commandment of love: who is the center of your universe?

29 april 2016 friday, 5th wk easter
(parenthetical notes and remarks mine)

message:

these past weeks and days, i feel a barrage of messages from the lord regarding forgiveness and theocentric thinking-feeling-acting.

the latest and so far, the most central but simplest actually, was this PM. fr rudy (as far as i could hear his name) of ermita church said:

one day, in our moral theology class, the professor asked us to take out 1/4 sheet of paper. he said it would only take 2 minutes and the rating would only be either a 100 or a zero!
the question was: "what was the commandment of love?"

the following day, the prof came with the results. he said, the papers on my right hand got it right and those on my left didn't. 

the wrong answer was: "love one another" (john 14:17) period. 

the correct answer was: "love one another as i have loved you" (john 14:12).

this is the gospel reading of today. (i just supplied the verses, realizing upon re-examination that both are biblical, but the correct answer is more complete.)

the point, said the prof: loving one another (anthropocentric) rests on a very UNSTABLE / shaky foundation, i.e., HUMAN LOVE. while, divine love is reliable and valid (using psychometric technical terms), i.e., UNCONDITIONAL.

application:

i just added in my mind: "unconditional" doesn't mean setting aside the demands of justice, like setting boundaries and ensuring that sin is not repeated, as much as possible (avoidance of near occasions of sin)!

so, i go back to my "soul-searching" post-dubai quest for MEANING and PURPOSE (one of the five pillars of positive psychology / education!!!) after i was met with a socio-emotional tsunami that crescendoed to an overwhelming proportion upon return! 

c/o aristarchus of samos (+c. 230BC), copernicus (15th c)

my central insight at that time was: "the sun is the center of the universe" (this famous phrase would be recited by a gifted child in one of the milk ads!). this is the HELEOCENTRIC theory (by polish dominican 3rd order & canon lawyer-mathematician-economist-physician nicolaus copernicus, 1543 cf: wikipedia)  vs the debunked GEOCENTRIC theory.

plato & aristotle: geocentrists

the sun = god, the planets = fellow humans. we look to god in the midst of turmoil and disappointment with human frailty.

nicolaus copernicus

oh, today, i also ready on the t-shirt of people i met on the road along UN ave, aside from "love god" !!!, "the glory of man is not in the falling, but in the ever rising from the falling" (or something to that effect; this was a constant refrain by our late methods of teaching teacher sis edel, fmm in the novitiate!!!)

confirmation:

in the commentary of fr xene sanchez, svd (our regent at christ the king mission seminary college department in ~AY 1980-81, now a biblical scholar in congo), he concludes:

"jesus told those he has chosen to bear fruit. the love that 'tends towards the OTHERS' pushes us to be SENSITIVE TO THE NEEDS of our brothers and sisters. christ's love is DEMANDING which entails great SACRIFICES like F O R G I V I N G as HE (theocentric) forgave those who wronged him, even those who B E T R A Y E D him.

if this great commandment were put into practice there would have been no more conflicts, no more war."

pistis (faith in greek) and episteme (knowledge)

the discussion of prof tim wilson on youtube www.youtube.com/watch?v=axARKdZ4eHo (9 minutes & 34 seconds) on plato's allegory of the cave made me reflect on two important technial philosophical terms: pistis (faith) and episteme (knowledge).

from the perspective of ancient philosophy, particularly plato's, pistis is classified in the realm of the cave (unenlightenment) to signify belief in mere opinion (doxa). while episteme (knowledge) refers to first-hand encounter of the object -- from shadows of actual objects to their reflections on water to the object itself, i.e., the SUN!

in theology, pistis is more important and higher than episteme. jesus said, "blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe (pisteusantes  = (yet) having believed, cf: biblehub.com)."

now, here's the compromise. through my exposure to protestant christians (particularly, evangelicals) and the infusion of pentecostal beliefs and practices in the catholic church through the charismatic movement, i saw how faith (pistis) becomes personal knowledge (episteme) in the personal testimonies of believers. 

this was my prayer-challenge to the lord after i left the seminary. and he answered me definitively 9 years later through a charismatic catholic healer who healed me of my ankle pain on july 4, 1997, feast of st thomas the doubter / the twin to show me in concrete that he is god the healer (exodus 15:26).

then, pistis and episteme became one.

here's a quote from carl jung that reflects this (thanks to my friend-colleage choncho sanchez who first pointed this quote out to me):

"i only believe (pistis) what i know (episteme)."

sun of justice / righteousness

malachi 4:2 

"but you who fear my name, the SUN (shemesh) OF RIGHTEOUSNESS will shine out with HEALING in its rays (literally "wings" or kanaph in hebrew); you will leap (paw the ground) like calves going out to pasture."

commentary (hermeneutics.stackexchange.com):

there is suggested an allusion to the sun god present in many cultures at that time like the egyptian sun god (a royal symbol) depicted in art as having wings.

the sun is the SOURCE OF LIFE -- physical (and spiritual)[jon lansing in ibid.)

tao and yin-yang in tao teh ching by lao tzu

Re: Creation and Nature of Things

Fr: Lao Tzu. Tao Teh Ching. (trans. John C.H. Wu). Boston & London: Shambhala (1990), ch 42, p. 64.

