WEEKLY E-MAGAZINE 46/14-21/2/2021

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Carlo Voice

Chief Editors- Bro. Ephrem Kunnappally and Bro. John Kanayankal

Contributing Editors Very Rev.Joychen Paranjattu, Vicar General- Diocese of Rajkot Rev.Fr. Shanthi Puthusherry, PIME Rev. Fr. Sunny Kuttikkattu CMI Rev. Bro. Philip Kunnumpurath Spiritual Patrons His Holiness Francis HB Ibrahim Isaac Sedrak Coptic Catholic HB Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi Marionite Patriarch HB Ignace Joseph III Younan Syriac Catholic Patriarch HB Joseph AbsiMelkite Catholic Patriarch HB Louis Raphaël I Cardinal Sako Chaldean Patriarch HB Gregoire Pierre XX Ghabroyan of Cilicia Armenian Catholic Patriarch HB Mar George Alencherry- Major of Syro-Malabar Church HB Moran Mor Cardinal Cleemis Mar Baselius Catholicos HB Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa Jeruslem Catholic Patriarch HE Cardinal Oswald Gracias, CBCI- Chairman and Archbishop of Bombay HG Joshua Mar Ignatius, Vice Chairman CBCI- Mavelikara Metropolitan Bishop HG Domenico Sorrentino, Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino HE Philiopose Mar Stephanose, Syro- Malankara Bishop of Canada HE Mar Prince Antony Panengadan Bishop of Adilabad HE Mar George Madathikandathil Bishop of Kothamagalam HE Thomas Dabre, Bishop of Poone Dr.Nicola Ghori, Postulator Cause of Carlo Acutis Madam Antonia Salzano, Madre de Carlo Acutis

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Homily of His Beatitude Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa

February 14, 2021

Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B

Today, also, we come back to the first words of Jesus, spoken at the beginning of His ministry, announcing the good news that

God has come near (Mk 1:14).

But to make clear at once what this nearness of God to humanity means, the path of Jesus is crossed by a leper. In those days, a leper was an unapproachable person that the Law of Moses wanted outside the reach of the grace of God, outside the covenant, outside society. A person that no one could approach and touch.

And immediately we question ourselves: will the Kingdom of God also be close to this leper? And how can the “good news” really be good if it cannot reach all, even those considered distant? If someone is excluded again? In daring to draw near to Jesus, it is the leper himself who, with total trust, utters a plea: “If you want, you can heal me!” (Mk 1:40).

And Jesus does not hold back. Indeed, he exposes Himself to the nearness of the leper by becoming the first to be moved by his suffering: “He had compassion on him,” says Mark (1:41). And compassion is there to tell of Jesus‟ choice to let Himself get involved in this man‟s history, accepting it and holding it within Himself, not keeping a cold distance. And this is what He, too, wants (Mk 1:41).

And yet, Jesus‟ reaction exceeds the expectations of the leper. He could have healed him remaining at a distance, as Elisha had done with Naaman the Syrian (2 Kings 5:1-4); He could have pronounced words of blessing and healing on him, and of course this would have been enough to heal him. Instead, Jesus goes further, and stretching out His hand to him, touches him (Mk 1:41). He does what He could not nor should not do.

Why does He do it?

He does it to give him the certainty of no longer being unapproachable and untouchable, of no more being distant and excluded: this is the real healing, which the leper needed. He does it to give him the certainty that God wants to get exactly where humanity is lost, where there seems to be no more hope, where misfortune seems to have the last word. There also, God draws near.

Only in this way then the good news is really good, because it is indeed for all. It is good news that God puts His own life at risk with the history of every lost man, reaches him, wherever he is lost, and binds Himself to him.

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But this is only the first part of today‟s Gospel.

In the second, there is an odd thing, because Jesus, very strictly, immediately dismisses the healed leper, orders him to present himself to the priest for the offering and not to tell anyone what happened to him (Mk 1:43-44). It appears from the text that the leper does not do anything he is ordered to do, and, on the contrary, he immediately starts “to proclaim and spread the fact.” And the Gospel focuses above all on the consequences of this disobedience, so “Jesus could no longer publicly move around a city, but remained outside, in desert places” (Mk 1:45).

And so, it happens that straightaway, from the beginning of His mission, we are informed that this nearness of Jesus with sinful humanity has a price. So much so He identifies Himself with humanity, putting Himself in its place, by becoming an outcast, a reject. It is He that is now unapproachable, that has to stay outside, remote.

How all this is fraught with severe consequences, we will indeed see during the way of Lent, which begins in a few days. At the peak of this way, at the culmination of the history of Jesus, we will see that His solidarity with humanity will bring Him to “share the same penalty with it” (Lk 23:40). It was spoken by one of the two thieves to whom the Kingdom was made so close he can enter it immediately, the same day. And so, the place of damnation becomes the place of salvation; the weakness of man, his sickness, his evil, becomes a place where God reveals Himself in His final and scandalous choice of a love that does not exclude anyone.

The leper, the good thief, today invite us to presume this salvation: for both of them a plea was enough, a few words whispered from the depth of their pain. And their distance from God vanished at once.

