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/recapsbefore 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!
Catholic Catacombs Website: https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website
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: Gospel Week:
Week 2: Bible Week (Gen àRev): We are in EXODUS, the 2nd book of Moses.
Week 3: Survey Topics Voted on by Members:
Ö 1) Jesus’ Greatest Parables Ö 2) Hell, Purgatory, Heaven 3) Comparative Religions
4) Great Women in the Bible 5) Book of Revelation 6) Major Heresies and Church Councils
Week 4: Member Questions:
1. Please provide an intro or overview of the OT books.
2. Indulgences – origin, types, how they work, how to get them
3. What’s the difference between Charity and Love? What are the highest forms of charity?
4. Can you provide a brief review of the origin/meaning of the (12) statements in the Creed?
5. Why does God seem full of vengeance or violence in the OT? Is this a misinterpretation?
6. Can we do a Christian Meditation one evening?
7. Is “recognition” a good thing? How does pride play into it? Glory and pride discussion
8. Angels – who are they, what do they do, and do we really have guardian angels?
9. Please explain exorcisms. Do they happen, are they real?
Exegesis Terms
- Apostacy/apostatize – to break from one’s religious beliefs
- Apologetics – to defend one’s beliefs
- Catholic apologetics– to use reason, tradition, and Scripture to defend the faith
- Eschatology – the study of the end times (Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, Judgment Day…)
- Exegesis – the study and interpretation of Scripture
- Man – generic for mankind/humanity. God as Father/He/Him – scripture/sacred tradition. God is not a gender.
- Preternatural – means “outside the natural”; refers to the type of grace that Man possessed before the Fall.
Opening Prayer
O God
We gather here together in your midst to learn, to grow, and to change. Help us to move into a deeper understanding of Your truth.May we all feel safe with each other to think and to questionAs we share our thoughts and lives with You.
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.
Amen.
Major upcoming holy days in the Liturgy of the Church:
- Feast of The Transfiguration of the Lord (Aug 6)
- Solemnity of The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Aug 15)
Note: We will be covering both of these in detail on the last Tuesday of August (Aug 29). Note that Sept 8 is part of Labor Day weekend, so no class. HOWEVER, there are 5 Tuesdays in August, so we will have Aug 29 be our “Gospel Week” – the Assumption and Transfiguration.
Week 4: Tonight’s Member Questions:
1. What is grace? Why is grace important? How do we get grace?
2. What are blessings? Is it possible to ask for too many?
3. Jesus says in John 14:28, “The Father is greater than I.” What does this mean? I thought they were one.
4. 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?
5. If we finish early enough, I will provide an intro/overview of the OT books.
In order to understand blessings, we must first understand grace.
Q 1. What is grace, how important is it, and how do we get it?
Grace is a supernatural gift of God to intellectual creatures (men, angels) to help bring about their eternal salvation.
There are many kinds of grace but generally TWO main categories: sanctifying grace – also called habitual grace – and actual grace. The big difference between these is that sanctifying/habitual grace is a permanent state of being or condition of our soul. Actual grace is temporary and is sent to help strengthen us to make good but difficult choices. After the decision/occurrence, it is gone. Think of Simon of Cyrene helping Jesus carry the cross for one part of his journey up Calvary. You might call actual grace “situational grace.”
Sanctifying Grace: Just as the HS descended upon Jesus in his baptism in the Jordan River with John the Baptist, so too the HS descends into our souls when we are baptized, bringing sanctifying grace with Him (which humans lost in the Man’s Fall). From Baptism forward – barring mortal sin – our souls are in a state of sanctifying grace, which we need to open the doors to Heaven. With sanctifying grace, we are guaranteed entry.
How can we receive sanctifying grace?
Only through the seven sacraments instituted by Jesus Christ, starting with Baptism.
Can we lose sanctifying grace?
Yes, by committing a mortal sin.
Can we regain sanctifying grace once it has been lost?
Yes, through the Sacrament of Confession. Go quickly.
Why is sanctifying grace called “habitual grace”?
Because it is a part of who we are. It is a state of being.
What does that mean – it is a state of our being?
It means we are children of God who are in a relationship with God.
Is this “sanctifying state of being” changing or static?
It is absolutely changing! Our relationship with God is like any relationship – it is either growing or regressing, depending on what we put into it.
When we first receive this grace, it is like seeds planted in a garden. The garden is our relationship with
God. We must tend the garden and cultivate it over the course of our lives. This is how ALL relationships work.
The biggest part of tending this garden is 1) communication (have you ever seen a relationship survive any other way?) and 2) love of others (“how well am I doing?” and “how can I do more?”). The next thing we can do is learn more about God and his written word (like we are doing tonight) because we gain layers and layers of never-ending wisdom from studying it.
How does relationship-tending work?
