By: Bernadette Parrott
Welcome to our Faith Renewal Series that is exploring The ABCs of Being Catholic. We are invited on a journey through the alphabet to explore Catholic terms, beliefs, and traditions. In this post we focus on the letter “D”. Each day we will add another term beginning with “D” to this post.
If you missed our Introduction to this series <click here>. To go back to the letter “C” <click here>. To go to the letter “E” <click here>.
Devil and Damnation
November 25, 2020
…and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…
I am a sinner. Certainly, I am not a murderer or a thief, but in small ways I choose to deliberately turn away from my God and my neighbour. It might be in unkind words or actions. It might be in something I chose not to do but could have done for my neighbour. It might be in neglecting my family. In this season of giving, it might be more in the mindset of ‘give me’. Perhaps in this year when I should be unselfish, I have chosen to be selfish. Perhaps I have chosen to not seek the opportunity to be with my Lord when it was offered to me. Perhaps I have chosen anger and frustration instead of love and compassion. Why is it sometimes so easy to love and why is it sometimes so difficult?
God is infinitely good, and all his works are good.
Yet, here, while we journey home, we cannot escape the experience of suffering or the evils of this world because we are limited by humanity. Sin is present in history and today and it will tempt us. It cannot be ignored. If we try to ignore it, we become its prisoner. If we can identify it, recognize it and name it, we can then bring it to our Saviour, for He has conquered it.
In Genesis we find the telling of the disobedient choice of our first parents. They listened to that seductive voice opposed to God, and “fell” out of God’s grace and into death. This ‘serpent’ had too fallen. “Created naturally good but by God, with their free choice they radically and irrevocably rejected God and his reign.” (CCC 269) Satan (the devil) sinned from the beginning and is a liar and the father of lies.
So, can’t God just forgive Satan and bring him back to heaven? Well, there’s a question? And the answer is no. In CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church) 393 and 272 we find the answer defined for us. “It is the irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels’ sin unforgivable. There is no repentance for the angels’ after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death.”
In the Prayer to St Michael, the Archangel we find our plea…
St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him we humbly pray;
And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host,
By the power of God
Thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits who prowl about the earth
Seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
Satan does indeed prowl the earth, but his eternal home is hell. We are not meant for that. We are meant for heaven. His sin of pride, along with many other angelic beings who followed him, has condemned them for all eternity to be denied heaven.
In Luke 16:19-31 we find the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.
The poor man who died was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. Yet the rich man who also died was tormented in ‘hell’. The parable continues with a plea for a drop of water to cool the tongue of the rich man for he is suffering torment in the flames. It is at this point we are again reminded of the great chasm that is established to prevent anyone from crossing from heaven to hell or reverse.
This conscious eternal loss of the vision of God is damnation, and we choose it, especially if we die in mortal sin. It is damnation because God has pronounced His just sentence. It is eternal because it cannot be reversed.
Where do I want to spend eternity?
It’s my choice.
Dogma and Doctrine
November 24, 2020
I believe
What is it that you believe in?
When we look closely at the teaching of the Church, we find the truth. This truth has been revealed to us by God and, in such, is divine in nature. These essential truths cannot and will not change. We are to believe. Sometimes that is a matter of faith as we cannot ‘see’ or ‘explain’ it. We might have an understanding and an acceptance, but we must believe. Again, it’s OK to ask who, what, when, where and why, for that is our human nature.
Dogmas are infallible teachings revealed by God and binding on all believers now and in the future. These are the essential elements of our faith that cannot change and since they are of divine revelation, they must be believed. They require our fullest and complete assent. They are often proclaimed by a council of the Church or by a pope when he explicitly states his pronouncement is dogmatic. Doctrine are infallible teachings on faith and morals revealed to us by the Holy Church with the protection of the Holy Spirit. They too require our fullest and complete assent. They can develop over time as the church comes to understand them better, but doctrines cannot change. Would it surprise you to know there are over 225 of them? It sure surprised me! What is it I proclaim when I say, “I believe”?
