: scolastory (scolastory) wrote,
2006-01-25 14:38:00

DOCTOR OF SCIENCE honoris causa SCOLA scolastory

Coming into the Christmas Holiday Season of 2005, I am happy to report on the gradual appearance of some apparent omens for the future of SCOLA; and this also presumably germane to the long-term task pf continuing here the STORY OF SCOLA, It could be
synchronistically or even prohetically that the happenings I'm reporting do occur fast after the 2005 season's Annual Traditional Tom and Jerry Party at the SCOLA Farm.

A couple of weeks before this party, I was invited to accept a Creighton University honor, the award of Doctor of Science honoris causa at the upcoming mid-year commencement exercises. This was seen to be, I figure, not only a personal honor, but certainly shared for the conglomerate personnel of the SCOLA Team which continues to advance the SCOLA operation into the most tenable and current advanced technological and socio-anthropological mandates of our times.

The Commencement and the award took place the very next day after the Tom and Jerry party, Saturday, December 17th, 2005. The day's events began with the Baccalaureate Mass in St. John's campus church; the University President, John Schlegel, S.J., had asked me to read the Gospel and "say a few words"-- presumably akin to a very short "homily." This added cosiderably some work for me to prepare for the event--inviting and entertaining guests (as expected) besides giving what the occasiion would require to be a quite well thought-out significant commentary a propos of both God's word and the affair and its participants,

Of course quickly looking to see what the Gospel was and what theme I'd be bound to discourse, I have to admit that I was apalled to find that this was one of those days where the Gospel was a reading of a GENEOLOGY of the Lord--endless list of unpronounceable Old Testament names linked with "begats." I panicked at he thought of making "sense" out of that and promtly searched harum-scarum for an alternative. Fotunately, though, no way out if we were to do it "right." Gradually in a more peaceful state of mind things began to come together and I was enthusiastic about the potential this gave me.

So tipical of my jerk responses to seemingly impossible situations, somewhere out of the depths of my psyche were gathering the threads of the most hyper-mega-vision of a wide swath of potential evolution of humankind into fullest future. Givens included the evolution of humankind through generations evinced by the geneologies, the eruption of the Church at vatican II by jumping on the bandwagon of growth and evolution--showing the way of God's will through signposts already strewn along the way: Love God above all, love your neighbor as yourself, Love your enemies, forgive those who trespass against you . . . . Certainnly implicit was a feast of SOLIDARITY of the Human Race. A vision a little murky perhaps, but limned in sure outline, albeit with near Teilhard-de-Chardinian accuracy: Central to the vision of course, is the roll that the SCOLA resources are playing as helps to include fullest solidarity in a world of Gordian KNOTS? And so, here following are the "Few Words" I resurrected for the occasion:

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A FEW WORDS, AFTER READING
MATTHEW's GENEOLOGY OF JESUS, 1: 1-17
Creighton University Baccalaureate Mass
December 17, 2005

The simple little 3-line verse that is sung to introduce the Gospel-reading today of the GENEOLOGY of Jesus Christ contains the secret key to the understanding of all the scriptures of all the religions that exist upon the earth:

*O Wisdom of our God Most High,
*Guiding Creation with Power and Love,
*Come to Teach Us the Path of Knowledge

This is a great Mission Statement Prayer of all Humanity, yearning to receive the gifts of spirit-stamina to get in step with the march of God's evolution--convergence to Omega, "Noogenisis," Growing, Learning, Evolving

In the Spirit of this Geneology and Genesis, Education and Commencement, I suggest that it is about time to re-introduce ourselves to the works of the French Jesuit, Teilhard de Chardin; some of the titles of his books that came off the press in the late 50's and early 60's reveal his themes:

*THE DIVINE MILIEU
*THE PHENOMENON OF MAN
*CHRISTIANITY AND EVOLUTION
*THE FUTURE OF MAN

I think people on Graduation days like this Enjoy recalling People gone before them--the SPIRITS OF THOSE WHO BROUGHT US TO THIS DAY; personally I recall my Irish Grandparents EMILY AND PATRICK O'BRIEN; they had eleven kids, and they named the first-born "DARWIN." Of course the rest of the family called him "PAT" the rest of his life.
(The next child, MARGUERITE was the one who named me LELAND [after Leland Stanford, fouder of STANFORD University ]. The local Pastor refused to baptize me with the pagan name, so later the Jesuits wouldn't ordain me without an affidavit that LELAND and I were one and the same person. (Those North Central Wisconsin people were real zealous promoters of EDUCATION in those days.)

