Northern Virginia Catholic Bible Study & Apologetics Online via Meetup/Zoom or In Person at St. John Neumann Catholic Church 11900 Lawyers Road, Reston, VA 20191 https://saintjn.org/ House rules/notes… 1. Meetup is www.meetup.com/catholicbiblestudy Zoom Meeting Logon info is the same every week: Zoom ID: 861 1782 2081 Password: 406952 2. I will send out Meeting Recaps the same night as our sessions – these are unedited versions without pictures. An edited version with pictures will be posted on our website https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website/recaps before the next meeting. Taylor will notify everyone at that time. 3. Questions encouraged. If you have questions about anything, you can ask in the chat box, email the Meetup group, or me at ron@hallagan.net. 4. Respectfulness. We will be discussing differences between religions and Christian denominations, and we agree to be respectful at all times. Specifically, Protestants are our friends and brothers in Christ; in fact, I personally owe part of my return to the faith to them! 5. No politics. It would be easy for us to self-destruct, but that’s not our goal. Our goal is to learn/understand/apply the Bible and our Catholic faith. 6. Catholic Prayer & Fellowship. Are you interested in praying with other Catholics during the week? Fellow member Jason Goldberg has started “Catholic Prayer, Fellowship, and Spirituality Meetup.” Sign up at: https://www.meetup.com/online-catholic-prayer-fellowship-and-spirituality/. 7. “The Chosen” TV series. All of us seek a relationship with Jesus Christ, which is not always easy. It can help if we have seen and heard Him. The Chosen captures the real Jesus as close as any show I have ever seen. Just watch the first two with Mary Magdalene and you will see what I mean. 8. RSVP Reminder: Please RSVP whether you are attending the meeting or just reading the Recaps afterwards. The more RSVPs, the more Meetup will give exposure to “Catholic Bible Study” – a good thing! Consider it your way of evangelizing! Please RSVP when you get the Meetup invite weekly. Our Bible Study Format: 5 min greeting/prayers, 10-15 min Catholic topic, 40-45 min on the main topic from weekly List below: Week 1: Feb 7 - Gospel Week: The Eight Beatitudes Week 2: Feb 14 – Bible Week (Gen àRev): We are in EXODUS, the 2nd book of Moses. Week 3: Feb 21 – Survey Topics Voted on by Members: We are currently beginning Christian Comparisons/World Religions.
Ö 1) Jesus’ Greatest Parables Ö 2) Hell, Purgatory, Heaven 3) Christian Comparisons/World Religions
4) Great Women in the Bible 5) World Religions 6) Book of Revelation 7) Major Heresies and Church Councils
Week 4: Feb 28 – Member Questions – finish Comparative Religions
1. The History of the Mass going back to Cain & Abel, all leading to the sublime meaning of the Eucharist.
2. Can you review origin and meaning of the 12 statements of belief in the Creed?
3. You said Gen 1-3 (Creation/The Fall of Man) is at least partly allegory. How do you think things actually happened? Deepest mysteries of the universe. Infinitudes.
4. “Who am I?” It seems we all ask this question at some point in our lives. Some ask it all the time. How do you answer this?
5. Are Charity and Love synonymous? How are they different? What are the 4 highest forms of Charity?
6. Why did Jesus have to die?
Next major upcoming events in the Church Lent – Wed, Feb 22 – Thurs April 6 Triduum – Friday, Apr 7–Sun Apr 9 Easter – April 9 Handout for newcomers and Week 4 Survey Opening Prayer We thank you, Father, for loving us into existence For taking us back after we turned our backs on you. For coming here personally to walk in our shoes and open the gates to Heaven. We thank you for sending us the Holy Spirit to live in us, To be our advisor in life, our advocate with the Father, and our Heavenly GPS. And as You taught us to pray: 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. Catholic Catacombs Website: https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website/recaps For this week’s Lenten reflection, let’s compare the temptations of Adam & Eve vs Jesus.
First, let’s notice how Adam & Eve approach temptation and compared that to how Jesus comes at it.
Adam and Eve, before the fall, were coming from enjoying the abundance of the Garden of Eden. God had only warned them about not eating from the one tree because it would bring them death. He was trying to protect them. You see, for free will to be free will, one must be able to choose against his/her condition. This tree was that portal/choice to a life without God.
