http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter Learning our Catechism with this audio podcast Fri, 04 May 2012 16:21:18 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 We use this audio podcast to aid in study of different catechism topics and church teachings so we won't be ignorant of WHAT WE BELIEVE as Catholics; show notes are found online Brother Porter clean Brother Porter broporter@ourcatechism.com broporter@ourcatechism.com (Brother Porter) An audio podcast of various Catholic Catechism topics Catholic, Catechism, Creed, audio, podcast, weekly, Prayer, Christianity, Theology, Philosophy, audacity http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/wp-content/uploads/600x600.jpg http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/category/uncategorized TV-G http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2012/03/oc-096-sacrament-of-holy-matrimony-part-three http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2012/03/oc-096-sacrament-of-holy-matrimony-part-three#comments Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:47:07 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2866 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2012/03/oc-096-sacrament-of-holy-matrimony-part-three/feed 1 Q. I am due to be getting married at the end of the year but the ceremony is causing some problems. My fiancée is Church of England and I am a Catholic. My partner wants us to be married in a Church of England Church and I want us to be married in a Ca... Q. I am due to be getting married at the end of the year but the ceremony is causing some problems. My fiancée is Church of England and I am a Catholic. My partner wants us to be married in a Church of England Church and I want us to be married in a Catholic Church. What are the implications for me, if I where to ask if I could be married in a Church of England Church? Where would I stand in the eyes of the Catholic Church in the future and what would this entail if we were to have children? I would appreciate your views and advice on this matter as to the best way to move forward. A. First, in a Catholic marriage, if one party is Catholic and the other a baptised member of another Christian denomination, they must get permission to marry in the Catholic Church, (there is usually no difficulty in getting this). The following Canons of the Church apply: Canon 1124: ‘Without the express permission of the competent authority, marriage is prohibited between two baptised persons, one of whom was baptised in the Catholic Church or received into it after baptism and has not defected from it by a formal act, the other of whom belongs to a church or ecclesial community not in full communion with the Catholic Church.’ Canon 1125: ‘The local ordinary (bishop) can grant this permission if there is a just and reasonable cause. He is not to grant it unless the following conditions are fulfilled: 1. The Catholic party is to declare that he or she is prepared to remove dangers of defecting from the faith, and to make a sincere promise to do all in his or her power in order that all the children be baptized and brought up in the Catholic Church. 2. The other party is to be informed in good time of these promises to be made by the Catholic party, so that it is certain that he or she is truly aware of the promise and of the obligation of the Catholic party. 3. Both parties are to be instructed about the purposes and essential properties of marriage, which are not to be excluded by either contractant. Canon 1126: It is for the Episcopal Conference to prescribe the manner in which these declarations and promises, which are always required, are to be made, and to determine how they are to be established in the external forum, and how the non-catholic party is to be informed of them. (The last canon is saying the Bishop's Conference in this country decides how the promises etc. are carried out in practice.) Second, Canon 1118 §1 states that 'A marriage… between a Catholic party and a baptized non-Catholic, is to be celebrated in the parish church. By permission of the local ordinary or of the parish priest, it may be celebrated in another church or oratory. So in summary, there should be no Catholic 'legal' problem in you getting married in a non-Catholic church, your local Catholic priest can get the required legalities sorted out. It is a normal requirement for the Catholic priest or his delegate to be in attendance as witnesses, although the non-Catholic minister will, according to his rite, ask for the consent of the parties. As you are, no doubt, a devout practicing Catholic, you see warnings regarding children from the marriage. This is something you both are advised to discuss in depth, and why the Catholic Church makes the stipulations in Canons 1124-1126. Problems can arise, even if agreements are made now, when it comes to the times for the children to receive the sacraments, because parents and in-laws can exert strong pressures either way. Again, see your local parish priest and he will provide great instruction called pre-Cana and can do all necessary items to help you in this situation. Q. My fiancé and I are both Catholic, and we would like to get married in a Catholic church, however, I am a divorcee. Is it still possible for us to marry in a Catholic church. A. If your first marriage was valid, and marriage is said to ‘have the favour of law’ that is, it is assumed valid until it is legally proved otherwise, Brother Porter clean 13:48 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2866-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2012/02/oc-095-sacrament-of-matrimony-part-two-2 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2012/02/oc-095-sacrament-of-matrimony-part-two-2#comments Tue, 28 Feb 2012 12:14:54 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2857 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2012/02/oc-095-sacrament-of-matrimony-part-two-2/feed 0 Q. I am a Catholic, but I have not been confirmed. I wish to get married, and I have been told that I must be confirmed first, is this so? A. Yes. Catholic Canon Law states: (Canon 1065 §1) "Catholics who have not yet received the sacrament of confirm... Q. I am a Catholic, but I have not been confirmed. I wish to get married, and I have been told that I must be confirmed first, is this so? A. Yes. Catholic Canon Law states: (Canon 1065 §1) "Catholics who have not yet received the sacrament of confirmation are to receive it before being admitted to marriage, if this can be done without grave inconvenience". See your local Catholic priest to see what is involved for you. Confirmation strengthens your faith and enables you to lead a more fulfilled Christian life, and will support you in your future sacramental marriage. Q. What are the rules of Catholic marriage with regards to a marriage between a man and a woman of 16 and 17 respectively? We are concerned that for a purely Catholic marriage ceremony (NOT a civil ceremony) parental consent maybe required. A. The Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church says the following concerning your query: Canon 1083. A man cannot validly enter marriage before the completion of his sixteenth year of age, nor a woman before the completion of her fourteenth year. Canon 1072. Pastors of souls are to see to it that they dissuade young people from entering marriage before the age customarily accepted in the region. Canon 1071.1. ... no one is to assist without the permission of the local Ordinary (bishop) at: a marriage of a minor (under 18 years of age), whose parents are either unaware of it or are reasonably opposed to it. Normally a priest would at least want you to let your parents know about your plans, and would probably insist that they have no reasonable objections to your marriage. It is worth thinking of your parents' point of view. They are most likely looking forward to their children getting married (even if they are not absolutely happy about the chosen partner, but after all that's not their decision to make). Give a thought to the future: marriage is difficult enough without having really serious in-law problems: when children come along, grand parents are invaluable. I strongly recommend that you have a friendly talk to your parents, saying why you think it is important to get married soon. I am sure they will listen to your point of view, and if you have their blessing, what a great start to married life. Q. I am hoping to get married next year to my husband to be. We have never been married previously but my problem is that he is Catholic and I am not. My partner would love to get married in the Catholic Church and I would love this as well for the fact that I respect his wish. I do not have a religion at all. I was never christened or baptized etc. Does this cause us a problem for getting married in the Catholic Church? A. Based on the information you have given, you should be able to get married in a Catholic church, but a dispensation from the local Catholic bishop is required, and this will only be given if certain conditions are fulfilled. I quote the official 'rules' below. In practical terms, I suggest your husband to be, approaches his local Catholic priest as soon as possible, and gives him all the details; he will then arrange for the dispensation from the Bishop and talk about the conditions, etc. The relevant canons from the Code of Canon Law state: Canon 1086 §1. A marriage is invalid when one of the two persons was baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it and has not by a formal act defected from it, and the other was not baptized. Canon 1086 §2. This impediment is not to be dispensed unless the conditions mentioned in canon 1125 and 1126 have been fulfilled. Canon 1125. The local ordinary (bishop) can grant this permission if there is a just and reasonable cause. He is not to grant it unless the following conditions are fulfilled: 1. The Catholic party is to declare that he or she is prepared to remove dangers of defecting from the faith, and to make a sincere promise to do all in his or her power in order that all the children be baptized and brought up in the Catholic Church; 2. Brother Porter clean 12:42 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2857-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/08/ugly-americanism-realcatholictv http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/08/ugly-americanism-realcatholictv#comments Wed, 24 Aug 2011 08:46:03 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2749 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/08/ugly-americanism-realcatholictv/feed 0 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/08/oc-094-sacrament-of-holy-matrimony-part-one http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/08/oc-094-sacrament-of-holy-matrimony-part-one#comments Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:41:47 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2742 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/08/oc-094-sacrament-of-holy-matrimony-part-one/feed 0  Tribulation we will have, Our Lord told us, but He also said that He was to be with us until the end of time. The important thing for Catholics to know is that there is a body of dogma and doctrine to guide them in these perverse times.  Tribulation we will have, Our Lord told us, but He also said that He was to be with us until the end of time. The important thing for Catholics to know is that there is a body of dogma and doctrine to guide them in these perverse times. The Catechism ... Brother Porter clean 16:09 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2742-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/06/oc-093-reconciliation-part-deux http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/06/oc-093-reconciliation-part-deux#comments Tue, 28 Jun 2011 22:53:57 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2728 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/06/oc-093-reconciliation-part-deux/feed 0 I received a couple of emails and asked to elaborate on how to perform an examination of conscience and what to do in the confessional.I like to recall what I learned from during my novice masters early in my spiritual life as a monk; also taken from Fr. I received a couple of emails and asked to elaborate on how to perform an examination of conscience and what to do in the confessional.I like to recall what I learned from during my novice masters early in my spiritual life as a monk; also taken from Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. teachings.GENERAL EXAMINATIONpart of preparation for the reception of the Sacrament of Penancea daily prayerful reflection on our service of GodTwo basic examens of conscience. 1) general examen 2) particular examenFirst, thank our Lord for the graces He has given me, whether pleasant or painful, with which I have faithfully cooperated. For this I thank Him.Second, ask myself where I have failed to cooperate with the grace that God has given me during the day  e.g. the practice of humility, or prudence, or charity, or patience. Be concrete and specific.Third, briefly recall the circumstances which occasioned your moral failure. Then do the obvious thing of asking our Lord to forgive you and give you the strength to avoid this sin in the future.Finally, plan for the future. It means that I look forward to what I am to do, and avoid doing, in the next day.----------------------------------------------------------------------PARTICULAR EXAMINATIONAll of us have certain tendencies across the whole spectrum of moral misbehavior. Yet no two of us are identical in which of these tendencies is predominant. Some are more prone to pride than to lust. Some are more prone to anger than to greed. Some are more prone to envy than to sloth. In fact, each one of us changes from time to time in what failure of our moral conduct is dominant, depending on the circumstances and persons who enter our lives.The particular examen concentrates on coping with the predominant moral weakness of our own personality.Examples:In God's providence, He allows us to fail in those areas in which He especially wants us to grow in virtue. We can fail in the practice of these virtues either by commission, omission, or by tepidity, in not acting as generously as we might in responding to the grace we have received from God. Faith Do I make an honest effort to grow in the virtue of faith by daily mental prayer on the mysteries of the faith as revealed in the life of Jesus Christ? Do I pray daily for an increase of faith? Do I ever tempt God by relying on my own strength to cope with the trials in my life? Do I unnecessarily read or listen to those who oppose or belittle what I know are truths of my Catholic faith? What have I done today to externally profess my faith? Do I ever defend my faith, prudently and charitably, when someone says something contrary to what I know is to be believed? Have I helped someone overcome a difficulty against the faith? Hope Do I immediately say a short prayer when I find myself getting discouraged? Do I dwell on my worries instead of dismissing them from my mind? Do I fail in the virtue of hope by my attachment to the things of this world? Do I try to see God's providence in everything that "happens" in my life? Do I try to see everything from the viewpoint of eternity? Am I confident that, with God's grace, I will be saved? Do I allow myself to worry about my past life and thus weaken my hope in God's mercy? Do I try to combine every fully deliberate action with at least a momentary prayer for divine help? How often today have I complained, even internally? Charity Have I told God today that I love Him? Do I tell Jesus that I love Him with my whole heart?Do I take the occasion to tell God that I love Him whenever I experience something I naturally dislike? Have I capitalized on the difficulties today to tell God that I love Him just because He sent me the trial or misunderstanding? Do I see God's love for me in allowing me to prove my love for Him in the crosses He sent me today? Have I seen God's grace to prove my love for Him in every person whom I met today? Have I failed in charity by speaking unkindly about others? Brother Porter clean 16:03 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2728-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/06/oc-092-sacrament-of-reconciliation http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/06/oc-092-sacrament-of-reconciliation#comments Thu, 16 Jun 2011 23:11:13 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2725 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/06/oc-092-sacrament-of-reconciliation/feed 0 John 20:19-23 "Now when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: Peace be to you. John 20:19-23 "Now when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: Peace be to you. And when he had said this, he shewed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord. He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." The Letter of James says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful” (5:16).(John 20:23). If I'm supposed to forgive my brother 70x7, then how does a layman 'retain' someones sins; there is an intermediary here, given by God - in this instance the disciples; he didn't offer this to the people who gathered by the thousands on the mountains to hear him preach; such as the Beatitudes, or when feeding the thousands with loaves and fish; so he must have wanted a SPECIAL group that He ANOINTED with the breath of the Holy Spirit--priests who would have the faculties to forgive or retain sins. So we point to this as the institution of the Sacrament of Penance (Confession). OK, you cradle Catholics know what I'm going to say next at least I HOPE so: sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to impart grace. whew I'm glad we got that over.  now I'm going to sound like a nerd, with your permission. As an outward sign it comprises the actions of the penitent in presenting himself to the priest and accusing himself of his sins, and the actions of the priest in pronouncing absolution and imposing satisfaction. This whole procedure is usually called, from one of its parts, "confession", and it is said to take place in the "tribunal of penance", because it is a judicial process in which the penitent is at once the accuser, the person accused, and the witness, while the priest pronounces judgment and sentence. The grace conferred is deliverance from the guilt of sin and, in the case of mortal sin, from its eternal punishment; hence also reconciliation with God, justification. Finally, the confession is made not in the secrecy of the penitents heart nor to a layman as friend and advocate, nor to a representative of human authority, but to a duly ordained priest with requisite jurisdiction and with the "power of the keys", i.e., the power to forgive sins which Christ granted to His Church. Brother Porter clean 9:58 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2725-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/05/oc-091-religious-orders-who-accept-those-who-we-consider-disabled http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/05/oc-091-religious-orders-who-accept-those-who-we-consider-disabled#comments Sun, 29 May 2011 15:16:16 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2713 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/05/oc-091-religious-orders-who-accept-those-who-we-consider-disabled/feed 0 New Religious Order open to disabled Disabled nuns welcomed to serve at historic order Resources for older or disabled discerners The Church's stance of valuing all life is an inspiration for people with disabilities. The basic human right, New Religious Order open to disabled Disabled nuns welcomed to serve at historic order Resources for older or disabled discerners The Church's stance of valuing all life is an inspiration for people with disabilities. The basic human right, the right to life, is something that always seems to be under threat for people with disabilities. Currently it is believed that around 92% of unborn babies with certain disabilities are aborted every year. This is way above the percentage for able-bodied children aborted. What that means in essence is that if you're about to be born with certain disabilities then the chances are you'll be killed first, while if you're about to be born able-bodied, then you will be born. Indeed some believe that many mothers, particularly young mothers, with an unborn disabled child, are viewing the child as similar to a mobile phone without the latest technical gizmo, such as a camera feature, or the latest trainers without the 'essential' number of air bubbles in the sole and therefore, as a result, are aborting the unborn disabled child on what could be termed 'fashion grounds'. This ties in with Pope Benedict's message that too many people today will settle only for the perceived ''perfect baby''. Like abortion, the Church also takes a strong stance on the issue of euthanasia and mercy killing, which seeks to deem the lives of disabled people as less worthy than those non-disabled and thus end them. So on both these big topical life and death issues, the Catholic Church takes the stance of valuing the life of the disabled person, even if in many areas of modern secular society that isn't the trendy and hip stance to have, and while that value on life may be taken for granted by able-bodied people, statistics prove it can't be taken so easily by folk with disabilities. But it is not just in terms of Church teaching that inspiration is given to disabled people. Sometimes the inspiration comes not necessarily from the message itself but from people with disabilities within the Church who provide sound role models. Perhaps the clearest example of this was the late Pope John Paul II - he clearly had his health problems and clearly ploughed on right to the very end, in the full gaze of the watching media, in the service of his people. It could even be argued, given his immense courage shown under such circumstances, that his latter years were the most inspirational of his entire reign as Pope. It is not just high up in the Vatican though where these inspirational figures can be found. You probably know such a figure in your own parish involved with the Church? Perhaps you've seen my nephew, who is a down syndrome young man; he is not defined by his disability, in fact, nobody in the family treats him as such.  He is graduating high school this year and have I TOLD you how proud I am of him.  He hasn't let anything or anyone stop him from being who he is, a particularly witty & a heart-breaker!  