Now, there are of course now several ways, you know, of how to continue this, to complete it and so on. One is, you know, that we still maybe continue to, maybe in this whole agape business, to present two things. One is that the agape is that, you know, organic unit which is apt to give to our teaching a certain, how would I say, vitality, one can say simplicity, together with the possibility of really sowing the seed into the souls, so that the souls themselves then can begin to think and to develop, to grow in this Christian truth. The Lamb is the Light of the Heavenly Jerusalem, as the Apocalypse says.

[01:08]

The Lamb is the incarnation of the Divine Agape. Our Christian Kerygma, our Christian preaching, has to have this inner coherence It cannot be simply in order to be able to pierce and to transform the hearts of men. And that simply is not the case as long as the Christian message is presented as a series of various propositions whose interdependence does not come into view. especially at the present time, it looks as if one after the other of the truths of Christianity is being laid open to attack, either by new discoveries, let us say about man's evolution, or by new attitudes, freedom of conscience, progress, overcoming of tribal ways,

[02:15]

Every time a new threat appears at the horizon, the apologists jump into the breach. A procedure which becomes increasingly questionable as with growing experience of history, people begin to realize that at least a great number of the propositions which have been defended, that the heaviest guns available in the fortress, have been out in the end. So that, of course, is not apt to foster an attitude, let us say, of inner strength. It rather fosters an attitude of wait and see, instead of shoot and kill. The most important aspect So, of course, this kind of situation leaves the initiative constant into the enemy.

[03:22]

And that, in the end, may lead to defeat by sheer exhaustion. The way to victory is not mourning, not defense, but the attack, the hallelujah, we have in English history an important turning point. It's called the Battle of the Alleluia. I would say that is about the office of the Christian preacher, in our case, in our times. As the famous, meantime famous, preacher, you know, in Holland on Christmas Eve, you know, went up pulpit and said, I'm not come to resent you, there's another problem, but to announce to you tidings of great joy. So the suggestion would be, center on the Agape.

[04:25]

Try to focus things. And there, of course, it's true, you know, it's evident the Agape can only come to us through a revelation. a declaration. That's of course the inner life of God. Nobody, as Saint John says, has ever seen God. But he who was in the Father's bosom He has made him known to us, see? It's all the language of the Agape. He who was in the Father's bosom, he has made him known to us. And there it is clear, you know, that let us say the inner light of the Christian message, the soul of the Christian message, that what makes it living is

[05:37]

the infinite desire of the Father to communicate Himself, and do this completely without reservations. Be sinned. Become one of us. Be with us in tribulation. If we're not that of a philosopher, moves to announce to a master who has to introduce his disciples to a method, Zen or something, but this is a completely different proposition. But one cannot understand, for example, the other day I was in Ithaca and a friend of mine who is a teacher there, a professor, presented me with a proposition which it's another professor of linguistics, had proposed, he said, the distinction, this was his formulation, the distinction between theology and science lies in this.

[06:51]

Theology makes statements which broke no contradiction. Science makes statements which broke contradiction. I think it's a terribly primitive way of putting it. And of course, if you can really see, if it's taken out of the context, what kind of statements are made, you know, in Christianity, in announcing the glad times, it's taken out of the concept of agape, of love, it simply becomes a kind of mental tyranny. At least it looks that way. Theology makes statements that work. No contradiction, of course. This is not a story to truth. But I mean, it's interesting that for an outsider that's the way it looks. Therefore, theology dictates, you know, either you eat this or you die.

[07:53]

But I can't change. This is it. Finished. Plus. But science loving, you know, Yes, perhaps this way, I don't know why they speak about physical laws, but I mean, and then it all moves contradiction. So, this is of course true, you see, this kind of infallibility, if you look at infallibility as separate from the agape, it's absolutely immoral. And therefore it's so important, you know, that we see all these Christian truths as we leave various aspects of one declaration. That is, this declaration of the Divine Agapit. I love you first. I am with you in tribulation. That's the underlying basic proposition.

