TH221
E CELEBRATING
GOD’S PRESENCE
AS A CHRISTIAN
COMMUNITY
Topic
1:
ANAMNESIS
versus AMNESIA
(We Remember. We Believe. We Celebrate. We
Love.)
Objective:
At the end of this session the student is able to design a ritual-celebration
that incorporates remembrance, believing, celebrating and loving using relevant
signs and symbols of their experience of God’s love and presence in ordinary
life.
From
“Responding to God” to “Celebrating God’s presence”
Welcome
to the third theology subject/course in Adamson University’s Theology
Curriculum on Faith Journey towards
Social Transformation.
In Theology 1, Searching for God in the World Today, we
saw that “theology” is less of an abstract or theoretical activity as much as
it is about reflecting on the ordinary, the everyday life. We defined theology
as a process or a practice of consciously and methodically reflecting on our
experience of God in the ordinariness of life and social and historical events
of the world. We “do theology” using the methodology of “see-discern-act/pray.” Ultimately
the goal of theology is for us to have a deeper and intimate relationship with
God-in-Jesus.
In that course, we talked about
our everyday, the role of cultures and religion, and how the Christian searches
for God’s loving and saving presence in the ordinariness of life. We spoke
about “Revelation-Faith” and how the Bible narrates the experiences of those
who witnessed God’s marvelous deeds in our world. In all of God’s action in the
world, Jesus of Nazareth embodied God’s life and love through His proclamation
in words and deeds the Kingdom of God. His death and resurrection have to be
seen in that context: a life given for the sake of the Kingdom so that all may
experience kaginhawaan or salvation.
We ended Theology 1 by focusing
on St. Vincent de Paul, who tried to follow Jesus in his own ways in his time.
Today, we are also invited to retell the story of God’s life and love by
following Jesus as students.
In
Theology 2, Responding to God’s Call by
Becoming Fully Human, using the same methodology of “see-discern-act/pray,”
the course dealt with what it means to be truly and fully human from the Christian
perspective. This is our way of responding to the invitation of God-in-Jesus
whose Spirit is ever-present and active in the world.
We
started with the Christian vision of humanity. Such a vision challenges us to
become truly and fully human and fully alive as the image of God in our
realities of body and soul, male and female, in our everyday life, experiences,
and relationships of love and failure to love, suffering, and goodness of God, and even in death.
To be truly and fully human and
fully alive, we focused on the need to practice virtues or good habits (or “mabuting gawi”) in everyday life. The
practice and “perfection” of virtues as good habits or habits of being human or
habits of the heart are what will help us and shape us to become good persons
with the help of a community and role models. Together with Sacred Scriptures
and the example of St. Vincent de Paul, and using the rich resource of the Filipino
culture and tradition, we reflected on the virtues of hospitality and gratitude
(“pagmamagandang loob”), prudence and
temperance (“paglilimi at pamumuhay ng
sapat”), self-care and integrity (“pangangatawan
ng loob”), fidelity and mutuality (“katapatan
sa kapwa”), temperance and risk-taking (“pagtataya
at hiya”), reconciling/forgiving and compassion/mercy (“pagbabalik-loob at pagmamalasakit”), and finally, justice, courage and hope ( “bahala na” with “katarungan”). The opposite of virtue is vice or “masamang gawi” or “di-magandang gawi”).
These are obstacles to becoming truly and fully human, and therefore they move
us further away from our true selves.
Celebrating
God’s Presence
In this Theology
3, Celebrating
God’s Presence as a Christian Community, we will realize that we are
not alone in our journey of becoming truly and fully human and fully alive.
God-in-Jesus continues to be present to us as a pilgrim People of God - the church.
The church-community of today continues to proclaim in words and deeds the
liberating message of Jesus by being relevant in its mission of evangelization
in the context of new challenges or
“signs of the times”, especially those that affect severely the poor and the
suffering, in the spirit and example of St. Vincent de Paul.
From
this understanding of the church in solidarity with the whole of humanity and
the whole of creation, we are able to better understand the sacraments as
celebrations of God’s active presence of love and life in the world and as a
challenge for us (as church-community) to give witness to its story as the
sacrament of Christ’s saving unity and fellowship in the world.
Let
us “SEE”
Let us now have the
first step, to “see” our present-day experiences.
Seatwork #1: My most “prized” or
“cherished” possession.
