A Reflection on Man

Today Tuesday August 6, the Church celebrates the feast of the Transfiguration of Christ. The event is written in the Gospel (see Luke 9: 28-36).


This is the feast of the Melkite Catholic parish in Toronto. It was celebrated on Sunday August 4 in the 12:00 noon Divine Liturgy presided over by the visiting former Patriarchal General Vicar over the See of Jerusalem Most Reverend Emeritus J. Jules Zerey at the Byzantine Cathedral of the Transfiguration. 
Let us turn to an inspiring lecture on the transfiguration of Christ:
The Gospel reading recalls to mind not only the transfiguration of Christ but also two great persons who appeared with him on the mountain: Moses and Elijah. In a talk at Jesus the King Church in 2008, Fr. Georges Farah, who earned his doctorate in philosophy from France and taught philosophy in Lebanon, expressed the deep meaning of the transfiguration. Let us contrast the two characters, he said. Moses was the Law maker – He experienced God’s presence at Mount Horeb in a burning bush that never extinguished its light. Moses delivered his people out of Egypt's slavery by mighty signs and gave them the Ten Commandments. Elijah, on the contrary, was the challenger of the Law. Elijah heard the Lord God and delivered his people out of another slavery: that of the false god: Baal. For this, he had to face the tyrant Ahab the king and his queen and their priests. While the Baal’s priests offered offerings to the Baal and prayed all day with no result, Elijah’s word opened heaven and fire descended at once and consumed his offering. He was the greatest prophet of Israel. Both Moses and Elijah transformed the lives of the people of God. Why did they appear and talk with Christ? Here is the question. If we go back to the event, we will find the key: Christ goes beyond the Law maker and the Prophet. The Law maker shows us the past- the Prophet shows the future. Christ is beyond both: He is the eternal one. To him, past and future are present. Eternity is beyond time. And Christ the Divine needs no time. The Law restricts (or regulates) our freedom (You shall not kill…You shall not desire your neighbour’s wife…etc.). Christ’s law goes beyond the Law- The law of Christ is perfect freedom! Christ’s law goes beyond good and evil. There are no categories for people: No one is inherently evil. Recall the healing of the man born blind. For the Jews he was born blind because of his sins or his parents’ sins. For Christ, the reason is utterly different: to make God’s wonders present in him. i.e. to show God’s love to him. Civilizations are tired with the old question of good and evil. Christ’s answer is simple: No human is evil. The more Christian values for human dignity are embedded in human laws, the closer we are to Christ’s law. In the developed world today, capital punishment has been eliminated – Why? Because people started to understand that a murderer is to be treated as a sick man not as a criminal. The Transfiguration offers us a glimpse of divinity’s light. The great light is that in spite of his impending suffering and death, Christ, the Eternal One, lives a life beyond the Law- a life of self-emptying love and joy. He teaches Israel his new law: love to the end. Do you want to start to be like Christ? Love and accept each one you encounter as he is. Treat your intimate husband or wife as you would treat a stranger with respect and dignity. Treat your children as they are with respect. They are not your slaves. They are God’s gift to you. We have nothing here that is not given to us. And receive that joy of life that the Spirit of God gives. Do this and you will experience the Transfiguration. * Based on a lecture by Fr. Georges Farah on Friday August 8, 2008 at Jesus the King Church, Toronto

On Sunday July 21, I was highly impressed by the 12:00 noon Divine Liturgy presided over by Most Reverend Emeritus J. Jules Zerey. In the same Divine Liturgy, sung by the renowned Homsy choir, the parish celebrated the 22nd anniversary of priesthood of Reverend Ibrahim El-Haddad, BSO, Pastor of Jesus the King whose patron is the Prophet Elijah (St. Elias). Following the celebration, the Council of the Knights of Columbus at Jesus the King invited both of them, and me to Jerusalem Restaurant along with many other parishioners. As we shared bread together, Most Reverend Emeritus Zerey gave us a little cross from Jerusalem which I pinned on my shirt, and, on behalf of Jerusalem Students project pioneered by the outgoing Grand Knight at Jesus the King, handed me a nice certificate due to sponsorship of a student in the Patriarchal school near Jerusalem.

