Lessons in Lent

In Lent, the Church proposes three acts, according to Bishop Robert Barron. In a very recent talk published on February 24, 2020, and titled "Entering the Desert of Lent," Bishop Barron was asked about the meaning of Lent (here). In Lent we go in the desert with Jesus who fasted for 40 days in order to be prepared to meet him the Risen One in Easter. The three acts are prayers; fasting, and alms-giving.

The purpose of prayers is to "raise the heart and mind to God" according to St. John of Damascus. Bishop Barron goes to his chapel and spends an hour before the Blessed Sacrament - He also proposed to the faithful to attend Mass more frequently during Lent which allows the faithful to get more deeply into the spirituality of Christ's sacrifice - Pray the Rosary if possible, and the Jesus Prayer (which I love) "Lord Jesus Christ Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner." A beautiful prayer that he mentioned is to ask the Lord to help us in our distress and to avoid temptations...I would add depression to the list since young adults could think of suicide...Probably the prayer that helps most is in the "Examen" in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola - It is about opportunities to do good and serve the Lord and in this way one helps the needy and the forsaken since God loves you more than yourself (see it here).

If Lent is about the carrying the cross with Jesus, we may as well listen again to a deep homily by Fr. Georges Farah; MSP at Jesus the King parish in Toronto here.
A beautiful prayer sung in Byzantine Churches during Lent is the Akathist prayer to the Theotokos (Listen here). Another beautiful hymn is Great Compline - Lord of Powers - يا رب القوات (Listen here).

For fasting, Bishop Barron recommends abstinence from food that give pleasure and/or activities that encourage lust and pride. As for alms-giving, Bishop Barron said that alms-giving is a form of giving from one's own material sufficiency to help the poor and the needy...

As agreed with my spiritual director, Fr. Daniel Callam; CSB, the three acts that I attempt to grow in are: reading with an open mind to understand; abstinence from eating/drinking a couple of things that I like; and alms-giving to charities that we trust. I have been reading selected chapters from the Books of the Bible including Psalms 51, 53, 103; Hosea 2, 3; Matthew 8, Mark 1, St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, and the Book of Revelation since they give me hope for tomorrow and remind me of good things from God that I experienced.

I know that much of the Biblical text has been interpreted by the Fathers, Doctors, and theologians of the Church. Msgr. Robert Nusca, pastor of Holy Rosary parish where my wife and I regularly attend Mass, is a well-known Biblical scholar (On Sunday March 1 I received the Body of Christ from him). I recall, however, a discussion in the Greek Catholic patriarchate in the mid 1970s with the late saintly Bishop Paul Antaki the Great. In a small group he shared with us some Biblical interpretations, among which the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus came into discussion (Luke 16:19-31). I asked Bishop Antaki "If the rich man was in hell, he would hate everyone else and could not ask Abraham to send Lazarus 'to dip the tip of his finger to cool my tongue' and furthermore to send Lazarus to the rich person's five brothers 'so that he may warn them lest they come to this place of torment' (Luke 16:28)." He answered that parables are symbolic and should not be interpreted literally. In 2019, Bishop Robert Barron spoke here about St. John Henry Newman's "The Development of Christian Doctrine" which may help us understand whether there is a change in the Church's perception or is it constant. The Second Vatican Council authoritatively teaches how the Church grows in understanding the fullness of Christ's truth. This is written in the Council's Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation - Dei Verbum (here).

In much of today's world, however, there is more fear of the risk of getting sick with the Corona virus. We remain hopeful that health officials will find a cure. In the geo-political world, competition between powers whether regionally or globally involves much risk too. On February 27, 2020 MEMRI TV presented a video in which a Russian biologist claimed there is a plan to use Corona virus against America's enemies: Igor Nikulin, who was presented as a former member of the U.N. Commission on Biological and Chemical Weapons, said in a February 27, 2020 interview on Russia Today's Arabic-language channel that he believes it is no coincidence that the coronavirus has had the effect it has in China, Iran, and certain European countries. He said that coronavirus was carefully selected to affect countries that rival the United States and that it is a conspiracy by the "global government," which he said consists of 200 families that control over $400 trillion, that own the media outlets and Hollywood, that control the minds of humanity, and that want to decrease the world's population by 90%. He suggested that it may be possible that coronavirus is a targeted biological weapon, like he said Ebola and the bird flu were, that infects some people and not others, and he said that the U.S. government may be testing a pathogenic agent it began developing in 1999. Nikulin also said that this is a warning to the non-English-speaking world that it must submit to the laws that are imposed upon it (here). While Turkey, Iran, Israel, and Saudi Arabia vie for leadership in the Middle East, on March 5, 2020 Russia's Vladimir Putin had the Islamist leader of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan sign a deal to stop his troops attack on Idlib of North Syria which caused many Christians to flee to Iraq amid requests for assistance (read Reuters here). Earlier, on February 28, Russia announced it had dispatched two state-of-the-art warships to the Middle East after an attack in Syria killed 33 Turkish soldiers (read NBC News here).  Troops who go to the battle risk their lives; Astro-cosmologists who go in the outer space risk their lives too but they trust the technological advances made in the past decades; Researchers who spend much on their research risk exposing their high profiles; With the diabolic pedophilia of boys by a few priests, the Church risked losing many faithful; On March 6 evening in Yorkdake-Toronto, people in the mall ran for their lives as teenagers used guns to steal drugs from pharmacies - The police arrested 4 young adults (read it here). Since the beginning of human tribes, in order to guarantee the survival of their 

