God's Will (Ch. 7, Question 1)

As many of my fellow JP Catholic students already know, or are figuring out, or will figure out (hopefully in the near future), our theology professor assigned a decent pile of reading for this week. When one is assigned so much homework, he/she tends to stop paying attention to what he/she is reading. For example, during my studies yesterday, I found myself at the end of some chapter in the Book of Exodus and realized that I had not been paying attention to the meaning of the words I had just read, which resulted in me having to go and read it again. (FYI, Lisa has just said, “Once upon a time, Andrea was doing her theology homework. When it came time to “blog”, she decided to clean her desk and then when she actually started writing, her first paragraph had nothing to do with anything at all.” I guess this means I should start writing something more useful and academic.)

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep and the spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:1-2). This passage is taken from Genesis and for all of creation, it marks a crucial moment. For at this moment, God began to create the earth and all the inhabitants upon the earth including the animals, plants, and sea creatures. It was during this time that he also created mankind. He gave them dominion over the sea and the land and all its inhabitants. “…Have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Gen. 1:28). From the dawn of creation, God has always had a plan for each individual that he brings into the world.

Throughout the Old Testament, God made this clear for us through the example of the early prophets. In Exodus 3, God chose Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Moses, at that time was in Midian, keeping his father-in-law’s flock. In this story, God called out to Moses from a burning bush. He then told Moses of his plan for the Israelites. “I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land” (Gen. 3:7-8). He went on to say, “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt” (Gen. 3:10).

In Exodus 4:1-17, Moses tried to convince God that he would not be able to free Israel. Moses first tried to convince God that the Israelites will not believe that the Lord appeared to him. God gave Moses two signs to show to the Israelites if they would not believe him and an additional sign if they would not believe after he showed the first two. Moses made a second excuse and said that he was not an eloquent speaker and that he was slow of speech and tongue. God told him that He would give him the guidance to know what he should say. Moses asked God to send another in his stead. Then God’s anger was “kindled against Moses” and He told him that Aaron (Moses’ brother) should go with him and that He Himself would speak through Moses and Aaron. Moses then went back to Egypt and through Moses, God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt towards the Promised Land.

In this story, God’s will was for Moses to lead the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. God has a plan for each of us as well. That is why he has brought each human being into the world; to fulfill his mission for us. I took a class third quarter of my freshman year in which the class read the Confessions of St. Augustine. In this book, St. Augustine wrote of his mother, St. Monica. She prayed for the conversion of her son her entire life. Shortly after his conversion, God ended her life. His will was for her to intercede for the soul of her son. Once he came back to God, God’s will for St. Monica was fulfilled.

More often than not, the path of God’s will is very difficult and is usually not without sacrifice, pain, and suffering. C.S. Lewis said, “We’re not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.” However, if we always strive to follow the will of God, we can be assured that God will protect us under his wing.

In conclusion, God has a calling for each human being that he has created. His plan for Moses was to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land. The road was long and difficult and there were many obstacles in their way. His plan for us may be difficult, but we must trust that he will lead us in the right direction and that he will protect us in the face of evil as he did for Moses and the Israelites.

SOS (Chapter 6, Question 1)

Here I am, once again, on a chilly Sunday evening, typing. Normally, I try to avoid doing anything related with homework on this important day of the week, but I am more behind then I would like to be, so I figured, “Why not do my theology homework? It is the Lord’s Day after all and we read Scripture every Sunday.” So, after attending the 12:15pm Mass and eating some lunch, I delved into my theology textbook.

The second chapter illustrated the story of Isaac and his two sons, Esau and Jacob. (Jacob later fathered twelve sons who were ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel.) Esau and Jacob were twins. Esau was born first and was Isaac’s favorite, while Jacob, born shortly after his brother, was his mother’s favorite. As Isaac’s first-born son, Esau was automatically given the responsibility of one day becoming head of the family and was entitled to a double share of the inheritance.

In Genesis 25, however, we read the story of how Esau sold this birthright to his younger brother. Jacob is boiling pottage when his brother comes in tired and starving after a long day of work in the field. Before Jacob feeds him, however, he makes his elder brother swear to sell him his birthright. Esau agrees, because of his hunger, and sells his birthright to Jacob.

The characteristics and weaknesses of these two young men come out strongly in this one event. Esau doesn’t take his birthright seriously and gives up his important role as Isaac’s first-born son for the sake of satisfying his hunger. Jacob, on the other hand, becomes manipulative in this situation, sees his brother’s weakness, and takes the initiative. Scott Hahn points out that Esau thinks only of his present desire; what he wants at that particular moment, while Jacob thinks of the long term.

When we read this story, we might think, “Why did Esau sell his valuable birthright to his brother over a simple bowl of porridge? That was not wise in the least. I would never have done something as stupid as that.” Would you really have been smarter than Esau? Let us move forward in time to the era of slavery, a time when people had ownership over others and could sell them as if they were merely objects. What was the underlying goal in this situation? The goal was to fulfill a desire of greed. When slaves were sold, their “owners” received money in return.

Another example might prove to be useful; one which might be related to the story of the two brothers above. Gluttony, as you might recall from a previous post, is one of the seven deadly sins and for good reason. It is a point of weakness and desire which we succumb to all the time.

