MM LUMBERA

SPFY 2011-2012 Calendar of Activities

2011-09-20T04:20:00.000-07:00

JUNE

2-5 Cursillo Class (Cabuyao)

11 Arrival (Tagaytay)

12-13 General house Cleaning

14-16 Pre-SPFY Retreat (Tagaytay)

17 Integration Day

18-19 Weekend Sked

20-23 Orientation Week

24 Integration Day

25-26 Weekend Sked

27-30 intensive Journal Writing

JULY

1 Integration Day

2-3 Family Visit

4-7 Prayer and Spirituality

8 Integration Day

9-10 Weekend Sked

11-14 Basic Counseling for the Poor

15 Integration Day

16 Desert Day

17 Weekend Sked

18-21 Family Relations Seminar

22 Integration Day

23-24 Weekend Sked

25-27 Preparation for Lipat Bahay

28 Lipat Bahay (Makati)

29 Integration Day

30, 31 Family Visit

AUGUST

1-2 Family Visit

3-7 Back to Makati/Preparation for Job Exposure

8- SEPTEMBER 8 Job Exposure

SEPTEMBER

9 Integration Day

10 Departure for Bontoc, Mountain Province

11-12 Silence: Preparation for 8-Day Retreat

13-20 8-Day Retreat

21 Back to Makati

22 Rest

23 Integration Day

24-25 Weekend Sked

26 Visit to Manila Doctors

27 Clinical Pastoral Education (C.P.E.) Orientation and Interview

28-DECEMBER 2 C.P.E. (Manila Doctors)

DECEMBER

3 Back to Tagaytay

4 Rest

5 Integration Day

6-8 Family Visit

9 Back to Tagaytay

10 Desert Day

11 Weekend Sked

12- JANUARY 14 Rural/Urban Exposure

JANUARY

15 Back to Tagaytay

16 Rest

17 Desert/integration Day

18-21 Family Visit

22 Back to Tagaytay

23-26 Parish and Convent Management

27 Integration Day

28-29 Weekend Sked

30-31 Family Visit

FEBRUARY

1-2 Silence: Preparation for 30-Day Retreat

3 Departure for 30-Day Retreat

4- MARCH 3 30-Day Retreat (Malaybalay, Bukidnon)

MARCH

4 Back to Tagaytay

5 Rest

6 Integration Day

7-8 Family Visit

9 Back to Tagaytay

10-11 Weekend Sked

12-16 Evaluation Week

17 General House Cleaning

18 Weekend Sked

19-20 Outing

21 Thanksgiving Mass with the Bishop

--END of SPFY 2011-2012--

CHRISM MASS

2011-04-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

Ito ay ginaganap sa Cathedral ng Diyosesis. Ito ay isang mahalagang pagdiriwang sa loob ng mga Mahal na Araw subalit dahilan sa iisang simbahan lamang ito ginaganap sa loob ng Diosesis tuwing Huwebes Santo,marami ang hindi nakakadalo dito at hindi nakakaalam nito. Ano nga ba itong tinatawag na Chrism Mass?

Sa pangalan pa lamang, atin nang makikita kung ano ang ginagawa o nagaganap sa misang ito. Dito ginagawa ng pagbabasbas ng langis na gagamitin o ginagamit sa binyag, kumpil, ordinasyon, sa pagtatalaga sa isang simbahan o altar,at langis para sa may sakit. Dito din ginagawa ang pagpapanibago ng pangakong sinumpaan ng mga pari. Bakit tuwing Huwebes Santo?

During Easter Vigil, ginagawa ang pagbibinyag at pagkukumpil kung saan kailangan ang binasbasang langis. Subalit kung mahirap naman sa isang DIyosesis na magtipon sa araw na ito, maaari din namang gawin ang Misa ng Krisma sa ibang araw na malapit at bago ang Easter. Isa pang dahilan ay kaugnayan ng Lent at ng Easter, na kung saan ay ating pinakahihintay ang dakilang kapistahan ng pagkabuhay ng Panginoong Hesukristo.

Palm Sunday

2011-04-16T23:43:00.000-07:00

click this link

Bishops' Comment on Good Friday crucifixions

2011-04-05T19:09:00.000-07:00

Title of the Article:
Bishops slam Good Friday Crucifixions

Author:
Jocelyn R. Uy

Periodical:
Philippine Daily Inquirer (April 4, 2011/Front page)

Topic:
Bishops’ comment on people’s crucifixion for the sake of tourism during Good Friday

Theme:
Silence, Reflection, and Almsgiving instead of crucifixion

Structure/Outline:

I. Crucifixion for the sake of tourism is unacceptable

a. Some Catholics practice flagellation and crucifixion as an act of faith and atonement for their sins.

b. “The body is sacred to be mistreated”

c. Carrying of the cross as an act of faith is “OK” but crucifixion is an act reserved to Jesus

II. Suggestions of some bishops as an act of atonement for one’s sins instead of crucifixion

a. Silence, reflection, and honestly admitting one’s mistake

b. Prayers

c. Penance through almsgiving

d. Reading and living the Bible and the Church’s tradition

e. Interior conversion instead of external rites that do not touch the heart

Canterbury Tales by Taylor Marshall: Three Biblical Reasons Fasting and Self-Denial

2011-03-29T19:59:00.000-07:00

Canterbury Tales by Taylor Marshall: Three Biblical Reasons Fasting and Self-Denial: "Every year at the beginning of Lent, I'm encouraged and excited about it. However after a few weeks (like today), I start growing weary of t..."

