Faith Answers with Fr. Jerry

Faith Answers with Fr. Jerry

March 9

Salvation from the Teaching of the Church.

Adam sinned and thus driven out of the Garden. The gates of Heaven (Eden) were locked and an angel placed to keep us from returning. The penalty of the Original sin was death. God sends an immediate series of rescue missions: prophets and covenants to realign us to Himself. Finally, as in the parable of the Vineyard, God says, “I’ll send my Son; surely they will listen to my Son.” 

The penalty due to the Original sin should have been paid by all of us, individually, but Christ assumes our debt. Only a human could pay the price of the sin of a human, so in His humanity, Christ pays the price by His crucifixion. Only a God could plead for us to God, so in His divinity, Christ ascends and begs his Father to reconcile Man to Himself. On the cross: Jesus says, “Father forgive them….”. In Heaven, Jesus, “Father, forgive them….”

Because of the work Jesus had done, the gates of Heaven are unlocked and everyone has to ability to return to the Garden. We receive Salvation by the work of Christ, as the Sacrament of Baptism removes the stain of Original Sin. That Salvation is ours to keep forever, so in a sense, once saved; always saved. Salvation is a free gift. However, we can turn our back on God and loose our Salvation by sinning. 

But to regain our Salvation, we only turn around, repent and ask for forgiveness (Confession) and your Salvation is regained. Heaven is once again a possibility.

In John 3:5 it says that, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.”  However, the Church teaches us that there are three ways to be baptized. Water, fire and desire.

Water is the normative way.

But let’s say you’re on your way to be baptized and are killed in a car wreck. You had the desire to be baptized, so you’re baptized. Or, we had a gentleman with Covid who went through RCIA and was not baptized. We couldn’t go to him nor he to us. If he were to die, he would have the Baptism of desire. If, however, he was to get better, he would receive Baptism by water.

Now, should you believe in Jesus and for some reason had no water and were killed for your belief such as a martyr, then that would be Baptism by fire.


March 2

Purgatory (AGAIN?!)

I have heard some contestation of the Church’s teaching on Purgatory as of late. Here is the teaching of the Church on Purgatory. Some say they personally do not agree with this teaching. If you think you know more than the 2000 years of gathered teachings of the Church which was given the authority to teach and interpret scripture by Jesus, you may want to think again.

Every sin contains a penalty. For instance, if I hit your car, I could be forgiven but the penalty is to fix or replace your car. Even if I should die in the collision, my insurance, estate or family would be responsible to replace the car.

When we sin, we immediately receive a penalty due that particular sin. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin. Look at the crucifix to see how bad sin really is!

It helps to think of Purgatory as a process. From our first sin, we are purging ourselves of the penalty due the sin.

Should we die before the penalties are all paid, our sins are gone but we still owe those penalties to be reconciled so that we may enter Heaven, “perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect.’ 

In His great mercy, God allows the state of Purgatory for this process. Think of it as taking a shower to get ready to meet God.

On earth, we can pray for those in Purgatory and the souls in Purgatory can pray for us. However, the souls in Purgatory cannot pray for themselves: they cannot gain any grace since they are dead (in our earthly sense).

To better understand this, if someone has committed a crime and placed in prison (although Purgatory is NOT a prison) when in prison, no one can get themselves out on their own. They need to be released by someone else: they finished their sentence, they have been release by a state or federal act of clemency or by a legal process.

Purgatory is a timeless place. Time is a human construct. No one knows how long their stay in Purgatory will be except God. Our works of mercy or indulgences can be applied for their release to assist in their entrance into Heaven.

So, scripturally, where is Purgatory in the Bible? We find this in the Book of Maccabees: “And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them. It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins. … [2 Maccabees 12;45). There is a battle and Judas Maccabeus finds dead soldiers, who are good Jews but under their armor are found amulets pertaining to other gods (similar to holding a “rabbits foot” for good luck.) Judas knows that they are good Jews and states that it is good to pray for the dead.

Our Protestant brothers and sisters, whom we respect do not have the Book of Maccabees in their Bible. It was removed as part of the Protestant Reformation as well as other books which speak of praying for the dead. A removal of these books removes the underlying pinions of Purgatory.

