INTRODUCTION

I. USJR’s VMG
II. CORE STRATEGY: Breaking Barriers Empowering Lives.
III. OAR CHARISMS: Contemplative/Interiority, Apostolic, Communitarian, Marian
IV. ST. AUGUSTINE’S MOTTO: Caritas et Scientia (love and knowledge)
V. CORE VALUES: INSPIRE

Religious Education – 1
Initium Fidei: (The beginnings of Faith)
An Introduction to Doing Catholic Theology
Author: Justin Joseph G. Badion
Series Editor: Fr. Ian Anthony Espartero, OAR
Fr. Leander Barrot, OAR

(Special Notes for class discussions taken from the book Initium Fidei: An Introduction to
Doing Catholic Theology)

Lesson 1: Theology and the search for meaning

 “Para kanino ka bumabangon?” This statement is not just a question from a classic coffee
commercial in the Philippines. In a way, it is a question we all ask ourselves. What do we
wake up for in the morning? What is our motivation? Why do we do all the things we do?
What keeps us motivated to keep striving in our life now, especially as students?
 For some people, self-growth is their motivation.
 For others, their motivation is the people in their lives.
 Others find motivation in loftier ideals.
 And still others may still not know fully what their motivations are.
 Whatever the case may be, our motivations (or lack thereof) are signs that we are all
still on our way in this journey of life. We are still trying to get a grasp of what we
believe in, what drives us, and what we want to offer our life to. We are all homo
viator—human beings still on the way, “pilgrim[s] journeying through this world to the
heavenly city.”

Saint Augustine says:

 You know that we are travelers. You ask, what is ‘walking?’ Briefly it means to make
progress. Always keep adding more, always walk, always forge ahead; do not stop on
the road, do not go back, do not leave the road. Better to be a lame person on the right
road than to be a runner off of it.

The Context of Our Search

 We live in an age of indifference, cynicism and skepticism. Globalization and modernization
affirm Friedrich Nietzsche’s forecast of the death of God. We can see Nietzsche’s claim to
hold most true today: “I will only believe in the Christians’ Redeemer if the Christians
themselves look more redeemed.”
  A disconcerting pluralism haunts our time, where truth is relative to the interpreter.
Anything can be truth, which leads many to argue that nothing is true.
 Terms such as “post-truth” and “fake news,” largely unknown until 2016, have exploded
into media and public discourse. This growing abundance of misinformation has clear
adverse consequences on society.
 Modernizing forces, which includes mass media, the Internet and popular culture,
though not inherently problematic, are home to much noise that masquerade as truth.
One can take the case of the use of social media to shape public opinion about political
issues, and the rise of trolling.
 The rise of the “post-truth” era is just one of the many signs of the current brokenness
pervading the world and the Philippines of today. There is a brokenness within people
and among people. This is found most evidently in the growing trend of individualism
and exclusivism that has poisoned our society.

Brokenness within people and among people.

 First, “The cultural ideal of the Western industrialized world is the self-made, self-
sufficient, autonomous individual who stands by himself or herself, not needing anyone
else (except for sex) and not beholden to anyone or anything.”
 Everything is driven by this individualistic vision. Many people opt to choose a career,
not because this is where they can promote change and social transformation, but
rather because it has the best to offer in terms of monetary compensation. The value of
persons is identified by how much they own, how much power they wield and how
much influence they can muster.
 This is found in the steady rise to prominence of “micro-celebrities” such as social media
influencers, whose fame and following become ideals that many people strive for. And
yet, despite all the attention to individual success and becoming “self-made,” people
remain unhappy.
 This age of individualism is an age of insecurity. Possibly, this is the reason why many
people of this time turn to new centers and categories of meaning.
 Partly, it might be because of an escapist urge to turn away from that which is dark and
difficult to deal with in the world. The growing trend is now towards looking for
meaning in leisure and acquiring access to endless sources of pleasure.
 And yet despite the hedonistic escapism, there are still widespread occurrences of
depression, a pervasive sense of meaninglessness and anxiety, especially amongst
young people, which some believe to be resultant of the spiritual vacuum in which most
of the youth live their lives.
 Second, the brokenness in the world has created a culture of hate and division that was
born out of the exlusivist tendencies of people. “Discrimination”
 Both individualism and exclusivism are signs of the trend for more privatistic
tendencies that can become hindrances to an authentic search for meaning and purpose
in the world.
 Life is more than just about oneself. There is a need for attention both to the “other,”
referring to other people and other created reality in the world, as well as the absolutely
“Other,” which Christians refer to as God.
 “Privatism has birthed a troubling world, and the more we become absorbed in
ourselves, the further away we come to finding our meaning and purpose.
What might be a suggested recourse to this context of privatism?
 We can take heed from the advice of Augustine in his own struggle to understand one’s
meaning and purpose: Domine Iesu, noverim me, noverim te. “O God, let me know
myself, so I may know you.”
Question: What is the purpose of man? Why did God created man?
 Basic catechism will tell us that God created man for man to be able to:
1. Know Him 2. Love Him, and 3.Serve Him!
 Augustine suggests that an engagement and encounter with God will reveal one’s
authentic self, and in a similar manner, introspection and self-understanding will be an
avenue to witness the presence of the divine in our lives.
 As such, the task of understanding and encountering oneself fully cannot be isolated
from the task of understanding and encountering God. The practice of these intimately
related tasks is one of the key functions of theology.
RELATIONSHIP: Entering into a personal relationship with HIM!

