Next class session is on Sunday, December 14th, at 9:15!
Sacramentum - covenant oath swearing in God's Name
Covenant - I give myself to you, you give yourself to me --- God gives Himself to you and asks you to do the same in return
Different from contract
The Covenant establishes a Live-Giving Communion of Persons to build and increase the Family of God
Jesus is the Son of God, Messiah, Eternal Presence in the Blessed Sacrament.
Story of the Three Men asked to describe Jesus to get into Heaven.
How will you recognize Jesus?
The "Book of books"
One "leg" of the three "legs" of Sola Dei Verbum
- Scripture, Tradition, Magisterium.
- Example: Learning to play Baseball
14 Chronological Books
12 Historical Periods
7 Covenants
Bloodline of Jesus
Building
Society or group
"Denomination" like Nazarene or First Baptist
Family
Family of God
People of God
Founded by and founded on the Person of Jesus Christ
Why do we have to follow "the rules?"
God speaks to us in lots of ways, but there are three ordinary voices that he uses to speak to us every day.
Legitimate needs.
Talents and abilities
Deepest desire
First: Be willing to hear the answer
Second: Ask the question
Prayer
Advice of Others
Third: Listen
Prayer
Your Passion
Name the Seven Sacraments:
Baptism
Reconciliation
Eucharist
Confirmation
Holy Orders
Marriage
Anointing of the Sick
Exchange of persons
Family kinship bond
Oath-Swearing
Sacramentum in Latin -> Sacrament
Covenants in the Bible
God giving himself to his people
Asking for them - for us - to give ourselves back to Him
Adam - Marriage Covenant
Noah - Family Covenant
Abraham - Tribal Covenant
Moses - Nation Covenant
David - Kingdom Covenant
Jesus - Worldwide Church
Jesus - Final Consummation
Found by and founded on the Person of Jesus Christ
The Source and Summit of our Faith:
The Holy Eucharist
The ultimate exchange of persons
Exchange between Christ and His Church -> us
This brings us to another aspect of The Covenant that we several weeks ago:
Covenants are supposed to be Life-Giving Unions
The Blessed Trinity is the ultimate in Life-Giving Unions
Many have attempted to understand or describe the Blessed Trinity
Shamrock - St. Patrick
Water - Solid, Liquid, Gas
My favorite image
The family
The Husband pours out his love to his wife.
The wife receives that love and gives it back to the husband.
That love between them is so real, that 9-months later you may have to give it a name!
The Blessed Trinity
The Father eternally pours out His Love to The Son
The Son receives that Love, gives it back to The Father
And the Love between them is so real, that is actually another Person named Holy Spirit
This why we say that The Holy Spirit "proceeds from The Father and The Son"
Genesis 1
- The New Life of the world
1 [a]In the beginning God created[b] the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit[c] of God was moving over the face of the waters.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201&version=RSVCE>
Genesis 2
- The New Life of Man
7 then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%202&version=RSVCE>
Genesis 2
- The New Woman
21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; 22 and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%202&version=RSVCE>
Exodus 40
34 Then the cloud[a] covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud abode upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would go onward; 37 but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not go onward till the day that it was taken up. 38 For throughout all their journeys the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2040&version=RSVCE>
Luke 1
- The New Life of Jesus as Man
Holy Spirit is Spouse of Blessed Virgin Mary
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no husband?” 35 And the angel said to her,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
therefore the child to be born[h] will be called holy,
the Son of God.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%201&version=RSVCE>
Luke 3
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form, as a dove, and a voice came from heaven, “Thou art my beloved Son;[c] with thee I am well pleased.”[d]
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%203&version=RSVCE>
Acts 2
- The New Life of the Church
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%202&version=RSVCE>
GIRM (General Instruction of the Roman Missal)
Epiclesis:
In which, by means of particular invocations, the Church implores the power of the Holy Spirit that the gifts offered by human hands be consecrated, that is, become Christ’s Body and Blood, and that the spotless Victim to be received in Communion be for the salvation of those who will partake of it.
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
IV. The Liturgical Celebration of the Eucharist
1353 In the epiclesis, the Church asks the Father to send his Holy Spirit (or the power of his blessing178) on the bread and wine, so that by his power they may become the body and blood of Jesus Christ and so that those who take part in the Eucharist may be one body and one spirit (some liturgical traditions put the epiclesis after the anamnesis).
In the institution narrative, the power of the words and the action of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, make sacramentally present under the species of bread and wine Christ's body and blood, his sacrifice offered on the cross once for all.
