-   THE  CITY  OF  GOD   -   BY  SAINT  AUGUSTINE  OF  HIPPO  - 

What it is to have Christ for a foundation and who they are to whom salvation as by fire is promised - 

But, say they, the Catholic Christians have Christ Jesus for a foundation and they have not fallen away from union with Him, no matter how depraved a life they have built on this foundation, as wool, hay, stubble; and accordingly the well-directed faith by which Christ Jesus is their foundation will suffice to deliver them some time from the continuance of that fire, though it be with loss, since those things they have built on it shall be burned. Let the Apostle James summarily reply to them: "If any man say he has faith and have not works, can faith save them?" - James ii. 14 - And who then is it, they ask, of whom the Apostle Paul says, "But he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire? - 1 Corinthians iii. 15 - let us join them in their inquiry; and one thing is very certain, that is not he of whom James speaks, else we should make the two apostles contradict one another, if the one says, "Though a man's works be evil, his faith will save him as by fire," while the other says, "If he have not good works, can his faith save them?"

We shall then ascertain who it is who can be saved by fire, if we first discover what it is to have Christ Jesus for a foundation. And this is we may very readily learn from the image itself. In a building the foundation is first. Whoever, then, has Christ Jesus in his heart, so that no earthly or temporal things - not even those that are legitimate and allowed - are preferred to Him, has Christ Jesus as a foundation. But if these things be preferred, then even though a man seem to have faith in Christ, yet Christ is not the foundation to that man; and much more if he, in contempt of wholesome precepts, seek forbidden gratifications, is he clearly convicted of putting Christ Jesus not first but last, since he despised Him as his ruler and has preferred to fulfil his own wicked lusts, in contempt of Christ's commands and allowances. Accordingly, if any Christian man loves harlot and attaching himself to her, becomes one body, he has not now Christ Jesus for a foundation. But if anyone loves his own wife, and loves her as Christ would have him love her, who can doubt that he has Christ Jesus for a foundation? But if he loves her in a world fashion, carnally, as the disease of lust prompts him and as the Gentiles love who know not God, even this the apostle or rather Christ by the apostle, allows as a venial fault. And therefore even such a man may have Christ for a foundation. For so long as he does not prefer such an affection or pleasure to Christ Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ is his foundation, though on it he builds wood, hay, stubble; and therefore he shall be saved as by fire. For the fire of affliction shall burn such luxurious pleasures and earthly loves, though they be not damnable because enjoyed in lawful wedlock. 

And of this fire the fuel is bereavement and all those calamities which consume these joys. Consequently, the superstructure will be loss to him who has built it, for he shall not retain it but shall be agonized by the loss of those things in the enjoyment of which he found pleasure. But by this fire he shall be saved through virtue of the foundation because even if a persecutor demanded whether he would retain Christ Jesus or these things, he would prefer Christ Jesus. Would you hear, in the apostle's own words, who he is who builds on the foundation gold, silver, precious stones? "He that is unmarried," he says, "care for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord - 1 Corinthians vii. 32 - Would you hear who he is that build wood, hay, stubble? "But he that is married care for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife." - 1 Corinthians vii. 33 - "Every man's work shall be mad manifest: for the day shall "it shall be revealed by fire." - 1 Corinthians iii. 13 - He calls tribulation fire, just as it is elsewhere said, "The furnace proves the vessels of the potter and the work of affliction righteous men."  - Ecclesiasticus / Sirach xxvii. 5-6 - And "The fire shall try every man work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide." - for a man's care for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord, abides - "which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward" - that is, he shall reap the fruit of his care. "But if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss" - for what he loved he shall not retain: - "but he himself shall be saved" - for no tribulation shall have moved him from that stable foundation - "yet so as by fire - 1 Corinthians iii. 14-15 - for that which he possessed with the sweetness of love he does not lose without the sharp sting of pain. here, then, as sees to me, we have a fire which destroys neither, but enriches the one, brings loss to the other, proves both.

But if this passage [of Corinthians] is to interpret that fire of which the Lord shall say to those on His left hand, "Depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire" - Matthew xxx. 41 - so that among these we are to believe there are those who build on the foundation wood, hay, stubble and that they, through virtue of the good foundation, shall after a time be liberated from the fire that is the award of their evil deserts, what then shall we think of those on the right hand, to whom it shall be said: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you" - Matthew xxv. 34 - unless that they are those who have built on the foundation gold, silver, precious stones? But if the fire of which our Lord Jesus Christ speaks is the same as that of which the apostle says: "Yet so as by fire," then both - that is to say, both those on the right as well as those on the left - are to be cast into it. For that fire is to try both, since it is said: For the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is" - 1 Corinthians iii. 13 - If, therefore, the fire shall try both, in order that if any man's work abide, that is, if the superstructure be not consumed by the fire - he may receive a reward and that if his work is burned he may suffer loss, certainly that fire is not the eternal fire itself. For into this latter fire only those on the left hand shall be cast and that with final and everlasting doom; but that former fire proves those on the right hand. But some of them it so proves that it does not burn and consume the structure which is found to have been built by them on Christ as the foundation; while others of them it proves in another fashion, so as to burn what they have built up and thus cause them to suffer loss, while they themselves are saved because they have retained Christ Jesus, who was laid as their sure foundation and have loved Him above all. But if they are saved, then certainly they shall stand at the right hand and shall with the rest hear the sentence, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you;" and not at the left hand where those shall be who shall not be saved and shall therefore hear the doom." "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire." For from that fire no man shall be saved, because they all shall go away into eternal punishment, where their worms shall not die, nor their fire be quenched, in which they shall be tormented day and night for ever.

But if it be said that in the interval of time between the death of this body and that last day of judgement and retribution which shall follow the resurrection, the bodies of the dead shall be exposed to a fire of such a nature that it shall not affect those who have not in this life indulged in such pleasures and pursuits as shall be consumed like wood, structures of that kind; if it be said that such worldliness, being venial, shall be consumed in the fire of tribulation either here only, or here and hereafter both or here that it may not be hereafter - this I do not contradict because possibly it is true. For perhaps even the death of the body is itself a part of this tribulation, for it results from the first transgression so that the time which follows death takes its color in each case from the nature of the man's building. The persecutions, too. which have crowned the martyrs and which Christians of all kinds suffer, try both buildings like a fire, consuming some, along with the builders themselves, if Christ Jesus is not found in them as their foundation, while others they consume without the builders because Christ is found in them and they are saved, though with loss; and other buildings till they do not consume because such materials as abide for ever are found in them.

