Proof of the Resurrection

 

 

 

Using the very early Christian writings as reliably historical records only and not inspired texts helps us to show that our belief in Christianity is not based solely on a book by on a man, a God-man Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

There is evidence that Jesus’ disciples had real experiences with one whom they believed was the risen Christ.  We find in 1 Cor 15:3-8 an ancient creed spoken by Paul to the Corinthians>

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. (1 Cor 15:3-8 NIV)

This creed is generally agreed that Paul received it from Peter and James between 3 and 5 years after the Crucifixion.  Since they are the ones who gave the creed to Paul, Jewish Scholar Pinchahs Lapide says this creed “may be considered the statement of eyewitnesses.”  Here’s something more to consider that is often overlooked from this passage.  The large number of witnesses of Christ after that resurrection morning, over 500 people is another statement worthy of consideration.  Paul reminds them that the majority of those people were still alive and could be questioned.  He says in effect, ‘If you don’t believe me, you can ask then.’  Such a statement in an admittedly genuine letter written within thirty years of the event is almost as strong evidence as one could hope to get for something that happened nearly two thousand years ago.

Just because the disciples think they say Jesus though, doesn’t mean they really did.  There are three possible alternatives.

1.     They were lying

2.     They hallucinated

3.     They really saw the risen Christ

Which of these is most likely?  Were they lying?  If they were lying, it meant that the disciples knew that Jesus had not really risen, that they made the story about the resurrection.  But then why did 10 of the disciples willingly die as martyrs for their belief in the resurrection?  People often die for a lie they believe is true.  But if Jesus did not rise, the disciples knew it.  They wouldn’t have just been dying for a lie they mistakenly believed was true.  The disciples were willing to give up their lives for a lie they KNEW was a lie.  Ten people will not all give up their lives for something they know to be a lie.

To suggest that the disciples were lying is considered today by all prominent New Testament scholars as an absurd theory.  We can see why almost all scholars today admit that, if nothing else, the disciples at least believed that Jesus appeared to them.  But to believe something does not necessarily make it true.  Maybe the disciples were wrong and had been confused by an hallucination.

The theory of mass hallucinations is another attempt at explaining the claims of the appearances of Jesus after the resurrection.  The disciples record eating and drinking with Jesus, as well as touching him.  This cannot be done with hallucinations.  Hallucinations are highly individual, and not group projections.  And what about Paul’s conversion?  Was Paul, the persecutor of Christians, so hoping to see the resurrected Jesus that his mind invented an appearance as well?

Since the disciples could not have been lying or hallucinating, we have only one possible explanation left:  the disciples believed that they had seen the risen Jesus because they really had seen the risen Jesus.  So the resurrection appearances demonstrate the reality of the resurrection.  And the proof in the claim that Jesus Called Himself God (John 8:58 referencing Exo 3:14) is found in the Resurrection.  He is Risen!

Missed passed week’s leaflets? Questions? Comments? Come visit our Blog at www.parishofthepreciousblood.blogspot.com

Written by a St. Denis parishioner

Forgiveness of Sins

Forgiveness of Sins

We find in 1 John 1:9 what we find throughout the Scriptures, that God does indeed forgive us our sins. John tells us that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity.” Only God has the power to forgive sins but us Catholics believe that He can exercise this power through men.

But what does Scripture say about Confession? First, its important for you all to realize that this belief in the forgiving of sins by priests is something that has been believed before the Scriptures were ever written. Makes sense since they wouldn’t be able to write about something unless they already believed it. This Tradition has been passed down to us and part of it was written down in an inspired fashion and found its way in our Bible.

In the parable of the prodigal son, the son asks for his share of the inheritance from the father in effect saying that his father’s dead to him. He leaves and squanders everything and finally realizes what he’s done and decides to return home. The father, seeing his son in the distance, runs out to meet him with a hug and a kiss. Through one loving gesture, the father forgives the son – and the son hasn’t even made his confession yet! When he does, it seems the father hardly listens. The confession is not the most important thing here; the important thing is that his son has returned home.

