[ 0 → 2] Amen. [ 30 → 32] Amen. [ 60 → 80] sermon, this retreat is going to try to help you contemplate on our Lord Jesus [ 80 → 93] Christ, which was the devotion of our Holy Father St. Dominic, the devotion of everyone [ 93 → 103] as Christians. Archbishop Lefebvre gave a whole series of conferences to his seminarians [ 103 → 108] back in the 70s and the 80s called Soyons Chrétiens. [ 108 → 123] Let us be Christians. And he gave his confidence on our Lord Jesus Christ, because he is our [ 123 → 135] faith, he's everything. But it's not just a sort of sentimental thing, you know, like [ 135 → 138] the belief in Christ. [ 138 → 148] Believing Jesus is your personal Lord and Savior kind of stuff, you know, that's a caricature. [ 148 → 162] That's not the faith. It's much deeper. It's different than that. It's just a facsimile. [ 162 → 168] So we're going to teach you what the Church tells us about our Lord Jesus Christ. [ 168 → 178] I'm afraid it's not going to be easy. [ 178 → 190] Is this in French? Prepare yourselves for battle. But I'll try to make it understandable [ 190 → 191] at least. [ 194 → 197] Because, I mean, this is in the Scriptures. [ 197 → 198] St. Paul. [ 198 → 201] and St. John talk about this to the faithful. [ 201 → 203] They weren't just writing for theologians. [ 204 → 206] They were writing for us, [ 207 → 210] for the Christians in Corinth [ 210 → 214] or the Christians wherever they were. [ 217 → 221] And we'll have some help from St. Thomas, of course, [ 222 → 223] and some others. [ 223 → 229] There's Bossuet, the famous French bishop. [ 232 → 236] The French say Bossuet could do whatever he wanted [ 236 → 237] with the French language. [ 238 → 239] He was very eloquent. [ 240 → 247] And he has a whole series of elevations on the mysteries. [ 248 → 250] And so we're going to look at some of his elevations [ 250 → 252] on the mystery of the Incarnation. [ 253 → 256] And the first chapter of St. John's Gospel. [ 260 → 263] And St. Paul as well. [ 263 → 265] We'll look at his... [ 266 → 270] this revelation he had of our Lord. [ 275 → 277] And this is something we have... [ 277 → 281] This is what we have to believe to be saved. [ 283 → 293] But like I say, it's going to be deep. [ 294 → 296] It's sort of like scuba diving. [ 297 → 300] So put on your tanks of faith. [ 305 → 306] Plunge. [ 309 → 310] The Carmelites used to talk about that. [ 310 → 312] St. Therese has this... [ 312 → 315] I think it's a letter or something that she talks about. [ 316 → 318] J'ai été plongée dans la pierre. [ 318 → 319] I was plunged. [ 321 → 323] This is a phrase the Carmelites used to use [ 323 → 324] among each other. [ 324 → 327] I was plunged during prayer. [ 328 → 330] She talked about what she saw. [ 332 → 333] So we're going to plunge. [ 337 → 338] But at the same time, [ 339 → 340] it's sort of like mountain climbing too. [ 340 → 342] It takes... [ 342 → 344] It takes a certain effort. [ 346 → 349] But don't worry, we'll lead you through the paths which are... [ 352 → 356] We'll get you to the top without being impossible. [ 358 → 361] Because we're just going to follow what these... [ 364 → 372] apostles and evangelists and saints and doctors have said about our Lord. [ 372 → 372] I mean, it's... [ 372 → 373] It's the center of our faith. [ 374 → 375] And it's easy to kind of just... [ 380 → 381] It's funny, but to admit it. [ 382 → 384] To just kind of do something else. [ 388 → 388] And it's true. [ 389 → 391] You have to start in a way with... [ 391 → 394] Maybe with something else, but... [ 394 → 396] I mean, you're not just babies. [ 396 → 400] So hopefully we can advance a little bit. [ 401 → 402] Remember the first... [ 402 → 403] I think it was the first retreat I did, [ 403 → 404] or one of the retreats we did. [ 404 → 406] We talked about the three ways. [ 409 → 411] Well, this will be an illuminative way. [ 411 → 417] We're going to try to receive this light that God has given to us. [ 419 → 421] To see who he is. [ 422 → 423] He said who he is. [ 425 → 427] We have to open our ears and listen. [ 432 → 441] There's a beautiful collect in Advent. [ 446 → 452] We ask, O Lord, that you accommodate your ear to our prayers. [ 452 → 460] Atmentis nostre tenebras, gratia Tue visitationis illusra. [ 462 → 464] Which you will illustrate, [ 466 → 473] enlighten the darkness of our mind by the grace of your visitation. [ 475 → 476] That's what a retreat's all about. [ 477 → 478] Especially a Dominican retreat. [ 478 → 478] Okay. [ 479 → 482] Well, 13. [ 482 → 487] Illuminate the darkness of our mind by the grace of his visitation. [ 497 → 503] So, I'm going to start by quoting, and I'll mention it again. [ 504 → 511] Well, it was the reading that I sent out a few days ago for the tertiaries. [ 512 → 519] So, I'm going to quote that long text of Don Guilleron on St. John's Gospel, right? [ 519 → 520] You all got it, right? [ 523 → 524] Yes? [ 527 → 527] Brother? [ 527 → 527] No? [ 528 → 529] You didn't look at your email, maybe. [ 530 → 530] Well, that's good. [ 530 → 531] Don't look at your emails too often. [ 534 → 538] I mean, some of the new ones, maybe they didn't get it. [ 542 → 551] But, Don Guilleron was a Carthusian, and they don't publish things until, well, they don't publish. [ 552 → 559] So, but in fact, there's a lot of things that he wrote that have been published after he died. [ 559 → 568] And in particular, there were these notes that he wrote in his cell, sort of meditations on the Gospel of St. John. [ 570 → 571] And what I sent to you was, [ 572 → 574] basically, the