Dan Martin's RCIA BLOG 2018
With the new year of RCIA upon us and with my work schedule preventing me from being able to participate in RCIA classes, I thought I’d write a blog here in the parish web site so I can throw in my two cents worth every week so here goes, I hope to not be too long winded or long typed.
Divine Revelation: Oct 21, 2018
One of the many criticisms Christians and people of Faith in general hear from non-believers has to do with rules to follow and methods of control and things like that. Quite often there’s an accusation similar to the statement, “Somebody somewhere decided to make up some stuff in order to place controls over groups of people for the purpose of gaining wealth and eventually to take over the world.” Have you heard this? I certainly have heard it and from multiple sources, including in an RCIA class in the past. I have a family member who firmly believes this, not necessarily from his own thought, but what was taught to him in his family. To be honest it does sound reasonable, problem is, if it were true what would the World be like? The western world, while not directly Christian, is based on Judeo-Christian (meaning through Christian and Jewish history) ethics. When you see a stop sign while driving, do you stop because it is the law, or do you stop because it’s the right thing to do? What we know is this; no one made any of this stuff up. Everything we know and share comes from God. It was God who communicated with Adam and Eve, Noah, and Abraham, and throughout salvation history and then ultimately communicated by sending his only son Jesus to live with us and walk with us and show us the way to be in ultimate oneness with him. The Church is clear on teaching that Divine Revelation concluded with Jesus, meaning all we need to know can be learned from Jesus. Also meaning that no new teaching exists and any such new teaching is automatically considered heresy. What New Testament Scripture, Church Father’s writings, and Church Documents are, are simply new ways of explaining the teachings of Jesus to fit the times of those writings. It’s mind bending to consider the incredible Gift from God of analogy to read the Scripture letters of St. Paul, molding the teachings of Jesus to fit the many groups of people and leaders he wrote to in the first century. The bottom line is we human beings aren’t that smart, we didn’t make this stuff up.
Feedback email: dan@mcacribbage.com
One of the many criticisms Christians and people of Faith in general hear from non-believers has to do with rules to follow and methods of control and things like that. Quite often there’s an accusation similar to the statement, “Somebody somewhere decided to make up some stuff in order to place controls over groups of people for the purpose of gaining wealth and eventually to take over the world.” Have you heard this? I certainly have heard it and from multiple sources, including in an RCIA class in the past. I have a family member who firmly believes this, not necessarily from his own thought, but what was taught to him in his family. To be honest it does sound reasonable, problem is, if it were true what would the World be like? The western world, while not directly Christian, is based on Judeo-Christian (meaning through Christian and Jewish history) ethics. When you see a stop sign while driving, do you stop because it is the law, or do you stop because it’s the right thing to do? What we know is this; no one made any of this stuff up. Everything we know and share comes from God. It was God who communicated with Adam and Eve, Noah, and Abraham, and throughout salvation history and then ultimately communicated by sending his only son Jesus to live with us and walk with us and show us the way to be in ultimate oneness with him. The Church is clear on teaching that Divine Revelation concluded with Jesus, meaning all we need to know can be learned from Jesus. Also meaning that no new teaching exists and any such new teaching is automatically considered heresy. What New Testament Scripture, Church Father’s writings, and Church Documents are, are simply new ways of explaining the teachings of Jesus to fit the times of those writings. It’s mind bending to consider the incredible Gift from God of analogy to read the Scripture letters of St. Paul, molding the teachings of Jesus to fit the many groups of people and leaders he wrote to in the first century. The bottom line is we human beings aren’t that smart, we didn’t make this stuff up.
