CATHOLIC CHURCH TEACHING

JESUS IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

  “I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness…. I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world.  John 12:46-47

 Welcome to Catholic Eschatology- the theology concerned with end times, death, judgment, heaven, hell. the Second Coming of Christ, The Resurrection of the Dead, and the Final Judgment.

During the Eucharistic Prayer at Mass, after the consecration the people are invited to acclaim the Mystery of Faith. (Mysterium Fidei ) This simple acclamation proclaims the belief in the resurrection of the Lord. We acknowledge His death and we also proclaim our faith that He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

We proclaim your Death, O Lord,
and profess your Resurrection
until you come again.

 This month of November when we remember the Saints in Heaven and the Holy Souls in Purgatory is a good time to reflect on our own end times. Life on earth will come to an end for all of us.  We know not when, nor how, but God does.  “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. Matt. 25:13

We are reminded throughout Scriptures to be ready to welcome Jesus at all times.  We know from Scripture there will be a final end time but our end time may come first. Our short lives on earth are a sowing time.

St. Paul writes “What is sown is perishable, but what is raised is imperishable; what is sown is contemptible but what is raised is glorious; what is sown is weak, but what is raised is powerful; what is sown is a natural body, and what is raised is a spiritual body” 1 Cor. 15:42

Let us not be like the foolish virgins who missed the bridegroom through lack of preparation and when they approached the wedding feast the door was shut as they cried out, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you. Matt.11

Let us not be the rich fool with a rich harvest either, I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry! But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong then? Luke 12:18-20

 After we die, according to Church teaching (Magisterium), each person faces a Particular Judgment before God.  Death puts an end to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ. Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either immediate entrance into the blessedness of heaven or through a purification in purgatory or immediate and everlasting damnation. Catechism of the Catholic Church #1022.

 THE PARTICULAR JUDGMENT

The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each person will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith. i.e the words of Christ on the cross to the good thief, “Amen, I say today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:42.

Those who die in the grace and friendship with God and who are perfectly purified from sin will see God face to face as He really is and live with Christ forever.  This perfect life with the Blessed Trinity, Mary, and all the saints is called heaven, a state of supreme and definitive happiness forever.

To die in grave sin, without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love, means remaining separate from God for all eternity.  This place is called hell. God respects our free will and will not force us into beatitude and life eternal.

 RESURRECTION OF THE BODY

Jesus came to dress our perishable nature with imperishability and our mortal nature with immortality 1 Corinthians 15:53.

The resurrection of all the dead, the just and unjust, will occur just before the Last Judgment. This will be “the hour when all who are in the tombs will hear the Son of man’s voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.” CCC 1038

In the resurrection we will have spiritual bodies. Our natural bodies came from Adam, our spiritual bodies come from Christ.  “as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man [Adam], so we shall bear the likeness of the heavenly one [Christ]” 1 Corinthians 15:49   

LAST JUDGMENT

Christ will come “in his glory, and all the angels with him. . . . Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” CCC 1038

The Last Judgment will come when Christ returns in glory. Only the Father knows the day and the hour. In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man’s relationship with God will be laid bare. The Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life.

Then, through his Son Jesus Christ, God will pronounce the final word on all history. We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and understand the marvelous ways by which his Providence led everything towards its final end. The Last Judgment will reveal that God’s justice triumphs over all the injustices committed by his creatures and that God’s love is stronger than death.

NEW CREATION NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH

At the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness. After the universal judgment, the righteous will reign forever with Christ, glorified in body and soul. The universe itself will be renewed: Sacred Scripture calls this mysterious renewal, which will transform humanity and the world, “new heavens and a new earth.”

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away.” Revelation 21:1 “It will be the definitive realization of God’s plan to bring under a single head “all things in [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth.” CCC 1043

 PRAYER

Heavenly Father, now we walk by faith and not by sight, but one day we hope to see you face to face, we pray our bodies will rise in glory on the last day through the merits of your only begotten Son, Jesus, who goes before us to prepare a place in His heavenly Mansion, who reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen

CHOOSE LIFE

 “I have today set before you, life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I am giving you today…you will live and grow numerous, and the LORD, your God, will bless you…If, however, your heart turns away and you do not obey…and bow down to other gods and serve them, I tell you today that you will certainly perish…

 I have set before you, life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life that you and your descendants may live.” DEUTERONOMY 30:15

 BACKGROUND

 October is Respect Life Month, a time for Catholics to reflect more deeply on the God-given dignity of all human life. All lives are Sacred and gift from our Creator. I repeat, ALL LIVES!