beginning of those notes, [ 575 → 577] when he talks about the prologue. [ 582 → 584] Now, I don't think I sent you this part. [ 584 → 590] The next day, again, John stood, and two of his disciples. [ 592 → 595] You know, this is a quote from the Gospel of St. John. [ 595 → 598] And beholding Jesus walking, he saith, [ 598 → 599] Behold the Lamb of God. [ 601 → 602] And the two disciples, [ 602 → 603] The two disciples heard him speak. [ 604 → 605] And they followed Jesus. [ 606 → 609] And Jesus, turning and seeing them, following him, saith to them, [ 610 → 611] What seek you? [ 613 → 613] We said to him, [ 614 → 617] Rabbi, which is being interpreted, Master, [ 618 → 619] Where dwellest thou? [ 621 → 622] He saith to them, [ 622 → 623] Come and see. [ 625 → 628] And they came and saw where he abode, [ 628 → 630] and they stayed with him that day. [ 631 → 632] Now, [ 632 → 634] It is about, it was about the 10th hour. [ 639 → 641] But that's what we're going to do on this retreat, [ 641 → 642] is stay with Jesus. [ 644 → 646] He invites us to do that. [ 648 → 650] Bossuet comments on this passage. [ 650 → 653] Let us go then to Jesus with his disciples. [ 653 → 657] Let us see ourselves where Jesus dwells. [ 658 → 661] And not satisfied to see him by a sterile speculation, [ 661 → 661] let us go then to Jesus with his disciples. [ 661 → 662] Let us go then to Jesus with his disciples. [ 662 → 662] Let us go then to Jesus with his disciples. [ 662 → 662] Let us see ourselves where Jesus dwells. [ 662 → 664] Let us finish the day with him. [ 666 → 671] Happy day, happy night, which one passes with Jesus Christ in his house. [ 672 → 674] Lord, where dwellest thou? [ 678 → 682] And you notice how St. John the Baptist stood and beheld. [ 686 → 687] Well, that's what we do during a retreat. [ 687 → 690] We stop and behold. [ 692 → 695] And behold what? [ 697 → 698] The Lamb of God. [ 706 → 708] Now, the commentators tell us that [ 708 → 710] it would have been against the custom in Palestine [ 710 → 714] to leave and go somewhere else after such a late hour. [ 714 → 716] It was 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the 10th hour. [ 717 → 720] So we can assume that disciples passed the whole night [ 720 → 722] with our Lord. [ 722 → 730] But where was this place where he abode, [ 730 → 734] where he invited them to come and stay with him? [ 734 → 739] Oh, this is where Don Guiron... [ 739 → 742] Well, help us, he tells us where he abode. [ 742 → 745] He led them where he abode. [ 745 → 746] Where was that? [ 746 → 747] The Angelus doesn't say. [ 747 → 750] The Angelus doesn't say. [ 750 → 751] The actual response is in the 1st chapter. [ 751 → 751] The actual response is in the 1st chapter. [ 751 → 752] The actual response is in the 1st chapter. [ 752 → 756] word of his gospel. The dwelling of Jesus is the word. [ 758 → 760] It is there where John was brought [ 760 → 763] already the first day. [ 765 → 766] He remained there. [ 768 → 771] And that is where he leads us in his turn. [ 773 → 776] Let us follow him and let us remain there with him. [ 776 → 782] And then he immediately launches into a long commentary [ 782 → 784] on this prologue of the gospel of St. John. [ 788 → 791] Where the disciple, this beloved disciple, [ 792 → 794] tells us right away what he learned about this place [ 794 → 798] where Jesus dwells, the word. [ 804 → 805] So let's follow him. [ 806 → 808] Right away, right at the beginning of this retreat. [ 815 → 817] This is where we must begin [ 817 → 819] because this is where everything begins. [ 820 → 821] That's how it begins as gospel. [ 821 → 824] In the beginning was the word. [ 826 → 828] See, to know where we're going, we have to know where we came from. [ 829 → 830] What's life for? [ 832 → 835] Well, the only way to know is to know where it came from. [ 836 → 837] To where it's going. [ 838 → 840] Alpha and omega, the two go together. [ 841 → 842] And our Lord is both. [ 846 → 848] In the beginning was the word. [ 852 → 853] So he comments, he was. [ 855 → 856] He was not beginning. [ 858 → 859] Our time doesn't measure him. [ 861 → 862] His duration is not our duration. [ 863 → 864] His movement is not our movement. [ 864 → 866] I am. [ 866 → 867] In a completely new world [ 867 → 870] where nothing begins, nor continues, nor finishes. [ 871 → 874] The word is outside. [ 878 → 880] I was meditating this morning [ 880 → 882] on the [ 882 → 886] old [ 886 → 893] math for the sacred heart [ 893 → 895] because they change it after the encyclical. [ 895 → 896] The encyclical. [ 896 → 897] The encyclical of Pius XII. [ 898 → 900] Egregiemini [ 900 → 905] Filiae Jerusalem [ 905 → 907] Egregiemini [ 907 → 908] Edvideite [ 908 → 914] Regen [ 914 → 915] in Corona [ 915 → 918] which I'm going to sponsor. [ 918 → 919] The idea is they [ 919 → 921] they go out [ 921 → 923] and see [ 923 → 924] the king. [ 926 → 931] You have to go out because he's outside. [ 931 → 933] The word is outside. [ 933 → 938] Egregiemini Edvideite. [ 938 → 942] Go out and see these daughters of Jews. [ 942 → 946] I had to go out to see the king in the crown [ 946 → 949] with which his mother crowned him. [ 949 → 952] That's the whole thing. [ 952 → 953] Maybe I'll talk about that later. [ 953 → 954] I think it will actually. [ 954 → 955] On the way. [ 955 → 956] On the last [ 956 → 958] in the last instruction on our [ 958 → 959] where I'm going to talk about a lady. [ 960 → 961] She's the one who crowned him [ 961 → 964] with the crown. [ 968 → 969] The crown being [ 969 → 971] the