Athanasius the Great

When he was severely persecuted by the emperor and exiled 5 times from his See of Alexandria, Athanasius the Great was once told: O Athanasius, the entire world is against you. To which, he replied: And I am against the world!

One thing that moves me about Athanasius is his perseverence for the truth even if it meant persecution and martyrdom. The hero of Christian faith in the first Ecumenical Council at Nicea (325 AD), he succeeded his Patriarch on the Apostolic See of Alexandria. He immediately worked hard to regain people lost to the Arian heresy. From 319 AD Arius, a priest in Alexandria, had preached a distorted view of the relationship of Christ to God the Father. Arius claimed that the Son (Christ) was not God but only a creature, the first of all creatures. At the Council, the young Athanasius argued that the Son was God from God. Inspired by his defence, the Council produced the Nicene Creed which was further developed at the second Ecumenical Council at Constantinople (381 AD). The amazing thing is the insistence of Athanasius to use a Greek expression for the divinity of the Son emanating from the divinity of the Father although this expression "homoosious" was not Biblical. This movement under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is a sign of the development of doctrine in Catholic teaching, which was recently promulgated in the Second Vatican Council (Dei Verbum 8).

Athanasius is invoked not only as a saint, but also as a doctor of the Church (teacher for all generations).

True Freedom

The only freedom we can ever have is the freedom of love. Whatever we do, we are enslaved on earth to the flesh...to the self...If you think that you are free because you live in a free democracy, you are mistaken. Look around and you will see people carrying crosses and walking in the shadow of death. The most advanced technology cannot save you from spiritual death, unless you make a turn towards Love - God. If you are a worrier throw your worries on the One who said "Come to me all you tired ones and put your loads on me" This is the way of saints. They became saints because they learned to unload their fears, worries and thoughts on Christ. The communion of saints is the community in which everyone loves and supports the others. They entrust themselves to Christ. If you really wish to be free, unload your fears on Christ and tell him to give you the power of love. Work with the promptings of the Holy Spirit to receive his love and transmit it around you. For only in love there is freedom. The powers of the world look only to expand their empires at whatever cost - militarily, economically and socially - in order to prosper even if it means the insecurity, and destruction of other people(s). No one has the right to force their own version of "freedom" on other nations. We watched with horror the second Gulf war in which hundreds of thousands were scattered and became refugees. It is terrible that a Christian president gave himself such rights of invasion causing divisions not only with his Western allies but also within Muslim sects in Iraq. Moreover, this act of unjustified aggression caused and still causes persecution of Christians living in Iraq and the Middle East in general. This story is only one of thousands that took place on this earth causing death to millions of people. Some of the wars were justified on religious basis. The story of the Tower of Babel reminds us that humans who want to reach to heaven on their own will fail and be divided. The name of the Devil reminds us of division. But the power of the Spirit of God unites us all humans. For God loves us. Work with the promptings of the Holy Spirit to receive his love and transmit it around you. For only in love there is freedom!

Death in Light of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is "The Lord Giver of Life" as the Creed states. When we think of death, the Holy Spirit gives us light of life eternal. The Father sent his Son to save the world and the Son sent the Holy Spirit to sanctify the world. All graces are free gifts from God that come to us through the Holy Spirit. It is in Him that saints die to the self and the world. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God who urges us to repent and commit ourselves to God. This is why St. Augustine interpreted "blasphemy against the Holy Spirit" in the sense of stubbornly refusing to repent until the last moment of life. Death in light of the Holy Spirit is seen as only a transition to the fullness of life which is to see God "face to face." Who could see God face to face in this earthly life but Christ alone? Even Moses the great messenger of the Old Covenant was told by God "No one sees me and lives." Why Christ alone could see God? Because Christ is God, one with the Father who lives the fullness of love from eternity.

If God is Love, then he could not love himself in loneliness. From eternity, He must love another - His image, His Son. The Father loves the Son so much that he empties himself and gives his divinity unconditionally to the Son. The Son receives this love and in turn returns the divinity in self-emptying love to the Father. The dynamism that binds the Father and the Son in their eternal love is the Holy Spirit who is Love. In Karl Rahner and Joseph Ratzinger, God is not a person but a relatedness of persons (i.e. a relationship). It is impossible to comprehend God. But we can know God in our experience of love. The more we love others the more we love God and know Him. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to love unconditionally. Did not He say "Even if a mother forgets her infant, I will not forget you"? Augustine in the same vein says "Love and do what you will," because he deeply knew that true self-emptying love is the essence of God. He knew God. Knowledge never meant a mere literalist objective understanding, but also a subjective experience of the other.

