miniZibaldone

[T]he slow progress of the knowledge of the human being, as compared with the splendid ascension of physics, astronomy, chemistry, and mechanics, is due to our ancestors' lack of leisure, to the complexity of the subject, and to the structure of our mind. Those obstacles are fundamental. There is no hope of eliminating them. They will always have to be overcome at the cost of strenuous effort. The knowledge of ourselves will never attain the elegant simplicity, the abstractness, and the beauty of physics. The factors that have retarded its development are not likely to vanish. We must realize clearly that the science of man is the most difficult of all sciences. —Alexis Carrel

St. Paul, who had been acquainted with the sporting world of his day, in the first Letter to the Corinthians, which we have just listened to, writes to those Christians living in the Greek world: "Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it!" (1 Cor 9:24). Here we see that the Apostle of the Gentiles, in order to bring the message of Christ to all peoples, drew from all the concepts, images, terminologies, modes of  expression, and philosophical and literary references not only of the Jewish tradition but also of Hellenic culture. And he did not hesitate to include sport among the human values which he used as points of support and reference for dialogue with the people of his time. Thus he recognized the fundamental validity of sport, considering it not just as a term of comparison to illustrate a higher ethical and aesthetic ideal, but also in its intrinsic reality as a factor in the formation of...

"He had pity on me, the one who was so forgetful and petty. If our life is normal, with what we’ve had, it is difficult to be able to find particular sins during the day, but the sin is the sin of pettiness of distraction and forgetfulness. The sin is the pettiness of not translating what we do into something new, not making it shine like the new dawn. Instead, we leave it opaque, we leave it as it is, without striking anyone, yet without giving it over to the splendor of Being.” This then is the source of our certainty: “He had pity on me and on my nothingness and He chose me. He chose me because He had pity on me. He chose me because He was moved by my pettiness! What marks the devotion with which the Mystery—the supreme Mystery and the Mystery of this man who is Christ, God made man—what marks the Mystery’s devotion to us, the devotion with which the Mystery creates the world and forgives man’s pettiness, and forgives him while embracing him, embracing him who is petty, disg...

Philosophical Essays by Hans Jonas   Memoirs by Hans Jonas The George Grant Reader by William Christian   George Grant: A Biography by William Christian  

From the homily All sadness has been banished, for the Child Jesus brings true comfort to every heart. Today, the Son of God is born, and everything changes. The Saviour of the world comes to partake of our human nature; no longer are we alone and forsaken. The Virgin offers us her Son as the beginning of a new life. The true light has come to illumine our lives so often beset by the darkness of sin. Today we once more discover who we are! Tonight we have been shown the way to reach the journey’s end. Now must we put away all fear and dread, for the light shows us the path to Bethlehem. We must not be laggards; we are not permitted to stand idle. We must set out to see our Saviour lying in a manger. This is the reason for our joy and gladness: this Child has been “born to us”; he was “given to us”, as Isaiah proclaims (cf. 9:5). [full text]

The Destiny of Man by Nicolas Berdyaev Seeing Voices by Oliver Sacks The Fifth Miracle by Paul Davies Gentle Regrets by Roger Scruton Sexual Desire Roger Scruton Citizenship Papers by Wendell Berry

The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt gratis Jerome Kohn On the God of the Christians by Remi Brague gratis Remi Brague A Generative Thought: Introduction to the Works of Luigi Giussani ed. Elisa Buzzi gratis CL The Radiance of Being by Stratford Caldecott gratis Angelico Press Together on the Road by Massimo Camisasca gratis CL G. K. Chesterton: Collected Works I gratis Ralph Wood G. K. Chesterton: Collected Works II G. K. Chesterton: The Autobiography gratis Ralph Wood At the Service of the Church by Henri de Lubac gratis Joseph Fessio The Mystery of the Supernatural by Henri de Lubac The Splendor of the Church by Henri de Lubac gratis Paul McPartlan Being and Some Philosophers by Etienne Gilson gratis Curtis Hancock, Caitlin Gilson, James Farge At the Origin of the Christian Claim by Luigi Giussani gratis CL Is It Possible to Live This Way: Vol. 1, Faith by Luigi G...