The Knights of Columbus will be having a mass on Memorial Day, May 31st, at 9:30 AM, at the Grotto of the Blessed Mother in the Hillcrest Cemetery. All are welcome to attend.

I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT … “Through his grace, the Holy Spirit is the first to awaken faith in us and to communicate to us the new life, which is to ‘know the Father and the one whom he has sent, Jesus Christ’ (Jn.17.3).  But the Spirit is the last of the persons of the Holy Trinity to be revealed.  St. Gregory of Nazianzus, the Theologian, explains this progression in terms of the pedagogy of divine ‘condescension’:

The Old Testament proclaimed the Father clearly, but the Son more obscurely. The New Testament revealed the Son and gave us a glimpse of the divinity of the Spirit. Now the Spirit dwells among us and grants us a clearer vision of himself.  It was not prudent, when the divinity of the Father had not yet been confessed, to proclaim the Son openly and, when the divinity of the Son was not yet admitted, to add the Holy Spirit as an extra burden, to speak somewhat daringly … By advancing and progressing ‘from glory to glory,’ the light of the Trinity will shine in ever more brilliant rays.’ [St. Gregory Nazianzus, +390, Doctor of the Church]. [Catechism of the Catholic Church, #684]

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“RITES OF PASSAGE” … Probably more than at any other moment in our lives, other than the day of Marriage or Ordination, Graduation marks a “rite of passage” for each of us.  It entails many elements, many emotions.  It is both an end and a beginning; a time of laughter and of tears, of joy and of sadness.  It is a time of anticipation and a time of hesitation.  It is a happy time and a scary time!   Most of all, I think, it is a time of promise and hope.

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Theology on Tap is a great opportunity for anyone (21 and over) to meet in a relaxed setting to discuss Catholicism and Theology. Enjoy a beer and enjoy great discussions. Atheist? Catholic? Protestant? All are welcome! Enjoy a drink, good company, and great discussion. This is the good life!

This month, we are privileged to have Jim Burnham, noted apologetics author, in as our guest speaker. Mr. Burnham will be fielding questions and criticisms regarding Catholic Doctrines from local protestant churches. Please come and enjoy this great event!

This event will take place at the Knights of Columbus Hall (200 Apache Circle, next to the Pepsi Plant)on May 18th, 2010, at 8 PM. There is road construction going on, so please come in the back entrance to our property at the end of Strong Dr, behind the hall. Also, please help us spread the word!

“THE DECISION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT” . . . The First Reading for this Sixth Sunday of Easter comes from the New Testament, from the Acts of the Apostles. It speaks of the first great internal crisis faced by the nascent Church, and of how that crisis was resolved by the Apostles.  The issue concerned whether or not one first has to become a Jew before he/she could be baptized.  All of the first followers of Jesus were Jewish, and all of the men who followed him, including the Apostles, had been circumcised – as prescribed by the Law of Moses.  Some of the Jewish Christians were insisting that before a man who was a Gentile (i.e., not a Jew) could be baptized, he would first have to be circumcised.  Both male and female Gentiles would have to promise to follow all of the precepts of the Mosaic Law.  In other words, before a Gentile could become a Christian, he/she first had to become a Jew.

Paul and Barnabas, along with the Gentile Christians, asserted that the only thing required for baptism (and for salvation) was a living faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Messiah.  It was not necessary for a Gentile to follow the Law of Moses in all its details in order to become a Christian.  This controversy simmered within Church communities for several years, and became more and more divisive.  Finally, it was decided to refer the matter to the Apostles themselves for resolution.  After hearing arguments on both sides of the matter and after much discussion among themselves, the Apostles determined that it was not necessary for a man to be circumcised, nor to observe all the strictures of Mosaic Law, in order to be a Christian, although certain fundamental prohibitions should be followed.  In the words of the Apostles themselves, …

“It is the decision of the Holy Spirit,

and ours too,

not to lay on you any burden beyond that which is strictly necessary,

namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood,

from the meat of strangled animals, and from illicit sexual union.

You will be well advised to avoid these things.  Farewell.”

[Acts 15.28-29]

This key meeting of the Apostles was in fact the very first Council of the Church, the so-called “Council of Jerusalem.” It is noteworthy that the language used by the Apostles to convey their decision clearly shows that they understood that their decision was that of the Holy Spirit himself! They were convinced that it was God himself who was speaking through them!

There have been only twenty “Ecumenical Councils” in the two-thousand year history of the Church.  The last was the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II), which took place in Rome, from 1962-1965.  In each of these assemblies, that original apostolic conviction that it is God himself who speaks through the Magisterium (the Teaching Authority given by Christ to his Church) has been fundamental.  That Magisterium comprises the Bishop of Rome (the successor of the Apostle Peter and the Vicar of Christ) and the bishops of the world in communion with him (the successors of the Apostles).  The most solemn expression of the Magisterium occurs when the bishops of the world gather with the Bishop of Rome in a Church Council – just as the Apostles gathered with Peter in Jerusalem in the earliest days of the Church, and just as some three thousand bishops from around the world gathered with Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI at the Second Vatican Council in the mid-twentieth century.  All of this is in fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to his Apostles given in today’s Gospel:

“… the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit

Whom the Father will send in my name,

Will instruct you in everything,

And remind you of all that I told you …”

[Jn. 14.26]