Northern Virginia Catholic Bible Study & Apologetics

Every Tuesday, 7PM-8PM

This meeting-class is FREE.

House rules/notes…

1.      Our meeting/classes are In-Person at St. John Neumann Catholic Church 11900 Lawyers Road, Reston, VA 20191 https://saintjn.org/  (usually held downstairs in Room 5), or ONLINE via Zoom (see #2).

2.      To sign up for Zoom notifications and to receive the Meeting Recaps, go to www.meetup.com/catholicbiblestudy and join us! The Zoom Logon is the same every week:  Zoom ID: 861 1782 2081  Password: 406952.  

3.      After each meeting, I send out Meeting Recaps of what we discussed. These recaps are unedited and without the pictures. The edited version with pictures will be posted before the next class on the Website –  https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website. Taylor will notify everyone and provide a link.

4.      Questions highly encouraged. If you have questions about anything, you can ask in the chat box during the class, or email through Meetup, or email me directly at ron@hallagan.net.

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

6.      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.

7.      Catholic Prayer & Fellowship. Are you interested in praying the rosary, etc. with other Catholics during the week?  Follow fellow member Jason Goldberg at https://www.meetup.com/online-catholic-prayer-fellowship-and-spirituality/.

8.      “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. 

9.      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.

Each meeting: 5 min greet, prayer, 10-15 min Catholic topic, 40-45 min main topic. 

Week 1:  Gospel Week:   

Week 2:  Bible Week (Gen to Rev):  We are in EXODUS, the 2nd book of Moses. 

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 is glory? What is identity?  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.      Can we do a Christian Meditation one evening?

4.      Angels – who are they, what do they do? Do we really have guardian angels? What about devils/demons?

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

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

7.     What about the atheist who leads a good life? Can I be a person be good apart from God?

8.      Miracles since the NT

9.     What’s the difference between Charity and Love? What are the highest forms of charity?

10.                         How can I get more excited by the Mass?

Major holy days in the Liturgy of the Church:   Nov 1 – All Saints Day, Nov 2 – All Souls Day.

Dec 8:  Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Opening Prayer 

Dear Father

Please bless our Bible Study group:  our faith, our lives, our families, our health and our work.

Accompany us with our studying and our understanding so we can see how to better live your Word.

May this Bible Study improve and grow in accordance with your will.  

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.

Today

1.     Apologetics – Church Authority

2.     Apologetics questions from last meeting

3.     Gospel for All Saints Day – The 8 Beatitudes

Quote of the Week:

“History is the terrible story of man trying to find something other than God to make him happy.” – C.S. Lewis

    We will review a different apologetics or exegesis term each week (below)...

Apologetics and 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.    

Bible = The OT = The Torah (Pentateuch, Books of Moses), the Prophets, the Writings (Wisdom, Novellas)

 The NT = The Gospels and the Epistles (Epistles: New Test Letters (Paul), Catholic Letters, and Revelation). 

 Best Bibles - Ignatius RSV 2nd Catholic edition; Augustine Bible; Douay Rheims (Jerome); NABRE ok; Bible Basics for Catholics-Ave Maria press.

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 holding the 10 Commandments; b) Mary’s womb holding the Word of God

Tabernacle - the portable sanctuary used by the Israelites in the wilderness during Exodus the from Egypt and then in the Temple in Jerusalem by Solomon (and again later by Herod).  Latin tabernaculum – tent; temporary dwelling place.

Temple – Latin templum - space set aside for sacrifice/worship; replaced the Tabernacle; the Temple in Jerusalem.

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

Church Authority – The Church is the only authority given by Jesus Christ to interpret the Word of God.

"Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven" (Mt 18:18-20).

Otherwise, there could theoretically be a different interpretation for every Scriptural passage for every person who ever read them, resulting in no unity and endless divisions (which is why there are 10,000 different Protestant churches and 17 Eastern Orthodox churches). You should be aware that the teachings of the Catholic Church are nothing more than the Church’s interpretation of that which has already been revealed by God, either through Scripture or what has been handed on through Apostolic Tradition. This body of the Church’s interpretation, called the “Magisterium,” is not superior to the Word of God, but its servant. The Church does not – it cannot – make up anything outside what has been handed to it, but merely guards it with dedication and expounds it faithfully (CCC#86, 890). Thus, the Church believes that Divine Revelation ended with the Apostles. 

Doctrine refers to all of the official teachings of the Church. They fall into three categories:

1)            

a.     Those that the Church teaches authoritatively but not infallibly. Elements within these can change.

b.     Those which the Church teaches infallibly. 

c.      Dogma: Those teachings that the Church has infallibly taught to be divinely revealed. 

     “Theological Opinions” are teachings that express a pope’s views on a subject but are not doctrine/not binding. Encyclicals fall into this category. 

      Heresy is the rejection of dogma. If someone rejects a teaching belonging to the first or second category of

doctrine, it may be sinful, but it does not rise to the level of heresy. 

Epiphany – Epiphany means a manifestation from above. In Christianity, Epiphany refers to the manifestation of Jesus Christ being the Savior of the World to the gentiles (Magi) 12 days after Christmas.

    Theophany means the appearance of God, such as Yahweh to Moses on Mt. Sinai, or at the Transfiguration.

Eucharist –the Lord’s Supper. The bread & wine become Jesus’ body/blood. From Greek eucharistia = 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.

    Deism – belief in a supreme being/creator who does not intervene in the universe, or who is indifferent to it.