All of us have objects or things
that we consider important or valuable. It can be that these objects or things
have a connection with a significant and memorable person, an experience or a moment
in our life. We carry these objects or things in our bodies, purse or bag, or they
are placed in a particular place in our house or bedroom. You are asked to
think of just one (1) important or significant or memorable item or object.
Then write your answers on the spaces provided in the worksheet.
My most prized or
cherished possession that reminds of a person, an experience or a life-moment is:
_________________________________________________________
1.
Why do you consider it as your most prized/cherished
possession? What is its connection to your life?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
2.
How do you show or express that these items
or objects are important to you? What do you usually do or how do you usually
treat these objects/items?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
3.
Do you think it is possible for other
people to also see your most prized/cherished possession as their prized/cherished
possession? Why or Why not?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Triad
Sharing: Choose two classmates with whom you want to share your most cherished possession.
You may also show it to them if you have it with you. Using your seatwork
exercise, explain to your group mates your answer to the three (3) questions.
While listening, try to put yourself into the experience of your group mates,
and avoid making judgements or comments. Simply listen with your mind and
heart. Select one among you who will give a brief report of your conversations.
(You have 20 minutes for the sharing.)
Class
Plenum: (Reporters are called to give a summary of their group sharing.)
Synthesis:
(by the Teacher)
Let
us “Discern”
We Remember. We Believe. We Celebrate. We Love (We Live).
1. We Remember
Many of the items or objects we shared to our group are not really
important or valuable in themselves. Most of them are ordinary, everyday
objects or items, almost easily accessible and readily available to almost anyone.
Yet, we cannot deny and neither can we ignore the fact that for us they are
meaningful, important, something that we consider our prized or cherished possession. What
makes these objects/items important or meaningful is that they are somewhat
link either to a person, event or experience that we have in the past that we
find meaningful and significant; though not exclusively pleasant. It can be that the object/item is linked to a parent, a present or past lover, a friend, a
good and inspiring teacher, or maybe even an enemy. It can also be that the
object is linked to happy memories from the past and which continue to give us strength
or courage. Even after that “One Moment in Time” is over we continue to hold on
to such experience, and it continues to influence our life. They may be moments
of successes or failures, struggles, joys and hopes, grief and anxieties, etc.
Such
remembering is facilitated by signs and symbols around us: ordinary objects
that bring us to such moment or experience by pointing to it and somehow making
it present once again to us. These signs or symbols transform ordinary time, ordinary
space, and ordinary meaning into sacred time, sacred space, and sacred meaning
(Mircea Eliade). At this point an example might be in order:
You are in a restaurant or mall and suddenly you hear a familiar
song being played in the background. The song is your favourite (what is it for
you?). Suddenly you tell yourself “it is our theme song”. By “our” you are actually
referring to a “special someone”. At
this point the song or music is a sign
(it points to a particular event, person or experience)
until you start “to lose awareness or consciousness” of your present time,
space and meaning and the people with you and somewhat begin to be “transported
back” to that moment in time where you are with that special someone, enjoying
his/her company, laughter, jokes and sharing of life’s tidbits, of experiences.
Now the music has become a symbol
(it makes you be present to the experience or making the experience present to
you again). You continue to linger with the song
until you are “re-awakened” by a strong tap on your shoulder or your elbow
being shaken by a friend, asking what is happening to you because they seem to
have lost you in the group. And you simply smile; you are inspired and renewed
by that short, flash experience of sacred time, sacred space, and sacred
meaning, and say “I’m fine. I’m okay. What is that again?” The smile now replaced
by a big, wide grin.
Who knows how long such a grin will remain in
your face and lips. Who knows how long you will remain inspired and renewed.
But such is the power of remembering or anamnesis
– something or someone is remembered by reliving it or him/her.
Anamnesis not only evokes the experience of the past but also continue to
affect, influence, and inspire the future. In life we
do a lot of remembering. That is part of being human. WE REMEMBER.
The opposite of anamnesis is amnesia or forgetfulness or the refusal to remember. There are
many reasons for amnesia – it can be medical or physiological condition, or an unconscious or unaware tendency not to
remember the past, particularly the saddest or painful ones. Amnesia is also a
disposition in life of not seeking the value or worth of things, people or
events that happen to us. We just live the day with no meaning or significance,
and nothing affects us or that will disturb us. In anamnesis however, we decide to give meanings to things and people
that affect us.
