Gift Of Self Research Articles

Beyond the Sacrificial Fantasy: Body, Law, and Desire

Abstract From its origins, the Christian religious imaginary has been inhabited by the sacrificial fantasy, which finds its most radical symbol in the crucified body. According to the principle of imitatio Jesu, believers have always been called to consider pain as an experience to be lived and shared with Christ, to be offered to him as a gift of self to the Other. Already the masters of suspicion condemned this ascetic-religious cult of sacrifice and showed its dehumanizing and superegoic side, characterized by the violence of abuse, authoritarianism, submission, and above all the denial of life. However, this beneficial and liberating critique has removed the donative and not merely alienating aspect not of the sacrificial body, but of the symbolic sacrifice. Starting from a close dialogue between systematic theology and (Lacanian) psychoanalysis, this contribution aims to question both the sacrificial (religious) fantasy in its alienating character and the equally superegoic drive of the imperative of unlimited enjoyment as a reaction to any kind of symbolic limitation. Against this background, an attempt will be made to think of a form of sacrifice that follows the logic of the gift (of the body), without being subjected to a logic of alienating exchange.

Catholic Church and a ministry of spiritual assistance in the dimension of sexuality development

In view of the omnipresent contemporary crisis of truth, it seems a purposeful and valuable activity to approximate, clarify, as well as correct or recify the vision of the Catholic Church's teaching regarding treatment of man as a sexual being. The purpose of the article is to attempt to present selected elements of the teachings of the Catholic Church on sexuality, considering the ways in which sexual education is understood and identifying persons who are most acccountable for that dimesion of education. The inquiry is conducted from the point of view of an educator. The source literature of this study consists of selected documents of the Catholic Church. Other studies on the topic were also analysed. Based on the analysis of the documents, it may be conculded, that the Catholic Church attaches great importance to the issues connected with sexuality and sexual education. Such education should be based on integral vision of man. It is emphasized that this sphere should be considered in the context of the development of the whole human being, whose fundamental taks in life is love understood as the gift of self. Sexual education is therefore tantamount to education for love. It involves assisting children and youth in their search for the answer to the most important questions concerning the meaning and purpose of life, as well as the ideas and values which determine the trajectory of human existence on Earth. An element of the analysed dimension of upbringing is both the introduction of young people to issues related in a strict sense to the biological functioning of man as a being endowed with sex, and the formation of views and attitudes towards himself and other people. Given the strength and primordiality of the natural family bonds, this responsible task should be delegated mainly to parents. It is parents who are to the greatest degree responsible for the formation of children to whom they have passed on their lives. All other educational instituations should conform to the principle of subsidiarity and respect the precedence of parental rights and obligations. The ministry of spiritual assistance in the delicate sphere of the development of sexuality is the task of parents, who are the most important educators. All parents are obliged to undertake that difficult task, which requires creation of the climate of trust, closeness and mutual respect in the family, as well as gentleness and respect for the intimate shpere of children. It is essential, that all information be conveyd in a clear way and reach children in proper time.

Colloquy with Juan José García-Noblejas on understanding communication from the perspective of Aristotle's Poetics

In this interview we will explore García-Noblejas’ thought on public communication, which is deeply marked by his interpretation of Aristotle’s Poetics and influenced by some contemporary thinkers. For García-Noblejas, communication is a service and a form of practical knowledge with five dimensions: ethics, politics, rhetoric, aesthetics, and poetics. Poetics is the most important of these, since its symbolic perspective of the representation of human actions allows us to deeply understand the narrative and dramatic texts typical of journalism, advertising, and propaganda, as well as written and audiovisual fiction. Poetics is the art of creating “possible worlds” in which the reader/spectator recognizes himself (or herself) and with which he dialogues starting from his own identity. García-Noblejas defends public communication that is based on the gift of self and looks to community fruitfulness. He also discusses some frequent pathologies in the media. Finally, he proposes his theory of the Second Navigation to discern the meaning of a text and explains why it is necessary to give a transcendent meaning to the Aristotelian concept of catharsis.

