5.21.24 - Topic Tuesday - Women in the Bible Cont'd

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. Please remember these recaps are unedited and without the pictures. The edited version with pictures will be posted before the next class on the Website –  www.CatholicCatacombs.org. Taylor will notify everyone at that time and provide a link.

4.      Questions encouraged. If you have questions, we ask that you keep them on topic and brief. You can ask in the chat box during the class, or email through Meetup.com, or email me at ron@hallagan.net afterwards.

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/.  Daily/weekly prayer is saintly!

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:  www.CatholicCatacombs.org 

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

Each meeting: 5 min greet, prayer, 15 min next Sun Gospel, 40 min main topic. 

Week 1:  Gospel Week: all Gospels!   

Week 2:  Bible Week (Gen to Rev):  We are in 1 SAMUEL 

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) Fathers, Heresies, and Church Councils

Week 4: Member Questions:

1.     What is “conscience?” To answer this we must also define our soul, free will, and our passions, and how these relate to each other.

2.     Purgatory.  How do I live my Christian faith at work when my faith is not accepted there?

3.     How do I live my Christian faith at work when my faith is not accepted there?

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

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

6.     Miracles since the NT

7.     Was King David good or bad? Was Emperor Constantine good or bad? Was he a Christian? What is a prophet?

8.      Why does God allow suffering?

9.     What is Tradition? Is Tradition equal to Scripture in importance? (2Thes2:15)

Opening Prayer

Dear Lord

As we continue our study of the most influential women in the Bible and the mystery of your Trinity

We welcome Your presence beside us to improve our understanding of Salvation History

So that we may continue in the path of our forebears in faith.

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.

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 to holy days, solemnities, feast days, memorials, Advent, and Lent. And now…

Upcoming major holy days in the Church: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, May 26

As the New Testament unfolds, we are introduced to the 2nd person of the Blessed Trinity, Jesus Christ,

who came to save us from ourselves by freeing us from the life imprisonment of sin. As Jesus’s life unfolds, we are also introduced to the 3rd person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, who overshadows Mary to bring about her conception of Jesus, who descends on Jesus at his baptism with John the Baptist, who Jesus elaborates upon in great deal at the Last Supper, and who is finally sent to us at Pentecost. Lost at the Fall of Man, the Holy Spirit has been returned to us.

Q:  If there was one more new, logical holy day still to be added to the Easter Season, what would that be?  

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, which always occurs the Sunday after Pentecost (May 26) 

The Trinity is the central fundamental truth and mystery of the Christian faith. No religion can claim to be Christian without identifying as being Trinitarian, according to the definitions of the Apostles/Church. 

Today

1.     Apologetics – The Trinity

2.     Gospel reading – Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

3.     Matristics – Influential Women in the Bible:  Mary

Apologetics and Exegesis Terms

Exegesis is the study and interpretation of the Word of God. It is what we do every week. We are all exegetes now!

Catholic Apologetics – apologetics means to defend a belief. Catholic Apologetics, specifically, is the art of defending the Catholic faith using reason, tradition, and Scripture.   

Apologetics of the Week:  Explaining the Holy Trinity

Q:  Why is the Trinity the central mystery of our faith and not the Incarnation or Eucharist?

            The Incarnation and Eucharist are examples of what God does for us. The Trinity is WHO God is. Foundation. 

Blessed Trinity Basics

·        The Holy Trinity is a mystery, which means 1) it was revealed to us by God, not by human reason, and 2) we will not understand it completely until we are in Heaven because it is an infinite and eternal truth, and our words and minds are only capable of fully accommodating finite truths.

·        The Holy Trinity is three distinct persons, one essence or being, co-eternal, and co-equal.

·        “Person” is important because humans can identify as persons. It allows us to have a “personal” relationship with God because we are persons, too.

·        The Trinity is all knowing, all present, and all powerful. This is another somewhat incomprehensible infinite and eternal description, but it is what it is. We will understand it better in the next life.

·        The name God gave to Moses was “Yahweh,” which means “I AM,” or “I am existence, itself.” The existence of the universe – and our own existence – originate in God.

·        The Trinity is Love. This Trinitarian love is our very highest concept of love, which we call “agape,” a self-sacrificing love. Not only is it the willingness to put others first, but the willingness to do so at all costs, like God did for us.

As such, all love originates in God. He is our Source of this highest love. So, when Jesus says we must love him (God) more than our family, that is because it is loving God that gives us the love needed to love our families at all costs, over all self-serving desires, to the ends of the earth.  

