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Do you know where the Bible comes from? How about the difference between Confession and Reconciliation? Find the answers to these and many more questions here:
Scripture
- Where does the Bible come from?
We think of the Bible as one book—and a big, formidable book at that! Someone might approach it like a novel. But setting out to read the Bible is more like trying to get through all the books in your local library. In fact, the word bible literally means "little library." Our Bible has many different kinds of writings between its covers, including prayers, genealogies, histories, poetry, letters, short stories, love songs and so on.
The Bible contains the records of four thousand years of Judeo-Christian culture. Even before writing materials were invented, the many stories included in our Bible were handed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. We call this "oral tradition."
As time passed, the ancient Israelites began to commit their community's stories to writing. The earliest written stories told about the deeds of the kings. The people also began to write down their songs (psalms) as far back as the tenth century B.C.E. (Before Common Era). But most stories were written down between the fifth and the third century B.C.E.
I can't think of a better time for you to begin reading the Bible than right now. Pick it up, dust it off if you have to, and turn to the Gospel of Mark. Once you've started, just keep going. The cover will soon lose its gloss, it may become tattered and you will learn the truth of another old saying: "Bibles that are falling apart usually belong to people who aren't."
- Why are Catholic and Protestant Bibles different?
This question raises the issue of the biblical canon. Originally, a canon (from the Greek kanon) meant a rod or stick that one used to measure length, and hence a criterion or standard.
Catholics and Protestants accept the same 27 inspired books as making up the New Testament. But when we turn to the Old Testament, some significant differences emerge. The decision finally determining the exact number of books accepted as inspired Scripture for Catholics was not made until the Council of Trent in 1546. The Council fathers accepted 46 Old Testament books, following what appeared to them as a firm tradition of the Church from ancient times. The leaders of the Protestant Reformation, on the other hand, rejected some books agreed upon at Trent.
The seven disputed books are: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch and 1 and 2 Maccabees. There are also some sections of Esther and Daniel not considered inspired Scriptures by Protestants. Protestants call these seven books the apocryphal books. Catholics, however, call these same disputed books deuterocanonical.
Fortunately, today, modern translations of the Bible are published in Catholic editions. These translations will include an imprimatur (assurance of a Catholic bishop that the text is in line with Catholic teaching) and the seven deuterocanonical books.
- Why are some parts of the Bible so confusing?
All meaningful human expression must be interpreted to be understood. This is true of a film, or novel, of a cartoon or a racing form, of a letter from a friend or a facial expression. There is no such thing as reading a text "at face value,"; that is, without interpretation. To refuse to interpret is one way of interpreting, namely, literalism. It does not deliver the "real unvarnished meaning" but condemns the reader to a superficial (at best) or erroneous reading.
Given that interpretation is necessary for genuine encounter with the word of God through Sacred Scripture, how is such interpretation to be done? Three connections are foundational. First, we must be convinced that God does indeed desire to communicate with us and that the Bible is a privileged form of that communication.
Second, however, we must realize that the Bible is not a crystal ball. It is a text, and like all great texts it grows in meaning as our life experience expands. But texts are themselves also products of the times, places, cultures and circumstances in which they were written.
Third, we readers are limited human beings. If we require preparation and effort to read the stock market report, we must expect interpretation of the biblical text to require effort: study, prayer, discussion.
Jesus
- How do we know the Resurrection is true?
Although it goes against our scientific era, we must remember that seeing the risen Jesus was not an experience of empirical data; it was an experience of faith. The mortal Jesus-the Jesus before his death-could, like the mortal Lazarus, have been experienced as a fact of empirical data; the risen Jesus, however, could only be experienced by faith. For resurrection is not returning from the dead. It is a leap beyond death to an entirely different kind of existence. Such a leap cannot be empirically verified.
The Resurrection cannot be proved. This is not to deny that it is perfectly reasonable to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. Clearly there is good evidence that God did so. And for me the evidence is overwhelming. But it is still something I believe. It is a matter of faith, reasonable faith I am convinced. It makes a great deal of sense for us to share the faith of the first disciples. But I don't think I can prove the Resurrection to someone who would not be open to such a faith experience.
