God is Trinity (Sept 22, 2005)

The Trinity. It is the most difficult of doctrines of Christianity. Yet, from the Trinity springs the rest of our beliefs and mysteries of our faith. God is mystery. Our understanding of Him will never be complete. However, that doesn't mean we cannot know something about God, who reveals Himself to us gradually. He first tells us His name "I am who am". From it, we know that HE is the source of all being. He IS! Through Christ, we learn that God is a communion of persons. We are called to share in that union - the most fundamental of revelations given to us. From this, we realize our purpose in life, our goal. And from this, we can direct our lives to better serving our purpose, to come into union with our God.

So what is the life of God? God is three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - in one nature. Three "who's", each possessing fully the One divine "what". They do NOT share the divine nature. Thus, when we say God the Son comes to us in Holy Communion, we also imply that the Father and the Spirit are there as well. All three persons are active together, yet distinct. The difference between the three persons is their origin.

God the Father is the uncreated Creator. Within the Divine Procession, He is called Father because He is not produced or generated. The Father generates or begats the Son. What is important to realize is that there was never a time when God the Son did not exist. The Father thinks of Himself in His divine Mind and produces the Son, a perfect image of the Father in every way. The Son is called the Thought or Wisdom of the Father. The Father and Son love each other so greatly that they generate or produce the Holy Spirit. Again, there was never a time when God the Spirit did not exist. He is the Will of the Father and the Son. The Will follows Knowledge, which produces Love. This Love is the fruit of the Divine Procession. And we are called to share in this Love called God.

The Blessed Trinity is a mystery. Our knowledge of it is similar to staring into the sun, the knowledge blinding us so much that we see very little. Yet, we can see faint images of it in our lives today. For example, a Christian marriage is a union of love between two persons - which can even produce a third person (a baby). Naturally, this is a dim view of God, but in its most loving moments, we glimpse the Trinity and can see faintly what God calls us to in life after death.

What other communities do we find a glimpse of the Trinity? Comments?

Faith: Our response to God's Love (Sept 15)

Faith. Isn't it opposed to "real" knowledge, the kind we see and can touch?

Hardly! We base most of our knowledge of the world on faith. Faith is a truth that we don't see for ourselves. It is based on the reliability of the person telling us something.

For example, scientists places their trust and faith on previous experiments when making hypothesis. We rely on the historical writings of others to tell us that George Washington was the first president. There are many issues even in our daily lives that depend on faith - such as who are parents are!

Faith, in religion, is the giving of our intellect and our will to God. We place our trust in His revelation - that He desires a loving relationship with His ultimate material creation. Our response is the "obedience of faith". Consider the story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22: 1-19.

Faith is from God, a gift. But it also is a human act. Even in human relationships, another can tell us about themselves and their intentions, and we decide whether they are trustworthy. We conclude that God is trustworthy!

Finally, we can lose our faith! It is a gift freely given and one that must be freely received continuously throughout our lives. In a marriage, do we tell our spouse that we love them ONE TIME? Of course not! We "consumate" the marriage over and over, we express our love for the other "daily" (I hope!) - all relationships require such "maintenance"; otherwise, it falls away. This is proven through our own human experiences.

To preserve faith, we must maintain our relationship with the Lord through Scripture reading, prayer, a change from our selfish lifestyles, and doing acts of faith working in love. Thus, we are able to resist the temptation of self-gratification through selfish means.

St. Augustine said "there is nothing that is more opposed to the true knowledge of God than self-gratification". Selfishness, not hate, is the opposite of love.

Have you noticed that when your prayer life suffers, your faithfulness to the ways of God suffer as well? Why would that happen? Comments?

God Reveals Himself (Sept 8, 2005)

Normally, we cover one topic, which allows for more discussion after the lecture. Thursday, we covered a lot of ground. However, don't feel that you have to know everything completely to be a good Catholic Christian. If you decide to continue on your journey to become Catholic, you will have ample time to further learn more about the topics we cover.

Our other subject was on God's Revelation to man. Here, we discover more about God from God Himself as related to people. There are two forms of revelation - Sacred Scripture (Bible) and Sacred Tradition. Both have God as their source. Sacred Tradition (also called Apostolic Tradition) are considered the teachings of the Apostles not within Scripture explicitly. Some example are : the interpretation of the Scriptures, the content (canon) of Scripture, and the dogmatic determinations of various Councils. These, like the Scriptures, are unchanging and apply to the whole Church for all time.

Scriptures are inspired writings from God. How do we know this?

It is a circular argument (faulty logic) to say "the Scriptures are inspired because the Scriptures say they are inspired".

We must look outside of the Scriptures to determine their divine origin. Here, we must rely on the authority of the Church, who vouches for the Scriptures. By looking at the Scriptures themselves as ORDINARY WRITINGS first, we can determine that they are historically accurate.

1. There was a man named Jesus.
2. He claimed to be a messenger from God, proven by miracles (admitted even by His enemies)
3. He formed an inner circle of followers
4. He gave them special teachings
5. God's messenger, Jesus, told his inner circle to teach, promising that God would protect the teachings of the followers and their successors.

From this basic outline of the Gospel, we can determine that the basic teachings of God's messenger were true and His followers were reliable witnesses to them. We can rely on the Church, led by these close followers (and their successors) to give us God's message - thus, we conclude reasonably that the Scriptures are the Word of God as witnessed by the Church. Paul argues this when he tells Timothy "But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them" (2 Tim 3:14). We, too, know those who continue to vouch for the Scriptures.

Eventaully, we will come to believe this through our own experiences with the Scriptures - as God continues to speak through them - but faith must be reasonable.

Any comments on the Scriptures or Tradition?

The Longing for God is Valid Today (Sept 8, 2005)

As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and behold the face of God?
My tears have been my food day and night,
while people say to me continually,
"Where is your God?" (Ps 42:1-3)

There are two characteristics in the above verses from the Hebrew Scripture: Man's persistent search for God, and man's incessant questioning of His presence.

The Catholic Catechism states that "...man has given expression to their quest for God in their religious beliefs and behavior: in their prayers, sacrifices, rituals, meditations, and so forth. These forms of religious expression, despite the ambiguities they often bring with them, are so universal that one may well call man a religious being". (CCC, para 28)

Man is drawn to a supreme being when asking the deepest human questions, such as "What does it mean to be human?" or "What is the purpose of human life?" Today's growth of the New Age Movement is proof of this continued search for the answers to such profound questions. Despite the message of secular humanism emanating from our culture, despite the cynic who continues to ask "Where is your God?", we continue to see the reality that the Catechism notes - that man is a religious being - one who is not complete without this necessary rebinding between himself and God.

Today, most people seem to trust only what can be known by the senses or by their own rationale. Most tend to have an excessive trust in scientific knowledge and technology. As a result, many in our culture take on a materialistic viewpoint of the world. Ironically, this tends to be an exclusive point of view. In other words, those who claim that they are open to other thoughts and viewpoints are themselves actually close-minded and indifferent to the realities expressed by religion. This is based on the unfounded presumption which declares that matters of religion are not reality. Yet, religion is beyond the scope of science, as spiritual realities are not directly observable. Only by their effects can we know of the spiritual realm. Thus, science can tell us nothing about transcendent matters.

An example is readily available when discussing love. Scientifically, how can we measure love? How much does it weigh? What color is it? Love is truly immeasurable, yet who doubts that it exists? We see its effects upon other people! We come to the knowledge of love, justice, mercy, and other such abstract realities through our own conscience. When we examine our own humanity, we find several items that ultimately involve something beyond measurable datum. We all sense that there is a need to be morally good. We all treasure freedom. We all seek truth. We have longings that cannot be satisfied here on earth. By examining these traits of our humanity, we can begin to see that these universal traits point to the knowledge of God's gift to us. Our longing for God is a gift from God Himself!

We begin to heed God's call to us when we recognize God's greatness and our own limitations. It begins with our ability, confidence, and security being breached. Man reaches out to God's calling when man begins to understand that the things that matter most in this life are beyond his control - no matter how rich and famous he may be. At the limit of his power, man finally begins to see the need to respond to THE power. Only with this recognition can we then begin to ask “when shall I come and behold the face of God?”

Comments? Please post them here.

Welcome to the St. Francis RCIA

This blog is intended to help you come to a greater understanding of Christ as taught by the Catholic Church. I understand that some people do not wish to ask questions in public, so I have come up with this forum that will allow you to post questions completely anonymously.

I intend on posting a discussion question based on the prior Thursday's class/discussion. This will act as a review and give people an opportunity to give their opinions or questions. Feel free to ask any question, although I hope to remain on the topic of the preceding Thursday's class. I especially hope that you are able to come here when you miss a class! We can give hand-outs, but there is no substitution for discussion.

Part of adult education entails discussion of concepts. Lecture is not a very effective tool for teaching adults. As a result, for us to get a "handle" on a concept, we need to question it, turn it over, and apply it to our OWN personal experiences - while listening to others bring their own experiences out into the open. Thus, discussion is critical for RCIA.

Remember, this is not a "class" to impart knowledge, but is an introduction into a way of life, a life in Christ. Conversion is a life-long process.