St Paul's World

Saul was born between 2 and 5 AD in Tarsus in the Roman Province of Cilicia. It stood opposite the north coast of the island of Cyprus and the west coast of Syria. Rome then controlled almost the entire Mediterranean coast from Spain along the north coast to the eastern extremity, and then along the African coast to Numidia.

Caesar Augustus then 65-68 years old, would have been the only Emperor Saul’s parents had known. When they had been growing up stories of the conquests of Pompey Magnus in the region including, significantly for them as Jews, the conquest of Jerusalem in 63 BC, would have been commonplace.

Augustus’ rule had brought steadily increasing prosperity and order to the Empire and consequently to the lives of Saul’s parents. They were Roman citizens, the prized status of the ancient world, a status Saul inherited. How they had gained that status we do not know, but Philo of Alexandria tells us that Augustus made it possible for the Jews of Rome to become Roman citizens, so perhaps Saul’s grandparents had originally gained that status. There were many paths to citizenship, some requiring lengthy and arduous service (e.g. in the army or some public service). As orthodox Jews they could at times have faced difficulties in relation to public acts of piety to the Roman Gods, although more normally Jews benefitted from surprising concessions.

In 4 AD Augustus legally adopted Tiberius, the son of his wife Livia, and named him as his successor. Historical records of the region and time are rich, not only because of Roman historians, but especially because of the writings of the Romanised Jewish prince/priest/historian Flavius Josephus (37 AD – 95? AD). Stories of the recurring strife in Judea would have regularly reached the Jewish communities of the region and so would have been well known to Saul and his family. Pompey’s conquest had not brought lasting peace, but merely a new lid to the Judean political cauldron.

The Romans installed as King of Judea the infamous Herod “the Great”. Unlike the Hasmodean kings who preceded him, he did not claim the High Priesthood, to which he had no right in any case. Instead he appointed his youthful (scarcely 18) brother-in-law Aristobulus who was a member of a legitimate Jewish royal family, unlike Herod. Unhappily for Herod and also Aristobulus, the young man became exceptionally popular with the masses. He was drowned in the palace pool in Jericho. The people blamed Herod for this first of a series of murders.

Henceforth Herod appointed common priests with no right to it, to the High Priesthood. Their only qualification was docility. Herod’s briefly ruling successor Archelaus did the same. The High Priesthood became ever more decadent – an office bought and sold – the source of violent competition between four families ranged against each other and even degenerating into stone-throwing battles. There were as many as 28 High Priests in 107 years, whereas there had been only 93 since the time of Aaron in the 13th century BC. The Jewish Talmud sums it up: “For they are High Priests, their sons are treasurers, their sons-in-law administrators and their servants beat the people with rods.” (Pesahim 57a).

Poisoned by his wife Livia, Augustus died in 14 AD and was succeeded by Tiberius. Saul was about ten years old. Five years later his parents sent him to Jerusalem to further his religious studies. At the feet of the great Pharisee doctor of the Jewish law, Gamaliel, a leader of the Sanhedrin, Saul studied for five years until 20 AD. During this period Gamaliel, who is well-known to history, would have been in his prime. We know that he died 32 years later. It was Gamaliel who convinced the Sanhedrin to release the apostles (after 39 strokes of the rod) when they were arrested for preaching the Word.

The Pharisees (the word comes from “parash”/”perush” – “separate”/”separatist”) had their origins around the second century BC in a group known as the “Hasidim” – pious and devout men of Israel – who opposed the then current Hellenistic tendencies and adhered strictly to the Law of God. In 167 BC they had become politically active in resisting the ruler Antiochus Epiphanes. But after the re-dedication of the Temple in 164 BC and the restoration of Jewish religious practice, they became more and more concentrated on strict religious practice. Josephus describes them as one of the three mainstreams of Jewish religious practice at the time, the others being the Sadducees and the Essenes (of Dead Sea Scroll fame).

Nevertheless, the religious rigorism of the Pharisees led them back into the political sphere around 128 BC. One of their number openly cast doubt on the legitimacy of the birth of the High Priest Hyrcanus and his right to hold office. The Pharisees closed ranks around their brother and Hyrcanus and the rulers from then on promoted the interests of the Sadducees. Despite them, popular support went increasingly with the Pharisees. So much so that by the time of Herod “the Great” the Pharisees needed to be dealt with most carefully, even though they seem to have numbered only 5% of the population. Around 20 BC Herod required all citizens to swear an oath of loyalty to him. The 6,000 Pharisees refused but instead of being executed, they were simply fined.

In Saul’s early twenties in 26 AD, the new Roman Procurator Pontius Pilate took up his position. The Romans had reverted to direct rule after the death of Archelaus, Herod’s successor. As Procurator, Pilate was the Emperor Tiberius’ personal representative. When Our Lord was crucified in 30 AD Saul was in his mid-twenties. Procurator Pilate’s principal roles were to collect the taxes, keep the peace and administer justice He was based at Caesarea and had at his disposal only 3,000 troops. In the event of any serious trouble he would be obliged to call on the Governor of Syria who had four legions at his disposal, including the X Fretensis which would much later be transferred to Judea.

(It should be noted here that the “Pilate Stone” discovered in 1976 actually shows his title as “Prefect” but we have maintained the customary reference “Procurator”).

As always (even today) Judea was in ferment. The Roman puppet kings Herod Agrippa in Galilee, his brother Phillip in Ituraea and Lysanias in Abilene had uneasy relations with the Procurator Pilate. The High Priest Annas had been succeeded by his son-in-law Caiphas and the religious governing Council the Sanhedrin was tensely split between the parties of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. To add further to the general air of tension Pilate himself was constantly uncertain of his relations with the Emperor after Tiberius had given him only qualified support in an earlier trial of strength with the Jews which had been appealed to the Emperor.

Saul’s conversion – giving us the Apostle Paul – is generally dated around 33 AD or 34 AD. He was then between 28 and 32 years old.

Around 36 AD Herod Agrippa, whilst visiting Rome, was overheard venturing the opinion that it would be better if Tiberius were dead. This promptly landed him in prison. Prior to this he had been a favourite of Tiberius and a boon companion of the vilely corrupt young Caligula. Tiberius did in fact die in 37 AD. Caligula succeeded him and made his friend Herod Agrippa King of Judea, restoring the unity of the regions last seen under Archelaus.

Caligula, whose excesses and insanity proved too much even for decadent Rome, was murdered in 41 AD. Improbably he was succeeded by the lame, stuttering but shrewd and effective Emperor Claudius. When Herod Agrippa died under horrible circumstances (recounted in the Acts of the Apostles) in 44 AD Claudius did not replace him, but reverted to direct Roman rule of Judea by Procurators. He also reserved to himself the right to decide who should appoint the High Priests.

By this time Paul had been a Christian and an Apostle for about ten years. He had spent an extended period in Arabia and visited Damascus and Jerusalem. In Jerusalem his preaching was so powerful that his safety was feared for (Acts 9.30) and he returned to Tarsus for four or more years. But around 46 AD Barnabus sought Paul, asking him to come to Antioch to assist with already successful preaching of the Word there, which he did for one year, “and in Antioch the disciples were for the first time called Christians” (Acts 11.26).