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

2011-03-26T23:45:00.000-07:00

click this link

JOB AS SAGE

2011-03-26T23:33:00.000-07:00

click this link

Adeste Fideles

2010-12-24T22:11:00.000-08:00

Sleigh Bells Ring

2010-12-24T22:10:00.000-08:00

hark the heralds.

2010-12-24T22:01:00.000-08:00

minsan lang kitang iibigin

2010-12-23T16:12:00.000-08:00

DWST Mission spirituality Midterm Exams 2009

2010-05-17T05:03:00.000-07:00

1. Spirituality refers to the people's lived experience of the Holy Spirit in their day-to-day life and existence. It is a relationship to the Holy One called by many names in Asia by Asians. It is also a "relationship to others and the cosmic world" (Rolheser 1999:11). on the level of praxis, it is the way of striving to integrate one's life through self-transcending knowledge, freedom and love in the light of the highest values perceived and pursued 9Downey 1997:15).
What are the key terms in definition?
Justify or give reasons why these terms are constitutive of the concept of spirituality for mission.
What are the demands and challenges of the definition?

2. From the Asian perspective, spirituality for mission is described as "crossing the border" (Phan 2003:57). The first border to be crossed refers to peoples of other religions and ideologies. the second border refers to new groups such as dwellers of megapolises, youth, immigrants, refugees, and the poor. The communications and media, justice and peace, scientific research, international organizations, and religious revival.
What are the three borders to be crossed?
Why are these borders significant for spirituality for mission?
What are the demands and challenges of the spirituality of border crossing?

3. the elements of a relevant spirituality for mission in the third millennium are presence, kenosis, reconciliation and healing, and wholistic anthropology. chose one of these elements and apply it to your local context or situation. describe what it is, justify why it is necessary in your context, and lay down its demands and challenges to be addressed by your people.

Spiritual Direction (questions for final exams 2010)

2010-03-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

Answer all three questions. Notice that in three questions there is a choice. Answer only two parts of number three. No additional credit for answering all three.

1. Describe/outline an actual or fictional spiritual direction session. While you do not need to give a verbatim conversation, describe the conversation in detail. Use the five phases of typical spiritual direction session to show the development of the session. Be sure to illustrate each phase with the material the directee presents as well as responses from the director.
2. Explain how and why experience is the basis for spiritual direction. Include an explanation of the need for discernment in evaluating experience. Give an example of how a spiritual director may assist a directee in doing such discernment.
3. Select only two of the following:
a. Explain the relationship between spiritual direction and sacrament of reconciliation. Be sure to cite examples.
b. Explain the relationship and differences between spiritual direction and counseling. Be sure to cite examples.
c. What are some practical uses for group spiritual direction?

General guidelines”
- Your answers should be type-written.
- There is no prescribe length, but be sure you have completely answered the questions.
- The entire exam is worth 40% of your final grade. The point value of each question is indicated. The fact that question #1 has a higher point value indicates that the longer and more detailed answer is being sought.
- Read the questions carefully and be sure you are giving what is asked.

Due: March 10 at the Academic Office by the close of business.

Interreligious Dialogue (questions for final exam 2010)

2010-03-09T18:08:00.000-08:00

How did the different religions in the world come about?
Why are religions in the world different from one another?
Why there are many religions while one God?
Why many religions at times fighting one another while God is a loving God?
Why should religions dialogue with each other?
What are the summary sentences that describe the world religions?

Reviewer for Comprehensive Examination 2010 (Introduction to Missiology)

2010-02-20T06:07:00.000-08:00

MISSIOLOGY I – Comprehensive Review

1. “The three changes from a Jewish apocalyptic worldview to a Christian worldview, insider-outsider, present age-messianic age, and defensive-missionary, are so interwoven that if any one of them is true, the other two must also be true.”

Yes. The three changes (insider-outsider, present age-messianic age, defensive -missionary) from a Jewish apocalyptic worldview to a Christian worldview are so interwoven that any one of them is true the other two must be also true. Their close relation lies in the reception of BAPTISM wherein one becomes incorporated into Christ.
First, being baptized into Christ, believers have been adopted as children of God. Thus, all barriers have been transcended. There will be no distinction anymore between the insiders and the outsiders. Instead, one is saved by faith in Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female for all are one in Christ.
Second, being baptized into Christ, believers constitute a single body of Christ for the individual believer does not exist in isolation. They all become the Eschatological people of God. Meaning, they labor for the redemption of the world at present but at the same conscious that their effort is just the beginning of the new age. They forming a church are the sure hope of the world’s transformation by preparing the world for its coming destiny at the time of God’s final triumph – the messianic age.
Third, being baptized into Christ, believers form as a community with a mission. They glorify God by showing forth his nature and works and by making manifest the reconciliation and redemption God has wrought through the death, resurrection, and reign of Christ. Thus, they are not other-worldly but missionary. They are involved in the world. They are called to practice a messianic lifestyle within the church but also to exercise a revolutionary impact on the values of the world.

Illustrations and discussion:
• Three worldviews
• Table fellowship of Primitive Christian Community:
• Baptism:
o Transcend barriers
 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female for all are one in Christ.
o Eschatological people
 Labor for redemption at present
 Aware: final triumph at the messianic age
o Distinct community with a mission

2. If you are a Catholic or have some previous knowledge of Catholicism, how accurate do you believe Bosch’s description of the medieval paradigm of mission is? Where would you refine it?