What happened when Jesus was raised from the dead? It is noteworthy that none of the Gospels attempt to describe the Resurrection. They do describe the crucifixion, for that is something that humans did to Jesus and as such it is a part of human history and therefore capable of being verified empirically. The Resurrection, on the other hand, is something that God did and therefore not a part of human history in the same sense. It is something that truly happened, but it is a trans-historical event, that is, a divine intervention into human history, and therefore an event that the historian as historian can neither prove or nor disprove.
- Is Jesus really present in the Eucharist?
Recent years have seen a growing concern about Catholics' understanding of the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Some surveys show that a number of practicing Catholics are not clear about the doctrine of real presence. Some think of consecrated bread and wine as only symbols of Jesus' presence rather than a genuine change of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, the long-standing Catholic understanding.
The Eucharist is, for Catholics, both a meal and a sacrifice. The Lord gave us the Eucharist at the Last Supper because he wanted us to share in the life of the Trinity, the loving communion of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We become united to God at our Baptism, and receive a further outpouring of the Holy Spirit at our Confirmation. In the Eucharist we are nourished spiritually, brought closer to God, again and again. As Jesus says in John's Gospel: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him" (Jn 6:56).
This meal of fellowship and unity, though, also is understood as a sacrifice. Why is that? Because Jesus died for our sins. Human sin was so great that we could never share fully in the life of God. Jesus came to reunite us.
At the Eucharist, we re-present the outpouring of Christ's life so that our life can be restored. This gift of life is happening in eternity, always. We remember this in a special way when we sing the Holy, Holy, Holy at Mass, recalling the words of Isaiah 6:3, the hymn of the angels before God. We sing our praise before the "lamb of God," slain to take away the sin of the world, all that separates us from God (see Jn 1:29).
- What do we know about Jesus‘ life?
Recently there has been an effort by scholars to sort out the "historical" Jesus from the Jesus Christ we know through faith and tradition. Their task would have been a great deal simpler had Jesus left a diary, or if archaeologists could find a sign that said "Jesus slept here." As it is, they (and we) are left to solve the mystery from a few clues.
We can look to sources aside from the Gospels to recreate the times and places in which Jesus lived. The Torah, for example, gives us an understanding of the laws that most Jews observed. The writings of Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian, mentions a few names and events also recounted in the Gospels. The topography of the land itself supports the settings for the Gospel stories. The Dead Sea Scrolls show us the diversity that existed in Judaism at the time. Finally, archaeology provides us with material evidence of how people lived. But the man himself does not emerge from these sources.
The four Gospels are our primary source not only for understanding Jesus the Christ, the center of our faith, but also for the information we have about his life on earth. The problem is that the Gospels were not written until at least 40 years after Jesus' death.
The Gospel writers saw Jesus' life from the overwhelming perspective of the Resurrection. Although the Gospels do contain historical facts, the evangelists wrote statements of faith, not historical or even biographical documents. Such details were not their main concern.
- What does Jesus‘ second coming mean?
As the year 2000 approached, one of the promises Jesus made to his disciples received increasing attention: "I will come again." Due to a variety of sources (Scripture, fundamentalist sects and persons, and various prophecies) this teaching has undergone a long and varied history of interpretation.
What does it mean when one speaks of Jesus coming in glory? Is there a specific time involved? Can the Book of Revelation be a guide? Will "the end" be a time of destruction or new birth? These are some of the questions that are asked when language of the "second coming" is spoken.
All this talk may lead you to think that all that is important is in the next life. This is not the case. The Church and sacraments are resources that Christians have been given to live out the message of Christ in the here and now. Your sights, therefore, need to be set on this world while recognizing fulfillment is the next.
The first three things that usually come to mind when thinking of "judgment of the living and the dead" are heaven, hell and purgatory. These words have their limitations as well as their truth. How might judgment ' be expressed today? What are Christians judged upon? Where do fairness and mercy come together?
Finally, Jesus' ministry was about the Kingdom—a place where God's peace and presence reign. Jesus used a banquet, a wedding feast and other parables to describe this ''place.'' Is the kingdom a place or more a state of being? Ultimately, it must be admitted that it is hard for the Church—you and me—to talk about things that can't be seen, only imagined.
