TH151: THE CATHOLIC COMMITMENT OF TODAYS FILIPINO, A SYNTHESIS

Who are we as a Church?

Ten Mega-Trends Shaping the Catholic Church
By John Allen, Jr.
(This is only summary of Allens article, no claim to originality)
I.

Introduction:
a. Based on Allens book The Future Church, How ten mega-trends are
revolutionizing the Catholic Church
b. Allen argues: By mega-trend, I mean a deep impulse shaping Catholic
thought and life at the universal level, a sort of tectonic plate whose shifts
lie beneath the fault lines and upheavals of the present. I have in mind not
single issues, but currents of history, which cause some issues to rise in
importance and others to fall. A mega-trend, by the way, does not have to
be specifically Catholic, but rather something that affects Catholicism in a
significant way

II.

One: The North/South Shift

a. In 1900, there were 459 million Catholics in the world, 392 million of whom
lived in Europe and North America. Christianity 100 years ago remained
an overwhelmingly white, first world phenomenon.
b. By 2000, there were 1.1 billion Catholics, with just 380 million in Europe
and North America, and the rest, 720 million, in the global South. Africa
alone went from 1.9 million Catholics in 1900 to 130 million in 2000, a
growth rate of almost 7,000 percent.
c. This geographic change was finally paid tribute to, in that fact that newly
elected Pope Francis is the first non-European pope in nearly 1300 years,
when Pope Gregory of Syria ended his papacy in 741

III.

Two: Quest for Catholic Identity

a. Then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger laid out what he saw as the central
challenge facing the church: a "dictatorship of relativism," meaning the
rejection of objective truth.
b. Like John Paul II before him, Benedict is keenly concerned that Catholics
do not assimilate to this broader secular mentality of relativism.

IV.

Three: The Rise of Islam

a. I was tempted to simply write "Regensburg," and leave it at that. If the
importance of Islam to the church wasn't already clear, the aftermath of
Benedict XVI's Sept. 12 lecture at the University of Regensburg dispelled
any doubt.
b. In the same way that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 put Islam, especially its
radical currents, at the center of global consciousness, the "9/12" of
Regensburg did it for the Catholic Church.
c. As with Communism, attitudes towards Islam are often markers for deeper
options on issues such as the Christian identity of Europe, the limits of
inter-faith dialogue, the nature of missionary efforts, and the fate of
Christians in the Arab world.

V.

Four: The Movements

a. The term "movement" is used loosely (and, in some cases, imprecisely) to
refer to a wide variety of new groups in the 20th century, primarily
composed of laity: Sant'Egidio, the Communion and Liberation, Opus Dei,
L'Arche, Schnstatt, Regnum Christi, and others.
b. Though they remain niche phenomena, the movements nevertheless have
a high profile due to their passion, their commitment, and the strong
patronage they enjoyed under John Paul II. With their visibility and reach
expanding, they will increasingly set a tone in terms of the lay apostolate.
c. While communities are good in providing people with a sense of
belonging, there is always the danger of a sense of tribalism

VI.

Five: The Biotech Revolution

a. Given the dizzying pace of scientific change, Catholicism faces a whole
new series of ethical headaches.
b. What are the limits, for example, to genetic manipulation of human
beings?
c. Which breakthroughs in stem cell research pass doctrinal muster, such as
"altered nuclear transfer"?
d. What about calls for "embryo adoption," meaning allowing women (even
unwed women, or women in same-sex relationships) to bring embryos to
term which would otherwise be destroyed?
e. As science expands its capacity to preserve life, where does the
distinction lie between "ordinary" and "extraordinary" measures, between a
necessary defense of the right to life and a needless prolongation of
suffering?

VII.

Six: The Wireless World

a. Once upon a time, the clerical caste held a near-monopoly on catechesis,
faith formation, education essentially, on shaping the Catholic
imagination.
b. That monopoly has been eroded over the centuries by the invention of the
printing press, the rise of a free press in the West.
c. The emergence of internet age has significantly advanced the concept of
this so-called information age
d. This is a significant source of information in relation to the traditional
source and competing for significance
e. The abundance of competing sources of truth claims has caused the
Church to reevaluate her position in society
f. The Church has also to rethink her strategy in communicating her
message to those of the Christian faith ad those of other faiths.

VIII.

Seven: The Wojtyla Revolution

a. Pope John Paul II was an ad extra pope, more concerned with the
struggle and interaction with the outside world
b. Rather than the strong sense of internal unity that had developed after
Vatican II, Pope John Paul II primarily looked to the outside of the Church
c. For our purposes, his legacy can be boiled down to a simple formula: end
the navel-gazing, stop tinkering with church teachings and structures, and
get on with evangelizing the world.
d. Critics would argue that this formula led John Paul to neglect festering
internal problems, and that the sexual abuse crisis, to take one example,
was the legacy of that neglect.

IX.

Eight: Globalization
a. Growing integration of global finance, politics, and culture marks the single
most defining characteristic of our era, creating unparalleled wealth and
opportunity for some, while making the misery of others a permanent
source of outrage and instability.
b. While one billion people enjoy standards of living never before achieved,
another billion people get by on less than $1 a day and some 10 million
children each year die from avoidable, poverty-related illnesses.
c. Those inequities are generating deep concern both for moral and security
reasons, and they tend to engage leaders in the global South in a special
way, given that the losers in the new global game tend to be
predominantly in developing nations.

