11.29.22 Recap: Member Questions Night

Northern Virginia Catholic Bible Study & Apologetics House rules/notes… 1. Meetup is www.meetup.com/catholicbiblestudy Zoom Meeting Logon info is the same every week: Zoom ID: 861 1782 2081 Password: 406952 2. Questions encouraged. If you have questions about anything, you can ask in the chat, email the Meetup group, or me directly at ron@hallagan.net. 3. Unedited recaps of meetings are posted via Meetup after our meeting. The final edited recap is posted within a week by Taylor on our Catholic Catacombs Light website at www.catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website/recaps. Taylor will notify everyone on Meetup with the link. 4. Respectfulness. We will be discussing differences between religions and between Christian denominations, and 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. Prison fellowship – opportunities to volunteer one Saturday per month for 2 hours (12-2 or 2-4) serving Catholic prisoners at the Fairfax County Jail. Ask Ron (ron@hallagan.net) or Gina (gmasterson99@gmail.com) for details. Why do this? "I was in prison, and you visited me." – Matt 25:36 7. Catholic Prayer & Fellowship. Are you interested in praying with other Catholics during the week? Fellow member Jason Goldberg has started just this at “Catholic Prayer, Fellowship, and Spirituality Meetup.” Sign up at: https://www.meetup.com/online-catholic-prayer-fellowship-and-spirituality/ 8. I highly recommend seeing “The Chosen” TV series. We seek a relationship with Jesus Christ, which is not easy at first. It helps when we can relate to a person that we have seen and heard. They have captured the real Jesus as close as any film I’ve ever seen. https://thechosen.link/1Y1R7. 9. RSVP Reminder: Please RSVP whether you are attending the meeting or just reading the Recap notes afterwards. The more RSVPs, the more Meetup will give us exposure, which will draw more people to us, which is our way of evangelizing! Please RSVP when you get the Meetup invite weekly. Our Bible Study Format: 5 min prayers, 10-15 min Catholic topic, 40-45 min on the main topic from weekly List below: Week 1: Nov 1 - Gospel Week: Mt 22:37: “Love the Lord your God with all your might…” Eph 5:21-33 "Wives be subordinate to husbands." Week 2: Nov 8 – Bible Week (Gen àRev): We recently started Exodus, the 2nd book of Moses. Exodus meeting #3. Week 3: Nov 15 – Survey Topics Voted on by Members: We are currently beginning Heaven.

Ö 1) Jesus’ Greatest Parables 2) Hell, Purgatory, Heaven 3) Christian Comparisons 4) Great Women in the Bible 5) World Religions 6) Book of Revelation 7) Major Heresies and Church Councils

Week 4/: Nov 22/29 – Member Questions Night

1. The History of the Mass going back to Cain & Abel, and the sublime meaning of the Eucharist in the present.

2. Love and Unity are two of the Holy Spirit’s Trinitarian descriptions. How are these different? How do they affect us?

3. The knowledge of God is “participatory.” Is that why nonbelievers have difficulty?

4. Are Charity and Love synonymous? How are they different? What are the 4 highest forms of Charity?

5. Do we have suffering for a reason? How do we offer up our sufferings? When should we embrace the cross vs wait for a miracle?

Church Holy Days Refresher:

Highest holy days are called Solemnities (24), followed by Feast Days, then Memorials, then Ferial Days (means free/optional). Of the 24 Solemnities, 6 are holy days of obligation that aren’t usually on Sundays (Mary Mother of God, the Ascension, the Assumption, All Saints Day, the Immaculate Conception, and Christmas).

Next Holy Days of Obligation

Advent – Sun Nov 27 to Sat Dec 24

Immaculate Conception of Mary – Dec 8

Christmas – Dec 25

Dear Lord

Thank you for your promise that where two or three of us are gathered in your name, You are there.

We welcome you among us tonight.

We meet tonight because you gave us two gifts by which to know you: faith and reason.

As we study your Word together, we are putting these two gifts to work

So please allow us to leave much wiser than when we arrived!

Lord, please bless our lives, our health, our work, our families, our friends, and those who could not be here tonight.

We also pray for your providence upon those less fortunate than us and those suffering in the world today.

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.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us all. Amen.

Quote of the Week:

“Sometimes the only mode of transportation available is a leap of faith.”

- Margaret Shepard

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Advent is the beginning of the year for Christians (Catholics, anyway). It is also the beginning of the Liturgical Year – all the yearly readings start over at the beginning. Advent is a time to prepare ourselves, and to renew our minds, for the coming of the Lord.

Q: Why do we prepare, reflect, forgive, seek forgiveness, and abstain from excesses during Advent?

“Repent, the Kingdom of God is at near.” Once again, we are “near.”

Q: Who said this?

