Friendship

One constant theme that ran through my Academic Career at Notre Dame was my friendship. In fact, reflecting back, time spent with friends are my most precious and prized memories and what made places like Alumni Hall and the Library truly special.

I have heard a reference to Aristotle as describing 'A true friend as one soul in two bodies.' In fact he says in the Nichomachean Ethics:

"The perfect form of friendship is that between the good, and those who resemble each other in virtue. For these friends wish each alike the other's good in respect of their goodness, and they are good in themselves; but it is those who wish the good of their friends for their friends' sake who are friends in the fullest sense, since they love each other for themselves and not accidentally. Hence the friendship of these lasts as long as they continue to be good; and virtue is a permanent quality. And each is good relatively to his friend as well as absolutely, since the good are both good absolutely and profitable to each other. And each is pleasant in both ways also, since good men are pleasant both absolutely and to each other; for everyone is pleased by his own actions, and therefore by actions that resemble his own, and the actions of all good men are the same or similar.—Such friendship is naturally permanent, since it combines in itself all the attributes that friends ought to possess. All affection is based on good or on pleasure, either absolute or relative to the person who feels it, and is prompted by similarity of some sort; but this friendship possesses all these attributes in the friends themselves, for they are alike, et cetera, in that way. Also the absolutely good is pleasant absolutely as well; but the absolutely good and pleasant are the chief objects of affection; therefore it is between good men that affection and friendship exist in their fullest and best form." (NE1156b-1159a)

He then continues to say that "Such friendships are of course rare, because such men are few."...well good thing I am such a magnanimous man ;)

But seriously, we are by nature social beings. We are not meant, by nature, to be hermits in the mountains. This may be the calling of a few now due to the Fall but that is a different story. By nature, we are social beings and establish friendships and relationships. My prized memories...and what I miss most...are the nights talking to friends and just spending time with friends in the dorm or library or chapel or grotto or football games or etc...

Socrates and Plato were on to something that Philosophy is done in a dialogue. That which fully fulfills us as a human being, the life of a philosopher, is by nature...you guessed it... a social project. It is not a set of facts one learns in the privacy of his study. Not to say that there isn't the time needed to read and write. But all the private studying serves to enhance the conversation at conferences or smoke breaks.

One quote I loved is from Allan Bloom's The Closing of the American Mind:
"This sense of community is more important for them than any disagreements about the final things. Philosophy is not a doctrine but a way of life, so the philosophers, for all the differences in their teachings, have more in common with one another than with anyone else, even their own followers. Plato saw this in Parmenides, Aristotle in Plato, Bacon in Aristotle, Descartes in Bacon, Locke in Descartes and Newton, and so on...The real community of man, in the midst of all the self-contradictory simulacra of community, is the community of those who seek the truth, of the potential knowers...of all men to the extent they desire to know. But in fact, this includes only a few, the true friends, as Plato was to Aristotle at the very moment they were disagreeing about the nature of the good...They were absolutely one soul as they looked at the problem."

whoa...eerie

         

whoa...hilarious...

ok anywho

So then, this leads me to my last point (hope this is somewhat coherent..I just got back from Indiana where the good Parish of St. Catherines had their 'camp out' and it is now 1am ish. In my eyes, a lot of the Spiritual Battle and our life here on Earth is built on relationships. We are, as I have been saying, social beings. So then, who are we going to open ourselves up to a relationship with?

This last year, Morrissey Manor sponsored a talk on exorcisms on campus by an official exorcist from Chicago.

Among some of the great things he discussed, he talked about how possessions typically come about.

A big thank you here to Fr. Vierling, my rector at ND in the Manor for the correct info:

There are three doorways to diabolical influence: (1) cultivation of a habit of sin; (2) direct engagement with the occult (the things or activities we put in place of God to provide answers, rather than trustful submission to Divine Providence); (3) unhealed trauma as a result of abuse which leads a person to enclose oneself within the 'arena of darkness.'

What all three have in common, he said, was that they all open oneself up to a relationship with Satan. Even a mortal sin, which kills the life of grace within a soul, is inviting the Devil in and that is obviously horrible. The priest, conformed to Christ in Holy Orders, has the authority to call Satan by name (part of the Ritual is finding out who the demon is, by name) and commanding, not asking or pleading, but commanding the demon to leave.

So on this, the second celebration of Corpus Christi, let us strive to rid ourselves of sin (he also, brilliantly focused on making the point that Confession is more powerful than any exorcism...there is just fanatics attached to it), establish a relationship with Our Lord, and grow in a true, Aristotelean friendship with Him such that we are similar souls...that, we practice the virtues He exemplified for us in His Earthly Life. Ok I am really tired, I may elaborate on this later but I just wanted to make the point regarding relationships and that, even as Adam and Eve did, we must deny a relationship with Christ and accept a relationship with the Devil to fall into sin. Enjoy your day!