13th century) discussed these things, it was not because there was any challenge to the Real Presence of the Lord. It was only because that’s what Aquinas did – he analyzed and explained the meaning of everything. The point of this statement, though, it to emphasize that there was not challenge to the Eucharist being what it was until the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. It just wasn’t even a question in the minds of the early fathers in the Church.
Q: Which is more real, the Last Supper or the Eucharist at the Mass?
The Eucharist. What Jesus did at the Last Supper was a preview of the future Eucharist, which hadn’t happened yet – it happened the next day (death) and on Sunday (resurrection) – these “actuated” the anamnesis.
Q: Did he have to come here to have a physical relationship with us?
Yes.
Q: Why do we need this?
Well, let’s review. Jesus takes on our humanity, God accepts his sacrifice on our behalf so we can have forgiveness-for-the-asking, he breaks through the horrible finality of death, and then takes our humanity back into the Trinity.
No wonder Lucifer said, “I’m outta here!” How was this fair? Maybe that’s why He became human, because then Jesus accomplished all this as a HUMAN.
Q: What is Jesus doing with his/our humanity back at the Trinity?
Making a place for us!
“I will go and prepare a place for you…” John 14:3
Q: But why does He need to have a physical relationship with us?
Because humans can’t do it on their own. 1) They just can’t and 2) Jesus paid our “ransom” so to speak.
Q: But why does He need to have a physical relationship with us?
Because humans can’t do it on their own. They just can’t. The reason we are in our fallen condition is precisely because we preferred to go it alone. Look where that’s got us. We need to follow Jesus over the finish line. We need to cross that line with these physical bodies. But our physical bodies are nothing without Jesus. We need to “put Him on” to pass over; or take his hand to make the walk.
It’s like a bunch of us are passing out of enemy territory in a big RV driven by Jesus and the guards at the boarder stop the RV and say, “Hey, you can go but they can’t. They have no legal right to go and must stay here.” But Jesus says, “They are with me,” and they let us through. You can’t cross the border by yourself, am I making myself clear?
Q: So let me ask again. Does God need to have a physical relationship with us through Jesus?
Yes, that’s our vehicle to cross the border.
Q: How on earth will he do that?
Through the Bread and Wine – the Eucharist!
Q: Is that all we need to get out of here?
Well, put it this way, you ain’t crossing the border without Him. But to answer your question, you still need to get on the RV!
Q: How do we get on the RV?
Taking the Eucharist isn’t just physical transaction. It’s part of turning our lives to God. It’s making the love of God central to our thinking, which means helping others, facing our mistakes, and asking forgiveness.
Q: Why do we call it communion?
Communion = com (with) + union = union with = unity with God. You would almost have to add a 4th person to the Trinity (Quadrinity?) except that Jesus already took his humanity with him back into the Trinity.
What is “Truth”?
The truth of existence is God and, thus, God’s Love. Love cannot be individual, it is relational. That is why a relationship with God is required, and relationships require spending time together. That should be throughout the day every day, but the meal invitation to Mass every Sunday is the summit of the relationship.
Mass is interesting because on the one hand it is about Him, but everything he did in his life was about and for us. What was for himself, can anyone recall anything?
If God is love, then that can only mean the Operating System of existence (of the universe), is also love.
The Mass
The original word for remembrance was Greek – anamnesis – which doesn’t have an
If we cannot assimilate food, we die. It must become part of our life blood and permeate our system; so "the coming and believing" must mean such an acceptance of the Christ that the love of God penetrates our whole being, "even the joints and marrow of soul and spirit;" unless it does so, we have no life in us.
Passion and Mass
1. The Last Supper starts with, "On the night before he died," and afterwards they proceed to the Mount of Olives singing Psalms. Jesus is leading them, singing! Is he not giving the apostles and us an example of how to view death?
At Mass, we are reliving this event, and we do what all throughout? We sing! If we don't understand what we are doing or remember why we are doing it, and just daydream through the motions, what good is it? Why not celebrate Thanksgiving but never be grateful for anything? Why celebrate Christmas and never think of the reason for it. Why not ignore your loved ones on their birthdays? The act is the same. Humans were made for meaning and the greatest meaning of humanity’s existed - of our own life and death - is wrapped in one hour of Mass.
