Monday, April 22, 2013

Jesus is God - Good Shepherd Sunday



Divinity of Christ (Jesus is God)
Fourth Sunday of Easter aka Good Shepherd Sunday

Opening Prayer

Leader: O God, come to our assistance.
All: Lord, make haste to help us.
Leader: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
All: as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

All: Come, Holy Spirit.  Fill the hearts of Your faithful.
Enkindle in us the fire of Your love
Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created.
All: And You shall renew the face of the Earth.
Let us pray
All: Oh God, who by the light of Your Holy Spirit, instructs the hearts of Your faithful.
Grant that, by that same Holy Spirit, we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in Your consolations through Christ Our Lord.  Amen

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Lectionary: 51

Paul and Barnabas continued on from Perga
and reached Antioch in Pisidia.
On the sabbath they entered the synagogue and took their seats.
Many Jews and worshipers who were converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to remain faithful to the grace of God.


On the following sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.
When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and with violent abuse contradicted what Paul said.


Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said,
“It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first, but since you reject it and condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life,
we now turn to the Gentiles.
For so the Lord has commanded us,
I have made you a light to the Gentiles,
that you may be an instrument of salvation
to the ends of the earth.”


The Gentiles were delighted when they heard this
and glorified the word of the Lord.
All who were destined for eternal life came to believe,
and the word of the Lord continued to spread
through the whole region.
The Jews, however, incited the women of prominence who were worshipers
and the leading men of the city,
stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas,
and expelled them from their territory.
So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them,
and went to Iconium.
The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.
Responsorial PsalmPS 100:1-2, 3, 5
R. (3c) We are his people, the sheep of his flock.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. We are his people, the sheep of his flock.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. We are his people, the sheep of his flock.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is good:
his kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. We are his people, the sheep of his flock.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading 2REV 7:9, 14B-17
I, John, had a vision of a great multitude,
which no one could count,
from every nation, race, people, and tongue.
They stood before the throne and before the Lamb,
wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
Then one of the elders said to me,
“These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress;
they have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
“For this reason they stand before God’s throne
and worship him day and night in his temple.
The one who sits on the throne will shelter them.
They will not hunger or thirst anymore,
nor will the sun or any heat strike them.
For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne
will shepherd them
and lead them to springs of life-giving water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Jesus said:
“My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
No one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.
The Father and I are one.”
Used with permission. Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997,


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Jesus is God

What is my initial reaction to that statement?
Write your answer here:






Thomas - “unless I see...” --> ”My Lord and My God!”
There seems to be a human reaction that no human can be God - we need faith assisted by grace and experiences that confirm this strange and unique truth about the man Jesus.

Jesus’s claims

“I and the Father are one” - oneness implies equality John 10:30
“Before Abraham was, I Am”,: “I AM” - Yahweh, the name for God in Judaism John 8:58
Repeated use of title “Son of Man” = Messiah = Son of God
“If you don’t believe in me believe in my works” John 10:38


Other’s Statements

Luke: Emmanuel = God with us
Paul: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. 1 Timothy 3:16
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Colossians 1:14-17
John: “the Word was God.” John 1:14
Peter: 2 Peter 1:1 - to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing in the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Early Church



We can clearly see from Peter, Paul, John, Luke and the other evangelists that the divinity of Christ was THE primary issue of Faith; especially for John in his Gospel


In addition other early Church Fathers including Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Augustine all keep the Divinity of Christ as a central claim in their writings


“Through Christ as human you make your way to Christ as God” -Augustine


Heresies

Arianism - The Arian concept of Christ is that the Son of God did not always exist, but was      created by—and is therefore distinct from—God the Father.
Manichaeism - denies divinity of Christ and Trinity; dualism of man; body is evil; soul is good; receive higher order of truth than Christ; Mohammed, Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy (prophets)



The Trinity



Clearly referenced by Christ in the Gospels (Holy Spirit) and Church Fathers but still a mystery and stumbling block


But a central teaching in Catholicism and other prominent Christian faiths


Denied by Islam, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses and others.




Cocktail Party Objections:



Jesus is a good moral teacher - incorrect; He claimed to be God so he is either who he says he is or a liar which would make him a bad man not a good man.



We all “divine” - Jesus is not in the milieu of the polytheists he was an observant Jew so this idea would have been blasphemy to the good Jew



Peter Kreeft - “A measure of your insanity is the size of the gap between what you think you are and what you really are.”





