A Human yet Divine Church

Many people take the Church for granted. They believe that it’s the place people go on Sundays to fulfill what their parents told them was their “Sunday Obligation.” The Catholic Church is so much more than a place, or even people or a religion. It is the very communion of God with His people. In order to bring this majestic purpose of the Church into a clearer light, Vatican II issued the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, (Light of the World) on November 21, 1964. It is a document that focuses on the mystery of the origins and nature of the Church with its first chapter centering itself on explaining the way in which the Church has both divine and human components. This is achieved by going through each of the members of the Trinity and their roles in the Church. This explanation is followed by a description of the human quality of the Church, then her symbols in scripture, and finally her role in the universe. Lumen Gentium describes the Church as “a sacrament or as a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race…”[1] Just as a sacrament is a visible sign of an invisible reality, so too does the Church have visible (human) and invisible (divine) realities.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that God “created the world for the sake of communion with his divine life, a communion brought about by the “convocation” of men in Christ, and this “convocation” is the Church.” [2] So, the Church was conceived simultaneously with the creation of the universe by the Father [God] because it is the communion that He desires with His creation. There cannot be a Church without people involved to love and receive a share in God’s life. The Father created the universe and “chose to raise up men and women to share in his own divine life.”[3] Man was given the ability to know, converse, and live with God from the beginning. This ability is facilitated by His Church. Man’s relationship with God is to be members of the Church.

However, through Adam’s fall, man decides that he no longer needs God to guide and direct his life and so separates himself in sin from the love of God. The Father, on the other hand, never abandons the creation that He loves, but rather becomes “determined to call together in the holy church those who believe in Christ.”[4] The Church always existed in the fact that there were people in communion with God even while in anticipation of Christ. After the fall, the mode of man's union with God, i.e. the Church, evolved throughout time. “This ‘family of God’ is gradually formed and takes the shape during the stages of human history, keeping with the Father’s plan.”[5]Lumen Gentium describes the way in which the Father prepared the world through the Jewish people for the coming of His Son, Jesus Christ stating that, “Already prefigured at the beginning of the world, this church was prepared in marvelous fashion as in the history of the people of Israel…”[6] It is Christ who continued the already present church in the old covenant by founding the new covenant and mode of communion with God in the context of the Catholic Church founded upon Peter and carried on through his successors.[7]

The role played by the second person of the Holy Trinity, Christ, in the Church is pivotal. Christ was sent by the Father to redeem mankind from their slavery to sin and to gather together in Himself all peoples into the universal church. The Catechism describes this relationship between Christ and the church in paragraph 722: “It is in the Church that Christ fulfills and reveals his own mystery as the purpose of God’s plan: ‘to unite all things in him.’”

It is Christ that reopens the way to Heaven for fallen man to come into the fullness of communion with the eternal Father. In order to do this, Jesus had to incarnate His divine soul with human flesh to make known and proclaim the kingdom of God and God’s love for the people on earth by healing the sick and giving solace to the oppressed. The role of Christ is vital both in His actions here on earth as well as the symbology that He exemplifies within Himself in regards to His Incarnation and its analogy to the mystery of the Church’s own “hypostatic union.” Christ was fully man and fully God with both natures inseparable from the other. The Church is composed of both divine and human elements just as Christ Himself was composed of both.

Lumen Gentium points out that the miracles performed by Jesus show that the kingdom had already come to earth because, “principally the kingdom is revealed in the person of Christ himself, Son of God and Son of Man, who came ‘to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many’”[8]. The kingdom revealed in Christ remained on earth after His death and resurrection by the establishment of the Catholic Church and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost. The third person of the Holy Trinity continually sanctifies the Church, “so that believers might have access to the Father through Christ in the one Spirit.”[9] The Holy Spirit’s responsibilities within the Church include guiding her in truth, preserving her from error in regards to faith and morals, uniting her in fellowship, and giving various gifts and talents to her members.[10]

