👉Watch Tuesday's class recording here.👈

Catholic Understanding & Biblical Defense Class 6/30/26

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. This is the best group/source for Catholic Apologetics on the planet.

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.       

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

Bible Study Format

Our Bible Study is a combination of Exegesis and Apologetics.

Each meeting is (roughly) as follows:

15   min   Apologetic Reflection

15   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 New Testament. 

Week 3:    Questions and Survey Topics chosen by Members:       

1. Prison Ministry Stories  2. Plenary Indulgences   3. Explanation of the Mass and Eucharist   4. Dead Sea Scrolls              5. Catholicism vs modern cosmology?   6. The 7 Gifts/Fruits of the HS, 7 Deadly Sins  7. How to experience the Love of God  8. The Communion of Saints  9. Comparative Religions   10. Catholic vs Protestant beliefs

Week 4:    Apologetics:

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

2.     Faith vs Doubt – does having doubts make us bad Christians?

·        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…

Opening Prayer

Lord, thank you for our lives so that we may continue to build our relationship with You.

You are the Vine and we are the branches. Your Life and Spirit flow through us.

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.

Major holy days:             The Assumption of Mary (August 15)

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

TODAY: 

·        Reflection:  Solemnity of Sts. Peter & Paul, June 29

·        Reading for 14^th Sunday in Ord Time (7/5), Jesus Thanks His Father; Come to Me, Matthew 11:25-30

·        Member Topic:  The Mass Explained Part V – The Liturgy of the Eucharist, continued.

Quote of the Week: 

"We are Christians, and strangers on earth. Let none of us be frightened; our native land is not in this world." –St. Augustine

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29

The Apostle Peter was head of the Church from the time of the Jesus’ Ascension in ~AD33 to his death in ~AD67. He was the first bishop of Antioch, a major commercial center in the Roman Empire and a bastion of Christianity, until he went to Rome about AD42 during the reign of Emperor Claudius. He ministered out of Rome for about 25 years until his death.

St. Paul was at first a zealous Pharisee who despised Christians and did his best to put an end to them. In ~AD36, while on his way to round up more Christians in Damascus, he was struck down and conversed with Jesus, who said from the clouds, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” After this experience, Paul became the “Preacher to the Gentiles” and the most prolific writer in the New Testament.

Though Peter focused primarily on Jewish communities and Paul on the Gentiles, their ministries occasionally overlapped. They once had a disagreement (or misunderstanding) regarding cultural practices and the inclusion of pagans. Nonetheless, they respected each other deeply, and Peter later referred to Paul as his "beloved brother." Peter approved Paul’s apostolate to the Gentiles and they interacted and supported each other over their 30-year ministries, culminating in their convergence in Rome.  

According to ancient tradition, both men ended up in Rome, where they were martyred for their faith during the persecutions ordered by Emperor Nero about the same time (most traditions say the same day): 

• Peter was crucified, but feeling unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus, he requested to be crucified upside down. His relics rest beneath St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. 

• Paul was a Roman citizen, meaning he was spared the torture of crucifixion and was beheaded instead. His resting place is traditionally marked by the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. 

Jesus Thanks His Father; Come to Me All You Who Are Burdened

Matthew 11:25-30

Context  

In the previous passages, Jesus had just left the towns of Chorazin and Bethsaida where he was rejected so completely that Jesus compared them to Sodom and Gomorrah, the most godless cities in biblical history. Their citizens may have been wise in worldly ways, but from God’s standpoint they were simply arrogant, sinful, and self-serving.

This sets up today’s Gospel reading where Jesus thanks God for revealing the truth of His Word to the childlike rather than the “wise and learned.” Childlike doesn’t mean childish, naïve, or uneducated. Remember, to grow our faith and receive more grace, we need be open. Recall Jesus says elsewhere for us to be like children because they are naturally open; they haven’t been weighed down by cynicism or pride yet. Faith and grace are gifts but we develop blockers as we get older. It is hard to receive what God wants to give us unless we get learn to let go of our preconditioned notions.   

