Northern Virginia Catholic Bible Study & Apologetics 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. Unedited recaps of meetings are posted via Meetup after our meeting. The final edited recap is posted within a week by Taylor on our Catholic Catacombs Light website at https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website/recaps. Taylor will notify everyone on Meetup with the link. 4. Respectfulness. We will be discussing differences between religions and between Christian denominations, and 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. 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 do this? "I was in prison, and you visited me." – Matt 25:36 7. Catholic Prayer & Fellowship. Are you interested in praying with other Catholics during the week? Fellow member Jason Goldberg has started just this at “Catholic Prayer, Fellowship, and Spirituality Meetup.” Sign up at: https://www.meetup.com/online-catholic-prayer-fellowship-and-spirituality/ 8. I highly recommend seeing “The Chosen” TV series. We seek a relationship with Jesus Christ, which is not easy at first. It helps when we can relate to a person that we have seen and heard. They have captured the real Jesus as close as any film I’ve ever seen. https://thechosen.link/1Y1R7. 9. RSVP Reminder: Please RSVP whether you are attending the meeting or just reading the Recap notes afterwards. The more RSVPs, the more Meetup will give us exposure, which will draw more people to us, which is our way of evangelizing! Please RSVP when you get the Meetup invite weekly. Our Bible Study Format: 5 min prayers, 10-15 min Catholic topic, 40-45 min on the main topic from weekly List below: Week 1: Dec 6 - Gospel Week: Immaculate Conception readings: Genesis 3:9-20 and Luke 1:26-38 Week 2: Dec 13 – Bible Week (Gen àRev): We are in EXODUS, the 2nd book of Moses, meeting #4. Week 3: Dec 20 – Survey Topics Voted on by Members: We are currently beginning Heaven.
Ö 1) Jesus’ Greatest Parables 2) Hell, Purgatory, Heaven 3) Christian Comparisons 4) Great Women in the Bible 5) World Religions 6) Book of Revelation 7) Major Heresies and Church Councils
1. How do we reconcile the idea of Christian suffering and “dying to oneself” with Jesus’ statement, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." – Mat 11:28-30
2. The History of the Mass going back to Cain & Abel, and the sublime meaning of the Eucharist in the present.
3. Love and Unity are two of the Holy Spirit’s Trinitarian descriptions. How are these different? How do they affect us?
4. The knowledge of God is “participatory.” Is that why nonbelievers have difficulty?
5. Are Charity and Love synonymous? How are they different? What are the 4 highest forms of Charity?
6. Do we have suffering for a reason? How do we offer up our sufferings? When should we embrace the cross vs wait for a miracle?
7. Can you review origin, purpose, and meaning of the various components of the Creed?
Next Holy Days of Obligation
Epiphany of the Lord – Jan 8
Opening Prayer
Lord God in Heaven, thank you for loving us into existence…
For giving us another chance when we choose ourselves and this world over You.
Thank you for coming here to reunite Yourself with man, to walk in our shoes and show us the way...
And for taking the cross to pay off our sins.
Thank you for sending us the Holy Spirit
To help us and guide us the rest of the way.
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.
Member Question:
Q: How do we reconcile the idea of Christian suffering and “dying to oneself” with Jesus’ statement, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." – Mat 11:28-30
First, a refresher: What is a yoke?
In earlier days, it was a wooden harness that joined together two animals, usually oxen. The root of the word means “to join.”
Domesticated cattle/oxen wore yokes which allowed their master/farmer control their work without them going wild. Obedient oxen don’t strain against the yoke but follow the direction of the other animal and the master. Disobedient oxen were called “stiff-necked” when they refused to yield to the yoke, like the Israelites who refused to be obedient to God in Exodus (Ex 32:9) and elsewhere.
When two are yoked, the burden is reduced in half and/or the output is doubled.
When two are yoked, rather than go wild they act in unison towards reaching a common goal.
In order to understand Jesus’ saying “my yoke is easy and my burden is light” we have to look at both some historical and present context.
What is the OT context?
Jewish teachers metaphorically spoke of the Torah (the Laws of Moses, first 5 books of the Bible) as a “yoke.” To yoke oneself to the Torah, then, meant to adhere to every word of God. Over time, the Jews – particularly since the Babylonian Exile – began interpreting this in more and more literal/external ways.
What is the NT context?
By the time of the ascendency of the Pharisees in Jesus’ time, these external rules and requirements had increased by the hundreds (Biblical scholars say the Pharisees added over 600 regulations alone regarding what qualified as “working” on the Sabbath). Unfortunately, these efforts replaced the intent, or heart, of God’s laws. The “yoke of the Pharisees” became the burdensome yoke of self-righteousness and legalistic law-keeping. (“Btw, these are the “works of the law” that Paul constantly criticized.)