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

 2270 Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person – among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.

2271 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law.

 COMMENTARY

When is abortion permitted?  NEVER! Not when a child is inconvenient…. not when the child in the womb is the wrong sex….not when child created by God is a result of rape or incest…not when child in womb may be born with some handicap….DELIBERATE ABORTION IS NEVER PERMITTED.  The end never justifies an immoral means. KILLING INNOCENT LIFE IS NEVER PERMISSABLE!

NOTE: In an attempt to save a mother’s life, the life of the child in her womb may be lost in unintended consequences of saving the mother’s life.

Today, those who support abortion on demand use words to draw sympathy and support. There are many euphemisms.  Some will call it Women’s Reproductive Rights. Where does the right come from?  I know it isn’t God.  Nor is women’s right to an Abortion in the Constitution of the United States. A person does not have a right to something just because they think they do.  Think about that one and the chaos in the world that would follow.

Calling Abortion, a woman’s health issue is like calling euthanasia, death with dignity or calling same-sex marriage, marriage equality. All of it is shameful marketing to develop sympathy for deeply flawed practices.

Women claim it is their body and free to do what they want.  Nonsense, the slogan, “My Body, My Choice,” betrays a tragic misunderstanding of what is taking place inside the womb.

Check out on internet the growth of the baby in the womb.  By 12 weeks the baby has eyes, ears, hands, feet, toes, functioning brain and other organs apart from their mother’s.

At no point in pregnancy is the developing embryo or fetus simply a part of the mother’s body. Every cell of the baby in the womb is genetically distinct from every cell in the mother’s body. Human embryos did not originate only from the woman. The baby would not exist without the man’s seed.

Often the blood type of the baby is different from the mother’s and half the children are born male, a different sex than their mother. If a pregnant woman is killed, the murderer is charged with two homicides.  It is illegal to execute a pregnant woman on death row because the fetus living inside her is a distinct human being who cannot be executed for the crimes of the mother.

Today, many consider pregnancy a disease to be preemptively attacked like a flu vaccine.   Some politicians aggressively defend the right to abortion.

Just because it is legal does not make it RIGHT!   Today, like so many things, just because you say it over and over again, doesn’t make it true.

The Holocaust of Germany authorized by the Nazi Government in power was a horrific ethnic cleaning of more than 6 million Jews.  Over 60 million unborn babies in the US, alone, since Roe V Wade have been slaughtered due to Legal abortion of the United States Government

If a government, on its own authority, can authorize citizens to take the life of a child legally, all sorts of excesses are possible. Who has the right to live?

Stay tuned as those who favor thinning out the masses come up with new ideas for thinning the herd and who shall live and who shall die!

PRAYER CELEBRATING SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE

God, you are the Lord and Creator of Life. You have blessed men and women with the privilege of bringing new life into the world.

You have imparted in our hearts the desire to nurture and protect life at all its stages. I accept these gifts as a sacred trust.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Grant me the wisdom and courage to speak out and defend human life, made in Your image and likeness from conception to natural death.  Amen

WHO SEES ME SEES GOD

Jesus is not made in image and likeness of God. Jesus is God! “Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantialof one Being with the Father.” (Nicene Creed)

“God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” Genesis 1:27 The image of God (Latin: imago dei) refers to the immaterial part of humanity. It sets human beings apart from the animal world, fits them for the dominion God intended them to have over the earth (Genesis 1:28), and enables them to commune with their Maker.

Adam was like God not in his outward appearance but internally. We must remember that God is spirit (John 4:24). Adam was made “in” the image of God. We are like God in many ways, but we are not God in any way. This is only true of Jesus.

It is the spiritual qualities of God that we humans image.  We reflect God’s intellect and free will. Anytime someone invents a machine, writes a book, paints a landscape, or names a pet, he or she is proclaiming the fact that we are made in God’s image.

Socially, humanity was created for fellowship, God made the first woman because “it is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). Fellowship is a reflection of God’s triune nature in relationship with the Son (the beloved) and the Holy Spirit (the love between them.)  Every time someone marries, makes a friend, or hugs a child, he or she is demonstrating the fact that we are made in the likeness of God. made for relationships.