Feedback email: dan@mcacribbage.com
Sign of the Cross: Oct 14, 2018
With the RCIA season coming in to full swing. Now the classes get a bit more Catholic in nature. This week’s class centers around the teaching of the Mystery of the Trinity. That is one God in three Persons and an extra emphasis on the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy Trinity. The Trinity is part of that ponderment of our lives, meaning we will ponder it our entire lives knowing we’ll never get a real grasp of it, part of being comfortable with Mystery, we Catholics must be. The story goes of Augustine walking along the beach and observing a young boy with a pail pouring ocean water into a small hole he had created up the beach. Augustine saw this and asked the boy, “What are you doing?” The boy replied, “I’m going to pour the entire ocean into this hole.” To which Augustine commented, “You’ll never be able to pour the entire ocean into that hole.” Then he walked along further down the beach and then heard the boy say, “And you’ll also never fully understand the Mystery of the Trinity.” Augustine spun around and saw no one there. From the earliest times in the Church Christians have pondered this wonderful Mystery and also from the earliest times have expressed a communication of Trinitarian belief in the gesture of the Sign of the Cross. The combination of remembering what Jesus did for us on the Cross and expressing our recognition of the Holy Trinity has been a part of Christian practice from the very early days. In parts of the world where Christianity had to be kept in secret for fear of their lives it was a quiet sign of our identity, sort of a secret handshake if you will. Along with most Traditions once you start it, it remains with us forever. In future blogs I’ll mention a few more of these traditions. So as you make the Sign of the Cross, think of my patron Saint Peter Canal in Australia approaching a group of islanders to whom he had preached to many years prior, but wasn’t sure about, upon making the Sign of the Cross saw one of the group make the same Sign in return, say to himself “WHEW! Christians!”
Feedback email: dan@mcacribbage.com
With the RCIA season coming in to full swing. Now the classes get a bit more Catholic in nature. This week’s class centers around the teaching of the Mystery of the Trinity. That is one God in three Persons and an extra emphasis on the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy Trinity. The Trinity is part of that ponderment of our lives, meaning we will ponder it our entire lives knowing we’ll never get a real grasp of it, part of being comfortable with Mystery, we Catholics must be. The story goes of Augustine walking along the beach and observing a young boy with a pail pouring ocean water into a small hole he had created up the beach. Augustine saw this and asked the boy, “What are you doing?” The boy replied, “I’m going to pour the entire ocean into this hole.” To which Augustine commented, “You’ll never be able to pour the entire ocean into that hole.” Then he walked along further down the beach and then heard the boy say, “And you’ll also never fully understand the Mystery of the Trinity.” Augustine spun around and saw no one there. From the earliest times in the Church Christians have pondered this wonderful Mystery and also from the earliest times have expressed a communication of Trinitarian belief in the gesture of the Sign of the Cross. The combination of remembering what Jesus did for us on the Cross and expressing our recognition of the Holy Trinity has been a part of Christian practice from the very early days. In parts of the world where Christianity had to be kept in secret for fear of their lives it was a quiet sign of our identity, sort of a secret handshake if you will. Along with most Traditions once you start it, it remains with us forever. In future blogs I’ll mention a few more of these traditions. So as you make the Sign of the Cross, think of my patron Saint Peter Canal in Australia approaching a group of islanders to whom he had preached to many years prior, but wasn’t sure about, upon making the Sign of the Cross saw one of the group make the same Sign in return, say to himself “WHEW! Christians!”
Feedback email: dan@mcacribbage.com
Incarnation of Jesus: Oct 7, 2018
OK I’ll admit it, last week was certainly too long for a blog. This week’s two cents worth has to do with an argument we hear about all the time. Now we do know Jesus came to the world to be with us and to teach us and to show us what it takes to be one with Him. We also know that in order for perfection to come into the world, He had to come through a perfect vessel, the sinless Virgin Mary. While all of this seems fundamental in Catholic teaching we still hear an argument made, even through some Catholic sources. That argument is “Did Jesus always know He was God?” You’ll hear some argue that he did not until … and then they’ll say an event like the Miracle at Cana, or discussion with Elders at age 12 in the Temple, or the Transfiguration, and so on and so on. Well for anyone who may believe this I got news for ya, Jesus knew He was God from day one, Mary and Joseph know He was God from day one, Elizabeth and Zechariah knew He was God from day one, Simeon and Anna of the Temple knew He was God from day one, John the Baptist knew He was God from day one, and finally the official teaching of the Church is that He was God from day one. And when I say day one, I mean, as it’s defined in the Nicene Creed “Born of the Father before all ages” as well it should be for the 2nd Person of the Holy Trinity. While many are entitled to their opinion, it doesn’t make them correct. In fact I believe that the cousins Jesus and John the Baptist must have had many discussions about the events to come long before the meeting in the river Jordan. So I’ll finish my two cents worth with the simple statement “Jesus is God” Nuff said.