In the end of the world there shall be in the time of Antichrist tribulation such as has never before been. How many edifices there shall then be, of gold or of hay, built on the best foundation, Christ Jesus, which that fire shall prove, bringing joy to some, loss to others, but without destroying either sort because of this stable foundation! Buy whosoever prefers, I do not say his wife, with whom he lives for carnal pleasure, but any of those relatives who afford no delight of such a kind, and whom it is right to love - whoever prefers these to Christ Jesus and loves them after a human and carnal fashion, has not Christ Jesus as a foundation and will therefore not be saved by fire, nor indeed at all; for he shall not possibly dwell with the Saviour/The Almighty God, who says very explicitly concerning the very matter: "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." - Matthew x. 37 - But he who loves his relations carnally and yet so that he does not prefer them to Christ Jesus, but would rather want them than Christ if he were to put to the test/proof, shall be saved by fire because it is necessary that by the loss of these relations he suffer pain in proportion to his love. And he who loves father, mother, sons, daughters, according to Christ Jesus, so that he aids them in obtaining His kingdom and cleaving to Him or loves them because they are members of the Lord Jesus Christ. God forbid that this love should be consumed as wood, hay, stubble and not rather be reckoned a structure of gold, silver, precious stones. For how can a man love those more than the Lord Jesus Christ whom he loves only for Christ's sake? 

-     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -         

 - THE CITY OF GOD -  THE  OMNIPOTENCE  OF  THE  CREATOR -  BY SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO -

                                        -       Of the creation of angels and men       - 

As we promised in the immediately preceding book, this, the last of the whole work, shall contain a discussion of the eternal blessedness of the city of God. This blessedness is named eternal, not because it shall endure for many ages, though at last it shall come to an end but because according to the words of the gospel, "of His kingdom there shall be no end." - Luke i. 33 - Neither shall it enjoy the mere appearance of perpetuity which is maintained by the rise of fresh generation to occupy the place of those that have died out, as in an evergreen the same freshness seems to continue permanently and the same appearance of dense foliage is preserved by the growth of fresh leaves in the room of those that have withered and fallen; but in that city all the citizens shall be immortal, men/women now for the first time enjoying what the holy angels have never lost. And this shall be accomplished by God, the most almighty Founder of the city. For He has promised and cannot lie, and has already performed many of His promises and has done many un-promised kindness to those whom He now asks to believe that He will do this also.

For it is He who in the beginning created the world full of all visible and intelligible beings, among which He created nothing better than those spirits whom He endowed with intelligence and made capable of contemplating and enjoying Him, and united in our society which we call the holy and heavenly city in which the material of their sustenance and blessedness is God Himself, as if it were their common food and nourishment. It is He who gave to this intellectual nature free will of such kind, that if he wished to forsake God his blessedness, misery should forthwith result. It is He who, when He foreknew that certain angels would in their pride desire to suffice for their own blessedness and would forsake their great good, did not deprive them of this power, deeming it to be more befitting His power and goodness to bring good out of evil than to prevent the evil from coming into existence. Indeed, evil had never had not the mutable nature - mutable, though good and created by the most high God and immutable Good, who created all things good - brought evil upon itself by sin and this its sin is itself proof that its nature was originally good. For had it not been very good, though not equal to its Creator, the desertion of God as its light could not have been an evil to it. For as blindness is a vice of the eye and this very fact indicates that the eye was created to see the light and as consequently, vice itself proves that the eye is more excellent that the other members because it is capable of light ( for on no other supposition would it be a vice of the eye to want light), so the nature which once enjoyed God teaches, even by its very vice, that it was created the best of all, since it is now miserable because it does not enjoy God. It is He who with very just punishment doomed the angels who voluntarily fell to everlasting misery and rewarded those who continued in their attachment to the supreme good with the assurance of endless stability as the meed of their fidelity. It is He who made also man himself upright with the same freedom of will - an earthly animal, indeed, but fit for heaven if he/she remained faithful to his/her Creator, but destined to the misery appropriate to such a nature if he/she forsook Him. It is He who, when He foreknew that man would in his/her turn to sin by abandoning God and breaking His law, did not deprive him of the power of free-will because He at the same time foresaw what good He Himself would bring out of the evil and how from this mortal race, deservedly and justly condemned, He would by His grace collect, as of now, He does, a people so numerous that He thus fills up and repairs the blank made by the fallen angels and that thus, that beloved and heavenly city is not defrauded of the full number of its citizens, but perhaps, may even rejoice in a still more overflowing population.

                                   -       Of the eternal and unchangeable will of God       -

It is true that wicked men do many things contrary to God's will; but so great is His wisdom and power, that all things which seem adverse to His purpose do still tend towards those just and good ends and issues which He Himself has foreknown and consequently, when God is said to change His will, as when, for example, He becomes angry with those to whom He was gentle, it is rather they than He who are changed and they find Him changed in so far as their experience of suffering at His hand is new, as the sun is changed to injured eyes and becomes as it were fierce from being mild and hurtful from being delightful, though in itself it remains the same as it was. That also is called the will of God which He does in the hearts of those who obey His commandments; and of this the apostle says, "For it is God that worketh in you both to will." - Philippians ii. 13 - As God's "righteousness" is used not only of the righteousness wherewith He Himself is righteous but also of that which He produces in the man whom He justifies, so also that is called His law which though given by God, is rather the law of men. For certainly they were men to whom Jesus said, "It is written in your law" - John viii. 17 - though in another place we read "The law of his God is in his heart." - Psalms xxxvii. 31 - According to this will which God works in men. He is said also to will what He Himself does not will but causes His people to will; as He is said to know what He has caused those to know were ignorant of it. For when the apostle says: "But now, after that ye have known God or rather are known of God" - Galatians iv. 9 - we cannot suppose that God there for the first time knew those who were foreknown by Him before the foundation of the world; but He is said to have known them then because then He caused them to know. But I remember that I discussed these modes of expression in the preceding books. According to this will, then, by which we say that God wills what He causes to be willed by others, from whom the future is hidden, He wills many things which He does not perform.