- Why is Jesus‘ crucifixion the centerpiece of the Gospels?
Jesus' death reveals most clearly his identity and his mission—especially when we see it from the perspective of Easter. The crucifixion is the centerpiece of the Gospels. The cross shadows all four narratives from the beginning—in the fate of John the Baptist, who is the first actor on the stage in Mark and whose destiny Luke links to Jesus from their conceptions; in Matthew's account of the slaughter of the innocents; in the dark mention of rejection in John's Prologue. We cannot know who Jesus is, the evangelists insist, until we know how he died. Indeed, our conception of Jesus' death colors our vision of God, our sense of Jesus' mission and our understanding of human suffering and death.
The story of Jesus' crucifixion is a dramatic struggle between life and death, of the God-man facing the powers of darkness, of triumph won in defeat. The cross of Jesus is the enduring sign of God's faithful love and the pattern for our lives.
Sacraments
- How does the Eucharist help us become the Body of Christ?
We gather together in worship, not to 'refuel' lives devoid of grace, but because we need to celebrate all the grace-filled moments of our lives, which are so easily overlooked or ignored. We gather at Eucharist to be challenged to deeper awareness of what God is doing in our lives, in this world, all week long.
We have to keep remembering to ask the questions: "Who is at the table? Who is around the table?" as well as the question, "Who is on the table?" The Catechism of the Catholic Church quotes a moving passage in which St. Augustine relates the Body of Christ in the Eucharist (on the altar) to the Body of Christ that is the Church (at and around the altar).
Says Augustine at the turn of the fifth century: "If you are the body and members of Christ, then it is your sacrament which is placed on the table of the Lord; it is your sacrament that you receive. To that which you are, you respond: 'Amen' ('Yes, it is true!'), and by responding to it you assent to it. For you hear the words 'The Body of Christ,' and respond 'Amen.' Be then a member of the Body of Christ that your Amen may be true" (No. 1396).
- How many sacraments are there and what are they?
We have been taught that there are seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Marriage and Holy Orders. When people today hear that Jesus is a sacrament and the Church is a sacrament they sometimes wonder, Does that makes nine sacraments? The question "How many sacraments are there?" has received different answers at various periods of our history depending on what the question meant and how the questioner understood the word sacrament. In our industrial America assigning qualities to numbers as symbols (for instance, thinking "13" is unlucky) usually sounds strange or superstitious. But this use is quite common in other societies and other historical periods. Numbers as qualities have often been used in religion. Seven, for example, symbolizes totality. This is an important factor in the Church's speaking of seven sacraments.
Four is the number for earth and three is the number for heaven. (There are four elements: earth, air, fire and water. There are three Persons in God.) When we join earth and heaven, the material and the spiritual, the created and the divine, four and three, we have "all that is." And so, seven means universal, completeness, totality. When we say that there are seven sacraments we are suggesting in this religious sense that the material universe is a sacrament; all created things are windows to the divine; we have all the sacraments we will ever need! (Seven is frequently used in this sense of "completeness": There are "seven gifts" of the Holy Spirit and there are "seven Churches" in the Book of Revelation, symbolizing the universal Church.)
For the first 11 centuries of Christian history the word sacrament was frequently used to refer to the mysterious plan of God. Little by little specific aspects of this mysterious plan-for example, eucharist, baptism, anointing of the sick-began to be singled out and called sacraments. In the 12th century, we began to see the list of the seven actions which we now call sacraments. In 1547, responding to specific questions being asked at the time, the Council of Trent stated: "The sacraments of the new law are seven, no more and no less" (Session VII, Canon 1).
- If lay people are now called to minister, why do we need an ordained priesthood?
Since the Second Vatican Council, there has been a greater emphasis on the priesthood of the faithful and the ministry of lay people. We now see Christians serving as readers, Communion ministers, spiritual directors, catechists, liturgists, ministers to the sick, directors of religious education and parish managers.
Today when Catholics talk about the role of the priest at Mass they are referring to more than the consecration: They are usually discussing the way he preaches and presides. Eucharist is a complex ritual action at which we gather, first, to hear the word of God proclaimed in Scriptures, prayers and homily. The priest's role is vital in all these actions.