Let’s note that Adam & Eve were coming from a life of abundance where they needed nothing; yet they desired to hang around the one tree that God warned them about. Have you ever hung around the wrong people or wrong places too long? Is that not the same thing as Eve admiring the fruit of the forbidden tree? Is it not a foregone conclusion that the serpent would be coming next to invite to take the next step? Is that now how it works in life? Is it possible we can learn from this?
So in this earliest recorded story in the Bible, we have a lesson being given to us right out of the gate. If we go looking to fill your desire for excitement and gratification at the expense of love of others or personal self-control, you will find it.
Moreover, we see that how much we have in life – whether great abundance or nothing – makes no difference to the serpent, to the danger & power of temptation. As a matter of fact, Adam & Eve prove that abundance may indeed be worse! Eve was giving her appetite too much say in how she was sizing up that fruit – especially as she wasn’t even in need of food.
Q: How does Jesus approach temptation?
Here’s what Matthew 4:1 tells us:
“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”
Notice how it doesn’t say he was led into the desert to fast; only to be tempted by the devil. Yet Jesus fasts for the Biblical 40 days (preparation and purification) before facing his tempter. He chooses to approach Satan in an entirely opposite way from abundance – by emptying his attachments to this world. That’s worth thinking about, isn’t it?
Q: Recall that Jesus came here for our sake, not his sake. So then, what message could he be giving us by fasting in preparation for Satan?
If we are owned by the abundance of this world – or by the seeking of it, then we will be weaker when we come near temptation… either weaker by allowing ourselves to be attracted to it – perhaps because we think “we got this” or else because “we need this.” Temptation is happy with either one – it does not discriminate.
“He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry.” – Matthew 4:2
Jesus was indeed hungry — but he was also disciplined. So when Satan tempted him to turn stones into bread, he was ready.
Once again, it turns out that the amount of hunger a person has isn’t the point — their amount of self-control is. Rather than admiring the beauty of food, Jesus had spent 40 days conquering his appetites, and so he stood up to the devil easily. This is why Lent reminds us to take control of all the physical addictions in this world and not give them such sway in our lives.
Second Temptation: Adam and Eve (and Satan) bend God’s words to their ends. Jesus lives God’s words. Eve has a weak grasp on God’s word. God told her earlier in Gen Ch. 2: “You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good & evil. From that tree you shall not eat, for when you eat of it you shall die.” However, Eve misreports His words when she shares what He said with the serpent: “God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’” God never said that touching the fruit would make her die. Is this such a big deal? It is, because her added words bring her closer to the serpent, not God. The serpent’s mocking question to Eve, “Did God say you couldn’t eat from any tree in the Garden?” gets a similar mocking response from Eve – we can’t eat from it or even touch it! – which makes God sound as unreasonable as the serpent’s comment. This is meant to be a lesson for all humans, because we have all altered the truth when the truth is inconvenient. It is a first step in turning away from God. In the second temptation of Christ, Satan tells Jesus to leap off a tower and be saved by God. He quotes Psalm 91 which tells God’s people that, if they do his will, “He will command his angels concerning you and with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Satan childishly reinterprets that to mean, “No matter what you do, God will save you.” But Jesus knows that God is a Father who pours out mercy on His children to help them do His will, not the other way around. God is not an all-powerful enabler to help us his children do their will. What a disaster that would be. To answer the devil, Jesus quotes God’s words about Moses in Deuteronomy. You might recall that, in a place called Massah, Moses was supposed to bring water out of a rock using the words God gave him. Instead, when Moses struck the rock he made it sound like God was bringing the water out of the rock at his (Moses’) command. Later, God said to Moses, “You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test as you did at Massah” (Deut 6:16). What is Jesus’ response to the devil? “As it is written, do not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Mt 4:7) Third Temptation: Adam and Eve are dazzled by Satan’s offer. Jesus dismisses Satan. Satan tells Adam and Eve that they will gain ultimate power if they eat the fruit. “You certainly will not die!” he lied. “No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil.” Adam and Eve want the ultimate power that comes from “being as gods” and eat the fruit. That’s not what they get. For starters, they get fear and shame — and after that they get exiled from Paradise and the punishments that come with along with