What's Up With Statues?

So often Catholics are accused of worshipping statues. Which is partially understandable if you see a Catholic kneeling in front one. There is though biblical basis for having them

Lets start with some basics.
First God made Man in his own image. So images in and of themselves can't be evil or else the fact that God made us into an image of himself would be evil.

Second what needs to be understood is the temple of the Jews.
While the Israelites are in the desert Moses goes up on the mountain and is given directions concerning the construction of the tabernacle or portable temple.
god says this:

Exodus 25:9 "According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it.
Exodus 25:40 "And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which was shown to you on the mountain.

So Moses does just that, he constructs these things after the pattern that he saw. And the original tabernacle or temple is in heaven. That is what Moses is seeing.

So when God told him to put two cherubim on the ark here on the earth that is because there are two cherubim on the ark in heaven.

When the Israelites had finally reached the promised land and Solomon was building the temple. He made it like the tabernacle but bigger.

Look what else Solomon has:
2 Chronicles 3:7 7 He also overlaid the house with gold-- the beams, the thresholds, and its walls, and its doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls.

And not only this but the temple is also decorated with all sorts of tees and flowers. Why? Because this is what the temple in heaven looks like.

Now something that we want to ask ourselves is this:
Why aren't there any statues of people, meaning humans, in the temple?
Well if the temple on earth is a representation of the temple in heaven, the reason why there were no statues of humans in the temple is because there were no humans in heaven yet, Jesus had not yet opened the gates of heaven.

So now that there are humans in heaven, if you are going to build a replica of the heavenly temple, like almost every Catholic Church is, or should be - then it better have statues in it of those who are in heaven.

So what about the first commandment that says that we aren't to make graven images?

Exodus 20:3-5 3 "You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God.

The context is clearly worshipping these idols, not just making graven images. and besides God would say 5 chapters later in Exodus 25 to make 2 graven images of cherubim.
Now we certainly aren't worshipping those statues or saints of whom they represent.

The Three Lusts and Lent's Solution

You know year after year we hear of the famous three things that we are suppose to do during Lent and that is Pray, Fast, and Give Alms. Now while we are suppose to be doing these things during the rest of the year. During the season of Lent we are to do them with more intensity.

Here is a little background to why we pray, fast, and give alms during lent. This all goes back to the garden of Eden and the fall of our first parents. I recently found out that Eve was tempted with three temptations. Look at
Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
and that it was a delight to the eyes,
and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,

Now the ancient Rabbi's called this the three Lusts.
The Lust of the Flesh
The Lust of the Eyes and the
Pride of Life.

St John in his first letter reflects this teaching when he says:
1 John 2:15-16 Do not love the world or the things in the world.
If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh
and the lust of the eyes
and the pride of life,
is not of the Father but is of the world.

Here is the meaning behind the three Lusts:
Well the lust of the flesh would be for any disordered physical pleasure. In our Culture we are bombarded with magazines and shows that offer us physical pleasure. Or Drugs, or gorging ourselves with Food.
The lust of the eyes would be any disordered desire for material things. Some examples would be maybe a shopping spree, or the collection of great possessions.
The pride of life would a disordered desire for Power or social standing.

There are some other Characters in the Bible that displayed these disorders. I would have to say that King Solomon, It would appear systematically fell into these three great sins.
This is located in 1 Kings chapters 10 and 11.
First is the lust of the eyes - when King Solomon taxes the people 666 talents of Gold, and creates all of these lavish vessels for himself.
Then is the Pride of life, when he makes a standing army.
And the lust of the flesh is when he gets the 700 wives and 300 concubines.
Now what is also significant is with each of these sins. God had told Moses earlier that these three things are exactly what a king is NOT suppose to do.

Jesus himself gets tempted withese three temptations.
We find this in Matthew Chapter 4.
The devil tempts Jesus first with changing stones into bread.
This is the Lust of the flesh. Now while it might seem not so tempting, except it would have been an entirely selfish gift to himself.
Next is when the devil takes Jesus to the top of the temple and says to cast himself down and the angels will catch him. This would have been very, very visible sign to everyone that Jesus was the Christ and a great display of power. This is pride of life. Look at me - I am the Christ, I can to tricks!!
Finally the devil offers Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world, without the cross. If only Jesus would worship him. This is the lust of the eyes.