So I am satisfied that he will be able to fulfill his dreams; and if they should ever be toward religious life--there is an order somewhere who would be ecstatic to receive him. The medical model of thinking on disability says that people are disabled by their disability. The social model of thinking on disability says that people are disabled by society. For example, if a wheelchair user can't get up a curb then medical model thinkers would say that's because he/she can't walk, while the social model thinkers would say it's because the curb isn't low enough. The Church, in terms of it's teachings on core life and death issues and inspiration by example, does really well on disability. If it had to seek a way to continue its progress it would be to bear in mind, the social model thinking more, as I'd imagine it could be -- more medical model thinking. At the very least an equal valuing of both models is a reasonable approach.   Brother Porter clean 6:49 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2713-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/05/do-you-believe-in-miracles http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/05/do-you-believe-in-miracles#comments Fri, 20 May 2011 17:56:49 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2699 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/05/do-you-believe-in-miracles/feed 0 I searched almost as many versions of the Bible you can find on 'YouVersion.com" I think the Jewish Orthodox version reads volumes! Gevurot 13:3030 "But Hashem made him to stand up alive again from the Mesim, I searched almost as many versions of the Bible you can find on 'YouVersion.com" I think the Jewish Orthodox version reads volumes! Gevurot 13:3030 "But Hashem made him to stand up alive again from the Mesim, I found who the Mesim are; from the same book:I say to you, that a sha'ah (hour) is coming and now is, when theMesim (dead ones)   Do You Believe In Miracles? Just Watch and Believe     Brother Porter clean 1:37 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2699-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/05/oc-089-three-theological-virtues http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/05/oc-089-three-theological-virtues#comments Sat, 14 May 2011 14:13:37 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2693 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/05/oc-089-three-theological-virtues/feed 0 When we think of the three theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity (Love), we have many conceptions of what they mean and how they interact in our lives, and what is required for living these virtues. If we ask ten people, When we think of the three theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity (Love), we have many conceptions of what they mean and how they interact in our lives, and what is required for living these virtues. If we ask ten people, we will likely get at least nine different answers, not all of them consistent. We need to understand what each is, on what each depends, and how we gain the benefits of these virtues. The supernatural virtues are those which unite us with God. The effect of these graces is to raise us to a supernatural mode of being through which we can become children of God. The key for us is understanding what these virtues are and how we gain their benefit. Remember, these virtues come to us from God; last week we learned that the cardinal virtues are of natural origin. Faith is a gift from God. It must grow because God is Life, God is Act, God is never static. His gifts never result in inaction and static response. Faith grows by investing it. We invest faith by sharing it with others and by our constant trust in God operating in our lives. We notice that in several places St Paul speaks of this participating in and with Christ. He speaks of being baptized in Christ, and we suffer, and are crucified, and are made alive with Him. St. Paul tells us that "Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that not seen." St. Paul is here drawing a relationship between the theological virtue of Faith and that of Hope. Through Faith, we believe in the testimony of God, and have absolute trust and confidence in what God has revealed. We have Faith in the goodness of God since He has revealed this about Himself. The virtue of Hope, like Faith, is based on that knowledge of the goodness and omnipotence of God. Like Faith, there are some common street definitions of Hope, and there is the concept as it pertains to our relationship with God. Our Hope is the attainment of the ultimate good, God Himself, and the means He gives us to restore us to that state of grace necessary; the sacrament of Reconciliation. All it takes is enough desire on our part to want to return to Him, and we as His prodigal children are able to Hope in the grace we need to return to Him. We have to be humble enough to accept His help. This brings us to the virtue of Charity (Love). We know that when we have achieved our goal of being united in Heaven with God, Faith and Hope go away, but the virtue of love remains, for Good is Love. Possession of God is possession of Love. The term, charity, generally means some form of humanitarian gesture or alms-giving. Boylan defines Charity as "that virtue by which we love God above all things for His own sake, and by which we love our neighbor for God. It is the essential virtue of a living member of the Mystical Body of Christ." Remember how St. Paul says that no matter what else we do, or how good our works may be, if we do not have Love we have nothing. This is the secret of the gospel parable about the wedding guest who did not come properly dressed and was treated harshly by the host. In Christ's time, the bridegroom provided the garment for the guests. It was the gift of the bridegroom, and became the guest's garment, and the guest honored the host by wearing it and in a sense offering it back to him that way. To not wear the garment was an insult to the bridegroom, and so the bridegroom acted accordingly. Christ is telling us how God gives us Love so we can put it on and by making it our own so honor Him properly. We pray for the grace to accept His Love in humility and honor Him properly with our Love. Love is so important that without it we are nothing.Whatever we do for God, for others, and for ourselves must be done out of love for God or it has no merit. Anything done that is not motivated by love of God is, pure and simple, wasted effort. Brother Porter clean 10:32 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2693-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/05/oc-088-four-cardinal-virtues http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/05/oc-088-four-cardinal-virtues#comments Sun, 08 May 2011 13:25:06 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2685 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/05/oc-088-four-cardinal-virtues/feed 0 The Cardinal Virtues (The Four Hinges of the Moral Life) The cardinal virtues are the four principal moral virtues. The English word cardinal comes from the Latin word cardo, which means "hinge." All other virtues hinge on these four: prudence, justice, The Cardinal Virtues (The Four Hinges of the Moral Life) The cardinal virtues are the four principal moral virtues. The English word cardinal comes from the Latin word cardo, which means "hinge." All other virtues hinge on these four: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. Plato first discussed the cardinal virtues in the Republic, and they entered into Christian teaching by way of Plato's disciple Aristotle. Unlike the theological virtues, which are the gifts of God through grace, the four cardinal virtues can be practiced by anyone; thus, they represent the foundation of natural morality.   PrudenceSt. Thomas Aquinas ranked prudence as the first cardinal virtue, because it is concerned with the intellect. Aristotle defined prudence as recta ratio agibilium, "right reason applied to practice." It is the virtue that allows us to judge correctly what is right and what is wrong in any given situation. When we mistake the evil for the good, we are not exercising prudence—in fact, we are showing our lack of it. Because it is so easy to fall into error, prudence requires us to seek the counsel of others, particularly those we know to be sound judges of morality. Disregarding the advice or warnings of others whose judgment does not coincide with ours is a sign of imprudence.   JusticeJustice, according to Saint Thomas, is the second cardinal virtue, because it is concerned with the will. As Fr. John A. Hardon notes in his Modern Catholic Dictionary, it is "the constant and permanent determination to give everyone his or her rightful due." We say that "justice is blind," because it should not matter what we think of a particular person. If we owe him a debt, we must repay exactly what we owe. Justice is connected to the idea of rights. While we often use justice in a negative sense ("He got what he deserved"), justice in its proper sense is positive. Injustice occurs when we as individuals or by law deprive someone of that which he is owed. Legal rights can never outweigh natural ones.   FortitudeThe third cardinal virtue, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, is fortitude. While this virtue is commonly called courage, it is different from what much of what we think of as courage today. Fortitude allows us to overcome fear and to remain steady in our will in the face of obstacles, but it is always reasoned and reasonable; the person exercising fortitude does not seek danger for danger's sake. Prudence and justice are the virtues through which we decide what needs to be done; fortitude gives us the strength to do it.  Fortitude is the only one of the cardinal virtues that is also a gift of the Holy Spirit, allowing us to rise above our natural fears in defense of the Christian faith.   TemperanceTemperance, Saint Thomas declared, is the fourth and final cardinal virtue. While fortitude is concerned with the restraint of fear so that we can act, temperance is the restraint of our desires or passions. Food, drink, and sex are all necessary for our survival, individually and as a species; yet a disordered desire for any of these goods can have disastrous consequences, physical and moral. Temperance is the virtue that attempts to keep us from excess, and, as such, requires the balancing of legitimate goods against our inordinate desire for them. Our legitimate use of such goods may be different at different times; temperance is the "golden mean" that helps us determine how far we can act on our desires.   Brother Porter clean 16:57 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2685-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/05/oc-087-divine-mercy-sunday-second-sunday-of-easter-catechism http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/05/oc-087-divine-mercy-sunday-second-sunday-of-easter-catechism#comments Sun, 01 May 2011 12:14:02 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2669 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/05/oc-087-divine-mercy-sunday-second-sunday-of-easter-catechism/feed 0 Our Lord's explicit desire is that this feast be celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. This Sunday is designated in "The Liturgy of the Hours and the Celebration of the Eucharist" as the "Octave Day of Easter. Our Lord's explicit desire is that this feast be celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. This Sunday is designated in "The Liturgy of the Hours and the Celebration of the Eucharist" as the "Octave Day of Easter." It was officially called the Se... Brother Porter clean 17:08 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2669-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/04/oc-086-easter-sunday-trivia-and-catechism http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/04/oc-086-easter-sunday-trivia-and-catechism#comments Sun, 24 Apr 2011 17:19:40 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2652 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/04/oc-086-easter-sunday-trivia-and-catechism/feed 0       Gospel (Mk. 16: 1-7) At that time, Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought sweet spices, that coming, they might anoint Jesus.  And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they come to the sepulcher,       Gospel (Mk. 16: 1-7) At that time, Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought sweet spices, that coming, they might anoint Jesus.  And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they come to the sepulcher, the  sun being now risen.  And they said one to another: Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulcher?  And looking, they saw the stone rolled back.  For it was very great.  And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed with a white robe: and they were astonished.   Who saith to them: Be not affrighted; ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, Who was crucified: He is risen, He is not here, behold the place  where they laid Him.  But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He goeth before you into Galilee; there you shall see Him, as He told you.   Eastertide begins at Easter and ends on the Sunday after Pentecost.  It is a time of uninterrupted joy and feasts, during which we celebrate the mysteries of the Resurrection, the Ascension, and the Descent of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles and on His Church. In the Liturgy of Eastertide, we commemorate the various appearances of our Lord, during which He instructed His Apostles and prepared them for the Descent of the Holy Ghost and His own Ascension. The triumph of Eastertide is reflected in the decoration of the sanctuary and in the priest’s use of white vestments, symbolizing joy and purity.  The Asperges me is supplanted by the Vidi aquam, which refers to the waters of  Baptism.  Every year at Easter the Church rejoices for a double reason: Christ is risen, and many of her children redeemed. Until Ascension Day, the Paschal Candle shines in the sanctuary as a symbol of the visible presence of our Lord upon earth and white vestments are used.  The joyful repletion of “Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia,” which was omitted since Septuagesima, follows every Introit, Antiphon, Verse, and Response as a sign of joy and peace. And be sure to read and listen to the Pope's yearly Urbi et Orbi message online at the Vatican website and on their youtube channel as well. Let's talk about some Easter controversies: Christian denominations and organizations that do not observe Easter Along with Christmas celebrations, Easter traditions were among the first casualties of some areas of the Protestant Reformation, being deemed "pagan" by some Reformation leaders. Other Reformation Churches, such as  the Lutheran, Methodist, and Anglican, retained a very full observance of the Church Year. In Lutheran Churches, not only were the days of Holy Week observed, but also Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost were observed  with three day festivals, including the day itself and the two following. Among the other Reformation traditions, things were a bit different. These holidays were eventually restored (though Christmas only became a legal  holiday in Scotland in 1967, after the Church of Scotland finally relaxed its objections). Some Christians (usually, but not always fundamentalists[citation needed]), however, continue to reject the celebration of Easter  (and, often, of Christmas), because they believe them to be irrevocably tainted with paganism and idolatry.[48] Their rejection of these traditions is based partly on their interpretation of 2 Corinthians 6:14-16. Additionally, some Christians who do celebrate the event prefer to call it "Resurrection Sunday" or "Resurrection Day" due to the pagan and/or papist associations of the word "Easter", as well as to distinguish the religious celebration from more secular or commercial aspects of the holiday such as the Easter Bunny. This is also the view of Jehovah's Witnesses, who instead observe a yearly commemorative service of the Last Supper and subsequent death of Christ on the evening of Nisan 14, as they calculate it derived from the lunar  Hebrew Calendar. It is commonly referred to, in short, by many Witnesses as simply "The Memorial". Brother Porter clean 9:07 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2652-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/04/oc-085-holy-saturday-trivia-and-catechism http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/04/oc-085-holy-saturday-trivia-and-catechism#comments Sat, 23 Apr 2011 14:18:08 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2648 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/04/oc-085-holy-saturday-trivia-and-catechism/feed 0 Blessed Holy Saturday! Christ is in His tomb. Rather, His Body is in the tomb, but when His Soul left His Body, He descended into Hell to "free the captives." "Hell" here refers to the place of the dead in general ("Sheol" in the Hebrew, Blessed Holy Saturday! Christ is in His tomb. Rather, His Body is in the tomb, but when His Soul left His Body, He descended into Hell to "free the captives." "Hell" here refers to the place of the dead in general ("Sheol" in the Hebrew, or "Hades" in the Greek), not to the place of torment with which the word "Hell" is most usually associated with today. The world "Hell" in the loosest, earliest sense includes: the Limbo of the Fathers, the place for those who were righteous by charity and faith in the coming Messias and who died before His Coming the Limbo of Infants, where, possibly, those who are sent who die without personal guilt but without Baptism after the time of Christ, or who died without charity and faith in the coming Messias before the time of Christ. This would be a place of beautiful, natural happiness, no punishment, and no sensible suffering. Purgatory, where righteous people go to be cleansed of the temporal effects of their sins Gehenna, the "Hell of the Lost," the eternal place of punishment for the damned, the place we usually refer to as simply "Hell" today It was to the Limbo of the Fathers that Christ descended, a place of the dead that was emptied through His Passion, Resurrection and Ascension, and no longer exists. By this "Harrowing of Hell," as His Descent is sometimes called, the doors to Heaven were swung open so that those who die in a state of grace may enter in, alleluia! Adam, Eve, Noe, Abraham, Moses, the good thief on the cross -- all the righteous were illuminated by the Presence of Christ in the place of death, making Sheol itself a paradise. They remained there with Him until His Bodily Resurrection when the the "bars of Hell" were broken down and they were later able to enter into Heaven itself with His glorious Ascension. Today a great silence reigns on earth, a great silence and a great stillness. A great silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began... ..He has gone to search for Adam, our first father, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow Adam in his bonds and Eve, captive with him -- He who is both their God and the son of Eve.. "I am your God, who for your sake have become your son... ...I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead." [Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday: PG 43, 440A, 452C; LH, Holy Saturday, OR] Because of this great silence, today there will be no Mass (until the Vigil Mass tonight, which technically is Easter); instead, there is a solemn service. Today is traditionally a day of abstinence in addition to being a day of fasting, until the Vigil Mass, when the Lenten Fast ends. Though this fasting requirement was abolished in the new Code of Canon Law, traditional Catholics follow the traditional practice. In some churches today, priests will bless Easter baskets containing the foods eaten tomorrow (in other places, the baskets will be blessed after the liturgy tomorrow). Baskets bearing Easter bread, Easter eggs, meats, butter, horseradish, and salt are brought to church, blessed, and taken home to await the great feast tomorrow. As said, in the evening -- very late in the evening -- there will be a true Mass, the Vigil Mass that begins Easter -- a most joyous Mass during which Catechumens are baptized into the Church (neither the Creed nor Offertory are said) and the alleluia returns. This is a Mass that must be experienced! It is a very long service, but so beautiful, and when it is finished, Easter is here and the somberness that began on Good Friday is over; candles may be relit at home, music can be restored to the house.In some places, a ceremony is made of having a mock funeral for Lent on this day after the Vigil. In Poland, for example, Brother Porter clean 9:31 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2648-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/04/good-friday-teaching-on-fast-and-abstinence http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/04/good-friday-teaching-on-fast-and-abstinence#comments Fri, 22 Apr 2011 22:51:05 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2637 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/04/good-friday-teaching-on-fast-and-abstinence/feed 0 Hope you have a holy Good Friday. Here are some notes from the audio.Jer. 18:11, 25:5; Ez.  18:30, 33:11-15; Joel 2:12; Mt. 3:2; Mt. 4:17; Acts 2:38). Christ Himself said that His disciples would fast once He had departed (Lk. 5:35). Hope you have a holy Good Friday. Here are some notes from the audio.Jer. 18:11, 25:5; Ez.  18:30, 33:11-15; Joel 2:12; Mt. 3:2; Mt. 4:17; Acts 2:38). Christ Himself said that His disciples would fast once He had departed (Lk. 5:35). The general law of penance, therefore, is part of the law of God for man. The 1983 Code of Canon Law specifies the obligations of Latin Rite Catholics.Canon 1250Canon 1251Canon 1252Canon 1253 Abstinence The law of abstinence requires a Catholic 14 years of age until death to abstain from eating meat on Fridays in honor of the Passion of Jesus on Good Friday. Meat is considered to be the flesh and organs of mammals and fowl. Moral theologians have traditionally considered this also to forbid soups or gravies made from them. Salt and freshwater species of fish, amphibians, reptiles and shellfish are permitted, as are animal derived products such as margarine and gelatin which do not have any meat taste. On the Fridays outside of Lent the U.S. bishops conference obtained the permission of the Holy See for Catholics in the US to substitute a penitential, or even a charitable, practice of their own choosing. Since this was not stated as binding under pain of sin, not to do so on a single occasion would not in itself be sinful. However, since penance is a divine command, the general refusal to do penance is certainly gravely sinful. For most people the easiest way to consistently fulfill this command is the traditional one, to abstain from meat on all Fridays of the year which are not liturgical solemnities. When solemnities, such as the Annunciation, Assumption, All Saints etc. fall on a Friday, we neither abstain or fast. During Lent abstinence from meat on Fridays is obligatory in the United States as elsewhere, and it is sinful not to observe this discipline without a serious reason (physical labor, pregnancy, sickness etc.). Fasting The law of fasting requires a Catholic from the 18th Birthday [Canon 97] to the 59th Birthday [i.e. the beginning of the 60th year, a year which will be completed on the 60th birthday] to reduce the amount of food eaten from normal. The Church defines this as one meal a day, and two smaller meals which if added together would not exceed the main meal in quantity. Such fasting is obligatory on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The fast is broken by eating between meals and by drinks which could be considered food (milk shakes, but not milk). Alcoholic beverages do not break the fast; however, they seem contrary to the spirit of doing penance. Those who are excused from fast or abstinenceBesides those outside the age limits, those of unsound mind, the sick, the frail, pregnant or nursing women according to need for meat or nourishment,  manual laborers according to need, guests at a meal who cannot excuse themselves without giving great offense or causing enmity and other situations of moral or physical impossibility to observe the penitential discipline. Aside from these minimum penitential requirements Catholics are encouraged to impose some personal penance on themselves at other times. It could be modeled after abstinence and fasting. A person could, for example, multiply the number of days they abstain. Some people give up meat entirely for religious motives (as opposed to those who give it up for health or other motives). Some religious orders, as a penance, never eat meat. Similarly, one could multiply the number of days that one fasted. The early Church had a practice of a Wednesday and Saturday fast. This fast could be the same as the Church's law (one main meal and two smaller ones) or stricter, even bread and water. Such freely chosen fasting could also consist in giving up something one enjoys - candy, soft drinks, smoking, that cocktail before supper, and so on. This is left to the individual.   