Profit from an Islamic perspectives: Catholic Response to Zubair Hasan

This snowy weekend I was reading essays on profit when I stumbled upon Zubair Hasan’s Theory of profit from Islamic perspective.

It is a quick informative read that finished with a conclusion I do not agree with.

“In sum, for formulating an integrated operational profit theory let profit be defined as a
surplus over cost, the firm not the entrepreneur be made the focal point of its study, all
rudiments of dynamic change be regarded as its source, and scheme for its sharing
between capital and labor be devised to promote equity, growth, and peace in society.
Such a profit theory will impart realism to economics: both mainstream and Islamic”

My main disagreement with his conclusion is “let profit be defined as a surplus over cost”.

The late Spanish Scholastics had reached a different conclusion. Namely Saravia de la Calle, who said, “If we had to consider labor and risk in order to assess the just price no merchants would ever suffer a loss nor would abundance or scarcity of goods and money enter into the question.”

For Hasan’s search for a real definition of profit, he wanted numbers that could be measured. Yet by turning to “surplus over cost”, Hasan had prescribed the downfall to his theory of profit. For de la Calle correctly points out that “otherwise we would never find a case where merchants justly lose; they would always win.”

For de la Calle and other Scholastics, my source is Faith and Liberty: The Economic Thought of the Late Scholastics by Alejandro Chafuen.

Capitalism and Death Challenge

There have been many comments in recent threads across the net (such as this one) stating that to find the problem with abortion, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, etc one must simply follow the trail of money.

Let me first define money in economical terms.
Money is a

• Good
• Medium of Exchange
• Standard of Value
• Store of Value

Do they believe the "Culture of Death"to be a product of capitalism?
Why do we not hear, follow the trail of voters or political pull?
Let's hear your replies.
What do think the Culture of Death is a product of?
Is money the trail to follow to reach the root of the problem?
And how do you commend we fix it?

Critique of Capitalism by Hilaire Belloc

Hilaire Belloc on Industrial Capitalism.

Some quotes from his essay.

"It is equally clear that the more Catholic a country is, the less easily does it accommodate itself to the social arrangement of a proletariat subjected to millionaire monopolists."

"There is the point of Usury, which I have dealt with elsewhere, there is the all-important point of the Just Price, there is the point of the "Panis Humanus"-----man's daily bread, the right possessed by the human being according to Catholic doctrine to live, and to live decently."

"and what moral authority has mere money? Why should I reverence or obey the man who happens to be richer than I am?"

“Everything about Industrial Capitalism-----its ineptitude, its vulgarity, its crying injustice, its dirt, its proclaimed indifference to morals [making the end of man an accumulation of wealth, and of labor itself an inhuman repetition without interest and without savor] is at war with the Catholic spirit.”

“In the absence, the gradual decline [where it is declining] of the Catholic ethic, slavery is coming back. Anyone with eyes to see can watch it coming back slowly but certainly-----like a tide. Slowly but certainly the proletarian, by every political reform which secures his well-being under new rules of insurance, of State control in education, of State medicine and the rest, is developing into the slave, leaving the rich man apart and free. All industrial civilization is clearly moving towards the re-establishment of the Servile State, a matter I have discussed at greater length under the title of "the New Paganism." 2”

To what does Belloc refer in his essay? Is it the market economy? A market economy wouldn't have "State control in education". What then is it?

Your thoughts...

HT: Lucas Bernet

Atlas may have Shrugged; Christ Did Not.

In the Economic Way of Thinking blog (which if you hadn't already began reading, you should), Scott Beaulier cites Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Below is the citation,

FRANCISCO: “Mr. Rearden,” said Francisco, his voice solemnly calm, “if you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater his effort the heavier the world bore down on his shoulders—what would you tell him to do?”
HANK: “I…don’t know. What…could he do? What would you tell him?”
FRANCISCO: “To shrug.”

What do you take from this quote? What does it mean for Atlas to shrug?
Has there ever been an individual who held the fate of the world on his shoulders, and did he shrug?

As a Christian, I believe there is someone who had bore the weight of the world on his shoulders, but he did not carry the world; it was a cross. Through all the tribulation that He had faced, He did not shrug.
And asking the same question as Rand did, " if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater his effort the heavier the world bore down on his shoulders—what would you tell him to do?”
If he was told to shrug, I am glad that He didn't listen.

