House rules/notes…
Our meeting/classes are In-Person the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of every month at St. John Neumann Catholic Church 11900 Lawyers Road, Reston, VA 20191 https://saintjn.org/ (held downstairs in Room 5), and ONLINE via Zoom (#2).
To sign up for Zoom notifications and to receive the Meeting Recaps, go to www.meetup.com/catholicbiblestudy and join us! The Zoom Logon is the same every week: Zoom ID: 861 1782 2081 Password: 406952.
After each meeting, I send out Meeting Recaps of what we discussed. Please remember these recaps are unedited and without the pictures. The edited version with pictures will be posted on our website before the next class at www.catholiccatacombs.org. Taylor will notify everyone at that time and provide a link.
Questions encouraged. If you have questions, we ask that you keep them on topic and brief. You can ask in the chat box during the class, or email through Meetup.com, or email me at ron@hallagan.net afterwards.
Respectfulness. We will be discussing differences between religions and between Christian denominations, and we agree to be respectful at all times. Protestants especially are our friends and brothers-in-Christ; in fact, I personally owe part of my return to the faith to them!
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.
Catholic Prayer & Fellowship. Are you interested in praying the rosary, etc. with other Catholics during the week? Follow fellow member Jason Goldberg at https://www.meetup.com/online-catholic-prayer-fellowship-and-spirituality/. Daily/weekly prayer is saintly!
“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.
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!
Website: CatholicCatacombs.org
Bible Study Format
Weekly Themes
Wk 1: Gospel Week
Wk 2: Bible Week (Gen to Rev): We are in The Book of 1 Samuel.
Wk 3: Survey Topics Voted on by Members:
x 1) Great Women in the Bible 2) Book of Revelation 3) Fathers, Heresies, and Church Councils
Wk 4: Member Questions/Apologetics:
35% Why does God allow suffering?
35% What should our response be to those who ask us about priestly sex abuse?
35% Explain Mother Teresa’s “Dark Night of the Soul.”
28% What is Tradition? Is Tradition equal to Scripture in importance? (2Thes2:15)
28% What about the atheist who leads a good life? Can I be a person be good apart from God?
21% Explain what happens to animals after they die. Will we see our pets?
14% Was Emperor Constantine good or bad? Was he a Christian? How was the Church affected?
Please explain Limbo.
Each week of the month has a repeating theme, as noted below.
Each meeting: 15 min Catholic topic/catechesis
15 min Upcoming Gospel reading
30 min Main topic
Catholic Prayer & Fellowship. Are you interested in praying the rosary, etc. with other Catholics during the week? Follow fellow member Jason Goldberg at https://www.meetup.com/online-catholic-prayer-fellowship-and-spirituality/. Daily/weekly prayer is saintly!
Reader
Our Bible Study is a combination of Exegesis and Apologetics.
Study and interpretation of Scripture A reasoned defense of the faith
Upcoming major holy days: All Saints Day, Nov 1
Opening Prayer
Mary, Mary, my mother, my lady, how does our garden grow?
With the Holy Spirit and continuous prayer, our garden will exceed Bordeaux!
And as your Son 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.
TODAY: 15 min Catholic Catechesis – The Sacraments
15 min Gospel Reading – Conclusion of John 6
30 min Member Questions: 1) Why does God allow suffering? 2) What do we say to priestly abuse?
The Seven Sacraments and #1 Baptism
What is a sacrament?
My favorite: Heaven touches Earth 🡪 God touches Man 🡪 God’s spiritual grace through a physical sacramental.
Official: A sacrament is an outward, visible sign instituted by Christ that gives us an inward, invisible grace.
Simpler: A sacrament is a 1) physical sign, 2) instituted by Christ, that 3) gives us grace.
What is the model of all Sacraments?
The Incarnation.
...1) The Word made flesh… 2) Logos becomes Christ… 3) to bring us sanctifying grace and every other grace.
In fact, Jesus IS grace and our source of grace. In his Incarnation, Jesus is the ultimate sacrament!
Notice also how God comes to us where we are. Jesus didn’t become an angel. He became human. And when you look at the Gospels, everything he did was sacramental. Think of his teachings (God’s Word made tangible for real-world use) and his miracles: always a physical component (laying hands, mud, spit, words) and a supernatural effect (sight regained, hearing restored, healing, raised up/life …).