Personalist Resonances in Robert Grosseteste's Christology

AbstractRobert Grosseteste articulated an unusual view of Christ's death that resonates with Karol Wojtyla's personalist conception of love as self-gift. Grosseteste argued that the cause of Christ's death was not crucifixion but the active breathing forth of his spirit as he hung on the cross. Grosseteste said that in this act Christ took all the faithful into an Aristotelian friendship in which Christ is the “other self” of each one of the redeemed. As a result, the redeemed form a single mystical person with Christ. Grosseteste's account of Christ's death seems consonant with Wojtyla's personalism in three ways. First, it makes the moment of Christ's death into an active gift of self. Second, parallel to the way an ordinary self-donation depends on self-possession and results in self-discovery, Christ's self-donation depends on his power to lay down his life and results in the realization of the mystical personhood of Christ in the Church. Third, Grosseteste treats the love between the persons of the Trinity as involving the self-donation of the Son to the Father. This article contains three sections. The first two treat Grosseteste and his resonance with Wojtyla. The third draws conclusions for contemporary Christology and anthropology.

Editorial

Editorial Raymond Studzinski, O.S.B. Many of us are familiar with occasional "breakthrough moments" when we can see ourselves overcoming stagnation and resistance and moving forward in a truly fruitful direction. Such moments may find us thinking and imagining about ourselves and life in a way that liberates us from what has boxed us in and opens us to a depth that has always been there but has eluded us so far. Such breakthroughs happen not only to people and to societies but to disciplines such as theology, philosophy, and psychology. In philosophy, the Scottish philosopher John Macmurray (1891-1976) challenged the individualistic and secular mindset of modern times by declaring in the Gifford Lectures in 1952 and 1953 that human persons are relational beings and are made for communion with one another and ultimately with God. He countered egocentricity by emphasizing community. Parallel to what Macmurray was doing in philosophy, psychoanalysts began to move beyond Freud's emphasis on drive satisfaction as motivating behavior to see persons as relationship-seeking. This new way of thinking created an intellectual renaissance in psychoanalysis with new thinking emerging on issues such as the role of religion and spirituality in maintaining psychic well-being. In the area of evangelization and catechetics, Pope Francis has likewise put relationships front and center with his emphasis on encounter, dialogue, and accompaniment. The introduction to the Directory for Catechesis echoes points made by Pope Francis in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium where he describes the role of accompaniment in promoting spiritual growth (EG 169-173). According to the Directory for Catechesis, the process of accompaniment, a relationship marked by respect, compassion, and trust, provides the formative experience leading to "intimate communion with Christ" (DC 3). In this issue of the IJEC, our authors likewise attend to the centrality of relationships in the ministry of evangelization and catechesis. Brian Pedraza addresses the critical importance of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as at the center of faith. The thrust of evangelization is to lead others to the encounter with the risen Lord and to establish an abiding and intimate friendship with him which then energizes [End Page 105] the believer to spread the message of salvation. Sadly, as Pedraza notes, surveys reveal only a relatively small percentage of believers acknowledge that God is personal. Others avoid focusing on the personal relationship with the Lord because it does not have enough of a Catholic ring to it or gives insufficient attention to the sacraments. Pedraza skillfully responds to such objections and shows how a personal relationship with Christ and the sacraments work together in drawing persons to a greater gift of self to Christ and their neighbor. In an essay on the special emphasis given to the kerygma in the Directory for Catechesis and other recent ecclesial documents, Eric J. Westby draws attention to the whole-hearted response that the proclamation of the saving work of Jesus Christ can elicit in the hearer. That response finds individuals entering a relationship with the living God which brings a sense of purpose, happiness, and peace. Westby addresses the impact that this renewed attention to the kerygma will have on how a parish staff goes about its ministry. He notes that it is important that staff members are able not only to articulate the kerygma but also that they are willing to share how Christ has touched them personally. They must be ready to work with people in a one-on-one relationship and offer hospitality where all are able to feel welcomed. Proclaiming the kerygma invites a parish community to foster relationships in which all members work together at becoming a missionary church. Relationships are not only with people but with all that surrounds us—the natural environment, the world of culture, and the world of ideas. Samantha Mattheiss and Joseph R. Laracy look at the beauty found in this larger world and explore and try to understand how that quality found in all sorts of objects and experiences can become a path to Christ for us. Beauty can lure us into a relationship with the One, the source of all beauty. Mattheiss and Laracy probe the impact of beauty...