Thus His saints, inspired by His holy will, desire many things which never happen. They pray, for example, for certain individuals - they pray in a pious and holy manner - but what they request He does not perform though He Himself by His own Holy Spirit has wrought in them this will to pray. And consequently, when the saints in conformity with God's mind, will and pray that all men be saved, we can use this mode of expression: God wills and does not perform - meaning that He who causes them to will these things Himself wills them. But if we speak of that will of His which is eternal as His foreknowledge, certainly He has already done all things in heaven and on earth that He has willed - not only past and present things but even things that is, still future. But before the arrival of that time in which He has willed the occurrence of what He foreknew and arranged before all time, we say, It will happen when God wills. But if we are ignorant not only of the time in which it is to be, but even whether it shall be at all, we say, It will happen if God wills - not because God will then have a new will which He had not before, but because that event which from eternity has been prepared in His unchangeable will, shall then come to pass.

  -      Of the promise of eternal blessedness to the saints and everlasting punishment to the wicked       - 

Wherefore not to mention many other instances besides, as we now see in Christ the fulfilment of that which God promised to Abraham when He said: "In thy seed shall all nations be blessed" - Genesis xxii. 18 - shall be fulfilled which He promised to the same race, when He said by the prophet, "They that are in their sepulchres shall rise again" - Isaiah xxvi 19 - and also "There shall be a new heaven and earth: and the former shall not be mentioned nor come into mind but they shall find joy and rejoicing in it: for I will make Jerusalem a rejoicing and my people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her." - Isaiah 1xv. 17-19 - And by another prophet He uttered the same prediction: "At that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust" (or as some interpret it, "in the mound") "of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt." - Daniel xii. 1, 2 - And in another place by the same prophet: "The saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom and shall possess the kingdom forever, even for ever and ever." - Daniel vii. 18 - And a little after he says, "His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom." - Daniel vii 27 - Other prophecies referring to the same subject I have advanced in the twentieth book and others still which I have not advanced are found written in the same Sacred Scripture; and these predictions shall be fulfilled, as those also have been which unbelieving men supposed would be frustrate. For it is the same God who promised both and predicted that both would come to pass - the God whom the pagan deities tremble before, as even Porphyry, the noblest of pagan philosophers, testifies.

- Against the wise men of the world, who fancy that the earthly bodies of men cannot be transferred to a heavenly habitation -

But men who use their learning and intellectual ability to resist the force of that great authority which in fulfilment of what was so long before predicted, has converted all races of men to faith and hope in its promises, seem to themselves to argue acutely against the resurrection of the body while they cite what Cicero mentions in the third book De Republica. For when he was asserting the apotheosis of Hercules and Romulus, he says: "Whose bodies were not taken up into heaven; for nature would not permit a body of earth to exist anywhere except upon earth." This, forsooth, is the profound reasoning of the wise men whose thoughts God knows that they are vain. For if we were only souls, that is, spirits without any body and if we dwelt in heaven and had no knowledge of earthly animals and were told that we should be bound to earthly bodies by some wonderful bond of union and should animate them, should we not much more vigorously refuse to believe this and maintain that nature would not permit an incorporeal substance to be held by a corporeal bond? And yet the earth is full of living spirits, to which terrestrial bodies are bound, and with which they are in a wonderful way implicated. If then, the same God who has created such beings wills this also, what is to hinder the earthly body from being raised to a heavenly body, since a spirit which is more excellent than all bodies and consequently than even a heavenly body has been tied to an earthly body? If so small an earthly particle has been able to hold in union with itself something better than a heavenly body, so as to receive sensation and life, will heaven disdain to receive or at least to retain, this sentient and living particle which derives its life and sensation from a substance more excellent than any heavenly body? If this does not happen now, it is because the time is not yet come which has been determined by Him who has already done a much more marvelous thing than that which these men refuse to believe. For why do we not more intensely wonder that incorporeal souls, which are of higher rank than heavenly bodies, are bound to earthly bodies, rather than that bodies, although earthly, are exalted to an abode which though heavenly, is yet corporeal, except because we have been accustomed to see this and indeed are this, while we are not as yet that other marvel, nor have as yet ever seen it? Certainly, if we consult sober reason, the more wonderful of the two divine works is found to be to attach somehow corporeal things to incorporeal and not to connect earthly things with heavenly, which though diverse, are yet both of them corporeal.

- Of the resurrection of the flesh which some refuse to believe, though the world at large believes it -

But granting that this was once incredible, behold now, the world has come to the belief that the earthly body of Christ was received up into heaven. Already both the learned and unlearned have believed in the resurrection of the flesh and its ascension to the heavenly places, while only a very few either of the educated or uneducated are still staggered by it. If this is a credible thing which is believed, then let those who do not believe see how stolid they are; and if it is incredible, then this also is an incredible thing, that what is incredible should have received such credit. Here then we have two incredible - to wit, the resurrection of our body to eternity and that the world should believe so incredible a thing; and both these incredible the same God predicted should come to pass before either had as yet occurred. We see that already one of the two has come to pass, for the world has believed what was incredible; why should we despair that the remaining one shall also come to pass and that this which the world believed, through it was incredible, shall itself occur? For already that which was equally incredible has come to pass, in the world's believing an incredible thing. Both were incredible: the one we see accomplished, the other we believe shall be; for both were predicted in those same Sacred Scriptures by means of which the world believed. And the very manner in which the world's faith was won is found to be even more incredible, if we consider it. 

