Advent Theology Lesson

As we wrap up Advent and begin to look forward to Christmas (liturgically speaking, Wal mart has been look at Christmas since October) I wanted to give a more theological look at the nativity and how this one baby coming into the world brought us salvation.    

Incarnation

Incarnation literally means to become flesh.  So the God that created the world in Genesis through speaking things into being takes on flesh.  As John says in chapter 1 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us”.  This God that had been transcendent throughout human history since the falloff mankind literally takes on flesh to come dwell with His creation.  Hence we have the story of the nativity.  This is the reason the world rejoiced because God came down from heaven to dwell with us and he came with a purpose that would be seen later.

The child in the manger is not just a baby he is God.  How can he be both human and God?  Our salvation depends on him being both God and man, if he is not both we are not saved.  The theological term for the nature of Jesus is Hypostatic union, the combination of both humanity and divinity into one person.

Hypostatic union

Throughout Church history there has been debate on the nature of Jesus.  Theologian and Churhc Councils have were debating this in the 3^rd and 4^th century.  So as not to get too deep into the argument and heresies, one misconception is Jesus is God but puts on humanity like a coat and is not really human.  On the other end of the spectrum is that Jesus was a very wise person and not really God akin to the prophets of the Old Testament.  Both of these interpretations are incorrect.   

The original covenant was between God and man in the garden.  Adam and Eve broke that covenant and mankind’s relationship with God was permanently severed.  Salivation is  not something we can do on our own, salvation only comes from God.  This is where the nature of Jesus is important for our salvation. 

If Jesus is only God and not man, God would die for himself and human would not be in the equation and would not be saved or back in right relation with God.  

If Jesus is only a enlightened scholar, then only a human died and there is no divinity in the sacrifice and God in not involved and it does not rise to the level of God.

Therefore to be at the level of God and for humans to be saved Jesus (the sacrifice) had to be both fully human and fully divine.  If that is not the case it doesn’t work.

So the baby in the cradle fully human in all ways except sin and fully divine and we see both natures throughout Jesus life.   He grows in wisdom and has emotions like anger and sadness (human nature) but he also does miracles and healings (divine nature). 

To bear this perfect hypostatic union God-man person, not just any womb will do.  Sure God could have “Poof” appeared in 1st century Palestine.  But he chose to come into the world as baby.  To do that he needed a perfect unblemished vessel.  As Jesus is the New Covenant he needed an arc similar to the arc of the covenant of the Old Testament (or from the Indiana Jones movie for those with more of a pop cultural understanding of things).  To be unblemished it had to be virgin and without sin.  God did preplanning for this when Mary was born without sin in the Immaculate Conception. 

Immaculate Conception

Mary was born into world without the stain of original sin that everyone is born.  We have this stain removed through the sacrament of baptism.  By Mary not having original sin the God –man is able to gestate in an unblemished womb capable of holding God.  If Mary had not been born without sin she would not have been the unblemished arc of the covenant that God needed to bring himself into the world.  As Jesus was conceived through the Holy Spirit and his father is God we have the Virgin Birth. 

Virgin Birth

Jesus is the Son of God conceived through the Holy Spirit.  The skeptic will say how is that possible?  Mary asked the same question in Luke 1 34:35

“Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”

So Jesus the hypostatic union of both God and man comes into the world to dwell with us and ultimately to save us from our sins and bring us back into right relationship with God.  

So when you see a nativity scene this season, recognize the gravity of the scene.  This cannot be diluted into a pretty scene of a child being born in a barn.  But a powerful scene of the creator of the universe who spoke the world into being, becomes human while maintaining his divinity, to get us back in right relation with Himself.   

That is the power of the incarnation.      

Cleaning your spiritual house

Since we were children we have all had to clean our room.  It was not fun and the more you let it go the more work it was to get it clean.  This is true with all aspects of life.  We have to keep our selves physically, emotionally and spiritual clean.  Lent is an excellent time to take a look at you spiritual "house".  Perhaps you just got caught up in the everyday routine in life and have fallen away from practices that once brought you closer to God or perhaps you never really had a connection boarded up your spiritual "house" in college but are starting to wonder more about it.

Tips for cleaning your spiritual house.