John the Baptist (Mt 3:2), then Jesus (Mt 4:17)

The Advent Wreath is traditionally used to help us focus on various aspects of the enormity of this event. A new Advent candle is usually lit at the beginning of each of the 4 weeks of Advent.

The first candle, which is purple, symbolizes hope. It is called the “Prophecy Candle” in remembrance of the prophets, especially Isaiah, who foretold the birth of Christ. It represents the expectation felt in anticipation of the coming Messiah.

The second candle, also purple, represents faith. It is called the “Bethlehem Candle” as a reminder of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem.

The third candle is pink and symbolizes joy. It is called the “Shepard’s Candle,” and is pink because rose is a liturgical color for joy. The third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete Sunday and is meant to remind us of the joy that the world experienced at the birth of Jesus, as well as the joy that the faithful have reached the midpoint of Advent.

On the fourth week of Advent, called the Angel’s Candle (also called the Peace Candle), is purple to mark the final week of prayer and sacrifice as we wait for the birth of our Savior. It reminds us of the message of the angels: “Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men.”

Though many traditional Advent wreaths do not include a white candle, this has become popular in modern day adaptations. The white candle is placed in the middle of the wreath and lit on Christmas Eve. This candle is called the “Christ Candle” and represents the life of Christ. The color white is for purity—because Christ is our sinless Savior.

Q: Why is celebrating Advent an excellent way to prepare our minds and hearts for Christmas?

Because preparing ourselves doesn’t happen by itself. This world has successfully turned Christmas into a Materialism Festival where the only good, remaining theme remaining is “giving.” That’s all fine – I’m caught up in this, too – but it doesn’t mean the shopping frenzy has to own us, make us anxious, and destroy the reason for celebrating.

If we don’t have reminders like the Advent Candles or even this Bible Study, we can easily fall off the spiritual path to Heaven and not even realize it. Therefore, at the start of our weekly meetings I will be reminding you with some new perspectives about Advent. Today is no exception, as you will see below.

Who remembers what Parousia is?

Parousia is the Greek word for Advent. Parousia (pair-oo-see-uh) is an oft-used theological term, usually dealing with the 2nd coming of Christ. Advent/Parousia celebrates both the first and second coming of Jesus.

Although the words Advent and Parousia mean the same thing, they have a double meaning: ‘presence’ and ‘arrival.’

Although presence and arrival have different connotations, they are quite related. If you think of someone’s arrival, it is also the beginning of their presence, right? They are connected in time. Or you could say they overlap.

This seems especially fitting since Jesus already came once, and he is here now, and he is also coming again at the end of time. Essentially, Jesus’ first coming was the beginning of his second coming. In fact, the entire purpose of Christmas was to put the Second Coming into motion.

Q: Some of you have seen me sign off on the Meeting Recaps we post after our meetings with “Maranatha!” What does Maranatha mean and where is it used in the Bible?

Paul uses it in 1 Cor 16:22. It translates as “The Lord has come.” It also translates as “The Lord is come.” It also translates as “The Lord is coming.” What tenses are these? It’s as close to “Advent” – or any word to describe the reality of Jesus – that I can find.

In the NT, this word would have been a common greeting that would conveniently work for any tense desired, or all three which is how I use it.

Q: We talk about preparing for the Lord. How can we – or one person – make a difference?

Starfish story.

There are three components to the story: It starts with me deciding to do something for someone else; then it extends to helping others near me; and then the HS takes over because others see you and want the same feeling.

Q: Advent defines our entire lives much more intimately than we might think. How?

We said Advent means both presence and arrival. The world waited for the Messiah, then He arrived, now He is present, and He will come again to us, twice actually! At the end of our lives here, and then again at the end of time/the final judgement.

In a way, this format describes everything about our lives, doesn’t it? Things are coming, then they arrive, then pass us by, and suddenly we are looking for what is coming next, and we hope and sometimes pray that whatever comes after that will be better.

There is one difference with Advent: “Passing us by.” Is there any point where time stops and we can truly live in the present? What kind of life is it where we can’t stop time even for a moment?

We can’t, but God can.

Advent is about setting aside all the small stuff that is “passing us by” and focusing on the present. In a way, Advent is “in between time”: all that we are waiting for has arrived and is present. All that is to come is also in the present – in what we do with it.

You may remember when we discussed that the present is the only time we can make a difference in our life. It’s the only time we can love, the only time we can forgive, interact with God, change ourselves for the better, or change the world. God gave humans access to the past and future as tools to improve the present; to bring the present to life.

We need times like Advent, Bible Study, and Sabbath Sunday to stop us from missing the present.

Q: How can we better understand the present time, so we can grab hold of it and better manage it?