Prodigal Parent

This past summer I sat in a seminar with Jennifer Roback Morse leading to a discussion afterwards on parents leaving their children and then having to return.

What's your take on the Prodigal Parent?

Yes, mother, this one is to you...

For those who don't know the story of the prodigal son, you can find it here.
There are many points in the parable, but the easiest read is the reception in the return for the son. Should there not then be a reception at the return for the mother?

A Challenge: Think you know Love?

This morning I was listening to "Hey Ya" by Outkast. Popular song with a great beat and enthusiastic chorus, but there came a line that caused me to think for a bit.

The line states that they say nothing is forever, so what makes love the exception?

Can anyone answer the question risen by Andre 3000 in this song?
If all things must come to an end, why do we expect our relationships to last forever?

I'll take it a step further, once I have a few answers on this one.

Economics Taught What Once Was Taught as Right was Always the Wrong.

Economics is a unique field of study. After a few questions it led me to open my eyes to a different world. An equilibrium between cars in each traffic lane, and the equilibrium would then help us assess which lane we ourselves want to drive on. This equilibrium helped us make our decision, it was information.
This question and answer leads to the want of applying such thought onto all things. Taking history classes became entertaining. It was no longer a memorization game but of applying the new theory that people make decisions using the equilibrium. How to know when to apply it? That was simple, I merely had to ask "why?" Why did some colonists revolt against the British? Why did the British not allow the colonists to leave peacefully?

Or how about the look back to what I was always taught throughout my years at public school and my first economic class. That the government, FDR, had saved us from the collapse of the market. We should all rejoice at the salvation from turmoil that was brought to us by the government. Apply economics to this period and a new outlook arises. I was lied to.
Arise the question of why? Why was I lied to? What is to gain?
What does economics teach? Incentives matter.
Why do incentives matter? As it gives rise to innovation.
Why does innovation matter? Others will imitate it.

Nothing is as black and white as I was once taught.
Government does not simply do what is best for the nation. Why?
Individuals choose not groups. With this simple find, we learn that politicians have the incentive not to do what is right, but to abuse their power.

I was taught to want to be President. Not anymore. Economics has taught me many things and what I would hope it teaches others is simply don't study and read material because we need to pass a class. Ask why? Why did this happen? Search for truth, you know you reached it once it has answered the question, "why?"

Padre Pio on Joining the Catholic Church

As a Sponsor reading this gave me inspiration to make sure I am doing things right.

Once Padre Pio was asked "Father, you, helped by many praying souls, work hard to bring back souls who have fallen away to the heart of the Church. At the same time you leave them for months without absolution. Doesn't this mean you leave them out of the Church?"

The Padre answered "It isn't enough to enter the Church. You need to come in well. For you it is enough that they enter in Mass. For me it's important they are well prepared to come in. The months used to prepare one to be part of the Church are well spent. Entering unprepared is just the same as not entering."

When told "Father, those people that you do not absolve, in the case of sudden death, run the risk of damnation". He responded "But who told you that these souls are in God's bad books!?"
The questioner objected: "And if they are not in God's bad books why can't they approach the Eucharist?" To which Padre Pio replied "Because they have to do a particular penance."

-THE "PADRE" SAINT PIO OF PIETRELCINA : HIS MISSION TO SAVE SOULS
TESTIMONIES pgs 83-84

This world to our Heavenly home.

The wisest words I had heard this past week came from a priest who instructed me that it is not this world that matters but the next. We must not begin to think that God is on our side, but rather must keep asking ourselves are we in on his.

In other words, it is understandable why we get disgusted and upset by all the atrocities in the world today, but we should not allow these things to deter us from our goal of fulfilling the Father's will. There will always be violence, theft, murder, and other vile acts. The only possible way to reach zero crime is to have no freedom, and even then it is only obtained for a short period of time.
I am guilty of allowing myself to get upset and fired against the wickedness of the collectivist state, against the murder of innocents, etc. I must not allow myself to grow with this rage as it is deterring me from fulfilling the end that I want, to perform God's will.

Economics is a very unique study. It allows us to comprehend human cooperation in ways no other study can. With this I bring up price fixations. When economists speak of the market, they simply mean the players, the actors, the choosers, or in other words, all of us in this world who each day make a decision at a certain moment. We are the market. We, upon making a decision, impact an individual who we never have met. By purchasing an apple, that individual now cannot. By performing a job, that individual now can not. This is not to give the perception that the market is simply those taking from others, but rather to simply demonstrate how your choice would affect my own without your knowledge of ever meaning to.

