10.03.23 - Gospel Tuesday

Northern Virginia Catholic Bible Study & Apologetics

House rules/notes…

1. Online via Meetup/Zoom or In Person at St. John Neumann Catholic Church 11900 Lawyers Road, Reston, VA 20191 https://saintjn.org/

1. Meetup is www.meetup.com/catholicbiblestudy Zoom Meeting Logon info is the same every week: Zoom ID: 861 1782 2081 Password: 406952

2. I will send out Meeting Recaps the same night as our sessions – these are unedited versions without pictures. An edited version with pictures will be posted on our website https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website/recaps before the next meeting. Taylor will notify everyone at that time.

3. Questions encouraged. If you have questions about anything, you can ask in the chat box, email the Meetup group, or me at ron@hallagan.net.

4. Respectfulness. We will be discussing differences between religions and Christian denominations, and we agree to be respectful at all times. Specifically, Protestants are our friends and brothers in Christ; in fact, I personally owe part of my return to the faith to them!

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. Catholic Prayer & Fellowship. Are you interested in praying with other Catholics during the week? Fellow member Jason Goldberg has started “Catholic Prayer, Fellowship, and Spirituality Meetup.” Sign up at: https://www.meetup.com/online-catholic-prayer-fellowship-and-spirituality/.

7. “The Chosen” TV series. All of us seek a relationship with Jesus Christ, which is not always easy. It can help if we have seen and heard Him. The Chosen captures Jesus better than any show I have ever seen. Highly recommended.

8. RSVP Reminder: Please RSVP whether you are attending the meeting or just reading the Recaps afterwards. The more RSVPs, the more Meetup will give exposure to “Catholic Bible Study” – a good thing!

Catholic Catacombs Website: https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website

Bible Study Format: Each week of the month has a repeating topic, as noted below.

Week 1: Gospel Week: Year A: Matthew, Year B: Mark, Year C: Luke, John – interspersed

Week 2: Bible Week (Gen 🡪Rev): We have finished EXODUS. Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

Week 3: Survey Topics Voted on by Members:

x 1) Jesus’ Greatest Parables x 2) Hell, Purgatory, Heaven x 3) Comparative Religions

4) Great Women in the Bible 5) Book of Revelation 6) Major Heresies and Church Councils

Week 4: Member Questions:

1. What does it mean to "put on Christ"?

2. Can you provide a brief review of the origin/meaning of the (12) statements in the Creed?

3. Is “recognition” a good thing? How does pride play into it? Glory and pride discussion.

4. Can we do a Christian Meditation one evening?

5. Angels – who are they, what do they do, and do we really have guardian angels?

6. Please explain exorcisms. Do they happen, are they real?

7. Why aren't Catholic priests allowed to marry? Wasn't Peter married?

8. What should our response be to those who ask us about priestly sex abuse?

Major upcoming holy days in the Liturgy of the Church: none till November

Apologetics/Exegesis Terms

Apologetics – to defend a belief.

Catholic Apologetics– to defend the Catholic faith using reason, tradition, & Scripture.

Exegesis – the study and interpretation of Scripture (it’s what we do here every week; you are all exegetes).

Eschatology (Greek, eschaton=last/end): the study of the End Times – the Second Coming of Christ (also called

Parousia), Judgement Day, Heaven and Hell.

Church – Greek kyriakon house of the Lord: building for Christian worship; the whole body of Christian believers.

Ark of the Covenant – a) The golden chest containing the Ten Commandments; b) Mary’s womb containing the Word of God

Tabernacle - the portable sanctuary used by the Israelites in the wilderness from the Exodus from Egypt to the building of the Temple in Jerusalem by Solomon. Latin tabernaculum – tent; temporary dwelling place

Temple – Latin templum - space set aside for sacrifice/worship; replaced the Tabernacle; original Temple in Jer’uslm

Synagogue – Jewish house of worship oft. w/facilities for religious instruction. Greek synagogue: assembly/gathering

Eucharist –the Lord’s Supper. The consecrated bread and wine. Comes from Greek eucharistia = gratefulness, thanksgiving.

Mass – the celebration of the Last Supper/Eucharist. “Mass” is from the Latin missa meaning “to send (out).”

Evangelize – to make the Kingdom of God present in our world.

God as Father/He/Him – scriptural tradition (God is not a gender); God does set the gold standard for fatherhood.

Man – generic for mankind, humanity.