divine person. [ 973 → 975] The humanity of our Lord is crowned [ 975 → 976] with this [ 976 → 978] alien person. [ 978 → 979] That's what St. Thomas called him. [ 982 → 983] But we'll see that later. [ 984 → 985] We have to go out. [ 985 → 986] And see. [ 986 → 991] The word is outside. [ 991 → 993] Supernatural. [ 993 → 995] He doesn't move. [ 995 → 997] He dwells. [ 997 → 1001] He was. [1001 → 1005] For him no past. [1005 → 1007] No future. [1007 → 1011] He is entirely in the present. [1011 → 1013] But at present it is not like ours. [1013 → 1015] No so frail and ethereal. [1015 → 1020] From this comes this imperfect was. [1020 → 1025] This does not indicate an imperfection in him. [1025 → 1025] But in me. [1025 → 1028] Now in perfect tense. [1028 → 1029] Well, it's imperfect because of me. [1029 → 1030] Not because of him. [1030 → 1037] An imperfection in me. [1037 → 1039] In my impotent thought. [1039 → 1041] In my words that are too small. [1041 → 1044] He is greater than what I can say. [1044 → 1045] Or can say. [1045 → 1047] Can deceive. [1047 → 1060] See that's why faith is dark. [1060 → 1062] See what faith really is. [1062 → 1066] I've talked about this before, I think. [1066 → 1068] Uhm, to you. [1068 → 1072] It's the veritas prima indicendo. [1075 → 1080] It's the first truth speaking. [1083 → 1085] The first truth is the word. [1088 → 1090] And what faith is, [1090 → 1096] it makes us attain the first truth speaking. [1097 → 1099] It makes us know God as God knows himself. [1100 → 1101] That's what faith is. [1101 → 1106] And that's why it's dark, because we can't see him now. [1107 → 1108] But we can know him. [1110 → 1112] But that's what he's saying here. [1115 → 1119] He is greater than what I can say or conceive, but I can believe. [1126 → 1130] I tire myself out in vain in pursuing such a grandeur. [1130 → 1130] I tire myself out in vain in pursuing such a grandeur. [1130 → 1131] I tire myself out in vain in pursuing such a grandeur. [1131 → 1132] I can only believe. [1133 → 1135] Incline my spirit before it. [1137 → 1138] And this is beautiful. [1139 → 1140] This is a Carthusian. [1140 → 1143] They're great for prayer. [1143 → 1147] If you want to find a book on prayer, read anything by a Carthusian. [1149 → 1150] I can only believe. [1151 → 1152] Incline my spirit before it. [1153 → 1157] Listen in this abyss and this silence. [1158 → 1160] The word that does not begin. [1161 → 1163] And by which all began. [1164 → 1165] And we'll talk about that later. [1168 → 1171] Enter with him into the immensity where he resounds. [1172 → 1173] He's a word. [1174 → 1174] He's speaking. [1180 → 1185] Enter with him into the immensity where he resounds, which is his dwelling. [1187 → 1189] Where he wishes that I might dwell with him. [1189 → 1193] And say what he says. [1195 → 1197] See, that's what heaven is, you see. [1198 → 1201] We participate in this life of the blessed trinity, [1201 → 1207] which is the word saying who his father is. [1210 → 1211] That's eternal life. [1213 → 1214] And they've got it. [1214 → 1215] They've always had it. [1217 → 1218] But we're invited. [1218 → 1218] We're invited. [1219 → 1220] To it. [1221 → 1222] That's what life is for. [1230 → 1236] So he then goes on to speak of this divine person of our Lord Jesus Christ. [1237 → 1238] Who he really is. [1245 → 1247] So that's what the rich is going to be about. [1247 → 1248] Ask our lady to help you. [1248 → 1249] Because she knows who he really is. [1249 → 1249] She knows who he really is. [1249 → 1249] She knows who he really is. [1249 → 1251] She knows better than anybody. [1256 → 1257] The word. [1258 → 1261] That is to say, the word of he who is. [1262 → 1264] The word of infinite being. [1266 → 1267] Capital B. [1270 → 1272] For being speaks. [1273 → 1275] It expresses itself. [1277 → 1279] It says itself eternally to itself. [1279 → 1281] What it is. [1283 → 1289] It produces an image that reproduces its features and shows them to it. [1291 → 1292] Is this exactly who our Lord is? [1296 → 1299] It's this image that reproduces the image of being. [1300 → 1301] Capital B. [1309 → 1311] Being is spirit. [1313 → 1314] It is so necessarily. [1316 → 1318] It is so as much as it is. [1319 → 1323] It is infinite spirit as it is infinite being. [1324 → 1327] Now, this needs some explanation, obviously. [1329 → 1335] So he goes on to show how being must be spirit. [1336 → 1339] That is, this infinite being has to be knowing. [1339 → 1355] You see, it's not just being, it's a being that knows, this capital B Being. [1355 → 1366] Being that is, is infinitely determined, I mean it's pure act, he's going to explain. [1366 → 1371] See this is all based on St. Thomas, the beginning, the first half of the 20th century was wonderful [1371 → 1379] because all, everybody had to be Thomist, thanks to, especially St. Pius X. [1379 → 1390] So the Carthusians, the Benedictines, everybody was Thomist, and you have some beautiful books [1390 → 1395] that have come out of that age, spiritual books, because of that. [1395 → 1396] And this is a perfect example. [1396 → 1402] This is all pure Thomism, what he's going to tell us. [1402 → 1408] Being that is, is infinitely determined, that is, the meaning of the word perfect, per facere, [1408 → 1416] facere means to do, per means to thoroughly do, that's a perfect meaning, something that's [1416 → 1419] thoroughly done. [1419 → 1425] It's all done, there's nothing left to do, it's perfect. [1425 → 1426] It is perfect because it is complete. [1426 → 1427] It is completely done. [1427 → 1438] It is all that it can be, it has everything that it can have, therefore there is no matter [1438 → 1440] in it. [1440 → 1449] It is immaterial, it is spirit, pure spirit. [1449 → 1451] Now that takes some explanation. [1451 → 1454] We can matter. [1454 → 1464] Matter in philosophy simply means potency. [1464 → 1477] It's this strange being that exists between act and nothing, which explains the very odd [1477 → 1481] thing which is change. [1481 → 1483] By which what was is no longer. [1483 → 1487] And what wasn't is. [1487 → 1490] Now you see it, now you don't. [1490 → 1491] That's strange. [1491 → 1496] See we're so stupid we don't think about it. [1496 → 1497] But the Greeks did. [1497 → 1502] They were the first ones to do it and probably the last ones too, really. [1502 → 1503] We just count things. [1503 → 1508] We don't really think like they did. [1508 → 1510] How do you explain this? [1510 → 1513] I mean, where does this come from? [1513 → 1528] This magic hat trick that what was is no longer and now what wasn't is now. [1528 → 1534] The first Greek philosophers, especially one called Parmenides, his answer was, well, it's [1534 → 1535] impossible. [1535 → 1536] It doesn't make sense. [1536 → 1537] Change doesn't make sense. [1537 → 1538] Because being is. [1538 → 1539] Non-being is. [1539 → 1540] It's impossible. [1540 → 1541] It doesn't make sense. [1541 → 1542] Change doesn't make sense. [1542 → 1543] Illusion. [1543 → 1546] Non-being isn't. [1546 → 1548] So that's all there is. [1548 → 1559] This big B, being, God, who is being, okay, being is. [1559 → 1560] But not being. [1560 → 1562] If it's not being, well it's not. [1562 → 1568] So everything is just an illusion except this big B being. [1568 → 1569] That is. [1569 → 1570] But that's all there is. [1570 → 1571] If it's not being, well it's not. [1571 → 1572] It's not a thing. [1572 → 1572] It's not a wonder. [1572 → 1584] Very logical. It's a very good argument, but good old Aristotle came along after and said, [1584 → 1594] okay, well, that's logical, but wait, there is something else. There is. I mean, there just is. [1595 → 1599] I mean, your argument's fine, but look, there is something else. [1599 → 1608] Everything that's not big, big being is not nothing. Well, what is it? How do you explain [1608 → 1613] this? Well, his explanation says, well, there must be something in between being and nothing. [1615 → 1627] And it's what he calls potency, which is a capability to be, but isn't. It's in between. [1627 → 1628] Okay. [1629 → 1629] Okay. [1629 → 1629] Okay. [1629 → 1637] And so there's not just big, big being and nothing. There's these things that have both. [1639 → 1642] Because there are other things than just big, big being. It's just a fact. [1644 → 1648] And we can explain that fact, because we have to explain, well, if it's not being, how can it be? [1650 → 1655] Well, it's not just being. It's being and potency, act and potency. [1657 → 1659] There is a big, big being, and that's what we call God. [1659 → 1665] But there's other beings, too. Small, big beings. [1668 → 1689] And it's the whole doctrine of analogy, which is a central idea, really, of Aristotle, is that you have concepts like being that don't mean the same thing when they're applied to different things. [1689 → 1692] But they don't mean something completely different either. [1695 → 1696] That's what analogy is. [1699 → 1702] So if it's completely different, then it would just be equivocal. [1702 → 1708] You know, you talk about the Big Dipper. [1710 → 1717] This guy, well, okay, the Big Dipper, you say more dipper, and then your dipper that you use for your water with. [1717 → 1719] But that's equivocal. [1719 → 1719] That's equivocal. [1719 → 1719] That's equivocal. [1719 → 1719] That's equivocal. [1719 → 1719] That's equivocal. [1719 → 1719] That's equivocal. [1719 → 1719] That's equivocal. [1719 → 1719] That's equivocal. [1719 → 1719] That's equivocal. [1719 → 1721] It doesn't mean the same thing at all. [1721 → 1722] It's just the same word. [1724 → 1738] But there's other concepts which aren't like that, which don't mean the same thing, but they kind of sort of do, by proportion. [1739 → 1745] There's an equivalence of proportion between analogical concepts. [1745 → 1748] And the first example is being. [1748 → 1753] And we can already see that in our own experience. [1754 → 1762] We talk about a man is, and a man is white. [1765 → 1766] The word doesn't mean the same thing. [1768 → 1772] When you talk about a man is, well, it's a substantial being. [1772 → 1775] He's a being that stands on his own two feet. [1775 → 1778] He's a substance, Aristotle called him. [1778 → 1788] But when you say, a man is white, is doesn't mean the same thing, because white isn't a substance. [1788 → 1793] You know, you don't see a white walking down the street. [1793 → 1801] You see a white man walking down the street, but white needs something to exist in, and that's called an accident. [1801 → 1806] An accident is a being that has to exist in some other thing that does exist by itself. [1806 → 1808] But an accident can't be a substance. [1808 → 1812] It can't just exist without being in something else. [1816 → 1819] So, the word is means two different things completely. [1819 → 1831] It's not the same thing to be, you know, stand on your own, be a thing, and be this or that kind of an adjective. [1833 → 1833] Get it? [1834 → 1837] So, already that, the word be there means two different things. [1838 → 1849] But it's not completely different, because the