In our reading, Jesus also reveals his intimate relationship with the Father – we’re talking Trinity. He reveals this in his ministry slowly at first, since too much, too quickly would get him arrested too soon. As we know, he won’t be fully revealing the Holy Spirit until the final chapters of the Gospels.

Finally, Jesus extends an open invitation to each of us, speaking directly to the tired, anxious, and overwhelmed.

Our reading (Matthew 11:25-30) can be divided into three subsections:

1.     Thanksgiving – verses 25-27

2.     Revelation – verse 27

3.     Invitation – verses 28-30

Jesus Thanks His Father; Come to Me All You Who are Burdened

Matthew 11:25-30

At that time Jesus exclaimed: "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. (verses 25-26)

As we discussed, the emphasis for Jesus is once again humility, and it all begins with God the Father.

The translation for the word “hidden” isn’t really God trying to hide anything but rather points to the clouded vision that comes with being proud and arrogant. Being full of yourself and your own education tends to blind you to any spiritual truths.

All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son…” (verse 27)

Until now, people have speculated that Jesus could be a prophet, like Moses, or perhaps even the Messiah. But he is far more – he is one with the Father. Jesus is revealing his unique, divine relationship with the Father, such that the world cannot truly know the Father – that is, His Triune nature – without knowing Jesus. Thus, Jesus is the revelation of God himself. As Jesus told Philip at the Last Supper, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

  “…and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” (verse 27, cont’d)

Jesus wishes to reveal the Father in all His Triune glory to everyone who comes to him in faith.  

"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."  (verses 28-30)

Jesus extends an open invitation to each of us, speaking directly to the tired, anxious, and overwhelmed. How often does this apply to all of us in our lives? 

Jesus’ promise of “rest” recalls the seventh day of Creation: God’s day of rest that humans are invited into. We didn’t make it into Heaven the first time around, so now we practice the 7^th Day on Sabbath/Sundays to get ready for Heaven. But the point Jesus is making is that we can actually experience a taste of this rest, his peace, now, in this life, if we yoke ourselves to him.

Jesus compares his offer to help us to the yoke of the oxen, an agricultural analogy that everyone in his audience would have immediately understood.

What is a yoke?

A yoke was high technology at one time. It is the wooden harness that farmers placed around the shoulders of two oxen to pull their plow, which made plowing the land much less easier than with one ox, and certainly less burdensome than by hand.

See picture below.

Why is yoking to Jesus a positive thing for us?

·        Our burdens are now shared. Our load is lightened.  

·        Those connected by a yoke act in unison everywhere they go. Who else would you rather be yoked to?  

·        Not only is our load lighted. Together, we could take on more.

·        Note how Jesus’ use of the yoke analogy is sacramental: it is connecting God and us, heaven and earth.

Conclusion:

+   Whatever our burdens are, walking with Jesus reduces our difficulties and increases our peace. Who doesn’t want that?

+   The pathway to heaven is not the easiest path, yet when we yoke ourselves to Jesus, he will help us complete the journey together. We will never be alone again. Moreover, we have the assurance that our direction – our GPS – will always be heaven-bound.

As an anonymous commentary on Matthew put it:

“Our worldly burdens are true weight – and then sin weighs them down even more and drags us down.  Jesus’ way is light because we don’t carry grace. Grace carries us”

The Catholic Mass Explained - Part IV

Sources: “The Mass Explained” (Dr. Brant Petri), “Catholic Mass 101” (Fr. Mike Schmitz), “Rediscover Catholicism” (Matt Kelly)

The Catholic Mass is the Last Supper, the New Passover Meal

The Mass can be defined into FOUR parts:

Part I.  Introductory Rites:  Entrance, Procession, Penitential Rite, Gloria, Opening Prayer

Part II. Liturgy of the Word:  Scripture Readings, The Homily, The Profession of Faith, General Intercessions

Part III.  Liturgy of the Eucharist: Offertory, Eucharistic Prayer, Consecration, Lord’s Prayer, Sign of Peace, Communion

Part IV.  Closing Rites: Final Blessing, The Dismissal

Liturgy of the Eucharist:

A.    Offertory (Presentation of Gifts, Collection)

B.     Eucharistic Prayer

C.     Consecration

D.    Lord’s Prayer

E.     Sign of Peace

F.     Communion

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.