Part of being made in God’s image is that Adam had the capacity to make free choices. Adam and Eve made an evil choice to rebel against their Creator. In so doing, they marred the image of God within themselves, and passed that damaged likeness on to all of their descendants, a clouding of the intellect and weakness of the will. “Therefore, just as through one person sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all” (Romans 5:12).

Today, we still bear the image of God James 3:9, but we also bear the scars of sin. Mentally, morally, socially, and physically, we show the effects of sin.

But God was not going to abandon His work that He declared was good.  He sent us a most Holy Redeemer, His only begotten Son, Jesus, who begins to restore God’s image as willed by God in the first place. “Through Christ, we are made new creations in the likeness of God”2 Corinthians 5:17

“We have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” Now with our redemption in Christ, we have put on the new man. We have put on Christ, and this now becomes a process of shaping us, making us again into the image of our Creator.” Colossians 3:10

.It is in Christ, Redeemer that the divine image, disfigured in man by the first sin, has been restored to its original beauty and ennobled by the grace of God. CATECHISM OF CATHOLIC CHURCH 1701

REFLECTIONS

Man, enticed by the Evil One, abused his freedom at the very beginning of history. He succumbed to temptation and did what was evil. He is now inclined to evil and subject to error and to an eternal punishment unless he or she repents of his or her sins. His mercy endures forever! Psalm 118

It is true that as we look at humanity today, we see a great difference between the holiness of God’s character and human character. We have distorted the very nature of God’s character in humanity because of our rejection of God’s holiness and rule in our lives. To sin is to reject holiness.  God made us to be holy, a people set apart, a witness to all nations, to worship God and reject Satan and all his works.

RITE OF BAPTISM

Here a few questions the celebrant ask the parents/adult at their Baptism:

Celebrant: Do you reject Satan?

Parents/Adults: I do.

Celebrant: And all his works?

Parents/Adult: I do.

Celebrant: Do you reject sin, so as to live in the freedom of God’s children?

Parents/Adult: I do.

Celebrant: Do you reject the glamor of evil, and refuse to be mastered by sin?

Parents/Adult: I do.

Celebrant: Do you reject Satan, father of sin and prince of darkness?

Parents/Adult: I do.

God hates sin. To make infinite reparation for infinite offense of sin, it took a human and divine nature in the person of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son, consubstantial with the Father to make amends and save us from our sins and eternal death separated from God.  Thank our Savior, Jesus Christ every day.

By his reason, man recognizes the voice of God which urges him “to do what is good and avoid what is evil.” Everyone is obliged to follow this law, which makes itself heard in our conscience and is fulfilled in the love of God and of neighbor. Do not repress or ignore our conscience.  It is God’s gift to us.

 What does being made in image and likeness of God mean to you?  What steps are you taking to help Jesus restore that image? In union with his Savior, a disciple, which we are, attains the perfection of charity which is holiness. God is love. As we mature in grace, the moral life blossoms into eternal life in the glory of heaven.

IN THE IMAGE OF GOD HE CREATED HIM;

MALE AND FEMALE HE CREATED THEM” GENESIS 1:27

Thus you are to be Holy to Me, for I the Lord am Holy;
and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.
Leviticus 20:26

VATICAN II

The Second Vatican Council (Vatican II 1962-65) was called to address the Church in the Modern World. Perhaps, it’s largest theme was the Universal Call to Holiness. addressed directly in the document, Lumen Gentium

To quote Lumen Gentium, Every Christian must seek God’s will in all matters and devote themselves to love of God and service to their neighbor by utilizing their own personal gifts in the duties, circumstances and conditions of their life. To be holy, then, is to be about God’s business above all else. In holiness each person comes to realize that one’s life is not about her/his self but about following God’s projects and plans.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HOLY AS GOD IS HOLY?

We are people set apart by God. We are not of this world but created in the eternal image of God. We grow in holiness as we grow in our image of the Creator. God did not have to create us. He needs nothing, but He wanted to share with us His divine life, perfect, unsoiled, shining in grandeur of the Almighty. At our Baptisms, we become a new creation, free of original sin and adopted children of God.

We are gods not by nature but by adoption. We begin the Our Father with the first petition, Hallowed be thy name. We call God Our Father with good reason and acknowledge He is holy, above all other gods. For us to be holy is to be like God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, One God, three Persons in relationship of Love. The Lover (Father), the Beloved (Son), and Love itself (Holy Spirit)

Holiness is not a human project but a response to God’s initiative. You are to be holy! Holiness is a separation from the unholy. God’s holiness is sheer goodness and light without any hint of evil or darkness. To confront God’s holiness is also to confront our sin.