Bosch explains that the mission remains the same regardless of paradigm that carries it out. The mission will be always proclamation of the plan of salvation God has willed for all of his creations. The medieval Catholic paradigm for Bosch employs three models in doing mission, namely: via political control of the Christendom; via war and colonization; and via witnessing of the monks. Analyzing these three models Bosch has identified, one can notice inconsistency if the first two models are equally validated as model of mission like that of the third. The first two cannot be considered as authentic models of mission because they are contradictory to the real meaning of mission. If there were church people during the medieval age who might have been imposing or forcing converts they did not do mission at all in strictest sense. But only the model of mission that fitted into the message of the gospel was an authentic one. Therefore, in the medieval age there was only one authentic model of mission and that was the one being employed by the monks. The other two models were just quasi-models. Mission in the medieval age after all was not something human beings could manipulate. And if there were members of the church before who became manipulative and imposing, they were not missionaries at all in strictest sense. Rather, they were the dark background that highlighted how the pure mission God had entrusted to the church remained intact despite the frail human aspect of the Church.
Discussion:
• Consideration: If we then have to inflict pain on the temporary body in order to secure the welfare of the eternal soul, why not do it!
• Key Biblical text: Lk 14:23 (give birth to the three models)
o Inevitable and logical
o Accurate?
 Inaccurate: Reasons:
• bias of Bosch toward Catholicism;
• The first two are models of mission, but for me (as a Catholic) the third is the authentic model.
• Incomplete; some elements were not mentioned such as Mendicans, Beguine, Monasticism (600-1500)

3. In the Orthodox and Catholic paradigms, partnership between the church and the state is seen as an important aid to mission. How did this partnership fit into each paradigm and make sense as part of the whole?

The Byzantine/Orthodox Church was compromised much to the state. Eusebius of Caesaria constructed a system in which state and church were united in harmony. He combined various early traditions about the divine origin and nature of kings into a new synthesis. Monotheism and monarchy as he suggested went hand in hand and presupposed each other. The unity of the empire coincided with the unity of the faith. Measures were taken to assure the indissoluble unity of the interests of church and state. Mission was a concern of the emperor in as much as the church. The objectives of the state coincided with the objectives of the church and vice versa and this applied to mission as well.
On the other hand, there was an overemphasis on the empirical church as a Roman institution with papal and curial selfhood and authority. In subsequent centuries, the idea of the “city of God”, which Augustine conceived, fused virtually completely with that empirical Roman Catholic Church. Though Augustine did not entirely view the earthly city negative, he declared it to be subservient to the city of God. It was the spiritual society that was supreme; the other was subordinate. The notion of the supremacy and independence of spiritual power over against the political authorities was firmly established and would find its organ of expression above all in the papacy. Likewise, in the superb intellectual edifice of Thomas Aquinas, reason was lower than faith, nature than grace, philosophy than theology and the state than the church. Another, in his famous bull, Unam Sanctam, Boniface VIII declared that both the temporal sword and the spiritual sword had been entrusted to the Church. In other words, the church compromised to the state and to secular power. Also, in church’s understanding of mission and practice, the Church became the bulwark of culture and civilization, and extremely influential in public affairs. The relationship between church and state was actually one of give and take. The partnership between the church and the state fits well in whole of mission. The regime would be blessed by the Church, in exchange for which the state guaranteed to protect and support the church. Though the relationship of the two was never completely relaxed and was always in silent struggle for supremacy, both knew they needed one another. Every bishop or priest was dependent on the goodwill and support of the authorities. Every local leader required the approval of the church. The church’s dependence upon the imperial power also in its mission work was both a necessity and a burden.

Discussion:
- Premise: two paradigms, aims of mission, method of mission
- Intro.: Bosch did not present chronologically the relationship between the church and the state. Only after he mentioned the Catholic mission paradigm, that the Orthodox mission paradigm was critiqued with regard to the partnership between the church and the state.
- Church history: Charlemagne’s policy (link between the Church and the state)

4. Which of the marginal movements contributed most to what you consider a sound theology of mission today – the Anabaptists, the Puritans, the Pieties? What did that one group contribute and why do you consider it so significant?
Source: TM 255
Anabaptists (16th cent.; contemporaries of Luther and Calvin; reformed Lutheran church, Presbyterians)
• Denied the validity of ministerial priesthood and radicalized the common priesthood
• Denied infant baptism
• The true gospel must be proclaimed in Europe because Europeans were not Christians
• Discarded parish boundaries
• Claimed that church and state could not cooperate in mission
Puritans (17th cent.; Calvinist reformed church: free churches, Methodists, Baptists, Quakers)
7 themes in their mission theology:
• Predestination: some are predestined for mission so that others can hear the gospel they are predestined to receive
• The glory of god
• The grace and love of God
• Colonies as theocracies: mission meant not much evangelization and conversion as establishing colonies in which god would be the ruler
• Optimistic theology of history
• The superiority of the Western culture
• Very little explicit emphasis on the Great Commission
Pietists (18th cent.; reformed Lutheran: Mormons, Pentecostals, Unification Church)
• Discipline life rather than sound doctrine
• Subjective experience of the individual rather than ecclesiastical authority
• Practice rather than theory
• They attacked the mainstream Lutheran view of mission. Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg blasted the theologians because of their view that the church was planted everywhere; that the office of the apostle had vanished; that those who were still pagans were cursed; that God if he wished to convert them, would do so without human effort.
• Ordinary men and women went literally to the ends of the earth, devoted themselves for life to people living in the most degrading circumstances, identified with them, and lived the gospel in their midst. (note: Justinian von Welz).
For me, the Pietists contributed most to a sound theology of mission today among the three movements.
1. Emphasis on life witnessing: living the gospel in the midst of the people.
2. Mission as no longer a concern of the colonial government.
3. Mission transformed from being a concern of rulers and church hierarchies to being an enterprise with which ordinary Christians could not only identify but in which they could actively participate.
4. Ushered to ecumenism. It as a total commitment: living the Gospel in the midst of the people.
Critique:
- Negative aspects of the Anabaptists and Puritans:
o Mission as result of individual initiative.
o Anti-mission: Anabaptists prefer to common priesthood. For Puritans, idea of predestination discourages the effort of mission.

