Session #2

Lecture Text

During our last session, we discussed God's intent in creation, how his providence extends from the general to all particulars, and what it means to believe, and we began analyzing "God the Father almighty". Essentially, we completed the introduction to the content of the Catechism and Christian life at large and this Part of the Catechism in particular. In this session, we complete our introduction to the Trinity and its Persons and further analyze Man's relationship to God throughout history. In the quiz, we look intently and frequently at various heresies which have brought great trial upon the faith of many Christians of ages past. The question of how we can claim three divine persons with a single unity, a God who became man is no less God and no less man, and how each person is distinct in their function but one in substance has perplexed man throughout the centuries. These heresies, although meaning well i.e. to more clearly explain the faith and know it further, they warp or fall short of the truth of God. Although some are convincing and understandable, they do distort the realities of Scripture, imply something nonsensical/illogical about God, and/or bear contrariety to some other aspect of faith. Sometimes, I think we take for granted how easy it is to "stand on the shoulders of giants" when it comes to the depth of knowledge the Church provides us and the tools it recommends in engaging or applying this knowledge. Something, we also take for granted is just how unbelievable these truths are outside the context of logic and encounter with God. During mass, I was briefly contemplating the mystery of the Eucharist, and a quote by Scott Hahn (which is something like this), "It is amazing that 30% believe in the true Presence." When we find ourselves questioning, "is this really how it is?". It is important to return to the fact that this is the greatest love story of all. Man who did the worst kind of thing to himself, after being created in finite perfection, separated himself from the most fundamental good of His nature i.e. His creation with God. The harmony of all creation, already disturbed by the angels, is lost. Having divorced himself, from the One Who Love he lost this harmony biologically as well as psychologically. His Creator knowing him chases with infinite intensity after him into the very depths of agony, finitude, material existence, brokenness, and despair to call Him back, to heal him even at the expense of God's own Life. God, transcending all realities, is unsearchable in countless ways to his finite material creatures, but He no less instructs us in the knowledge of Him, in all its strangeness and obscurity. The sum of the ways that man encountered God in the past, with what He has revealed through His Son, and with what He has revealed through the saints is what make up Church teaching. In our corrupt nature, we are unfamiliar with this light and in our sin whence we believe lies were less wont to reconcile ourselves with objective truth making it seem external and disruptive. However, this Truth is Love in its fullness and it is Beauty itself and all thereby Goodness Itself. Also furthermore, there are countless questions one may ask about the nature of the Divine Persons and mysteries in general, whence trying to answer them we must conclude that we cannot actually know since even the greatest number of premises may not produce a single correct answer to the most meaningful questions. It is important we remain satisfied in accepting God as He is just as he excepts us a we are, even if we are the only truly ignorant party in the relationship. That being said let us, reflect once again on what we have learned in the questions of the Compendium.

Paragraph Sets Covered

PART ONE - THE PROFESSION OF FAITH

SECTION TWO: THE PROFESSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH

  CHAPTER ONE: I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER

    ARTICLE 1: "I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH"

 III. The Holy Trinity in the Teaching of the Faith

         IV. The Divine Works and the Trinitarian Missions

             IN BRIEF

      Paragraph 3. The Almighty

             IN BRIEF

      Paragraph 4. The Creator

          I. Catechesis on Creation

         II. Creation - Work of the Holy Trinity

        III. "The World Was Created for the Glory of God"

         IV. The Mystery of Creation

          V. God Carries Out His Plan: Divine Providence

             IN BRIEF

      Paragraph 5. Heaven and Earth

          I. The Angels

         II. The Visible World

             IN BRIEF

      Paragraph 6. Man

          I. "In the Image of God"

         II. "Body and Soul but Truly One"

        III. "Male and Female He Created Them"

         IV. Man in Paradise

             IN BRIEF

      Paragraph 7. The Fall

          I. Where Sin Abounded, Grace Abounded All the More

         II. The Fall of the Angels

        III. Original Sin

         IV. "You Did Not Abandon Him to the Power of Death"

             IN BRIEF

  CHAPTER TWO: I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY SON OF GOD

    ARTICLE 2: "AND IN JESUS CHRIST, HIS ONLY SON, OUR LORD"

          I. Jesus

         II. Christ

        III. The Only Son of God

         IV. Lord

             IN BRIEF

    ARTICLE 3: "HE WAS CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND WAS BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY"

      Paragraph 1. The Son of God Became Man

          I. Why Did the Word Become Flesh?

         II. The Incarnation

        III. True God and True Man

         IV. How Is the Son of God Man?

             IN BRIEF

Compendium of the Catholic Church Reading

Questions 47-94

Questions answered by the Catechism and Compendium.

1. Who is the Holy Spirit revealed to us by Jesus Christ?

2.  How does the Church express her trinitarian faith?

3. How do the three divine Persons work?

4. What does it mean to say that God is almighty?

5. What is the importance of affirming “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1)?

6. Who created the world?

7. Why was the world created?

8. How did God create the universe?

9. What is divine providence?

10. How do we collaborate with divine Providence?

11. If God is omnipotent and provident, why then does evil exist?

12. Why does God permit evil?

13. What did God create?

14. Who are the angels?

15. In what way are angels present in the life of the Church?

16. What does Sacred Scripture teach about the creation of the visible world?

17. What is the place of the human person in creation?

18. What kind of bond exists between created things?

19. What is the relationship between the work of creation and the work of redemption?

20. In what sense do we understand man and woman as created “in the image of God”?

21. For what purpose did God create man and woman?

22. Why does the human race form a unity?

23. How do the soul and body form a unity in the human being?

24. Where does the soul come from?

25. What relationship has God established between man and woman?

26. What was the original condition of the human person according to the plan of God?

27. How should we understand the reality of sin?

28. What was the fall of the angels?

29. What was the first human sin?

30. What is original sin?

31. What other consequences derive from original sin?

32. After the first sin, what did God do?

33. What is the Good News for humanity?

34. How is the Good News spread?

35. What is the meaning of the name “Jesus”?

36. Why is Jesus called “Christ”?

37. In what sense is Jesus the Only Begotten Son of God?

38. What is the meaning of the title “Lord”?

39. Why did the Son of God become man?

40. What does the word “Incarnation” mean?

41. In what way is Jesus Christ true God and true man?

42. What does the Council of Chalcedon (in the year 451) teach in this regard?

43. How does the Church set forth the Mystery of the Incarnation?

44. Did the incarnate Son of God have a soul with human knowledge?

45. How did the two wills of the incarnate Word cooperate?

46. Did Christ have a true human body?

47. What does the heart of Jesus exemplify?

48. What is the meaning of the expression “conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit...”?