Podcast Summary
Unveiling the Mystery of God Through Faith: Faith opens the door to understanding the mysterious nature of God.
God is mysterious and unknowable in our everyday experience.We can't comprehend Him directly, but through metaphysical analysis, philosophical reasoning, and metaphors, we can try to understand Him.We can only get a sense of God's nature and existence through faith, which is a grace from God rather than something we can achieve or discover on our own.Faith is a special way of understanding God, and it enables us to connect with Him on a deeper level.
An Exploration of the Transcendent Faith Beyond Reason: Faith is understanding the power of a higher power that exists beyond the boundaries of reason.
Faith can be compared to an author and the world to a book.Just like the author is utterly responsible for every bit of the story, yet is not in the story, similarly, God is responsible for all that exists in the world but is not in the world.Faith is the understanding of this non-competitive transcendent to the world, and it is a darkness beyond the horizon prior to reason.
Unveiling the Mystery of God's Presence: Through the Incarnation, God has invited us into an intimate relationship with Him.
God's presence is mysterious and powerful, yet not a character in the story, but rather the author of the story.God is closer to us than we are to ourselves and is sustaining us in existence.The paradox is that God is both totally other and deeply in the story.Christianity is distinct because of its belief in the incarnation, where God becomes a creature, divinizing the world and bringing us into a mystical relationship with him.This is important because it shows us that God wants to be in relationship with us and draw us closer to himself.
Uniting with God's Love to Overcome the Seven Deadly Sins: We can become one with God's love by focusing on moments of joy and light to overcome the seven deadly sins.
God's love for humanity is so great that it became human in the form of Jesus Christ.This love is not competitive, but rather it is a call for us to become one with God.The seven deadly sins are pride, envy, anger, sloth, avarice, gluttony, and lust.Pride is the deadliest of the sins, as it is a sign of us attempting to draw everything into ourselves.We must instead focus on the moments in life that bring us joy and light and make us radiant, rather than focus on ourselves.By doing this, we can become more in tune with God's love, and become one with it.
Embracing Humility and Love to Overcome Pride: To be freed from the deadly sin of pride, we must learn to embrace humility, love, empathy, and compassion.
Humility is the key to beat pride, the most fundamental of all deadly sins.To fight pride, one needs love, empathy, humility, and compassion.We can all think of moments in our life when we were lost in something and so happy that we forgot ourselves.That is heaven, where we are friends with God and his beauty and truth.On the other hand, when we become prideful, we become a black hole and draw everything into ourselves, like Dante's Satan.We are all sinners, somewhere on this spectrum from heaven to hell and God has come to bring us out of it.
Love is an Act of Will, Not a Feeling: We must strive to break through our own egos and let go of ourselves to be able to love deeply, for this is the key to being fully alive.
Jesus showed us the ultimate example of love by sacrificing his life for us.He truly showed us what it means to will the good of another as other.Love is not a feeling but an act of will towards another.It's not about what is good for me, but what is good for the other.We all have our ups and downs and make mistakes, but ultimately, love is our metric for a good life.We must strive to break through our own egos and let go of ourselves to be able to love deeply.This is the key to being fully alive, as St.Uranus said, "The glory of God is a human being fully alive".
A Mystic Body of Jesus, Uniting in Love: The Catholic Church is a spiritual being, held together by the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and it is our job to share it.
The Catholic Church is a mystical body of Jesus, made up of all the baptized gathered around him in a mystical union.It is an organism of interconnected cells, not a mere organization.It manifests itself institutionally with buildings, titles, and the heavy things that come with pride.But at its core, it is a spiritual being, held together by the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, just as they are in the Holy Trinity.The Catholic Church is a reflection of this love and it is our job to share it.
Defending the Church Against Predators and Rejecting the Prosperity Gospel: The symbols of unity in the Catholic Church represent Christ's love and remind us that we are held together by our faith, but its hierarchy also has the duty to protect the church and its people from those who wish to do harm. The Prosperity Gospel does not align with Jesus' teachings and should be rejected.
