Sing Along with King David

This post is linked to Sunday Snippets

Last week we got to the end of the Bible. For the next 3 classes we're going to learn about the Mass.

Tell me, was Jesus a good Jew? Huh? Did Jesus do the things a faithful Jew was supposed to do? Umm...yes? Right: he kept the Sabbath, went to Jerusalem for Passover, obeyed the Commandments. Being a good Jew, what did Jesus do on the Sabbath? Go to church! Well, Jesus hadn't founded the church yet, so where'd he go instead? A sss-synagogue? Yes, a synagogue. That's a Greek word, by the way. Now, remember the time Jesus visited Nazareth after he had grown up. What did the men ask him to do at the synagogue? To read? Yes...to read what? The Torah? Yes genius, good, he read from Sacred Scripture, which did not include the New Testament. Why not? It wasn't written yet? Yes. But that was what Jews did in synagogue on the Sabbath: pray, maybe sing a Psalm, read from Scripture; and then the rabbi, the teacher, would comment on the readings.

After Jesus ascended to heaven, and the apostles were fired up by Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday, they went out and began to preach about the Messiah to Jews in Jerusalem. The apostles still considered themselves good Jews; after all, the whole Messiah business was Jewish. So they would tell everyone at the Temple and local synagogues the good news about Jesus. The Book of Acts says "And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people." We can guess that the Christians would still attend synagogue on the Jewish Sabbath, which was...Saturday, yes, and then "break bread" on Sunday, Resurrection Day. What else did they remember when they "broke bread"? What does "break bread" mean: to bust up stale bread and watch it fall all over the floor? No it means to eat!  Yeah...a bread snack? No, dinner. Yes, a meal. What meal might they remember when they broke bread? The Last Supper? Yes, Jesus had said "do this in memory of me." So on Saturday the Christians...read the Bible? Yes, the Old Testament; and on Sunday...they did the Last Supper. Yes.

Unfortunately, like Christ Himself, the Christians were aggravating the scribes and priests and Pharisees. The temple staff thought that the Romans had taken care of their Jesus Problem. But here it is a couple of months after Jesus was crucified, and now there are a dozen apostles getting everyone at the Temple riled up worse than Jesus did!

One day Apostle #1....Peter! yes, and John were at the Temple. "And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody..." The high priest and the Levites told Peter and John to SHUT UP! about Jesus. Did they shut up? No! Right. Even after they were beaten up by the temple guards, "every day in the temple and at home they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ."

But one day Stephen, one of the first deacons, was taken before the high priest and his council and accused of blasphemy, like Jesus had been. He wouldn't shut up either. "Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth against him...Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him." And as y'all heard before, Stephen was the first martyr; and Saul witnessed his death.

So the Christians figured out that the Jewish authorities considered them blasphemers, not good Jews at all. And they began to stay out of the Temple and the synagogues, and read from Scripture on their own. Eventually they observed the new Sabbath, which was...Sunday, yes. They'd pray, listen to readings from the Bible, listen to comments on the readings, sing a Psalm, and then have a Last Supper meal together. What does that sound like? If you were somewhere on Sunday, and you heard Bible readings and then someone talked about the readings, and you sang a Psalm, and then re-enacted the Last Supper where would you be? At church! More specifically, please, what event at church? Oh, Mass!  Yes, at Mass.

Mass still divides into those two main parts: readings from the Bible, and the Last Supper. The first main part is called the Liturgy of the Word [on the board] because...that's when they read the Bible. Yes, and the second main part is the Liturgy of the Eucharist [on the board], because...that's when we have Communion. Yes. Let's look at them in order. I'm going to read from the Missalette to keep us moving along. I'm not going to read every word, just parts. By the way, sometimes I'm going to use a new English translation of the Mass. We'll start using it in church next Advent (2011).

What happens first at Mass? There's a song. Yes, a hymn. After the hymn, the priest says, "The Lord be with you," and we say...and also with you. Yes, it's a greeting. Then we say the Confiteor, a prayer like an Act of Contrition [time permitting I read it all a bit at a time]:

"I confess to Almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters that I have greatly sinned"...we are reminding ourselves that we're all sinners, which is why we're at Mass. "...in what I have done and in what I have failed to do." We tend to notice sins of commission more more than sins of omission; what's a sin of omission? If you don't take care of your little brother! Yes, that's a good one. "And I ask the blessed Mary, ever virgin, all the angels and saints..." This reminds us that at Mass we're surrounded by St. Paul's "cloud of witnesses," who are...angels and saints. Yes. "...and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God." So we ask all the faithful in Heaven and Earth to pray for us. How do the saints hear us? Umm...I don't know. Me neither, but God makes it happen.

Now that we've told God we've sinned, what do we ask for? For him to forgive us? Yes, to be merciful. We usually sing "Kyrie Eleison" which is Greek for...Lord have mercy, yes, and Christe- Christ have mercy, yes.

Next we sing the Gloria. Who can tell me where the first line comes from: "Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people of good will." No guesses, you've heard it this year...around Christmas...from Luke's gospel...someone said it about baby Jesus...the Wise Men! No, close though. The angels said it to the shepherds! Yes, good! When you say it, remember the story.

And who said this line: "Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world..." John the Baptist! Yes, genius, when Jesus came to be baptized in the...Jordan River!  Yes.

After the Gloria, the priest says a short prayer, and we...stand on our heads? We sit down! Yes. Now the Liturgy of the Word begins. At Mass we hear a lot of reading out of the Bible, and maybe even listen to it! What's the first reading called? The First Reading? Yes [on the board]. Since it's first, what Testament would the readings come from? The Old? Yes. So we might hear a reading from Genesis or Isaiah.

Trick question: what's next? The Second Reading! Wrong, I win! The Second Reading doesn't come next! The next thing isn't usually read; it's sung. A person in the choir sings part, and we sing part. What is that? King David wrote most of them...Psalms! [on the board] Yes, and why do we sing them? 'cause they were songs? Yes. We looked at some Psalms a few months ago. If you listen to the words you can usually tell what was on David's mind when he wrote each one: he was happy, or sad, or thankful, or feeling remorse. What's remorse? It's means to feel sad and sorry that you did something wrong. So when you sing a Psalm, imagine King David singing it too. Hey, here's a bit from Psalm 141 that tells us something about Mass: "I call upon thee, O LORD...Give ear to my voice, when I call to thee! Let my prayer be counted as incense before thee, and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice!" What does incense do? Smell good? Yes; what does the smoke do? Go up? Yes; in a spiritual sense, where is it going up to? Heaven? Yes, like our prayers. When you're at Mass and incense is burned, remember your prayers should rise up to heaven like the incense.

After the Psalm comes...the next reading...The Second Reading! [on the board] Uh-huh. The lector tells you what the reading will be. He might say, "A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans;" so would the Second Reading be from the Gospels? No, the Epistles! Yes, because "Epistle" is Greek for...letter. Yes. And because Paul and the other Epistle-writers usually wrote letters to scold people or correct their mistakes, Epistles aren't as easy to understand as the Old Testament stories are. They'll become more interesting as you get older.

And all this time we've been sitting down. What now? We stand up? Yes, and sing the Alleluia. What's the next reading? The Gospel. Yes. [on the board] Why do we stand up? 'Cause they're about Jesus. Yes, that's one way we show respect. Gospel readings are always Jesus stories, and they're easy to follow.

And after the Gospel? We sit down. Yes, and the priest...talks. Well yes, but it's a prepared talk, a sermon; and it's usually based on the readings.

This part of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Word, is very much like what Jesus or the disciples would have experienced in the synagogue: prayer, Psalm-singing, Scripture-reading, and comments by the rabbi. We have at least 4 readings every Sunday. Special Masses may have more. For example, the Easter Vigil Mass may have 8 readings, starting in Genesis and ending with the Gospel account of Jesus's Resurrection.

Now tell me: suppose the priest really liked Christmas, so all he wanted to read and talk about year-round was Christmas. Would that be ok? No.Why not? Because it's just once a year? Umm, yes. Look at the whole Bible: it's huge, but Christmas [I hold the Bible and pinch a few pages toward the back] just takes up a few pages. To ignore the whole rest of the Bible would be wrong. To make sure we get a big picture of the Bible, the Church has a schedule of readings. Every three years we go through the whole Bible with readings picked out by the Church from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the Epistles, the Gospels, and other New Testament books like Acts and Revelations. Lots of times the readings are connected. For example, suppose you heard this bit of Isaiah for the first reading: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." That's a prophecy; what virgin makes the prophecy come true? Mary? Yes. So what Gospel reading would go with it? Something about Christmas? Yes, or the Annunciation, when Gabriel told Mary she'd have a baby even though she wasn't married yet. Or how about this bit from Psalm 22: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?... a company of evildoers encircle me; they have pierced my hands and feet..." What does that match up to in the Gospels? When Jesus was crucified! Yes, you see how it works; but you have to pay attention.