Pedagogia dell’impresa ed economia civile, un dialogo epistemico per educare al lavoro

Lo scenario attuale, tra degrado dell’ambiente e dilagante ingiustizia sociale, tra innovazione tecnologica e fragilità lavorative, rappresenta una sfida per la pedagogia per ripensare e riprogettare un modello di sviluppo volto al pieno compimento umano e alla cura del creato. L’articolo, alla luce di una visione antropologica pedagogicamente connotata, accredita l’ipotesi che sia necessaria un’economia nella quale la produzione di beni e servizi sia funzionale alla fioritura umana e al bene comune. La pedagogia dell’impresa può contribuire, in dialogo con l’economia civile, a promuovere organizzazioni sostenibili e responsabili per un nuovo umanesimo, per risolvere i fallimenti professionali e far emergere la vocazione, tra processi formativi e politiche dell’educazione e del lavoro. Sollecita ad un patto educativo globale nel segno dell’ecologia integrale tra imprese, istituzioni e società civile per educarci nel lavoro (Vischi, 2020), tra relazioni e dono di sé.

Living toto corde: Monastic Vows and the Knowledge of God

Monastic vows have been a source of religious controversy at least since the Reformation. Today, new monastic movements recover many elements of the tradition (e.g., community life and prayer, material solidarity and poverty), but vows—understood as a lifelong or binding commitment to obedience, stability and conversion to the monastic way of life—do not appear to capture much enthusiasm. Even the Benedictine tradition in the Catholic Church appears, at least in certain regions, to struggle to attract young men and women to give themselves away through vows. In this context, I ask whether vows should belong to the “future of Christian monasticisms”. I will look at Anselm of Canterbury for inspiration regarding their meaning. For him, monastic vows enact the “total” gift of self or the “total” belonging to God. I will suggest, following Anselm, that such vows enable an existential commitment that is in a unique way morally and intellectually enlivening, and that such vows should remain an element in any future monasticism wanting to stand in continuity with the “Christian monasticism” of the past. During my conclusion, I acknowledge that our imagination regarding the concrete forms the total gift could take may develop.

Pregare: dal gemito al ricordo. San Giovanni della Croce

Saint John of the Cross does not provide us with a specific study of Christian prayer, yet this does not mean that he does not speak with authority on prayer. Indeed, it is possible to show that prayer plays a decisive role in his doctrine as an eminent expression of the theologal life. Hope plays an important role in Sanjuanist prayer, and this is testified in the saint's writings. A study of his works reveals a way of prayer by which the believer enters into a process of maturity in his relationship with God. From a human quest for plenitude, which is sometimes childish in its attachment to feelings, prayer becomes a space for the gift of self in view of union with the Creator in faith, hope and charity. The Saint leads the prayerful person from meditation to prayer as loving regard accepted in love, in which there is no longer a struggle to be accepted by God but the capacity to receive him in contemplation. Lament, which is a consequence of memory, then becomes joy anchored in the remembrance of all that has already been given to us in the person of Jesus Christ, the foundation for what John of the Cross calls perfect (entera) hope.

Love of Self as the Condition for a Gift of Self in Aquinas

Love of Self as the Condition for a Gift of Self in Aquinas

Idea rodzicielstwa duchowego w życiu i twórczości Karola Wojtyły

Na główne przesłanie idei rodzicielstwa duchowego autorstwa Karola Wojtyły ogromny wpływ miały doświadczenia jego życia, twórczość poetycka i intelektualna. Początki idei rodzicielstwa duchowego są dostrzegalne w jego poezji i dramatach. Jednakże to w pracy intelektualnej idea rodzicielstwa duchowego została w pełni rozwinięta. Największe znaczenie miały dzieła: Miłość i odpowiedzialność i Osoba i czyn. W książce Miłość i odpowiedzialność Karol Wojtyła łączy ideę rodzicielstwa duchowego z „bezinteresownym darem z siebie”, który jest esencją owej idei. W książce Osoba i czyn K. Wojtyła przedstawia ową ideę w integracji osoby, poprzez doświadczenie rodzicielstwa duchowego przejawiającego się w solidarności z grupami i wspólnotami. W narracji K. Wojtyły rodzicielstwo duchowe jest postrzegane jako moralne wyzwanie. Idea rodzicielstwa duchowego przedstawiona w życiu i twórczości K. Wojtyły jest pomocą w dialogu ze światem. Może być praktycznym i realnym otwarciem drzwi Chrystusowi, wyzwoleniem dla najbiedniejszych i duchowo pogubionych braci i sióstr.