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
II. Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture
105 God is the author of Sacred Scripture. "The divinely revealed realities, which are contained and presented in the text of Sacred Scripture, have been written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit."69
"For Holy Mother Church, relying on the faith of the apostolic age, accepts as sacred and canonical the books of the Old and the New Testaments, whole and entire, with all their parts, on the grounds that, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author, and have been handed on as such to the Church herself."70
106 God inspired the human authors of the sacred books. "To compose the sacred books, God chose certain men who, all the while he employed them in this task, made full use of their own faculties and powers so that, though he acted in them and by them, it was as true authors that they consigned to writing whatever he wanted written, and no more."71
107 The inspired books teach the truth. "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."72
108 Still, the Christian faith is not a "religion of the book". Christianity is the religion of the "Word" of God, "not a written and mute word, but incarnate and living".73 If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, "open (our) minds to understand the Scriptures."74
God was there at the very instant of your conception in your mother's womb.
He gave you your soul - the "you" that you are.
The primary Gift, the most important Gift is The Holy Spirit Himself!
Open yourself up to the Holy Spirit.
When the Bishop traces the sign of the cross on your forehead, an indelible mark will be placed on your soul.
Throughout your life that moment will influence you in a thousand ways.
Some of them you will be aware of and some you will be oblivious to. We are mostly oblivious to God working in our lives.
Usually it is in looking back that we recognize God’s hand guiding us.
If God appeared to you in a vision and said,” Ask Me for anything and I will give it to you.” What would you ask Him for?
Confirmation can change you in special ways if you open yourself up to the grace you can receive. Here are a few examples:
Better relationships
This sacrament will increase your emotional intelligence, self knowledge, and especially your spiritual intelligence.
A sense of mission.
It will fill you with a sense of mission by revealing the true meaning of life.
The perfect career path.
The grace from Confirmation will help you choose a career path that is perfectly suited to you by encouraging you to explore your God given talents and abilities.
Inner peace.
Confirmation can fill you with a sense of inner peace, even when the world around you is crazy , by teaching you to make time for quiet prayer and reflection each day.
Great Decision Making.
The grace from this sacrament will help you to make better decisions as you open yourself up to the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
At Baptism you received the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.
At Confirmation these gifts will be strengthened in you. These gifts need to be nurtured for them to grow.
What are they?
Wisdom
– the ability to discern what is right and true. It helps you to see life from God’s perspective, and establish the right priorities in your life.
Understanding
– Allows you to look beyond the shallowness of the world and see the truth in every situation. We recognize how God is working in our lives.
Counsel
– The right judgement that allows us to see what is right and what is wrong and the courage to act accordingly.
Fortitude
– The courage and strength of will to do what you know you should, even if it is hard or means personal loss or suffering.
Knowledge
– The ability to see things from a supernatural viewpoint, to know what God is asking of you.
Piety
– This is the gift that allows you to love and worship God as He deserves to be loved and worshipped.
Fear of the Lord (Reverence)
- Helps you to grasp God’s greatness and your dependence on Him. You are filled with enormous Respect for God and you don’t want to disappoint Him or be separated from Him.
These are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.
When the Bishop prays over you at Confirmation, he will be praying that you are filled with them.
Each of these gifts helps you to become the best version of yourself and live the life that God created you to live.
Pneumonic Device
– Take the first letter of each of the gifts and come up with a sentence or series of letters to help us recall all seven.
WUCFKPF
Will u come Forth knowing priests fully
wuffckp
puffwck
Any order. Come up with a sentence to help us all recall these seven gifts.
Young lay woman in the Diocese of Aqui Terme, Italy.
Daughter of Ruggero Badano, a truck driver, and Maria Teresa Caviglia. A kind, happy and pious girl, she enjoyed tennis, swimming, hiking, singing, dancing and initially wanted to be a flight attendant. Member of the Focolare Movement at age nine.
At age 16 she began to feel drawn to religious life; soon afterward she was diagnosed with cancer in her shoulder.
Chiara insisted that she could become a missionary, but the cancer spread quickly, affecting her spine, and she lost the use of her legs.
She finally accepted that she wasn’t going anywhere and spent her remaining time praying and being supportive of her family and friends.
From <https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-chiara-badano/>
Say "Come Holy Spirit" ten (10) times.
Do this 5 times during the day.
See the clip here:
https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxsq728K3_MbUkme3x6TfeUbrnmLoIgmsS?si=eldzztTHzX3J95gP
Listen to the Holy Spirit.
Throughout your life there will be many voices encouraging you to do the wrong things. Who will you listen to? Let the Holy Spirit be your guide.
Get to know the Holy Spirit.
Who is the Holy Spirit and why should you care? Get to know the Holy Spirit and discover the amazing things he can do in your life.
Use the gifts He gives you!
At your Confirmation, the Holy Spirit will give you 7 gifts that have tremendous power if you decide to unwrap them. Are you ready?
Follow your mission.
What fruit does God want you to bear? When we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, we will bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Let the Holy Spirit guide you.
Life is a long journey, and every day we come to many forks in the road. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide every decision you make, and learn to recognize his promptings in your heart.
Will you allow yourself to be inspired?
Nobody does anything worthwhile until they are inspired. Will you let the Holy Spirit guide and inspire you?.