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

The Lord’s Prayer captures our faith like no other prayer. The Father’s Will is the key to our success and “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven” is not a wish or a plea but a statement of fact; Jesus is saying it’s a done deal; all that remains is for us to get on board. But how? Humans are fallen and we continue to sin, and sin cannot enter Heaven. “Thy Will be done” is the key. Jesus gives us the example in the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but may Your will be done” (Mt. 26:39). If we remember to add this to all our prayers, we will continuously be pulled closer to God and His wisdom.   

Jesus then provides the formula for our success in the second half of the prayer:  forgiveness and overcoming temptation and evil. But if the Bible shows us anything, it’s that humans continue to fall. So, once again, how are we supposed to succeed?

Jesus provides the key to the Kingdom in the very center of the prayer, connecting God in the first half and us in the second half. This key gives us the grace and ability to complete the prayer in our own lives: 

Give us this day our daily Bread.

This has two meanings. The first meaning is temporal (our daily needs) and the second is spiritual (our salvation).

The first is straight forward – we are praying for the basic necessities of life required for our sustenance and survival. This is both the prayer for those in need and every Christian’s call to charity. Salvation is not an individual thing.      

The second meaning is spiritual. It is that Christ is the Bread from Heaven – the New Manna – who has come to save us. Recall John 6:

“I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But this is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die.” – John 6:48-50

So Jesus – the Bread from Heaven – gives Himself to us on the Cross for our forgiveness and salvation. It is his grace that pours out to us from the cross that helps us accomplish the second half of the prayer:

·        It is through Christ that we can ask forgiveness for our trespasses

·        It is through Christ that we can forgive others – most especially when it is difficult

·        It is through Christ that we can overcome temptation and become better, stronger people for it

·        It is through Christ that we are delivered from evil!

This pictorial of the Lord’s Prayer is kind of a poem about God giving Himself to us to raise us up and bring us back to Him. This prayer is also sacramental in that God is, once again, connecting Heaven and Earth, God and us.

Why does Jesus repeat day and daily in his prayer?

The first “day” means today, in the present, pointing us once again to Exodus. The Israelites could only collect enough Manna from Heaven for one day – more than that would rot. God was teaching the Israelites to depend on God always, in the present.

The second “daily” comes from the Greek word epiousion which means never-ending or immortal, as in the Bread of Immortality. Some of the earliest translations even use the words supernatural or super-substantial bread, such as St. Jerome who was the first to translate the Bible into Latin in the early 5^th century.

Thus, when Jesus said, “I will be with you always until the end of the age,” he was speaking both spiritually (the Holy Spirit) and physically (the Eucharist). Everything Jesus did was incarnational-sacramental.

So when we say the Our Father at Mass, try to immerse yourself in the depths of its meaning, its power, and its love.

The Sign of Peace

Do you recall when Jesus said whenever we are approaching the altar, if we realize that we have something against our brother, or your brother has something against us, leave your gift at the altar and go be reconciled with your brother and then come back and offer your sacrifice? (Mt 5:23-24)

Most of us come to Mass with some resentment in our hearts. We should first think of that when we pray the Confiteor at the beginning of Mass – so that we can release the resentment. Now at the Sign of Peace, we turn to the person next to us and, as a symbolic gesture, offer them peace, which is to offer them forgiveness, too. Forgiveness is spiritual power.

There’s an old story of how a group of Christians in Rome were rounded up during one of the persecutions and brought to the Coliseum. Shortly before they were to be killed, they turned to each other and exchanged the sign of peace. So when exchanging the Sign of Peace in the future, remember that in one sense you could say that you are preparing to be martyrs with them.  

