Topics (CIA & SWAT CURRICULUM order)

CIA & SWAT Fridays 7:30 to 9:30

For those of you curious about our future meetings . . . . this is what the rest of 2017 and beyond looks like. Check out some of the LF2s!   LF2 = Look Forward to

CIA & SWAT CURRICULUM order

The Angelus

V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary. 
R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit. (Luke 1:26-38)
Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with Thee; (Luke 1:28)
Blessed art thou among women, (Luke1:42)
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, (Luke 1:43) 
Pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death. (James 5:16) & (1Corinthians 12:12-14)

Amen

V. Behold the
handmaid of the Lord.
R. Be it done unto me
according to thy word.
(Luke 1:38)
Hail Mary....

V. And the Word was made Flesh.
R. And dwelt among us. 
(John 1:14)
Hail Mary....

V. Pray for us, O holy
Mother of God. (James 5:16) & (1Corinthians 12:12-14)
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
(Being saved: 
1Corinthians 1:18, 
2Corinthians 2:15, 
 Phil.2:12)

(Hope of salvation: 
 Romans 5:9-10, 
1Corinthians 3:12-15, 
 Phil.2:12, 
 Romans 5:2, 
2Timothy 2:11-13)

LET US PRAY
Pour forth, we beseech Thee,
O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts,
that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known 
by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

The Angelus reminds us of the Annunciation. The Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and declared great (if somewhat startling) news. God wished Mary to be the mother of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. (Luke1:26-38)

Remember the words from Matthew’s gospel: “Whoever humbles himself shall be exalted” (Matt 23:12). When Mary calls herself the handmaid, the servant, of the Lord, in the Angelus (Luke 1:38) it is with inspiring humility and sincerity .

Mary expressed it most famously in her canticle, the Magnificat. "My soul magnifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my Savior" (Luke 1:46-47). St. Paul echoed this wonderful sentiment when he wrote “he who boasts, let him boast in the Lord” (2 Cor 10:17).

The Angelus pays tribute to a crucial aspect of Mary’s role in the Incarnation, when it quotes from Luke’s Gospel “be it done to me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38) . This is Mary's fiat . By saying “yes” to God in allowing herself to become His mother, she showed us the ultimate example of trust in our Creator!

Do we say “yes” when Christ wants to work through us in showing His love to others? When He asks us to be graceful in trying situations, do we humbly obey with complete trust in our Lord? Prayer and meditation on God’s Word in scripture can help us to do His will.

The Angelus completes its short summary of the Incarnation with the moving reference to our Lord from John’s Gospel: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14) . As we read in the letter to the Hebrews, Christ was like us in all things but without sin (Heb 4:15).

The lines that follow about being made worthy of the promises of Christ are an appeal for God’s grace to help us in our pilgrimage of faith. Jesus loved us enough to die for us so that we might live with Him eternally. When we pray the Angelus with humility and love, we are emulating Mary’s faith in His goodness.

A Follow Up to: Eucharist: Day 1

A Follow Up to: Eucharist: Day 1

For millions of non-Catholic Christians, Jesus was using pure symbolism in John 6:53 when he declared to his followers, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” Some objections non-Catholics bring up can usually be boiled down to these:    A) cannibalism,   B) metaphor,   C) spiritual/material substance.

       A) The CANNIBAL RESPONSE  

Non-Catholics might say that a literal interpretation would make Christians into cannibals.    

       B) The METAPHOR RESPONSE

Non-Catholics might bring up that Jesus claims to be a “door” in John 10:9 and a “vine” in John 15:5. 

They might say, "Do Catholics believe they must pluck a leaf from Jesus the vine or oil the hinges on Jesus the door to get into heaven?"  So the non-Catholic claims Jesus is using metaphor in John 6, just as he does elsewhere in the Gospels.