“Tao gave birth to One,

One gave birth to Two,

Two gave birth to Three,

Three gave birth to all the myriad things.

All the myriad things carry the Yin on their backs

and hold the Yang in their embrace,

Delivering their vital harmony from the

          proper blending of the two vital Breaths.

…

Truly, one may gain by losing;

And one may lose by gaining….”

plato's allegory of the cave

despite being a philosophy major (AB & MA), i have to admit that it is only now that i got clarified about plato's allegory of the cave. thanks to youtube.

Plato (died 348/7)

here is the link to an 8-minute animation c/o Churchill Films.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dlmsULpgjI

i was initially interested in plato's theory of forms which was referred to by an author explaining carl jung's archetypes.

but, what struck me in this animation is the SUN, symbol of God himself! thus, my attachment here.

lesson:

human nature is unenlightened without light from revealed divine truth. nevertheless, God has implanted conscience in us as a radar to grope towards him, the light. so, even unevangelized peoples can find their way to heaven, given whatever means is available to them.

the theory of forms, i believe, supports religion and spirituality because of it's faith in the invisible, the non-material, the perfect, the eternal. amen. :-)

confirmation:

re: plato's forms and jung's archetypes and my citation of christ

carl jung (died 1961)

"as far as i can judge from the documents of christian tradition, jesus christ was probably a definite human person, yet highly enveloped in archetypal projections, more so than other historical figures like buddha, confucius, lao-tse, pythagoras, etc. inasmuch as christ represents an archetypal image (he is of divine nature and thus the "son of god."
-- carl jung (letter to apul a. hilty) accessed from carljungdepthpsychology.blogspot.com/2013/10/jesus-christ-was-probably-definite.html

love is in the giving

24 april 2016
5th sun of easter

john 13:34 "i give you a new commandment: love one another; just as i have loved you, you must love one another."

homily of fr boni chavez, our new parish priest:

story 1:

he said he read this somewhere: a young boy, admiring a plush car, told the owner his admiration. owner: "it was given to me by my elder brother last christmas." boy: instead of saying "i wish i had a generous elder brother like you," said "i wish i could be like your elder brother so i can give the same to my younger brother." (the take away for me: don't begrudge your elder brother's reselling of the toyota 1999 car to your sister-in-law).

story 2:

(i've heard this several times from homilies, but it's worth repeating)

a cow, hen & pig were debating on who is the most useful of them:

cow: "i'm the most useful animal because i have to eat enough grass and drink enough water to be able to produce fresh milk for people to drink for breakfast."

hen: "i'm the most useful animal because i have to keep fit and healthy and well-rested to be able to lay down eggs daily for people to eat breakfast."

pig: (quiet, on the side; had to be asked by the cow & hen to participate) "oh, i'm the most useful animal because for people to have bacon on their breakfast table, i have to DIE!"

lesson: that's TOTAL COMMITMENT. 

that's what god is asking of us. there is a big difference between divine and human love. it is divine love that is the ARCHETYPE that he wants everyone to follow. another word for it is "UNCONDITIONAL LOVE."

in rogerian counseling, that is what we provide the client. 

no wonder, as the lay preacher said, "love is the most powerful healing power."

parental wound

excerpted from commentary on luke 24:35-48 (post-resurrection appearance: jesus eats baked fish) by fr jhonathan letada, svd (the word in other words: bible diary 2016) [caps mine]:

"i facilitated a day of recollection with a group of second year students. one of the very touching moments with them was when they wrote their PERSONAL LOVE LETTER TO GOD.
i asked them to find a comfortable place for themselves. some went to the corners of the room. others stayed at their own seats. and there was one student who stayed under the table, i did not mind her until finally i approached her and to my surprise she was soberly crying. her tears slowly dropped on her activity sheet. accompanying her in silence, i felt her pain. she wanted to say something but she had difficulty uttering ever a single word. when she was ready, she disclosed spontaneously, 'miss ko na po and daddy't mommy ko. kelan ko po kaya sila makikita uli? bakit kailangan pa nilang maghiwalay?' then, she started sobbing."

my comment:

dr pau vitz

this is part of my dissertation review of literature showing that parental experience has a direct relationship with relationship with god. ex: dr paul vitz's 1999 bk faith of the fatherless: the psychology of atheism.