Jesus was severely critical of the Pharisees and scribes for laying all these “burdens” on the backs of the Jewish people, especially when they, themselves, weren’t lifting a finger to help those in need.
So when Jesus says, “Come to me… all who are heavy-laden,” he is telling the Jewish people to come to him, not to them. Yoke to HIM/Jesus, not the Pharisees and their burdensome ritualistic/external rituals and regulations.
“For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.” – Mt 23:4
So then the first point here is that Jesus’ comments are not referring to physical burdens but rather the heavy burdens that the Pharisees laid on the backs of the people, which Jesus was offering to relieve.
The yoke of Jesus is light and easy to carry because his yoke is repentance and faith, followed by a commitment to follow Him.
Nevertheless, yoking yourself to Christ can also be related to suffering and “dying to oneself.”
Let’s return the original question:
How do we reconcile the idea of Christian suffering and “dying to oneself” with Jesus’ statement, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden… for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Let’s distinguish between suffering and dying to oneself.
Suffering is the state, or instance, of experiencing physical, emotional, and/or psychological pain.
Dying to oneself means putting others first, putting God first, essentially putting the ego in a tiny, distant cage, locking it, and throwing away the key. Jesus means the same thing when he says that whoever wishes to follow him must leave self behind.
Locking up the ego!
At the same time as Jesus talks about dying to oneself, he says that we must be willing to take up our cross and follow him. This may relate more to the member’s question.
Q: What does it mean to take up our cross and follow him?
It means being willing to stand up for good, for truth, for God, even if it costs us. These can all involve suffering. But, if we suffer with Christ – if we bring Christ along for the ride – we are yoking ourselves to him, and he promises us it will be easier for several reasons:
a. We are not alone; in fact, we are doing what he did so we are doing it together (this is what it means to attach our sufferings to his suffering);
b. When we do this we are, in a sense, “offering it up” (rather than blaming others and complaining), and it gets deposited into the Treasury of Compassion that can be used for many things;
c. It is “easier” because the suffering is being shared by him, and it now has great purpose (compared to meaningless suffering, which is what most people experience and is the hardest suffering of all).
When I say “easier," I should point out that the word Jesus uses is “rest,” which adds yet another dimension to all of this. The word rest is the same word used to rest on the Sabbath, which is also the same word used in Genesis for the 7th Day.
Q: What is the implication of rest vs easy?
The 7th Day (“rest”) refers to God’s peace, eternal fellowship, Heaven. When we leave self behind, or attach our sufferings to Christ, we are building our home in Heaven.
Topic Night: Heaven 3
The first week we discussed how time was different in Heaven. There will be no aging, no sin, no sadness, no boredom, no death – no entropy. I added “no boredom" because boredom is anathema to happiness. They don’t mix.
The second week we discussed our glorified bodies and Heavenly places, which will include endless flora and fauna, but no violence. It will also include our pets.
That there will be heavenly places is not new. The Church has taught this since apostolic times. Heavenly places will be similar to our current places in this universe, only better. As Jesus said, “I make all things new.”
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” And he said upon the throne and said, “Behold, I make all things new.” – Rev 21:4-5
The Bible says that the New Age/New World/New Jerusalem will come at the end of the Messianic Age (end of earthly time) – this is also when Judgment Day takes place. This is when we receive our glorified bodies back, which we will need to experience this New Age and New World.
We then discussed that there are two time frames after we die, connected by the Doorway called Judgment Day. We might call it the Judgment Day Doorway.
As we noted above, we are without our bodies during Time¹.
This led to the question regarding Time¹: “What happens between the time we die and Judgment Day?”
We already know that those of us who haven’t sought forgiveness for all our sins will still be received into Heaven but will need to take a detour to Purgatory to get these taken care of, since no sin may enter Heaven. As we have already covered Purgatory, we will not spend more time on that here, but it is posted on our Catholic Catacombs website.
For those who died ready for Heaven (or have finished Purgatory), the obvious question that comes to mind is …
What will our “out of body” experience be like?
We compared this to dreaming. When we dream, we move all over the place – long distances are not a problem! Our dreams are sometimes so real we think they really happened. They can be scary, but they can also be so wonderful that when the alarm goes off, we are disappointed that we have to get up.
One could ask, is it really us in the dream? Of course it is us. It’s our imagination for sure, but it is us. Who else?
So, then, we do have one idea of what an out-of-body experience is. It will be like our dreams, but it will be real, not imaginary.