·        The characteristics of this love can be called God’s characteristics, or Trinitarian attributes. For example, some aspects of perfect love would be perfect goodness, perfect truth, perfect knowledge, perfect justice, and perfect mercy. Notice that these are the same attributes that we humans want, even bad people. That is because God’s image and likeness was breathed into all humans in Gen 2:7; they define what it means to be human and define our values, our meaning, and our purpose. Without God in our lives, our meaning is nonexistent; it can only be temporarily contrived.

According the CCC 245, 254, 264, 266, 689, and 2789…  

The Father is the source and origin of the Godhead, the Son is the eternally begotten Word, and the Holy Spirit is the eternal Love that proceeds from the Father and the Son. 

·        God the Father is source and origin of the Godhead. Again, finite words don’t work well. For example, “origin” seems to suggest a beginning, which is not the case here. Perhaps you could say that God is the ground existence of the Trinity; since the “I AM” (Yahweh) is pure existence and pure mind. 

·        God the Son, as the “Word of God,” is also called “Logos,” which is Greek for logic, word, reason, etc. That makes sense since “reason” is the primary purpose of language (“words”) – to communicate rational thoughts. Now let’s read the first five verses of the Gospel of John, which talks about the Logos/Word being incarnated into the world:  

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Through Him all things came into being, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being. 

In Him was life, and this life was the light of the human race. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it. – John 1:1-5

This confirms again that all of creation occurs through the Second Person of the Trinity; this includes the entire universe, the angels, the laws of nature, and our own life and intelligence. Logos (the Word) is why there is order and not chaos, and it is why we seek order and not chaos. Logos is why we do science and why seek answers to everything. From Logos comes all reason, logic, truth. Because of free will and our fall, the Word becomes flesh to save us; this is the light.

·        The Holy Spirit is the eternal Love that proceeds from the Father and the Son. Love is unity, love is giving of oneself to another, and love requires more than one. For that reason, the Trinity is a Community of Love and this love that flows between the Father and the Son also radiates outwards to all things in all directions. This is the Holy Spirit, and this love is (brace yourselves) so powerful that it is also a distinct “person,” and yet also God. 

Q: Since the HS has been given to us after Jesus returned to the Father, should we be communicating through Him?

            It doesn’t matter; besides, we couldn’t communicate with just the HS even if we tried, because the Father, Son, and HS are ONE. They know everything together. And God is also perfect humility, so it would be impossible for one of them to have their feelings hurt. They are just incredibly, out-of-this-world happy that you will talk with any one of them!

Analogies. 

Whenever it comes to deep thought experiments, especially in spiritual matters, humans are “logically” inclined to use metaphors and analogies to explain things. Analogies help simplify difficult problems and concepts. You may hear of analogies for the Trinity, but they will always fall short of the mark because all descriptions of the eternal infinite Trinity will not fit into our finite minds or words.

For example, water is a cool analogy because it can because water can be in 3 different forms and still be water: liquid, ice, vapor. But it falls short because water has to be in one or the other of those forms – a molecule of water either is liquid, ice, or gas. The Trinity exists in all three (Father, Son, HS) simultaneously. But it’s a cool analogy all the same, right?  

Another: CS Lewis uses the analogy of a cube: “In God’s dimension, so to speak, you find a being who is 3 Persons while remaining one Being, just as in a cube there are six squares while remaining one cube.” —CS Lewis, Mere Christianity

The Family (Adam & Eve, be fruitful…)

The most remarkable comparison I’ve seen that can shed light on this paradox is this: the best image of God is to be found in what God gave to us. Not in man alone, nor in woman alone, but rather a man and a woman together in a loving, lasting, fruitful relationship that we call marriage. 

In God’s own words:

“Let us make man in our image” (Gen 1:26)

And then this…

“That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh. – Gen 2:24

But it doesn’t end there – He instructs them to…

“Be fruitful and multiply.” – Gen 1:28

God seeks to make humans in His image most perfectly as the married and fruitful couple.

In our human finite minds, one can see the comparison in the way the husband and wife love each other and that love not only takes on a life of its own but also bears fruit in their children. Likewise, the love between God and the Son is so huge it literally has a life of its own, and its fruitfulness expands beyond the Trinity to Creation.

Trinity Sunday Readings

Gospel Context: This is a post-resurrection scene leading up to Jesus’ Ascension.

Matthew 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.

Q: Who in the OT appears on the mountain many times?

When they all saw him, they worshipped, but some doubted.

We can be glad that we are not the only ones who have had doubts. The translation also means hesitated or troubled. Don’t forget they haven’t received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost yet, so they don’t know what they are supposed to do when Jesus leaves. He’s leaving us? Who can possibly do what He has done?  