Many of us have a deep devotion to Our Mother, Mary. There are four dogmas regarding Mary. We are to believe and accept that she is the Mother of God. We are to believe and accept her Immaculate Conception. We are to believe and accept her Perpetual Virginity. We are to believe and accept her Assumption.
In the words of our Creed we find the dogmas and doctrines of our faith. In Scripture we find the Word of God, they are the truth. They cannot and will not change. We cannot take away or add to them. They are the truth. Each and every word contained in the dogma and doctrine of our faith has a deeper call – a call to relationship with God so I can return to Him at the end of my earthly journey. God has entrusted all this to His holy Church upon earth.
I find in the Church the foundations that Jesus set for me. This truth is carried, defended, and shared by Pope Francis, and all popes before him and to follow him.
O God, shepherd and ruler of all the faithful
Look favorably on your servant Francis,
Whom you have set at the head of your Church as her shepherd.
Grant, we pray, that by word and example
He may be of service to those over whom he presides
So that, together with the flock entrusted to his care,
He may come to everlasting life.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son
Who lives and reigns with you in the
Unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Do I what I believe?
Do I reach for and seek my God?
Do I find in His Holy Word contained in Scripture the words of eternal life?
Do I hunger for Jesus, my Lord, in the Real Presence?
Do I come to God’s holy Church and follow its teachings?
Do I believe?
Divine Law
November 23, 2020
Thou shall not…
Blessed are they…
I remember one instance when my eldest son was very young. I was baking cookies and, as children do, he was watching everything. He was very excited about the yumminess that he would soon be able to enjoy. When the cookies were done, I opened the oven door, and for a brief moment turned my back to get my oven mitts. In that moment he decided to help mommy and get the cookies straight from the oven. My heart stopped and I yelled two simple words – “STOP. HOT.” Then with softness, “don’t go near the hot oven”. I had set down the law. Then, I had the time to hold him, comfort him and of course, give him a cookie.
We are governed by laws, they guide us, protect us, bring security and offer us a set of rules to live by. Some are good and just, some are not. But still, we are bound by them.
Let’s take a moment to look at Divine Law. A law that is only good and only just, and yes, our lives should be governed and bound by it. This Divine revelation of the will of God comes to us in two stages. It governs the whole universe embracing both physical and moral laws.
I think we all know this simple, common statement of faith “God is love”. In those three words are such depth of faith.
We see this love first defined in the Divine Law given to us in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible). God shares with us the first stage of Divine Law in the Ten Commandments.
God is our Creator. He is the Almighty. His Name is Holy. He is our only God and is to be worshipped and adored everyday, but especially on His holy day. We are called to have respect for our parents, all life, our vocation in life – married or single, we are to be truthful, and give thanks for the gifts we have in our lives. This is our covenant – our agreement between God and me. It is the way home.
Jesus reveals to us the second stage of Divine Law. It finds its fullness in Him. It is the perfection here on earth of the Divine Law. We find in the Sermon on the Mount, the completion of the Ten Commandments. We are now introduced to a Law of love, grace, and freedom. With the grace of the Holy Spirit we carry this law in our hearts but with inner strength in knowing that this Law is just and good we can boldly proclaim the Law through our words and actions.
We are called to be pure in spirit, meek and humble, mourn with those who need comforting, hunger and thirst for justice, be merciful, be pure of heart, be peacemakers and to accept that we may have to suffer persecution for justice’s sake.
Laws are not always easy to follow and to accept and it seems in our humanity, that we look for ways to circumvent them.
Divine Law reveals to us the love of God. A love so complete that our response should be one of acceptance, obedience, and joy. It might be a good practice to look closely at the Divine Law of God revealed in the Ten Commandments and in the teaching of Jesus Christ especially as we celebrate the First Sunday of Advent next week.
Perhaps ask yourself, do I have questions and difficulties following this Law? Every good question asked deserves an answer – where can you find that answer? “Seek and you shall find.” (Matthew 7:7)
If you missed our Introduction to this series <click here>. To go back to the letter “C” <click here>. To go to the letter “E” <click here>.