Victor Frankl was a Jewish-American psychiatrist and neurologist who survived the German concentration camps. He founded “logotherapy,” which established that the primary motivational force in life is to find the meaning of life. Has anyone ever heard of him or read him?

In the concentration camp Victor was in, every day the guards would come for people. Families would be separated, children or the elderly would be taken; some went to the gas chamber, some were taken and not seen again, some were taken to the “operating room” where they would do brain research on live victims. Their screams could be heard regularly. One day a large group of them were standing in the yard and the sun was setting. It was the most beautiful sunset he/they had ever seen, and it seemed to last. For a brief moment in time, they were swept away by the sunset – it was wonderful. He hoped it they could stay there forever.

Of course they couldn’t, but he never forgot that moment. Life seemed worth living during that short, short time. He began to think about that “moment” in between the past that had recently left them and future moments that had not arrived yet. For that moment, suspended in time, life had meaning. This eventually guided Victor’s work after the war in the area of neurology and psychiatry, and the development of Logotherapy.

Q: WHAT does this have to do with Advent?

I mentioned above how the only important time for humans is the present. We can’t act in the past, and we can’t act in the future; only in the present. The problem is we don’t do it thoughtfully because it passes by quickly. But if this is the only time we can make a difference, love, forgive, change ourselves for the better, and walk with God, then shouldn’t we figure this out?

Even becoming more aware of the eternal impact of managing the present, it’s still hard to stop time and be present enough to speak and act differently.

Victor Frankl ends up taking us to a finer level of understanding the present.

He developed the idea that the greatest reality for all of us exists between every stimulus and response. Repeat.

Between every stimulus – these are the things that happen to us, things that are said to us, directly (or even indirectly and in passing) – and every reaction/response to this stimulus, there is a huge world where we can do anything.

Say what?

You see, we are conditioned to respond immediately. Sometimes we are proud of our response, sometimes we aren’t, sometimes we don’t think about it much. Either way, it’s too late, you already responded. You haven’t changed anything.

Instead, we can stop ourselves from responding and consider the alternatives:

- What am I about to say? Is this an opportunity to change something for the better?

- Must I respond at all? Or can I listen more?

- If I am thinking of responding, will what I am about to say be true?

- Will it be helpful?

- Will it be kind?

- Is it necessary?

- Can I ask a question instead?

- Father/Christ/HS/Mary – what do you think?

If we want to love more, forgive more, change ourselves for the better, and “walk with God” in our lives, we need to do so in the present.

Advent reminds us that we are in between time. Looking back, looking forward, and seeking to do God’s will in the present… what could be truer about our lives than this?

The First Advent and First Coming were incredible. A young woman with child. A star shining brightly overhead. Wise men giving gifts, lifting their eyes to heaven, wondering what comes next, and then being told in a dream to go home by a different route. The Holy Family escaping Herod in Egypt. The world was about to be changed, and it would be an adventure. Mankind was about to be saved from itself.

Our present Advent also looks forward to the Second/Final Coming of the Lord on a future date that is unexpected and nobody knows – and will be the most spectacular of all. Unannounced, unexpected, trumpets sounding, LOVE come to conquer the remainder of earth. Then a new age, a new time, a new world will be ushered in, and we get our glorified bodies back to thoroughly enjoy this new existence.

The question Jesus asks us is, “Will we be ready?” That is the question Advent puts to us, but the truth is, that is no different than every other day of our lives. Advent just reminds us to get aligned again – to get make our internal GPS to “recalculate” to our destination.

If we are walking with God and treating our present time – our time between stimulus and response – with a bit of sacred respect, we will all be ready. Let us do our part to prepare the way of the Lord.

Speaking of taking time to reflect on the direction of our lives…

What is Sabbath Sunday? What should it be? What does God say?

Q: Let’s start with the Third Commandment. What is it?

“Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.”

Note it doesn’t say, “Remember the Sabbath Hour.” It says DAY.

Q: What does the word Sabbath mean?

Sabbath comes from Hebrew and means “rest.”

Q: What does the word holy mean?

Holy means “to set apart.” Synonyms: sacred/consecrate.

Faithful Jews, dating back 3,300 years, became very exacting (sometimes extreme) regarding what this “rest” should look like, but they had/have the right idea. The Sabbath should be holy, set apart, from everyday life.

A sample Jewish guideline…

The idea of the Sabbath derives from Genesis 1, when God rested on the Seventh Day.

Q: What did God resting on the 7th Day mean?

Man was created at the end of the 6th Day of Creation, making mankind the pinnacle of God’s creation.

God then breathed his Spirit into man, which is what makes us in God’s image and likeness and our souls immortal.

The 7th Day was not rest in the sense that we use it (ceasing all activity). God rested from the work of the other six days of creation. Likewise, for us, it means we should cease doing the work we normally do on the other six days.

Q: Why?