[08:58]

And you can apply this, if you want, to all the various fields of theology. Take the whole doctrine about the Trinity. The usual reaction on the part of science, with all the, you know, reservations about broken contradictions, is that one cannot be three, nor can three be one. Again, you know, as soon as this, let us say, the message of three in one, and one in three, is taken separate, you know, as a logical proposition, philosophical proposition, not as a manifestation in a revelation, let us say, of what we may call the mystery of the inner life of God. finished. Cannot hope, you know, for any kind of an acceptance.

[10:07]

But of course, in the concrete life of the Church, that has never been the case. Father, Son, and Spirit. Christ's baptism, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. So that is, as I say, that's the essence, you know, the inner divinity. But then, that there is the father, the principium, the abyss of the agape, as Sigmund Matthews calls it. The abyss of the agape. The principium, the principle. The son, the image. The agenda. by this abyss of the other, but of course as its perfect, absolute image. Equal in essence, the complete communication.

[11:12]

Father giving himself in that way, completely, totally to the son. And then the son giving himself totally, completely to the father. and the bond which results in a person, the Spirit, not a neutral power, an energy, but a person. All these are Agape terms. The Son is sent to make the Father known to us. The Word has become flesh and we have seen His glory. And that's of course not an intellectual communication. This is not a proposition, or making proposition, let's say, that broke no contradiction. But this is in itself is a life mystery. It's a living communication.

[12:14]

Philippians did not think it. equal in robbery, to be equal to God. But he emptied himself, and he became man, one of us, a slave, and died for the death of the cross and death of God. And then comes the whole ascension, the resurrection. That is, that is of course, that's again, you know, can be understood only on the terms and in the light of this specific divine agape. This new thing that God communicates and which he says, and not only says, but does, you know, creates us. By dying for us, that means by loving us unto the end.

[13:16]

And this, of course, this love until the end. God is charity. He is charity. He doesn't preach charity as a virtue, but he is charity. It's not a kind of a... of a sentence which is said, you know, with the, let us say, with the power of an abstract statement. It is a living word. Therefore, it immediately asks a response. And there is, of course, this response. Everything depends on the response. And this in Paul's sense, you know, if somebody gives all he has for the poor, and he does not have agape, and if he gives his life,

[14:44]

And if he is burned to death, he doesn't have Agapit, nothing. So that immediately makes, you know, brings the Agapit into focus as something that is interiorly essentially different from any kind of mere anthropophilia, you see. Human law. Absolutely different. And of course, who understands, you know, this agape in that way? It's not simply if I give all that I have to the poor, I still have no agape. So the agape not identical with, you know, this kind of suicide, so to speak, of self-giving oneself.

[15:50]

Maybe in a general milieu of hatred, it's absolutely possible. That's not the agape. So this agape which is in itself does not seek its own being. That is the decisive, does not seek its own. If this agape dies, then this death is not the end of this agape, because death is always the killing of the self, the self or the ego, what we call the ego. This is something different. So therefore, when this agape dies, it's evident that this agape is stronger than death. and therefore the resurrection, therefore the Pascha, therefore the whole history and celebration of the fashion as something which is filled, you know, we have seen its glory.

[17:00]

The death on the cross is an exaltation, an exaltation, and as such it is glorification of the Father. and the Father glorifies me." That's how the Lord says. The result of this asker, which is again understandable only in the general context of this agape, does not seek itself. The result of it is not an ethical association, but it is the body of Christ. vine and banshee that means same life if you want physically we say spiritually no but how is this constitute this completely new kind of unity essentially different from anything the prophet brings about anything a philosopher brings about

[18:06]

that is then constituted and clamorous and quiet for the sacraments as the center of this life. Eat, this is my body, eat it. This is my blood, drink it. No prophet and no philosopher would ever say anything like that. without having the fear that he might poison. Luther invites to besmirch. But Eucharist, you know, that is of course there. If you look at the Eucharist as the making present again, among us, of this Pascha Domina, of this transition, of this transformation, of this victory of the Agape, of this power of the Agape, stronger than death, seems to me just fairly, in theory, shall I say, logical.

[19:16]

to have in this inner center of the life of the church Christ as the host. That means Christ not as something simply one among many, but is the host. So that the Eucharist really can be the sacrament of unity, community. And that again depends, of course, on our willingness, all of those who are Christians, that they recognize that we are nothing but branches of the vine, that we live through Him. Seems to me that looking at it from this point of view, the priesthood Christian priesthood, yeah, I would say in the light of the divine agape. And at the same time, during this time of our pilgrimage, we are not yet at the end.