The Sacrament of Holy Orders enables the priest to speak in the name of the whole community. Just as your hand can write a signature and it binds your whole body, or your mouth can give "your word" which binds your whole person, the priest can speak in the name of the whole Body. He is ordained to say prayers to which we can all respond "Amen." Because of Holy Orders the priest "possesses the authority to act in the power and place of the person of Christ himself" (Catechism, #1548).
Each time we gather for the Eucharist, we hear the words "Do this in memory of me." By these words Jesus commands us not only to bless and share the bread as he did, but to "live as he lived." His mission is now our mission. Consequently, the Second Vatican Council taught that the first task of the priest is "to preach the gospel." Preaching the gospel has assumed an importance in the life and self-identity of a priest that it did not have in the years before Vatican II.
- What are the gifts of the Holy Spirit received at Confirmation?
At Confirmation, we learn the implications of our new life in the Holy Spirit:
All powerful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by water and the Holy Spirit
you freed your sons and daughters from sin
And gave them new life.
Send your Holy Spirit upon them
to be their helper and guide.
Give them the spirit of [I] wisdom and [2] understanding,
the spirit of [3] right judgment and [4] courage,
the spirit of [5] knowledge and [6] reverence.
Fill them with the spirit of [7] wonder and awe in your presence.
(Rite of Confirmation)This prayer names the traditional "Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit." The biblical origin of these seven gifts is found in Isaiah (11:1-3) where he is foretelling the qualities of the Messiah.
But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord.
[The ancient Greek and Latin translations of this passage read "piety" for "fear of the Lord" in line six; this gives us our traditional seven gifts.]
These seven gifts are the signs that the Messiah will be guided by the Spirit. The relation of these gifts to the sacrament of Confirmation becomes clear when we remember that the word "Messiah" (Christos in Greek) means "anointed." Jesus was "anointed," filled with the Holy Spirit at his baptism. At Confirmation we are anointed with the Holy Spirit. Throughout the Gospels we see how these seven gifts form Jesus' personality. They are characteristic of his activity. Consider the wisdom expressed in his parables; his understanding of the poor and the sick; his right judgment when tested by the Pharisees; his courage to continue the journey to Jerusalem where he surmised what fate awaited him; his knowledge of God's will; his reverence for his heavenly Father; his awe before the wonders of creation—the lilies of the field, the birds of the air....The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are the manifestation of the Divine Power active in the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
- What does the Sacrament of Marriage reveal to us about God?
In the Scriptures the relationship between God and God's people is often described in terms of a marriage. The early Christians, reflecting on Christ's love for us, also used this image. Christ and the Church embrace in mutual love and self-giving, even as do husband and wife (see, for example, Ephesians 5:21-33). "'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church" (Ephesians 5:31-32).
In each of the sacraments a window opens and we can glimpse the mystery of God and God's plan for the salvation of the world. In Christian marriage we see that God was not content to be alone, but embarked on a whole new life project. Out of love God created us and all that is. God is faithful no matter what. Whether we are faithful or faithless, God is faithful; whether we wander away in sin or remain in the embrace of love, God is always there and is ever ready to embrace us.
This sacramental sign, which the husband and wife give to each other, they also give to the entire community of witnesses. We all have made commitments to God and God has made commitments to us. There are times when we wonder if God will be faithful. We have never seen God, but we can see the fidelity of Christian husbands and wives. Their love for each other is a sacramental sign and witness of God's love for me. Our human lives are interconnected, like a fabric, woven together by many commitments. The fidelity of their commitment strengthens our own commitments.
- What happens when we are baptized?
Contemporary Catholics spend a great deal of time preparing for their own or their child's Baptism. There are new clothes to buy, and classes to take, and godparents to select, all leading up to that moment at Mass when the waters of Baptism touch the new initiate. But Baptism-and all sacraments, for that matter-are much more than the moment of celebration.
The ritual of Baptism does not bring God's love into being as if that love did not exist before the ceremony. Baptism is the Church's way of celebrating and enacting the embrace of God who first loved us from the moment of our conception. Baptism celebrates a family's and a community's experience of that love in the baptized.