The Catholic Church is a living organism, unified by symbols of unity like The Pope, Bishops, and Pastors.These symbols represent Christ's love and remind us that we are all fragile vessels held together by our faith, despite our imperfections.It is the job of the hierarchy to bring the community together and, while their symbols may seem powerful and inspiring, they also have a duty to defend the church against predators and draw people in who have strayed.We must recognize that this role is not always sunshine and light and can include a more judgmental approach to communication.The Prosperity Gospel, however, is not part of the Church's message, as Jesus never promised earthly wellbeing to those who followed him.
Centering Ourselves on Christ to Find True Favor: True favor is found when we use our gifts to spread love and serve others, especially when it comes to difficult topics like sexual abuse.
God created us to love and to help each other.We often get side-tracked and start seeking worldly possessions and success as a sign of favor.God's favor, however, looks different.True favor is found when we use our gifts, no matter what they are, to spread love and serve others.This is exemplified in the wheel of fortune, where no matter where we are on the wheel, we should stay centered on Christ and use our resources to show love.And when it comes to difficult topics like sexual abuse, true favor is found in acknowledging it, taking responsibility and being open and honest.That is how we find God's favor.
A Path of Love to Enhance Life and Proximity to God: Celibacy is a personal choice that can bring one closer to God and enhance life, not an obligation.
Celibacy is a path of love, and it involves a redirection of energy in order to enhance life and bring closer proximity to God.It is not true that celibacy is the cause of sexual abuse scandals.Rather, it is the abuse of power, access to vulnerable people and institutional cover that are the cause.It is important to understand that celibacy is not an obligation for all, but rather an option that can be chosen to pursue a deeper level of love and closeness to God.
Grappling With the Idea of God Permitting Evil for Good: God's understanding of the good and bad in the world may be greater than ours despite the incomprehensible evil we experience. We can still strive for progress and try to reduce suffering.
Through suffering, cruelty and evil, we are reminded of the harsh realities of the world.It is a reminder of the unanswerable questions that arise when bad things happen to good people.We are forced to grapple with the idea that God permits evil to bring about a greater good, even though this can be an emotionally unsatisfying answer.It is important to remember that our minds only take in a small amount of data, while God's is infinite, meaning that He may have a greater understanding of the good and bad of the world than we do.Even in the face of incomprehensible evil, we can still look for progress and try to alleviate suffering in our world.
Trusting God in Difficult Times: An Example of Christ: In times of suffering, trusting God can be difficult. However, we can take comfort in knowing that God is ultimately good and has given us evidence of His love and existence.
Trusting God in times of suffering can be difficult.Even though we may not understand why God allows suffering, we can trust that He knows what He's doing and He is ultimately good.We can look to the example of Christ, who suffered greatly but brought about a greater good.We can take comfort in knowing that while we can't comprehend God's plan, we can trust that it is good.He has given us evidence of His existence, His goodness, and His love.We can trust that He is with us and will see us through the darkest of times.
Uncovering the Possibility of a Good God Despite Suffering: Mathematics can take us beyond the empirical observations of the physical world and point to a higher order of being, offering a potential explanation for the existence of a good God despite the existence of suffering.
The world is full of suffering, and it can be hard to believe there is a good God if evil exists.We are often tempted to use this as an argument against God's existence.However, this argument doesn't take into account the fact that a scientific understanding of the world can only take us so far.Mathematics can take us beyond the empirical observations of the physical world and point to a higher order of being.This is why even non-religious scientists have used the word "miracle" to describe the effectiveness of mathematics in the physical world.We must go beyond the realm of the physical and observe this higher order of being to understand the possibility of a good God existing despite the evil in the world.
Exploring the Intelligence of Nature and the Realities of Being: Our universe is turned towards the one of being, reminding us to reflect on the nature of being and how it unites our experience.
The world is filled with beauty and complexity.It is easy to marvel at the laws of nature and the mathematical structure that makes the universe intelligible.We have figured out a few puzzles, yet still have so much to discover.It is comforting to know that whatever the source of this intelligibility, it is something that speaks to us and resonates with us.We can step out of the cave and begin to explore the metaphysical questions of what it means for something to be "real." We can reflect on the nature of being, and how it unites our experience.It is a reminder that our universe is turned toward the one of being.
Unravelling the Historical Complexities of Jesus and Christianity: To truly comprehend the power and intensity of Christianity, it is essential to understand the historical details of Jesus' life.