Y'all remember that it matters to Jesus not just what we believe, but...what we do, yes, our "works," as the Bible says. If the Church wanted to emphasize that one Sunday, she could schedule readings that included these verses [I have these bits sticky-tabbed to preclude fumbling] :

First Reading from Proverbs 24:12; "Rescue those who are being dragged to death...If you say, "I don't know this man!"....[God] will know it, and he will repay [you] according to [your] works."

Psalm 62:12-13: "Power belongs to God; so too, Lord, does kindness...And you reward each of us according to our works."

Second Reading from Paul's Letter to the Romans: "[God] will reward every man according to his works: to those who by perseverance in good works seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life..." (2:4-7)

And for the Gospel reading, Jesus says, "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." (Matt 16:27) Remember we must act...in...faith! Yes. If the soul has faith, the body...does things! Yes, good works. Faith'n'works, body'n'soul.

So the readings are never just randomly pulled out of a hat; pay attention to how they go together and Mass will be more interesting to you.

continued in the next post

Nomad Church? Pilgrim Church?

Class, we have come to the last book of the Bible (please, don't cry), in which the last things are finally revealed. This book is called...Revelations? Yes. It was written by St. John, the only apostle who wasn't martyred. Among other things in this book, St. John explains what will happen at the end of the world. But to understand this last book, let's do a quick review of the Bible using the timeline on this handout:

Start on the left. This would be the beginning of the Bible...the first book....Genesis. Yes. Who were the first people we met in Genesis? Adam and Eve. Yes, Adam & Eve dwelled with God in Eden. And even though God the Father has no body, they still experienced him in some physical ways, such as hearing him moving around in the garden, and speaking to them. In the beginning, in Eden, Adam & Eve weren't separated from God. Why not? They hadn't eaten the apple yet! That's right, they hadn't sinned. Speaking of separation, what do we call it when souls separate from bodies? Death! And could souls separate from bodies in Eden? No! And why not? There was no sin there. Right. So nothing's dead in Eden.

But what messed this up? Sin! Yes. And after Adam & Eve sinned, how were they separated from God? The angel threw them out of Eden! And not only were they separated from God, they would eventually have their souls separate from their bodies, and die. Man was created to be with God, but since we left Eden, we've been separated. That's what we see next, the situation in the world before Jesus. Can people die? Yes. Do souls die? No they stay alive. Yes; can they go to Heaven? No. Why? Because it's before Jesus. Yes. So the souls of people such as Abraham go to...Sheol. Do souls in Sheol dwell there with God? I don't think so. Me neither. And peoples' bodies go...in the ground. Yes, they turn back into earth.

Now in the middle of the timeline there's B.C and A.D. What's B.C. mean? Before Christ. Yes, this is the situation before Jesus comes, as you said. And what's A.D.? After Death?  Wow, good guess, but no. It's Latin: Anno Domini [on the board]. Anno means "in year," like the ann- in annual; Domini means "of Lord" like the dom- in dominate. In English we say "In the Year of Our Lord," which means what? When Jesus was alive? Yes, the time after he was born; and what event is right on the line between B.C. and A.D.? When Jesus was born? Yes, Christmas. And after Jesus dies for our sins, where do happy souls go in the third part of the timeline? Heaven. Yes, which is wonderful, because who is there? God. Yes; our souls dwell with God, with Jesus. But where do happy bodies go? Well, they still go in the ground. Yes; even though Jesus redeemed us, our bodies don't share in the happiness of Heaven.

Now we come to the last part of our timeline; it's still in the future. Tell me, does Heaven go on forever? Yes!  Well, look again at the timeline. Umm...no? Right...what follows Heaven? New Jerusalem? And what about our dead bodies? They go up to be with the souls? Yes, so the whole person, bodynsoul, lives in the New Jerusalem. What is it, the New Jerusalem? A city? Yes, a pure, holy city, not like cities we know in the sinful world. Yes? How can there be a city instead of heaven? Good question, we'll find out.

But first, a new topic: what's a nomad? Somebody who wanders around. Do they live in houses? No, tents. Trick question: where do nomads start from? Nowhere, they just wander. Yes. There are still nomads on earth...think of some. Gypsies? Yes, good. Any more? Do y'all know about Lapps [on the board]...no? They're nomads up north of the Arctic Circle, they follow reindeer herds. There just aren't many wanderers anymore. Next trick question: where do nomads finish? They just wander, they don't start or finish! Yes.

Who were the Pilgrims, the Thanksgiving Pilgrims? They were people from England who came to America. Yes. And they came here on a schoolbus, right? Ha! They came on a boat, the Mayflower!  Yes, a ship. They were traveling; were they nomads? Sort of. And being sort of nomads, they just wandered around the ocean until they bumped into Massachusetts? No, they were coming here on purpose. I see...and when they arrived, did they grab tents and horses and take off for California? No, they stayed where the Mayflower dropped them off. Oh. They weren't wandering. Then what makes pilgrims different from nomads? They have a destination? Yes. So pilgrims aren't nomads; pilgrims don't wander.

Where did the Pilgrims start? England. And they stopped in...? America. Yes, in Massachusetts. Did they vacation there & then go back home to England? No, America was their new home. And if you live in one place, but journey to another place to live you aren't wandering, or vacationing either. So what do we call any group of people who journey from an old home to a new one? Pilgrims? Yes, the word doesn't refer only to the English Pilgrims who came to America. But those English people called themselves Pilgrims because they did not wander; they knew where they were headed, and when they got there, their journey was over.

Tell me, at Mass, have you ever heard the priest say, "Strengthen in faith and love your pilgrim Church on Earth?" Ehh...I think so...? Of course you heard it, but if you were daydreaming you wouldn't remember. Mass is more interesting when you pay attention and know what's going on.

So, the Church is a pilgrim Church...if it's a pilgrim Church, what is it doing...is it wandering? No. Right, it's not a nomad Church. So...if it's not wandering, what is the pilgrim church doing? It's going somewhere. Yes, it has...a destination. That's right...where's it going? No guesses? That's OK. Look at the back of the Bible again: this last book....is called....Revelations. Yes. Revelations tells us, reveals to us, where the Church is going. And are we part of the Church? Yes. Right, all the faithful make up the Church. So if we're part of the pilgrim church that means we are....? Pilgrims. Who are on a...? A trip! Yes, on a journey. Just like the American Pilgrims, we and the Pilgrim Church will end our journey at our...destination.  Yes. Let's see what Revelations says about that destination.

The first thing we'll look at is the Second Coming [on the board]. Tell me, who is coming the second time? Jesus. And when was the First Coming? What? When did he come the first time? Oh...Christmas? Yeah, at Christmas. And later, at the Ascension when Jesus rose up on a cloud, angels told the apostles, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." So, how do we know Jesus will come back? Well, the angels said so? Yes; just checking. And how is Jesus going to come the second time? C'mon, the same way he went up. He rose up to the sky on clouds, so...? Umm, down from the sky on clouds? Yes. Or something equally impressive; I expect everyone will know what's going on. St. John says, "Then I [saw] a white cloud, and seated on the cloud, one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head..." St. John is quoting Jesus and Daniel; y'all have heard "son of man coming on clouds" a few times this year. Who's the Son of Man? Jesus. Yes, and also the Son of God. Fully human and fully divine. By the way, in Revelations, Jesus is never called by his name; instead he's called the Lamb. Why? Because he's the Passover Lamb. Yes, the New Passover Lamb.

Now if I die tomorrow, the first thing I'll do once I'm dead is meet Jesus. We'll review all my sins, and I'll find out where I'm going. Let's be charitable and say heaven. This is called the Particular Judgment, when each person is judged individually right when he or she dies. On the timeline I'd be in the third spot: soul in Heaven, body in the ground. But that's not the end of me being judged.

The Second Coming will signal that it's time for the Last Judgment, when all the souls in Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory get their bodies back. People who are alive at this point are still bodynsouls. Yes? How does God do that if your body is all, you know...all decomposed all turned back in to earth? Yeah. Well, I don't know, but how'd God make Adam in the first place? From dirt! Yep, and remind me, why do we call that first man Adama in Hebrew? 'Cause it means dirt! Yes, earth. So whatever God did that first time with earth, he'll probably do it again. Then St. John says, "I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it...And the dead were judged...by their works. And the sea gave up the dead in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead in them..."  This rising again of every dead person is what we mean when we recite the Creed on Sunday: "I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, forgiveness of sins, the...Res...Resurrection of the Body! That's it! Then St. John says again "all were judged by their works". St. John says it twice just to remind you, it matters what you do, not just what you believe. Now, what is every human made of?  A bodynsoul! Yes, and which part actually does the 'works'? The body! Yes, and if part of the Last Judgment involves what you did with your body, would it make sense to have just souls there? Huh? If a person is going to get judged by his faith and his works, then his soul and his body should both be judged. Imagine just my soul is at the Last Judgment, and I'm going to get in trouble because I did bad things while I was alive, but I say, "Oh dear, that sinful body, it's all rotten and laying in the ground somewhere, don't blame me for what that dirty old thing did. My soul never did a single bad thing, I swear!" A whole person is a bodynsoul, so if Jesus is going to judge the whole person....? the whole person needs to be there? Yes, genius!