For more information, look into the Catechism of the Catholic Church #1030-1032

 

February 23

Reasons People Leave the Church (In Three Parts)

Part 3: Theological Objections:

  1. “There is simply no evidence for God.” Response: There is plenty of evidence for God. Including, strongest of all, the universe itself.
  2. Faith and science are at odds, and I choose science.” Response: Faith and science are mutually supportive and do not conflict. Some of the most famous scientific pioneers were Catholic.
  3. “I never found a personal relationship with Jesus in the Catholic Church.” Response: The Church exists to help people encounter Jesus Christ.
  4. “I just wasn’t being fed in my parish. I’ve found another church that is more vibrant and fulfilling. “Response: Nothing can replace the Eucharist, which offers a direct encounter with God that no song, sermon, or experience can match.
  5. “How could God possibly have let that evil thing happen to me?” Response: Although pain and suffering are often difficult to understand, God doesn’t abandon us; he suffers with us. He may not move the “mountain”, but will help us over and around the obstacle. Most pain in the world is caused by human sin.


February 16

Reasons People Leave the Church in (In Three Parts)

Part 2: Moral Objections:

  1. The Church is so judgmental. Didn’t Pope Francis say, ‘Who am I to judge?’” Response: We should never judge persons, but it’s okay and sometimes necessary to judge actions. A reminder: forming an opinion of someone is beyond your control. The human mind immediately forms an opinion on its own. Judging is in your control.
  2. The Church hates LGBTQ persons. Response The Church welcomes everyone and demands that Catholics treat all people with respect, compassion and sensitivity.
  3. I’m gay. How could I ever be Catholic? Response: Same-sex attraction is not incompatible with Catholicism, but those who struggle with it need love, support, and guidance.
  4. Why is the Church against me living with my boyfriend/girlfriend? We love each other so what’s the problem? Response: True love leads to a lifelong commitment in marriage, not a temporary partnership through sex/cohabitation. Cohabitation before marriage has a 90% divorce rate. However, being married in the Church, attending Mass, utilizing NFP, and praying for and with each other drops to rate as low as 7%.
  5. “I’ll come back to church, when they stop oppressing women.” Response: Even though women can’t be priests, they overwhelmingly lead the work of the Church. The Church praises women’s “feminine genius”.
  6. The Church is behind the times on contraception and abortion.” Response: Contraception and abortion are harmful to women and children. Thankfully, the Church offers better alternatives. NFP offers an holistic approach to spacing births. NFP is no longer a hard thing “to keep up with”. Now, a watch can be worn that tracks the periods of an individual woman spacing births with scientific accuracy.
  7. “I’m divorced. The Church doesn’t want me.” Response: Divorced people are most certainly welcome in the Church. Divorce does not keep you from the sacraments. Everyone is a vital parts of the Body of Christ.


February 9

Reasons People Leave the Church in Three Parts

PART 1: Personal Objections: 

  1. I don’t have time; I’m too busy. Response: Mass becomes the highest priority only when you realize it offers a direct encounter with God.
  2. Mass is boring. Response: Mass is exhilarating once you learn to see what’s really going on. Go to youtube.com and type in “what really happens at Mass”.
  3. The Church is too focused on rules and making people feel guilty. Response: The Church doesn’t add guilt; it takes away guilt. Its mission involves forgiveness and healing. Everything we humans do involves rules in order for the activity to flow and develop. Reduce all the rules to Love God and Love Your Neighbor. There are some other rules, but there are a lot less than you think.
  4. How could anyone remain Catholic after the sexual abuse crisis? Response: The Church has always been full of sinners, but faith is grounded in Christ, not the actions of wayward people. Sexual abuse is found in many aspects of humanity, not just the Church. The number of abusers in context to the number of religious is minimal when set side by side. Abuse is never right but most religious do not abuse. The Church has undertaken many steps in religious preparation. Also, every adult that works with a child MUST have safe environment training EVERY year, including all priests.
  5. I’m married to a non-Catholic. Returning to the Church would upset my spouse. Response: Your marriage is important. You should still move forward into the Church, but gradually rather than suddenly. You have the right to live your faith as does your spouse. Even though “the two become one”, you don’t have to always do the same things. Love will allow the other to find their spiritual place in the world.
  6. I had a bad experience with the Church; I’m not going back. Response: The Church I bigger than one mean priest, one ugly receptionist, one unfortunate event. Don’t focus on the priest, the person or the event. We go to Mass not for those things but for Jesus.
  7. God can never forgive me for what I’ve done. Response: God’s mercy is unconstrained. There is nothing that He will not forgive. Even the so called “unforgivable sin’ of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is when you make yourself a god and don’t need God’s forgiveness. So, the only sin that will not be forgiven is the sin that forgiven is not asked for.