Some remember the days how our enculturation of the Hellenic and Roman Empire icons signaled other dimension-demanding--when LATIN ended in the Church, stopping the mystification of brains and the embezzlement of our senses.

Today we are stupefied that we allowed ourselves to be ingrown and protective of our Western monopoly on the Divine Word through and in and with whom all things were made--Supreme Lord of the Entire Universe who wills that ALL PEOPLE come to him.

That was the harbinger of Vatican II and its expo in "GAUDIUM ET SPES (Joy and hope). The first time I read that account of the Ecumenical Council, I thought all those guys had completely gone bananas. Calling upon ALL to come together and DIALOG: RECKLESS GANGS: All, Christians, Non-Cristians, Buddhists, Hindus, Islam, Dao, toss in by all means all Atheists, even all the Nobodies. DIALOG together NOT TO TRICK ONE ANOTHER via silly syllogism-ism, but to learn from each and every one exactly what precious treasures, gifts of grace God has favored each of them with, so that we can all benefit from the widest Richness of Faith.

Now we find new leaders vaunting a genesis of conjugation (cf, Jacques Dupuis, S.J.) signaling how, in our DE FACTO-RELIGIOUS-PLURALISM culture , we are called to The Cosmic Dimensions of the Mystery of God, and God's Design for all of Humankind.

Therefore, we'd druther dream a kind of Theology:

* NOT FOR ONE BILION CATHOLICS (exclusively)
** NOT EVEN FOR A BILLION AND A HALF CHRISTIANS
***BUT FOR THE SIX BILLION PEOPLE THAT LIVE AND SHARE THE PLANET WITH US.

Dismayed how post-moderns "lose" their faith?? Stingy, restrictive, exclusivity is not faith in any event in Jesus Christ of the whole Universe--the eternal Word of God in, thru whom the whole universe is continuing its genesis-sizing and convergence to our supreme good.

COMMENCEMENT? LET US COMMENCE.

EVERYBODY SAY "AMEN."
#
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But having some old friends coming from Paris to help us celebrate the Doctoral award, the two young boys, the children of my guests, Etienne age 12, and Erik age 10, wanted to know what I said, so their Father and I worked out te following translation for their benefit. As it turned out, some of my ultra conservative buddies couldn't dance to the English either, and were more at home with the non-English version as follows:

Messe du baccalauréat,
Université de Creighton, Omaha, Nebraska,
17 décembre 2005
(Quelques mots après la lecture de la
Généalogie de Jésus):

Le chant précédant la lecture de la généalogie de Jésus (Matthieu, 1 : 1-17) nous donne la clef secrète des écritures de toute religion de par monde :

*O Divine Sagesse du Très Haut,
*Guide Puissant et d'Amour de la Création,
*Ouvre nous le Chemin de la Connaissance.

Telle est la prière et la feuille de route d’une l'humanité qui aspire à la force d'esprit permettant de garder le pas avec l'évolution divine : perspective d’un point oméga de convergence de l’humain se dépassant par elle-même, progression de la Noogénèse, acte de creation psychique, Dévelopement, Etude, Plénitude.

Dans le droit fil de la Généalogie et de la Genèse, de l'Education et du Commencement des Temps, il est urgent de nous familiariser de nouveau avec les travaux du Jésuite français, Teilhard de Chardin. Ses ouvrages, publiés dans les années cinquante et soixante, révèlent le thème de ses préoccupations :

*Le Milieu Divin.
*Le Phénomène Humain.
*Christianisme et Evolution.
*L’Avenir de l'Homme.

Le futurs diplômés se remémoreront avec joie ceux qui les ont précédés et qui ont permis d'arriver jusqu'à ce jour. Aujourd'hui, je me souviens pour ma part de mes grands parents irlandais, Emily et Patrick O'Brien. Ils avaient onze enfants. Très concernés, comme nombre de gens du North Central Wisconsin de l'époque, par l'enseignement et l'éducation, ils nommèrent leur premier né "Darwin" - que la famille surnomma "Pat" pour le restant de ses jours. Marguerite, leur deuxième enfant, est celle qui m'a donné le prénom de Leland (après Leland Stanford, le fondateur de la célèbre université du même nom). Le Pasteur du coin refusa le baptême pour cause de prénom païen - ce qui fait que les Jésuites n'acceptèrent plus tard de m'ordonner que sur attestation écrite et sous serment que Leland et moi ne faisons qu'une seule et meme personne.

