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 www.catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website/recaps 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 RSVP Reminder: Please RSVP whether you are attending or just reading the notes afterwards. The more RSVPs, the more Meetup will give us recognition, which will draw others to us, which is our way of evangelizing! Bible Study Format: 5 min prayer, 15 min Catholic topic, 40 min main topic from the weeks listed below Week 1: Aug 2 – Gospel Week: Stop judging? (Mt7:1-5); Left behind? (Mt: 24:37-41); The Meaning of 70 (Luke 10:1-12,16-20) Week 2: Aug 9 – Bible Week (Gen àRev): Joseph, Prime Minister of Egypt (Gen 43-50) Week 3: Aug 16 – Survey Topic of Choice: Purgatory IV Final à Heaven I
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: July 26 – Open Mic: What is Grace? What is Justice?
Upcoming Catholic Holy Days
Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mon, August 15
Opening Prayer
you are there.
We welcome You among us today.
We thank you for the gift of life, free will, and the love of knowledge that you have lavished upon each of us.
We ask that You open our ears so that we may hear your voice,
open our minds so that we may receive your wisdom,
and open our hearts so that we may be changed by message.
As you taught us to pray...
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your 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 have trespassed against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
OPEN MIC NIGHT
Here are the questions that were sent. I asked everyone to choose their top 2 or 3. Here are the votes in order of the most:
1. Would Satan rather see us get rich or poor? 4
2. What does it mean to be baptized into Jesus’ death? I’ve heard that this connects it somehow to Marriage and the Eucharist. How so? 4
3. Why does Christianity put so much emphasis on the poor? What about those who are struggling with their faith but aren’t poor? Aren’t their challenges greater? 3
4. Can you provide an elevator response to questions about the Catholic Crusades and Inquisitions? 3
5. The Holy Spirit is the love of the Trinity. The HS is also the unity of the Trinity. How are these different? 2
6. You’ve said our knowledge of God is “participatory.” Is that why nonbelievers have difficulty believing? 2
7. What is grace? (There are 2 kinds) 1
9. What is justice? (Is it always good?) 1
10. What is charity? What are the highest forms of charity? 1
We will cover the first three. The fourth one will take more time, since we are talking about hundred of years of history being put into a 30 second response. I will have that for you next Open Mic night.
Q: Would Satan rather see us get rich or poor?
Most likely rich.
Q: Why?
1) The blinders of worldly success. If we look at humans throughout history, we will see that the more materially successful humans become, the more they fall away from God. Humans automatically think, "I am making it on my own, so I obviously don't need help," which translates into not needing God anymore. The Old Testament (OT) has several thousand years of examples of this, such that many believe the OT was written just so that humans could learn this lesson.
2) The more distractions we build into our lives, the more we keep God at a distance. The more money and possessions we have, the more things we can do, or must do, with our time, leaving less time for thinking and introspection (who needs introspection when we are successful?). Think of the invention of television and now social media - these aren't bad in and of themselves, but they get abused. Satan LOVES them because they eat up whatever little private time humans have left, which means no God. The more distractions in our lives, the more devil's work is being done for him. The great Socrates said in 400BC that "An unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates was absolutely right, and this wisdom was appreciated throughout humanity until our present time. Who are we? Who am I? What purpose are we serving? What purpose should we be serving? Satan whispers to us, "NOTHING is our purpose! It's all meaningless, humans are in charge, and that's all there is, so don't worry about it, just keep busy, hahahaha!"
3) God is trying to teach us how to use our power of free will, because He knows that if left unchecked, it will destroy us. The more physical or material gratification we attain in this life, the more addictive that lifestyle becomes. Our desires soon become our god.
4) Pride. The more admiration or recognition we receive from the world for our accomplishments and possessions, the more enlightened our egos feel, and there will be no inclination to ever let go. Recall that the Fall of Man occurred because we wanted to be in God's seat - control everything and answer to no one - and this is no different.
5) Jesus said we (the saved, the baptized) are to be "in the world but not of the world." In other words, the world must not set our priorities for us. On the other hand, we are to be "in the world," which means we are to be part of it and set an example for what a good human being should be (like God/Christ).
From Satan's perspective, what's not to like about making friends with rich people? The world is making his job so easy he can watch TV himself.
Q: Why else would Satan consider the rich to be more valuable targets?
Influence! Because Satan can tap into the influence the rich and famous have over other people. Look at the fans/followers of every famous actor or guru. Get one rich or famous person and you are automatically networking all his "connections!"
Who listens to poor people? Let God have them!
Q: Why did Jesus say it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.