Brother Porter clean 16:49 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2637-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/04/episode-357-psalm-22-episode-357 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/04/episode-357-psalm-22-episode-357#comments Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:49:29 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2633 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/04/episode-357-psalm-22-episode-357/feed 0 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/04/papal-intentions-for-april http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/04/papal-intentions-for-april#comments Fri, 01 Apr 2011 11:44:05 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2630 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2011/04/papal-intentions-for-april/feed 0 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/12/bravo-bishop-ohlmsted-the-vortex http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/12/bravo-bishop-ohlmsted-the-vortex#comments Thu, 23 Dec 2010 19:00:49 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2558 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/12/bravo-bishop-ohlmsted-the-vortex/feed 0 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/12/andrea-bocelli-sings-a-song-written-by-st-alphonsus-redemptorist-order-founder http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/12/andrea-bocelli-sings-a-song-written-by-st-alphonsus-redemptorist-order-founder#comments Tue, 07 Dec 2010 17:20:13 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2549 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/12/andrea-bocelli-sings-a-song-written-by-st-alphonsus-redemptorist-order-founder/feed 0 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/11/consideration-of-new-weekly-style-teaching-method-for-catechism http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/11/consideration-of-new-weekly-style-teaching-method-for-catechism#comments Wed, 10 Nov 2010 01:08:30 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2541 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/11/consideration-of-new-weekly-style-teaching-method-for-catechism/feed 0 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/11/reform-national-catholic-campaign-for-human-development-cchd-and-realcathohlic-tv-view http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/11/reform-national-catholic-campaign-for-human-development-cchd-and-realcathohlic-tv-view#comments Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:33:56 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2523 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/11/reform-national-catholic-campaign-for-human-development-cchd-and-realcathohlic-tv-view/feed 0 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/05/oc-0512-apologies http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/05/oc-0512-apologies#comments Wed, 12 May 2010 13:56:49 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2515 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/05/oc-0512-apologies/feed 0 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0325-episode-083-catechism-0612-0617 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0325-episode-083-catechism-0612-0617#comments Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:40:39 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0325-episode-083-catechism-0612-0617 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0325-episode-083-catechism-0612-0617/feed 0 Catechism 0612-0617 - The agony at Gethsemani - 612 The cup of the New Covenant, which Jesus anticipated when he offered himself at the Last Supper, is afterwards accepted by him from his Father's hands in his agony in the garden at Gethsemani, Catechism 0612-0617 The agony at Gethsemani 612 The cup of the New Covenant, which Jesus anticipated when he offered himself at the Last Supper, is afterwards accepted by him from his Father's hands in his agony in the garden at Gethsemani, [434] making himself “obedient unto death”. Jesus prays: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. . .” [435] Thus he expresses the horror that death represented for his human nature. Like ours, his human nature is destined for eternal life; but unlike ours, it is perfectly exempt from sin, the cause of death. [436] Above all, his human nature has been assumed by the divine person of the “Author of life”, the “Living One”. [437] By accepting in his human will that the Father's will be done, he accepts his death as redemptive, for “he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree.” [438] Christ's death is the unique and definitive sacrifice 613 Christ's death is both the Paschal sacrifice that accomplishes the definitive redemption of men, through “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”, [439] and the sacrifice of the New Covenant, which restores man to communion with God by reconciling him to God through the “blood of the covenant, which was poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”. [440] 614 This sacrifice of Christ is unique; it completes and surpasses all other sacrifices. [441] First, it is a gift from God the Father himself, for the Father handed his Son over to sinners in order to reconcile us with himself. At the same time it is the offering of the Son of God made man, who in freedom and love offered his life to his Father through the Holy Spirit in reparation for our disobedience. [442] Jesus substitutes his obedience for our disobedience 615 “For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous.” [443] By his obedience unto death, Jesus accomplished the substitution of the suffering Servant, who “makes himself an offering for sin”, when “he bore the sin of many”, and who “shall make many to be accounted righteous”, for “he shall bear their iniquities”. [444] Jesus atoned for our faults and made satisfaction for our sins to the Father. [445] Jesus consummates his sacrifice on the cross 616 It is love “to the end” [446] that confers on Christ's sacrifice its value as redemption and reparation, as atonement and satisfaction. He knew and loved us all when he offered his life. [447] Now “the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died.” [448] No man, not even the holiest, was ever able to take on himself the sins of all men and offer himself as a sacrifice for all. the existence in Christ of the divine person of the Son, who at once surpasses and embraces all human persons, and constitutes himself as the Head of all mankind, makes possible his redemptive sacrifice for all. 617 The Council of Trent emphasizes the unique character of Christ's sacrifice as “the source of eternal salvation” [449] and teaches that “his most holy Passion on the wood of the cross merited justification for us.” [450] and the Church venerates his cross as she sings: “Hail, O Cross, our only hope.” [451] Brother Porter clean 4:17 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2504-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0324-episode-083-catechism-0606-0611 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0324-episode-083-catechism-0606-0611#comments Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:35:41 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0324-episode-083-catechism-0606-0611 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0324-episode-083-catechism-0606-0611/feed 0 Catechism 0606-0611 - For our sake God made him to be sin” - 602 Consequently, St. Peter can formulate the apostolic faith in the divine plan of salvation in this way: “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers... Catechism 0606-0611 For our sake God made him to be sin” 602 Consequently, St. Peter can formulate the apostolic faith in the divine plan of salvation in this way: “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers... with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake.” [402] Man's sins, following on original sin, are punishable by death. [403] By sending his own Son in the form of a slave, in the form of a fallen humanity, on account of sin, God “made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” [404] 603 Jesus did not experience reprobation as if he himself had sinned. [405] But in the redeeming love that always united him to the Father, he assumed us in the state of our waywardness of sin, to the point that he could say in our name from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” [406] Having thus established him in solidarity with us sinners, God “did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all”, so that we might be “reconciled to God by the death of his Son”. [407] God takes the initiative of universal redeeming love 604 By giving up his own Son for our sins, God manifests that his plan for us is one of benevolent love, prior to any merit on our part: “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins.” [408] God “shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” [409] 605 At the end of the parable of the lost sheep Jesus recalled that God's love excludes no one: “So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” [410] He affirms that he came “to give his life as a ransom for many”; this last term is not restrictive, but contrasts the whole of humanity with the unique person of the redeemer who hands himself over to save us. [411] The Church, following the apostles, teaches that Christ died for all men without exception: “There is not, never has been, and never will be a single human being for whom Christ did not suffer.” [412] III. CHRIST OFFERED HIMSELF TO HIS FATHER FOR OUR SINS Christ's whole life is an offering to the Father 606 The Son of God, who came down “from heaven, not to do (his) own will, but the will of him who sent (him)”, [413] said on coming into the world, “Lo, I have come to do your will, O God.” “and by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” [414] From the first moment of his Incarnation the Son embraces the Father's plan of divine salvation in his redemptive mission: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work.” [415] The sacrifice of Jesus “for the sins of the whole world” [416] expresses his loving communion with the Father. “The Father loves me, because I lay down my life”, said the Lord, “(for) I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.” [417] 607 The desire to embrace his Father's plan of redeeming love inspired Jesus' whole life, [418] for his redemptive passion was the very reason for his Incarnation. and so he asked, “and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour.” [419] and again, “Shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given me?” [420] From the cross, just before “It is finished”, he said, “I thirst.” [421] “The Lamb who takes away the sin of the world” 608 After agreeing to baptize him along with the sinners, John the Baptist looked at Jesus and pointed him out as the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”. [422] By doing so, he reveals that Jesus is at the same time the suffering Servant who silently allows himself to be led to the slaughter and who bears the sin of the multitudes, Brother Porter clean 7:20 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2506-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0323-episode-082-catechism-0606-0611 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0323-episode-082-catechism-0606-0611#comments Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:20:15 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0323-episode-082-catechism-0606-0611 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0323-episode-082-catechism-0606-0611/feed 0 Catechism 0606-0611 - III. CHRIST OFFERED HIMSELF TO HIS FATHER FOR OUR SINS - Christ's whole life is an offering to the Father - 606 The Son of God, who came down “from heaven, not to do (his) own will, but the will of him who sent (him)”, Catechism 0606-0611 III. CHRIST OFFERED HIMSELF TO HIS FATHER FOR OUR SINS Christ's whole life is an offering to the Father 606 The Son of God, who came down “from heaven, not to do (his) own will, but the will of him who sent (him)”, [413] said on coming into the world, “Lo, I have come to do your will, O God.” “and by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” [414] From the first moment of his Incarnation the Son embraces the Father's plan of divine salvation in his redemptive mission: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work.” [415] The sacrifice of Jesus “for the sins of the whole world” [416] expresses his loving communion with the Father. “The Father loves me, because I lay down my life”, said the Lord, “(for) I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.” [417] 607 The desire to embrace his Father's plan of redeeming love inspired Jesus' whole life, [418] for his redemptive passion was the very reason for his Incarnation. and so he asked, “and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour.” [419] and again, “Shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given me?” [420] From the cross, just before “It is finished”, he said, “I thirst.” [421] “The Lamb who takes away the sin of the world” 608 After agreeing to baptize him along with the sinners, John the Baptist looked at Jesus and pointed him out as the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”. [422] By doing so, he reveals that Jesus is at the same time the suffering Servant who silently allows himself to be led to the slaughter and who bears the sin of the multitudes, and also the Paschal Lamb, the symbol of Israel's redemption at the first Passover. [423] Christ's whole life expresses his mission: “to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” [424] Jesus freely embraced the Father's redeeming love 609 By embracing in his human heart the Father's love for men, Jesus “loved them to the end”, for “greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” [425] In suffering and death his humanity became the free and perfect instrument of his divine love which desires the salvation of men. [426] Indeed, out of love for his Father and for men, whom the Father wants to save, Jesus freely accepted his Passion and death: “No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” [427] Hence the sovereign freedom of God's Son as he went out to his death. [428] At the Last Supper Jesus anticipated the free offering of his life 610 Jesus gave the supreme expression of his free offering of himself at the meal shared with the twelve Apostles “on the night he was betrayed”. [429] On the eve of his Passion, while still free, Jesus transformed this Last Supper with the apostles into the memorial of his voluntary offering to the Father for the salvation of men: “This is my body which is given for you.” “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” [430] 611 The Eucharist that Christ institutes at that moment will be the memorial of his sacrifice. [431] Jesus includes the apostles in his own offering and bids them perpetuate it. [432] By doing so, the Lord institutes his apostles as priests of the New Covenant: “For their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.” [433] Brother Porter clean 4:34 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2502-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0322-episode-081-catechism-0599-0605 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0322-episode-081-catechism-0599-0605#comments Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:15:04 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0322-episode-081-catechism-0599-0605 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0322-episode-081-catechism-0599-0605/feed 0 Catechism 0599-0605 - II. CHRIST'S REDEMPTIVE DEATH IN GOD'S PLAN OF SALVATION - “Jesus handed over according to the definite plan of God” - 599 Jesus' violent death was not the result of chance in an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances, Catechism 0599-0605 II. CHRIST'S REDEMPTIVE DEATH IN GOD'S PLAN OF SALVATION “Jesus handed over according to the definite plan of God” 599 Jesus' violent death was not the result of chance in an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances, but is part of the mystery of God's plan, as St. Peter explains to the Jews of Jerusalem in his first sermon on Pentecost: “This Jesus (was) delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.” [393] This Biblical language does not mean that those who handed him over were merely passive players in a scenario written in advance by God. [394] 600 To God, all moments of time are present in their immediacy. When therefore he establishes his eternal plan of “predestination”, he includes in it each person's free response to his grace: “In this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” [395] For the sake of accomplishing his plan of salvation, God permitted the acts that flowed from their blindness. [396] “He died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures” 601 The Scriptures had foretold this divine plan of salvation through the putting to death of “the righteous one, my Servant” as a mystery of universal redemption, that is, as the ransom that would free men from the slavery of sin. [397] Citing a confession of faith that he himself had “received”, St. Paul professes that “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.” [398] In particular Jesus' redemptive death fulfils Isaiah's prophecy of the suffering Servant. [399] Indeed Jesus himself explained the meaning of his life and death in the light of God's suffering Servant. [400] After his Resurrection he gave this interpretation of the Scriptures to the disciples at Emmaus, and then to the apostles. [401] “For our sake God made him to be sin” 602 Consequently, St. Peter can formulate the apostolic faith in the divine plan of salvation in this way: “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers... with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake.” [402] Man's sins, following on original sin, are punishable by death. [403] By sending his own Son in the form of a slave, in the form of a fallen humanity, on account of sin, God “made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” [404] 603 Jesus did not experience reprobation as if he himself had sinned. [405] But in the redeeming love that always united him to the Father, he assumed us in the state of our waywardness of sin, to the point that he could say in our name from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” [406] Having thus established him in solidarity with us sinners, God “did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all”, so that we might be “reconciled to God by the death of his Son”. [407] God takes the initiative of universal redeeming love 604 By giving up his own Son for our sins, God manifests that his plan for us is one of benevolent love, prior to any merit on our part: “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins.” [408] God “shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” [409] 605 At the end of the parable of the lost sheep Jesus recalled that God's love excludes no one: “So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” [410] He affirms that he came “to give his life as a ransom for many”; this last term is not restrictive, but contrasts the whole of humanity with the unique person of the redeemer who hands himself over to save us. [411] The Church, Brother Porter clean 5:21 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2500-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0321-episode-080-catechism-0595-0598 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0321-episode-080-catechism-0595-0598#comments Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:00:15 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0321-episode-080-catechism-0595-0598 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0321-episode-080-catechism-0595-0598/feed 0 Catechism 0595-0598 - Paragraph 2. JESUS DIED CRUCIFIED - I. THE TRIAL OF JESUS - Divisions among the Jewish authorities concerning Jesus - 595 Among the religious authorities of Jerusalem, not only were the Pharisee Nicodemus and the prominent Jos... Catechism 0595-0598 Paragraph 2. JESUS DIED CRUCIFIED I. THE TRIAL OF JESUS Divisions among the Jewish authorities concerning Jesus 595 Among the religious authorities of Jerusalem, not only were the Pharisee Nicodemus and the prominent Joseph of Arimathea both secret disciples of Jesus, but there was also long-standing dissension about him, so much so that St. John says of these authorities on the very eve of Christ's Passion, “many.. . believed in him”, though very imperfectly. [378] This is not surprising, if one recalls that on the day after Pentecost “a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith” and “some believers. . . belonged to the party of the Pharisees”, to the point that St. James could tell St. Paul, “How many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed; and they are all zealous for the Law.” [379] 596 The religious authorities in Jerusalem were not unanimous about what stance to take towards Jesus. [380] The Pharisees threatened to excommunicate his followers. [381] To those who feared that “everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation”, the high priest Caiaphas replied by prophesying: “It is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish.” [382] The Sanhedrin, having declared Jesus deserving of death as a blasphemer but having lost the right to put anyone to death, hands him over to the Romans, accusing him of political revolt, a charge that puts him in the same category as Barabbas who had been accused of sedition. [383] The chief priests also threatened Pilate politically so that he would condemn Jesus to death. [384] Jews are not collectively responsible for Jesus' death 597 The historical complexity of Jesus' trial is apparent in the Gospel accounts. the personal sin of the participants (Judas, the Sanhedrin, Pilate) is known to God alone. Hence we cannot lay responsibility for the trial on the Jews in Jerusalem as a whole, despite the outcry of a manipulated crowd and the global reproaches contained in the apostles' calls to conversion after Pentecost. [385] Jesus himself, in forgiving them on the cross, and Peter in following suit, both accept “the ignorance” of the Jews of Jerusalem and even of their leaders. [386] Still less can we extend responsibility to other Jews of different times and places, based merely on the crowd's cry: “His blood be on us and on our children!”, a formula for ratifying a judicial sentence. [387] As the Church declared at the Second Vatican Council: . . . Neither all Jews indiscriminately at that time, nor Jews today, can be charged with the crimes committed during his Passion. . . the Jews should not be spoken of as rejected or accursed as if this followed from holy Scripture. [388] All sinners were the authors of Christ's Passion 598 In her Magisterial teaching of the faith and in the witness of her saints, the Church has never forgotten that “sinners were the authors and the ministers of all the sufferings that the divine Redeemer endured.” [389] Taking into account the fact that our sins affect Christ himself, [390] The Church does not hesitate to impute to Christians the gravest responsibility for the torments inflicted upon Jesus, a responsibility with which they have all too often burdened the Jews alone: We must regard as guilty all those who continue to relapse into their sins. Since our sins made the Lord Christ suffer the torment of the cross, those who plunge themselves into disorders and crimes crucify the Son of God anew in their hearts (for he is in them) and hold him up to contempt. and it can be seen that our crime in this case is greater in us than in the Jews. As for them, according to the witness of the Apostle, “None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” We, however, profess to know him. Brother Porter clean 5:19 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2498-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0320-episode-079-catechism-0587-0594 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0320-episode-079-catechism-0587-0594#comments Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:14:35 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2496 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0320-episode-079-catechism-0587-0594/feed 0 Catechism 0587-0594 III. JESUS AND ISRAEL'S FAITH IN THE ONE GOD AND SAVIOUR 587 If the Law and the Jerusalem Temple could be occasions of opposition to Jesus by Israel's religious authorities, his role in the redemption of sins, Catechism 0587-0594 III. JESUS AND ISRAEL'S FAITH IN THE ONE GOD AND SAVIOUR 587 If the Law and the Jerusalem Temple could be occasions of opposition to Jesus by Israel's religious authorities, his role in the redemption of sins, the divine work par excellence, was the true stumbling-block for them. [363] 588 Jesus scandalized the Pharisees by eating with tax collectors and sinners as familiarly as with themselves. [364] Against those among them “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others”, Jesus affirmed: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” [365] He went further by proclaiming before the Pharisees that, since sin is universal, those who pretend not to need salvation are blind to themselves. [366] 589 Jesus gave scandal above all when he identified his merciful conduct toward sinners with God's own attitude toward them. [367] He went so far as to hint that by sharing the table of sinners he was admitting them to the messianic banquet. [368] But it was most especially by forgiving sins that Jesus placed the religious authorities of Israel on the horns of a dilemma. Were they not entitled to demand in consternation, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” [369] By forgiving sins Jesus either is blaspheming as a man who made himself God's equal, or is speaking the truth and his person really does make present and reveal God's name. [370] 590 Only the divine identity of Jesus' person can justify so absolute a claim as “He who is not with me is against me”; and his saying that there was in him “something greater than Jonah,. . . greater than Solomon”, something “greater than the Temple”; his reminder that David had called the Messiah his Lord, [371] and his affirmations, “Before Abraham was, I AM”, and even “I and the Father are one.” [372] 591 Jesus asked the religious authorities of Jerusalem to believe in him because of the Father's works which he accomplished. [373] But such an act of faith must go through a mysterious death to self, for a new “birth from above” under the influence of divine grace. [374] Such a demand for conversion in the face of so surprising a fulfilment of the promises [375] allows one to understand the Sanhedrin's tragic misunderstanding of Jesus: they judged that he deserved the death sentence as a blasphemer. [376] The members of the Sanhedrin were thus acting at the same time out of “ignorance” and the “hardness” of their “unbelief”. [377] IN BRIEF 592 Jesus did not abolish the Law of Sinai, but rather fulfilled it (cf Mt 5:17-19) with such perfection (cf Jn 8:46) that he revealed its ultimate meaning (cf Mt 5:33) and redeemed the transgressions against it (cf Heb 9:15). 593 Jesus venerated the Temple by going up to it for the Jewish feasts of pilgrimage, and with a jealous love he loved this dwelling of God among men. the Temple prefigures his own mystery. When he announces its destruction, it is as a manifestation of his own execution and of the entry into a new age in the history of salvation, when his Body would be the definitive Temple. 594 Jesus performed acts, such as pardoning sins, that manifested him to be the Saviour God himself (cf Jn 5:16-18). Certain Jews, who did not recognize God made man (cf Jn 1:14), saw in him only a man who made himself God ( Jn 10:33), and judged him as a blasphemer. 317 Cf. Mk 3:6; 14:1. 318 Cf. Mt 12:24; Mk 2:7, 14-17; 3:1-6; 7:14-23. 319 Cf. Mk 3:22; Jn 8:48; 10:20. 320 Cf. Mk 2:7; Jn 5:18; 7:12, 52; 8:59; 10:31, 33. 321 Lk 2:34. 322 Cf. Jn 1:19; 2:18; 5:10; 7:13; 9:22; 18:12; 19:38; 20:19. 323 Jn 7:48-49. 324 Cf Lk 13:31. 325 Cf. Lk 7:36; 14:1. 326 Cf. Mt 22:23-34; Lk 20:39. 327 Cf. Mt 6:18. 328 Cf. Mk 12:28-34. 329 Mt 5:17-19. 330 Mt 5:19. 331 Cf. Jn 8:46. 332 Cf. Jn 7:19; Acts 13:38-41; 15:10. 333 Jas 2:10; cf. Gal 3:10; 5:3. 334 Cf. Rom 10:2. 335 Cf. Mt 15:31; Lk 11:39-54. 336 Cf Is 53:11; Heb 9:15. 337 Cf. Gal 4:4. 338 Jer 31:33; Is 42:3, 6. Brother Porter clean 4:59 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2496-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0319-episode-078-catechism-0583-0586 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0319-episode-078-catechism-0583-0586#comments Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:00:11 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0319-episode-078-catechism-0583-0586 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0319-episode-078-catechism-0583-0586/feed 0 Catechism 0583-0586 - II. JESUS AND THE TEMPLE - 583 Like the prophets before him Jesus expressed the deepest respect for the Temple in Jerusalem. It was in the Temple that Joseph and Mary presented him forty days after his birth. Catechism 0583-0586 II. JESUS AND THE TEMPLE 583 Like the prophets before him Jesus expressed the deepest respect for the Temple in Jerusalem. It was in the Temple that Joseph and Mary presented him forty days after his birth. [349] At the age of twelve he decided to remain in the Temple to remind his parents that he must be about his Father's business. [350] He went there each year during his hidden life at least for Passover. [351] His public ministry itself was patterned by his pilgrimages to Jerusalem for the great Jewish feasts. [352] 584 Jesus went up to the Temple as the privileged place of encounter with God. For him, the Temple was the dwelling of his Father, a house of prayer, and he was angered that its outer court had become a place of commerce. [353] He drove merchants out of it because of jealous love for his Father: “You shall not make my Father's house a house of trade. His disciples remembered that it was written, 'Zeal for your house will consume me.'“ [354] After his Resurrection his apostles retained their reverence for the Temple. [355] 585 On the threshold of his Passion Jesus announced the coming destruction of this splendid building, of which there would not remain “one stone upon another”. [356] By doing so, he announced a sign of the last days, which were to begin with his own Passover. [357] But this prophecy would be distorted in its telling by false witnesses during his interrogation at the high priest's house, and would be thrown back at him as an insult when he was nailed to the cross. [358] 586 Far from having been hostile to the Temple, where he gave the essential part of his teaching, Jesus was willing to pay the Temple-tax, associating with him Peter, whom he had just made the foundation of his future Church. [359] He even identified himself with the Temple by presenting himself as God's definitive dwelling-place among men. [360] Therefore his being put to bodily death [361] presaged the destruction of the Temple, which would manifest the dawning of a new age in the history of salvation: “The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.” [362] Brother Porter clean 2:56 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2494-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0318-episode-077-catechism-0577-0582 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0318-episode-077-catechism-0577-0582#comments Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:56:45 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2492 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0318-episode-077-catechism-0577-0582/feed 0 Catechism 0577-0582 - I. JESUS AND THE LAW - 577 At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus issued a solemn warning in which he presented God's law, given on Sinai during the first covenant, in light of the grace of the New Covenant: - Catechism 0577-0582 I. JESUS AND THE LAW 577 At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus issued a solemn warning in which he presented God's law, given on Sinai during the first covenant, in light of the grace of the New Covenant: Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets: I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law, until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. [329] 578 Jesus, Israel's Messiah and therefore the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, was to fulfill the Law by keeping it in its all embracing detail - according to his own words, down to “the least of these commandments”. [330] He is in fact the only one who could keep it perfectly. [331] On their own admission the Jews were never able to observe the Law in its entirety without violating the least of its precepts. [332] This is why every year on the Day of Atonement the children of Israel ask God's forgiveness for their transgressions of the Law. the Law indeed makes up one inseparable whole, and St. James recalls, “Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.” [333] 579 This principle of integral observance of the Law not only in letter but in spirit was dear to the Pharisees. By giving Israel this principle they had led many Jews of Jesus' time to an extreme religious zeal. [334] This zeal, were it not to lapse into “hypocritical” casuistry, [335] could only prepare the People for the unprecedented intervention of God through the perfect fulfillment of the Law by the only Righteous One in place of all sinners. [336] 580 The perfect fulfillment of the Law could be the work of none but the divine legislator, born subject to the Law in the person of the Son. [337] In Jesus, the Law no longer appears engraved on tables of stone but “upon the heart” of the Servant who becomes “a covenant to the people”, because he will “faithfully bring forth justice”. [338] Jesus fulfils the Law to the point of taking upon himself “the curse of the Law” incurred by those who do not “abide by the things written in the book of the Law, and do them”, for his death took place to redeem them “from the transgressions under the first covenant”. [339] 581 The Jewish people and their spiritual leaders viewed Jesus as a rabbi. [340] He often argued within the framework of rabbinical interpretation of the Law. [341] Yet Jesus could not help but offend the teachers of the Law, for he was not content to propose his interpretation alongside theirs but taught the people “as one who had authority, and not as their scribes”. [342] In Jesus, the same Word of God that had resounded on Mount Sinai to give the written Law to Moses, made itself heard anew on the Mount of the Beatitudes. [343] Jesus did not abolish the Law but fulfilled it by giving its ultimate interpretation in a divine way: “You have heard that it was said to the men of old. . . But I say to you. . .” [344] With this same divine authority, he disavowed certain human traditions of the Pharisees that were “making void the word of God”. [345] 582 Going even further, Jesus perfects the dietary law, so important in Jewish daily life, by revealing its pedagogical meaning through a divine interpretation: “Whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him. . . (Thus he declared all foods clean.). . . What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts. . .” [346] In presenting with divine authority the definitive interpretation of the Law, Jesus found himself confronted by certain teachers of the Law who did not accept his interpretation of the Law, Brother Porter clean 5:28 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2492-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0316-episode-075-catechism-0561-0570 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0316-episode-075-catechism-0561-0570#comments Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:15:51 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2486 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0316-episode-075-catechism-0561-0570/feed 0 Catechism 0561-0570 - IN BRIEF - 561 “The whole of Christ's life was a continual teaching: his silences, his miracles, his gestures, his prayer, his love for people, his special affection for the little and the poor, Catechism 0561-0570 IN BRIEF 561 “The whole of Christ's life was a continual teaching: his silences, his miracles, his gestures, his prayer, his love for people, his special affection for the little and the poor, his acceptance of the total sacrifice on the Cross for the redemption of the world, and his Resurrection are the actualization of his word and the fulfilment of Revelation” John Paul II, CT 9). 562 Christ's disciples are to conform themselves to him until he is formed in them (cf Gal 4:19). “For this reason we, who have been made like to him, who have died with him and risen with him, are taken up into the mysteries of his life, until we reign together with him” (LG 7 # 4). 563 No one, whether shepherd or wise man, can approach God here below except by kneeling before the manger at Bethlehem and adoring him hidden in the weakness of a new-born child. 564 By his obedience to Mary and Joseph, as well as by his humble work during the long years in Nazareth, Jesus gives us the example of holiness in the daily life of family and work. 565 From the beginning of his public life, at his baptism, Jesus is the “Servant”, wholly consecrated to the redemptive work that he will accomplish by the “baptism” of his Passion. 566 The temptation in the desert shows Jesus, the humble Messiah, who triumphs over Satan by his total adherence to the plan of salvation willed by the Father. 567 The kingdom of heaven was inaugurated on earth by Christ. “This kingdom shone out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ” (LG 5). the Church is the seed and beginning of this kingdom. Its keys are entrusted to Peter. 568 Christ's Transfiguration aims at strengthening the apostles' faith in anticipation of his Passion: the ascent on to the “high mountain” prepares for the ascent to Calvary. Christ, Head of the Church, manifests what his Body contains and radiates in the sacraments: “the hope of glory” ( Col 1:27; cf.: St. Leo the Great, Sermo 51, 3: PL 54, 310C). 569 Jesus went up to Jerusalem voluntarily, knowing well that there he would die a violent death because of the opposition of sinners (cf Heb 12:3). 570 Jesus' entry into Jerusalem manifests the coming of the kingdom that the Messiah-King, welcomed into his city by children and the humble of heart, is going to accomplish by the Passover of his Death and Resurrection.171 172 Cf. Jn 20:30. 173 Jn 20:31. 174 Cf. Mk 1:1; Jn 21:24. 175 Cf Lk 2:7; Mt 27: 48; Jn 20:7. 176 Col 2:9. 177 Jn 14:9; Lk 9:35; cf. Mt 17:5; Mk 9:7, “my beloved Son”. 178 Jn 4:9[ETML:C/]. 179 Cf. Eph 1:7; Col 1:13-14; 2 Pt 1:18-19. 180 Cf. 2 Cor 8:9. 181 Cf. Lk 2:51. 182 Cf. Jn 15:3. 183 Mt 8:17; cf. Is 53:4. 184 Cf. Rom 4:25. 185 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3, 18, 1: PG 7/1, 932. 186 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3, 18, 7: PG 7/1, 937; cf. 2, 22, 4. 187 John Paul II, RH II. 188 I Cor 15:3; Rom 4:25. 189 I Jn 2:1 Heb 7:25. 190 Heb 9:24. 191 GS 38; cf. Rom 1 5:5; Phil 2:5. 192 Cf. Jn 13:15; Lk 11:1; Mt 5:11-12. 193 GS 22 # 2. 194 St. John Eudes: LH, week 33, Friday, OR. 195 Heb 9:15. 196 Cf. Acts 13:24; Mt 3:3[ETML:C/]. 197 Lk 1:76; cf. 7:26; Mt 11:13. 198 Jn 1 29; cf. Acts 1:22; Lk 1:41; 16:16; Jn 3:29. 199 Lk 1:17; cf. Mk 6:17-29. 200 Cf Rev 22:17. 201 Jn 3:30. 202 Cf. Lk 2:61. 203 Cf. Lk 2:8-20. 204 Kontakion of Romanos the Melodist. 205 Cf. Mt 18:3-4. 206 Jn 3 7; 1:13; 1:12; cf. Mt 23:12. 207 Cf. Gal 4:19. 208 LH, 1 January, Antiphon I of Evening Prayer. 209 Cf. Lk 2:21. 210 Cf. Gal 4:4. 211 Cf. Col 2:11-13. 212 Mt 2:1; cf. LH, Epiphany, Evening Prayer II, Antiphon at the Canticle    of Mary. 213 Cf Mt 2:2; Num 24:17-19; Rev 22:16. 214 Cf Jn 4 22; Mt 2:4-6. 215 St. Leo the Great, Sermo 3 in epiphania Domini 1-3, 5: PL 54, 242; LH,    Epiphany, OR; Roman Missal, Easter Vigil 26, Prayer after the third    reading. 216 Cf. Lk 2:22-39; EX 13:2, 12-13. 217 Cf. Mt 2:13-18. 218 Jn 1:11. 219 Cf. Jn 15:20. 220 Cf. Brother Porter clean 3:13 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2486-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0317-episode-076-catechism-0571-0576 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0317-episode-076-catechism-0571-0576#comments Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:15:42 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0317-episode-076-catechism-0571-0576 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0317-episode-076-catechism-0571-0576/feed 0 Catechism 0571-0576 - Article 4 - “JESUS CHRIST SUFFERED UNDER PONTIUS PILATE, WAS CRUCIFIED, DIED AND WAS BURIED” - 571 The Paschal mystery of Christ's cross and Resurrection stands at the centre of the Good News that the apostles, Catechism 0571-0576 Article 4 “JESUS CHRIST SUFFERED UNDER PONTIUS PILATE, WAS CRUCIFIED, DIED AND WAS BURIED” 571 The Paschal mystery of Christ's cross and Resurrection stands at the centre of the Good News that the apostles, and the Church following them, are to proclaim to the world. God's saving plan was accomplished “once for all” [313] by the redemptive death of his Son Jesus Christ. 572 The Church remains faithful to the interpretation of “all the Scriptures” that Jesus gave both before and after his Passover: “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” [314] Jesus' sufferings took their historical, concrete form from the fact that he was “rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes”, who handed “him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified”. [315] 573 Faith can therefore try to examine the circumstances of Jesus' death, faithfully handed on by the Gospels [316] and illuminated by other historical sources, the better to understand the meaning of the Redemption. 313 Heb 9:26. 314 Lk 24:26-27, 44-45. 315 Mk 8:31; Mt 20:19. 