Does History Conquer Love? The Good of the Family and the Gift of Self

The aim of this article is to show how the modern liberal view of marriage as a temporary association contracted by two equal and autonomous individuals overrides and obscures an essential anthropological truth of the human person. Specifically, a reduction of marriage to the level of a purely historical good results in the obfuscation of the gift-like character of human existence and in the subordination of nuptial love to a mere “means” in service of some extrinsic, impersonal goal. Only a more robust anthropological vision, informed by categories of man’s filial and nuptial existence, is able to secure a historical order that can be a genuine “end” of indefatigable love unto itself. Only by attending to the paradoxical character of God creating man in his image as “male” and “female” does history avoid becoming an order of mere chronological or biological succession, and only thus does the rationale and gratuitousness of an indissoluble sacrament of marriage come to be seen as indispensable for preserving and promoting the dignity of historical man

Ouvrir la bouche du désir. Éros dans le Cantique spirituel B de saint Jean de la Croix (II)

In the first part of this article we attempted to define “eros”. In the second part, we shall read the Spiritual Canticle B based on this definition. We shall discover that eros, with its human basis, is God’s gift, enabling us to receive His gift of self to us. It is also what brings us to conformity with God’s only Son.

MIŁOŚĆ – ISTOTĄ POSŁUGI PASTERSKIEJ KAPELANA SZPITALNEGO

Duch służby i służba miłości, to dwie współrzędne postawy, które wzajemnie się przenikają i wyrażają styl kapłańskiego życia. Bez miłości bliźniego nie może być autentycznej miłości Boga, a tym samym gorliwości apostolskiej w posłudze chorym. Otrzymana konsekracja zobowiązuje kapłana do naśladowania swojego Mistrza, wyrażającej się w służbie człowiekowi, w całkowitym darze z siebie, w poświęceniu aż do ofiary krzyżowej. Podstawą miłości pasterskiej kapelana szpitalnego jest stała łączność z Bogiem. Kapelan szpitalny, aby realizować cel miłości pasterskiej, którym jest uobecnianie miłości Boga, powinien żyć w bliskiej zażyłości z Chrystusem. Miłość pasterska kapelana szpitalnego powinna realizować pewne konkretne zadania. Są nimi: pomoc w jednoczeniu się człowieka chorego z Bogiem, niesienie pomocy, usuwanie przyczyn i skutków zła, a także niesienie pomocy duchowej ludziom chorym. Do tych zadań kapelan szpitalny winien odbyć odpowiednią formację i dojrzewać przez całe życie.

Les caractéristiques pneumatologiques de la doctrine spirituelle de la Louange de gloire de sainte Élisabeth de la Trinité

In her spiritual treatise, Heaven in Faith, Elisabeth of the Trinity, while providing us with a spiritual doctrine relative to Praise of glory, also offers us an original approach to pneumatology. Her treatise, constructed like a musical score in synchrony with the cyclical form, places the characteristics of this pneumatology between a meditation on Baptism and a meditation on the Eucharist. It is a pneumatology which is related to a theology of the sacraments and to a euchology of Confirmation. It is indirectly grounded in the notions of epectase and the experience of the cloud in saint Gregory of Nyssa, leading to a renewed perception of the internal dynamics of the sacraments of initiation and to a rediscovery of the gift of self as a place of trinitarian experience.

