10.20.26 - Hope, Greatest Commandment, Communion of Saints

👉Watch Tuesday's recorded class here👈

Catholic Understanding & Biblical Defense Class 10/20/26

Every Tuesday, 7PM-8PM (EST), 🖥️Zoom ID: 861 1782 2081  🗝️Passcode: 406952

Join to receive notifications and study notes on Meetup: www.meetup.com/catholicbiblestudy

Past classes are posted on our Catholic Catacombs Website:  www.CatholicCatacombs.org 

House Rules and Catholic Resources…

1. 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! 

2. Questions. We encourage questions although we ask that you keep them on topic and brief. You can ask during the meeting, or in the chat box, or if you prefer you can email us through Meetup.com, or Ron directly: ron@hallagan.net. 

3. Respectfulness. We will be discussing differences between Christian denominations and religions in general, and we seek to be respectful at all times. Protestants especially are our friends and brothers/sisters-in-Christ; in fact, I owe much of my return to Christianity to them. Therefore, any critique of our brethren is in loving pursuit of apostolic truth.    

4. No politics.  It would be easy for us to self-destruct, but that’s not our goal :). Our goal is to learn, understand, and apply the Bible and our faith to our everyday lives. 

5. Word on Fire. Bishop Robert Barron has reached millions through his 10 min Sunday homilies, podcasts, educational series and certifications, bibles, and other lectures and apologetics. www.wordonfire.org  

6. Hallow App. Daily prayers and reflections, especially for the high holyday seasons. www.alex@mail.hallow.com 

7. Catholic Answers – www.catholic.com. Best site for Catholic Apologetics there is. 

8. Dynamic Catholic. Interested in daily inspirations to grow closer to God and the Church, not to speak of the many educational resources? Sign up for Matthew Kelly’s powerful insights, quotes, and reflections at www.dynamiccatholic.com. 

9. “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 series captures Jesus better than any show I have ever seen. Highly recommended.  

10. Cursillo. Interested in meeting with other men or women weekly over coffee to discuss God in your personal and professional life? Join Cursillo (cur-see-yo). Contact Jennifer Pence (Jennifer.pence@gmail.com) for more information.       

Bible Study Format

Our Bible Study is a combination of Exegesis and Apologetics.

Each meeting is (roughly) as follows:

15. min   Apologetic Reflection

16. min   Upcoming Gospel Reading

30 min   Weekly topic/theme

1 hour

Weeks 1 & 2:   Bible Week – we are working our way through the Bible. We are studying the New Testament.  

Weeks 3 & 4:   Survey Topics chosen by Members (explanations of our faith & apologetics):       

1. Prison Ministry Stories  2. Plenary Indulgences  3. Gen 1-3 (Creation Story, Adam & Eve, the Fall of Man)

4.  Faith vs Doubts – does having doubts make us bad Christians? 5. Explanation of the Mass & Eucharist

6. Dead Sea Scrolls   7. Catholicism vs modern cosmology & evolution   8. Gifts/Fruits of the HS, 7 Deadly Sins      

9.  How to experience the Love of God   10. The Communion of Saints

11. Comparative Religions   12. Catholic vs Protestant beliefs

• Don’t forget to RSVP

• Taylor will send a link to everyone with today’s notes.

• The class is recorded if you want to listen to it anytime.

• I will occasionally ask for volunteer readers… 

• Questions 

Opening Prayer  

From the Apostle’s Creed

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church 

the Communion of Saints 

the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.

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.

Upcoming holy days:  All Saints Day (Nov 1), All Souls Day (Nov 2)

                          www.masstimes.org   Mass or Confession any time of the day, anywhere in the world!

  Today’s Agenda… 

      Reflection: The Theological Virtue of Hope

Gospel Reading for 30^th Sun in Ord Time 10/25: The Greatest Commandment, Matthew 22:34-40

      Member Topic:  The Communion of Saints 

Term of the Week:  Theological Virtues

     How many Theological Virtues are there?

Three: Faith, Hope, and Love.

    Why are they called “Theological Virtues”?

They are called the Theological Virtues because they are gifts to us from God that lead us back to God.  “Theo” is from Greek, meaning “God.”

The Theological Virtue of Hope

Humans alone need a reason to exist. When we find ourselves without purpose or meaning, we might ask, “What’s the point of continuing?” This is one reason why suicide and depression are often tied to hopelessness. Whether we come up with real or superficial reasons for existing/living, we must fulfil that need in our heads and hearts. 