Then Jesus approached and said to them, "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

It is first important to point out that Jesus clearly identifies all three persons of the Trinity in this grand commission he gives to the Apostles. The second thing is that he refers to them using the singular “name.” The Greek translation onoma is also absolutely singular. So here we have the Trinitarian family, the beginning of our Baptismal formula, and our sign of the cross in Jesus’ final proclamation and instruction to the Apostles.

And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."

Q:  How many ways is Jesus with us to the end of the age?

            Three: 1) Spiritually in the Holy Spirit

 2) Physically in the Eucharist

 3) Intellectually in the Word   

The Old Testament emphasizes the ONE-ness of God, which is also essential in understanding the Trinity. The revealing of the Trinitarian nature of God was exactly that – reveal – over time, as man was able to comprehend. The One-ness of God was new and hard enough to get even the Israelites – the Chosen people – to stop worshipping pagan gods.

As 237 states, the Trinitarian revelation takes a cosmic leap in the incarnation of Jesus, and then Jesus reveals the Holy Spirit starting with his baptism with John the Baptism, to his dialogue at the Last Supper (I am sending you the Advocate/Paraclete), to the commissioning of the Apostles at his Ascension, to the arrival of the HS at Pentecost. However, even though the OT doesn’t speak concretely of the Trinity, it implies it in many places. Looking back from the truth we have now been given, this can be seen everywhere. Here are just two of dozens of examples:

“Let us make man in our image” (Gen 1:26-28),

Right away in Genesis, God says “we.” The translation is from the word Elohim, which is used many times as a singular word but the word itself if plural.

“And God formed the man of dust of the earth, and breathed upon his face the breath of life,                                                  and the man became a living soul.” – Gen 2:7

Breath of God refers to His Spirit and is the same word in Hebrew (נִשְׁמַ֣ת niš·maṯ = vital breath, divine inspiration).

“By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.” – Psalm 33:6

Heavens were made by the God’s “word,” and the starry host by his breath (same word as spirit).

                        Most Influential Women in the Bible – Matristics!                  7:35

Eve, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Leah, Miriam, Rahab, Deborah, Ruth, Hannah, Michal, Abigail, Bathsheba, Judith, Esther

Mother of the Seven Sons in 2 Maccabees, Jesus & The Adulteress, 

Blessed Mary Mother of Our Lord

Quote of the Week:  Mary being compared to the moon.

God, Who made the sun, also made the moon. The moon does not take away from the brilliance of the sun.          The moon would be only a burnt-out cinder floating in the immensity of space were it not for the sun. All its light     is reflected from the sun. The Blessed Mother reflects her Divine Son; without Him, she is nothing. With Him, she is  the Mother of Men. – Blessed Fulton Sheen 

Let’s do some apologetics on Mary (not the Immaculate Conception which was covered on Dec 5 – a whole class!).

Q:  Why is Mary called the “New Eve”?

Paul makes the reference to Jesus being the New Adam since he came to reverse the fall of Man and open the gates of Heaven. One could logically conclude from this that this would make Mary the “New Eve” since it was her “yes” to God that makes amends for Eve’s “no.”    

Q: Who was the first to draw this comparison in the Chruch?

            Both St. Justin and St. Irenaeus, early Church Fathers from the 2nd century, said Mary was the “New Eve” who by faith and obedience made amends for the disbelief and disobedience of the first woman, Eve. The early Orthodox Church added, “While Eve lost Paradise, Mary returned Paradise in Christ.” 

Q: In addition to the New Eve, Mary seen as the fulfillment of the Ark of the Covenant. Why? What did the Ark contain? What did Mary contain?

More…

Now, let’s compare David bringing the Ark into Jerusalem and Mary bringing Jesus to Jerusalem (Elizabeth lived nearby):

“What is hidden in the Old Testament is revealed in the New.” – St. Augustine

Q: How many times is Mary mentioned in Scripture?

The Annunciation (Lk 1:26-38); her encounter with Elizabeth; her Magnificat (Lk 1:46-56); the finding of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple (Lk 2:41-52); and Mary’s intervention at the wedding at Cana (Jn 2:1-11). Other mentions of Mary:  Luke 2:7, Luke 2:19, Luke 2:22, Mark 3:31, John 19:25, Acts 1:14.

Q:  Is Mary really the “Mother of God”? 