2. Keep holy the Sabbath is the 3rd Commandment. It is DAY of rest, not just an hour at Mass. Sabbath means rest from the other 6 days of work, of this life's busyness.
The faithful Jews, like their Pharisee forbears, may go overboard in the exactitude of adherence, but they have the right idea. It should be made holy, which means set apart, from everyday life. It should be spent on prayer and reflection, which could well be accomplished before, during, and after Mass. But the whole day should otherwise be a day of gratitude and love, which also involves family and loved ones. The only exception is when we don't have a choice.
Perhaps we don’t spend our Sundays this way now, but we should seriously consider moving in that direction as much as we can.
Jesus thought we were worth dying for. There must be a lot of things that we ought to think are worth living and dying for. We ought to try to have a worthwhile life by taking ourselves as seriously as God takes us.
Ten Quotes on the Mass (pick 5)
When the Eucharist is being celebrated, the sanctuary is filled with countless angels who adore the divine victim immolated on the altar. ~ St. John Chrysostom
Once, St. Teresa was overwhelmed with God’s Goodness and asked Our Lord “How can I thank you?” Our Lord replied, “ATTEND ONE MASS.”
“My Son so loves those who assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that, if it were necessary He would die for them as many times as they’ve heard Masses.” Our Lady to Blessed Alan.
When we receive Holy Communion, we experience something extraordinary – a joy, a fragrance, a well-being that thrills the whole body and causes it to exalt. ~ Saint Jean Vianney
There is nothing so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, He would have given it to us. ~ Saint Jean Vianney
When we have been to Holy Communion, the balm of love envelops the soul as the flower envelops the bee. ~ Saint Jean Vianney
It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass. ~ St. Pio of Pietrelcina
MASS 7:20 – 7:40
The angels surround and help the priest when he is celebrating Mass. ~ St. Augustine
If we really understood the Mass, we would die of joy. ~ Saint Jean Vianney
The celebration of Holy Mass is as valuable as the death of Jesus on the cross. ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas
In Mass1 we covered…
Old Testament à New Testament/Last Supper à The Mass
Abraham & Melchisedech (Salem) Jesus priest forever Jesus in the Bread & Wine
Abraham & Isaac (Mount Moriah) Son sacrificed It continues/never ended
Exodus/freedom from slavery to Egypt New Exodus Freedom from slavery to sin
Exodus à Tabernacle/Temple à Last Supper à The Mass
First Passover 2xDaily Sacrifices The Passion of Jesus Eucharist
Unblemished lamb eaten Unblemished lamb eaten This is my body Eucharist
Bread of the Presence Bread of the Presence fulfilled Eucharist
Blood on door posts – Sacrifices; Wine at the Ark/Temple This is my blood Eucharist
Death “passes over” Death defeated/resurrection John 6:54
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. This is the bread that came down from heaven.” John 6:54-57
In Mass2 we covered…
7 requirements and benefits of attending Mass: 1) It satisfies the 1st and 3rd Commandments 2) Praise and Thanksgiving
3) Forgiveness 4) Sacrifice/Suffering 5) Grace-Eucharist 6) Community of believers
7) 7th Day benefits: goes with you on Judgement Day, diminishes debt in purgatory, anteroom to heaven.
We defined and explained Transubstantiation – the changing of one substance into another, not the external appearance (form).
We discussed the emphasis on “this” in the consecration words. This is my body. This is my blood. Do “this” in remembrance of me. “This” is the already incarnated/transubstantiated bread and wine.
We discussed how the Mass service started out split between Sat (synagogue) and Sun (Agape meal). Then after “the Way” was banned from the synagogues, these two were united into our present Mass.
We discussed that God could have accomplished our salvation another way, but He chose to become human, to live as a human, to undo the Fall as a human, and to suffer and die as a human, all so he could take his “humanity” back to the Trinity with him. It was his human experience - his human-ness, his body and blood – that became Passover from here to Heaven.
This is the meaning of Jesus’ words when he said, "Apart from me, you can do nothing. I am the vine, you are the branches."