In 49 AD – Saul was between 44 and 47 years old – Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome on account of “Chrestus”. The consensus seems to be that this is not a garbled reference to Christ or Christians on the part of the historian Suetonius as the name “Chrestus” appears to have been current at the time. The Jewish community in Rome is thought to have totalled about 40,000. Some of those expelled were, or became, Christians and had contact with Paul as in the case of Aquila and his wife Priscilla at Corinth (Acts 18.1-2).

Claudius was poisoned by his wife in 54 AD and succeeded by Nero. By this time Paul was on his third missionary journey and aged 49 – 52 years. In 59 AD when Paul was arrested, tried and appealed his case to Rome, Nero was busy arranging the murder of his reputedly vicious and manipulative mother Agrippina. The attempt degenerated into farce when she swam ashore from the boat designed to collapse and drown her. Not to be denied, her son despatched assassins who produced the desired result.

In 62 AD Paul was released from his Roman imprisonment and in 64 AD aged 59-62 years he was on further missionary journeys when Rome was destroyed by fire. The Romans blamed Nero, who for his part sought to shift the blame onto the Christians and instituted a terrible persecution.

Between 64 AD and 66 AD Paul continued preaching the Word and wrote the second Epistle to Timothy. Nero constructed his new palace the Domus Aurea (Golden House).

In 66 AD Paul was arrested again, imprisoned and executed by beheading. In Judea the revolt against Roman rule began. This was to lead to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD under the Roman General Titus, son of the Emperor Vespasian who had succeeded in 69 AD after Nero committed suicide in 68 AD. (The historically certain date of the destruction of Jerusalem confirms for us that St John’s Gospel was written prior to 70 AD for he says, “Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool …” etc ( John 5.2). The ruin of the five porticoed pool was identified by archaeologists in 2007.)

The man chosen by Jesus to be named “Paul” was born into an “interesting” time. Archbishop Alban Goodier SJ says of the Nativity, “It was the fullness of time …” God’s plan for the salvation
of Man began to unfold. And out of the maelstrom of war, intrigue, cruelty, murder and corruption that surrounded him Paul, sustained by Divine Grace, responded to the call with Faith in Jesus of Nazareth the son of God, the Messiah, and never lost sight of Him.

“… it is no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives in me …” (Galatians 2.20)

Tony Dixon

The Blessed Virgin Mary and the Rosary

APOSTOLIC LETTER

ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE

OF THE SUPREME PONTIFFJOHN PAUL II

TO THE BISHOPS, CLERGYAND FAITHFULON THE MOST HOLY ROSARY

INTRODUCTION

1. The Rosary of the Virgin Mary, which gradually took form in the second millennium under the guidance of the Spirit of God, is a prayer loved by countless Saints and encouraged by the Magisterium. Simple yet profound, it still remains, at the dawn of this third millennium, a prayer of great significance, destined to bring forth a harvest of holiness. It blends easily into the spiritual journey of the Christian life, which, after two thousand years, has lost none of the freshness of its beginnings and feels drawn by the Spirit of God to “set out into the deep” (duc in altum!) in order once more to proclaim, and even cry out, before the world that Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour, “the way, and the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6), “the goal of human history and the point on which the desires of history and civilization turn”.(1)

The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer. In the sobriety of its elements, it has all the depth of the Gospel message in its entirety, of which it can be said to be a compendium.(2) It is an echo of the prayer of Mary, her perennial Magnificat for the work of the redemptive Incarnation which began in her virginal womb. With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love. Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer.

A path of contemplation

5. But the most important reason for strongly encouraging the practice of the Rosary is that it represents a most effective means of fostering among the faithful that commitment to the contemplation of the Christian mystery which I have proposed in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte as a genuine “training in holiness”: “What is needed is a Christian life distinguished above all in the art of prayer”.(9) Inasmuch as contemporary culture, even amid so many indications to the contrary, has witnessed the flowering of a new call for spirituality, due also to the influence of other religions, it is more urgent than ever that our Christian communities should become “genuine schools of prayer”.(10)

The Rosary belongs among the finest and most praiseworthy traditions of Christian contemplation. Developed in the West, it is a typically meditative prayer, corresponding in some way to the “prayer of the heart” or “Jesus prayer” which took root in the soil of the Christian East.

Prayer for peace and for the family

6. A number of historical circumstances also make a revival of the Rosary quite timely. First of all, the need to implore from God the gift of peace. The Rosary has many times been proposed by my predecessors and myself as a prayer for peace. At the start of a millennium which began with the terrifying attacks of 11 September 2001, a millennium which witnesses every day innumerous parts of the world fresh scenes of bloodshed and violence, to rediscover the Rosary means to immerse oneself in contemplation of the mystery of Christ who “is our peace”, since he made “the two of us one, and broke down the dividing wall of hostility” (Eph 2:14). Consequently, one cannot recite the Rosary without feeling caught up in a clear commitment to advancing peace, especially in the land of Jesus, still so sorely afflicted and so close to the heart of every Christian.

A similar need for commitment and prayer arises in relation to another critical contemporary issue: the family, the primary cell of society, increasingly menaced by forces of disintegration on both the ideological and practical planes, so as to make us fear for the future of this fundamental and indispensable institution and, with it, for the future of society as a whole. The revival of the Rosary in Christian families, within the context of a broader pastoral ministry to the family, will be an effective aid to countering the devastating effects of this crisis typical of our age.
“Behold, your Mother!” (Jn 19:27)

7. Many signs indicate that still today the Blessed Virgin desires to exercise through this same prayer that maternal concern to which the dying Redeemer entrusted, in the person of the beloved disciple, all the sons and daughters of the Church: “Woman, behold your son!” (Jn19:26). Well-known are the occasions in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries on which the Mother of Christ made her presence felt and her voice heard, in order to exhort the People of God to this form of contemplative prayer. I would mention in particular, on account of their great influence on the lives of Christians and the authoritative recognition they have received from the Church, the apparitions of Lourdes and of Fatima;(11) these shrines continue to be visited by great numbers of pilgrims seeking comfort and hope.

Following the witnesses

8. It would be impossible to name all the many Saints who discovered in the Rosary a genuine path to growth in holiness. We need but mention Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, the author of an excellent work on the Rosary,(12) and, closer to ourselves, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, whom I recently had the joy of canonizing. As a true apostle of the Rosary, Blessed Bartolo Longo had a special charism. His path to holiness rested on an inspiration heard in the depths of his heart: “Whoever spreads the Rosary is saved!”.(13) As a result, he felt called to build a Church dedicated to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Pompei, against the background of the ruins of the ancient city, which scarcely heard the proclamation of Christ before being buried in 79 A.D. during an eruption of Mount Vesuvius, only to emerge centuries later from its ashes as a witness to the lights and shadows of classical civilization. By his whole life's work and especially by the practice of the “Fifteen Saturdays”, Bartolo Longo promoted the Christocentric and contemplative heart of the Rosary, and received great encouragement and support from Leo XIII, the “Pope of the Rosary”.

The Sacrament of Baptism

The Sacrament of Baptism

CCC 1213 Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word."

1214 This sacrament is called Baptism, after the central rite by which it is carried out: to baptize (Greek baptizein) means to "plunge" or "immerse"; the "plunge" into the water symbolizes the catechumen's burial into Christ's death, from which he rises up by resurrection with him, as "a new creature."

1215 This sacrament is also called "the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit," for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one "can enter the kingdom of God."

1216 "This bath is called enlightenment, because those who receive this [catechetical] instruction are enlightened in their understanding . . . ." Having received in Baptism the Word, "the true light that enlightens every man," the person baptized has been "enlightened," he becomes a "son of light," indeed, he becomes "light" himself:
Baptism is God's most beautiful and magnificent gift....We call it gift, grace, anointing, enlightenment, garment of immortality, bath of rebirth, seal, and most precious gift. It is called gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own; grace since it is given even to the guilty; Baptism because sin is buried in the water; anointing for it is priestly and royal as are those who are anointed; enlightenment because it radiates light; clothing since it veils our shame; bath because it washes; and seal as it is our guard and the sign of God's Lordship.

The Baptism of Infants

The usual church for Baptism is the parish church of the family whose baby is to be baptised. Contact should be made with the Parish Priest to arrange for the baptismal preparation and a suitable date for the baptism.
Most parishes offer baptismal preparation and the opportunity to meet parishioners and other families with children for baptism. This enables those seeking baptism to feel part of the parish community and heightens the significance of the baptism being celebrated in the local parish community.
Where for some good reason, the family is seeking to celebrate the baptism outside their parish church, the permission of their parish priest needs to be obtained and given to the celebrant of the baptism.
Godparents share in the responsibility with the parents, of introducing to, instructing in, supporting and forming the Catholic faith in their godchildren. For this reason, parents need to take great care in choosing godparents and take into account in their choice the commitment to and practice of the Catholic faith and preparedness of the godparents to be involved in the faith development of the child for whom they are accepting this responsibility. Because of the importance of the godparents’ role as a model and mentor of the Catholic faith they must be Catholics. Provision is made for further support by non-Catholics through the role of Witnesses of Faith who stand with the godparents.

From http://www.melbourne.catholic.org.au/teaching/baptism.htm

The Eucharist Explained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church

Catechism of the Catholic Church

1374 The mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as "the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all the sacraments tend."199 In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist "the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained."200 "This presence is called 'real' - by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be 'real' too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present."201

1375 It is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ's body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament. The Church Fathers strongly affirmed the faith of the Church in the efficacy of the Word of Christ and of the action of the Holy Spirit to bring about this conversion. Thus St. John Chrysostom declares:

It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but he who was crucified for us, Christ himself. The priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these words, but their power and grace are God's. This is my body, he says. This word transforms the things offered.202

And St. Ambrose says about this conversion:

Be convinced that this is not what nature has formed, but what the blessing has consecrated. The power of the blessing prevails over that of nature, because by the blessing nature itself is changed. . . . Could not Christ's word, which can make from nothing what did not exist, change existing things into what they were not before? It is no less a feat to give things their original nature than to change their nature.203

1376 The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: "Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation."204

1377 The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ.205

1378 Worship of the Eucharist. In the liturgy of the Mass we express our faith in the real presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine by, among other ways, genuflecting or bowing deeply as a sign of adoration of the Lord. "The Catholic Church has always offered and still offers to the sacrament of the Eucharist the cult of adoration, not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reserving the consecrated hosts with the utmost care, exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in procession."206

1379 The tabernacle was first intended for the reservation of the Eucharist in a worthy place so that it could be brought to the sick and those absent outside of Mass. As faith in the real presence of Christ in his Eucharist deepened, the Church became conscious of the meaning of silent adoration of the Lord present under the Eucharistic species. It is for this reason that the tabernacle should be located in an especially worthy place in the church and should be constructed in such a way that it emphasizes and manifests the truth of the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.

1380 It is highly fitting that Christ should have wanted to remain present to his Church in this unique way. Since Christ was about to take his departure from his own in his visible form, he wanted to give us his sacramental presence; since he was about to offer himself on the cross to save us, he wanted us to have the memorial of the love with which he loved us "to the end,"207 even to the giving of his life. In his Eucharistic presence he remains mysteriously in our midst as the one who loved us and gave himself up for us,208 and he remains under signs that express and communicate this love:

The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease.209

1381 "That in this sacrament are the true Body of Christ and his true Blood is something that 'cannot be apprehended by the senses,' says St. Thomas, 'but only by faith, which relies on divine authority.' For this reason, in a commentary on Luke 22:19 ('This is my body which is given for you.'), St. Cyril says: 'Do not doubt whether this is true, but rather receive the words of the Savior in faith, for since he is the truth, he cannot lie.'"210

Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore

Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,

See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart Lost,

all lost in wonder at the God thou art.

Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived;

How says trusty hearing? that shall be believed;

What God's Son has told me, take for truth I do;

Truth himself speaks truly or there's nothing true.211 - St Thomas Aquinas

The Eucharist

Eucharist (Greek eucharistia , thanksgiving)

The name given to the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar in its twofold aspect of sacrament and Sacrifice of Mass , and in which Jesus Christ is truly present under the bread and wine. Other titles are used, such as "Lord's Supper" ( Coena Domini ), "Table of the Lord" ( Mensa Domini ), the "Lord's Body" ( Corpus Domini ), and the "Holy of Holies" ( Sanctissimum ), to which may be added the following expressions, and somewhat altered from their primitive meaning: "Agape" (Love-Feast), "Eulogia" (Blessing), "Breaking of Bread", "Synaxis" (Assembly), etc.; but the ancient title "Eucharistia" appearing in writers as early as Ignatius, Justin , and Irenaus, has taken precedence in the technical terminology of the Church and her theologians . The expression "Blessed Sacrament of the Altar", introduced by Augustine, is at the present day almost entirely restricted to catechetical and popular treatises.

This extensive list, describing the great mystery from such different points of view, is in itself sufficient proof of the central position the Eucharist has occupied from the earliest ages, both in the Divine worship and services of the Church and in the life of faith and devotion which animates her members.

The Church honors the Eucharist as one of her most exalted mysteries, since for sublimity and incomprehensibility it yields in nothing to the allied mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation . These three mysteries constitute a wonderful triad, which causes the essential characteristic of Christianity, as a religion of mysteries far transcending the capabilities of reason, to shine forth in all its brilliance and splendor, and elevates Catholicism, the most faithful guardian and keeper of our Christian heritage, far above all pagan and non-Christian religions.

The organic connection of this mysterious triad is clearly discerned, if we consider Divine grace under the aspect of a personal communication of God. The Trinity, Incarnation, and Eucharist are really welded together like a precious chain, which in a wonderful manner links heaven with earth, God with man, uniting them most intimately and keeping them thus united. By the very fact that the Eucharistic mystery does transcend reason, no rationalistic explanation of it, based on a merely natural hypothesis and seeking to comprehend one of the sublimest truths of the Christian religion as the spontaneous conclusion of logical processes, may be attempted by a Catholic theologian.

The modern science of comparative religion is striving, wherever it can, to discover in pagan religions "religio-historical parallels", corresponding to the theoretical and practical elements of Christianity, and thus by means of the former to give a natural explanation of the latter. Even were an analogy discernible between the Eucharistic repast and the ambrosia and nectar of the ancient Greek gods, or the haoma of the Iranians, or the soma of the ancient Hindus, we should nevertheless be very cautious not to stretch a mere analogy to a parallelism strictly so called, since the Christian Eucharist has nothing at all in common with these pagan foods, whose origin is to be found in the crassest idol- and nature-worship. What we do particularly discover is a new proof of the reasonableness of the Catholic religion, from the circumstance that Jesus Christ in a wonderful manner responds to the natural craving of the human heart after a food which nourishes unto immortality , a craving expressed in many pagan religions , by dispensing to mankind His own Flesh and Blood. All that is beautiful, all that is true in the religions of nature, Christianity has appropriated to itself, and like a concave mirror has collected the dispersed and not infrequently distorted rays of truth into their common focus and again sent them forth resplendently in perfect beams of light.

It is the Church alone, "the pillar and ground of truth ", imbued with and directed by the Holy Spirit, that guarantees to her children through her infallible teaching the full and unadulterated revelation of God. Consequently, it is the first duty of Catholics to adhere to what the Church proposes as the "proximate norm of faith" ( regula fidei proxima ), which, in reference to the Eucharist, is set forth in a particularly clear and detailed manner in Sessions XIII, XXI, and XXII of the Council of Trent . The quintessence of these doctrinal decisions consists in this, that in the Eucharist the Body and Blood of the God-man are truly, really, and substantially present for the nourishment of our souls , by reason of the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ , and that in this change of substances the unbloody Sacrifice of the New Testament is also contained.

Taken from www.catholic.org/encyclopedia

The Syllabus for Term Two

In Term Two the syllabus requires us to examine expressing and experiencing religious belief and ritual. Below are some of the areas that the syllabus expects us to examine. I have highlighted the ones that we will be examining in this blog.

Social and cultural influences

· Accepted ways of being within societies and cultures (e.g. expression of emotions, dress, relating, communicating, working, worshipping, celebrating, recreating, culinary practices, attitudes and values, use of the Arts, laws, community, gender roles)
· Regional differences in religious practice and imagery (e.g. celebration of the Eucharist, celebration of Christian death, rites of passage, holy days and festivals, fasting, reconciliation, iconography, statuary, religious art, Western and Eastern Rites)
· Devotions for particular societies (e.g. Marian devotions, processions, fasting, sacred actions)
· Current events and trends (e.g. ritual response to trauma, war, fear and suffering, significant world and local events)
· Accepted ways of being within religious traditions (e.g. Buddhism in Asian and Western societies, Judaism in Israel and America, Islam in Iran and Australia, Christianity in Africa and South America)
· Variations within faith traditions (e.g. Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism, Orthodox and Liberal Judaism, Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims)

Prayers and rituals across faith traditions

· Rituals of initiation / Rites of passages
· Funeral rites
· Prayer text types and uses
· Holy days and festivals

Purpose and meaning of sacraments for the lives of believers

· Variations in liturgical and theological expressions of the sacraments
· Understandings of the sacraments across Christian denominations
· Secular influences on celebration of sacraments in the lives of contemporary believers
· Eastern and Western rites of the sacraments
· Contemporary challenges to the practice of sacraments in Australia (e.g. ordination of women, celebration of 3rd Rite of Reconciliation, married priests)

Spiritual movements within the Christian tradition

· Benedictine monasticism
· Franciscan spirituality
· Spirituality of theologies (e.g. creation, liberation, feminist)
· Asceticism
· Piety (e.g. pious practices, icons, devotional practices, Benediction, scapulars, holy cards, statues, pilgrimages)
· Eucharistic devotion
· Spirituality of service
· Pentecostal movements

Spiritual movements beyond the Christian tradition

· Zen Buddhism
· Sufism
· Hermits
· Hasidic Judaism
· Aboriginal spiritualities
· Asceticism
· Transcendental meditation
· New Age groups

The human quest for meaning and transformation

· The quest for meaning is part of the human condition (e.g. purpose and direction, identity, leading a worthwhile life, death, success, the existence / nature of God, fulfillment, meaning of suffering)
· The human capacity for transformation (e.g. reflective practices, metanoia – change of heart, inner conversion, personal development, reconciliation, search for wholeness)

Elements of spiritual traditions

· The ultimate Other
· Beliefs
· Sacred and other texts
· Stories and accounts
· Prayer and meditation
· Ritual and devotional practices
· Use of art and symbol
· Reflection
· Outreach and mission
· Community
· Significant leaders
· Quest / journey
· Way of being
· Transformation

Issues for a preferred future

· Political
· Social / Cultural
· Economic
· Ecological
· Scientific / technological
· Religious

Expressions of a future vision

· Wish list
· Dreams for a future
· Vision statement
· Utopian narratives
· Contracts
· Lists of goals
· Statements of commitments
· Strategic directions
· Futuristic representations in the arts
· Predictions
· Prophecies
· Estimations
· Pledges
· Covenants

The syllabus also has a number of learning experience that it suggests. Below are some of these experiences.

· Prepare a multi-modal presentation on regional differences in religious practice and imagery
· Observe / participate in and describe ways a contemporary ritual reflects cultural and social influences (e.g. community crisis ritual, indigenous reconciliation, national historical celebrations)
· Prepare a report on how prayer, ritual and devotional life at a particular point in history reflected social and cultural influences of the time (e.g. Corpus Christi procession in 1950’s Australia, Gregorian chant in Middle Ages, hymn, “Faith of our Fathers” in 19th Century Ireland, Latin Mass in pre-Vatican II era, reception of Eucharist in pre-Reformation Europe, devotion to relics in Middle Ages)
· Prepare a folio collection to illustrate how the arts represent changes in Marian devotion over time (e.g. painting, statues, music, literature, film)
· Create a PowerPoint presentation identifying the influences of society and culture on images of Jesus.
· Create a class multi-faith expo highlighting social and cultural influences on prayers and rituals in each faith tradition
· Complete a retrieval chart depicting social and cultural influences on the celebration of rites of passage across diverse faith traditions (e.g. initiation, marriage, death, adulthood)
· Conduct a web search exploring differences in the practice of prayer and ritual within a faith tradition (e.g. Orthodox and Liberal Judaism, Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims)
· Use film / video extracts to accompany an oral presentation on the diversity of prayer practices across faith traditions (e.g. meditation, prostration, whirling Dervishes, ecstatic practices, kneeling)
· Use a jigsaw strategy to analyse how religious dress and accoutrements in religious rituals reflect social and cultural influences (e.g. priests’ vestments, Shinto priests’ dress, prayer shawls and yarmulkes in Judaism, saffron robes in Buddhism)
· Communicate with a member of a faith tradition about the social and cultural challenges of observing prayer and ritual practices in a foreign culture (e.g. a Muslim in Australia, a Buddhist in a European country, an Hasidic Jew in America)
· Write a report about peoples’ experiences of sacraments drawn from literature and film excerpts (e.g. Angela’s Ashes, O Brother, Where art thou, The Harp in the South, Brides of Christ)
· Artistically express personal or related experiences of the reception of sacraments
· Critique diverse artistic depictions of sacramental celebrations
· Critique hymns used in sacramental celebrations
· Collaboratively research and prepare a multi-modal presentation that reflects on key questions of the human quest for meaning and transformation (e.g. Where does humanity come from? Who am I? How do I find purpose and direction? Why is there suffering in the world? What happens after death?)
· Investigate how spiritual movements have responded to questions surrounding the human quest for meaning and transformation (e.g. Buddhist response to suffering, Hindu understanding of death and rebirth, Islamic understanding of care for others)
· Design a vision statement for a preferred future considering the following design elements: past and present practices, contemporary needs, issues and contexts, authentic and relevant beliefs and practices (e.g. a class / school vision statement, a vision for a purposeful adult life, a vision for living justly)
· Design an artistic representation of a preferred future drawing on beliefs and texts about wealth, poverty and sharing from a spiritual tradition to address an economic issue (e.g. feeding the world, third world debt, economically sustainable future, consumerism, economic rationalism)
· Write a prophetic speech, informed by a particular spiritual tradition, highlighting a vision for future access to the benefits of science and technology (e.g. critique current practice and propose alternative wisdom)
· Write a utopian narrative about a world in which diverse religious traditions co-exist harmoniously to create a world of peace and toleranceAdapt an existing vision statement to create a new futuristic vision for a particular group by incorporating elements of a spiritual tradition (e.g. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream”, Micah 6:8, workplace vision statement)

Sacred Scripture and the Modern Catholic Part 5

5. Faith of Our Fathers: Analogy of Faith

"So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us" (2 Thes. 2:15).

A final interpretive principle allows us to experience the breadth and length and height and depth of the fullness of the Roman Catholic Faith. This principle is called the analogy of faith, and is described in the : "Read the Scripture within 'the living Tradition of the whole Church.' According to a saying of the Fathers, sacred Scripture is written principally in the Church's heart..." (, no. 113). The analogy of faith is based on the fact that "sacred Tradition and sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God, which is entrusted to the Church" (, no. 10). This deposit of faith is given by God and entrusted to the Church, "the pillar and bulwark of the truth" (1 Tim. 3:15). The analogy of faith is the secret weapon of the Catholic Church. If we as Catholics were to realize in our lives the analogy of faith, we would become suitable laborers in the work of authentic Christian unity.

The unity among Christians willed by God can be attained only by the adherence of all to the content of revealed faith in its entirety. In matters of faith, compromise is a contradiction with God who is Truth (Pope John Paul II, , no. 18).

It was the discovery of this interpretative principle which led me back to the Roman Catholic Church. Although the Bible is the very Word of God given in the words of men, there is still room for human error and misinterpretation. In the book of Acts, the deacon Philip comes across an Ethiopian eunuch who is reading a passage from the sacred Scriptures, and Philip asks him, "Do you understand what you are reading?" and the eunuch replies, "Well, how could I unless someone guides me?" (cf. Acts S:30-31). There are more than 25,000 different Christian denominations, each claiming the Bible as their rule of faith. So without someone to guide us, we would be unable to discern the authentic meaning of the sacred page. St. Jerome illustrates this point, stating: "What I have learned I did not teach myself-a wretchedly presumptuous teacher!-but I learned it from illustrious men in the Church" (, no. 36).

Many sincere Christians disagree on biblical interpretation. For example, should our Lord be taken literally when He says, "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" (Jn. 6:53)? Imagine how much insight we could gain if we could speak with St. John himself and ask him what he understood our Lord to mean. Well, this is exactly what the Fathers of the Church were able to do. St. Ignatius of Antioch was a disciple of St. John, and St. Ignatius is not silent on the subject. He writes in his letter to the church of Antioch, "They [the heterodox] do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior, Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins in which the Father in His goodness raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes."

When I discovered the analogy of faith, I realized that I was no longer left to my own devices and subject to my own limitations in trying to discover the fullness of faith. Rather, I was able to enter into a "dialogue" with other faithful followers of Jesus Christ. And I also had the wise and anointed leadership of the Magisterium, the servant and teacher of God's word. For the Catholic, the riches of the Bible are open completely. We have the very word of God, in Tradition and in Scripture, as preserved and proclaimed by the Teaching Church. This means that Catholics among all Christians should be the most biblical.

Some people are concerned that by reading the Bible we may fall away from the Church. But what I have seen is quite the opposite. Catholics who read the Bible within the Church help others to come into the Church. Catholics who are ignorant of Scripture are easily drawn away to a "Bible church," which rightly focuses on the importance of the Word of God, but does so outside of its God- given context, the family of God, the Church.

TWO WAYS TO START

There are many styles and methods of studying the sacred Scriptures. The most basic is an inductive Bible study: to go to the very words of Scripture and allow them to teach you. As a Catholic, this must be done in light of the five principles of interpretation already mentioned. These principles allow us to read the Bible with freedom and confidence, knowing that if we encounter something that we do not understand or that seems to contradict the Church, we will humbly defer and allow the Church to guide us into the right interpretation. The Gospels may be the most fruitful subject for this inductive approach. In them, we are confronted by the very words and person of Jesus Christ, who invites us to repent and believe, and challenges us to live, not for the sake of this world, but for the sake of the world to come.

Seemingly, every passage of Scripture is an invitation to have our lives transformed by God. St. Paul writes, "I appeal to you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Rom. 12:1-2).

Another type of study is a deductive study, in which we allow a topic or a teaching to lead us into the Scriptures to show us its foundation and its biblical principles. Perhaps the most useful guide for a deductive study is the . The is filled with scriptural references, so much so that one modern theologian accused it of citing the Bible in a "fundamentalist way" (E. A. Johnson, "Jesus Christ in the Catechism," , p. 208, 3/3/92).

Taken from www.ewtn.com/library/SCRIPTUR/SSMODCAT.TXT

Sacred Scripture and the Modern Catholic Part 4

4. The New in Light of the Old: Analogy of Scripture

"God, the inspirer and author of the books of both Testaments, in His wisdom has so brought it about that the New should be hidden in the Old, and that the Old should be made manifest in the New" (, no. 16).

The complete canon of Scripture includes 73 books. But as the teaches, there is an inner unity which also allows us to refer to the Bible as a single book:

"Be especially attentive 'to the content and unity of the whole Scripture.' Different as the books which comprise it may be, Scripture is a unity by reason of the unity of God's plan, of which Christ Jesus is the center and heart, open since His Passover" (, no. 112).

This principle of interpretation is called the analogy of Scripture. The analogy of Scripture allows us to see how the plans, promises, and covenants of the Old Testament salvation history are realized and fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ and the foundation of the Roman Church. Salvation history, viewed in this light, allows us to see that "His story" becomes "our story." This realization allows us to read the Scriptures with a new-found interest. What may have appeared to be an obscure story now becomes our family history. St. Paul states: "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that by steadfastness and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Rom. 15:4).

When viewed in this light, the Scriptures invite us in and provide us with a God-given worldview. We become acquainted with "the eternal purpose which he carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Eph. 3:1 1). We have become "fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone" (Eph. 2:19-20). It is with this knowledge and through the life of prayer which must accompany it that we may begin to make sense of our lives and our role in the modern world. Vatican II provides that "Christ fully reveals man to himself" (, no. 22), and without this Christ-centered knowledge of self we have no hope of living the life that God intends for us.

Sacred Scripture and the Modern Catholic Part 3

3. For the Sake of Our Salvation: The Purpose of Sacred Scripture

"The Church ... has always regarded, and continues to regard, the Scriptures taken together with sacred Tradition as the supreme rule of faith" (, no. 21).

In its dogmatic constitution , literally "the Word of God," the Second Vatican Council provides the gemstone of official Church teachings on the sacred Scripture. Building upon the firm foundation of other magisterial teachings, the Council Fathers remind us of the ultimate reason for God's gift of sacred Scripture: "It pleased God, in His goodness and wisdom, to reveal Himself and to make known the mystery of His will. His will was that men should have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the Divine Nature" (, no. 2).

All of the truths about Scripture and each of the truths contained in the Scripture lead to the Gospel, the good news, that the almighty and ever living God has freely chosen first to create us and then reveal himself to us as a loving Father, through the work of our divine Savior Jesus Christ, and desires to draw us back into his divine favor through the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. All of the wisdom and insights which may be gleaned from the Scriptures pale in comparison to this over-arching truth. In a beautiful and central passage of , the Church teaches: "Since, therefore, all that the inspired authors, or sacred writers, affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture, firmly, faithfully, and without error, teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the sacred Scriptures" (, no. 11).

This passage has one of the longest footnotes of any of the Vatican II documents. This footnote bears witness to the rich tradition upon which the Catholic perspective of the Word of God is based. The footnote contains references to St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, the Council of Trent, Pope Leo XIII, and Pope Pius XII, each affirming the inspiration, inerrancy, and importance of the sacred Scriptures for the Church and the individual Christian.

These truths provide the framework within which we understand the Bible within the Church. It is inspired by God, literally "God- breathed," and therefore completely trustworthy. It is rich in content and meaning, and deserves our zealous and diligent study. It is an expression of the gift of God of His very self to humanity, and is provided to us for the sake of our salvation.

Taken from www.ewtn.com/library/SCRIPTUR/SSMODCAT.TXT

Sacred Scripture and the Modern Catholic Part 2

2. As You Sow, So Shall You Reap: The Importance of Sound Interpretation

"[S]o shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thin" for which I sent it" (Is. 55:11).

The prayerful and careful reading of the Scriptures will always prove itself to be a profitable use of time. This does not mean, however, that reading the Bible is easy or simple. The sacred Scriptures are like a large lake, sufficient for anyone to come and drink fully, but deep enough for anyone to drown. This is the way God has designed the Bible, to encourage us to dig deep and to dig humbly. While the Church encourages us to read the Bible, it calls us to read carefully. Special attention should be paid to the text so that we might discern the intention of the sacred writer. This includes noting the literary form, or genre, of the text: Is it poetry, a parable, or a narration? The nature of the text will affect the meaning of the passage:

"[I]t is the duty of the exegete, to lay hold, so to speak, with the greatest care and reverence of the very least expressions which, under the inspiration of the Divine Spirit, have flowed from the pen of the sacred writer, so as to arrive at a deeper and fuller knowledge of his meaning" (, no. 15).

Proper care and willingness to always examine our understanding in light of the teachings of the Church will help us to avoid the opposing errors of fundamentalism and skepticism.

The Bible works something like a chamois, a leather cloth used to dry a car when washing it. A chamois needs to be moist in order to absorb moisture. This is the paradox for the biblical student: We need to know the Bible in order to get to know the Bible better. This means that in our first reading we may miss many elements and aspects which a later reading will show us. But God has designed the Scriptures so that the faithful reader will be able to get something every time he studies it.

One helpful hint may be to begin on more familiar ground. The ideal starting place for devotional reading may be the Gospel of St. John in the New Testament. The Gospels are more familiar to us. We hear them at Mass every week, even daily if we attend. The characters of the New Testament are also more familiar to us, such as Mary and the apostles. A commitment to read a portion each day will lead us quickly through the New Testament, and then we may be ready to go back to the beginning.

The Old Testament is admittedly more difficult. The names, places, and events can be foreign to the modern reader. I recommend a tape series by Dr. Scott Hahn entitled "Salvation History." In these tapes Dr. Hahn provides a framework within which we can begin to make sense of the Old Testament salvation history. This framework offers a "filing cabinet" in which we can begin to store the information as we read it, almost like a computer disk which needs to be formatted before information can be stored on it.

Most of all, we must avoid the temptation to become frustrated. There will be things we will not fully understand. When we encounter these difficulties, we should realize we are in good company: "Whosoever comes to [Scripture reading] in piety, faith, and humility, and with determination to make progress in it, will assuredly find therein and will eat the 'Bread that comes down from heaven' (Jn. 6:33 ); he will, in his own person, experience the truth of David's words: 'The hidden and uncertain things of Thy Wisdom Thou hast made manifest to me!"' (Ps. 51:6) (, no. 43).

Pope Benedict XV also acknowledges: "[St.] Jerome was compelled, when he discovered apparent discrepancies in the sacred books, to use every endeavor to unravel the difficulty. If he felt that he had not satisfactorily settled the problem, he would return to it again and again, not always, indeed, with the happiest results" (ibid., no. 15, emphasis added).

As with any craft, there are many tools which can be used to maximize the profitability of our reading. First and foremost among these tools is the regular and consistent reading of the sacred page itself. St. Jerome taught, "Read assiduously and learn as much as you can. Let sleep find you holding your Bible, and when your head nods let it be resting on the sacred page" (ibid., no. 42).

Only after we have read and reread the sacred page ourselves can we effectively make use of other tools. There are modern commentaries on all of the New Testament put out through the Navarre Study Series by Scepter Press. Dr. Hahn has a number of commentaries on audiotape on various books of the Bible. There are several official documents put out by the Magisterium on the topic of sacred Scripture (Pope Leo XIII, Pope Pius X, Pope Benedict XV, Pope Pius XII, Vatican II, and the Pontifical Biblical Commission before Pope Paul removed its magisterial status). There are also a number of other study guides available for more serious investigation, such as concordances, Bible dictionaries, biblical encyclopedias, etc. But these tools, while helpful, can never replace the daily, personal reading of sacred Scripture. The Word of God is that pearl of great price which deserves all of our attention.

Taken from www.ewtn.com/library/SCRIPTUR/SSMODCAT.TXT

Sacred Scriptures and the Modern Catholic Part 1

1. The Truth Will Make You Free: Biblical Inspiration and Inerrancy

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

The first point is to realize that sacred Scripture is the very Word of God. As the substantial Word of God became like to men in all things, "except sin," so the words of God, expressed in human language, are made like to human speech in every respect, except error (Pope Pius XII, , no. 37, 1943).

The Bible is different from all other books because it is inspired by God. But it is important to understand what the Church means by this "inspiration." She does not mean that the Bible is necessarily inspirational, although it often is. Rather, the Scriptures are referred to as inspired because they are literally God-breathed. "For the sacred Scripture is not like other books. Dictated by the Holy Spirit, it contains things of the deepest importance" (, no. 5). As the book of Hebrews says, "the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword" (Heb. 4:12).

The fact that Scripture is God's very words becoming the words of men gives it an inner dynamism which differentiates it from all other books. The Scriptures possess a reliability in which we may place our trust about what we are to believe and how we are to act. This reliability is based upon what the Church calls inerrancy. "[H]aving been written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, [the books of the Bible] have God for their author and as such were handed down to the Church herself.... [This is a] Catholic doctrine by which such divine authority is claimed for the 'entire books with all their parts' as to secure freedom from any error whatsoever" (, introduction).

The Bible's inerrancy is based on God's trustworthiness, who can neither deceive nor be deceived. This trustworthiness distinguishes the Bible from all other books (cf. , no. 12).

Typically, we as readers stand in judgment over the books we read, deciding for ourselves whether to accept or reject the assertions that we encounter. But the Scriptures- because they are written by God-stand in judgment over the reader, calling us into a life-transforming relationship with the ultimate Author, our Heavenly Father. The sacred Scriptures, read in light of sacred Tradition and with the guidance of the Magisterium, provide that firm foundation on which we can build a life of faith and support for our daily lives (cf. 1 Tim. 3:15).

Biblical inspiration and inerrancy are the fundamental principles upon which biblical interpretation rests. The Lord's words are true; for him to say it, means that it is. Again, "'Scripture cannot lie'; it is wrong to say Scripture lies, no, it is impious even to admit the very notion of error where the Bible is concerned" (Pope Benedict XV, , no. 13, 1920). An example of this commitment to the sacred page not only extends to all the saints, but to our Lord himself, who quoted from all parts of the Scripture with solemn testimony: "The Scripture cannot be broken" (Jn. 10:35). This is the commitment we too will need if we want to experience the fruits that Our Lord has intended for "hearers of his Word."

Taken from www.ewtn.com/library/SCRIPTUR/SSMODCAT.TXT

No Contradictions in Sacred Scripture

The impossibility of any contradiction existing in the Bible itself flows from the fact that God is the author of Sacred Scripture , and would be responsible for any such discrepancy. But how are we to remedy apparent contradictions in Scripture, the existence of which cannot be denied?
In some cases it is practically certain that our present text has been corrupted. 1 Samuel 13:1 says that Saul was a child of one year when he began to reign, and he reigned two years over Israel, though, according to Acts 13:21 (and Joseph., Antiq., VI, xiv) Saul reigned forty years, beginning at the age of twenty-one. In the former case, the letters of the Hebrew text denoting forty and twenty respectively must have been lost. A similar corruption must be admitted in 1 Kings 4:26 , which grants to Solomon 40,000 stalls of chariot horses instead of the 4000 assigned to him in II Par., ix, 25 (Hebrew text).
In other cases the apparent contradictions in the Bible are due to an erroneous exegesis of one or both of the passages in question. Such wrong interpretations are easily caused by the change of the meaning of a word; by the assumption of a wrong nexus of ideas (chronological, real, or psychological ); by a restriction or an extension of the meaning of a passage beyond its natural limits; by an interchange of figurative with proper, of hypothetical with absolute, language; by a concession of Divine authority to mere quotations from profane sources, or by a neglect of the difference between the Old and the New Testament. Thus the word "tempt" has one sense in Genesis 22:1 , and quite another sense in James 1:13 ; the expressions "faith" and "works" have not the same sense in Romans 3:28 , and James 2:14, 24 ; the "sincere companion" of Philippians 4:3 , does not mean "wife", and does not place this passage in opposition to 1 Corinthians 7:8 ; the "hatred of parents " inculcated in Luke 14:26 , is not the hatred prohibited by the commandment of the decalogue ; the nexus of events in the First Gospel is not chronological and does not establish an opposition between St. Matthew and the other Evangelists ; in 1 Samuel 31:4 , the inspired writer testifies that Saul killed himself, while in 2 Samuel 1:10 , the lying Amalecite boasts that he slew Saul ; in John 1:21 , the Baptist denies that he is "the prophet :, without contradicting the statement of Christ in Matthew 11:9 , that John is a prophet ; etc.
Apparent contradictions in the Bible may have their source in an erroneous identification of distinct words or facts, in a neglect of the difference of standpoint of different writers or speakers, or finally in an erroneous assumption of opposition between two really concordant passages. Thus Genesis 12:11 sqq. , refers to facts wholly different from those related in Genesis 20:2 and 26:7 ; the healing of the centurion's servant related in Matthew 8:5 sqq. , is entirely distinct from the healing of the king's son mentioned in John 4:46 sqq. ; the multiplication of loaves in Matthew 14:15 sqq. , is distinct from that described in Matthew 15:32 sqq. , the cleansing of the temple related in John 2:13 sqq. , is not identical with the event told in Matthew 21:12 sqq. ; the anointing described in Matthew 26:6 sqq. , and John 12:3 sqq. , differs from that told in Luke 7:37 sqq. ; the prophets view the coming of Christ now from an historical, now from a moral, and again from an eschatological standpoint, etc.
No Opposition between Biblical and Profane Truth
Proof -- Thus far we have considered apparent contradictions between different statements of Sacred Scripture ; a word must be added about the opposition which may appear to exist between the teaching of the Bible and the tenets of philosophy, science, and history. The Bible student must be convinced that there can be no such real opposition. The Vatican Council declares expressly: "Though faith is above reason, still there can never be a true discrepancy between faith and reason, since the same God, who reveals mysteries and infuses faith, implants in the human mind the light of reason " (Sess. III, Constit. de fide cath., cap. iv). The same truth is upheld by Leo XIII in the Encyclical "Providentissimus Deus": "Let the learned maintain steadfastly that God the creator and ruler of all things is also the author of the Scriptures, and that therefore nothing can be gathered from nature, nothing from historical documents, which really contradicts the Scriptures." Consequently, any contradiction between Biblical and profane truth is only apparent. Such an appearance of opposition may spring from one of three sources: Scripture may be wrongly interpreted, there may be a mistake in reputed profane truth, or finally the proof establishing the opposition between profane and Biblical truth may be fallacious.
Apparent Opposition -- Any statement resting on a faulty text, or an exegesis neglecting one or more of the many hermeneutic rules, cannot be said to be a Biblical truth. On the other hand, a mere theory in philosophy, or a mere hypothesis in science, or again a mere conjecture in history, cannot claim the dignity or right of a profane truth. Many mistakes have been made by Scriptural exegetes, but their number is not greater than scientific blunders. But even in cases in which the sense of the Bible is certain, and the reality of the profane truth cannot be doubted, the proof of their mutual opposition may be faulty. It is all the easier to go wrong in the proof of such an opposition, because the language of the Bible is not that of philosophy, or of science, or of the professional historian. The Scriptures do not claim to teach ex professo either philosophical theses, or scientific facts, or historical chronology. The expressions of Scripture must be interpreted in the light of their own age and of their original writer, before they are placed in opposition to any profane truth. There are expressions even in the language of today (for instance, the rising and the setting of the sun, etc.) which contradict acknowledged scientific truths, if no attention be paid to the conformity of such language with "sensible appearances".
Relation between Hermeneutics and Profane Learning -- What is, therefore, the relation between the interpreter and the scientist ?
· It would be wrong to make Scripture the criterion of science, to decide our modern scientific questions from our Biblical data. In certain historical controversies this course may be followed, because some of the books of Scripture are truly historical works. But in scientific questions, it suffices to hold that "in matters of faith and morals " Scripture agrees with the truths of science ; and that in other matters, Scripture rightly understood does not oppose true scientific results.
· Towards the use of profane truths in Biblical exegesis, the attitude adopted by commentators is not so uniform. The ultra-conservatives are inclined to explain Scripture without any regard to the progress of profane learning. This method is opposed even to the warning of St. Thomas (I:68:1). The conservatives are prone to adhere to traditional scientific views until such are evidently superseded by modern results; these exegetes expose themselves to the danger of at least seeming defeat--a disgrace that reflects on Biblical exegesis. It is well, therefore, to temper our conservatism with prudence ; prescinding from "matters of faith and morals " in which there can be no change, we should be ready to accommodate our exegesis to the progress of historians and scientists in their respective fields, showing at the same time that such harmonizing expositions of Scripture represent only a progressive stage in Bible study which will be perfected with the progress of profane learning. To repeat once more, with regard to "matters of faith and morals " there is no progress of the faith in the faithful, but only progress of the faithful in the faith ; with regard to other matters, the progress of profane knowledge may throw additional light on the true sense of Sacred Scripture.