The Fraction – This is when the priest breaks the Eucharistic Bread in half. But notice then that he mingles a particle of the bread in the chalice with the precious blood of Jesus. This is done for two reasons:

1.     In the early church the Christians often went through periods of persecution, depending on who was Emperor; so, they had to celebrate Mass in secret. But at the time, it was mandated that they remain united to the bishop. So the bishop would say mass in one place and he would put a small particle of the host into the chalice, then he would carefully wrap the rest of the host and give it to a runner. The runner would then go to all the houses where priests were secretly celebrating the Mass. The priest would break off a piece of the host and put it in his chalice and the runner would head off to the next house. This was a sign of the union they maintained with the bishop, and so the fraction today is done as a sign of our unity with them since time does not separate the body of Christ.

2.     When the priest mingles (reunites) the body and blood of Christ back together, this is a sign that Christ is not dead, but alive.

Behold the Lamb of God, who takes a way the sins of the world…”

Where does this quote occur in the New Testament?

It occurs when John the Baptist sees Jesus approaching for the first time while he was baptizing in the Jordan River.

So when we say “Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world” three times, the first time we might think of Jesus approaching John just like it really happened (picture above).

The second time we say it, we might picture Jesus going down into the water. The water represented all humanity’s sins being washed away, and therefore this represents Jesus immersing himself into our sins so he could take them onto himself.   Below…

The third time we say it, we anticipate Jesus being successful coming up out of the water, for that represents his conquering sin on the cross and rising again! Grant us peace!

Priest:  “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sin of the world, blessed are those who are invited to the Supper of the Lamb.”  

Where does this come from?

            Revelation 19:9. This is from the vision of John in Heaven. Once again, the Mass is the portal to Heaven. 

Response:  Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed!

Where does this response come from?

            Matthew 8:8, when the centurion asked Jesus if he could heal his dying servant. Jesus got ready to follow the centurion to his house, but the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof, but just say the word and my servant will be healed.” 

We know that we, too, can easily put ourselves in the centurion’s shoes and come to the Lord to ask for healing. And likewise, the Lord will want to heal us, even if we don’t feel worthy to ask.

Also, notice the sacramental tone of this communion prayer? We have taken John’s vision from Heaven (Rev 19:9) and connected it to a very humble earthly story of the Centurion. This is what the Mass is, a bridge between Earth and Heaven.

Communion

Some parishes offer both the bread and wine/Body and Blood of Christ, although since Covid most now just offer bread. This is a choice each parish or diocese can make. Receiving either one – even a drop of the wine or a fraction of the host – is to receive full Communion. God cannot be separated.

I personally prefer when I can receive the wine, only because it feels like the complete Last Supper experience. Also, remember when Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane and he asks the Father if he is willing to take this cup away from him? (Of course, he ends with, “Your will, not mine, be done.”). The cup represents his suffering and death on the cross. When we drink from the cup at Communion, this is the cup we are drinking. We are sharing in his sacrifice. But the same is true for the bread, so you are still sharing in the entire experience even without drinking from the cup.

We can receive the host (Christ) on the tongue or in the hand. Both are ancient tradition. Some say on the tongue is more sacred, but it’s just a preference. Even Justin Martyr in the 2^nd century wrote about receiving it on the hand. Justin said,

“Since Jesus in the Eucharist is the King of Kings, we make a throne for the King with one hand upon the next.”

The Eucharistic Minister says, “The Body of Christ” or “The Blood of Christ.” 

We respond with Amen, which not only means “So be it” or “I do believe.”  Some early fathers went further, suggesting we are saying, “I stake my life on this, Lord!”  

We are at this moment “in communion with Christ.”                                

Although non-Catholics, those too young, and those in a state of mortal sin are not allowed to receive the Eucharist, they can still come up and cross their arms to receive a blessing. The blessing: “May the Lord bless you and make you a saint!”

Next week we will wrap up the Mass with the Concluding Rites.

Closing Prayer

Lord, we thank you for being the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world

And for leaving us our Baptism, the Holy Spirit, and Bread of Eternal Life.

May we receive the nourishment and grace that brings us to salvation.

Glory Be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be

World without end.

Amen.