The title of our philosophy course is an intimidating "Philosophical Anthropology". It is all an attempt to understand man. Fr. William Yip spotlighted the several essential schools of thought from ancient Greece to modern Europe. He chose Plato, Aristotle in ancient Greece, Heidegger and Marcel in modern Europe. To bridge the gap, he mentioned by passing René Descartes who conceptualized man as a thinking thing. Ancient Greeks treated man as an object while modern Europeans focused more on man as a person. We are approaching the end of the course and are studying the philosophy of Marcel. It is very enjoyable to read the essays of Marcel. They are grounded on concrete daily life experiences and do not read like abstract philosophy. Marcel tried to capture the essence of human being through reflections on fidelity and hope.
We discover our "Self" through relationships. On one side, there is a "you" without which, there is no "me". When there is no committment in the relationships, we will never be able to discover our true self. Commitment requires fidelity. We need to invest our time, our energy and our whole person in any commitment. The more we commit ourselves, the more we discover what we are able to become. If we just want to get advantages in the interaction with the others, a lot of what we are remains unknown to us.
Life is not a bed of roses. There are good times and bad times. In times of darkness, we can choose to throw our hands up and resign to life. This is despair. Despair is bad for us because our life will be frozen and things will not change for the better. But we can also choose to stay calm and patient to find a way out or to wait until time changes. In short, we can persevere in hope of a better tomorrow. If tomorrow is worse, we can continue to hope for the day after tomorrow. As long as we still have a breath in our nostril, there still remains time to change for the better. Hope for the better is our last resort. For us Christians, hope is a gift from God. Judas betrayed Jesus and was caught up in despair. He committed suicide. Peter denies Jesus three times and somehow, a slim ray of hope remained in hope. He endured patiently the forty odd hours of darkness and discovered the tomb of Jesus empty. Today, we have a St. Peter, but not St. Judas.
Life is not a bed of roses. There are good times and bad times. In times of darkness, we can choose to throw our hands up and resign to life. This is despair. Despair is bad for us because our life will be frozen and things will not change for the better. But we can also choose to stay calm and patient to find a way out or to wait until time changes. In short, we can persevere in hope of a better tomorrow. If tomorrow is worse, we can continue to hope for the day after tomorrow. As long as we still have a breath in our nostril, there still remains time to change for the better. Hope for the better is our last resort. For us Christians, hope is a gift from God. Judas betrayed Jesus and was caught up in despair. He committed suicide. Peter denies Jesus three times and somehow, a slim ray of hope remained in hope. He endured patiently the forty odd hours of darkness and discovered the tomb of Jesus empty. Today, we have a St. Peter, but not St. Judas.
Today, we read the first chapter of Isaiah. The prophet criticized harshly the infidelity of the Israelites.
The ox knows its owner, and the ass its master's crib; but Israel does not know, my people does not understand (Isaiah 1:3).
First of all, they quantified their piety by offering a lot of sacrifices instead of a contrite heart.
What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of he-goats (Isaiah 1:11).
Secondly, they made a show of their piety with elaborate ceremonies. They had put their hearts in the wrong place. Instead of pleasing God, they annoyed Him.
When you come to appear before me, who requires of you this trampling of my courts?
Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and the calling of assemblies -- I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them (Isaiah 1:12-13).
Lastly, their piety was not matched by their charity. Rather, they covered up their evils with outward religiosity. Their religious life failed to transform them into a moral people.
When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood (Isaiah 1:15).
In short, their relationships with God lacked fidelity. Either they performed their religious life as a ritual without putting in their hearts or they did it with ulterior motives. God wanted none of these because it was bad for them. They would never find their true selves.
Is there a way out? Will things turn for the better? Is there any hope? Affirmative.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil,
learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow (Isaiah 1:16-17).
Turn to God. Break with the past. Stop doing evils. Do good instead. These are sound pieces of advice from the Prophet and God backed him up with a beautiful promise.
though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool (Isaiah 1:18b).
The promise of our omnipotent God is our hope. He will forgive our sins. He has already forgiven them. It is up to us to accept this gift from God.
The ox knows its owner, and the ass its master's crib; but Israel does not know, my people does not understand (Isaiah 1:3).
First of all, they quantified their piety by offering a lot of sacrifices instead of a contrite heart.
What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of he-goats (Isaiah 1:11).
Secondly, they made a show of their piety with elaborate ceremonies. They had put their hearts in the wrong place. Instead of pleasing God, they annoyed Him.
When you come to appear before me, who requires of you this trampling of my courts?
Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and the calling of assemblies -- I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them (Isaiah 1:12-13).
Lastly, their piety was not matched by their charity. Rather, they covered up their evils with outward religiosity. Their religious life failed to transform them into a moral people.
When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood (Isaiah 1:15).
In short, their relationships with God lacked fidelity. Either they performed their religious life as a ritual without putting in their hearts or they did it with ulterior motives. God wanted none of these because it was bad for them. They would never find their true selves.
Is there a way out? Will things turn for the better? Is there any hope? Affirmative.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil,
learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow (Isaiah 1:16-17).
Turn to God. Break with the past. Stop doing evils. Do good instead. These are sound pieces of advice from the Prophet and God backed him up with a beautiful promise.
though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool (Isaiah 1:18b).
The promise of our omnipotent God is our hope. He will forgive our sins. He has already forgiven them. It is up to us to accept this gift from God.
Dear Lord, Your mercy is our hope. In You we trust. Allow us to practise charity, especially in this season of Lent. Amen.
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