Northern Virginia Catholic Bible Study
Christian Fellowship Announcement: Long-term member, Jason, has started an online Catholic fellowship group for those who are interested in praying and sharing together. It is called “Catholic Prayer, Fellowship, and Spirituality” and everyone is invited to join/connect on Meetup at https://www.meetup.com/online-catholic-prayer-fellowship-and-spirituality/.
Northern Virginia Catholic Bible Study house rules/notes…
1. Meetup is https://meetu.ps/c/4mYPW/F6KR3/a, Zoom Meeting Logon information is the same every week: Zoom ID: 861 1782 2081 Password: 406952
2. The notes/recaps from our meetings are posted on our Catholic Catacombs Light website https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website/blog, usually within a day.
3. See The Chosen. Knowing Jesus Christ means being able to better relate to God. Check it out: The Chosen at https://thechosen.link/1Y1R7.
4. Respectfulness. Of course we will discuss differences between religions and even between Christian denominations, but we agree to use respectful words and tones in doing so. Specifically, Protestants are our friends and brothers in Christ (I myself owe part of my return to the faith to them).
5. No politics. It would be easy for us to self-destruct; however, that’s not our goal. Our goal is to learn the Bible, explain the Catholic faith – what it means and especially its origins in Scripture and Jesus Christ – and helping people develop a closer relationship with Jesus Christ in their daily lives.
6. Questions encouraged. If you have questions about anything, you can email the group via Meetup, or me directly at ron@hallagan.net.
Vocabulary
Man – generic for mankind, humanity. God as Father/He/Him – scripture tradition; as we know, God is not a gender.
Exegesis – Greek: ex (out of) + hege (guide), meaning to explain or interpret the meaning of, usually referring to the Bible.
Eschatology – refers to “end times.” We sometimes ask what is the eschatological meaning of scripture. For example, “What is the eschatological meaning of the 7th Day?” Ans: It refers to heaven.
Preternatural – outside the natural; generally refers to “preternatural grace” which man had before the Fall.
Upcoming Catholic Holy Days
Ordinary Time: Jan 10 to March 2. Lent: Wed, March 2 to Holy Thursday, April 14.
Quote of the Week: “There is only one God, and you are not Him.”
MassTalk – Lent
I was asked last week about how far back regular synagogue services began on the Sabbath. I said I believed it was early on, perhaps going back to “pre-Israel” (the 40 years in the desert with Moses). I was able to find this on the Jewish site Chabad.org:
Moses began to convey G‑d’s Commandments and instructions after Mt. Sinai. He gathered together the entire community of the Children of Israel. In doing so, Moses instituted for all generations that Jews should gather in their synagogues to read from the Torah on Shabbat – as Jews throughout the world do to this very day (Exodus 35:1; Yalkut Shimoni on this verse). The annual Shabbat Torah reading cycle is more than weekly readings/lessons; it is how we “live with the times,” finding in the current week’s Torah portion (“Parshah”) direction and inspiration for every event and action in our daily lives. - Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi
Q: How could Moses gather together the “Children of Israel” if they hadn’t seen Israel (the promised land) yet?
“Israel” was the name given to Jacob after he wrestled all night with an angel (Gen 32:29). So, “Children of Jacob.” That’s how Israel got its name – after Jacob’s name.
LENT: Lent starts in two weeks, Wed, March 1 to Sat, April 3 to Holy Saturday, April 16.
Q: What is Lent?
The root of the word “lent” refers to springtime, literally the “lengthening of the day.” From this we get “new beginnings.” Specifically, it memorializes Jesus’ 40 days in the desert that ushered in Christ’s ministry on Earth. During this “Lenten season,” Christians practice various forms of self-discipline and service in preparation for Easter Sunday.
Q: When did the practice of Lent start?
Tradition says since apostolic times. The first written document about Lent was at the First Council of Nicaea in 325.
Q: Which Christians participate in Lent?
All the mainline Protestants practice Lent. The evangelical, charismatic, and Pentecostal do not formally observe Lent.
Q: How long is Lent?
The dates about give us 46 days. If you subtract the 6 Sundays, you have 40 days, the time Jesus fasted in the desert and encountered Satan’s temptations in the desert to begin “reversing the Fall of Man.”
Q: Why aren’t Sundays counted?
From the earliest days, the Church as declared that Sunday – the day of Christ’s Resurrection – is always a feast day, and therefore fasting on Sundays has always been forbidden (Communion being the exception).
Q: What is the goal?
As James says, humans seem to have split minds, or double-minds, like two people inside us: the one that always wants to satisfy the ego and the body, and other that comes from our conscience that seeks to do the right thing. The Indians had a proverb or story about this. Does anyone remember what it is?
These are the same two “selves” James talked about. During Lent, we want to practice only feeding the good one, and starve the other!
Q: What are we supposed to do during Lent?
At a minimum, Catholics are expected to abstain from eating of meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays during Lent. However, during this time, you may want to consider soul-will-strengthening exercises that correspond to the same 3 temptations that caused the Fall of Man, which were also Satan’s 3 temptations of Christ in the desert. These “worldly desires” seek to enslave us in the 6th Day and keep us from the 7th Day, so it is advisable whenever possible to practice detaching from our less admirable, self-gratifying, worldly habits.