Let’s have a look at the story of the paralytic man that was brought down from the ceiling because the crowds were blocking their access to Jesus as found in Gospels of Mark and Matthew. In the Gospel of Mark the story begins in the second chapter and as his friends brought the man down from the ceiling and “[w]hen Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (verse 5) But the scribes sitting there were outraged at what he spoke saying: “It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Those who believe that no man can forgive sins, that only God can do that, are on the same camp as the scribes in this story. Generally speaking, to be in agreement with the scribes of the time of Jesus is not a very good place to be. Well, Jesus answered their objections with: “that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins” – he turned to the paralytic and said – “Rise, take up your mat and go home.” In verse 8, chapter 9 of Matthew’s version, we see the scribes reaction to this revelation. When they saw this miracle “they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.”

Notice this last word. Matthew didn’t write that the authority to forgive sins was given to a man, he said it was given to MEN, plural. So now the question is do all of us have this authority to forgive the sins of others whom we may not even know as Jesus could do? James clearly points to the fact that only some men were given this authority because he writes to go get the elders so that their sins may be forgiven (James 5:14-15). But who received this authority?

To answer this question all we need do is go to John 20:21. These events are happening on the day of our Lord’s rising from the dead. All of His followers left and scattered. His disciples, the twelve locked themselves into a room for fear of the Jews. Jesus then appeared to the apostles in that locked room and said: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” When He said this he “breathed on them” and said “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”(verses 21 and 22)

There are a few things to consider in these short passages. First we need to remember that only the apostles were in that room on the first day of His Resurrection (except for Thomas and Judas who weren’t there).

Second, Jesus said that He sends these apostles in the same way that He, Himself was sent. Going back to the story of the healing of the paralytic in Matt 9 verse 6, we know that “the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins”. Therefore Jesus sends the apostles with that same authority, the authority on earth to forgive sins. And since He also has the authority to give this authority to others, then so do the apostles who then hand this authority to their successors all the way down through history to today’s bishops and priests.

Third, Jesus tells them that if they forgive the sins of any they are forgiven BUT He also tells them that if they retain the sins of any they are retained. For the apostle to know which sins to forgive and especially which sins to retain they need to have some kind of knowledge of them therefore we see the need to CONFESS our sins to these apostles or successors.

To recap, there are three main reasons why we ought to go to Confession for the forgiveness of our sins. Firstly because it has been set up this way since the very early years of our children in the faith, the Jews (see Leviticus 5:5-6 for an example of this). Jesus taught this same idea of the forgiveness of sins through those He appointed and gave such necessary authority that the Jewish people never had.

Secondly, both John and James mention the need to confess our sins to each other. These men tell us to confess our sins to each other but more specifically James says that certain men have this power to forgive the sins of others (James 5:14-15).

Lastly, we know that Jesus has the authority on earth to forgive sins (Matt 9:6) and that Jesus sends His apostles with the authority to forgive sins as well as the authority to pass this authority on to their successors all the way through history to our bishops and priests of today.

So true sacramental forgiveness of sins is a fulfillment of the sacrificial system of the forgiveness of sins of the Jewish people. It is also the power of God working through men (bishops and priests) and is instituted by Jesus Himself when He breathed on them and passed on this power through apostolic succession to the bishops and priests of today.

If you were dying of cancer and you prayed everyday for God to heal you, God could easily heal you instantly. But before that happens you will no doubt constantly visit the doctor to help you. Now say you are healed by the doctors help. It’s not the doctor that healed you, it was God. The doctor was just the intermediary for God. God used the doctor to perform His miracle. This is the same way that God uses a priest to administer the sacrament of confession to us. Sin is like a cancer and we need to go to the doctor (priest) to be healed. So why go to confession? Because Jesus Christ our Lord and God set it up this way. Who are we to say that we don’t need to go?

Missed past week’s leaflets? Questions? Comments? Come visit our Blog at www.parishofthepreciousblood.blogspot.com

A Catholic's Guide to Voting

Catholic Voter’s Guide

 

 

per·son

 

1. a human being, whether man, woman, or child: The table seats four persons.

 

2. a human being as distinguished from an animal or a thing.

 

3. Sociology . an individual human being, especially with reference to his or her social relationships and behavioral patterns as conditioned by the culture.

