Angela,
I too get confused when I hear about the City of David. Here's what I finally discovered - and which helped abate my confusion:
Zion was a fortress on a Mount Zion which was on the southwest side of Jerusalem. In 2 Samuel 5:7-10, King David captures that fortress. Upon his capturing that city, it then became called the City of David. Because he captured it. He then chose to live there and as it was so near the city of Jerusalem - and of course because he lived there others moved there and the living area spread, Zion became known as Jerusalem. According to 1 Kings 2:10, David was also buried in Jerusalem.
In the New Testament, Luke calls Bethlehem the City of David. (2:11) Then, that title is referring to the place where David was born and raised.
So, we have to go with the context of the stories when we are listening to the Bible stories. And we just have to remember that in the Old Testament the City of David refers to Jerusalem, because that is the city he captured and made his headquarters when he was king.
Your answer? Usually, note: Usually, the City of David refers to Jerusalem. Once in a while it means the city where he was born - and then it is Bethlehem. Let the context be your guide.
Crystal clear, right? !!
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
I have a friend who always says, "Offer it up," when I am in pain. I don't understand what she means. -B
B-
I remember asking a faithful person in the Church what that meant too. I think it was just in the last year or so. Here's how I understand it. ... When I suffer any type of pain, I can join hands with Jesus and we can together offer our hurt as prayer, worship, and offering to God. We can offer it for the healing of others, for the salvation of souls, for lots of things. The important thing to note here is that I am joining hands with Jesus to do this. He suffered for us. We join Him in his suffering and hence give him the gift of ourselves in order that other may be brought to Him. I hope that makes sense.
Anyone else have ideas on this?
I remember asking a faithful person in the Church what that meant too. I think it was just in the last year or so. Here's how I understand it. ... When I suffer any type of pain, I can join hands with Jesus and we can together offer our hurt as prayer, worship, and offering to God. We can offer it for the healing of others, for the salvation of souls, for lots of things. The important thing to note here is that I am joining hands with Jesus to do this. He suffered for us. We join Him in his suffering and hence give him the gift of ourselves in order that other may be brought to Him. I hope that makes sense.
Anyone else have ideas on this?
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Is the Sabbath Saturday or Sunday?
The simple answer is, "Yes!"
Now the longer answer: To the Jewish people, the Sabbath day was Saturday. Sunday was the first day of the week. They still celebrate the Sabbath beginning on Friday at sundown.
When Jesus rose from the dead, we are told that He rose on the first day of the week. "For Christians is has become the first of all days, the first of all feast, the Lord's Day ... Sunday: We all gather on the day of the sun, for it is the first day ... when God, separating matter from darkness, made the world; and on this same day Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead." Our celebration of Sunday fulfills the commandment to observe the day of worship. It follows the rhythm and spirit of w weekly celebration of God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. (CCC 2174 & 2175)
However, we Catholics allow for a vigil on the Saturday night before to be considered as the Sunday Mass. ... I think this might come from the fact that the Jews consider that a day starts at sundown. They get this idea from the Creation story in Genesis. "Evening came, and morning followed - the first (second, third, etc) day."
Incidentally, a Mass said the day before cannot count as the next day's Mass unless it begins at 4:00pm or later! ... Oh, so many details!!
To summarize the answer your question, it depends on whether a person is viewing the Sabbath from Jewish or Christian perspective. Than, it depends on whether you are talking about the evening vigil prior which must be at 4:00pm or later.
Now the longer answer: To the Jewish people, the Sabbath day was Saturday. Sunday was the first day of the week. They still celebrate the Sabbath beginning on Friday at sundown.
When Jesus rose from the dead, we are told that He rose on the first day of the week. "For Christians is has become the first of all days, the first of all feast, the Lord's Day ... Sunday: We all gather on the day of the sun, for it is the first day ... when God, separating matter from darkness, made the world; and on this same day Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead." Our celebration of Sunday fulfills the commandment to observe the day of worship. It follows the rhythm and spirit of w weekly celebration of God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. (CCC 2174 & 2175)
However, we Catholics allow for a vigil on the Saturday night before to be considered as the Sunday Mass. ... I think this might come from the fact that the Jews consider that a day starts at sundown. They get this idea from the Creation story in Genesis. "Evening came, and morning followed - the first (second, third, etc) day."