being of a man is to him as the being of white is to white. [1849 → 1851] There's a similarity proportion. [1853 → 1855] You know, white is. [1855 → 1857] It's not a substance. [1857 → 1865] It doesn't exist on its own, but it does exist in a way, in a different way, but it still exists. [1865 → 1867] But the word is doesn't mean the same thing. [1868 → 1870] But it's not completely different. [1870 → 1872] Okay? [1872 → 1876] This maybe is not the first time you've heard this. [1876 → 1878] Anyway. [1878 → 1884] And it works the same way between creatures and God. [1884 → 1886] I am who am. [1886 → 1888] You are she who is not. [1888 → 1890] Remember? [1890 → 1894] That's what God the Father said to Saint Catherine of Siena. [1894 → 1896] Because she's not. [1896 → 1897] She's not. [1897 → 1897] She's not. [1897 → 1899] The same way as he is. [1899 → 1902] Because she's not she who is. [1902 → 1906] She basically doesn't exist. [1906 → 1908] The same way as he does. [1908 → 1911] The word is doesn't mean the same thing. [1911 → 1915] When you apply it to God, when you apply it to Catherine. [1915 → 1917] She is not. [1921 → 1922] This doesn't mean the same thing. [1922 → 1924] But it's not completely different. [1924 → 1931] God is to his existence as Catherine is to her existence. [1931 → 1935] That's what's called the analogy of being. [1935 → 1943] And it applies to, you know, there's other things it applies to too. [1943 → 1946] Knowledge, for example. [1946 → 1948] There's sense knowledge. [1948 → 1951] And there's intellectual knowledge. [1951 → 1952] They're both knowledge. [1952 → 1953] But they're completely different. [1953 → 1960] But not absolutely completely different. [1960 → 1962] But they are essentially different. [1962 → 1964] It's not the same thing. [1964 → 1965] Okay. [1976 → 1981] So to come back to our question then. [1981 → 1995] Matter exists, sort of, kind of, in a way. [1995 → 2000] Potency. [2000 → 2004] And you see that's why everything that's material changes. [2004 → 2008] Because it has potency so it can be this and it can be that. [2008 → 2010] Which is weird. [2010 → 2013] I mean, make up your mind. [2013 → 2015] You're this or that. [2015 → 2019] But we have these strange things that can be both. [2019 → 2024] You know, the wood can become ashes. [2024 → 2026] It's not the same thing at all. [2026 → 2028] I mean, not even analogically. [2028 → 2030] It's a different thing completely. [2030 → 2032] And yet it was the same thing. [2032 → 2035] How can that be? [2035 → 2037] There must be. [2037 → 2038] So the only way to know. [2038 → 2039] There must be. [2039 → 2044] So the only way it can be is if there's something underneath that was both. [2044 → 2047] Well, it was that and now it's this. [2047 → 2050] Otherwise you couldn't say that what was there is that. [2050 → 2052] It would just, you see. [2052 → 2054] So that's what. [2054 → 2058] Matter is simply potency. [2058 → 2062] This capability become another thing completely. [2068 → 2074] So if something doesn't have matter, it can't become another. [2074 → 2079] Because it lacks this principle of this change. [2079 → 2085] So the beings which are like that are immaterial. [2085 → 2088] And so they're necessarily eternal. [2088 → 2092] Because they don't have what it takes to change. [2092 → 2094] They don't have this strange principle which is called matter. [2094 → 2097] Which enables something to be this and then be that. [2097 → 2100] Something completely different. [2100 → 2107] They just are. [2107 → 2112] They can't cease to be simplicitor. [2112 → 2114] That is to be like a man is. [2114 → 2117] They can change accidentally. [2117 → 2122] You know, be green or then change and be red. [2122 → 2125] Or have this thought and then have another thought. [2125 → 2127] But they can't stop being. [2127 → 2130] Because they don't have any potency. [2130 → 2134] At least that level of potency. [2134 → 2135] They don't have matter. [2135 → 2137] Which is, that's what matter is. [2137 → 2142] It's this fundamental capability of being one thing and then becoming another thing. [2142 → 2145] If you don't have that, well then you're stuck. [2145 → 2151] You are. [2151 → 2155] Now, we call these immaterial beings spirit. [2155 → 2161] And this is where it really gets interesting. [2161 → 2167] Because these interesting beings which cannot die. [2167 → 2169] They all have this same characteristic. [2169 → 2174] They are spirits. [2174 → 2180] They can't receive the form of something else and become something different. [2180 → 2183] Because they don't have matter. [2183 → 2187] But the strange thing is, these things that don't have matter. [2187 → 2190] They can receive the forms of other things. [2190 → 2193] And still be themselves. [2193 → 2195] And yet have these other forms. [2195 → 2198] And that's what's called knowledge. [2198 → 2200] Because that's what knowledge is. [2200 → 2203] The form of the thing that makes it be what it is. [2203 → 2209] Becomes a form of your intelligence. [2209 → 2212] Konnichiw es fiiri aliud in quantum aliud. [2212 → 2215] Is what Aristotle said. [2215 → 2221] To know is to become the other thing insofar as it's another thing. [2221 → 2227] You become it, but you're still yourself. [2227 → 2231] If you take a seal, for example, and put it into wax. [2231 → 2234] Well the wax becomes, it changes. [2234 → 2236] It becomes the form of the seal. [2236 → 2238] Because it's material. [2238 → 2240] The form of the seal takes the form of the wax. [2240 → 2241] What it had before. [2241 → 