"for `In him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). The above words were said by St. Paul. But does this mean that he did not have to risk his life when preaching about Christ who is the "The Way, Truth, and Life" ?

Every act involves risk. This is true for everything that exists - from the subatomic world to the cosmic galaxies...

This can be illustrated too in the development of the very ancient human tribes whose leaders had to take the risk of fighting animals as well as any strangers or other tribes for preserving their lives and reproducing themselves...In the history of ancient nations, it is found online here.  The ancient civilization of Egypt is one such example. Egyptians found that survival necessitated living around the Nile where water flows for many kilometers - The most astonishing achievement in Ancient Egypt that survives to today is the Great Pyramid of Khufu since it orients Egypt's kings to the god Sun that rises and sets and symbolizes the resurrection cycle - In 2019, NOVA published a documentary showing the precision of engineering and the great work it took to make it an achievement - See it here.

With competition risks increase...The late contemporary philosopher René Girard expressed competition in his "mimetic rivalry" and the mechanism of the scapegoat - See Bishop Robert Barron comment on Girard's work here. 

In his admirable homily on Sunday March 1, the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad spoke about the child that we must be in order to be with Jesus in the kingdom of heaven - see "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3) - (here in French titled "L’enfant est le modèle à imiter ...") where he speaks about innocence and joy in the little ones, the tenderness of the feminine or the mother who cares much for her children because they are part of her and quotes from Isaiah "But Zion said, 'The LORD has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.' Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have graven you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me." (Isaiah 49:15-16). Fr. Boulad ends his homily with prayer to the Virgin Mary Mother of God "Full of Grace" - The word "Immaculate" can be also understood from a talk by Fr. Georges Farah; MSP here. The mother of the child takes precautions and much work to deliver her baby - It is not an easy act. Today, a physician brings the child from her womb to life that he breathes oxygen. This act with all its risks reminds me of a lecture given by Prof. Leo Kouwenhoven. In 2015, Leo Kouwenhoven at TU Delft in Amsterdam, the Netherlands gave a talk in which he showed how nature itself works through quantum processes. As an example, a plant leaf takes the light of the Sun and, through quantum processes, electrons find a way to efficiently bind to the oxygen molecule thus they together produce oxygen that is necessary for human life...Professor Kouwenhoven was speaking about building quantum computers already made in the lab (see the presentation here)...In 2017, Bishop Robert Barron spoke about communication and image making of everything which, if followed in reasoning, it leads us to The Trinity in God (It is well understood if we listen to the entire presentation here). Much more can be written to explain how he arrives at a possible explanation of the Trinity...But in a nut-shell this tells us that the entire cosmos (and all that it contains) is in a quantum probability since it originated some 13.8 Billion years ago - About this scientific story, a lecture titled “The Real Building Blocks of the Universe” (here) was given by Professor David Tong at Cambridge University in 2017.

Although Lent is about carrying the cross with Christ, we can only rejoice in the departure to God of Fr. George Coyne, S.J. on February 14, 2020 - Fr. Coyne was for many years the Director of the Vatican Observatory. It was reported by Mrs. Maggie Ciskanik, MS associated with Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J, Ph.D. at Magis Center -  Read her post here.

It was through the Word of God (Christ) that the cosmos came into being and continues to be; for it is written "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 were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made." (John 1: 1-3).