316 Cf. DV 19. Paragraph 1. JESUS AND ISRAEL 574 From the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, certain Pharisees and partisans of Herod together with priests and scribes agreed together to destroy him. [317] Because of certain acts of his expelling demons, forgiving sins, healing on the sabbath day, his novel interpretation of the precepts of the Law regarding purity, and his familiarity with tax collectors and public sinners [318]--some ill-intentioned persons suspected Jesus of demonic possession. [319] He is accused of blasphemy and false prophecy, religious crimes which the Law punished with death by stoning. [320] 575 Many of Jesus' deeds and words constituted a “sign of contradiction”, [321] but more so for the religious authorities in Jerusalem, whom the Gospel according to John often calls simply “the Jews”, [322] than for the ordinary People of God. [323] To be sure, Christ's relations with the Pharisees were not exclusively polemical. Some Pharisees warn him of the danger he was courting; [324] Jesus praises some of them, like the scribe of Mark 12:34, and dines several times at their homes. [325] Jesus endorses some of the teachings imparted by this religious elite of God's people: the resurrection of the dead, [326] certain forms of piety (almsgiving, fasting and prayer), [327] The custom of addressing God as Father, and the centrality of the commandment to love God and neighbour. [328] 576 In the eyes of many in Israel, Jesus seems to be acting against essential institutions of the Chosen People: - submission to the whole of the Law in its written commandments and, for the Pharisees, in the interpretation of oral tradition; - the centrality of the Temple at Jerusalem as the holy place where God's presence dwells in a special way; - faith in the one God whose glory no man can share. Brother Porter clean 3:45 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2489-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0315-episode-074-catechism-0557-0560 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0315-episode-074-catechism-0557-0560#comments Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:00:55 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0315-episode-074-catechism-0557-0560 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0315-episode-074-catechism-0557-0560/feed 0 Catechism 0557-0560 - Jesus' ascent to Jerusalem - 557 “When the days drew near for him to be taken up [Jesus] set his face to go to Jerusalem.” [304] By this decision he indicated that he was going up to Jerusalem prepared to die there. Catechism 0557-0560 Jesus' ascent to Jerusalem 557 “When the days drew near for him to be taken up [Jesus] set his face to go to Jerusalem.” [304] By this decision he indicated that he was going up to Jerusalem prepared to die there. Three times he had announced his Passion and Resurrection; now, heading toward Jerusalem, Jesus says: “It cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.” [305] 558 Jesus recalls the martyrdom of the prophets who had been put to death in Jerusalem. Nevertheless he persists in calling Jerusalem to gather around him: “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” [306] When Jerusalem comes into view he weeps over her and expresses once again his heart's desire: “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes.” [307] Jesus' messianic entrance into Jerusalem 559 How will Jerusalem welcome her Messiah? Although Jesus had always refused popular attempts to make him king, he chooses the time and prepares the details for his messianic entry into the city of “his father David”. [308] Acclaimed as son of David, as the one who brings salvation (Hosanna means “Save!” or “Give salvation!”), the “King of glory” enters his City “riding on an ass”. [309] Jesus conquers the Daughter of Zion, a figure of his Church, neither by ruse nor by violence, but by the humility that bears witness to the truth. [310] and so the subjects of his kingdom on that day are children and God's poor, who acclaim him as had the angels when they announced him to the shepherds. [311] Their acclamation, “Blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord”, [312] is taken up by the Church in the Sanctus of the Eucharistic liturgy that introduces the memorial of the Lord's Passover. 560 Jesus' entry into Jerusalem manifested the coming of the kingdom that the King-Messiah was going to accomplish by the Passover of his Death and Resurrection. It is with the celebration of that entry on Palm Sunday that the Church's liturgy solemnly opens Holy Week. Brother Porter clean 2:46 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2484-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0314-episode-073-catechism-0554-0556 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0314-episode-073-catechism-0554-0556#comments Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:29:03 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0314-episode-073-catechism-0554-0556 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0314-episode-073-catechism-0554-0556/feed 0 Catechism 0554-0556 - A foretaste of the kingdom: the Transfiguration - 554 From the day Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Master “began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things. . Catechism 0554-0556 A foretaste of the kingdom: the Transfiguration 554 From the day Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Master “began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things. . . and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” [290] Peter scorns this prediction, nor do the others understand it any better than he. [291] In this context the mysterious episode of Jesus' Transfiguration takes place on a high mountain, [292] before three witnesses chosen by himself: Peter, James and John. Jesus' face and clothes become dazzling with light, and Moses and Elijah appear, speaking “of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem”. [293] A cloud covers him and a voice from heaven says: “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” [294] 555 For a moment Jesus discloses his divine glory, confirming Peter's confession. He also reveals that he will have to go by the way of the cross at Jerusalem in order to “enter into his glory”. [295] Moses and Elijah had seen God's glory on the Mountain; the Law and the Prophets had announced the Messiah's sufferings. [296] Christ's Passion is the will of the Father: the Son acts as God's servant; [297] The cloud indicates the presence of the Holy Spirit. “The whole Trinity appeared: the Father in the voice; the Son in the man; the Spirit in the shining cloud.” [298] You were transfigured on the mountain, and your disciples, as much as they were capable of it, beheld your glory, O Christ our God, so that when they should see you crucified they would understand that your Passion was voluntary, and proclaim to the world that you truly are the splendour of the Father. [299] 556 On the threshold of the public life: the baptism; on the threshold of the Passover: the Transfiguration. Jesus' baptism proclaimed “the mystery of the first regeneration”, namely, our Baptism; the Transfiguration “is the sacrament of the second regeneration”: our own Resurrection. [300] From now on we share in the Lord's Resurrection through the Spirit who acts in the sacraments of the Body of Christ. the Transfiguration gives us a foretaste of Christ's glorious coming, when he “will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body.” [301] But it also recalls that “it is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God”: [302] Peter did not yet understand this when he wanted to remain with Christ on the mountain. It has been reserved for you, Peter, but for after death. For now, Jesus says: “Go down to toil on earth, to serve on earth, to be scorned and crucified on earth. Life goes down to be killed; Bread goes down to suffer hunger; the Way goes down to be exhausted on his journey; the Spring goes down to suffer thirst; and you refuse to suffer?” [303] Brother Porter clean 3:33 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2482-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0313-episode-072-catechism-0547-0553 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0313-episode-072-catechism-0547-0553#comments Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:19:32 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0313-episode-072-catechism-0547-0553 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0313-episode-072-catechism-0547-0553/feed 0 Catechism 0547-0553 - The signs of the kingdom of God - 547 Jesus accompanies his words with many “mighty works and wonders and signs”, which manifest that the kingdom is present in him and attest that he was the promised Messiah. [268] - Catechism 0547-0553 The signs of the kingdom of God 547 Jesus accompanies his words with many “mighty works and wonders and signs”, which manifest that the kingdom is present in him and attest that he was the promised Messiah. [268] 548 The signs worked by Jesus attest that the Father has sent him. They invite belief in him. [269] To those who turn to him in faith, he grants what they ask. [270] So miracles strengthen faith in the One who does his Father's works; they bear witness that he is the Son of God. [271] But his miracles can also be occasions for “offense”; [272] they are not intended to satisfy people's curiosity or desire for magic Despite his evident miracles some people reject Jesus; he is even accused of acting by the power of demons. [273] 549 By freeing some individuals from the earthly evils of hunger, injustice, illness and death, [274] Jesus performed messianic signs. Nevertheless he did not come to abolish all evils here below, [275] but to free men from the gravest slavery, sin, which thwarts them in their vocation as God's sons and causes all forms of human bondage. [276] 550 The coming of God's kingdom means the defeat of Satan's: “If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” [277] Jesus' exorcisms free some individuals from the domination of demons. They anticipate Jesus' great victory over “the ruler of this world”. [278] The kingdom of God will be definitively established through Christ's cross: “God reigned from the wood.” [279] “The keys of the kingdom” 551 From the beginning of his public life Jesus chose certain men, twelve in number, to be with him and to participate in his mission. [280] He gives the Twelve a share in his authority and 'sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal.” [281] They remain associated for ever with Christ's kingdom, for through them he directs the Church: As my Father appointed a kingdom for me, so do I appoint for you that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. [282] 552 Simon Peter holds the first place in the college of the Twelve; [283] Jesus entrusted a unique mission to him. Through a revelation from the Father, Peter had confessed: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Our Lord then declared to him: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” [284] Christ, the “living Stone”, [285] thus assures his Church, built on Peter, of victory over the powers of death. Because of the faith he confessed Peter will remain the unshakable rock of the Church. His mission will be to keep this faith from every lapse and to strengthen his brothers in it. [286] 553 Jesus entrusted a specific authority to Peter: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” [287] The “power of the keys” designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the Church. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, confirmed this mandate after his Resurrection: “Feed my sheep.” [288] The power to “bind and loose” connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgements, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church. Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of the apostles [289] and in particular through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom he specifically entrusted the keys of the kingdom. Brother Porter clean 4:10 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2480-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0209-episode-040-catechism-0315-0324 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0209-episode-040-catechism-0315-0324#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:09:52 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2478 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0209-episode-040-catechism-0315-0324/feed 0 Catechism 0315-0324 - IN BRIEF - 315 In the creation of the world and of man, God gave the first and universal witness to his almighty love and his wisdom, the first proclamation of the “plan of his loving goodness”, Catechism 0315-0324 IN BRIEF 315 In the creation of the world and of man, God gave the first and universal witness to his almighty love and his wisdom, the first proclamation of the “plan of his loving goodness”, which finds its goal in the new creation in Christ. 316 Though the work of creation is attributed to the Father in particular, it is equally a truth of faith that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit together are the one, indivisible principle of creation. 317 God alone created the universe, freely, directly and without any help. 318 No creature has the infinite power necessary to “create” in the proper sense of the word, that is, to produce and give being to that which had in no way possessed it to call into existence “out of nothing”) (cf  DS 3624). 319 God created the world to show forth and communicate his glory. That his creatures should share in his truth, goodness and beauty - this is the glory for which God created them. 320 God created the universe and keeps it in existence by his Word, the Son “upholding the universe by his word of power” ( Heb 1:3), and by his Creator Spirit, the giver of life. 321 Divine providence consists of the dispositions by which God guides all his creatures with wisdom and love to their ultimate end. 322 Christ invites us to filial trust in the providence of our heavenly Father (cf Mt 6:26-34), and St. Peter the apostle repeats: “Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you” ( I Pt 5:7; cf. Ps 55:23). 323 Divine providence works also through the actions of creatures. To human beings God grants the ability to co-operate freely with his plans. 324 The fact that God permits physical and even moral evil is a mystery that God illuminates by his Son Jesus Christ who died and rose to vanquish evil. Faith gives us the certainty that God would not permit an evil if he did not cause a good to come from that very evil, by ways that we shall fully know only in eternal life. 116 Gen 1:1. 117 GCD 51. 118 Gen 1:1; cf. Rom 8:18-23. 119 Cf. Egeria, Peregrinatio at loca sancta 46: PLS 1, 1047; St. Augustine,    De catechizantis rudibus 3, 5: PL 40, 256. 120 Cf. NA 2. 121 Wis 7: 17-22. 122 Cf. Vatican Council I, can. 2 # I: DS 3026. 123 Heb 11:3. 124 Cf. Acts 17:24-29; Rom 1:19-20. 125 Cf. Is 43:1; Pss 115:15; 124:8; 134:3. 126 Cf. Gen 15:5; Jer 33:19-26. 127 Cf. Is 44:24; Ps 104; Prov 8:22-31. 128 Gen 1:1. 129 Jn 1:1-3. 130 Col 1:16-17. 131 Cf. Nicene Creed: DS 150; Hymn Veni, Creator Spiritus; Byzantine    Troparion of Pentecost Vespers, “O heavenly King, Consoler”. 132 Cf. Pss 33 6; 104:30; Gen 1:2-3. 133 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 2, 30, 9; 4, 20, I: PG 7/1, 822, 1032. 134 Dei Filius, can. # 5: DS 3025. 135 St. Bonaventure, In II Sent. I, 2, 2, 1. 136 St. Thomas Aquinas, Sent. II, prol. 137 Dei Filius I: DS 3002; cf Lateran Council IV (1215): DS 800. 138 Eph 1:5-6. 139 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 4, 20, 7: PG 7/1, 1037. 140 AG 2; cf. I Cor 15:28. 141 Cf. Wis 9:9. 142 Rev 4:11. 143 Pss 104:24; 145:9. 144 Cf. Dei Filius, cann. 2-4: DS 3022-3024. 145 Lateran Council IV (1215): DS 800; cf. DS 3025. 146 St. Theophilus of Antioch, Ad Autolycum II, 4: PG 6, 1052. 147 2 Macc 7:22-21, 28. 148 Cf. Ps 51:12. 149 Rom 4:17. 150 Cf. Gen 1:3; 2 Cor 4:6. 151 Wis 11:20. 152 Col 1:15, Gen 1:26. 153 Cf. Ps 19:2-5; Job 42:3. 154 Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 31. 155 Cf. DS 286; 455-463; 800; 1333; 3002. 156 Ps 8:1; cf. Sir 43:28. 157 Ps 145:3. 158 Acts 17:28. 159 St. Augustine, Conf: 3, 6, 11: PL 32, 688. 160 Wis 11:24-26. 161 Vatican Council I, Dei Filius I: DS 3003; cf. Wis 8:1; Heb 4:13. 162 Ps 115:3. 163 Rev 3:7. 164 Prov 19:21. 165 Cf. Is 10:5-15; 45:51; Dt 32:39; Sir 11:14. 166 Cf. Pss 22; 32; 35; 103; 138; et al. 167 Mt 6:31-33; cf 10:29-31. 168 Cf. Gen 1:26-28. 169 Cf. Col 1:24. 170 I Cor 3:9; I Th 3:2; Col 4:11. 171 Phil 2:13; cf. I Cor 12:6. 172 GS 36 # 3. 173 Cf. Mt 19:26; Jn 15:5; 14:13 174 Cf. St. Brother Porter clean 2:53 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2478-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0208-episode-039-catechism-0309-0314 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0208-episode-039-catechism-0309-0314#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:05:37 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0208-episode-039-catechism-0309-0314 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0208-episode-039-catechism-0309-0314/feed 0 Catechism 0309-0314 - Providence and the scandal of evil - 309 If God the Father almighty, the Creator of the ordered and good world, cares for all his creatures, why does evil exist? To this question, as pressing as it is unavoidable and as painful ... Catechism 0309-0314 Providence and the scandal of evil 309 If God the Father almighty, the Creator of the ordered and good world, cares for all his creatures, why does evil exist? To this question, as pressing as it is unavoidable and as painful ... Brother Porter clean 5:09 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2476-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0207-episode-038-catechism-0302-0308 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0207-episode-038-catechism-0302-0308#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:00:31 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2474 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0207-episode-038-catechism-0302-0308/feed 0 Catechism 0302-0308 - V. GOD CARRIES OUT HIS PLAN: DIVINE PROVIDENCE - 302 Creation has its own goodness and proper perfection, but it did not spring forth complete from the hands of the Creator. the universe was created “in a state of journeying” (i... Catechism 0302-0308 V. GOD CARRIES OUT HIS PLAN: DIVINE PROVIDENCE 302 Creation has its own goodness and proper perfection, but it did not spring forth complete from the hands of the Creator. the universe was created “in a state of journeying” (in statu viae) toward an ultimate perfection yet to be attained, to which God has destined it. We call “divine providence” the dispositions by which God guides his creation toward this perfection: By his providence God protects and governs all things which he has made, “reaching mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and ordering all things well”. For “all are open and laid bare to his eyes”, even those things which are yet to come into existence through the free action of creatures. [161] 303 The witness of Scripture is unanimous that the solicitude of divine providence is concrete and immediate; God cares for all, from the least things to the great events of the world and its history. the sacred books powerfully affirm God's absolute sovereignty over the course of events: “Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases.” [162] and so it is with Christ, “who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens”. [163] As the book of Proverbs states: “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will be established.” [164] 304 And so we see the Holy Spirit, the principal author of Sacred Scripture, often attributing actions to God without mentioning any secondary causes. This is not a “primitive mode of speech”, but a profound way of recalling God's primacy and absolute Lordship over history and the world, [165] and so of educating his people to trust in him. the prayer of the Psalms is the great school of this trust. [166] 305 Jesus asks for childlike abandonment to the providence of our heavenly Father who takes care of his children's smallest needs: “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?”. . . Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” [167] Providence and secondary causes 306 God is the sovereign master of his plan. But to carry it out he also makes use of his creatures' co-operation. This use is not a sign of weakness, but rather a token of almighty God's greatness and goodness. For God grants his creatures not only their existence, but also the dignity of acting on their own, of being causes and principles for each other, and thus of co-operating in the accomplishment of his plan. 307 To human beings God even gives the power of freely sharing in his providence by entrusting them with the responsibility of “subduing” the earth and having dominion over it. [168] God thus enables men to be intelligent and free causes in order to complete the work of creation, to perfect its harmony for their own good and that of their neighbours. Though often unconscious collaborators with God's will, they can also enter deliberately into the divine plan by their actions, their prayers and their sufferings. [169] They then fully become “God's fellow workers” and co-workers for his kingdom. [170] 308 The truth that God is at work in all the actions of his creatures is inseparable from faith in God the Creator. God is the first cause who operates in and through secondary causes: “For God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” [171] Far from diminishing the creature's dignity, this truth enhances it. Drawn from nothingness by God's power, wisdom and goodness, it can do nothing if it is cut off from its origin, for “without a Creator the creature vanishes.” [172] Still less can a creature attain its ultimate end without the help of God's grace. [173] Brother Porter clean 4:36 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2474-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0312-episode-071-catechism-0541-0546 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0312-episode-071-catechism-0541-0546#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:39:03 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0312-episode-071-catechism-0541-0546 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0312-episode-071-catechism-0541-0546/feed 0 Catechism 0541-0546 “The kingdom of God is at hand” - 541 “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying: 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe in the gospel. Catechism 0541-0546 “The kingdom of God is at hand” 541 “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying: 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe in the gospel.'“ [246] “To carry out the will of the Father Christ inaugurated the kingdom of heaven on earth.” [247] Now the Father's will is “to raise up men to share in his own divine life”. [248] He does this by gathering men around his Son Jesus Christ. This gathering is the Church, “on earth the seed and beginning of that kingdoms”. [249] 542 Christ stands at the heart of this gathering of men into the “family of God”. By his word, through signs that manifest the reign of God, and by sending out his disciples, Jesus calls all people to come together around him. But above all in the great Paschal mystery - his death on the cross and his Resurrection - he would accomplish the coming of his kingdom. “and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” Into this union with Christ all men are called. [250] The proclamation of the kingdom of God 543 Everyone is called to enter the kingdom. First announced to the children of Israel, this messianic kingdom is intended to accept men of all nations. [251] To enter it, one must first accept Jesus' word: The word of the Lord is compared to a seed which is sown in a field; those who hear it with faith and are numbered among the little flock of Christ have truly received the kingdom. Then, by its own power, the seed sprouts and grows until the harvest. [252] 544 The kingdom belongs to the poor and lowly, which means those who have accepted it with humble hearts. Jesus is sent to “preach good news to the poor”; [253] he declares them blessed, for “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” [254] To them - the “little ones” the Father is pleased to reveal what remains hidden from the wise and the learned. [255] Jesus shares the life of the poor, from the cradle to the cross; he experiences hunger, thirst and privation. [256] Jesus identifies himself with the poor of every kind and makes active love toward them the condition for entering his kingdom. [257] 545 Jesus invites sinners to the table of the kingdom: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” [258] He invites them to that conversion without which one cannot enter the kingdom, but shows them in word and deed his Father's boundless mercy for them and the vast “joy in heaven over one sinner who repents”. [259] The supreme proof of his love will be the sacrifice of his own life “for the forgiveness of sins”. [260] 546 Jesus' invitation to enter his kingdom comes in the form of parables, a characteristic feature of his teaching. [261] Through his parables he invites people to the feast of the kingdom, but he also asks for a radical choice: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything. [262] Words are not enough, deeds are required. [263] The parables are like mirrors for man: will he be hard soil or good earth for the word? [264] What use has he made of the talents he has received? [265] Jesus and the presence of the kingdom in this world are secretly at the heart of the parables. One must enter the kingdom, that is, become a disciple of Christ, in order to “know the secrets of the kingdom.  