“What do I not owe you!”: An Examination of Gratitude in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

READING PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, one is commonly struck by the richness of the manner in which Jane Austen examines humility as an antidote both unjust pride and the tendency prejudge others. Perhaps these ideas reveal themselves most obviously in the humbling that Elizabeth and Darcy both undergo as part of the plot: each comes understand that his or her initial judgments failed be impartial and had be made accord with the reality of the other person. This action of humbling makes itself fairly apparent readers of the novel and also makes clear the suitability of the novel's original title (in Austen's drafts): First Impressions. Erroneous first impressions must be adjusted one's actual experience of other persons; for example, Elizabeth learns that her first impressions of both Darcy and Wickham were mistaken. Yet the novel's final title, Pride and Prejudice, is perhaps more apt, as it suggests the much more profound influences involved, and values at stake, in one's judgment of persons. As an example of this thematic complexity, one may note that the theme of humility as fundamental remedy manifests itself not only in terms of the judgments made by Elizabeth and Darcy, but also, perhaps more subtly, in terms of their developing love for one another, particularly as their gratitude for one another evinces itself in the novel. Indeed, the concept of gratitude garners elaborate treatment throughout the novel, particularly in the scenes and descriptions dealing with the evolving attachment between Darcy and Elizabeth. Pride and Prejudice reveals and celebrates the profound idea that gratitude is the proper response the gift of self that is love, and, further, that gratitude is sign and effect of authentic humility. In order better contemplate the relationship between the virtues of gratitude and humility in Pride and Prejudice, one ought first examine the dynamic of gift giving, insofar as gratitude must be understood fundamentally as potential response the reception of Generally speaking, gift giving is dynamic that is all too often taken for granted, but the principles of this dynamic actually act as wonderful prism through which recognize the moral power of Austen's art. In his book The Gift: Creation, the philosopher Kenneth Schmitz explores the gift dynamic. Schmitz establishes as fundamental principle that gifts are offered between persons and always signify relationship between persons. Gifts are not given oneself (such an item might better be termed treat, not gift, since there is no principle of otherness) or one's dog (an animal cannot appreciate the significance of gift, and gifts always have significance, even if neither the giver nor the receiver dwells upon that significance). Schmitz suggests, We can't really give anything ourselves. If the gift we receive is wholly at our command and within our power, it is not in any strict sense gift. (1) Since one is not compelled give gift, all true gifts are acts of love, are other-centered, and are free. This last fact must be underscored: for gift be authentic, it must be offered from giver receiver in complete freedom, or, as Schmitz argues, gift is a free endowment upon another who receives it freely; so that the first mark of gift is its gratuity. (2) Freedom, then, exists on both sides of the gift dynamic. Thus, for the receiver owe gift is contradiction; if something is owed in return for service, as one owes payment the electric company, such an exchange would better be described as commerce. To feel obligated give gift in return is not feel free (recall that ligare, in Latin, means to bind). In too many cases, feeling an obligation reciprocate the gift may arise from desire even the score--that is, absolve the debt, and thus cancel the relationship. This is not preclude receiver from giving gifts giver; in fact, such gifts may fittingly be given confirm and deepen the relationship. …

By the Kindness to the Gift of Self

Abstract The object of this research is gentleness, a construct maybe not treated enough in the literature, but just in the area of the so called Positive Psychology. And precisely from his representative Martin Seligman, the inspiration for the construction of a questionnaire and of a specific hypothesis has been born, including the use of a precise terminology. In general terms, maybe the most interesting result lies in the fact of having found a correlation between the various items, therefore between the various constructs, in accordance with the idea of gentleness proposed as a synergy of “quality”. This idea has also been supported from recent research in which has emerged a very tight bond between optimism and a particular character trait that is extroversion. Being placed at a higher, transcendental level, the “gift of oneself” could become the “jump of quality” to fulfil ourselves in the relation with the other.