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Biblical Reflection of this week:

Very Rev. Fr. Joychen Paranjattu, Vicar General Diocese of Rajkot

Mt 4 The Temptation of Jesus

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Does it mean that the Spirit was responsible for all the temptations? No. The Spirit‟s role in the life of Jesus was to guide him, to help him and to strengthen him to accomplish his mission. Jesus‟ fasting and ministry were going to be a great annoyance for the devil. The Holy Spirit was with Jesus throughout his public ministry. He was with him on his way to the wilderness as well. At the time of temptation, the devil seemed to play every trick for the retreat of Jesus from his ministry. However, the Spirit was there to guide him and the Word of God helped him to defeat the devil. Jesus proved himself to be Superior to the devil, who wanted to stop Jesus from going ahead in his ministry. We will see how Jesus overcame the devil‟s allurements. The Spirit helps Jesus to have victory over the devil. Even when the devil put before Jesus the best attractive offers quoting the Bible, Jesus however, does not argue with the devil, but rather, defends himself with the Word of God.

The devil‟s first temptation is to test Jesus‟ power to satiate his own hunger. If one becomes self- centered, there is every possibility that he would not do any good for others. Jesus who was born in a manger and lived-in exile in poverty knew what it was to be hungry. Jesus realizes that every hunger is not to be satiated. Every thirst is not to be quenched. You need mental and spiritual strength to put a curb on your natural instincts. Jesus‟ reply that he lives not by bread alone, but rather, by every word that comes from the mouth of God, showed that he is still guided by his Father who sent him into the word. He would not go away from the will of his Father. Jesus was not ready to compromise his mission. He knew here what God‟s will for him was. To know exactly our mission and the realization that this mission comes from God is important to overcome the distractions on our way. You need spiritual energy to win over a wavering mind. God‟s Spirit was with Jesus during his temptation. God has poured his Spirit into our hearts that he may fill our hearts with his love. If love of God becomes our strength no evil powers will have control us. To come out of our self-centeredness, we must nourish our spiritual lives with the Word of God.

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The second temptation was all about testing God. If one truly loves God, he will not test God, but rather, will learn to surrender himself to the plan of God. A person who is shallow in faith and has no depth in the love of God can easily fall prey to devil‟s temptations. Such a person may think that „if God loves me, he should grant my request‟. „If God loves me, he should work a miracle for me‟ and so on. This is immature faith. Jesus‟ faith in God the Father was not immature. It was solid faith of a son who came from the bosom of the Father. He would not test his Father asking God to protect him while he jumps from the pinnacle of the temple. Going to the holy city and jumping from the pinnacle of the temple can also mean jumping into the world of sin and losing one‟s holiness. Angels will not protect us from our sin if we voluntarily choose to sin.

The third temptation is to turn away from God‟s love and to fall in love with the world. If one does not have love of God in his heart, he will truly love the world and would go after the passions of this world. The devil‟s offer was to love the world and to possess the worldly powers. He is the ruler of the world. To love the world is equal to loving him. To love the worldly kingdom means, the heart‟s desire to admire its splendor and to adore its ruler, the devil. Every human being, unless guided and protected by the Spirit of God, can easily fall into the trap of devil to possess the world at the cost of his spiritual life. A strong attachment to God‟s spirit only can take us away from the worldly attachments. Jesus‟ oneness with the Spirit strengthened him to say: “Away with you, Satan!” If we call out to our helper the Holy Spirit, he will strengthen us to overcome the devil and his tricks.

Temptation is anything that prevents us from reaching our goal. Jesus had in a way conquered the world already before he began his mission to save the world. We need to gain total control over the evil one before we go out to establish the reign of God. If not, the evil one will be stronger and will play many tricks to prevent us from reaching our goal of establishing God‟s reign. The devil knew that where God reigns, he cannot have supremacy. So, he tempts Jesus with all the splendor of the world that was under his domain and asks the Lord to worship the devil for power and wealth. Jesus knew that only through fasting and prayer the devil‟s lure can fail. As a result, Jesus became very strong in word and in deed before he began his ministry. May this season of Lent be an occasion to be closer to the Spirit to live under his constant guidance and protection. Amen!

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MEDITATIONS & READINGS FOR LENT

from St. Thomas

ASH WEDNESDAY "DEATH"

“By one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death” (Romans 5:12).

1. If for some wrongdoing a man is deprived of some benefit once given to him, that he should lack that benefit is the punishment of his sin.

Now, in man's first creation he was divinely endowed with this advantage that, so long as his mind remained subject to God, the lower powers of his soul were subjected to the reason, and the body was subjected to the soul.

But because, by sin, man's mind moved away from its subjection to God, it followed that the lower parts of his mind ceased to be wholly subjected to the reason. From this there followed such a rebellion of the bodily inclination against the reason, that the body was no longer wholly subject to the soul.

Whence followed death and all the bodily defects. For life and wholeness of body are bound up with this, that the body is wholly subject to the soul, as a thing which can be made perfect is subject to that which makes it perfect. So it comes about that, conversely, there are such things as death, sickness and every other bodily defect, for such misfortunes are bound up with an incomplete subjection of body to soul.

2. The rational soul is of its nature immortal, and therefore death is not natural to man in so far as man has a soul. It is natural to his body, for the body, since it is formed of things contrary to each other in nature, is necessarily liable to corruption, and it is in this respect that death is natural to man.

But God, Who fashioned man, is all powerful. And hence, by an advantage conferred on the first man, He took away that necessity of dying which was bound up with the matter of which man 7 | P a g e

was made. This advantage was however withdrawn through the sin of our first parents.

Death is then natural, if we consider the matter of which man is made and it is a penalty, inasmuch as it happens through the loss of the privilege whereby man was preserved from dying. (Summa Theologica, 2a-2ae, q. 164, art. 1).