Because man has been given a spiritual nature and is invited into the Seventh Day. The 7th Day is called the “Day of the Lord.”

To enter the 7th Day, humans must learn God’s ways and practice and perfect them in their physical lives. Seven (7) stands for perfection, or complete. It represents Heaven.

The 7th Day is what man was created for.

Q: How can we be sure that the 7th Day was an invitation to man?

The Pharisees also misunderstood this. You may recall several times when they criticized Jesus for healing people on the Sabbath because this was the “Lord’s Day.” It IS the Lord’s Day, but it isn’t for the Lord. Jesus’ response was both startling and clear:

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” - Mark 2:27

Q: What does “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” mean?

The purpose of the Sabbath was to help us prepare for the 7th Day. So we would take the time to reflect on our last 6 days and refine our thinking, our planning and, hopefully, our behavior; for our behavior is a reflection of our progress.

God does not expect perfection in this life, only progress, with Him. Progress with Him is called “Walking with the Lord.” Walking with the Lord is sufficient holiness to walk into Heaven.

This reason Jesus healed often on the Sabbath was because he was all about healing – not just the outer self but the inner self. Recall how often he ended his healing with, “Your faith has healed you.” Their faith was because they came to him. That’s no different than for us. We just need to go to him, even if it’s just to talk.

Q: Several millennia after the Fall of Man in Genesis 3, God decided to make the Sabbath a commandment when he gave Moses the 10 Commandments on Mt. Sinai. Why did God do this?

1) “Commandment” can also be translated as “Instructions,” which was easier for me to understand. These were “How to” instructions to help humans know how to prepare for entering the 7th Day.

2) God gave these “instructions” because man continued in his fallen ways by continually forgetting his relationship with God, continually forgetting to keep love, goodness, justice, and mercy central in their lives, and continually forgetting to love their neighbor as themselves, especially the less fortunate. Too often, man trampled on the less fortunate. Obviously, man could not be relied upon to remember God and goodness on their own, so now God was going to help them by giving them the Ten Commandments. For our purposes, we are focused on the Third Commandment:

“Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.” – Exodus 20:8

Q: Does one day a week seem burdensome to anyone? I used to think so.

But I eventually saw it was pretty reasonable. God believed that 1/7th of our time wasn’t too much to ask for, especially since the purpose was help US be able to enter the 7th Day. In light of this, 3 or 4 days may have been reasonable, too!

Q: Does the Bible say anything else about the Sabbath?

Q: What basics can we draw from this that could reasonably be expected from us on the Sabbath?

1. Personal encounter with the Trinity at Mass, especially in the Eucharist. If prayer is like talking to a friend over the phone, long distance, then Mass is like visiting that friend in person, except it’s a full dinner engagement.

2. Forgiveness – God gives us forgiveness if we mean it and ask for it. It’s that simple. We should do this. At the same time, is there someone we should forgive?

3. The whole day should be a day of love (agape) and gratitude, which could/should involve family and community. Family time might include a meal together, phone calls to check on others, a visit, forgiveness - or encouragement - where needed.

4. Speaking of family: our own spirits are made in God’s image; similarly, the family is in the image of the Trinity. The Trinity has been described as a symphony, or dance, of love, joy, and service. That is our model!

5. Service:

- give alms to the poor or visit the sick or elderly

- do something to help a neighbor, friend, someone in need

- church volunteer activity

- volunteer at a soup kitchen

6. Take care of routine, 6th Day activities before the 7th Day. This helps to “set it apart” from your everyday worldly activities. Such activities to avoid on the 7th Day could include

ü Cleaning

ü Shopping

ü Cooking

ü Job related work

ü Electronics

Some other suggestions:

o Other spiritual activities could include bible readings, life of the saints, prayer, meditation, group prayer. Reflection should be on the last six days and what can be improved in the next six days. Then ask God to fill you up with grace for the tasks ahead.

o Some people wear something special.

o Time outside/nature – take in and appreciate the peace and beauty of God’s creation

Note on children…

The Bible is very specific about children, which is unusual since children were considered a nuisance in the surrounding pagan world.

These words which I give you today are to be on your hearts.

Impress them repeatedly with your children.

Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you are going to bed and getting up.

– Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Children’s activities

Sunday is the golden clasp that binds together the volume of the week.” – H.W. Longfellow

Closing Prayer

In Between

I wish to walk beside thee, my Lord.

A slow dance with You & Mary, where I no longer take the lead.

Where my every action and reaction are your actions and reactions.

I will pause with You in between time and ask:

Must I respond?

Would my words be true?

Will they be helpful?

Will they be kind?

Are they necessary?

Could I ask a question, instead?

Lord, help me manage this body, this Temple, you gave me.

Thank you, this will be an exciting journey!

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

Blessed art 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.