Sacramentum

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Scripture and Tradition

Transmission of Divine Revelation, the knowledge of God’s plan of salvation, occurs through the following ways:

By Apostolic Tradition: “by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves had received – whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit” (CCC 76)

By Apostolic Succession: “In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them their own position of teaching authority” (CCC 77)

Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are bound up together, as the Catechism says: For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal. (CCC 80)

Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal reverence and devotion.

Sacred Scripture is inspired by God using human authors to communicate his saving plan to man.  In reading Scripture one must:

1. Be attentive to the content and unity of Scripture. Scripture is a unity by the unity of God’s saving plan.
2. Read Scripture within the Living Tradition of the whole Church. The Holy Spirit gives inspiration to the Church in how Scripture is to be interpreted .
3. Be attentive to the analogy of faith. There is a coherence of truth within the whole plan of Revelation.

What are the senses in reading Scripture?

1. Literal-what is the context of the writing, what is the literary genre, who is the author, what were the cultural circumstances within which he wrote the book, who is the intended audience. Other senses of reading Scripture presuppose the literal sense.
2. Spiritual–the realities beyond the events recorded
   a.  allegorical–types that foreshadow fulfillment and significance in Christ
   b.  moral–leading us to act justly
   c.  anagogical–leading us to view realities in terms of eternal significance

CCC 112-118

God and Creation

Belief in the attributes of God are foundational to our Catholic Faith. They are dogmatically defined, meaning we are bound to them as Christians.

1. God alone IS. He names himself: I Am Who I Am.
2. God is actually infinite in every perfection.
3. God is absolutely simple. He is not a union of infinite parts.
4. God is One. In the Divine Godhead is the Community of Three Persons–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
5. God is immutable. He cannot change nor be changed.
6. God is perfectly happy in himself. He does not depend on anyone for his existence.
7. God is omniscient. He knows everything. He knows himself and comprehends himself fully.

These are just some of the dogmas about God’s attributes. These lead us to what we know about creation.

1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Creation had a beginning in time.
2. All things were made by him and not of themselves. We are not the product of casual and meaningless evolution, as Pope Benedict XVI famously said. We are the result of the thought of God, willed by him.
3. Only God creates out of nothing.
4. All that exists depend on God for existence. We call this God’s Providence. If God were to withdraw his power from the universe, we would turn to dust.
5. Divine Providence directs the end and purpose of the universe.

The Existence of God

How can we come to know God? How can finite beings learn of God?

The Catechism writes that there are ways of approaching God. The first is through the world:

starting from movement, becoming, and contingency, and the world’s order and beauty, one can come to a knowledge of God as the origin and end of the universe. (CCC 32)

The classical five proofs for the existence of God are thus:

1. Motion in the universe implies a prime unmoved Mover.
2. Efficient causes implies a First Cause that is uncaused.
3. Contingent beings that exist implies the existence of a Necessary Being.
4. Graduated perfections in the universe implies an infinitely Perfect Being.
5. Harmonious order or evidence of intelligent design implies the existence of a supramundane Designer.

The second way of coming to know God that the Catechism writes about is through the human person.

“With his openness to truth and beauty, his sense of moral goodness, his freedom and the voice of his conscience, with his longings for the infinite and for happiness, man questions himself about God’s existence.” (CCC 33)

Man’s faculties make him capable of coming to know of God’s existence. But for man to come to an intimate relationship with God, God revealed himself to man through stages of history.

What is Faith?

The Catechism says: Faith is man’s response to God, who reveals himself and gives himself to man, at the same time bringing man a superabundant light as he searches for the ultimate meaning of life. (CCC 26)

The Catechism goes on to say that man’s desire for God “is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find truth and happiness he never stops searching for.” (CCC 27)

So we begin studying the Catholic Faith by understanding what faith is all about. What is the object of faith, and what does faith compel me to do.

Required Texts for RCIA Class

Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Bible Catholic Edition. Preferred translations are RSV-CE or Douay Rheims.

They can be found in the gift shop downstairs at the church.

RCIA Class

RCIA Classes begin on Thursday, August 20, 2009 beginning at 6:30 PM in the Parish Hall. All those interested in becoming Catholic are encouraged to enroll. Anyone who wants to learn more about the Catholic Faith are also invited to attend. For more information, please contact rcia@olphrm.com.

How can I be happy in this life?

For tomorrow’s session, we will discuss what does it mean to live a moral life. Does being a Catholic mean that I”m bound by a system of dos and don’ts? If I’m constantly checking off a list of things that I must do as a Catholic or don’t do as a Catholic, how can I possibly be happy?

What is a lapsed Catholic? Why do I meet so many of them. Were they not happy being Catholics? Is the Catholic system of morality so burdensome?

It would seem that the Catholic system of morality has so many components to it, how does one keep it straight? And isn’t this all just works anyway, if I have to keep track of my demerits and merits.

See you tomorrow in what looks to be another interesting session.

What is Purgatory?

This week’s session in Inquiry will explore the doctrine of Purgatory. Was Purgatory invented by the Catholic Church? Is Purgatory the place where souls end up after their earthly life where they get sorted out to the final destination of either Heaven or Hell? And exactly where in Scripture is this doctrine founded? Why don’t souls who are saved go directly to Heaven?

Related to the question about Purgatory are the questions about Confession and mortal and venial sins. Why should a person have to confess to a mere mortal? Why do Catholics need a mediator besides Christ in asking for forgiveness? Can’t a person go to God directly to ask for His forgiveness?

Some questions lateral to our discussion last week came up. The first is about the Orthodox Church. What are the differences between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church? Is the Patriarch the same level as the Pope?

Our discussion on the Assumption of the Virgin Mary prompted a question about cremation. Does the Catholic Church allow cremation?

See you tomorrow!

Tonight’s Session

Tonight, we will discuss the first three questions on the list. Let me say that they are biggies!

In discussing Communion, we will talk about what Communion means. Is it a personal thing? Or is there more? Is it a receptive act or is it also a declaration?

We will also make a distinction between True Presence and Real Presence. This is an important and crucial point in understanding what The Mass means in Catholic theology. It is a serious point of departure from other denominational understanding of Holy Eucharist.

Another topic of discussion will be the perception that Catholics worship Mary. What does worship mean? What does it look like? What is idolatry?

And the last topic for tonight will be the authority of priests to absolve sins. This will necessitate us discussing why we need Confession. A Protestant objection is that God alone can forgive sins and one doesn’t need to go to a human mediator for Confession. Related to this, though not obvious on the surface, is the nature of the priesthood. Why do Catholics need priests?

See you tonight!