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:48 The command “Be ye perfect” is not a command to do the impossible. God does not ask the impossible of us. All things are possible with God. God is going to make good His words, if we let Him. Our free will can stand in the way, though.

We can choose our self or God. Sin can stand in the way and it does have consequences. Just a quick look into the Old Testament from Genesis on…. Exile from Garden of Eden, The Great Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, Babylonian Exile, Destruction of Jerusalem etc.

Holiness makes it necessary for us to separate from what is not holy. As our Creator, God knows best what is best for His creation. God gives his laws to make his people a people set apart: “You shall keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and observe them. . . . You shall be holy to me; for I the Lord am holy, and I have separated you from the other peoples to be mine” Leviticus 20:22-26

Jesus assumed our nature in order that by becoming man he might make us gods. Jesus shed his blood for our ransom and purification, so that we might be redeemed from our wretched state of bondage of sin.

The Word became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature”:  this is why the Word became man…so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine son-ship, might become a son of God.”  Catholic Catechism #460

In the middle of the Mass there is a very significant gesture that summarizes the entire Christian story. After the priest offers the bread upward in preparation for consecration, he next turns to the chalice and after pouring in the wine, he takes the cruet of water and places just a drop, praying, “Through the Mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share in Your Divinity, as you humbled Yourself to participate in our humanity.”

I will conclude with Psalm 23 a prayer I would suggest to say often and reflect at those times we feel the storm is too great, the waves too high, the depths too low and our hearts lashed by every demon we can possibly imagine. Psalm 23 gives me great consolation and encouragement to stay the course as I am reminded that Jesus is my Good Shepherd, seeking me, carrying me home.

PSALM 23

The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall lack.
In green pastures he makes me lie down; to still waters he leads me;
He restores my soul. He guides me along right paths for the sake of his name.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me. You set a table before me in front of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. indeed, goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the LORD for endless days.

CHRIST CRUCIFIED a stumbling block to Jews, foolishness to Greeks  1 CORINTHIANS 1:23

 COMMENTARY

We need a Savior and what a great one we have, God himself.  God emptied himself even to death, death on the cross that we might have life.  Our first parents in Eden were told by God if they chose their will over God’s will, they would surely die, “but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Genesis 2:17

The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 Let us join the prophet Isaiah in proclaiming that Jesus, our Savior and Lord, “was pierced for our offences, crushed for our sins; and upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole. By his stripes we were healed” Isaiah 53:5

St. Paul tells it like it is for us Christians “WE PREACH CHRIST CRUCIFIED” 1 Corinthians 1;23.  Paul was bold. Are we bold when it comes to preaching the Good News, Jesus died, was buried, and is risen for our sake.I used to have a problem when gazing upon the cross because like so many, all I saw was suffering and death.

Then my perspective changed The Cross is a sign of contradiction. I saw the love of Christ with His open arms embracing the whole world.  For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19

God’s love for us is beyond all our understanding. But we believe any how in God’s infinite love for us because God told us who He is to Moses on Mt. Sinai after delivering the tablets, “the LORD passed before Moses and proclaimed: the LORD, a God gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love and fidelity, continuing his love for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin…. Ex. 34:5-7

This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and claim us as your own.” Exodus 34:9

We, too, are stiff necked people, stubborn in our ways of looking at things.  Some cry out I don’t want any restrictions on my FREEDOM.  Hmm, how is that going in your ordinary lives in this world?  God is not restricting our freedoms.  We are not FREE to sin. Sinning does not make us free but a slave to sin and its consequences, addiction, dysfunctional families, hate envy, greed…”Our hearts are restless until they rest in God. St. Augustine

What Commandments of God take away anything we need?  They are not restrictions on our freedom but a self-help list to live our lives to the fullest. A man fully alive is the glory of God. St. Iraenseus. We are made in the image and likeness of God who is all good. “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 16:25

God gives his laws to make his people a people set apart, a sign to other nations.  “You shall keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and observe them. . . . You shall be holy to me; for I the Lord am holy, and I have separated you from the other peoples to be mine” Leviticus. 20:22, 26 Holiness thus necessitates a separation from that which is unholy.