D’aucuns se souviendront des jours où - le latin ayant fait son temps au sein de l'Eglise - les références aux grandes figures helléniques comme à celles de la Rome antique, mirent en lumière une autre dimension sonnant la fin de la mystification des esprits et de l'éblouissement des sens.

C'est avec stupeur que nous avons soudain réalisé avoir accepté une aliénation protectrice d'un monopole occidental de la Parole divine, alors que la volonté même du Créateur de l'univers, Seigneur de toutes choses, est que les peuples se rassemblent en Lui.

Tel est le propos de Vatican II et de l'exposition "Gaudium et Spes" (Joie et Espérance). Mais en lisant le compte rendu du Conseil Œcumenique, je me suis surpris à penser : "Cette fois, ça y est, ils sont vraiment devenus cinglés !" Un appel aux bandes d'excités, afin qu’ils se rassemblent, TOUS, pour DIALOGUER ! Chrétiens, non chrétiens, bouddhistes, hindouistes, musulmans, tous, dans le même sac, avec les athées, les taoïstes, et même tous les riens du tout ! Et pour se concerter. Pas pour se leurrer ni se tromper les uns les autres et réciproquement. Mais pour apprendre de quels trésors, quells dons, quelles grâces, Dieu les a respectivement nantis. Et ce afin de profiter, ensemble, de l’immense richesse de la foi.

Ici, nous découvrons les nouveaux dirigeants de la genèse de l'accomplissement (comme dirait Jacques Dupuis, S.J.) qui signale comment notre culture de pluralisme religieux nous appelle de facto aux dimensions cosmiques du mystère divin, selon un plan qui englobe l'humanité entière.

Oui, nous rêvons d’une théologie:
*Non pour un milliard de catholiques
**ou même un milliard et demi de chrétiens.
***Mais une théologie pour six milliards d'humains vivant en partage sur cette planète.

Que les post modernes "perdent" la foi trouble et inquiète ? Mais étroitesse d’esprit, restriction ou exclusivité n’ont rien à voir avec la foi en Jésus Christ du Grand Univers - éternelle et divine Parole par laquelle le cosmos poursuit sa genèse pour converger en ce bien suprême qui soit le nôtre.

Et quand commence-t-on ?
Commençons ici et maintenant.
Disons tous : qu'il en soit ainsi -
Amen. #
Lee Lubbers, S.J.

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"Thus, the human race has passed from a rather static concept of reality to a more dynamic evolutionary one." Says Vatican II even in its PREFACE to the reat of the PASTORAL CONSTITUTION itself. This only after walowing in astute observations of human SOLIDARITY awareness, pandemic evidence of yearning and hankering after any kind of directional unity and togetherness defensible, tangible to the human heart. Teilhard de Chardin sees these evidences concretely in the cast-offs of every new brand of empire-building whether it be societal or singular, public or private; as do also thinkers of the world observant of the passing scenes.

But let us get a grip: "on ourselves." Even though we didn't live (et) in "Times of Yore," still we even in our youth and still in our dotage feel a clear ingrained indignation not exactly that evolutionary awareness came along so slowly, but that something was unjustly deprived of us that should have sooner made things clear. Or, do I mean to say that we are still slow to put two and two together. Correct. We have lost the courage and crispness of our vegetated brains to punch out our insights, to read between the lines. At times this is stark quivering fear to appear simplistic, naive or just plain poetic by calling things as we see them, or even secretely admitting them to our innermost selves,

Try it out. Let's call it "Inventing De Chardin." Begin with your own personal realisation of the Solidarity of Man. Are we not talking about ALL (MEN)? And then we see that ARABS and seemingly hosstile "enemies" (some called "terrorists" are grammatically included in the parsing here. Were e born yesterday not to draw conclusions: some day, some how we must achieve a together-coming even of all of these and such. And, of course with the prompting of Teilhard de Chardin, we know that coming together means coming in convergence to the same identical POINT. He calls it OMEGA, so do we? Think on.

This posting will have to stop here while I help organize a cooperative venture to get my "classmates" of 60 years-yore to hop on the next jet for Paris so that we can really celebrate properly ou 60 magnificent years in the Jesuits--the Society of Jesus. We will mainly follow the steps of Ignatius Loyola, Francis Xavier and Pierre Favre who celebrated their first Jesuit vows in a little chapel on the hill of martyrs, Monmatre, then out on the edge of Northwest of Paris. See you later. Lee.