RECORDING OF CLASS PENDING UPLOAD. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.

Northern Virginia Catholic Bible Study & Apologetics  12/16/25

Every Tuesday, 7PM-8PM. This meeting is a lecture/Q&A format. It is free.

Meetings on Meetup: www.meetup.com/catholicbiblestudy

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

House rules/notes…

1. Our meetings/classes are on ZOOM every Tuesday, 7-8 PM. Sign up for Zoom notifications and to receive meeting reminders at www.meetup.com/catholicbiblestudy.  Zoom ID: 829 7355 9896  Password: 358319.  

2. 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! 

3. 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. 

4. Recaps. Within a day or two after each meeting, we will post the edited meeting notes of our discussions on our website, www.catholiccatacombs.org. Taylor will notify everyone when this is posted and provide you with a link.

5. 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-in-Christ; in fact, I personally owe much 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, and apply the Bible and our Catholic faith to our everyday lives. 

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

8. 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/.  

9. Cursillo. Interested in meeting weekly over coffee to discuss how God is involved in your personal and professional life? Join Cursillo (cur-see-yo). Initiation involves a 3-day retreat at Mission Hurst in Arlington. For men’s groups, contact Ron (ron@hallagan.net) and Jennifer Pence (Jennifer.pence@gmail.com) for women’s groups.      

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

Week 1:    Gospel Week – we study several Gospel stories, especially the tough ones.     

Week 2:    Bible Week – we are working our way through the Bible. We are studying the Prophets.  

Week 3:    Questions and Survey Topics chosen by Members:       

Fathers of the Church, Heresies, Church Councils    2) Near Death Experiences    3) Jesus prefigured & prophesied in the OT    4) Apparitions and modern miracles   5) What happens to pets after they die. 6) Prison ministry stories  7) Plenary and Partial Indulgences 

    Week 4:    Apologetics:

1. Gen 1-3 (Creation Story, Adam & Eve, the Fall of Man, The Meaning of the Trees) 

2. Faith and Doubt

3. Deeper meanings of the Mass    

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 ask for volunteer readers…

Major holy days:   Advent: Sun Nov 30 to Christmas Eve

Dec 25 – The Nativity of our Lord, Jesus Christ (Christmas) 

Mass or Confession anywhere/anytime in the world: www.masstimes.org

TODAY:  

• Reflection:  Advent – How do we make Christ our Spiritual DNA?

• Indulgences: What are they and how do they work?

• Reading for The 4^th Sun in Advent (12/21), How the Birth of Jesus Christ Came About, Matthew 1:18-24

Opening Prayer

Dear Lord, thank you for joining us as we delve into the double-meaning of Advent: Christ entering into our humanity at His Incarnation on Christmas, and Christ completing our lives at the final consummation of history, including the general resurrection, Last Judgment, and the transformation of the universe into “new heaven and a new earth.”

Please expand our minds and hearts as we invite You into our lives to fill our desire to know You more and more.  

And as Jesus taught us to pray… together

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.

Quote of the Week – 

It is not what we believe but how regularly we are reminded of our beliefs that most determines our behavior and the people we become. This is why we are a religion of reminders, from weekly Mass and the sacraments to holy days, solemnities, feast days, memorials, and the seasons of Advent and Lent. 

FYI – Taylor will be on her honeymoon in Europe for the next 2 weeks so we will not have the class until Jan 6. Nevertheless, I will still write up the classes for 12/23 and 12/30 and send them to you. 

Let’s give a hand and best wishes to Taylor and Santi, who are finally taking their honeymoon! 

Advent/Christmas Reflection: How do we make Christ our spiritual DNA?

This season calls us to think and reflect on the role of our faith in every part of our lives, so that we are ready, always. Faith and our work, faith and our families and friends, faith in our lives. Some say that our faith and our life must “intersect” somehow, but this would be a false analogy, since things that “intersect” only touch for a moment, and then go their different ways. 

How else might we think about this?

Ever get stuck going down a narrow country road where two cars could barely pass each other? Now, say you are stuck behind a big tractor going down a road like this. There is NO passing this thing! You may be late wherever you are going, but you are going to be stuck behind this thing for as long as you are both going down this road. In a sense, our faith needs to be like this tractor. This world wants us to rush past this tractor and forget it, but we need to take a deep breath with the HS, slow down a bit, and decide we aren’t going anywhere without it. 