After giving the Beatitudes, Jesus said to his disciples, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect Matthew 5:48 How can that be? For man it is impossible but with God anything is possible.” Matt. 19:26

Holiness is not a human project but a response to God’s initiative, an imitation of who God is. To confront God’s holiness is also to confront our sin. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Rom. 3:23

 CONCLUSION

We must radiate holiness to renew the church. Men and women saints have always been the instrument and sign of renewal.  The answer to a world in need of transformation is for us to be the sign.  We must ask the Lord Jesus Christ for the strength and courage to be true disciples and not hearers only.

Is the Cross, a sign of life or of death? Does it speak of sin or forgiveness? Despair or hope? Is it gruesome or consoling?  It is all of these, The Cross of Christ, fully embraces every dimension of our lives. But as blood and water gush from Jesus’ side, life prevails over death; mercy over sin; hope over despair; consolation over misery? Thus, we call the Friday on which Christ died “Good Friday.”

The Cross, for believers, is not so much a symbol of pain, but rather of the Love God has for us. Jesus said at the Last Supper, “No one has any greater love than to lay down his life for his friends” and that’s precisely what Jesus, our Good Shepherd did when he gave his own life on the Cross so that we, might live. The Cross is not a symbol, principally, of agonizing suffering, but of the mind-blowing love God has for us.

CHRIST VICTORIOUS

As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

JOHN 15:9-11

INTRODUCTION

According to John 15:9-11,Christ’s joy in us will be complete if we obey the commandments?  Wait a minute, how is that possible?  Won’t that meaning following rules.  That may cause me suffering.  What is the cost involved here to have this joy of Christ?  Jesus can not tell a lie so it must be true.  Whether we follow the Commandments of God or not, we still follow rules, we suffer, and we pay the cost in our every day lives.

So what is this complete joy of Christ.  It can’t be filet mignon every night, a Tesla car, and a summer home on the Mediteranean Sea.  These things are not available to everyone and God does not discriminate among his children.  This joy must be possible to all God’s children. Jesus’ joy was that He and the Father are one.  Union with God must be the answer.

When I sin, I separate myself from God. And it is not just separating from God but I mess up my life here on earth with all the consequences of sin. We were created to share in the Divne Life of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for all eternity.  Perfect union. Perfect Beatitude. How can we begin this eternity while here on earth.  Well, God has given us a plan, the best self-help book ever written.

God knows who He has created and what will make us happy and safe on our journey home. Of curse there was a temporaty glich in Adam and Eve our first parents.  They messed themselves and us up with Original Sin, darkness of intellect, weakened will, and death.  We needed a Savior, a great one in Jesus Christ, Son of God, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.

As God and man, Jesus could atone for the infinite offense against God and as human He could offer sacrifice on the part of our human race.  Just as our first parents smeared the image and likeness of God in human nature, Jesus redeemed human nature and made possible union with God once more. He who sees me sees the Father John 12:45

The biblical story of the origin of the Ten Commandments suggests that Moses received them directly from God on Mt. Sinai around 1280 B.C. The Bible offers different accounts of the full text of the Ten Commandments; one in the book of Exodus and the other in Deuteronomy. The Catholic Church ascribes to the version in Deuteronomy and follows the division and enumeration provided in the Septuagint, the Old Testament translated from Hebrew into Greek that the early Christians followed.

  “I AM THE LORD THY GOD, THOU SHALT NOT HAVE ANY STRANGE GODS BEFORE ME.”

This commandment forbids idolatry, the worship of false gods and goddesses. It asserts there is only One God.  False gods can be anything that man puts before this One True God including people, fame, fortune and material things.

 “THOU SHALT NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD THY GOD IN VAIN.” The faithful are required to honor the name of God. It makes sense that if you’re to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, then you’re naturally to respect the name of God with equal passion and vigor. You do not curse someone with the name of God, mock God, or dismiss God as irrelevant.

“REMEMBER TO KEEP HOLY THE SABBATH DAY.”

The Jewish celebration of Sabbath (Shabbat) begins at sundown on Friday evening and lasts until sundown on Saturday. Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christians go to church on Sunday, treating it as the Lord’s Day instead of Saturday to honor the day Christ rose from the dead. We take at least one day of the week to give thanks to God who cares for us 24/7. It is not about us it is about paying respect to the God of all.  God has given us the means of worship. The Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life.

