Theology | The Three Philosophers

Recently I have been quite agitated and disturbed by two different thoughts. First, I have troubled by several proclaimed Christians who are consumed with the idea that “institutional religion” is evil and that the Christian Faith must be practiced purely by an individual pursuit. The hit You-Tube video, “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” sums it all up quite well. The second is the recent news of yet another horrific act of violence that was appallingly directed at the most innocent in our society. While these two thoughts are entirely in their own separate fields, it occurred to me that there may exist some minor connection between the two. And before you jump to any conclusions, please graciously hear me out.

After yesterday’s horrific and inexplicable killing spree, people are inevitably asking why and how any human being could be so heartless, mental, or morally depraved as to carry through to completion such a debased crime. I don’t dare to presume that I have any adequate explanation for those questions except to say that original sin and man’s fallen nature are much more intimately present and much uglier than we would like to believe. Nevertheless, I think we can all resoundingly agree that one thing is certain: our world and our own American society have a deep-rooted problem. We’re messed up and sick. Something is wrong.

Viki Soto, 27, a first grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School was killed on Friday, December 14th, 2012 when a gunman took her life in a killing spree.

Something is wrong that a depressed graduate student feels some need to channel his aggression and angst by murdering dozens of strangers at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado or that a 20 year-old dude in Newtown, Connecticut would intentionally and pointedly carry through the insidious acts of matricide, the slaughter of children, and suicide. And while the politically charged and “sensationalist” media is pouncing on this event as an ‘opportunity’ to discuss whether our political leaders will act to change legislation on gun rights etc, I think it is evident and blaringly obvious that there lies within our society a problem that is altogether distinct from our 2nd amendment rights. Our society is sick and disoriented, and while we have continued to ignore the gravity of our own infectious disease, innocent children have had to pay with the cost of their blood.

Weapons, poor parents, mental illness, and heinous crimes have existed since our earliest historical records. However, what strikes me as a something particularly disturbing in our current world is the frequency of “random” acts of violence indiscriminately directed at innocent and unfamiliar persons. There is a certain novelty in the murderous rampaging of complete strangers which seems to have no other directed motive than the sadistic and pathological end of the crime itself. It is this enigma of pathological crime and the alarming frequency in which it now surfaces that leads you and me to question the source of such utter madness.

I will not pretend to possess the wisdom to so easily pinpoint the answer as to what might be the source of such insanity. Nevertheless, I do believe that our current religious and de facto philosophical ethos (i.e. our “world-view”) will fundamentally dictate the nature of our actions and behavior, for better or for worse. When you look back throughout history, you must only examine what gods were worshiped and which were rejected in a nation in order to have a basic understanding as to why they behaved in the manner they did. What sovereign deity is worshiped today? I believe the answer is “Narcissus”, the Greek myth of the young man who fell into an isolated, self-consumed and ecstatic love with himself. We are Narcissists. We love and adore ourselves and our individuality. Today’s modern man is quick to dispose of his institutionalized religions, his matrimonial fidelity, and his duties to society, but he is just as quick to demand that God accept his view of morality, that his sexual appetite be unrestrictedly indulged, and that his government afford him whatever rights he whimsically demands. While we feel enlightened, progressive, advanced, and more civilized with our embracing of the modern democratic ideals of freedom and equality, we have lost touch with the basic principles that orient our nature toward the development of a healthy society. The problem is that when society elevates the autonomous individual as sovereign, the essence of community and thereby civilization (L. Civitas-city) is lost. When the pestiferous infection of self-love is all consuming, the family will soon dissolve. Marriage becomes disposable. Children become disposable. And finally “Institutional” or communal religious worship will quickly be abandoned in preference to an individualized form of worship.

The most central, essential, and radical dogma within Christianity has always been that of the Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—3 communal and loving persons totally and essentially united in self-giving, receiving, and reciprocal Love. Of equal importance is that

Christian understanding of the Incarnation—the second person of this communal Trinity taking on human nature in order that men might become united to God. Such a religion is imminently oriented toward communal love that seeks union with God and extends to love of one’s neighbor. Christianity uniquely teaches that one will only find happiness and ‘fulfillment’ when one has totally given oneself in love to God and one’s neighbor. Such a Triune and Incarnational Faith have no place for the god of Narcissus and a culture of exorbitant narcissim.

Or does it? Today’s self-proclaimed Christians are scandalized by the failings and hypocrisies of fellow “religious” or “institutional” Christians and are quick to dispose of communal worship, objective moral teaching, and theological dogmas. They embrace a “Jesus and me” religion that elevates one’s own conscience and Bible as sovereign authorities and thereby arrives at the eerily familiar home in the temple of Narcissus. Religion is reduced to a mere “spirituality” where one has the liberty to practice a faith that does not oblige any particular form of commitment and moral conduct. And while this democratic friendly religion seems civil enough, it loses touch with the very heart and essence of the Christian creed. A ‘Christian’ Faith which rejects communal worship is one which has lost its pedagogical potency to orient men away from their self-consumption and to give of themselves in love. The importance of relation and relationship are lost when Christianity turns away from the One Church instituted by the Incarnated person of Jesus Christ. Soon, these “Christians” inevitably reject the sacredness of marriage, the gift and dignity of children and life, and the objective principles which form our moral conscience. Divorce, abortion, and contraception are nearly just as prevalent among “Christians” as among non-Christians.