Reassurance of Life in Lent

In the Gospel, Jesus tells us that "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (John  10:10). Jesus gives us abundant life.  He said "Truly, I say to you, there is no man who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive manifold more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life." (Luke 18:29-30). In Genesis, it is written "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 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. And God said, 'let there be light'; and there was light." (Genesis 1:1-3). In the Hebrew Tradition, water indicates drowning or loss of life...It is why, in their crossing from Egypt to Sinai, the Israelites followed Moses in crossing the Red Sea and could only survive because the water of the Sea was not allowed to touch them while following them the Egyptians and their armies drowned since the water was returned to its normal level. In the Creed completed at the First Council of  Constantinople; 381 AD, the Church proclaims her faith in "The Holy Spirit the Lord and Giver of life". He is the eternal power of God who sanctifies the offerings and transforms them into the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharistic prayers of the Church. Eucharist means "Thanksgiving"; In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it is clarified "Eucharist, because it is an action of thanksgiving to God. The Greek words eucharistein and eulogein recall the Jewish blessings that proclaim — especially during a meal — God’s works: creation, redemption, and sanctification. (CCC 1328).

Last Sunday, my spiritual director, Father Daniel Callam; CSB proposed that I read Psalm 103. I find it suitable for Lent, because the passions and death of Christ precede his Resurrection. And the Resurrection has been always the central celebration of Christians except that the humanism of Christ took on a priority in the West since St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), and after him thousands of scholars and artists, celebrated the birth of Christ in the manger and, following it, his humanity. Christmas has become commercialized in recent decades...
When I read Psalm 103, I felt much reassurance...
"Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name!" starts the Psalm...
It ends with this magnificent praise:"Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul!"
The entire creation is called to praise the Lord God...
This itself is also in St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans - [For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.] (Romans 8:19-28).
If creation has been groaning to be set free, it means that creation longs for the purpose for which each member of hers has been created - This is precisely the hymn of Teilhard de Chardin - An excerpt (from Teilhard.com) follows:

“Since once again, Lord — though this time not in the forests of the Aisne but in the steppes of Asia — I have neither bread, nor wine, nor altar, I will raise myself beyond these symbols, up to the pure majesty of the real itself; I, your priest, will make the whole earth my altar and on it will offer you all the labors and sufferings of the world.

Over there, on the horizon, the sun has just touched with light the outermost fringe of the eastern sky. Once again, beneath this moving sheet of fire, the living surface of the earth wakes and trembles, and once again begins its fearful travail. I will place on my paten, O God, the harvest to be won by this renewal of labour. Into my chalice I shall pour all the sap which is to be pressed out this day from the earth’s fruits.

My paten and my chalice are the depths of a soul laid widely open to all the forces which in a moment will rise up from every corner of the earth and converge upon the Spirit. Grant me the remembrance and the mystic presence of all those whom the light is now awakening to the new day.

One by one, Lord, I see and I love all those whom you have given me to sustain and charm my life. One by one also I number all those who make up that other beloved family which has gradually surrounded me, its unity fashioned out of the most disparate elements, with affinities of the heart, of scientific research and of thought. And again one by one — more vaguely it is true, yet all-inclusively — I call before me the whole vast anonymous army of living humanity; those who surround me and support me though I do not know them; those who come, and those who go; above all, those who in office, laboratory and factory, through their vision of truth or despite their error, truly believe in the progress of earthly reality and who today will take up again their impassioned pursuit of the light.

This restless multitude, confused or orderly, the immensity of which terrifies us; this ocean of humanity whose slow, monotonous wave-flows trouble the hearts even of those whose faith is most firm: it is to this deep that I thus desire all the fibres of my being should respond. All the things in the world to which this day will bring increase; all those that will diminish; all those too that will die: all of them, Lord, I try to gather into my arms, so as to hold them out to you in offering. This is the material of my sacrifice; the only material you desire.

Once upon a time men took into your temple the first fruits of their harvests, the flower of their flocks. But the offering you really want, the offering you mysteriously need every day to appease your hunger, to slake your thirst is nothing less than the growth of the world borne ever onwards in the stream of universal becoming. Receive, O Lord, this all-embracing host which your whole creation, moved by your magnetism, offers you at this dawn of a new day. This bread, our toil, is of itself, I know, but an immense fragmentation; this wine, our pain, is no more, I know, than a draught that dissolves. Yet in the very depths of this formless mass you have implanted — and this I am sure of, for I sense it — a desire, irresistible, hallowing, which makes us cry out, believer and unbeliever alike: ‘

Lord, make us one.’”

— Teilhard de Chardin

[And a leper came to (Jesus) beseeching him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I will; be clean." And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.] (Mark 1:40-42). I love the above event from the Gospel because I read it when I was recovering after my cancer surgery in 2005 and found in it that Jesus did not ask the leper whether he had faith in the power of Jesus but acted immediately to heal him moved by pity...