“I am with you always, even until the end of time.” – Mt 28:20
LITURGY
Speaking of Liturgy, we divide the Mass into two main parts: The Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
Mass part xx
Suffering
Q: Strangely, God chose a suffering path. Is He crazy?
Interesting you mentioned that! Suffering is the one thing man does not have an answer to. Not science, not psychologists, not philosophers, not doctors. Everyone is trying to figure out how to stop suffering – whether it’s the common cold, cancer, pneumonia, viruses, genetic disorders – and then there’s depression, trauma, hatred, violence, murder, rape, common everyday betrayal. Suffering is one of those common conditions that all humans share. But why??
Suffering comes with our awareness of our own selves, our own condition. It comes with our spiritual nature. Only humans contemplate their own death and suffering. But again, why? If it is tied to our spiritual abilities, surely God would have something to tell us, right?
And so He does. God became human and chose a suffering path by accident?
He seems to be telling us that suffering is part of our fallen condition – not Adam & Eve but our own fallen condition. The one we are responsible for. The human race was granted this spirituality and the human race doesn’t deserve heaven. They are too busy being selfish, lying, stealing, cheating, murdering, and hating themselves. If God was going to come here to give us the hope of getting out of this mess, he was going to have to even the scales of justice Himself and do the human way so they could see. God didn’t orchestrate Jesus’ trial, scourging, crucifixion, and death. We did. He is showing that even if He came here to save us in person, we’d kill him anyway! Have we not convicted ourselves? Yet He also used this unfair execution to show that us that love was better, and stronger, and was our path of hope.
Jesus Christ/Logos – the Word of God by whom all things are created. Our creed also states that he is “eternally begotten” of the Father. Do you see the connection?
In human terms, we think of a mother begetting a child. New life becomes manifest – real – in the process. For humans, begetting is a single, procreative event. Since we are using an anthropomorphic analogy for God, it only works partially, but it’s all our minds can do. Nonetheless, it kind of works: Jesus is always coming forth from the Father; in the same way, he is also still creating, which means the universe is still undergoing creation. Adam – names, when we invite God into the minutia of our lives, we are participating in creation.
At Mass, his act of dying for our love and forgiveness continues just like his begetting and creating, because we need it. He doesn’t offer to participate with us symbolically; he continues to incarnate himself into the bread and wine, so he can join us spiritually and physically while we create together.
Q: Why the 3rd Day?
1) To allow the apostles collect themselves. 2) There is also an element of increasing their faith by having to work through their despair of losing him. 3) According to Jewish culture, a person’s soul and spirit departed on the 3rd day so that there was no question then that the person had definitely died. 4) One could say the resurrection should not occur on the Sabbath for several reasons. 5) According to the Apostles Creed, he went to release the souls in Sheol in between his death and resurrection. 6) Foreshadowed in Genesis, Abraham and Isaac on 3rd day, 7) Foreshadowed in Exodus, Moses on 3rd day, 8) Prophesied by Hosea 6:1-2 “Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him.” 9) Prophesied by Jesus – he mentions being raised on the 3rd day 21 times in the Gospels, and then 10) by Paul afterwards in 1 Cor 15:4: “that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”
Philosophers and theologians from Aristotle to Aquinas had various ways to describe how the human soul worked. Here are some common terms: Greek “–cracy” = to rule; i.e., demo-cracy = people+rule (also demo-cratic)
Encratic – souls whose rational part orders the emotions and appetites
Paracratic – souls who sometimes practice self-rule (control) and sometimes not
Akratic – self-willed souls who seek to indulge themselves and only use their reason to calculate how to get what they want
Allegory of the Chariot
Table of the Wine and Bread of the Presence
Exodus 25:17-22 “Make an Atonement Cover (Mercy Seat) of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I will give you. There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the Ark of the Covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.”
Judgment seat vs Mercy seat
“The Cherubim guard the way to the tree of life in the Garden of Eden and the throne of God.” – Ezekiel 28:14-16)
“God's righteousness, which makes sin a barrier to fellowship, and God's love, which would destroy the barrier, are revealed and satisfied in one and the same means, the gift of Christ to be the Mediator between Himself and men."
Mary is the Ark
God owns the perfect storm: His omnipotence and His omnipotent love. Total power and Total giving.
