To Bee or Not to Bee

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: http://u.osu.edu/

His labour is a chant, 

His idleness a tune; 

Oh, for a bee's experience 

Of clovers and of noon! 

(From The Bee, by Emily Dickinson)

There has been a lot written in the bee world during these last couple of years regarding what researchers call “Colony Collapse Disorder” (CCD). Bee colonies throughout the world have been dying off at a dangerous rate. It was only after I had watched the documentary Vanishing of the Bees that I fully grasped the serious problem at hand.

Olympic Glory on Mount Tabor

By John D. O'Brien, S.J.

Yesterday the world witnessed the Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt set an Olympic record in the 100-metre dash in London and win the gold medal. He ran, not for a piece of metal per se, but for what it represented: being a champion. All the hours of training, sweat and sacrifice were for that goal and its one defining attribute: glory.

Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration, in which Christ’s glory is revealed to three of his apostles on top of Mount Tabor. So what exactly is this thing called glory?

At first glance it is merely human renown, fame, praise and honour – the basking in the limelight of adulation. Aristotle listed the “honour of men” as one of the objects of life that are often sought but ultimately fail to satisfy (along with riches and pleasure). Does this mean the glory of athletic victory is but a vain pursuit? The answer is not so simple.

Happiness On Trial – Part II

By Artur Suski, S.J.

In my last blog (“Happiness on Trial I”), I presented two ideas of the Christian vocation. You are all very familiar with the first: “I want to be happy!” The Christian strives above all for her happiness. St. Thomas – with “a little help from his friend”, that is, Aristotle – states that the Christian will only be happy if she lives according to her human nature, and to truly live according to human nature, she is to be a ‘reasonable’ person; in other words, to use her reason. St. Thomas, of course, goes further than Aristotle: not only are we to use our noggin properly, we are also to contemplate God’s truths. We, however, will only be complete and truly fulfilled when we see God face to face. But it is not that simple … it is only when we live virtuous lives that we will be properly disposed to ascend to this glorious beatific vision!

So, what is wrong with this model? I’ve pointed out in my last post, using Bl. Duns Scotus’ reasoning, that this is too “me-centred”. Check out what Hans Urs von Balthasar says about this: “Now, if according to St. Thomas, God is the indispensable One, that without which the hunger for happiness cannot attain its end, is not there in this concept the danger of turning God inadvertently into an end? … In this perspective, God can certainly be the end of the human being – a desired end perhaps sought out through asceticism and mystical passion, with a scrupulous observance of the Commandments – but at the end of the day, it will be my end, it promises my ultimate fulfillment.”

Happiness on Trial – Part I

By Artur Suski, S.J.

What is the meaning of life? What is our purpose, our end? What is the deepest desire of our hearts? These are all very relevant questions for contemporary society. But what should be the Christian response to these questions?

Back in the days of the Church Fathers, St. Augustine thinks that all people desire to be happy. The “who” and the “how”, though, is another matter. St. Augustine, along with St. Thomas Aquinas, are said to have successfully baptized the teachings on happiness by Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. These two saints are the representatives of a certain take on the Christian life which is called ‘the way of ascent’. According to this model, the goal of the Christian vocation is the ascent of the soul toward God – the Beatific vision – in which the human will find his ultimate happiness and fulfillment.

The Christian hence leads a virtuous and prayerful life, to further dispose and perfect themselves so that he may participate in this divine encounter that will bring him unending happiness. One can say that this model of happiness has dominated the Christian understanding of the Christian life.