Not only is needing a reason to exist unique to humans, but also humans alone have the ability to hope. We hope for a better tomorrow, a better next year, a better job, a better life, even an afterlife. It seems that when we combine hope with a good reason to live, all things become possible. It was learning about this that helped draw me out of my atheism some years back. I finally realized that man could not be the source of these things. 

The fact is that we hope for everything. We don’t know the future and yet think about the future constantly, so all we can do is plan a little and HOPE. We hope for good weather, we hope for a smooth day at work, we hope our car starts, we hope our friends and spouses are nice to us today, and we hope we don’t get sick or else we hope we get better quickly if we do! These are just a small sampling of the multitude of daily hopes we take for granted. 

Have you ever hoped for the (seemingly) impossible, like hoping to eat right and lose weight? We can fail at this 100 times in a row, and STILL hope the next time that we’ll get it right! Yet sometimes this ability to hope against all odds is the only thing that keeps us away from the doorway to despair. 

Can anyone seriously imagine life without hope?  As precious this gift of hope is, has anyone stopped to thank God lately for this gift?  We can add it to our gratitude list tonight. 

And yet, what is the purpose of this gift we have?  Recall what we said at the beginning of class – hope is a theological virtue, meaning it comes from God (its source) and it leads us back to God (its purpose). 

For years, hope has been one of the most searched terms on the internet, even surpassing searches of political crises and making money online. It seems people are seeking more profound meaning in their lives. 

It’s not like recent years have been cause for much optimism, either. Rather, they’ve felt like an ongoing, slow-motion crisis: economic instability, social unrest, environmental fears, and AI anxiety dominate our headlines and our hearts. Yet, through all these struggles, millions type “hope” into their browsers, as if throwing a lifeline to something beyond the chaos.

St. Paul understood that God is the hidden Someone beyond the chaos calling to us. He wrote to the Christians in Rome about “the God of hope” (Rom 15:13) during some very difficult times for believers. He wanted the Christians there to understand that God was both the source of their hope and the object of their hope.  

Paul says true hope isn’t merely wishful thinking or fleeting optimism; instead, it is anchored in God’s character and His faithfulness. God not only seeks to instill confidence in us through His promises, He is also the one who gives us the Holy Spirit for “endurance and encouragement” (v5). As we saw in the examples above, hope endures despite our difficult circumstances, and it can fill us with joy and peace if we recognize that God has made us His own (v7). When we give ourselves to God, we become safe eternally. 

Are there such things as false or bad hopes? 

Of course there is. One can sit around doing nothing while hoping for something better to fall into their laps. We can hope nobody notices when we lie, cheat, or steal. What about gambling away all our money and perhaps even our house by placing our hope in the next roll of the dice? It happens a thousand times an hour – the gambling industry will surpass $350B this year. We can hope like hell our lives will change soon even though we have done nothing different to make it so. 

This is a reminder that all of our gifts from God can be used for good or bad. False hopes and selfish hopes are a misuse of God’s gift. When we let this happen, bad hopes begin to manage us rather than us managing them. 

How can we manage our hopes? 

Like all our gifts from God, we need to orient them towards God and good things vs. selfishness and sloth. When we hope, do we also pray? Do we talk to God?  The only true north on this “compass of hope” is Jesus Christ, and he will help ensure that our GPS is set to the right destination. If even if we fall off the path by mistake, the GPS (Holy Spirit) will flag us so we can quickly get back on the path. This map works for home, work, and in every other place of anxiety in life. Making it a habit makes it a virtue.     

Matthew 22:34-40

The Greatest Commandment    

Context: 

Our reading is during Holy Week and Jesus is still preaching at the Temple in Jerusalem. In our past several readings, the Sadducees failed to pin Jesus down, then the Pharisees teamed up with the Herodians and they failed, also.  

This time we have a “scholar of the law” (or “lawyer”) taking his turn. 

We haven’t seen “scholar of the law” before. What kind of position was this?

It wasn’t a position, per se. We are familiar with the “scribes,” whose job it was to write and interpret Scripture; but there was more than one level of scribe. The “scholar of the law” was the highest kind of scribe.   

In our reading, this lawyer approaches Jesus with a question that was likely to cause controversy: “Which commandment is the greatest?” 

