1. This course consists in an effort at sustained, directed, and personal thinking out of Christian spirituality with the aim of fostering the ongoing growth of seniors toward full maturity in the Faith, as active members of the Christian community, the Church, capable of responding as true disciples of Christ to the urgent challenges of Filipino life today. explain theology 151 as a course -as seniors, what to do (human experience) -SPIRITUALITY!!!, vocation and commitment -go inside, then go outside (down the hill) -link vocation (discipleship – can take many forms, spirituality) -eternal value, eternal purpose, eternal vow (nature of uniqueness of discipleship), holiness (everyone set apart in ways of discipleship) -responding (start with last phrase) -issues, challenges of Filipino life today -platform for discernment (life of moses as a framework) (self transcendence) god’s call – respond Christianity – continuous action Concept neighbor – vocation Vocation – how do you become Christ in the world Purpose Apply in filipino context -explain nature of spirituality through moses (not Christian) - compare moses life with how we define spirituality in the course (schneiders religion vs spirituality) -communal life in the church vs moses - personal aspect, communal aspect (spirituality)
2. Personal primordial commitments develop through widening one’s horizons of meaning. These horizons are gradually formed within the universal human quest for identity (mythos) and purpose (ethos) in life. This spirituality of horizons views the world, therefore, as a place of grace, a dwelling to find where God will best be served and where people will best be helped. Primordial – source of something Primordial commitment – where all other commitment comes from Christian commitment (personal, where all commitment spring from) Israelites- wilderness (discover their identity, most challenging part) Creation story!! (humans lang walang place) Holiness gives identity and purpose
Image and likeness of god Prescriptive and descriptive Torah – mythos (story), ethos (law) Israelites own quest found in mythos and ethos Leviticus – code of holiness Why is it the people still follow this? Sets us apart with any other people Identity A holy people, a holy nation – god is made visible in the world Numbers Deuteronomy Death moses – letting go and letting god Talk about vocation also – response to universal human quest Summation of life commitment (primordial) Widening horizons – dark horizons (still seeking hope) –INTRO -babylonian exile – looked for ways (the torah came about – making sense of reality, essentially a result of the spirituality of israelites, find way to identify and purpose) -explain an alternative (mythic horizons) -widen (inserting the factor of the eternal) -eternal value, eternal purpose, eternal vow) discernment, personal experience 3. Growth towards permanence in Christian commitment comes through the gradual deepening of one’s roots and wings, enhancing the quality of all our other personal life commitments. This entails a focus on the core of the Christian moral vision: authentic love. All authentic love, lived out in moral norms and discerned in moral acts, is grounded in a personal relationship with Christ, actualized by the Spirit within His Body, the Church. personal life commitment, moral norms moral acts moral codes – 3 fold discernment, church the Christian commitment as primordial how is it actualized branch out of what EXAMPLE: Christian values makes you Christian Start from vision – values are represented in vision, guiding principle –AUTHENTIC LOVE
Roots and wings – William spohn article – roots (institution), wings (spirituality) How is spirituality fitting in institution Living spirituality within model of religious institution Stress connection with human experience, the way we live our faith Challenges of life – take in consideration – answered within the commitment Define what spirituality is – schneiders transcendence Call to something greater than self – enhancing LIVED out within moral norms, with discernment Discern accordingly Always return to understanding why moral codes exist – VISION From tradition, scripture to actual life Deuteronomy – practice the law as virtue Allows us to transition from legalistic to understanding what might these rules be representative of – what really matters See law beyond it represents Law –relationship, responsibility Present problem – people becoming more fundamentalist Take bible literally Fusion of horizons 4. Sacred Scripture, as the living, inspired Word of God, constitutes an inexhaustible source which illumines and inspires full authentic Christian commitment: its historical conditioning, the relative nature of our own personal commitments as expressions of our absolute commitment to God, and the ultimate criterion for the authenticity of these personal commitments in our everyday life. Present problem – people becoming more fundamentalist Take bible literally Fusion of horizons Define what scripture is – as the living inspired word of god Handout 1 – mythic horizons Characteristics Christian primordial commitment can be illuminated via the scripture Characteristics can be found in sacred scripture Christian commitment historical conditioning – passed down to next generation
Death of moses- ultimate act of faith Go back to scripture – patterns on living our lives Christ – forgiveness Healing of leper – call for justice Commitment in scriptures ultimate criterion of our personal commitment Nucleus – absolute commitment to God (faith) Lived out as greater commitment (branches) – other personal commitments Full authentic Christian commitment Phrase 1- Historically conditioned (background), within context Phrase 2 – different commitments Phrase 3 – connection to core - criterion 5. Professing faith in a God whose Word became incarnate has to lead us to live a faith embodied in history. Without ever ceasing to cultivate an intimate relationship with the Lord and living a faith always rooted in the experience of Jesus Christ, we have to realise that the authentically Christian interior life is not mere interiority. Our authentic living-out of the faith must be embodied in history; if it is not, it is heretical. Christian faith is not an enclosed ghetto of belief, but a radical opening to the world. 6. Moses dies to himself so that others may find life. This motif of kenosis finds its final and most poignant portrayal in the last chapters of Deuteronomy. Put in words for us here today, none of us will likely enter the new Philippines of which we dream and for which we labor. But if we do not start now, no one will enter the new country. For the sake of future generations, we are called to empty ourselves in selfgiving. In the Christian vision, Jesus enters the land of new creation, the Kingdom of God. He invites us to enter with him, and he will keep us in that land, our promised dwelling, forever.