Since today, May 22, is the feast of St. Rita of Cascia, it is good to recall that she was a mother and a wife who loved God, loved her unfaithful husband and her two sons in a beautiful way. When her husband was killed in a vendetta, she prayed that her sons never avenge the death of their father. In an extraordinary answer to prayer, God allowed her sons to die before committing an act of vengeance. Rita, a widow after 18 years of suffering, spent the rest of her life in a convent helping the sick. The Oxford Dictionary of Saints recounts "By constant prayer and mortification, accompanied by meditation on the Passion of Christ were so intense that a wound appeared in her forehead as though pierced by a crown of of thorns, she became a mystic" (The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, p. 371). An example of real martyrdom, Rita is credited with the intercession of many miracles after her death. Her incorrupt body remains in an elaborate tomb until this day. She is called "Saint of the Impossible Cases." This is an example of the gifts of the Holy Spirit greatly actualized in the lives of people when they cooperate with His will for the salvation of the world.

Death in Light of the Resurrection

While everyone wants to live, everyone ends up in death. The experience of a close person dying was brought to me personally when my aunt Victoria died a few weeks ago. When someone you love dies, you think of yourself at least subconsciously. This is why older people go to church thinking of their approaching death so they could repent before they die. Many people I know would want to die, but they do not want to suffer before they die. This is what Victoria hoped for but this saintly woman was not spared suffering - She had to suffer for years. Even when there is no suffering, no one will escape death... From a natural view, death is a threat of annihilation. Since humans are probably the only creatures who can think of death, they have always attempted to overcome it. At least two ways have been attempted since early civilizations: 1) Man begets offspring so as to carry him from generation to generation. This is why in ancient cultures, infertility was considered a curse of God or the gods. 2) Man builds temples, pyramids, and towers to eternalize himself when he is gone in the memory of his offspring. Today medical procedures to reproduce the self have been attempted for the same reason, immortality, but without much success - an example is cloning. In all the above cases, eternalization failed. Offspring do not really carry the person in their lives. They also die. Temples and towers carry only a memory of the past and they too perish. Cloning, if successful, does not eternalize the self. It simply reproduces another copy of the self which also dies. From a socio-economical view, death is a separation of humans. It breaks the family and the community. Survival becomes harder when the breadwinners are gone. From a psychological view, death separates the lovers and the beloved. He dies and she mourns him or vice versa...And the community too mourns the dead. It is a fact that only humans bury their dead. Whether this is because they want to protect them, venerate them, or to simply go on with life and attempt to forget them, is subject to debate. However the fact that love remains after separation of death is a strong evidence that love is stronger than death and accordingly the unselfish lover may hope to find his beloved after his or her own death. This hope is found in many old religions and mythologies. Today scientific research in psychology recognizes the enormous benefits of the hope provided by religion. Near Death Experiences of a survival after death have also been documented in numerous cases. Love seems not only to survive death but has also been found to be naturally strengthened through the brain hormone oxytocin. Sexual intercourse -the act of love between man and woman - is naturally procreative and has the potential of begetting new life.