Preternatural – means “outside the natural”; refers to the preternatural grace Adam & Eve had before the Fall.

Theophany – a divine appearance. Greek: theo (god) + phaneia (appearance).

The “world” – as used in the Bible, this term pertains to the material world or our temporary, material lives. The word “secular” means the same thing (Latin seaecularis - worldly/temporal). It is often used with a negative connotation, i.e., “The fall of man resulted from our choosing this world/ourselves over God.”

Opening Prayer

Dear Lord, we thank you for everyone gathered here today

and ask that you surround us with your powerful, life-changing presence.

Be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.

Fill our hearts with your love and wisdom and our conversations with truth and grace.

We ask all of these things in thanks and praise to you!.

And as you taught us to pray…

Our Father

Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily Bread;

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

Stephen Hawking said, “Religion is for people afraid of the dark.”

John Lennox’s response: “Atheism is for people afraid of the light.”

- Professor John Lennox, Mathematician, Philosopher of Science, Oxford University

New Study Shows That Now Almost Two-Thirds of US Catholics Believe in Real Presence... A new study shows that almost two-thirds of adult Catholics in the United States believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, a significantly different result from the often-cited 2019 Pew Research study that suggested only one-third of adult Catholics in the U.S. believe in the Church’s teaching on the Blessed Sacrament.

This week's Gospel topics:

1. When were the Gospels written?

2. Each Gospel is written to a different audience. Who were they?

3. The Call of Matthew

4. The Parable of the Vineyard

GOSPEL WEEK

The Church’s Mass readings follow a 3-year cycle: Year A (Matthew), Year B (Mark), and Year C (Luke). These three Gospels are called the “Synoptic Gospels” because they similarly recount the life of Jesus in roughly chronological order.

The Gospel of John – the most theological and philosophical of the four – was likely written last. Clearly, John did not see the need to repeat many of the Gospel accounts already in circulation, although there are accounts that show up in all four Gospels. John adds numerous accounts the others do not have – e.g., Jesus’ night dialogue with Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman at the well, the Bread of Life discourse (Ch 6), and the Last Supper Discourses (chapters 14-17).

John’s Gospel is of course used in the Church’s Mass readings as well, but not in the 3-year rotation with the Synoptics. Instead, John’s accounts are interspersed throughout the year, mostly during the Christmas and Easter seasons.

Q: What is the first rule to understanding and comparing the synoptic Gospels?

The Gospel writer’s audience is key to understanding his themes and messages. For example, Matthew wrote primarily to the Jews (Jewish Christians), who were the largest original audience after the Resurrection. Because he is writing to a Jewish audience, Matthew includes many historical, Hebrew OT references that this audience needed to hear. Luke, on the other hand, wrote mainly to gentile Christians and followed Paul for most of his years. Mark is believed to be the writer for Peter, who preached to mixed groups, but primarily to the people in Rome. John wrote for his own unique purposes and to gentiles primarily.

Q: There is a secondary audience that all scripture is directed to. Who is that?

Us.

Q: Can the “Gospel” – the “Good News” be described in 4 sentences or less (or in less than a minute)?

That is not easy to do as there is so much to Catholicism, which IS the “Gospel of Jesus Christ,” such as: God becoming a human in order to reverse the Fall of Man; his paying off human debts (sin) through the cross and reopening the gates of Heaven; his parables, the seven sacraments Jesus instituted; the Last Supper/Eucharist; the sending of the HS into our lives; and the Church he created to succeed the Temple that rejected him. That’s for starters! But all this would be a bit much to explain to someone who just wanted to get the general idea. The following is my humble attempt to do this, but keep in mind there is so, so much more.

Q: When were the Gospels written?

Acts and Paul’s letters are dated the earliest – from 40-62 AD – at which point he was beheaded by Nero in Rome (about the same time Peter, also martyred by Nero in Rome).

As for the Gospels, exact dates are not known although if you query the internet, you will generally see claims that they were written after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70AD. However, this theory developed in the Enlightenment age when secular historians sought to dispel Jesus’ miracles as physical phenomena and dumb down the truth of both authorship and content. Since then, much new verification of Old and New Testament writings have occurred, although it is seldom discussed because religion is mostly for idiots. Their main justification for the later Gospel dates (post 70 AD) was because Jesus couldn’t possibly have predicted the fall of Jerusalem temple so it must have been written after it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD! If you have already decided Jesus was just another guy like us, of course you would have to “create” this conclusion.

