Northern Virginia Catholic Bible Study
Northern Virginia Catholic Bible Study house rules/notes…
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
Questions encouraged. If you have questions about anything, you can email the group via Meetup, or me directly at ron@hallagan.net.
The unedited recaps from our meetings will be posted on Meetup immediately after our meeting, and a final edited version will be posted on our Catholic Catacombs Light website https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website/blog, a week later. You will be notified via Meetup of both.
See The Chosen. Knowing Jesus Christ means being able to better relate to God. Check it out: The Chosen at https://thechosen.link/1Y1R7.
Respectfulness. We will be discussing 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, and personally I owe part of my return to the faith to them.
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 and help members develop a closer relationship with Jesus Christ in their daily lives.
Catholic Prayer, Fellowship, and Spirituality Meetup led by fellow member Jason Goldberg: https://www.meetup.com/online-catholic-prayer-fellowship-and-spirituality/
Bible Study Format: 5 min prayer, 15 min Catholic topic, 40 min main topic from the weeks listed below
Week 1: May 3 – Gospel Week: Epiphany in Upper Room, Jesus interrogates Peter, 4 Creatures of the Apocalypse
Week 2: May 10 – Bible Gen-2-Rev: Gen23-29 – Sarah and Abraham die; Isaac and Rebekah; Jacob and Esau, Jacob and Rachel
Week 3: May 17 – Topic of Choice: Purgatory I
Topics Survey Results
√ 1) Jesus’ Great Parables 2) Hell, Purgatory, Heaven 3) Christian Comparisons 4) Great Women in the Bible
5) Why is there suffering? 6) World Religions 7) Book of Revelation
Week 4: May 24 – Purgatory II
Week 5: May 31 – Open Mic
Upcoming Catholic Holy Days
Easter Sunday – was April 17 – the most important day in Christianity for, as Paul said, if Jesus had not resurrected from the dead, then all of this was for nothing.
Ascension – Thursday, May 26 – 40 days after Easter
Pentecost – Sunday, June 5 – 50 days after Easter
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father
We gather together to learn, to grow and to change. Help us to move into a deeper understanding of your truth. We lay our lives down before you and ask that you would move amongst us. May we all feel safe to think and question and share our lives with you.
Lord, we ask for your grace and blessings be sent to all those in trouble around the world.
Please comfort them and also give aid to those who are able to help them.
And may the souls of the departed rest in your peace.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are 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.
Exegesis. Interpreting Scripture (exegesis) is its own science. The CCC explains the general methodology in CCC#115-119.
Criteria for interpreting Scripture (CCC 109–114)
1. Be attentive to the content and unity of the whole Scripture
2. Read the Scripture within the living Tradition of the whole Church
3. Be attentive to the analogy of faith (the truths all fit together)
The senses of Scripture (CCC 115–119)
1. The literal sense – the intended meaning
2. The spiritual sense (three aspects)
a. Allegorical – how does it relate to Christ?
b. Moral – how does it relate to my conduct and life?
c. Anagogical – how does it relate to eternity?
Easter Season
Q: This month, you may notice that the Mass readings delve into Acts of the Apostles. Why?
Acts begins with the end of Jesus’ mission on earth – with the Ascension. That marks the beginning of the Church. And the Church gets it’s “Confirmation” ten days later when the Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost.
One of the more interesting facts in the early Church is the continual presence and movement of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit begins to play a much larger role in human affairs.
Q: The New Testament spans 27 books over 100 years. How many times is the Holy Spirit mentioned?
About 250. Almost 70 times in Acts of the Apostles alone.
We live in the “Messianic Era,” which is sometimes referred to as the “Age of the Holy Spirit.”
Q: The Old Testament spans 46 books and 6,000 years. How many times is the Holy Spirit (or similar terminology) mentioned?
About 100.
Last week, we talked about Peter being given the reins of the future Church by Jesus. That makes Peter the first Leader, or Pope.
Q: How many popes have there been?
266 from Peter to Francis https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12272b.htm
Q: How long did Peter serve as pope?
Peter: 30AD – 64AD = 34 years (longest ever)
Second was St. John Paul II – 1978-2005 = 27 years
TOPIC WEEK: What an issue – Purgatory!
Starting with the Reformation in the 16th century, Purgatory has come under fire (so to speak). The reason it has come under fire is because of some several new doctrines that arrived on the scene that did not square with Purgatory, primarily Sola Fide – Salvation by “Faith Alone.”
A common challenge a Catholic might get is this:
Q: Don’t you think that what Jesus did – suffering and dying for our sins – was sufficient for Christian salvation? Do Catholics really believe that humans need to add to to what Jesus did in order to be saved? Wasn’t His suffering, dying, and resurrection enough?
Of course the question is a straw man.
Q: What’s a straw man argument?