[20:25]

But as we are in the messianic, one can say, in-between. As I say, history and eternity, let's put it that way. that in this stage that we have two things, one which belongs absolutely to the fullness of divine communication in the Agape, and that is the general priesthood of all the Christians. St. Peter's first dogmatic statement, you know, that he made as head of the church, say, now don't be mistaken, this is not any kind of drunkenness, you know, because it's about nine o'clock in the morning. But this is what Jules said, and this is, I say, what I say, the head statement, and in that way, infallible statement.

[21:29]

This is what Jules said, that the Spirit will be poured out over women and men, old men and young men, and slaves and lords. It's about all sorts of distinctions that you can put it on a shorter form. In Christ, therefore, in the Spirit, in this full and soul, it will be all equal. But at the same time, there is this universe, the priesthood of all the Christians, is an absolute fact, in inner coherence with the absolute love unto the end that we receive in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And that doesn't know any by itself, doesn't know any distinctions. But it's universal for all, on the part of the one who sends, who is the abyss, the principle of the other.

[22:41]

But then also the special priesthood. For what is special priesthood? Because the Agape simply demands as its framework that we really and truly receive. That we don't conceive of ourselves as essentially giving, but as receiving. Therefore, that our agape, the reality of our agape, includes, for example, obedience. You know, this obedience, get out of yourself to listen what love has to say to you. That's what we call obedience. So in that way there is certainly, we had once, in that context always comes to my mind, we had a symposium, you know, of Catholic and Protestant theologians on the various propositions and so on, especially we had a special meeting on the liturgy, and it came in the end, it came to this, as our Protestant brother said, yeah,

[23:59]

tell us now absolutely frankly, you know, can, according to your teaching and the Catholic Church, the priest, can he do something that a layman cannot do? You see, as soon as you put it on, the whole horizon of the agape disappears and it becomes a proposition of power. equality of power. Somebody could do something and somebody else cannot do. This is a mortal sin. I would say that's not even true in heaven. But let us come then to the other part. I just indicate, you know, these various things because there is, there is, there, these are, I think today, one of the main reasons for our crisis, you know. is the neglect, is the forgetting, that Christianity is essentially, one can say, the mysterium.

[25:11]

And that means here, the manifestation to us, and that means the actual communication to us of the divine. If I don't realize that, then I could say, as a priest, I'm not relevant. Because mumbling some words, you know, this is my body, this is my blood, you know, and so on, that's not relevant to people today. Hence, in which, what is your background? What is your world? Do you live? in the world of arrows, you know, and that means bigger and better things, you know, and that means social progress, you know. I'm not against it. But I mean, if I see that as the quintessence, you know, of life, if that is the one relevant thing, then maybe. But of course, then I miss the point. And I miss the point, I think, in a thing which really and truly is tremendously relevant.

[26:17]

I'm personally absolutely convinced that why we have to do, we try everything to make, to have everybody share in the pie, so to speak. There has always been Catholic doctrine. That's reason, you know, there's always been Catholic doctrine that you can't steal. That means stealing, take, you know, what you need in order to live. If nobody wants to give it to you. If you want to call that revolutionary, then Christianity is indeed very revolutionary. But of course always in the context of this divine agape. And that means that in last analysis, even if you have the best social circumstances and the best, let us say, distributive justice, system of distributive justice that anybody could ever imagine, and if the whole world, you know, with all the time, you know, come to the point where we live in a constant condition of boom, prosperity,

[27:34]

And still, mankind would not be satisfied. People would not be in that peace. Because it is said, if you give all that you have to the poor, and you don't have the alchemy, it's just nothing. And that is, of course, the important thing. theagraphy, and this theagraphy can be received only in faith. Let us maybe just, you know, still say a few words then about the individual application. As soon as we realize that the Christian preaching, declaration, the glad tidings, are the glad tidings of divine agape, then it is absolutely essential that we find our own personal contact with it.

[28:37]

Agape can only be lived. That's the essence of all love, all love. And there are just a few things I would say that on the whole as seen in the context, you know, of this communication, revelation of God's absolute love unto the end for us, for all of us. And in this context of this divine agapita, I would say a method of Keeping in contact of growing in this agape is absolutely not against the nature of the agape. Some people say that under these circumstances then Christianity can never be a question of method. I wouldn't say that, but I would not say that our method would be, let us say, these constant, as we have it in the East, not that I think we could somehow, you see, absorb these things, but that it, you know, that it is essentially bound up with a process of

[30:04]

Zen techniques, which aim at the emptying of yourself, of your mind. At the, let us say, letting all desires die. And that this is only possible by concentration. And concentration on an object which in itself is, as the Japanese say, mood. I wouldn't say that that is, you know, really this kind of really what in the Christian context is. And it's very interesting, you see, maybe there are things that we don't even ever hear, because we are at the present moment in this thing, which I think is very beautiful, that we have this, you know, openness, but let us not, you know, indiscriminate, you know. The East has the solution. And the West has been, the Christian West has been on the wrong line all the time.

[31:11]

That I think is all. It's very interesting, South Korea is about the only place at the present time where still there is a kind of juxtaposition or living at least close to one another of Buddhist monasticism and of Christian monasticism. And it's very interesting to see that when Buddhist monasticism really comes in contact with Christian monasticism, and this Christian monasticism is understood on the lines of the divine agape, the Buddha said, oh my, now here, really, there he is. The advent of the fulfillment of the reality is there. For us, it's always something that we are never quite sure if it is there, if it is not there, and if it is there, what it is. It's a constant waiting, in fact.

[32:14]

It's a constant wait. It's in some way a kind of getting lost in the void. Some people say, I'm not an expert in these things, that that is really the essence of Nirvana. But that is of course not the essence of Christianity. Christianity in that way is essentially a meeting, an encounter. And an encounter between created creature and creator. Between created person and the person of the creator. and the redeemer. But both the soul of creation and of redemption is agape. Not the divine wrath and all that. You see, if you sinned against me, you have to do penance for it or something.

[33:17]

You have to be punished. It's not the essence. But the essence is this, you know, is union. It's union. And this union is, as we call it, beatific vision. Of course, we have no other terms, but of course the term vision, at the same time, emphasizes the fact that this is not a kind of fusion into an indistinct kind of physical union, in that way, but it's a personal meaning. The I, I myself, come to myself, to the real self, how? By being loved by the self. That's my going home. That is the abiding reality. That is for which the house has been built. That's why we have a church, and by no other religion the entire world has a church.

[34:22]

to my mind this is and if you speak to the Indians and you speak to Japanese about it seriously say this is the big difference that we see and in some way we envy for the church at the same time now the rest we kind of tear down fatal mistakes but the The personal, you know, this inner, I should say, this whole communication of the divine demands of us a certain, I would say, a certain method. I think one of the things in which the West really has kind of failed, you know, is either, you know, of an infinite variety of methods. If one says the exercise of sending nations, that's it. Personally I would say that the exercise of sending nations, if one takes them really in their essential inner meanings, it's a tremendous school of the Divine.

[35:34]

And that's probably true of other way. Of course, there you have the Spanish mystics, you know, in the Spanish mystery you have St. Teresa has many castles, and they have many stories, you know, of course it comes to stories. It's then, the question is, what is deeper and what makes the difference between the lower and the higher? And if one then comes, for example, to the conclusion that the difference between the lower and the higher would be the degree of immateriality, that means the degree of spirituality, and then understand spirituality in a psychological sense that says, therefore, oral prayer is essentially lower than mental prayer, then I would say, now let's be very careful, and look at it in the light of the divine agape. Well, community prayer is usually all prayer.

[36:41]

But this has been said, with two or three are gathered together in my name, I am in their midst. So in that way there is, I would say, a method, you know, possible. But this method again should be oriented, directed by this very structure of the Divine Agapi. And then in explaining this kind of thing, I would say certainly that the beginning of entering into the Agapi is in some way an act of letting go, of entering into the West. of a primordial trust, not a blind primordial trust, but as a response to a total divine invitation.