So everyone goes to Heaven or Hell with their bodies & souls no longer separated. Adam & Eve's sin caused body & soul to separate, but in the end they become one again. And those who go to Heaven are no longer separated from God by Adam and Eve's sin, but are reunited with Him. Ever since Genesis, people have suffered separation, but in Revelations, everything good is reunited: Creation, Man, and God are all together again, just as they were in Eden. Everything bad is thrown into a "lake of fire," which would be...Hell. Yes, a physical Hell.

Because all the saints, who will dwell with God, have their bodies back, they'll have to live somewhere physical. But not on Earth as it is now, with hurricanes, earthquakes, and diseases. Could weather kill people in Eden? No, there wasn't any bad weather. Why not? Because there was no sin. Yes. Sin doesn't just mess up the spiritual world, but the physical world, too.

And here's what St. John says about this physical place: "I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.... " So we'll have a new home. And not only will Earth be new, but heaven as well, and they will comprise one perfect place like Eden had been. What's comprise? It means to put together: a human being is comprised of a bodynsoul. Should body and soul be separated? No. Right. Well, heaven and Earth shouldn't be separated either, with God dwelling in one place and people dwelling somewhere else.

Then John says, "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband." And I know exactly what John means. I remember how beautiful my wife was when she was walking down the aisle to marry me. Why, let's look at my wedding picture [I show the wedding]. She looks like she came down out of heaven just like the New Jerusalem. So, where are we going to live? The New Jerusalem! Yes. Then John says, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." Does anyone remember another time when God told someone "you will be my people, and I will be your God"? OK, this is from Exodus: "I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. I will bring you out of Egypt and to the land I promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob." Who was God talking to? Moses? Yes, Moses and the Israelites. But when God says it in Revelations, it means more. God brings us out of a land of sin, and brings us to a perfect land, a perfect home. And when God says, "you will be my people, and I will be your God," It's like marriage, when the man and wife give themselves to each other...not a contract...a covenant! Yes! It's very romantic.

Here's a question: Jews worshiped God in a temple in Jerusalem; where do Christians worship? In a church! Yes. Now about the New Jerusalem, John says, "I did not see a temple in the city." Why wouldn't there be temple or a church there? .....That's a hard question, tell me this: in Eden did Adam & Eve go to church to visit with God? No. Why not? They were with God already. Yes. But after they got thrown out of Eden, we had the Temple and the Church as ways to stay connected to God, even though sin had separated us from Him. In the New Jerusalem will we be separated from God? No. So why won't there be a temple or a church? Because we'll be with God again. Yes, not separated.....like another place a long time ago which would be....? Eden! Yes. Imagine we're in the New Jerusalem...I need a volunteer, get up here Jesus! I'm with Jesus, we both have our bodies'n'souls. It's just wonderful being here with you Lord, with my arm around your shoulder. But it's Sunday so I have to go to church now, see you in a hour or so. What's wrong with that? Well, you're already with Jesus! Yes.

So back to pilgrims. When the pilgrims were sitting at home in England were they pilgrims yet? No. Right, they were at home, not going anywhere. When they got on the Mayflower were they pilgrims? Yes! Once they settled down in their new home, were they still pilgrims? Not really. OK. Were Adam & Eve at home with God in Eden? Yes. But then they had to leave. We know from St. John that they and their children, that's us, will someday have a new home with God, the New Jerusalem. Right now we're on a long journey from our old home, Eden, to where? Our new home! Which is called...? The New Jerusalem! And when people are on a journey from an old home to a new home they are called...? Pilgrims! Yes, and that makes us...? Pilgrims, too.

Did the English Pilgrims swim to America? Ha! We already said they took the Mayflower. Oh yeah....I forgot. Swimming is cheaper- why did they take a ship? 'cause it's safe. Yes, to have a safe ocean journey you need a sturdy ship. There's an Italian saint named John Bosco who once dreamed about a ship on a dangerous ocean. The ship is called the Bark of Peter. It wasn't a dog or a tree: the Italian (and Spanish) word for 'boat' is 'barco.' The captain was the Pope. What did the ship represent in the dream? A hard question? OK, What's the Pope in charge of in the world? The Church. And in the dream he's in charge of the ship, so what's the ship? The Church? Yes...the Church is our Mayflower. It carries us safely from our old home to our new one. Is it a wandering Church, a nomad Church? No, a pilgrim Church. Yes, just like we hear at Mass.

So, look again at the Bible. One book in the front...Genesis, yes, about the old home before the journey became necessary, and one in the back about the new home, and all the middle books are about the pilgrims' progress along the way. A pilgrim's journey is called a pilgrimage; we're on a pilgrimage. We know where we're going, and when we arrive, our journey will be over.

When the pilgrims arrive in the New Jerusalem, they become united with God. Like in Eden, there won't be a Church or Temple...once the pilgrims arrived in America, they didn't need the Mayflower anymore, either. St. John explains why the New Jerusalem had no temple. He says, "the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple."

Revelations is the end of the Bible, and it marks the end of our pilgrimage. All the things that were messed up and separated by sin are healed and made whole: Man's body and soul are one; God and man are united; even Heaven and Earth are joined forever. John says, "there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new...I am the Alpha and the Omega." What are Alpha and Omega? The first and last letters in the Greek alphabet. Yes, genius! What does Jesus mean? That he's the beginning and the end. Yes, as we pray, "As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end." Is that "world without end" this world? No it's heaven. Is it? It's...the New Jerusalem! Yes, genius! By the way, what's the second letter in the Greek "alpha-bet"? Beta! Yes!

Hey, next time y'all are in church, look at the big stained glass windows in front [I do a rough outline of the window below]:

See these two little triangles of glass? They have an Alpha and an Omega in them; you have to look closely. They are there to remind you of this passage in Revelations. By the way, most people haven't noticed the Alpha & Omega windows, so point them out to your parents.

And there will be a big celebration in the New Jerusalem. An angel said to John, "Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb. And in the Spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel...clear as crystal." So...who's the Lamb? Jesus. Yes, and his Bride is..the New Jerusalem? 
Yes, which St. John said was as beautiful as ....? as....? My wife when we got married! He didn't say that! Yes, but he didn't know my wife either. But I thought Jesus marries the Church. Yes, but the Church isn't a building, right? It's... people, yes. And the people are in the pilgrim Church until it reaches its...destination. Yes, and the people then live in the holy city...the New Jerusalem. Yes. So the Lamb isn't marrying a church or a city so much as he's marrying...the people? Yes, the saints.

And we know from the Marriage at Cana that after a wedding, there's a... party! Yes, Revelations would say a feast.

Speaking of wedding feasts, next week we'll start learning about the Mass. Yes? Mass isn't the same as a wedding. Well...let's worry about it next week.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Now and forever!

Class over!

Rags & Aprons

continued from the prior post

One more bit from Acts of the Apostles and we'll move on. I need volunteers. I need... a mother! That's you! And if I need a mother...you need a father! Yes, you, sitting right next to mom. And this [I put my rubber fetus on mom's desk] is your little girl. But it's not born yet! Well, pretend she's been born and she's bigger. It looks weird. She looks just like you did when you weren't born yet, so stop whining. How old are you? 12. Then pretend it's your 12-year-old-daughter. And I need a St. Paul...yes, come on up here. Now, mom & dad, your daughter is deathly sick. But look, who's in town? St. Paul? Yes. St. Paul, show the rest of the class your preaching skills, but silently...that's it, bring them the Good News. Parents, what are you going to do about your dear, sick little girl- stay home and pray? No, we're going to take her to St. Paul so he can lay hands on her! Great plan parents, but your daughter is so near death you don't dare move her.  Here you go mom, one of your dishrags [an old rag from my house] from the kitchen, don't argue! But what is- be patient, mom! Father, your wife has to stay home with your daughter, but she's giving you the dishrag...go on, hand it over. Father, what are you gonna do? Mmm...take it to Paul? Well, go on, time's a wastin'. St. Paul, here comes the sick girl's daddy [Paul takes the rag, wads it up in his hands a few times and hands it back]. What now, dad? [He goes back home and gives it to the mother] Well, mom? [She covers the baby with the rag] Somebody tell me what happens? The baby gets better! Yes indeed she does! Why? 'Cause the rag had touched Paul! Yes! Acts says, "God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them." By the way, back in the Book of Exodus, how'd the Israelites get water in the desert? Moses hit the rock with a stick! How'd Jesus heal the blind man? Put mud on his eyes! How'd the old woman with the bleeding problem get healed? She touched Jesus's clothes! Yes, a tassel, the littlest piece of his cloak. How do we get sins washed away? With water! How do we eat Jesus? Bread and wine! Yes, when they become...body'n'blood! Yes; is any of this stuff magic? No! God's power goes through the stuff, because we are made of a...bodynsoul, yes, so even today Jesus still comes to us spiritually, and...physically! Yes.