Men uninstructed in any branch of a liberal education without any of the refinement of heathen, unskilled in grammar, not armed with dialectic, not adorned with rhetoric but plain fishermen and very few in number - these were the men whom Christ Jesus sent with the nets of faith to the sea of this world and thus took out of every race so many fishes and even the philosophers themselves, wonderful as they are rare. Let us add, if you please or because you ought to be pleased, this third incredible thing to the two former. And now we have three incredible, all of which  have yet come to pass. It is incredible that Jesus Christ should have risen in the flesh and ascended with flesh into heaven; it is incredible that the world should have believed so incredible a thing; it is incredible that very few men of mean birth and the lowest rank and with no education, should have been able to so effectually to persuade the world and even its learned men of so incredible a thing. Of these three incredible, the parties with whom we are debating refuse to believe the first; they cannot refuse to see the second which they are unable to account for if they do not believe the third. It is indubitable that the resurrection of Christ and His ascension into heaven with the flesh in which He rose, is already preached and believed in the whole world. 

If it is not credible, how is it that it has already received credence in the whole world? If a number of noble, exalted and learned men had said that they had witnessed it and had been at pains to publish what they had witnessed, it were not wonderful that the world should have believed it, but it were very stubborn to refuse credence; but if, as is true, the world has believed a few obscure, inconsiderable, uneducated persons, who state and write that they witnessed it, is it not unreasonable that a handful of wrong-headed men should oppose themselves to the creed of the whole world and refuse their belief? And if the world has put faith in a small number of men of mean birth and the lowest rank, and no education, it is because the divinity of the thing itself appeared all the more manifestly in such contemptible witnesses. The eloquence, indeed, which lent persuasion to their message, consisted of wonderful works, not words. For they who had not seen Christ Jesus risen in the flesh, nor ascending into heaven with His risen body, believed those who related how they had seen these things and who testified not only with words but wonderful signs. For men whom they knew to be acquainted with only one or at most two languages, they marveled to hear speaking in the tongues of all nations. They saw a man, lame from his mother's womb, after forty years stand up sound at their word in the name of Christ; that handkerchiefs taken from their bodies had virtue to heal the sick; that countless persons, sick of various diseases, were laid in a row in the road where they were pass, that their shadow might fall on them as they walked and that they forthwith received health; that many other stupendous miracles were wrought by them in the name of Jesus Christ; and finally, that they even raised the dead. If it be admitted that these things occurred as they are related, then we have a multitude of incredible things to add to those three incredible. That the one incredibility of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ may be believed, we accumulate the testimonies of countless incredible miracles, but even so we do not bend the frightful obstinacy of these sceptics. But if they do not believe that these miracles were wrought by Christ's apostles to gain credence to their preaching of His resurrection and ascension, this one guard miracle suffices for us, that the whole world has believed without any miracles. 

- That Rome made its founder Romulus a god because it loved him; but the Church loved Christ because it believed Him to be God - 

Let us here recite the passage in which Tully expresses his astonishment that the apotheosis of Romulus should have been credited. I shall insert his words as they stand: "it is most worthy of remark in Romulus that other men who are said to have become gods lived in educated ages, when there was a greater propensity to the fabulous and when the uninstructed were easily persuaded to believe anything. But the age of Romulus was barely six hundred years old and already literature and science had dispelled the errors that attach to an uncultured age." And a little after.......

   - WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY -

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function, so the body grows until it has built itself up, in love. - Ephesians 4:15-16 -

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -    

                                     -  Straight to Catholics - Why I believe in What I believe  - 

                                               By His Grace Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing, S.J. 

Not only is the theology of the sacrament of reconciliation rooted in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, but its practice can be traced back through history, that is, from the early Church to the 21st Century Church. The Lord Jesus Christ, who promised to be with His Church to the end of the world, could not have gone back on His words. It was in the 16th century that the Protestant Reformation changed it. Christ Jesus could not have left His Church in error for many more centuries over such an essential aspect of Christian life. If we said that He did, we would be accusing the Lord of being a liar.

Psychological Dimension

From the psychological view point, the sacrament of reconciliation is very therapeutic. Let us start with a simple example. When we have something bothering us, we will feel much more relieved if we could confide it to someone. When we have sins, we will be ashamed to tell them to another person. In practice, we seldom tell another our personal sins. Yet we need to "unload" this guilt. As psychologists will tell us, guilt is one of the stumbling blocks to our growth as human beings.

The Lord Jesus Christ knows our psychological need and has provided us, in the Church, with a means by which we can get rid of our guilt feelings so that we can grow to be better human beings. When we go to the priest, representative of Christ Jesus and the Church, and confess our sins, we meet the Lord Jesus Christ in His Church. We express in a concrete human way our desire to mend the "strained or broken" relationships between God and us between you (Community) and us and between us and ourselves. When the priest absolves us with Christ's authority in the ministry of His Church, by the power of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Christ's love is poured into us we we open the gate and we feel His forgiveness and the forgiveness of the Church. We come out not only feeling relieved but also filled with new vigour - the strength of Christ's love, to live a new life. When the priest utters the words of Christ and His Church's forgiveness, as he lifts his hand to make the sign of the cross, we feel the confirmation of forgiveness. Human beings need an outward sign of an inward reality. You may know that I love you. But when I say to you: "I love you" and express it in a concrete way by embracing you, you not only know but feel confirmed about it. You feel much happier. How is a person confirmed as a Christian and as a member of Christ's Body? He and She is so confirmed when he/she is baptized by a human person in the name of the triune God. Our sacrament of reconciliation is not only psychological; it is basically spiritual. It is a spiritual healing that flows into our psychological make-up. Psychological help remains psychological. Spiritual healing goes deep into our inner being, changes us and affects our psychological make-up.

Conclusion - From my treatment of the sacrament of reconciliation above, it can be seen that our sacrament has its basis not only in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible and in the history of the Church but also in the nature of human beings. The priest is there as a representative of the body of Christ, the Church and the Head, Christ Jesus. He is there not to judge but to dispense God's infinite love in forgiveness and in strengthening. Through this act, a Catholic Christian can go forth strengthened to build stronger bridges of relationship.

Objection - Did not confession as practiced by the Catholic Church lead to abuses in the Middle Ages - the indulgence scandal?

