Virtus In Medio Stat

Written for Facebook, July 24, 2010 A few months ago there were two lessons I learned within a few days of each other. I had intended to write about them right away because they were quite powerful lessons, but this is my first opportunity. Ever since coming back to the church close to seven years ago, I had come to discover that while there is a unity that exists in the Church ecclesiologically, there are variations in terms of expressions of that same Catholic faith. For certain groups, I have in the past developed a repertoire of jokes about their particular kind of spirituality, mocked it, and laughed at it. There would be times where I would conclude that these individuals were in it for the “me-centeredness” of it. They had a craving for attention and being “special”. Ironically, these were the same charges thrown at some brands of “conservatives” who would engage in non-normative postures at the Ordinary Form, such as kneeling for communion. Now, I try my best to assist at...

Today (Oct 5, 2010), I was listening to Air 1, a non-denominational Christian radio station, on my way back home from San Francisco. I am not exactly too keen on the music, but it's better than most secular music. In between some songs there are inspirational messages. One of them was from a band telling the story of a girl who was about to commit suicide. She heard one of their songs on the radio, and stopped by the Best Buy store to pick up their album. She didn't end up commiting suicide, turned her life around and lives for God now.   Now, I am not a relativist, an indifferentist, a universalist, or a modernist (my trad friends may beg to defer). However, I have found there has been much said against our Protestant brethren in the Christian faith. I know, much of it was from my own mouth. Granted, their ecclesial communities  lack in many ways, the full Christian faith. But, in our bitter sentiments towards their continued rejection of Catholic-Christianity, mi...

Outside events have placed you in voluntary confinement, worse perhaps, because of its circumstances, than the confinement of a prison. You have suffered an eclipse of your personality. On all sides you feel yourself hemmed in: selfishness, curiosity, misunderstanding, people talking behind your back. All right: so what? Have you forgotten your free-will and that power of yours as a 'child'? The absence of flowers and leaves (external action) does not exclude the growth and activity of the roots (interior life). Work: things will change, and you will yield more fruit than before, and sweeter too. ~ St. Josemaria Escriva, The Way, 697 Self disclosure is simply put, the activity by which I choose to allow another person to know certain things about myself that is otherwise private . They can be deep down secrets. They can be our deepest fears and greatest joys. For whatever reason, sometimes we choose not to allow certain people to be privy to these thin...

Don’t worry about it, just do it! Laurence G. respicite volatilia caeli quoniam non serunt neque metunt neque congregant in horrea et Pater vester caelestis pascit illa nonne vos magis pluris estis illis (Mt. 6.26) I came to this Opus Dei retreat with many concerns and many worries. There exist many questions I have been anxious about for many months now. These questions were not even remotely on my mind when I went on this same retreat last year. In fact, with regard to the talks which pertained to the topic of marriage, I think there was a part of me that “tuned out” last year as it clearly was not relevant to me, or so I thought. I seem to recall that it may have even made me uncomfortable. But for those who have been following the ongoing soap opera that has been my life in the last few years, will know that that has changed in the last year or so. I won’t reiterate what I have already written in so many words. Suffice it to say that sometimes it takes only one person or one eve...

“Cognitive dissonance is a motivating state of affairs. Just as hunger impels a person to eat, so does dissonance impel a person to change his opinions or his behavior.”   - Leon Festinger Within the field of social psychology there exists a theory known as “cognitive dissonance” or “dissonance theory”. Popularized by the work of Leon Festinger in the late 50’s, “dissonance theory” postulates that when two or more related ideas in one’s mind conflict with one another, or with one’s behaviors, it creates a tension, or dissonance, in one’s mind, or thoughts (Latin, cogitas ). Since most people dislike tension, our tendency is to want to decrease or remove the tension. We can do this by either changing our attitudes which reconciles the conflicting ideas, or changing our behaviors . In either case, the “dissonance” tends to motivate change in the individual towards consistency . If you are wondering if any of this relates to your experience, think about a time when you stood...

Andras Angyal A Theoretical Model for Personality Studies (1951) Reflection: This article, which I discovered by accident as I was looking up Angyal’s quotes on free will and determination from his monumental book Neurosis and Treatment: A Holistic Theory , was very powerful for me. It is concerning the development of one’s personality. In this development, there are two dimensions: a sense of self-determination which empowers me to master and control the objects and environment around me allowing me to discover my own identity distinct from others, but also a sense of self-surrender , realizing that I am a member of a larger community or society and am able to participate in it for the good of other individuals. Having an imbalance in either of these dimensions may lead to problems with personality, at the extremes between those who wish to get ahead in the world at the expense of others, and those who passively allow the world to walk all over them. Neuroses can develop in early c...

This past Wednesday (01/05), I was part of a panel discussion on the issue of the Church's teaching on Labor and the rights and duties attached to Labor, as expressed in the social doctrine of the Catholic Church. We focused on the encyclical Rerum Novarum by Leo XIII. The panel consisted of four laymen of various expertise, as well as an SVD priest. I was the least qualified to contribute anything on this topic, so I stayed silent for the most part and allowed the others to speak. We focused a lot of attention on Socialism, and its uglier cousin Communism, and the weaknesses of Capitalism as well. My major contribution was on three points: According to St. Francis de Sales, it is a sin against charity for a married man to give up his entire wealth to the poor. This is so because he has a duty to provide for his wife and children. We have a right to private property, and this is so because we have a right to a just remuneration for our services and goods produced as a result of la...