On Sunday July 28, the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad reflected on how Abraham requested God not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and spare the city for the few innocent persons that lived there (Genesis 18: 20-32) and gave an eloquent homily on the dignity of man in God's truth that we miss today (L'Histoire… un scénario écrit d’avance ? here in French).  What he said reminds me of St. Thomas Aquinas who based his reform on Aristotle's philosophy. According to the philosophy of  St.Thomas Aquinas (here), every reasonable person acts according to his inclinations. He is free but must act responsibly to avoid falling into error against his natural end that is in God. God, in creating everything, let it be and grow on its own. i.e. God does not predetermine things but let them exist and grow. He sees everything present to him. Nevertheless he does not normally and directly intervene in the cosmos, except in heavenly acts of healing which are rare, until judgment is passed on the living and the dead (Nicene-Constantinople Creed) when every person does an account for his life here according to his conscience. Yes, we are responsible for our acts. The Texas Walmart shooting of innocents on Saturday August 3 was a free act. It resulted in the death of 20 persons (see BBC report here). In Toronto reports show gun violence that injured 17 persons in the long weekend that ended on Monday August 5 (reported here), Man can be an Islamic terrorist or a White supremacist or some other kind of vengeful actors. Yet  a free person can attain many good things. The Church continues its mission to bring Christ to non-Christians through her missionaries everywhere in the world. Count only the Congregation of the "Sisters of Charity" founded by Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The nuns serve the poor of the poor and when hospitalized they preach to them the wounds of Christ through which we are healed (see my post here) The Church continues to help every needy in the name of Christ. Some examples include the many hospitals run by nuns and Dominican priests, and here too in Toronto, visit Covenant House in which the Archdiocese of Toronto receives youths who have been expelled from their homes by their parents (see its programs here). I wish to share here a post I wrote in 2017 about the quantum universe that will surely attract the readers attention since it shows how the entire universe and us in it are achieving things because in us God reflects his love for all (see the post here).  And without doubt we can also reflect on God's work with two great mystical theologians on the 20th century namely the Jesuit scientist Teilhard de Chardin; and the great mystical theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar regarded as great contributors to the unfolding of Christ's mystery by one of the most eloquent theologians in contemporary Catholicism namely Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (the post is written in May 2019 - see it here).
In the Gospel Jesus speaks of weeds in a way that tells the disciples about the choices that men make and how everyone chooses his/her eternity based on their deeds here and the attempts of the evil  enemy of humankind to lure them away. It can be found here:

"The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, `Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?' He said to them, `An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, `Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he said, `No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'" (Matthew 13:24-30).

This past Sunday, August 4, the Gospel reading was that of the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:16- 21). In his homily at the 10:00 am Mass at Holy Rosary parish in Toronto the parish pastor and renowned Biblical scholar Msgr. Robert Nusca advised parishioners to give out of their earnings to the needy in society and to support parish programs in which young ones and older ones are being helped and taught. The author of "The Christ of the Apocalypse: Contemplating the Face of Jesus in the Book of Revelation" warned parishioners not to waste time and money on things that perish but "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." (Matthew 19:21).   In Cairo, Egypt, Fr. Boulad spoke about being vigilant (in French here "Vanité des vanités… tout est vanité ..."). Christ said to his disciples to be vigilant "for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect."(Matthew 24:44). Fr. Boulad said that he finds this awaiting attitude in John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ. "He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light." (John 1:7-8). In the same vein of being vigilant, Fr. Boulad remembered Simone Weil (d. 1943); a French visionary, mystic, and philosopher considered "the only great spirit of our times" by the "Philosopher of the Absurd" Albert Camus. For Fr. Boulad, evolution is a theory that shows that humanity goes forward always. It is the Christian eschatology that made humanity's hope comes close to men's hearts and minds...We find it in the Virgin Mary's attentive reception of God incarnate in her womb...The Lord who was, is and always will be! The "Phenomenon of Man" is Teilhard's evolutionary paradigm from the atmosphere, to the biosphere, and finally to the leap into the noosphere in humanity  - it is also in the vision found in Christian eschatology revealed in Christ "the Alpha and the Omega...the One who is and who was and who is to come; the almighty" (Revelation 1:8). In the vision of Teilhard de Chardin, Christ is the "Omega Point." "The One who sat on the Throne said 'Behold, I make all things new'" (Revelation 21:5).