It is important to note that there definately are times when Jesus uses metaphor. But if his listeners misunderstood, he corrected them. One such example of a time when Jesus WAS using metaphor and people misunderstood is found in Matthew 16:11 & 12. "

"How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? - but to beware of the leven of the Phaisees and Sadducees. Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

He corrected them.  Read it again . . . "Beware the leven of the Pharisees." His listeners of the time took it literally and it was meant as a metaphor. He corrected them!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Other examples where Jesus corrected a misunderstanding where people took him literally and he was speaking figuratively:

• Born again: John 3:3-5

• Lazarus asleep: John 11:11-14

• Camel through the eye of a needle: Matthew 19: 24-26  (??)

• You are going to kill yourself?  John 8: 21-23

• The truth shall set you free (we are not slaves)  John 8: 31-36

• Bread from heaven  John 6: 32-35

In these examples, people think Jesus is speaking literally and He is speaking literally

• Son of Man can forgive sins  Matt 9: 2-6

• Jesus came down from heaven  w/i John  6: 42-51

• You have seen  Abraham? Jesus says, yes and Jesus says, "I AM"    John 8: 56-59

• Eat my body/Drink my blood    John 6:42-51  

  ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Let's address these two major misunderstandings (A & B) and then we will go into important details (C) that support the truth of Jesus' real presence in the Eucharist.

A) Catholic Cannibals? 

The charge of cannibalism does not hold water for at least three reasons.  

      1st)  Catholics do not receive our Lord in a cannibalistic form. Catholics receive him in the form of bread and wine. The cannibal kills his victim; Jesus does not die when he is consumed in Communion. Indeed, he is not changed in the slightest; the communicant is the only person who is changed. The cannibal eats part of his victim, whereas in Communion the entire Christ is consumed—body, blood, soul, and divinity. The cannibal sheds the blood of his victim; in Communion our Lord gives himself to us in a non-bloody way.   

       2nd)  IF it were truly immoral in any sense for Christ to give us his flesh and blood to eat, it would be contrary to his holiness to command anyone to eat his body and blood—even symbolically. Symbolically performing an immoral act would be of its nature immoral.

Moreover, the expressions to eat flesh and to drink blood already carried symbolic meaning both in the Hebrew Old Testament and in the Greek New Testament, which was heavily influenced by Hebrew. 

So IF he was speaking symbolically, the meaning would be the same as its well-known symbolic meaning. The symbolic meaning already set forth and accepted* does NOT make any sense in the Bread of Life Discourse.

In Psalm 27:1-2, Isaiah 9:18-20, Isaiah 49:26, Micah 3:3, and Revelation 17:6-16, we find these words (eating flesh and drinking blood) understood as symbolic for persecuting or assaulting someone.*  Jesus’ Jewish audience would never have thought he was saying, “Unless you persecute and assault me, you shall not have life in you.” Jesus never encouraged sin. This may well be another reason why the Jews took Christ at his word.

B) Jesus Speaking in Metaphor? No, Not Metaphorically Speaking 

IF Jesus was speaking in purely symbolic terms, his competence as a teacher would have to be called into question. No one listening to him understood him to be speaking metaphorically. Contrast his listeners’ reaction when Jesus said he was a “door” or a “vine.” Nowhere do we find anyone asking, “How can this man be a door made out of wood?” Or, “How can this man claim to be a plant?” When Jesus spoke in metaphor, his audience seems to have been fully aware of it.

When we examine the surrounding context of John 6:53, Jesus’ words could hardly have been clearer. In verse 51, he plainly claims to be “the living bread” that his followers must eat. And he says in no uncertain terms that “the bread which I shall give . . . is my flesh.” Then, when the Jews were found “disput[ing] among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’” in verse 52, he reiterates even more emphatically, “Truly, truly, I say unto you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”

Compare this with other examples in Scripture when followers of the Lord are confused about his teaching. In John 4:32, Jesus says: “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” The disciples thought Jesus was speaking about physical food. Our Lord quickly clears up the point using concise, unmistakable language in verse 34: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work” (see also Matthew 16:5-12).   

Moreover, when we consider the language used by John, a literal interpretation—however disturbing—becomes even more obvious. In John 6:50-53 we encounter various forms of the Greek verb phago, “eating.” However, after the Jews begin to express incredulity at the idea of eating Christ’s flesh, the language begins to intensify. In verse 54, John begins to use trogo instead of phago. Trogo is a decidedly more graphic term, meaning “to chew on” or to “gnaw on”—as when an animal is ripping apart its prey.