 

February 2

Why is the Protestant Bible Different from the Catholic Bible?

The Catholic Church took the main collection of Jewish scripture at the beginning of the Christian Era. It was a collection of writings beginning with the Torah (the Law) consisting of the first five books of the Bible then, books of wisdom, history, prophets, etc… collected by Jewish Scholars. The language of the learned people at that time was Greek. This collection was called the Septuagint (Lt. for70) since it took 70 scholars to collect the books). This is the Old Testament of the Catholic Bible

By the authority given to the Church by Jesus given to Peter (“Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” [Mt. 18;18] The Church brought together the books of the New Testament.

In the 1500’s, when Luther broke from the Church, he took out books which did not coincide with his theology. In fact, Luther’s first German translation was missing 25 books (i.e., Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Esther, Job, Ecclesiastes, Jonah, Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach (i.e., Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Matthew, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, Hebrews, James, Jude and Revelation. He referred to the Epistle of James as “straw not worthy to be burned in my oven as tinder.” The rest he called “Judaizing nonsense.” Subsequent Protestants, deciding that Luther wasn’t really inspired by the Holy Spirit, replaced most of the books he had removed.* Latter, scholars added back most of these books to the Protestant Bible except Tobit, Judith, Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Baruch, and Sirach. They are called the Apocrypha or deuterocanonical books.

Due to misunderstandings it has been insinuated that the Church added extra books when in reality the books were removed by Protestants.

The New Testament is the same for both Catholic and Protestant Bibles. 

*National Catholic Register


January 26

Particular Judgment and the Final Judgment

The Church teaches us that when we die, our souls (which are immortal) receive a particular judgment of Heaven, Hell or Purgatory. The Final judgment will be the return of Christ who will judge the world and renew it to a new heaven and a new earth. All of the brokenness of the world will be repaired.

Some believe that a loving God would not place anyone in Hell. And they are correct because God puts no one into Heaven, Hell or Purgatory. We put ourselves into these places by either accepting or rejecting the truth given to us from God, His Church and the scriptures.

Everyone is held to the ability that they can intellectually attain. (Think of a mentally handicapped person or a person who never had the opportunity to know the full truth such as a Jew who has been taught that Jesus is not God). But the truth we do gain holds us responsible for our everlasting placement. Rejection of what we know about God to be true will keep us from our goal.

At the final judgment, our bodies will be united with our souls in the place our particular judgment has placed us.


January 19

HOW IS THE SON OF GOD MAN?

470 Because "human nature was assumed, not absorbed",97 in the mysterious union of the Incarnation, the Church was led over the course of centuries to confess the full reality of Christ's human soul, with its operations of intellect and will, and of his human body. In parallel fashion, she had to recall on each occasion that Christ's human nature belongs, as his own, to the divine person of the Son of God, who assumed it. Everything that Christ is and does in this nature derives from "one of the Trinity". The Son of God therefore communicates to his humanity his own personal mode of existence in the Trinity. In his soul as in his body, Christ thus expresses humanly the divine ways of the Trinity:98

The Son of God. worked with human hands; he thought with a human mind. He acted with a human will, and with a human heart he loved. Born of the Virgin Mary, he has truly been made one of us, like to us in all things except sin.99

“Hypostatic union” sounds fancy in English, but it’s actually a simple term. Hypostatic means personal. The hypostatic union is the personal union of Jesus’s two natures. Jesus has two complete natures: one fully human and one fully divine. What the doctrine of the hypostatic union teaches is that these two natures are united in one person in the God-man. Jesus is not two persons. He is one person. The hypostatic union is the joining (mysterious though it be) of the divine and the human in the one person of Jesus.

Jesus had two distinct natures, and two wills (human and divine)

As God, He knew all things from the beginning. As a human, he had to mature and grow. Being “connected” to God in such a perfect and unique way would make the human Jesus, a perfect learner, assuming knowledge quickly and efficiently and the human will would act in concert with the Divine will.