Incidentally, a Mass said the day before cannot count as the next day's Mass unless it begins at 4:00pm or later! ... Oh, so many details!!
To summarize the answer your question, it depends on whether a person is viewing the Sabbath from Jewish or Christian perspective. Than, it depends on whether you are talking about the evening vigil prior which must be at 4:00pm or later.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Fasting from meat on Fridays - why was meat chosen for Catholics to abstain from eating? - Linda
Hi, Linda ...
First of all, let's review why we fast:
- to prepare for special liturgical feasts CCC 2043
- to acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart CCC2043
- to express conversion back towards God CCC 1434
- to obtain forgiveness of sins CCC1434
- in a nutshell: to draw closer to God.
But you probably already know all that.
So what about meat? There are some "documents that indicate that meat was singled out as being a food Christians occasionally abstained from since the first century. ... [It] was singled out because it is associated with celebrations and feasts. ... On top of all that, meat has often been a luxury in many cultures. ... Meat cost a bit more. Maintaining a spirit of simplicity, people turned to other, less expensive fare." http://bulldogcatholic.org/
Also, my heart tells me that there is more to think about with this question: Since ancient times the Hebrews offered meat up as their sacrifices in the Temple for things like forgiveness, uncleanness, thanksgiving, etc. In the New Testament the Jews continued to do so until the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. That they chose meat as THE offering to God showed an "value" in their minds of what one should use to approach God about BIG things.
Added to that, think about the things we call meat. Meat comes from animals that have blood in them. Blood was seen as the very life of a creature, and as such, it was seen as sacred. The ancients were forbidden to partake of blood. (which was why people turned from Jesus when He said, "This is my blood, take it and drink of it.") Meat then was the most nourishing element in the diet. When we give up the most nourishing thing in our diets, we stay somewhat hungry, somewhat lacking from the very life-givingness of our meal. That lacking allows us to then be a little empty, thus giving us room within us, room which we then are called to fill up with God.
Your question was definitely food for thought! (lol)
First of all, let's review why we fast:
- to prepare for special liturgical feasts CCC 2043
- to acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart CCC2043
- to express conversion back towards God CCC 1434
- to obtain forgiveness of sins CCC1434
- in a nutshell: to draw closer to God.
But you probably already know all that.
So what about meat? There are some "documents that indicate that meat was singled out as being a food Christians occasionally abstained from since the first century. ... [It] was singled out because it is associated with celebrations and feasts. ... On top of all that, meat has often been a luxury in many cultures. ... Meat cost a bit more. Maintaining a spirit of simplicity, people turned to other, less expensive fare." http://bulldogcatholic.org/
Also, my heart tells me that there is more to think about with this question: Since ancient times the Hebrews offered meat up as their sacrifices in the Temple for things like forgiveness, uncleanness, thanksgiving, etc. In the New Testament the Jews continued to do so until the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. That they chose meat as THE offering to God showed an "value" in their minds of what one should use to approach God about BIG things.
Added to that, think about the things we call meat. Meat comes from animals that have blood in them. Blood was seen as the very life of a creature, and as such, it was seen as sacred. The ancients were forbidden to partake of blood. (which was why people turned from Jesus when He said, "This is my blood, take it and drink of it.") Meat then was the most nourishing element in the diet. When we give up the most nourishing thing in our diets, we stay somewhat hungry, somewhat lacking from the very life-givingness of our meal. That lacking allows us to then be a little empty, thus giving us room within us, room which we then are called to fill up with God.
Your question was definitely food for thought! (lol)
Friday, February 19, 2016
My mom says everything I like will be in heaven. Will there be a McDonalds in heaven? -Tina
Tina
How wonderful that you have a question about heaven!
And what deep thinking about food! In heaven, people won't have to work, so I doubt there will be a McDonalds there. Who would make the food?
Will there be McDonalds' food available just because we want it? Like without someone having to make it? I don't know that either.