    Theism – belief in the existence of God or gods, especially the believe in one God who is creator of the universe and is actively engaged in some way, intervening in it and sustaining a personal relationship with his creatures.

    Atheism – belief that gods of any kind do not exist.

    Agnosticism – belief that God may or may not exist but we cannot know. 

Preternatural – means “outside the natural”; refers to the preternatural state of grace Adam & Eve were in before the Fall.

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.” 

“A lie travels around the globe while the truth is still putting on its shoes.”  – Mark Twain

Apologetic questions from last meeting:

Q:  Can you give any examples for the three doctrinal categories?

Yes. First, a quick review of doctrine and dogma:

Doctrine just means teaching which are assumed to be accepted by the universal church. They are all authoritative although some are infallible and some are not. Infallible doctrine cannot be in error. 

No doctrine may contradict the Scriptures.

A doctrine that is infallible and divinely revealed is called Dogma.

A dogma can be defined by the pope himself, speaking “ex cathedra” (from the chair of Peter), or by a valid ecumenical council, approved by the pope.

Examples: 

Dogma:  the Divinity of Christ, the Trinity of God, the Two Natures of Christ, Immaculate Conception, the Assumption of Mary.

Infallible Doctrine but not Divinely Revealed: The male priesthood, Protestant baptism is valid, Anglican holy orders are invalid.

Doctrine (not infallible): the death penalty, just war doctrine, clerical hierarchy, Mormon baptism is invalid.

Theological Opinion:  the nine choirs of angels, Papal Encyclicals (i.e., the Pope’s recent encyclicals on the environment).

Q:  Is there any other support for Purgatory besides the Book of Maccabees?

Yes, of course, we had a whole class on this which you can find on our website. I will give you one additional NT reference now, this one directly from Jesus:

“And whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” – Mt 12:32

Notice how Jesus speaks about not being forgiven in the age to come (the next life). That sounds like Hell. However, his statement is also clear that someone can be forgiven in the next life.  This cannot refer to Heaven since there is no sin and thus no forgiveness in Heaven. Jesus can only be referring to a place where a final purification can take place, which is what we now call Purgatory.

As to his comment about the Holy Spirit, we talked about blaspheming against the HS last week, which means to reject the HS, which would exclude us from Heaven. Jesus died to give us the HS, to make us part of the Trinity, children of God. To reject the HS is to reject one’s salvation.

Finally, we spoke above about the authority Jesus gave to the Church. If interpretation of Scripture was left up to the billions of individual Christians who ever lived as the Protestants believe, then you could have billions of interpretations. This causes division, not unity, and is the reason that there are over 10,000 different Protestant churches in Christianity and 17 different (national) Eastern Orthodox churches. Interpretations can range from explicit on the one end to implicit at the other end, and even more potential applications for these on contemporary Christian faith and morals. That is the reason Jesus gave the authority to interpret Scriptures to the church – above all for clarity and unity! As Jesus made clear to the Apostles several times:

"Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven." (Mt 18:18-20)

Dante’s Mountain of Purgatory (The Divine Comedy)

GOSPEL WEEK

#1. Gospel for All Saints Day

Context: The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ map for salvation, his fulfillment of the Laws of the OT. In fact, he goes up on the mountain to teach, because the Law of Moses was also given on the mountain. 

Jesus says he did not come to abolish the Mosaic Law, but to complete it. To raise the external laws of Moses to completion means to internalize them in our souls. Jesus leads off his Sermon with the 8 Beatitudes, which have mystified many Christians (and non-Christians) for 2000 years. One way to read them is to understand that they all point to one thing. Try reading them as though they were one diamond with 8 faces, but the heart of the diamond is the same – the love of God. The love of God is often the opposite of the loves of this world, and that is the point. To love like God is to “will the good of the other, always.” That was the path of the saints, and it is the call of every Christian.

Matthew 5:1-12

When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them (The 8 Beatitudes)…

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (also, clean of heart)

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness because of me, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in Heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Now let’s review the common denominator for each of these:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Detachment from the addiction to/priority of wealth and possessions, in order to love.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.

            Mourning more refers to the loss of worldly physical comforts/gratifications; God will gratify! And in the process, our gratifications roadblock to love will be moved out of the way.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.

            Meek does not mean weak. Meek is the reverse of an addiction to power. If we have authority and power, like Moses, it is to be used only for love and to defend the innocent; never self-serving.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

            Focusing your life on doing good. Righteousness is the will of God, and God is love.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

            “As we forgive those who trespass against us…” is an act of love. Instead of judging others all the time, extend them mercy in a short prayer. Actually, the translation is "tender mercy."  

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God.

            Pure of heart is not about sex/pure thoughts. It’s about single-mindedness vs a divided mind. Single-minded for God, truth, goodness, etc. A divided mind is trying to find ways to serve the self, which blocks out love, truth, and goodness.   

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

            If you are seeking goodness and righteousness, you will excel at peacemaking. All are acts of love.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets (SAINTS) who were before you.

                        Jesus is warning us that the world likes people who think and act like they do, and who honor the same things they honor. So it is likely they will not respect you, and possible that you will be persecuted. Don’t worry, your reward for staying true will be 100 times any cost you incur here, starting with being a saint. 

Closing Prayer

God, we offer ourselves to Thee

to build with us and do with us as You will.

Relieve us of the bondage of self, that we may better do Thy will.

Take away our difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those we would help

May we do Thy will always!

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.