Benedict: God is Love

8. We have thus come to an initial, albeit still somewhat generic response to the two questions raised earlier. Fundamentally, “love” is a single reality, but with different dimensions; at different times, one or other dimension may emerge more clearly. Yet when the two dimensions are totally cut off from one another, the result is a caricature or at least an impoverished form of love. And we have also seen, synthetically, that biblical faith does not set up a parallel universe, or one opposed to that primordial human phenomenon which is love, but rather accepts the whole man; it intervenes in his search for love in order to purify it and to reveal new dimensions of it. This newness of biblical faith is shown chiefly in two elements which deserve to be highlighted: the image of God and the image of man.

The newness of biblical faith

9. First, the world of the Bible presents us with a new image of God. In surrounding cultures, the image of God and of the gods ultimately remained unclear and contradictory. In the development of biblical faith, however, the content of the prayer fundamental to Israel, the Shema, became increasingly clear and unequivocal: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord” (Dt 6:4). There is only one God, the Creator of heaven and earth, who is thus the God of all. Two facts are significant about this statement: all other gods are not God, and the universe in which we live has its source in God and was created by him. Certainly, the notion of creation is found elsewhere, yet only here does it become absolutely clear that it is not one god among many, but the one true God himself who is the source of all that exists; the whole world comes into existence by the power of his creative Word. Consequently, his creation is dear to him, for it was willed by him and “made” by him. The second important element now emerges: this God loves man. The divine power that Aristotle at the height of Greek philosophy sought to grasp through reflection, is indeed for every being an object of desire and of love —and as the object of love this divinity moves the world[6]—but in itself it lacks nothing and does not love: it is solely the object of love. The one God in whom Israel believes, on the other hand, loves with a personal love. His love, moreover, is an elective love: among all the nations he chooses Israel and loves her—but he does so precisely with a view to healing the whole human race. God loves, and his love may certainly be called eros, yet it is also totally agape.[7]

The Prophets, particularly Hosea and Ezekiel, described God's passion for his people using boldly erotic images. God's relationship with Israel is described using the metaphors of betrothal and marriage; idolatry is thus adultery and prostitution. Here we find a specific reference—as we have seen—to the fertility cults and their abuse of eros, but also a description of the relationship of fidelity between Israel and her God. The history of the love-relationship between God and Israel consists, at the deepest level, in the fact that he gives her the Torah, thereby opening Israel's eyes to man's true nature and showing her the path leading to true humanism. It consists in the fact that man, through a life of fidelity to the one God, comes to experience himself as loved by God, and discovers joy in truth and in righteousness—a joy in God which becomes his essential happiness: “Whom do I have in heaven but you? And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides you ... for me it is good to be near God” (Ps 73 [72]:25, 28).

St. Patty's Day and other ramblings...

My co-worker, Walter, and I enjoy a large American burger and a Peruvian beer at an American style bar in Lima.

My friend Charlie bringing a delicious mocha at my favorite cafe.

Another favorite delicious drink of mine, the chocolate helado.

Some quick reflections:

As my Spanish gets better and I get a little more courage to go out and about, I’m learning quite a bit about what the life of an average Peruvian is like. What I’ve learned has really opened my eyes to what it’s like to actually suffer and sacrifice.

My friend Charlie:
He’s 23 years old, has a high school education, knows some broken English, is engaged to a woman that is carrying his first child. Charlie wakes up every morning at 5 am, showers, presses his clothes, eats breakfast with his wife and then catches a series of 3 microbuses to work. His trip takes him about 90 minutes in the morning. He arrives at a small café where he’s worked for the last 3 months and prepares the kitchen and shop for the busiest time of the day: lunch.

Recently, Charlie got a promotion and is managing the wait staff: 1 or 2 people on a given day and now gets to wear a black tie which he’s really proud of and irons daily. At lunch, he usually will make special trips to deliver food for his loyal customers, runs around serving as many as 30 clients at once, and will provide back up support when the kitchen gets swamped. It’s a long day, and he’s usually closing up shop at 10pm, a 13 hour day, working 6 days a week, for a salary that was recently increased to about $300 per month.

On his days off, I thought he would be able to spend them with his pregnant fiancé, but in fact she has to work on those days. So the only time they actually get to see each other is between 11:30 pm and 1 am, and then when they wake up at 5 until he leaves at 8:30 am. It must be a tough life, but he didn’t tell me that. Instead, he works away, always wearing the biggest smile when I see him, “Ryan, my friend. Que tal?

This is a pretty story of the average Peruvian, it makes me sad, but then I realize that he is really happy. It’s almost the case of not knowing what else is out there. Many of the waiters and waitresses don’t know anything about the United States or Europe except for the occasional movie they watch, but I find that many of the movies and songs they like are not current pop culture, but rather, movies and music from 10+ years ago.