“God never meant man to be a purely spiritual creature. That is why He uses material things like bread and wine to put the new life into us. We may think this rather crude and unspiritual. God does not: He invented eating. He likes matter. He invented it.” – CS Lewis
Speaking of which, what is grace?
Grace is the free/undeserved help (strength/guidance) that God gives to humans through the HS to help us respond to his call to become more Christ-like (adopted children of God) and to participate in His Divine Nature and eternal life.
Is Baptism scriptural? It certainly is:
“Unless you are born of water and spirit, you cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven.” – John 3:3
Jesus himself is baptized by John the Baptist – Matthew 3:13-16
Jesus sends out the Apostles to baptize – John 4:1-2
As Jesus is ascending to Heaven, he tells his Apostles: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” – Matthew 28:19
Who can baptize?
Bishops, priests, and deacons are specifically designated to administer the sacrament. However, in cases of necessity, any person can perform a baptism, even if they are not baptized themselves, provided they have the intention to do what the Church does and use the proper (exact) Trinitarian formula:
“I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
What about infant baptism? Some non-Catholics say infants don’t know better, so we should wait until they are of age.
Three reasons why this interpretation is incorrect; then several supporting Scriptural references on the topic.
The main reason is that Baptism conveys the Sanctifying Grace which was lost in the Fall (Original Sin). This is a free gift from God and cannot be not earned, so it does not require the age of reason.
A second reason is that in the OT one became a member of the “God’s Chosen People” by way of circumcision, which occurred on the infant’s 8th day, not at the age of reason. Baptism is the official replacement of this ritual, and it makes the child a member of God’s family – adopted sons and daughters.
Third, humans are in this together. Sanctifying grace was lost by the community actions of others, and so it is sensible that sanctifying grace is restored by the community action of others.
Scriptural references…
Many cultures treated children as necessary nuisances until they are old enough to be useful, but not Jesus. It is easy to see that he would want children baptized rather than put their salvation at risk. The Lord often, explicitly, called infants to himself.
Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciple saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” Luke 18:15-17
Although Jesus never spoke of any set times for being baptized, Peter says this in Acts:
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins… For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, everyone whom the Lord calls to him.” – Acts 2:38-39
Most biblical scholars agree that “an entire household” would have included people of every age. In the book of Acts, Luke writes about the baptism of an entire household:
“One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a dealer in purple cloth, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to give heed to what was said by Paul. And when she and her household were baptized, she urged us to stay.” – Acts 16:14-15
St. Paul similarly writes, “I also baptized the household of Stephanas…” (1 Corinthians 1:16).
In conclusion, the Church has retained the tradition of infant Baptism throughout the centuries and never once ceased in its practice.
Bonus Question: If you are ever asked if you were born again, what would you say?
Absolutely! And then give them your baptismal date.
Which brings us to the 2nd Sacrament: Confirmation! Next class.
Modern-day Baptism on the Jordan River
Conclusion to John 6.
Last week, speaking outdoors to crowds, Jesus compared himself to the manna of the past. This week, speaking indoors in the synagogue, he calls himself the “bread of life,” and his Jewish audience’s minds likely went to another Exodus reality: the “Bread of the Presence” that was kept in the Tabernacle.
Before continuing, though, I said last week we would discuss the verse that is most used by those who resist accepting the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. So, let’s get this out of the way.
After Jesus says for the 5th time, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will live forever,” we read this…
Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?”
Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you?
What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? (referring to his Ascension and divinity)
It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
But there are some of you who do not believe.”
What is the spirit he is referring to?
The spirit he is referring to is the Holy Spirit, who gives life.
What is the flesh he is referring to?
The flesh he is referring to is the flesh of man. This fallen world. Man cannot work out his own salvation. It is only through Jesus’ glorified flesh and glorified blood – which includes the divinity and Trinity – made present by the power of the Holy Spirit that our souls are nourished and receive new life.
Jesus says immediately afterwards, “But there are some of you who do not believe.” Again, he is referring his followers who cannot accept his statements and started leaving, for symbolic statements would have been no problem for them. They knew it was literal. Nor does it makes any sense that Jesus would let them leave by misunderstanding him on such an important issue, which he spent three years preparing them for. Theologians say if Jesus misled them purposely and let them go, that would amount to a lie – a sin – and Jesus was not capable of sinning.
