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: Gospel Week: Pentecost, The Most Holy Trinity Week 2: Bible Week (Gen àRev): We are in EXODUS, the 2nd book of Moses. Week 3: Topics Requested by Members: We are currently in Comparative Religions.
Ö 1) Jesus’ Greatest Parables Ö 2) Hell, Purgatory, Heaven 3) Comparative Religions: Protestantism,
Orthodoxy, Islam, Buddhism & Hinduism 4) Great Women in the Bible 6) Book of Revelation
7) Major Heresies and Church Councils
Week 4: Member Questions:
o What does it mean to be born again? Does this change the self?
o What is happiness?
o Are doubts bad? What are we supposed to do with our doubts?
2. God-Questions
o “How do we know we are following Jesus?
o Does the path get harder or easier the closer we get to God?
o Is the peace of Christ different from peace of the world?
o Why doesn’t God just show himself?
o Jesus says in John 14:28, “The Father is greater than I.” What does this mean? I thought they were one.
o In Genesis and somewhere else, it says that God changed his mind. In another place, it says God repented that he made humans. I thought God was unchangeable. Can you explain this?
3. Please provide an intro or overview of the OT books.
4. Is sex good or bad?
5. What’s the difference between Charity and Love? What are the highest forms of charity?
6. Can you provide a brief review of the origin/meaning of the (12) statements in the Creed?
7. How many Gospels have the story of Jesus’ calming the storm? They seem different. Are they the same story?
8. Why does God seem full of vengeance or violence in the OT? Is this a misinterpretation?
Catholic Catacombs Website: https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website/recaps
Next major holy day(s) in the Church
Pentecost Sunday – May 28
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity – June 4
Opening Prayer
O God, who by the mystery of the great feast of Pentecost
Sanctify your whole Church in every people and nation.
Pour out, we pray, the gifts of the Holy Spirit across the face of the earth
And as we study you tonight, help us with our understanding of your Triune existence.
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.
WSJ (4.4.23): The Surprising Surge of Faith Among Young People
Young adults, theologians and church leaders say the increase is a response to the pandemic
About one-third of 18-to-25-year-olds say they believe—more than doubt—the existence of a higher power, up from about one-quarter in 2021, according to a recent survey of young adults. The findings, based on December polling, are part of an annual report on the state of religion and youth from the Springtide Research Institute, a nonpartisan nonprofit.
Today’s Bible Agenda
Pentecost
· What's the most important take-away from the Pentecost?
· What does the Tower of Babel and the Pentecost have in common?
· What is the “Gospel of the Holy Spirit”?
The Blessed Holy Trinity
· Why is the Trinity the most important belief and mystery in Christianity?
· How can we explain the Trinity?
· The word "Trinity" is not in the Bible. How do we respond to that?
· God is love. How does that define the three Persons of the Trinity?
Sermon on the Mount continued (if time allows)
· Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. Seriously?
·
Pentecost
Q: What Jewish holy day does Pentecost land on, and what’s the connection?
The Jewish Pentecost, which is Greek for “Shavuot,” celebrates when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai fifty days after the Passover. The Ten Commandments represent a first deposit on the “Word of God,” to help humans prepare for the coming of the complete Word of God in the Incarnation.
Israelites reach Mt. Sinai 50 days after the Passover in Egypt
Q: Is the Pentecost is the birth of the Church or the birth of our religion?
We often read that the Pentecost is considered the birthday of the Church, and in certain respects this is true. In others, it is not. Pentecost is the birth of the Church (as in the Communion of Saints/Body of Christ/all of us) which succeeded the Temple. The Holy Spirit is now present in us – we are all the Church.
Pentecost is not the beginning of our religion. It is the fulfillment of a very old one. Even going back to Genesis, we know that we were not created to Fall but to be in relationship with God. In this sense, the Church – the people of God – have always been and always will be. The Parable of the Prodigal Son describes how our relationship with God was lost and then found again. The prodigal son – fallen humans – get another chance at life.