Response - Yes. Facts are facts. Truth must be faced squarely. The Irish Missionary Monks worked out a sort of "price list" or "Tariff" of penances for different sins. Herewith I listed a few examples: (1) for murder - three years exile on bread and water, plus three more years as servant to the victim's family. (2) for drunkenness - three weeks on bread and water, etc... In the later part of the Middle Ages, the custom of offering prayers instead of doing physical penances became popular. Then an offering was given to a priest for prayers in Mass. Money given to build Churches was practiced as a penance. Here is where the abuse came in. The rich began to pay others to do their penance. For instance, a man with a penance for seven years on bread and water would pay 12 men to fast three days plus 120 men to fast three days, but 7 times: [(12X3) + (120X7X3)] = 2,556 days = 7 years. Such abuses and related questions on indulgences and other causes brought the Reformation.

The Church knew about it and tried to eradicate it but it took quite a long time before she succeeded. the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 already condemned the abuses. Although the Council of Trent enacted the disciplinary measures to correct abuses, they were not eradicated. Finally, in 1567 His Holiness Pope St. Pius V, seeing the ineffectiveness of the disciplinary measures of the Council of Trent struck at the root of the abuses by abrogating every indulgence that had a monetary abused. This killed the abuses. Anything good can be abused. This is due to the perverted mind of human beings or to ignorance. love is good. Yet, how many people make use of it to commit adultery, to steal other people's wives and to smother the growth of others (especially children?) The abuse of a thing does not make the thing bad. It is the abuse that is evil. A knife is good if I employ it to cut things - for examples: vegetables for food - for the use of Man. But a knife becomes bad if I use it to kill another person. A car is good because it is a means of transportation. Just because some people abuse it by driving recklessly and killing themselves and others, it does not mean that we must scrap the car. the Sacrament of Reconciliation is good if it is not abused. Even religion which teaches good, can be utilized for evil ends - to split people to gain votes, etc.

 Objection - The priest is only a human being and he is also sinful and therefore unworthy.

Response - Of course he is only a human being and he is sinful. But who is worthy? Jesus Christ chose Saint Peter who denied Him thrice to be the leader of His Church - Luke 22:31-32 - Worthiness comes basically from being chosen by God and from His power. Saint Paul says: "We have this treasure in earthen vessels to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us" - 2 Corinthians 4:7 - A priest represent not himself but Christ and His Church. Who baptizes and cleanses us from sin? A man chosen by God to be a leader (priest) of His people. Can anyone who baptizes say that he is worthy? No. He does it in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, that is, God uses him as an instrument of His power.

Objection - You Catholics go to confession and come out committing the same sins. It looks as if you use the confessional to salve your guilty conscience only so that you can go and commit more sins.

Response - This accusation comes from an ignorance of what is the sacrament of reconciliation and what it is to be human. (1) Catholics who go to the sacrament of reconciliation without a firm desire and resolution to change, have not the right disposition to receive the sacrament. The Church has always laid this down as a necessary condition for the reception of the sacrament. How can a person who goes to meet God, Christ Jesus in the sacrament tell a lie? On the one hand he says, "Lord forgive me. I am sorry for my sins," and on the other hand harbours in his/her heart the determination to sin again. This means that he/she is saying sorry and not really being sorry. In other words: It is a lie. (2) Everyone knows, unless he or she is a liar, that in spite of all the goodwill, all of us fall again because "the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak." Therefore "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation." - Matthew 26:41 - The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a watchfulness and a prayer. It is hoped that, gradually, through constant examination of our conscience and a determination to change (The Sacrament of Reconciliation) we will slowly change, with the Lord Jesus Christ help and ourselves. 

Indeed, from my priestly experience, those who come to the 'Sacrament' frequently are generally those who are better or holier people. This is not a hypothesis. It is a fact. You cannot being see yourself ugly and do nothing about it. It is just not human. - P A G E  T H R E E -         

-     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -        

                                     -  Straight to Catholics - Why I believe in What I believe  - 

                                                By His Grace Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing, S.J. 

The Lord Jesus Christ, who made us and knew our need, gave us the sacrament of Reconciliation (traditionally called "Confession") a concrete confirmation, in a way that we poor humans can understand it, of the healing of the three "broken" relationships.

Jesus, although God, as a human being forgave sins to the scandal of the Pharisees. He gave this authority to forgive sins to Peter when He said, "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." - Matthew 16:19 - To His other disciples Jesus also said the same thing - Matthew 18:18 - After His resurrection Jesus appeared to His apostles 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." - John 20:22-23 -

The forgiveness of God is always there for us. Christ Jesus forgives us even before we ask Him for it. In the story of the Prodigal Son, - Luke 15:11-32 - the loving father, as soon as he saw his son, "yet at a distance..., he ran and embraced him and kissed him," even before the prodigal son could open his mouth and apologize. Does this not show that our Father in heaven has forgiven us even before we ask Him? When the prodigal son confessed his sins, the loving father did not seem to hear it at all. he said immediately to His servants, "Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him; and put a ring on his right hand and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry,..." Not only does our Father in Heaven seem not to hear our strings of sins. He appears in a hurry to "make merry". God not only has forgiven us from eternity. He waits for us to "make merry": a forgiveness that has been eternally granted with willingness and joy because it comes from Love Himself. How different God is from us!

If God has already forgiven us, why ask for forgiveness or go to the the sacrament of reconciliation? Because forgiveness is not for God; it is for us. We have freely broken the relationships with Him, it is for us. We have freely broken the relationships with Him, with others and with ourselves. And it is up to our free will to decide if we want to mend the relationships or not. I can walk out of the house of my parents and my parents can long for me to come back but if I do not want to come back, not even my parents' longing can make me come back. The sacrament reconciliation is not for God, our Father. It is for us sinners. This eternal forgiveness of God, because He is love, must be expressed in a way that we poor humans, so tied down to 'matter' that can be understand. And so, His Son Jesus Christ died for us to show us how much He loves us and that we are forgiven. To show us His unlimited love, Jesus not only died for us, He gave us His own life in the Holy Eucharist to strengthen us so that we can live like true human beings for which He has made us.