Born of a person without sin

The word perichoresis comes from two Greek words, peri, which means “around,” and chorein, which means “to give way” or “to make room.” It could be translated “rotation” or “a going around.” Perichoresis is not found in the Greek New Testament but is a theological term used in three different contexts. In the first, perichoresis refers to the two natures of Christ in perfect union within the same Person.

Perichoresis is seen in Jesus’ prayer in John 17:1, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” We compare this with John 16:14, in which Jesus says that the Holy Spirit “will glorify me.” So, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Son, the Son glorifies the Father, and the Father glorifies the Son. The loving relationships within the Trinity result in the Persons of the Godhead giving glory to one another.

January 12

Jesus Christ, True God, True Man Pt. II

As we see in John, chapter 1, Jesus Christ has always been God and at the same time He has always been with God. John 8:58 and 10:30 re-affirm this truth. However, when Jesus Christ came to earth, He became a human being (John 1:14). Jesus added human flesh, but He did not cease to be God. Jesus is one Person, fully God and fully man. This is what is called the hypostatic union.

The Bible tells us that Jesus became human so that He would identify with human struggles and pains (Hebrews 2:17) and so that He would become a spiritual high priest for us (Hebrews 4:14-15, 9:11-12) a mediator between God and man, securing our redemption.

464 CCC The unique and altogether singular event of the Incarnation of the Son of God does not mean that Jesus Christ is part God and part man, nor does it imply that he is the result of a confused mixture of the divine and the human. He became truly man while remaining truly God. Jesus Christ is true God and true man.

During the first centuries, the Church had to defend and clarify this truth of faith against the heresies that falsified it.

465 CCC The first heresies denied not so much Christ's divinity as his true humanity (Gnostic Docetism). From apostolic times the Christian faith has insisted on the true incarnation of God's Son "come in the flesh".87 But already in the third century, the Church in a council at Antioch had to affirm against Paul of Samosata that Jesus Christ is Son of God by nature and not by adoption. The first ecumenical council of Nicaea in 325 confessed in its Creed that the Son of God is "begotten, not made, of the same substance (homoousios) as the Father", and condemned Arius, who had affirmed that the Son of God "came to be from things that were not" and that he was "from another substance" than that of the Father.88

466 CCC The Nestorian heresy regarded Christ as a human person joined to the divine person of God's Son. Opposing this heresy, St. Cyril of Alexandria and the third ecumenical council, at Ephesus in 431, confessed "that the Word, uniting to himself in his person the flesh animated by a rational soul, became man."89 Christ's humanity has no other subject than the divine person of the Son of God, who assumed it and made it his own, from his conception. For this reason, the Council of Ephesus proclaimed in 431 that Mary truly became the Mother of God by the human conception of the Son of God in her womb: "Mother of God, not that the nature of the Word or his divinity received the beginning of its existence from the holy Virgin, but that, since the holy body, animated by a rational soul, which the Word of God united to himself according to the hypostasis, was born from her, the Word is said to be born according to the flesh."90

467 The Monophysites affirmed that the human nature had ceased to exist as such in Christ when the divine person of God's Son assumed it. Faced with this heresy, the fourth ecumenical council, at Chalcedon in 451, confessed:

Following the holy Fathers, we unanimously teach and confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: the same perfect in divinity and perfect in humanity, the same truly God and truly man, composed of rational soul and body; consubstantial with the Father as to his divinity and consubstantial with us as to his humanity; "like us in all things but sin". He was begotten from the Father before all ages as to his divinity and in these last days, for us and for our salvation, was born as to his humanity of the virgin Mary, the Mother of God.91

We confess that one and the same Christ, Lord, and only-begotten Son, is to be acknowledged in two natures without confusion, change, division or separation. The distinction between the natures was never abolished by their union, but rather the character proper to each of the two natures was preserved as they came together in one person (prosopon) and one hypostasis.92

468 After the Council of Chalcedon, some made of Christ's human nature a kind of personal subject. Against them, the fifth ecumenical council, at Constantinople in 553, confessed that "there is but one hypostasis [or person], which is our Lord Jesus Christ, one of the Trinity."93 Thus everything in Christ's human nature is to be attributed to his divine person as its proper subject, not only his miracles but also his sufferings and even his death: "He who was crucified in the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ, is true God, Lord of glory, and one of the Holy Trinity."94

469 The Church thus confesses that Jesus is inseparably true God and true man. He is truly the Son of God who, without ceasing to be God and Lord, became a man and our brother:

"What he was, he remained and what he was not, he assumed", sings the Roman Liturgy.95 And the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom proclaims and sings: "O only-begotten Son and Word of God, immortal being, you who deigned for our salvation to become incarnate of the holy Mother of God and ever-virgin Mary, you who without change became man and were crucified, O Christ our God, you who by your death have crushed death, you who are one of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit, save us!"96


January 5

JESUS CHRIST: TRUE GOD, TRUE MAN Pt. I

Genesis 1:1-5a

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth and the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters. Then God said; Let there be light, and there was light. God saw that the light was good God then separated the light from the darkness God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”

  1. Gen 1:26a, 27Then God said; let us make human beings in our image, after likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth. God created mankind in his image; In the image of God he created them;Male and female he created them.”

John 1:1-5
“In the beginning was the Word,
And the Word was with God
And the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came to be through him,
And without him nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life,
And this life was the light of the human race;
The light shines in the darkness,
And the darkness has not overcome it.”

Augustine wrote: “The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed, the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed.”

Who do people say that the Son of Man is? MT 16:13-17 (MK 8:27-30)

The Incarnation Taking up St. John's expression, "The Word became flesh",82 the Church calls "Incarnation" the fact that the Son of God assumed a human nature in order to accomplish our salvation in it. In a hymn cited by St. Paul, the Church sings the mystery of the Incarnation:

 The Letter to the Hebrews refers to the same mystery:

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, Lo, I have come to do your will, O God."84

463 CCC Belief in the true Incarnation of the Son of God is the distinctive sign of Christian faith: "By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God."85 Such is the joyous conviction of the Church from her beginning whenever she sings "the mystery of our religion": "He was manifested in the flesh."86

He has demonstrated his love for us in that while we were still sinners, he took our nature to his one person and died for us (Romans 5:8). 470 Because "human nature was assumed, not absorbed",97 in the mysterious union of the Incarnation, the Church was led over the course of centuries to confess the full reality of Christ's human soul, with its operations of intellect and will, and of his human body. In parallel fashion, she had to recall on each occasion that Christ's human nature belongs, as his own, to the divine person of the Son of God, who assumed it. Everything that Christ is and does in this nature derives from "one of the Trinity".

The Son of God therefore communicates to his humanity his own personal mode of existence in the Trinity. In his soul as in his body, Christ thus expresses humanly the divine ways of the Trinity:98


December 29

Mass in Scripture and Tradition Pt. 3

Our Father. Mt. 6, Lk.11, 

At the end of the prayer, we and an embolism. “Deliver us Lord, we pray, from every evil, an xpansive statement on forgiveness 

Doxology: For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and forever.  Catholics do not add this prayer WITH the Our Father because it was not originally in scripture.

Lord Jesus Christ, who said to your Apostles: Peace I leave you, my peace I give you, look not on our sins, but on the faith of the Church, and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will. Jn. 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” 

Peace of the Lord be with you always AND WITH YOUR SPIRIT (AGAIN, 2 Tim: 4:22 “The Lord be with your spirit….”)

Let us offer one each other the sign of peace. Mt. 5:23-24 “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

The Bread is broken. Jesus takes, blesses, breaks and gives. Mt. 14:19 “Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them…” 

Lamb of God…you take away the sins of the world have mercy on us. Jn. “1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God,* who takes away the sin of the world” When we asks saints to help us, we always ask them to pray for us. We don’t ask Jesus to pray for us, but to have mercy on us. 

Private prayer of priest, there are 2 to choose from. Says something along the lines of free me from my sins and evil and protect me. 

Behold the Lamb of God……Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. Mt. 8: 5-8  “When he entered Capernaum,* a centurion approached him and appealed to him,6saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.” He said to him, “I will come and cure him.” The centurion said in reply,* “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.” (A Centurion is a military leader of a group of 100 soldiers)

Priest receives> May the Body of Christ keep me safe for eternal life. May the Blood of Christ keep me safe for eternal life. 

Private prayer when cleaning the vessels. What has passed our lips as food, O Lord, may we possess in purity of heart, that what has been given to us in time may be our healing for eternity. 

Prayer after communion: Proper

The Lord be with you. And with your spirit. (2 Tim: 4:22)

Blessing. Sign of the Cross again. Begin and end (book marks, book ends)

Dismissal. Lt. (Missio), mission;, go!




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