"Maran Atha" (Come Lord Jesus) writes the visionary of the Book of Revelation (Revelation 22:20). Awaiting Him "through whom all things came to be" (John 1:3).

We must not despair for the Judge is Christ who tasted being alone on the cross when his disciples escaped. Following the great theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, we also hope in God's mercy.

Let us conclude with this magnificent hymn sung at St. Anne in Belfast (named Love Divine):
"Finish then thy new creation - pure and spotless let us be" here.

Ron Rolheiser,OMI : WHAT DOES IT MEAN “TO BE BORN AGAIN”?

What does it mean to “be born again, to “be born from above”? If you’re an Evangelical or Baptist, you’ve probably already answered that for yourself. However, if you’re a Roman Catholic or a mainline Protestant then the phrase probably isn’t a normal part of your spiritual vocabulary and, indeed, might connote for you a biblical fundamentalism which confuses you.

What does it mean to “be born again”?  The expression appears in John’s Gospel in a conversation Jesus has with a man named, Nicodemus. Jesus tells him that he “must be born again from above”.  Nicodemus takes this literally and protests that it’s impossible for a grown man to re-enter his mother’s womb so as to be born a second time. So Jesus recasts the phrase metaphorically, telling Nicodemus that one’s second birth, unlike the first, is not from the flesh, but “from water and the Spirit”.  Well … that doesn’t clarify things much for Nicodemus, or for us. What does it mean to be born again from above?

Perhaps there are as many answers to that as there are people in the world. Spiritual birth, unlike physical birth, doesn’t mean the same thing for everyone. I have Evangelical friends who share that for them this refers to a particularly powerful affective moment within their lives when, like Mary Magdala in the Garden with Jesus on Easter Sunday, they had a deep personal encounter with Jesus that indelibly affirmed his intimate love for them. In that moment, in their words, “they met Jesus Christ” and “were born again”, even though from their very childhood they had always known about Jesus Christ and been Christians.

Most Roman Catholics and mainline Protestants do not identify “knowing Jesus Christ” with one such personal affective experience. But then they’re left wondering what Jesus meant exactly when he challenges us “to be born again, from above”.

A priest that I know shares this story regarding his understanding of this. His mother, widowed sometime before his ordination, lived in the same parish where he had been assigned to minister. It was a mixed blessing, nice to see her every day in church but she, widowed and alone, began to lean pretty heavily upon him in terms of wanting his time and he, the dutiful son, now had to spend all his free time with his mother, taking her for meals, taking her for drives, and being her one vital contact with the world outside the narrow confines of the seniors’ home within which she lived. During their time together she reminisced a lot and not infrequently complained about being alone and lonely. But one day, on a drive with her, after a period of silence, she said something that surprised him and caught his deeper attention: “I’ve given up on fear!” she said, “I’m no longer afraid of anything. I’ve spent my whole life living in fear. But now, I’ve given up on it because I’ve nothing to lose! I’ve already lost everything, my husband, my youthful body, my health, my place in the world, and much of my pride and dignity. Now I’m free! I’m no longer afraid!”

Her son, who had only been half-listening to her for a long time, now began to listen. He began to spend longer hours with her, recognizing that she had something important to teach him.  After a couple of more years, she died. But, by then, she had been able to impart to her son some things that helped him understand his life more deeply. “My mother gave me birth twice; once from below, and once from above,” he says. He now understands something that Nicodemus couldn’t quite grasp.

We all, no doubt, have our own stories.

And what do the biblical scholars teach about this?  The Synoptic Gospels, scholars say, tell us that we can only enter the kingdom of God if we become like little children, meaning that we must, in our very way of living, acknowledge our dependence upon God and others. We are not self-sufficient and that means truly recognizing and living out our human dependence upon the gratuitous providence of God. To do that, is to be born from above.