Confession
One of the reason confessions are good is the same reason America spends billions on therapists every year: The first step to moving past a problem is to discuss it, articulate it. No different than an apology needs to be spoken before you can begin moving past something. But many small (venial) sins can be forgiven with God on our own, but we need to articulate them, discuss them, ask for forgiveness, and see to make amends where needed. If you don’t formalize this somehow, it’s not likely to happen. That would mean you would be adding to your “forgiveness time” in Purgatory every single day.
Everyone who is saved vs different degrees of heaven
LENT: What can we do to help build the kingdom?
Step-by-step. This can sound slow, but let’s consider how much good can come out of each single individual who answers the call.
Blessed Frederic Ozanam, founder of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, began his work by delivering his own supply of winter firewood to a woman who was recently widowed. At first, that was it, one act of charity. After a while, some friends joined him and did likewise. After a while, a larger group signed on and soon they were looking after the poor of Paris. Authentic practice of God’s love catches on.
Nowadays, St. Vincent de Paul serves some 800,000 members in 140 countries. They are following along his same path. This is the same principle that each of us can follow, starting by rising to meet a single, visible need. God doesn’t ask us to look far beyond what’s in front of our noses, for we can trust him to guide us to the next thing, or specific people and situations, once we start.
We start by putting one foot in front of the other.
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Point of Genesis 1-3
The story of the Fall of Man responds to the question, “If God made the world good (Gn 1:31), why is there evil?” Our ancestors’ answer lies in recognizing that human beings can rebel against the Creator, thereby partially unleashing the primitive chaos (Gn 1:2) that God had tamed by his creative action. Our first parent’s disobedience disrupted their relationship with the Creator, degraded their innocence, and adversely affected the world’s order and goodness.
The disorder released by sin leads to the first couple’s use of projection, defending oneself for a fault or failing by blaming another person, something that will follow man into the world. Sin’s pride led Adam to blame Eve (and God), and Eve to blame the serpent. The enemy in the garden personifies temptation; by cursing the tempter, God acknowledges a long struggle between Eve’s offspring and the enticements of temptation. Yet, there is already a promise of ultimate victory, as Even becomes the mother of all the living.
Genesis chapters 1-3 are about how God's love creates the universe “good,” and how mortal beings either find harmony with this order of love or damage creation and everyone around them by opposing God's love.
We often ask what “truth” is. Pilate asked it. It appears that the answer is God’s love. God’s love is truth. Not our love; God’s love. The truth of the universe’s existence begins and ends with acts of God’s love. Any way you look at it, the Trinity is a big symphony of love. Our own creation is based on this love. To share in this love, higher beings are needed, and higher beings must have free-will (vs. not having a choice) because that’s the only way this kind of love can be shared; both ways freely. But then that opens us up to choosing against God’s love. How could that be? Who would do that? This is why we are given Genesis 1-3. To show us how it could be.
So this means that God’s love is the ultimate truth. Everything else is a cause, effect, or function of moving towards or away from this love; because it’s all there is. It’s the primal force. As free-will beings, we can move away from it (towards self) if we wish, but we are swimming upstream spiritually and away from the truth of our existence.
Why doesn’t God destroy those who choose against Him? The reason is because that would be wrong. What sense is there for God to give us free-will and then as soon as we choose wrong, annihilate us? No, he honors the choice we make. What we can’t seem to grasp is that there is an eternal component to this. That doesn’t seem fair, because we want it both ways. We want to do just have a relationship with ourselves – which is what Adam & Eve chose – but still have a relationship with God when we die.
But do know any relationships work that work that way? No, because they are not based on honesty or truth.
Admittedly, Agape love is not easy, but God also gives us boatloads of help: forgiveness for the asking, his incarnated grace in the Eucharist, and the Holy Spirit as our personal guide. Short of making all our choices for us, what else can He do?
Q: What is sin?
Leave it to the CCC to make it simple. There are many pages about what sin is: original sin, we are all sinners, purification of sin, justification of sin, consequences of sin, liberation from sin, personal sin, social sin, mortal sin, venial sin, capital sin, reality of sin, root of sin, , sin in the Church, sin of the angels, concupiscence, evil and sin, Satan and sin, and of course, the Seven Deadly Sins. Now I remember why I left the Church when I went to college.