Feedback email: dan@mcacribbage.com
OK I’ll admit it, last week was certainly too long for a blog. This week’s two cents worth has to do with an argument we hear about all the time. Now we do know Jesus came to the world to be with us and to teach us and to show us what it takes to be one with Him. We also know that in order for perfection to come into the world, He had to come through a perfect vessel, the sinless Virgin Mary. While all of this seems fundamental in Catholic teaching we still hear an argument made, even through some Catholic sources. That argument is “Did Jesus always know He was God?” You’ll hear some argue that he did not until … and then they’ll say an event like the Miracle at Cana, or discussion with Elders at age 12 in the Temple, or the Transfiguration, and so on and so on. Well for anyone who may believe this I got news for ya, Jesus knew He was God from day one, Mary and Joseph know He was God from day one, Elizabeth and Zechariah knew He was God from day one, Simeon and Anna of the Temple knew He was God from day one, John the Baptist knew He was God from day one, and finally the official teaching of the Church is that He was God from day one. And when I say day one, I mean, as it’s defined in the Nicene Creed “Born of the Father before all ages” as well it should be for the 2nd Person of the Holy Trinity. While many are entitled to their opinion, it doesn’t make them correct. In fact I believe that the cousins Jesus and John the Baptist must have had many discussions about the events to come long before the meeting in the river Jordan. So I’ll finish my two cents worth with the simple statement “Jesus is God” Nuff said.
Feedback email: dan@mcacribbage.com
Original Sin: Sept 30, 2018
I’ve heard it said many times over the years that one element to becoming a Catholic is that you have to be comfortable with mystery. That is, while any subject may be taught and understood with confidence, no one but God, or anyone in Heaven, will ever have a full grasp of that subject. The entire idea of Original Sin is one such mystery that has baffled the brightest of minds throughout the centuries. I myself have struggled with this greatly over the years. The whole idea that one sin, eating the forbidden fruit, burdened us all forever with this sin. Sin is defined as turning away from God or a separation from God. So what did I do to warrant this separation anyway? I can remember asking this question many times over the years, never feeling comfortable with answers I was getting. I must admit it was the Star Trek in me that helped me with getting to a better comfort with this mystery. Let’s look at a brief synopsis of the story from the Book of Genesis. First there was Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden living and experiencing a total one-ness with God, in constant communication and connectedness with Him. Then the event happened and everything changed. The connectedness was ended and they were thrown out of the Garden of Eden into the world we live in today. While communication is still possible it is no longer automatic. While God can still choose whom to be connected with, like Noah, Abraham, Moses, The Blessed Mother, Prophets and more, nothing is automatic anymore. It took Star Trek thinking outside the box concerning time and space and universes and such to give me an inkling of how it all works. My understanding now is that God simply changed the universe at the prime moment of the Original Sin. So instead of living in Heaven on Earth as in the Garden, now Heaven is the state of total connectedness and the universe is, well, not. It wasn’t just the earth that changed but the entire universe, the entire time and space existence that resulted from the Big Bang that lost the connection. So while we are created perfect and in total Union with God in Heaven, when we are born into this universe, we are born into the separated state. While that all sounds quite grim, we do have a means of restoring our connectedness with God. That’s why the Son of God, Jesus Christ came into the world. He came to give us the means of restoring our connectedness. Knowing Jesus, serving Jesus, and experiencing Jesus through the Sacraments gives us that connectedness, which is how I define Holiness, and restoring that Heaven on Earth as best as we can given the universe in which we live. Our life as Catholics is all about that connectedness as we look forward to the total one-ness we will experience with God and each other in Heaven. Sorry I got long typed, I’ll try to be better in the weeks to come … Dan
Feedback email: dan@mcacribbage.com
I’ve heard it said many times over the years that one element to becoming a Catholic is that you have to be comfortable with mystery. That is, while any subject may be taught and understood with confidence, no one but God, or anyone in Heaven, will ever have a full grasp of that subject. The entire idea of Original Sin is one such mystery that has baffled the brightest of minds throughout the centuries. I myself have struggled with this greatly over the years. The whole idea that one sin, eating the forbidden fruit, burdened us all forever with this sin. Sin is defined as turning away from God or a separation from God. So what did I do to warrant this separation anyway? I can remember asking this question many times over the years, never feeling comfortable with answers I was getting. I must admit it was the Star Trek in me that helped me