1) Start small - Don't go from nothing to trying to read all of the books Thomas Aquinas wrote or you will burn out.  Pick on small thing and do it.  After you do it and found it worked for you try adding something else as well.

2) Practice -  Clean you spiritual house takes practice.  You may not feel fulfilled the first or second time you try soemthing but if you keep at it, you may make a supernatural connection that wasn't there before.

3) Make it a habit - Every morning you have a routine.  For example you get out of bed and go brush your teeth.  My body naturally strolls from my bed to the sink because it is used to doing it everyday.  So must we do with out spiritual routine.  If I plan on doing 10 minutes of spiritual reading every night by 4 out of the seven day I watch TV then go to bed, it won't be a habit.  Not that you have to do the same thing every night but make a plan and stick to it.  Perhaps it is a rosary on Wednesday, make sure you set a reminder on Tuesday night so that it become a habit.  Once you make it a habit you will miss it when you don't do it.  If I went to breakfast without brushing my teeth, I can't eat until I do because of the habit that has been instilled of years and years of brushing when I get up.

By following these three steps you can begin cleaning your spiritual house.  Depending on the last time you addressed this, your task could be large cleaning or it could just need a quick tidying up.  Everyone need to look at their spiritual life on a regular basis and the ore you work on it the cleaner it will become.  

OH NO!!! Lent is less than 2 weeks away.

You know its not Christmas any more, the priest has gone back to his green cloths and you are settling into ordinary time.  Then it his you lent starts in less than two weeks and it has crept up on you.  But fear not, there is still plenty of time for you to prepare and get ready. 


"What are you doing for Lent?” he asks me. Or the more prevalent “What are you giving up for Lent this year?” As innocent as these questions seem, I find them problematic for several reasons. The motivations behind the asker may be only curiosity, but often times it goes beyond that. The asker may be soliciting at response so that they can compare their sacrifice to God to mine and see “who God will be more pleased with”. Other times they are just asking so they can tell me what they are planning to. “Oh, that’s great you’re doing that, let me tell you what I am going to do.” Neither of these things helps us do what the real mission of Lent is. 

The Church sets aside a large chunk of the year so that we might grow closer to God through penance, sacrifice and almsgiving. Whether this is through sacrifice or through giving more of one’s self doesn’t matter. Less important is the means of which someone else is trying to accomplish this same thing. This is true in the fact that what fits one person’s spirituality and is bad for someone else’s. You are only drinking water for the entire 40 days, that’s great. If I don’t drink some kind of juice in the morning to give my blood sugar a boost I get a headache and am cranky the rest of the day. That won’t help me or anyone else. Your doing the Rosary everyday for Lent, that’s great. Someone else finds the Rosary repetitive and gets easily distracted, they prefers the Divine Mercy Chaplet. That is better for them. 

My point is that Lent is not a time to show off or put our piety on display for others to marvel at. It is a time to renew our relationship with God through self-giving in thanksgiving for the actions Christ accomplished in the cross through the means that do that best for our self. Maybe your Lent is doing nothing external, but taking a long hard look at your internal self and seeing what can be improved, then doing it, that’s great too. 

So, when some one asks me this year what I am doing for Lent, I will tell them “Taking these 40 days to drawn closer to Jesus Christ in the way that works for me and by imitating his love for others in my everyday life.” Hope you have a good fruitful Lenten Journey

Tale of two tears

People are emotional and that is what makes us human.  Though studies have shown that animals can show emotions they generally rely on their instincts to get though day to day life.  humans do things different while we do things instinctual we generally rely on our emotions to express our feelings.  We get angry, we get sad and we can be happy.  All of these emotions are what make us who we are.  Jesus did all of these things as well or he wouldn't have been human.  He was angry when he kicked the money changers out of the temple, we was sad at hearing the death of Lazarus and we was happy at the wedding at Cana.

We can express our emotions in a variety of ways, one of them in is through tears.  The is one of primal ways that we release our emotions.  From birth we come out of the womb crying.  Baby's cry when they are hungry, when they are tired, when they are wet and sometimes they just cry to cry.  As we get older we cry at the loss of a loved one or when we are overwhelmed and frustrated.  We also can cry when we are overwhelmed with joy as well.  An emotional tribute or a reunification with a loved one will bring tears of joy.