Living in the present with love and wonder is just like this, but it never happens in the passing lane. This is why we stop and reflect year after year during Advent. We are Christians, and we must act like Christians in everything we do – from our families, to our work, to our play, to taking out the garbage. This is the way we will continually grow in wisdom and relationship with God so that we will be ready no matter when our time comes. 

Indulgences rank among the most poorly understood blessings of the Catholic Church. Non-Catholics sometimes think the Church gives out or sells indulgences in exchange for forgiving their sins. Not true at all. An indulgence is not permission from the Church to indulge in sin, nor is it being indulgent with sinners. It is not even pardoning sins, nor is it the removal of guilt. If it is not any of these things, then what the heck is it?

What is an indulgence?

An indulgence is the lessening of the temporal penalties we owe after our sins have been forgiven. 

To make sense of this, let’s review how sin and forgiveness work. There is first the removal of guilt and second there is penance – repair for the harm that our sin has done.   

1. The Removal of Guilt of sin is on the one hand, a single event; but it has two parts to it: 

a) repentance, which is contrition (regret, remorse) and the willingness to disconnect from the sinful behavior, and b) requesting/receiving forgiveness; when we are forgiven, our guilt and all its eternal consequences are wiped out. 

2. Penance. There is a secondary factor to deal with – penance – which is repair of the damage caused by our sin. For example, if we wrongfully hurt someone, did we apologize? Or if we stole money or a car, does anyone think the forgiveness of our guilt means we can keep the money or the stolen car? Of course, not. This idea of penance applies to smaller sins and to big ones. 

Which is the most important one, #1 or #2?

The first stage above – the removal of guilt (repentance/forgiveness) – is the most important one because it removes our guilt eternally.  However, as we have discussed, we have some “penance” to complete. Now, if it’s not safe or practical to fix the damage we caused, there are many other ways to make amends, such as prayer, charitable actions, sacrifice, restitution, or indulgences. These amends or penances are commonly referred to as “temporal punishment.” It is called temporal because it is intended to be completed in this lifetime. However, even if we don’t complete our temporal punishments in this lifetime, God is kind enough to allow us to complete them in Purgatory, after which everyone walks straight into Heaven. In fact, this is the very purpose of Purgatory, which means to purify or purge ourselves of the vestiges of sin because we can’t take those with us into Heaven. Or else Heaven would contain sin. 

Indulgences

An indulgence is a "favor" (a grace) from Christ granted through his Church. It is not the forgiveness of sin, but the remission of the temporal punishment due to past sins that have already been forgiven. Since indulgences act as penances, the Church has the authority to dispense and apply these treasury of gifts to us while still on earth. 

Below is the definition given by the CCC. I didn’t share this first because, although it’s perfectly accurate, it’s a little formal and legalistic-sounding. But given what we’ve discussed above, it should all make sense now:  

An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints. – CCC 1471.  

Apologetics: Why do indulgences have a bad name?

• It is sometimes claimed that the Church sells indulgences in exchange for forgiveness of sins. Not true. The Church uses indulgences to encourage her members to perform good works. A few examples of good works are prayers, attending extra Masses, reading the Bible, and charity. Works of charity are many but include the donation of money to help the poor (Sir. 3:30) or to promote the glory of God (John 12:1-8), such as the building of churches. Unfortunately, this last one led to some serious abuses in the hands of sinners who used financial indulgences to enrich themselves around the time of the Reformation. 

• Most people think Martin Luther’s “95 Theses,” which he nailed to the church doors in Wittenberg in 1517 AD, condemned the Church for using indulgences. Not true. First, this act of Luther’s is described as an academic invitation to disputation, not overt rebellion, and was standard university practice at the time, where church doors served as public bulletin boards for scholarly notices. Moreover, in his “theses,” Luther did not object to the need for indulgences, but complained that some authorities were abusing the practice by selling them to enrich themselves. There was indeed truth to this – a problem that needed correction – but this was a violation happening within the Church, not something approved by the Church.  

Partial and Plenary Indulgences

There are two types of indulgences, Partial and Plenary. A Partial indulgence is only a partial remission of punishment, whereas a Plenary indulgence is a full remission, meaning all temporal punishment for all past (forgiven) sins are removed. If someone dies after receiving a plenary indulgence, he/she would be able to skip Purgatory and go straight to Heaven.  