5. In your personal opinion, did the Enlightenment have a net positive effect on the church and its mission, a net negative effect, or neither (with the positives and negatives basically cancelling each other out?
• Five threads of Enlightenment (Handout)
• We can understand the Enlightenment with what Bosch called “five threads of Enlightenment.”
1. The superiority of human reason. Anything outside the five senses is doubtful. Anything coming from tradition or religion is doubtful also.
2. Human ability to be detached from nature. Nature becomes the object of human study because of the superiority of human reason.
3. Nature as a cause and effect phenomenon. All that is needed for the human mind to become master is the knowledge of this law on cause and effect.
4. Knowledge as based on verifiable facts alone. Knowledge of nature as factual, value-free and neutral. Facts are objectively true.
5. Faith in humankind to progress. Man can remake the world if they are left alone and freed from traditions and religious ideas. (Positive for mission)

• Let us now evaluate the implications of these threads to mission:
1. Because human reason was held superior, anything outside the five senses was doubted. In effect, anything coming from tradition or religion was also doubted. Christian mission cannot always be explained and rationalized. Much of its data are coming from sources beyond reason – e.g. tradition and doctrines.
2. Because nature becomes the object of human study, it was thought that man will have control over nature; but the opposite took place when the exploited nature affected man adversely. Christian mission does not treat people as objects; nor technology as God; nor nature as property.
3. Enlightenment tells us that in order to become master of the universe man has only to have recourse to the principle of cause and effect. However, Christian faith tells us that the future is God’s initiative and not man’s planning.
4. Since knowledge is based on verifiable data only, we tend to critique the bible as an historical book, disregarding its underlying message which is the more important one.
5. Faith in human capacity may lead us into the danger of “individualism.”
This idea has big impact on mission thinking during this era. This is positive on ones side as it gave confidence to missionaries to reach every corner of the world; it is also negative on the other side as it focuses on the individual effort to do global mission rather than being motivated by God. In a sense, mission becomes individualistic.

• Now let us see the mission motives of Enlightenment:
• 1-4 (theological motives); 5-7 (Western Imperialistic motives); 8-9 (anthropological motives)
1. The Glory of God. Enlightenment lost the sense of God by hailing the human power.
2. Jesus’ love. Before, mission was motivated by compassion (modeled after Jesus); but Enlightenment’s mission is motivated by pity that the indigenous are regarded as noble savages, someone to be pitied.
3. Millennium. Millennium is the biblical vision of a golden age within history. There are three parties debating on this concept.
a. The premillennialist. They believe that Christ’s return will be before the golden age.
b. The postmillennialist. They believe that in God’s providence the chosen people will take the world into a golden age with Christ returning at its end to cap the age in glory.
c. The amillennialist. This is the view of the Enlightenment. They believe that the golden age and the parousia are mythical concept that should inspire them to work on the Kingdom of God on earth. In effect, for them God is a misnomer (nonsense).
This idea gave rise to four radical shifts of mission:
a. Other religions were not intrinsically evil.
b. social involvement is emphasized than evangelistic preaching
c. Salvation referred to life in the present world rather than life after death
d. Mission was designed to affect society rather than individuals
4. Obedience to the Great Commission. Mission becomes not for the sake of the “gospel” itself but because it was a sort of a “law” (positive aspect)
5. The gospel as part of the western culture. The western culture, theology, Christianity becomes normative. The Enlightenment in which the gospel and the culture were intertwined despised other cultures.
6. The “Manifest Destiny” of the Western nations. Manifest destiny is a conviction that God has chosen the western world to be the standard bearer of his cause even to the furthest corner of the world. We can also interpret it as to mean Enlightenment as the new God-given ship in which the gospel will sail the seven seas.
7. Colonialism. The collaboration of the church and the state included the Christianity in the motives of colonization. Thus, 3 Cs of colonization – Christianity, commerce, civilization.
8. Voluntarism. Missions were done also by a band of volunteers. This seems to be good; however, the fall back was that the focus was on converting individuals and the idea of organizing churches (social-political system).
9. Missionary fervor, optimism and pragmatism. This is brought about by the fifth thread. There is a positive hope that mission would succeed.

Personal opinion:
• The Enlightenment seems to be very negative.
1. It has few positive aspects – the fifth thread, voluntarism and missionary fervor – and many negative characteristics as far as mission is concerned.
2. The value of faith was undermined by reason. [There should be no overemphasis because as JPII in Fides et Ratio said, “faith and reason are like two wings of the same reality.”]
3. It deviates from the sovereignty of God and exalt the power humanity. This is a clear sign of pride; individualism narcissism
4. It deviated from Missio Dei as mission depended solely on human capacity.

• However, we cannot deny the fact that Enlightenment has contributed to the shaping of what mission is today. It is not bad at all. We cannot unlearn what we already know. The idea of “progress” of the Enlightenment gave confidence as well as optimism and fervor that the gospel will reach the ends of the earth as indicated by the Great Commission.

- No balance because negative effects stand out. However, we select what is good in
Enlightenment to enrich mission.
- Mission continues in spite of negative aspects of Enlightenment.
- Theology becomes a separate discipline. People becomes aware of their faith.

