Seized by Christ

They are experiencing Christianity as joy and hope, having thus become lovers of Christ.

Tag: Limbic System

  • đź’ś The Call to Humility: Rewiring the Rebellious Heart

    đź’ś The Call to Humility: Rewiring the Rebellious Heart

    Readings for 16 DEC 2025: Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13; Psalm 33; Matthew 21:28-32

    I. Introduction: The Rebellious City

    We are deep in the heart of Advent, a season colored Violet—the color of royalty, but also of penance and preparation. The scriptures today issue a stark, powerful challenge, starting with the prophet Zephaniah:

    “Trouble is coming to the rebellious, the defiled, the tyrannical city! She would never listen to the call, would never learn the lesson…” (Zephaniah 3:1-2)

    When we hear the word “city,” our modern mind goes to bricks and mortar. But in the prophetic tradition, the city—Jerusalem—is often a profound metaphor for the human soul. Zephaniah is describing not just a physical place, but the rebellious, unintegrated heart—the ego that refuses counsel, trusts only itself, and never draws near to God.

    This “tyrannical city” is the part of our consciousness that seeks to be King Belshazzar, building its own reality based on pride and self-will.

    II. The Psychological Crisis: Refusal and Tyranny

    The First Reading lays bare the psychological state of the rebellious heart:

    • “She would never listen to the call.”
    • “She has never trusted in the Lord.”
    • “She never drew near to her God.”

    This is the Refusal of the Call in the language of the Hero’s Journey. Joseph Campbell taught that all great myths begin when the hero is called to leave their comfortable, known world, and initially says No. The rebellious heart is stuck in this refusal.

    Psychologically, this refusal is driven by the Limbic System. This ancient, instinctual part of the brain seeks comfort, security, and the avoidance of all risk. To trust God, to draw near to God, means surrendering control, which the Limbic System perceives as an existential threat. This fear of surrender makes the heart tyrannical—it must control everything because it fears everything.

    III. The Gospel’s Two Sons: Action vs. Attitude

    Jesus clarifies this battle between the tyrannical heart and true conversion with the parable of the two sons:

    • The First Son: Said “No,” but afterwards thought better of it and went.
    • The Second Son: Said “Certainly, sir,” but did not go.

    The chief priests and elders, comfortable in their certainty and piety, represent the Second Son. They had the right attitude (the right words, the right liturgy), but their tyrannical, rebellious heart (Zephaniah’s city) remained unchanged.

    The tax collectors and prostitutes represent the First Son. They started in the “tyrannical city” of self-will and sin, but in their moment of brokenness, they experienced the crucial psychological step: thinking better of it—a deliberate act of the will leading to action.

    Jesus’s verdict is stunning: “Tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you.” They embarked on the Hero’s Journey (repentance and action) while the pious were still stuck in the tyranny of their own self-righteous refusal.

    IV. The Great Transformation: Clean Lips and Humility

    The good news, the Advent promise, is that God does not abandon the tyrannical city. Zephaniah promises a profound transformation:

    “Yes, I will then give the peoples lips that are clean, so that all may invoke the name of the Lord and serve him under the same yoke.” (Zephaniah 3:9)

    The “clean lips” are the sign of the transformed heart. Psychologically, this is the victory of the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC)—the seat of reason, moral choice, and long-term vision—over the tyrannical Limbic System.

    • The Limbic heart speaks lies and boasts (Zephaniah 3:13: the perjured tongue).
    • The PFC, aligned with God’s will, brings clean lips—it brings truth, humility, and the ability to invoke the Lord’s name.

    This transformation is completed by two essential virtues:

    1. The Removal of Pride: “I will remove your proud boasters from your midst; and you will cease to strut on my holy mountain.” (Zephaniah 3:11)
    2. The Installation of Humility: “In your midst I will leave a humble and lowly people, and those who are left in Israel will seek refuge in the name of the Lord.” (Zephaniah 3:12)

    The spiritual journey is the systematic dismantling of the tyrannical ego and the installation of humility, where the PFC chooses the love of God over the fear of the self.

    V. Call to Action: The Poor Man’s Call

    This Advent, the call is clear: Stop being the Second Son. Stop being the tyrannical city.

    The Responsorial Psalm gives us the path to conversion: “This poor man called; the Lord heard him.”

    The “poor man” is the humble and lowly person Zephaniah promised. He is the person who has surrendered the tyranny of the ego. The Lord hears him because he is close to the “broken-hearted” and those whose “spirit is crushed.”

    Real spiritual transformation today requires two acts of the will:

    1. Stop Strutting: What are you still doing for show? What is the “proud boasting” that keeps you from trusting God? The work of penance is the work of removing pride.
    2. Start Doing: Do not remain in the Refusal phase. Be the first son. That means taking action that requires surrender. That means choosing the hard “Go and work in the vineyard” over the easy “Certainly, sir.”

    The Lord is coming. Let us choose to dismantle the rebellious city in our hearts, surrender the tyranny of fear, and allow the promised “humble and lowly people” to seek refuge in His name.

    Amen.

    Developed with assistance from Gemini AI

  • The Prefrontal Battle: How Your Brain is Wired for Heroism (Daniel 1 & Mark 12)

    The Prefrontal Battle: How Your Brain is Wired for Heroism (Daniel 1 & Mark 12)

    What if the greatest moral and spiritual battles we face aren’t huge, public crises, but small, private decisions made in a quiet moment? We often look for epic, cinematic faith, but the truth is that spiritual transformation is profoundly neurobiological. It happens inside the three pounds of tissue between your ears.