It is in the context of this external love and forgiveness of God, our Father, that we must look at the sacrament of reconciliation. The Lord Jesus Christ knows that as humans we need at all times some "material expressions" of our sorrow and our desire to change. Hence, Jesus gave first to His Church (for all who are believers, in Him) the authority to accept our human expression of sorrow and desire to mend the broken relationships. Jesus said to His disciples: "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth, shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." - Matthew 18:18 -

Before we discuss the specific Sacrament of Reconciliation, it is appropriate to mention that the Church is conscious of the constant presence of God's forgiveness in her. The early Christians were aware of God's forgiveness in baptism, anointing of the sick, martyrdom, the Eucharist, reading of the Scriptures, fraternal correction, charity that covers a multitude of sins, alms, works of piety, vigils, pilgrimages, etc. All these are concrete human experiences of sorrow and of God's forgiveness. There is a specific human expression of forgiveness mentioned in Saint James. He encouraged his apostles to "confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed." - John 5:16 - But again the confession of my sin to the person against whom I have sinned takes into account only one aspect of the "broken relationship": my relationship with the person whom I have wronged. How about the relationships with the Church, the Body of Christ and with God?

It is because the Lord Jesus knew this that He gave Saint Peter and his apostles a special authority to forgive sins because they are concrete leaders or representatives on earth, or concrete leader of His Church. To Saint Peter, whom Jesus had just appointed as leader of His Church - Matthew 16:18 - He said "I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven and whatever you bound in heaven. - Matthew 16:19 - After the Lord Jesus resurrection, He appeared to the frightened Apostles hiding in a closed room and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." - John 20:22-23 - This "confession of sins" is not only a continuation but also a perfecting of the confession of sins (John the Baptist (although a prophet, he was still a man) just as the Baptism in Christ is not only a continuation but also a perfection of John the Baptist's baptism in the Jordan - Matthew 3:6 - Whether they want it or not, a group of people will always have someone to represent them. Call him/her by whatever name you want, the fact remains. Socialists will confirm this statement. The Apostles picked and chose their successors. In Saint Paul's letter to the Philippians, he referred to episcopois (bishops) and diakonois (deacons) - Philippians 1:1 - 

At this period, perhaps the distinction of roles was not too clear. But a little later, in Saint Paul's Pastoral Letters, the distinction became clearer. He spoke of deacons - 1 Timothy 3:8 - of elders (also in the plural) and of bishops (in the singular, 1 Timothy 1:7, 11; 1 Timothy 3:1 - The bishop became the representative of the community. Timothy, whom Saint Paul chose, was reminded by Paul of the gift of being a bishop which 1 Timothy received when the council of the elders laid their hands upon him - 1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6 -). "At this stage, in the sharing of the apostolic ministry, the phenomenon designated by 'apostolic ministry, the phenomenon designated by 'apostolic succession' was present in all but name.' - Lutheran and Catholics in Dialogue IV: Eucharist and Ministry, U.S. Catholic Conference, Washington, D.C., 1970 - Not only did the Apostles choose their successors to represent the community; they also manifested it through a visible sign - the laying of hands on the chosen. To these successors of theirs, the Apostles handed over the powers they had, of which forgiveness of sins was one.

The earliest forms of a visible sign of forgiveness practiced by the first Christians were baptism and the anointing of the sick - James 5:14-15 - But some apostatized (denied their faith). Afterward, many were sorry and wanted to be readmitted into the Church. Since they could not be re-baptized, a ceremony of forgiveness came into practice. Public confession of three basic community sins - murder, apostasy and adultery - were told to the bishops. The bishops imposed long and severe public penances like fasting, wearing of sackcloth and ashes, etc. After the term of their penances ended, the bishop would officially go out of the "Church" to receive the penitents back into the fold. The Didache or Instructions of the Apostles (in the early Church) speaks of confessing one's sin in the Church. In the writing of Tertullian (A.D. 249-258) we find evidence of a period of mortification and prayer before reconciliation to the Church. Saint Ambrose (A.D. 340-407) said that the Church "possesses both water and tears; the water of baptism and the tears of repentance." Saint Gregory (A.D. 329-389) calls confession "a baptism of tears." Why did the early Church emphasize public confession to a bishop and penances? The Church was aware of Saint Paul's teaching that sin hurts the whole body of Christ, the Church. So the penitent went to the representative of the Church and of Christ, the bishop, to confess publicly (to the whole Church) his/her sin. After he/she had made reparation for his/her sin with public penances , he/she was officially brought back into Communion with the Church.

But this practice was too severe. His Holiness Pope St. Leo (A.D 459) recognized it by saying that it was "a custom that cannot be approved." People feared going to confession. Some even postponed their baptism till at death bed. Saint Augustine (4th Century) urged young people not to receive the sacrament. As a consequence, many people put baptism off till death was imminent. The sacrament almost died out.

Then the early middle ages, the Irish monks introduced a new form of private confession. When it was brought to Europe in the 8th Century, many bishops condemned it. The popularity of this private confession grew, in spite of the censures, until the bishops just could not ignore it any longer. The Fourth Lateran Council in the 13th Century finally approved it. Again, history showed that human beings who believed in the teachings of Christ needed to express in a visible human way of their sorrow for their sins which harmed the Church, themselves and indirectly, God . It was this human need that triumphed over the condemnation of private confession. This private confession was a kind of mixture of "spiritual guidance" and confession. The penitent told either a bishop or a priest his/her sins, not only serious ones: like murder, adultery, apostasy, but also less serious sins (traditionally termed as venial). Absolution was given, followed by a penance for the penitent and we have inherited this form of expression of "sorrow" for sins" and of forgiveness, what we now called the sacrament of reconciliation.

Not only is the theology of the sacrament of reconciliation rooted in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, but its practice can be traced back through history, that is, from the early Church to the 21st Century Church. The Lord Jesus Christ, who promised to be with His Church to the end of the world, could not have gone back on His words. It was in the 16th century that the Protestant Reformation changed it. Christ Jesus could not have left His Church in error for many more centuries over such an essential aspect of Christian life. If we said that He did, we would be accusing the Lord of being a liar.    - P A G E  T W O -         

-     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -        

                                    -  Straight to Catholics - Why I believe in What I believe  - 

                                                By His Grace Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing, S.J. 