X.

Nine: Polarization and its Discontents

a. One of the defining features of the post-conciliar era in Roman
Catholicism has been a kind of Catholic tribalism, pitting left against right,
liturgically oriented Catholics against social activists, local churches
against Rome, and so on down the familiar litany of internal fractures.
b. Today's Catholic tribes attend their own conferences, read their own
journals, applaud their own heroes, and have developed their own
languages, so that on the rare occasions when they encounter Catholics
of other perspectives it can actually be difficult to communicate.
c. Yet these divisions are also puzzling and disheartening to many Catholics,
especially those under 40 who were born after Vatican II, and there are
indications of a growing desire for a different way of managing
relationships in the church.

XI.

Ten: The Sexual Abuse Crisis

a. Though the epicenter of the sexual abuse crisis remains the Englishspeaking world, the phenomenon is global.
b. Its toll has been enormous, above all in the United States. It includes
settlements of more than $1 billion and the bankruptcy of, to date, four
American dioceses (Portland, Davenport, Spokane, and Tucson).
c. More deeply, the crisis has badly damaged the church's public image,
caused a loss of confidence in the leadership of the church, injured
relationships between bishops and priests, and made it much more
difficult for good priests to carry out their ministry.

Note: In a separate article, John Allen mentioned 5 other mega-trends that were
suggested by readers as a response to his original article
1. Woman in the Church
2. The crisis of secularism
3. China
4. The greening of Christianity
5. The Pentecostal explosion

The World of Youth Today: Who are They and What Do They Seek?
By Fr. Tony Anatrella
I.

Introduction
a. Interesting to see a snapshot of how people, in this case Fr. Anatrella,
view the current situation of young people
b. Do we agree with this particular assessment, where do we find consent,
disagreement?
c. It is obviously a daunting, if not impossible task, for Father Tony to tell us,
in a rather short paper, who the youth are and what they seek, especially
due the vast cultural diversities, but also the ages of 18-30 seem to
indicate extreme differences
d. However, in a attempt to paint a picture of todays youth, Fr. Tony
Anatrella says, that young people seek authentic relationships, while
having weak point. They are in search for truth, however, when they dont
find it in reality, they tend to search for it within themselves.

II.

Who are they?

a. 18 30 years old
b. Search for reasons for once existence seems to be predominantly on the
mind of todays youth
c. Relatively detached from religious concerns
d. Capable of generosity, solidarity, and loyalty
e. Emotional lives display doubts, regarding their sexual identity. Coeducational system as well as increasing number of divorce complicates
development of healthy relationships
f. Feelings are often more highlighted than reason (knowledge, memory,
reflection)

III.

Social context fosters dependence

a. A society that infantilizes
i. Young people today are increasingly depended and attached to
persons and things
ii. Desires and expectations are emphasized at the expense of
developing a healthy sense of objective needs

b. Longer life expectancy

i. Moratorium condition: suspends obligation and responsibility for
young adults
ii. Delay of ending adolescence
iii. Young adult seem to struggle longer to gain independence
c. Shorter childhood longer adolescence
i. Teen couples, earlier cases for sexual intimacy
ii. Young girls, for example, act like earlier like teenagers, i.e. start
wearing make-up earlier
IV.

Psychic tasks to be attained

a. Self-confidence
i. Difficult to develop healthy sense of self-confidence
ii. Anxieties and sense of powerlessness in light of their environment
iii. Sense of anti-institutionalism or anti-social attitude may develop
iv. Young person may be very self-centered while external reality is
avoided
b. Relationship to time
i. Rather than seeing themselves connected to the past and future,
they live in the here and now
ii. Going from instant to instant
iii. Temporal immaturity does not allow one the ability to project into
the future
iv. Ordinary time is seen as waiting for special experiences rather than
engaging in life
c. Filling the interior space
i. Hard time filling interior space
ii. Instead looking searching for activities, relationships and noises
(music, TV) to fill the interior space
iii. Lack of concentration and reflection is disturbing
iv. Catechism and objective truths is in danger to be filled with
subjectivism, especially in light of the fact that there exists an
increasing skepticism towards objective revelation of the word of
God

V.

The emotional life of young people

a.
b.
c.
d.

VI.

The general state of emotions

From coeducation to unisex relations
Fear of commitment
Psychological bisexuality

Youth and new ideological influences

a. Introduction:
i. Decreased trust in political systems and the democratic process
ii. However, growing respect for families, ecological environment,
interest in justice and peace
b. Gender issues
i. Associations with bisexuality, homosexuality, heterosexuality have
changed
ii. Homosexuality is based on individual choice, therefore not subject
to societal expectations and norms, according to the general
perception of young people
c. Subject to market society, i.e. strong influence of marketing, advertising,
etc.
d. Secularism and exclusion of the religious, religion: no, spirituality: yes
e. Youth and Church
i. Confusion between religious and paranormal
ii. Hunger for the spiritual aspects of life, yet no grounding in religious
truths
iii. Attraction to the Pope (John Paul II), in spite of demanding
message. Reason seems to be that Pope John Paul II took young
people serious, he confided in young people

VII.