In this advent season as we have just passed thought the feast of the Immaculate Conception I wanted to look at two stories that probably brought tears to the participants in different ways.  Thought not explicit in scripture, you can see how that situation may have brought about raw emotions.

Tears of Eve
 First we look at Eve, who was giving paradise with her husband Adam.  The only restriction was to not eat of the tree.  Through the cunning of the serpent she was tricked into a desire to be like God and know good and evil.  After doing this and disobeying God, Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden. 

To the woman He said,
“I will greatly multiply
Your pain in childbirth,
In pain you will bring forth children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And he will rule over you.” (Gen 3:16)

While God clothed them and still cared for them, getting booted from paradise probably was not a fun experience for Adam and Eve.  Genesis 3 states what God did but never mentions the reaction of Adam and Eve.  In my opinion I would believe this would be a time of sorrow and that Eve would probably have cried tears of great sadness for the downfall of mankind.

The tears of Eve would be that of disappointment in herself and resentment of the serpent.  Put yourself in a situation where you caused others great pain or loss.  There were probably tears of sorrow. 

Tears of Mary
Second we look at Mary, chosen by God to bear Jesus into the world.  Upon hearing of this after an initial confusion she glorifies God.  Which we would assume she would be overjoyed with joy to the point of happy tears while praising God.

And Mary said:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;

my spirit rejoices in God my savior.

For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;

behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.

The Mighty One has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

His mercy is from age to age

to those who fear him.

He has shown might with his arm,

dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.

He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones

but lifted up the lowly.

The hungry he has filled with good things;

the rich he has sent away empty.

He has helped Israel his servant,

remembering his mercy,

according to his promise to our fathers,

to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” (Luke 1:46-55)

So we see that the fall and the redemption of mankind were likely expressed with tears.  Tears of sorrow for the fall and tears of joy and anticipation for the redemption of world. Though Mary's tears will change at the live of Jesus unfolds before her at this point we see he overwhelmed with joy at the coming of the savior.  

Throughout the remainder of Advent mediation of the tears of both Eve and Mary.  Eve's tears remind us of our sin and fallen nature and how we should strive to do better and get into right relation with God.  Mary's tears are of the joy that God would send his only sun in the fullness of time to redeem us from our fallen nature and open the gates of paradise to us once again.  Both of these will cause us to weep in different ways but for sorrow and for joy.

 
   

Put up or be quite

After my recent rant about 21st century evanglization, I started thinking about the using 21st century technology to reach a new audience.   It is easy to say to people "Go do something", without having to do something myself. So in that vein, I attempted to do something.

Today I am unveiling my first attempt at online theology.  On the Internet site Udemy, I have set up my first online religion course about catholic prayer.  This course is free.  I would like to do more course in the future (some free, some paid) depending on the depth of the course and the time it take to create a course.  For this first course I just tried to keep it simple with an introduction to prayer.  Future course planning may be more interactive and advanced as I grow more familiar with the technology and actually recording content.  I am hoping to be able to hit many theological aspects such as church history, systematic theology, moral theology and apologetics in the future.

I thought it wouldn't be fair for me to tell you go and evangelize.  Without me trying it first.


So without further talking  I offer my prayer course.  If you take the course please leave feed back and ratings.  (5 stars always appreciated.)  That way I can improve this course and future courses.

Catholic prayer as a path to get closer to God in your life

21st century evangelisation (finding God in our Facebook)

 

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”(Mt. 28:18-20)

Jesus gave the Great Commission in the end of the Gospel to go out and preach his words.  But the bigger question is how do we do that in a world with noise and static.  How can the message of Jesus be spread when it is communication against more noise than it ever has.  Peter and the Apostels didn't have to compete against TV and the Internet.  They did have to fear being killed for their faith, which made their willingness to share the message all the more intriguing.  One might even listen more intently to them if they knew that these people were risking their life for a message.