For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 1 Jn 2:16
Q: What does John mean by lust?
Lust does not specifically mean sex (although it is mostly how it is used today) . It comes from Old Norse (Germanic) meaning pleasure or desire, but the implication is an unhealthy, inordinate, or illicit desire. The word you will hear most often in theology discussions is “concupiscence,” which means the same thing – inordinate, unhealthy, undisciplined desire.
To tackle the three temptations of man, we engage in fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, the 3 pillars of Lent:
· Personal physical desires or behavior: Fast from favorite foods (i.e., sugar/alcohol); or from unkindness, indifference, tardiness, arguing); or the positive opposite: practice virtues such as forgiving, admitting wrong/apologizing, practicing humility, love of enemies, etc.
· Worldly desires, such as material possessions or worldly rewards (reputation-related): instead of desiring these things or buying things, the opposite would be to give yourself (your attention) to God: pray a psalm daily, read the life of a Saint, or Augustine’s Confessions.
· Pride/egoism (don’t need anyone, esp God) – almsgiving: give money, food, clothes, time to help others in need/less fortunate than you.
The list of possibilities goes on and on. Do anything. Do something.
Q: What are the benefits of fasting, giving up some comfort, or adopting some behavioral or spiritual practice during Lent?
- Leads us to reflect on our worldly attachments: whether we have control over them, or whether they have control over us. Practicing one’s control over the “things of this world” is great spiritual exercise.
- Reminds us that “Man does not live by bread alone, but by the very word of God.” – Mt 4:4
- We can offer things up to offset our own sinfulness, for those who have died, or all the souls in Purgatory. As Benedict said, anything we offer up (without complaining or bragging about it) can be deposited into Christ’s “Treasury of Compassion” for helping others.
- For renewal of our souls and added grace, especially if we combine it with prayer or other spiritual reading.
Our next meeting (March 1) is the day before Lent begins. Think about whether any of these things would be helpful to your spiritual development. I will ask who wants to share, since that may be helpful to others to hear. Besides, we are here to support each other.
General and Particular Judgement
Particular judgment is what happens to us the moment we die. General judgment is what happens at the end of time, at the Last Judgment.
Particular Judgment (CCC 1021-22)
Death puts an end to human life as the time that is open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ. The NT speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect4 of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith. The parable of the poor man Lazarus and the words of Christ on the cor3ss to the good thief, as well as other NT tests speak to the final destiny of the soul – a destiny which can be different for some and for others.
Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers to his life to Christ: either entrance into blessedness of heaven – through purification or immediately – or immediate/everlasting hell.
Ref 612: “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that does not love his brethren abides in death.” – 1 Jn 3:14-15
Ref 613: “And when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit upon the throne of His glory.” – Mt 25:31-46
1035: The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom man alone can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs. From the beginning, through the coming here of Christ and afterwards, the call to Man has been the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny, for which he was created.
God neither desires nor predestines anyone to choose separation from Him. To the contrary, He has done everything, short of canceling man’s free will, to come to Him, including coming here to show us the way and die for our sins.
General/Final Judgment (CCC 1038-41)
The resurrection of all the dead, of both the just and unjust, will precede the Last Judgment. (We are reunited with our glorified bodies.)
Christ will come in all his glory, and all the angels with him. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and in the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man’s relationship with God will be laid bare. The Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life. And he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates sheep from the goats, with the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left; and they will go away into eternal separation, and the righteous into eternal life.
Q: Why do we need our bodies?
We are completely different beings from the angels. Our bodies and souls together make up who we are. That is eternally true as much as it was temporally true on earth.
Whatever enjoyment we might experience in heaven before the last judgment, it will be higher and complete when we have our glorified bodies. However, the reverse can be said of hell. The separation from God will be worse.
Q: How could a perfectly good and loving God create such a place?
First of all, it is not a physical place. It is a state – a state of separation from God. We are not separated from God now, even if we haven’t chosen Him. As long as we are here, we have his spirit in us calling us to do good, seek meaning, to love, forgive, be kind, etc. We all have hope, do we not? That is a gift from God. So use your imagination a little as think of these things being absent. We don’t know what hell is like exactly – we can only infer by analogies, hence the idea of fire.
Secondly, God doesn’t judge us, we do. As Jesus said, I came not to judge but to save. If he came to judge, he probably would have gone right the King Herod the murderer and the hypocritical Temple leaders. He came to sinners and outcasts to let them know that even though the WORLD had rejected them, God didn’t!
So separation from God is not His idea. Choosing came along with free will. If God overruled their choices, would that be just?
Once again, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), paragraph 1033, hell is “the state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed.”
In the 13th century, the great poet Dante Alighieri wrote the Divine Comedy.
Nine Circles of Hell
Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you for our lives, our relationships, And for your goodness and truth that draws us here.
We wish to transform our love and our will into yours
So that we may walk with you in preternatural grace.
Grant us the wisdom to see others as you do
To hear as you do, to understand as you do, to act as you do.
We pray now as you taught us…
Our Father Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily Bread;
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us all. Amen.
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