6. Agree or disagree: The unraveling of the Enlightenment worldview is mostly a Western problem. It has a few implications for mission in many parts of the world where the Enlightenment never had decisive influence over the culture.

• The unraveling started in the very field of science that the enlightenment considered its stronghold-physics.
• Prominent in this breakthrough are Einstein, Bohr, and Heisenberg who put forward theories that shook the foundations of reason and knowing.
• During this time, science or reason was considered as the ultimate and only the source of truth.
• The unraveling of the enlightenment worldview created a problem first in the Western world since it was born there. However, this does not mean that its effect was not felt in the other parts of the world.
• In order to understand what went wrong with Enlightenment, it is helpful to understand first Enlightenment by mentioning the so called “five threads of Enlightenment.”
1. The Superiority of Human Reason. Anything beyond the five senses is doubtful.
2. Human ability to detach from nature making the latter an object of their study.
3. Nature as a cause and effect phenomenon.
4. Knowledge of nature as factual, value-free and neutral. Facts are objectively true.
5. Faith in humankind to progress.

Enlightenment is problematic in view of mission:
1. It exalts the power of human reason and disregarded culture, tradition, or even God. With the advent of Enlightenment, people saw human reason as superior and as the new god while others were just seen as a hindrance to achieve man’s full potentiality.
2. Reducing nature as mere object of study is detrimental to Christian faith since the latter does not see nature as a mere property. It does not also regard technology as god.
3. Emphasis on the principle of cause and effect leads us to see the future not as God’s willing but as our personal planning.
4. Regarding knowledge as based on verifiable facts is detrimental to the study of the Bible. Such worldview puts the Bible in the realm of facts rather than to the realm of values.
5. Too much emphasis on the power of the human reason leads to individualism, narcissism.
Here we see that Enlightenment in general had an averse implication to mission. This was the problem that confronted the Western Church. But such problem was even felt outside the Western horizon, into the other parts of the world. How?
The period of the Enlightenment, somehow coincided with the Age of Discovery – the Age of Colonialism. At this point mission was carried out in the perspective of conquering other lands. Missionaries who went with the colonizers bring with them the developments of technology as well as the concepts and ideas of the Enlightenment. It follows therefore, that the evils that went with it were carried to these colonies.
Since Western culture and Christianity were so intertwined, the people from the colonized lands identified the gospel message with the West.

(But even though this Enlightenment world view originated from the West it does not necessarily mean that it is just a Western issue for it even extends even in some part of the World and later even became a global issue. We all know that the Western Culture was perceived as the Superior culture during this time. They were so powerful and influential to the point that what they were the only culture who possesses the absolute truth. They dictate what is true and what is not. And because of this fact the world was somewhat influenced and dictated to embrace the unraveling enlightenment worldview that originated from the west. Hence, Mission in different parts of the world was affected by the spread of this worldview. People became so dependent with senses and reason and try to do away with pure beliefs. They rejected the idea of religion for it was seen as opium of the society. Religion deceives people to trust or have faith to a God whose existence is questionable and doubtable. With the presence of religion human beings were conditioned to embrace suffering and difficulties as a natural phenomenon that is given to us by this God.)

What was felt in the West was also felt in the other parts of the world when the West, through colonization, reached out to these places bringing with it the ideologies of Enlightenment. It follows therefore, that in the areas hardly reached by these colonizers, the adverse effects of Enlightenment were also hardly felt.

Discussion: DISAGREE
- Although the Western culture is the bearer of the Enlightenment, the missionaries in this period also influenced another aspects of the world.

7. In your situation what signs are there of a convergence of the evangelicals and ecumenicals around justice issues? How, if at all, do the two groups still differ?

• Convergence between Evangelicals and Ecumenicals on justice issue
o Common affirmation of God as the creator and the judge of all men.
 We therefore should share his concern for justice and reconciliation throughout human society and for the liberation of men from every kind of oppression.
o Common affirmation of Mankind made in the Image and Likeness of God
 Every person, regardless of race, religion, color, culture, class, sex or age has an intrinsic dignity because of which he should be respected and served, not exploited.
o Common affirmation on Christian Duty
 We affirm that evangelism and socio-political involvement are part of our Christian duty for both are necessary expression of our doctrines of God and man, our love for our neighbor and our obedience to Jesus Christ.
o Common affirmation on the Message of Salvation
 Implies also a message of judgment upon every form of alienation, oppression and discrimination, and we should not be afraid to denounce evil and injustice.
o Common affirmation on Faith without works is dead.
 The salvation we claim should be transforming us in the totality of our personal and social responsibilities.
• Distinctions between Evangelicals and Ecumenicals
o Definition: Evangelicals simply refer to those whose main emphasis is on evangelism and personal conversion.
 Evangelicals are more mystical
 Evangelicals see justice as side-effect of conversion
 Evangelicals emphasize personal conversions, growth in holiness and individual’s relationship with God
 Evangelicals see the world as an almost alien environment from which souls must be saved.
 Evangelicals prioritize the proclamation of the message of eternal salvation to the lost and the incorporations of converts into the church
o Definition: Ecumenicals simply refer to those whose main emphasis is on the unity of the church and the transformation of society
 Ecumenicals are more prophetic
 Ecumenicals see justice as a direct goal of mission
 Ecumenicals emphasize mission with the secular world and the focus on the world as the arena for mission.
• Ecumenicals believe that God was to be found at work far more in the secular rather than in the religious sphere
• Ecumenicals see the line between church and world (salvation history and world history) as becoming progressively vague.
 Ecumenical discussions on mission moved slowly away from a church-centric to a world-centered view of mission.
• Ecumenicals emphasize not so much on what God was saying and doing in the church but on what God was saying and doing in the world.
• Ecumenicals believe that God’s concern was seen as not primarily with the church, but with humanity as a whole.
 Ecumenicals believe that mission aims at the ‘humanization of society’, the seeking of political and social liberation from all that would stand in the way of life in justice and community.
• Ecumenicals see Christian mission in terms of serving the needs of the world and making life on earth more human
o CONCRETE SIGNS OF CONVERGENCE
 KARAPATAN – human rights group, non-government organization, composed of Evangelicals, aimed at promoting social justice.
• WCC on Morong 43 case: WCC issued a statement for immediate release of seized health workers (evangelical pastors) in Morong, Rizal for false allegations re: leftist movements. (Source: Phil. Daily Inquirer, Feb.18, 2010, Page A8)
 Fr. Jose Dizon’s movement for social justice
• For the poor, farmers, and laborers of Cavite.
 Ecumenical Council of the Diocese of Imus
• led by Bp. Luis Antonio Tagle, together with other Christian Church denominations (Ecumenical Council of Cavite – ECC)
• Prayer and dialogue
 Organizations involved in social and spiritual life (EN 10)
• Pondo Ng Pinoy
• Socially related apostolate
Discussion:
* Position of Roman Catholic: Evangelization goes first, before social action. There is creative tension between the two.