Actually, I’ve learned that this is what comes from 2000 years of amazing saints and highly intellectual theologians trying the categorize and keep up with the myriad, bazillion ways humans have learned how to sin. From all the pages I’ve read, the simplest statement I could find that captures them all is:
“Sin is an act against God.”
I think Benedict also nailed it when he said, “Sin is movement away from God.”
However, what is God? God is above all, love. But what is love? Clearly, it is God’s love, not your and my interpretation of love, or Budweiser’s interpretation, or the entertainment industry’s interpretation. The closest thing we have to understanding God’s love is the Trinity and Agape Love. The Trinity is the Trinity because of love. It is a reciprocating symphony of love that unites the being of God himself. Agape love is defined as Trinitarian love, unconditional self-giving. It is acts of the will that drive real, long term love (including feelings); feelings are great but they are not drivers in relationships; they are adjectives, not nouns or verbs. Love is about entirely about unity, not division.
What’s the chance of every word, thought, and action of ours meeting these criteria? Not great, I know, but we have lots of help and the point is that we exist for one reason: to move closer towards it. We all know a life without love is not worth living. Heaven will be its full attainment.
Sin: “It is an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law.”
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Conclusion. Anyway we look at it, Eve disobeyed what she believed that God had said. Disrespect towards God's benevolent commandment was the sin committed by each. The serpent disrespected God's commandment by beguiling Eve into breaking it; then Eve disrespected God's commandment (as she understood it to be) by touching the fruit, eating it, and then giving it to Adam; and finally Adam disrespected God's commandment by accepting the fruit from Eve and eating it. In this sense, Adam and Eve’s share guilt equality. On the other hand, we know Adam knew better. He was given the instructions to not eat of the tree and to protect the Garden, and he failed to do either. For this reason, Scripture refers to the Fall as the Sin of Adam.
By rebelling against the Creator, it appears that our first parents partially unleashed that primitive chaos that God had tamed by his creative acts in Gen 1:2. Their (our) rebellion disrupted their relationship with the Creator, degraded their innocence, and adversely affected the world’s order and goodness.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that, for the first time, as a consequence of the Fall, the physical world became a realm of thorns and great difficulty. It simply announces the fact that, because of the transgression of which they were guilty, they would henceforth find the land beyond the confines of Eden to be the very untamed wildness of nature.
BENEDICT ON ORIGINAL SIN
Original sin. It is called the “Sin of Adam” in Scripture. It was Augustine in the 3rd century who coined the term Original Sin.
Last week, Gina mentioned that Original Sin does not seem fair. It is a common thing to hear, and I wanted to elaborate a bit more on it. For centuries theologians have acknowledged that it’s not the best name because “sin” connotes personal responsibility, and how can we be personally responsible for what our first parents did? We can’t.
That said, it does describe a condition humans have inherited, a fact that can easily be seen by our own, same, inordinate desires (concupiscence). If we think we would make better decisions than Adam & Eve, then go ahead and start now. It’s not so easy.
As for the condition we inherited… Think of the Jews who sinned horribly in Israel after numerous warnings and were finally conquered by the Babylonians and taken into exile. The Jewish children born in exile inherited the condition their parents created. Fair? Why or why not? How would you fix it?
What if your parents were not nice, or they broke up, or they came from the wrong country, or, or… whatever? What would justice look like?
Or what if you inherited 10 million dollars from your parents and then squandered it so that your children inherited nothing – except maybe some of your debt? What would you say to them? What would they say to you?
What if we were born in North Korea? Would that be just?
Do not these examples show some degree of connectivity between us?
I think Benedict explained this best. He said every sin is movement away from God – some more, some less than others; but all sin moves us further away. And, he adds, sin doesn’t just affect you and me and our relationship with God; it affects everyone else. Sin is never individual. It is always relational. Starting with God…. “starting.”
So, we may feel that, individually, we each deserve another shot at the “apple,” so to speak. But sin is never individual.
On the positive hand, Benedict says that the antidote to sin is love. But love doesn’t exist “individually,” either. Love only exists in relationship. Everything is in relationship!