Now tell me about this rag, which is not a magic rag. Do you think it might heal someone else later on? I guess so. Sure, there's no rule that says God's power is exhausted with that one healing; who knows, maybe people's faith could keep it charged up like a holy battery. [Out comes the chicken bone] It might work like Elisha's bones, which did what? Make that man come back to life when they threw him on the bones. Yes, and even though Elisha had been dead for a good while, nothing but bones, God's healing still went through his dead body parts. That's why Catholics respect the bodies of saints; or even parts of their bodies, like this bone.

That's it for Acts of the Apostles. But let's recall how Paul would come to a new town, and set up a new church. I'm Paul, y'all are the congregation of new Christians; some Jews, some Gentiles. OK y'all, I have to bring the Gospel to another town now; goodbye, flock! Is there anything missing? You have to lay hands on somebody! Yes. Can y'all recommend anyone? Him. OK, let's see, your name is... Timothy! [I lay hands on Timothy] Timothy, I give you my authority to shepherd this flock, and pray that you be strengthened by the Holy Spirit. 'Bye now, I'll probably never see y'all again.

Things may go fine for a while for Bishop Timothy, but problems will will likely arise. The Jewish Christians might insist that the Gentiles quit eating pork. Or some Gentiles might want to sacrifice an animal to Zeus every now and then just to be on the safe side. Or they might disagree about keeping the Sabbath on Sunday, in honor of Easter, instead of Saturday. Timothy, do you want to figure this stuff out on your own? No! So what's the fix? Can you come back? No, sorry, I'm far across the sea. Flock, how can I give Timothy some guidance? Well...could you write him a letter? Yes, geniuses, that's exactly what Paul did! In fact, St. Paul wrote two letters to Timothy, called the First and Second letters to...Timothy. Yeah...another gimme.

The Greek word for letter is epistoli [on the board] (επιστολή, fyi); what is it in English? Epistle. Yes. Let's look briefly at the Epistles, which follow Acts in the New Testament. Paul wrote most of the Epistles because he set up so many new congregations which then needed his instruction. But other apostles wrote letters, too, such as Peter and James. Let's look at a few things in the Epistles before we move on; we'll see more of the Epistles when we learn about the Mass in a couple of weeks.

To start, here's a short bit I like from the Letter to the Hebrews: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us..." The part I like is the "cloud of witnesses." What's a witness? Someone who sees what happens? Yes, and if the witnesses are in a cloud, what are they? People flying? No, it's more like when a cloud took Jesus to Heaven...what sort of witnesses would be on those clouds? Oh...angels? Yes, and...saints! Yes. I like this passage because it reminds me that we're never alone [I look around the room at the top of the walls]; we're surrounded by these cloud-witnesses..hey y'all, how ya doin'? That's funny. Hey, I'm serious, they're here. The angels & saints love us and want us to get to heaven, too. That's why you have a guardian angel, and should have a patron saint by the time you're confirmed. They want to help you "run the race." Anyway, I especially think about the cloud of witnesses at Mass. Remembering the statues in church, what witnesses in particular might be with us at Mass? Mary?  Yes, and? Joseph?  Yes, and? Angels. Yes. A priest was ordained at church a few years ago, and I imagined all the saints packing the church that day. What a cloud of witnesses that was. By the way, where do you usually hear about witnesses? When people have a jury? Yes, in court. Sometimes guilty people don't want a witness to testify, and the witness may be murdered if they won't keep quiet. The Greek word for witness is martyr [on the board]. Why do we call some saints martyrs? 'Cause they were killed? Yes. Martyrs, God's witnesses, were, and still are, being killed because they won't keep quiet about Jesus. You mean like today? Yes, even today Christian witnesses are martyred for their faith.

Now I need someone to tell me what Jesus taught about the hungry and the naked and the sick and so forth. We have to give them clothes! Yes, clothe the hungry, and- no, feed the hungry! Oh, OK, and...clothe the naked. Yes, and...visit sick people. Yes. That's because Jesus doesn't just care about what you believe, but also...what you do! Yes, your works. And in the Epistle St. James wrote, he says, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is it? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead." St. James means we have to act...in...faith! Yes. He goes on: " Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?"  Tell me about it. God had to make sure Abraham believed in him. Yes, and how did God make sure? He let Abraham almost kill Isaac. Yes. And finally James writes, "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead." So we can't say "la-la-la, I believe in Jesus" and do nothing; we have to act...in faith. Yes.

Speaking of body and soul separating, tell me about that bit in Isaiah when the angel put the burning coal on Isaiah's unclean lips? It cleaned his lips! Yes, so he...could...say good things!  Yes, so he could speak for God. What do we call it when something's burned 'til it's clean and pure? Purgatory! Close...it's called purging, but that's where the word Purgatory comes from. The angel told Isaiah, "see, your lips are purged." Now let's look at something Paul wrote about burning away the bad in order to save the good. It's in the first epistle he wrote to the flock in Corinth, Greece, who were...Corinthians? Yes. It's from First Corinthians. Paul says that each one of us is a part of the spiritual building of the Church; and that the building's foundation is Jesus.

Paul writes, "Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw...each man's work will be made known..." So Paul is comparing our work, what we do, to different stuff, like so [on the board]:

Gold
Silver
Gems
Wood
Hay
Straw

The best work is...at the top, yes, and the junk, the sins...at the bottom. Yes. Paul says our works "will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done." Starting at the bottom, tell me what to erase...straw, hay and wood!...yes, when our works are tested by fire. And what doesn't burn up? The good stuff. Yes, the good things we do. Paul writes, "If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire." So the bad things we do will get burned off, and we'll be saved "as through fire." What happens to saved people? They go to Heaven? Yes. So what's the place where we have our sins burned away and we're saved through fire? Purgatory? Yes. But it's not physical fire: where are our bodies if our souls are in Purgatory? In the ground! Yes! So Purgatory's only a spiritual purging, which might still be painful.

 Hey, if your body and soul are separated at death, what eventually has to happen? They get put back together again? Yes. The last book in the Bible, the Book of Revelations, talks about that. We'll learn about that book next week. Yes? Is next week the end of class? No, we'll still have 3 classes on the Mass; your suffering doesn't end until the last week of April.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Now and Forever!

Class over!

Bishops & Epidemics

Last week we saw how the apostles set up the Church so that it would keep running after they all died. Let's look at a picture of that [I draw]. Here's Jesus...and somebody else. What's Jesus doing? Laying his hands on the other guy!  Yes, is Jesus laying hands on a monkey? No, an apostle! Yes. Remember, the Bible doesn't say whether or not Jesus laid his hands on the apostles to give them his authority; but that was the standard Old Testament way to do it. I don't want to draw all 12 apostles...which apostle do you think this one is? Peter! Yes, because Jesus changed Simon's name to...Peter, yes, and because Jesus told only Peter to...feed...his sheep! Yes. So Peter represents all 12 apostles in this picture. Now Jesus goes to heaven [Jesus is erased]. The apostles know they're going to die, so...they lay hands on other people. Yes, just like the way Paul laid his hands on Timothy and Titus, who became...shepherds! Yes, what's the church word for them, you had it last week...bishops! Yes. 

So who is this guy [I draw] with this pointy hat? A bishop. Yes, and he's got his bent stick, a crook...because...he's the shepherd! Yes, a shepherd. And the apostles get old....and...they die! Yes [apostle is erased], but it's OK, because...they made bishops. Yes, and when these bishops get old...they make more bishops! Yes, all the way down to today. And bishops also make...more bishops? No, I mean besides more bishops. Who runs our parish, the bishop? Does he run around the state every Sunday saying Mass as fast as possible in all the churches? Ha, no! So, who takes of business at the parishes? Oh, the priests! Yes, bishops make priests...by...laying hands! Yes, and anointing.

But what about Peter? Huh? Peter got special authority from Jesus...and he died...so...they made another Peter? Yes, what do we call his office? What do we call men who replace Peter? Popes? Yes, popes. But when St. Luke was writing Acts of the Apostles, was St. Peter dead yet? No. Right, he was alive and doing things that Luke wrote about. So there's nothing in there about replacing Peter in particular; it wouldn't have come up yet.