One does not exuse themselves lightly from Sunday Mass.

The Sacraments of the Catholic Church, including attendance at Holy Mass as a Sunday Obligation, must be done in person. Watching Holy Mass on television does not fulfill one’s Sunday Obligation. Section # 2180 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that the Sunday Obligation is satisfied by “attendance” at Mass.

“HONOR THY FATHER AND MOTHER.”

This commandment obliges the faithful to show respect for their parents.  Children must obey their parents, and adults must respect and see to the care of their parents, when they become old and infirm. You do not abandon your parents nor support euthanasia.

 “THOU SHALT NOT KILL.”

Killing an innocent person is considered murder. Killing an unjust aggressor to preserve your own life isn’t considered murder or immoral. Abortion is the killing of an innocent child.  That child is growing in the womb of the mother but is not the property of the mother any more than the live born child.

“THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY.”

This commandment asks us to honor human sexuality according to natural law and Divine Law. Not only adultery of a married person having relations with someone other than their spouse but includes prohibition of other misuse of our gift of sexuality, fornication which is sex between unmarried people, prostitution, pornography, masturbation, homosexual activity, rape, incest, and pedophilia.

“THOU SHALT NOT STEAL.”

This commandment focuses on respecting and honoring the possessions of others. This commandment forbids the act of taking someone else’s property. The Catholic Church believes this commandment includes cheating people of their money, depriving people of fair wages, tax evasion and damage to other people’s property including random vandalism.

 “THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS AGAINST THY NEIGHBOR. 

The Eighth Commandment condemns lying.  Because God is regarded as the author of all truth, the Church believes that humans are obligated to honor the truth. To lie about your neighbor may not be killing his/her body but you are killing their reputation and dignity owe to everyone made in image and likeness of God. As the old saying goes, a like goes around the world before the truth catches it. Before lying, think consequences it may make you bite your tongue.

“THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOR’S WIFE.”

This Commandment forbids the intentional desire and longing for immoral sexuality. To sin in the heart, Jesus says, is to lust after a woman or a man in your heart with the desire and will to have immoral sex with them. Lusting in the heart is a heartbeat from lustfull immoral actions.

“THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOR’S GOODS.”

The Tenth Commandment forbids the wanting to or taking someone else’s property. This commandment condemns theft along with feelings of envy, greed, and jealousy in reaction to what other people have.

One can easily assume the consequences of sinning against God’s Commandments, the disastrous results when these commandments are not followed….Abusive relationships, dysfunctional families, the weak and vulnerable oppressed and bullied, no moral compass outside themselves, abandoned, ignored and diminished people who we deem not worthy of our respect and care.

CONCLUSION

The prevalent despair, obsessive behavior, and anxiety in our culture arise not from being moral, but from the abandonment of the moral law. Of course, happiness is mixed with sorrow and the inevitable tragedies of life. There are no perfect families, perfect marriages, perfect parishes—nothing human is perfect. Part of our moral quest and journey home to God and all the saints includes carrying our cross. God’s Laws are a delight!

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

1704 The human person participates in the light and power of the divine Spirit. By his reason, he is capable of understanding the order of things established by the Creator. By free will, he is capable of directing himself toward his true good. He finds his perfection “in seeking and loving what is true and good.”

I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

FALLING INTO SIN

 IN THE GARDEN

Adam and Eve before they sinned had special gifts not necessary to human nature. These were called Preternatural gifts and include infused knowledge, integrity, and immortality of the body.

Before original sin, man was in a state of “original justice.” Had Adam and Eve not sinned they would have passed this state of “original justice” down to their descendants.  After Adam and Eve committed “original sin,” they lost “original justice” and the preternatural gifts for the entire human race, their descendants.

God gave Adam and Eve the ability to live a life that was more than human, that was divine, with the Spirit of God dwelling in their souls. (Sanctifying Grace)  But Adam lost that gift of divine life for himself and all his descendants. We are born physically alive but spiritually dead.

Adam’s fall from grace left all his descendants with a darkened intellect, a weakened will, and disordered affections and appetites. Man’s passions are no longer ruled by right reason We are now inclined towards anything our imagination paints as pleasurable, without regards for what is good for us by God’s design.  (Concupiscence) We also inherited from Adam and Eve pain, suffering and death.