From a Christian perspective, there is a higher dimension to consider. Christianity alone of all ideologies and religions speaks of both eternal life and eternal damnation after death. The reason for this is that the truth of love carries responsibility and eternal consequences. Early Christians postponed their baptism till their deathbed to ensure they are cleansed of their sins by the water of baptism in which according to St. Paul "We are buried with Christ so that we rise with him." This is the sacrament that brings the baptized into the communion of the Church. It carries the significance of the Resurrection of Christ. The development of the monastic life is a direct result of the admonishment to "die to this world" and hope for the next one. The parable of the rich man provides a strong case when God said to him: "Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be" (Luke 12, 20). Even though monasticism seems to be too harsh for modern lay people to imitate, modern life offers the same harsh conditions at least psychologically due to increased materialism in social conditions. As an example, the effect of materialism is so widespread that divorce and abortion are leaving scars in societies which legalized them in the Western world. In the Middle East, increased Islamic fundamentalist violence has broken loose and threatens human life itself. Death can be defined not only as the elimination of physical life, but also as the decline, isolation and eventual death of spiritual personal and communal life. So great is the loss of Christian faith in Europe and North America that other forms of Eastern New Age spirituality have taken hold of many Christians. In the midst of a civilization of death, Blessed Pope John XXIII hoped that it still produces saints as much as earlier Christian civilizations. Paul says "Where sin increased, grace multiplied" This is a positive outlook that God's love is available to the most wretched. From a Christian perspective, the more life becomes difficult, the more living as a Christian makes those who cling to Christ true saints. Myrna Al-Akhras of Damascus is a living example of such testimony. Taken in this supernatural dimension the meaning of death is more than a physical death but denotes the increasing self-sacrifice for the other and for the sake of the Triune God who inspires love. It is the opening of the self to the gift of God - The word "Islam" itself means submission to God. How is the Resurrection of Christ related to death: The Resurrection of Christ is the basis of Christian faith. But we cannot separate his resurrection from his death. "Where is your thorn, O Death!" St. Paul said after he saw the risen Christ. Most of the Biblical accounts of the Resurrection of Christ tie his death to his Resurrection. Reaching the resurrection is not easy at all. Mother Teresa herself confessed in her letters that she did not feel God's love for her for over 40 years. Yet she persisted in loving him in her services to the dying and in her constant prayers everyday. Although she was surrounded by many sisters she was alone in her inner "death" - She felt no consolation from God. Teresa was "abandoned" by God to the point that she experienced doubts about the existence of God. This mystic shook hands with me in Egypt before coming to Canada and I did not know then the blessing she brings even in her "dark night" of which St. John of the Cross speaks. In the entire history of the people of God, even great saints did not want to die. The Gospel of John gives a vivid picture of the dialogue of Jesus with Peter after Jesus' Resurrection. Peter, the chief Apostle who saw Christ in the Transfiguration surrounded by Moses and Elijah also saw Christ after his Resurrection, yet after Christ made him the chief shepherd of his flock, he said to Peter these words "Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go" (John 21:19). These words ring in our ears today and remind us that none of us wants to really die. But if that is the case, how did the martyrs accept death for the sake of Christ? What made the Apostles, who were so fearful after the Crucifixion, so courageous in the face of death after the Resurrection? I believe the difference lies in the power of the Holy Spirit who urges us to repent and open ourselves to the mystery of Christ risen and glorified. For the Spirit transforms people's hearts when they accept his grace. This, I believe, is what made Paul exclaim "Where is your thorn O Death!" and what made Peter accept martyrdom for the truth of Christ. It is the same Spirit who gave courage to Mother Teresa in order to persevere in spite of her apparent inner loneliness. He is the Spirit of Love. Where love prevails, love bears fruit, because God is Love. Love begets love. Love survives. Love is stronger than death because it springs from God. People ask: What happens after death? According to Catholic teaching, God does not send anyone to hell. God desires all to be in the kingdom of heaven. The person who, with full consent, completely refuses God's grace and love and remains closed upon himself (e.g. completely hating or selfish) until the last moment of his life endangers his eternal salvation. The Catholic Church does not know of any population in hell, yet the possibility of being in hell is real. On the other hand, the Catholic Church has declared over 6,000 saints and hopes there will be many more in heaven. The Catholic Church recognizes the advances in psychological studies and for this reason allows prayer over the departed ones who commit suicide and whose will may have been diminished at the moment of death due to drugs, stress, or other psychological factors. For many reasons including the above ones, we can only pray to God, who knows the hearts of people, for our salvation and that of everyone. However, as Christians we are accountable to bring the Gospel (the good news) to everyone around us and to the world. The Eucharist is a communion of Christ. Prayer is also an important element in the communion of Christ. Reaching out to the needy is one more act of charity (love) which reflects a Christian attitude.

To recap, death is real and unavoidable. A number of phenomena indicate the survival of death.

Christian faith tells us that God is Love. Since we all look to be loved, it is reassuring that the Almighty One loves all of us unconditionally. In view of the Resurrection of Christ, we entrust the departed to God's love and hope to be with the beloved in heaven. He is faithful and will not foresake us.