References












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Monday, March 18, 2013

Reconciliation - Fifth Sunday of Lent



  

Opening Prayer

Leader: O God, come to our assistance.
All: Lord, make haste to help us.
Leader: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
All: as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
 
All: Come, Holy Spirit.  Fill the hearts of Your faithful.
Enkindle in us the fire of Your love
Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created.
All: And You shall renew the face of the Earth.
Let us pray
All: Oh God, who by the light of Your Holy Spirit, instructs the hearts of Your faithful.
Grant that, by that same Holy Spirit, we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in Your consolations through Christ Our Lord.  Amen
Reading I
Is 43:16-21
Thus says the LORD,
who opens a way in the sea
and a path in the mighty waters,
who leads out chariots and horsemen,
a powerful army,
till they lie prostrate together, never to rise,
snuffed out and quenched like a wick.
Remember not the events of the past,
the things of long ago consider not;
see, I am doing something new!
Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
In the desert I make a way,
in the wasteland, rivers.
Wild beasts honor me,
jackals and ostriches,
for I put water in the desert
and rivers in the wasteland
for my chosen people to drink,
the people whom I formed for myself,
that they might announce my praise.		Responsorial Psalm
Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
  (3)  The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing.
The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed.
The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
shall reap rejoicing.
The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Reading II
Phil 3:8-14
Brothers and sisters:
I consider everything as a loss 
because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things 
and I consider them so much rubbish, 
that I may gain Christ and be found in him, 
not having any righteousness of my own based on the law 
but that which comes through faith in Christ, 
the righteousness from God, 
depending on faith to know him and the power of his resurrection 
and the sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death, 
if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
It is not that I have already taken hold of it 
or have already attained perfect maturity, 
but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it, 
since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, I for my part 
do not consider myself to have taken possession.
Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind 
but straining forward to what lies ahead, 
I continue my pursuit toward the goal,
the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.		Gospel
Jn 8:1-11
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, 
and all the people started coming to him, 
and he sat down and taught them.
Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman 
who had been caught in adultery 
and made her stand in the middle.
They said to him,
“Teacher, this woman was caught 
in the very act of committing adultery.
Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.
So what do you say?”
They said this to test him,
so that they could have some charge to bring against him.
Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.
But when they continued asking him,
he straightened up and said to them,
“Let the one among you who is without sin 
be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.
And in response, they went away one by one,
beginning with the elders.
So he was left alone with the woman before him.
Then Jesus straightened up and said to her,
“Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?”
She replied, “No one, sir.”
Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.
Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”

Used with permission. Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997,

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Reconciliation - etymology

1. to cause (a person) to accept or be resigned to something not desired: He was reconciled to his fate.
2. to win over to friendliness; cause to become amicable: to reconcile hostile persons.
3. to compose or settle (a quarrel, dispute, etc.).
4. to bring into agreement or harmony; make compatible or consistent: to reconcile differing statements; to reconcile accounts.
5. to reconsecrate (a desecrated church, cemetery, etc.).
6. to restore (an excommunicate or penitent) to communion in a church.

Other meanings: settle; come to rest, establish a permanent residence, mixture, renew, restore, become young again (eddy)

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=reconciliation&searchmode=none


Origin: 
1300–50;  reconcilen < L reconciliāre to make good again, repair. See re-, conciliate



APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION

RECONCILIATION AND PENANCE- Pope John Paul II


Older brother in prodigal son also in need of conversion and reconciliation - smug, bitter, angry, jealous; 
human family divided by selfishness yet longing for unity

in Christ all creation is reconciled to God

Relationship to Mercy and Conversion


We recognize the mercy of God and then Convert (or reconvert)

But we still in need of continual re-conversion (reconciliation) St. Paul to Corinthians 2 Cor 5:18 "be reconciled to God"

internal link unites conversion and reconciliation - jpii
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_02121984_reconciliatio-et-paenitentia_en.html

What is in need of reconciliation?

Mystery of Sin

(see the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis and Toward God (ch 2), by Michael Casey)
“Clearly sin is a product of man's freedom. But deep within its human reality there are factors at work which place it beyond the merely human, in the border area where man's conscience, will and sensitivity are in contact with the dark forces which, according to St. Paul, are active in the world almost to the point of ruling it.”