And above all, we celebrate life of joy in the Lord from the mouth of Him who is the Saviour of humanity: 

In the Gospel, Jesus tells us that "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (John  10:10). Jesus gives us abundant life.  He said "Truly, I say to you, there is no man who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive manifold more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life." (Luke 18:29-30). 

In Genesis, it is written "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 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. And God said, 'let there be light'; and there was light." (Genesis 1:1-3). In the Hebrew Tradition, water indicates drowning or loss of life...It is why, in their crossing from Egypt to Sinai, the Israelites followed Moses in crossing the Red Sea and could only survive because the water of the Sea was not allowed to touch them while following them the Egyptians and their armies drowned since the water was returned to its normal level. In the Creed completed at the First Council of  Constantinople; 381 AD, the Church proclaims her faith in "The Holy Spirit the Lord and Giver of life". He is the eternal power of God who sanctifies the offerings and transforms them into the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharistic prayers of the Church. Eucharist means "Thanksgiving"; In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it is clarified "Eucharist, because it is an action of thanksgiving to God. The Greek words eucharistein and eulogein recall the Jewish blessings that proclaim — especially during a meal — God’s works: creation, redemption, and sanctification. (CCC 1328).

"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."  This was a homily by Fr. Boulad on Christmas in 2014 - More can be found here...

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. 

In 2017, Bishop Robert Barron spoke about communication and image making of everything which, if followed in reasoning, it leads us to The Trinity in God (here).

With Fr. Boulad, and indeed with Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar, we see the beauty of God in  all creation - Scientific development is one of the venues that help us see this beauty if followed properly.

In scientific development: At the end of the 19th century, physicists were unable to explain why the observed spectrum of black body radiation, which is still considered to have been accurately measured, diverged significantly at higher frequencies from that predicted by existing theories. In 1900, Max Planck empirically derived a formula for the observed spectrum. He assumed that a hypothetical electrically-charged oscillator that contained black-body radiation could only change its energy in a minimal increment, E, that was proportional to the frequency of its associated electromagnetic wave. He was able to calculate the proportionality constant, h, from the experimental measurements, and that constant is named in his honor. In 1905, the value E was associated by Albert Einstein with a "quantum" or minimal element of the energy of the electromagnetic wave itself. The light quantum behaved in some respects as an electrically neutral particle, as opposed to an electromagnetic wave. It was eventually called a photon. Much of the above scientific findings can be traced in my posts here,  here and here. According to the late physicist Stephen Hawking, the universe expanded from a very tiny 'singularity' starting with an inflationary period at the Big Bang (the beginning of creation). Robert Jastrow received his PhD. in theoretical physics from Columbia University in 1948 and was the first chairman of NASA’s Lunar Exploration Committee, which established the scientific goals for the exploration of the moon during the Apollo Lunar Landing in 1969. In an interview reported in Time Magazine and in New York Times in 1978, Jastrow indicated that the achievements in NASA's space program were like men climbing a huge mountain only to find theologians who preceded them waiting at the top.

According to the Anthropic Principle (regardless of whether it is Weak or Strong), the universe is fine tuned for life to a very accurate degree. There are some 30 constants that govern the laws of physics (such as Pi, Planck’s constant…etc). If one constant is slightly changed, the universe would end or collapse. Stephen Hawking said that if the rate of expansion one second after the Big Bang had been smaller by even one part in a hundred thousand million million, the universe would have recollapsed before life could have formed. Freeman Dyson draws the following conclusion “I conclude from the existence of these accidents that the universe is unexpectedly hospitable place for living creatures to make their home in. Being a scientist, trained in the habits of thought and language of the twentieth century rather than the eighteenth, I do not claim that the architecture of the universe proves the existence of God. I claim only that the architecture of the universe is consistent with the hypothesis that mind plays an essential role in its functioning” (Ian Barbour, When Science Meets Religion, 2000 - See also Paul Davies, Cosmic Jackpot, 2007).