8. In your own Theology of Mission, are you more excited about the prospects of contextualization or more concerned about its dangers? Give examples for each.

• What is Contextualization?
o Definition: Contextualization is part of an evolving stream of thought that relates the Gospel and church to a local context.
o Concern: Essentially, contextualization is concerned with how the Gospel and culture relate to one another across geographic space and down through time.
o Development: In the past we have used words such as “adaptation,” “accommodation,” and “indigenization” to describe this relationship between Gospel, church, and culture, but “contextualization,” introduced in 1971 [and a companion term “inculturation” that emerged in the literature in 1974, are deeper, more dynamic, and more adequate terms to describe what we are about in mission today.]
• Prospects of Contextualization [TM 431]
o Contextualization meets people’s deepest needs and penetrates their worldview
 To follow Christ while remaining within their own culture.
 to establish the church in ways that make sense to people within their local cultural context, presenting Christianity in such a way that it
o Contextualization expands our understanding of God.
 Asia we can learn more about the mystery and transcendence of God
 Oceania we can recover the notion of the body of Christ as community
 Africa we can discover the nature of celebration and the healing power of the church
 Latin America we are learning about the role of the church in the work for justice.
o Contextualization reminds us that we do not have a privileged position when it comes to understanding and practicing Christianity.
 It cannot be the exclusive property of any one culture, for it refuses to be culture bound
 it continually bursts free from the chains of bondage to cultural tradition – Work of the Holy Spirit!
o Contextualization as praxis versus relativism
• Dangers of Contextualization [TM 427]
o In Contextualization, people might abandon their culture.
o In Contextualization, there might be a culturally conditioned interpretation of the Gospel.
o In Contextualization, people might get offended, thus people might not inquire more about who Jesus is, or view missionaries with suspicion or as aliens.
o In Contextualization, human beings have a tendency to create God in their own image, but we must always counter this observation with the biblical view that God has created all human beings in God’s image.
9. What are some of the ways that the new inculturation Bosch calls for will go deeper than the older “accommodation,” did? Give at least two examples of the new deeper inculturation in your culture. These may be examples that are already being done or taught.
Source: TM 449-456
o 6 ways to prove that Bosch inculturation will go deeper than the older “accommodation.”
o First: Inculturation has two primary Agents
 Holy Spirit
 Local faith community, particularly the laity.
• Missionaries and theologians
o Are no longer in control of the process
o Are not the ones who have all the answers but learners like everybody else.
o Are not excluded, they are still indispensable.
o Padre becomes compadre
o Second: Emphasis on Local Situation
 The one, universal church finds its true existence in the particular churches (LG 23, 26)
 Involves entire context: social, economic, political, religious, educational, etc.
o Third: It has Regional, macrocontextual and macrocultural manifestation (grassroots)
o Fourth: Inculturation consciously follows the model of the Incarnation.
o Fifth: Coordination of Gospel and Culture is Structured Christologically
o Sixth: Inculturation is All-embracing.
• Analogy: Inculturation includes Kernel not just the Husk.
• 2 Examples:
o Translation of the Bible and Liturgy to VERNACULAR
o Local theology
 Misa ng Sambayanang Pilipino
o Lay empowerment
 DPPE: Diocesan Pastoral Priorities for Evangelization
• Discussion:
- Accommodation is one way street.
- Inculturation is enriching one another.
- interculturation: mutual relation between the Gospel and cultures

10. Relationships between Catholics and Protestants vary drastically from country to country. How important is it for the two to recognize each other as co-bearers of mission in the new paradigm? What impact would further Catholic-Protestant reconciliation have, if any, on the church’s witness in your country? (TM 457-464)

- There are five things which disrupted the unity, integrity and effectiveness of the Church on its mission:
o Treating mission as merely one compartment
o Treating church and mission as separate concepts
o Accepting denominational
o Treating some churches as receiving churches
o Treating the laity as second class members of the church
- These problems which caused the division of the churches will be the start of renewal as regards to the relationship of Catholics and Protestants.
- First, let us look on the efforts of the Protestants to be united again. These are the following: Serious efforts were made to get over denominational barriers by the formation of the IMC (linking mission societies) and the WCC (linking denominations).
- On the other hand, let us look on the gradual efforts of the Roman Catholic Church to have reconciliation. There was a dramatic changed as regards to the attitude of the Catholic Church with the Protestants. For example the Roman Catholic Documents changed the way they call the Protestants: from the term “Children of Satan,” “Heretics,” “Schismatic”; instead they are called separated brethren and the need for the restoration of unity among all Christians.
- Moreover, the Vatican II documents on Declaration of Religious Freedom and Pope John XXIII’s Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity se the seal on the entire development. Mission became the center identity of the Church. There was a unity in mission. It is now Missio Dei.
*** The Catholic-Protestant Reconciliation let to a common stand as regards to politics, social issues, and moral issues.

