Northern Virginia Catholic Bible Study Northern Virginia Catholic Bible Study 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. Questions encouraged. If you have questions about anything, you can ask in the chat, email the Meetup group, or me directly at ron@hallagan.net. 3. The unedited recaps from our meetings will be posted on Meetup immediately after our meeting. The final edited recap 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. 4. See The Chosen. Knowing Jesus Christ means being able to better relate to God. Check it out: The Chosen at https://thechosen.link/1Y1R7. 5. 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 I personally owe part of my return to the faith to them. 6. 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 the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit in their daily lives. 7. Catholic Prayer, Fellowship, and Spirituality Meetup led by fellow member Jason Goldberg: https://www.meetup.com/online-catholic-prayer-fellowship-and-spirituality/ 8. Prison fellowship – opportunities to volunteer one Saturday per month for 2 hours (12-2 or 2-4) serving Catholic prisoners at the Fairfax County Jail. Ask Ron (ron@hallagan.net) or Gina (gmasterson99@gmail.com) for details. Why? "I was in prison and you visited me." – Matt 25:36 Bible Study Format: 5 min prayer, 15 min Catholic topic, 40 min main topic from the weeks listed below Week 1: June 8 – Gospel Week: Week after Pentecost is Holy Trinity Sunday, so the entire hour will be about the Trinity! Week 2: June 15 – Bible (Gen àRev): Gen 29-37 – Jacob in Haran (Leah/Rachel), Jacob returns, Sons of Jacob, Week 3: June 22 – Topic of Choice: Purgatory III Final
Topics Survey Results Ö 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 8) Major Councils/Crusades/Inquisitions
Week 4: June 28 – Open Mic
Opening Prayer Dear Lord, we thank you for everyone gathered here today and ask that you surround us with your powerful, life-changing presence. Thank you for loving each of us and for calling us to walk with you. We come before you as we meet and declare our dependence on you. Be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Fill our hearts with your love and fill our words and conversations with truth and grace. We ask all of these things in praise and adoration of You... …Our Father… Upcoming Catholic Holy Days Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul Wed, June 29 (not) Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mon, August 15 (yes, but Sun) Q: Are Solemnities holy days of obligation (Mass)? About half of them are. Following are holy days of obligation, though if they land on a Sat or Mon, they are celebrated on Sunday:
January 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
Thursday/Sixth Week of Easter, the Ascension
August 15, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
November 1, All Saints Day
December 8, the Immaculate Conception
December 25, Christmas
This past Sunday was the Solemnity of “Corpus Christi” June 16/19
Translated from Latin as "Body of Christ," this feast is celebrated on the Thursday following the Trinity Sunday or on the Sunday following that feast. It centers on two manifestations of the Body of Christ:
1) Jesus' real presence in the Holy Eucharist under the appearance of bread and wine.
2) Jesus' presence in the Body of Christ, which is also the Church, which is all of us – the people of God.
3) The Church is called the Body of Christ because of the intimate communion which Jesus shares with his disciples.
Q: The CCC (from Vat II) says the Mass – and specifically the Eucharist – is the Source & Summit of Christian life. What does this mean?
The Mass & Eucharist represents everything the OT prepared us for, everything God did for man since The Fall, everything Jesus did for us, and every hope we have for our future. Jesus is the “I AM,” the Alpha & Omega, the Source and Summit of human existence.
Scott Hahn, former militantly anti-Catholic, Presbyterian Pastor
Now a leading American Catholic Theologian and Christian Apologist
Founder and President of the Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology
Q: What prefigurements for the Eucharist do we have in the OT?
Melchizedeck
Passover – unblemished lamb, blood on doorposts, had to eat the lamb
Manna in the desert – 40 years
Bread of the Presence
Sacrifices repeated at the Temple every day – why?
John the Baptist – Behold…
Q: Melchizedeck was the mysterious “Priest-King” of Salem around 1900 BC. He unexpectedly brought out bread and wine so he and Abraham could give “give thanks to Yahweh” for Abraham’s victories over the 5 kings. In the NT Book of Hebrews, it says Jesus is considered a priest in the order of Melchizedek. What is this referring to?
According to the writer of Hebrews (7:13-17), Jesus is considered a priest in the order of Melchizedek because, like Melchizedek, Jesus was not a descendant of Aaron, and thus would not qualify for the Jewish priesthood under the Law of Moses.
Q: When was the line of Aaron (the Levites) made priests?
From Adam to Moses, the priestly line was always kept by the first-born sons of every family who was consecrated to God.
Because of their failure at Mount Sinai (worshipping of the golden calf while Moses went up the mountain), the Levites were then given all priestly responsibilities. Unlike the other 11 Tribes, they received no land when they arrived in the Promised Land, but instead received support (tithes) from the 11 tribes. The Levitical priesthood was never intended to be permanent as the Levites were to help teach and enforce “the Mosaic Law,” which, by itself, was unable to save mankind.
When Jesus initiates the New Covenant at the Last Supper, he also replaces the Levite priesthood and returns the
Priesthood to him just like it was with Melchizedek. This time, however, Jesus is not only the "Priest-King" like Melchizedek, but he is the last priest, since after the Temple curtain was torn open and the Holy Spirit came, a “go-between” Man and God was no longer needed. (Our priests today are not "go-betweens." We have the Holy Spirit within us.)