In the natural world of biology, Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution with his book "On The Origin of Species by Natural Selection" which he further refined in "The Descent of Man". His theory has been since challenged - see "The Punctuated equilibrium" by S.J. Gould at Harvard University in which he explained the Cambrian Explosion which confirms that, contrary to Darwin's hypothesis, most evolution is characterized by long periods of evolutionary stability, which is infrequently punctuated by swift periods of branching speciation. With a PhD. in Philosophy from Princeton University, Professor David Berlinski was interviewed in June 2019 by Hoover Institution's Research Fellow Peter Robinson on his book “The Deniable Darwin” in which Berlinski mounts criticism of Darwin's theory based on the Cambrian Explosion (the interview can be watched here). In yet a more recent article published on August 29, 2019 in Quanta Magazine, explorers show that modern humans and more ancient hominins interbred many times throughout Eurasia and Africa, and the genetic flow went both ways. It brings our attention to Yuval Noah Harari's book "A Brief History of Humankind" in which he outlines the stages of human development in 4 sections: The Cognitive Revolution; The Agricultural Revolution; The Unification of Humankind; and The Scientific Revolution...

And in the world of advanced technologies, much has been developed:
On February 27, 2020 a webinar showed how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is Powering the Fight Against Financial Crime (here). Earlier in February 2020 Rebecca Knill, a writer who was deaf, explained how digital implants in her brain enable her to hear (see TED@WellsFargo here). In November 2019, amazing developments by two researchers Paul McEuen and Marc Miskin showed their exploration of new frontiers in nano technology that could turn smart iphones into artificial intelligence devices and, if successful, it could be planted in the brain or be used in other fields of communication (here) or as already used in medical sciences, it could be a new manufactured tool that helps physicians diagnose cancer early. Most interesting is the scale at which material can be bent without being broken - It is practically a quantum machine (see it here).

Google uses AI in bringing answers to queries of users. The algorithm used in machine learning mimics human behavior based on its large database from many sites on the Internet (Large Data). It is the same "Large Data" shown by NOVA in a documentary titled "Einstein's Quantum Riddle" and published in early 2019 here.  Einstein called it “spooky action at a distance,” but today quantum entanglement is poised to revolutionize technology from computers to cryptography. Physicists have gradually become convinced that the phenomenon—two subatomic particles that mirror changes in each other instantaneously over any distance—is real. But a few doubts remain. NOVA follows a ground-breaking experiment in the Canary Islands to use quasars at opposite ends of the universe to once and for all settle remaining questions. (Premiered January 9, 2019.)
I have already written about the "Quantum Universe" here and here...

Here are some newly found facts about the reality of quantum physics since the Big Bang (from the most recent to the older):
Physicists all over the world are looking for a theory that unifies all fields of inquiry (A Unified Grand Theory). Two theories are competing: String Theory (Point-like particles are replaced with one-dimensional objects called strings that propagate through space and interact with each other) and Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG).  LQG begins with Einstein's Theory of General Relativity (which predicts Gravitational Waves - See Nobel Prizes below) and attempts to add quantum features.
In October 2017, the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to Rainer Weiss (MIT), Barry Barish (Caltech), and Kip Thorne (Caltech) for their contributions in the LIGO detector that confirmed Einstein's Theory of General Relativity re space-time curvature and the existence of quantum gravitational waves that go back to the Big Bang (see here).
In 2015,  Leo Kouwenhoven at TU Delft in Amsterdam, the Netherlands gave a talk in which he showed how nature itself works through quantum processes. As an example, a plant leaf takes the light of the Sun and, through quantum processes, electrons find a way to efficiently bind to the oxygen molecule thus they together produce oxygen that is necessary for human life...Professor Kouwenhoven was speaking about building quantum computers already made in the lab (see here)...

Could we find our way back to God...Read the Bible from the last book The Book of Revelation to the first book The Book of Genesis...Bishop Barron penetrated the Book of Revelation and connects it to the Book of Genesis - Arguably a very admirable interpretation based on the Fathers of the Church (here).
The above is a good start for Lent...

Alleluia! Sing to Jesus (here)...

Risk

"for `In him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). The above words were said by St. Paul. But does this mean that he did not have to risk his life when preaching about Christ who is the "The Way, Truth, and Life" ?

Every act involves risk. This is true for everything that exists - from the subatomic world to the cosmic galaxies...

This can be illustrated too in the development of the very ancient human tribes whose leaders had to take the risk of fighting animals as well as any strangers or other tribes for preserving their lives and reproducing themselves...In the history of ancient nations, it is found online here.  The ancient civilization of Egypt is one such example. Egyptians found that survival necessitated living around the Nile where water flows for many kilometers - The most astonishing achievement in Ancient Egypt that survives to today is the Great Pyramid of Khufu since it orients Egypt's kings to the god Sun that rises and sets and symbolizes the resurrection cycle - In 2019, NOVA published a documentary showing the precision of engineering and the great work it took to make it an achievement - See it here.
The late contemporary philosopher René Girard expressed competition in his "mimetic rivalry" and the mechanism of the scapegoat - See Bishop Robert Barron comment on Girard's work here. 