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit work together in creating and sustaining the church in order to continue to remain in communion with man. The divine element of the Church is grounded in Trinitarian participation and intervention within her. One cannot distinguish the divine component except through her visible members distributing His grace. “Hence the universal church is seen to be ‘a people made one by the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit’.”[11]

Those who hear his teaching are then called to join his church in baptism and turn others to Christ. “For the Lord Jesus inaugurated His Church by preaching the good news of the coming of the kingdom of God…”[12] These first followers became the twelve disciples of whom Peter became the leader of the group. Christ recognized Peter as being the one on whom He wanted to build His Church, “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”[13] This is to say that although Satan will try to destroy His Church, Christ promised that she shall never be corrupted. He would protect Her from any false teaching that Satan might try to introduce.Regardless of the fallible people involved in the Church, she shall remain pure in regards to Her teachings so that only that which God wants to be taught will be taught.

One of Christ’s decisions in founding the Church was to establish a hierarchical structure of men to guide the world’s souls toward heaven. “The one mediator, Christ, established and ever sustains here on earth his holy Church, the community of faith, hope, and charity, as a visible organization through which he communicates truth and grace to all men.”[14] Peter became the first pope to lead the other bishops and therefore the entire world’s souls. The mission to bring the Gospel was not limited to that time frame in which they lived and “For that very reason the apostles were careful to appoint successors…”[15] The bishops then had to start ordaining priests in order to bring the Eucharist to everyone when the bishops themselves could not be somewhere. As the Christian message spread, it reached such a multitude of people that deacons were also needed to assist the rest of priests in their duties. This hierarchical structure was needed in order to keep teachings true from error and the Christian communities focused on Christ. For “the Church’s first purpose is to be the sacrament of the inner union of men with God.”[16]

The bishops, priests, deacons, and laity are the human constituents of the Catholic Church. There can be no Church through which God works and brings people to Himself if there are no people to bring to Himself or to send in order to bring more people to share in His love. All these members make up the body of Christ in the fact that they are His hands and feet on earth, “For by communicating his Spirit, Christ mystically constitutes as his body his brothers and sisters who are called together from every nation.”[17] The Body is to work together and continue the work that Christ began on earth of caring for the poor and the oppressed and leading all people to the Father. The Church must use its human members in order to reach out to other human members in the one Spirit and bring them closer to God. Those people that are in the Church are one in the Spirit and the Body of Christ.

Sacrosacntum Concilium sums up the combination of the two elements,

The Church is essentially both human and divine, visible but endowed with invisible realities…so constituted that in her the human is directed toward and subordinated to the divine, the visible to the invisible, action to contemplation, and this present world to that city yet to come, the object of our quest.[18]

God created the world to be in communion with Himself. He wants to love and pour out his graces upon His creation. The mode in which He does this is through the Church. Some may misrepresent the Church as being the building people go to on Sundays. It is also mistaken to refer to the church as solely the human members that constitute the hierarchy within the church. The Church has been present since the beginning of time because God wanted communion with His creation from that time onward. Now, through Christ, the human members may participate in His divine life by becoming a member of the Body of Christ in the Catholic Church which the Lord founded. The Catholic Church is indeed made up of human members, but it was created, founded, and guided by God in His divine providence in order to bring the Truth of God and His relationship with the world to His children.

[1] LG 1

[2] CCC 760

[3] LG 2

[4] Ibid

[5] CCC 759

[6] Ibid

[7]LG 8

[8]LG 5

[9] LG 4

[10] Ibid

[11] LG 4

[12] LG 5

[13] Matthew 16:18

[14] LG 8 §1

[15] LG 20

[16] CCC 775

[17] LG 7

[18] SC 2

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Reformation Sunday

I came across this sermon by a Methodist minister concerning the lamentable "Reformation" started by Martin Luther. I still don't understand why he doesn't become Catholic, but perhaps with prayer he'll one day be giving great advice and thoughts on the this side!