And what was the last sacrifice/offering made by Melchizedek? Inexplicably, it was bread and wine! This was not ever seen
before or after, until the Last Supper.
Q: What was one of the key Passover comparisons to the Jesus’ offering at the Last Supper?
At that "first" Passover, the unblemished lamb was killed and had to be eaten. At the Last Supper (the "last" Passover), Jesus was the unblemished (sinless) lamb, that would be "given up for the forgiveness of sins."
At the first Passover, the blood of the Lamb was put on their doorposts. This caused death to “pass over” their homes. Blood meant life - the lamb's life passed on to the escaping Hebrews. At the Last Supper, the blood of Jesus causes Death to "pass over" humans, eternally. Jesus' "life" is given to us.
Q: What was the Manna’s purpose?
To teach them again what they gave up at The Fall – their trust and dependence on God. Food for 40 years… one day at a time.
Q: When did the Manna end, and why?
The Manna stopped coming after 40 years when they entered the Promised Land. But did they really enter the Promised Land? Why couldn’t Moses enter the Promised Land? They had fallen short, and they would continue to fall short. As we would learn later, the true Promised Land would have to wait.
Q: The Jews continued to put the Bread and Wine in the Temple for the next thousand years. What did they call the bread?
The Bread of the Presence, the Face of God, Showbread…. prefiguring the true “Bread of the Presence” in the Eucharist.
Q: They also continued sacrifices every day at the Temple. How did sacrifices help the Jews?
Their sacrifices were for their atonement by substitution of the animals.
1) The priest laid his hands on the “unblemished” animal to “transfer” the people’s sins to the animal. Unblemished meant both a perfect sacrifice and a costly one. A defective animal would be worse than making no sacrifice at all.
2) The killing of the animal was the offering up of a “life for a life.” The priest then took some of the blood (the “life”) and sprinkled in on the altar. A life for a life.
3) The animal was burned and in doing so, their sins were burned away. The fragrance was pleasing to God because it represented the people’s regret for their sins and their desire to be whole again; good, holy people.
4) The sacrifice was shared/eaten by the priests/people. This was very strange – why would this be?
Among the ancient Jewish people, common partaking of a meal had deep significance. They believed that sharing a meal with another person created a deep bond with that person. So strong was this bond for them that if you happened to eat with your mortal enemy, you could never do that enemy any harm.
So for God to share this sacrificial meal with the people was an act of love. God didn’t want sacrifices, he wanted communion with them!
Lastly, the sacrifices had to be repeated because the people continued to be sinful and the animals sacrificed could only accomplish so much.
Until Jesus came.
Q: Do you think God understood the problem that would be created regarding eating the sacrifice of “Jesus’ body,” especially when He had given the Jews laws against cannibalism?
Sure. But Jesus solves this by connecting the sacrifice of his body to the Bread of the Presence, the Bread of Life, not an earthly lamb.
“Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given up for you.”
New Testament
Q: What did John the Baptist say when he first saw Jesus?
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
Q: What did Jesus say about his sacrifice – his body – John 6?
“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die but live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
Some non-Catholics say that Jesus statements were symbolic. But nobody else thought so. Here was his audience’s response:
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” – John 6:52
Rather than back off or offer a metaphorical explanation, Jesus replies to them:
“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day; for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” – John 6: 53-56
Jesus is so literal that many of his disciples can’t handle it:
As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.
Then, Jesus even doubles down with his Apostles!
Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” – John 6:67-69
Peter gets it right this time. But what they aren’t realizing – and won’t until the Last Supper – is that Jesus has merged the “Lamb” of God with the “Bread of the Presence” – He is the new Manna.
Q: One more thing: we have said that proper exegesis means looking at the passages surrounding the ones being studied. There are two more stories in John 6, what are they?
1) The multiplication of loaves for 5000 people. What do you think this suggests?
a) The BREAD and b) Himself as the Bread, and c) He came to satisfy everyone regardless of this world’s limitations.
2) Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee. What do you think this suggests?
Like putting an exclamation point on the multiplication of loaves, a miracle. The Eucharist is a miracle. God can do these. Jesus does this for us. It ads substance to his parting statement to the Apostles: “I will be with you until the end of time.”
Jesus has decided to “pay this miracle forward.” Why would we want to argue with him?
Q: What does Jesus do with the two disciples leaving Jerusalem despondent on Easter day?
The Road to Emmaus. He teaches them the meaning of the Gospel, then breaks the Bread and disappears! The Mass. He is already reminding them it’s time to begin – have they already forgotten?
John 6 is difficult language if you don’t understand all the history leading up to it. And although the history of Jewish sacrifices certainly gives a very helpful perspective, faith is still needed, as with any miracles, or anything at all God does.
Q: Protestants believe faith is all that you need for salvation and yet they struggle with the “Real Presence” of Jesus in the Eucharist. This was never an issue in Christianity until the 16th century when Protestantism began. But the fact remains, the two biggest themes of John 6 are what?
The Eucharist and Faith. From the miracles to the discussion on his body and being the bread from Heaven, Jesus is asking the people to put their faith in him. If Protestants want to show their faith, they should put their faith in John 6. (I say this with love!)
Closing Prayer
Beloved Heavenly Father
In the unfolding events of salvation history, you have revealed yourself to mankind.
You have expressed through real time and historical events your plan of salvation
And your desire that every human being should come to know you,
To experience your love
And to accept Your gift of forgiveness and freedom.
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.
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