Risk management was one of the questions that I answered in my online Master's degree studies at the University of Phoenix (earned in 2010)  Complex Projects versus Complex Mind! here: 

In my thesis, I wrote:

I would like to offer a glimpse to the reality of the interconnectedness of projects in different sciences only because they all have in common the uniqueness of the human person. Quantum physics which I studied in my Engineering undergraduate studies further confirms new understandings of relatedness. I will mainly base my post on:
1) The article by Mizell and Malone published in Engineering Management Journal on cost estimation used at NASA (December 2007)
2) Scientific American article on the origins of the mind (September 2009 issue)
3) Quantum physics, explained in numerous works by great contemporary physicists

Marc Hauser, past professor of psychology, human evolutionary biology, and organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard University, proposes what he calls “humaniqueness” as properties of the distinctive mind of humans that sets it apart from the minds of other creatures. Professor Hauser shows the following characteristics of the human uniqueness (My post here has to be limited to only mentioning them in brief):
1. Generative computation: the ability to create a virtually limitless variety of “expressions,” be they arrangements of words, sequences of notes, combinations of actions, or strings of mathematical symbols
2. The capacity for the promiscuous combination of ideas. We routinely connect thoughts from different domains of knowledge, allowing our understanding of art, sex, space, causality and friendship to combine. From this mingling, new laws, social relationships and technologies can result.
3. The use of mental symbols. We can spontaneously convert any sensory experience—real or imagined— into a symbol that we can keep to ourselves or express to others through language, art, music or computer code.
4. Only humans engage in abstract thought. Unlike animal thoughts, which are largely anchored in sensory and perceptual experiences, many of ours have no clear connection to such events.
We alone ponder the likes of unicorns and aliens, nouns and verbs, infinity and God. “Indeed, mounting evidence indicates that, in contrast to Darwin’s theory of a continuity of mind between humans and other species, a profound gap separates our intellect from the animal kind. This is not to say that our mental faculties sprang fully formed out of nowhere. Researchers have found some of the building blocks of human cognition in other species. But these building blocks make up only the cement footprint of the skyscraper that is the human mind. The evolutionary origins of our cognitive abilities thus remain rather hazy. Clarity is emerging from novel insights and experimental technologies, however.”

Hauser thus establishes the basis of different mind in humans. It shows, in contrast to Darwin’s theory, a profound gap between us and animals, or as the well-known paleontologist Teilhard de Chardin put it, there is a leap from the biosphere to the noosphere which is the sphere of the human mind that can ask himself about himself. The complexity of the human mind, unmatched by that of any other creature has been confirmed by much recent research. Hauser gives this example: “One of our most basic tools, the No. 2 pencil, used by every test taker, illustrates the exceptional freedom of the human mind as compared with the limited scope of animal cognition. You hold the painted wood, write with the lead, and erase with the pink rubber held in place by a metal ring. Four different materials, each with a particular function, all wrapped up into a single tool. And although that tool was made for writing, it can also pin hair up into a bun, bookmark a page or stab an annoying insect. Animal tools, in contrast—such as the sticks chimps use to fish termites out from their mounds—are composed of a single material, designed for a single function and never used for other functions. None have the combinatorial properties of the pencil.”

Let’s now compare the above with some of the findings & conclusions proposed by Mizell & Malone for complex projects at NASA:

First: The cost estimating process becomes harder as the complexity and size of projects increase. This is particularly clear from the fact that key variables are not known at the start of large projects – for example staffing requirements are unknown with certainty at that point while client management requires a budget estimate before sign off. Moreover, software development activities are labor intensive. They are affected by and affect HUMAN PERFORMANCE. This shows that complex projects for the most complex creature require an understanding of subtle cognitive functions at least in human relationships e.g. human resources staffing and the effect human performance has on delivering a project which in turn affect human performance in next projects. Even these relationships cannot be understood in isolation – See below.

Second: Human nature prefers a single number for an estimate as opposed to a range of numbers even though a range estimate will have a much higher probability of including an accurate value (Boehm and Fairly, 2000). This is why a range is recommended.