Pentecost also fulfills the prophesy from Jeremiah:
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt – my covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, says the Lord: I will put my law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people... a new beginning. – Jeremiah 31:31-33
At Pentecost, Jesus has taken the training wheels off his disciples – not only them but for all disciples going forward. His confidence and trust in them and us, despite all our weaknesses, is astonishing. He wants to entrust to us his mission of redeeming the world.
“You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” – Acts 1:8
BUT… WE WILL NOT BE ALONE!
God the Father and God the Son will be with us in God the Holy Spirit. In fact, the Holy Spirit is so prevalent in the Acts of the Apostles, as our fellow member Jim reminded us a year ago, some consider the Book of Acts to be the “Gospel of the Holy Spirit.”
Pentecost
The Book of the Acts of the Apostles immediately follows the Gospels. Chapter One is the Ascension of Jesus Christ. Chapter Two is the Pentecost.
Acts: 2:1-11
When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together.
And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem.
At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his own native language?
We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.”
Peter and the Apostles filled with the Holy Spirit. Everyone can understand them in their own language
Q: What time of day did this happen?
About 9 am, the time when the gates of the Temple open for the morning prayer service and sacrifices of the feast day of Pentecost. Large groups of people would have been on their way to the Temple – over 100,000 were known to visit Jerusalem for the required Jewish Pentecost pilgrimage.
Q: What do the Pentecost and Tower of Babel have in common?
A language theme!
Tower of Babel: Gen 11:1-9
In the days following Noah, humans began another expansion of violence and evil. It culminated in their building a tower towards the heavens to make a name for themselves, similar to Adam and Eve’s decision that caused the Fall of Man. Their words and plans did not lead them along a path to God, but away from God. So God came down and gave them different languages so they couldn’t conspire so easily against Him. It will be another couple of centuries before God finds the next good man, Abraham.
At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit reverses the circumstances at Babel. When the Apostles speak, foreign languages are no longer an obstacle to understanding the Gospel’s message of love, unity, and heaven. Talk about direct inspiration!
Q: What is the Holy Spirit’s role with inspiration?
Everything. The inspiration of all Old Testament and New Testament scripture is through the HS. The love that is shared could also be called “communicated.” The Holy Spirit is our Advocate, remember? Our “defender, inspirer.”
Remember Jesus says when we don’t know how to pray, the HS knows what we intend and helps translate it for us.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit intercedes for us through wordless groans (cries). – Romans 8:26
Q: We have discussed how the Holy Spirit is the love of the Trinity, but we also hear He is the unity of the Trinity. What exactly does that mean?
First, love and unity are functions of each other. Love is also a common word for attachment – connection. In fact, nothing in this physical universe would exist without connection. It would fly apart in chaos.
Second, when we love, we unite. This is true of relationships, work, teams, clubs, communities. When love is absent, we divide. We know this. Love and unity can be expressed as building things up and helping others out.
Third, consider for a moment if everyone was exactly the same. Would there be the need to be discussing unity? No.
Would there be a need for love, compassion, forgiveness, self-sacrifice?
Not really, there would be no differences. We’d all be like happy acorn trees coexisting in the forest, all our leaves blowing in the same direction.
Once again, God operates in the grandest of paradoxes. On the one hand, His infinite creativity creates infinite diversity between and within all things, including our own species. Not only are there no two humans who ever lived the same, but God grants us love so we can learn unity, and as frosting on the cake, He gives us the same passion for creativity that He has. Have you noticed how clothes and cars change every year? We can’t stand sameness.
We see this diversity all throughout creation; it is the very foundation of “beauty.”
This inextricable connection between infinite diversity and infinite love-unity is a part of the wonder of God and His creation. And so perhaps now we can see the role of the Holy Spirit, who is the source of life (diversity), love, and unity. The Holy Spirit is the unity in the word Trinity (tri-unity).
What Jesus accomplished at Pentecost was none other that giving humans access to the Trinity through the Holy Spirit, and vice versa. Remember on the night of the Last Supper, the Apostles were worried that Jesus was leaving them. He tells them he must return to the Father so they can send them the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-31). He even sounds excited. No wonder!