Masculinity and Femininity: Essential to the Identity of the Human Person

Abstract The title of this congress begins with the word “identity”. It also includes the word “reciprocity,” which indicates a form of relationship and finally, “gift of self”. This would lead us to conclude that the identity of the human person has something to do with reciprocity and that reciprocity involves giving of oneself to others. This talk will attempt to shed light on how the concept of gender might in some way be incorporated into these three concepts. Defining what constitutes the identity of the human person has been explored, and attempts to define it have been made by every major theorist in the field of psychology. At a previous Psychology and Communion congress one of the talks (Ionata, 2002) spoke of loving and being loved in return as the basic foundation of human identity. In that presentation we find the following observation: “The identity of the human person can be compared to the identity of a book: we know where and when it was printed; but the author is certainly not the publishing house, nor is the typesetter who prepared the text…The same is true for us human beings: we know the time and date of birth. But who is author?” (31). We ask ourselves, therefore: what lies at the core of the identity of this being who is born at a certain time on a certain date? Before proceeding, I think it is important to note that the basic idea regarding the identity of the human person, as we have defined and understood it from the inception of psychology and communion and explored in previous encounters, remains unchanged. I will use a quote of Chiara Lubich here that perhaps many of you know but which can serve the purpose of laying the foundation for what follows: Human beings are “(…) all equal but distinct. To each person [God] gave his own beauty so that they would be desirable and lovable by others; and so that in love (the common substance in which they recognize themselves as one and see themselves in each other) they would be recomposed into the One who had created them with his Light, which is Himself.” Now we ask ourselves: What exactly is this “beauty” that Chiara is speaking of? What are the components, if you will, of our identity that makes us “… desirable and lovable by others…”?

Karol Wojtyła’s (John Paul II) Phenomenological Account of Human Freedom

In his analysis of the experience of human action, Karol Wojtyła puts special emphasis on person’s power of selfdetermination which reveals itself through experience as the essential characteristic of freely acting person. It is important to see that K. Wojtyła does not equate freedom with man’s ‘autonomous power of self-determination’ which manifests itself as egocentric individualism associated with the individual “right” to do what the subject wants, the “right” to establish one’s own “truth”, allowing a man to live life as if he is not dependent on God and others. On the contrary, K. Wojtyła presents a much more profound notion of freedom: he proposes the notion of ‘freedom’ understood as man’s free participation in the actualization of truth and good through the gift of self out of genuine love.

Are We Free? Are We Persons? 5 Ways to Obtain Certain Knowledge About the Existence of Human Free Will*

The paper argues first for the immense importance of the question whetherwe possess free will for philosophical anthropology, ethics, penal law, andreligion, showing that the personhood of man is incompatible with a negationof his free will. It proceeds by discussing briefly the essence and levels offree will, showing that free will is an irreducible archdatum (urphenomenon)that in spite of its indefinability allows for an analysis and unfolding of itsessential qualities. The paper then distinguishes the different dimensionsof human free will as cause of action and intentional response to goods andvalues, and discusses their relation to morality. It then shows that the centralphenomena of “cooperative freedom” and of the “gift of self” are the supremefulfillment of persons. Lastly, different arguments for the actual existenceof human freedom are explored: a) an argument from the immediateevidence of freedom in the cogito; b) from the evidence of “eternal truths”or “necessary and supremely intelligible essences” about free will; c) fromthe experience of moral calls and oughts; d) from the undeniability of freewill without contradiction; and e) from the experience of acts whose objects(persons and their acts) presuppose free will. Through these “five ways” theevidence that we do indeed possess free will can be attained.

Pope Benedict XVI on the Priesthood and Homosexuality.

In his recent interview published as the book Light of the World, Pope Benedict XVI noted that the Vatican has repeatedly stated that men with a homosexual orientation should not be admitted to the priesthood even if they performed no homosexual acts. He stated that he did not want celibacy to be an excuse to attract people with a homosexual orientation. There are several reasons for this stance. The priesthood is not a denial of the spousal meaning of the body which underlies marriage. This spousal meaning entails the fact that since man is a composite of body and spirit, the body is the physical self by which the gift of the soul which characterizes married love is finally ratified. The giving and receiving of sperm and ova expresses physically the prior giving and receiving of soul. This gift of self to another, for those who are called to it, can also be realized by the gift of self to God as is the case with virgins and religious. Though celibacy is a discipline, because of the all-encompassing concentration of forces necessary for the priesthood, realized especially in the consecration of the Eucharist, it is a fit means for carrying out this spousal meaning of the body. As a result, a priest must have the same ability to give the gift of himself totally as a married man does; only his gift is to the whole Church. There is an argument as to whether homosexuality is a result of nurture or nature. In either case, as long as this condition remains, the total dedication of self required of the priest would not be possible. If this is the result of nature, this cannot be changed; and the person could not contemplate a priestly vocation. If this results from nurture, then it could be changed; in which case after a person has changed it, he could pursue the priesthood.