Then, in verse 61, it is no longer the Jewish multitudes, but the disciples themselves who are having difficulty with these radical statements of our Lord. Surely, if he were speaking symbolically, he would clear up the difficulty now among his disciples. Instead, what does Jesus do? He reiterates the fact that he meant just what he said: “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before?” (61-62). Would anyone think him to have meant, “What if you were to see me symbolically ascend?” Hardly! The apostles, in fact, did see Jesus literally ascend to where he was before (see Acts 1:9-10).

Finally, our Lord turns to the twelve. What he does not say to them is perhaps more important than what he does say. He doesn’t say, “Hey guys, I was misleading the Jewish multitudes, the disciples, and everyone else, but now I am going to tell you alone the simple truth: I was speaking symbolically.” Rather, he says to them, “Will you also go away?” (v. 67). This most profound question from our Lord echoes down through the centuries, calling all followers of Christ in a similar fashion. With St. Peter, those who hear the voice of the Shepherd respond: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (v. 68).   

  C) The SPIRITUAL/MATERIAL SUBSTANCE RESPONSE 

Spirit vs. Flesh

John 6:63 is the one verse singled out by Protestant apologists to counter much of what we have asserted thus far. After seeing the Jews and the disciples struggling with the radical nature of his words, our Lord says to the disciples and to us all: “It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” Protestants claim Jesus here lets us know he was speaking symbolically or “spiritually” when he said “the spirit gives life, the flesh is of no avail.” See? He is not giving us his flesh to eat because he says “the flesh is of no avail.” How do we respond? We can in several ways.

1) If Jesus was clearing up the point, he would have to be considered a poor teacher: Many of the disciples left him immediately thereafter because they still believed the words of our Lord to mean what they said.

2) Most importantly, Jesus did not say, “My flesh is of no avail.” He said, “The flesh is of no avail.” There is a rather large difference between the two. No one, it is safe to say, would have believed he meant my flesh avails nothing because he just spent a good portion of this same discourse telling us that his flesh would be “given for the life of the world” (Jn 6:51, cf. 50-58). So to what was he referring? The flesh is a New Testament term often used to describe human nature apart from God’s grace.

For example, Christ said to the apostles in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mk 14:38). According to Paul, if we are in “the flesh,” we are “hostile to God” and “cannot please God” (cf. Rom 8:1-14). In First Corinthians 2:14, he tells us, “The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” In First Corinthians 3:1, Paul goes on, “But I, brethren, could not address you as spiritual men, but as men of the flesh, as babes in Christ.” It requires supernatural grace in the life of the believer to believe the radical declaration of Christ concerning the Eucharist. As Jesus himself said both before and after this “hard saying”: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (Jn 6:44, cf. 6:65). Belief in the Eucharist is a gift of grace. The natural mind—or the one who is in “the flesh”—will never be able to understand this great Christian truth.

3) On another level very closely related to our last point, Christ said, “It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail,” because he wills to eliminate any possibility of a sort of crass literalism that would reduce his words to a cannibalistic understanding. It is the Holy Spirit that will accomplish the miracle of Christ being able to ascend into heaven bodily while being able simultaneously to distribute his body and blood in the Eucharist for the life of the world. A human body, even a perfect one, apart from the power of the Spirit could not accomplish this.

4) That which is spiritual does not necessarily equate to that which has no material substance. It often means that which is dominated or controlled by the Spirit.

One thing we do not want to do as Christians is to fall into the trap of believing that because Christ says his words are “spirit and life,” or “spiritual,” they cannot involve the material. When speaking of the resurrection of the body, Paul wrote: “It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Cor 15:44). Does this mean we will not have a physical body in the resurrection? Of course not. In Luke 24:39, Jesus made that clear after his own Resurrection: “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

The resurrected body is spiritual, and indeed we can be called spiritual as Christians inasmuch as we are controlled by the Spirit of God. Spiritual in no way means void of the material. That interpretation is more gnostic than Christian. The confusion here is most often based upon confusion between spirit—a noun—and the adjective spiritual. When spirit is used, e.g., “God is spirit” in John 4:24, it is then referring to that which is not material. However, the adjective spiritual is not necessarily referring to the absence of the material; rather, it is referring to the material controlled by the Spirit.