Tower of babel - exclusion of God; rupture with God, disobedience to God

Division of people - all sin is personal and also social as it has social repercussions

disorder against communion with God who is the source of our being and acting; mortal - turning away; venial - dn reach point of turning away - Aquinas

Loss of sense of sin - can't be totally obliterated; conscience is the source of our sense of sin

Mysterium pietatis - 1 Tim 3:16, Mystery of our Faith/Religion - great mystery of love, the incarnation and redemption of man which conquers sin;

  God intervenes to prevent victory of sin; path opened by divine mercy to a reconciled life

if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves I John 1:8

Whoever confesses his sins . . . is already working with God. God indicts your sins; if you also indict them, you are joined with God. Man and sinner are, so to speak, two realities: when you hear "man" - this is what God has made; when you hear "sinner" - this is what man himself has made. Destroy what you have made, so that God may save what he has made. . . . When you begin to abhor what you have made, it is then that your good works are beginning, since you are accusing yourself of your evil works. The beginning of good works is the confession of evil works. You do the truth and come to the light.61
-St Augustine from CCC

How to examine our lives:

daily examen of conscience(ness)
1. Become aware of God’s presence.
2. Review the day with gratitude.
3. Pay attention to your emotions.
4. Choose one feature of the day and pray from it
5. Look toward tomorrow.
http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-examen/consciousness-examen/
http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-examen/

Self, Community and World 

Mission of Jesus - today's Gospel reading; restored woman to relationship with self, community and God but Go, and from now on do not sin any more.


Jesus’ public ministry began with a call for repentance. He forgave sins. Jesus ate and drank with sinners, a remarkable gesture that graphically illustrates the reconciling nature of his mission. His suffering, death and resurrection represent not only his own passover into new life but also our passover with him. Jesus himself is the primordial sacrament of reconciliation. This gift is given to the Church, which by its activities becomes in the world a sign of conversion. - RCL

Healing - one of the principal works of Jesus' ministry; "reintegrated forgiven sinners into the community of the People of God" - CCC

Jesus established link between reconciliation with others and reconciliation with God

Mission of the Church - the Church carries on the Jesus’ mission of reconciliation

Reconciled with self in inmost being, where one regains true identity, with brothers, with church, with all of creation  - jpii

Henri Nouwen - Reaching Out

Self - loneliness->solitude; ok with our alone-ness
Others - hostility->hospitality; with solitude established our anger and neediness is transformed into openness 
World - illusion -> prayer; remove our inner illusions and patiently seek intimacy with God through prayer and spiritual guidance/community


Two modes of reconciliation

Strong longing for unity in the world

Mission and Ministry of Reconciliation  (JPII)


  1. Mission -
is the Church's duty to the world
do everything possible to witness to reconciliation and bring it about in the world
Church is called to be an example of reconciliation to the world;  dialogue
St. Paul's exhortation - "be reconciled to God" ; division in early Church
Church reconciles by prayer, preaching and witness 
"A reconciled world" - St Augustine


2.  Ministry - Sacrament of Reconciliation   

Church as "assembly of the reconciled" primary means of receiving forgiveness of sins after Baptism; not to be disregarded as a means of grace

Aspects of the Sacrament

  1. judicial action - before a "tribunal of mercy"
  2. spiritual healing - "I wish to heal not accuse" St. Augustine

Contrition - I have sinned vs sin exists; prodigal son - comes to his senses, decides to return; 
difficulty in modern culture to say "I'm sorry" (sar, sar)

Absolution - "God has reconciled the world to himself"

Penance  -

  • striving for what is better; daily deeds and acts of penance
  • inspired by love and not fear - Vatican II
  • works of mercy
  • prayer, Scripture reading, fasting, almsgiving, meditation on last things (gestures of reconciliation)

Effects of the Sacrament: Peace and serenity, spiritual consolation; reconciled with self, Church and World

Indulgences - meditation of Church which has power to forgive from Christ along with the "treasury" of good works of Christ and Saints; unity in the Mystical body of Christ; remission of temporal punishment-double consequence of sin - eternal and temporal; within the very nature of sin itself; see CCC

Forms of Celebration

Individual required for serious sins; General Absolution reserved for "grave necessity"


The demands of a Reconciled life

Heart of spirituality of the new covenant in Jesus Christ

  • commitment to unity
  • mercy and patience during persecution
  • repaying evil with good
  • forgiveness of offenses
  • love of enemies

How do we live a Reconciled life?

Form our conscience - prayer, Scripture, consciousness examen http://ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-examen  

Commit to mission of reconciliation

Regularly receive sacrament of reconciliation

Discussion Questions


1. How can we help form the conscience of ourselves and those in our family? How do we foster development of virtues, prayer and love of Scripture? (enthronment of Bible)

2. John Paul II describes the Mission of Reconciliation. How can we get involved in that mission of the Church?
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