A Christian's faith isn't just an idea or a feeling, but also a commitment to a historical figure - Jesus of Nazareth.Jesus' life and death is not just a myth, nor is it just an archetype of the moral life, but a real event that changed the course of history.God became one of us, and Jesus' death and resurrection is the source of our salvation and the way to be one with God.Jordan Peterson is an example of someone who is struggling to make sense of his faith and its complexity.Understanding the historical details of Jesus' life is essential to truly comprehend the power and intensity of Christianity.
Uncovering the Historical Nature of God's Word: We can learn from our past by examining the details of how power is used and abused, and how we can struggle with the complexities of human nature and power.
The Bible is a library of books from different authors, different periods, different genres and each can be interpreted differently.It is God's word, but breathed through different voices, different instruments and different styles of language.We can learn from our past by looking at the historical nature of the Bible and seeing how different events have shaped our world.In the American Declaration of Independence, the words "all men are created equal" show the residue of a deeply integrated Christian sense, that our rights come from God, not the government.Equality was not seen as such in classical philosophy, but the founders of America saw it as a basic right.This teaches us the importance of looking at the details of how power is used and abused, and how we can struggle with the complexities of human nature and power.
Embracing Equality and Rights - A Shared Human Experience: Equality and rights are grounded in our belief in God, and without this belief, we can see the consequences of not embracing these values.
We all have different physical, mental, and moral capabilities, but when it comes to our rights and equality under the law, we are all equal.In the United States, this is based on the idea that we are all "created equal" and that we are all "a nation under God".Equality and rights are grounded in our belief in God, and without this belief, we can see the consequences of not embracing these values in the form of totalitarianism and oppression.We must remember our shared humanity, and understand that despite our different abilities, we are all equal and deserving of respect.
Transcending Boundaries Through Love and Respect: Bishop Robert Barron teaches us that it is possible to engage with different cultures, religions, and beliefs with love and respect, even when we don't agree.
Bishop Robert Barron has been using media and social media to spread the gospel for over 20 years.He started out with a 15 minute radio show and then expanded to video and television.He has traveled the world and engages with different cultures and conversations.He also taught in the seminary for 20 years and wrote books about it.He loves engaging people and answering their questions about God, suffering, and why his religion is the right one.He even wades through the hostility and stupidity he finds online to reach out to people in love and respect.He holds to the intelligible structure of human sexuality, that it is twofold - unitive and procreative - and while the physical expression of it between two men is problematic, it is the love and friendship between them that is affirmed.
Respecting Human Life and Human Dignity Through Freedom: Freedom is not about self-determination, but rather the disciplining of desire to achieve the good.
Freedom is a powerful concept, and one that is at the heart of the debate surrounding the overturning of Roe vs.Wade.The Church teaches that human life is worthy of respect and protection from the moment of conception.As such, the Church stands opposed to abortion.Legally, Roe vs.Wade and Casey were terrible decisions, usurping the power of individuals to determine their own meaning and life.In this debate, freedom is not about self-determination, but rather the disciplining of desire to make the achievement of the good possible and effortless.Ultimately, it is a struggle to understand the respect for human life and human dignity.
Embracing God's Love Through Selfless Dedication: Find something you are good at and dedicate it to the love of others, while recognizing the joy in your work and embracing the uncertainty of mortality.
As wise mentors, we always tell our young folks to find something they are good at and then dedicate it to the love of others.This means that although you may be good at science, mathematics, sports, or music, your freedom is guided and not sovereign.To be able to be effective at making the world better, it is important to recognize the joy that comes from your work and to make sure that your choices are disciplined and your desires are directed.Lastly, we should all remember our own mortality and embrace the uncertainty of it.We should take comfort that we are drawn into the deeper embrace of God's love.
Unveiling the Journey of Becoming Closer to God: Love is the purpose of life and is the value of all values, and we can find meaning when our lives are centered around a relationship with God.
Life is a journey of growth and transformation, and we are all connected in our journey of becoming closer to God.Our existence on earth is a way of deepening our relationship with God through loving Him and understanding His values.Our material bodies are constantly changing, but the pattern of our soul remains the same and is remembered by God.This pattern is the basis for our resurrection and for our heavenly life.In this journey, the ultimate goal is to become more and more radiant with God's love and to transcend our material form to a higher spiritual one.Love is the purpose of life and is the value of all values, and we can find meaning when our lives are centered around a relationship with God.
