Joy in spite of a world pandemic

It is very dark indeed to hear all the troubles with the coronavirus pandemic and the fear it brought to the minds and hearts of people in the world.
Today's  Gospel reading (Saturday March 28, 2020):

Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said,
“This is truly the Prophet.”
Others said, “This is the Christ.”
But others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he?
Does not Scripture say that the Christ will be of David’s family
and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”
So a division occurred in the crowd because of him.
Some of them even wanted to arrest him,
but no one laid hands on him.

So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees,
who asked them, “Why did you not bring him?”
The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this man.”
So the Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived?
Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?
But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed.”
Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them,
“Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him
and finds out what he is doing?”
They answered and said to him,
“You are not from Galilee also, are you?
Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

Then each went to his own house.

The Jesuit Holy Father Pope Francis celebrated Mass in his chapel. It was magnificent. In his homily on the Gospel reading (John 7:40-53), he impressed me beyond measure. The entire Mass can be seen here. If you are not able to watch the entire Mass, at least listen to his homily and reflect upon it.

The Jesuit scholar Fr. Robert Spitzer had written about true happiness and spoke about it. Watch him here. 

I also remembered a great homily on joy by the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad in 2014.

In spite of spiritual sickness and weakness with the temptations of materialist attractions by the media that surround me, I turned to the homily delivered in French by the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad, S.J. on the first Sunday of Advent. I heard the magnificent and beautiful story of God which I wish to share here. Henri Boulad took his point of departure from Isaiah 63: 19 "Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down..." This reading, in which Isaiah cries out to God, is very moving, said Boulad. "You, who created heavens and earth, are enthroned in the seventh heaven, inaccessible. For God to be God he must be the Most High, inaccessible One. This the God of the Greeks, the God of Pagans, the God of Muslims and, to some extent, the God of the Old Testament. Except that in the Old Testament we discern a God that is close, a God that descends, is interested in Man, and speaks to Man. There is already in the Old Testament a development in the way in which God prepares Man for the revelation of the incarnation of Jesus Christ." This cry for God to rend the heavens and come down - Is it possible? Is it possible that the Most High becomes the Most 'debased' a theme taken up by Christian Bobin in his book "Le Très-Bas"? questions Boulad. 

"Jesus is a revelation. Jesus is a revolution" says the Jesuit scholar Henri Boulad. But what kind of revolution? "Jesus empties heaven and moves the [Divine presence] to be among us: Emmanuel." and continues "Is it possible that God makes such a radical move? I have a response here to our Muslim brothers who think it is impossible. For them God cannot descend from heaven without losing his honor and dignity."

Now listen carefully because here Henri Boulad summarizes the Christian Mystery in as simple language as possible "If Jesus Christ is an illusion...If Christianity is a sheer mystification...If God did not come to us and did not descend from his heaven...If he did not take the radical and seemingly impossible leap of the incarnation, then he ceases being credible - he ceases being love - he ceases being God."

Let us reflect. Here is the message: 

"The scandal of the Incarnation, which means that we cannot believe that God could debase himself , becomes the key and the supreme proof  that this is the truth"

"But a God in heaven well served who looks to me and says 'You suffer. Have courage. Perhaps one day you will be with me in my heaven' is not God. A God who says 'Patience. I am fine here but you over there can suffer' is not God. This is the false God that we, often, figure that he sends us prophets from time to time to console us' . NO, NO. NO. This God who looks to me with a telescope is not my God. I do not want him."

"If there is a phenomenon of atheism today in the West as well as in Egypt, it is precisely because men say we are in fact better than God. The walk that I walk to help when I see a hungry person or a thirsty one or a person without faith, can't God do it? Has he no choice regarding his honor?"

"No. He did it. This is the supreme proof of the Christian Mystery. Do not look somewhere else. 'Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down...' He descended. No more seventh heaven..."

"The only God I can believe, love and worship is the God Jesus Christ because he descended to me."

"'Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down...' "

And the great preacher and Jesuit scholar Henri Boulad finished here his homily.  

The Blessings of the Coronavirus Pandemic !