With such endless, infinite differences, perhaps we are getting a glimpse not only of the wonder of God, but of Holy Spirit, who is the unity of all creation. The very essence of the concept of unity comes from the Holy Spirit.
Q: The Holy Spirit is also the Center of Baptism. What does Baptism have to do with unity?
First, on a cosmic level, Baptism is the first sacrament – and sacraments are always a connection/unification of the spiritual and material, of God and man, of Heaven and earth.
Second, on an individual level, Baptism is the beginning of our own unification with the Trinity thorough the HS, where Sanctifying Grace is given to us. The HS thereafter becomes our personal advocate, translator, inspirer, and spiritual GPS.
Third, on a communion level, we are being baptized into the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is the beginning, the middle, and the conclusion of all human unity.
As the former Pharisee-extraordinaire St. Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians…
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
The Mystery of the Trinity
The Trinity is the most central belief of all Christianity. Those who do not believe in the Triune God are not really Christians, although some claim to be (i.e., Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses).
Q: Who remembers the difference between a human/worldly mystery and a Christian mystery?
A worldly mystery has a material answer and we are just missing part of it. When we have the rest of it, the mystery will be solved, or explained.
A Christian mystery is something we know already because it has been revealed to us by God. However, finite/material answers can’t explain it. Just a few examples that can’t be explained or proven materially (scientifically): The Trinity, The Incarnation, the Cross for our Sins, Sin, The Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost, Grace, Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, Faith, Hope, Love, Truth, Justice, Forgiveness. These are revealed by God but they take a certain amount of faith to accept. Once they are revealed to us, we can begin to explain most of them with “reason” but not with material proof.
It is also interesting that the Holy Trinity is the reason all our creeds got started – because of having to explain or defend who God is. That’s how we came up with words like “consubstantial” – which means same substance, or “one being.” The same goes for the Incarnation and Trinity.
Trinitarian Formula
We have already touched a bit on the Holy Spirit, but let’s go further. When Jesus pronounced that the Apostles were to baptize the whole world in the “Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” he gave us our Trinitarian template. Each one is explicitly and separately named, and this exactly formula must be used for it to be a valid Baptism.
Let’s break down each “person”…
We meet God the Father throughout the Old Testament – in the Creation Story, at the Fall of Man, with Noah, at the Tower of Babel, with Abraham, with Moses, and with David and the Prophets. God is the One God of the Ten Commandments, which we still hold to be true.
We meet the 2nd Person of the Trinity, Logos – the Mind and Word of God in the OT via the Messianic prophesies, but we don’t see this until God reveals Jesus to us when the Angel Gabriel visits Mary with the Incarnate news. We soon come to learn that Jesus was present with God from the beginning and that the universe was created through Him (Logos= Order/Logic/Reason).
We can see immediately that Jesus wasn't your typical prophet. As we saw in his Sermon on the Mount, six times he said, “You have heard it said … but I say … love your enemies, anger vs murder, turn the other cheek, etc.” Who had the authority to correct and improve upon the Torah but God Himself? Jesus then goes around forgiving people, which ultimately got him sentenced to death for blasphemy, since only “God can forgive.” He heals lepers, the crippled, the deaf & mute, he multiples 7 loaves for 5000, walks on water, calms storms, and raises people from the dead 3 times.
As the prophet Ezekiel prophesied, God himself would come to replace the failed shepherds of the Temple:
Woe be to the shepherds of Israel who only feed themselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, wear the wool, butcher the fattened sheep, but you do not feed the flock.
You have not taken care of the weak, the sick you have not healed…and you rule with force and harshness.
Therefore, hear the word of the LORD: I will remove them from tending the flock…I will rescue my flock from their mouths. Behold, I Myself will be their shepherd. I will search for my sheep and care for them. I will save them and bring them back from all the places where they were scattered... I will gather them from those countries and bring them back to their own land. (From Ezekiel 34:2-15)
During the life of Jesus, we begin to see there is a 3rd Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is responsible for the Incarnation of Jesus, participates in Jesus’ baptism, sends Jesus into the desert to confront Satan, is present at Jesus’ Transfiguration, and now takes over the New Testament starting with Pentecost.