Bottom line: At the end of the day, Catholics recognize that Jesus gave the authority to interpret Scripture to the Church, which has interpreted John 6 literally for 2000 years. Protestants decided 1500 years later that anyone can interpret Scripture. That’s the only choice, aside from the fact that the evidence in Scripture and the practices of the Apostles and first and second century Apostolic Fathers bear out the Church’s consistent interpretation.
Btw, the meaning of the Eucharist is so paramount that the Church calls it the “Source and Summit of the Christian life” (CCC 1324-27). Also recall, receiving the fullness of grace of the Eucharist comes with belief.
Returning to the “Bread of the Presence” in the Exodus Tabernacle, this was the Holy Bread that was central to Jewish worship. This bread was to be a weekly Sabbath offering that was set before the Lord continually, as an everlasting covenant. It consisted of 12 loaves, stand-ins for the 12 Tribes of Israel, and it was kept on a golden table just outside of the Holy of Holies, a visible representation of God’s presence among his people in his covenant. A menorah was kept continually lit for the bread, much like a sanctuary lamp we see by the tabernacle in Church today.
The Hebrew word for “Bread of the Presence” literally means “Bread of the Face.” It was veiled and only rarely seen by the people but was only shown to them at special feasts, at which time the priest would display the golden table of bread and say to the people, “Behold, God’s love for you!”
The “Tabernacle” which includes the Ark of the Covenant – Sinai Desert, Exodus
Jesus intentionally evokes this Bread of the Presence once again in his words in John 6. Both he and his audience knew the ways bread was a sign of God’s love from the beginning to the end of the Old Testament. However, Jesus says that the bread he will give will last far longer than 40 days: it will last forever.
BTW, what does a lighted lamp by the tabernacle in today’s churches mean?
That there is consecrated Eucharist present inside.
Only by understanding this part of Salvation History can we understand the reason why Jesus chose bread as the manner of giving himself, as well as the meaning behind how the Passover sacrifice was shared by God with his people, which is why the Last Supper happened, and the Eucharist. All this history points to Jesus’ trip to the cross and his giving his life to us, to share in eternity.
Many Protestants don’t study early Church history, perhaps because it is so thoroughly Catholic; it is main cause for many Protestant theologians to convert to Catholicism (i.e., John Newmann). Some early century quotes on the Eucharist:
Do not speak of Jesus Christ and yet prefer this world to Him . . . I have no delight in corruptible food, nor in the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, the heavenly bread, the bread of life, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became afterwards of the seed of David and Abraham; and I desire the drink, namely His blood, which is incorruptible love and eternal life. – Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans, 105 AD.
For this food is called among us Εὐχαριστία [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed for the remission of sins, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Savior, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. – St. Justin Martyr (~150 AD).
What you see is the bread and the chalice . . . But what your faith obliges you to accept is that the bread is the Body of Christ and the chalice the Blood of Christ. – St. Augustine, Explanation of the Psalms, 272, on p. 32.
What should we think (or what should our response be) regarding the scandal of sexual abuse by clergy?
I have found that no matter what you say in defense of the Church, it can easily sound like we are defending the abuse, so be warned. We don’t ever want to excuse any sexual abuse or cover-up. Never.
However, the fact of the matter is that the Church isn’t committing these acts, it’s sinful people in the Church. Jesus’ teachings haven’t changed because there are bad clergy in the mix. In fact, here’s what Jesus had to say about misleading little ones, and this would apply even more so up the ladder if higher clergy are involved.
The Church’s official position is the same position of Jesus Christ, which is pretty tough:
That said, here are some other pointers that may be useful to know. You can take them or leave them:
If you Google: “What percentage of catholic priests have been accused of abuse?” you will get this answer:
4 percent. According to an extensive study produced by John Jay College for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, about 4 percent of priests in ministry from the study period (1950-2002) were accused of sexual abuse.
This says 2002, but it is hard to find data. Still, 2002 was the last big peak of the scandal that came to light in the late 90s. Also, 4% is still a big number. 400,000 x 4% = 16,000 clergy.
Let’s say we double it to 8%. That’s 32,000 clergy.
What should we think of this? Of course, we should condemn it, unequivocally.