The passages occur in Matthew and Luke in the Temple grounds when the Apostles are speaking in awe of how incredible the Temple structure was.

But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” – Matthew 24:2

They will level you to the ground – you and the children within these walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God." – Luke 19:44

When modern biases are stripped away, we can reasonably put all the Gospels written in the decade between 55-65AD. There are more compelling reasons to support these dates than any others. It is also worth keeping in mind that this is when their accounts were assembled into single works (i.e., all of Matthew’s memoirs assembled into the “Gospel according to Matthew,” etc.). The individual accounts were likely written over time at much earlier dates and shared with different communities as they were written.

The earliest Church Fathers have always held that Matthew’s Gospel was first – probably written in the 40s – even though it may not have been organized into a single Gospel account until 60-65AD. This is why Matthew has always shown up as first in the Gospel accounts.

Q: As mentioned above, we are in Liturgical “Year A,” which is Matthew. What do we know about Matthew?

Matthew was Jewish and a tax collector (also called “publican”). He seemed to be fairly well-to-do and well-known among the people of Capernaum.

Matthew immediately left his post the day Jesus came by and called him, and he remained a faithful witness to Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection. His gospel was addressed to Jews living in that region. According to the Fathers of the Church, the Gospel according to Matthew was thought to have been written originally around the year 50 AD in Aramaic, but this version was lost soon after the destruction of Jerusalem. A Greek translation survived which is the one we use today.

Tradition holds that St. Matthew went to evangelize in Egypt, where he was eventually martyred. His feast day is celebrated by the Church on September 21.

Pope Benedict said in 2006 that “in the figure of Matthew, the Gospels present to us a true and proper paradox: those who seem to be the farthest from holiness can even become a model of the acceptance of God's mercy and offer a glimpse of its marvelous effects in their own lives.”

Matthew is quite the character in the TV series, The Chosen. You should check it out.

Matthew is Called

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples.

When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” – Mt. 9:9-13

Q: Why were tax collectors hated in Jesus’ day?

1. They were employed by the hated occupying Romans

2. The money they collected was Roman currency w/Caesar’s image, which the Jews considered unclean.

3. They were not officially salaried personnel, meaning they derived their livelihood from the interest they charged people on top of the hefty sums demanded by the local provincials. Since there seems to be no scale determining the extent to the interest collected, many tax collectors charged exorbitant amounts and kept the interest. Many tax collectors were well-to-do.

If Jesus wanted to create the most antagonism, the most rejection, and the most likely formula for Messianic failure by any/all human authorities who ever lived, then he succeeded just by the apostles he chose, especially Matthew. Yet, he had no hesitation! Again, either he was crazy, or he was God. Jesus neither condemns nor excuses Matthew but considers him just the type of human being he came here to help and to heal. Second, Jesus shows us over and over again that his approach to sinners is mercy, not judgment.

Q: What’s the lesson for us?

Humans are experts at judging first – and judging instantly – when we see another human being. That is our inner, fallen Adam or Eve acting in place of God. Jesus comes to show us the opposite way. It’s easy to judge the Matthews in our lives as evil, bad, stupid, or whatever. It takes effort and grace to look at the other person with mercy first. Jesus wants us to practice mercy as our first instinct, not judgment.

Q: Does Jesus welcoming/accepting sinners mean he their sinful behavior is okay?

No. He accepts all sinners (that would include us) no matter what we’ve done, but that is now the starting point for leaving one’s sins/selfishness/self-centered behavior behind.

Sometimes we hear that Jesus “accepts us as we are.” That would be misleading because we can’t “remain as we are.” The reason is that he has too much love for that. To leave us in our sin is not love. He wants more for us.

In Caravaggio’s painting, “The Call of Matthew,” we see Matthew in a tavern with his fellow tax collectors. Jesus comes in, points at Matthew, and gives him a “look of love.” Matthew gets up, leaves his fellow tax collectors, and follows Jesus, whose look of love captured Matthew’s heart and gave him the courage he would need. In doing so, Matthew becomes an apostle and later an evangelist. He becomes the person he was created to become.

Matthew was a forthright sinner, seen by all for what he was. But Jesus’ look of love changed all that. Matthew is rescued and begins to live in and for Jesus Christ. Jesus wants to do the same with each one of us, but we have to accept his gaze and help to be the persons we were created to be.

The last verse (Mt. 9:9-13) can be translated to read this way:

“Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who are “righteous,” but those who know they are sinners.”