Again, communication and love: communication must be grounded in humility, and love must be grounded in action – i.e., by a forgiving attitude, and always willing the good of the other. Always.
Of course, there is a method to all things. As Socrates said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.”
How do we “examine” ourselves?
Relationship-tending (gardening – planting, weeding, pruning)
1. Evaluate… how am I doing, Lord?
2. I did good! You are the source of all goodness and all my gifts, so thank You for your help!
3. I messed up. Can I admit it? Even my small part? If not, please help me practice.
4. Am I sorry? If not, help me. If so, please forgive me.
5. How can I do better? Discuss. Will You help me? Yoke. Two lungs.
6. Evaluate (return to 1).
Actual grace:
1. Evaluate… how am I doing, Lord?
2. I did good! You are the source of all goodness and all my gifts, so thank You for your help!
3. I messed up. Can I admit it? Even my small part? If not, please help me practice.
4. Am I sorry? If not, help me. If so, please forgive me.
5. How can I do better? Discuss. Will You help me? Yoke. Two lungs.
6. Evaluate (return to 1).
Actual grace: Actual grace is temporary – it is sent to us to help us confront difficult decisions and temptations. If we cooperate with this grace and are successful, it can leave our habitual state of grace strengthened. It’s like a friend stopped by and pulled weeds when you weren’t looking, and the garden is now in better shape. What actually happens is that your garden gained wisdom and strength through each success.
How do we receive actual graces?
We sometimes receive this grace because someone else has prayed for us – and we were open to it. Free will.
We primarily receive actual grace by our prayers, or through corporal and spiritual works of mercy, which are defined in the Bible.
Corporal Works of Mercy: feed the hungry, help the homeless/poor, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned, give alms to the poor, bury the dead.
Spiritual Works of Mercy: advise the doubtful, instruct those don’t know the faith, help sinners correct their ways, comfort the sad/sorrowful, forgive offenses, bear wrongs patiently, pray for others – both the living and the dead.
If you look up grace, you will see explanations like this, which should make sense now:
“The Church teaches that there is a difference between actual grace and sanctifying grace. An easy way to understand actual grace is to remember that it enables us to act. It is the strength that God gives us to act according to his will. Sanctifying grace is a state in which God allows us to share in his life and love, now and forever.”
Conclusion: Sanctifying grace is our ongoing state of relationship with God and actual graces help us continue to build up and strengthen our physical-spiritual nature and our growing divine relationship with God. By the time we reach Heaven, we will know Him half as much as He knows us, and we will be ready to learn the rest.
Questions on grace?
Q 2. Okay, now to our next question: What are blessings?
Blessings are sacramentals. Does that clear things up? (haha)
What are sacramentals?
Sacramentals are not sacraments. As already discussed, sacraments are at the top of the hierarchy of how humans receive grace from God. If sacraments are the Main Event, sacramentals are like the tickets to the Main Event.
Although sacramentals don’t confer grace, they prepare us to receive grace and help us cooperate with it once we do receive it.
Sacramentals are sacred signs that signify effects of a spiritual nature. Thereare many kinds of sacramentals. Some examples: the Bible, prayer books, holy water, the crucifix, the rosary, medals of saints, and, of course, blessings.
Blessings, specifically…
Here are a few good points to know:
- The English word bless is used to translate the Latin word benedicere and the Greek word eulogein. Both of these mean “to speak good.”
- In Christianity, a blessing is a request to bestow a divine favor upon someone – or something (i.e., “bless this house”).
- In Scripture, blessings have a variety of uses. In the OT, fathers blessed their sons – usually the eldest – to carry on the family traditions, name, etc. One may even bless God by speaking good of Him (i.e., praising him).
- Blessings are usually invocative, meaning they are intended to invoke (to call forth) a good upon the subject/object.
Q: What is the opposite of a blessing?
A curse. A curse is also usually invocative.
- Blessings given by laypersons are usually called unofficial blessings. Official blessings are given by clergy and carry the weight of the Church.
- Blessings are not sacraments that directly convey grace, but called sacramentals, which are instruments for requesting/seeking grace for oneself or someone else. They work to prepare us/others to receive grace and also to cooperate withgrace once we receive it (CCC 1670).
- As you can see from the previous item, a blessing requires several parties: the person asking/sending the blessing, God who grants the blessing, and the person receiving the blessing, who can block it, be open to it, or cooperate with it (cooperating just means more open and ready to receive and use it).
- When you pray for others and invoke God’s blessings, you advance your own blessings at the same time. It’s like charity – giving to others is as much intended for the giver’s heart as it is for the recipient’s well-being. If you are interested in studying more about blessings, the best source is the Church’s Book of Blessings.
Is it possible for us to request too many blessings?