John’s Gospel adds something to this. Raymond E Brown, commenting on John’s Gospel, puts it this way: To be born again from above means we must, at some point in our lives, come to understand that our life comes from beyond this world, from a place and source beyond out mother’s womb, and that deeper life and deeper meaning lie there. And so we must have two births, one that gives us biological life (births us into this world) and another that gives us eschatological life (births us into the world of faith, soul, love, and spirit). And sometimes, as was the case with my friend, it can be your own birthmother who does the major midwifing in that second birth. Nicodemus couldn’t quite get past his instinctual empiricism. In the end, he didn’t get it. Do we?

Why We Need the Holy Spirit

This post may be slightly long but, I believe, the reader will be more than happy to read the last few paragraphs...
'An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah.' Jesus said to those who cared to listen to him (Matthew 16: 4). This was a warning to members of our generation that do not listen as they are too preoccupied with their own things. On the micro level we see it in the divided family, in divorce, and in the lack of commitment to Christianity's civilization in most of the world countries. In his homily at Mass this past Sunday July 21, the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad commented on the reception of Jesus by Mary and Martha sisters of Lazarus - Mary was listening to Jesus while Martha was preoccupied with preparing the meal for them (Luke 10: 38-42). Nothing is wrong with work, but Fr. Boulad makes the point that the physical presence with the other opens the channels of love. He warned parents that they are too preoccupied with their work and at home that they leave no time for a real encounter of love and listening to their children who come home from school with stories they wish to share with their parents but find no listening ear. Everyone seems busy with his little iphone at the table while we are supposed to be sharing our joy of being together. God also wishes that we give him some time. Fr. Boulad questions: Is God not so busy with bringing his creation to exist and grow? Sure God is busy but he wishes to listen to you because he loves you. The division that we experience today at the domestic church (home) has its roots. Today most young adults are not ready to take 'the risk' of getting married - Here is a lecture that I gave in 2008 that may help the reader: Why Our Youths Are Not Getting Married Today: https://todayquestions.blogspot.com/2008/10/why-our-youths-are-not-getting-married.html.
On the macro-level, the world is experiencing much military friction and challenges: In Europe, notably in France, radical Islamists are working hard to implement Islamic "Sharia"started in the 7th century AD in the Arabian Peninsula. And some of them are here in Canada! On the other hand, it seems that the American President Donald Trump, in his patriotic defense of America, charged that the so-called "Squad" feminist Senates of the Democratic Party "hate America" and asked them to go back to their countries of origin. Among the "Squad" a leading voice is that of Ilham Omar, a Congress member and Muslim Somali whose "Anti-Semitic" remarks against the Jews, is considered a form of hatred. On Tuesday July 23, President Trump insisted he will add Minnesota to his win column in the 2020 presidential election because voters will side with him against the state’s far-left Democratic Rep. Ilham Omar, one of the four members of the so-called “Squad” he has been feuding with for days. “In 2016 I almost won Minnesota,” the president tweeted. “In 2020, because of America hating anti-Semite Rep. Omar, the fact that Minnesota is having its best economic year ever, I will win the State!”. 
The conflict takes sharper shape with the threat of war between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Western Allies. Among the latest reports, The Daily Mail reported: "The Iranian intelligence and security forces released photographs and the names of some of people that are among the 17 on Monday; Their identities have not been verified by any other government; It  came as President Trump denied that any CIA agents had been arrested; He accused Iran of lying because the country had become desperate; Iran claims to have arrested the spies sometime before March this year; It says it is only now publicizing their arrests as tensions with the West escalate; All of the 'suspects' are Iranian nationals who were 'lured' by 'US visa traps', the Iranians claim...; U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo retorted that Iran had a 'history of lying'; Middle East tensions have been rising for weeks amid a series of tanker attacks; They have spiraled again in recent days after Iran seized a UK-flagged vessel" (see https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7271681/Iran-claims-arrested-17-CIA-spies.html). A report in The Jerusalem Post noted the following: "Britain’s intelligence services MI6 and GCHQ are checking whether Iran used Russian GPS 'spoofing' technology, which produces incorrect location data, to send the British-flagged Stena mpero off course into Iranian waters. According to British media, the UK’s intelligence services think Iran might have used cyber penetration to send the ship off course into Iranian waters, thus giving the IRGC an excuse to seize it." (see: https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/MI6-fears-Iran-used-Russian-GPS-tech-to-send-UK-tanker-off-course-report-596535)