Here is how the CCC says indulgences are obtained:

“An indulgence is obtained through the Church who, by virtue of the power of binding and loosing granted her by Christ Jesus, intervenes in favor of individual Christians and opens for them the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints to obtain from the Father of mercies the remission of the temporal punishment due for their sins.” The Church does this not just to aid Christians, “but also to spur them on to perform works of devotion, penance, and charity.” – CCC 1478.

To gain a Plenary Indulgence, the faithful must be in the state of grace (which just means we must be baptized and not be in a state of mortal sin) and then the following conditions must be met:

1. Have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin;

2. Receive the sacrament of confession within 20 days of the act; one confession covers many indulgences;

3. Receive the Holy Eucharist within 20 days of the indulgenced act; one Communion per indulgence;

4. Recite prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father (one Our Father and one Hail Mary is suggested as a minimum, but any other additional prayers may be added).

What does detachment of sin (#1) mean?  

It means all attachment to sin, even venial sin, must be absent. That doesn’t mean we must be free from venial sins, but free from “attachment” to them. If we like to spread rumors or participate in gossip (venial sins) and we continue to do so, then we are “attached” to the sin. 

If some of the above conditions are not fulfilled, the indulgence becomes partial instead of plenary.

Someone asked how often should we go to confession? 

As often as you can, since that officially keeps us closer to God and on the path continued improvement (and remember, we not only get our soul cleansed but we get grace poured into us from the Holy Spirit). I know some people who go weekly, some monthly, some less often. Popes John Paul II and Benedict went weekly and sometimes daily. 

What could a Pope possibly have to confess daily?! I would compare it to a dirty floor. Standing up, we can see some dirt and want to clean it up.  (Atheists generally stand on the roof and don’t see any dirt.) The closer we look – perhaps on our hands and knees – the more dirt we see. We are the floor, and the closer we get to God, the more opportunity we have for improvement (and grace!). My guess is that popes are probably looking through a magnifying glass :).  

Officially, the Church requires confession at least once a year, ideally during Lent. If you have a mortal sin, you must go to confession in order to get back into a relationship with God. You do not want to die in mortal sin, so go quickly.

The 4^th Sun in Advent, Matthew 1:18-24

How the Birth of Jesus Christ Came About 

Context: 

This coming Sunday’s reading from the first chapter of Matthew tells us about the coming together of Joseph and Mary. It begins by saying they are “betrothed. 

What did it mean in those days to be betrothed?  

Betrothal did not mean “engagement” as we understand it today. We know that engagement is not a done deal; it is not equal to marriage. However, betrothal was a done deal; the marriage contract was already finalized. The difference is that they did not live together yet. 

Once betrothed, the man had to go and prepare a home for his wife – i.e., build a house – which could take up to a year. Once the home was ready, the wedding ceremony would be planned. It lasted seven days and ended with the man carrying his bride into their new home, where the marriage was “consummated” that night. 

Therefore, in our reading, when it says Mary and Joseph were betrothed, they weren’t just engaged, they were contractually married, but not living together yet. 

Our story takes a quick turn because, before they have moved in together, Joseph finds that Mary is with child. We can see Joseph is a good and righteous man, because he decides to “divorce” her quietly so as not to shame her. The alternative was to expose her, which could have led not only to her shame and banishment but possibly even stoning for adultery. However, none of this is the point of the story. 

Matthew 1:18-24

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.

When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.

Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.

Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means "God is with us."

When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.

Exegesis (Investigation/Interpretation/Explanation)

What is the point of Matthew’s reading? 

The Virgin Birth of Christ. 

After hearing the Christmas story over and over, year after year, its meaning and impact fades against the backdrop of today’s culture. Yet if we think about it, God’s willingness to become one of us is the greatest act of humility and love in all of history.

Here we have God, the Father, creator of all that exists, creator of the millions of galaxies and the billions of stars whose distances are measured in light years. Here we have God who created the atom and molecule whose size is measured in nanometers (one billionth of a meter). This God, who gave the human person not only a body and mind but an immortal soul, became one of his created to show us how to live and to free each of us from our sins and the world from its bondage to sin – to reconcile us to Him and one another. 

Closing Prayer: “Give Us a Heart” by Mother Teresa

Lord, give us a heart as beautiful, pure, and spotless as yours.

A heart like yours, so full of love and humility.

May we be able to receive Jesus as the Bread of Life,

to love Him as you loved Him,

and to serve Him under the mistreated face of the poor.

We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hail Mary

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.

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