And remind me, where'd Peter get his authority? Jesus. And when Peter died, was that it? Did his authority disappear? No, they picked another pope. Yes. By the way, in Rome they don't say Pope, they say Papa [on the board]. Why is that? Because he's the father? Yes again, and because fathers have authority....trick question: what language does 'Papa' come from? Latin? Good guess. It's Greek, the Romans got it from the Greeks! But yes, the Pope is the Holy Father, the Papa. In Italy, Greece and Spain they still say papa for pope.

Time for some more Greek...what do you use to see things far away? A telescope? Yes; in Greek it's spelled like this: teleskopos [on the board] (τηλεσκόπος, fyi).  And to see very small things? A microscope! Yes; mikroskopos [under teleskopos] (μικροσκόπος, fyi). And to see out of a submarine? A periscope! Yes; periskopos [under mikroskopos] (περισκόπος, fyi). 

So what does tele mean? Far away? Yes, and mikro? Small! And peri? Up? Good guess; it means around. On subs they use the periscope to look around. And skopos? See! Yes [on the board]! My, my, geniuses at work; how'd y'all learn all this Greek? We're smart! Uh-huh.

What's an epidemic [on the board] (επιδημία, epidimia)? When everybody gets sick! Yes. Epi-demic is Greek for over-people [over goes under epi]. It's a disease that's over all the people.

Now I write epi-skopos [under Papa] (επίσκοπος, fyi).

OK, what's epi mean again? Over! And skopos? To see! And if someone is an epi-skopos what are they? Umm...an over-seer? Yes, genius! [overseer goes next to episkopos] And is an overseer a monkey that gets told what to do? No, he's the boss, he tells the monkeys what to do!  Yes. An episkopos, an overseer, is someone who is in charge. Who's in charge of our diocese, all the Catholics in South Carolina? Bishop Macaroni! That's very funny, his name is Guglielmone, goo-lyel-MO-neh. It's Italian. But we're not talking about Italian tonight, we're talking about...Greek! That's right.

Now watch the magic finger [I erase episkopos down to piskop]; how do we say episkopos in English? Umm, bishop? Yes! ¿Quién aquí habla Español? Me! How do you say bishop in Spanish? Obispo?  Yep. 'Obispo' comes from episkopos, too [bishop and obispo go beside piskop]. Some Bibles say 'bishop' and some say 'overseer,' but it's the same job: being a bishop.

Y'all can see how the old word episkopos changed into the new words over 2,000 years. That's how old the office of Bishop is, about 2,000 years old. The New Testament talks about bishops a lot, and what language was the NT written in? Greek! Yep. And the Old Testament? Hebrew! Yes, mostly Hebrew; you remembered.

Bishops are so important to the church that the word bishop shows up in the New Testament six times, which shows you that there were bishops even before the Bible was finished. Now, there are Christians who go to churches that don't have bishops. They may tell you bishops aren't necessary, or are just overseers, nothing special. But appointed bishops are in the Bible, so the Bible agrees with the Church.

OK let's review a bit, who's in overall charge of feeding the sheep of Jesus' flock while he's away? The Pope! How do we say that in Greek? Papa! And who helps the Papa take care of the flock? Bishops! And what's 'bishop' mean? Overseer!  Yes. And next come what the Bible calls 'presbyters.'

I have presbyopia [on the board]; I can't see stuff close-up anymore. Presbyopia is Greek, it means old-eye. What might 'presby-' mean?  Old?  Yes, old. The Greek word for an old man, an elder, is presbyteros [on the board under 'episkopos,' restored from 'piskop'] (πρεσβύτερος, fyi). You may remember St. Paul and the apostles didn't just appoint bishops, but also elders. Presbyteros is a very old word, a few thousand years old or so. We use it all the time in English but it's changed so much we don't recognize it anymore. It's gotten shorter, look: [I rub letters out of presbyteros so that it reads presbyter--]. That's like what word? Presbyterian?  Yes. But it got even shorter: [more rubouts] pres--ter. Nowadays it's real short: pres--t...what's that word now? Is it priest?  Yes, good. So when we say 'priest' we also are saying....elder? Yes. Some Bibles will say 'presbyter;' some will say 'elder.' Hey, who's the President? Obama? Yes, where's he from, a big city....Washington? No, where's he from? Umm, Chicago? Yes, Chicago. In Chicago's government they elect elders, who are right under the mayor. They call them 'aldermen', it's just a way to say 'elder-men'. Kind of like the way our priest-elders are under the...bishop? Yes.

Now remember last week we learned from Acts that when the apostles were first setting the Church up in Jerusalem, they needed help feeding widows and orphans. They appointed men who would help them serve the tables. In Greek, the word for that kind of Church helper is diakonos [on the board under presbyteros] (διάκονος, fyi). What do we- deacons! Yes, we call them deacons. They assist at Mass, baptize, and marry people; they help the priests and bishops, just like in the apostles' day.

So these are all the offices of the Church; say 'em in English from the top: pope...bishop...priest...deacon. Yes. The Catholic Church has all of these offices, but other churches don't.

What church's name sounds like episkopos? Episcopal? Yes. Who do you think is in charge of that church? Umm...bishops? Yes. They don't accept the Pope's authority, which Jesus gave to Peter.

How about presby- Presbyterians! Yes, do they have bishops? No. Right; Presbyterian churches have elders and deacons, but not bishops and popes.

And last are churches that don't have elders but have...deacons? Yes. For example, most Baptist churches have a Board of Deacons which run each church.

So tell me, which Church has all the offices that we see Jesus and the apostles setting up in the New Testament? The Catholic Church. Yes.

class continues in the next post

The Living Chain

 continued from the prior post

After hands were laid on Paul, he went to Cyprus and Greece to evangelize. Y'all know about Greece, right? Yes. It's still a country, and Cyprus is a copper-mining island near Greece. The word copper comes from Cyprus. Paul intended to bring the Gospel to Jews living in Greece and Cyprus, but he had better luck with Gentiles, people like us who weren't Jews. Let's imagine Paul coming to a new town, let's say Corinth in Greece. What would you call people who live in Corinth? Corinthians? Yes. Paul would go to the synagogue or the marketplace, and start preaching about Jesus to whichever Corinthians would listen. As people came to believe in Jesus, Paul would baptize them. After a couple of months, there would be enough new Christians to start a small church; usually people would meet in someone's house. But was Paul's job to stay in one town and run a parish? No, he had to go to other places. Yes, why? Well, to tell everybody about Jesus. Yes. Now when Paul would leave a new flock of Christians, what would they need? A shepherd! Yes, and would the sheep hire their own shepherd? No, Paul would pick one! Yes. He might ask the flock to suggest someone to be in charge of them, but it was his decision to appoint a shepherd. Yes? I thought Jesus was the shepherd. He is, but remember how Jesus gave his authority to the apostles to feed the multitudes, baptize, forgive sins, and so on? Yes. Well, the apostles laid hands on Paul to give him their authority; and in turn, Paul laid his hands on men he would authorize. Just like Isaac "handing" down his authority to Jacob. Let's jump ahead a bit since you bring this up now. Later on in his travels, Paul makes bishops of two men named Timothy and Titus. In a letter he wrote to Timothy, Paul said, "I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands." And what do people rekindle? A fire. Yes, in this case spiritual fire. And he wrote to Titus, "I left you in Crete, that you might...appoint elders in every town as I directed you." Paul is always careful to appoint shepherds or bishops by laying of hands; people don't vote for them. And he expects those bishops...to lay hands on people too. Yes, in this example, to "appoint elders." In those days if someone claimed to be an elder, he might say, "The apostles laid hands on Paul; who laid hands on Titus; who laid hands on me." That way people could see that he shared the authority of the apostles. The Bible doesn't say one way or another, but I expect that Jesus laid his hands on the apostles to start the chain.

Speaking of all this hands-laying, what will happen to y'all next year? We get confirmed. More specifically, please. The Bishop lays his hands on us? Yes. He's at the end of a 2,000-year-old living chain of authority and hand-laid blessings and going back to Jesus. So in a couple of years when you're confirmed, you'll become a part of that chain.

And when y'all are Confirmed, are y'all going to be bishops? Ha! No! Oh....are you going to be priests or deacons? No, we just stay the same. Well, actually you don't stay the same; there is a change, but the change isn't obvious.

When a baby is born, what's the first thing Christian parents do? Get the baby baptized. Yes, when the priest squirts ketchup on its head? No! He uses water! Oh yeah, water....what does the water wash away? Original sin! Yes...and if the priest prays real hard but doesn't pour water on the baby, does that work? No! Right; Jesus said you have to be born again of water and spirit. So the water and the Holy Spirit together change the baby. Can you tell the baby is different? His head's wet. Uh-huh, thank you for your contribution.....after his head dries off, he seems exactly the same as before, but the Holy Spirit's made a big spiritual change. Original sin is gone, and the baby is permanently changed, even if he sins when he gets older. He can never be un-baptized.

Through Baptism the baby is cleaned of Original Sin by a big first dose of the Holy Spirit.

But in the New Testament we see the Apostles get extra doses of the Holy Spirit after Baptism. The second time is when the resurrected Jesus breathed on them and says, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (Jn 20) Then on Pentecost Sunday the Apostles got a third dose of the Holy Spirit. What did that dose look like? You could see it above their heads.... Oh, fire! Yes, fire; they were...fired up! Yes! So we know the Apostles got at least three separate doses of the Holy Spirit. I doubt they looked any different after any of them, so don't be disappointed if you look the same after Confirmation.

Later in Acts, the Apostles 'hand' out doses of the Spirit like so: "Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for it had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit." (Acts 8:14-18) The Bishops today lay hands that same way. And their blessing is like Isaac's: so special that it makes a permanent difference. You can usually tell a blessing is special when someone with authority puts his hands on the head of the person being blessed.

The dose of the Holy Spirit we all receive at Confirmation doesn't authorize us to forgive sins, but it is a bit like the Apostles' last dose on Pentecost. You'll be spiritually strengthened, and receive what are called Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Everyone doesn't get the same gifts: like St. Paul said, a body has different parts, but they all work together. But you'll get something, and it may be years before you realize what it is. It took me about 30 years. My gift is making 6th graders suffer! We know that already! Oh.

And what else will the Bishop do? No guesses, that's ok. You'll get treated like King David...you'll get...anointed? Yes, genius! We will? Yes, no kidding. Remind me please, Messiah [on the board] is the Hebrew word for anointed, yes, and Christos [on the board], or Christ would be...? Greek for anointed! Yes. They both mean anointed. At Baptism a baby gets oil put on its head, it's called Chrism [on the board], the Greek word for oil. See how Christ and Chrism are related? And when priests are ordained, their hands are anointed with...Chrism. Yes.

All these anointings with Holy Chrism mark a permanent change in the anointed people: the King is permanently King; a baby becomes a member of Christ's family; a priest is permanently a priest. When you are Confirmed, you'll be anointed, marking a permanent change in you. Sort of a spiritual tattoo...it doesn't come off. By the way, the Greek churches call Confirmation 'Chrismation'...why is that? Because that's Greek for Anointing? Yes, genius at work, you are right!

These are the things that will happen to you at Confirmation: the Bishop, who is a successor to the Apostles, will lay his hands on you in blessing. You'll be anointed with Holy Chrism. You'll receive another dose of the Holy Spirit, giving you Gifts to help to live your Christian faith. All these things have been done for God's children for thousands of years, and soon you'll be a new link in that living chain of spiritual fire. So when the bishop lays his hands on you, don't just think about the bishop. Think of the apostles on Pentecost Sunday getting fired-up with Gifts of the Holy Spirit; the apostles handing that fire on to the bishops; and the bishops keeping the fire alive for 2,000 years so that those Gifts can be handed on to you.

But suppose I said you can skip all that Confirmation business; I'll rub some oil and lay hands on you right here in class? How about that? It wouldn't work. Why not? You aren't a bishop. Right; I don't have...authority? Yes. I don't have apostolic authority.

Back to Paul. Remember he converted more Gentiles than Jews to Christianity. The problem was that Gentiles did things Jews didn't do: eat pigs, oysters, lobsters, food that was unclean for Jews; do whatever they wanted on Saturday, ignoring those 39 rules the Pharisees were so obsessed with; and paid no attention to all that Levitical sacrifice business at the Temple in Jerusalem. Well, the Jewish Christians thought the Gentile Christians needed to do all the Jewish stuff in order to be Christians. After all, Jesus followed all the Mosaic laws; shouldn't his followers do the same? And weren't the scriptures God's Word? Who could ignore them? Trick question: what did Paul decide? That they didn't have to do that stuff? Good guess, but no; Paul didn't make a decision on his own. "Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question..." Even though Jesus had personally appeared to Paul, spoke to him, blinded him, and knocked him down, that didn't give Paul authority to make this big decision by himself. "When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them...But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up, and said, "It is necessary to...charge them to keep the law of Moses."..."The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter." Did the whole flock of sheep get together? No, just the shepherds! Yes, genius; just the shepherds. And guess which apostle spoke first? Peter! Yes, "...after there had been much debate, Peter rose and said to them...why do you make trial of God by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?" Then James said, "Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God..."  And so the apostles and elders decided, "For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden..." So the shepherds as a group decided that people who belonged to the New Covenant didn't have to obey the rules of the...Old Covenant? Yes. And they understood that the Holy Spirit would guide them to the right answer. The apostles didn't cast lots or draw straws to find out what God wanted, like they did when they replaced Judas with Matthias; they were were more confident now about making decisions together with the Holy Spirit. And even though some of the sheep didn't like the apostles' decision they had to accept it, because the shepherds had...authority? Yes. Neither Paul nor the sheep could decide for themselves what Scripture means, or what the Church should do.

When all the shepherds meet to make big decisions for the whole flock, it's called a council.  Because this council was held in Jerusalem, it's called the...Council of Jerusalem? Yes. And there have been many other councils in other cities since then. That first council was held by Peter and the apostles, but they're all dead. Who would be at a Church council now? Umm, the Pope?  Yes, and? Bishops?  Yes. The most recent council was held in Rome when I was about your age, the Second Vatican Council. Bishops came from all over the world to that council; it was very exciting even for kids.

That's it for tonight...praised be Jesus Christ!

Now and Forever!

Building the Church

 This post is linked to Sunday Snippets

Y'all remember from last week Jesus rose from the dead on...Easter Sunday, yes, and after a certain amount of time...40 days, yes again, will go to...heaven. Yes. Let's look at two more things Jesus did before He "ascended to His Father."

What did the apostles do for a living? They were apostles. I mean before they followed Jesus, what did they do? What did Peter do? He was a fisherman. Yes. They were regular guys with regular jobs, not Scripture experts like the scribes, priests, and Pharisees. So after Jesus was alive again, "beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." Jesus had to explain to the apostles how prophecies (like all the Christmas prophecies) made by men such as Isaiah were true about Jesus.  "...he said to them, "These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures..." I don't think they would have figured it all out on their own.

Remember that even though the Risen Jesus was on earth between Easter and the Ascension, he wasn't here the whole 40 days, only occasionally. And He didn't give the apostles clear instructions about what they should be doing. They were at loose ends. One evening Peter was with some of the disciples. "Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." Doesn't that sound sad? "Guess I'll go fishing, go back to my old job..."

"They went out and got into the boat." How many fish do you think they caught? Not any! Yes. "...but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any fish?" Well? No! Right. "He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat..." Then what? They caught a lot! Yes! "So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, for the quantity of fish." Then they recognized Jesus- why? 'Cause they caught all the fish. Yes; it was like the first time Peter met Jesus three years before, after fishing all night and catching nothing.

After they got all the fish to shore, they had breakfast with Jesus. Remind me, on the Thursday night Jesus was arrested, what did Peter do when people recognized him as a friend of Jesus? He said he wasn't His friend. Yes, how many times? Three! Yes, which means Peter...broke...the contract! Yes: "I ain't no Rock, I'm Silly-Putty!" Poor Peter. But "When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Peter is so sorry he abandoned Jesus. How many times...three!  yes, Jesus asked Peter three times. And how many... three times!  yes, three times Peter said he loved Jesus. Which means? They have the contract again. Yes, in front of witnesses. And each time Peter said he loved Jesus, Jesus said  "Feed my lambs." So the contract is pretty specific now. Who is the Good Shepherd? Peter! Is he? ...no, Jesus is! Yes! Is Jesus going to be around much longer? No! Where's he going? Heaven. And while Jesus will be away he...puts somebody in charge! Yes. By the way, did Jesus give all the apostles his authority to forgive sins? Yes? Yes, they were all together in one room when he breathed on them. But did Jesus tell them all to feed his lambs? No, just Peter. Yes, Peter is the #1 apostle-in-charge.

That's the end of the Gospels.

The next book in the New Testament is about the acts of the Apostles, the things they did. What's the name of this book?  The Acts of the Apostles? Yes. Whatta gimme that was. As we know from the Gospels, Jesus has resurrected, but he really belongs in...Heaven. Yes. Chapter 1 of Acts says: "So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" See, even after all this Resurrection business, the apostles are still expecting Jesus to restore the kingdom that had been built by...King David, yes, and...King Solomon. But Jesus wants them to quit obsessing about politics.  "He charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit." "...you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight." Bam, just like that, gone.

Imagine the apostles standing there, with their mouths open, gaping at the sky: wow...wouldja just look at that. "And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes..." who would be...angels? Yes. They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." How did Jesus go up? On a cloud. So how will he come back? On a cloud? Yes, we assume so: "in the same way."

The apostles went back to Jerusalem and waited for the Holy Spirit. In the meantime, they had a problem. How many apostles were there? Twelve? Oh. Who betrayed Jesus, a monkey? No, Judas! Yes, who was a monkey? No, an apostle! And Judas the slimy traitor was still part of the Apostle Club? No, he killed himself. Yes, so how many ap...eleven! Yes, there were only eleven apostles now. How many should there be? Twelve. So they have to...make another apostle? Yes. "Peter stood up among the brethren..." see, Peter's in charge; and he says, "May another take his office." Tell me, if my brother dies, can I get another brother? No. But if the mayor or the president dies, what then? We get another one. Yes. Being a mayor or a president makes someone an office-holder. Even if the person in the office dies, the office goes on. And Peter says being an apostle is an office, so they should get another. "So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us; one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection." They pick from the disciples who had been with Jesus the whole three years. "And they put forward two, Joseph...and Matthias. And they prayed and said, "Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men, show which one of these two thou hast chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship..." And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was enrolled with the eleven apostles." Casting lots is like drawing straws or rolling dice. I think the apostles weren't too sure of themselves yet to just out-and-out pick someone.

Remind me how many days it was from Easter Sunday to the Ascension. 40. Yes. So the Ascension is always on a Thursday. There's another event 10 days after the Ascension...? What's 40 plus 10? 50. Yes. What's this called [I draw a pentagon]? A pentagon. Yes; P-e-n-t-e [on the board] means...five! Yes, so the the event 50 days after Easter Sunday is...Pentecost? Yes, Pentecost Sunday, it's the birthday of the Church; like the Last Supper was the birthday of the priesthood. Let's look at Pentecost now.

"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. "Y'all have probably seen paintings of the apostles with the little birthday-candle sort of flames above their heads...I think of them as getting FIRED UP! No more "Jesus, we're too scared to stick with you; Jesus, we're too tired to watch and pray; Jesus, which one of us do you like the best; Jesus, explain that to us again; Jesus, we don't know what to do next." Instead, like John the Baptist said, they were baptized with fire and the Holy Spirit. From then on they spread the Gospel, the Good News, fearlessly; so fearlessly that they were all eventually martyred except for John.

"Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. And they were amazed and wondered, saying, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?" People can't believe these hicks from Galilee know any foreign languages. This is one of their gifts of the Holy Spirit, to spread the Good News in other languages.

The Church started in Jerusalem. Before too long there got to be so many new Christians that the apostles needed some help with the daily work of the Church, such as feeding the poor. "And the twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word." And what they said pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen..." and six others. "These they set before the apostles" and what did the apostles do? Lay their hands on them! Yes!  "...they prayed and laid their hands upon them." They "handed" over some of their authority to these helpers.

Now let's learn about a man who is sometimes called the 13th apostle. His name is Saul...Yes? His name got changed to...Stop! Don't give it away yet! So, there was this man named Saul. He may have been a Pharisee: knew the Scriptures up and down, back and forth, way better than the apostles did. And he knew all the rules about the Sabbath and so forth. Well, Saul didn't like this new Christ-Messiah business that the apostles wouldn't shut up about. They were aggravating scribes, Pharisees and Levites at the Temple just like Jesus used to do! So Saul had it in for the Christ-followers, the Christians: "...Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison." And if that's not bad enough, he was there when Stephen, who was just made one of the apostles' helpers, was stoned to death. The book of Acts says "And Saul was consenting to his death."

Stephen is the first of many martyrs.

Then "...Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem." Saul wasn't satisfied with nailing Christians in Jerusalem; he had to go root them out in Damascus, which is still the capital of Syria, right next to Israel. "Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him. And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" So...who was it? Jesus? Yes. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul arose from the ground; and when his eyes were opened, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus."

Some paintings of the moment that Jesus appeared to Saul in that blinding flash of light show Saul knocked off a horse he had been riding. Acts doesn't say if he was on a horse or not, but I like the idea that Jesus knocked Saul off his high horse to get his attention and teach him some humility.

After a few days, Jesus sent a disciple named Ananias to heal Saul's blindness..how'd he do it? Laid hands on him! Yes. "Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized, and took food and was strengthened. For several days he was with the disciples at Damascus. And in the synagogues immediately he proclaimed Jesus, saying, "He is the Son of God." Saul was converted to faith in Jesus in just a few days; of course having Jesus personally appear to Saul and knock him silly helped with that.

And today if someone has a rapid change of mind about something important, people will say they had a Damascus Road conversion.

Saul was such a great preacher about his new faith in Jesus that he aggravated people in Damascus; some were aggravated enough to...kill him? Yes. But his friends lowered him over the city walls in a basket, and he made it back to Jerusalem.  Saul needed some time to persuade the Christians in Jerusalem that he had had a change...of...heart! Yes, and that he could be trusted. But once the Church was satisfied, Saul and his friend Barnabas were sent out on their own:  "While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off." Being "set apart" means Saul is especially dedicated to his job of evangelizing. In Saul's case being set apart meant that like Jesus, he never got married. What people are like that today? Priests? Yes, and ...nuns. Yes. Priests, nuns, and Saul all imitate...Jesus. Yes.

Now after Saul got hands laid on him and was set apart, the Bible never calls him Saul again. OK you can tell me, from now on he's called...Paul! Yes, his name was changed, like Simon's named was changed to...Peter, yes which means...rock, or...stone. Yes.

continued in the next post

No Loitering

After Jesus was buried on Friday evening, the apostles hid out; they worried they'd wind up on crosses themselves. What happened on Saturday? Nothing? Well, Saturday was a feast day...what feast day? Easter! Easter? There's no Easter just yet; when's the first Easter? The next day. Yes, Sunday. So what's the Saturday/Sabado/Sabbath eat-the-Lamb feast? Passover! Yes [on the board]. What's the Hebrew word? No guesses? It starts with a P.  Yes, P-E-S-A-C-H, [on the board under Passover] that's ok, it's not easy to remember. So what happened on Sunday? Jesus was alive again! Yes, we call that particular Sunday...Easter Sunday. Yes. What word does Easter have in it? Umm....east? Yes, and where does the sun rise? In the East. Yes. The word Easter refers to Springtime, it's an old pagan word, but now we use it for a Christian holy day...we baptized it so it's a Christian word now. You can't baptize a word! You're right, I don't mean it literally. Hey, cómo se llama Easter en Español? What's Spanish for Easter? Pascua! Yes, P-a-s-c-u-a [on the board under Pesach]. That's how the Spanish say Pesach. In Italian they say Pasqua; in French Pâques; in Holland it's Pasen; in Danish it's Påske. Most countries say "Passover-Pesach" when we say "Easter" because the whole 4 days from the Last Supper on Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday make the Passover, the Pesach, of the New Covenant. We miss out on that in English; but we do call Jesus the Paschal Lamb, which means what? The Passover Lamb? Yes, the Lamb of the New Passover.

So when did Easter start? Sunday morning. What happened? Jesus was alive again. Yes, that's called the...Res...Resurrection! Yes. Somebody ask me how Jesus resurrected. How did He do that? I...don't...know! It's...a...miracle! Yes! Humans can't figure it out. Now, Super-duper trick question: what was the first thing Jesus did after he was buried? Walked out of the tomb? Good guess, but listen:

I believe in God,
the Father Almighty,
Creator of Heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into Hell.
On the third day, He rose again...

So before Jesus rose? He went to Hell!? Yes, but remember when Lazarus, the dog-licked-scabby-man died, he rested in the bosom of...Abraham! Yes. Was he in Heaven? No. Was he in Hell with the Devil? No. So where was he? The other place that starts with an S. Yes, S-H-E...Sheol! Yes, like Hades in Greek. English uses the word Hell for both Sheol and 'regular' Hell..

Let's look at a great picture of Jesus descending into Sheol [handout]:

This event is called the "Anastasis" in Greek. It means "standing-back-up;" just like "Resurrection" means "surging-up-again." By the way, Anastasia (ah-nah-STAH-zi-ya) is a girl's name in Russian and Greek; it comes from Anastasis. How about that name, girls? It's pretty! I think so, too. Boys? Who cares? Boys- you'll never learn. 

What would you expect a picture of the Resurrection to show? Jesus coming out of the tomb with the soldiers and all. Yes. But the Eastern Churches remember Jesus went to Sheol first, like the Creed says.