Discussion:
- Very important for both Catholic and Protestant to acknowledge one another as co-bearers of mission in the new paradigm.
- However, there is a danger of converting people to their own denomination.
- Common witness between the two: Mission is Missio Dei in relation to JC.
- Impacts of Reconciliation:
o Strengthen our witness
o Missio Dei makes sense
o Collaboration and solidarity for the common good

11. The missionary nature of the Church and her Trinitarian, Christological, Pneumatological and Ecclesiological dimensions. (cf. AG 2; RM 1; EN 75; chapter 3 of RM)
- Cf. to Constants in Context
a) Missionary nature of the Church and her Trinitarian dimension:
• Ad Gentes #2: The pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature, since it is from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father. (Trinitarian mission – Missio Dei)
- This decree, however, flows from the “fount-like love” or charity of God the Father who, being the “principle without principle” from whom the Son is begotten and Holy Spirit proceeds through the Son, freely creating us on account of His surpassing and merciful kindness and graciously calling us moreover to share with Him His life and His cry, has generously poured out, and does not cease to pour out still, His divine goodness. Thus He who created all things may at last be “all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28), bringing about at one and the same time His own glory and our happiness. But it pleased God to call men to share His life, not just singly, apart from any mutual bond, but rather to mold them into a people in which His sons, once scattered abroad might be gathered together (cf. Jn 11:52).
• Redemptoris Missio #1: The Second Vatican Council sought to renew the Church’s life and activity in the light of the needs of the contemporary world. The Council emphasized the Church’s “missionary nature,” basing it in a dynamic way on the Trinitarian mission itself. The missionary thrust therefore belongs to the very nature of the Christian life, and is also the inspiration behind ecumenism: “that they may all be one … so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (Jn 17:21).
b) Christological dimension:
• Redemptoris Missio #1: The mission of Christ the Redeemer, which is entrusted to the Church, is still very far from completion. As the second millennium after Christ’s coming draws to an end, an overall view of the human race shows that this mission is still only beginning and that we must commit ourselves wholeheartedly to its service. It is the Spirit who impels us to proclaim the great works of God: “For if I preach the Gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel” (1 Cor 9:16).
- Christian mission, its content and method, have their foundation in the Church’s understanding and faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who became man and who died and rose again for humankind’s salvation and bestowed the Holy Spirit on his disciples.
- The person Jesus Christ and his death-resurrection are decisive for the salvation is mediated and appropriated by different persons. Hence there can be no Christian mission without the proclamation of Jesus Christ.
c) Pneumatological dimension:
• Evangelii Nuntiandi #75: Evangelization will never be possible without the action of the Holy Spirit.
- The Spirit descends on Jesus of Nazareth at the moment of His baptism when the voice of the Father – “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” – manifests in an external way the election of Jesus and His mission.
- Jesus is “led by the Spirit” to experience in the desert the decisive combat and the supreme test before beginning His mission. It is “in the power of the Spirit” that He returns to Galilee and begins His preaching at Nazareth, applying to Himself the passage of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.” And He proclaims: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled.” To the disciples whom He was about to send forth He says, breathing on them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
- It is only after the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost that the apostles depart to all the ends of the earth in order to begin the great work of the Church’s evangelization.
- It is in the “consolation of the Holy Spirit” that the Church increases. The Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church. It is He who explains to the faithful the deep meaning of the teaching of Jesus and of His mystery.
- The Holy Spirit is the principal agent of evangelization: It is He who impels each individual to proclaim the Gospel, and it is He who in the depths of consciences causes the word of salvation to be accepted and understood.
- He is the goal of evangelization: He alone stirs up the new creation, the new humanity of which evangelization is to be the result, which that unity in variety which evangelization wishes to achieve within the Christian community.
- Through the Holy Spirit the Gospel penetrates to the heart of the world, for it is He who causes people to discern the signs of the times- signs willed by God.
* Redemptoris Missio ch. 3: The Principal Agent of Mission – “At the climax of Jesus’s messianic mission, the Holy Spirit becomes present in the Paschal Mystery in all of his divine subjectivity: as the one who is now to continue the salvific work rooted in the sacrifice of the cross.
- Here, is the subtopics in chapter 3 of RM:
(1) sent forth “to the ends of the earth: (Acts 1:8). All the Evangelists, when they describe the risen Christ’s meeting with his apostles, conclude with the “missionary mandate”: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. God therefore and make disciples of all nations, … and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”
(2) The Spirit directs the Church’s Mission – The mission of the Church, like that of Jesus, is God’s work or, the work of the Spirit. After the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the apostles have a powerful experience which completely transforms them: the experience of Pentecost. The coming of the Holy Spirit makes them witnesses and prophets (cf. Acts 1:8; 2:17-18). When the first evangelizers go down from Jerusalem, the Spirit becomes even more of a “guide,” helping them to choose both those to whom they are to go and the places to which their missionary journey is to take them.
(3) The Holy Spirit makes the whole church missionary – The Spirit leads the company of believers to “form a community,” to be the Church. One of the central purposes of mission is to bring people together in hearing the Gospel, in fraternal communion, in prayer and in the Eucharist.
(4) The Spirit is present and active in every time and space – The Spirit manifests himself in a special way in the Church and in her members. Nevertheless, his presence and activity are universal, limited neither by space nor time.