For those who stay “outside”, everything remains enigmatic. [267] Brother Porter clean 4:20 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2467-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0311-episode-070-catechism-0535-0540 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0311-episode-070-catechism-0535-0540#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:25:42 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2465 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0311-episode-070-catechism-0535-0540/feed 0 Catechism 0535-0540 - III. THE MYSTERIES OF JESUS' PUBLIC LIFE - The baptism of Jesus - 535 Jesus' public life begins with his baptism by John in the Jordan. [228] John preaches “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”. Catechism 0535-0540 III. THE MYSTERIES OF JESUS' PUBLIC LIFE The baptism of Jesus 535 Jesus' public life begins with his baptism by John in the Jordan. [228] John preaches “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”. [229] A crowd of sinners [230] - tax collectors and soldiers, Pharisees and Sadducees, and prostitutes - come to be baptized by him. “Then Jesus appears.” the Baptist hesitates, but Jesus insists and receives baptism. Then the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, comes upon Jesus and a voice from heaven proclaims, “This is my beloved Son.” [231] This is the manifestation (“Epiphany”) of Jesus as Messiah of Israel and Son of God. 536 The baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and inauguration of his mission as God's suffering Servant. He allows himself to be numbered among sinners; he is already “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”. [232] Already he is anticipating the “baptism” of his bloody death. [233] Already he is coming to “fulfil all righteousness”, that is, he is submitting himself entirely to his Father's will: out of love he consents to this baptism of death for the remission of our sins. [234] The Father's voice responds to the Son's acceptance, proclaiming his entire delight in his Son. [235] The Spirit whom Jesus possessed in fullness from his conception comes to “rest on him”. [236] Jesus will be the source of the Spirit for all mankind. At his baptism “the heavens were opened” [237] - the heavens that Adam's sin had closed - and the waters were sanctified by the descent of Jesus and the Spirit, a prelude to the new creation. 537 Through Baptism the Christian is sacramentally assimilated to Jesus, who in his own baptism anticipates his death and resurrection. the Christian must enter into this mystery of humble self-abasement and repentance, go down into the water with Jesus in order to rise with him, be reborn of water and the Spirit so as to become the Father's beloved son in the Son and “walk in newness of life”: [238] Let us be buried with Christ by Baptism to rise with him; let us go down with him to be raised with him; and let us rise with him to be glorified with him. [239] Everything that happened to Christ lets us know that, after the bath of water, the Holy Spirit swoops down upon us from high heaven and that, adopted by the Father's voice, we become sons of God. [240] Jesus' temptations 538 The Gospels speak of a time of solitude for Jesus in the desert immediately after his baptism by John. Driven by the Spirit into the desert, Jesus remains there for forty days without eating; he lives among wild beasts, and angels minister to him. [241] At the end of this time Satan tempts him three times, seeking to compromise his filial attitude toward God. Jesus rebuffs these attacks, which recapitulate the temptations of Adam in Paradise and of Israel in the desert, and the devil leaves him “until an opportune time”. [242] 539 The evangelists indicate the salvific meaning of this mysterious event: Jesus is the new Adam who remained faithful just where the first Adam had given in to temptation. Jesus fulfils Israel's vocation perfectly: in contrast to those who had once provoked God during forty years in the desert, Christ reveals himself as God's Servant, totally obedient to the divine will. In this, Jesus is the devil's conqueror: he “binds the strong man” to take back his plunder. [243] Jesus' victory over the tempter in the desert anticipates victory at the Passion, the supreme act of obedience of his filial love for the Father. 540 Jesus' temptation reveals the way in which the Son of God is Messiah, contrary to the way Satan proposes to him and the way men wish to attribute to him. [244] This is why Christ vanquished the Tempter for us: “For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sinning. Brother Porter clean 5:37 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2465-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0310-episode-069-catechism-0531-0534 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0310-episode-069-catechism-0531-0534#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:09:30 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2463 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/oc-0310-episode-069-catechism-0531-0534/feed 0 Catechism 0531-0534 - The mysteries of Jesus' hidden life - 531 During the greater part of his life Jesus shared the condition of the vast majority of human beings: a daily life spent without evident greatness, a life of manual labour. Catechism 0531-0534 The mysteries of Jesus' hidden life 531 During the greater part of his life Jesus shared the condition of the vast majority of human beings: a daily life spent without evident greatness, a life of manual labour. His religious life was that of a Jew obedient to the law of God, [221] a life in the community. From this whole period it is revealed to us that Jesus was “obedient” to his parents and that he “increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favour with God and man.” [222] 532 Jesus' obedience to his mother and legal father fulfils the fourth commandment perfectly and was the temporal image of his filial obedience to his Father in heaven. the everyday obedience of Jesus to Joseph and Mary both announced and anticipated the obedience of Holy Thursday: “Not my will. . .” [223] The obedience of Christ in the daily routine of his hidden life was already inaugurating his work of restoring what the disobedience of Adam had destroyed. [224] 533 The hidden life at Nazareth allows everyone to enter into fellowship with Jesus by the most ordinary events of daily life: The home of Nazareth is the school where we begin to understand the life of Jesus - the school of the Gospel. First, then, a lesson of silence. May esteem for silence, that admirable and indispensable condition of mind, revive in us. . . A lesson on family life. May Nazareth teach us what family life is, its communion of love, its austere and simple beauty, and its sacred and inviolable character... A lesson of work. Nazareth, home of the “Carpenter's Son”, in you I would choose to understand and proclaim the severe and redeeming law of human work. . . To conclude, I want to greet all the workers of the world, holding up to them their great pattern their brother who is God. [225] 534 The finding of Jesus in the temple is the only event that breaks the silence of the Gospels about the hidden years of Jesus. [226] Here Jesus lets us catch a glimpse of the mystery of his total consecration to a mission that flows from his divine sonship: “Did you not know that I must be about my Father's work?” [227] Mary and Joseph did not understand these words, but they accepted them in faith. Mary “kept all these things in her heart” during the years Jesus remained hidden in the silence of an ordinary life. Brother Porter clean 3:05 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2463-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/pc-is-out-of-order-im-sorry http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/pc-is-out-of-order-im-sorry#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:52:30 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2461 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/03/pc-is-out-of-order-im-sorry/feed 0 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/oc-0206-episode-037-catechism-0295-0301 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/oc-0206-episode-037-catechism-0295-0301#comments Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:58:11 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2457 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/oc-0206-episode-037-catechism-0295-0301/feed 0 Catechism 0295-0301 - IV. THE MYSTERY OF CREATION - God creates by wisdom and love - 295 We believe that God created the world according to his wisdom. [141] It is not the product of any necessity whatever, nor of blind fate or chance. Catechism 0295-0301 IV. THE MYSTERY OF CREATION God creates by wisdom and love 295 We believe that God created the world according to his wisdom. [141] It is not the product of any necessity whatever, nor of blind fate or chance. We believe that it proceeds from God's free will; he wanted to make his creatures share in his being, wisdom and goodness: “For you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” [142] Therefore the Psalmist exclaims: “O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all”; and “The LORD is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.” [143] God creates “out of nothing” 296 We believe that God needs no pre-existent thing or any help in order to create, nor is creation any sort of necessary emanation from the divine substance. [144] God creates freely “out of nothing”: [145] If God had drawn the world from pre-existent matter, what would be so extraordinary in that? A human artisan makes from a given material whatever he wants, while God shows his power by starting from nothing to make all he wants. [146] 297 Scripture bears witness to faith in creation “out of nothing” as a truth full of promise and hope. Thus the mother of seven sons encourages them for martyrdom: I do not know how you came into being in my womb. It was not I who gave you life and breath, nor I who set in order the elements within each of you. Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning of man and devised the origin of all things, will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again, since you now forget yourselves for the sake of his laws. . . Look at the heaven and the earth and see everything that is in them, and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed. Thus also mankind comes into being. [147] 298 Since God could create everything out of nothing, he can also, through the Holy Spirit, give spiritual life to sinners by creating a pure heart in them, [148] and bodily life to the dead through the Resurrection. God “gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.” [149] and since God was able to make light shine in darkness by his Word, he can also give the light of faith to those who do not yet know him. [150] God creates an ordered and good world 299 Because God creates through wisdom, his creation is ordered: “You have arranged all things by measure and number and weight.” [151] The universe, created in and by the eternal Word, the “image of the invisible God”, is destined for and addressed to man, himself created in the “image of God” and called to a personal relationship with God. [152] Our human understanding, which shares in the light of the divine intellect, can understand what God tells us by means of his creation, though not without great effort and only in a spirit of humility and respect before the Creator and his work. [153] Because creation comes forth from God's goodness, it shares in that goodness - “and God saw that it was good. . . very good” [154]- for God willed creation as a gift addressed to man, an inheritance destined for and entrusted to him. On many occasions the Church has had to defend the goodness of creation, including that of the physical world. [155] God transcends creation and is present to it 300 God is infinitely greater than all his works: “You have set your glory above the heavens.” [156] Indeed, God's “greatness is unsearchable”. [157] But because he is the free and sovereign Creator, the first cause of all that exists, God is present to his creatures' inmost being: “In him we live and move and have our being.” [158] In the words of St. Augustine, God is “higher than my highest and more inward than my innermost self”. [159] God upholds and sustains creation 301 With creation, God does not abandon his creatures to themselves. He not only gives them being and existence, but also, and at every moment, Brother Porter clean 6:14 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2457-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/oc-0205-episode-036-catechism-0290-0294 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/oc-0205-episode-036-catechism-0290-0294#comments Sat, 27 Feb 2010 22:07:55 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2444 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/oc-0205-episode-036-catechism-0290-0294/feed 0 Catechism 0290-0294 Today's Question: 297. Who says that “the world was created for the glory of God”? II. CREATION - WORK OF THE HOLY TRINITY 290 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”: [128] three things are affirmed in these first... Catechism 0290-0294 Today's Question: 297. Who says that “the world was created for the glory of God”? II. CREATION - WORK OF THE HOLY TRINITY 290 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”: [128] three things are affirmed in these first... Brother Porter clean 4:59 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2444-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/pc-stil-in-4-repairs http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/pc-stil-in-4-repairs#comments Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:33:35 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2438 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/pc-stil-in-4-repairs/feed 0 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/pc-is-out-of-service http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/pc-is-out-of-service#comments Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:25:41 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2436 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/pc-is-out-of-service/feed 0 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/oc-0204-episode-035-catechism-0282-0289 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/oc-0204-episode-035-catechism-0282-0289#comments Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:34:25 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2434 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/oc-0204-episode-035-catechism-0282-0289/feed 0 Catechism 0282-0289 - Today's Question: What are the four major non-Christian accounts of the world’s origin and end? - I. CATECHESIS ON CREATION - 282 Catechesis on creation is of major importance. It concerns the very foundations of human and Chr... Catechism 0282-0289 Today's Question: What are the four major non-Christian accounts of the world’s origin and end? I. CATECHESIS ON CREATION 282 Catechesis on creation is of major importance. It concerns the very foundations of human and Christian life: for it makes explicit the response of the Christian faith to the basic question that men of all times have asked themselves: [120] “Where do we come from?” “Where are we going?” “What is our origin?” “What is our end?” “Where does everything that exists come from and where is it going?” the two questions, the first about the origin and the second about the end, are inseparable. They are decisive for the meaning and orientation of our life and actions. 283 The question about the origins of the world and of man has been the object of many scientific studies which have splendidly enriched our knowledge of the age and dimensions of the cosmos, the development of life-forms and the appearance of man. These discoveries invite us to even greater admiration for the greatness of the Creator, prompting us to give him thanks for all his works and for the understanding and wisdom he gives to scholars and researchers. With Solomon they can say: “It is he who gave me unerring knowledge of what exists, to know the structure of the world and the activity of the elements. . . for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me.” [121] 284 The great interest accorded to these studies is strongly stimulated by a question of another order, which goes beyond the proper domain of the natural sciences. It is not only a question of knowing when and how the universe arose physically, or when man appeared, but rather of discovering the meaning of such an origin: is the universe governed by chance, blind fate, anonymous necessity, or by a transcendent, intelligent and good Being called “God”? and if the world does come from God's wisdom and goodness, why is there evil? Where does it come from? Who is responsible for it? Is there any liberation from it? 285 Since the beginning the Christian faith has been challenged by responses to the question of origins that differ from its own. Ancient religions and cultures produced many myths concerning origins. Some philosophers have said that everything is God, that the world is God, or that the development of the world is the development of God (Pantheism). Others have said that the world is a necessary emanation arising from God and returning to him. Still others have affirmed the existence of two eternal principles, Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, locked, in permanent conflict (Dualism, Manichaeism). According to some of these conceptions, the world (at least the physical world) is evil, the product of a fall, and is thus to be rejected or left behind (Gnosticism). Some admit that the world was made by God, but as by a watch-maker who, once he has made a watch, abandons it to itself (Deism). Finally, others reject any transcendent origin for the world, but see it as merely the interplay of matter that has always existed (Materialism). All these attempts bear witness to the permanence and universality of the question of origins. This inquiry is distinctively human. 286 Human intelligence is surely already capable of finding a response to the question of origins. the existence of God the Creator can be known with certainty through his works, by the light of human reason, [122] even if this knowledge is often obscured and disfigured by error. This is why faith comes to confirm and enlighten reason in the correct understanding of this truth: “By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear.” [123] 287 The truth about creation is so important for all of human life that God in his tenderness wanted to reveal to his People everything that is salutary to know on the subject. Beyond the natural knowledge that every man can have of the Creator, Brother Porter clean 7:50 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2434-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/oc-0203-episode-034-catechism-0275-0281 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/oc-0203-episode-034-catechism-0275-0281#comments Sat, 06 Feb 2010 16:57:07 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2431 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/oc-0203-episode-034-catechism-0275-0281/feed 0 Catechism 0275-0281 - Today's question: Why does the Church often address the almighty God in her prayers? - IN BRIEF - 275 With Job, the just man, we confess: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” ( Job ... Catechism 0275-0281 Today's question: Why does the Church often address the almighty God in her prayers? IN BRIEF 275 With Job, the just man, we confess: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” ( Job 42:2). 276 Faithful to the witness of Scripture, the Church often addresses her prayer to the “almighty and eternal God” (“omnipotens sempiterne Deus. . .”), believing firmly that “nothing will be impossible with God” ( Gen 18:14; Lk 1:37; Mt 19:26). 277 God shows forth his almighty power by converting us from our sins and restoring us to his friendship by grace. “God, you show your almighty power above all in your mercy and forgiveness. . .” (Roman Missal, 26th Sunday, Opening Prayer). 278 If we do not believe that God's love is almighty, how can we believe that the Father could create us, the Son redeem us and the Holy Spirit sanctify us? 103 Cf. Gen 1:1; Jn 1:3; Mt 6:9; 2 Cor 12:9; cf. I Cor 1:18. 104 Ps 115:3. 105 Gen 49:24; Is 1:24 etc.; Pss 24:8-10; 135 6. 106 Cf. Jer 27:5; 32:17; Lk 1:37 107 Wis 11:21; cf. Esth 4:17b; Prov 21:1; Tob 13:2. 108 Wis 11:23. 109 2 Cor 6:18; cf. Mt 6:32. 110 St. Thomas Aquinas, STh I, 25, 5, ad I. 111 1 Cor 1:24-25. 112 Eph 1:19-22. 113 Cf. 2 Cor 12:9; Phil 4:13. 114 Lk 1:37, 49. 115 Roman Catechism I, 2, 13 Paragraph 4. THE CREATOR 279 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” [116] Holy Scripture begins with these solemn words. the profession of faith takes them up when it confesses that God the Father almighty is “Creator of heaven and earth” (Apostles' Creed), “of all that is, seen and unseen” (Nicene Creed). We shall speak first of the Creator, then of creation and finally of the fall into sin from which Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to raise us up again. 