Together with the seminary fathers, and Fr. Gary, we had coffee with Prof. Randy David. A good brew is always a fine stimulant, to keep the mind active and the night infinitely young. But more than the coffee, the conversation was most stimulating.
It began with pizza and coffee. Then anchovies and annulment. The pizza was good, although the coffee was just okay. Then the talk shifted, thanks to the pizza which was named after a local political kingpin, to politics in the province and in Pampanga. Then, politics was followed by some remarks on ecclesiastical personages, the former and the latter, not always a good mix, but almost inseparable at times.
The meatier and more substanced talk began when Prof. Randy hinted about his talk tomorrow at the second day of the ICST Symposium (I hope I'd be able to write about the first day soon. It was greatly stimulating too.) - he was to venture into uncertain seas, so he said - "unfamiliar territory" but for which he was willing to "stick out his neck", though. He said he was to speak about theology, specifically on a nouveau thing in theology from an "unlikely mixed" theologian - the topic of kenosis as the the essence of God, and love as the heart of Catholicism, of Christianity. This of course is central in the Scriptures, but the current reading he shall speak of posits some uncharted (or maybe laid back) implications.
Then it got to Von Balthasar and his theological aesthetics which according to Fr. John was much like Prof. David's theologian's thesis, to Benedict XVI and his debate with Habermas, his facility with Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, and his great work, Deus Caritas Est, to his brilliance, piano prowess and smoking, to John Paul II's "theological time bomb", the Theology of the Body, to the dynamics of relationships and spirituality - awe and sublimity, beauty, sheer and pure sociability, to humanity and being human, to Levinas and Ethics and Infinity, to mysticism, conversion, faith, narratives and metanarratives, the Scriptures and worship, to passion about life and many more.
My temples warmed as I listened to the spirited exchange. I realized the brilliance of the man, Randy David, informed and reflective, indeed a man of postmodernity, and of the Rector, John Habawel, equally informed and reflective, a man in whom sentire cum ecclesiae becomes concrete.
Somebody said it well - shallow minds talk about people, average minds about events, and great minds about ideas. Tonight I had a glimpse at great minds. I was amused at the thoughts exchanged. But I know that would not be enough; I am to assimilate.
To begin with, I write this, and maybe tomorrow begin a good read.
It began with pizza and coffee. Then anchovies and annulment. The pizza was good, although the coffee was just okay. Then the talk shifted, thanks to the pizza which was named after a local political kingpin, to politics in the province and in Pampanga. Then, politics was followed by some remarks on ecclesiastical personages, the former and the latter, not always a good mix, but almost inseparable at times.
The meatier and more substanced talk began when Prof. Randy hinted about his talk tomorrow at the second day of the ICST Symposium (I hope I'd be able to write about the first day soon. It was greatly stimulating too.) - he was to venture into uncertain seas, so he said - "unfamiliar territory" but for which he was willing to "stick out his neck", though. He said he was to speak about theology, specifically on a nouveau thing in theology from an "unlikely mixed" theologian - the topic of kenosis as the the essence of God, and love as the heart of Catholicism, of Christianity. This of course is central in the Scriptures, but the current reading he shall speak of posits some uncharted (or maybe laid back) implications.
Then it got to Von Balthasar and his theological aesthetics which according to Fr. John was much like Prof. David's theologian's thesis, to Benedict XVI and his debate with Habermas, his facility with Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, and his great work, Deus Caritas Est, to his brilliance, piano prowess and smoking, to John Paul II's "theological time bomb", the Theology of the Body, to the dynamics of relationships and spirituality - awe and sublimity, beauty, sheer and pure sociability, to humanity and being human, to Levinas and Ethics and Infinity, to mysticism, conversion, faith, narratives and metanarratives, the Scriptures and worship, to passion about life and many more.
My temples warmed as I listened to the spirited exchange. I realized the brilliance of the man, Randy David, informed and reflective, indeed a man of postmodernity, and of the Rector, John Habawel, equally informed and reflective, a man in whom sentire cum ecclesiae becomes concrete.
Somebody said it well - shallow minds talk about people, average minds about events, and great minds about ideas. Tonight I had a glimpse at great minds. I was amused at the thoughts exchanged. But I know that would not be enough; I am to assimilate.
To begin with, I write this, and maybe tomorrow begin a good read.
1 comment:
One thing I really admire with Prof. Randy is his openness to things, persons and events (in Contemporary hermeneutics, "texts"). And he is not afraid to put his present paradigms to be challenged. He shared that lately, one of the most striking that he had was the person and teaching of Pope Benedict XVI. Here is a man of postmodernity, baptized Catholic but not practising, almost an atheist, struck by the person and the teaching of a pope - the visible head and point of unity of the Roman Catholic, but a symbol of the archaic for the secular mind. He shared that his encounter with Pope Benedict XVI's call to go back to the basics of the Christian Faith - that GOD IS LOVE - is most revolutionary and striking for him. And he said that this is making him appreciate the Pope, the Church, God, and is bringing him back.
On this statement, I made sure I get him verbatim. He said - "This whole teaching of God as Love is leading me back by making me rediscover the faith of my childhood."
Talk about the Spirit stirring us.
Prof. Randy is into a religious experience, I think. I pray that I may also see the many occasions for this that God gifts me with. And I pray that you too may experience him today.
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