 

4. Philosophy . a self-conscious or rational being.

 

5. the actual self or individual personality of a human being: You ought not to generalize, but to consider the person you are dealing with.

 

 Source:  www.dictionary.com

_________________________________________________________

In trying to figure out who to vote for in any election it’s important to know where each candidate stands on the issues of the day.  What they plan to do to help invigorate the economy, universal healthcare and what needs to be done about ongoing wars.

All of these, as well as others, are very important but to determine who is the one who better represents the people of the United States we need to figure out which subject has priority over all others.  If both candidates agree about what we believe is most important then we are to look at the subject which has second highest priority and so on.

As concerned citizen, we are obligated to elect individuals who will look out for the lives of his constituents.  Not only on the day-to-day issues but on life issues itself.  Many individuals lose their lives in the fight against our country’s enemies and many also lose their lives when they are forcibly taken out from their mothers’ womb.

Both categories are important since both involve the loss of life but which one should be our priority when two candidates disagree on both issues?  How are we to decide who to vote for when one candidate will fight to end a US war but will work to help facilitate easier abortions for all women while the other seems to want to continue armed hostilities abroad but will work to stop most abortions from being performed?

A couple of things to consider when deciding which issue should have priority.  Although you may not agree with the necessity of troops in foreign wars, they at least have the means to defend themselves.  They can either take cover, retreat or even shoot back.  The baby in the womb can do none of those, and that’s why they are considered the most defenseless.  A secondary thing to remember is the sheer number of casualties involved.  For the entire Afghan war there is a total of over 3,000 deaths as of Sept 2012[1].  In fact, the sum of all U.S. soldier deaths from all wars in U.S. history (including the Civil War, World War I and II as well as the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars) we have a total of a little over 1.3 million deaths[2].

A single death from an unnecessary war is one too many and if you are against war in general then one death during war is one too many.  But if one compares the number of deaths from ALL U.S wars put together this number comes to about equal the amount of deaths performed by  abortions in an average year!  In fact, the once special research affiliate of the abortion chain Planned Parenthood gives us national statistics that show an annual abortion rate of 1.2 million abortions[3].

The total number of deaths by abortions in the U.S. alone since its legalization is now over 54 million.  54 million living human beings, persons, allowed to be killed simply because they were unborn at the time.  Any right to choose, or any other right at all is superseded by the right to life since what’s the point of having all other rights if one doesn’t have life?

I’ll leave it to you to figure out what kind of a free democracy we really are when we allow for the killing of the most defenseless among us, of those not yet born.  What good is freedom if some aren’t even allowed to live?  Where is their choice?  Choose wisely, vote in support of the possibility of choosing for all human beings especially in choosing life.

 

Missed past week’s leaflets?  Questions?  Comments?  Come visit our Blog at www.parishofthepreciousblood.blogspot.com

Prepared by a St. Denis parishioner

 

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[1] http://icasualties.org/OEF/ByMonth.aspx

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_casualties_of_war#cite_note-defense.gov-83

[3] http://www.nrlc.org/Factsheets/FS03_AbortionInTheUS.pdf

Unashamed

 

 

Follow Me

(Matt 4:19)

This week I would like to recommend that we all take the time to learn more about what we believe so that we may have answers (or at least know where to go for an answer) to any and all who would question us of our hope and faith (1 Pet 3:15).  Continuing with last week’s theme on evangelizing in deed AND in word, I bring you a Mission Statement that we all need to be following.

 

 

Mission Statement

THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE UNASHAMED

 

 

I AM A PART of the Fellowship of the Unashamed.

The die has been cast. The decision has been made. I have stepped over the line. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.

 

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is in God’s hands. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, the bare minimum, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, frivolous living, selfish giving, and dwarfed goals.

 

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, applause, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, the best, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith. I lean on Christ’s presence. I love with patience, live by prayer, and labor with the power of God’s grace.

 

My face is set. My gait is fast, my goal is heaven. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable, and my mission is clear.

 

I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

 

I won’t give up, shut up, let up or slow up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and spoken up for the cause of Christ.

 

I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give until I drop, speak out until all know, and work until He stops me.

 

And when He returns for His own, He will have no difficulty recognizing me. My banner is clear: I am a part of the Fellowship of the Unashamed.