This shows that humans have to deal with ranges of numbers rather than single numbers for their complex projects. Here is a hint about quantum physics which we ought to deal with. Quantum physics stipulates that every process-result is probable until it is measured. According to the Uncertainty Principle, only at the time of measurement is there certainty. Furthermore, John Polkinghorne, retired professor of mathematical physics at Cambridge University, wrote, in one of his latest books: Quantum Physics and Theology, about relationship as science is attempting to discover it 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”

Third: Expert judgment relies on experience of past projects and industry average which fail to tell the entire story. On the contrary, every project is unique in its environment and organization factors. This is true since we know that no one human can subsist in isolation – The environment, the tribe, society or whatever makes up a human organization is vital for human action. This has been shown also in apes. Moreover, subjective experience counts. This is what has been missing in the Newtonian world.

This is why Mizell and Malone propose a simulation model as follows:
1. Use a software development process model: A graphical representation is useful to educate decision-makers on the inherent complexity of large software projects
2. Capture uncertainty for key parameters by using probability distributions: Three are most important: a. Size of project/product; b. Productivity of project team; c. Defect rates. This will allow us to develop range estimates that consider the uncertainty that exists before the start of a project.
3. Run Model and Obtain Confidence Intervals for Effort and Schedule: Calculate confidence intervals and focus on the top half of the confidence interval to dissuade managers from accepting the lower part in order to meet the lowest possible cost and schedule.
4. Compare Model Results with Other Estimating Techniques.
5. Use model results to debate unrealistic budgets: Run it with animation so that decision-makers can visualize the process and its complexity.
6. Update Model with Actual project data as project evolves (Experience): This can be very useful in analyzing problem areas and effort based on actual project data to-date.

We can therefore safely conclude that:
1. The human mind is the most complex in all creatures on earth
2. However, this mind requires complex computer tools to realize its complex projects today.
3. Which requires this mind to use quantum physics probabilities 4.
Which then (according to the EPR Experiment) shows that this mind cannot stay in isolation of other creatures – Relationship is of the essence to cultivate – How more important would it be to cultivate it in business and social life?
5. That gets us, in my opinion, into the most fundamental of all principles: Communication, collaboration and, if possible, love. (Comment for this blog: This was a post in my Master studies of Information Systems. Christian teaching is referenced multiple times particularly in the work of John Polkinghorne, and in the final conclusion on love as the epitome of the Christian way of life.)

References: Mizell, C., Malone, L. (2007), A Project Management Approach to Using Simulation for Cost Estimation on Large, Complex Software Development Projects, Engineering Management Journal, Retrieved on September 3, 2009 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=1&hid=3&sid=1d33c98f-9e1e-4296-bb45-fbbbb64b33ef%40sessionmgr11
 Hauser, M. (2009), Origin of the Mind, Scientific America, Retrieved on September 5, 2009 from http://www.sciamdigital.com/
Polkinghorne, J. (2008), Quantum Physics and Theology, Oxford University Press.

About Post-Modernism

In 2019, Bishop Robert Barron spoke about Friedrich Nietzsche and the New Scientists here. He said that Nietzsche was right because he though that God competes with his creation. However, Nietzsche misunderstood the Biblical God who glories in his creation. St. Irnenaeus in the 2nd century AD, he quoted, said that "the glory of God is man fully alive". It seems that the "Hero" that Nietzsche called for and the blame game in which his philosophy called for the strong-willed to rise and crush the timid and weak, is behind the rise of the Nazi who, according to René Girard's scape-goating mechanism, exploited the German people feelings for becoming a super power and blamed the Jews for Germany's economic difficulties since World War I, and ended by burning them in Auschwitz concentration camps...(see Bishop Robert Barron here) - Friedrich Nietzsche was the subject of the doctoral dissertation by Fr. George Farah when he obtained his doctorate in philosophy from the renowned Sorbonne University.

In 2017, Bishop Robert Barron spoke about communication and image making of everything which, if followed in reasoning, it leads us to The Trinity in God (here). In 2003, the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad had also spoken about the Trinity in as simple way as possible (here).

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 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. 

In all of the above, there is always a measure of risk. In God it is absolute, since God is limitless. It is total self-giving love in the One God of three Persons. In the Trinity, the Father risks his own divinity from eternity to give himself to his image the Son.  And the Son receives the Father's self-emptying love-divinity and returns it to his Father.  The Holy Spirit binds the Father and the Son in eternal love...

The crucifixion of Jesus on Golgotha was an event in which he risked his life as in-trust he gave himself to the Father. He had challenged the chief priest, priests, and the pharisees in his claim that he is the only Son of God (Examples include John 8:52-58; John 10:32-38; John 17:21...).  Only in the Resurrection did the Apostles and early Christians understand the meaning of Christ's redemptive act - See an excerpt from "Introduction to Christianity" by Joseph Ratzinger i.e. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI here. In it Joseph Ratzinger recalls the Jesuit visionary Teilhard de Chardin "To use Teilhard de Chardin's terminology; where that took place, the decisive complexity or "complexification" would have occurred;bios, too, would be encompassed by and incorporated in the power of love. It would cross the boundary--death--and create unity where death divides. If the power of love for another were so strong somewhere that it could keep alive not just his memory, the shadow of his "I", but that person himself, then a new stage in life would have been reached. This would mean that the realm of biological evolutions and mutations had been left behind and the leap made to a quite different plane, on which love was no longer subject to bios but made use of it. Such a final stage of "mutation" and "evolution" would itself no longer be a biological stage; it would signify the end of the sovereignty of bios, which is at the same time the sovereignty of death; it would open up the realm that the Greek Bible calls zoe, that is, definitive life, which has left behind the rule of death. The last stage of evolution needed by the world to reach its goal would then no longer be achieved within the realm of biology but by the spirit, by freedom, by love. It would no longer be evolution but decision and gift in one."

The Resurrection is a happy event. In it, the risen Christ shows his divinity - His body is glorified. It is why many people spend time before the Blessed Sacrament. St. Jean Baptiste Marie Vianney used to spend time before the Blessed Sacrament. when asked, he answered "I talk to him and he talks to me"!. see here a little profile...Bishop Robert Barron commented on the "Hour of Adoration" (here)- In his talk he mentioned two great French philosophers in the Neo-Thomist renewal: namely Jacques Maritain and Étienne Gilson. He also mentioned St. Edith Stein; a Jewish convert to Catholicism who was arrested by the Nazi in the Netherlands (August 1942) and martyred in the Auschwitz concentration camp in the same month. She was beatified by  Pope Saint John Paul II in 1987 and canonized by him in 1998.
One of the most delightful statements is the one on the "Degrees of  love" attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (see it here)...

With scientific development, technologies have advanced in a way that could help humanity... 
See here a NOVA documentary published in February 2019 and titled Einsteins Quantum Riddle
In November 2019 two scientists showed how robots can soon help solve much of today's health and communication challenges (here in this TED Talk). A report in 2018 by CBS showed how MIT Lab has manufactured artificial limbs to help those that need them (here).

Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J. shows that each of as humans has a transcendent soul (here). Positive psychology too emphasizes the need for a meaningful purpose for life to be truly enjoyed in the family (see Prof. Martin Seligman in this TED Talk here). 

This past Sunday, February 16, 2019 commenting the Gospel's reading - Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:17-37), the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad gave a homily from Cairo which I followed on YouTube (advanced technology owned by Google that lately made a super-quantum computer in addition to its Web-based query engine using artificial intelligence) -  In his homily (in French here; "Pas de loi pour ceux qui vivent de l’Esprit ...") Fr. Boulad said that according to St. Paul, Moses 'Ten Commandments' are inscribed in everyone's heart (called the Natural Law) regardless of whether they followed the Mosaic Law or were from the Gentiles - As Moses revealed the 'Ten Commandments' from Mount Sinai, so Jesus too revealed his law from the Mount of Galilee. We, therefore, could question what new laws did Jesus announce... There is no law for those who live in the Spirit of God...Jesus frees humanity from the slavery of the Law... In his charismatic style, Fr. Boulad said that everything that makes you love and grow is from the Spirit; for you are loved - God is 'Our Father'...It is the way of human civilization - Grow in love...Perfect your love...Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you "So be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48).
Earlier in the same day, I listened to two other giants in Toronto: My spiritual director Fr. Daniel Callam; CSB interpreted to me the meaning of Jesus words "But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" - He said that sexual instinct is natural, but one sins if he chooses to abuse it by desiring the body of someone as if it is a thing as it could reflect self-pride...At the 10 am Mass at Holy Rosary, Msgr. Robert Nusca said in his homily that we have lost much of our freedom as Christians in Canada - The Liberal government has been implementing laws that contradict natural life from the conception of the child in the mother's womb to natural death, since it actively supports abortion and assisted suicide. Furthermore the secular society we live in is based on neo-post-modernism which Pope Emeritus Benedict frequently condemned as moral relativism...

Indeed Christianity faces today some real risks as it did in different phases of its development. While Christians are confident that Christ will always be triumphant in the end, you may wish to read two posts here:
1.  Who will triumph (written in October 2014) here.
2. The development of Christian history (written in March 2018) here.

Let us sing this hymn which the Congregation at St. Anne's in Belfast made on "Love Divine" (here)