They become part of our memory not simply of the past but the memory say
something about our present life and it points to some more meanings about the
future.
2. We Believe
Such objects or items that you consider “cherished or prized
possessions” are treated as such by you because they are linked to experiences
that you consider sacred, i.e. important, meaningful and mysterious in (your)
life. Joseph Martos calls such experiences
“key-experiences of life”. The following as key experiences we all share in life: birth
(newness or renewal of life); adulthood, love, friendship, community; human
frailty, weakness, sin, and forgiveness and reconciliation; sickness, near-death
experience, care and compassion for others; commitment and fidelity to family;
courage, risk-taking and fidelity and loyalty to one’s (role in) society; and
death, justice and hope. They are
called “key-experiences” because they open up to us deeper meanings in life and
influence the meaning we give to all our other experiences. Tad Guzie calls such experiences “lived-experiences” which for him are
“the rhythm that makes life human”. It is what human life is all about. It is by focussing on such experiences that we
discover gradually the meaning and depth of our true and full humanity.
We
treasure our “lived experiences” or “key experiences” because deep down within
us we know that this is what it means for us to be truly and fully human: to live a life of love, friendship and community; a life of
forgiveness and reconciliation, care and compassion, commitment and fidelity,
courage and risk-taking, fidelity and loyalty, justice and hope. To
focus on them and
to treasure anything (signs and symbols) that allow us to get in touch with
these realities is for us to believe that after all life is not in vain. Together we can disagree with the writer of the book of
Sirac/Qoheleth when s/he writes “Vanity of vanities; and everything in life is
vanity.”(Ecc.1:2) and proclaim that life has a deeper and richer meaning
unfolding itself in our experiences. That is what we believe. That is why WE
BELIEVE.
3. We Celebrate
Can you imagine what will happen the moment we forget what it
means to be truly and fully human? What happens when those items that you
consider cherished or prized possessions no longer mean anything to you?
Because you can no longer recall or remember the people, story, event,
experience associated or link with those items/objects? What will happen when we can no longer recall
or remember those experiences that make us truly and fully human; and when sign
and symbols no longer point to or make present experiences that inspire and
renew us to live as one? What happens if all humanity suffers from a kind of
massive “Humanity-Amnesia”, or massive “Humanity-Alzheimer’s Disease”?
The National Institute of Aging of the US reports that symptoms of
Alzheimer may include increase memory loss and confusion; problem with one’s
own identity and role, and that of others; problem recognizing even family and
friends; inability to learn new things; confusion with time or place, changes
in mood and personality, among others. Life would be in chaos. Everyone is
confused; no meaningful past, no meaningful present and no meaningful future. We
simply do not know what to do. We simply will not know how to live; and
much more to live as truly and fully human beings!
The good
news is that we humans have a way of ensuring that we do not forget especially
those experiences that are valuable or important to us.
We not only engage in remembering. We engage in re-telling. We share with others in the community. In other words, we celebrate. The simplest way of sharing is through simple
story-telling. Through the simple story-telling process we allow people to
enter and be part of our experience and we in turn allow our experience, our story,
to enter their own experience, their own life.
As a
result the experience or story “grows”. It acquires greater depth, more meaning
and significance. That’s what happen for example when
you had your first date with your “crush” and everything turns out well. You
cannot wait to be back home so that you can call and tell your best friend the
most beautiful and exhilarating “story or experience” of your life. The date
lasted only for a few minutes or for two hours but the story telling goes on
until the early morning hours of the following day, around six to seven hours
and without sleep.
But sometimes
mere story-telling is not enough. It is better if the
sharing takes place with as many people as possible with whom you share some
affinity or connection. And even much
better if the whole community is involve. This is true especially if the
experience falls under what we have mentioned before as “key-experiences” or
“lived-experiences.” In some instances, the experience is so charged with
meaning and so overwhelming that we cannot “handle” it alone and somehow we want
to share it to the whole world.
Birth is one example of such experience. Do I simply engage in
simple story-telling during my birthday? Do I simply tell the story of what
happen when I was born? Do I simply do the story-telling every year; year in
and year out? The same is true for
example with anniversaries; or lifetime commitment of love for a person; or even
death and mourning. Do we simply tell the story year in and year out? I think
you will agree that something more is required?
It is
here that the value of ritual-celebration
comes into the picture. Different signs and symbols can be combined together to
form an elaborate and intricate ritual for the purpose of celebration. A good example of a ritual-celebration is a birthday party.