But Jesus conquers all of these and he tells us how in Matthew chapter 6.
He gives us three solutions to these three lusts. Pray, Fast and give alms.
Praying is when we say that God is in charge and not me. Prayer is acknowledging that God knows what is best for us because he loves us and designed us. Praying is when we say not look at me, but look at God.
Fasting is when we tell our bodies that we are in control of them and not the other way around. Before the fall of Adam and Eve, their desires were ruled by their intellect. Now our intellect is ruled by our desires. By fasting we tell our bodies that we do not live on bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God.
By giving alms to the poor or those in need, we are conquering the lust of the eyes. Our eyes tell us that we need this and this and that and some or all of those. This is of course a lie. We are designed not to be filled with the good gifts of this earth, but with God himself. St. Augustine said that "our hearts are restless, until they rest in God." Also, you can' take all of this stuff with you when you go anyway, so you might as well give it to gave treasure in heaven.

You know what is also significant about these three things is when Jesus says them in Matthew Chapter 6 he says - WHEN you pray, WHEN you fast, WHEN you give alms. He is assuming that we are doing them.

Getting back to Jesus in the desert. Jesus was in the desert 40 days and nights. He was in the desert conquering where the Israel had failed during their 40 years. But many people don't know is that we are the New Israel in the desert, and we join Jesus these 40 days to get our minds, hearts, and actions refocused on where we are headed.
We, the Church are the New Israel that have passed through the waters of baptism (like they had in the red Sea).
We can be fed on the new manna of the Eucharist that comes to us daily. And we are here waiting to enter the promised land of heaven. So this 40 days is suppose to be a summery of our entire journey toward heaven the rest of the year. It is during this time that we are to get refocused on our journey to our heavenly home, which is best done by prayer fasting and giving alms.

Now prayer, fasting, and giving alms are related to something else.
We have heard how when people join a religious community, they take vows of obedience, celibacy, and poverty. Well these are just the greatest forms of prayer, fasting, and giving alms.

When we pray we are telling God we are not in charge, and being obedient to someone is giving them charge over you.
For those who are celibate, it is giving up intimate physical relations, which is a pretty big fast, and giving them to God.
Finally, it is in poverty that we own nothing and give away all things as alms.

Source: For the most part Dr. Brant Pitre - http://www.catholic-productions.com/store/audio/pitre/temptations.html

Any and all of his talks should be purchased!

The Gospel of John and a New Creation

In the Gospel of John, we see in the first chapter, three times in a row, John using the phrase "the next day" then in John chapter 2 he says, "on the third day". Now while we might be tempted to just read over these, but they are significant. If you add up the days it equals 7 days.

We see here a recreation theme going on. This is how this plays itself out in the text:

• The gospel of John begins - "in the beginning" and has an introduction about the eternity of Jesus and the ministry of John the Baptist. This introduction is the first day.
• Then on the "next day," John calls Jesus the "lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." This is the second day.
• Then on the "next day," which is the third day, Jesus chooses his first disciples.
• Then on the "next day," Jesus calls Philip and Nathaniel. This is the 4th day.
• Finally, in John Chapter 2 is the wedding feast at Cana, which begins "on the third day". Well, the third day from the fourth day is the seventh day.

It is appropriate for the wedding to be on the seventh day, a covenant is being made between a man and a woman on the same day that God would make his covenant with Adam and Eve.

I also found more evidence of a recreation theme inside each one of those days as well.