Thus, we could conclude that Jesus’ words, “It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail” have essentially a twofold meaning. Only the Spirit can accomplish the miracle of the Eucharist, and only the Spirit can empower us to believe the miracle.

Thank you to Catholic Answers for this information!

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/what-catholics-believe-about-john-6

Otra sources:

http://www.freebiblestudyguides.org/bible-tips/beware-the-leaven-of-the-pharisees.htm

http://catholicinstituteforapologetics.blogspot.com/2013/10/topic-eucharist-day-1.html

http://southernwomensapologeticsteam.blogspot.com/2014/09/topic-eucharist-day-1.html

The Eucharist - List of Bible Verses

Christ is truly present in the Eucharist.

Matthew 26:26

"Take and eat, this is My Body."

Mark 14:22-24

"This is My Body ... This is My Blood of the Covenant."

Luke 22:19-20

"This is My Body, which will be given for you ... New Covenant in My Blood." 

1 Corinthians 10:16

In the Eucharist, we participate in the Body and Blood of Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:24

"This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

John 6:50-69 says:

This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat? Jesus said to them, Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever. These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. Then many of his disciples who were listening said, This saying is hard; who can accept it? Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. [See note 1.] But there are some of you who do not believe. Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father. As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, Do you also want to leave? Simon Peter answered him, Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.

Note 1: - Verses 62-63 state:

Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

What Our Lord says here is not intended a Maldonatus thought, to increase the scandal, but to rectify what was simply a cannibalistic interpretation of what he has just said. The Ascension will perhaps surprise the recalcitrants more, but it will eliminate the chief difficulty about eating the flesh of One who in celestial glory takes his place where he was from eternity.

Note 2: - Notice that the close followers of Our Lord, the disciples left Himbecause this was a hard saying. Then Our Lord asks Peter if he will leave him too. Peter representing the 12 Apostles says:

Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God. (John 6:69)

St. Ignatius (110 A.D.)

[heretics] abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the Flesh of Our Savior Jesus Christ.
(His Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6, 2)

St. Justin Martyr (150 A.D.)

not as common bread, nor common drink do we receive these; but ... as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh are nourished, is both the flesh and blood of that Incarnated Jesus." (His First Apology 66, 20)

St. Irenæus of Lyons (195 A.D.)

He [ Jesus ] has declared the cup, a part of his creation, to be His own Blood from which causes our blood to flow; and the bread, a part of his creation, He has established as His own Body from which He gives increase to our bodies. (His Against Heresies 5, 2, 2)

St. Cyril of Jerusalem (350 A.D.)

"He himself, therefore, having declared and said of the Bread, 'This is My Body', who will dare any longer to doubt? And when he himself has affirmed and said, 'This is My Blood' who can ever hesitate and say it is not His Blood." (Catechetical Lectues: Mystagogic 4, 22, 1)

"Do not regard the bread and wine as simply that, for they are, according to the Master's declaration, the Body and Blood of Christ. Even though the sense suggest to you other, let faith make you firm. Do not judge in this manner by taste, but be fully assured by faith, not doubting that you have been deemed worthy of the Body and Blood of Christ."

(Catechetical Lectues: Mystagogic 4,22,6) 

Interested in what other Christians in the Early Church thought, taught, and died for?

Check out what they said on this topic.

The Eucharist must be worthily received.
(if the Eucharist were just a symbol there would be no need to partake of it worthily.)

1 Corinthians 10:21

"Cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons."

1 Corinthians 11:23-29

"Whoever eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself."
(Receiving the Eucharist unworthily makes us guilty of his Body and Blood.)

http://www.askacatholic.com/_WebPostings/Answers/holyquotes/ScripturePassages.htm

Bullet Points About The Koran

⦁ The Koran (sometimes spelt Qur`an) is the Islam holy book. 
⦁ The Korans the Foundation of Islamic, law, religion, and political life.
⦁ Hadith-is the oral teaching of Muhammad, who was illiterate.
⦁ Muslims accept the Koran as the official revelation of God.
⦁ They believe that the  Koran consists of messages given by God to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel.
⦁ They believe God reveals His will or His commands; they believe He does not reveal Himself.
⦁ The Koran rejects the idea of divine sonship and the call to love God with our whole hearts.
⦁ The Koran teaches a master-slave relationship between God and man. 
⦁ Muslims are extremely sensitive when it comes to criticism of the Koran. This sensitivity can lead to an impass in discussions.
⦁ They might tell you that you should read The Koran in Arabic to get the full understanding.
⦁ The Koran is about the size of the New Testament
⦁ The Koran contradicts itself. Muslims believe that God changes his mind. 

Thanksgiving 1, 2, 3, Squanto, Eucharista, Belloc

Most history books these days tell us that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated by the pilgrims in 1621. Not true. Perhaps these 3 facts will clear up this culturally accepted historical misconception which has reached the proportions of "myth."  
Have you ever heard the old adage, "real power belongs to those who write the history books?"  Unfortunately there is veracity in that statement, but we shouldn't let us deter us from seeking the truth.
But the truth is out there. Let's hang onto it. Here are the facts.

1st --> The First American Thanksgiving was celebrated on September 8, 1565 in St. Augustine, Florida. September 8 is the Feast of the birth of the Blessed Virgin. The Native Americans and Spanish settlers held a feast and the Holy Mass was offered. This was 56 years before the Puritan pilgrims of Massachusetts. 

2nd --> The next Thanksgiving celebration occurred on American soil on April 30, 1598 in Texas when Don Juan de Onate declared a day of Thanksgiving to be commemorated by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Think about it . . . this was 23 years before the Pilgrims set sail from England on the Mayflower.

Don Juan de Oñate & the Mansos.
Painting by Jose Cisneros, courtesy of the University of Texas at El Paso 

3rd --> On the third Thanksgiving in 1621, the Pilgrims allegedly celebrated a happy meal with Native Americans and the rest is the history with which we are familiar.
Did you know that the Puritan pilgrims were violently anti-Catholic? The Puritans left England because they thought that the Church of England was too Catholic. These folks were strict Calvinists. The pilgrims also opposed celebrating Christmas, dancing, musical instruments in church, and even hymns. They considered these things too papistical.  Ironically, the Pilgrims shared the same problems that Catholics had in England. The Catholics who lived in Nottinghamshire where the Pilgrims originated, were persecuted mercilessly.


So while that 3rd Thanksgiving may celebrate the Calvinist Separatists who fled England,
there is more to the story. Catholics should remember that the same unjust laws that granted the crown of martyrdom to Thomas More, John Fisher, Edmund Campion, et al., are the same injustices that led the Pilgrims to Plymouth. Hmmmm, why don't the history books mention this? I do believe that the Protestant-shaded history textbooks is the fodder for a future post.

Here is my favorite favorite piece of Thanksgiving trivia.Remember Squanto, the beloved hero of Thanksgiving?  Squanto (also known as: Tisquantum) was the Native American man who mediated between the Puritan Pilgrims and the Native Americans. Squanto's history is amazing. He had actually been enslaved by the English but then freed by Spanish Franciscans. Squanto thus received baptism and became a Catholic. So it was a baptised Catholic Native American who orchestrated what has become known as the "first Thanksgiving."

Most importantly, let us remember that Thanksgiving" in Greek is Eucharista. Thus, the Body and Blood of Christ is the true "Thanksgiving Meal."

This Thanksgiving be sure to raise your wine glass and recite the wonderful limerick of Hilaire Belloc.

"Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine,

There's always laughter and good red wine.

At least I've always found it so.

Benedicamus Domino!"

Sources:
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-Puritans-and-Pilgrims
Taylor Marshall
http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/paso/history.html