This belief of Saint Cyril's sounds like a paraphrase of Saint John's and Saint Paul's teaching on the Sacrament of The Holy Eucharist. Saint John's chapter 6 is also a refutation of the docetists' denial of the reality of Christ's human body. It starts with the multiplication of the loaves which has two meanings: (a) nothing is impossible for God to do and (b) symbolic reference to Christ feeding a multitude with His own body and blood.

Why do Catholic Christians receive only the bread when the Lord Jesus Christ told us to eat his body and drink his blood?

If we think of Christ's body and blood either in the cannibalistic way or in a symbolic way, then we will have a problem. But if we think of of the body and blood of Christ as the life of Christ given to us (and explained, as the Real Presence of Christ) then there is no question of splitting the Life of Christ or the Resurrected Lord into "body" and "blood" as if the "body" or the "blood" by itself does not contain the totality of Christ. The Risen Christ cannot be split. His life is totally present in the bread" as well in the "wine". This was why the early Church could send Christians out carrying only the "host" or "body" of Christ Jesus in their bosom to give it to other Christians. This is another proof that our present Catholic understanding is correct.

This does not mean that Catholics are not allowed to partake of the body and blood. In a small community and when it does not become a complicated affair, we are not only allowed but encouraged to partake of both.

                                                        -  Sacrifice of the Holy Mass  -

Why do you Catholics believe in the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass/Holy Eucharistic celebration? The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible says that Christ Jesus was the only acceptable sacrifice offered once and for all for our sins /our iniquity. All other sacrifices are of no use. Hebrews 9:26 says: Christ Jesus "has appeared once and for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Again, Hebrews 10:11-12 says: "And every priests stands at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifice which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God..." Question like: Your Catholic priests offer Holy Mass as a sacrifice. Is it valid? Does your sacrifice take away sins as Christ Jesus sacrifice did once and for all? But even if your Holy Mass is the sacrifice of The Lord Jesus Christ, are you not repeating Christ's sacrifice which was once and for all time? If the Holy Mass is the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, Christ would have to die again and again. This is absurd: The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible says that Christ Jesus died and took away our sins once and for all. 

It is wrong to take one or two passages out of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible context and use them to defend one's view and attack an other's position. The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible must be treated with great respect and care. It must be interpreted in the textual context in which it is found and it must also be taken as a whole otherwise we distort the message. First and foremost, the texts Hebrews 9:26; 10:11-12 quoted to attack the Catholic Christian position are taken out of its textual context. The author of Hebrews is comparing the sacrifices offered in the Old Testament (the Jewish sacrifices) with the sacrifice of Christ Jesus - Hebrews 9:26 - says "Nor was it to offer himself (Christ) repeatedly, as the high priest enters the Holy Place yearly with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world." Obviously, Saint/Apostle Paul compares Christ Jesus to the Old Testament high priest who entered the Holy of holies once a year to offer sacrifice for sins committed by the Jew. - Hebrews 10:1 - says: "For since the laws (Torah) has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never by the same sacrifices which are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near." Again it is a reference to the Jewish high priest who entered the holy of holies once a year to offer sacrifice for sins committed by the Jewish people. Therefore Jesus abolishes the first (Old Testament sacrifice) in order to establish the second - Hebrews 10:9 - Then come the two lines quoted above - Hebrews 10:11-12 - It is evident, Saint Paul is not speaking of Christian sacrifice of the Holy Mass.

Besides, those who attack us do not know what we understand by the sacrifice of the Holy Mass. Our meaning comes from the same text of Hebrews which speaks of Christ's sacrifice. The meaning of Christ's sacrifice in the same textual context is not only Jesus Christ death at Calvary but His whole life in humble obedience to God's will. - Hebrews 10:5-7 - 

Christ Jesus sacrifice is the total commitment to do God's will in His life leading even to the Cross. Jesus sacrifice is not only a taking away of our sins but also a total self-giving to do God's will as always. It is not in "sin offerings" - Hebrews 10:6 - but in the offering of His total life to do God's will which led to the forgiveness of sins.

We, being the Body of Christ, share all that the Head is: Christ the High Priest, Prophet and King of Kings - 1 Timothy 6;15 - If the body does not share in/with the Head, it is no longer part of the body. Because we are members of His body, we "are a chosen race, a royal priesthood... - 1 Peter 2:9 - The Book of Revelation said that the Lord Jesus "hast made them (Christians) a Kingdom and priests to our God" - Revelation 5:10 - Our sharing in Christ's sacrifice (priesthood) is, therefore, our total daily life given to do God's will in everything. It is this understanding of sacrifice that permits Saint Paul to say - "I appeal to you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies (whole person) as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship." - Romans 12:1 - How to offer ourselves as a sacrifice? To "walk in love as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." - Ephesians 5:2 - Sacrifice, therefore, in the New Testament is the offering of our entire life to God in obedience to do His will, that is, to do as God loves us.

This sharing in the mystery of Christ's priesthood must be expressed externally because we are human beings and not pure spirits (chapter 1). This is expressed in the sacrifice of the Holy Mass - our sharing in Christ's sacrifice. For this reason the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church tells us that the Holy Mass (not only the priest's) participation in Christ's priesthood. The priest at the altar represents our priesthood in Christ, the High Priest and Christ's priesthood poured into us, His body. Unless we actively participate in the Holy Mass, offering our whole life to God the Father through Christ or the Holy Mass becomes meaningless to us. Unless we try in our daily life to follow God's will (obedience) to love as He loves us, if not, our participation in the Holy Mass will becomes meaningless too. It is because of this understanding of sacrifice that Saint Peter can exhort us: "Come to Him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God's sight: chosen and precious: and like living stones, to be yourselves that built into a spiritual house and to be a holy priesthood: to offer spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.-  1 Peter 2:4-5 - 

Just as Christ Jesus summed up his sacrifice in the human expression of dying on the cross, so we sum up our sharing in His sacrifice in the human expression of the Holy Mass. The author or Hebrews, like Saint Peter says: "Through Christ then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God." - Hebrews 13:15 - Holy Eucharist or holy Mass in Greek means praise. The continual offering up of a sacrifice of praise, our entire life of sacrifice, is expressed by Catholic Christians in the Holy Eucharist or Holy Mass. It is indeed, a sacrificial offering of praise to God because it is not an empty symbolic gesture through the offering of the blood of animals and other holocausts which have nothing to do with our real lives but it is an actual offering of our whole lives to God in union with the sacrifice of Christ Himself. By this we all share Christ's priesthood.