mortality. Satan offers Jesus ultimate power, too. He shows him all the magnificent kingdoms of the world — kingdoms that, chillingly, belong to Satan — and offers them to Jesus. “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me!” Jesus waves him away, saying, “The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.” (Mt 4:10, Deut 6:13) And whereas Adam and Eve get exiled for what they did, we learn what Jesus gets: “Angels came and ministered to him.” This leaves just one last battle with Satan to talk about… ours. As we start Lent, the Church puts Adam and Eve and Satan in front of us to help us see what’s important. And what’s important? The exact opposite of these temptations that have conquered humans and angels from the beginning of time: fasting, prayer and almsgiving. So then …. Why do we fast? To put ourselves at Jesus’s side in the desert, training our appetite in saying “No” instead of teasing our appetite by staring at forbidden fruits. Why do we pray? So that we will stop trying to get God to see things our way and start learning to see things his way. Why do we give alms? Because God is the ultimate power in the universe, and God is love — so the only way for us to tap into divine power is for us to unselfishly, unstoppably, give. Bonus Grace: Each of these is a way to leave ourselves behind entirely. 2 Member Questions… Q: A member asked (I’m paraphrasing!) about those people who say they do not feel they need to “depend” on God for everything and that they are perfectly capable of doing good on their own. That is a common state of thinking before one learns the value of depending on God. I myself felt very strongly that way before “coming over to the light.” Surrendering control over to God or anyone else was not in my vocabulary, as I was already rather successful without Him. The first thing is that God gave us our powers of free will and a spiritual nature, which is capable of so much more than our physical nature. He did not give these to us so we could unplug from him and run off, which is like running on emergency battery power that will run out after this life and then we will have nowhere to go because we unplugged from the source. God gave us these powers to stay connected because He is the source of spiritual powers, grace, love, and eternity. We do not give ourselves up when stay connected to God (depend on Him); we just give up our self-centered self so that our true “self” can become all that we were destined to become. Connected to God, our “self” has a thousand times more potential, just not in selfish ways. Explaining this to someone who doesn’t believe is like explaining to someone who has never ridden a two-wheeler bicycle what “balance” is. Until they experience it, they won’t know and won’t believe. How do you experience it when you don’t believe it? Well, that’s a little like telling someone “I don’t believe in you but let’s have a relationship anyway.” You’ve closed the door before even trying to walk through it. However, if you can be open enough to try communicating with God, then you can begin. You can even say, “God, I don’t believe you at this point but I would like to if it’s possible. I ask you to help me with this and that’s the best I can do.” Often, this is enough to open the door for things to happen, but you can’t stand there looking at your watch. Whereas the physical world’s currency is money, the currency in the spiritual world is faith. Think of Star Wars – the Jedi can’t do a thing if they don’t trust the force. If they turn their backs on the force, they immediately lose their Jedi-ness. Q: Not sure what this had to do with our topic, but another member asked what I know about the Vatican army and navy. When the Vatican was known as the Papal States, their protection came from other Christian countries. For a long time, that protection came from the Byzantines (who had an army and navy). Eventually, they lost that protection and were forced to subsidize their own protection against Muslim raids, etc. This small army/navy force often worked with the other Italian city states for protection from outside forces. This eventually shrunk in size along with the Papal States, which became Vatican City (much smaller) and the army ultimately became the Swiss Guard, which now number around 135.
Back to our topic!
Q: Can we compare these temptations to the graces we receive at Mass?
We indeed tap into an abundance of grace at Mass, where we see Jesus undo all three temptations:
Satan told him to turn stones into bread. At Mass, he turns himself in to the Bread of Life.
Satan told him to throw himself off a tower to get God to save him. We see Jesus ascend the cross to save us.
Satan told him he would give him all the kingdoms of the earth if he bows to him. We bow to Jesus and receive the Kingdom of Heaven.
Then, we return to our pews and pray, “God, make this Lent different. Make this one last. This time, make my fasting, prayer, and almsgiving change me for good.” Lenten Prayer Sources https://mycatholic.life/lent-prayers-reflections/ https://equippinggodlywomen.com/faith/daily-lenten-prayers-for-spiritual-renewal/ (40 prayers for 40 days) Find a mass near you anytime any place in the world: www.masstimes.org
Q: Where do Catholics and most Protestants differ primarily?
To begin with, Protestants believe in what is called “Salvation through the Five Solas.” (“sola” is Latin for only)
1) Sola Scriptura – Scripture Only… The Bible is inerrant, infallible, and only source of the Christian faith.
2) Sola Fide – By Faith Only, not works, is one saved.
3) Solus Christus – Christ Only can reconcile us to God.
4) Sola Gratia – Only by God’s grace is one reconciled to Him.
5) Soli Deo Gloria – all salvation is for God’s glory and honor, not to man. A required conclusion of the first four.
We left off with #2, Sola Fide. .
1. Sola Fide– Only by faith, not works, is one saved.
Catholicism has always held that faith is absolutely necessary, and that any good works must flow out of one’s faith. In
other words, if you have no faith, good works can’t get you to Heaven. On the other hand, if you have faith in Christ, then you are expected to put that faith into action in order to give your faith meaning. If one apologizes for one’s mistakes, what good are the words of apology if the offensive behavior continues? None. Similarly, Catholics believe that faith (saying one believes) is not enough; it must be followed up by action. Faith and works are two sides of the same coin; both are required.
“While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” Jesus replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” (Luke 11:27-28)
Jesus: “… for wisdom is vindicated by her works.” (Matthew 11:19)
“Do not be amazed at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation.” (John 5:29-30)
Jesus: "I bring with me the recompense I will give to each according to their deeds." (Rev 22:12)
“Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” (Matt 5:15-16)
“In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:17) He goes on to say even demons believe in God.
Finally, it should be noted that the “works” St. Paul had issues with were “works of the law,” not “works of charity,” which Jesus requires of us.
2. Solus Christus – “Christ Alone”; only Christ can forgive and reconcile us to God.
Catholicism: As for ‘Christ Alone,’ of course he alone saves us. However, it is also true that the Holy Spirit plays a HUGE role in our salvation. According to the Bible, we are temples to the HS, who was sent to us on Pentecost after Jesus resurrection and ascension. The HS was instrumental if not responsible for the Incarnation, the Baptism of Jesus, and all the Sacraments for the rest of time. However, the real problem with “Christ Alone” is it tends to isolate us into a “Me and Jesus” scenario, where I don’t really need a Church or family or the Body of Christ/Communion of Saints; yet that is what Jesus and the Holy Spirit calls us to. To work on one-ness, unity, communion!
As for forgiveness, we also believe only Christ forgives but also that Christ authorized the Apostles to forgive “in his name,” and they in turn passed it on to the bishops/clergy who followed after them. BTW, it is Christ, not the priests in the confessional, who does the forgiving. This was so important to Jesus that he made this his very first commission the evening of his Resurrection (Easter Sunday):
“It (the Resurrection) was the first day of the week, and that very evening, when the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” – John 20:19-23
Q: Clearly this instruction to forgive sins must presume that Jesus wanted people to confess their sins to someone – specifically those who are given the authority to grant such forgiveness, just as he did. What possible reason would Jesus have for wanting people to confess their sins out loud?
First, people need to articulate their sins to truly face them, not just think them. Except for mortal sins, we can indeed confess them to God personally, at Mass, etc., but articulating them regretfully to God and asking His forgiveness is sometimes confused with just thinking about it briefly. Not the same. Second, it takes a certain amount of humility to tell your sins out loud to someone, and that is exactly what Jesus desires – humility, the virtue that conquers Pride. Third, it is cathartic to unload guilt and helpful to the process of letting go. Fourth, it is refreshing and rehabilitating to hear the words, “In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.”
Q: Some critics say that the penance given in the confessional hardly compares to our sins. This is generally true. What is our answer?
Of course our penance is less than our sins. We could never do enough to cancel our sins. But God can, and Jesus did. This isn’t about equal punishment under God’s law but rather leading us into contrition and prayer, which is our hope going forward. We should be grateful on our knees for such kindness of penance.
Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you for the blessing of exploring your teachings together.
We especially thank our Protestant brothers and sisters for their shared believe in You
For whatever our differences are, if the entire world were filled with Protestants and Catholics,
You could declare Heaven has already come here and now.
May your love and grace follow each of us as we return to our daily lives, refreshed and blessed by you.
We ask all this in your name.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
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