What Benedict is saying is that the effect of Original Sin – this landscape that humans have inherited – is that humanity started out like the Trinity and that it was sin that broke that unity. In other words, this is not an individual problem as much as it is a human problem.
Do we want to look at the evidence?
Let’s look at Genesis 2. Starting with Adam & Eve, Two become One. Then as love moves outward – which is what love does – you have children and become a family. Whether your family is 2, 3, 5, or more, the most important thing about it is that you are ONE FAMILY. As love continues to move outwards, so must unity. What about our friends, our clubs, our teams, our communities, and even our county? The measure of success and joy in every case is unity; whereas disunity leads to the exact opposite.
Once again, our example and gold standard is God/Elohim – Three in ONE – in whose image we were made. It is our spiritual dna.
So when we sin, we not only move away from God, we move away from each other. Adam & Eve moved away from God and as soon as they did, they moved further away from each other, and this affected their children, Cain and Abel, and so on.
To Benedict’s final point, sin is relational and so is love. Humans are 100% responsible for creating all the divisions we have today. If we want justice, then to fix Our Fall, we would need to be 100% responsible for reuniting all of humanity. How does that sound?
Impossible! And so that is why God had to come here – to step in front of the sword of justice and open the gates of heaven on our behalf. Why? Love. Who did he send us to help? The Holy Spirit – the love of God.
Benedict – so what is the meaning of it all?
Holy Scripture enables us to go a still further step if we again follow our basic rule - namely, that we must read the Old and New Testaments together and that only in the New is the deepest meaning of the Old to be found.
In the New Testament Christ is referred to as the second Adam, as the definitive Adam, and as the image of God (cf, e.g., i Corinthians 15:44-48; Colossians 1:15). This means that in him alone appears the complete answer to the question about what the human being is. In him alone appears the deepest meaning of what is for the present a rough draft. He is the definitive human being, and creation is, as it were, a preliminary sketch that points to him. Thus we can say that human persons are the beings who can be Jesus Christ's brothers or sisters. Human beings are the creatures that can be one with Christ and thereby be one with God himself Hence this relationship of creature to Christ, of the first to the second Adam, signifies that human persons are beings en route, beings characterized by transition. They are not yet themselves; they must ultimately become themselves.
Here in the midst of our thoughts on creation there suddenly appears the Easter mystery, the mystery of the grain of wheat that has died. Human beings must die with Christ like a grain of wheat in order truly to rise, to stand erect, to be themselves (cf. John 12:24). Human persons are not to be understood merely from the perspective of their past histories or from that isolated moment that we refer to as the present. They are oriented toward their future, and only it permits who they really are to appear completely (cf i John 3:2). We must always see in other human beings persons with whom we shall one day share God's joy. We must look upon them as persons who are called, together with us, to be members of the Body of Christ, with whom we shall one day sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and with Christ himself, as their brothers and sisters, as the brothers and sisters of Christ, and as the children of God
Q: By the way, what is the goal of Satan?
A: After the Fall, Satan has us in the stuck with him in the 6th Day. He has only one goal: to prevent us from entering the 7th Day. To use every means at this world’s disposal to keep us here: distractions, distort what truth is, encourage our egos, sex, money, power, self-actualization, self-glorification, whatever it takes.
In the Fall of Man (Chapter 3), Satan convinces us to plant both feet back into the 6th Day. When our forbears were kicked out of Eden, they lost the 7th Day. The “Commandment” to keep the Sabbath Day is practice for re-establishing our relationship with God. If we can’t set aside 1/7th of our live to keep the relationship alive, how can we expect to convince God we care? The answer is that we couldn’t keep any of the commandment very well, which God knew all along would require Him coming here personally to show us the way.
What is Satan’s goal?
To keep is in the 6th Day, by whatever means.
What tools does Satan have at his disposal?
Everything this world has to offer, if we would just bow down to it.
What does that remind you of?
Temptation of Jesus. That exercise with the devil was for our sake.
Do you now know why the Devil is also referred to as 666?
When Jesus came, he had to do a re-start for humanity. A new Creation, with the 7th Day back open for business. However, having failed the 7th Day, he started the 8th Day – the day he rose from the dead and accomplished his mission. Now the 1st Day of Creation is our restart.