He writes:
Reformation names the disunity in which we currently stand. We who remain in the Protestant tradition want to say that Reformation was a success. But when we make Reformation a success, it only ends up killing us. After all, the very name ‘Protestantism’ is meant to denote a reform movement of protest within the Church Catholic. When Protestantism becomes an end in itself, which it certainly has through the mainstream denominations in America, it becomes anathema. If we no longer have broken hearts at the church’s division, then we cannot help but unfaithfully celebrate Reformation Sunday

Just a note, because he's not Catholic, he uses the term Church Catholic which is not the same as the Catholic Church. "Catholic" in his usage simply refers to a universal church in which he beleives that the Catholic Church may or may not be a part of. Considering this article, I'd say he incoprates Catholics into this body of Christian believers.

Click here to read the sermon!

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Vatican II

I know it's been a while, I have been busy with work and a couple of Catechetical classes that I'm teaching and helping to teach. At my home parish I'm helping lead a "Bible Study" through a book called, "Biblical Basis for the Catholic Faith" by John Salza. This is an excellent resource and I encourage you to read this simple explanation of the way the Catholic Church is the original Church of Christ of which the Bible speaks.

I also came across this letter from Bishop Nickless of Sioux City. In this Pastoral Letter, he speaks of a division within the Catholic Church that is rampant today. It revolves around Vatican II and the "spirit" that followed the council. He states that

We must stop speaking of the “Pre-Vatican II” and “Post-Vatican II” Church, and stop seeing various characteristics of the Church as “pre” and “post” Vatican II. Instead, we must evaluate them according to their intrinsic value and pastoral effectiveness in this day and age.

Therefore, we must heed the Holy Father’s point that one interpretation, the “hermeneutic of reform,” is valid, and has borne and is bearing fruit. This hermeneutic of reform, as described above, takes seriously and keeps together the two poles of identity (the ancient deposit of faith and life) and engagement with the world (teaching it more efficaciously).

And my favorite line:

The so-called “spirit” of the Council has no authoritative interpretation. It is a ghost or demon that must be exorcised if we are to proceed with the Lord’s work.

The Bishop's letter is based off of Pope Benedict's Christmas address to the Roman Curia in 2005. An incredible discussion on the way in which Vatican II should really be "interpreted."

The Church's teaching is the same. In fact, it will never change because the "gates of Hell" will not prevail against it. No matter what Satan does to try and disrupt the Church's continuity of teaching, it will not work. Yes, the PEOPLE of the Church are human and make mistakes, but that's because our minds cannot contain the immensity of information and guidance that He gives to us through the Church! Just as the first disciples bolted and left Our Lord to die and Peter denying that He even knew Jesus, so too the history following the life of Christ has been marred by selfish and confused people. HOWEVER, the Church has NEVER taken back any of Her teachings and has NEVER contradicted herself in her teachings! The methodology, pedagogy, and even public relations of the Church may have gone through some changes and evolutions, but not her teachings.

Vatican II was a council called by the Holy Spirit in order to not update the teachings of the Church, but rather, how those teachings had to be taught in order to reach the most souls as possible. One example is the introduction of celebrating the Mass in the language of the people. Don't get me wrong, I adore the Latin Tridentine Mass but the point was to let the people understand more what was actually happening on the altar. Translations differed and somehow got befuddled, but now the Church is attempting to fix that problem with the new Missal coming out soon.

The teachings of God are so profound that it takes time to fully understand what is going on. The Disciples themselves didn't understand that Jesus had to die, not to mention all the other teachings that have been handed down to us! The teachings are from God, not man, and thus need prayerful time to discern what it is that is actually being said to us and how to react to them.

This letter and the Pope's address point out that the Church is still under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We just have to take the time to actually listen to what He's saying. Patience and Prayer...

So don't get caught up in the "well, before Vatican II..." and the "after Vatican II.." mess. The Catholic Church is not supposed to be divided in that way. Instead, prayerfully consider how you can help to bridge the and heal the divisions. Read the documents of the council, they're available to you! In them you will see the brilliance of the Holy Spirit and realize that it's just taking us a while to get adjusted to the Light.

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Feast of the Nativity of Mary


Today we celebrate the birthday of Mary!
Check out this article by Devin regarding this feast at the Tommy More Faithful Disciple!

