Sunday Thoughts 2/25/24
God puts Abraham to the test of his faith by requesting of Him the death of his only son Isaac. God asks Abraham to offer him up as a burnt offering. Abraham is asked to go to a specific place that God asks of Him to go. As Abraham is about to submit in complete obedience to God, God speaks to him and tells him to not lay his hand on Isaac. A lot of people think that this was a cruel thing to ask of Abraham. Is God himself cruel?
A few things are going on here. God is testing Abraham's faith in God. Would any of us today be willing to give up our children to God? After all they are His gift to us in the first place. Would we be willing to say "Here, I am" in response to whatever God is asking of us or calling us to do...regardless of how bizarre, upsetting, or difficult it may seem? Obedience with God always comes first. He doesn't care about external sacrifice but that our whole life is devoted to Him whatever may be the cost. Are you willing to do whatever God tells you specifically? Sometimes he may not be asking us to sacrifice our son but our created things we love above God. If our heart is loving any created thing but forsaking God himself, then we are not pleasing to Him. Yet, if we are willing to gift to God whatever he has gifted to us he will imbue our gifts with resurrection power and use them for his own purposes and Glory.
Another aspect of Abraham's faith is that he believes God for the resurrection of the dead. That somehow God will be able to raise Isaac again is an important aspect of Abraham's faith. This is his demonstration of faith in God's power to overcome all difficulties, especially the problem of death. Therefore this is a foreshadowing of Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross, where God himself is going to provide the sacrifice for all of humankind to be saved from the power of death.
We can obey God via what he has revealed to us in Scripture through his Commandments, through the Wisdom Books, and through the teachings of Sacred Tradition in the Catholic Church. Also, we may discern through prayer what he is calling us to obey. When we obey wholeheartedly, he will bless us abundantly as he did with Abraham, our "Father of Faith."
The Repsonsorial Psalm (Ps. 116:10,15,16-17,18-19)
We are all called to walk before the Lord in the Land of the Living. God calls us to life out of the death caused by sin. Even when we are greatly afflicted we are to walk with the Lord in the land of the living. Some complain when they are afflicted but we are to submit to God in all things. Our lives are precious to God as we are faithful to Him he will receive us at our death and take us into glory with all the saints of history.
We are called to be servants of God. Let us ask if we are living up to that calling to serve God. Thanksgiving must be given to God for loosing us from our bondage to sin and making us free to serve him. Either we are serving sin or God, and so he sets us free for the purpose of serving Him more freely. As we serve Him, we should be continually calling upon His name seeking Him in prayer that we may be guided and strengthened in doing good works.
What our our vows to God? In Baptism we are called to reject Satan. This means rejecting the source of all sin. Are we compromising with sin? Giving ourselves up to temptation? Making ourselves a friend of the devil? We are called to reject also all of Satan's works. What are his works? We could be led astray by him. We could be tempted with evil whether this is lust, anger, pride, or any other deadly vice. We could be attacked with evil that might cause us to lose faith in God. We could receive false doctrines and we could receive false gospels. We should follow the teachings of the Church and not be led astray in doctrine nor in interpretation of the gospel. Perhaps Satan would cause us to ignore what Scripture really says and to pick only pieces of Scripture that make us comfortable in our own beliefs/desires.
Source: What are Satan's Works and How do we resist them? Perplexity AI
Let us rather follow what God himself has revealed in His Word. We may more readily resist all temptation through the Wisdom that God provides.
Do we also reject Satan's empty promises? It all began in the garden of Eden when Satan tempted Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They are called to grasp at something that they thought would be good for them but did not fulfill them. Fulfillment of all our desires can only come in communion with God and others. When we try to fulfill our desires alone without any reference to God, we are left in despair and misery. For example, is not a wedding feast with all food provided by the Host in the company of fine people much more enjoyable and fulfilling than eating a candy bar at a gas station. Is not marital love much more fruitful and fulfilling than sitting at home snared with the deceit of lust, pornography, and masturbation. God commands us to not sin. He commands us to turn away from the forbidden fruit that is so desirable because he loves us and has something much better in store for our lives. The fruit God offers leads to eternal life, but the fruit that Satan offers leads to eternal death and hell(Romans 6:20-23, ASV). Indeed God will freely gift us with infinite delight if we will only live in communion with him, walking in His way. We don't need to grasp...because "Every Good and Perfect Gift is from Above coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change"(James 1:17, ESV).