There you encounter different signs and symbols: balloons, cake, drinks, food,
people, gifts, greetings, singing, etc.. They all form an elaborate and
intricate ritual for the purpose of celebration. Of course the more we
understand the signs and symbols and their meaning in the celebration, the more
we can understand and appreciate the meaning of what is celebrated.
George Worgul defines celebration “as moments of focusing
our minds and our hearts, our total being to the reality or experience of our
humanity.”
They are moments of invitation to get
hold of ourselves and experience in a kind of “moment of truth” the depth and reality of human life in the company and
presence of others. The communal celebrations enable us to have a
communal interpretation of the experience, adding depths and richness to our
understanding of the particular event or experience.
In the process humanity is transformed; the individual and the community are provided
with a deeper understanding and appreciation of the meaning involved in the
particular event or experience. Most often, even after the celebration
is over, the celebration-experience continues to affect us.
We want our (key-) experience to reveal more, to unfold more
meaning and depth in relation to our life, our humanity. After all, meaning grows,
deepens, unfolds, develop. Humans do not want to forget. But Humans do not
simply want to remember. Humans need and want to celebrate. That is why WE
CELEBRATE. When we celebrate,
we remember by believing in things that matter most to us as persons and as a
community. For
example, birthday parties are celebrations that cherish the life of the
celebrant, his or her past and present life, and the belief that he or she is
important also in our life. We celebrate
friendship, love, and care.
4. We love (We live)
“Madali ang maging tao. Mahirap
ang magpakatao.” Remember this Filipino proverb
we encountered in our Theology 2 class? Do you still remember what it means?
Although everything we do can be considered human activity, simply
because they are done by humans, there are some actions however that can be
considered more fully and distinctively human. These
are the actions that raise the whole of our life or existence on the level of
the genuinely human; they are actions/habits that makes us truly and fully human
if and when we live by them. Just to mention some of them once again:
hospitality and gratitude, prudence and temperance, self-care and integrity,
fidelity and mutuality, temperance and risk-taking, reconciling/forgiving and
compassion/mercy, and finally, justice,
courage and hope.
In Theology 2 they were called virtues or virtuous actions, good
habits, habits of being human, habits of the heart. In this lesson they were seen
deeply embedded or attached to certain events or experiences (key-experiences
or lived-experiences) as their deepest and most profound meaning. They make us
want to remember, to believe, to celebrate. They are what are truly and fully
human in life inviting us and challenging us to live the very same meaning and
depth we so earnestly seek and wish to understand.
How else can we show our understanding and appreciation of these
meanings and depth of human life except by making them realities in ourselves,
in our relationship, in our community, and in our world? The best way to show
what we consider really valuable and meaningful so much so that we want or need
to remember, believe, celebrate is by making them our way of life, our life,
living according to them.
We not
only remember, believe, celebrate. We live according to what we remember,
believe, celebrate. But what is the core of every
true human value or virtue? Donald De Marco believes that it is LOVE. James Keenan calls it
Charity, the mother of all virtues. As such, virtues
are concerned more with the interior life than the external act; virtues are more
concerned with the heart than with the head. Love brings together in a carefully balance
way all the moral/human values. In the Letter to the
Corinthians, Paul writes: (1Cor 13:1-8)
“If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I
am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries
and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have
love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own, and if I handed my body over so
that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, is not
pompous, it is not inflated, it is not
rude, it does not seek its own interest, it is not quick-tempered, it does not
brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrong doing but rejoices with the
truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endure all
things.
Love never fails.
We have to live
according to what we remember, believes, celebrate. That means WE LOVE.
Let us “ACT”/ PRAY
Ritual-Celebration
The group’s task is to think of a way how
they can express in signs and symbols (rituals) their experience of God’s love
and presence in their life. The can go around or outside the room to look for
any materials they need. Tell them they only have 5-10mins to present their
ritual-celebration (Give them 15mins to prepare)
A.
Group Presentation
Each group will be given only 5-10mins for
group presentation.
Advice the other groups to maintain silence
and to pay close attention to what is going on.
B.
After all groups have done
their presentation ask the class for comments or feedbacks.
Tell them that their comments or feedback
should be related to what is learned in class especially the discern part.
C.
Conclude the class session with
a prayer offering the different group’s ritual- celebration to God and asking
God to accept the class offering.
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