[37:43]

Let me carry your burden. That is the whole meaning of the Lamb, to carry the sins of the world. Let me carry your burden. Of course, there it is very important for us that we don't say, It's all right, you know, but I mean it's a little exaggerated. Maybe I have my own burden and I have to carry my own burdens, and so maybe I want to carry my own burdens. Many people have told me, and I explain, you know, speaking about the Divine Agape, have said, oh, you should never, you know, receive something that you have not worked for. Of course, it's a good proposition, especially if it goes about the divine agape, you know. How does one work for the divine agape? I would say that is simply, you know, there is the beginning of the whole, and one can say, you know, the entire Christian life, the everyday life, the every minute life.

[38:52]

No moment in our life is completely free of anxieties and fears. No moment of our life here on earth, you know, is so absolute clarity that I wouldn't search for further clarity. So there is always darkness in various degrees, in various situations. There are always dilemmas in which I find where I can't make up my mind what to do this, what to do that, all this. Decisions have to be made all the time and decisions are not always easy for man. But if one gets, if one realizes that our daily life of a whole existence. Heidegger puts it as kind of hanging over the abyss of nothingness. It's a typical German picture, too, isn't it? Little exacerbations.

[39:55]

But they have to live, you know. As my teacher always said to me in Rome, you see, Thomas is typical. bottomless profundity. So, that is true, you know, there is something to it. But we can bring, you know, this whole, let us say, anxiety, this whole anxiety can always be brought to this on the simple formula For us Christians, what is this anxiety? Simply, if you want to define it, say, I lost the peace of Christ. That's a formula I think which is absolutely valid. I lost the peace of Christ. Except for the thing, you see, that of course, the statement, oh, I'm anxious.

[40:59]

I don't know. I'm in a state of doubt. Confused. If you say that and then say, oh yes, it's true, I'm confused, and then you stare at your confusion, you become more confused. And that is, you know, another one, you drill yourself into your own, the hole of your own confusion. And there is, of course, the difference if you put it in this way, in the light of divine Agapi, instead of centering on yourself and saying, I'm confused and anxious, I feel my insecurity. And then, of course, sometimes, of course, the answer is, oh yes, of course, you should feel. This whole business about the Agapi is just, you know, flight into the womb. What's wrong with the womb, I would say, is an answer to that.

[42:02]

But, I mean, there it is, you know. Now, if you take it in the context, you know, of your own baptism, it has happened to you, and there it is, then, of course, you would say, yes, I lost the peace of Christ. Baptism meant my rebirth into the peace of Christ. Eucharist means Rebirth in the peace of Christ. Union and life in the peace of Christ. That's communion. What is peace? Peace is communion. In that way, all around communion. Now, if you say, if you define it and you say to yourself, I have lost the peace of Christ, then immediately the very statement evokes in your mind this conclusion. to get back into the peace of Christ. You see? And there immediately a perspective opens.

[43:06]

A direction opens. What is the peace of Christ? The peace of Christ is essentially my realization of being loved absolutely by Christ. Being accepted by Him. In this way that he died for me, he carries now my burden. If I make that clear to me, now in every human being and human person's life, there will be a realization that he or she is being loved. There is one who loves me. Gives a tremendous inner liberty. gives, evokes this, what we would call, primordial trust, which is stated then also on our side, also in the realm of human love, in superlative.

[44:10]

The forever is immediately in our tongue as soon as we realize there is the one who loves me for better and for worse, for poorer and for richer. That's true, you see. Now, if this, if I take Christianity, let us say, at its face value, so to speak, then I realize that the one big, let us say, desire of the Father, of the abyss of theography, was, I want to get through to man with this message. It's an appeal, you know, to open up and to trust. And to trust God. And that means absolute trust. And that means mercy forever. Now, if I see that, you see, and then I realize this, and I, let us say, evoke in myself, you know, the

[45:22]

analogies and the associations that I have experienced in any human contact, or certainly in any contact of friendship, of true friendship. And there I would say, there I must confess that I have changed in some way my own view. It is not right, it seems to me, to put the agape immediately into a absolute opposition to what we call the arrows. That means the natural striving or natural blossom forth of the inner wisdom.

[46:06]

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