• The Gospel of John opens in verses 4 and 5 and says that Jesus was the light of men and in verse 5 that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.
  - This is an echo of the first day of Creation when God made light and separated the light from the darkness.
• Now when it says in John 1: 29 "on the next day" it talks about being baptized with water and the spirit coming out of the heaven.
  - Back in Genesis on the second day God separated the waters below, from the sky above.
• On the third day, when Jesus calls his first disciples, he renamed Simon - Peter or Rock.
  - In Genesis on the third day is when God made the dry land appear.
• On the fourth day, when Jesus meets Nathanael and Philip, Jesus says to Nathanael - "Truly, Truly I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."
  - In Genesis on the 4th day - God fills the heaven with the sun, moon, and stars. And stars are symbols for angels as St. John tells us in his other book, the book of Revelation - Revelation 12:4: "the dragons tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth" - which is interpreted in Revelation 12: 9 - "and the great dragon was thrown down that ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan, he was thrown down to the earth and his angels with him."
• Finally, in John 2 when it says "on the third day" which in John's chronology is the seventh day, we see Jesus at a wedding, just like Adam and Eve made a covenant with God on the seventh day.
  - In John 2 it says "on the third day." It is pointing forward as well to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and ultimately to our own resurrection on the last day when we will enter the new creation of the new heavens and the new earth.

Oh, and there is more!

In John Chapter 2 when it says "on the third day," we have calculated that it is also the seventh day. In the Old Testament, there was a ritual that was to take place on both the third day and the seventh day.
In Numbers Chapter 19, it talks about being ritually unclean if you have come in contact with any dead body. You would have to wash with water on the third day and the seventh day. Only after that could you rejoin the community for public worship.

I believe that by Jesus taking this water at the wedding at Cana, he was using it to reinstate those people who had been defiled by touching the dead in the sense that we are all "spiritually" dead. Jesus, by making the water into wine, is pointing us to the Eucharist that would bring us life. He is prefiguring here the Eucharistic cup which is "the best wine" that the bridegroom gives his guests at the wedding feast.

- An Addition to the Below Post -

Just heard you (Matt Swaim) and Dan Egan on the four elements in the Gospel according to Mark: Take, Bless, Break, Eat.

Those are the four Dominical Elements of the Mass as well, and hence proper to the priest: He TAKES the bread and BLESSES it, BREAKS it and the EATS it.

Hence why only the priest is able to take the Consecrated Species off of the altar to give it to the community. Thought you might enjoy one more connection between Mass and the Scriptures.
- Father Kyle Schnippel

Director of Vocations
Archdiocese of Cincinnati
513-421-3131
513-368-4715
www.cincinnativocations.org

Cool Markan Tidbits

This liturgical year we are hearing from the Gospel of Mark. So I have been doing a little work on some literary tidbits that might shed light on the Gospel of Mark.

- Book Ends -

There are these bookends that give us the theme of Mark's Gospel. At the Baptism of Jesus and at the Crucifixion we see 5 things. I quote the Baptism verses and the Crucifixion verses at the end of the 5.

#1 Jesus links his baptism with his crucifixion. evidence of this is in:
Mark 10:38-39 But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" 39 And they said to Him, "We are able." And Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized.
Luke 12:50 "But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!

#2 We see at both his Baptism and Crucifixion that there is a confession that Jesus is the Son of God, first by God the Father and then by the Roman Centurion.

#3 We see at both his baptism and crucifixion that there is a tearing first of heaven, and then of the Temple curtain - they were both torn (Gk: skizoed) - or torn open or opened.

#4 Finally Both the confession of the sonship of Jesus and heaven opening originate from heaven at the Baptism, but at the crucifixion they are done here on earth (the centurion confessing, and the temple curtain ripping), so a movement from heaven to earth.

Now reread these sections of Mark with these things in mind and you will see how loaded these few passages are.
Baptism of Jesus
Mark 1:9-11 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; 11 and a voice came from heaven, "Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased."
Crucifixion
Mark 15:37-39 And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"

- Multiplication of the Loaves outlined -

1 - Feeding of the Five Thousand (6:31-44) Feeding of the Four Thousand (8:1-9)

2 - Crossing the Lake (6:45 - 52) Crossing the Lake (8:10a)

3 - Landing at Gennesaret (6:53 - 56) Landing at Dalmanthu (8:10b)

4 - Controversy with Pharisees (7:1-23) Controversy with Pharisees (8:11-13)

5 - Dialogue with Syro-Phoenician Dialogue with disciples about the bread

woman about bread (7:24-30) miracles (8:14-21)

6 - Cure of deaf-mute (7:31-37) Cure of a blind man (8:22-26)

(From the Jerome Biblical Commentary - I don't recommend it)

- Took - Blessed - Broke - Gave -

Both multiplication of the Loaves stories have Jesus doing these 4 verbs - taking the bread, blessing (giving thanks) over it, braking it, and giving it to his disciple to give to everyone else.