Do you think the Pharisees knew he was talking to them?

The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard Mt 20:1-16

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard.

Going out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.’ So they went off. And he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o’clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’

When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’

When those who had started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’

He said to them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’ Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Backstory: Jesus is making his way to Jerusalem for the last time. He is elevating his language about salvation –his reason for coming – which is the same as saying he is elevating his confrontation with the Temple and political leaders (the Sadducees, Pharisees, and Herodians). The Parable of the Vineyard is a parallel allegory in Isaiah 5, so the Jews would be paying close attention.

Jesus sets expectations with his audience right away with the early laborers and their pay. So far, so good. Then he says the absurd – call the last ones who were hired and pay them first. Why? This will allow the others who came earlier to see these people get paid the same as them.

Q: Do you think Jesus did this intentionally? Is this a story about paying just wages?

The first lesson is that this is not a teaching about just wages. It’s about the kingdom of God. It is about salvation. Recall Jesus’ first words in the parable: “The kingdom of God is like…”

We are thinking “this is unjust!” but if salvation was about justice, who of us would make it into the Kingdom? Might this be his point?

What about those who started earliest in the vineyard and got paid last? They definitely have attitudes, so do you think Jesus is highlighting them to make another point?

The Jews were the first laborers in the vineyard, were they not? They were called by God back in the days of Noah, Abraham, Moses, and the prophets. Now they are watching new laborers coming in, getting the same pay – prostitutes and sinners, no less. Do you think they recognized themselves in the story? What do you think their reaction was?

Q: What does Jesus mean by the last will be first, and the first will be last?

Think humility. It’s a mindset. If you want to be first or think you should be first at everything, then you don’t have the right mindset. If you are saved, you will have made yourself smallest and last.

Think of Jesus’ comment about the dinner banquet he was invited to. He taught at this dinner that when you enter the banquet, take the least seat at the table, not the most important one. This is the same thing.

Get into the habit now of putting others first in everything you do.

Augustine, Sermon 87. 1.5-6; trans. E. Barnecutt

I heard a story once that kind of crystalized this parable. There once was a young Christian man and woman some years ago who were engaged to be married. While in medical school, the young man became an atheist. However, the woman he married remained faithful. The marriage was good as marriages go – mostly because of her – but then she died at the age of 47. Soon afterwards, the man came across his wife’s memoirs and he saw that she had prayed for him – and for the return of his faith – every single day of their marriage. Surprising even himself, the man began to have a change of heart and soon he began to believe again. Surprising everyone even more, a few years later he became a priest. The man died ten years later. The question for us is: should God begrudge this man’s entrance into the Kingdom because he was one of the later laborers to enter the vineyard?

Conclusion

It is easy to read this parable and convict the Jews, although it is true that God kept sending prophet after prophet to win people over to him, and they kept killing them. But we don’t want to end our session by saying, “Whew, thank God I’m not like one of those Pharisees.” Scripture isn’t written so that we can judge the Jews in the OT. Scripture is written for all humans of all ages.

The pagan Marcus Aurelius (Emp 161-180AD), who was close to the proverbial “philosopher king” as any Roman Emperor, once said, “Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: ‘What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?’”

So then, how might we shine this light on ourselves now that we know that’s the purpose and intention of reading Scripture?

I found it useful for me to remember that this parable is a lesson in God’s being generous and merciful – and that we aren’t. But we can be if our humility enables us to be aware of it (studying Jesus’ parables help us to see it) and then make a conscious effort to practice mercy instead of judgment, as He did over and over.

Closing Prayer

Thank you, Father…

For loving us into existence and for giving us another chance when we fell.

Thank you becoming one of us and walking in our shoes

For showing us how to live and to love; for opening the gates of Heaven and paying our way.

Thank you for leaving yourself behind in the Eucharist and Your Word

And for sending us the Holy Spirit to help us complete our journey.

Thank you for enabling us to see you in others

And to see the good in helping others, one encounter at a time.

And thank you for your mother!

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee;

blessed are thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Speaking of Mary’s intercessory power, what was the last thing Mary said in the Bible?

"Do whatever he tells you" - at the wedding of Cana. Mary intercedes for the wedding couple who have run out of wine. When Jesus objects, she tells the servants to "do whatever he tells you," and Jesus turns the containers of water into wine. Talk about intercession!

Maranatha!

Ron

Taylor says…