Who is Catholic?

To be Catholic is not synonym with being formally an adherent to the Catholic Church, for the Catholic Church is much more than how it is shown in the world. All people of good will, Christian and non-Christian, are related in a way unknown to us, to the Catholic Church. Even atheists who do good, belong to the Catholic Church. On the other hand, it is not enough to be formally attached to the Catholic Church. The Holy Spirit works in every human person open to His deep and incomprehensible love. Is not God free to give His love to everyone? Then why do we question Him? Even death cannot stand in God's utter pouring love. John Chrysostom the great Eastern saint of the 4th century said that God runs after everyone in order to only find a tear in his eyes so that He can save him. If a fallible man, however saintly he is, can describe God's love in this way, how beautiful is the ultimate reality in itself? And the Catholic Church who is the sign of God's salvific history with man, how can it not be the instrument through which everyone is invited in Christ to the eternal kingdom? Everyone means every human person on earth of any race, of any religion, of any faith and of any culture. "I knock on the door" says the saviour of all. Those who come to receive Him in their hearts and work with His grace are Catholic. This does not mean, however, that all non-Catholics are able to receive the same as Catholics who practice their faith for in the Catholic Church alone exist the dimensions of full unity through the ministry of the Bishop of Rome, all sacraments, Tradition from which the Bible was born, and Apostolic succession. Looking at the big picture, we recall that Christ said "Who is not against you is with you."

Hallowed be Thy Name

The Lord's prayer has this beautiful phrase "Hallowed be Thy Name" which traditionally has been interpreted as the Christian call for giving glory to God. But what is God's glory? In Christianity, it is understood that God is glorified in his creatures. If ancient religions understood glorifying God as an act of slave worship constantly fearful of a distant deity and always in need of the master's favour, the development of Christian tradition understands it as loving God with all our hearts, not out of fear but in awe of His presence. His ineffable love of creation cannot and can never be matched by any love, however deep, given to Him by any creature. And the base of this thought is that God loved us first. In fact, our existence is due to his free love. This is why saints are saints. It is not because they gave God anything he lacked. It is not because they performed great deeds. It is not because they contributed to the growth of justice and peace. It is only because in their humility they loved God as the moon reflects the light of the Sun. Saints realize that their love to God and everyone around them is only a reflection of God's first love. The words of Christ about the sinner who annointed his feet with ointment still ring in our ears today "Therefore I tell you her sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much" (Luke 7: 47). What did this sinner give God? She was embroiled in adultery. But because she loved much , she is forgiven. Love is the language of God. He cares about every single creature but never imposes himself. His justice is mercy. And his mercy is love to the end. What the saints do is nothing but love. And, contrary to popular belief, they are not lacking today. Blessed Pope John XXIII (1958-1963) known for his big heart said that in our age there are as many saints as there ever was in any generation in history. The great John Paul II canonized as many saints as all his predecessors did in many centuries. His motto was "Do not be afraid. Open your doors to Christ." And in these days, when the entire Catholic Church celebrates All Saints, and All Souls, it is an opportunity for us to hope that many will be saints, including this generation. The Church always hopes against hope. Albert Camus wrote in his philosophy about the Absurd the myth of sisyphus who was sent to the underworld because he angered the Greek gods and challenged death. His fate was to push a stone up a mountain then watch it fall back to the bottom. His punishment was to go down everytime from the top of the mountain to its bottom to roll the stone back to the top. I see in sisyphus the sign of hope. Sisyphus will eventually overcome his fate - Even if he has to watch the stone falling back he will not yield! Saints are of the same perseverence. God only knows no limit to perseverence in his love that overflows in spite of a sinful world. He surely cares to give it to us. Hallowed be His Name.

The Language of Angels

Last night we had the privilege of listening to music performed by some professionals in the field. Amazingly the power of music has always been linked to angels who sing to the Lord God. Praising God through prayer is only another form of the angelic worship. Choirs and musicians enter, and with them the entire Church, into the heavenly thanksgiving that all creatures owe to the creator and sustainer of everything. We simply respond on behalf of all created things to this eternal Love, God, who created us out of love. How long can we sing to God? It would take us, I think, an eternity because, in singing from the heart, eternity becomes a second, a moment in time. Now I understand that eternity in heaven is not a boring act of mental contemplation but an experience of utter joy far beyond only the mental understanding, although it does not suppress it. In heaven, we enjoy God.

Music is a higher form of language. The language of angels.

Perceiving The Truth: Why Christians should be Catholic

After having a close study of the political, cultural & economic situation in the globe today, I can only propose one proposal for the survival of Christians: All Christian Churches and Communions should be in full communion with the successor of Peter, the pope of Rome. There are a few simple reasons for this:

1) Morally: The only voice that can be listened to in the world is that of the pope.

2) Economically: All Eastern Churches are suffering an Islamic revival against Christianity (Middle East?). The only Church that has enough power to rescue them is the "Roman" Catholic Church. Union agendas between Eastern Catholics and Orthodox have failed (e.g. Balamand declaration, the Zoghby project...etc.)

3) Population: The largest Church in the world that is still expanding is the Catholic Church (Over a billion faithful). Recent statistics suggest that Africa is being won by Catholic missionaries.

4) Although Western Europe is losing its formal Christian affiliation, there is now more than ever an awareness in modern Europe that they need to face down Islam.

5) The only other force consists of thousands of fragmented Protestant Christian communities in Europe and the Bible Belt in America. However they compete with each other. No unity exists among Protestant or Orthodox churches.

6) Anthropologically, based on Girard's work, selfishness seems to be the rule of humans in the world although goodness is the root of their nature. Only saints are able to conform to God's grace and will. It follows that unity under one man (the pope) is practically more feasible than puritan dogmatic speculation. Although Christian unity efforts have been tried for half a century, no one Church has made real steps for rapproachment with other churches except Rome. The rest is bogus! As an example the Eastern Orthodox Churches agreed with the Ancient Oriental Churches on all doctrines of faith since 1988. Twenty one years later, none of them has really reunited with any of its sisters!

7) All churches except for the Catholic Church suffer from a nationalist cultural imprint on their current reality be it in the East or in the West. On the contrary the Catholic Church expanded through inculturalization (adapting, for example, to the cultures in Africa & Asia.)

8) The Old Oriental Churches recognize only the first three Ecumenical Councils up to 431 AD, the Eastern Orthodox Churches recognize 7 Ecumenical Councils up to 787 AD. Only the Catholic Church confesses continuity until today - It held 21 Ecumenical Councils, the most recent was held from 1962 to 1965. It is simple: Each Church recognizes Councils until its separation from the universal Catholic Church. And only the Catholic Church continues to hold Ecumenical Councils.

9) Only in the Catholic Church there is a development of doctrine: The Old Oriental Churches still celebrate the same liturgy as they had it in the 5th century. The Eastern Orthodox Churches still celebrate the same liturgy as they had it in the 10th century. Tradition cannot be static, otherwise it dies. According to Cardinal Newman (19th century) there is a development of doctrine based on tradition. One example: icons were not known in Christ's time, but were adopted in the Eastern & Western Churches since the 3rd-4th century; Statues were used in both Christian East & West until Islam in the 7th century attacked the East. Since then the Eastern Church has kept icons only. The Western Church continued the tradition of both icons and statues.The idea is simple: A picture does not change but human perception of the picture develops as humans come closer to the picture. No change in dogma - only development in understanding them. This is not limited to thought. It involves experience which develops as we grow in faith. It can be represented by artistic works such as music and paintings. As much as arts developed in the West, they were hindered in the East due to the presence of Islam.

10) Only the Catholic Church recognizes formally the advances made by modern Biblical scholarship. Catholic Biblical scholars use historical criticism and other tools to decipher more fully the meaning of Scriptures in the context of the cultures in which they were written under God's inspiration.

11) In the Catholic Church there is recognition that scientific advances can lead to a limited understanding of the truth since the author of both Revelation and science is God. Since 1988, there has been 6 international conferences on science & religion sponsored by the Vatican.

12) The Catholic Church is the only Church that recognizes the validity of Orthodox Churches. On the other hand, Orthodox Churches do not recognize the validity of the Catholic Church. Of course we can do nothing without Christ. We need Christ's Spirit who is already working in so many Christian commmunities for the unity of all Christians. It is only obvious to me - and I may be wrong - that full unity will require more than prayers and theological dialogue. It requires, to borrow a word from Islam, submission to God. If all heads of Christian Churches & Communions agree to meet, pray and dialogue, it may be a first step, but there must be a spirit of commitment to unity. The only Church that enjoys full unity is the Catholic Church. Based on the above, it follows that the unique approach for Christian survival is to unite under the leadership of the pope of Rome. Pope Benedict XVI predicted in 1999 (when he was still a cardinal) that Christians will become small communities. He thinks that Christianity will revive and live in its own apparent defeat! In fact, it is in persecution more than in good times that the body of Christ grows.

Complex Projects versus Complex Mind!

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.