"September 8th is the celebration of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This feast, while not a Holy Day of Obligation, is one of the most important feasts of the liturgical calendar, so great in fact that it is one of only three births celebrated in the Church calendar (the others being the bith of Christ and the birth of John the Baptist).

Why is this feast so important?"



To read the rest, click here.

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"Comprehensive Sex Ed"

And you're telling me I'm forcing my beliefs onto you?

The Georgia State University Student paper just ran an editorial piece concerning abortion. It's not really a call to end abortion as it is a desire to see "comprehensive sex ed" in schools. You can read the article here.
And the following is my response to the article.

Interesting piece. I would just like to say that when you point out that it is wrong for pro-lifers to push their beliefs onto pro-choicers, you are demanding that the pro-lifers accept the view you are pushing onto them that contraception and "comprehensive" sex ed in public schools. The "right wing religious sect" includes, say, Catholics that believe contraception such as condoms and the pill (which is actually and abrotifiant) to be wrong. If the government puts programs into place, that would be forcing your beliefs onto others.
Secondly Pro-lifers' logic is not flawed. Many scientist agree that life starts at conception. http://www.princeton.edu/~prolife/articles/embryoquotes2.html
When you're 40 you're an adult, when you're 21:young adult, 13; teenager, 8;kid, 2;toddler, 1 month;newborn, 9 months (in the womb); almost born, 1 month; still a person.
How can you say that it is illogical for those people who see the "fetus" as a human person? I urge you to read Humane Vitae. Yes it's by a Catholic Pope, but that does not mean he's being a right wing religious nut. It's very insightful and full of logic. What religious doctrine do you see the right wing religious is trying to force onto everyone?
There are many many programs and agencies that offer support to women that do have unplanned pregnancies. These are downplayed by many because it goes against the defense of a "woman's right to choose" to be pregnant or not. If someone chooses adoption, then they are "forced" to go through the pregnancy against their will. Thus adoption, to many, is not an option that they want to go through with.
Adoptions Site
and this is the google search for adoption services in the Atlanta area.
There are natural consequences to everyones actions. If I jump off a building, I'm going to fall. I may hit things on my way down, but I'm going to hit bottom if everything's right.If someone has sex, they're going to cause a pregnancy, sure they might wear a condom (which could break) or forget to take the pill (which is actually a type of abortion in itself.)
So, I do not see how a "comprehensive" program that includes contraception (which could or could not work) and a pill which is an abortificant is better than an abstinence program when the abstinence is the only way to ensure that a pregnancy does not happen. Perhaps better information in these programs is needed, but handing out condoms only promotes having sex because it's saying, "don't worry about pregnancy,you can have sex whenever you want and we condone that."
And finally, abortion is not the problem, but rather that a pregnancy can be "unwanted". Sure it can be unplanned, but when you look at it, if a person (Can be either or both the parents)is so caught up in the "unwanted" part of the pregnancy that they will kill the child in order to be free of that responsibility even though they were engaging in an act that they knew could cause it to happen, then we need to change that mindset.
Truly compassionate people care for these women and men who feel forced to have abortions. The terrorizers and taunters are few and far between in comparison to the peaceful sidewalk counselors who want the mothers and fathers know exactly what they're getting into when they walk into an abortion clinic because the abortionists are not going to let them know about adoption services and such. In fact it JUST became law in South Dakota for the doctors to explain that it is a human person inside the womb and not a lump of lifeless tissue.
I urge you also to check out the following websites:
www.bloodmoneyfilm.com and www.maafa21.com to see what the Planned Parenthood (the organization that you are basically wanting to introduce into schools) is all about.

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Blood Money

I really would like to see this movie make it to a theater near me! Sign up and support the film so that they can show distributors that this is something that people will pay to see!

Visit www.bloodmoneyfilm.com to sign up!

