BIG C CATHOLICS

Here is the third lesson in the Saint Paul Center for Catholic Biblical Theology 's Lenten Scripture study, Genesis to Jesus. Follow along, and by the end of Lent, you'll understand the importance of Easter in light of God's plan for our salvation. Sign up to receive new video lessons [ here ] and buy related study materials. ________________________________________________________ In the first two lessons we looked at how to study the Bible. We talked about how Scripture tells the story of salvation history. It’s history from God’s perspective. It’s all about God’s plan to save us from our sin, and bring us back into his divine family. We also discussed how understanding God’s covenant with the human family is the key to understanding salvation history. If you don’t understand covenants you can’t really understand Scripture. In this lesson, we’re going to put what we’ve learned into practice. And appropriately, we’ll start at the very beginning of salvation histor

Here is the second lesson in the Saint Paul Center for Catholic Biblical Theology 's Lenten Scripture study, Genesis to Jesus. Follow along, and by the end of Lent, you'll understand the importance of Easter in light of God's plan for our salvation. Sign up to receive new video lessons [ here ] and buy related study materials. ________________________________________________________ In our first lesson, we talked about how the Bible has both a literary meaning and an historical meaning. But that’s not all. Since God is the principle author of Sacred Scripture, it also has a divine meaning. And together, the literary sense and historical truth of Scripture reveal that divine meaning. They reveal the way God is directing the course of human history. As we’re going to see, God writes the world like we write words. As human beings, we use words as signs that stand for particular realities. For example, the word “chair” signifies something tangible and real that you may

From the Saint Paul Center for Catholic Biblical Theology , the following is a transcript of their Lenten Scripture study, Genesis to Jesus. Genesis to Jesus presents the whole sweep of salvation history, to help you make sense of the Bible. By the end of Lent, you'll understand the importance of Easter as the eighth day of creation in light of God's unified plan for our salvation. You may sign up to receive new video lessons [ here ] and buy related study materials. ____________________________________________________ Welcome to Genesis to Jesus part of the St. Paul Center’s Journey Through Scripture Bible Study. To many people, the Bible is simply a giant book that doesn’t make a lot of sense. And that’s a shame. Because actually it’s a beautiful story. In fact, it’s our story. It’s the story of where we come from, what went wrong, and God’s incredible, merciful plan to save us and make everything right again. Certainly, you could say that plan – that story – culminat

Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) Why was this church building built? If everyone who is here wrote down their answer and I read them all back to you, you might be surprised at some of the answers. The answer that is obvious to me might not be so obvious to some of you. Well, why then was this building built? My answer is that it was built to be a temple. It was not built just to be a meeting place, or an auditorium, or a theater where we go to experience a drama. A temple is a building that is purpose-built. Our church building here has one chief purpose, namely to immerse us in the drama of our relationship with God. Note that I said “our” relationship with God, not “my relationship with God.” While we may come here for private prayer, the main reason is because this where we as God’s family play out our roles in the great drama of God coming to us and our going back to God our Father. A temple is certainly a building dedicated

It's no accident that the first reading for the second Sunday of Lent (Year B) is the testing of Abraham's faith. Genesis chapter 22 begins: "God put Abraham to the test. He called to him, 'Abraham!' 'Here I am!' [Abraham] replied. Then God said: "Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a holocaust on a height that I will point out to you." "When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the LORD's messenger called to him from heaven, 'Abraham, Abraham!' 'Here I am!' he answered. 'Do not lay your hand on the boy,' said the messenger. 'Do not do the least thing to him. I know now how devoted you are to God, since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.' As Abraham looked about, he spied a ram

This Sunday’s Gospel reading from Mark summarizes Our Lord’s forty days of temptation in the desert: “The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him” (Mark 1:12-13). Below, Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, OFM, considers the same account of Jesus' temptation from Luke. _______________________________________________ Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan Christ's voluntary self-mortification of forty days' fast, with its accompanying temptations, was but part of the self-mortification, with its climax on the Cross, which He gladly underwent for our salvation. He did not need to fast in order to keep the inclinations of the body in subjection, He did not need to allow the insult of temptation. He could have said, "begone Satan" at the beginning as easily and as effectively as be said it at the end. But He willingly underwent this humiliation in order to se

Optional Memorial - January 20th  Openness to the Holy Spirit is integral to the selection of the supreme pontiff. The Third Person of the Trinity guides the solemn proceedings. Indeed, the Mass that opens a papal conclave is meant, not merely to mark the start of a momentous decision and most serious process, but to prepare the hearts and minds of the participants to hear the promptings of the Holy Spirit in selecting the new pope. So imagine a conclave in which a dove literally lands upon the head of someone—and a layperson at that—who has journeyed to Rome to see who will become the next pope. Such was the case in 236 A.D. when a simple farmer named Fabian was unanimously chosen to be pontiff because everyone present took the actions of the dove to be a sign from God. The dove is also the symbol of peace, and the first part of Fabian’s papacy was in fact marked by peace. Under Emperor Philip, Fabian was able to expand the Church of Rome without fear of persecution. All

Msgr. Rudolph G. Bandas Today [January 8th] the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Baptism of Our Lord. This brings to an end the season of Christmas. The Church recalls Our Lord's second manifestation or epiphany which occurred on the occasion of His baptism in the Jordan. Jesus descended into the River to sanctify its waters and to give them the power to beget sons of God. The event takes on the importance of a second creation in which the entire Trinity intervenes. In the Eastern Church this feast is called Theophany because at the baptism of Christ in the River Jordan God appeared in three persons. The baptism of John was a sort of sacramental preparatory for the Baptism of Christ. It moved men to sentiments of repentance and induced them to confess their sins. Christ did not need the baptism of John. Although He appeared in the "substance of our flesh" and was recognized "outwardly like unto ourselves," He was absolutely sinless and impeccable.

