On Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:19:45 -0700, Michael Sylvester Ph.D. wrote: >On Monday, August 24, 2009 10:23 AM, Mike Palij wrote: >>On Mon, 24 Aug 2009 06:14:22 -0700, Michael Sylvester, Ph.D. wrote: >>> HAPPY HOLY RAMADAN >>[I admit] to being somewhat puzzled when I hear people saying things >>like "Happy Ramadan" (Dr. Sylvester just being a convenient example) >>because it is as peculiar as wishing Christians "Happy Lent". One >>description of Ramadan is provided by Wikipedia (standard disclaimer >>apply): > >Your analogies are way off base.
Analogies? What on earth are you talking about? There are historical connections among the Abrahamic religions that tie them together, involving common beliefs and practices. See the Wikipedia enty for more on this point (standard disclaimers apply): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahamic_religions Fasting, ritual purity, and other forms of self-denial are practices that many religions advocate (well, okay, maybe not those that came into existence in the 20th century). How these practices are interpreted has to be made relative to the religious dogma provided by the religion. >Fasting,denial,self-mortification,community sharing can all be >construed as forms practices that can lead to happiness. Given your self-provided history of involvement in Catholicism, I take this statement to mean that you are an advocate of the "mortification of the flesh", perhaps as described on Wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortification_in_Roman_Catholic_teaching I assume that you engage in practices like those of the Saints, such as: |Doctor of the Church, St. Catherine of Siena (died 1380), was |a tertiary Dominican who lived at home rather than in a convent, |and who practiced austerities which a prioress would probably |not have permitted. She is notable for fasting and subsisting for |long periods of time on nothing but the Blessed Sacrament. St. Catherine |of Siena wore sackcloth and scourged herself three times daily in imitation |of St. Dominic. Lest one thinks of these as practices that are long abandoned, there are several sections relevant to the present day: |20th-century Catholic documents | |Recent theology affirms the practice of mortification. The catechism of |the Catholic Church states: "The way of perfection passes by way of |the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. |Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually |lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes" (n. 2015). |Pope Paul VI also stated: |"The necessity of mortification of the flesh stands clearly revealed |if we consider the fragility of our nature, in which, since Adam's sin, |flesh and spirit have contrasting desires. This exercise of bodily |mortification - far removed from any form of stoicism - does |not imply a condemnation of the flesh which the Son of God deigned |to assume. On the contrary, mortification aims at the 'liberation' of man." Indeed, there can be joy in suffering which you obviously refer to: |Joy in suffering | |Saint Paul speaks of joy in suffering in the Letter to the Colossians: |"I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake". He had found a source of |joy in overcoming the sense of the uselessness of suffering. And the words from our current pontiff: |The teaching of Benedict XVI | |Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who later became Benedict XVI told |Peter Seewald in God and the world: | |"When we know that the way of love - this exodus, this going |out of oneself - is the true way by which man becomes human, |then we also understand that suffering is the process through which |we mature. **Anyone who has inwardly accepted suffering becomes |more mature and more understanding of others, becomes more |human.** Anyone who has consistently avoided suffering does not |understand other people; he becomes hard and selfish. Love itself |is a passion, something we endure. In love I experience first a |happiness, a general feeling of happiness. Yet, on the other hand, |I am taken out of my comfortable tranquility and have to let myself |be reshaped. If we say that suffering is the inner side of love, we |then also understand by it is so important to learn how to suffer - |and why, conversely, the avoidance of suffering renders someone |unfit to cope with life." | |... |Cardinal Ratzinger states that pain, the very product of evil and |sin, is used by God to negate evil and sin. He states that by freely |suffering the pains that went with his passion and death on the cross, |the Jesus fully reveals his love, making up for Adam's and mankind's |sin, and makes man grow into maturity. Strange, I never thought of you as a fan of Pope Benedict XVI. >Read Marcus Aurelius. I have. Please cite the edition you're referring to and the pages. I have his "Meditations" (1964), the Maxwell Staniforth translation published by Penguin Classics handy. But note that Aurelius only provides a viewpoint from the Stoics and, as your own experience and apparently stated position maintains, there is more to this existence than just the world. >By the way Lent is great. I'm sure that you're such a fan of Lent that you practice it all year round. You know what this means, don't you? NO MORE PINA COLADAS FOR YOU~!!! (see: http://www.mail-archive.com/tips@acsun.frostburg.edu/msg25512.html ) >As an ex-Trappist novitiate at Gethsemani,Kentucky,the liturgy and >the Greorian chants of that era was very uplifting. For some reason I think you have the concepts of self-denial, fasting, penance, etc., somewhat confused or, to quote the movie "The Princess Bride": "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/quotes -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