3. Sin—Original Sin and Actual Sin—is taken away by Christ, that is to say, by Him who is also the remover of all bodily defects. “He shall quicken also your mortal bodies, because of his Spirit that dwelleth in you” (Romans 8:11).

But, according to the order appointed by a wisdom that is divine, it is at the time which best suits that Christ takes away both the one and the other, i.e., both sin and bodily defects.

Now it is only right that, before we arrive at that glory of impassibility and immortality which began in Christ, and which was acquired for us through Christ, we should be shaped after the pattern of Christ's sufferings. It is then only right that Christ's liability to suffer should remain in us too for a time, as a means of our coming to the impassibility of glory in the way He himself came to it. (Summa Theologica, 1a-2ae, q. 85, art. 5, ad 2).

Meditation 2 : THURSDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY "FASTING" 1. We fast for three reasons.

(i) To check the desires of the flesh. So St. Paul says “in fastings, in chastity” (2 Corinthians 6:5), meaning that fasting is a safeguard for chastity. As St. says, “Without Ceres, and Bacchus, Venus would freeze,” as much as to say that lust loses its heat through spareness of food and drink.

(ii) That the mind may more freely raise itself to contemplation of the heights. We read in the book of Daniel that it was after a fast of three weeks that he received the revelation from God (Daniel 10:2-4).

(iii) To make satisfaction for sin. This is the reason given by the prophet Joel: “Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting and in weeping and in mourning” (Joel 2:12). And here is what

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St. Augustine writes on the matter. “Fasting purifies the soul. It lifts up the mind, and it brings the body into subjection to the spirit. It makes the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of desire, puts out the flames of lust and enkindles the true light of chastity.”

2. There is commandment laid on us to fast. For fasting helps to destroy sin, and to raise the mind to thoughts of the spiritual world. Each man is then bound, by the natural law of the matter, to fast just as much as is necessary to help him in these matters. Which is to say that fasting in general is a matter of natural law.

To determine, however, when we shall fast and how, according to what suits and is of use to the Catholic body, is a matter of positive law. To state the positive law is the business of the bishops, and what is thus stated by them is called ecclesiastical fasting, in contradistinction with the natural fasting previously mentioned.

3. The times fixed for fasting by the Church are well chosen. Fasting has two objects in view:

(i) The destruction of sin, and

(ii) the lifting of the mind to higher things.

The times self-indicated for fasting are then those in which men are especially bound to free themselves from sin and to raise their minds to God in devotion. Such a time especially is that which precedes that solemnity of Easter in which baptism is administered and sin thereby destroyed, and when the burial of Our Lord is recalled, for “we are buried together with Christ by baptism into death” (Romans 6:4). Then, too, at Easter most of all, men's minds should be lifted, through devotion to the glory of that eternity which Christ in his resurrection inaugurated.

Wherefore the Church has decreed that immediately before the solemnity of Easter we must fast, and, for a similar reason, that we must fast on the eves of the principal feasts, setting apart those days as opportune to prepare ourselves for the devout celebration of the feasts themselves.

(Summa Theologica, 2a-2ae, q. 97, articles 1, 3, 5).

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Meditation 3 : FRIDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY "A LENTEN CROWN" “Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see king Solomon in the diadem, wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the joy of his heart” (Canticles 3:11).

This is the voice of the Church inviting the souls of the faithful to behold the marvellous beauty of her spouse. For the daughters of Sion, who are they but the daughters of , holy souls, the citizens of that city which is above, who with the angels enjoy the peace that knows no end, and, in consequence, look upon the glory of the Lord?

1. “Go forth,” shake off the disturbing commerce of this world so that, with minds set free, you may be able to contemplate Him whom you love. “And see king Solomon,” the true peacemaker, that is to say, Christ Our Lord.

“In the diadem wherewith his mother crowned him,” as though the Church said: “Look on Christ garbed with flesh for us, the flesh He took from the flesh of his mother.” For it is His flesh that is here called a diadem, the flesh which Christ assumed for us, the flesh in which He died and destroyed the reign of death, the flesh in which, rising once again, He brought to us the hope of resurrection.

This is the diadem of which St. Paul speaks: “We see Jesus for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour” (Hebrews 2:9). His mother is spoken of as crowning Him because Mary the Virgin it was who from her own flesh gave Him flesh.

“In the day of His espousals,” that is, in the hour of his Incarnation, when He took to himself the Church not having spot or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:27), the hour again when God was joined with man. “And in the day of the joy of His heart.” For the joy and the gaiety of Christ is for the human race salvation and redemption. And coming home, he calls together his friends and neighbours saying to them: “Rejoice with Me, because I have found My sheep that was lost” (Luke 15:6).

2. We can however refer the whole of this text simply and literally to the Passion of Christ. For Solomon, foreseeing through the centuries the Passion of Christ, was uttering a warning for the daughters of Sion, that is, for the Jewish people.

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“Go forth and see king Solomon,” that is, Christ, in His diadem, that is to say, the crown of thorns with which His mother the Synagogue has crowned Him; “in the day of His espousals,” the day when He joined to Himself the Church; “and in the day of the joy of His heart,” the day in which He rejoiced that by His Passion He was delivering the world from the power of the devil. Go forth, therefore, and leave behind the darkness of unbelief, and see, understand with your minds that He who suffers as man is really God.

“Go forth,” beyond the gates of your city, that you may see him, on Mount Calvary, crucified.

(In Canticles, chapter 3)

Meditation 4 : SATURDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY "THE GRAIN OF WHEAT" “Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone” (John 12:24).

1. We use the grain of wheat in two ways, for bread and for seed. Here the word is to be taken in the second sense, grain of wheat meaning seed and not the matter out of which we make bread. For in this sense it never increases so as to bear fruit. When it is said that the grain must die, this does not mean that it loses its value as seed, but that it is changed into another kind of thing. So St. Paul (1 Corinthians 15:36) says: “That which then thou sowest is not quickened, except it die first.”

The Word of God is a seed in the soul of man, in so far as it is a thing introduced into man‟s soul, by words spoken and heard, in order to produce the fruit of good works: “The seed is the Word of God” (Luke 8:11). So also the Word of God garbed in flesh is a seed placed in the world, a seed from which great crops should grow, whence it is compared in St. Matthew‟s Gospel (13:31-32) to a grain of mustard seed.

Our Lord therefore says to us: “I came as seed, something meant to bear fruit and therefore I say to you, „Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone,‟” which is as much as to say: “Unless I die the fruit of the conversion of the Gentiles will not follow.”

He compares Himself to a grain of wheat, because He came to nourish and to sustain the minds

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of men, and to nourish and sustain are precisely what wheaten bread does for men. In the Psalms it is written: “That bread may strengthen man‟s heart” (Psalm 103:15), and in St. John: “The bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world” (John 6:52).

2. “But if it die it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:25). What is here explained is the usefulness of the Passion. It is as though the Gospel said: “Unless the grain fall into the earth through the humiliations of the Passion, no useful result will follow, for the grain „itself remaineth alone.‟ But if it shall die, done to death and slain by the Jews, „it bringeth forth much fruit,‟” for example:

(i) The remission of sin. “This is the whole fruit, that the sin thereby should be taken away” (Isaias 27:9). And this is the fruit of the Passion of Christ as is declared by St. Peter: “Christ died once for our sins, the just for the unjust that he might offer us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

(ii) The conversion of the Gentiles to God. “I have appointed you that you shall go forth and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain” (John 15:16). This fruit the Passion of Christ bore: “If I be lifted up from the Earth, I will draw all things to Myself” (John 12:32).

(iii) The fruit of Glory. “The fruit of good labours is glorious” (Wisdom 3:15). And this fruit also the Passion of Christ brought forth; “We have therefore a confidence in the entering into the Holies by the blood of Christ: a new and living way which He hath dedicated for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh” (Hebrews 10:19).

(In John, chapter 12).

Meditation 5 : THE FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT "IT WAS FITTING THAT CHRIST SHOULD BE TEMPTED"

“Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).

Christ willed to be tempted:

1. That He might assist us against our own temptations. St. Gregory says, ”That our Redeemer, who had come on earth to be killed, should will to be tempted was not unworthy of 12 | P a g e

Him. It was indeed but just that He should overcome our temptations by His own, in the same way that He had come to overcome our death by His death.”

2. To warn us that no man, however holy he be, should think himself safe and free from temptation. Whence again His choosing to be tempted after His baptism, about which St. Hilary says: ”The devil‟s wiles are especially directed to trap us at times when we have recently been made holy, because the devil desires no victory so much as a victory over the world of grace.” Whence too, the scripture warns us, ”Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation” (Ecclesiasticus 2:1).

3. To give us an example how we should overcome the temptations of the devil, St. Augustine says, ”Christ gave Himself to the devil to be tempted, that in the matter of our overcoming those same temptations He might be of service not only by His help but by His example too.”

4. To fill and saturate our minds with confidence in His mercy. ”For we have not a high priest who cannot have compassion on our infirmities, but one tempted in all things, like as we are, without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). (Summa Theologica 3a, q. 41, art. 1).

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THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL

1. The truths revealed by God to men were, by God’s command, proclaimed to all nations of the earth by the , and especially by means of the

living word, that is, by preaching.

The command to proclaim to all nations of the earth the truths revealed by God, was given to the Apostles by Our Lord at the time of His ascension.

Our Lord, before ascending into Heaven, spoke to His Apostles as follows: “All power is given to Me in Heaven and in earth; going, therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ... and behold I am with you all days, even to the end of the world” (Matthew 28:18-20).

For this reason the Apostles and their successors have never allowed themselves to be prohibited by any earthly authority from preaching the Gospel (Cf. Acts 5:29). Nor has the Church ever been turned aside from fulfilling her mission of preaching the Gospel, by the opposition of the world. Even now in many countries the State seeks to make the Church dependent on her.

It is in consequence of the command given by Our Lord to the Apostles, that the send missionaries to the heathens, and issue Papal briefs and rescripts to Christendom; that bishops send priests throughout their dioceses, and publish pastoral letters; that parish priests instruct their people by sermons and Catechism.

While the Catholic Church spreads the Word of God by means of preaching, Mahometans spread their beliefs with fire and sword, and Protestants by means of the Bible. It is an error to suppose that Holy Scripture is the only means intended by almighty God to communicate to the nations of the earth the truths of revelation.

It was the will of God to make use of preaching for the conversion of the world. Our Lord said to His Apostles: “Go and teach all nations,” not “Go and write to all nations.” Out of the Apostles only two wrote; all the rest preached. The Apostles themselves were the books of the faithful (St. Augustine).

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St. Paul tells us that “Faith cometh by hearing” (Romans 10:17), not from mere books. Teaching by word of mouth corresponds to human needs; every one prefers to be taught, rather than to have to hunt out the truth from books by study. If writings were the only means by which men could arrive at a knowledge of revealed truth the Christians of the first two centuries would have been at a terrible disadvantage; so too would those who cannot read, as well as the great mass of mankind in the present day, who have neither the knowledge nor the capacity to penetrate the meaning of the written Word.

Holy Scripture depends upon Tradition for its authority

Though it is the will of God that “All men should come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4), nowhere in the Bible does it give a list of what books belong the Bible and what books do not. We must not forget that there were many apocryphal books floating around claiming to be of divine origin, such as the Gospel of St. Thomas; the Gospel of St. Peter; the Gospel of Nicodemus; the Gospel of Bartholomew and more besides—all claiming the right to be a part of the New Testament.

Holy Scripture soon loses its value in the eyes of those who have not the assurance of the living Word that it is truly of divine origin. It is the verbal Tradition of the Church which decides which book is acceptable and which is not. The “Sola Scriptura” (The Bible Only) people do not have a leg to stand on without the approval and approbation of Tradition. St. Augustine says: “I should not believe the Gospel unless the authority of the Church moved me to do so.”

A truth which the Church puts before us as revealed by God is called a truth of

Faith, or a dogma.

Either a universal council (i.e., one consisting of the bishops of the whole world) acting under the authority of the Pope, or the Pope himself, has power to declare a truth to be revealed by God. Thus the Council of Nicaea declared the divinity of Our Lord to be an article of Faith; and Pope Pius IX, the Immaculate Conception of the holy Mother of God (1854). Thereby no new doctrines were taught, but these truths were declared to have been truly revealed by God, and thenceforth they became dogmas of the Faith. When a child advances in its knowledge of religious truth, it does not really change its belief; so the Church, the collected body of all the faithful, receives dogmas new to it, when, on the appearance of some new form of error, it sets forth, after careful examination, certain truths of religion in explicit form and imposes their acceptance on all the faithful.

Before the definition of it by the Church it was only a “pious opinion,” or one proximate to Faith. Such is at the present time the belief in the assumption of the body of Our Lady into Heaven.

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HOLY SCRIPTURE

The Catholic Church derives from Holy Scripture and from Tradition the truths

that God has revealed.

Holy Scripture and Tradition are of equal authority, and claim from us equal respect. Holy Scripture is the written, Tradition the unwritten Word of God. St. Paul exhorts the faithful to hold fast the traditions they have received, whether it be by word of mouth or by writing (2 Thessalonians 2:14).

1. Holy Scripture or the Bible consists of seventy-two books, which were written by men inspired by God, and under the guidance and influence of the Holy Ghost. These seventy-two books are recognized by the Church as “the Word of God.”

The Holy Ghost inspired in a very special way the writers of Holy Scripture; He moved them to write, and guided and enlightened them while they were writing (Cf. 2 Timothy 3:16; Matthew 15:3; Mark 12:36). The and the Vatican Council have expressly declared that God is the Author (auctor) of Holy Scripture. St. Augustine says: “It is as if the Gospels were written down with Christ’s own hand.”

St. Laurence Justinian says: “The writers of Holy Scripture were like a musical instrument on which the Holy Spirit played.” Yet they were not mere passive instruments; each writer brings his own personal character with him into what he writes. They are like a number of painters, who all paint a building which they see in the clear daylight, quite correctly, but yet with a great many points of difference, according to their respective talent and skill.

Hence it follows that there are no errors in Scripture. We must not look to the individual words, but to the general sense. We must not take offence at popular expressions which are not scientifically correct, as when the motion of the sun, sunrise, and sunset, are alluded to. Moreover, since the Bible contains the Word of God, we must treat it with great reverence.

Thus the people always stand up when the Gospel is being read at Mass; oaths are taken on the book of the Gospels; in Mass the deacon approaches the book of the Gospels with incense and lights.

The Council of Trent imposes special penalties on those who mock at Holy Scripture. The Jews had the greatest reverence for the Scriptures and the precepts therein contained.

The seventy-two books of Holy Scripture are divided into forty-five books of the Old Testament and twenty-seven of the New. They are moreover divided into doctrinal, historical, and prophetical books.

OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS

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The historical books consist of:

(1) The five books of Moses, which contain the early history of man, the lives of the patriarchs, and the history of the Jewish people up to the time of their entrance into the Holy Land.

(2) The books of Josue and Judges, which relate their conquest of Palestine and their struggles with surrounding nations.

(3) The four books of Kings, which recount their history under their kings.

(4) The book of Tobias, which gives an account of the life of Tobias and his son during the captivity.

(5) The books of the Machabees, which relate the oppression of the Jews under Antiochus, etc.

The doctrinal books comprise the story of Job, the Psalms of David, the Proverbs of Solomon, and the books of Ecclesiastes, Wisdom, and Ecclesiasticus.

The prophetical books comprise the four greater prophets: Isaias, Jeremias, Ezechiel, and Daniel, and the twelve lesser prophets: Osee, Joel, Amos, Abdias, Jonas, Micheas, Nahum, Habacuc, Sophonias, Aggeus, Zacharias, Malachias.

NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS

The historical books are the four Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles. The doctrinal books are the twenty-one Epistles, including fourteen of St. Paul’s epistles. The prophetical book is the Apocalypse of St. John, which tells in obscure language the future destinies of the Church.

Most of the books of the Old Testament were originally written in Hebrew, while most of the New Testament books were written in Greek. The Latin translation of the Bible called the is an amended version of the translation made by St. Jerome about A.D. 400. The Vulgate is declared by the Council of Trent to be an authentic rendering of the original.

The most important books of Holy Scripture are the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The four Evangelists relate the life and teaching of Our Lord; the Acts of the Apostles recount the labors of St. Peter and St Paul.

The writers of the Four Gospels are called the four Evangelists. Two of them, St. Matthew and St. John, were Apostles, St. Mark was a companion of St. Peter, and St. Luke of St. Paul on his apostolic journeys.

St. Matthew’s Gospel was originally written in Hebrew, for the benefit of the Jews of Palestine. He shows how Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament, and proved Himself to be the true Messias.

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St. Mark wrote for the Christians of Rome and shows Christ to be the Son of God.

St. Luke wrote for a distinguished citizen of Rome, named Theophilus, in order to instruct him in the life and doctrine of Christ. We owe to St. Luke many details about Our Lady, and many parables not given by the other Evangelists.

St. John wrote his Gospel in his old age, to prove against the heretics of the time that Jesus Christ is truly God. He quotes chiefly those sayings of Christ from which His divinity is most clearly proved.

The Gospels were probably written in the order in which they stand; St. Matthew wrote about A.D. 40, St. Mark and St. Luke some twenty-five years later, St. John about A.D. 90. The four Gospels were collected into one volume in the second century. It can be proved from internal evidence that the Gospels were written by disciples of Christ, and narrate what is true.

We can also prove from the oldest copies, from translations, and from quotations, that no change has been made in them since they were first written. The Gospels are therefore genuine, worthy of belief, and incorrupt.

On reading the Gospels we recognize at once that they were the work of

Jews.

● The writers introduce Hebrew expressions (Luke 8:14; John 17:12).

● They wrote before the destruction of Jerusalem, as we gather from their intimate acquaintance with the city. If they had written in the second century, they could not have possessed this knowledge.

● Their style shows that they were unlettered men.

● The vividness of their descriptions proves them to have witnessed the scenes and events they describe.

● The testimony of the most ancient Christian writers, and the consent of the churches also prove the genuineness of the Gospels.

● The truthfulness of the Evangelists appears in their quiet and passionless manner of writing; they do not conceal their own faults, and narrate what they knew would expose them to persecution and danger of death; they all draw the self-same picture of Christ, though writing in different places and to various readers; the apparent discrepancies disprove any sort of conspiracy among them or any copying from one another.

● Lastly, it would be impossible to invent such a lofty type of character as that of Jesus Christ.

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The Gospels have not been in any way altered in the course of time. The earliest copies and translations agree with our present Bibles, e.g., the Syrian translation (called the Peshito), which dates from the second century, and the Latin (called the Halo), which dates from A.D. 370, besides numerous copies of the original text dating from the fourth century onwards.

During the first two centuries the Scriptures were read every Sunday in the various Christian churches and were most carefully guarded. We also find a mass of quotations in the early Christian writers, which prove their text to have been identical with our own.

The Old Testament has always been most jealously guarded by the Jews, who in their reverence for it counted the very letters. There is, moreover, no doubt that God watched over the integrity of Holy Scripture, and would no more have allowed the early centuries alone to profit by it, than He would have created the sun for the first generations of men only.

The reading of Holy Scripture is permitted to Catholics, and is very profitable to them; but the text used by them must have been authorized by the Pope, and must be provided with explanatory notes.

In Holy Scripture we learn to know God correctly; we see His omnipotence (in creation and all the wonders narrated in the Bible); His wisdom (in guidance of individuals and of the whole human race); His goodness (in the Incarnation and the sufferings of Our Lord). We have in the saints, and above all in Jesus Christ, glorious examples of virtue to incite us to the like.

St. Ephrem says: “The Bible is like a trumpet that inspires courage into soldiers. It is like a lighthouse, which guides us to a safe haven, as we sail over the perilous sea of life.” It also warns us against sin, shows its awful consequences, as in the story of the Fall, of the Flood, of the cities of the plain, of Saul, Absalom, Judas, Herod, etc. It contains all that is profitable to man, and a great deal more than can be found elsewhere.

It is like an overflowing well that can never be exhausted. There is always something new to be found in it. But he who desires to understand and profit by it, must have something of the spirit with which the minds of its writers were full; else he will never penetrate beneath the surface, or arrive at its true meaning.

The reason why we are not permitted to read any version of the Bible that we choose is: (1) because the unaltered text and true explanation of it are only to be found in the Catholic Church; (2) because the greater part of it is very difficult to understand.

It is only to the Catholic Church, i.e., to the Apostles and their successors, the bishops, that Our Lord has promised the gift of the Holy Spirit, and that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Hence the Holy Scripture, out of which the Catholic Church draws her teaching, cannot possibly be altered or corrupted.

Heretics have on the other hand sometimes changed the meaning of particular passages in their own favor, or have omitted whole portions if they did not please them. Thus Luther rejected the epistle of St. James, because the Apostle says that Faith without works is dead. 19 | P a g e

The difficulty of understanding Holy Scripture is a further reason for the Church’s restrictions. How few there are who can honestly say that they thoroughly understand the epistles that are read at Mass and these are chosen for their simple and practical character.

St. Peter himself says that in the epistles of St. Paul there are some things hard to be understood, and that the unstable would pervert these to their own destruction: “Our most dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, hath written to you, as in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things in which are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, brethren, knowing these things before, take heed, lest being led aside by the error of the unwise, you fall” (2 Peter 3:15-17). St. Augustine says: “There are more things in the Bible which I cannot understand, than those I can understand”—and those are the words of a ! Who are we compared to him?! The prophetical books are especially obscure. Hence the necessity of an authentic exposition of the Bible.

Heretics often give half a dozen different meanings to the same passage. The Catholic Church is the authority that God has appointed to explain Holy Scripture; for to her the Holy Spirit has been given. The child brings the nut that has been given him, to his mother, in order for it to be cracked; so too does the Catholic come to Holy Mother Church for the explanation of the Bible. This is why only Bibles with explanatory notes used to be allowed to Catholics. Today, all caution has been thrown to the wind and Catholics have started to adapt the Liberal and Protestant mentality of private and personal interpretation.

TRADITION

The truths of Divine Revelation, which have not been written down in the pages of Holy Scripture, but have been transmitted by word of mouth, are

called Tradition.

The Apostles received from Our Lord the command to preach, not to write. Their writings are concerned more with the doings than with the teaching of Christ, hence their instructions on points of doctrine are very incomplete. They themselves say that there is much that they have delivered to the faithful by word of mouth (2 John 1:12; 1 Corinthians 11:2; John 21:25). Accordingly we are referred to Tradition. It is by Tradition that we know that Our Lord instituted seven Sacraments. It is by Tradition that we are taught that there is a Purgatory, that Sunday is to be kept holy, and that infants are to be baptized. It is Tradition which teaches us what books belong to Holy Scripture, etc.

Tradition comes down to us from the time of the Apostles. Just as those who follow up the course of a stream gradually draw near to the fountain-head, and thus discover how far the water flows, so we can search out the historical sources of the teaching of the earlier centuries of the Church, and arrive at her true doctrine. Every doctrine that has always been believed in by the universal Church, comes down to us from the Apostles. If therefore there is any doctrine of the 20 | P a g e

Church that we do not find in Holy Scripture, we shall find it in the stream of Tradition, and shall be able to trace it up to the first ages of Christianity.

The chief sources of Tradition are the writings of the Fathers of the Church, the decrees of Councils of the Church, and the Creeds and prayers of the Church.

THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH

In the first six hundred or so years, after the death of the Apostles, some holy teachers, rich in both learning and wisdom about the Faith, came to be known as the “Fathers of the Church.” They are not Apostles, but followers of the Apostles. They continued the teaching of the Apostles. Some of them had even known and worked with the Apostles before they died. These “Fathers of the Church” are therefore called “Apostolic Fathers of the Church” because they were alive at the time of the Apostles and some of them even worked under them. A few of the “Fathers of the Church” have also been given the special title of “Doctor of the Church.”

Unfortunately, the numbers and names of the “Fathers of the Church” are not as clear as the numbers and names of the “Doctors of the Church.” There were many different opinions on who deserved to be called a “Father of the Church” and so opinions on the total number of vary.

“Church Father” is a title that was gradually to certain Christian leaders who showed four characteristics or signs: (1) they belonged to ancient times—living no later than the 750’s; (2) they showed a holiness of life—not all Fathers are canonized saints, but most of them are; (3) their teaching was in agreement with what the Church had always taught, and (4) they had been approved by the Church.

The chief teacher of any Christian community is its bishop, the title “Father” was first given to him. But because many of the most important early Christian teachers were also laymen (e.g., St. Justin), deacons (e.g., St. Ephrem), and priests (e.g., St. Jerome), it became customary from the fourth century to reckon these too among “the Fathers.”

The Fathers may be divided (1) according to language, into Greek and Latin, (2) according to authority, into Greater or Lesser, (3) according to age, into (a) Apostolic Fathers, such as St. Clement of Rome, St. Polycarp, St. Ignatius of Antioch (b) the Ancient or Early Fathers, such as St. Justin, St. Irenaeus, St. , St. Gregory Thaumaturgus … till the end of the third century, (c) the Later Fathers, such as St. Gregory Nazianzen, St. Epiphanius, St. , St. Paulinus of Nola … and all others from the fourth to the eighth century—with the year 750 being commonly taken as the “cut-off” date.

Unlike the “Doctors of the Church,” there are no women “Fathers”! I guess they would have to be called “Mothers”! All the “Fathers of the Church” are men.

THE DOCTORS OF THE CHURCH

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What is a Doctor of the Church? This is a very special title accorded by the Church to certain saints. Some of those saints were Fathers of the Church (they lived before the 750’s), others were born after 750 and so could not be called Fathers of the Church.

Pope Boniface VIII was the one to first give the title “Doctor of the Church.” In the Western (or Latin) church, four great Fathers of the Church were given this honor by Pope Boniface in the early Middle Ages (in 1298): they were St. Gregory the Great, St. , St. Augustine, and St. Jerome. In the Eastern Church, three Doctors stood out from the rest: St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil, and St. Gregory Nazianzen.

For a person to be made a Doctor of the Church, the following conditions are necessary: (1) the person had a high level of learning, (2) that he is a saint in the eyes of the Church, (3) that he have the approval by the Pope or by a General Council of the Church which has lawfully met, (4) that his teaching was important and useful to all Catholics of all times (5) that the teaching agrees with what the Church has always taught.