 

 

Adapted from the original (author unknown) by Patrick Madrid

www.surprisedbytruth.com

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Resources:

www.catholic.com      www.usccb.org

www.scripturecatholic.com    www.biblechristiansociety.com         

 

 

Prepared by a St.Denis parishioner

Pick up your Cross

In today’s readings we find James asking the rhetorical question that if someone has faith but does not have works can that faith save him?  Of course the implied answer is no it can’t.  So what kind of works are we talking about here?  It’s those kinds of works that are using the talents given to us to help others.  This way we can increase the richness of the Kingdom of God here on Earth.

Indeed Jesus described the kingdom of heaven, in the parable of the bags of gold, as a man going on a journey and entrusted his wealth to his servants.  Each were given an amount according to their ability (Matt 25:14-30).  The Lord entrusts His servants with tasks according to their abilities which means we will never be asked to do something that we aren’t able to do with His Help.  If we purposely avoid using these abilities in such a way as to simply keep the status quo, that is, not easing the suffering of others or bringing them to Christ and so on, then when the master returns (that is at our judgment) we will be judged worthless (Matt 25:30).  But if we do those things that He has prepared in advance for us to do (Eph 2:10) then we have reason to hope that at our judgment we will hear the Lord say: “Well done my good and faithful servant” (Mat 25:23).

In fact, Jesus never said that it was going to be easy once we have faith, He said that we are to pick up our cross daily and follow Him (Luke 9:23).  He even told us through James that if we do not do the works that we are tasked to do then our faith is a dead faith (James 2:20).  We still have faith but it’s dead.  A living faith is what is needed to be judged righteous before God.  This living faith is simply defined as a faith which has works.

Now, in the Gospel reading of today we find Jesus  letting the Apostles know that He is indeed the Christ and then summons a crowd and tells them “whoever wishes to follow me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mark 8:34)  Jesus is now in Heaven and so if we wish to follow Him there, we must do as He did.  We must pick up our cross and follow him.  If we do this then we not only believe in His Word but also DO as He did.  He gave everything of Himself for others; we are to do the same.  His Church is to do the same.

Do you see now how important good works are for our own good and that of the Church?  These works are only possible because God gives us the abilities to do what He asks of us but we still need to DO them.  It’s true that “…it is by grace [we]  have been saved, through faith—and this is not from [ourselves], it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph 2:8-9) Yes, this is true but the very next verse is also true, that “…we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”(v.10)

So God has prepared in advance for us to do good works, it is His Will that we do them.  Jesus said that those who believe but do not do His Will won’t enter heaven.  He says “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Mat 7:21)  Let us do good works, making disciples of all nations by baptizing evangelizing the world! (Mat 28:19)

Missed past week’s leaflets?  Questions?  Comments?  Come visit our Blog at www.parishofthepreciousblood.blogspot.com

Prepared by a St.Denis parishioner

The Sacraments

Contemplating today’s Gospel reading I couldn’t help but notice Jesus’ miracle healing of the deaf and mute man.  Jesus took him aside and touched the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue and cured him.

Jesus cured many people of many maladies.  He cured some by simply declaring it so, as when the centurion who doesn’t believe he is worthy to have Jesus under his roof asks him to cure his homebound servant living some distance away (Matt 8:5-10).  He does indeed cure the servant from a distance as he does Lazarus from the tomb (John 11:38).  But He also cured others through a physical intermediary.   Elsewhere Jesus cured a blind man by spitting in dirt and applying the mud to the man’s eyes (John 9:6), as well as cured the bleeding woman when she simply touched His garment (Matt 9:20-22).

 We know that Jesus can cure without any kind of physical contact so why bother touching the man’s ears or even spitting in his hands to then touch the man’s tongue?  Why bother curing the woman by her touching his clothes or Jesus using mud?

After thinking about it for a little while I couldn’t help but notice how our own sacraments have this aspect of having a physical dimension to them.  Water in baptism, oils in confirmation and extreme unction, the words of absolution in confession and the words of commitment in marriage as well as the bread that becomes the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist.

In fact, we could rightly define a sacrament to be an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains: “Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they signify. They are efficacious because in them Christ himself is at work: it is he who baptizes, he who acts in his sacraments in order to communicate the grace that each sacrament signifies.” (CCC  1127)

But why an outward sign?  Because we need it for our own benefit.  You see, God knows that we humans need physical connections to make real what is simply in one’s mind.  For example, why do we have graduation ceremonies?  Couldn’t the school simply send the diplomas to the graduating students via mail?  We organize these ceremonies so that we may see, hear and experience the graduation event.  The same applies to the sacraments.  God can confer graces to anyone He wishes but He has promised us those graces when we perform those rituals in faith making the reception of His grace more concrete in our minds.

God did indeed promise us that we would be children of God through baptism (ie through water and with the words ‘in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit) even when He can make us adopted children of God without the physical aspect through our faith and desire.  God is not bound by the sacraments but we know we receive the graces offered in these seven sacraments because of His promise to do so.

God knows our nature; He knows that we need this physical aspect for our own peace of mind, to make it real for us.  What a Great God we have.  Let us not neglect these great gifts of God that we have in the Sacraments.

 

 

 

Missed past week’s leaflets?  Questions?  Comments?  Come visit our Blog at www.parishofthepreciousblood.blogspot.com

Prepared by a St.Denis parishioner

Marriage

Last week’s lesson on typology was to familiarize you with this concept.
I wanted you to learn a new way to look at Scripture, not only a way
that the first Christians looked at Scripture but even before them from
the very beginning. If you haven’t read it then I recommend you go
to the blog site posted at the end of this article to go and have a look
prior to reading this week’s leaflet because this leaflet will draw on this
methodology on reading Scripture.

We find in Scripture that the Church can be seen as the Bride of Christ
and Jesus is the bridegroom (see for example Rev 21:2). The Church
Jesus founded is to be as a bride preparing for the wedding day. I’m
mentioning all this so that you may see that a marriage includes one man
and one woman, one husband and one wife. Just as we see Jesus and
His bride as a type of wedding, we can also see that God created man to
be the bridegroom and the woman to be the bride.

The responsibility of the bride is to “submit herself” to her husband
because Eph 5:22-23 tells us that the husband is the head of the wife as
Christ is the head of the Church (I recommend reading verse 25 for the
husbands role, ie Jesus’ role, towards his bride. The Church then, being
the bride, is to submit to Christ. And Christ speaks of marriage as being
the “reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his
wife, and the two will become one flesh” (Mat 19:5).

Let’s think about this for a second. How does the husband and wife
become one flesh? Physically speaking, the complimentarity between
the man and woman seems pretty obvious. The husband is made to be
with his wife and the woman for the man as two puzzle pieces fitting
perfectly together. This coupling is the only way where two human
beings can literally become one as in the form of their child. They not
only become one emotionally and personally but the expression of this
oneness between them can be found in the fact that they can have
children. No other combination will produce this effect.

In principal, the only way children can come into this world is through a
man and woman. The physical union between two men or two woman
cannot bring about new life. And so, God defined marriage to be
between one man and one woman because in making us in His image
made the union between one man and one woman the only union to
be in His likeness in such a way as to bring about life. We are in effect
cooperating with God in bringing new life in this world.

If you want to talk about marriage being between one man and one
woman without bringing God or Scripture into the argument all you
need to mention is that we humans evolved in such a way as to bring
about new life through the coupling of one male and one female. We
evolved this way because the law of the survival of the fittest proved
that children will do better when protected and reared by one man and
one woman. This means that the government and society at large is
duty-bound to protect this institution so as to protect the children that
result from this union.

God created man in His own image, male and female He created them
(Gen 1:27). Just as God is found in the Trinity where the person of
the Father and the person of the Son have perfect love between them
that this love is a person unto Himself and all three are one, so too is
the love between one man and one woman that this love can bring
another person into this world. This is the only union that can resemble
the ‘likeness’ of God in the Trinity and therefore the only legitimate
union to be defined as a marriage. Any union other then between one
man and one woman cannot be a marriage and therefore should never be
treated as such.

Missed past week’s leaflets? Questions? Comments? Come visit our
Blog at www.parishofthepreciousblood.blogspot.com

Prepared by a St.Denis parishioner