In its issue published on July 22, The Catholic Register reported that Mobs have killed 70 Christians in recent times accused of blasphemy in Pakistan (here).  More on persecution of Christians at the hands of Islamic terrorists in Iraq was reported in the same issue of The Catholic Register here - In it, we learn that The Islamic State terrorist organization demanded Syriac Catholic Mar Behnam Monastery in Khidr monks to convert to Islam if they wish to be spared execution... Terrorists are still followed by the government in Egypt. See this report by Reuters:  "We constantly review our security arrangements at all our airports around the world, and have suspended flights to Cairo for seven days as a precaution to allow for further assessment," British Airways said in a statement. Lufthansa later said it had cancelled its flights to Cairo on Saturday from Munich and Frankfurt and will resume its flights on Sunday. British Airways, a unit of IAG, also said that it would never operate an aircraft unless it was safe to do so. When asked for more details about why flights had been suspended and what security arrangements the airline was reviewing, a spokeswoman responded: "We never discuss matters of security." Three Egyptian airport security sources told Reuters that British staff had been checking security at Cairo airport on Wednesday and Thursday. They gave no further details. The British Foreign Office updated its travel advisory on Saturday to add a reference to the British Airways' suspension, advising travelers affected to contact the airline. Egypt's Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement late on Saturday that it had contacted the British Embassy in Cairo which had confirmed that the decision to suspend the flights was not issued by Britain's transport or foreign ministries. The Egyptian ministry added that it will add more flights from Cairo to London starting on Sunday "to facilitate transporting passengers during this period." The British government has long advised against all but essential travel by air to and from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where a Russian passenger jet was bombed in 2015, but has not issued similar warnings against air travel to and from Cairo. "There's a heightened risk of terrorism against aviation. Additional security measures are in place for flights departing from Egypt to the U.K.," the British advisory says. Tourism, a key source of foreign revenue for Egypt, has been recovering after tourist numbers dropped in the wake of a 2011 uprising and the 2015 bombing of the Russian jet, which killed all 224 people on board shortly after takeoff. That attack, which was claimed by Islamic State, prompted Russia to halt all flights to Egypt for several years and a number of countries including Britain to cease flights to Sharm el Sheikh, which have yet to resume.

Christians need to help persecuted Christian communities through donations to Christian organizations that can reach out to those persecuted and alleviate their suffering. We also need to help them in prayers as well as in support of Christian missionaries in the world where most people do not know the Gospel. This is true in the East as well as the West...Some organizations include CNEWA (Catholic Near East Welfare Association) and "Church in Need" as well as national Conferences of Catholic Bishops for the training of seminarians and the reach out to non-Christians. 

The good news come from Toronto when on Sunday July 21, the Melkite Catholic parish celebrated the noon Divine Liturgy presided over by the former now retired Patriarchal General Vicar on the See of Jerusalem Most Reverend Archbishop Emeritus J. Jules Zerey. In the same Divine Liturgy, sung by the renowned Homsy choir, the parish celebrated the 22nd anniversary of priesthood of Reverend Ibrahim El-Haddad, BSO, Pastor of Jesus the King whose patron is the Prophet Elijah (St. Elias).


The reader may wish to read more about "The Richness of the Divine Liturgy in the Melkite Catholic Church" here https://todayquestions.blogspot.com/2008/06/richness-of-divine-liturgy-in-melkite.html (Excerpted mainly from Archbishop Joseph M. Raya’s “Eyes of the Gospel”, and Archbishop Lotfy Laham “Orders of rite” (Arabic), 1988).