The title “Doctor of the Church” means that the writings and preaching of such a person are useful to Christians “in any age of the Church.”

When someone is made a “Doctor of the Church” the Divine Office and Mass of a Doctor is applied to him (see your missal). This is done from Rome by the Congregation of Sacred Rites and approved by the pope, after a careful examination, if necessary, of the saint’s writings. It is not in any way an ex decision, nor does it mean that no error is to be found in the teaching of the Doctor. It is well known that the even very greatest of the Doctors are not totally free from error.

No martyr has ever been included in the list of Doctors, because they are Martyrs (who die for the Faith) and not Confessors (who teach the Faith). That is why, as Pope Benedict XIV points out, St. Ignatius, St. Irenæus, and St. Cyprian are not called Doctors of the Church, but Martyrs of the Church.

We said that there were no women among the “Fathers of the Church” in that all of them were men. However, there are THREE WOMEN among the “Doctors of the Church” — St. Catherine of Siena, St. Teresa of Avila and St. Thérèse of Liseux, the Little Flower. You can’t have female “Fathers” but you can have female “Doctors”!

The full list of Doctors of the Church to date, in alphabetical order, is as

follows:

(1) St. Albert the Great (1200-80). Dominican. Patron of natural scientists; called Doctor Universalis, Doctor Expertus.

(2) St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787). Patron of confessors and moralists. Founder of the Redemptorists.

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(3) St. Ambrose (340-97). One of the four traditional doctors of the . Opponent of the Arian heresy in the West. Bishop of Milan.

(4) St. Anselm (1033-1109). Archbishop of Canterbury. Father of .

(5) St. Anthony of Padua (1194-1231). Franciscan friar. Evangelical Doctor.

(6) St. Athanasius (297-373). Bishop of Alexandria. Dominant opponent of Arianism. Father of Orthodoxy.

(7) St. Augustine (354-430). Bishop of Hippo. First doctor of the Church and one of the four traditional doctors of the Latin Church. Doctor of Grace.

(8) St. Basil the Great (329-79). One of the three Cappadocian Fathers. Father of monasticism in the East.

(9) St. Bede the Venerable (673-735). Benedictine priest. Father of English history.

(10) St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153). Cistercian. Called Mellifluous Doctor because of his eloquence.

(11) St. Bonaventure (1217-74). Franciscan theologian. Seraphic Doctor.

(12) St. Catherine of Siena (1347-80). Dominican stigmatist and mystic. Reconciled the Pope with the Roman Republic.

(13) St. Cyril of Alexandria (376-444). Patriarch. Opponent of Nestorian heresy. Made key contributions to Christology.

(14) St. Cyril of Jerusalem (315-87). Bishop and opponent of Arianism in the East.

(15) St. Ephrem of Syria (306-73). Biblical exegete and ecclesiastical writer. Called the Lyre of the Holy Spirit.

(16) St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622). Bishop, leader in Counter-. Patron of Catholic writers and the Catholic press.

(17) St. Gregory I the Great (540-604). Pope. Fourth and last of the traditional doctors of the Latin Church. Defended papal supremacy and worked for clerical and monastic reform.

(18) St. Gregory of Nazianzus (330-90). Called the Christian Demosthenes because of his eloquence and, in the Eastern Church, the Theologian. One of the three Cappadocian Fathers.

(19) St. Hilary of Poitiers (315-68). Bishop. Called “The Athanasius of the West.”

(20) St. (560-636). Archbishop, theologian, historian. Regarded as the most 23 | P a g e

learned man of his time.

(21) St. Jerome (343-420). One of the four traditional doctors of the Latin Church. Father of biblical studies.

(22) St. John Chrysostom (347-407). Bishop of Constantinople. Patron of preachers and called Golden-Mouthed because of his eloquence.

(23) St. John Damascene (675-749). Greek theologian. Called Golden Speaker because of his eloquence.

(24) St. John of the Cross (1542-91). Founder of the Discalced Carmelites for men, following St. Teresa of Avila. Doctor of mystical theology.

(25) St. Lawrence of Brindisi (1559-1619). Vigorous preacher of strong influence in the post- Reformation period.

(26) St. Leo I the Great (400-61). Pope. Wrote against Nestorian and Monophysite heresies, and also against the errors of Manichaeism and Pelagianism.

(27) St. Peter Canisius (1521-97). Jesuit theologian. Leader in the Counter-Reformation.

(28) St. Peter Chrysologus (400-50). Bishop of Ravenna. Called Golden-Worded.

(29) St. Peter Damian (1007-72). Benedictine. Ecclesiastical and clerical reformer.

(30) St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621). Jesuit. Defended doctrine under attack during and after the Reformation. Wrote two catechisms.

(31) St. Teresa of Avila (1515-82). Founder of Discalced Carmelite order and great mystical author.

(32) St. Theresa of the Child Jesus (1873-97). Patroness of the missions. Carmelite nun who offered her life for the salvation of souls and the growth of the Church.

(33) St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74). Dominican philosopher and theologian. Called Angelic Doctor. Patron of Catholic schools and education.

We shall speak hereafter of the decrees of Councils and of Creeds as the sources of Tradition. The prayers of the Church are to be found primarily in the Missal, but also in other books used in the administration of the sacraments and other rites of the Church. Thus we find in the Missal prayers for the dead, whence it follows that the Church teaches their efficacy.

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