We often hear this objection to calling Mary the Mother of God: “A dog gives birth to a dog, a cat to a cat, a human to a human. So Mary would have to be God in order to give birth to God!”  How do we respond? During one debate, the non-Catholic claimed that Mary was the mother of Jesus’ human nature only, and so could not be called Mother of God. As part of his argument he presented the classic reasoning used by the Church for well over a millennium and a half: 

Major premise: Jesus is God 

Minor premise: Mary is the mother of Jesus 

Conclusion: Mary is the mother of God 

But then he immediately presented another argument that in his mind followed necessarily from the first:

Major premise: God is Trinity 

Minor premise: Mary is the mother of God 

Conclusion: Mary is the mother of the Trinity 

Now, if this were true, it would prove devastating to Catholic New Testament theology.  But it is not true. Our Catholic protagonist, Fr. Pacwa, explained that Mary is only the mother of the second person of the Blessed Trinity incarnate, because the Father and the Holy Spirit did not become incarnate. The non-Catholic was using the term God to refer to all three persons of the Trinity, whereas the teaching of the Church, “God” refers only to the second person of the Trinity incarnate, who is also God but who isn’t the Trinity. 

Q:  Do Catholics pray to Mary like she is divine?

Of course not. She intercedes for us, just as Mary interceded for the wedding party at Cana. And just as we intercede for our loved ones when we pray for them. Even the “Hail Mary” prayer says asks Mary to pray for us.

Q: Is the “Hail Mary” prayer Biblical?

You betcha.

Humility

Moses was considered the most humble person in the Bible until Mary came along. Humility means putting God first in all things. Whereas Moses tried numerous times to avoid God’s requests of him, Mary readily consented with God’s request even though the frightening mystery of a virgin pregnancy was at a time when this could get her stoned to death.

When she first received the Spirit in Nazareth, she did not keep Him to herself. Not considering her own precarious situation, she went through the rough hill country to tend to the needs of her elderly and pregnant cousin, Elizabeth.

She stayed with her Son throughout his life and ministry, had the courage of the HS to ask him to begin his public ministry at Cana when Jesus first pushed back, she was in the Upper Room, was with him during His passion and at the foot of the cross and had faith that God would somehow return Jesus to her, and she was there when the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost. She contemplated (pondered) her Son’s actions and words constantly. She was not a loudmouth, she was selfless. By her life and humility, she never commands attention but directs all attention and glory to her Son, Jesus Christ.

Mary and Pentecost

At first, we might wonder about this connection, but consider that it was the Holy Spirit who made Mary the Mother of Jesus. Therefore, the Church’s tradition of dedicating the month of May to the Virgin Mary harmonizes very well with both Pentecost – and the Church that the Holy Spirit mobilized. Mary is the Church’s spiritual heart since her very presence among the disciples from before the beginning is a living memory of the Jesus and his pledge of the gift of the Holy Spirit. As the great Protestant intellectual and convert, St. John Newman, observed:

May, therefore, is the time in which there are such frequent Alleluias, because Christ has risen from the grave, Christ has ascended on high, and God the Holy Ghost has come down to take His place.… Here then we have a reason why May is dedicated to the Blessed Mary. She is the first of creatures, the most acceptable child of God, the dearest and nearest to Him. It is fitting then that this month should be hers, in which we especially glory and rejoice in His great Providence to us, in our redemption and sanctification in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.

Book of Revelation (John)

Mary, the Mother of God, as the Ark of the New Covenant, goes back to the beginning, to Mary as the symbol of the Old Covenant Church, laboring down through salvation history to give birth to the Redeemer Messiah, Jesus, and His kingdom of the Church. John further recalls Satan’s unsuccessful attempts to destroy the woman and her precious “seed” (Jesus) promised since the fall of our first parents (Gen 3:15). The next part of Revelation will end with Christ’s victorious ascent into Heaven with the victory of the Church over Satan, symbolized by Mary’s foot on the head of the serpent (Gen 3:15).

Q:  Who recalls Mary’s last words in Scripture?

            “Do whatever he (Jesus) tells you.”- at the wedding at Cana.

Closing Prayer: Blessed Trinity and Blessed Mary

O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… All praise, honor, thanksgiving, and glory are Yours, Holy be Thy Name!

Hear O People of God, O Body of Christ: the Lord is God and the Lord is One, in whom we have our existence,                 and whom we love with all our hearts, all our minds, and all our souls (Deut 6:4-5, Jn 17:21, Rom 12:5, Acts 2:42).

Because of You and in You, we also find love for our neighbors, the downtrodden,

and our enemies as ourselves (Lv 19:18, Mt5:44).

O Lord, we do believe, increase our faith! (Mk 9:24)

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.