Lenten Spiritual Retreat 2011, Talk 5 of 6: Christianity can barely be understood unless one uncovers the drama that dwells down, in the innermost region of the human heart. From detecting incoherence between word and deed, to realising that rather profound cracks cross the soul over. In acknowledging our need we ready ourselves to acknowledge God’s powerful, bounteous mercy, whose name is Love.
Lenten Retreat 2011, Talk 4 of 6
Lenten Spiritual Retreat 2011, Talk 4 of 6: John Paul II, a man of true Christian hope. If communism (and any form of collectivism) is an extreme form of secular hope, we can say that Karol Wojtyla came to know very early in life how deceiving and devastating such a hope can be. Back in its origins in the Enlightenment, communism has its same blind confidence in the power of human reason to push humankind in the route of indefinite progress. The ideology of “The Market” and the tendency towards self-redemption, as inscribed in some “positive thinking” methods of mental training, share this same over-optimism in human capacity.
By contrast, Christian hope is firmly rooted in the conviction that God alone can transform the human condition for the better. In Christ, He has shown the abundance of his grace, and as followers of Christ we have the right and the duty of spreading the news of his unfailing love.
Lenten Retreat 2011, Talk 3 of 6
Lenten Spiritual Retreat 2011, Talk 3 of 6: Hope and the new logic Christ brought to the world. In the Sermon on the Mountain, Jesus invites us to seek God “in the secret.” Then, in the Our Father, he teaches us to invoke God as our “Father in heaven.” The relationship between each one’s “secret” (conscience) and heaven suggests that we are to be good for the sake of goodness and not in order to receive a visible reward. Hope, true hope, is based on this new “logic” in which the language of grace wins over the language of strict “trade.”
Lenten Retreat 2011, Talk 2 of 6
Lenten Spiritual Retreat 2011, Talk 2 of 6: Faith as visible in the life and works of Pope John Paul II. True witness to faith in his way of enduring all kind of suffering and overcoming so many obstacles, pope John Paul has also underlined particular aspects of Christian faith, chiefly, that faith is an encounter and not simply a beautiful set of interlocking ideas. His theology of the body and the way he insisted in the role of the Church in order to keep and transmit the true faith remain current and most remarkable.
Lenten Retreat 2011, Talk 1 of 6
Lenten Spiritual Retreat 2011, Talk 1 of 6: Faith is the one gift that opens up your life to all other gifts from God. Righteousness (biblical “justice”) consists in good standing before God. Sin is the breaking of that good relationship. Redemption is God’s generous offering to restore what was broken. Faith is the acceptance of such a wonderful gift.
Discurso de Grado / Valedictory Address
Given on Tuesday, 19 October 2010, on occasion of Milltown Institute’s conferring ceremony in which I received the PhD.
Grabado en vivo el día en que recibí el doctorado en Milltown Institute.
St. Catherine of Siena (12 : last one) Obedience
Obedience makes a fair summary of St. Catherine’s teaching, on the side of the practical and the concrete. This is the twelfth and final talk of this spiritual retreat.
St. Catherine of Siena (11) Eucharist: Redemption at Work
A dynamic perspective on redemption allows us to see the Eucharist as an ever flowing fountain of grace for each person, each culture, each century.
The Whole Bible in Two Words
I will make the case for “faithfulness” and “faith,” in that order.
St. Catherine of Siena (10) Eucharist: The XIV Century Context
Some historical context helps to see how much torn St. Catherine’s soul had to be, seeing God’s surpassing generosity in the Eucharist, and man’s stubborn resistance to such grace.
St. Catherine of Siena (09) Prayer: Five Types of Tears
Five types of tears: A most original insight from St. Catherine on the evolution of love in its ascend towards God.
St. Catherine of Siena (08) Prayer: Vocal and Mental
Some of the essential doctrine on prayer. Also, on the relationship between the dialectic institution vs. charism and its parallel with vocal vs. mental prayer.
Lamp before the Dawn
A homily on the Transfiguration of the Lord, and its message of hope and courage for us.
St. Catherine of Siena (07) Christ, the Bridge: Three Steps
The feet, the side, the mouth. Christ is the bridge and each stage has its own challenges, its own graces.
St. Catherine of Siena (06) Christ, the Bridge: The River
“River” stands for all that is blocking the way between God and man.
A New Covenant… Why so?
Jeremiah, chapter 31: A truly central text in the entire Old Testament.