At the same time, clergy – especially with the Catholic Church – are easy targets for going after money. Just ask any law firm. So we must also insist that they are treated fairly under the law until proven guilty. It’s an ugly situation because this means the priest’s reputation is probably ruined in the meantime. BTW, there is roughly the same number of accusations within the Protestant churches, but they are harder to target because there are 30,000 different churches. That’s also why the media targets the Catholic Church – they are big and known by everyone, as opposed to going after the “Little Hope Baptist Church of Southern Chattanooga.”
As for Bishops who simply transfer priests that they know are a problem, they should go to jail. Unless these guys come clean and repent, we already know they are getting the millstone.
Jesus never said the Church would be filled with sinless people. The Apostles were sinners. The Gospels’ genealogy of Jesus includes murderers and adulterers. Nobody denounces the Law of Moses because of the many infidelities among the Jews. Let’s just count Judas the betrayer. That’s one out of 12, which is 8.3% of the Apostles. 8.3%! Moreover, Jesus knew he had a bad apple in the group, and he let him stay 1) to show that everyone has a chance to repent as long as they are alive, and 2) that we will always have sinners in the Church until Judgment Day. What he promised is that he will not let the Church fail and asks us to learn and improve from our mistakes, especially these awful millstone errors.
Atheists and secular media are quick to remind Catholics of clergy sexual abuse and episcopal cover-up crisis even as they ignore the greater sexual cesspool of the culture.
Finally, let’s not throw the baby out with the dirty bathwater. Let’s not forget that if there are 8% - or even 10% - bad priests, then that means there are 90% good priests. That’s 400,000 x 90% = 360,000 priests who have dedicated their lives to Christ and charity.
Conclusion:
If being a sinner prevented a person from being a leader, then every Christian community that ever existed would be leaderless. Yet, God instituted leaders in the Church (1 Cor 12;28, Eph 4:11-12; 1 Thes 5:12-13, Heb 13:17) simply because most would be good. Jesus did not guarantee – or even suggest – that his followers would be perfect. He only guaranteed the Holy Spirit would remain with the Church and that the Church would not fall.
On Judgment Day, God’s perfect justice will reconcile all errors in history, and nobody is off the hook except for those who sought the Lord’s forgiveness. That’s why it’s called Judgment Day, or Justice Day.
Thank God Almighty that forgiveness is for the asking!
Judgement Day, Jesus will separate the sheep and the goats.
The unrepentant
Quote of the Week:
“Suffering without God has no meaning and condemns man to a pitiable life. It is not the knowledge we have about suffering but the knowledge that is coming to us through suffering. Only suffering with God brings one hope, wisdom, friendship, and purpose.” – George MacDonald
Christianity describes suffering as a profound mystery that is intertwined with the human condition.
Remember, the spiritual definition of “mystery” is that its full understanding cannot be had here, because spiritual understanding is infinite and eternal. We will be able to grasp a portion of the understanding here, and the rest when we join the spiritual realm. That’s why we call the Trinity a mystery – we can only understand a % of it here.
What is the “human condition”?
For that we must look to the Fall of Man. The Fall of Man is the beginning of understanding everything about humans – choosing ourselves and this world over God. If we do not believe in our Fall, then none of Christianity – Christ coming, sin/suffering, justice/injustice, redemption – makes any sense.
What happened after the fall?
Several things:
When God inquired about what happened, humans were unrepentant: Eve blamed the serpent; Adam blamed Eve and God. It was our first experience with betrayal, lies, and shame, represented by recognizing their nakedness and hiding from God.
To the woman He said, “I will make your pains in childbearing severe; in painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” – Gen 3:16
To Adam He said: “Because you have…eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles shall it bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field (formerly for the animals). By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you shall return.” – Gen 3:17-19
CS Lewis comments on this in the Problem of Pain: (note: the “original” human was when we received a spirit from God).
What man lost by the Fall was his original specific nature: “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
The total organism which had been taken up into his spiritual life was allowed to fall back into the merely natural condition from which it had been raised…
It was the emergence of a new kind of man; a new species, never made by God, had sinned itself into existence.
How have pain and suffering evolved since the Fall. Are there silver linings?
Whether religious or irreligious, humans have always sought to keep pain and suffering at bay. Simultaneously and ironically, pain and suffering are the reasons humans have advanced. From our earliest survival days to today, all our efforts have been to avoid sickness, discomfort, pain, and death at any cost. In the process, we have invented ways to protect ourselves from the elements and discovered medicines to keep us healthy. Nothing sharpens our innovative minds more than survival and avoiding pain.