There are other life experiences-birth, death, washing, growing and so forth-that are celebrated in Baptism. The water represents life, death, cleansing and growth, and it recalls the flood waters of Noah's day and the saving waters of the Red Sea parted by Moses. The candle symbolizes our status as an "easter people" and signifies the way that the Church "passes the torch" of Christian commitment to those being baptized. The white garment represents the Church's belief that Baptism sets us free from Original Sin.
Baptism happens not only to the individual, but also to Christ's body, the Church. That's why the rite insists that we celebrate Baptism in the Christian assembly, with the community present and actively participating. It is the community, after all, who is welcoming the new members, journeying with them, providing models for them, supporting and nourishing them. Baptism begins with God's love and care revealed to us through Christ. It continues with us, the Church, living and enacting God's love and care through Christ to the world. That's a serious commitment.
- What is a sacrament?
Sacraments are celebrations of Christian tradition, of Christian life and of Christian hope. They share the dimensions of past, present and future that give ordinary celebrations meaning. But sacraments are no ordinary celebrations. They are special occasions for experiencing God's saving presence.
Of all the events that sacraments can point to in the past (biblical events, Church traditions, events in one's own faith journey), the most important are events in the life of Christ. Tradition tells us that all of the sacraments were instituted by Christ. Each has a real foundation in the life and ministry of Jesus.
For example, Baptism calls to mind the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, and the way Jesus gathered a community around himself. It also reminds us of the command of the risen Lord to carry the gospel to others and to baptize them. Eucharist reminds us of the Last Supper. Those familiar with the Gospels are also reminded of other meals to which Jesus invited even those who were rejected by others. Reconciliation reminds us of Jesus' invitation to forgive one another, and of the way he forgave those who put him to death. Each sacrament dramatizes and points to something that is happening in the lives of people who belong to the celebrating community. For example, Eucharist strengthens the unity of Christians as they receive it. Through the Baptism ceremony, some people are entering the Christian community while others are supporting and welcoming them into community.
The sacraments also point to a future which Jesus referred to as God's kingdom, realm or reign. God already reigns in hearts that are converted to doing God's will and to loving others as Jesus instructed. God's realm is already found wherever justice and compassion are the basis of human relationships between individuals, in a group, in an institution or even in a whole society. But the kingdom is always incomplete, so the sacraments look forward to the coming of God's kingdom in its fullness.
- What‘s the difference between Confession and Reconciliation?
Confession, one aspect of the Sacrament of Reconciliation which used to receive the greatest emphasis, is now seen as just one step in the total process. Confession of sin can only be sincere if it is preceded by the process of conversion. It is actually the external expression of the interior transformation that conversion has brought about in us. It is a much less significant aspect of the sacrament than we made it out to be in the past. This does not mean that confession is unimportant-only that it is not the essence of the sacrament.
Look at the parable of the Prodigal Son. The father, seeing his son in the distance, runs out to meet him with an embrace and a kiss. Through one loving gesture, the father forgives the son-and the son hasn't even made his confession yet! When he does, it seems the father hardly listens. The confession is not the most important thing here; the important thing is that his son has returned. The son need not beg for forgiveness, he has been forgiven. This is the glorious Good News: God's forgiveness, like God's love, doesn't stop. In this parable, Jesus reveals to us a loving God who simply cannot not forgive!
Of course the new Rite does concern itself with the confession of sins. But one's sinfulness is not always the same as one's sins. And, as a sacrament of healing, Reconciliation addresses the disease (sinfulness) rather than the symptoms (sins). So, the sacrament calls us to more than prepared speeches or lists of sins. We are challenged to search deep into our heart of hearts to discover the struggles, value conflicts and ambiguities (the disease) which cause the sinful acts (the symptoms) to appear.
Celebration is a word we haven't often associated with the Sacrament of Reconciliation. But in Jesus' parable, it is obviously important and imperative. "Quick!" says the father. "Let us celebrate." And why? Because a sinner has converted, repented, confessed and returned.
- When should someone receive the Anointing of the Sick?