These same 4 verbs are used at the Last Supper with the Eucharist. Linking the miraculous nature of the multiplication of the loaves with that of the Eucharistic Supper.

My friend Brad Elliot pointed out to me that these 4 words are Incarnational as well, and are a summery of the Gospel. How Jesus takes on humanity, blesses it with his divinity, brakes it on the cross, and then gives himself to us in the Eucharist.

- Markan Sandwiches -

A Markan Sandwich is a literary technique where Mark interrupts a story with what appears to be an unrelated story, but of course they are related.
A few examples:

The healing of Jairus's daughter in Mark 5: 21-43
He is asked to come heal this little girl
On the way this lady touches his garment and is healed.
He continues on his way to heal Jairus's daughter.

Jesus and the two kingdoms Mark 6: 7 - 31
Jesus send out the 12 apostles
Herod puts John the Baptist to death
The apostles return from being sent out.

I will add to this list later.

Fishers and Shepherds of Men

You know, there are some phrases that we hear so often we never stop to ponder their meaning or where they come from. In the Gospel of Mark this year we will hear the phrase "fishers of men."

This idea "fishing for men" comes originally from Jeremiah 16 - The context is that the 12 tribes of Israel are scattered among the nations and are there in bondage, just like they were in Egypt. So God is planning a new Exodus to bring them out of the nations which will be greater than when he brought them out of Egypt.

Jeremiah 16:14-21 14 However, days will surely come, says the LORD, when it will no longer be said, "As the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites out of Egypt";
15 but rather, "As the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites out of the land of the north and out of all the countries to which he had banished them." I will bring them back to the land which I gave their fathers.
16 Look! I will send many fishermen, says the LORD, to catch them....
19 O LORD, my strength, my fortress, my refuge in the day of distress! To you will the nations come from the ends of the earth

Not only are the Israelites coming back to the Lord from the nations, but the nations are coming to the Lord as well. So with the return of the Israelites come the return of the nations back to the Lord.

When the disciples hear Jesus say to them, "I will make you fishers of men", we do not know if Jeremiah's statements would have instantly flashed in their minds. But one thing is sure; Jesus, in using the phrase "fishers of men", is doing far more than merely alluding to the occupation of the men he is calling to follow Him. By using an old testament image He is announcing the fulfillment of this image in His mission, as being a new Moses with a new exodus, drawing all nations out of the slavery of sin and into the new promise land of God's Kingdom.
Jeremiah presents another image that our Lord draws on.

Through Jeremiah the Lord promises to give the people new shepherds that the Lord will use to guide not only Israel out of the nations back to the promised land but also the nations as well.

Jeremiah 23:1 Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture, says the LORD.
2 Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, against the shepherds who shepherd my people: You have scattered my sheep and driven them away. You have not cared for them, but I will take care to punish your evil deeds.
3 I myself will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands to which I have driven them and bring them back to their meadow; there they shall increase and multiply.

So here the Lord is removing the old shepherds namely the Scribes and pharisees and is replacing them with the apostles - he continues...

4 I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble; and none shall be missing, says the LORD.
5 Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David; As king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land.

This righteous shoot is Jesus of course

6 In his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security. This is the name they give him: "The LORD our righteousness."
7 Therefore, the days will come, says the LORD, when they shall no longer say, "As the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt";
8 but rather, "As the LORD lives, who brought the descendants of the house of Israel up from the land of the north"-- and from all the lands to which I banished them; they shall again live on their own land.

So Just like in Jeremiah 16, we see here in Jeremiah 23 the foreshadowings of a new exodus.
Jesus links these two images of fishing and shepherding in the Gospel of John in a round about way.

In the whole of John 21 we see the apostles going back to fishing. While doing that they see Jesus on the shore who instructs them where to catch a large number of fish. They catch a ton and realize that it is Jesus who is on the shore and so Peter jumps in the water and then eats fish with Jesus and while there Jesus asks Peter three times - do you love me? and with each response Jesus is instituting his office of chief shepherd when he says - feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep this of course is fulfilling Jeremiah 23.

Another cool tidbit is that while the apostles are fishing and catching nothing Jesus says - cast you nets over there and then Peter hauls in 153 fish.

St. Jerome tells us that at his time Greek zoologists had identified 153 different kinds of fish. Meaning that men from every nation would be called to be saved. It is also important to know that it is Peter alone who hauls in the fishing net, and that the net is not torn though under great strain. The Greek word for torn here is skizo where we get the word schism, So we see am image of the end times when all nations will be brought to the Lord through the net of Peter without schism.

Homework: Read Mark in preparation for the upcoming liturgical year.

Todal Thanks

Last week we Americans celebrated Thanksgiving, but as Catholics Thanksgiving goes much deeper. What does the Bible say about Thanksgiving.

In the Old Testament we see that the Israelites had a special way to give God thanks and that was through sacrifice.

Now the Israelites had what seems to be tons of different sacrifices for one reason or another.
For example there were sin sacrifices, purity sacrifices, sacrifices for different times of year and so on.

But what we are interested in here is the thank offering, or on Hebrew - the Todah.
A thank offering entailed, according to Leviticus 7, the person offering this sacrifice would bring bread and an animal for the sacrifice. Both portions of the bread and the animal would be burnt up. The remainder would be consumed by both the priest and the offerer.
So both the priest and the offerer would eat bread and flesh during this todah, thanksgiving sacrifice.

The todah, thank offering would be given in gratitude for good things received. A great example of this is in Psalm 107 - (parts quoted)
O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures for ever!
2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble
3 and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
8 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to the sons of men!
9 For he satisfies him who is thirsty, and the hungry he fills with good things.
19 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress;
20 he sent forth his word, and healed them, and delivered them from destruction.
21 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to the sons of men!
22 And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!

This thank offering is related to the New Testament. On Brant Pitre's (http://singinginthereign.blogspot.com/ November 2008) website he points out something pretty amazing.
He says that some one the ancient Rabbi's taught that:" In the Age to Come all sacrifices will cease, but the thank offering will never cease; all songs will cease, but the songs of thanksgiving will never cease." (Cited in Hartmut Gese, Essays in Biblical Theology 133).

So when the Messiah comes, out of all of the sacrifices in the OT, only one will remain and that is the Todah, thank offering. Which in Greek is Eucharistia, where we get the word Eucharist from.

Jeremiah 33 says the same thing.
Jeremiah 33:10-11 10 ¶ "Thus says the LORD, 'Yet again there shall be heard in this place, of which you say, "It is a waste, without man and without beast," that is, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast,
11 the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, "Give thanks to the LORD of hosts, For the LORD is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting"; and of those who bring a thank offering into the house of the LORD. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first,' says the LORD.

There is one more quote from the psalms that should be read - You know when Jesus is coming into Jerusalem on palm Sunday. and the people say - Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord - Hosanna, which we sing at Mass.

Psalm 118:19 - 119:1 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD; The righteous will enter through it.
21 I shall give thanks to Thee, for Thou hast answered me; And Thou hast become my salvation.
22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone.
23 This is the LORD's doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 O LORD, do save, we beseech Thee; O LORD, we beseech Thee, do send prosperity!
26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD; We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.
27 The LORD is God, and He has given us light; Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
28 Thou art my God, and I give thanks to Thee; Thou art my God, I extol Thee.
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
So with all of this in mind maybe try to get to Mass more than once a week, and give thanks for all the good things we have been given.