There’s an old Catholic story that goes something like this:
A man dies and makes it to Heaven. The angel Rafael meets him at the gates and brings him in.
The man follows the angel and they turn to pass through a giant, heavenly warehouse.
The warehouse is so big he can hardly see the top, with shelves on both sidesfilled with rows and rows of gift boxes.
As they continue walking, the man finally asks, “Sir, if you don’t mind my asking, what are all these boxes?”
“I don’t mind,” said Rafael. “They are blessings. They are in gift boxes because they are free gifts from God.”
“Amazing,” said the man. “Why are there so many? There looks to be millions of them!”
“They are waiting for requests to come in. We always have way more blessings than requests – humans are strange that way. Frankly, I don’t know why God keeps making them.”
“How many can you ask for? Can someone ask for 50 of them?”
“Make a list and give it to me.”
“I can request blessings from here?”
“Of course. Blessings are acts of love. Did you think somehow your capacity to love would be taken away or reduced once you got here? Your capacity increases!”
“Whoa. There must be some conditions, right?”
“As long as you are ‘willing the good of others’ and you mean it from the heart, they’re approved.”
Hopefully, this answers the question about whether we can ask for too many blessings. The answer is NO.
Glorified life
I don’t know if anyone made the connection, but remember we talked about what a glorified life is like in Heaven, and how it has to do with our minds and wills having greater authority over our physical world than here? Not only did Jesus exhibit this after his Resurrection, but Adam & Eve (our first human parents whom God breathed His spirit into) also had something similar before the Fall of Man. Remember, work wasn’t work for Adam, the way we view work (drudgery!). They didn’t experience that. It says they experienced the “sweat of the brow,” and the pain of thorns, and the pain of pregnancy after the Fall. That means their "preternatural state of grace" was similar to Christ's post-Resurrection glorified state. Physical, but the physical laws of nature were subordinate to the mind and will.
What’s the point?
When we pray for others (or ourselves) or request blessings, we are mentally causing things to happen. We are “willing” the good of others, and people are helped as a result.
Is God not teaching us to exercise our spiritual minds and wills in a glorified manner that He intended for us all along, and that we will have perfected once again in Heaven?
Q 3. In John 14:28 Jesus says “the Father is greater than I.” What does this mean? I thought they were the same/one.
This Scriptural reference was used by the 3rd century Arian heretics to justify their claim that Jesus wasn’t really God, just a higher created being. But that is not the meaning of the passage.
Recall that the Second Person of the Trinity (Logos/Word) emptied himself of his pure divinity and took on our humanity. So Jesus is referring to his temporary, limited human capacity, which enabled him to experience pain and suffering on our behalf.
As Paul stated (speaking of Jesus):
Who, though in the form of God did not count his equality with God something to be grasped, instead emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being made in the likeness of men… thoughhe was humbler yet, becoming obedient unto death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:6-8).
Q 4. In Genesis and elsewhere, it says God changed his mind. In one place, it says he repented of man. I thought God was unchangeable. Can you explain this?
The word we attribute to God is “immutability,” which means unchanging.
Q: Why is God’s nature unchanging?
Because change implies imperfection. If something is changing, it is either becoming more perfect or less perfect. God is already perfecting every way (love, justice, mercy…). Let’s read the passage…
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was continually evil. And the LORD regretted (was sorry, repented) that He had made man and it grieved Him to His heart. – Gen 6:5-6
It certainly doesn’t sound very immutable, but we must consider several things:
1) First, the Bible was inspired and written to us and for us. That’s why we look to find the message intended for the original audience, and then to the rest of us. This is the purpose and intention of Scripture. Scripture was not written to explain the nature of God, although in a secondary sense, it can be helpful for this reason, too.
2) That being said, God expressing regret does not presuppose any variableness to his nature or purposes. Yes, regret is a strong anthropomorphic expression used primarily for our purpose, yet it also presents a Godly truth that is consistent with his immutability. God needs us to understand that our behavior wounds Him. It grieves Him at His heart, which, if anything, is a touching indication that He does not hate man but wants to save him. Of course He must show us a different state of mindwhen we fail; however, not because God changes but because man changes.
3) Indeed, God’s heart grieves because of the sins of man, but the truth is that He was grieving these sins when He brought man into being – He is just showing his grief “in time.” The amazing thing is that He brought us into being anyway.
Closing Prayer
Prayer to Put on Christ’s Clothes (Humility)
As I enter this day with You, Lord,
I will walk in your worn shoes and selfless garments,
Taking nothing with me, and taking nothing from others,
Because I need nothing but You.
With you, I have nothing to prove; I can listen carefully to others; I can seek to understand them
And I will speak only if my words are true, necessary, helpful, and kind.
And now we seek your mother’s intercession…
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee;blessed are thou amongst 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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