TH151 - H Orals CALLED TO DREAM: “I am called to a dream greater than myself, and I shall not dream anything less.” This course consists in an effort at sustained, directed, and personal thinking out of Christian Spirituality with the aim of fostering the ongoing growth of seniors toward full maturity in the Faith, as active members of the Christian community, the Church, capable of responding as true disciples of Christ to the urgent challenges of Filipino life today.
- subdivide? One major point and discuss three major points? Option 1: Vocation and Moses – call to dream as a call to vocation – vision dialoguing with spirituality – first, perspective of discernment – second, Moses and call of Moses and his rejections as patterns of discernment and how we are called to dream –finally, how the thesis statement responds to the challenges of Filipino life today triad of doctrines, morals etc. , roots and wings Option 2: Summation of all theo courses – explain in light of human exp
MYTHIC IMAGINATION: Personal primordial commitments develop through widening one’s horizons of meaning. These horizons are expressed as insight into the “gift-quality” of all reality, as expressed in the eternal sense of value, purpose and a relatedness to the Thou. This spirituality of horizons views the world, therefore, as a place of grace, a dwelling to find where God will best be served and where people will best be helped.
Option 1: Mythic horizons – this vision charges our life with meaning and purpose Brokenness in the world – not just cure, but heal like what Jesus did – Kingdom of God as the personal primordial commitment – how do I live this out?
Option 2: Order of creation – dwelling comes first – humans don’t have a dwelling place – we seek it out as a call to vocation – vocation geared towards kingdom of God – service not just to God but also to others, self transcendence, healing of the leper HOLINESS IN CREATION: A person's holiness is their unique and set apart (kadosh/kedushah) manner by which they restore wholeness (shalom) to brokenness pervading the world. The human being's holiness bears the freight of the dream of God, a dream that resists all tendencies to division, hostility, fear, drivenness and misery. Shalom is the substance of the biblical vision of one community embracing all creation.
Option 1: Creation again hehe Option 2: Feed my lambs – death of Moses- tend my sheep – vocation is a call that we are not always ready for - feed my sheep – burning bush – dark horizons – existentialism, absurdism, nihilism (Discussions) Thesis #4 It’s trying to explain that biblical narratives are good resources for Christian commitment. 3 important qualitites: a. Historical conditioning – you take on commitment but it’s never done in a vacuum and it’ll be a basis (biblical narratives) for your decisions. The authors and the characters have their own fingerprints about the narrative story about their life like the two genesis stories. It says the questions they try to answer in their lives and how they pattern their lives. Historical conditioning is the basis of how you live your life such as how you were raised. Context of how you view how you were raised/ how you live etc. *Moses is also subject to historical conditioning as he was raised in such a realpolitik system and killed the taskmaster. b. Relative Nature of our own personal commitments – why you strive hard to study and why you do things. These are the reasons which are relative to the original/primordial commitment. What shaped that primordial commitment? It is spirituality. Particular religious institution that you’re grounded in. *Life of Moses – understanding of commitment was only understood relative to other things in his life like having a family and getting a job. He led the people of isrealites and was rooted in his commitment to God. c. How it becomes ultimate criterion for authenticity – the biblical narrative authors refuse to whitewash the humiliating stories in the bible. Painting Moses’ life could have been perfect by removing the killing of taskmaster but it was retained despite this. It even became a highlight point and it is comparable with all the characters in
the bible such as David, Solomon, Peter (John 21). These characters show how they commit to God and bible is not shy in showing that they can commit mistakes thus making them more human. Elijah hid in a cave waiting for a sign and God showed himself in the way of the wind. Some of us feel abandoned if the sign does not come and leave the belief system they once had. This is how parallels are made between commitment and biblical narrative. Thesis #5 Roots and wings to explain spirituality. Spiritual vision is what guides and shapes all personal life commitments. Their spirituality is important on how they treat others, what they believe to be important in our life etc. It impacts all personal commitments in our lives. In our Christian, our primordial commitment is connected to God. Our moral vision is connected to our authentic love. *Moses self-sacrifice or kenosis is authentic love. He knew he can’t reach the holy land but the next generation may reach it. Jesus also as example where he’s able to integrate the marginalized. Good Samaritan as to showing to not discriminate neighbors etc. Love your neighbor as yourself. Who should I love for minimum requirement to get to heaven but Jesus counters it with Good Samaritan as the neighbor is not defined. It is about being a good neighbor to everyone else. How this is actualized in our own life in the church. **Give examples of struggles in our life. Can use Healing of Leper or John 21 to link authentic love to Jesus. Or 10 commandments about maintaining relationships. Non-negotiables allowing to mend or strengthen with another person or God. You define Christian commitment in 3 ways: I see this diff kind of love in Moses to 2nd gen, john 21, woman in Rwanda, and Thesis #6 Vocation as main idea into 3 main parts: a. Moses in Deuteronomy – Moses did not accept that he wouldn’t enter the promised land but tries to articulate to plea to God. Sometimes comes out in anger in Dennis article? Moses knew that he will inherit the holy land through the 2nd gen that’s why he blesses Jacob and xxx. It is about planting the seeds knowing that something will grow even if you will not see with your own eyes. Harder part of vocation is that you want something to be done but it may not be seen by your own eyes. There’s a certain sense of fulfillment in us taking in the material just as Moses felt. b. Philippine setting c. Jesus