Prices are a reflection of our choices. They help us understand where the good or services should go and to whom. Law of demand states as price goes up quantity demanded goes down. Likewise if price goes down quantity demanded goes up. Law of supply states that as price goes up, quantity supplied goes up. Following, price goes down and quantity supplied will go down. This also works vice-versa so we can find price from supply and demand. The key is the word and here, supply and demand.

What I am getting at is simple, there is an equilibrium, where supply and demand meet, for everything. There is a price and quantity for everything and the equilibrium is where they interchange. To create a law setting something at zero such as zero crime would be a price fixation. It is called a fixation because naturally our choices in the world give us a natural equilibrium meaning there is still crime in the world, but with a price fixation at zero we find something different. Now my choices have an increased cost which will impact the world in a harsh way because less people are doing it which means that quantity demanded is low that lets us know from the law of demand that price must be high. Accordingly with the law of supply we know that when price is high; quantity supplied is high. The signal this law is giving to the world is to cheat the system. Find a way to perform a crime, as the benefits are extremely high.

Think of Batman the Dark Knight. He begins to lock up all the criminals and with the lesser amount of criminals to rob from the innocent, the profit and amount of people to choose from stealing from is inherently high. A market that is hard to get into yet highly profitable; these are incentives that give rise to the Joker. (Money is not always the incentive. In the case of the Joker, being THE criminal of Gotham was more important.)
In the 1920's, Al Capone was a product of the Prohibition. He loved the law as it created more wealth for him. When competitors moved in, he moved them out or recruited them through force.
We can not hate anything of this world and seek government assistance to help us reach our solutions. We can not allow ourselves to be consumed in combating certain aspects of this world that we condemn ourselves from being in full communion in the next. What is here is only temporal. It is important and we should fight, but let our life's work be to do God's will and not our own. There will always be a form of evil in this world. We can not fight evil with evil, but fight it with love. As we hear time and time again, Love conquers evil.

Love thy Neighbor: How I as a Catholic don't Vote

I am first a Catholic. My faith comes before all other things in my life. With this, how can I have been expected to vote for anyone who supports abortion, immigration barriers, war, etc. How can I choose between politicians who do not support my own beliefs. Perhaps I agree with them on one of the three things listed above, but the probability that they agree with me on all three is incredibly slim. Am I to bend my faith in order to make a political vote?

The answer is clearly and always a No. You do not have to do anything you do not wish to, and to support someone that may bring other evils but not the one you are morally against is wrong. As a Catholic I must stand up for my faith and point that an open door immigration policy is the only possible way to love thy neighbor. They help with the economy in ways unimaginable by most who vote, and to deny them entry is preposterous as by creating such a law to restrict migration is not a demonstration of love.
War, which politicians have more control over, is not Love. Laws that prohibit abortion will not end abortion, there is no such thing as zero amount of murders and lets have it abortion is murder. So with such few words that proclaim "Love thy Neighbor" I find that it is not love that brings you to vote for a politicians hoping for salvation. Short term policies create short term gains but long term failures that must then be corrected again. When glass shatters its not easy to put the pieces back. Fortunately for us, the economy is not glass. It is a process that reflects each and every individual's choice. Stop looking for an easy way out with a new savior in politics. It is disgusting and not an act of love.
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR cooperate with him and trade. It is through social cooperation that man has decreased poverty in the modern world, NOT through government action. Be a Catholic and do good works, not vote in hope that good intentions may not lead us to Hell "this time".

GMU Catholic Economists First Gathering

Tonight, there was a gathering of a few students (some former, including myself) who decided to get together to discuss Catholic Social Teaching. Kevin Burke, the head of the Peace and Justice committee for the GMU Catholic Campus Ministry, had put together the group and assigned the discussion to be on Rerum Novarum.
All that attended had something to say on the social teaching's of Pope Leo XIII. The discussion went from the good points to the bad points of the Papal Encyclical and even to one another sharing why some points we thought were bad are really good. It was a fun time shared by all. Most gatherings last an hour to allow students to get to other class projects such as homeworks, but it appeared no one wanted to leave.
With a group full of students such as these, who would want to leave?
If you get a chance, head up to Brion's Grill on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. Don't have to be Catholic to discuss, and Tuesdays at Brion's is half price burger day in case you needed another incentive to come.