2245] It loses its form and it gets another form. [2245 → 2248] But the intelligence, it doesn't work that way. [2248 → 2250] The form informs your intelligence. [2250 → 2252] But you stay what you are. [2252 → 2254] And yet that form becomes your form. [2254 → 2256] And that's why you know it. [2256 → 2260] That's what it means to know. [2260 → 2262] You become what you know. [2262 → 2264] You become the other thing. [2264 → 2266] That's what knowledge is. [2266 → 2269] Otherwise, how would you ever know it? [2269 → 2270] And that's a problem. [2270 → 2273] And that's a problem with modern philosophy. [2273 → 2276] They reject that idea of knowledge. [2276 → 2284] They just say, you have an idea of the other thing. [2284 → 2288] That's what Descartes would say. [2288 → 2291] But if you look at, you know, just have an idea of what's out there. [2291 → 2296] Well, how do you know it corresponds? [2296 → 2298] Descartes says it does, but who's he? [2298 → 2302] And the philosophers came after him and said, no, he doesn't. [2302 → 2304] How are we supposed to know? [2304 → 2308] So then you end up with modern skepticism. [2308 → 2312] You don't really know if you know. [2312 → 2318] And you can take that position if you want. [2318 → 2321] But as Aristotle says, then you have no right to speak. [2321 → 2323] Because you have nothing to say. [2323 → 2326] Because you don't know anything. [2326 → 2329] So shut up. [2329 → 2334] What are you talking for? [2334 → 2336] He said, you're like a plant. [2336 → 2337] You're not even like an animal. [2337 → 2340] You know, a dog can bark, at least. [2340 → 2345] Because he knows something. [2345 → 2348] See, it's inconsistent. [2348 → 2350] There were some Greek philosophers like that. [2350 → 2353] They were so crazy, they just didn't say anything. [2353 → 2355] Because they said, well, why do I know anything? [2355 → 2357] I did not say so. [2357 → 2368] But anyway. [2368 → 2370] Can I read to you some Gret? [2370 → 2372] Have you ever heard of Gret? [2372 → 2374] Gret is a terror of seminarians. [2374 → 2376] He's a Benedictine. [2376 → 2378] Wrote a book, Manual of Philosophy. [2378 → 2384] And it's like concrete. [2384 → 2387] It's very difficult to understand what he's saying. [2387 → 2389] Sometimes. [2389 → 2392] It's so compact. [2392 → 2395] But he really knows what he's talking about. [2395 → 2399] And so we're going to read a little bit what he says about this. [2399 → 2402] And I'll kind of help you if you need some help. [2402 → 2404] But this part is pretty clear. [2404 → 2406] He's talking about what knowledge is. [2406 → 2411] See, and this is not off the subject at all. [2411 → 2412] It's pile. [2412 → 2413] In French. [2413 → 2414] Right on the subject. [2414 → 2417] Right on target. [2417 → 2419] Because that's who our Lord is. [2419 → 2421] He's the word. [2421 → 2422] He's the principle of all knowledge. [2422 → 2423] He's the light. [2423 → 2425] The true light that came into the world. [2425 → 2430] And any light there is on that, well, on any level really, [2430 → 2433] but especially on the intellectual level, [2433 → 2436] it's a participation in him. [2436 → 2441] So that's why this question of philosophy is important for religion too. [2441 → 2443] Because if you deny knowledge, well, [2443 → 2445] you're denying our Lord. [2445 → 2447] Whether you know it or not. [2447 → 2450] Because that's who he is. [2450 → 2453] He's the light that enlightens every man who comes into the world. [2453 → 2454] That's what St. John says. [2454 → 2457] And that's what it means. [2457 → 2460] It means two things, really, is what St. Thomas says. [2460 → 2463] On a natural level, that's what it means. [2463 → 2467] But there's also the supernatural light of faith, which is higher, obviously. [2467 → 2470] But, you see, the two go together. [2470 → 2472] And it's always him. [2473 → 2477] That's who he is. [2477 → 2478] And he says that. [2478 → 2481] I am the light. [2481 → 2485] He says it explicitly. [2485 → 2486] And he doesn't say the light. [2486 → 2488] He says, I am light. [2488 → 2493] Because in Greek they have the article. [2493 → 2494] But he doesn't say, I am the light. [2494 → 2496] I am light. [2496 → 2501] Period. [2501 → 2505] There's no light that's not me. [2505 → 2509] I am light itself. [2509 → 2516] So this is on the topic. [2516 → 2523] Gretz says, the difference between a knowing being and one that does not know, [2523 → 2529] and he's talking about intellectual knowledge, [2529 → 2530] is found in this. [2530 → 2535] That a non-knowing being is limited to its own form, [2535 → 2539] while a knowing being can have, besides its own form, [2539 → 2544] also the forms of other things. [2544 → 2550] For all knowledge happens through the notes of the thing that is by its determination or form. [2550 → 2555] For what is undetermined and potential as such is not knowable. [2555 → 2558] What has not become, [2558 → 2561] that is what is merely potential, [2561 → 2568] that is the word potency, right? [2568 → 2572] What is merely potential we know only by intermediary of the form to which it is ordered. [2572 → 2575] You can't know potency because it doesn't have any being. [2575 → 2577] And it's really, it's in between. [2577 → 2580] It can't inform your intelligence because there's no form. [2580 → 2584] It's just a possibility to receive a form. [2584 → 2587] But you only know potency through form. [2587 → 2591] Because in itself it's unknowable. [2591 → 2593] Anyway. [2593 → 2597] Thus, a knowing being, besides its own form, by which