Do we believe in God, The Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth? The very beginning of the Bible, the Book of Genesis, speaks of God creating the Heavens and the Earth. He brought light into the darkness. Where there was no form he created form. We must believe this as Catholics. Atheism(or Agnosticism) exists in the present day. So we have a responsibility to enlighten others to the light of faith. We must believe in the God of the Bible and share His truth with others.
Do we believe that Jesus Christ is God's only Son and Our Lord? Do we believe that he was conceived of by the Holy Spirit? That Christ was born of the Virgin Mary? That Christ suffered for us? That he was crucified for our sake and our salvation? That Christ died for us while we were yet sinners? That he descended into Hell on our behalf? That he rose from the Dead for our sake that we may be raised with Him? That God has raised Christ from the dead by His own authority and gave Jesus the name above every other name by which every knee will bow and confess Christ to the Glory of God the Father?
If we do not believe such things, then how can we be Catholics?
Do we believe in the Holy Spirit? Who is the Holy Spirit? He is a distinct divine person of the Trinity and is equal in substance to God the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit heals, prophesizes, exorcises, and allows believers to speak in tongues. The Holy Spirit is commonly represented as a dove in art representing peace, purity, and new beginnings. We are to be guided and enabled in our Christian life through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our helper in faith. I encourage you as I will also seek to deepen my faith and understanding regarding the Holy Spirit.
Do we believe in the Holy Catholic Church? That this is the Church founded by Christ Himself through the commissioning he gave to his disciples and primarily to Peter. When Jesus gave peter the Keys of the Church, he said "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18, ESV). Jesus gave Peter authority to rule over the Church of God and the Popes have always been seen as the ones who lead the flock. They speak on behalf of Christ. As Jesus said "he who hears you, hears me." Do we believe this? Do we believe all that the Church proposes for belief as Holy Mother Church? In all that the Catechism teaches? How can we be Catholics if we don't believe all that she proposes for belief? Many these days are tempted by merely a bible-based religion or by other denominations that do not support Catholic belief. While many of these churches are close to Catholic belief, why wouldn't one want to be as close to the truth and as close to Catholic unity as possible? God wants us to worship Him in a certain way and in unity with all other believers. This is the beauty of Catholicism is that you can go to a Mass anywhere and it will be essentially the same service no matter where you are, whatever your language is, etc. Would we believe that Catholicism is the True Religion and if we do to gently educate others and enlighten them to faith. We want for others to see certain movies we have liked, to be fans of certain sports teams we follow, to eat at restaurants that have our favorite food; so why not lovingly lead others to our faith?
Some distinctions of the Catholic Faith
- Papal and Ecclesial Authority
- Sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance/Reconciliation, Holy Orders, Anointing of the Sick, Matrimony)
- Veneration of Mary and the Saints
- Magisterium of the Church ... teaching the Bible according to correct interpretation
- The Church Fathers- Saints who were there from the beginning of the faith discerning and establishing true doctrine through the inspiration of God
- Saints
- Belief in the Eucharist as the Real Presence of Christ
- communion with all the people of faith in the Church
- Faith is enriched by craving others
- Be in communion in the Eucharist at Church
- sharing common goods/gifts with the faithful
- saints on earth, saints in purgatory, saints in heaven in Glory
- intercession of the saints
- Communion with the dead saints
- We are all one family with God
- Christ gives authority to the Church to forgive sins
- Baptism to forgive our sins and give us new life
- Sacrament of Penance forgives all sins through confession and repentance
- Even if we fall after baptism, we must persevere in penance
- No matter how wicked or guilty we are we may be forgiven provided our repentance(willingness to change is real)
- As we die with Jesus we also shall raise with Him
- not only our soul will live on but our flesh will be resurrected
- The foundation of Christian faith is the resurrection
- We will all die
- We will be judged by Christ after death
- We will live forever with Christ in Heaven or suffer eternally in hell
- Reality of purgatory
- Reality of eternal death and hell... "a sad and lamentable reality"
- We will in Christ live in glorified bodies and in glorified creation
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