280 Creation is the foundation of “all God's saving plans,” the “beginning of the history of salvation” [117] that culminates in Christ. Conversely, the mystery of Christ casts conclusive light on the mystery of creation and reveals the end for which “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”: from the beginning, God envisaged the glory of the new creation in Christ. [118] 281 And so the readings of the Easter Vigil, the celebration of the new creation in Christ, begin with the creation account; likewise in the Byzantine liturgy, the account of creation always constitutes the first reading at the vigils of the great feasts of the Lord. According to ancient witnesses the instruction of catechumens for Baptism followed the same itinerary. [119] The answer to today's question: (CCC 276) The Church often addresses the almighty God in her prayers, because she believes that nothing is impossible with God. Brother Porter clean 1:32 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2431-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/oc-0202-episode-033-catechism-0268-0274 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/oc-0202-episode-033-catechism-0268-0274#comments Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:45:54 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/oc-0202-episode-033-catechism-0268-0274 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/oc-0202-episode-033-catechism-0268-0274/feed 0 Catechism 0268-0274 - Today's question: What is the only attribute of God mentioned in the Creed? - Paragraph 3. THE ALMIGHTY - 268 of all the divine attributes, only God's omnipotence is named in the Creed: to confess this power has great bearing ... Catechism 0268-0274 Today's question: What is the only attribute of God mentioned in the Creed? Paragraph 3. THE ALMIGHTY 268 of all the divine attributes, only God's omnipotence is named in the Creed: to confess this power has great bearing on our lives. We believe that his might is universal, for God who created everything also rules everything and can do everything. God's power is loving, for he is our Father, and mysterious, for only faith can discern it when it “is made perfect in weakness”. [103] “He does whatever he pleases” [104] 269 The Holy Scriptures repeatedly confess the universal power of God. He is called the “Mighty One of Jacob”, the “LORD of hosts”, the “strong and mighty” one. If God is almighty “in heaven and on earth”, it is because he made them. [105] Nothing is impossible with God, who disposes his works according to his will. [106] He is the Lord of the universe, whose order he established and which remains wholly subject to him and at his disposal. He is master of history, governing hearts and events in keeping with his will: “It is always in your power to show great strength, and who can withstand the strength of your arm? [107] “You are merciful to all, for you can do all thing” [108] 270 God is the Father Almighty, whose fatherhood and power shed light on one another: God reveals his fatherly omnipotence by the way he takes care of our needs; by the filial adoption that he gives us (“I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty”): [109] finally by his infinite mercy, for he displays his power at its height by freely forgiving sins. 271 God's almighty power is in no way arbitrary: “In God, power, essence, will, intellect, wisdom, and justice are all identical. Nothing therefore can be in God's power which could not be in his just will or his wise intellect.” [110] The mystery of God's apparent powerlessness 272 Faith in God the Father Almighty can be put to the test by the experience of evil and suffering. God can sometimes seem to be absent and incapable of stopping evil. But in the most mysterious way God the Father has revealed his almighty power in the voluntary humiliation and Resurrection of his Son, by which he conquered evil. Christ crucified is thus “the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” [111] It is in Christ's Resurrection and exaltation that the Father has shown forth “the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe”. [112] 273 Only faith can embrace the mysterious ways of God's almighty power. This faith glories in its weaknesses in order to draw to itself Christ's power. [113] The Virgin Mary is the supreme model of this faith, for she believed that “nothing will be impossible with God”, and was able to magnify the Lord: “For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” [114] 274 “Nothing is more apt to confirm our faith and hope than holding it fixed in our minds that nothing is impossible with God. Once our reason has grasped the idea of God's almighty power, it will easily and without any hesitation admit everything that [the Creed] will afterwards propose for us to believe - even if they be great and marvellous things, far above the ordinary laws of nature.” [115] The answer to today's question: (CCC 268) The only attribute of God mentioned in the Creed is His omnipotence. Brother Porter clean 4:43 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2429-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/oc-0201-episode-032-catechism-0257-0267 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/oc-0201-episode-032-catechism-0257-0267#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:06:38 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2427 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/02/oc-0201-episode-032-catechism-0257-0267/feed 0 Catechism 0257-0267 - Today's question: When are we called to share in the life of the Blessed Trinity? - IV. THE DIVINE WORKS AND THE TRINITARIAN MISSIONS - 257 “O blessed light, O Trinity and first Unity!” [93] God is eternal blessedness, Catechism 0257-0267 Today's question: When are we called to share in the life of the Blessed Trinity? IV. THE DIVINE WORKS AND THE TRINITARIAN MISSIONS 257 “O blessed light, O Trinity and first Unity!” [93] God is eternal blessedness, undying life, unfading light. God is love: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God freely wills to communicate the glory of his blessed life. Such is the “plan of his loving kindness”, conceived by the Father before the foundation of the world, in his beloved Son: “He destined us in love to be his sons” and “to be conformed to the image of his Son”, through “the spirit of sonship”. [94] This plan is a “grace [which] was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began”, stemming immediately from Trinitarian love. [95] It unfolds in the work of creation, the whole history of salvation after the fall, and the missions of the Son and the Spirit, which are continued in the mission of the Church. [96] 258 The whole divine economy is the common work of the three divine persons. For as the Trinity has only one and the same natures so too does it have only one and the same operation: “The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are not three principles of creation but one principle.” [97] However, each divine person performs the common work according to his unique personal property. Thus the Church confesses, following the New Testament, “one God and Father from whom all things are, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things are, and one Holy Spirit in whom all things are”. [98] It is above all the divine missions of the Son's Incarnation and the gift of the Holy Spirit that show forth the properties of the divine persons. 259 Being a work at once common and personal, the whole divine economy makes known both what is proper to the divine persons, and their one divine nature. Hence the whole Christian life is a communion with each of the divine persons, without in any way separating them. Everyone who glorifies the Father does so through the Son in the Holy Spirit; everyone who follows Christ does so because the Father draws him and the Spirit moves him. [99] 260 The ultimate end of the whole divine economy is the entry of God's creatures into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity. [100] But even now we are called to be a dwelling for the Most Holy Trinity: “If a man loves me”, says the Lord, “he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him”: [101] O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely so to establish myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to trouble my peace or make me leave you, O my unchanging God, but may each minute bring me more deeply into your mystery! Grant my soul peace. Make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling and the place of your rest. May I never abandon you there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring, and wholly given over to your creative action. [102] IN BRIEF 261 The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and of Christian life. God alone can make it known to us by revealing himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 262 The Incarnation of God's Son reveals that God is the eternal Father and that the Son is consubstantial with the Father, which means that, in the Father and with the Father the Son is one and the same God. 263 The mission of the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father in the name of the Son ( Jn 14:26) and by the Son “from the Father” ( Jn 15:26), reveals that, with them, the Spirit is one and the same God. “With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified” (Nicene Creed). 264 “The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father as the first principle and, by the eternal gift of this to the Son, from the communion of both the Father and the Son” (St. Augustine, De Trin. 15, 26, 47: PL 42, 1095). Brother Porter clean 6:16 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2427-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0131-episode-031-catechism-0249-0256 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0131-episode-031-catechism-0249-0256#comments Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:52:10 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2425 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0131-episode-031-catechism-0249-0256/feed 0 Catechism 0249-0256 - Today's question: Where is the first appearance of the Holy Trinity in the teaching of the Faith? - III. THE HOLY TRINITY IN THE TEACHING OF THE FAITH - The formation of the Trinitarian dogma - 249 From the beginning, Catechism 0249-0256 Today's question: Where is the first appearance of the Holy Trinity in the teaching of the Faith? III. THE HOLY TRINITY IN THE TEACHING OF THE FAITH The formation of the Trinitarian dogma 249 From the beginning, the re... Brother Porter clean 7:09 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2425-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0130-episode-030-catechism-0238-0248 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0130-episode-030-catechism-0238-0248#comments Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:36:28 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2423 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0130-episode-030-catechism-0238-0248/feed 0 Catechism 0238-0248 - Today's question: Who was the first pope to confess the “filióque”? - II. THE REVELATION OF GOD AS TRINITY - The Father revealed by the Son - 238 Many religions invoke God as “Father”. Catechism 0238-0248 Today's question: Who was the first pope to confess the “filióque”? II. THE REVELATION OF GOD AS TRINITY The Father revealed by the Son 238 Many religions invoke God as “Father”. the deity is often considered the “father of gods and of men”. In Israel, God is called “Father” inasmuch as he is Creator of the world. [59] Even more, God is Father because of the covenant and the gift of the law to Israel, “his first-born son”. [60] God is also called the Father of the king of Israel. Most especially he is “the Father of the poor”, of the orphaned and the widowed, who are under his loving protection. [61] 239 By calling God “Father”, the language of faith indicates two main things: that God is the first origin of everything and transcendent authority; and that he is at the same time goodness and loving care for all his children. God's parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood, [62] which emphasizes God's immanence, the intimacy between Creator and creature. the language of faith thus draws on the human experience of parents, who are in a way the first representatives of God for man. But this experience also tells us that human parents are fallible and can disfigure the face of fatherhood and motherhood. We ought therefore to recall that God transcends the human distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor woman: he is God. He also transcends human fatherhood and motherhood, although he is their origin and standard: [63] no one is father as God is Father. 240 Jesus revealed that God is Father in an unheard-of sense: he is Father not only in being Creator; he is eternally Father by his relationship to his only Son who, reciprocally, is Son only in relation to his Father: “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” [64] 241 For this reason the apostles confess Jesus to be the Word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”; as “the image of the invisible God”; as the “radiance of the glory of God and the very stamp of his nature”. [65] 242 Following this apostolic tradition, the Church confessed at the first ecumenical council at Nicaea (325) that the Son is “consubstantial” with the Father, that is, one only God with him. [66] The second ecumenical council, held at Constantinople in 381, kept this expression in its formulation of the Nicene Creed and confessed “the only-begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father”. [67] The Father and the son revealed by the spirit 243 Before his Passover, Jesus announced the sending of “another Paraclete” (Advocate), the Holy Spirit. At work since creation, having previously “spoken through the prophets”, the Spirit will now be with and in the disciples, to teach them and guide them “into all the truth”. [68] The Holy Spirit is thus revealed as another divine person with Jesus and the Father. 244 The eternal origin of the Holy Spirit is revealed in his mission in time. the Spirit is sent to the apostles and to the Church both by the Father in the name of the Son, and by the Son in person, once he had returned to the Father. [69] The sending of the person of the Spirit after Jesus' glorification [70] reveals in its fullness the mystery of the Holy Trinity. 245 The apostolic faith concerning the Spirit was confessed by the second ecumenical council at Constantinople (381): “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father.” [71] By this confession, the Church recognizes the Father as “the source and origin of the whole divinity”. [72] But the eternal origin of the Spirit is not unconnected with the Son's origin: “The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is God, one and equal with the Father and the Son, Brother Porter clean 9:27 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2423-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0129-episode-029-catechism-0232-0237 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0129-episode-029-catechism-0232-0237#comments Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:38:09 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0129-episode-029-catechism-0232-0237 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0129-episode-029-catechism-0232-0237/feed 0 Catechism 0232-0237 - Today's question: Why is the Trinity a “mystery of Faith in the strict sense”? - Paragraph 2. THE FATHER - I. “IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT” - 232 Christians are baptized “in the name of the... Catechism 0232-0237 Today's question: Why is the Trinity a “mystery of Faith in the strict sense”? Paragraph 2. THE FATHER I. “IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT” 232 Christians are baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” [53] Before receiving the sacrament, they respond to a three-part question when asked to confess the Father, the Son and the Spirit: “I do.” “The faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity.” [54] 233 Christians are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: not in their names, [55] for there is only one God, the almighty Father, his only Son and the Holy Spirit: the Most Holy Trinity. 234 The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the “hierarchy of the truths of faith”. [56] The whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men “and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin”. [57] 235 This paragraph expounds briefly (I) how the mystery of the Blessed Trinity was revealed, (II) how the Church has articulated the doctrine of the faith regarding this mystery, and (III) how, by the divine missions of the Son and the Holy Spirit, God the Father fulfils the “plan of his loving goodness” of creation, redemption and sanctification. 236 The Fathers of the Church distinguish between theology (theologia) and economy (oikonomia). “Theology” refers to the mystery of God's inmost life within the Blessed Trinity and “economy” to all the works by which God reveals himself and communicates his life. Through the oikonomia the theologia is revealed to us; but conversely, the theologia illuminates the whole oikonomia. God's works reveal who he is in himself; the mystery of his inmost being enlightens our understanding of all his works. So it is, analogously, among human persons. A person discloses himself in his actions, and the better we know a person, the better we understand his actions. 237 The Trinity is a mystery of faith in the strict sense, one of the “mysteries that are hidden in God, which can never be known unless they are revealed by God”. [58] To be sure, God has left traces of his Trinitarian being in his work of creation and in his Revelation throughout the Old Testament. But his inmost Being as Holy Trinity is a mystery that is inaccessible to reason alone or even to Israel's faith before the Incarnation of God's Son and the sending of the Holy Spirit. The answer to today's question: (CCC 237) The Trinity is a “mystery of Faith in the strict sense”, because it can never be known unless it is revealed by God. Brother Porter clean 3:38 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2421-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0128-episode-028-catechism-0222-0231 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0128-episode-028-catechism-0222-0231#comments Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:54:08 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2418 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0128-episode-028-catechism-0222-0231/feed 0 Catechism 0222-0231 - Today's question: As what has God revealed Himself? - IV. THE IMPLICATIONS OF FAITH IN ONE GOD - 222 Believing in God, the only One, and loving him with all our being has enormous consequences for our whole life. - Catechism 0222-0231 Today's question: As what has God revealed Himself? IV. THE IMPLICATIONS OF FAITH IN ONE GOD 222 Believing in God, the only One, and loving him with all our being has enormous consequences for our whole life. 223 It means coming to know God's greatness and majesty: “Behold, God is great, and we know him not.” [46] Therefore, we must “serve God first”. [47] 224 It means living in thanksgiving: if God is the only One, everything we are and have comes from him: “What have you that you did not receive?” [48] “What shall I render to the LORD for all his bounty to me?” [49] 225 It means knowing the unity and true dignity of all men: everyone is made in the image and likeness of God. [50] 226 It means making good use of created things: faith in God, the only One, leads us to use everything that is not God only insofar as it brings us closer to him, and to detach ourselves from it insofar as it turns us away from him: My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you. My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you. [51] 227 It means trusting God in every circumstance, even in adversity. A prayer of St. Teresa of Jesus wonderfully expresses this trust: Let nothing trouble you / Let nothing frighten you Everything passes / God never changes Patience / Obtains all Whoever has God / Wants for nothing God alone is enough. [52] IN BRIEF 228 “Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD...” ( Dt 6:4; Mk 12:29). “The supreme being must be unique, without equal. . . If God is not one, he is not God” (Tertullian, Adv. Marc., 1, 3, 5: PL 2, 274). 229 Faith in God leads us to turn to him alone as our first origin and our ultimate goal, and neither to prefer anything to him nor to substitute anything for him. 230 Even when he reveals himself, God remains a mystery beyond words: “If you understood him, it would not be God” (St. Augustine, Sermo 52, 6, 16: PL 38, 360 and Sermo 117, 3, 5: PL 38, 663). 231 The God of our faith has revealed himself as HE WHO IS; and he has made himself known as “abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” ( Ex 34:6). God's very being is Truth and Love. 2 Roman Catechism I, 2, 2. 3 Roman Catechism I, 2, 2. 4 Dt 6:45. 5 Is 45:22-24; cf. Phil 2:10-11. 6 Mk 12:29-30 7 Cf. Mk 12:35-37. 9 EX 3:6 10 EX 3:13-15 11 Cf. Is 45:15; Judg 13:18 12 EX 3:6, 12 13 Cf. EX 3:5-6 14 Is 6:5 15 Lk 5:8 16 Hos 11:9 17 I Jn 3:19-20 18 Cf. Ex 32; 33: 12-17 19 Ex 33:18-19. 20 Ex 34:5-6; cf. 34:9 21 Ex 34:7 22 Eph 2:4 23 Jn 8:28 (Greek). 24 Cf. Is 44:6 25 Ps 102:26-27 26 Jas 1:17 27 Ex 34:6 28 Ps 138:2; cf. Ps 85:11 29 I Jn 1:5; 4:8 30 Ps 119:160 31 2 Sam 7:28 32 Cf. Dt 7:9 33 Cf Wis 13:1-9. 34 Cf Ps 115:15; Wis 7:17-21. 35 Mal 2:6. 36 Jn 18:37. 37 I Jn 5:20; cf. Jn 17:3. 38 Cf. Dt 4:37; 7:8; 10:15. 39 Cf. Is 43:1-7; Hos 2. 40 Jn 3:16; cf. Hos 11:1; Is 49:14-15; 62 :4-5; Ezek 16; Hos 11. 41 Is 54:8. 42 Is 54: 10; cf. 54:8. 43 Jer 31:3. 44 l Jn 4:8, 16 45 Cf. I Cor 2:7-16; Eph 3:9-12. 46 Job 36:26. 47 St. Joan of Arc. 48 I Cor 4:7. 49 Ps 116:12. 50 Gen 1:26. 51 St. Nicholas of Flue; cf. Mt 5:29-30; 16:24-26. 52 St. Teresa of Jesus, Poesias 30 in the Collected Works of St. Teresa of    Avila, vol. III, tr. K. Kavanaugh OCD and O. Rodriguez OCD (Washington DC    Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1985), 386 no. 9. tr. John Wall. The answer to today's question: (CCC 231) God has revealed Himself as the one (1) who is (2) Truth and (3) Love. Brother Porter clean 3:34 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2418-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0126-episode-026-catechism-0210-0213 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0126-episode-026-catechism-0210-0213#comments Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:20:27 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0126-episode-026-catechism-0210-0213 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0126-episode-026-catechism-0210-0213/feed 0 Catechism 0210-0213 - Today's question: What is God, “He who is” chiefly and essentially? - “A God merciful and gracious” - 210 After Israel's sin, when the people had turned away from God to worship the golden calf, Catechism 0210-0213 Today's question: What is God, “He who is” chiefly and essentially? “A God merciful and gracious” 210 After Israel's sin, when the people had turned away from God to worship the golden calf, God hears Moses' prayer of intercession and agrees to walk in the midst of an unfaithful people, thus demonstrating his love. [18] When Moses asks to see his glory, God responds “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name “the LORD” [YHWH].” [19] Then the LORD passes before Moses and proclaims, “YHWH, YHWH, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”; Moses then confesses that the LORD is a forgiving God. [20] 211 The divine name, “I Am” or “He Is”, expresses God's faithfulness: despite the faithlessness of men's sin and the punishment it deserves, he keeps “steadfast love for thousands”. [21] By going so far as to give up his own Son for us, God reveals that he is “rich in mercy”. [22] By giving his life to free us from sin, Jesus reveals that he himself bears the divine name: “When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will realize that “I AM”.” [23] God alone IS 212 Over the centuries, Israel's faith was able to manifest and deepen realization of the riches contained in the revelation of the divine name. God is unique; there are no other gods besides him. [24] He transcends the world and history. He made heaven and earth: “They will perish, but you endure; they will all wear out like a garment....but you are the same, and your years have no end.” [25] In God “there is no variation or shadow due to change.” [26] God is “HE WHO IS”, from everlasting to everlasting, and as such remains ever faithful to himself and to his promises. 