Dante – PURGATORIO (Purgatory) – Book 2
We left off at the end of Dante’s travels through Purgatory:
Once Dante had completed all seven levels of the Mountain of Purgatory (representing the Seven Deadly Sins), he is transported into the Garden of Eden. This seems appropriate when we consider that Jesus came to reverse the Fall of Man and gives us back the Sanctifying Grace we lost. So Dante is returned to the scene of the crime – where our first parents failed – and picks up where they left off: to complete the journey into the 7th Day (Heaven). Dante is no longer escorted by Virgil, his guide through Hell and Purgatory, but by the beautiful Beatrice who was sent by Mary.
Please be reminded that Dante’s visions or dreams of these experiences/travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven are allegories. That said, Dante was very intelligent, very Catholic, and even a fan of Thomas Aquinas who lived in the previous century, so his elucidations are foundationally accurate and rooted in Catholic doctrine. He is considered perhaps the greatest poet in the last thousand years (or equal to Shakespeare), and several recent popes have highly recommended his books to all Catholics.
Dante – PARADISO (Heaven) – Book 3
As Dante rises to the realm of Heaven, he comes to realize that there are different levels – or spheres there. The human souls in each sphere are there by virtue of, well… their virtues on earth. For example, in the Third Sphere, he will meet Solomon, Thomas Aquinas, and other wise souls. I got the impression that souls in the different spheres are aware of each other but their temporary home is together with similar souls (this is not how it will be after Judgment Day).
In the pictures below are some of the people Dante meets. However, in the book Dante really can’t see their bodily forms – because they don’t have their bodies. He sees their form as a light emanating from the center of the person. He can hear their voices very clearly.
(Please note that I am totally paraphrasing, these are taken from my Dante class notes – they are not exact translations from the book.)
Above, we see Dante meeting three women in the second sphere. Beatrice tells Dante he can ask whatever he wants. Everyone in heaven seem eager to answer any and all questions.
Noticing that some souls have more light than others, Dante asks one of the women why she is here and why her light is less than another.
Woman: My friends here are nuns from the Sisters of Charity. I was a nun too, in the 10th century, but my father ordered that I be forcefully removed and brought back to marry a Duke.
Dante says to Beatrice: This is not right! It wasn’t her fault to leave the convent.
Woman: Dante, I could have tried to stop them. I could have tried to return. But, I did not. However, Dante, I gather you think I am lacking in fulfillment or happiness to some degree, but I am not.
Dante: But don’t you wish you had more light like the other two nuns?
The woman laughed: Dante, are you referring to envy? There is no envy in Heaven. I have as much light and happiness as I can possibly handle. My vessel, my being, is filled to the brim. Sister Maria here has a larger vessel, and hers is filled to the brim, too. I could not be any happier for her than I could for my own child.
And so Dante begins to learn that, although everyone can be equally saved, that doesn’t mean all are the same in Heaven. There will still be endless differences – variety – in heaven.
This should be no surprise for us since that is how God made everything. No two living things are exactly alike. God has made both variety and uniqueness desirable and “good.”
Beatrice and Dante travel to other spheres.
The radiance and joy that Dante sees in the souls he meets is stunning to him. Plus they can move around so freely without the effects of nature (gravity). It is such a grand experience that Dante begins to wonder: what the is the point to getting one’s body back after Judgment Day? Won’t a body just limit them? Weigh them down?
He posits this question to souls in the 3rd sphere, where Thomas Aquinas and Solomon reside.
It is Solomon who appears and answers Dante:
When we are robed once again in our flesh, Dante, we shall be lovelier for being whole. You see, our bodies are not mere vehicles for our souls to live our lives on earth. Rather, we have “en-souled bodies.” It is a partnership, a marriage between spirit and flesh – between heaven and earth – a unique creation that God intended to be unique and beautiful – and will once gain once we escape the Fall. The bodies will be perfectly what they should be, and we will be more perfectly what we are meant to be. Therefore, to be united with our bodies is the greater grace, and our lights will be more brilliant still.
While Dante is processing these comments from Solomon, he makes another comment: “Solomon, I have noticed that some lights are more brilliant than others. Why is that?”
Solomon responds: Our light is a reflection of God – of His love. The more one experiences God, the more one loves God, the more he sees God, that is the depth of the light that returns to us.
Dante: How does one get more?
Solomon: One has all one wants. It’s a gift and God gives us as much grace as we ask for in our lives, and that enables us to be closer to Him now.
Dante: You said the body will glow brighter than your light does now. How is that so when it is clothed with a body?
Solomon laughs: I am not just speaking of our outer brilliance, but of the inner self, of joy. How, you ask? Think of a piece of coal in the blazing fire. Is the coal overcome or defeated by the fire? No! It burns more deeply than the fire itself, even turning white hot. It is the coal then that gives the fire greater life. Such is the nobility of the flesh.