The Way of the Resurrection: Imitation of Christ on the Cross and Saints

I want to first thank our Lord Jesus Christ for his outpouring love which I believe, with the Church, that it is the essence of God. “God is Love” says St. John the Apostle. There is no Resurrection without the Cross. And to imitate Christ on his cross, I must start with imitation in the anthropology of homo sapiens. Imitation is one of the traits that distinguish the human race. Very young kids imitate their parents, and we, too, adults imitate others. This is one of the ideas of René Girard’s mimetic theory. Girard, a member of l’academie francaise and retired Professor of civilization at Stanford University has challenged the academic world with his insight into generative anthropology, psychology, evolutionary sciences and Biblical studies. His multi-disciplinary approach has also impacted post-modern philosophers. This research correcting the great Jean Piaget was confirmed by Giacomo Rizolatti, and his neuroscientists team in 1996 in their discovery of the mirror neurons. According to Girard, much of our desires’ outcomes are the result of mimesis (imitation). A man desires a woman more strongly when he perceives that his model, his brother for example, also desires her. By the same token, I imitate leaders/artists/politicians/academics that were/are models to me. I also imitate the good saints if they influence me. For so long, I regarded great saints as my model. I am sure that many people admire saints such as the Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mary points us to Christ. Many Muslims, like Christians, venerate her even though they stop short of worshiping her son. Most people shy away from declaring their faith for fear of social or political pressure in secular countries, or worse, in dictatorial countries, for fear of violence/vengeance against them. This leads me to talk about one courageous woman whose love of Christ made her imitate him. She has been recognized all over the world as the saint of Calcutta. I was reading last night the “private writings of Mother Teresa” who passed away in 1997 and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2003. One of Mother Teresa’s private letters addressed to her spiritual director, Jesuit Fr. Joseph Nuener in 1961 says this (Focus here) “In Loreto, Father, I was very happy – I think the happiest nun. Then the call came. Our Lord asked directly – the voice was clear & full of conviction. – Again & again He asked in 1946. – I knew it was He. Fear & terrible feelings – fear lest I was deceived. – But as I have always lived in obedience – I put the whole thing before my spiritual father – hoping the whole time that he will say – it was all devil’s deception, but no–like the voice– he said–it is Jesus who is asking you–& then you know how it all worked out –My Superiors sent me to Asanol 1947– and there as if Our Lord just gave Himself to me– to the full. The sweetness & consolation & union of those 6 months–passed but too soon. And then the work started –in Dec. 1948. –By 1950 as the number of the Sisters grew–the work grew. – Now Father–since 49 or 50 this terrible sense of loss–this untold darkness–this loneliness–this Continuing longing for God–which gives me that pain deep down in my heart.–Darkness is such that I really do not see–neither with my mind nor with my reason.–The place of God in my soul is blank.–There is no God in me.–When the pain of longing is so great–I just long & long for God–and then it is that I feel–He does not want me–He is not there.”(Kolodiejchuk, 2007, Pp. 209-210). The missionary she founded “The Missionaries of Charity” expanded far beyond her expectations, not only in India but also in Europe and North America. Many people converted to the Catholic faith when they saw her example. Nevertheless, Teresa endured her night of darkness for 50 years. She did not waver in her love of Christ. She said in another letter to the same priest “No Father, I am not alone - I have His Darkness – I have His pain ­– I have the terrible longing for God–to love and not be loved.” (Kolodiejchuk, 2007, P. 225). She wanted in her mission to satiate the thirst of Jesus on the cross for souls. In her response to Archbishop Perier in 1956, Mother Teresa showed her determination to accept anything Jesus would permit in order to satiate his thirst for souls: “Please pray for me, that I may please God to lift this darkness from my soul for only a few days. For sometimes the agony of desolation is so great and at the same time the longing for the Absent One so deep, that the only prayer which I can still say is - Sacred Heart of Jesus I trust in Thee – I will satiate Thy thirst for souls” (Kolodiejchuk, 2007, P165). Jesuit Fr. Edward Oakes commented on Mother Teresa’s doubts and desolation revealed in 2007 in an article published in First Things. He said this “Mother Teresa's darkness was a direct result of the actions of Jesus on her soul. She first felt the call to leave her original order, the Sisters of Loreto, and establish a new order, the Missionaries of Charity, when she heard the voice of Jesus say, "I thirst." That is, he thirsted in the poor; and when in obedience to him, she turned to the destitute to slake that thirst, she became Christ's own chosen instrument, living out the same reparative suffering that had already brought redemption to the world—but which now has to be continued by the members of his Body, the Church. In other words, to understand the reality of her experience of darkness, one must turn, yet again, to St. Paul, who said: "I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his Body" (Col. 1:24). Thus, far from representing a temptation to infidelity, Mother Teresa's darkness was the truest indication of her fidelity to Christ and to his ongoing work of redeeming the world, mediated through the suffering members of his Church. No wonder, then, that, except for a few captious and frightened atheists, the world—and not just Catholics—has so quickly and readily recognized her as a saint. Because she is one.” (Oakes, 2007). In His death, Christ experienced hell. His thirst on the cross is in need of such souls as Mother Teresa. She, as many before her, participated in the sufferings of Christ so as to share in his Resurrection. References: Kolodiejchuk, B. (2007). Mother Teresa – Come Be My Light, The Private Writings of the “Saint of Calcutta,” Image-Double Day. http://www.amazon.com/Mother-Teresa-Private-Writings-Calcutta/dp/0385520379#noop Oakes, E. (2007). Does Doubt Belong to Faith?, First Things, October 2007 issue.