Saint Paul states very well the conditions of Concupiscence,” I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate….now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me….The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not….For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want….ROMANS 7:15-20

FALLING INTO GRACE

Just as we fell into sin, we fall into Grace. When things are so bad and we are so miserable, frustrated, and desperate and there is no one else to turn to, we fall on the mercy of God and plead with Him to be our Savior and restore us in relationship. Grace is a supernatural gift of God, first infused in us at our Baptism for our eternal salvation.

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

CCC 1997 Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life By Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. As an “adopted son,” he can call God “Father,” in union with the only Son.

CCC 2000 Sanctifying Grace is a habitual gift and the supernatural state of being infused by God, which permanently inheres in the soul; but may be lost in commission of mortal sin.  It is a vital principle of the supernatural life. It is called sanctifying grace because it makes holy those who possess the gift by giving them a participation in the divine life.

There is also a Grace called Actual Grace, a temporary supernatural intervention,  that can strengthen our minds and wills to choose the good that will help maintain Sanctifying Grace and lead us to our destiny in Heaven. Actual grace is a transient divine assistance that we can pray for that enables us to obtain, retain, or grow in supernatural grace and the life of God.

The call to salvation depends entirely on God’s gratuitous initiative, for he alone can reveal and give himself. It surpasses the power of human intellect and will. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons and daughters, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life.

Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he breathed his last,  the centurion said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”  Mark 15:37-39

 REFLECTIONS

The mistake many of us make at the beginning of the spiritual life is to try “go it alone”. After falling into sin, sin that has separated us from our God, a darkness we can no longer endure, we reach a point when we can no longer rely on our own resources. So, humbly, we fall back on God’s mercy. We discover again what it means to trust in God, to fall back on the power and love of Christ. My Jesus Mercy!

Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden, out of Paradise, away from the Tree of Life.  But before they were sent forth, God gave them the First Gospel, the first Good News. He promises he will save them. The Second Eve [Mary] will be obedient, undoing Eve’s disobedience; Genesis 3:15  Her seed, Jesus Christ .will crush the head of the serpent. Man will receive a greater Tree of Life from the wood of the Cross with greater gifts flowing from it.

Salvation flows from the New Tree of Life, the Cross! From the new Tree of Life will come the Eucharist, the Eternal Bread from Heaven.  Jesus promises, ‘If you eat this Bread and drink my Blood you have Eternal life.’ This is the new spiritual food flowing from Christ’s pierced side, blood and water, great symbols of the Eucharist and Baptism.  Eternal life is once again available from the pierced side of Christ.

Baptism restores God’s life to our souls, but it doesn’t take away the tendency to sin. It doesn’t restore to us the clarity of mind, the strength of will, and the rightness of desire that Adam and Eve had in the beginning. The Sacrament of Reconciliation forgives sins committed since Baptism and restores or increases Sanctifying Grace. God has dealt to every man his measure of faith.” Romans 12:3 The grace of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” Romans 6:23

“We are not, the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us, and our real capacity to become the image of his Son.” Saint John Paul II

Our real capacity! What a challenge lies in those few words!  St John Paul is clearly implying that, under ordinary grace, each one of us has the capacity to become a saint. That will demand radical change!

The poet W.H. Auden once brilliantly observed: “We would rather be ruined than changed. We would die in our dread than climb the cross of the moment and let our illusions die.”

What truly frightens us is the capacity we have – the remarkable capacity – to become transformed from being poor sinners into radiant, brave and faithful disciples for Christ. The capacity we possess, each one of us, in spite of all our weakness, to become the image of the divine Son.

It is precisely in the discovery and acceptance of the Father’s love for us, in trusting in that love, in falling back on that grace, that our lives begin to be transformed by the power of God.  Those of us who felt helplessly weak, now begin to find themselves capable of acts of courage and generosity. Let us all work to fill that capacity up, to live in the image of Jesus, Our Savior, and our destiny.

CONCLUSION

 FIRST VERSE OF AMAZING GRACE

Amazing grace, How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I am found, Was blind, but now I see.

 PRAYER OF FIRST CENTURY MONK

Lord, whether I want it or not, save me because dust and ashes that I am I love sin. But you are God almighty, so stop me yourself. If you have pity on the just, that’s not much, because they are worthy of your mercy. Show the full splendor of your mercy in me. Reveal in me your love for men and women, because this poor man has no other refuge but you.

SIN BLOCKS GRACE

REPENT AND BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL!