Tag Archives: Catechism of the Catholic Church

“The Historical and Transcendent Event”

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“Christ is risen from the dead! Dying, he conquered death; To the dead, he has given life.”                                                        - Byzantine Liturgy, Troparion of Eater

What does the Catechism of the Catholic Church state about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ?

CCC 639 - The mystery of Christ’s resurrection is a real event, with manifestations that were historically verified, as the New Testament bears witness. In about A.D. 56, St. Paul could already write to the Corinthians: “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve…” Apostle speaks here of the living tradition of the Resurrection which he had learned after his conversion at the gates of Damascus.” 

CCC 646 – Christ’s Resurrection was not a return to earthly life, as was the case with the raisings from the dead that he had performed before Easter: Jairus’ daughter, the young man of Naim, Lazarus. These actions were miraculous events, but the persons miraculously raised returned by Jesus’ power to ordinary earthly life. At some particular moment they would die again. Christ’s Resurrection is essentially different. In his risen body he passes from the state of death to another life beyond time and space. At Jesus’ Resurrection his body is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit: he shares the divine life in his glorious state, so that St. Paul can say that Christ is “the man of heaven.”

CCC 647 - O truly blessed Night, sings the Exsultet of the Easter Vigil, which alone deserved to know the time and the hour when Christ rose from the realm of the dead! But no one was an eyewitness to Christ’s Resurrection and no evangelist describes it. No one can say how it came about physically. Still less was its innermost essence, his passing over to another life, perceptible to the senses. Although the Resurrection was an historical event that could be verified by the sign of the empty tomb and by the reality of the apostles’ encounters with the risen Christ, still it remains at the very heart of the mystery of faith as something that transcends and surpasses history. This is why the risen Christ does not reveal himself to the world, but to his disciples, “to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.”

CCC 652 -  Christ’s Resurrection is the fulfillment of the promises both of the Old Testament and of Jesus himself during his earthly life. The phrase “in accordance with the Scriptures”  indicates that Christ’s Resurrection fulfilled these predictions.

For more on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, please see paragraphs 638-658. Remember that the Catechism of the Catholic Church is the tool of the New Evangelization (Scott Hahn). It must be read, studied, and passed on to others. If you don’t have a copy of it in  your home, you need to order one as soon as possible. Pope Francis is going to bring the New Evangelization to the Church like no other has before him.

On Good Friday, Fr. John Lankeit, Rector at Sts. Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix, Arizona said that Blessed John Paul II opened up the doors to the New Evangelization, Pope Emeritus Benedict explained the New Evangelization to our minds, and now Pope Francis is going to bring the New Evangelization to our hearts. Heart and Mind or philosophically, Faith and Reason. As Catholics, we know our Faith through both of these avenues. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, these two avenues (or wings – Bl. John Paul II), intersect and synthesize with each other. Let us all come to know our faith with both heart and mind. The saints before us have done the same. It is now our time to do this and proclaim it to the world.

ALLELUIA!

HE HAS RISEN!

PRAISE BE JESUS CHRIST!

“Mondays with Mary” – What the Catechism of the Catholic Church Teaches about Mary

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Being that I have written on the Catechism of the Catholic Church and it’s role in the New Evangelization, today I have chosen some select paragraphs from the Catechism that speak about Mary.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the universal catechism that was promulgated in 1992 by Blessed John Paul II to help teach the faithful the correct and orthodox doctrines (Read CCC 11-12) that the Church has professed for nearly 2,000 years. Recently at a Catechetical Symposium here in Phoenix, Dr. Scott Hahn, said that the Catechism is the tool of the New Evangelization.

If you would like to read the extensive words of the Catechism on the Blessed Mother, I would encourage you to pick it up, flip to the back of the index, and look up the paragraph numbers (not page numbers!) that speak about Mary.  Here are a few of my favorites –

Paragraph #487 – “What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ.”

Paragraph #493 – “The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God “the All-Holy” (Panagia) and celebrate her as “free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature.” By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life being.”

Paragraph #502 – “The eyes of faith can discover in the context of the whole of Revelation the mysterious reasons why God in his saving plan wanted his Son to be born of a virgin. These reasons touch both on the person of Christ and his redemptive mission, and the welcome Mary gave that mission on behalf of all men.”

Paragraph #511 – “The Virgin Mary “cooperated through free faith and obedience in human salvation” (LG 56 [mine – Lumen Gentium, Vat. II doc on the Church]). She uttered her yes “in the name of all human nature” (St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 30, 1). By her obedience she became the new Eve, mother of the Living.”

Paragraph #971 – “All generations will call me blessed”: “The Church’ devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is intrinsic to Christian worship.” The Church rightly honors “the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient of times the Blessed Virgin Mary has been honored with the title ‘Mother of God,’ to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs…This very special devotion…differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration.”

Paragraph #2679 – “Mary is the perfect Orans (pray-er), a figure of the Church. When we pray to her, we are adhering with her to the plan of the Father, who sends his Son to save all men. Like the beloved disciple we welcome Jesus’ mother into our homes, for she has become the mother of all the living. We can pray with and to her. The prayer of the Church is sustained by the prayer of Mary and united with it in hope.”

Today’s “Mondays with Mary’s” is dedicated to my friends at My Mother Mary. If you have never visited their Facebook page, it’s a great treat with many beautiful pictures, quotes from the saints on the Blessed Virgin Mary, and other items covering the Church. 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the New Evangelization

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Yesterday afternoon I had the privilege to attend the 3rd Annual Catechetical Symposium presented by the Diocese of Phoenix Kino Institute. I was pretty fired up to attend since my former academic advisor and professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Scott Hahn, was the keynote speaker. He spoke on the Catechism of the Catholic Church (also referred to as the CCC) and the New Evangelization – two topics that are very close to my heart and one that is the soul of this blog.

Knowing what the Catholic Bishops from the recent Synod in Rome had said about the New Evangelization taking place in Social Media, I brought my Apple MacBook Pro with me so I could tweet about the event and tweet some of the things Scott Hahn would talk about. After it was said and done, I had tweeted 42 times and could have really tweeted 84 times, if I was a faster typist.

To say that he gave us a lot to think about would be the understatement of the week. One of the biggest statements Scott Hahn made was how the Catechism of the Catholic Church would be the tool of the New Evangelization. If we want to re-evangelize the uncatechized or those cradle Catholics who were never catechized in the first place, we have the Catechism to lead the way. Below are some of my tweets from today. There are quite a few good ones I didn’t quote – check them out at @tom_perna on Twitter.

The Tweets below were either direct quotes or me paraphrasing to fit 140 characters -

Vatican II documents mention the term – evangelization – 206 times. ‪#vatican2

‪#NewEvangelization was coined in 1979 by ‪#BLJP2 in his native land of Poland.

‪#BLJP2 blew up the ‪#NewEvangelization in the document – Mission of the Redeemer.

‪#B16 is taking the torch of the ‪#NewEvangelization from ‪#BLJP2. The ‪#NewEvangelization is our marching orders. ‪#Catholic ‪#ScottHahn

We need to evangelize ourselves. Conversion is important for each of us. ‪#Catholic ‪#ScottHahn

The teachings of the Church don’t become ours until we TEACH them to others. ‪#NewEvangelization

We must come to know the term – Evangelical Catholic. ‪#ScottHahn ‪#NewEvangelization

“We are re-evangelizing the uncatechized.” ‪#ScottHahn ‪#NewEvangelization

The NewEvengelization is not a short-term process, but a life long journey. ‪#ScottHahn ‪#NewEvangelization

“The ‪#CCC is the most Scriptural saturated Catechism in the history of the Catholic Church.” ‪#ScottHahn

‪#BLJP2 and ‪#B16 have given us a tool – it’s called the Catechism of the Catholic Church. ‪#ScottHahn ‪#Catholic ‪#NewEvangelization

‪#CCC will unlock doors for the ‪#NewEvangelization. The ‪#CCC is not well understood or appreciated…not yet. ‪#ScottHahn

I would encourage you pick up the Catechism of the Catholic Church and begin reading it as soon as possible so you can appreciate this important document. You can subscribe to Flocknote.com/catechism and they will send you excerpts on a daily basis of the Catechism. The Twitter account @CatechismAPI and their website – Catholic Cross Reference is also another avenue that will assist you with the Catechism of the Catholic Church. @DailyCatechism is yet another Twitter account. The CCC has a Compendium that correlates with it and there is also the YOUCAT – the catechism that is written for the youth of the Catholic Church.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it – Buy a Catechism of the Catholic Church, Read it, and Evangelize others with it. The New Evangelization begins with you!  One more thing…in the words of Jesus Christ and Blessed John Paul II – BE NOT AFRAID!

Year of Faith Begins at Our Lady of Perpetual Help

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Here are some of the events and activities that are occurring at the parish that I work at in Scottsdale, Arizona – Our Lady of Perpetual of Help. Realizing that many people have many wonderful ideas already planned for the next 13 1/2 months, I wanted to provide with you some of our events. If you find yourself in Phoenix during this Year of Faith, I invite you to come and visit us. Please take at look at reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church through the Year of Faith. There is nothing better than reading the Catechism and understanding the “menu” of our faith. It is a great tool for the Catholic Church and we celebrate the 20th Anniversary of it’s release this year as well.

YEAR OF FAITH 2012-2013 – Thursday Nights from 7:00-8:30pm 

October 18 – The Dangers to Religious Freedom from the HHS Mandate, Presenter: Nikolas Nikas, President and General Counsel of Bioethics Defense Fund 

October 25 – Voting with a Catholic Conscience, Presenter: Brad Hahn, Allied Attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom

November 1 – A Night with the Saints (After Solemnity Mass), Presenters: Fr. Chad King and Tom Perna

November 8 – The Basics of the Second Vatican Council, Presenter: Fr. Chad King

November 15 – The New Evangelization, Presenter: Tom Perna

Other Events throughout the Year of Faith:

November 10-11: Weekend of Adoration with Michael John Poirer

December 8: Our Lady of Guadalupe Celebration – Festival of Roses

December 10-12: Advent Parish Mission, Mission Diretor: Mr. Michael Cumbie 

January – May 2013:  Ongoing Adult Faith Formation, The Mass Explained, and Workshops in Prayer

February 2: Candlemas for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

February 7: Ash Wednesday

April 3: Anniversary of the Dedication of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church

April 11: Treasures of Faith

If you have not already, I would also encourage you to view the Official Year of Faith websites for the Vatican, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Diocese of Phoenix and your own diocese. Also, Fr. Robert Barron has taken the Catholic World by storm with his series, Catholicism. Follow him on his website – Word on Fire and you will appreciate your faith even more. We live in exciting times and this upcoming Year of Faith is a great opportunity for us to grow in our love for the Catholic faith and to bring those individuals we know who have left the Catholic Church back into the fold.

Pray with me an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be…for all Catholics around the world this day, especially those brothers and sisters who have “fallen away” from the Catholic Church.

Come Holy Spirit!

Always in Moderation

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On April 13, 2012, Crisis Magazine posted an article by Sean P. Daily (which was actually from 2009) on The Lost Art of Catholic Drinking.  You should read this first before reading more. As I have been reflecting on this article, I thought I would pull up a stool, pour myself a beer and discuss this topic a bit. The only thing that would make this better is if I was smoking an Arturo Fuente 8-5-8 Cigar.

The idea of drinking came to me last night because this weekend I will be with my family celebrating my parent’s 40th wedding anniversary (actual date was few weeks back) as well as my niece’s Baptism and reception. There is no doubt that cocktails and wine will be drunk at both of these affairs and word on the street is that Sangria will make appearance for the latter celebration. For those of you who went to graduate school with me at Franciscan, you will remember that I made Sangria for a few parties at Brady Circle. It’s good stuff! As a Catholic, I enjoy a cold beer, a nice glass of red, or a cocktail at a lounge for happy hour with good friends. However, we must remember that when we consume, as a friend from college use to say, “adult beverages,” we should do so with moderation (temperance) always in mind.

So with that being said and with this blog being a avenue for catechesis and evangelization, the Catechism of the Catholic Church #2290 states, “The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol (emphasis mine), tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and other’s safety on the road, at sea, or in the air.”  The book of Sirach says, “Do not follow your base desires, but restrain your appetites” and in the Letter to Titus, St. Paul says, “For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men, training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world…”

This post is not to promote drinking by any means, if you think that’s the case, you would be sorely mistaken. I think we all need to hear things like this from time to time. When it comes to having a drink, we should use the method so eloquently written by Sean P. Daily. He says, “…the balanced approach — the Catholic approach — means having a good time, a good laugh, sometime a good cry, but always with joy and gratitude for God’s generosity…” I leave you with two stories that have always had an impact on me as well as a funny poem.

When I was an undergraduate, I took a course with a Jesuit priest. I will never forget the lecture we received in the course one day about how beer and wine are God’s creations and how we should drink both in moderation. Somehow he got on this topic and we ended up never talking about Everlasting Man by G. K. Chesterton (a man who knew the art of catholic drinking well). I still remember the lecture to this day. He talked about the yeast on the grapes and the barley with beer and the importance of growing the grapes properly. He said all these things were created with a purpose and with the human mind gathering all of these ingredients together allows us to make good wine and beer. He even brought into the lecture how Jesus is the Vine. It was a great class and really was the first time I thought about these things in that way.

In the same class, on another day, I remember we were reading C.S. Lewis’ – Miracles. So many of us were having a difficult time understanding it, especially Chapter 4 – Nature and Supernature. The Jesuit priest happily explained it to us and then told us to go to the store, buy a six-pack of good German beer, and go to the park to read our C.S. Lewis and drink our beer doing it. He said that should help us understand it better. We all laughed. A student (the only one who was over the age of 21 and now a priest himself) said to the Jesuit, all of these students (I was 20 and two months from 21) are underage and cannot purchase the beer for themselves. Without skipping a beat and with that Jesuit wit and sarcasm he said – then you need to go out and buy it for them because understanding the Divine Law is more important than the Civil Law. The class was laughing and cheering and we all wanted our beer that afternoon. I don’t think any of us got our beer, but it was fun being in that class anyway. When I graduated from college, that same priest and I shared a beer at the graduation dinner and he shared with me the lecture all over again.

The Poem (Irish? Told to me by a Pole) –

In Heaven there is no beer,

that’s why we drink it here,

and when we’re gone from here,

all our friend’s will be drinking all our beer.

Cheers! Prost! Salute!

Psalm 41 – A Plea for Healing

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As many of you will remember, Psalm 41: 2-3, 4-5, 13-14 was the Responsorial Psalm at the Roman Rite Liturgy yesterday – the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time.  I am choosing to write on this Psalm today because during Mass the words had a particularly strong impact on me. This is an important Psalm for us to investigate since the verses that were used at the Mass on Sunday are dealing with something that is not natural to our human condition – I am speaking of sin. When God created man in the Garden, sin was not created. The Catechism of the Catholic Church 413 says, “God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living…It was through the devil’s envy that death entered the world” (Wis 1:13 2:24).  It was the first man’s disobedience and pride that transmitted the rest of humanity to be conceived in Original Sin. I often reflect on Original Sin and the effects on my own soul, especially, concupiscence, which is the inclination to sin. Although Original Sin has been washed from my soul with the Sacrament of Baptism, it’s still the remnants of original sin that often tempt me or incline me to sin otherwise.

As we enter the Season of Lent, I challenge you, as challenge myself, to be coherent of those times when you are sinning and allow Our Lord to work on you during Lent – even if it is painful. You might want to read Psalm 41 (Psalm 51 is another great one!) during Lent as your morning or evening prayer.

The theme of sin runs throughout Psalm 41 and is referred to in the psalm as sickness. This makes perfect sense because when we sin, there is a feeling of sickness that goes along with that particular sin (that’s if our conscience is formed properly…see my posts on Conscience Formation). The greater the sin becomes or as the magnitude of the sin increases (mortal sin), we feel sicker and less like ourselves. When this sickness is present in our lives, we should make a conscious effort to pray more, put our trust in God, and get to Confession as soon as possible. I know when I have committed mortal sin and have not been to Confession (a.k.a. – Medicine Box), there is a feeling of just nastiness (as if influenza and pneumonia united as one) on my soul and it truly has an impact on my relationship with the Mystical Body of Christ.

Now let’s turn to Psalm 41. The Psalmist (more than likely David) A  is speaking in the first person (41:5) and asking for God to heal him of the sickness that is now upon him. This psalm is ideal for us as sinners because the psalmist seems to be speaking from personal experience – he knows what it is to sin and he seeks out the Lord for the forgiveness of that sin. There is a lot of lamentation and suffering that occurs in this psalm as well as in the entire first book of the Psalms (1-41).

Verses 2-5 are speaking of a true friend who is concerned for the lowly and the poor (weak), for he will help set the man free who is “on his sickbed.” It seems that the friend is the LORD. He will protect the man (David) from his enemies and from his infirmities (possible sins?, death?…we understand sin as death).

The enemy (Absalom – one of David’s sons) could be the one that is seeking to destroy the man. It further seems that the man is dealing with both friends and enemies, but not in the same way. The friends are pushing him one way and the enemy is pushing another way. In the life of Christ, we could relate this to Jesus at the Last Supper when he is eating with friends and an enemy – who is set to betray him. Also, think of St. Peter who rebuked Jesus shortly after he declared him the Messiah. What does he say? God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you…Jesus says…Get behind me Satan…you are a hindrance to me and nothing like God, but like men (Matthew 16: 22-23). In our lives, we can see this in our enemies who try to force our hands to sin against them or we can see our friends (as good as they are) who could lead us into sin.

Verse 5 states, Once I said, “O Lord, have pity on me; heal me, though I have sinned against you.”  The sick person (the one who has sinned) starts off by asking God for forgiveness. In the Old Covenant and for a Jew in the ancient world, physical sickness and pain was the starting point of the conscience to rethink its action and to repent of its sins. As Christians, we know this to be Metanoia – change of heart. Just like the words of Psalm 51, for us as Christians, these words should remain on our lips as a permanent reminder of the sins we commit.

Verses 12-13 give us a glimmer of hope when the man seems to pray to God and he knows that God will rescue him out of the hands of his enemies (they come to destroy him in verses 6-9). God will show his love to the man and deliver the man from those who seek to harm him. The man will receive hesed and will remain in the presence of the Lord.  In the Daily Roman Missal, the word used is pity, however another translation is mercy. In the Scriptures, when we see mercy we should understand that it’s the Hebrew term – hesed – covenant love or covenant fidelity.

After analyzing this short Psalm, we can now see the importance of this Psalm in our Lenten journey. As you reflect on these words in your life, put the same words on the lips of Jesus Christ as he suffers through his Passion, Death, and Resurrection (Paschal Mystery).  During Lent, we must emulate our Lord in his Passion. Remember this – Lent is not just about giving something up, but it’s about conforming our wills to that of Jesus Christ.