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Today is a summary of what we have read the last couple of days
We have been focusing on the transmission of DIVINE REVELATION
God loves us so much that He wants to reveal Himself so fully to us
And he does in Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit
The Apostles passed this on to us in two ways
The Holy Spirit works through the Church the FULLNESS OF REVELATION IN JESUS CHRIST is passed down ORALLY and IN WRITING
And all of this is passed down through APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION
We also talked about how SACRED TRADITION and SACRED SCRIPTURE make up the DEPOSIT OF FAITH
And we NEED a RELIABLE INTERPRETER of this called THE MAGISTERIUM
So let’s pray!!
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, Lord God, we thank you so much. We thank you for continuing to reach out to us. We thank you for continuing to speak to us. We thank you for continuing to call us closer to you. Lord God, you have not abandoned this age. You have not abandoned this generation. But you, in the power of your Holy Spirit, continue to pour out your goodness, your grace, your love, and your Truth upon every heart that seeks you. Lord God, you even pour out your grace and Truth and love upon hearts that don't seek you. God, help us. Help us to be hearts that are open to your love, that are open to your grace, that are open to your Truth, and help us to never forget what you've done in our lives. Seal, seal the knowledge of you and seal the knowledge of Truth in our hearts. Seal the graces that you've given to us deeply into our lives and help us always, always to pursue you because you will never stop at pursuing us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”
Remember, we can pay attention
“Oh wait! I’ve heard these things before!”
This is simply a reminder of what we ALREADY know so that we can get it DEEPER into our hearts and DEEPER into our lives
Today is a little NUGGET day
Bite size pieces!!
Here is something that might have been a little bit of a surprise to some people
Typically we think that DIVINE REVELATION is The Bible, the Word of God
YES!!
YOU ARE NOT WRONG!!
BUT…
We recognize that SACRED TRADITION and SACRED SCRIPTURE as a whole make up the SINGLE SACRED DEPOSIT OF THE WORD OF GOD
Which is NECESSARY for us
Why can we say that it is NECESSARY?
Why can we say that Divine Revelation INCLUDES Sacred Tradition and NOT MERELY Sacred Scripture?
We can say it for a number of reasons
One reason is pointed out in Scripture itself
St. Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 3:15, “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.”
We noted over the last couple of days that Divine Revelation has come to us both ORALLY and IN WRITING
WE DID NOT JUST MAKE THIS UP!!
This comes from SACRED SCRIPTURE ITSELF!!!
This is what we passed on to you
ORALLY
OR IN WRITING
We also recognize the role of the Church to be ABLE to give us Divine Revelation
Think about this…
We have the CANON OF SCRIPTURE
THE LIST OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
ALL 73 BOOKS
That list of books in the Bible IS NOT IN THE BIBLE!!!
Where does it come from?
SACRED TRADITION!!
EVERYBODY who reads the Bible and says, “Yup, these are the books in the Bible” are relying upon an AUTHORITY THAT IS OUTSIDE THE BIBLE!!
THEY ARE RELYING UPON SACRED TRADITION!!
We can say REALLY CLEARLY that SACRED TRADITION and SACRED SCRIPTURE together make up a SINGLE SACRED DEPOSIT OF THE WORD OF GOD
WE NEED BOTH!!
Because without EITHER, we would be DEFICIENT
THAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT!!
Paragraph 98 says, “The Church, in her doctrine, life, and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes.”
So the first part of that statement is OBVIOUS
Doctrine means TEACHING
BUT…
The statement is NOT JUST THE DOCTRINE, meaning here are the TEACHINGS
BUT…
HER LIFE
HER WORSHIP
Perpetuates and transmits to EVERY GENERATION all that she herself IS and all that she BELIEVES
THIS IS SO IMPORTANT!!
There are many people who come to an INTELLECTUAL CONVERSION to Jesus or the Catholic Faith
They have READ their way into the Church
IT IS BEAUTIFUL!!