What is Jesus’ name in Hebrew (using numerology)? 888. It’s the antidote.
What does our destiny/heaven look like? We all know there will be no pain, suffering, aging, tears or loss. We cannot fathom in human terms what the joy will be like except that it is more than we’ve ever experienced. What we also know is that it is one of the reasons Jesus came back – to show us. Otherwise, getting the apostles psyched up and prepared to take the message to the world would be tough. What did Jesus’ return show us? At the very least, that we will “pass over” death, retain our identities, have “glorified” bodies, and not be subject to physical laws. Nice start!
This is also why the Church teaches that judgment day is a judgment we bring upon ourselves. Whatever we do here, however we choose to define our lives here, will determines the life we have next. And, Jesus could not possibly have driven the point home any more that the measuring stick is not money or worldly achievements but love, forgiveness (seeking it and giving it), and service to others.
Doxology
The Glory Be is officially known as the “Gloria Patri” (Glory Be To The Father). This prayer is a “doxology” for the Holy Trinity.
A doxology is a word or short expression of glory or praise added to the beginning or end of longer prayers or discourses. Our sign of the cross is a doxology. Paul uses doxologies all the time. Here’s Paul beginning to Ephesians: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” I’m sure you are familiar with this at the end of the Lord’s
Q: What doxology is often said right after the Lord’s Prayer?
A: “For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever.”
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
In this BS, I'm kind of a rebel returned, I usually learned by mistakes the hard way, but here I am, God’s putting it to use. My approach may not be for everyone. Some Catholics are more formal or traditionalist and may not have any interest in talking outside those lines; some just want to hear what God wants and they don't need research and explanations about the reasoning behind Jesus’ or the Church’s teachings. Frankly, they are to be admired, because I do need and want these things, which means their faith is more pure than mine!
Then, on the other side of the spectrum, some want just Catholic lite, where good & evil are not so judgmental and God just loves everyone just as they are. I don’t believe this for a second. Yes, he loves everyone and yes, he will take us as we are no matter what we’ve done, but that’s just the starting point of the relationship. The whole point is to develop us and change us for the better, not leave us alone.
PRAYER
Jesus makes it clear that prayer in unison with others has greater power than just individuals. The one prayer he personally gave us starts with “Our Father.” Both ways?
HS – inexpressible groanings
1. Lord, I know I am asking a lot but please may we all be able to live near each other in our retirement.
2. but never to the detraction of what is best for each one of them.
3. but never to the detraction of what is best for all of them.
Love of self
Concupiscible passions with opposites:
love and hatred
desire and aversion
joy and sadness
Irascible passions with opposites:
hope and despair
fear and daring
righteous and self-righteous anger
HOW THE PASSIONS SHOULD WORK
So when a good presents itself, there is love but when evil presents itself, there is hatred. This forms our first pair: love and hatred. Next, if the good is not yet able to be possessed, the appetite moves to the attainment of that good. This is the passion of desire. If it is evil, then the passion is its contrary, aversion. This forms our second pair: desire and aversion. Last of all, when the good is finally attained, the appetite rests and this is called joy. The contrary is sadness. Consequently the last concupiscible pair is joy and sadness. Next, we examine the five irascible passions, which regard that which is difficult or arduous. With regard to a good not attained we have hope. The contrary is despair. This forms the first pair.
Next, when evil is approaching we experience either fear of the evil or the contrary passion of daring. This forms the second irascible pair: fear and daring. We would expect one last “passion pair” to conform to the pattern, but here Thomas Aquinas breaks the outline and lists anger as the fifth and last irascible passion without an opposite. Why? The last set of irascible passions is with respect of a good obtained. Now when a good is obtained, there is no irascible passion because there is nothing arduous in being at rest. However, when the opposite in the case, that is, when an evil is already present, this does give rise to the passion of anger. So this is why anger is not paired with an opposite.
ARE PASSIONS GOOD OR BAD?
The ancient Stoics believed the passions were evil. They observed the human person is a rational creature and whenever things go wrong in the moral life, the passions are involved. So the Stoics looked to the passions as the evil within the human soul. Good living, taught the Stoics, consisted in denying the passions. Evil living consisted in giving the passion free reign.