Conclusion
a. Post-adolescents want to enter into life. In spite of a certain cultural,
religious and moral uprooting, they try to find ways of passage because
they have often worked things out for themselves with invasive narcissism
and capriciousness.
b. The fragility of the self, a temporal vision reduced to the desires of the
moment, to circumstances and to an inwardness limited to psychological
vibes, confines them to individualism. That is why some of them are
anxious about engagement and institutional relations in spite of wishing to
marry and start a family.
c. Young people of the present generation are conducting a silent but
determined religious revolution. They question Christians and are not
afraid to declare themselves as such. They do not want to allow
themselves to be intimidated or obliged to be silent, and even less to be
insulted.
d. In his message on the occasion of the 18th World Youth Day in 2003, the
Holy Father reminds us of the role that young people can have: "Humanity
is in urgent need of the witness of free and courageous young people who
dare to go against the tide and proclaim with vigor and enthusiasm their
personal faith in God, Lord and Savior".

On Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

as U.S. Teenagers Actual, Tacit, De Facto Religious Faith
by Christian Smith
I.

Introduction
Extensive survey on the religious and spiritual lives of US teenagers which
becomes a de facto religion that the authors call Moralistic Therapeutic
Deism

II.

Background: Primary and secondary religions

a. In the past 2 or 3000 years, there has been a move from primary to
secondary religions.
b. Sociologists of religion say that primary religions see the divine as the
source for providing the following four areas for our lives:
i. Health
ii. Wealth
iii. Fertility
iv. Longevity
c. These four areas did not receive the emphasis in secondary religions,
however, as sociologist of religions argue, they have resurfaced in recent
decades

III.

Definition of terms:
a. Moralistic: Be a good person, be nice to others
b. Therapeutic: God is a source of comfort, but only when needed
c. Deism: God is a remote god, transcendent not imminent, present only
when needed, like the watchmaker analogy of Deism

IV.

Creed of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

a. A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human
life on earth
i. The belief that a divine being, a transcendent spirit or force exists
seems to be widely accepted
ii. Who exactly this divine being is, whether one calls him God,
Jehovah, or Allah, is not as important
b. God wants people to be good, nice, and faith to each other, as taught in
the Bible and by most world religions
i. Every religion teaches people to be nice.
ii. I.e. live by the golden rule
iii. Be a person that people like
iv. Fulfill ones potential
v. Dont be socially disruptive
vi. Interpersonally obnoxious
c. The central goal is to be happy and to feel good about oneself
i. Religion may play a part in contributing to a persons happiness or
well-being
ii. Therapeutic benefits
iii. This is not a religion about rules, regulations, and conforming to
religious rituals
iv. Rather, it is about feeling happy, good about yourself, secure, at
peace
v. God becomes that someone to talk to in order to feel good about
yourself
d. God does not need to be particularly involved in ones life except when he
is needed to resolve a problem
i. He does not get personally involved in ones affairs
ii. God stays at a safe distance
iii. He watches over everything from above
iv. He is like the ideal parent, he only gets involved when called upon,
when one has some trouble or problem or bad feeling
e. Good people go to heaven when they die
i. Why would this to be otherwise?
ii. God is a god of love and he would not condemn anyone to anything
other than heaven

V.

What God becomes.

a. Heavenly Band-Aid
i. God helps us in our times of need
ii. He is absent in good times, and can be conjured in bad times
iii. A companion in times of loneliness or emptiness
iv. He consoles us in times of grief
b. Performance enhancing drug
i. He fixes things when there are problems or when a person faces
difficult situations
ii. Hurdles to be conquered
iii. The typical hail-Mary pass
iv. Prayer in distress

Vandalism of Shalom
in Not the Way Its Supposed to Be, A Breviary of Sin
by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.
I.

Introduction
We don't usually talk about sin! It is a touchy subject, better to be avoided.
Yet, in a world where happiness and self-fulfillment is very important, it seems
reasonable to also talk about sin. This session will look at sin from a slightly
different perspective, from the perspective of the positive, the way things
ought to be, namely Shalom.

II.

Often times it is difficult, if not impossible to define how things are supposed
to be. How are things suppose to be? Who can tell us? Who gives us the
standard?

III.

Therefore, here we will look at how things are the way they are NOT
supposed to be, in other words where to we come across where we see
things that are not supposed to be happening. i.e. bullying, slandering,
poverty, famines, war, child labor, modern forms of slavery, natural disasters,
epidemic diseases, etc.

IV.

Definition of Shalom according to Plantinga

a. Definition: The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in
justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom.
We call it peace but it means far more than mere peace of mind or a
cease-fire between enemies. In the Bible, shalom means universal
flourishing, wholeness and delight a rich state of affairs in which natural
needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs
that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and
welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is
the way things ought to be. (p. 10)
b. Webbing together, like weaving, intertwined

c. Who: God, humans, and all creation

nobody is excluded or marginalized
nothing is excluded, not animal, no plant, not the beaches, rivers,
environment
d. Purpose: for justice, fulfillment and delight
Hierarchy: before we can find fulfillment and delight we need to
create a just environment
Shalom starts with fairness
At our workplace, in our classes, in our families, among our friend
e. Shalom: state of affairs where our natural needs are met, and our joy and
inspiration is towards the other and God

V.

Tohu wa bohu
a. Genesis 1:1-2: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of
the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God
said, Let there be light, and there was light.

b. Often translated as formless and empty (NIV), waste and void (English
Revised Version), formless and void (NASV), without form and void (RSV)
c. Better translated as chaotic and desolate
VI.

Kosmeo, Kosmein
a. Definition:
to put in order, arrange, make ready, prepare
to ornament, adore,
metaph. to embellish with honor, gain honor
b. New Testament word usage
Total usage: 10x
adorn 4, adorned 3, put in order 2, trimmed 1

VII.

Hamartia: Definition taken from Wikipedia

a. Definition: Hamartia (Ancient Greek: ) is a word most famously
used in Aristotle's Poetics, where it is usually translated as a mistake or
error in judgment. In modern discussions of tragedy, hamartia has often
been described as a hero's "tragic flaw." The word hamartia is rooted in
the notion of missing the mark (hamartanein) and covers a broad
spectrum that includes ignorant, mistaken, or accidental wrongdoing, as
well as deliberate iniquity, error, or sin.
b. Heroes tragic flaw:

Definition: (www.dictionary.com)
A great a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is
destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat:
Examples of heros hamartia
1. Achilles
2. Oedipus: (acc. Aristotle best example for hamartia) Pride
(hubris), Determination? Anger? Irony is that he always tried
to do the right thing. At the end he gouges out his eye, he
symbolically becomes blind to the complex world around him
3. Samson: seek the forbidden sexual fruit, petulance, sexual
appetite?
4. David: Pride? Laziness (his army is out at battle)? Sexual?
5. Julius
6. Romeo (impulsiveness) and Juliet, etc.

Sren Kierkegaard: His life and his thought

I.

Introduction:
a. He lived in the 19 century (1813-1855) in Denmark
b. Denmark strongly influence by the Protestant/Lutheran Church of
Denmark
c. Virtually everyone in Denmark considered themselves to be Christian
d. Source describe the fact that in order to obtain a passport, one had to
prove membership in the Church
e. Kierkegaard is widely seen as the father of existentialism
f. Although he would never have considered himself as an existentialist, he
is viewed as the father
g. Existentialism is the believe that meaning starts with the persons personal
and authentic choice, according to the idea that existence precedes
essence

II.

Intro to Kierkegaard
The life of Kierkegaard is intricately linked to his thought. Unlike other
Philosophers, Kierkegaards writings cannot be truly appreciated without at
least getting a cursory overview of his life. His personal experiences and life
deeply shaped and influenced Kierkegaards thoughts and literary output.

III.

Life: Kierkegaard himself left behind a rich deposit of the events in his life that
deeply shaped him as a person. Numerous biographies have been written,
two of which are mentioned here:
a. Westphal: Summarizing Kierkegaards life as a life of collisions and
thereby cites four collisions
i. Collision with his father:
ii. Collision with his fianc
iii. Collision with the Corsair
iv. Collision with the Church of Denmark
b. ColIins: In his book, The Mind of Kierkegaard, 1984, the Catholic author
James Collins summarizes Kierkegaards life by dividing his life into four
roles, or as Collins calls them ages (page 2) (dates are approximates)
i. Son (1813-38): Kierkegaards relationship with his father (Michael)
was difficult. His father grew old thinking that he was being
punished by God for cursing him as a young man. Kierkegaards
father seem to grow into bitter old man. Kierkegaards mother died
early as well as 5 of Srens 7 siblings died prematurely. Only

Sren and his brother Peter survived. Life for Sren was gloomy,
he always believed that he would not grow old. Shortly after finally
reconciling with his father, he passed away, leaving Sren to be
frustrated
ii. Lover (1838-41): He began a relationship with young woman
named Regina (or sometime Regine) Olson. He broke of
relationship with Regina due to what Kierkegaard himself called his
melancholy. Kierkegaard ended the engagement and this left him
deeply frustrated
iii. Polemic Writer (1841-43): The public feud with a local magazine
called the Corsair, caused great disturbance for Kierkegaard. He
was publically ridiculed by the press, satirical pictures and portraits
were published, making fun of Kierkegaard and making him look
like a hunchback. Even children in the streets would laugh at him
and throw stones at him
iv. Witness to the truth (1843-55): Lastly, Kierkegaard had a strained
relationship with the Church of Denmark. His criticism of the Church
became a constant source of antagonism and frustration in the life
of Kierkegaard. This period also marked a conversion to the truth.
IV.

Themes in the writings of Kierkegaard

a. Passion: Kierkegaard firmly believed that the people of Denmark lacked
passion. Why do people go to Church? Was it because if was part of the
culture of Denmark, practically everyone in Denmark was born into the
Church, for one to be Danish meant to be a Lutheran Christian? According
to Kierkegaard, the Lutheran Protestantism of Denmark had lost its vigor
and had become a counterfeit to Christianity, reducing the religion to
leniency (Westphal, in Sren Kierkegaard,
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Soren-Kierkegaard)
b. Authenticity: Kierkegaard is often called the father of existentialism.
Against the absurdities of life, a person needs to make existential
decisions that are true to oneself. Therefore, Kierkegaard favored beliefs
that are authentic to a persons experiences and vice-versa. If beliefs are
authentic, they would also produce a sense of passion

c. Worldview vs. life-view: Therefore, Kierkegaard drew a strong difference

between what people consider a worldview and a life-view. A worldview,
according to Kierkegaard is merely the quintessence or sum of
proposition maintained in its abstract neutrality (Kierkegaards Writings I:
Early Polemical Writings, 2009 regarding regarding the basic make-up of
the world. However, a life-view expresses itself in the experiences of life,
the relationship with others and with God.
d. Despair and Boredom: is the great enemy of the person. In the aesthetic
and ethical stage, a person may line up one exciting experience after
another, however, at the end of each stage, one inevitably awaits
boredom
e. Knight of Infinite resignation vs. infinite Faith: Therefore, one has the
choice to become a knight of infinite resignation, or one may become a
knight of faith
f. Leap of Faith: According to Kierkegaard (Concluding Unscientific
Postscript, 1846), a leap of faith is needed in order to allow the entrance
into the next stadium of existence. Like Abraham, one needs to take the
rash to take the leap of faith into the unknown, which for Kierkegaard is
also the temporary suspension of the ethical
V.

Three stadia of lifes way

a. Often these stadia are called stages of lifes way. Stages seem to have
the connotation of a chronological or logical sequence. However, this does
not seem to adequately describe Kierkegaards thought. Rather, the idea
of stadia is that of a person sitting in a stadium, being a spectator of or
participant in life. Therefore, this research prefers the term stadium or
stadia.
b. Kierkegaard discusses these topics in Either/Or and Fear and Trembling
(1843)
c. Aesthetic stadium:
i. Pursuit of beauty
ii. No higher reality than sensory experiences and pleasure
iii. Don Giovanni and Johannes the seducer are the symbolic figures
for this stadium

iv. Rotation of the crops: Alternating pleasurable experiences to avoid

boredom
v. The only focus is the Self
vi. A detachment from the other, not getting personally involved with
the other
vii. No higher purpose than the Ego, fails to see the reality of the other
(Narcissus)
viii. Self-centered
d. Ethical stadium
i. Pursuit of what is right and wrong
ii. Sense of commitment to the other
iii. The weighting of options of good and bad
iv. A person is ruled by reason
v. Judge Wilhelm symbolizes this stadium
vi. We-centered
e. Religious
i. Pursuit of the divine
ii. Obedience and faith in God, even if it seems absurd
iii. Abraham is the symbolic figurehead of this stadium. He followed
Gods commandment to sacrifice his son Isaac although this
seemed utterly absurd
iv. Abraham made this existential leap of faith, thereby giving us an
example of the temporary suspension of faith
v. Job also is an interesting personification of this religious stadium.
The central question of the book of Job is whether Job loves God
for nothing, or whether Job would curse God if everything would be
taken from him, as propositioned by Satan
vi. God-centered
f. Miroslav Volf and his book Free of Charge
i. The kinds of people
1. Takers: those who take what does not belong to them
2. Getters of traders: those who give and take in exchange
3. Givers: those who give without expecting anything

Timothy Radcliffe, What is the Point of being a Christian?

Introduction:
I.

Introduction: Why be a Christian?

a.
b.
c.
d.

II.

Because it is true?
Because there are benefits and do I get something out of it?
Does it make a difference?
Do we dare to hope?

Are we actually interested? Do we have a spiritual hunger?

a. The author notes that there is a growing spiritual hunger especially among
young people today, cf. Anatrella Youth Today
b. 1999 European Values Study finds growing number of young people
consider themselves religious
c. Christian Smith, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, shows that there is an
interesting among the youth in religion/God
d. However, they are more interested in spirituality than doctrine
e. They believe without belonging (Grace Davie)
f. This spiritual hunger is often expressed in a pilgrimage
g. The question is, of course, do these journeys lead anywhere? (Radcliffe,
11) or are we just wondering in circles?

III.

Faith in the Gospel?

a. Literal meaning of the gospel: the good news
b. What is the news, and what is good about it?
c. We talk about freedom, love, happiness, but these concepts really
meaningless unless people actually free and courageous
d. Summary of the gospel: 1. Cor. 15:1ff: (New Revised Standard Version)
Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters,

[a]

of the good news

[b]

that I proclaimed to you,

which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being
saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to youunless you have come to
believe in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that
4

Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that
5

he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to
6

Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and

[c]

sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.

[d] 7

Then he

appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he
9

appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God.

10

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his

grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them
though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

11

Whether then it was I or they, so

we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

IV.

Purpose of the book

a. Not: trace the special ingredient
b. But: trace those aspects of the Christian faith that produces hope
c. To sit askew, as Radcliffe points out on page 4, to be out of line with
culture, to be counter-cultural
d. To not only speak of Gods love, but also to live out Gods love

V.

Chapter Outline
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.

Chapter 1: What it means to hope

Chapter 2: Christianity invites us to freedom
Chapter 3: Christianity invites us to happiness
Chapter 4: We require courage and virtue to liberate us and fill us with joy
Chapter 5: What does it mean to be bodily
Chapter 6: Understanding truthfulness
Chapter 7: Believe in the ultimate unity of humanity
Chapter 8: How that believe in unity might affect how Christians live
Chapter 9: How to heal disunity and polarization
Chapter 10: What it means to rest, the Sabbath

Timothy Radcliffe, What is the Point of being a Christian?

Chapter 1: I will awake the dawn?
I.

Intro:
a. The title of chapter is based on Psalms 108:2: Awake, harp and lyre; I will
awaken the dawn! (NASB)
b. What is the point of being a Christian?
i. Is our life heading in a certain direction?
ii. Is our life heading towards an ultimate goal?

II.

Pilgrimage
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.

III.

Our Christian faith finds expression in our life of pilgrimage

Ex: Story of the boy and the knight
Are we on a pilgrimage?
Are we heading somewhere?
Do we have a purpose?
Do we have a goal?
What is our fuel for our pilgrimage?

Hope or loss of confidence?

a. Christianity was born in a time of crisis
b. Instead of reigning in glory, Jesus was crucified and the disciples were
hiding
c. Do we see the current problems of society as overwhelming?
d. Does Christianity offer an alternative story of the future? (Radcliffe, 14)

IV.

Loss of confidence?
a. Many aspects in society have caused us to a loss of hope
b. I.e. by focusing on naturalism, we have lost focus of the significance of
God
c. Humanism has place the human being, education was seen as the
solution to the human problem, thinking that by eradicating ignorance, evil
could be eliminated from the world: in other words, if we just educate
people properly, bad things would not happen
d. However, the twentieth century has turned out to be completely different
than anticipated

e. It became to be called the century of war

f. Long list of possible of the ills of society: Cultural Pessimism, Aids, drugs,
Loss of meta-narrative, Global warming, Urban decline, Pollution,
Terrorism, Poverty, Economic crisis
V.

Hope expressed
a.
b.
c.
d.

e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
VI.

Thomas Aquinas: Hope is for difficult but possible future good

Radcliff: We must cherish the pilgrim itch that is in every human being.
This natural instinct to go and explore, discover, experience, and live
We must go on this journey like the two disciple to Emmaus, even if we at
times start off in wrong direction, or cant recognize the things that ought
to be so clear
When we share Gods love we express our hope
The Eucharist is an expression of our hope
Hope counters the evil in this world and the scandals in the Church
Hope challenges our fatalism (Radcliffe, 23) where one-sixth of the world
population live in poverty
There is hope of recreation and eternity

Renew the Christian hope

a. Radcliffe: As Christians we should refuse fatalism and try to achieve the
end of poverty
b. God liberates us from small ambitions so that we may learn to hope more
extravagantly (p. 24)
c. Hope in the young (p. 25): Augustine: God is younger than all else
d. Sign of the Eucharist as a sign of hope
e. Beauty brings hope in the face of death

VII.

Conclusion:
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without words.
And never stops at all. (Emily Dickinson)

Narcissism, Pragmatism, Unbridled Restlessness,

and the Non-Contemplative Personality
By Ronald Rolheiser, OMI in The Shattered Lantern (pp. 2751)
I.

Introduction:
a. Jesus said in Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see
God
b. What does it mean to have a pure heart?
c. What keeps us from having a pure heart?
d. What keeps us from seeing Jesus?
e. Chastity literally means purity, therefore this chapter will deal with chastity
as a way to remain pure at heart, in order to always be able to see Jesus

II.

Narcissism
a. Definition:
i. Narcissus was obsessed with his own beauty and he fell in love
with himself
ii. His love such that it took over his very existence, so much so that
he turned inward and became paralyzed
iii. In psychoanalysis, narcissism is called excessive selfpreoccupation
b. Four aspects:
i. The Incapacity to Recognize the Reality of Others
1. This self-preoccupation leads in its first step to a failure to
notice, the other around us, our neighbor
2. If we cannot recognize our neighbor, how can we see God?
ii. The Yuppie Instinct for the Quality of Life
1. Quality of life
2. Upward mobility
3. Pursuit of excellence
4. Material comfort
5. Aspects of this have always been true; however, what needs
challenge is the fact that it is tied to an explicit philosophy of
life in which unbridled individualism, selfishness, and

idiosyncratic development are unabashedly held up as

virtues. (Rolheiser, 31)
6. Example: Honorary doctorate for Mother Theresa and Meryl
Streep
iii. The Movement towards Excessive Privacy
1. There is nothing wrong with privacy, as well as private
property
2. We all have to protect our private life to a certain degree
3. The problem is the excessiveness, if we see property as a
way to gain security, power, and prestige
4. And we use these in our struggle against the other
iv. The Inability to Act Out of a Purpose Beyond the Idiosyncratic
Preference
1. Example of Brian, the businessman who devotes his life to
his career only to come home to an empty home
2. Brian is the norm rather than the exception
3. Many people are preoccupied with their own happiness,
fulfilment, and goals
III.

Pragmatism
a. Definition:
i. Pragma: Business
ii. Efficiency, sensibleness, practicality
iii. Truth lies within the practical efficacy
iv. The test of truth is not whether an idea corresponds to the way
things are, but whether an idea has some concrete utility, practical
consequence, or can be used to manipulate the world beneficially
b. Aspects
i. Taking our sense of worth from what we do rather than from who
we are
1. Doing counts for everything, whereas being counts for
nothing
2. The unemployed, the retired, the homemakers are seen with
little value

3. The result is that those who seem unproductive, i.e. the

unborn, handicapped, or elderly have little or no value
4. Abortion, Euthanasia is the result
ii. Having little patience for impractical ideas
1. Education becomes more about learning skills than wisdom
2. Society spends more money researching better material for
tires than to prevent teenage suicide
3. Technology is developing at a staggering rate, whereas the
social fabric of culture is falling apart
iii. Trusting only the Scientific Method
1. Science alone is given the right to establish facts
2. Personal faith is deemed as purely subjective, personal
preference
3. Efficiency: Thomas Merton when asked what the leading
cause for spiritual disease of our time is, answered that it is
efficiency, pointing to the fact that every ounce of energy is
spend on running everything as efficiently as possible,
leaving no energy for the contemplative aspects of life
IV.

Unbridled Restlessness
a. Growing pressures of life
i. Fast paced, fleeting images cause fatigue and burn-out
ii. People cannot enjoy the simple pleasures of life
iii. Rolheiser: restlessness is pushing us beyond what is healthy (p.
43)
b. Four aspects
i. Greed for experience
1. Maybe the rise of extreme sports is an indication for this
growing sense of greed for experience
2. We need to travel everywhere, see everything, we get easily
impatient with the familiar
ii. Impatience and Lack of Chastity
1. What happens if we are stranded at the airport

2. Example: the volcano that shut down most of Europe, people

found all sorts of ways to get home, even if they made it
home only a few hours before schedule
3. Chastity: To experience all things respectfully, and to
experience it when we are ready
4. Example: Today 16 years olds attempt to sail around the
world
5. Children are allowed to watch every sort of movie although
they are not old enough
6. In the US, it is normal for teenagers to get abuse alcohol
7. Premarital sex is only one indication of that
iii. The Loss of Interiority
1. Socrates: The unexamined life is not worth living
2. We are living such hectic lives that we have no time to rest
3. We are constantly surrounded by noise, always have the
earplugs in our ears, that we have no sense of silence in
order to contemplate and think
4. We are constantly distracted, always multi-tasking, not being
able to concentrate on one thing
5. We drive and text, watch TV and surf the internet, eat and
watch TV (in the US, a person caused a major accident
because he was using two cell phones at the same time
6. People are fulfilling more and more role all at once
7. Example: In the US, the phenomenon of the soccer mom is
V.

Conclusion
a. Blessed is the pure at heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8)
b. With a pure heart, we will not only see God, but we will be able to stand
askew the culture trends of narcissism, pragmatism, and this increasing
sense of unbridled restlessness
c. It is only in God that one may find true peace

Spirituality of Sexuality
Ronald Rolheiser, OMI, in The Holy Longing (pp. 192- 212)
I.

Introduction
a. The energy of sexuality is like a strong fire
b. It can create the greatest of emotions, both positive emotions like love,
joy, spirituality; however, it can also produce strong feelings of hate,
despair, loneliness, etc.
c. Sexuality is such a strong fire, that is at times difficult to channel it into
positive, life-giving forces

II.

Towards a Christian Understanding of Sexuality

a. Sexuality as an awareness of having been cut off
i. Secare: Literally to be cut off
ii. This strong feeling is how we wake up to the world
iii. We ache towards relationships, always aware of a certain
incompleteness
iv. This madness is also the catalysts for power energy
b. Sexuality vs. Genitality
i. Often times sexuality is confused with Genitality
ii. Whereas sexuality is the drive for love, communion, community,
friendship, family, affection, wholeness, etc.
iii. Genitality is the act of having sex, the physical consummation
c. A Christian definition of sexuality
i. It is a sacred energy given to us by God
ii. It is the urge to overcome the incompleteness
iii. Ultimately, it is the desire to find our way back into Eden to become
co-creator with God
d. Non-negotiable Christian Principles
i. For Christians, sex is something sacred
1. It builds the soul as a sacrament

2. At the same time, not used properly, it may disintegrate the

soul
3. Sex is sacramental
4. It is Gods physical touch to us
ii. For Christians, sex must be linked to marriage
1. Sex speaks of total giving, total trust, and total commitment
2. This can only be experienced in a permanent relationship
iii. Sex has a dynamic that will lead its partners to sanctity
1. Since sex is Gods energy within us,
2. It should lead one to a closer relationship to the one we love
3. But ultimately it should also lead us to a greater love towards
God
iv. Sex needs chastity as a healthy protection
1. Chastity is purity, respect, self-control, patience, reverence
2. All these dimensions are needed in order to enjoy healthy
sexuality within marriage
3. Our culture has lost the sense, and importance, of chastity
III.

Living in Inconsummation some Christian perspectives

a. The frustration of a livelong unfinished symphony
i. This is true for live
ii. As well as true for ones sexuality
iii. How can live in a incomplete world without allowing this
incompleteness frustrate other or even all aspects of our lives?
b. Some Christian perspectives What do we do until the Messiah returns
i. Understand the time we are living in
1. Realizing that we live in an interim time
2. That the final consummation of our lives and history still lies
ahead of us
3. While the frustration is real, it will one day be overcome
ii. Understand how wide is sexualitys hunger

1. Sexual hunger is not only to be united with another person

2. It is also the frustration of the unfulfilled tension, that we
cannot be completely united with everyone and everything
3. In monogamous relationships we are on the road to embrace
everyone, while in promiscuity, we are on the road to
embrace no one.
iii. Turn our inconsummation into solitude
1. This frustration drives us outward and may make us restless
2. This restlessness needs to be channeled into healthy
dimensions, among them solitude
iv. Sexual Incompleteness as solidarity with the poor
1. Incompleteness may teach us certain limitations
2. These limitations may help us to identify with those whose
circumstance is life to not allow them certain privileges
3. Like the poor, the disabled, etc.
v. Accept the inadequacy of our love so that its real power can show
through
1. Realizing that one is not complete and will never fully satisfy
the opposite is important
2. Realizing the false romanticism, the unrealistic and
imperialistic that we can have full symphony is mistaken
IV.

Augustines Ordo Rationis

a. Definition: That which governs the human life according to the principle of
reason. (p. 168 of James T. Bretzke, Consecrated Phrases, A Latin
Theological Dictionary)
b. .

Timothy Radcliffe, What is the Point of being a Christian?

Chapter 5: The Body Electric

I.

Introduction
a. Cf. Rowan Williams: Only the body saves the soul (quoted p. 91)
b. What is the link between the physical and the spiritual dimensions within
our being?
c. Christianity stresses the fact that we are worshipping God through the
body that God has given us, both body and soul
d. It is through the body that we experience/encounter God
e. Therefore, we need to understand the physical dimension in our lives
f. This in turn will allow us to understand the spiritual dimensions resulting
from the physical or bodily dimensions

II.

Historical and cultural perspective on the body/sex

a. Christian teaching values the goodness of the body
b. However, often times the body is seen as as if they are inconvenient
baggage, weighting us down until the soul can escape at death (Radcliffe,
p. 89)
c. Dualism: Split between the material and the spiritual
d. Docetism: Jesus only appeared to be have a physical body
e. Gnosticism: Evil nature of everything that is material/physical
f. Descartes dualism between body and mind
g. On the other hand, contemporary culture worships the young, beautiful, and
youthful body

III.

We encounter God only through our body

a. 1 John 1:1: This is what we proclaim to you: what was from the beginning,
what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have
looked at and our hands have touched (concerning the word of lifeb. 2: and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and announce
to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us)
c. 3: What we have seen and heard we announce to you too, so that you may
have fellowship with us (and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and
with his Son Jesus Christ)
d. 4: Thus we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete

IV.

Links between the Eucharist and sex

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

V.

The Eucharist also stresses the importance of the body

In the Eucharistic act, Jesus says: Here is my body for you
Similarly, in sex, we give our body to the other
We follow Jesus Christs example
2 reasons to understand sex as Eucharistic
i. Society trivializes the body, therefore sex becomes a mere
recreational activity
ii. We see bodies as objects we own (cf. excessive privacy as well as
personal ownership of property), therefore, never really giving it up
to the other
iii. Locke: self-ownership, a property in his own person

The Churchs teaching and sex

a. How is the Church to overcome the abyss between her teaching and the
way members of the Church lives?
b. According to the author, when it comes to sex, Catholics do not live
different than other members of society
c. The author admits: I do not know the solution!
d. But according to Radcliffe, the best starting point for understanding our
sexuality is the Last Super
i. Moment of crisis is also moment to bear fruit
ii. Instead of running away from crisis, we should embrace it
e. Chastity
i. Although chastity is not a fashionable word, it heals our love from
fantasy
ii. Chastity shapes ones life into a coherent story
iii. It helps us to live according to the ordo rationis, according to St.
Thomas Aquinas, the order of reason
iv. What he meant was, the living in accordance with the truth of real
things
v. In other words, living in the reality of who I am and who are the
people that I love.

VI.

Living with the power of our sexuality

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

VII.

The challenge to live with the power of eros exists

This is true for the married, the single, or the celibate
Unhealthy forms of fantasy: infatuation and lust
However, virtue lies in the middle
Reminders:
i. The energy of our eros may find release in our mission
ii. Husband and wifes love may be mutually liberating
iii. Ask yourself, is my love making the other person stronger, or is it
self-seeking
How can Christians persevere in a Eucharistic understanding of sexuality?
a. Learning to see peoples faces.
i. The Eucharist and chastity teaches us who are people really
ii. It teaches us to see the beauty and pain of people
b. One must learn to be alone
i. I cannot be happy without learning to be content with oneself
ii. Unless I rejoice in who I am, I cannot rejoice with other people
c. Every love may open the space for God to inhabit, rather than competing
for love, we should share it with others and God
d. We live by stories, our hearts need to be feed by alternative stories, i.e.
the stories of the saints
e. We need to pray in ways to remind our bodies who we are

VIII.

Conclusion:

I am glad (that you have fallen in love with P) because I think your temptation
has always been towards Puritanism, a narrowness, a certain inhumanity. Your
tendency was almost towards the denial of the hallowing of matter. You were in
love with the Lord but not properly in love with the Incarnation. You were really
afraid You were afraid of life because you wanted to be a saint and because
you knew you were an artist. The artist in you saw beauty everywhere; the wouldbe saint in you said, Keep your eyes tight shut; if P had not come into your life,
you might have blown up. I believe P will save your life. I shall say a Mass in
thanksgiving for what P has been, and done, to you. You have needed P for a long
time. Aunts are no outlet. Nor are stout and elderly Provincials. (quoted by Radcliff,
p. 108)