It’s when someone distorts or exaggerates an argument and then attacks the distorted argument rather than the real one. The distorted argument is the straw man because a “straw man” is easy to knock down.
Catholics do not question that what Jesus did was sufficient in every way (and then some) for the salvation of all mankind, past present, and future. The disagreement is being framed incorrectly.
The disagreement lies in what is an acceptable response to God offering salvation to humanity.
Q: So what is the Catholic response?
First of all, as we said above, OF COURSE we believe that salvation is NOT POSSIBLE without Jesus Christ dying on our behalf to pay for the sins of mankind. This is what opened the gates of Heaven. Without it, the gates would have remained closed, period.
But this is only the first half the equation. What Jesus did was an incredible act of love, but love cannot be forced on anyone. We can accept or reject love because we are free-will beings. THAT is the 2nd half of the equation.
So the first part – what Jesus did for us – is absolutely sufficient and complete. Because of it, salvation is now possible. Now comes our part of the equation. What is our response?
Note that, so far, all Christians are in agreement. We all believe we must respond affirmatively to get this gift of salvation.
Then where do we disagree? We disagree in what that response entails.
The Catholic response involves two steps that haven’t changed since Jesus walked the earth: 1) Accept the gift of salvation from Jesus – usually this is part of our Baptism and Confirmation, and 2) try to live our lives as best we can like Jesus taught and showed us (be forgiving, be honest, be humble, love your neighbor, and walk with God). Catholics also know that we can lose our salvation if we decide to depart from God, because we still have free-will and choose to leave any time. By “departing God” we mean committing a mortal sin (a serious wrong that we commit knowingly and freely); but even then we can return to God, although we have to meet with a priest for reconciliation.
This process above was how it was for ALL Christians until it was altered by Martin Luther in the 17th century. Since then, many Protestants believe salvation is primarily a one-step response. They teach that by declaring that Jesus Christ is Lord whom God raised from the dead to save us is sufficient for their salvation, bam, done. They believe that this “confession of faith” guarantees them salvation – their place in heaven – no matter what they do the rest of their lives (there are some exceptions in some denominations).
An important note: Protestants will agree that being good and doing good works is of course important; and many often do good, charitable works. But whether you do this or not does not affect your salvation – it’s guaranteed.
Q: How could they arrive at this conclusion?
If you ask them, they will likely say they are just doing what Paul said in Romans 10:9. This is what Protestants refer to as “Sola Fides,” or “Salvation is by faith alone.” Making this “declaration of faith” represents their “faith alone”:
“… if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10)
Romans 10:9-10 sounds convincing! However, do you recall from the beginning of tonight’s session how proper exegesis is done?
Q: What was the first criteria:
Be attentive to the content and unity of the whole Scripture.
That means we should never pick a passage here and there and then draw conclusions about them, or else we might end up with a new religion. The first thing we need to do is cross check this passage with other passages and make sure it says what we think it says. So let’s do that.
Here’s what Paul writes to the Christians in Philippi:
“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling…” – Philippians 2:12
Work out your salvation with fear and trembling? Does this sound like a one-step-and-done?
Another passage from Paul – this one to the Christians in Corinth:
“I preached to you the Gospel, which you received, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold it fast.” (I Cor 15:1-2)
Does “if you hold fast” sound like a guarantee of salvation, no matter what you do?
Here’s another passage where the Apostle Peter implores all Christians to…
“Long for pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into your salvation.” – 1 Peter 2:2
This is what Catholics teach – that it’s a process, a journey, with God. That’s why Jesus came here – not just to save us from hell, although that’s nice. Instead, we should ask what He came to save us for?
He came to save us for a relationship, so he could continue walking with us and teaching us just like he did with the Apostles. He wants to do that with all of us. That’s worth coming for!
And finally, we have these resounding statements the Apostle James, cousin of Jesus and the first Bishop of Jerusalem:
What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead! Fool! Would you not like to know that faith without deeds is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by his deed, because he offered his son Isaac on the altar? So you can see that his faith was working together with his deeds; his faith became perfect by what he did. You see now that it is by deeds, and not only by believing, that someone is justified. For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith without good works is dead.” – James 2:14, 17, 20-24, 26
Q: Since Paul and Peter and James make clear that there is more to salvation than a confession of faith, what did Paul mean by his words in Romans 9:10?
James and Paul were writing to different audiences so their emphases were different. Paul is taking the Gospel to the Gentiles and wherever he goes he is confronted by the local Jewish leaders in that town who are usually adamant that Jewish “works of the law” were required for salvation. However, “works of the law” refers to Jewish religious rituals, dietary restrictions, and circumcision. Jesus also condemns the Pharisees for allowing these “exterior rules” to supersede the spirit of love, goodness, and mercy behind them. When we think of works in our day and age, we think of works of love, or works of charity – which is what Jesus taught and did his entire life! We aren’t talking about “works of the law.” Paul was emphasizing that FAITH trumps works of the law all day long, and he is right. But as Paul confirms later in the passages shared above, faith only becomes real in action.
