Dietrich von Hildebrand’s question for Lent: are we ready for a radical change? (Catholic Herald)
"In the first chapter, “The Readiness for Change”, von Hildebrand uses his insight in human psychology to help the reader see that the phrase “to die to self” implies a radical change. Many people are persuaded to change some of their bad habits or vices but are too afraid or obstinate to entrust themselves entirely to Christ. The author distinguishes between “the decisive cleavage” which “separates the unreserved radical readiness to change from the somehow limited and partial one.”
We sometimes fear we will lose our “individuality” in following Christ. The author reminds us that grace perfects our nature and brings to fruition the particular talents which God has entrusted to us. Indeed, the greatest examples of attractive and engaging individuality are the saints; he cites St Catherine of Siena and St Francis of Assisi as two very different personalities who share in the same holiness."...
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Equal But Not the Same: The Two Sexes
I am so incredibly grateful we live in a world where both men and women exist.
Seriously though, think about it for a moment. Picture a universe that is completely and utterly man, or completely and utterly woman. Why do we even have two sexes in the first place? Why not three? Why didn’t the creator of the universe just make one. Is there a point to any of it? ...
Dietrich and Alice von Hildebrand, as well as Karol Wojtyla, write extensively about this topic. The book Man, Woman, and the Meaning of Love by Dietrich von Hildebrand is quickly becoming one of my favorite philosophical works. In it, he has many great philosophical insights into the nature of who we are, and how we relate to the other sex. He writes:
“What matters in our context is to understand, first, that man and woman differ not merely in biological, and physiological direction, but that the are two different expressions of human nature; and second, that the existence of this duality of human nature possesses a great value. Even if we prescind for the moment from all biological reasons as well as from procreation, we must see how much richer the world is because this difference exists, and that it is in no way desirable to efface as much as possible this difference in the spiritual realm, a trend which is unfortunately very widespread today.” (2)." ...
You can read the rest of the article HERE
Appeal: Help Keep the Roman Forum going
The ethos for the Symposium, as always, is the one laid out for us by Professor Dietrich von Hildebrand, with his concern for rooting all of our work in an ever-deeper study of the theology of the Mystical Body and the exalted understanding of “transformation in Christ” that this probing of the full significance of the Incarnation yields. It is that Christological approach, closely connected with devotion to the Sacred Heart, that has made the Roman Forum so eager to seek to cure our world’s “sickness unto death” by insisting upon the need to infuse all aspects of natural life---philosophical, political, economic, familial, fraternal, artistic, sportive, culinary; the serious and the festive together---with that Catholic teaching and grace that correct their flaws and raise them up in a hymn of praise to God. It is this approach that caused von Hildebrand already in 1970 to insist that the Roman Forum fight for the full restoration of “a liturgy that does not turn its back to God”. Gardone, 2017 will insist upon the necessity of following this Christological path, in all realms of human activity, as the sole, infallible route to the fullness of life instead of naturalist, secularist death.
2017 also marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Roman Forum’s Church History Lectures in New York City. The 2016-2017 session is entitled “Even Now the Devastation Is Begun---And Half the Business of Destruction Done”, and deals with the dramatic years between 1748 and 1799. Beginning in March, talks will be available on Sound Cloud (https://soundcloud.com) for free consultation by everyone.
You can read the rest of the appeal HERE
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