I’m sure I’ll have more on this as time goes on…

Pope Benedict: God is Love

7. By their own inner logic, these initial, somewhat philosophical reflections on the essence of love have now brought us to the threshold of biblical faith. We began by asking whether the different, or even opposed, meanings of the word “love” point to some profound underlying unity, or whether on the contrary they must remain unconnected, one alongside the other. More significantly, though, we questioned whether the message of love proclaimed to us by the Bible and the Church's Tradition has some points of contact with the common human experience of love, or whether it is opposed to that experience. This in turn led us to consider two fundamental words: eros, as a term to indicate “worldly” love and agape, referring to love grounded in and shaped by faith. The two notions are often contrasted as “ascending” love and “descending” love. There are other, similar classifications, such as the distinction between possessive love and oblative love (amor concupiscentiae – amor benevolentiae), to which is sometimes also added love that seeks its own advantage.

In philosophical and theological debate, these distinctions have often been radicalized to the point of establishing a clear antithesis between them: descending, oblative love—agape—would be typically Christian, while on the other hand ascending, possessive or covetous love —eros—would be typical of non-Christian, and particularly Greek culture. Were this antithesis to be taken to extremes, the essence of Christianity would be detached from the vital relations fundamental to human existence, and would become a world apart, admirable perhaps, but decisively cut off from the complex fabric of human life. Yet eros and agape—ascending love and descending love—can never be completely separated. The more the two, in their different aspects, find a proper unity in the one reality of love, the more the true nature of love in general is realized. Even if eros is at first mainly covetous and ascending, a fascination for the great promise of happiness, in drawing near to the other, it is less and less concerned with itself, increasingly seeks the happiness of the other, is concerned more and more with the beloved, bestows itself and wants to “be there for” the other. The element of agape thus enters into this love, for otherwise eros is impoverished and even loses its own nature. On the other hand, man cannot live by oblative, descending love alone. He cannot always give, he must also receive. Anyone who wishes to give love must also receive love as a gift. Certainly, as the Lord tells us, one can become a source from which rivers of living water flow (cf. Jn 7:37-38). Yet to become such a source, one must constantly drink anew from the original source, which is Jesus Christ, from whose pierced heart flows the love of God (cf. Jn 19:34).

In the account of Jacob's ladder, the Fathers of the Church saw this inseparable connection between ascending and descending love, between eros which seeks God and agape which passes on the gift received, symbolized in various ways. In that biblical passage we read how the Patriarch Jacob saw in a dream, above the stone which was his pillow, a ladder reaching up to heaven, on which the angels of God were ascending and descending (cf. Gen 28:12; Jn 1:51). A particularly striking interpretation of this vision is presented by Pope Gregory the Great in his Pastoral Rule. He tells us that the good pastor must be rooted in contemplation. Only in this way will he be able to take upon himself the needs of others and make them his own: “per pietatis viscera in se infirmitatem caeterorum transferat”.[4] Saint Gregory speaks in this context of Saint Paul, who was borne aloft to the most exalted mysteries of God, and hence, having descended once more, he was able to become all things to all men (cf. 2 Cor 12:2-4; 1 Cor 9:22). He also points to the example of Moses, who entered the tabernacle time and again, remaining in dialogue with God, so that when he emerged he could be at the service of his people. “Within [the tent] he is borne aloft through contemplation, while without he is completely engaged in helping those who suffer: intus in contemplationem rapitur, foris infirmantium negotiis urgetur.”[5]

Weekend Update!

Again, it's been too long since my last post. I suppose that happens when you're working a lot and just don't have the energy to write at the end of the day.

I've had another crazy, crazy busy week. I worked on two articles. The first one hit the big time!

Here's the background: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15311

Here's the story:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15325

This story led to the legislators pulling the bill because we exposed what they were really trying to do. Glenn Beck, who has a great show on Fox News, also had a guest on that quoted the story. One for the good guys...

Also worked on this story:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15376

But our weekend editor, who I had never met before, didn't understand this wasn't supposed to be a general news story, but more of an investigative report and edited it down a lot. He removed the important link of Clinton trying to redifine the term "embryo" as a tactical move like he had done in the past with his famous line, "it depends on what the definition of 'is' is," "I didn't inhale," and "I didn't have sex with that woman." I made the case in my original article that he was trying to do the same thing again, but this guy didn't get it. So it's just a boring article now.

Oh, and school is good. These kids are crazy, but good.

My Spanish is also coming along. I have a new tactic that's working well. I've been going to restaurants and cafes by myself and making friends with the wait staff. Since waiters are generally in the lower class (at least at the cheaper places I go to), they don't usually know much English, which helps me a) not to feel stupid when I try to speak Spanish and b) helps me to make new friends because I think they feel bad for this poor lost gringo!

Next week is a big week for us. We have a meeting for our Catholic Mobile which would allow us to produce an application for the iPhone and other mobile type technologies. I also have my second Economics Class, which will be big to see how much they understood the homework I gave them. I'll be teaching Catechesis on St. Patty's Day (to an Irish family no less) and trying to raise a little money on the side!