Fulton Sheen quote from Life is Worth Living on Communism and Russia

I have spent a long night in the hospital. Not that there is anything wrong with me, I was spending it with someone dear to me. I had a few books with me. Mises' Theory and History, Hazlitt's Foundations of Morality, and Fulton Sheen's Life is Worth Living. There are great quotes from each book, but I found Sheen's words interesting upon Russia. He is speaking as what a Russian would say to someone within the Voice of America program which was created by the U.S. government in order to help educate the world.

Let then the Voice of America put on the airways a Jewish rabbi who will protest against the persecution of his own people and who, in the name of God, will promise to us the glorious liberty of the children of God. Let a Protestant minister and a Catholic priest be the oracles on the Voice of America. Let them not tell us anything about the materialities of your civilization, but something that the Communists never talk to us about. Speak to us of our dousha and our soul. Communism has our body, but it does not have our soul. Use the Name of God. Our Communists are trembling in Russia, lest anyone on the Voice of America ever use that Holy Name. They are safe and unafraid of you, so long as you speak to us about your economics and your gadgets and your boasted economic superiority. They can boast of these things, too. We are tired of a Communist revolution because it is not revolutionary enough. It still leaves hate in our souls. You preach to us of the revolution of love-- the revolution of the inner freedom of spirit, the revolution that comes from submission to God-- and we shall be your brothers under a common Father.

Marxism has to deny religion. Why not bring it back to deny Communism on its own denial. "The true battle against Communism begins in the heart of every single [person]. The revolution must begin in man before it begins in society. The Communists revolution has been a basic failure; it is not revolutionary enough; it leaves hate in the soul of man."

Communism destroys human freedom. Man is free, thanks to two guarantees: one economic, the other spiritual. The economic guarantee of freedom is private property, for it enables man to call something his own which is outside himself. The spiritual guarantee of freedom is his soul, which makes him independent of an earthly tyrant or a political dictator.

Render Unto Caesar

For those that know me, they know I claim that economics helped me find faith. From social cooperation, entrepreneurship, to taxes... all are included in the Bible.

Well I have entered many arguments in justification of a smaller government, and in religious circles have always faced the same question. "What about 'Render unto Caesar'?"
Their take is that Jesus, being perfect, would not leave the words to be interpreted.

I see it as Jesus being perfect. The question of taxes was asked of Jesus in order to provoke him, and rather than answer against taxes, which would surely allow the state to arrest him. Jesus answers the question perfectly, 'render unto Caesar'. This does not mean that taxes are meant to be given; he referred to the coins that had the face of Caesar, but currency was not originally founded by government. In fact, the Roman empire needed taxes for their everyday regulatory society. If taxes are rightly the governments to have, then as are slaves.Roman coins with Caesar on it. Government's began to put their face on currency that cycled as to extend their control.

The Roman empire could not survive without its slaves, and yet we do not justify the slaves with the saying 'Render unto Caesar'.
No, I tell you, it is only the most perfect answer to the tricky question. It is like the middle school game where you ask your friend "Have you told your family you have AIDS?" If you answered yes you admit that you had AIDS. If you had answered no, you had admitted you had AIDS. It was a catch-22. While Jesus, so perfect, was able to overcome the Catch-22.
Taxes are an unlawful taking as we have no choice but to give and if we refuse we will be punished. As God gives us free will and does not restrict us from either choosing Him or against Him, why should we think He would restrict our choice towards government taxes.

So Render Unto Caesar What is Caesar's... Nothing.

This is a case of the Lydian Lion: Considered by some as the world's first coin.

The Message is the Same: THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUTH

Economics has lead me to believe in liberty. The ideas that have been fighting against coercion since the dawn of man promoting the life of any man.

The lessons from economics are simple. Free trade is needed to allow mankind to flourish and deny the pains which are poverty, famine, and death(not that death is a bad thing, but an early death such as the loss of innocent blood). Free trade spreads liberalism which denies any type of servitude, warfare, or coercive action. It is the ability for mankind to interact with each other and to increase their own satisfaction in life. Man lives only to increase his welfare and through trade with each other are we able to increase our own welfare and that of our families & friends.