It is a blessing that the coronavirus pandemic brought so many people to feel that we need God and his mercy. In his Epistle to the Galatians, St. Paul wrote "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20). If the Son of God loves us so  much, he will certainly be with us...We are challenged to really look to the other and empty the self. I think that every act involves some risk. God the Father risks his divinity, and as far as I can understand in my little mind, he empties himself to cross himself to his image, the Son. The Son is the image of the Father from eternity. He too empties himself to give it back completely to the Father bound by love which is the Spirit of God. In a certain way the coronavirus pandemic gives people the courage to risk a bit of their comfort to serve older persons who cannot leave home. 
Earlier today March 27, 2020 the Holy Father Pope Francis presided over a celebration in which he prayed to the Crucified in order that He may save the world from the affliction brought about by the coronavirus pandemic and asked the Blessed Virgin Mary to intercede with the angels and saints for this cause, and gave a rare "Urbi et Orbi" blessing. The entire celebration including the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament can be seen  here - The Holy Father interpreted a reading from the Gospel in which Jesus went in a boat with his apostles [And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, "Save, Lord; we are perishing." And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O men of little faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?"] (Matthew 8:23-27). The coronavirus outbreak has left countless people all over the world asking themselves: Why is God allowing this to happen? How do we respond? And where can we find hope? Listen to Bishop Robert Barron here.
In spite of fear, let us only think of the good that Our Father brings us. He already sent his Son to save the world. On this joy the reader may wish to read what Fr. Georges Farah said in Christmas 2014 here.
Let us now widen our understanding and perception of the Truth of Christ with the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad in his homily on Sunday March 22, 2020 "Rien ne comblera le vide qui m'habite" in  which he penetrates thirst as a human need and gives an example of a young boy who courageously decided to fast (here in French). It is possible to reflect upon the homily with a few points:

1. In “Banished from Eden: Original Sin and Evolutionary Theory in the Drama of Salvation” the late Raymond Schwager, S.J. traces the origin and development of humans along the evolutionary paradigm using new findings in genetics, biology, Girard’s Mimetic Theory, the listening Audio-Psycho-Phenology Theory by Dr. Alfred Tomatis, and the work and thought of Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.  Against these findings, he explores the Biblical narrative of the Fall. 

2. Imitation (Mimesis) by René Girard has been discussed by Bishop Robert Barron (here). 

But imitation can also go in the other direction if we are careful! Many saints did imitate their models and through this imitation built bigger monasteries, schools, and spent their lives learning and teaching. For example, St. Pachomius imitated St. Anthony of Egypt and built the first community of monks. St. Athanasius wrote the biography of his model St. Anthony and got it translated when he went to Rome so that in the end St. Benedict benefited from it in founding his order. The second Christian book, after the Bible, read by generations of Christians is “The Imitation of Christ.” 

3. Dr. Tomatis’s theory that "the voice does not produce what the ear does not hear", is the hallmark of his research and his method. In his research and subsequent confirmation by colleagues, Dr. Alfred Tomatis found that the earliest communication in humans takes place in the womb of the mother. The fetus at the age of 4 months listens to his mother’s feelings and is disturbed if she is having an argument with the husband. In his book “Neuf mois au Paradis” Tomatis shows that the child is secure in his 9 months in the womb of his mother and that there is memory of the child from the moment that there is a cell (i.e. from conception). Accordingly begetting or conceiving of children is much more than a mere biological process; for it is a communicative process that includes the whole human person with an intensive imaging (‘in his image’). Thus Schwager writes “Because inter-human communication is disrupted through sin and procreation belongs to this communication, we would rather listen to the procreative communication(For more info on Alfred Tomatis work see his website here).

4. Advances in technology can help scientists and healthcare professionals in helping sick persons with the coronavirus pandemic. These include nano-technology, artificial intelligence, quantum computers... In July 2019, Maggie Ciskanik, senior consultant associated with Jesuit Fr. Robert Spitzer, President of Gonzaga University from 1998 to 2009, and quite active on EWTN, contacted me in order to publish some material that I had posted on my blog about the cosmos. In early September 2019, I received this message from her - I am sending it with humble heart as, in my opinion after reading Sir John Polkinghorne,  it shows that the cosmos is stamped by the Trinity - The God of Christians:

Great resources for learning more about quantum theory (and its relationship to a Trinitarian God)

There is an enormous corpus of talks, articles, commentaries, and youtube presentations focusing on one of the strangest discoveries of the 20th century: quantum mechanics and its startling attendant features, the principles of uncertainty and superposition. When you consult the resources identified in this post by Mr. George Farahat, be prepared to increase your understanding of how quantum mechanics has changed our understanding of reality, and how it relates to theology.

Two phenomenal lectures by two outstanding professors in two countries have enlightened research about the vast cosmos we live in and its quantum fields that penetrate every creature on earth.