Our first reaction is that we don't want to think about it. Let me get rich first, enjoy it for a while, and then come back and ask me.
As for Jesus' quote, he often spoke utilizing hyperbole to make a point (“If your left hand causes you to sin, cut it off” – Mt 5:30). The point he is making is exactly all the points we just discussed above! Those are the many reasons it's hard for a rich man to stay close to God.
However, there are lots of rich people in the Bible who were also very good people and kept God central in their lives, but there were far more who succumbed to the world. But how?
The answer is to keep God at the center of who you are and what you do. Keep Him in your life. Make him part of your morning/nightly prayers and daily dialogue about everything you're doing. Continue to learn/study his teachings. Support charitable causes, personally. Jesus taught us what "servant leadership" was - let's emulate that. I can tell you that has become my own internal motto at work - and I can tell you it works.
Q: What is idolatry?
The dictionary says idolatry is: “Extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone.”
Christianity defines it similarly: 1) the worship of idols; 2) placing oneself, another person, or material things before God.
It means that whatever is most important in your life (as measured by how you spend your mind, time, and money), is your idol, your god. If God holds some secondary place in your life, then you aren't making it. Your ego will deny this. Satan will tell you it’s not true. But it’s the definition, and it's the reason God made it the very first Commandment. He knows this will be our greatest risk.
Interestingly, the poor, because of their poverty, are not only seeking God’s help but are more open to God because there is nothing in their way.
This leads perfectly into our second question of the night.
Q: Why the emphasis on the poor? The comment sent to me was as follows:
“I've always wondered why there is an over-focus on the poor in Christianity as if people with money who are poor in spirit or feel they are above God don't need as much attention from Christians... I do understand that there is a need for compassion for those who have no roof over their heads, or those who are hungry, but shouldn’t we be giving more attention to the people who aren’t poor but having serious difficulties with their faith?
So, the question is: why the emphasis on the poor?
It’s best always to start with Jesus and work from there. When Jesus was describing who will make it into heaven, he said that at the end of time his angels well separate the sheep to his right and the goats to his left. The sheep will enter the Kingdom and the goats will go with Satan. Here is what he says to the sheep who made it:
“When I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison, and you came to visit me.”
And all the righteous replied, “Lord, when did we see you hungry… or sick… or naked … or in prison?”
And Jesus replies, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for the least of my brothers and sisters, you did for me.” --Mt25:34-40
Q: Why does Jesus say this?
1. Remember, God seeks to save all of humanity, not just you or me. It’s not an individual quest. It’s not just about us. He wants us to think like Him by thinking about others. That is how love works.
2. What did Jesus do as soon as he began preaching? He went to the outcasts, the poor, the crippled, the sinners and prostitutes. There is our example. Because when we have success, we can be like God and help others. When we are down-and-out, we cannot do much. Also keep this in mind: without Jesus Christ, we would eternally be Satan’s beggars, yet Jesus came for us, didn’t He?
3. Lastly, it is as much about the disposition of our own hearts as it is about the poor. Jesus is trying to change our self-centeredness into other-centeredness.
All that said, it is worth noting that being poor does not make one sacred. Otherwise, would we all need to be poor to get to heaven?
God expects everyone to work and be responsible for themselves and their lives. But there are many poor who are stuck where they are and possess few options for lifting themselves up. It could be their physical, mental, or emotional capacity, or their environmental limitations.
We also wonder at times about the definition of poor since, in our country, the poor could at times be considered well off in a 3rd world county. But we should refrain from judging too quickly because our judgment is flawed most of the time, and because Jesus threatened to use our own criteria for judging others against us. In other words, the level of niceness we judge others by, is the level of niceness that we will be used to judge us. We should never lose sight of that.
Setting aside America for a moment, the reality is that 70% of the world today is truly poor, not affluent.
The best advice is often this: “When in doubt, help/give.” God will never accuse you of erring on the side of charity. If you get taken advantage by some “poor actor,” a) that’s God’s job to deal with, and b) that is more credit in your heavenly treasury.
We must not forget this morsel from Christ, either:
“From those who have been given more, more will be expected.” – Luke 12:48
Q: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven” – Mt 5:3. What does it mean?
The Greek word used for “poor” is ptochos which translates as "beggar." But that is not exactly what you may be thinking it is. A beggar is one who is completely dependent on someone else for support.
In this blessing, Jesus teaches his disciples that the first step on the path to Heaven is to recognize and admit that you cannot make it on your own. We are completely dependent (a beggar!) on Jesus for getting to Heaven. When we are "poor in spirit" we admit that we are not self-sufficient, no matter how great or small we are. We know that we need God in this life to prepare us for the next life, and therefore we must reject our natural desire to think we are good enough to make it on our own. Such self-sufficiency is idolatry.