Why would this be a controversial question?

Because the Jews had a list of 613 commandments from just the first 5 books of the Bible. 

What were the first 5 books of the Bible (also called the Pentateuch, the Torah, and the Law of Moses)?

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

These contained all the “laws” of Israel. So when the passage says, “scholar of the law” (or lawyer), it means he was a scholar of the first five books in the Bible. 

How could they have 613 commandments? I thought God just give them “Ten” Commandments. 

Many were extensions of the Ten Commandments (i.e., adultery is broken down into 24 different laws), but also many were ritual or ceremonial laws, such as circumcision, not to tattoo your skin, not to eat leaven during Passover, only eat “clean” animals, and what to wear on certain days, etc.  According to literature from that time, all the commandments were supposed to be treated with equal devotion, and yet we also find there were differences of opinion on this, and sometimes heated debates. 

When this high-powered lawyer approached Jesus to ask him which was the greatest commandment, it was almost impossible to choose just one out of the 613.     

Perhaps one might think it would be safe to choose the first of the Ten Commandments – “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other Gods before me” (the law against idolatry). But Jesus never does the expected. As we shall see, he doesn’t choose any of the Ten Commandments. 

Matthew 22:34-40 

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law tested him by asking, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" 

Jesus said to him, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. 

The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 

The whole law and the prophets hang on these two commandments."

Exegesis/Interpretation

What is meant by all your heart, soul, and mind? 

The heart refers to our free-will. By our free-will, we choose to put God before all else. 

Our soul refers to our life, meaning we must live by His laws, even at the cost of our life.

Our mind is our intellect. By our intellect, we must seek to know God more and more. 

The combination of these puts us in a relationship with God that constantly blesses us and keeps us eternally safe. 

Even though Jesus wasn’t asked for a second commandment, he gives them one anyway (love your neighbor). Then he says this second one is “like” the first. Why did Jesus do this and say this? 

The actual Greek translation for ‘like’ is homoia, which not only means ‘similar’ but also of equal rank. Jesus is placing “love of neighbor” right up next to “love of God” and saying they can’t be separated from each other. 

This is why the Apostle John later says that if we don’t love our neighbor, we cannot love God (1 John 4:20). 

Are these two commandments – love of God and love of neighbor – new, or were they somewhere in the 613? 

Many people think these commandments were new – part of Jesus’ “New Covenant.” But Jesus was quoting from the Torah. The commandment to love God is in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, and to “love your neighbor as yourself” is in Leviticus 19:18.   

Jesus did add something new in the Sermon on the Mount. What was it? 

To love one’s enemies and pray for those who persecute you – Mt 5:44. 

What did Jesus mean by saying, “the whole law and the prophets hang on these two commandments”? 

The “whole law and the prophets” refers to all the Old Testament Scriptures. He is saying that every other teaching in the Bible must flow from these two principles. 

If that’s true, does that mean these two commandments supersede the Ten Commandments?

Not really. In a fascinating way, they simultaneously mirror and simplify all the Ten Commandments. Recall that God gave Moses two tablets. On the first tablet were the first three commandments – 1) I am the Lord, your God (no idolatry), 2) Do not use the Lord’s Name in vain (no blasphemy), and 3) Honor the Lord’s Day (Sabbath); all of these were all focused on the love of God. On the second tablet were the remaining seven commandments: honor your parents, do not murder, lie, steal, commit adultery, or covet your neighbor’s wife or goods – all these focused on love of neighbor.   

The Communion of Saints

The Communion of Saints means the Church itself – the entire spiritual fellowship of all the faithful who are united to Jesus Christ. It is true that we often use “the Church” in ordinary speech to mean the visible, earthly Church. But in its fuller sense, it includes those still on their earthly pilgrimage (us), those being purified (Purgatory), and those already in Heaven. This “Communion of Saints” is a bridge between Heaven and Earth, which is made possible by, and sustained by, the Eucharist – the Resurrected and Glorified Body of Christ.

How is it that “we” are included along with all the “saints”?

The Bible refers to all the followers of Jesus Christ as saints, so we are included in that! The tradition of honoring the most exemplary martyrs as a special category of Saint began in the early Church and evolved into the canonization process we have today. Think of these as the Hall of Fame Saints with a capital S. We’re the saints with the small “s.”

The members in the Communion of Saints actually exist in three distinct states: 

1. The Church Militant (on Earth):  The living faithful who are on their spiritual pilgrimage in this world (us). 

2. The Church Penitent (in Purgatory):  The souls of the faithful departed who are undergoing purification.

3. The Church Triumphant (in Heaven):  The saints who already enjoy eternal glory in the presence of God.

All members are joined together to Christ as our head, who connects us all and which St. Paul refers to as one single body. This “one body” is now connected by the Eucharist and allows for mutual support and intercession – meaning the saints in heaven pray for those on earth, the souls on earth pray with and for one another, and both groups pray for the souls in purgatory.

A few points to remember about the Communion of Saints: 

• We all remain one family in Christ, and death does not break this bond. Also, because we are members of one body, what each person does affects the whole. In other words, our prayers, love, and good works help the whole community, just as our sins can harm the community. We do not act in isolation. 

• When we pray for each other and ask the saints in heaven to intercede for us, their help does not replace Christ; it just amplifies our prayers because now multiple requests are coming to God for His blessings and grace. This is part of the shared life of his Church, and Christ is at the center of it all.

• The Communion of Saints reminds us that faith is not a solitary journey: in Christ, we belong to one another, across distances and even across death, and are called to support one another on the way to Heaven. 

Why are the pilgrims on Earth (us) called the “Church Militant”? That sounds a bit alarming. 

Yes, the name sounds alarming to modern ears, but it becomes clear once the full picture comes into focus. Here's the complete picture:

• Per the CCC, the Church on earth “is called militant because it wages eternal war with those unrelenting enemies, the world, the flesh and the devil." 

• Every baptized Christian is part of this spiritual battle. The imagery is that the soul of a person on earth is in constant warfare against sin, temptation, the world, the flesh, and the Devil; while the soul of a person in Heaven has triumphed over all these enemies and is established forever in grace.

• The idea of this Church Militant is found in passages such as 1 Timothy 6:12, "Fight the good fight of the faith," and Ephesians 6:11, "Put on the full armor of God."  Note that St. Paul is not describing politics or physical warfare. He is describing the interior battle every soul wages on the road to Heaven.

• It also helps to remember that Christ is the one fighting through us, so be sure to call upon him and keep him present. It is the Lord who wages war against these enemies through/for all of us, his entire Body, the Church. This is the very essence of the spiritual life and of the Church Militant.

Apologetic:  What does Martin Luther’s quote mean to you?

First, note that Luther recognized that The Church was the Body of Christ, an unbreakable Body because it is Christ’s. Luther said this at first because he wanted to address problems he witnessed, not to leave the Church. However, once he started making claims, he received a lot of secular political support, and soon the Reformation took on a life of its own. 

Second, note that Luther is complaining that there are sinners in the Church. This has always been true, and it is true today in both Protestant and Catholic churches. But Christ never said the Church would be made up of perfect people or else there would be nobody in it, not even the first Apostles. He came and established the Church precisely because we are sinners. In every age, everyone in the whole Church is called to repent, improve, and grow in holiness.      

Some Protestants think we should pray directly to God and that intercession is unnecessary. What do we say to that? 

Praying directly to God is always a good thing. So why do Protestants also pray for each other? That’s intercession. The reason we intercede for others is because all Christians are called to love their neighbor, and praying for each other is one of the greatest acts of love there is. Finally, intercessory prayer is supported in Scripture: 1 John 5:16. Rev 5:8, Rev 6:9-11, James 5:16, Hebrews 12:22-24, 1Tim 2:1-4, and Rom 8:34. 

Man Protestants be considered part of the Communion of Saints?

Yes, the Catholic Church considers validly baptized Protestants to be part of the Communion of Saints, although in an imperfect way. They lack the fullness of the Catholic faith, particularly in the areas of Tradition, the Sacraments, and Apostolic Succession. Catholics consider Protestants as brothers and sisters in Christ, not as outsiders. Their salvation is possible through Christ, though only God can declare the final destiny of any particular person (that goes for all of us).

Closing Prayer: 

Almighty God

You have knit together your elect in one communion, one fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ: 

Give us the grace to follow the blessed Saints in all virtuous and godly living

that we may come to those inexpressible joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you

Hail Mary, full of grace,

the Lord is with thee,

Blessed are thou among women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Amen