The first is a lecture given by Professor Leo Kowenhoven at Delft University in the Netherlands, 2015 (here). In his talk, Professor Kowenhoven shows how nature itself works through quantum processes. He uses the example of a plant leaf which takes the light of the Sun. Through quantum superposition, electrons find a way to efficiently bind to the oxygen molecule, a process essential for human life since we need oxygen to live. He goes on to explain how “qbits” are necessary in building quantum computers and reveals that he and his team have already made these “quantum bits” in the lab. Some of the most interesting ideas come near the end of the talk (starting around the 11th minute) when he lists the big challenges that super quantum computers can help solve, such as: more efficient energy use and storage, better airplane design, optimization for robotics, machine learning, and the use of nanotechnology in healthcare. 

The second lecture, “The Real Building Blocks of the Universe” was given by Professor David Tong at Cambridge University in 2017. In a brilliant summary of quantum theory, he reveals that there are 16 “fields” that interact in a “harmonious dance.” Along the way, Tong also discusses Einstein's Theory of General Relativity (space-time flow), J. J. Thomson's discovery of the electron, Ernest Rutherford's model of the atom (a nucleus made of protons and neutrons with the lighter electrons moving around it), Faraday's discovery of electromagnetism, James Clerk Maxwell's work, Schrodinger's Wave-Particle Equation, Heisenberg's Principle of Uncertainty, and the thought-experiments of Albert Einstein, Boris Podolsky, and Nathan Rosen.

Black holes and quantum theory

A great explanation of black holes, by a panel of experts found in this 2015 World Science Festival presentation, was delivered in the presence of the late British physicist and black hole expert, Professor Stephen Hawking. The presentation also explains the relationship between black holes and quantum theory.

Astonishment at quantum behaviour

In 1982, Alain Aspect and his team were able to experimentally prove that two photons emitted from the same atom will still be in contact tens of miles away. The reader may wish to listen to his lecture here, animated by his love for and “astonishment at” quantum behaviour.

Quantum theory and its relationship to a Trinitarian God

In the printed word, much of the material written by Sir John Polkinghorne, retired professor of mathematical physics at Cambridge University, is very informative and insightful. In one of his latest books, “Quantum Physics and Theology” (2008), he comments on how “relationship” is being discovered even at the subnuclear level: 

“Quantum theory brought to light a remarkable form of entanglement between subatomic particles that have once interacted with each other (the so-called EPR effect), which implies that they remain effectively a single system however far they may subsequently separate spatially—a counterintuitive togetherness-in-separation that has been abundantly confirmed experimentally as a property of nature. The physical world looks more and more like a universe that would be the fitting creation of the trinitarian God, the One whose deepest reality is relational.” -Sir John Polkinghorne

Dr. Stephen Barr has written extensively on the relationship of quantum physics and theology as well. (See, for example, his article in First Things here).

What can we conclude?

The above resources reveal and help explain the 2 most important observations in quantum physics:

1. The probabilistic nature of particles which yields the Uncertainty Principle

2. The communication between particles at long distances (quantum entanglement)

From 2 above, we can say that everything must be in a relationship. In Christianity, the concept that God is relatedness or relational is found not only in Holy Scriptures (see for example 1 John 4:8; John 10:30; Col 1:15-19; Phil 2: 6-11; John 15), but also in doctors of the Church like St. Thomas Aquinas and, in our days, Bishop of Rome Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI.

If this is true, then we can say that the cosmos is signed by the stamp of the Triune God of Christians. 

George Farahat holds a Masters degree in Information Systems and a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Engineering. He is a retired systems analyst who now uses his time to pursue numerous interests which include Biblical theology, anthropology, history of civilizations, and information technology. He regularly shares his insights on his blogspot Today’s Questions. The original post can be found here. 

 

A Day of Joy

Today March 25 is the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. It is a day of joy, for Christians recall today the announcement of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you... Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son  of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end...The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God." (Luke 1:28-35).

The world is troubled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Pope Francis prayed "As trustful children we turn to the Father. We do it every day, several times a day; but right now we wish to beg mercy for mankind, so sorely tried by the coronavirus pandemic. And we do this together, Christians of every Church and Community, of every age, language, and nation. We pray for the sick and their families; for health care workers and those who help them; for the authorities, law enforcement agencies and volunteers; for the ministers of our communities.Today many of us celebrate the Incarnation of the Word in the womb of the Virgin Mary, when her humble and total “here I am” reflected the “here I am” of the Son of God. We too entrust ourselves, with full confidence, to the hands of God, and with one heart and one soul we pray "Our Father"...Pope Francis recalled how the Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Bernadette at the grotto in Lourdes identifying herself as "The Immaculate Conception" on March 25, 1858 (for more about the apparitions of the Mother of God to St.  Bernadette see this web page). He was moved to tears as he recalled how the Immaculate Virgin Mary received the message that she would become the mother of the Saviour of the world. He has also invited the world to join him this Friday for Liturgy of the Word and Benediction, and the Vicar of Christ will impart the special blessing urbi et orbi: to the City of Rome, and the world. You can join in with that prayer beginning at 6 pm Rome time, 1 pm EST.

Today too Cardinal Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto celebrated a Mass at St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica - See it here.

As the world is suffering due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Jesuit scholar Henri Boulad in Cairo encouraged me to publish a post written in 2008 on the "Mystery of Suffering" that embodies hope in the victory of God over evil - This is also a reason for joy...I also received a message today from another Jesuit scholar in the United States, Fr. Robert Spitzer, with an encouragement to view or read the learning courses here. 

You may wish to read my post here.
Here is the text:
The Mystery of Suffering

The problem of suffering is a mystery. Logically speaking, suffering seems to be incomprehensible in human terms. However, Christian witness draws on Biblical and tradition experience, particularly the life of Christ, to affirm the ultimate victory of God’s love in spite of evil. 

God never causes evil, but only permits it, whether it comes in the form of natural disaster or through the actions of people who wish to inflict harm on others. God has built laws into nature and freedom into people, and God respects that freedom. Often we may be tempted to ask “Why didn’t God stop that person from sinning, from hurting others?” 

If God did such a thing, we would all live a “programmed” life..as robots. God gave us free will so that we could choose to love and do good. Evil is the misuse of this gift. On the other hand, even when evil is pervasive, God’s patient providence permits it only within limits, always seeking the ultimate salvation of his children who are open to his invitation of love. Christ said of the last days “If God did not shorten these days, no one would be saved”. Refer also to Job whose suffering, although great, was limited by God’s mercy. We are assured that, even when evil comes our way, God will not permit a trial greater than what we can withstand. Even when evil or suffering comes our way, God draws good out of it. 

Oftentimes when there is a tragedy in a community or a crisis in a family, we see people come together to support, to care for, to reach out to others in a way previously not thought possible. This is God’s grace prompting people to choose good over evil, life over death, giving over taking. The death and Resurrection of Christ is our great example of how God draws good from evil. By his death, Christ redeemed us, and by his Resurrection, he was glorified. Tragedy can help us clearly understand what is of greatest value in life: love. We put love in action by caring for people, and by responding in love to God’s love. 

Suffering is not a punishment from God. Our God is rich in mercy! He loves us and longs for us. He even suffers when we suffer because we are his children. We must always remind ourselves of this. It is true that our sinful actions have consequences that make us suffer, but we can’t regard these consequences as being willed by God. The father of the prodigal son knew that his son would suffer if he left home, even when the son would attempt to fulfill himself with external pleasures. His father still let him go out of respect for his freedom. The suffering of the son - his hunger - was a result of his action. Yet this father was also suffering, longing to see his son, and always on the lookout for him. And when he saw his son, the old man ran to receive him, embraced him and celebrated his return! God, our loving father, runs to meet us like the father of the prodigal son, even when we are still tainted with sin. Seen from another angel, suffering and trials can be considered eye-opening experiences and opportunities for us to purify our hearts, grow in wisdom, and realize how vulnerable we can be and how much we need our Father. If the prodigal son did not suffer, he would not have probably realised the need to return home, and he would be lost! Now let’s put together the above points: God never causes evil. Even when evil is pervasive, God’s providence permits it only within limits, always seeking our ultimate salvation. Even when evil or suffering comes our way, God can and does draw good out of it. Suffering is not a punishment from God. Our God loves us - He even suffers when we suffer because we are his children. Suffering can be an opportunity for us to purify our hearts and realize our need for God our Father. How love endures in suffering. Love itself involves suffering in this imperfect world. Growth and maturity, whether physically or spiritually, involve suffering and sacrifice. 

God’s grace prompts us to open ourselves to his love. As we grow in love towards the ‘other,’ we experience a longing to the beloved and this involves suffering. As we grow in love, we sacrifice of what we have for the good of the beloved, and this involves suffering. The more I love, the more I trust and become unselfish, and the more I die to myself in order to give more space for the beloved. We see this love perfectly in the life, suffering and death of Jesus Christ. His life was full of love. This is why he endured a lot of suffering and rejection and still accepted it. He went around healing people - even the enemies and the wrongdoers. He was misunderstood by his own disciples but he chose to love them further. He even called Judas, who betrayed him, a “friend”! Yet, he was rejected: his miracle that cured the lepers was not acknowledged, his listeners - amazed at his wisdom - still questioned his authority, his disciples whom he chose were more interested in their seats in the kingdom rather than in his mission. His healing of people was not always welcome as when they wanted to throw him off the cliff. He suffered humiliation by Pilate, and was considered a criminal by the Jewish authorities who conspired against him to put him to death. He was even mocked by the Roman soldiers and tempted by the Devil. At the end even his supporters fled away. Despite all his suffering culminating on the cross, he still loved his people and asked his Father to forgive them! Jesus’ love for his Father is yet another eloquent example of love that endures suffering for the sake of the beloved. Jesus’ long dialogue with his Father expresses his love and trust of his Father to the point of death and beyond death. He is alone in prayer and all his friends are already asleep! But here, in the depth of his loneliness, he utters the word “not my will, but your will.” We hear Jesus to the last moment, even in his agony and anguish on the cross, calling upon his Father and talking to his Father with complete trust. In the end, he says “In your hands, I lay down my soul.” This is Christ’s redemptive love. His love does not allow him, on this earth, but to suffer, and his suffering redeems man. 

How do we share in the redemptive suffering of Christ? St. Paul wrote in his letter to the Colossians “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, that is the Church.” Pope John Paul II commented on it: Just what is the discovery that Paul has made? And from where does his joy come? The Passion is complete, infinite in its satisfactory power, for with the Lord there is plenteous redemption. So neither Paul nor anyone else could add to that. The secret of Paul’s joy is that he now understands the salvific power of his own suffering. The cross has a meaning. He knows that Christ suffered in order to establish the reign of God. He knows, too, that Christ in His incarnate divine Person has in some way united Himself to every man. Therefore, would not every man be offered the possibility of becoming a “partner” in the Paschal Mystery? Would it not follow that the sufferings in his own flesh would serve to help bring “completeness” to Christ’s Passion by “conveying” the salvific power of the Redeemer’s suffering to that little Christian community there at Colossae? In this way he would more fully become Christ’s felllow-worker for the Kingdom. So Paul rejoices in this discovery and shares it with others so that they, too, will come to understand the salvific meaning of suffering. Accordingly, through their suffering Christians can become “collaborators” in the divine plan of Redemption and thus help to bring “completeness” to the sufferings of Christ. 

At one level, when we see our beloved suffer, we suffer with them. We are in solidarity with them. And that brings us closer to each other with more consolation and bonding. At a deeper level, responding to our own suffering without bitterness helps not only our inner healing but also makes us partners in the redemptive act of Christ that brings out the resurrection from death. At a deep level, we were all partners in solidarity with Adam in the original sin of disobedience. We become partners in solidarity with Christ in his act of obedience and self-emptying love. For example, those that are terminally ill, can be partners in the redemption of people if they choose to find the meaning of their suffering and death and accept it with the same spirit of trust that Christ gave. Not only they reflect and convey their radiant peace to their relatives and friends, but they also conquer that fear of absurdity with their trust in the loving God. The mystery of suffering of the innocent begs many questions. However, in Job we find that even though God does not give an intellectual answer, he justifies Job and blesses him multiple times after his sufferings. 

The Taizé Community comments in one of its articles on the website: The last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, shows in chapter 6, a great vision of human history seen in terms of a book sealed with seven seals. The first four seals depict humankind left to itself—a downward movement heading inexorably towards death. With the fifth seal we enter into the opposite movement, that of God’s coming to save. And it begins with the cry of "the souls of all the people who had been killed…" (Revelation 6:9-11). We should not limit this group to Christian martyrs; it evokes rather "the blood of every innocent person that has been shed on earth, from the blood of Abel the just" (Matthew 23:35; see Revelation 18:24). In God, the blood of the innocent receives an effective power that counteracts the destructive effects of violence. Their apparent defeat inaugurates a movement of liberation that culminates in the cross of Christ. This is what is shown in the opening of the next seal, which leads to "the great Day of the wrath of the Lamb" (Revelation 6:17). In the Bible, God’s "wrath" or "anger" is a technical term that describes the divine response to sin in order to restore justice that has been flouted. Here, it refers to the act by which Jesus takes all human sinfulness upon himself by undergoing its consequences to the very end, in his own body (see 1 Peter 2:21-24). By giving his life to the end, then, Jesus shares the fate of all the innocent victims of inhumanity and in this way ensures that their torment has not been in vain. He carries their suffering within his own relationship with the One he calls Abba and, since the Father always hears him (see John 11:42), we have the guarantee that this suffering is not wasted. It brings about the disappearance of the old world order marked by injustice, and the appearance of "new heavens and a new earth, the home of righteousness" (2 Peter 3:13). This is the definitive response, because it is a lived one, to Job. Far from tolerating even for a single moment the suffering of the innocent, in his beloved Son, God drinks to the dregs that bitter cup with them and, in so doing, transforms it into a cup of blessing for all.