Libido Domanandi and The Transfiguration of Christ
Last Sunday, the first Sunday in Lent, the liturgical churches advised us to accompany Jesus’s forty day desert fast and temptations. This Sunday’s seemingly abrupt switch to the Transfiguration of Jesus may be puzzling. But as I ponder the reason for the Transfiguration of Jesus on the second Sunday of Lent, I think we’re meant to see the preciousness of each human soul–of our own and the politicians we dislike:
Of all visible creatures only man is “able to know and love his creator”.219 He is “the only creature on earth that God has willed for himself”,220 and he alone is called to share, by knowledge and love, in God’s own life. It was for this end that he was created, and this is the fundamental reason for his dignity:
What made you establish man in so great a dignity? Certainly the incalculable love by which you have looked on your creature in yourself! You are taken with love for her; for by love indeed you created her, by love you have given her a being capable of tasting your eternal Good.221
357 Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons. and he is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator, to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature can give in his stead.
358 God created everything for man,222 but man in turn was created to serve and love God and to offer all creation back to him:
What is it that is about to be created, that enjoys such honour? It is man that great and wonderful living creature, more precious in the eyes of God than all other creatures! For him the heavens and the earth, the sea and all the rest of creation exist. God attached so much importance to his salvation that he did not spare his own Son for the sake of man. Nor does he ever cease to work, trying every possible means, until he has raised man up to himself and made him sit at his right hand.223
Saint Augustine’s lust for domination
Libido domanandi’s the Latin term for the lust for domination. As we think or speak this phrase, it sends chills down the spine. For ancient Romans, it was an “untypical vice,” characteristic of aggressive states like Assyria, Babylon and Macedonia. But Saint Augustne’s City of God, describes the violent history, then the succession of Roman conquerers in the Roman Empire. Thus considering the city of the world as characterized by libido domanandi. It’s the sine qua non of disordered relationships emanating from sin.
This lust for domination, as what drives life—or more accurately from Augustine’s view, destroys it—is motivated by service to the self and want to control everything: control what is good, control what is “fact” or “true”, control how others behave, control who receives laurels and praise, and so forth. This lust for domination runs counter to the ethic of service of others (love of others). The libido dominandi is tied to the incurvatus in se (inward curve to the self) for the lust for domination is all about the self: The self’s want for domination of the world and all in it.
But just a moment’s consideration propels the phrase into the twenty-first-century, into the hearts and minds of Christians and secularists alike.
What is it when we pass on the latest juicy news about a politician or neighbor but the lust to dominate conversation or another’s attention? The phrase places gossip in another realm entirely.
These forty days
of fasting inevitably slow us down. Our energy is different since the routine of eating becomes something else entirely. Not routine at all. Things like gardening, shopping and ‘normal’ activities are tiring on an empty stomach. While we know the end is a glorious one, on this tenth day of Lent, we feel as if we’re slogging through.
All of which causes me to consider Pope Francis’ Lenten message. Written before he was hospitialized, Pope Francis writes of our journey as pilgrims of hope. One that we take together. A journey we make in hope.
For the first point of journey, he suggests mediating on where we are in this life. Are we on a journey or standing still? Are we seeking ways to escape habits of sin that are beneath us?
Our journey, writes the Pope is synodal: we make it together. “Let us ask ourselves in the presence of the Lord whether, as bishops, priests, consecrated persons and laity in the service of the Kingdom of God, we cooperate with others. Whether we show ourselves welcoming, with concrete gestures, to those both near and far. Whether we make others feel a part of the community or keep them at a distance. [4] This, then, is a second call to conversion: a summons to synodality.”
We journey together in hope. Awed and in childlike trust that His Transfiguration will one day be our own, that the fruits of our prayers, penances and fasting will transform us away from libido domanandi to transfiguration. “What is it that is about to be created, that enjoys such honour? It is man that great and wonderful living creature, more precious in the eyes of God than all other creatures! For him the heavens and the earth, the sea and all the rest of creation exist. God attached so much importance to his salvation that he did not spare his own Son for the sake of man. Nor does he ever cease to work, trying every possible means, until he has raised man up to himself and made him sit at his right hand.223”
“Hope, O my soul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your impatience makes doubtful what is certain, and turns a very short time into a long one” ( The Exclamations of the Soul to God, 15:3). [9]
Pope Francis Lenten Message 2025
May the Virgin Mary, Mother of Hope, intercede for us and accompany us on our Lenten journey.