The lessons from Christianity are simple. Jesus Christ gave us one law to follow, Love one another. Love is the simple answer that can and has changed the world. Love conquers hate. Love enables mutual, satisfactory interactions between individuals while Hate brings servitude, warfare, and a coercion. The Christian Church's message has been to speak out against Hate and to promote Love. This is the message that is spread and at the foundation of the Church is the institutions of friends & families.

The message from economics is that we, those who understand liberalism, must spread the word promoting liberty to whomever we can allowing for material wealth to spread to the corners of the earth increasing the welfare of all the citizens of the world.
The message from Christianity is that we, Christians, must spread the word that Jesus Christ has conquered death, conquered sin, and freed all the citizens of the world from all forms of control through his Love for us. All that is asked is we Love everyone such as He Loved us.
There is only one message; only one truth. Love will set us free and by love you do not create rules to deny the opportunity for an individual to interact with another.

TWO VIDEOS one from the Acton Institute and the second from Karol: A Man Who Became Pope (a touching movie everyone should watch, religious or not)

Liberty Fund has an Interactive Room Too Good Not to Share

AS POSTED ON GMU ECONOMICS SOCIETY BLOG

Most know Liberty Fund for their catalog of books and online library. Now how about a chance to tour their online interactive GOODRICH ROOM. The room's walls have different names throughout history that have helped lead the argument on Liberty. From the Amagi and Gilgamesh to the Declaration of Independence. Each historical figure opens a new tab with a small historical note and its importance for liberty.

If you knew about the catalog but did not know about the online library, then it is time to get acquainted. It is a large database of online materials and difficult to decide where to begin. Liberty Fund has made easier and given us a starting point, HERE. You can log on to create reading lists, share with others, and view other members lists. Can it get any better?

ENJOY!

Why I became a Catholic: The Economic Principles That Led Me to Religion Part 1

Through my studies in economics, I have met many individuals who hold no faith towards religion. Some claim to be atheists while others agnostic, and yet I appear to be one of the limited few who turned to religion as my understanding of the science grew. The questions perhaps should be addressed why is it that I have turned to faith while others who study economics do not?

The Catholic faith believes that all of the citizens of the world are Catholics. (What religion would not see the world as its children?) Catholic, in fact, means universal therefore all men are called to go to Heaven by imitating Jesus, but this is only the tip of the faith which means I could not discuss all of it in one blog.
Economics is the study of individual's choices among a world of scarcity and the affects of their choices both intended and unintended. Think of a decision you made this morning of getting out of bed rather than staying in it. That is one extra person awake, breathing, eating, whatever other acts you may want to consider. That one extra person is breathing in that air that could have been for another, ate the food that could have gone for another, and even taking up an amount of space that could have been for another. Just one choice of getting out of bed has many side effects which would cause others to make decision likewise. If someone is in a spot you want to be in, you have a choice to make from asking them to move, paying them to move, or even moving to another spot themselves. Through actions individuals interact, and by cooperating with one another we reach our desired ends. Thus everyone in the world is tied to one another by the choices they make which affect the choices that others make.

The Catholic faith as it is universal sees the people within the Church to be the body of Christ and Jesus as the head. As the body, the people interact with one another each trying to imitate Christ and reach Heaven. Each making their own choices to reach heaven which affect others abilities to make choices and the Church tells Catholics to always look out for one another.
How fascinating that the world filled with individuals with different goals work together in such a constructive way for most individuals to actually achieve this goal. The world socially cooperates without any control mandating each individual how to do it. This symbolized to me the citizens of the world to be acting as a body, The Body of Christ.

Tyranny of the Majority in the New Testament

We saw it best on The Passion of the Christ. The masses cried out for crucifixion. "Crucify him" the answer shouted in unison when asked by Pilate on what they wanted him to do. It is the same words recited every Easter at a Roman Catholic mass and yet many Christians still believe in majority rule, at least it appears so through what I have seen.

The tyranny of the majority is not a new concept. John Stuart Mill and Alexis de Tocqueville were only two of many who had spoken on the topic. Christians had read of this tyranny since the Church began. There it was written, spoken, even viewed (as in the Passion) for us to see, the Crucifixion of Christ. The masses had called for it. They threatened and Pilate to complete his duty as governor completed what the masses demanded in order to keep his own position. What else do we expect of a politician? To do the right thing and not kill an innocent man? It was either crucify an innocent man or have a mob on his hands which would cause him to lose face in Rome. Naturally, we would expect the politician to choose his own selfish needs and condemn an innocent man to his death.
Is the innocent's death the fault of the politician or the fault of the tyranny of the masses? Perhaps it is both, but the event has passed and the innocent man had died only to be born again. Thanks to the murderous mob that persuaded a Roman governor to crucify an innocent man. A man heralded by many today as the savior. Even through evil, Good arises.