with getting to a better comfort with this mystery. Let’s look at a brief synopsis of the story from the Book of Genesis. First there was Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden living and experiencing a total one-ness with God, in constant communication and connectedness with Him. Then the event happened and everything changed. The connectedness was ended and they were thrown out of the Garden of Eden into the world we live in today. While communication is still possible it is no longer automatic. While God can still choose whom to be connected with, like Noah, Abraham, Moses, The Blessed Mother, Prophets and more, nothing is automatic anymore. It took Star Trek thinking outside the box concerning time and space and universes and such to give me an inkling of how it all works. My understanding now is that God simply changed the universe at the prime moment of the Original Sin. So instead of living in Heaven on Earth as in the Garden, now Heaven is the state of total connectedness and the universe is, well, not. It wasn’t just the earth that changed but the entire universe, the entire time and space existence that resulted from the Big Bang that lost the connection. So while we are created perfect and in total Union with God in Heaven, when we are born into this universe, we are born into the separated state. While that all sounds quite grim, we do have a means of restoring our connectedness with God. That’s why the Son of God, Jesus Christ came into the world. He came to give us the means of restoring our connectedness. Knowing Jesus, serving Jesus, and experiencing Jesus through the Sacraments gives us that connectedness, which is how I define Holiness, and restoring that Heaven on Earth as best as we can given the universe in which we live. Our life as Catholics is all about that connectedness as we look forward to the total one-ness we will experience with God and each other in Heaven. Sorry I got long typed, I’ll try to be better in the weeks to come … Dan
Feedback email: dan@mcacribbage.com
Existence of God: Sept 23, 2018
Talking about the Existence of God and Nature of God, coming in to the Church RCIA candidates usually come from different perspectives. Some are Baptized in other traditions, some are not Baptized at all, some are not validly Baptized, and of course some are Baptized Catholic but have not finished their initiation. Whatever the background may be, there’s almost always one perspective in common, that is a belief in God. While Hollywood would have us believe that God does not exist, the character Sheldon Cooper of “The Big Bang Theory” regularly ridicules God and religion as something trivial and a waste of time and energy, the fact truly is that the scientific community generally professes a belief in God, certainly at least in Intelligent Design of the Universe. In fact over 92% of Americans profess to a belief in God. The Humanistic society we live in does not tell us God doesn’t exist, rather that God is no longer important. The real battle we face as Christians is the relevance of God in our daily lives. I, for one, wouldn’t know how to live without my relationship with Jesus being smack dab in the middle of my life and the lives of my family members. I have a very difficult time understanding how anyone can live their daily lives without it. So what I’m going to leave this blog with today is a statement I truly believe in. To me the definition of the term evolution is the Will of God and the Work of the Holy Spirit in the Universe today. The very proof that God exists is that the Universe exists. Albert Einstein said in his interview to defect to the US “I do Believe God created the Universe. It’s my job to figure out how he did it”
Feedback: email me at dan@mcacribbage.com
Talking about the Existence of God and Nature of God, coming in to the Church RCIA candidates usually come from different perspectives. Some are Baptized in other traditions, some are not Baptized at all, some are not validly Baptized, and of course some are Baptized Catholic but have not finished their initiation. Whatever the background may be, there’s almost always one perspective in common, that is a belief in God. While Hollywood would have us believe that God does not exist, the character Sheldon Cooper of “The Big Bang Theory” regularly ridicules God and religion as something trivial and a waste of time and energy, the fact truly is that the scientific community generally professes a belief in God, certainly at least in Intelligent Design of the Universe. In fact over 92% of Americans profess to a belief in God. The Humanistic society we live in does not tell us God doesn’t exist, rather that God is no longer important. The real battle we face as Christians is the relevance of God in our daily lives. I, for one, wouldn’t know how to live without my relationship with Jesus being smack dab in the middle of my life and the lives of my family members. I have a very difficult time understanding how anyone can live their daily lives without it. So what I’m going to leave this blog with today is a statement I truly believe in. To me the definition of the term evolution is the Will of God and the Work of the Holy Spirit in the Universe today. The very proof that God exists is that the Universe exists. Albert Einstein said in his interview to defect to the US “I do Believe God created the Universe. It’s my job to figure out how he did it”
Feedback: email me at dan@mcacribbage.com