Aug/090
Celebrating the Solemnity of the Assumption with Pope Benedict XVI
St Thomas of Villanova Parish
Last month my wife and I were on vacation in Italy, and we had the rare pleasure of celebrating the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin with Pope Benedict XVI. We traveled from Rome to his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, and we were able to attend mass at St Thomas of Villanova Parish. I don't speak Italian, so at the time I couldn't understand the homily. However it's available online in English.
Pope Benedict exiting St Thomas
A bit after mass (and a light lunch at a fantastic sidewalk cafe) we also attended the Angelus in the courtyard of the Papal Summer Residence. I was also able to get some video of the address (it's not great). Thankfully, the message of the Angelus is also available online in English.
Pope Benedict giving Angelus
If you're interested in watching the videos, you can find them here:
- Prayer during the Angelus
- Post Angelus greeting in English
Mar/090
Market Economy and Ethics
I found the following article on “Church and Economy in Dialogue” which was presented by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger in 1985 at a symposium in Rome. It's an interesting view of ethics and the economy. I'm trying to process it.
I'm a capitalist. I believe in a free economy and market forces. It's my opinion that many of the problems we see with capitalism happen because people (government) interfere with market forces. Don't get me wrong. I like the FDA. I want someone making sure I'm not eating diseased meat. I'm not saying I don't want regulation. However, if you look at current economic woes, I think much of how we got to where we are can be attributed to government involvement where they were trying "to do the right thing."
I was six years old in 1985, so I don't truly understand the context for the article. I know that. I appreciate some of the insights one can draw from the Ratzinger's ideas and I agree that there is a higher calling to bridge economic inequalities when they are as out of balance as they were then and are today. It's a difficult problem. I suspect I'll be thinking about this for a while.
Jan/090
Mathematics as the language of God
The article Faith by Numbers by Sandro Magister has some excellent Benedict XVI quotes in it:
"The great Galileo said that God wrote the book of nature in the form of the language of mathematics. He was convinced that God has given us two books: the book of Sacred Scripture and the book of nature. And the language of nature – this was his conviction – is mathematics, so it is a language of God, a language of the Creator.
"Let us now reflect on what mathematics is: in itself, it is an abstract system, an invention of the human spirit which as such in its purity does not exist. It is always approximated, but as such is an intellectual system, a great, ingenious invention of the human spirit. The surprising thing is that this invention of our human intellect is truly the key to understanding nature, that nature is truly structured in a mathematical way, and that our mathematics, invented by our human mind, is truly the instrument for working with nature, to put it at our service, to use it through technology.
"It seems to me almost incredible that an invention of the human mind and the structure of the universe coincide. Mathematics, which we invented, really gives us access to the nature of the universe and makes it possible for us to use it. Therefore, the intellectual structure of the human subject and the objective structure of reality coincide: the subjective reason and the objective reason of nature are identical. I think that this coincidence between what we thought up and how nature is fulfilled and behaves is a great enigma and a great challenge, for we see that, in the end, it is 'one' reason that links them both. Our reason could not discover this other reason were there not an identical antecedent reason for both.
"In this sense it really seems to me that mathematics – in which as such God cannot appear – shows us the intelligent structure of the universe. Now, there are also theories of chaos, but they are limited because if chaos had the upper hand, all technology would become impossible. Only because our mathematics is reliable, is technology reliable. Our knowledge, which is at last making it possible to work with the energies of nature, supposes the reliable and intelligent structure of matter. Thus, we see that there is a subjective rationality and an objectified rationality in matter which coincide. Of course, no one can now prove – as is proven in an experiment, in technical laws – that they both really originated in a single intelligence, but it seems to me that this unity of intelligence, behind the two intelligences, really appears in our world. And the more we can delve into the world with our intelligence, the more clearly the plan of Creation appears.
"In the end, to reach the definitive question I would say: God exists or he does not exist. There are only two options. Either one recognizes the priority of reason, of creative Reason that is at the beginning of all things and is the principle of all things – the priority of reason is also the priority of freedom –, or one holds the priority of the irrational, inasmuch as everything that functions on our earth and in our lives would be only accidental, marginal, an irrational result – reason would be a product of irrationality. One cannot ultimately 'prove' either project, but the great option of Christianity is the option for rationality and for the priority of reason. This seems to me to be an excellent option, which shows us that behind everything is a great Intelligence to which we can entrust ourselves.