it is what it is, [2597 → 2601] has also the forms of other beings which it knows. [2601 → 2604] It has these forms as other, [2604 → 2607] as being opposition to it, and objects, [2607 → 2611] that is, it has them objectively. [2611 → 2613] They are other, [2613 → 2615] and yet its own, [2615 → 2618] super eminenter. [2619 → 2623] A non-being also receives forms, [2623 → 2628] but it does not receive them objectively but only subjectively. [2628 → 2631] It has these forms in itself as its own. [2631 → 2636] The wax that is hit by the seal, [2638 → 2641] it becomes the seal subjectively. [2641 → 2643] It becomes a subject of the seal. [2643 → 2645] It's no longer what it was. [2645 → 2653] It becomes the form of the seal. [2653 → 2657] To know objectively is different. [2657 → 2660] It's the opposite. [2660 → 2663] The form of the thing doesn't become your form. [2663 → 2666] You keep your form. [2666 → 2667] It becomes your form. [2667 → 2670] Intentionaliter is the word they use. [2670 → 2674] Which is just a word to describe this phenomenon which is knowledge. [2674 → 2676] We receive the form of something else [2676 → 2678] insofar as it's something else and not us. [2678 → 2681] Whereas subjectively, [2681 → 2683] you receive it as your subject and it becomes you [2683 → 2684] and you're no longer there. [2684 → 2686] I mean, you become the whatever you, [2686 → 2689] the thing that you become, [2689 → 2691] subjectively. [2695 → 2697] Thus wax, in receiving the form of the seal, [2697 → 2700] does not have this form as of another but as its own, [2700 → 2703] for it is formed and figured wax. [2704 → 2707] But a knowing being and knowing a thing [2707 → 2709] is as different and distinct from itself, [2709 → 2711] receives and has its form as of another [2711 → 2713] and not as its own, [2713 → 2715] leaving it in its otherness, [2715 → 2717] in its being other, [2717 → 2719] or its objectivity. [2719 → 2722] For the knowing being is not determined to its own being [2722 → 2724] as a non-knowing being, [2724 → 2726] but rather increases almost infinitely. [2726 → 2728] In... [2728 → 2729] Un... [2729 → 2730] Infinitely. [2730 → 2731] Why do you say that? [2731 → 2732] Infinitely? [2732 → 2733] Infinitely. [2734 → 2735] Infinitely. [2735 → 2736] Infinitely. [2736 → 2737] Yeah. [2737 → 2740] Insofar as the same objects which exist in reality [2740 → 2744] begin to exist also in the nor objectively, [2744 → 2746] intentionally. [2750 → 2753] I remember in philosophy, [2753 → 2755] I was in first year philosophy, [2755 → 2760] and it was bad philosophy, [2760 → 2762] they posed this stupid question. [2762 → 2764] If a tree falls in the forest, [2764 → 2767] and there's nobody to hear it, [2767 → 2770] is there any sound? [2770 → 2772] What's the answer? [2772 → 2774] For them, it says no. [2774 → 2779] Because sound is subjective. [2779 → 2783] And I remember reading a commentary of St. Thomas, [2783 → 2787] where he talks about a precise thing. [2787 → 2789] And he explains how... [2789 → 2791] Yeah, of course there is. [2791 → 2792] Otherwise, even if you were there, [2792 → 2793] you wouldn't hear anything. [2794 → 2796] So it must be there even if you're not there. [2796 → 2798] You don't make it be there. [2801 → 2804] That was the beginning of my enlightenment. [2804 → 2806] Wow. [2806 → 2808] Reality. [2810 → 2812] See, but what happens is, [2812 → 2813] with knowledge, [2813 → 2815] is that sound is kind of reduplicated. [2815 → 2817] It becomes in you. [2819 → 2821] I mean, there is a difference between [2821 → 2823] a tree falling in the forest and nobody there, [2823 → 2825] and then when there is somebody there. [2825 → 2826] Because when there's somebody there, [2826 → 2829] it is heard. [2829 → 2831] And that's reality. [2831 → 2832] When there's somebody there, [2832 → 2835] you see it. [2835 → 2837] I mean, and you see it even in animals, right? [2837 → 2839] It's amazing, really. [2839 → 2842] If you take a piece of string before a cat, right? [2842 → 2843] It's fascinating. [2843 → 2846] I mean, he's fascinated already with the cats. [2846 → 2850] But it's fascinating to see the fascination of the cat. [2850 → 2852] This cat really gets it. [2852 → 2854] Just not sitting there, you know, [2854 → 2858] like some dumb inanimate object. [2858 → 2860] It really gets it. [2860 → 2862] See, that's knowledge. [2862 → 2863] That's just sense knowledge, [2863 → 2865] but it's knowledge. [2865 → 2867] See, and that's what our Lord is. [2867 → 2869] That's who our Lord is, huh? [2872 → 2876] So, we'll finish now [2878 → 2880] with our text of Dong Yero. [2882 → 2888] Now, a spirit possesses a characteristic property. [2888 → 2891] It reflects. [2891 → 2894] See, it's nice to have a cartouche around [2894 → 2896] because it's going to make it a little bit more poetic [2896 → 2899] and you can kind of get the idea with an image. [2899 → 2902] Spirit reflects. [2902 → 2906] It's a mirror. [2906 → 2910] It reproduces the image of what is before it. [2912 → 2917] It reproduces. [2917 → 2919] If it looks at itself, [2919 → 2920] now that's another test. [2920 → 2922] You've got a spirit. [2922 → 2923] It's not looking at something else. [2923 → 2926] It's looking at itself. [2926 → 2929] We'll talk about that later. [2929 → 2932] If it looks at itself, [2932 → 2938] it reproduces its own features. [2938 → 2940] It's only intellectual beings that can do that. [2940 → 2941] We'll talk about that later. [2941 → 2946] We'll talk about that later. [2946 → 2948] So, it's the image. [2948 → 2950] It's