If I asked you to close your eyes and picture the Sacrament of Anointing, what image would come to your mind? I think many Catholics would picture a priest standing at a hospital bedside. For an increasing number of Catholics, however, the mental picture would be different. They would picture a parish gathered for Sunday Eucharist, with 30 or so people-some visibly ill, some apparently perfectly healthy-coming up the aisle to be anointed, some with their spouses or caregivers.
Although the sacrament began as a ritual of healing, over time the emphasis shifted to the forgiveness of sins on the deathbed, when such forgiveness would be the final preparation for heaven. The Second Vatican Council returned the original meaning to the sacrament by emphasizing that it is not only for those who are at the point of death, but for anyone who is seriously ill, including mental or spiritual illness. It also helped move the Anointing away from a private service and back toward a community-based one.
Today we are all aware that tensions, fear and anxiety about the future affect not only our mind but our body as well. These illnesses can be serious. They can move us to ask for the healing touch of Christ in the Sacrament of Anointing. Persons with the disease of alcoholism or persons suffering from other addictions can be anointed. So can those who suffer from various mental disorders. The anxiety before exploratory surgery to determine if cancer is present is a situation in which Christ's power can be invoked in the sacrament.
In these cases the person does not have to wait until the illness is so grave that he or she is in the hospital or institutionalized to celebrate the sacrament. Sacraments, after all, are community celebrations. It is preferable to celebrate them in the context of family and parish even before going to the hospital. The sick person has a better opportunity to appreciate the prayers and symbols of the rite when in her or his customary worshiping community.
- Why are babies baptized? Aren‘t they too young to accept Jesus?
Obviously, infants cannot understand the change of allegiance, the putting off of the old and putting on of the new, the dying and rising, the new life, or the sharing in the life of Christ. However, the parents of those infants can understand and live those values and pass them on to their children. They can also experience the support of the community in living those ideals, and that is extremely important.
Infant Baptism only makes sense if parents are true Christian disciples. If they are not, then it makes little sense to initiate their children into a Church which calls for a commitment to living the mission of Christ.
The Rite of Baptism for Children emphasizes the importance of faithfulness on the part of parents when it says to parents: In asking to have your children baptized, "you are accepting the responsibility of training them in the practice of the faith." That word practice is crucial; it calls for Christian modeling on the part of parents.
Children learn to be Christian by osmosis, by experiencing Christianity at home. The "domestic church" prepares children for the local and world Church. It is in the home, in the domestic church, that children first learn basic trust which is the foundation of faith. Without the experience of faith, hope and commitment in the home, children will not be able to know and understand the larger Church.
- Why do Catholics confess their sins to a priest?
Out of his great love, Jesus instituted this sacrament through which a sinner who is sorry receives pardon and peace and is restored to the fullness of grace with God.
Confession is a very intimate experience. Even in a communal reconciliation service that you might attend during Advent, Lent or a retreat, individual confessions are private.
The Catholic Church maintains, however, that there is also a social aspect to sin. Sin not only affects our relationship with God, sin also alienates us from other people and the Church.
In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Jesus provides us with a way of being reconciled to God and to those we've hurt, and to be strengthened in our connection to God's entire family. This is more than symbolic; it is spiritual reality expressed through ritual.
Human beings need rituals and ceremonies to celebrate the important moments in life.
Morality
- Isn‘t abortion basically a question of personal freedom?
In recent years, a new dimension has been added to the Catholic Church's pro-life teaching. It is an analysis of the meaning of authentic or Christian freedom, as opposed to the false but seductive freedom promoted by advocates of legal abortion. Pope John Paul II’s encyclical The Gospel of Life addresses this in three major points.
First, freedom is never merely about the well-being of the individual. It is always also a relational matter. Freedom necessarily involves "solidarity,...openness to others and service of them." God "entrusts us to one another" to care for and serve each other. When people act as if freedom is just about "me," the results are predictable: The strong people exercising their "freedom" completely dominate the weak "who have no choice but to submit" (#19). Christian freedom turns this on its head, saying that there is no freedom in running away from responsibility for others, but only in accepting a special obligation to care for the weakest. The unborn, unseen, unheard, physically and legally powerless are among these.