213 The revelation of the ineffable name “I AM WHO AM” contains then the truth that God alone IS. the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, and following it the Church's Tradition, understood the divine name in this sense: God is the fullness of Being and of every perfection, without origin and without end. All creatures receive all that they are and have from him; but he alone is his very being, and he is of himself everything that he is. The answer to today's question: (CCC 214) God, “He who is” is chiefly and essentially Truth and Love. Brother Porter clean 3:28 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2413-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0127-episode-027-catechism-0214-0221 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0127-episode-027-catechism-0214-0221#comments Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:20:09 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2415 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0127-episode-027-catechism-0214-0221/feed 0 Catechism 0214-0221 - Today's question: In what three ways does God’s truth particularly shine forth? - III. GOD, “HE WHO IS”, IS TRUTH AND LOVE - 214 God, “HE WHO IS”, revealed himself to Israel as the one “abounding in steadfast love and faithful... Catechism 0214-0221 Today's question: In what three ways does God’s truth particularly shine forth? III. GOD, “HE WHO IS”, IS TRUTH AND LOVE 214 God, “HE WHO IS”, revealed himself to Israel as the one “abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”. [27] These two terms express summarily the riches of the divine name. In all his works God displays, not only his kindness, goodness, grace and steadfast love, but also his trustworthiness, constancy, faithfulness and truth. “I give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness.” [28] He is the Truth, for “God is light and in him there is no darkness”; “God is love”, as the apostle John teaches. [29] God is Truth 215 “The sum of your word is truth; and every one of your righteous ordinances endures forever.” [30] “and now, O LORD God, you are God, and your words are true”; [31] this is why God's promises always come true. [32] God is Truth itself, whose words cannot deceive. This is why one can abandon oneself in full trust to the truth and faithfulness of his word in all things. the beginning of sin and of man's fall was due to a lie of the tempter who induced doubt of God's word, kindness and faithfulness. 216 God's truth is his wisdom, which commands the whole created order and governs the world. [33] God, who alone made heaven and earth, can alone impart true knowledge of every created thing in relation to himself. [34] 217 God is also truthful when he reveals himself - the teaching that comes from God is “true instruction”. [35] When he sends his Son into the world it will be “to bear witness to the truth”: [36] “We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, to know him who is true.” [37] God is Love 218 In the course of its history, Israel was able to discover that God had only one reason to reveal himself to them, a single motive for choosing them from among all peoples as his special possession: his sheer gratuitous love. [38] and thanks to the prophets Israel understood that it was again out of love that God never stopped saving them and pardoning their unfaithfulness and sins. [39] 219 God's love for Israel is compared to a father's love for his son. His love for his people is stronger than a mother's for her children. God loves his people more than a bridegroom his beloved; his love will be victorious over even the worst infidelities and will extend to his most precious gift: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” [40] 220 God's love is “everlasting”: [41] “For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you.” [42] Through Jeremiah, God declares to his people, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” [43] 221 But St. John goes even further when he affirms that “God is love”: [44] God's very being is love. By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret: [45] God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange. The answer to today's question: (CCC 215-217) The three ways in which God’s truth particularly shines forth are: 1. His words 2. His wisdom in creation 3. His Son. Brother Porter clean 4:56 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2415-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-125-episode-015-catechism-0203-0209 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-125-episode-015-catechism-0203-0209#comments Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:10:20 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-125-episode-015-catechism-0203-0209 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-125-episode-015-catechism-0203-0209/feed 0 Today is January 25 Episode 025 Catechism 0203-0209 - Today's question: How is God commonly called in the Hebrew Bible? - II. GOD REVEALS HIS NAME - 203 God revealed himself to his people Israel by making his name known to them. Today is January 25 Episode 025 Catechism 0203-0209 Today's question: How is God commonly called in the Hebrew Bible? II. GOD REVEALS HIS NAME 203 God revealed himself to his people Israel by making his name known to them. A name expresses a person's essence and identity and the meaning of this person's life. God has a name; he is not an anonymous force. To disclose one's name is to make oneself known to others; in a way it is to hand oneself over by becoming accessible, capable of being known more intimately and addressed personally. 204 God revealed himself progressively and under different names to his people, but the revelation that proved to be the fundamental one for both the Old and the New Covenants was the revelation of the divine name to Moses in the theophany of the burning bush, on the threshold of the Exodus and of the covenant on Sinai. The living God 205 God calls Moses from the midst of a bush that bums without being consumed: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” [9] God is the God of the fathers, the One who had called and guided the patriarchs in their wanderings. He is the faithful and compassionate God who remembers them and his promises; he comes to free their descendants from slavery. He is the God who, from beyond space and time, can do this and wills to do it, the God who will put his almighty power to work for this plan. “I Am who I Am” Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you', and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” and he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you'. . . this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.” [10] 206 In revealing his mysterious name, YHWH (“I AM HE WHO IS”, “I AM WHO AM” or “I AM WHO I AM”), God says who he is and by what name he is to be called. This divine name is mysterious just as God is mystery. It is at once a name revealed and something like the refusal of a name, and hence it better expresses God as what he is - infinitely above everything that we can understand or say: he is the “hidden God”, his name is ineffable, and he is the God who makes himself close to men. [11] 207 By revealing his name God at the same time reveals his faithfulness which is from everlasting to everlasting, valid for the past (“I am the God of your father”), as for the future (“I will be with you”). [12] God, who reveals his name as “I AM”, reveals himself as the God who is always there, present to his people in order to save them. 208 Faced with God's fascinating and mysterious presence, man discovers his own insignificance. Before the burning bush, Moses takes off his sandals and veils his face in the presence of God's holiness. [13] Before the glory of the thrice-holy God, Isaiah cries out: “Woe is me! I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips.” [14] Before the divine signs wrought by Jesus, Peter exclaims: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” [15] But because God is holy, he can forgive the man who realizes that he is a sinner before him: “I will not execute my fierce anger. . . for I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst.” [16] The apostle John says likewise: “We shall. . . reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” [17] 209 Out of respect for the holiness of God, the people of Israel do not pronounce his name. In the reading of Sacred Scripture, the revealed name (YHWH) is replaced by the divine title “LORD” (in Hebrew Adonai, in Greek Kyrios). It is under this title that the divinity of Jesus will be acclaimed: “Jesus is LORD.” The answer to today's question: (CCC 209) In the Hebrew Bible God is commonly called Yhwh. Yhwh is pronounced in Greek “Kyrios” and in English: “Lord”. Brother Porter clean 5:59 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2411-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0124-episode-024-catechism-0198-0202 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0124-episode-024-catechism-0198-0202#comments Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:00:47 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0124-episode-024-catechism-0198-0202 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0124-episode-024-catechism-0198-0202/feed 0 Catechism 0198-0202 - Today's question: 223. What name of His does God reveal to Moses from the burning bush? - CHAPTER ONE - I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER - 198 Our profession of faith begins with God, for God is the First and the Last, Catechism 0198-0202 Today's question: 223. What name of His does God reveal to Moses from the burning bush? CHAPTER ONE I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER 198 Our profession of faith begins with God, for God is the First and the Last, [1] The beginning and the end of everything. the Credo begins with God the Father, for the Father is the first divine person of the Most Holy Trinity; our Creed begins with the creation of heaven and earth, for creation is the beginning and the foundation of all God's works. 1 Cf. Is 44:6. Article 1 “I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH” Paragraph 1. I BELIEVE IN GOD 199 “I believe in God”: this first affirmation of the Apostles' Creed is also the most fundamental. the whole Creed speaks of God, and when it also speaks of man and of the world it does so in relation to God. the other articles of the Creed all depend on the first, just as the remaining Commandments make the first explicit. the other articles help us to know God better as he revealed himself progressively to men. “The faithful first profess their belief in God.” [2] I. “I BELIEVE IN ONE GOD” 200 These are the words with which the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed begins. the confession of God's oneness, which has its roots in the divine revelation of the Old Covenant, is inseparable from the profession of God's existence and is equally fundamental. God is unique; there is only one God: “The Christian faith confesses that God is one in nature, substance and essence.” [3] 201 To Israel, his chosen, God revealed himself as the only One: “Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” [4] Through the prophets, God calls Israel and all nations to turn to him, the one and only God: “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.. . To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. 'Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength.'“ [5] 202 Jesus himself affirms that God is “the one Lord” whom you must love “with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength”. [6] At the same time Jesus gives us to understand that he himself is “the Lord”. [7] To confess that Jesus is Lord is distinctive of Christian faith. This is not contrary to belief in the One God. Nor does believing in the Holy Spirit as “Lord and giver of life” introduce any division into the One God: We firmly believe and confess without reservation that there is only one true God, eternal infinite (immensus) and unchangeable, incomprehensible, almighty and ineffable, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; three persons indeed, but one essence, substance or nature entirely simple. The answer to today's question: (CCC 205) The name of His that God reveals to Moses from the burning bush is: “I am who I am.” Brother Porter clean 4:13 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2409-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0123-episode-023-catechism-0185-0197 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0123-episode-023-catechism-0185-0197#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:28:14 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2407 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0123-episode-023-catechism-0185-0197/feed 0 Catechism 0185-0197 - Today's question: When is the first profession of Faith made in the life of a Christian? - The Credo - The Apostles Creed - I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, Catechism 0185-0197 Today's question: When is the first profession of Faith made in the life of a Christian? The Credo The Apostles Creed I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his onl... Brother Porter clean 10:07 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2407-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0122-episode-022-catechism-0172-0184 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0122-episode-022-catechism-0172-0184#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:07:37 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0122-episode-022-catechism-0172-0184 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0122-episode-022-catechism-0172-0184/feed 0 Catechism 0172-0184 - Today's question: What do we believe? - III. Only One Faith - 172 Through the centuries, in so many languages, cultures, peoples and nations, the Church has constantly confessed this one faith, received from the one Lord, Catechism 0172-0184 Today's question: What do we believe? III. Only One Faith 172 Through the centuries, in so many languages, cultures, peoples and nations, the Church has constantly confessed this one faith, received from the one Lord, transmitted by one Baptism, and grounded in the conviction that all people have only one God and Father. [58] St. Irenaeus of Lyons, a witness of this faith, declared: 173 “Indeed, the Church, though scattered throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, having received the faith from the apostles and their disciples. . . guards [this preaching and faith] with care, as dwelling in but a single house, and similarly believes as if having but one soul and a single heart, and preaches, teaches and hands on this faith with a unanimous voice, as if possessing only one mouth.” [59] 174 “For though languages differ throughout the world, the content of the Tradition is one and the same. the Churches established in Germany have no other faith or Tradition, nor do those of the Iberians, nor those of the Celts, nor those of the East, of Egypt, of Libya, nor those established at the centre of the world. . .” [60] The Church's message “is true and solid, in which one and the same way of salvation appears throughout the whole world.” [61] 175 “We guard with care the faith that we have received from the Church, for without ceasing, under the action of God's Spirit, this deposit of great price, as if in an excellent vessel, is constantly being renewed and causes the very vessel that contains it to be renewed.” [62] 58 Cf. Eph 4:4-6 59 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. I, 10, 1-2: PG 7/1, 549-552. 60 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. I, 10, 1-2: PG 7/1, 552-553. 61 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 5, 20, I: PG 7/2, 1177. 62 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3, 24, I: PG 7/1, 966. IN BRIEF 176 Faith is a personal adherence of the whole man to God who reveals himself. It involves an assent of the intellect and will to the self-revelation God has made through his deeds and words. 177 “To believe” has thus a twofold reference: to the person, and to the truth: to the truth, by trust in the person who bears witness to it. 178 We must believe in no one but God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 179 Faith is a supernatural gift from God. In order to believe, man needs the interior helps of the Holy Spirit. 180 “Believing” is a human act, conscious and free, corresponding to the dignity of the human person. 181 “Believing” is an ecclesial act. the Church's faith precedes, engenders, supports and nourishes our faith. the Church is the mother of all believers. “No one can have God as Father who does not have the Church as Mother” (St. Cyprian, De unit. 6: PL 4, 519). 182 We believe all “that which is contained in the word of God, written or handed down, and which the Church proposes for belief as divinely revealed” (Paul VI, CPG # 20). 183 Faith is necessary for salvation. the Lord himself affirms: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” ( Mk 16:16). 184 “Faith is a foretaste of the knowledge that will make us blessed in the life to come” (St. Thomas Aquinas. Comp. theol. 1, 2). The answer to today's question: (CCC 182) We believe all that is written or handed down in the word of God and that the Church proposes for belief. Brother Porter clean 4:24 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2405-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0121-episode-021-catechism-0166-0171 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0121-episode-021-catechism-0166-0171#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:14:13 +0000 Brother Porter http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?p=2402 http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/2010/01/oc-0121-episode-021-catechism-0166-0171/feed 0 Catechism 0166-0171 - Follow to discover the answer to today's question: What does the “I believe” of the Apostolic Creed express? - Article 2 - WE BELIEVE - 166 Faith is a personal act - the free response of the human person to the initiative of ... Catechism 0166-0171 Follow to discover the answer to today's question: What does the “I believe” of the Apostolic Creed express? Article 2 WE BELIEVE 166 Faith is a personal act - the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals himself. But faith is not an isolated act. No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone. You have not given yourself faith as you have not given yourself life. the believer has received faith from others and should hand it on to others. Our love for Jesus and for our neighbour impels us to speak to others about our faith. Each believer is thus a link in the great chain of believers. I cannot believe without being carried by the faith of others, and by my faith I help support others in the faith. 167 “I believe” (Apostles' Creed) is the faith of the Church professed personally by each believer, principally during Baptism. “We believe” (Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed) is the faith of the Church confessed by the bishops assembled in council or more generally by the liturgical assembly of believers. “I believe” is also the Church, our mother, responding to God by faith as she teaches us to say both “I believe” and “We believe”. I. “Lord, Look Upon the Faith of Your Church” 168 It is the Church that believes first, and so bears, nourishes and sustains my faith. Everywhere, it is the Church that first confesses the Lord: “Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you”, as we sing in the hymn Te Deum; with her and in her, we are won over and brought to confess: “I believe”, “We believe”. It is through the Church that we receive faith and new life in Christ by Baptism. In the Rituale Romanum, the minister of Baptism asks the catechumen: “What do you ask of God's Church?” and the answer is: “Faith.” “What does faith offer you?” “Eternal life.” [54] 169 Salvation comes from God alone; but because we receive the life of faith through the Church, she is our mother: “We believe the Church as the mother of our new birth, and not in the Church as if she were the author of our salvation.” [55] Because she is our mother, she is also our teacher in the faith. 54 Roman Ritual, Rite of Baptism of Adults. 55 Faustus of Riez, De Spiritu Sancto 1, 2: PL 62, II. II. The Language of Faith 170 We do not believe in formulae, but in those realities they express, which faith allows us to touch. “The believer's act [of faith] does not terminate in the propositions, but in the realities [which they express].” [56] All the same, we do approach these realities with the help of formulations of the faith which permit us to express the faith and to hand it on, to celebrate it in community, to assimilate and live on it more and more. 171 The Church, “the pillar and bulwark of the truth”, faithfully guards “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints”. She guards the memory of Christ's words; it is she who from generation to generation hands on the apostles' confession of faith. [57] As a mother who teaches her children to speak and so to understand and communicate, the Church our Mother teaches us the language of faith in order to introduce us to the understanding and the life of faith. 56 St. Thomas Aquinas, STh II-II, 1,2, ad 2. 57 I Tim 3:15; Jude 3. The answer to today's question: (CCC 167) The “I believe” of the Apostolic Creed expresses the Faith of the Church professed personally by each believer in the liturgy (e.g. Baptism). Brother Porter clean 4:36 <iframe width="400" height="24" src="http://ourcatechism.com/BroPorter/?powerpress_embed=2402-podcast&amp;powerpress_player=default" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>