"However, the true problem challenging faith today seems to me to be the evil in the world: we ask ourselves how it can be compatible with the Creator's rationality. And here we truly need God, who was made flesh and shows us that he is not only a mathematical reason but that this original Reason is also Love. If we look at the great options, the Christian option today is the one that is the most rational and the most human. Therefore, we can confidently work out a philosophy, a vision of the world based on this priority of reason, on this trust that the creating Reason is love and that this love is God."
The article goes on to do some analysis of those quotes. It's quite interesting.
Dec/080
Technological age
I found this news story from 2005 and noticed an interesting quote from Pope Benedict XVI:
Today we can dispose of vast material resources. But the men and women in our technological age risk becoming victims of their own intellectual and technical achievements, ending up in spiritual barrenness and emptiness of heart. That is why it is so important for us to open our minds and hearts to the Birth of Christ, this event of salvation which can give new hope to the life of each human being.
The risk of becoming a victim of my own intellectual or technical achievements is very real for me.
Dec/080
Christmas Prayer
While looking for text for a Christmas card this year, I found this fantastic prayer (really part of the text for a general audience on Christ's birth) by Pope Benedict XVI :
May the kind and loving good wishes that we exchange in these days reach all the contexts of our daily lives. May peace be in our hearts so that they are open to the action of God's grace. May peace dwell in families and may they spend Christmas united in front of the crib and the tree decorated with lights. May the message of solidarity and good will that comes from Christmas contribute to creating a deeper sensitivity to the old and new forms of poverty, to the common good, in which we are all called to participate. May all members of the family community, especially children, the elderly, the weakest, feel the warmth of this feast and may it extend subsequently to all the days in the year.
Sep/080
Faith and reason
I went back and started to read Pope Benedict's audiences on the early church fathers and saints. While reading the series on Augustine, I encountered some quotes that really struck a chord with me as I continue to reconcile faith and reason.
The following come from 30 January 2008, Saint Augustine of Hippo (3):
As a child he learned the Catholic faith from Monica, his mother. But he abandoned this faith as an adolescent because he could no longer discern its reasonableness and rejected a religion that was not, to his mind, also an expression of reason, that is, of the truth. His thirst for truth was radical and therefore led him to drift away from the Catholic faith. Yet his radicalism was such that he could not be satisfied with philosophies that did not go to the truth itself, that did not go to God and to a God who was not only the ultimate cosmological hypothesis but the true God, the God who gives life and enters into our lives.
These two dimensions, faith and reason, should not be separated or placed in opposition; rather, they must always go hand in hand. As Augustine himself wrote after his conversion, faith and reason are "the two forces that lead us to knowledge" (Contra Academicos, III, 20, 43). In this regard, through the two rightly famous Augustinian formulas (cf. Sermones, 43, 9) that express this coherent synthesis of faith and reason: crede ut intelligas ("I believe in order to understand") - believing paves the way to crossing the threshold of the truth - but also, and inseparably, intellige ut credas ("I understand, the better to believe"), the believer scrutinizes the truth to be able to find God and to believe.
This is important: a man who is distant from God is also distant from himself, alienated from himself, and can only find himself by encountering God. In this way he will come back to himself, to his true self, to his true identity.
Sep/080
Ten texts help crack pope’s pontificate, mission, ministry
Interesting story from CNS on some texts that might offer insights into Pope Benedict XVI. I thought I might do some legwork to track down some links to the material referenced:
- The pope's sermon at his inauguration Mass April 24, 2005
- The introduction and Part 1 of his encyclical "Deus Caritas Est" ("God Is Love")
- His talk Dec. 22, 2005, to the Roman Curia
- His sermon Jan. 8, 2006, at a Mass with the baptism of infants
- His meeting with young people April 6, 2006
- His interview in August 2006 with German reporters ahead of his homecoming visit to Bavaria
- The pope's speech at Germany's University of Regensburg Sept. 12, 2006
- His letter to Chinese Catholics June 30, 2007
- His second encyclical, "Spe Salvi" ("Saved by Hope"), published in late 2007
- His weekly audience talk on St. Augustine Jan. 30
The article included some bonus references/readings:
- The pope's 2007 book, "Jesus of Nazareth"
- His talk to young people in Yonkers April 18