Taken from http://www.catholic.org/

Profile of the month Archbishop Fulton Sheen

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Fulton John Sheen (born Peter John Sheen May 8, 1895—December 9, 1979) was an American archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Bishop of Rochester and American television's first religious broadcaster of note, hosting Life Is Worth Living in the early 1950s, first on the old DuMont Television Network and later on ABC, from 1951 to 1957. He later hosted The Fulton Sheen Program in syndication with a virtually identical format from 1961 to 1968; these later programs, many of which were taped in color, are still frequently rebroadcast today.
Sheen was born in El Paso, Illinois, the oldest of four sons of a farmer. Though he was known as Fulton, his mother's maiden name, he was baptized as Peter John Sheen. As an infant, Sheen contracted tuberculosis. After the family moved to nearby Peoria, Illinois, Sheen's first role in the Roman Catholic Church was as an altar boy at St. Mary's Cathedral.
Education
After earning high school valedictorian honors at Spalding Institute in Peoria in 1913, Sheen was educated at St. Viator College, Bourbonnais, Illinois. Making the debating team in his freshman year, his coach called him aside the night before a major debate with the University of Notre Dame, and told him bluntly: "Sheen, you're absolutely the worst speaker I ever heard."
Sheen attended Saint Paul Seminary in Minnesota before his ordination on September 20, 1919, then followed that with further studies at The Catholic University of America Washington, D.C..[1] His youthful appearance was still evident on one occasion when a local priest who was unable to celebrate Mass asked Sheen to substitute for him. Arriving at the parish, the pastor curtly told him, "Get over to the church. The other altar boys are dressed already."
Sheen earned a doctorate in philosophy at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium in 1923.[1] While there, he became the first American ever to win the Cardinal Mercier award for the best philosophical treatise.
Sheen then taught theology at St. Edmund's College, Ware in England. In 1926, the Bishop of his hometown in Peoria asked him to take over St. Patrick's Parish. After eight months, Sheen returned to Catholic University in Washington, D.C., to teach philosophy.
Radio and television
A popular instructor, Sheen wrote the first of some 90 books in 1925, and in 1930 began a weekly Sunday night radio broadcast, The Catholic Hour.[1] Two decades later, the broadcast had a weekly listening audience of four million people. Time magazine referred to him in 1946 as "the golden-voiced Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, U.S. Catholicism's famed proselyter" and reported that his radio broadcast received 3,000–6,000 letters weekly from listeners.[2] During the middle of this era, he conducted the first religious service broadcast on the new medium of television, putting in motion a new avenue for his religious pursuits.
Sheen was also credited with helping convert a number of notable figures to the Catholic faith, including writer Heywood Broun, politician Clare Boothe Luce and automaker Henry Ford II.
Sheen was ordained a bishop on June 11, 1951[3] . He served as an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of New York from 1951 to 1965. In 1951 he also began a weekly television program on the DuMont network, Life is Worth Living. The show, scheduled for Tuesday nights at 8:00 p.m., was not expected to offer much of a challenge against ratings giants Milton Berle and Frank Sinatra, but surprisingly held its own, causing Berle to joke, "He uses old material, too." In 1952, Sheen won an Emmy Award for his efforts, accepting the acknowledgement by saying, "I feel it is time I pay tribute to my four writers -- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John."
The program consisted of Sheen simply speaking in front of a live audience, often speaking on the theology of current topics such as the evils of Communism or the usage of psychology, occasionally using a chalkboard. One of his best remembered presentations came in February 1953, when he forcefully denounced the Soviet regime of Joseph Stalin. Sheen gave a dramatic reading of the burial scene from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, substituting the names of Caesar, Cassius, Mark Antony, and Brutus with those of prominent Soviet leaders: Stalin, Beria, Malenkov, and Vishinsky. He concluded by saying, "Stalin must one day meet his judgment." On March 5, 1953, Stalin died.
The show ran until 1957, drawing as many as 30 million people on a weekly basis. In 1958, he became national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, serving for eight years before being appointed Bishop of Rochester on October 26, 1966. Sheen also hosted a nationally-syndicated series, The Fulton Sheen Program, from 1961 to 1968 (first in black and white and then in color). The format of this series was basically the same as Life is Worth Living.
Later years
While serving in Rochester, he created the Sheen Ecumenical Housing Foundation, which survives to this day. However, his continuing celebrity status led to travels outside the Diocese, preventing him from establishing a close relationship with parishioners. He also spent some of his energy on political activities, such as his denunciation of the Vietnam War in August 1967. On October 15, 1969, one month after celebrating his 50th anniversary as a priest, Sheen resigned from his position and was then appointed Archbishop of the Titular See of Newport (Wales) by Pope Paul VI. The largely ceremonial position allowed Sheen to continue his extensive writing. Archbishop Sheen wrote 73 books and numerous articles and columns.
On October 2, 1979, two months before Sheen's death, Pope John Paul II visited St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York and embraced Sheen, saying, "You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus Christ. You are a loyal son of the Church."
Sheen is buried in the crypt of St. Patrick's Cathedral, near the deceased Archbishops of New York. The official repository of Sheen's papers, television programs, and other materials is at St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry in Rochester, New York [4]
Posthumous appeal
In 2002, Sheen's Cause for Canonization was officially opened, and so he is now referred to as a Servant of God.
Re-runs of Sheen's various programs continue to be aired on the Eternal Word Television Network, introduced by Joseph Campanella. Re-runs are also aired on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. In addition to his television appearances, Archbishop Sheen can also be heard on Relevant Radio.
On February 2, 2008 the archives of Archbishop Sheen were sealed at a ceremony during a special Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria, Illinois. The archive will be shipped to Rome to be used in the investigation that might result in beatification and subsequent canonization of Archbishop Sheen.

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton_J._Sheen