A plenary indulgence may be gained by reciting or singing the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus on the first day of the year. This hymn calls on the Holy Spirit's guidance, protection and blessing before endeavoring any new venture. In addition to its place in the Pentecost liturgy, the Veni Creator Spiritus  is devoutly recited as the opening prayer for Church councils and synods. [ Listen to it in Gregorian chant .] Requirements for Obtaining a Plenary Indulgence on New Year's Day: ◗ Recite or sing the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus on the first day of the year. ◗ Say one "Our Father" and one "Hail Mary" for the Pope's intentions . ◗ Worthily receive Holy Communion [ideally on the same  day]. ◗ Make a sacramental confession within 20 days of New Year's Day. ◗ For a plenary indulgence, be free from all attachment to sin, even  venial sin [or the indulgence is partial, not plenary]. Come, Holy Spirit, Creator Blest Come, Holy Spirit, Creator

Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) All of the shopping, all of the rushing about, all of the busy-ness of Christmas is now over. Today the streets are deserted. A quiet and peaceful stillness lays over all. Now the religious meaning of Christmas is allowed to emerge from beneath all of the mall music, the shopping, and the frantic preparations for this day. But to what do we turn our attention? To peace on earth toward men of good will? Yes, and something more. To the sharing of love with family? Yes, and something more. To joining together with the ones we love? Yes, but more. Christmas is more than having a lovely time, more than family sharing, more than the so-called “happy holidays.” We celebrate today what so many are looking for. We focus our attention today on that which will give peace to many who are lonely, uneasy with themselves, and who are searching for meaning in their lives. The centerpiece of the Mass, the essenc

Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) What’s the one of the big things that has preoccupied you since you were a child and throughout all of the years that have followed? Isn’t it fear of rejection ? Recall your early days as a child. Even as a tiny baby you screamed, shrieked, and cried if you were not held, cuddled, and loved by your mother and your father. As a child you craved to play with playmates and you were miserable if they didn’t want to play with you. And when you were a teenager? Well, words can’t begin to describe the pain and fear teenager experiences when faced with rejection. When parents divorce isn’t a child’s primal fear and first thought that one or the other parent is rejecting him, particularly the parent who because of the divorce is forced to leave the child’s home? In divorce kids imagine they’re being rejected even though that isn’t the case. Sometimes we’re so obsessed with the fear of rejection that we trea

June 11th The feast of the Most Holy Trinity may well be regarded as the Church's Te Deum of gratitude over all the blessings of the Christmas and Easter seasons; for this mystery is a synthesis of Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost. This feast, which falls on the first Sunday after Pentecost, should make us mindful that actually every Sunday is devoted to the honor of the Most Holy Trinity, that every Sunday is sanctified and consecrated to the triune God. Sunday after Sunday we should recall in a spirit of gratitude the gifts which the Blessed Trinity is bestowing upon us. The Father created and predestined us; on the first day of the week He began the work of creation. The Son redeemed us; Sunday is the "Day of the Lord," the day of His resurrection. The Holy Spirit sanctified us, made us His temple; on Sunday the Holy Spirit descended upon the infant Church. Sunday, therefore, is the day of the Most Holy Trinity. From The Church's Year

Although Saint Ephrem (or Ephraim) lived in the 4th century, there is much about him and his life that strikes a contemporary note. Born in Nisibis, Mesopotamia (present day Syria) around the year 306, he is the only Syrian recognized as a Doctor of the Church. His background, which was Asian/ African rather than Greek, afforded him a different worldview than many of his contemporaries, one of whom was St. Athanasius. His theology and insights into the faith were just as profound, but his unique outlook was often expressed in poetry, rather than the “systematic” form that was prevalent in the writings of other theologians. St. Ephrem, like many who have lived in that part of the world, saw troubled times. In his late fifties, he became a refugee when his native city was conquered and subsequently ceded to the Persians in 363. Under threat of persecution Christians, including Ephrem, fled the area en masse . By the year 364, St. Ephrem resided in Edessa, where he lived his final ye

Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) There are three paths to knowledge that we frequently walk… thinking using concepts, thinking using pictures or images, and thinking using our experiences. They are all routes to truth even though experience seems to be the favored route these days. This is curious to me because learning through experience gives us some of life’s harshest lessons. We learn the hard way along that route. The other routes are not so harsh. From its earliest days, the Catholic Church has relied on images — pictures found in stained glass windows, statues of saints and holy people, and glorious mosaics found in so many of our churches. Television, movies, and computer images have surrounded us during the last century. As never before in human history our children are learning via images. Today I am going to share some thoughts with you about the Holy Trinity using mental images. It’s better that way.