Hey, let's check out the Greek on the picture: over Christ's head is HANAcTACIC, Anastasis. To the left is IC, short for IECUC, "Jesus"; to the right, XC for...Christ! XRICTOC, yes, "Christos". Why don't the C's sound like C's?  They do, like the C in "cereal". And the X shows why we abbreviate Christmas as Xmas. Now look at Jesus; what's he up to? He's pulling those people out of Sheol. Yes, pulling them to where? Heaven? Yes. And he's yanking them out by the wrists, he's fired up! Time to get out! Now who are these people? Good people who couldn't go to Heaven? Yes, but now they can, because...Jesus died for their sins? Yes! How long have they been there? A long time? Yes, that's why Jesus is in a hurry, they don't need to be in Sheol one more second. Tell me who the first two people are that Jesus is yanking out...are they two monkeys? It's a man and a woman. Yes, and the man has the longest beard so...he's the oldest? Yes, and so...he's been there...the longest? So, who would this man and woman...Adam and Eve! be, yes Adam and Eve! They're getting out first because...they went there first. Yes. And behind Eve, who's the guy with stick who comes next? What's the stick? A shepherd thing. Yes, a crook. So he's...a shepherd. Yes, so? Who's a shepherd after Adam and Eve? Abel! Yes! And behind Adam, who are the two men with crowns? Kings? Yes..Kings Herod senior and junior? No, they were bad. So? David and Solomon? Yes, which is which? David is the older one. Yes, and his son Solomon is younger. And how about the man with the ragged hair and dull outfit...it's not obvious...John the Baptist? Yes, genius! Messy hair, a long beard, and plain clothes are some of John's attributes, like Peter's keys and St. Lucy's...eyeballs! Yes!

Now I'm just guessing about the other people, but they may be Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, & Isaiah...prophets & such. Now look at the bottom, what's that busted-up stuff? Locks? Yes, why? 'Cause Jesus unlocked Sheol? Yes, and those broken doors show people can't be shut up in Sheol anymore. Can y'all see that tied-up man down there? Who might that be? A bad person who won't go to Heaven? Good guess...or maybe he represents Death, or the Devil. This painting is in a church in Istanbul, Turkey, so if you ever go there, you might go see it. Yes? We just learned about Istanbul in school! Yes? Tell us about it. There's a big church there called Hagia Sophia and it was built by Justinian. Yes, I've been to Hagia Sophia a few times, it's the best, it's incredible! Hagia Sophia means "Holy Wisdom" in Greek; Istanbul used to be a Greek city. Here's a word y'all probably know: philosopher. It's Greek for someone who "loves wisdom;" the soph- is the same in Hagia Sophia and philosopher. 

Back to the story: after Jesus "descended into Hell," then what? He rose up out of the grave. Yes, the tomb. "Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran, and went to Simon Peter...and the other disciple...Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb..." Why did young John let Peter go in first? 'Cause Peter was older? Yes, and because Jesus had changed Peter's name, the apostles knew Peter was #1. But John and Peter thought someone must have stolen Jesus's body: "as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead." They didn't have any idea that Jesus would come back to life. "Then the disciples went back to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb...turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus...(She supposed him to be the gardener)." Mary was so sure Jesus was dead that she didn't recognize him! "Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbi!" (which means Teacher)."  Once Jesus spoke to Mary, she knew who he was. She must've tried to hug him, because "Jesus said to her, "Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father." Don't touch me? What?

Later that evening "Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord." They probably thought she was just seeing things. "On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." Can you imagine how excited they would have been? And Jesus appeared to them in a shut room- how'd he manage that? "And...he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." Y'all remember earlier in Jesus's ministry, he stopped doing Baptisms. If you wanted to get Baptized, what would happen? One of the apostles would do it. Yes, Jesus put...them...in charge! Yes, in charge of...baptisms! Yes. Well, when Jesus tells them "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven" what's he putting them in charge of now? Forgiving sins? Yes; so if we want to get our sins forgiven...we get an apostle? Yes. But they're all dead. Yes. Jesus put the apostles in charge, and they knew they'd die; so in turn, the apostles put...somebody else in charge? Yes, bishops and priests. So if you want sins forgiven...you go to a priest? Yes. But can't we pray to Jesus if we're sorry for our sins? Yes, we can, and do. But we're made of a...body'n'soul, yes. And which parts sin? Both parts! Yes, and for both our soul and our body to experience forgiveness, we go to Confession. We have to confess body and soul to an authorized person, like King David confessed to... Nathan! Yes!

"Now Thomas, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe." We call him Doubting Thomas. He didn't want to have faith, he wanted to...see!  Yes, people say seeing...is...believing! Yes! "Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them...he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"  How much faith did Thomas need to stick his fingers in Jesus? Well, not any. Right, and Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."  But I feel better knowing Thomas did stick his fingers in the holes.

Remind me please, on Good Friday, what happened? Jesus died on the cross. Yes, he was dead. Totally dead, not sorta dead, or nearly dead. Completely alive on Thursday; completely dead on Friday. And then on Easter he rose from the dead, much to everyone's surprise. Completely dead on Saturday; completely alive on Sunday! But the Risen Jesus, the new Jesus, wasn't like the old Jesus: chewing out Pharisees, driving out demons, knocking over tables, drawing crowds. It would've been ok to hug the old Jesus. But the Risen Lord didn't want Mary to even touch him.

On one occasion Jesus runs into two apostles on a road, the Road to Emmaus. They talk and walk with Jesus for a long time, and don't recognize him until dinnertime; as soon as they recognize him, he disappears!

Then two times the Apostles were more or less hiding in the upper room, with the door shut. Each time, Jesus appears among them without coming through the door, and apparently leaves without going through the door.

Sometimes Jesus eats; sometimes he doesn't. Sometimes he doesn't want to be touched, as Mary Magdalene learned; but what did Jesus tell Thomas to do? Stick your fingers in the holes! Yes! Sometimes he's here, then vanishes, then he's somewhere else. People have no idea when or where Jesus'll be or how long he'll stay if he does. Sometimes he says important things; other times he hardly makes a peep.

Trick question: when Jesus would disappear...where'd he go? Umm, heaven? Maybe so; maybe he spent time with his momma, too. Now, remember Adam & Eve in Eden: sick? No! Old? No! Hang out with God the Father all day? Yes! What messed up this good deal? Sin! Yes. Now, before the Resurrection, could Jesus get sick? Yes! Get old? Yes! Die? Yes! Good. Trick question...was Jesus a sinner? No! So how come he could have bad stuff happen to him? No guesses? Go back to Eden: in Eden could a lamb get eaten by a lion? No! How about after Eden? Yes! Did the lamb become a sinner, and so that's why it could get eaten, get sick, and die? Ha, no, animals can't sin. So why did bad stuff happen to animals? 'Cause Adam & Eve messed everything up? Yes, the whole world suffered because of sin. So why did bad stuff happen to Jesus? Well 'cause he was in the world? Yes. Even the innocent suffer. How about after he rose again; could bad stuff still happen to Jesus? Ummm...no? Right, why not? Well, he had risen from the dead. Yes, so? OK, if we die in a state of grace, where do we go? Heaven. Yes, our souls go to heaven; our bodies go...into the ground! Yes. When Jesus died on the cross, where'd his soul go? Heaven? Yes, he opened heaven. But Jesus' soul couldn't just stay in heaven while his body decomposed in the tomb. Why not? Umm, he had to show people he was God? Yes. When Jesus rose physically, he showed that all that stuff he'd been saying for the last 3 years was true; that he had conquered sin body'n'soul. But his new, glorified body was different...y'all guessed right that he couldn't get sick, grow old or any of that. Who does that sound like: no sickness, no growing old, no death...? Adam and Eve? Yes, in Eden. So Jesus' risen body is free from the bad things that come from sin. But even though he's risen, he still appears in the sinful world. If your body'n'soul is free from sin, where should you be? Heaven? Yes, and that's where Jesus wants to be, just like we would, but he has to tie up some loose ends. He appears to a few people (especially Thomas) so they can be sure he really rose from the dead; he eats a little food so they see he's not a ghost; Jesus shows the Apostles how the Old Testament is full of prophecies about himself; and he gives them an extra dose of the Holy Spirit so they can forgive sins. But Jesus doesn't stick around more than necessary. Living in the sinful, fallen world just isn't comfortable if you should be in heaven; it's not normal. Jesus doesn't want to get very involved in the world like he used to, it's not his home anymore. He just lingers a bit here and there....he's disengaged, that's a good word for y'all to learn. Remember Jesus told Mary Magdalene right after he'd risen, "don't touch me, I haven't yet ascended to the Father." He wasn't used to his glorified body yet, and didn't want to be touched by the sinful world; he just wanted to be in heaven. Later on, he did let Thomas touch him, but I imagine Jesus had to prepare himself for that. So during the forty days after Easter, most of the time he must've been in heaven, because he visits Earth only a few times, and never for more than an hour or two. Jesus exists between heaven and earth, he appears and disappears, but he's not a ghost. Remind me about 'forty days,' please. It means a long time. Yes, a long time of what? Preparation! Yes. So this 40 days is about Jesus preparing to do what? Umm, stay in heaven? Yes, where he belongs.

In next week's class Jesus will go to Heaven; and the apostles will get fired-up about their new job: setting up the Church.

Class over!