    Ancient scripture isn’t just about history or ritual; it provides a stunningly accurate blueprint for how our minds function—and malfunction. We see, time and again, moments where two distinct forces within us clash: the primal urge for comfort and the higher calling toward long-term destiny.

    These moments are not unique to ancient prophets or martyrs. They are the Prefrontal Battle that you fight every day. By exploring the quiet discipline of Daniel and the radical sacrifice of the poor widow, we can see that building a heroic life is literally a matter of rewiring your brain through small, consistent acts of will.

    I. The Neuroscience of Discipline

    Our minds are governed by a powerful dual system. Understanding it is the key to spiritual freedom.

    A. The Two Brain Systems

    1. The Limbic System (The Survivalist): This is the brain’s ancient core. It is preoccupied with safety, comfort, instant gratification, and immediate risk assessment. Its mantra is: Survival, Right Now. It is brilliant at keeping you alive, but terrible at achieving your highest potential, as it fears any change, discipline, or risk
    2. The Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) (The Hero): This is the most recently evolved part of the brain, located right behind your forehead. It is the seat of willpower, moral reasoning, long-term planning, and impulse control. The PFC is what allows you to choose a future reward over immediate comfort. Its function is to say “No” to the limbic system’s demands when they conflict with your highest values.

    B. The Case Study: Daniel’s Quiet Victory

    In the Book of Daniel, we encounter a young man exiled to Babylon—the ultimate environment designed for comfort, luxury, and spiritual assimilation. The king provided the Hebrew youth with a daily ration of rich food and wine from his own table. This was not a punishment; it was a profound privilege, a fast track to approval, safety, and integration into the highest social class.

    To the Limbic System (The Survivalist), this was a dream scenario: high-calorie food, social acceptance, and guaranteed protection. The impulse was clear: take the easy path.

    But Daniel’s response was a masterclass in Prefrontal Cortex control:

    Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the king’s food and wine (Daniel 1:8).

    This was a quiet but firm decision of the will. His choice was not about the quality of the food; it was about integrity—choosing his long-term covenant and identity over immediate comfort. He used his PFC to override the powerful, instinctive demands for ease and assimilation.

    He was not asked to fight a dragon or cross a sea; he was asked to choose vegetables and water over the king’s bounty. The mythological lesson here is that great destinies are formed through small, repeatable acts of discipline.

    C. The Scientific Principle: Holiness is Habit

    The story reveals the direct reward of this PFC control: After ten days, Daniel and his companions looked “healthier and better nourished” than those who ate the king’s food (Daniel 1:15).

    This result is a spiritual reality, but it is also a powerful metaphor for Neuroplasticity. Every time Daniel chose his higher value (his faith) over his primal urge (rich food), he reinforced a new neural pathway. Every decision strengthened his PFC control over his Limbic System.

    • Holiness is Habit: Spiritual growth is not about a one-time heroic feat, but about consistent, small decisions that literally rewire the brain. You strengthen what you repeatedly use. Choosing integrity over comfort, even in the smallest things, is the process of building the neurobiological architecture required for heroism.

    II. The Neuroscience of Sacrifice

    Now, we move from the discipline of refusal to the ultimate test of the PFC: Sacrifice.

    A. The Brain Hates Sacrifice

    The Limbic System views sacrifice as illogical and terrifying. Its primary directive is to hoard resources and minimize risk. The brain views giving away resources—especially those necessary for survival—as an existential threat. This fear is a powerful inhibitor of true faith and generosity.

    B. The Case Study: The Widow’s Radical Override

    Jesus was watching the wealthy drop large, impressive amounts of money into the temple treasury. These were acts of generosity, but they were measured and safe—they gave from their “abundance” (Mark 12:41-44). Their Limbic System remained perfectly comfortable.

    Then He saw her: a poor widow who put in only two small copper coins.

    Jesus declared that this smallest gift was the greatest one. Why? Because:

    “She, from her poverty, has put in all she had to live on.”

    This act is the ultimate PFC override. She overcame her most fundamental, primal survival instinct—the fear of hunger, homelessness, and death—and entrusted her future to God. She chose Trust (PFC) over Self-Preservation (Limbic System). She demonstrated that faith and love cannot be lived from a place of certainty.

    III. Conclusion: The Logic of Love

    The Prefrontal Battle is not an isolated spiritual struggle; it is the fundamental process by which we align ourselves with the highest reality.

    The highest principle that justifies the PFC’s battle is Love.

    • For Daniel, the PFC choice was motivated by Love for God’s Covenant (identity) over the love of comfort.
    • For the Widow, the PFC choice was motivated by radical Love and Trust in God over the love of self-preservation.

    The Limbic System calculates safety; it fears loss, and it hoards resources. But the highest function of human consciousness, driven by the PFC, is to pursue a value—a higher love—that transcends immediate survival.

    This is why ancient scripture, confirmed by modern neurobiology, teaches us that the path to transformation is paved with deliberate, courageous choices:

    • You cannot live a life of true faith or love from a place of safety and certainty.
    • Every time you choose a higher moral truth over your brain’s instinctual demand for comfort, you are literally rewiring your consciousness.

    The heroic journey starts not with a grand announcement, but with a quiet, firm decision of the will.

    The Question is: What is your PFC fighting for today?

    Ask yourself: What small discipline is God asking of you today? Is it refusing the “king’s rich food” (a destructive habit or easy lie), or is it surrendering your last “two coins” (a fear, a calculation, or a piece of control)? The power to choose is in your PFC, and the logic of that choice is always love.

    Developed with assistance from Gemini AI