Dante looked around at the other souls and could see their lights flaring up with excitement at the mere talk about being reunited with their bodies.
Dante seems stunned: Why is this state so desired by everyone?
Solomon: Because of love, Dante. We want to see the faces of the ones we love, and experience heaven with our friends in our bodies. This was God’s intention from the beginning.
Beatrice motions to Dante that it’s time to leave, so he bids farewell and departs for another sphere.
When Dante reaches the 8th sphere, he encounters a test of sorts. Since this tour has been granted to Dante to save his soul when he returns to earth, and I presume because he is almost too smart for his own good, he isn’t going to be let off the hook so easily. In this sphere, he will be tested on what he knows, or thinks he knows, about the three divine/theological virtues – faith, hope, and love.
Voice: What is faith, Dante?
Dante tries to make out who it is. It is none other than St. Peter, leader of the Apostles and first pope of the Catholic Church!
Dante pauses, then quoting St. Paul: Faith is the certainty of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Peter: Do you have this, Dante?
Dante: Yes
Peter: Where did you get it?
Dante: From the Old and New Parchments of God.
Peter: Why should you believe these?
Dante: Uhh… the miracles! The miracles were beyond all nature to perform.
Peter: Why should you believe the miracles ever happened?
Dante: Well, the greatest miracle of all is that it reached me – that this faith could spread to all corners of the earth – a faith that began with you, a fisherman, and Paul, a rejected Pharisee and tentmaker, with hardly the shoes on your feet, against all odds, against the greatest power in the world that tried desperately to stop it.
Peter: Good. You know what faith is and where you got it. What exactly is it you believe, Dante? What is the content?
Dante: I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, creator of Heaven and Earth, and of all things visible and invisible…
Dante recites the whole Creed and then adds, “The Church.”
Peter beams and is so pleased that his brilliant, radiant soul seemed to do a dance around them.
Suddenly, they are joined by another apostle – this times it is St. James, cousin of the Lord, and first bishop of Jerusalem. James seems to be a fiery wisp flying near and about, then coming close to Dante, causing him to fall backwards.
James: Greetings, Dante, please share with us: If faith is the assurance of things hoped for, what is hope?
Dante: Hope is the certain expectation of future glory, springing from Heavenly grace and merit we have won.
James: And what promise does this Hope hold out for you, Dante?
Dante pauses and paraphrases a passage from Isaiah 61:10: To be double-robed in His glory in Heaven.
Q: Who can guess what Dante means by “double-robed”?
Both our spirits and our bodies together are robed in glory.
With this, the fiery dance has ended. James is satisfied.
Next entering the scene: the youngest apostle who Jesus gave his mother to before he died, St. John, traditionally considered the author of the Gospel of John, the three letters from John, and the Book of Revelations. John is considered the Apostle of Love and his brilliance is impossible for Dante to behold and he is temporarily blinded.
John: Dante, what is love?
Remember, more than philosopher or theologian or handsome debutante, Dante considers himself a poet; and not just any poet, but a very eloquent poet of love! Indeed, Dante speaks eloquently about how God is love revealed to the world, and recites Yahweh’s revealing part of Himself to Moses at Sinai. He says love is action and like a bow one must choose how to aim one’s arrow.
John: But what is the target of your bow, Dante? What is it that inspires you?
Most of us might speak to the sorts of things we might be attracted to, but Dante knows there is more to it because the whole universe is a creation of love.
Dante: What inspires me? Philosophy, Aristotle, Theology, the movement of the everything contained in the universe, and especially, the revealing in the Old Testament of the coming of the Messiah, and then the revealing of the truth in the New Testament with the arrival of the Word, which you yourself spoke of so profoundly, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the Word became flesh!”
John: Good, Dante, you love philosophy, and you love the Scriptures. What specific thing do you love that most brings you to God?
Dante: My being brings me to God. Being of the world he put me in, my own being – that I exist – and the death that He bore that I may continue to have my life. This is what draws me to God!
Suddenly, the sky is full of angelic forms that are singing “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord”! Dante’s eyesight is restored.
Next up: one more surprising guest, and then Dante goes to the sphere of the angels.
Taylor keeping positive in spite of having only one eye!
Closing Prayer
1Cor13
Heaven Father, help us tonight and tomorrow to be patient,
Not to envy, or boast, or be proud,
Never to dishonor others, nor to be self-seeking
Nor easily angered, and to keep no record of wrongs.
Help us to rejoice in the truth, to always protect, trust, hope,
and to never ever give up, but always persevere.
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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