On the night of the Last Supper in John’s Gospel, Jesus says that He (Jesus) and the Father are One and that although he must now return to the Father, they will send the Holy Spirit to the Apostles on Pentecost. This is part of our beginner’s guide on the Holy Spirit, though the role of the HS develops significantly throughout the Book of Acts.
“Trinity.” One should be able to see that our understanding of the Trinity was a learning process for Christians. Not a learning process in terms of what Jesus said, but in how to explain it. The facts on the ground – given by Jesus – were always there.
Once the Trinity is revealed, we also begin to see how each of them are part of the OT – particularly in the Creation Story and Exodus. This is what Jesus meant when he said, “I have come not to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them.”
Jesus also recognized the difficulty for humans to grasp eternal truth. He says this the night of the Last Supper:
Jesus said to his disciples: "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
Q: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.” What is yet to come that they can’t handle now?
First, there is still more to learn about Jesus, but they cannot understand until he comes back after the cross.
Second, there is so much to learn about the Holy Spirit, which Jesus only alludes to, “I have to go so that I can send the Holy Spirit to you.” And “The Spirit shall lead you to all truth!” What are they to make of that?
The apostles need to personally receive the HS on Pentecost before they can begin to understand more fully.
Describing the Trinity
Humans have come up with numerous analogies to describe three in one (3 leaf clover, ice-water-vapor, etc.), but probably the best description probably has to do with God being love.
The Apostle John says, God IS Love (1 John 4:8). This is very, very unique, almost strange. Godly love before Christianity may have been possibly mentioned or attributed to some pagan god somewhere; but if it was, it was at most a characteristic, or activity the god was involved in, and probably not Agape love. However, “God IS love” is
much more radical. It means love defines God's essence, His being, for all of eternity!
BUT, in order for there to be love, there must be a lover, and there must be a beloved – and so there is the Father and the Son forever sharing this existence of love. The next thing we learn is that this love is its own force, its own person, the Holy Spirit – actually a third person in the Trinity.
One can easily see how the early Christians would have struggled to explain this and the ease at which heresies might creep in. This is why the Church came up with the term consubstantial, which means “same substance” = one being.
Augustine
The great theologian who coined the term consubstantial also coined the term “Trinity” – which was an effort to describe this “tri-unity” – St. Augustine.
Augustine is also one who gave us one of the better Trinitarian analogies centered on the term love. Although it was technically referred to as “the mind, self-knowledge, and self-love,” here’s a better way to explain it...
Have you ever been to therapist or a spiritual director and reflected on yourself? Let’s say you reflected on the fact that you had done one thing, although you had actually thought that you were doing something slightly different than that, and in fact, you said something to someone else about what you did, but that was not exactly true, either. In fact, have we not had such conversations with ourselves like this? Of course, we have.
Q: Are we talking about multiple people?
An outsider listening in might think so but we know better. We are ONE person. But you see God gave us a conscience, which allows us to evaluate the things we do against the things we think we should be doing; we can think in multiple conversations with ourselves, because we are in God’s image and likeness. But we are ONE.
Imagine if we found perfect unity in what we thought, what we did, what we said, and who we were! That kind of unity and love could be seen as its own powerful force, so that when the Father and Son express or share this love – whether between them or outwards towards humans (actually all things), we would have something very beautiful.
Perhaps the excitement or euphoria we might feel in being perfectly complete and connected could be a form of the Holy Spirit. So, maybe in some small way, we have the mysterious capability to understand the Trinity.
Finally, let’s remember that God’s infinite love must infinitely reach outwards, because that is what infinite love does. This begins to explain how far God would go to save humanity from themselves. To actually become one of us – no matter the cost.
Closing Prayer
Dear Holy Spirit
Tonight we studied your formal but incredible introduction to humanity at the Pentecost!
We also discussed your relationship with the Father and Son.
May our meager understanding of You continue to grow in our lives
And may You guide us the rest of the way until we reach Your Heavenly Abode.
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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