the form of thing that makes you a thing. [2950 → 2953] What it is becomes a form of your intelligence. [2953 → 2954] But if you look at your own intelligence, [2954 → 2956] well, the form of your intelligence now is you [2956 → 2960] as being known and not just as being. [2960 → 2965] Okay? [2965 → 2968] This is what we call its thought [2968 → 2970] or its word. [2971 → 2979] This reflection. [2979 → 2982] The word is the word of the spirit. [2982 → 2984] The wordless word. [2984 → 2990] The inner winged word. [2990 → 2993] Intellectual knowledge. [2993 → 2997] Words are external sensible translation [2997 → 2999] for spirits immersed in matter. [2999 → 3000] These exterior words. [3000 → 3002] These exterior words. [3002 → 3003] And they're different. [3003 → 3004] You know, in different languages. [3004 → 3005] Different sounds. [3005 → 3006] But they all, you know, [3006 → 3008] they mean the same thing. [3008 → 3011] A rose is a rose is a rose. [3011 → 3013] That's what he said. [3013 → 3015] Even if you call it by a different syllable, [3015 → 3017] it's the same thing. [3017 → 3022] And it's the same concept. [3022 → 3024] The being who is the pure spirit [3024 → 3026] doesn't use words. [3026 → 3028] External words. [3028 → 3031] It's all spiritual like himself. [3031 → 3033] It is his perfect image. [3033 → 3037] Reproducing him as he is. [3037 → 3041] Expressing him in his entirety. [3041 → 3048] And equaling him. [3048 → 3050] And the word was God. [3050 → 3051] And equaling him. [3051 → 3054] We're going to see that next time. [3054 → 3056] This is what was in the beginning. [3056 → 3057] The infinite spirit [3057 → 3059] who spoke to himself [3059 → 3061] and eternally said to himself [3061 → 3063] what he is. [3063 → 3066] Who saw himself in himself. [3066 → 3068] In his thought. [3068 → 3070] His word. [3070 → 3071] Who reproduced this word [3071 → 3074] to see himself in it. [3074 → 3076] Who was everything [3076 → 3078] and who saw himself entirely [3078 → 3082] in this word. [3082 → 3083] You know, [3083 → 3084] who is his perfect image. [3084 → 3085] Reproducing him as he is. [3085 → 3086] Expressing him in his entirety. [3086 → 3089] And equaling him. [3089 → 3094] Okay, so that's [3094 → 3096] who our Lord Jesus Christ is. [3096 → 3098] And that's what we're going to [3098 → 3103] contemplate in different ways [3103 → 3114] during this retreat. [3114 → 3117] But that's the whole idea [3117 → 3120] is to focus on him. [3120 → 3121] So I tried to do that [3121 → 3122] in this retreat. [3122 → 3123] I'm sure you brought other books. [3123 → 3126] You brought some scriptures [3126 → 3127] because that scriptures [3127 → 3132] is the most important means [3132 → 3136] to have access to God. [3136 → 3137] He's God himself [3137 → 3138] expressing himself [3138 → 3142] in his own terms. [3142 → 3143] At the seminary [3143 → 3145] they made me teach scripture this year. [3145 → 3155] I've never taught scripture before. [3155 → 3157] But I was... [3157 → 3161] So I started to [3161 → 3165] defend [3165 → 3167] what's called exegesis [3167 → 3171] which is the explanation of scripture. [3171 → 3172] I said that's much more important [3172 → 3173] than theology. [3173 → 3177] Theology is kind of derivative though. [3177 → 3179] I've only taught theology before [3179 → 3181] so I've never done this. [3181 → 3182] But in a way it's true [3182 → 3186] because this is the real thing. [3186 → 3190] This isn't just thinking about God. [3190 → 3194] This is him speaking himself. [3194 → 3196] And you have to kind of be careful [3196 → 3200] and see well what exactly is he saying. [3200 → 3202] And that's not easy sometimes. [3203 → 3208] And it's super important, right? [3208 → 3210] Because you've got to get this right. [3210 → 3212] I mean, thankfully we have people [3212 → 3213] who have been doing this [3213 → 3215] and the church. [3215 → 3220] But the church doesn't really very often [3220 → 3222] define that sort of thing. [3222 → 3223] You know? [3223 → 3225] Sometimes it does. [3225 → 3226] But not usually. [3226 → 3229] It's kind of... [3229 → 3231] It's further down the road [3231 → 3232] where you have the definitions. [3233 → 3236] But they're based on [3236 → 3238] what the scriptures say. [3238 → 3239] Anyway. [3239 → 3242] So... [3242 → 3243] Pray. [3243 → 3247] And we'll continue, I guess, [3247 → 3252] after lunch with the second conference. [3252 → 3253] I can't remember. [3253 → 3255] Can you say the supersedium? [3255 → 3256] No, no. [3256 → 3257] We can. [3257 → 3258] We have before. [3258 → 3259] We have? [3259 → 3260] Okay. [3260 → 3262] So we'll try it. [3263 → 3265] We have to ask the lady to help us [3265 → 3266] understand all this [3266 → 3268] because it's way over our heads. [3286 → 3288] So where do I go? [3288 → 3289] Okay. [3289 → 3291] It's over there? [3291 → 3292] Oh, okay. [3292 → 3293] It's coming. [3293 → 3294] Okay. [3294 → 3295] Okay. [3295 → 3296] Okay. [3296 → 3297] So we're going to close the [3297 → 3298] meeting, [3298 → 3299] so I think we need to [3299 → 3300] cancel the meeting too. [3300 → 3301] Yeah. [3301 → 3302] Okay. [3302 → 3303] Okay. [3303 → 3304] So everybody, [3304 → 3305] we're going to say goodbye. [3305 → 3306] We've got 10 minutes. [3306 → 3307] Okay? [3307 → 3308] Okay. [3308 → 3309] Yeah. [3309 → 3310] See you next time. [3310 → 3311] Bye-bye. [3311 → 3312] Bye. [3312 → 3313] Bye. [3313 → 3314] Bye. [3314 → 3315] Bye. [3315 → 3316] Bye. [3316 → 3317] Bye. [3317 → 3318] Bye. [3318 → 3319] Bye. [3319 → 3320] Bye. [3320 → 3321] Bye.