FAMILY AND SECULARIZATION

(Familiaris Consortio of the late Pope John Paul II emphasizes on family growth and development amidst material booming in our society. I tried once to project my thought on this, I just don’t know if it will get you.)

 

Each family finds within itself summons that cannot be ignored, and that specifies both dignity and its responsibility: family, becomes what you are looking at it in such a way as to reach its very roots, we must say that the essence and role of the family are in the final analysis specified by love. Hence the family has the mission to guard, reveal and communicate love. Thus, love as its point of departure and making constant reference to it, the recent Synod emphasized four general tasks of the family: 1) forming a community of persons, 2) serving life, 3) participating in the development of the society, 4) sharing in the life and mission of the church (PJPII, Familiaris Consortio).

As far as the aforementioned role and mission is concerned, nothing’s new really in its fundamentality, since its role and task had been specified since the dawn of the first family on earth – our fore parents. However, the love of the husband and wife is a “unique” participation (and therefore always old yet always new) in the mystery of life and love of God himself as specified by Pope John Paul II.

Intense secularization, is I guess something new in the open. The revolution of the new age gadgets, music, fashion an events mushroomed into an enticing lure that outrageously twists the unguarded consciousness of the young. I don’t mean to fully conclude that these stuffs are distructive. Rather most of these in fact, are intended to patch-up man’s mundane incapacities. Thus, leading to their comfort and felicity.

On the other hand, the maleficent aftermath is seems evident and radical than those of the beneficent effects. In a world view, people, especially the youth prefer to hobnob on malls and other places of joints and vanities than attending their moral and spiritual obligations on Sundays and instances calling for it. In our own perspective, in particular, what are locked in the palm of the majority in this present generation, especially of the youths, is a handful of a highlighted electronic buttons and the tingling tease of its teensy ringing tones – no other than the revolutionary breakthrough in the bivouac of communication – the cellular phones. Again, this is of a high significance to people especially of a far-flung communications. But what is demeaning here – is that this gadget syntheticate the natural a personal communications between men especially those who need close and actual intimacy. And, worse in this matter, it menacingly mingle in the family’s essential sense of communication. And how – experiences tell a lot.

This is just one of the many and the like factors that somehow radically influence the society, specially its essential cell – the family. Because what is intense and offensive secularization but to put a sturdy material boundary between the precious signature of love within the family circle, which is an intimate familial communication. Else, how could a family be a breading chamber of lives for themselves and to others if some of their members were so engrossed to night sessions, trite and skin-deep television shows, texting and malingering around with mostly impertinent company. How could a family take a step towards fulfilling their mission if they are blinded and scattered by the haze of materiality?

I guess its high time to keep the red lights on. Exercise the family’s synergistic and unitive aspect. So that they might be in full force to face the impending challenges awaiting them in this world. Revitalize the family’s dying potential flames to communicate love, to form community of persons, to serve life, to cooperate in the development of the society and to share the life and mission of the church.

 

FIDES ET RATIO

(Fides et Ratio, in other words Faith and Reason. It could be science and religion, or could be the mind and the heart. I wrote this years ago as a ‘pure thoughts’ on one of PJP II’s encyclical letter Fides Et Ratio.)

 

Their was once a story of a meandering Arabian who was having a respite in his tent, when a man happened to ask him. The man asked, “how do you prove that God exist?” The Arab blatantly answered, “how do I know that a camel or a man passed by my tent last night?”

Obviously what does this peculiar man (Arabian) mean? – it is but a rational notion of the existence of God. That God’s existence is overshadowed in the splendor and majesty of his creations.

Now, what is the noble connection between rational proof and faith? Let me quote for sometime the philosophical ideology of Rev. Fr. Michael Moga as has been clearly stated in his book, In Search of True Religion. I quote…

To affirm that there must be a supreme cause to account for the order in the world does not mean that I have faith, that I commit myself to this supreme cause in trust, obedience and love. Rather, the conclusion of these proofs is a calm, intellectual affirmation that, based in reason, a transcendent cause must exist.1

Clear and bright enough, that reason is not a vain word when we call for the proof of the existence of God. Natural Theology emphasizes that we can know God in two ways; ‘natural’ and ‘supernatural’. The natural knowledge of God gives weight to the “light of reason” (lumen rationes), while the supernatural on the “light of faith”(lumen fedei) and the “beatific vision” (lumen gloriae). By virtue of escalation, the light of reason appears at the last (not bad), primed by the beatific vision and seconded by the light of faith. Further, according to Pope John Paul II in his encyclical Fedis et Ratio, faith and reason are like two wings which enables, say for example, a dove to hover and be in balance while on its wings. Such so, that we cannot stifle any of them in search of God. We cannot put off the light of faith to give way for the light of reason to shine, and vice versa. We cannot put the other into inertness in order for the other to subsist. Rather, without the other (or any of them), it is an absurd attempt to know God. We both need faith and reason to know God. Reason needs faith to withstand the awe in standing in front of the Supreme Being. The same is through with faith, it needs reason acknowledge faith in logical sense.

I believe in the indissoluble and in separable marriage of faith and reason, or, of rational proof and faith. Since, after all, what is reason for but to know and to love God (according to the natural theology), as it is the purpose of man’s being. I believe that the purpose of reason is to remind us that we are indebted to know, to acknowledge and love Somebody. Else, we have nothing to be proud of in this world but a demeaning level of beasts.  Though reason works in a limited fashion, as the agent is evidently limited, faith, on the other hand, strikes the other side of the balance to perpetuate their noble purpose – to know and to love God.

At my end, I would like to quote Soren Kierkegaard when he said, that the fullness of my (ones) being is defined by the way I stand before God.       

THE BOSS

When the lord made man, all the parts of the body argued over who would be boss. The Brain explained that since he controlled all the parts of the body, he should be the boss. The Legs argued that they should be boss, since they could take the body anywhere it wanted. The Stomach argued with explanation that since he digested all the food, he kept the body healthy; therefore he should be the boss. The Eyes said that without vision, man could not see where he was going; therefore they should be the boss. The Rectum spoke up and applied for the job. The other parts of the body laughed so hard. Embarrassed, the Rectum closed up. After few days the Brain got so foggy; the Legs became wobbly; the Stomach became ill, the Eyes crossed and could not see.

Soon they all conceded that the Rectum should be the boss. Which just goes to prove that you don’t have to be Brain to be a boss; just  be an Ass!