IT IS POWERFUL!!
IT IS AMAZING!!
Then they get to a parish and they are like, “Oh wow! This is NOT like what I read!”
Because every parish is SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT
They might know the BEAUTY
They might know the MYSTERY
They might know the POWER
They might know the REALITY
Of the Mass and then they show up for Daily Mass at whatever church and end up thinking, “Oh my gosh! This is what that is? Oh goodness gracious!”
That could be a situation
BUT…
The Church is highlighting in The Catechism, by quoting Dei Verbum, “No actually that does reveal WHAT and WHO the Church is.”
The LIFE and WORSHIP of the Church
NOT the broken life
NOT the broken worship
NOT the cheap worship where maybe someone isn’t doing what they SHOULD BE DOING
BUT…
The way the Church PRAYS
The way the Church LIVES
DOES REVEAL WHO THE CHURCH IS
DOES REVEAL WHAT THE CHURCH BELIEVES
Here’s what Fr. Mike means
There is this phrase: Lex orandi, lex credendi
It means “The law of prayer is the law of belief”
The way the Church prays actually reveals WHAT THE CHURCH BELIEVES
Pay attention to the prayers that are said DURING MASS
This is revealing something DEEPLY about what it is that we believe as FOLLOWERS OF JESUS CHRIST
THIS IS SO POWERFUL!!
There is this element where sometimes Christians will challenge Catholic Christians and say, “Where is THAT in the Bible? Where did you get THAT idea?”
There are a couple of things to keep in mind
As we already noted in 2 Thessalonians 3:15
St. Paul notes that there are things that we believe that WERE NOT WRITTEN DOWN that were simply SPOKEN BY WORD OF MOUTH
Things that we BELIEVE that are NOT PART OF SACRED SCRIPTURE but ARE PART OF SACRED TRADITION
Also The Church has the AUTHORITY TO TEACH
Why??
1 Timothy 3:14-15, “I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you so that, if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.”
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!
Why??
Because it highlights the fact that SCRIPTURE is saying that THE CHURCH is the PILLAR AND BULWARK OF THE TRUTH
A lot of times, some Christians will say that SCRIPTURE is the PILLAR AND BULWARK OF THE TRUTH
Ok, we believe that Scripture is TRUE
BUT…
SCRIPTURE ITSELF says that THE CHURCH is the PILLAR AND BULWARK OF TRUTH
WE HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION TO THAT!!
WE CANNOT DISMISS THAT!!
WE CANNOT IGNORE THAT!!
WE CANNOT DENY THAT!!
BECAUSE IT IS THE TRUTH!!
Yes, The Church in her doctrine written down in Sacred Scripture AND in her doctrine through SACRED TRADITION
BUT IN HER VERY LIFE!!
Have you seen the movie A FEW GOOD MEN?
There is a soldier stationed in Guantanamo Bay
He gets killed by his fellow soldiers during a CODE RED
A CODE RED was an “off the books” term or phrase used to indicate the ways in which soldiers would keep their fellow soldiers in line
They would mete out some discipline to bring up their fellow soldiers up to code
It was kind of a hazing and disciplinary thing
So this code red ended up with the death of a soldier
You know where we’re going with this don’t you? 😉
So there’s this courtroom scene
They’re trying to figure out what happened
Was the death accidental?
Or was this ordered from up above by the commander?
At one point, Kevin Bacon (who is in every movie) asks the soldier on the stand to show the page in the handbook that talks about CODE REDS
The soldier is confused and says there is no page that talks about code reds
Kevin Bacon is incredulous
Is the soldier really trying to say that this code red that EVERYBODY KNOWS ABOUT is NOT EVEN IN THE HANDBOOK???