One way to overcome our sins is to come to know ourselves better along with our faults. The better we know our faults, the better we can know what tempts us and pulls us into a state of sin. As our creator, God knows us better than we know ourselves, so he has provided us with a means of becoming strong in him that we might be better prepared the next time we are tempted to sin.

The human race falls into a state of sin repetitiously because of we have a fallen nature due to original sin. For this reason, Christ gave the Church certain sacraments to aid us in our continual struggle against sin. When we are baptized, we enter into unity with Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our justification (CCC pg. 867). It is our first means of forgiveness and when we are baptized we receive the remission of original and personal sin. Once we reach the age of reason, we receive the sacrament of Reconciliation which is one of two sacraments of healing. This sacrament is truly beautiful, because when we sincerely confess our sins, God, through the priest, fully forgives all the wrong we have done. The third sacrament received is that of Holy Communion. In this sacrament, the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ enter into us in the appearance of bread and wine. When we receive Jesus in this manner, all our venial sins are wiped away. Confirmation completes the grace of Baptism and we become more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit (CCC 1286). The last sacrament is the second sacrament of healing and the last one given to us before we die. The Anointing of the Sick is administered by a priest to a baptized person who begins to be in danger of death because of illness or old age, through prayer and the anointing of the body wit the oil of the sick (CCC pg.866). This sacrament includes a special grace of healing and comfort to the Christian who is suffering the infirmities of serious illness or old age and the forgiving of the person’s sins (CCC pg. 866). God gave the Church these five sacraments as a means of overcoming sin so that we might enter into eternal life with him.

Through the use of Scripture, and in this case the story of Esau and Jacob, God establishes lessons that we can take and apply to our own lives. Esau and Jacob show us that the human race is weak when up against our desires. But God knows our weaknesses and he strengthens us when we fall through the grace of the sacraments.

Cain, Abel, Euthanasia, and Abortion (Chapter 4, Question 1)

Well, here I am, once again writing another blog post. I hope you enjoyed my two previous posts on St. Therese of Lisieux and the Guardian Angel prayer.

This evening I would like to touch on two of the top most serious issues in the world today which have to do the value and the dignity of human life. These issues and rather sensitive subjects are none other than euthanasia and abortion. Since, the title of my blog does mean beautiful truth which has to do with God's Word, please allow me to reach back into history - Biblical history.

In the beginning, that is in Genesis 4, we read the story of the two sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel. The two brothers each offered a sacrifice to God. "Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel brought some of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions." (Gen. 4:3-4) God had regard for Abel's offering, but not for that of his brother. At the end of Gen. 4, Cain murders his brother Abel. God, in his wrath, punishes Cain severely by banishing him from the land and his descendants were caught up in sin and violence.

Now, you might ask, why did God punish Cain so severely for murdering his brother? Due to much pondering, I came up with an answer/opinion. There are seven deadly sins (also called the Cardinal Sins): lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. Cain first fell into sin when he was envious of his brother. Envy led Cain to murder Abel. He also broke the sixth Commandment, "Thou shall not kill". He committed a mortal sin.

When a human being commits a mortal sin, there are serious consequences; not just in the eyes of the law, but in the eyes of God as well. When we commit mortal sin we lose sanctifying grace and are separated from God. Cain was separated from God when he murdered Abel. And he was sent to the land of Nod. You might say that we are offered the sacrament of reconciliation where we confess our sin and are completely forgiven. Why wasn't Cain offered this chance? He was. God asked him where Abel was. God, who sees and knows everything, knew perfectly well where Abel was, but he offered Cain the chance to admit his wrongdoing (just as he had offered Adam and Eve). But Cain lied to God and didn't admit his sin. Notice the resemblance between Cain and his parents. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. (That was a lousy attempt at a pun.)

Cain has a long line of descendants who all fall into sin. Lamech is a major figure in the line. He is the first one in the record to have two wives (polygamy) and he doesn't even love them as people. He treats them as objects. He kills other men out of revenge and with no respect for the fact that they are created in God's image and likeness.

This brings me to the two serious issues I mentioned in the beginning of this post. The world has little respect for the dignity and value of human lives. This is sort of off on a tangent, but I took a class from Fr. Francis (a Norbertine priest that some of you may know) for three years. He drilled into our heads just this:

"My human dignity consists in five things: God the Father created me in his image, God the Son redeemed me, God the Holy Spirit sanctified me, and God called me to be a member of his Church. My human dignity consists in doing what is morally good."

I think that if more people followed this way of thinking they would have more respect for themselves as well as for other people. Professor Barber has told us several times (and he is absolutely correct), "God is willing for you to be existing and sitting in this room right now. If he didn't will you to exist, you would vanish." What right do we, as merely human beings, who wouldn't even be here if he didn't will us to, have to take away a human life. That is not our job to be taking a way someone else's precious life. When we do via euthanasia and abortion we are taking away someone's life a.k.a. murdering a human being who was made in God's image and likeness. They, like us, are part of God's family. God has sent each one of us here for a purpose; he has a very special plan for you, me, everyone. "We are on a mission from God!"

Remember what happened to Cain when he murdered his brother. He was banished from the land. If we commit murder, we too will be banished from the land, from God's land. We will be banished from his eternal kingdom and will be consumed in pain and suffering.

We all have fallen natures, but nevertheless, we should strive to be perfect as God is perfect and conform ourselves to his will. If we do this, there is less of a likelihood for us to fall into sin.