Second, Christian freedom sees "an essential link" between freedom and truth. Jesus told us, "The truth will set you free" (Jn 8:32). Acting against truth hurts not only the victim, but also the actor.
It is easy to see how when a culture embraces the idea that "freedom" means "me" and "my opinion," and leaves God out, abortion comes in with a vengeance. The powerless child is killed. The truth about the child's humanity is simply denied in the face of all of the evidence to the contrary. We become blind to God's image and likeness in the person of every single human being.
Christian freedom, on the other hand, calls for a way of life in which the weakest are not merely spared, but are looked after with greater care.
- What‘s the big deal about physician-assisted suicide?
Physicians and other caregivers have the obligation to maintain life and to relieve pain. These two duties, however, may come into conflict when caring for someone who is dying.
Proponents of physician-assisted suicide at times argue that their initiatives are the only way to protect the dying from severe and intractable pain. It is true, too, that public opinion polls reveal that many people who favor assisted suicide do so because they do not want to endure a physically painful death. Quite understandably, people want to make the last steps in life without pain.
It is important to point out that the effective treatment of pain guarantees that no one will suffer a painful death. Health-care providers must make every effort to ensure that the available medications to eliminate or control pain are provided to a patient.
From a moral perspective, a physician may responsibly administer medications to control or alleviate pain even when doing so may hasten death. The physician’s intention is not to kill the patient but to relieve pain effectively with the medicines available.
"True compassion leads to sharing another's pain; it does not kill the person whose suffering we cannot bear." --Pope John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, 66*
Doctrine
- How is God‘s love expressed?
At a recent retreat, one of the participants said that "[S]ervice is nothing other than love in work clothes." My imagination pictured Jesus washing the feet of the disciples, the mystery of God-Love serving his creatures. The mission of Jesus—to serve and not be served—is the task of the Church, the community of disciples. The image of God sitting upon a throne looking for homage from a subservient people clashes with the revelation given us in the person of Jesus. God's royal garments are coarse work clothes.
The love that explains Bethlehem and Calvary also explains the great love moments of our sacramental life. Love wants to visit, love wants to be present as a sign of concern. So this Christian God keeps breaking into our lives when a baby is baptized, when children receive first Communion and Reconciliation, when the Spirit comes in Confirmation, when commitments for life are made, when sickness and death need divine strength and courage. Love "goes where the suffering is" and, yes, where joy is, too. God is love, present and manifest in signs and symbols and nature and community.
God's love is not coercive. Gifted with freedom, we can turn away from the divine mystery. When choices are made that alienate and divide, we enter the realm of darkness and death. At this juncture God's love "seems" like wrath or anger. In reality, God, who is love, is always compassionate and filled with light and life. We need but "turn around" (repent), to experience once again, in freedom, the source of all peace and joy.
- What does the Holy Spirit do?
The Holy Spirit takes us where we might not want to go. There's an old saying: "If you want to make God laugh, tell God your plans." Despite your ideas about what you want to do with your life, the Spirit might take you where you least expect to go. And inspiration might come when you're not looking or asking for it. It may even come when you don't want it!
God's plans for you go beyond your own plans. You want one thing but God has something more in mind. The Holy Spirit opens your eyes to this "something more." The Holy Spirit changes you, gives you strength and courage and faith.
- What is a just war?
The Catholic tradition advocates peaceful solutions to conflict whenever possible and normally counsels against all use of force. But it also recognizes that, in a disordered world, it is sometimes necessary to use force for the sake of preserving human rights and human dignity. To help discern whether a cause justifies a response of force, Catholic teaching has developed and refined a theory of just war.
In a 1993 statement, The Harvest of Justice Is Sown in Peace, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops outlined the criteria for a just war:
- Is the offense sufficiently serious? War is acceptable only when there has been a serious and public evil, such as an act that violates the basic rights of whole populations.
- Has one side clearly been victimized? There are always claims on both sides of injustice, but to justify war the injustice inflicted on one side must be measurably greater than that inflicted on the other.
- Is the authority waging war legitimate? Only recognized public authorities or governments may conduct war.
- Is the cause truly just?