We also discovered that, once safety and comfort were achieved, we were still not satisfied. Happiness seems to be something else entirely. The reason drugs and alcohol are so popular is that they allow us to escape a reality which never seems to satisfy us. The rest of nature would have considered this condition quite sufficient; but not humans.
In the 1800s, the well-known philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer, proclaimed pain to be the normal condition of life, with “pleasure” being its partial, or temporary, absence. It’s a part of life as much as death and taxes, as they say. At the end of the day, though, we can’t ignore that pain and suffering are the primary causes of human achievement. This almost suggests that without this incentive, the human species would have died out by never bothering to get up in the morning, for lack of a reason.
So far, we have mostly been referring to physical/material pain and suffering (hunger, disease, broken bones…). But there is another dimension of pain and suffering that is spiritual (absence of love, jealousy, injustice, greed, betrayal…). As with their physical relatives, we find that spiritual pain and suffering open doors to advancing our spirituality, for we wouldn’t work on improving ourselves if every day was a walk in the park. Furthermore, most pain and suffering of this nature are a result of our free will (or the misuse thereof). In other words, humans bring pain and misery onto themselves by the selfish choices they make, be it individually, in the family, the community, or globally.
In all cases of human pain and suffering (physical and spiritual), we add an element of spirituality regardless, due to existential reflection. Most animals deal with pain like we do, up to the point of asking “why me?” Why is this happening? What caused this? Who can I blame? Obviously, these can add to one’s pain and suffering – sometimes as much as the pain and suffering itself.
Or not.
If we make God a regular part of our lives, we can easily bring Him into the suffering experience. We can’t say that God doesn’t understand, because He came here to walk in our shoes and experience the worst human pain and suffering that anyone could inflict on someone. Perhaps this is another of God’s relationship calling cards.
On the other hand, if we don’t have God in our lives, we leave ourselves in a prison of sorts – all by ourselves with no answers. With God, we learn to humble ourselves, and He will not only help us through it, but He will teach us something from it as well. But only if we ask. As a wise man said,
“We can ignore pleasure, but pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but He shouts in our pain: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” ― C.S. Lewis, Problem of Pain
Sometimes, suffering is to bring us to this realization as part of our “rising journey towards Heaven.”
Many of us have heard the Church teach that Christ invites us to unite our sufferings to his Passion. And that in doing so, we can make our suffering “redemptive.” What the heck does that mean and how do we do it?
What does it mean? It means instead of acting miserably, complaining, blaming, and self-pity, if we humbly bear our suffering and offer it up to Christ, we are sharing in his redemptive act on the cross; and in return, God will use this (for yourself of for others) for the forgiveness of sins and the salvation of souls. Which is exactly what the passion of Jesus did.
How do we do it? For the longest time I rolled my eyes when I heard that. Then I learned that it isn’t any harder than complaining, blaming, or seeking pity! You simply humbly say, “Lord, please help me through this and also teach me something I can learn from it as well.” The learning/wisdom may not come instantly, but it will come. And besides that, you can offer it up for your own sins, or your spouse’s sins, or the salvation of your children (or anyone else)!
God keeps offering us these incredible deals, and for some reason we’d rather get the 9.99 fancy cat socks on Amazon. We should have a God shopping media site!
Q: What about unjust suffering?
All suffering in this lifetime is unjust on some level (we shouldn’t just think of the times we were treated over-harshly, but also about all the times we got away without justice). But the larger point is that “justice” is a Godly/spiritual concept, which means its very nature is eternal. This is what Judgment Day is all about, when all the injustices of history will be reconciled. This is also why we want to take advantage of God’s free offer of forgiveness, for that cleans our slate before Judgment Day! Remember, God IS perfect justice, so no injustice will be left remaining. All tears shall be wiped away, and so will all injustices.
Uniting our sufferings to Christ
Closing Prayer: Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:Where there is hatred, let me sow love;Where there is injury, pardon;Where there is doubt, faith;Where there is despair, hope;Where there is darkness, light;Where there is sadness, joy.O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,To be understood as to understand,To be loved as to love.For it is in giving that we receive,It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.Amen.
Comments