Christocentrism of Charism – Buggert - CarmelStream
Christocentrism of Charism – Buggert - CarmelStream
Christocentrism of Charism – Buggert - CarmelStream
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The project <strong>of</strong> all Carmelites is to walk in the footsteps <strong>of</strong> Jesus. But our understanding <strong>of</strong><br />
Jesus changes; so also does the historical situation. And the change <strong>of</strong> historical situation presents<br />
new challenges to our walking in the footsteps <strong>of</strong> Jesus. In order, therefore, to rearticulate the<br />
Christocentric spirituality <strong>of</strong> Albert's Rule we must take into consideration both our contemporary<br />
understanding <strong>of</strong> the historical Jesus and also our contemporary situation. Hence before attempting a<br />
rearticulation, a word about the contemporary situation <strong>of</strong> the developed countries <strong>of</strong> the first world<br />
is in order. clxxii<br />
The Jesuit philosopher, John F. Kavanaugh, views and analyzes our contemporary situation<br />
by employing the Marxian inspired heuristic model <strong>of</strong> the "commodity form." The commodity form<br />
is a paradigm for human living. It is a way <strong>of</strong> perceiving ourselves and others as things or<br />
commodities, and living accordingly. Things replace persons; material relations between things<br />
displace truly human relations. The commodity becomes a god who drives humans to worship things<br />
and relate to them as if they were persons and relate to persons as if they were things, with the result<br />
that persons are possessed by their possessions and produced by their products. Thus they become<br />
alienated from themselves and transformed into the commodity itself. clxxiii There is even a<br />
commodity form <strong>of</strong> knowing. Knowing is reduced to technical, scientific, instrumental, "thing-like"<br />
knowing. clxxiv This commodity form with its pre-eminent values <strong>of</strong> marketability and consumption<br />
thus becomes a pathology against which persons evaluate themselves in terms <strong>of</strong> productivity and<br />
usefulness with the result that there is no intrinsic human value. clxxv<br />
In turn the commodity form, as underlying value <strong>of</strong> our society, gives rise to a commodity<br />
ethics <strong>of</strong> moral rugged individualism, which results in violence, domination, manipulation, fear,<br />
alienation, racism, chauvinism, hedonism, sexual mechanics, abortion, euthanasia, excessive<br />
45
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