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Reclaiming "Common Sense"


When discussing theological differences, sometimes you have to start at the very beginning at what we call "common sense." Believe it or not, but not everyone agrees that there is such a thing. Some people feel that everyone can build their own realities and disregard everything else, especially that which contradicts them.
Call me naive, slow, simple-minded, stupid, or whatever you want, but I will never understand how some people feel that they can make up their own reality. What is your mind telling you when you see the following?
You automatically think, GREEN and SQUARE... right?
If you thought in Spanish, you would think, VERDE y CUADRADO... si?
What if I told you that these words meant nothing... That it is NOT a green square but rather your brain reacting to an experience that you've had. You've always called this shape a square and this color green. Some people will claim that you calling it a green square is you and your personal experience claiming this as true and that you cannot force your truth onto other people. They claim that another person from another country, culture, and experience, could call that image a yellow circle if they so saw it that way. And you must respect this because it's their truth. They won't mess with YOUR truth as long as you don't mess with THEIR truth.
Believe it or not, I have actually had a conversation that went something like this and I won't lie, it frustrated the crap out of me. When I asked if there can be an overarching "Truth" the person started to answer by saying "Well, MY truth..." to which I rudely interrupted to point out that I didn't ask about THEIR PERSONAL truth, but rather if Truth could exist. My friend, trying to establish the notion of Truth,then broke in and asked them what color the tables were. They replied with the right color (maroon) but then put her hands around her eyes like horse blinders shutting out everything else while she said that this was because of her personal experience and someone from another country may come up and say that it was a totally different color such as "black".
Now, let's get this straight: This person wants me to believe that two people can look at that square at the top of this post and one person can describe it as "green" and another person can describe it as "yellow"?
This defies what people would call "common sense" in the most basic definition of the phrase. That is, all people sense the same things. Everyone, you'd think, would be sensing the square as green, that is the act of sensing the greenness is something that we all have in common. The words that we use to express the greeness may vary by languages, but that does NOT take away from the fact that the object is the color that it is. Everyone sees the effect of mixing the blue color with the yellow color.
Everyone sees the same color because that's the way the human eye and the other four senses work. The senses RECEIVE information from the outside world and then the brain processes it. After which, the brain takes this knowledge and adds our usage of words to make sense of it.
To lay it out step by step, it would look something like this: (Imagine what we'd call a green square on the wall next to you)
A) The object exists
B) The object, since it exists in three dimensions, has to have a color
C) Light shines upon the object
D) The light bounces off the object
E) You OPEN your eye (This won't work if your eyes are closed and/or there is no light)
F) The light enters your eye and hits the rods and cones in the back of your eye.
G) The rods and cones then send information to the brain
H) (boring I know...) The brain then processes the information
I) It decides that the term "green" best describes the object based upon your past experiences of things with the same tint.
J) So, when asked what color the object is, you'd say "green"
K) And the exciting thing is, so would everyone else!
L) Why? Because they went through the same boring steps I just took you through!
Ok, I'm done with lettering steps.
If someone, who speaks English, told you that the square was black, you'd wonder what's wrong with them. Seriously, that person has a problem. Either they were taught that that particular color was called black (although they are seeing the same color) or they actually see black. But before you get all excited and point to this and say, "SEE! You CAN have your own truth!" let me point out that the person seeing black is seeing this color due to a malfunctioning eye or brain. Color blind people may actually see the square as black. But it's only because their organs are not working properly. This is not being condescending on colorblind people and calling them less than human, it's just saying that their body isn't functioning at its best. (I'm sure they'll tell you the same thing...)
In summation... you can't paint a bowling ball orange and call it a basketball. No matter what the thing is, it is as it is. Humans merely receive information. They cannot change it. This means that when a thing is something, that is considered a truth. The Truth is, if I jump off a building and my truth says I can fly, I'll still fall straight to the ground thanks to gravity. There's no getting around it. You can devise something that works against gravity, but gravity will always be there.
Truth (with a capital "T") exists.
Even if you say there is no Truth, you're claiming that statement as an ultimate truth.
It just doesn't work...
(I'll try and follow this up with how all of this is related to discussing Theology in a later update.)

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