Final Question of the Night
Q: What is meant by our being baptized into Jesus’ death? I heard this is also somehow related to Marriage and the Eucharist. How is this so?
When we hear that we are “baptized into Jesus’ death so we can rise with him,” we tend to think it is referring to either our own death or Judgment Day at the end of time. While this is true, it is missing a critical component: it is referring to our life here and now.
Let’s look at a few of Paul’s comments to the Colossians:
“Brothers and sisters: You were buried with Christ in baptism, by which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead. And even when you were dead in your transgressions… he brought you to life along with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions… he removed them from our midst, nailing them to the cross.” Colossians 2:12-14, 3:1-14
The reason we get forgiveness for-the-asking without the justice that is due is because Jesus paid our dues. Our transgressions were nailed to the cross. Our transgressions – our sins, our “old self” – was put to death. It was only after this that Baptism began to confer a new life with the Holy Spirit. Jesus had removed our barrier - sin. In this act of Jesus, we become united to Him, which is our doorway to Heaven.
Then in Romans 6, Paul likens the idea that we become one with Christ through baptism as “being clothed with Christ.”
To be “clothed with Christ” is a way of living. It is a new way of loving. We must now put to death the old man that we were before and put on the new man, the clothes of Christ.
We must now take note that there are three key elements in this “Baptism with Christ” that confers new life to us. These three elements are presence (of the entire Trinity – recall Jesus coming up out of the water), sacrifice (what Jesus did to give us this presence), and communion (with God and with all Christians – the Communion of Saints, the Body of Christ). These three elements infuse grace extraordinaire into our lives, starting with Sanctifying grace, the keys to Heaven.
Q: How is this related to the Sacrament of Marriage?
Do we have sacrifice in marriage? You betcha. Without it, it’s not a marriage. For two people to become one, they must give up certain individual things for the love of being one. When a family begins, is there sacrifice? Of course, we sacrifice for our children, out of pure love. When you think of it, what good in the world does not take a sacrifice of some kind?
Do we have presence in marriage? We are not talking about the courthouse papers, which don’t make a true marriage. Legal documents make a legal agreement which confers worldly rights, and that is fine. But inviting God into your marriage so that there are three, not two, makes a “covenant agreement.” A covenant agreement understands that there will be sacrifices to be made, and that love will grow from that, but its chance of lasting forever is increased exponentially if God is in it and remains in your midst. By ourselves, without God, we will be much more influenced by, and subjected to, the shallow standards of this world.
Do we have communion in marriage? What is the first act of God with humans in Genesis 2? Blessing Adam & Eve’s marriage, by saying, “a man leaves his mother and father and cleaves unto his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” If that isn’t communion, I don’t know what is. But it doesn’t end there. The communion extends to the family and the family becomes the starting ground for communion with the community. This was started by God and blessed by God, so He is part of the communion, too!
When we employ these 3 elements into our marriage, the infusion of grace par excellence follows – and remains.
Q: How is this related to the Sacrament of Eucharist?
We are talking about the Last Supper, the first Mass.
Was there sacrifice? Jesus said, “This is my body, my blood, which is given up for you, for the forgiveness of sins.” For love.
Was there presence? Yes, more than in any other sacrament He directly puts himself into the bread and wine. “This is my body.” Jesus said “I will be with you always, even to the end of time.” He is doing it in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. And remember, there must be a physical component. God made the physical universe “good.” He made us “good,” even if we made bad decisions. If our physical beings were not important, He would not have come here as a human being just so we could torture and kill him. He could have just snapped his spiritual fingers and made us all spiritually healed. He didn’t because the physical component of who we are is essential. It is why God promises us “glorified bodies” after we die. It is also why all SEVEN sacraments have a physical component and a spiritual component to them, and when we receive them, GRACE is transferred to us. This is all part of our being transformed starting now, in this life, not some future date.
Was there communion? That is why we call it that! We meet Jesus personally, physically, and spiritually when we partake in Communion.
And, as you may have guessed, it is this last one – the Last Supper/Eucharist – that enables the reality of the other two to exist.
Closing Prayer
Fix My Heart Lord
Create a clean heart in me, O God:
a humble heart, a meek heart, a sturdy heart, a devout heart,
a kind heart which does harm to no one,
which does not repay evil for evil,
but overcomes evil with good,
a heart which loves you above all things, thinks about you always,
and speaks to you and about you,
a heart that gives you thanks, delights in your psalms and hymns,
and has its citizenship in heaven. Amen.
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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