Those who followed Aristotle taught the passions could be good when subjected to right reasons. Thomas Aquinas disagrees with the Stoics and agrees with the Aristotelians because Thomas understands a “moral act” as entailing the intellect and the will. Accordingly, the passions considered by themselves are not good or evil. However, if the passions are considered as subject to the intellect and will, they can be judged and morally good or evil.
Sigmund Freud, the nineteenth-century founder of psychoanalysis, writes in his book The Future of an Illusion:
Religious beliefs are illusions, fulfillments of the oldest, strongest, and most urgent wishes of mankind. . . . As we already know, the terrifying impression of helplessness in childhood aroused the need for protection—for protection through love—which was provided by the father; and the recognition that this helplessness lasts throughout life made it necessary to cling to the existence of a father, but this time a more powerful one. Thus the benevolent rule of a divine Providence allays our fear of the dangers of life.
For Freud, God is nothing but an invention of our imagination that we conjure because of our desire for protection from the dangers of life. Religious beliefs, therefore, and in particular belief in God, is seen as nothing but a human coping mechanism.
So how do we respond?
First, Freud’s explanation is merely an assertion. He doesn’t offer evidence for his claims.
Former atheist and emeritus professor of psychology at New York University Paul Vitz responds:
Nowhere did Freud publish a psychoanalysis of the belief in God based on clinical evidence provided by a believing patient. . . . Freud’s general projection theory is an interpretation of religion that stands on its own, unsupported by psychoanalytic theory of clinical evidence.
Perhaps it’s true that fear of death, a desire for justice, and a desire to see our lives as having meaning and purpose leads us to believe in a god who made us for eternal life and will reconcile justice in the end, But isn’t it also true that a fear of punishment and a desire to be free from a higher standard of moral constraints could lead us to think there is no God?
A similar assertion is that belief in God is a construct of the imagination in order to lessen our anxieties about the problems of life and bring comfort against the fear of death.
This assertion – again made without any clinical evidence – is serious flawed in two ways, depending on which approach you want to take.
1) Just take out “construct of the imagination”: Belief in God lessens our anxieties about the problems of life and brings comfort against the fear of death. Not too bad. All he did was add that it was a construct of the imagination. Would you expect anything less of an atheist?
2) Frankly, the real truth is that this assertion fails to consider that most religions – certainly Christianity – demand difficult or unpleasant beliefs and practices. Many monotheistic religions consider hell – or a bad ending for bad people – an essential part of their beliefs. Catholicism demands charity, confession, etc. Christians are supposed to be willing to lose everything – even their life – than forgo God’s eternal kingdom. Are they suggesting religious people believe or do these things because it brings themselves comfort?
Finally, Freud and his ilk claim that it is our desire for perfect happiness/God that causes us to invent God and therefore is the evidence against His existence.
However, they have it backwards. The desire for God and perfect happiness is evidence for God’s existence, not against it. It is by our nature that we have a craving for infinite goodness. This craving is all the greater when we don’t get it from the things of this world, especially money, fame, and power. Our dissatisfaction with the inability of worldly goods to satisfy us reveals that we desire a good whose origin is not from here and is not limited. It is infinite goodness.
Given that natural scientists tell us that nature does nothing in vain, then it follows that there must be a reason for this universal human desire and, one would think, satisfaction for that desire—namely, God.
Praying
Scape-goating. Scapegoating, or the creating of necessary victims, seems to be in our hard wiring. Philosopher René Girard (1923–2015) calls “the scapegoat mechanism” the central pattern for the creation and maintenance of cultures worldwide since the beginning.
The sequence goes something like this: we compare, we conflict, we condemn, and we crucify. Human beings have found an effective way to legitimate their fear and hatred by tying their angst to some injustice, real or imagined. They imagine that they are fearing and hating on behalf of something noble: truth, morality, religion, egalitarianism, their children, their country, you name it. This serves to take away all guilt – at least for a while – since one can think of oneself as representing the higher moral ground and being the responsible or prudent one. It never occurs to most people that they are becoming what they fear and hate.
Jesus says fighting fire with fire only creates worse evil. He died as an example of someone who did no wrong and took the worse punishment the world had, to show that God can turn evil into good, if we let Him.
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