Today in the United States we do not fear death or persecution for proclaiming the message of Christ.  But has this made us more complacent to spreading it or society more deaf to hearing it?  Sure we go to Church on Sunday, we may even do other ministries at the Church, we pray before meals but are we evangelizing in our lives by the means that we have.  I do not mean an in your face bible beating fire and brimstone off putting message in the streets.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (Jn 13:34-35)

The simple question is: Do people know that we are Christian by our love?  This is particularly true in our age of technology.  The modern day question could be rephrased: Do people know we are a follower of Christ by our Facebook posts?  Would someone know you are a Christian by your Twitter feed?  Is your faith represented in your Instagram?  Are you using Snap Chat for wholesome purposes or to do harm to others?   These are the questions that modern day Catholics have to ask themselves.

Finding God in our Facebook can be done in a Christian way.  No need to be condescending or judgmental but one needs to be firm in their beliefs in what is the truth.  I picture getting to heaven and St. Peter is at the door and he has your Internet history on his screen.  Some people would bow there head in shame.  It not just the dark side of the Internet but also the times that we look for celebrities to fall or just put too much credence in there opinions that send us the wrong direction.

The Internet can do a lot of good.  21st century evangelisation needs the Internet to reach all people so we can continue to follow the Great Commission of Christ 2000 years after it was given using the technology of our time to make the greatest difference in our world. 



   

Individual vs Communial Prayer

Recently I was talking to someone that said "I can tell if a person is Catholic or Protestant by the way they talk about  Jesus." She went on to explain that the Protestants generally speak of Jesus as a "personal" savior and speak of having Jesus in their heart.  Catholic on the other had talk about encountering Jesus in Mass and in the Eucharist. 

Both of these positions are true and both are legitimate and the distinction goes back hundreds of years. This division leads to much contentions and misunderstanding.  I need to wade into this carefully as not to misrepresent any understandings of this issue.

So why do many Christians place the emphasis on personal relationship over communal necessity? Where as Catholic place the emphasis on communal worship (ie the Mass) over personal relationship?

This could be a book but I'll make it one (two if necessary) blog posts.

I have heard protestants say to Catholics they they do not understand why Catholic go to Mass every week, and how could there be an element of sin attached to missing it.  They says things like "God would understand if you missed one time", "Some things are more important than Mass" and "Didn't you just go last week."

I don't want to go off on the 4/5 commandment (depending on your interpretation) about "Keep holy the Sabbath" tangent based on the semantics of the word "holy".  I want to steer us to personal relationship vs communal experience.

When I refer to protestant in these generalizations,  I want to say that I am mostly referring to evangelical groups that place a heavy emphasis on personal relationships and individual salvation.  Their understanding is that salvation is a personal matter between you and Jesus Christ.  Once you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and savior you are saved.  Going to church is a time to have this personal encounter with Jesus through song and opening the scripture.  The pastor preaches what Jesus has reviled to him or her through prayer so that the congregation can also take that message and prayerful discern it to grow on their faith journey as well.  While the communal aspect is welcomed, it is not a necessity  to salvation.  One could miss a week and pray at home and still be about to maintain the relationship.  It is recommend attending church and many people go weekly to receive the message it is not necessary to your salvation since you already accepted Jesus and are saved.    

The Catholic Church takes a different stance on this be placing a great emphasis on the communal aspect.  The Catholics place the Mass as the "source and summit" of the faith with all grace flowing out of the Eucharist.  So therefore the greatest place to encounter Jesus is in the Mass.  The greatest privilege is to receive Jesus in the body and blood through the Eucharist.

So is a vertical relationship between me and God all that is necessary?  or is there need for a horizontal relationship too?

This issue is more than just personal vs relational it goes to deeper theological divisions that manifest themselves in the language each group uses.    

These issues are transubstantiation vs consubstantiation, in that is Jesus truly present in the Eucharist or is it mealy a symbol to remember the passion of Christ.  

The issue of if Jesus died for you or if he died for all.  Both are true but which is emphasized. Is our responsibility to try and get to heaven through salvation (YES!) or to try and get the world to heaven through our witness.(YES!) 

When there is no Eucharistic theology their is no need to emphasis gathering as a community to celebrate and receive the Eucharist. 

Personal relationship with Christ is imperative for all.


In the end this issue is another one that continues to divide the Christian religion.  As a Catholic I fall on their side when talking about reformation.  But I am also interested in ecumenism and building relationships to discuss our differences so that we can be more similar than different.  We may never agree on everything but coming together to talk about our similarities and learn from each other will help the world more than fighting about our differences.