(Fr. Mike is really going long with this analogy haha 😁)
Kevin Bacon is trying to deny the reality of the code red since it is NOT in the book
Here comes Tom Cruise and takes the book from Kevin Bacon and asks the soldier on the stand to point to the page where it shows him how to get to the mess hall and get fed
The soldier is confused and the handbook doesn’t explain that part
So Tom Cruise is ALSO incredulous!!
So in the 6 months the soldier was at the base he didn’t eat a single meal?
NO!!
They ate three square meals a day!!
So how did he know how to get to the mess hall if it wasn’t in the handbook??
The soldier says that he followed the crowd at dinnertime
(Ok Fr. Mike has gone on for 4 whole minutes about this movie which is awesome!! 🤣)
Ok I can’t in good conscience put a link to this scene Fr. Mike is referring to without also including THIS INFAMOUS SCENE!!!! You Can't Handle the Truth! - A Few Good Men (7/8) Movie CLIP (1992) HD
SO HERE IS THE POINT!!
Kevin Bacon is saying if it is NOT in the book then it must NOT EXIST right?
Tom Cruise’s character is saying that there are A LOT of important instructions that is IN THE BOOK
BUT…
There are also things that are a part of life on the base in Guantanamo Bay that are NOT WRITTEN IN THE BOOK
AND THE SAME THING IS TRUE WHEN IT COMES TO OUR CHRISTIAN FAITH!!
There are SO MANY THINGS that are written in The Bible
ABSOLUTELY!!
BUT…
There are also SO MANY THINGS that are NOT WRITTEN IN THE BIBLE but are PART OF LIFE FOLLOWING AFTER JESUS!!
We have WRITTEN TRADITION
We have SPOKEN TRADITION
We have SACRED SCRIPTURE
We have SACRED TRADITION
THAT IS SO SO VERY IMPORTANT!!
WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS ALL PART OF WHAT WE CALL THE DEPOSIT OF FAITH!!
Paragraph 100 says, “The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him.”
The Magisterium, the Magister, the TEACHER has been able to interpret AUTHENTICALLY and AUTHORITATIVELY the Word of God for us
We do not need to be CONCERNED
We do not need to be WORRIED
We know that we have a teacher that when Jesus said to the Apostles, “He who hears YOU hears ME.”
When Jesus ascended to Heaven and said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold I am with you always until the end of the Age.”
JESUS MEANT IT!!
God is still with us in HIS WORD
God is still with us in HIS SACRAMENTS
God is still with us in HIS CHURCH
God still teaches us THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT WORKING THROUGH THE MAGISTERIUM
GOD’S WORD IS ALWAYS LIVING!!
GOD’S WORD IS ALWAYS ACTIVE!!
GOD’S WORD IS ALIVE!!
GOD’S WORD COMES TO US EVERY SINGLE DAY!!
God keeps speaking to us just like today
Those were A LOT OF LITTLE NUGGETS!!!
There’s a lot of meat on them bones!!
Fr. Mike is so grateful FOR YOU!!
Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!
Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!
I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!
Early Church Father Reflection
- compiled by Andrew Adamany
CCC 97 "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God" in which, as in a mirror, the pilgrim Church contemplates God, the source of all her riches."
St. Iraneus (A.D 180)
"When therefore we have such proofs, it is not necessary to seek among others the truth which is easily obtained from the Church. For the Apostles like a rich man in a bank, deposited within her most copiously everything which pertains to the truth; and everyone whosoever wishes, draws from her the drink of life. For she is the entrance to life, while all the rest are thieves and robbers. That is why it is surely necessary to avoid them, while cherishing with the utmost diligence the things pertaining to the Church, and to lay hold of the tradition of truth. What then? If there should be a dispute over some kind of question, ought we not have recourse to the most ancient churches in which the apostles were familiar, and draw from them what is clear and certain in regard to that question? What if the apostles had not in fact left writings to us? Would it not be necessary to follow the order of tradition, which was handed down to those to whom they entrusted the Churches?"
(Against Heresies III 4.1)
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