When Paul does speak of works, he even specifies “works of the law”:
“For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his [God’s] sight.” – Romans 3:20
“We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.” – Galatians 2:16
This is what Luther misunderstood, and so many Protestants now look at the word “works” as though it’s radioactive. Many Protestants actually believe that Catholics think that Jesus needs our help by our good works in order to make salvation happen! Jesus doesn’t need our help to accomplish what he’s already accomplished. Jesus just wants our cooperation in performing acts of love all around us. It means faith isn’t a static thing we did once in the past – it’s a verb, all our lives long.
Q: Think of it like an apology. If we hurt our friend or spouse and we were sorry for it, we would probably apologize to that person, right? How does our friend/spouse know whether to believe us?
By our behavior! If we apologize and then continue to repeat the same offense, how sincere was our apology?
But if we stop repeating the same offense after apologizing, then others will know our words are true!
God expects the same from us. It’s called “spiritual learning.” It’s how we grow to be more like Christ over time. The process always starts with our making mistakes, then recognizing that we made mistakes, then being humble enough to apologize for them, then trying to improve our behavior, and all the while keeping the HS involved (“walking with God”).
There’s a world of difference between works of the law and works of love, and it’s in Scripture everywhere. Let’s pray that the Holy Spirit is able to heal this misunderstanding.
Consider this shipwreck analogy…
We’re like the survivors of a shipwreck in a storm out in mid-ocean. We’ve been rescued from drowning and welcomed onboard the ship we call the Church. That ship is now taking us to a safe harbor — our home in heaven with God.
But we’re not home yet.
You could say, then, that we’ve been “saved” in the sense of being rescued and taken aboard a safe vessel. But we can’t really speak of being “saved” in the full sense until we reach our destination. We must humbly admit that we haven’t completed the salvation journey.
Meanwhile, we also must recognize the sobering possibility that — God forbid — we could choose someday to jump overboard again.
Salvation isn’t guaranteed just because of something we’ve done in the past. We continue to have a free will, which is part of God’s likeness in us. So we still have the ability to turn away from God again. And although this is a chilling possibility, it shouldn’t make us constantly worried that we’re not going to make it. We just need to stay on God’s boat.
We can be confident that God desires our salvation, and He’s faithful to help us. If we’re tempted to forsake Him, He’ll grant us the power to resist that temptation. And if we fail, he offers us forgiveness for the asking! How cool is that.
Even so, the choice is still ours. And we make choices every day that either draw us closer or lead us farther away from Him.
This is why simply believing in Jesus isn’t enough. Heck, Satan believes in Jesus. That’s why he works overtime to distract us.
Friendship with God, like any friendship, is more than just getting acquainted. It involves making a series of choices to love, over the long term, so that a committed relationship grows.
So, Catholics believe that faith and salvation isn’t a one-time event. Faith is the boat that saves us, and then it’s all about the journey.
Q: Which road is easier to travel?
Believing that faith alone is all that is needed is a much, much, much easier road to travel.
Knowing that you have to demonstrate your faith in everything you do, is of course a much harder path.
Q: Does the first one even need Purgatory?
No, but do you now see why they don’t even understand the need for it? They are saved, game over! What’s Purgatory for?
If that were only true! Actually, the Protestants will eventually come to appreciate Purgatory very much one day. Firsthand.
Now, since the true Christian path to Heaven is fraught with so many more trials and difficulties, it’s kind of scary, isn’t it? I mean, how easy is it to fall off the path?
One EXTREMELY helpful thing Jesus did – his first act after his Resurrection – was to give the Apostles the power to forgive sins. This should be no surprise because that’s what he died for. So now his first act is to make forgiveness available to EVERYONE. But, again, this “gift” that has been paid for cannot be forced on any free-will being. We must want it, ask for it, and mean it.
Nevertheless, even with “forgiveness for the asking,” we forget to ask sometimes. So we fall short on the path of doing good works, and we fall short on the path of forgiveness.
Q: Are we doomed?
No! We have Purgatory, the anteroom to heaven. As long as we are baptized and we stay in the boat, then all our shortfalls – whether in our failure to love others sufficiently or our failure to seek forgiveness – can be healed in Purgatory. If Heaven is a pristine pool, then Purgatory is the shower before the pool.
Closing Prayer to the HS
Holy Spirit,
powerful Consoler and Advisor, sacred Bond of the Father and the Son, Descend into our hearts and establish in them Your loving dominion. We believe that when you dwell in us, You also prepare a dwelling for us with the Father and the Son. May our lives faithfully imitate the life and virtues of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him, with the Father, and You, Divine Spirit, be honor and glory forever.
Glory be… Amen
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