In his homily, the Archbishop spoke about our need to thank the Holy Spirit through whom the Blessed Virgin Mary became pregnant and delivered our Lord, Saviour, and God Jesus Christ. He emphasized the beauty of the Spirit of God who unites us in the one Body of Christ, the fellowship of saints received in the most excellent Sacrament of the Eucharist appropriately named the Mystery of Thanksgiving. In the Eucharist, the faithful who are in the state of grace receive the real body and blood of Jesus Christ. In August 2018, I wrote a post titled ["Give us this day our daily bread" in the Lord's Prayer]  which reflects the significance of the Eucharist in "Give us this day our daily bread" in the Lord's Prayer. The interpretation is found in the Church Fathers and many Church Doctors as well as contemporary scholars. The reader may wish to read it here: https://todayquestions.blogspot.com/2018/08/give-us-this-day-our-daily-bread-in.html 
On the beauty of the Spirit of God, the Reader may wish to read mystical experience and writings. Here is one: What Made Rita of Cascia a Saint? https://todayquestions.blogspot.com/2017/05/what-made-rita-of-cascia-saint.html
We need the Holy Spirit today to bestow on us his gifts... Here: https://www.stjmod.com/7-gifts-of-the-holy-spirit.html

We also need the Holy Spirit to help us in achieving Christian Unity in Christ (Cf. John 17).

While we are busy with our little areas of work and interests, science continues to advance at a rapid pace in the era of advanced technology...Much has been achieved in Nano technology used in medicine, Quantum technology used in engineering, and Artificial Intelligence used in all kinds of queries, marketing, and business intelligence.

Here is an important interview with Sean Carroll at Caltech published on 10 Jul 2019.

You may wish to first read the summary below, then double-click the link here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-NJrvyRo0c 

​Sean Carroll is a theoretical physicist at Caltech, specializing in quantum mechanics, gravity, and cosmology. He is the author of several popular books: one on the arrow of time called From Eternity to Here, one on the Higgs boson called 'The Particle at the End of the Universe', and one on science and philosophy called 'The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself'.

Where does the above leave us ? Complex minds ? (the post here compares complex projects made through advanced technology to the human mind and its psychology: https://todayquestions.blogspot.com/2009/09/complex-projects-versus-complex-mind.html). Are our minds well associated with our spiritual needs that could logically respond to the grace of the "Spirit of truth" that Christ sent to his followers ? If so, how can we help, whether in prayer or in missionary action to open the world to Christ; for he is thirsty for souls ?! Christ said to Sainte Marguerite Marie Alacoque that he is thirsty for souls - So much he loves us that he does not want us to be separate from him. "Can a mother forget her sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even if she may forget, yet I will not forget you." (Isaiah 49: 15).

Let us also ask the Holy Spirit to help us be fruitful in Christ "the true vine" (John 15); for the fruits of the Spirit are many - see https://aleteia.org/2019/06/06/are-there-9-or-12-fruits-of-the-holy-spirit/

And finally, let us thank the Holy Spirit for all the graces that he bestows on us; for he is the Spirit of God; the lover of mankind!

The Universe, Quantum Mechanics, and Artificial Intelligence Today and Tomorrow

Here is an important interview with Sean Carroll at Caltech published on 10 Jul 2019.

You may wish to first read the summary below, then double-click the link here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-NJrvyRo0c 

​Sean Carroll is a theoretical physicist at Caltech, specializing in quantum mechanics, gravity, and cosmology. He is the author of several popular books: one on the arrow of time called From Eternity to Here, one on the Higgs boson called 'The Particle at the End of the Universe', and one on science and philosophy called 'The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself'. He has an upcoming book on Quantum Mechanics 'Something Deeply Hidden'. He writes on his website preposterousuniverse.com. I recommend clicking on the Greatest Hits link that lists accessible, interesting posts on the arrow of time, dark matter, dark energy, the Big Bang, general relativity, string theory, quantum mechanics, and meta questions about the philosophy of science, God, Ethics, Politics, Academia, and much much more. Finally, and perhaps most famously, he is the host of a podcast called Mindscape. This conversation is part of the Artificial Intelligence podcast. Audio podcast version is available on https://lexfridman.com/ai/ INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/ai Course website: https://deeplearning.mit.edu YouTube Playlist: http://bit.ly/2EcbaKf EPISODE LINKS: Website: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/ Mindscape Podcast: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/... Blog greatest hits: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/... Twitter: https://twitter.com/seanmcarroll Something Deeply Hidden: https://amzn.to/2JrtqVB OUTLINE: 0:00 - Introduction 2:21 - Understanding the universe and the mind 4:03 - Universe as an information processing system 9:34 - Simulation theory thought experiment 14:33 - Intelligent life in the observable universe 15:34 - Defining intelligent life 19:34 - SpaceX and space exploration 21:05 - Origin of life 

29:40 - Interdisciplinary science and conversation 

See also this presentation by Sean Carroll at Google in 2016:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x26a-ztpQs8  

The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself. Already internationally acclaimed for his notions in modern physics, Sean Carroll is one of the greatest humanist thinkers of his generation as he brings extraordinary intellect to our deepest personal questions. Where are we? Who are we? Are our emotions, beliefs, hopes and dreams ultimately meaningless in the void? Does human purpose and meaning fit into a scientific worldview? Carroll's presentation of the scientific revolution from Darwin and Einstein to the origins of life, consciousness, and the universe is unique. He shows how an avalanche of discoveries in the past few hundred years has changed our world and what really matters to us. “Weaving the threads of astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and philosophy into a seamless narrative tapestry, Sean Carroll enthralls us with what we’ve figured out in the universe and humbles us with what we don’t yet understand. Yet in the end, it’s the meaning of it all that feeds your soul of curiosity.” —Neil deGrasse Tyson, host of Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey Carroll is a theoretical physicist at the CalTech and received his PhD from Harvard. Recently, he has worked on the foundations of quantum mechanics, the arrow of time, and the emergence of complexity. He has earned prizes and fellowships by the NSA, NASA, Sloan Foundation, Packard Foundation, American Physical Society, American Institute of Physics, Royal Society of London, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation. Carroll has appeared on The Colbert Report, PBS’s NOVA, and Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman, and serves as a science consultant for film and TV. He has been interviewed by NPR, Scientific American, Wired, and The NYT, and has given a TED talk on the multiverse that has more than 1M views. This Talk at Google talk was hosted by Boris Debic.

More on Artificial Intelligence: Mankind's Last Invention - Technological Singularity Explained - Published on October 5, 2018:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pls_q2aQzHg&t=382s

The Joy of Being a Child

On the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on Friday June 28, 2019, it was a joy to reflect on the desire of Jesus for us to love him since he is a child within everyone who feels the need to be loved as the unborn child waits to come out from the womb of his mother to feel her touch and love. "And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, and said, 'Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven'" (Matthew 18:2-4). In the eternal realms, the heart of Jesus is in His being before the incarnation - It is the same heart that bled when pierced on the cross - It is the same heart of Jesus Christ who "descended to hell" to free us from the prisons of evil power, rose from the dead and "ascended" to the Father...(Cf. The Apostles Creed). He was with the Father from eternity. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be." (John 1: 1-3). In one translation of Genesis it is written of the void before creation of the cosmos: "The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters." (Genesis 1: 2). The Spirit of God gives life where He is...By the Power of the Holy Spirit, the Word created everything that we know. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God was incarnate from the Virgin Mary; loved his mother and everyone to the point of accepting His Father's will to shed his life for the eternal joy of human persons that seek Him. Heaven, therefore, is not above but within; for Christ said that "the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:20-21). So great is his love towards all that he said "When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself" (John 12:32). When after His Resurrection, he spoke to his Apostles and disciples, he told them "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, until the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20). In my understanding, this is the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. He wants to be born within our hearts and beings. He draws us to Him making us "partakers of the Divine Nature" (2 Peter 1:4). According to the early Fathers of the Church, it is a transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit of those who partake of the Sacraments or Mysteries of the Church culminating in continuous repentance and the reception of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharistic celebration of thanksgiving according to the New Covenant established by Christ that fulfills the Old Covenant until He comes again in glory - In the last chapter of the Book of Revelation, the visionary wrote "Maran Atha" in Aramaic translated to Greek indicating the words "Come O Lord" (Revelation 22:20).  The Sacred Heart of Jesus does not give up - He continues throughout the ages to inspire saints and guide the Church through his Holy Spirit.