What I do know is that we will be able to eat in heaven. Jesus tells us that in the book of Revelation. He says says that to the ones who win the prize of heaven he will "give the right to eat from the tree of life that is in the garden of God." Rev 2:7b. That fruit could be french fries and Big Macs, if God wills it!
However, I actually think God, who gives us the best of everything, will provide us with something even better than that! Whatever He gives us will be better than anything we enjoy now and better than we can even imagine. That's something I know for sure!
How wonderful that you have a question about heaven!
And what deep thinking about food! In heaven, people won't have to work, so I doubt there will be a McDonalds there. Who would make the food?
Will there be McDonalds' food available just because we want it? Like without someone having to make it? I don't know that either.
What I do know is that we will be able to eat in heaven. Jesus tells us that in the book of Revelation. He says says that to the ones who win the prize of heaven he will "give the right to eat from the tree of life that is in the garden of God." Rev 2:7b. That fruit could be french fries and Big Macs, if God wills it!
However, I actually think God, who gives us the best of everything, will provide us with something even better than that! Whatever He gives us will be better than anything we enjoy now and better than we can even imagine. That's something I know for sure!
When I die, will I become an angel? - Tina
Tina,
The quick answer to your question is, NO. People don't become an angels when they die. People who go to heaven become Saints, not angels. Why? Because Angels aren't human people. They too were created by God, but as totally spiritual beings.
Humans were created as both spiritual beings AND also physical beings. We have a physical body. Angels do not. We know that we will have new bodies in heaven, perfect, resurrected bodies. We know that because Paul tells us that in his letter to the Philippians: Phil 3:21 "He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body ..." He also tells us that in 1 Cor 15:40 "There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies ..." and when the trumpet sounds announcing the end of earthtime, "we shall be changed." 1 Cor 15:52b
Angels will always be fully spiritual beings because that is the nature which God gave them when He created them.
The quick answer to your question is, NO. People don't become an angels when they die. People who go to heaven become Saints, not angels. Why? Because Angels aren't human people. They too were created by God, but as totally spiritual beings.
Humans were created as both spiritual beings AND also physical beings. We have a physical body. Angels do not. We know that we will have new bodies in heaven, perfect, resurrected bodies. We know that because Paul tells us that in his letter to the Philippians: Phil 3:21 "He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body ..." He also tells us that in 1 Cor 15:40 "There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies ..." and when the trumpet sounds announcing the end of earthtime, "we shall be changed." 1 Cor 15:52b
Angels will always be fully spiritual beings because that is the nature which God gave them when He created them.
What do people mean when they say that relativism is killing our consciences? - R.L.
R.L.
Relativism is the idea that there is no absolute truth. It says that one idea is as good as another. We hear it like this, "Oh, that might be good for you, but I believe something else." or "Well,
if that's good for you, fine." It says I can have one idea and you can have your own and we can both be right. But this is not what God says! Jesus, the 2nd person of God tells us: "I am the way and the TRUTH, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. " John 14:6 In other words, God is Truth. We also know God is unchanging. And, because God is Truth and God is unchanging, we can also be sure that Truth is unchanging and hence we can know that there is an ABSOLUTE truth.
If you want to look at this from another front, you can take this idea of relativism to the extreme and see how it can be shown as a falsity... Take Adolf Hitler. Can we say he was a moral person because he followed what was good for himself? Absolutely not!
So, when people say that relativism is killing our consciences, they are saying that people who believe that there could be one truth for one person and another truth for another person, then they are being bent to the ideas of the world and not of God.
Hope this helps.
Relativism is the idea that there is no absolute truth. It says that one idea is as good as another. We hear it like this, "Oh, that might be good for you, but I believe something else." or "Well,
if that's good for you, fine." It says I can have one idea and you can have your own and we can both be right. But this is not what God says! Jesus, the 2nd person of God tells us: "I am the way and the TRUTH, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. " John 14:6 In other words, God is Truth. We also know God is unchanging. And, because God is Truth and God is unchanging, we can also be sure that Truth is unchanging and hence we can know that there is an ABSOLUTE truth.
So, when people say that relativism is killing our consciences, they are saying that people who believe that there could be one truth for one person and another truth for another person, then they are being bent to the ideas of the world and not of God.
Hope this helps.
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