And here is where I make full circle. The difference between our modern society and recent former ages is that the spirit of Narcissus has finally triumphed and the Incarnation has now died. Although “Christian Civilization” may only be an idea which was never fully realized in political societies, nevertheless it was the Christian Faith and its principles of love and esteem for personal and familial communion which have at least implicitly guided the moral norms of our consciences and cultures for centuries. Today, with the rejection of communal religion (i.e. authentic Christianity) and the total embracing of Narcissism, our society has cultivated the perfect foundation for pathological crime. The sacredness, dignity, and value of another person is lost when we have utterly turned our gaze and worship inward.

What is the solution? The answer is simple, evident, yet hard: Love. We must learn to imitate the love of Jesus Christ which is total and absolute. We must throw down the idol of Narcissus and restore our worship for the Holy and Communal Trinity. We must allow this Triune Love to radically transform and sanctify our view of marriage, our value for family, our sexual practice, and the respect and regard for our neighbor. And finally we must gather together as Christian believers united in our Faith, remembering the words of Christ, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” (Matt. 18:20). The only hope for a renewed and sane society is if this regard and esteem for community which is the very cornerstone of civilization can return. For it is only when man learns to love as Christ has taught that sanity, reason, and freedom are restored to their proper place.

This Advent and Christmas season, as we simultaneously remember the victims of Newtown and the gift of Love revealed to the world in the person of Christ, let us solemnly remember His prayer to the Father before He died:

“As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:21b-23).

Have you been to Sunday Mass recently? Notice the Churches are only half full. Interesting huh, especially when Catholicism boasts of over 1 billion members! Why? I propose that most find Mass boring and ask what is has to offer them. But why is the Mass boring? Can’t we just get our liturgists to create exciting vibrant,joy-filled Liturgies? Aren’t they paid to do that? Ok, sure. but there is an even deeper crisis. Modern man finds himself in a place none of his Christian ancestors experienced . Modern man is incapable of the liturgical act.

But what can be done to foster the necessary spirit to enter into the Christian mysteries? I propose receptivityy, the Marian virtue. Entering into the Sacred Liturgy requires that one learn to listen with wonder. The work of the Liturgy is the work of divinization. St. Thomas Aquinas points out that God is the artist and we are the artifact. God fills us with His very life, His very self. Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom of our souls, does not keep anything back of His self-gift of love to the Father and to us, who through our Baptism have been grafted into the Mystical Body of Christ. Jesus does not want to hold anything back in this gift of love to us, if only we cultivate receptivity to Him. This includes developing and listening hear of the heart to the Word of God proclaimed in the Mass and the prayers of Mother Church which teach us and enfold the Christian mysteries for us, day-by-day. This is the first point that counters the idea that Mass is boring. Mass is not only heaven and earth coming together, but Holy Communion brings heaven into our very selves. We sup with the Lamb and with the myriads of angels and saints gathered for the festal celebration. God’s very life floods our being and heals us, transforms us, converts us. We cannot control God, we can force Him to do our will. We must simply “let God be God” and be open to His grace at work in us, the outpouring of His love that fills our souls and empowers us to witness to the Gospel.

The second thing to be fostered is silence. Often our Masses today are filled with so much noise. And so is the rest of our lives. We can never “open the ears of our hearts” as St. Benedict exhorts us, if we don’t shut up and listen! From the first moment of the morning when our alarm clock music goes off, to the radio in the car on the way to work or school, to the cellphone, computer, to the T.V. in the evening, we are bombarded with noise. All of these things draw us into a virtual reality. We have to pull back and live in the real reality. This is the more exciting life anyway. It is the life worth living. Veg’ing out on Facebook of MTV is so lame in comparison to enjoy the sweet things of life that God has given to us and which have been sanctified and redeemed through His Incarnation. The Mass has several key moments of silence, including before and after. The silence before the Mass allows us to prepare for the Celebration of the Eucharist by reading of the Mass readings, offering God our intercessions, etc. The times after the readings and homily allow us to let the Scriptures and the homily sink in and to speak with Christ. During the Offertory we are afforded a moment to offer our lives and family and friend with the offerings. At the consecration we gaze in silent awe at Christ’s raises for our adoration. After Communion we speak with the Lord. And once the Liturgy concludes we are encouraged to kneel and make a Thanksgiving, asking Christ to sanctify every aspect of our lives and the lives of our dear ones. It is then that we ask Christ to send us on mission to evangelize and live in faith, hope and charity.

The third thing to foster in solitude and stillness. People today are afraid of being alone. Alone = loneliness. But the truth is that only if we encounter authentic selves. We live our lives always trying to be the best. We try to appear the best to impress people. But the work of Christ has only one condition: that we come to Him as we are. Christ can’t work on something that’s not real. And one of the best ways to do this is to learn to sit still with ourselves. Then we can bring our true selves to the altar and truly “life up our hearts.”

God wants to do so much: He wants to fill us with His very life. If the modern man got this, the Church would be packed! God is utterly transcendent. But the mystery and the tension of the Christian Revelation is that God is Emmanuel, that is God-with-us. God is complete grandeur and desires each one of us, the question is: do we hunger and thirst for righteousness?

Published by Richard.