But we know that we do not fully live up to "doing God's will by loving as He loves us." So we attend and come to Holy Mass/Eucharist to ask (1) for God's and the Christian community's forgiveness and (2) for God's strength (love) to do better His will. It is making "my own" the power that Christ Jesus has gained for me through His eternal sacrifice. It is not a repetition of Christ's sacrifice which is once and for all. It is, rather and appropriating the fruits of Christ's sacrifice.

Remember what I have just stated about the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass. When Christ Jesus said, "Do this in memory (anamnesis) of me", he meant us to relive in faith the memory of His life, death and resurrection in such a way that the power of His sacrifice of Himself becomes present to us here and now. In other words, it is appropriating in our lives the power of His "once-and-for-all-sacrifice." It is a sharing in His eternal sacrifice. What is the use of Christ's sacrifice if we do not claim it for ourselves? We are free. God made us so. God will not force His sacrifice on us. We have to accept it freely. The Lord Jesus Christ sacrifice is like a power station waiting to be tapped. We have to tap it for it to become effective. It is in making Christ's sacrifice of Himself efficacious in our lives that we proclaim Him. Hence, Saint Paul tells us, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ death until he comes." - 1 Corinthians 11:26 - This is the Catholic Christian meaning of the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass which Saint Peter and Saint Paul exhort us to offer continually.

                                                       -  Sacrament of Reconciliation  -   

All of us who have received Baptism still feel the need for forgiveness because we know that we are still sinful. Although we have renounced "Satan" or Evil and turned to Christ Jesus at our baptism, we still keep falling into sins because we are weak. Hence, we need continually the forgiveness of God. (See the chapter on Sin and Love) Saint/Apostle John in his letter to his Christians said, "If we say we have no sins, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us... but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;" - 1 John 1:8; 2:1 - Saint/Apostle James also aware of sins committed after Baptism. He exhorted his Christians, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another" - James -5:16 - Why is it that the Old Testament and the New Testament are filled with the awareness of Man's sinfulness? It is because we fall short of God's love. Therefore, we can always say before God, "Lord, forgive me for I am a sinner." There is no real dispute on this point. All of us, if we are truthful, recognize this fact.

The bone of contention is rather "confession to a priest." As someone asked me, "Why can't I confess directly to God? Why must I go to a priest; after all he is only a man like you and I? It is God who forgives, not Man."

To this man, let us call him Mr. X, I will tell him that he has failed to understand what it is to be human, what is the meaning of sin and what it is to be a Christian. At the back of the question posed by Mr. X is the presupposition that sin hurts God: Sin as a direct offence against God, demand a direct forgiveness from Him whom we have hurt. Thus, asking for forgiveness is directed straight at God whom we have hurt and He forgive us directly. There is no need of an intermediary, a priest. But can God be hurt? If He, who is Almighty, Infinite, could be hurt by me with a small dot that disappears practically into nothingness in the Universe, then, He would no longer be Almighty or Infinite - He would be a figment of my own imagination. The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible rightly says: "Is it I whom they provoke? says the Lord. Is it not themselves to their own confusion?" - Jeremiah 7:19 - Elihu says, "If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him/God? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him/God?... Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself..." - Jobs 35:6-8 - If God is not hurt by my sin, whom does it hurt? It hurts me and my neighbour, as Elihu says. It hurts not only the person whom I have wronged; it hurts also the whole human community. Saint/Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians expressed this idea through the analogy of the human body. This can be understood only in the context of the notion of solidarity (Cf. chapter 1) Because the Body is a unity of many parts, if one part, for example, my hand is hurt, the whole body feels it. And if one part, for example, my heart, is in good conditioned, the whole body profits from it. Since we are all united in the one life of Christ, in His Body, if one of us sins, he/she hurts the whole body of Christ. "If one member is honoured, all rejoice together." - 1 Corinthians 12:26 -

If sin is a refusal to love and by nature I am made to love, sin hurts first and foremost, myself. G. K. Chesterton rightly said that sin is "that whatever I am, I am not myself." - Orthodoxy. Union Books, Sheed & Ward, 1939, p. 273 - Then again, it hurts the person whom I have offended. This has its repercussions and the whole Body of Christ, the Church, is hurt. And only indirectly is God hurt because He who creates us loves us and is "sad" speaking in human terms, that we harm each other. From another point of view, God is indirectly hurt because He is the Source of life, the love that brings forth life and sustains it, any destruction of it affects Him. Sin is a destruction of life. Through my sin, I harm the relationship between me and myself, between the community and me and between God and I. 

Reconciliation is precisely the mending or healing of the "strained" or "broken" relationships. If I were to confess my sorrow directly to God, I would take into account only my relationship with God. How about my relationship to the Christian community? Saint /Apostle John said: "If anyone says, 'I love God', and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen." - 1 John 4:20 - Logically, Saint/Apostle John could have continued and said as well, "If anyone says, 'God has forgiven me because I have asked God for forgiveness' and fails to ask for forgiveness of his brother whom he has hurt, he is a liar; for he who sins against his brother and asks not for forgiveness, cannot ask for forgiveness from God whom he has not seen nor hurt directly." Reconciliation taken in its full sense, is the restoration of the three "broken" relationships because Christian love is a three dimensional relationship: God and I, others and I, myself and I. To express fully this sorrow for my sins in a human way, it is necessary to go through a material form (Cf. chapter 1) that takes into account all the three relationships. The Lord Jesus Christ, who made us and knew our need, gave us the sacrament of Reconciliation (traditionally called "Confession") a concrete confirmation, in a way that we poor human can understand it, of the healing of the three "broken" relationships.

Jesus, although God, as a human being forgive sins to the scandal of the Pharisees. He gave this authority to forgive sins to Peter when He said: "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." - Matthew 16:19 - To his other disciples Jesus Christ also said the same thing. - Matthew 18:18 - After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His apostles 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." - John 20:22-23 -........ - P A G E  O N E -         

    

-     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -