Northern Virginia Catholic Bible Study & Apologetics House rules/notes… 1. Online via Meetup/Zoom or In Person at St. John Neumann Catholic Church 11900 Lawyers Road, Reston, VA 20191 https://saintjn.org/ 2. Meetup is www.meetup.com/catholicbiblestudy Zoom Meeting Logon info is the same every week: Zoom ID: 861 1782 2081 Password: 406952 3. 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. 4. 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. 5. 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! 6. 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. 7. 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/. 8. “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 Jesus better than any show I have ever seen. Highly recommended. 9. 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. Bible Study Format: Each week of the month has a repeating topic, as noted below. Each meeting: 5 min greet, prayer, 10-15 min Catholic topic, 40-45 min main topic. Week 1: April 4 - Gospel Week: Sermon on the Mount, cont’d Week 2: April 11 – Bible Week (Gen àRev): We are in EXODUS, the 2nd book of Moses. Week 3: April 18 – Survey Topics Voted on by Members: We are currently beginning Islam (#3)
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: Member Questions:
1. “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? Also, what does it mean to be born again? Does this change the self?
2. Does the path get harder the closer we get to God? Things that seemed not so bad before now look bad. Also called Acedia.
3. Are Charity and Love synonymous? How are they different? What are the 4 highest forms of Charity?
4. Can you review origin and meaning of the 12 statements of belief in the Creed?
5. How many Gospels have the story of Jesus’ calming the storm? Are they the same story?
6. Why was God full of vengeance and violence in the OT? Or was that simply an interpretation by those of that time?
7. Can you provide an intro/overview of the OT books?
Catholic Catacombs Website: https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website/recaps
Opening Prayer
Hear O Israel, O Body of Christ, Communion of Saints, and Universal Church
The Lord is God and the Lord is One
whom we love with all our hearts, all our minds, all our souls, and all our might (Deut 6:4-5, 11:13).
We love our neighbors as ourselves (Lv 19:18),
and this includes praying for our enemies (Mt 5).
Lord, for this we need You to bless us all, forgive us our sins,
and grant us the healing of understanding and the light of your wisdom
as we work to become united as one people in the HS.
MWNOBD
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.
Quote of the Day
“Now, human life is always subject to change; it needs to be born ever anew ... here birth does not come about by a foreign intervention, as is the case with bodily beings ... it is the result of a free choice. Thus we are in a certain way our own parents, creating ourselves as we will, by our decisions.”
– St. John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor No. 71
Major upcoming holy days in the Church…
Pentecost Sunday – May 28 (elevation and fulfillment of OT Pentecost)
Week Four: Member Questions
1) Why did Jesus have to die? Why did Jesus say on the cross, "Father, why have you forsaken me?" We answered these in Week 1 but will recap them again.
2) History of the Mass
a) What is the difference between the Temple and Synagogue in the Old Testament and the Church now?
b) How do we understand the meaning of sacrifice, starting with animal sacrifices in the OT, the "Sacrifice" of the Mass, and sacrifice in our own lives today?
c) You mentioned that the Mass has its origins in the OT as far back as Cain and Abel. Please explain.
As I mentioned, the questions in #1 were answered two weeks ago so I will provide the short answers this time. See the posting on our Catacombs website for April 11 for more detailed information.
Q: Why did Jesus have to die?
Jesus didn’t have to die. He chose to. God knew what humans would do to Him, and He came anyway. That’s what love does. Would you do the same for your children?
Could God have chosen a different way to save us? Yes, but He didn’t, and that is instructive in itself. Somehow it was more important for Him to share our fallen condition, experience human suffering with us, and offer us a way through it all, not around it. This would indicate that suffering is our lot – a necessary part of our condition, of our choices, and of our spiritual growth and ultimate freedom. It is said that love is best measured by how much one is willing to sacrifice for another. Nothing could show love greater than this. God didn’t just talk about love; he acted on it and showed us what it was personally.
Q: Why did Jesus say, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Did God really abandon Jesus?
No, God didn’t abandon Jesus. Three reasons/points:
First, the words Jesus used are from the prophetic Psalm 22, which begins, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Most Jews hearing this would have known the Psalm he was quoting, including the fact that the Psalm doesn’t end in despair but victory, just as Jesus’s death does. He was fulfilling this Messianic Psalm.
Second, in becoming human to undo the fall of humanity, Jesus experienced everything humans did. Of course, a big part of that would include suffering and desperation, which he endured in spades on the cross.
Third, it would not have been “just” if a human didn’t pay for human sins. On the other hand, who but God could take on all of humanity’s sins? It was the perfect sacrifice because Jesus was both. As God he could take on all our sins, and as man he was fulfilling justice. Because of this, we are able to receive eternal forgiveness for the asking, and the gates of Heaven will be open to us.
3. Origins of the Mass
Prologue
During the fall of man in Genesis 3, humans decide to follow Satan and Self, not God. In the process, they lose their grace and close relationship with God, resulting in their entering the world weakened and mortal (= evil and death follow them). This actually turns out to be an incredible gift since humans will not go the way of the fallen angels (i.e., Satan), but are instead given another chance.
Humans enter the world understanding good, evil, and suffering, and now must find their way back to God. Yet, even as they realize this may be an impossible task without the grace they just lost, God suddenly makes them a promise. In Genesis 3:15, God promises Eve that her seed (offspring) will one day crush the head of the serpent, which means the seed will somehow conquer evil and death.
Q: How will this happen?
The new Eve who will usher in a new beginning will be none other than Mary, for it will be her seed – Jesus – who will overcome evil by taking on humanity’s sins and re-opening the doors to eternal life.
The stage where this promise plays out begins at the Last Supper and is completed on the cross. Jesus as a human must love to the end, which is shown by his forgiving everyone while hanging on the cross. The completion of God’s promise to humans is what Jesus is referring to when he said, “It is finished.”
Questions?
Church, Synagogue, Temple
The root meaning of the both church and synagogue is "assembly places" for prayer and worship.
Synagogues evolved in the OT as weekly gathering places because of the difficulty for many in Israel to travel long distances to the Temple in Jerusalem. Although ceremonial animal sacrifices to God were made three times/day at the famous Temple, the people were required to make the pilgrimage 3 times/year (Passover, Shavuout, and Sukkot).
The synagogue did not conduct sacrifices, but weekly Sabbath gatherings for Torah study, prayer, singing of Psalms.
Q: Do you see any similarities between the Temple-Synagogue services and our Catholic Mass?
The two Jewish services were the weekly study of the Word at the synagogue and the animal sacrifices for sins at the Temple. The two separate parts of the Mass are the Liturgy of the Word and Liturgy of the Eucharist (sacrifice).
Our Liturgy of the Word is the evolution of synagogue practice, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist is the part of the Last Supper that replaced animal sacrifices at the Jerusalem Temple.
In the first 15 or so years after Christ's resurrection, Christian Jews attended Sabbath services on Saturday and on Sunday (“The Lord's Day”) they celebrated the Eucharist as a community in each other’s homes.
During time, the followers of Christ were growing fast. They weren’t called Christians yet but were considered a new sect of the Jewish religion called “The Way.” It wasn't till about 15 years after Christ that they began to be called Christians, a derogatory term given to them by the Jews. Because of the threat of their growing numbers, the Jews authorities began expelling Christians from their worship services. It was about this time that Christians began combining their Saturday Sabbath Torah services and their Sunday Eucharist service into one service. This is how the Mass came to be divided into the 1st half called the “Liturgy of the Word” and the 2nd half the “Liturgy of the Eucharist.”
Sacrifice
Q: How do we understand the meaning of sacrifice, starting with animal sacrifices in the OT, the "Sacrifice" of the Mass, and sacrifice in our own lives today?
In order to understand the history (Old Testament) that leads to the Last Supper/Mass, we must understand the meaning of sacrifice, especially in Biblical history.
In normal human terms, sacrifice means to surrender something prized for the sake of something greater, like giving up things so your kids can go to college, or giving up questionable food and booze for the sake of one’s health, or giving up a wandering eye for the sake of one’s marriage.
It is the same in religious terms with one addition. Sacrifice means to surrender something prized for the sake of something higher so as to come closer to God.
We have socially become adverse to the word “sacrifice” as though we could perhaps make enough money such that we might never have to sacrifice. This is a 6th Day game plan, not 7th Day. The truth is – and will always be – that love (wanting/willing the good of another) is defined by sacrifice. The less sacrifice we are willing to make for another, the less we love them. The more we are willing to sacrifice for another, the more love we have for them. This is true for friendships, spouses, kids, everyone. Sacrifice and love cannot be separated.
What about primitive “sacrifices”?
Ancient Human Sacrifice is as Old as Time
We tend to look upon animal sacrifices as primitive and heathen – and this was true in pagan sacrifices, especially since human sacrifice was all too common. However, for the Hebrews, human sacrifice was not allowed and the animal sacrifices showed a level of spiritual sophistication. The animals were a substitute for their own lives and was for the atonement of their sins – wrongs they committed selfishly against others or God. Consider again the definition: to surrender something of value (the animal) for the sake of something greater (their forgiveness) in order to be closer to God.
Also, are we really in a position to look down on them since in our own culture we take the meat of animals for granted and sacrifice them by the billions every year in factories? Furthermore, the Torah forbade inflicting unnecessary pain on animals, and they were even required to give their animals rest on the Sabbath just like people. In fact, animals were far more valued back then than they are today since it was the source of their food, their labor, and their income. But, even more than their livelihood, the animals were creatures that the owner raised and saw on a daily basis, and whose needs were a matter of personal responsibility and concern. That made parting with them all the harder.
More elevated than this was that the Israelites were learning how to transfer their sins to an innocent animal – a substitute – and the smoke that went up was sweet-smelling to God. Why? Because it represented their desire to become more like God! We should be so primitive.
And by learning about substitution, they were being prepared for what? The Messiah, Jesus!
Naturally, the higher the cost of one’s offering, the greater was his sacrifice. If someone offered a sickly/blemished animal or rotten produce from their fields, what would this say about his inner goodness? Are we not reminded of Cain and Abel’s first sacrifices?
Another dissimilarity to pagan sacrifices was that God told the Hebrews to eat their own sacrificed lamb at Passover.
Why would God do this?
Unlike “pagan gods,” God was sharing His sacrifice with those who made the sacrifice. He did this because He was not only interested in atonement and forgiveness, but love and fellowship. God was inviting them to table!
What do we do at Mass? We share in the sacrifice. Exactly what they did at the Last Supper.
By sharing in the sacrifice, God is saying, “I understand you, I’ve walked in your shoes, I understand your difficulties, and I want to help you and teach you.”
As I hope we can see, sacrifice was not just a primitive act of ignorance for the Hebrews, but a developing form of spiritual relationship.
Nevertheless, these animal and grain sacrifices were constant and never-ending. Why? Because animals were not enough for quantity and gravity of man’s sinfulness. Our sins outran the sacrifices. But you see this WAS the message of the Old Testament: nothing humans could ever do would be enough to close the gap separating us from God.
On the one hand, it became obvious over time that only God could close such a gap! On the other hand, justice requires that man pay his own debts. This was a puzzle that the Jews only hoped God’s Messiah could solve.
Closing Prayer
Thank you, Father
for loving us into existence and for taking us back after we turned our backs on You.
Thank you for becoming one of us
for showing us how to love, for opening the gates of Heaven, and for paying our way.
Thank you for leaving yourself behind in the Mass,
in the Holy Spirit, and in your Word,
to help each of us complete this journey.
Thank you for my family, my jobs,
And for all the trials you have graced me with, for it is through adversity that we grow in faith.
Thank you for the endless, well-traveled stairwell of doubts,
Without which there would be no advancement up the stairs of faith.
Thank you for our remarkable, edifying, transcending relationship
That is always remaking us in our continuous dance with You.
Glory be
to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.
Amen.
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