Control: Is it ever achieved?

Recently, I have entered into a debate with many individuals over the topic of control.

Control defined in Dictionary.com as "to exercise restraint or direction over; dominate; command."

I do not believe we can ever achieve control. To me this is proven by action. If we were ever in control why would we act? By acting we would be changing the situation causing us to lose control. In acting, we are trying to get closer to being in control.

What do we want control in? Control of a situation, of our actions, of nature.
We can never have control of a situation since there are outside factors that influence our actions. Those outside factors cause us to act but do not allow us to have control on the outcomes of our actions. We can act causing an effect that was not perceived before the action was taken place therefore taking any control away from our actions as we caused an unwanted outcome.

There is no system in the world that can ever let us be in control. Socialism fails as it never obtains control, but socialism is not alone; No One can ever obtain control; except the Lord.

For this do we have religion, control is only obtained through our faith in God. Socialism was man's attempt at achieving Heaven on Earth. The attempt of a world full of control with no fears upon need, yet as control can never be obtained thanks to socialism's failure to many economic problems such as imitating the price and money system, we find that there is only one way to achieve control which is through faith.
To overcome sin we must pray for strength, for courage, for self control. It is through God's will that we are able to drive without an accident interfering in our desired end. Control can be achieved, but to achieve it you must have faith otherwise we are just blind with hands outstretched in hopes that we do not walk off a ledge. To say you have control is to believe that you are in control; belief is a matter of faith which is a gift from the Holy Spirit.
In the end, Man can not have control except through the Lord, our God

The Trinity of the Market Price

Have to love the end of a Sunday in the middle of football season.
Yes, Football, great weather, and papers to write for so many classes evolve into late nights... ok only until two because I my cost - benefit analysis tells me that sleep is greater than staying up to finish editing a paper.

The point, the Trinity of the Market found in Mises' Human Action.
Check it out page 338.

The pricing process is a social process. It is consummated by an interaction of all members of the society. All collaborate and cooperate, each in the particular role he has chosen for himself in the framework of the division of labor. Competing in cooperation and cooperating in competition all people are instrumental in bringing about the result, viz., the price structure of the market, the allocation of the factors of production to the various lines of want-satisfaction, and the determination of the share of each individual. These three events are not three different matters. They are only different aspects of one indivisible phenomenon which our analytical scrutiny separates into three parts. In the market process they are accomplished uno actu. Only people prepossessed by socialist leanings who cannot free themselves from longing glances at socialist methods speak of three different processes in dealing with the market phenomena: the determination of prices, the direction of productive efforts, and distribution.

Just as the Holy Trinity in the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. The pricing process is broken down only to allow our feeble minds to better understand it.

Sunday Mass is for self prayer?

So perhaps I am misunderstanding the Catholic Church; I must be since all those who are not Catholic usually tell me that they do not have to be at Church to pray to God that they can pray wherever they like. As I understand it, that is the point. We should pray everywhere and anywhere not just behind the closed doors of the church. That is the point of being a Christian by loving God and living by his Word.

The next question I encounter is why then must we attend Sunday Mass?
We attend to receive Holy Communion, to listen to the scripture, to pray in unity as the children of God. Mass, from my perception, appears to be less of an individual prayer than a group prayer. We adore, love, and ask for forgiveness from the Lord before we receive him together as a group as the whole Church.
Immediately after receiving communion, many individuals enjoy being in the presence of the Lord. They kneel in silent reflection. I am beginning to believe when kneeling following the communion we should join the choir in song to help all celebrate in their communion. In this moment we are as a whole filled with the Lord and able to pray and glorify him more fully. This leaves for that moment of reflection to be a short enjoyment from when the Priest is purifying the vessels and sits down in his own reflection to when he stands for ending prayer. In fact, at the end of Mass is when the individual prayers should begin. I like to end it with a Prayer to St. Michael to combat the devil, but that is for the individual to decide....