- Is there a probability of success?
- Is the force proportional? The good that combatants hope to achieve must be greater than the destruction they will likely cause.
- Is war a last resort? All peaceful alternatives must be exhausted before arms are used. have been seriously tried and exhausted.
In addition, if conflict is justified, combatants must observe the following restraints:
- Spare civilians from harm when at all possible.
- Use no more force than necessary.
- Avoid vengeance and indiscriminate violence.
- What is Mary‘s relationship to Catholics living today?
Before the Second Vatican Council, Catholics kept Mary on a pedestal, emphasizing her privileged uniqueness. We were so busy craning our necks to look up to her that we missed out on her presence at our side. But the Fathers of Vatican II offered new advice.
Paraphrasing Lumen Gentium, they said: "Look again. Mary is a human being who, like us, needed to be redeemed by her Son. She is a model who goes before us, guiding our pilgrimage of faith. She assures us that we too are capable of fidelity to God's call." We know from Mary's experience as well as our own that hope does not immunize us against doubt, suffering or spiritual setbacks. Her humanity left her vulnerable to misunderstanding Jesus' mission, enduring the stress of his conflicts with religious authorities, bearing the devastation of his humiliating death. Can any parent who has witnessed his or her child's violent death doubt that the green shoots of hope in Mary's heart were trampled and nearly extinguished at Calvary? Yet she endured. And when the early Church gathered to pray for the Spirit's coming, she poured out that same heart in confident expectation.
If we see ourselves as God's works of art ("I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;/Wonderful are your works"-Ps 139:14), we will honor Mary as God's masterwork. We will treasure the mystery by which she is "potentially every woman, every man." We will emulate her interiority, her prayerfulness, her trust, her hope. For she is an accessible model for all ages.
- Why do Catholics need to dialogue with the major world religions?
The immediate purpose of dialogue is not to convert them to Christianity but to begin to learn about them and the role that their faith plays in their lives, just as Christianity does in our own. The dawn of the new millennium is the ideal moment to call on the Holy Spirit to help us all come together in a common dialogue that highlights the ways in which we are alike rather than those in which we differ.
In exploring the five major religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam and Christianity) in my course at Georgetown University, my purpose is not to view world religions through a Christian lens as such but to help my students look at followers of major religious traditions as persons of faith who are open to dialogue. Giving students the freedom to articulate their understandings while providing them with a foundation upon which to base their explorations usually results in not a diminishment, but a strengthening of their faith. They learn more about themselves and are better able to understand the role different religions have played and continue to play in the growth and development of the U.S. The class is an effort to live up to the mandate of Vatican II to engage in interreligious dialogue that promotes greater harmony and understanding among the many peoples and nations of this rapidly shrinking world. Today, as we prepare to welcome a new millennium, dialogue also addresses the hopes outlined by Pope John Paul 11: "...The eve of the Year 2000 will provide a great opportunity, especially in view of the events of recent decades, for interreligious dialogue....ln this dialogue the Jews and Muslims ought to have a pre-eminent place" (The Coming Third Millennium).
- Why do we speak of God as Father, Son and Spirit?
The language of three persons points to a mystery of distinction that nevertheless abides in relationship at the heart of the one God. God is not a singleness but a communion—a living fecundity of relational life. For God, to be is to be in relation—this is the primary divine characteristic of God. Yet, even these powerful words are not to be taken literally. As St. Augustine reminds us, "the formula 'three persons' was coined not in order to give a complete explanation by means of it but in order that we might not be obliged to remain silent." Fundamentally, speech about the Trinity needs to go hand in hand with knowing that we do not totally understand. Quite simply, to say that the persons are three is to negate solitariness, thus affirming relationality at the heart of God.
If we pay close attention to the wisdom of the Church, which affirms the radical equality of Father, Son and Spirit, it is clear that it is unorthodox to claim subordination within trinitarian relationships. Instead, each of the three divine "persons" dynamically circles around, pervades and interweaves with the others in what some theologians call a dance of divine life.
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- What do I do if I‘m thinking about joining the Catholic church?
- Contact Sister Anne by phone (610-525-0147 Ext 234) or email.