How do we define Theology?

Most simply put, theology is the study of God. It comes from the word theos which is Greek for
“God,” and -ology which is from the Greek word logos meaning “word.”
Most literally then the word theology means “words about God” or “the study of God.”
Many times it is used very specifically, speaking only about God. This is called
“theology proper.” But generally speaking theology is a belief system that is built upon
intellectually and emotionally held commitments concerning God and man.
 In short, theology is a set of intellectual and emotional commitments, justified or not,
about God and man which dictate ones beliefs and actions.
 It is the first pursuit of knowledge and wisdom.

Theology as an Endeavor for All People

 For whom is fundamental theology intended today? As a search for truth and meaning
in the world, it is a field open to all humans endeavoring purposeful existence. It is for
both the believer and the nonbeliever. In other words, theology is for all peoples. Why
do we say this? As human beings living together on the same earth, we are inspired by
the same hopes and seized by the same terrors. Our common experience allows us to
resonate with other people’s experience of the world (the phenomenological Lifeworld,
or Lebenswelt) and keep us connected, whether in faith or unfaith. However, theology
works in a specific way to these two sets of audiences.
 For believers, we can say theology acts as faith seeking understanding (Latin fides
quaerens intellectum). The term was originally coined by Saint Anselm of Canterbury,
elaborating the role of theology saying that, “For I do not seek to understand in order to
believe; I believe in order to understand, For I also believe that ‘Unless I believe, I shall
not understand.’
 For the believer doing theology, faith is a prerequisite, however big or small that
initial faith. This is what is called by Saint Augustine as the initium fidei, “the beginnings
of faith.” Armed with whatever initial and inchoate faith he or she might have, the
believer begins a quest for deeper reflection and explication of the reality of faith and
God.
  On the other hand, for nonbelievers, theology is a form of appreciation of the capacity
of human beings to acquire faith. It is by no means a form of indoctrination, and in no
way is it an attempt to convert people into Christianity or Catholicism.
 Rather, it is an invitation to take a look. Observe our practice, study our dogma, learn
from our faith. It can be said that the Christian faith can be studied by outside observers
as a kind of philosophy, while others may view it as immersing in a different culture.

Youth as an Essential Audience of Theology

 Why? Youth is a time of great self-discovery and self-concern. Young people are still at
the point in their lives where they are trying to make sense of their identity, their
relationship with others, and also their relationship with the world and God.
 Young people of this day and age are part of Generation Z, or the digital natives.
According to most commentators, Generation Z are all the people born from the mid
1990’s to the 2000’s. Members of Generation Z display shared characteristics, including
being technologically savvy and consuming information through digital media, such as
the Internet.
 Generation Z is demographically distinct from every previous generation. They were
born to older mothers, live in smaller families and have fewest siblings of any era. They
are the first global, most technologically literate and socially empowered generation
ever. They are shaped by technology almost from birth. They are extraordinarily
dependent on technology and their first language is a technological one.
 Because of the Internet, youth culture is becoming a global culture rather than just a
national and regional culture, and therefore, they become more in tune with the
problems and concerns of other people, despite cultural, geographic and national
borders. There is a great deal of empathy amongst young people, and an awareness of
social issues and concerns.
 It can be said as well that the youth are very much aware of their eventual transition
into adulthood, and are thus very future-oriented. They are beginning to ask questions
concerning direction, vocation, career choices, commitment and self-understanding.
 However, it is a general feeling among the youth that when searching for the answers to
these questions they have, theology, religion and God are not viable sources for
answers.
 In fact, it is especially possible for theology to engage students by drawing from the
youth’s human experience of being immersed in the globalized world. Popular culture—
music, fiction, movies, the internet—can become a new avenue of grace that theology
may use to further the message of the Good News to young people. Not everything
about popular culture is graceful, but by extracting parts which are potentially graceful,
it becomes easier to touch the lives of young people today. Human experience is a key
source for theological discourse. By drawing from the experience of people, one is able
to fully integrate and inculturate the faith into their lives.
 Direction, commitment, call—these are all within the vision of the Christian faith. Why
then do the youth still search elsewhere, when, what they are searching for is already
found within the Christian vision? Maybe there is a way to present this vision to the
youth that will be more palpable and acceptable, and that is the modern challenge of
the Church in this new time.