Discussion:
- Nature of mission of the Church: Missio Dei
- Trinitarian mission: bond between God’s people

"Missionary activity is nothing other and nothing less than the manifestation or epiphany of God's plan and its fulfillment in the world and in history; in this history God, by means of missions, clearly accomplishes the history of salvation." What paths does the Church follow in order to achieve this goal?
Mission is a single but complex reality, and it develops in a variety of ways. Among these ways, some have particular importance in the present situation of the Church and the world.
1. The First Form of Evangelization Is Witness
• People today put more trust in witnesses than in teachers, in experience than in teaching, and in life and action than in theories.
• The witness of a Christian life is the first and irreplaceable form of mission: Christ, whose mission we continue, is the "witness" par excellence (Rv 1:5; 3:14) and the model of all Christian witness.
• The Holy Spirit accompanies the Church along her way and associates her with the witness he gives to Christ (cf. Jn 15:26-27).
• The first form of witness is the very life of the missionary, of the Christian family, and of the ecclesial community, which reveal a new way of living.
• The missionary, who, despite all his or her human limitations and defects, lives a simple life, taking Christ as the model, is a sign of God and of transcendent realities.
• The evangelical witness which the world finds most appealing is that of concern for people, and of charity toward the poor, the weak and those who suffer.
• A commitment to peace, justice, human rights and human promotion is also a witness to the Gospel when it is a sign of concern for persons and is directed toward integral human development.
• The Church is called to bear witness to Christ by taking courageous and prophetic stands in the face of the corruption of political or economic power; by not seeking her own glory and material wealth; by using her resources to serve the poorest of the poor and by imitating Christ's own simplicity of life.
• The Church and her missionaries must also bear the witness of humility, above all with regard to themselves-a humility which allows them to make a personal and communal examination of conscience in order to correct in their behavior whatever is contrary to the Gospel and disfigures the face of Christ.
2. The Initial Proclamation of Christ the Savior
• Proclamation is the permanent priority of mission. The Church cannot elude Christ's explicit mandate, nor deprive men and women of the "Good News" about their being loved and saved by God. "Evangelization will always contain-as the foundation, center and at the same time the summit of its dynamism-a clear proclamation that, in Jesus Christ...salvation is offered to all people, as a gift of God's grace and mercy."
• In the complex reality of mission, initial proclamation has a central and irreplaceable role, since it introduces man "into the mystery of the love of God, who invites him to enter into a personal relationship with himself in Christ"73 and opens the way to conversion.
• Faith is born of preaching, and every ecclesial community draws its origin and life from the personal response of each believer to that preaching.
• All missionary activity is directed to the proclamation of God’s mystery.
• The subject of proclamation is Christ who was crucified, died and is risen: through him is accomplished our full and authentic liberation from evil, sin and death; through him God bestows "new life" that is divine and eternal.
• This proclamation is to be made within the context of the lives of the individuals and peoples who receive it. It is to be made with an attitude of love and esteem toward those who hear it, in language which is practical and adapted to the situation. In this proclamation the Spirit is at work and establishes a communion between the missionary and his hearers, a communion which is possible inasmuch as both enter into communion with God the Father through Christ.
• Proclamation, because it is made in union with the entire ecclesial community, is never a merely personal act. The missionary is present and carries out his work by virtue of a mandate he has received; even if he finds himself alone, he remains joined by invisible but profound bonds to the evangelizing activity of the whole Church.
• Proclamation is inspired by faith, which gives rise to enthusiasm and fervor in the missionary.
As already mentioned, the Acts of the Apostles uses the word parrhesia to describe this attitude, a word which means to speak frankly and with courage. This term is found also in St. Paul: "We had courage in our God to declare to you the Gospel of God in the face of great opposition" (1 Th 2:2); "Pray...also for me, that utterance may be given me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the Gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains; that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak" (Eph 6:18-20).
• In proclaiming Christ to non-Christians, the missionary is convinced that, through the working of the Spirit, there already exists in individuals and peoples an expectation, even if an unconscious one, of knowing the truth about God, about man, and about how we are to be set free from sin and death. The missionary's enthusiasm in proclaiming Christ comes from the conviction that he is responding to that expectation, and so he does not become discouraged or cease his witness even when he is called to manifest his faith in an environment that is hostile or indifferent. He knows that the Spirit of the Father is speaking through him (cf. Mt 10:17-20; Lk 12:11-12) and he can say with the apostles: "We are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit" (Acts 5:32). He knows that he is not proclaiming a human truth, but the "word of God," which has an intrinsic and mysterious power of its own (cf. Rom 1:16).
• The supreme test is the giving of one's life, to the point of accepting death in order to bear witness to one's faith in Jesus Christ. Throughout Christian history, martyrs, that is, "witnesses," have always been numerous and indispensable to the spread of the Gospel.

3. Conversion and Baptism
• The proclamation of the Word of God has Christian conversion as its aim: a complete and sincere adherence to Christ and his Gospel through faith. Conversion is a gift of God, a work of the Blessed Trinity.
• It is the Spirit who opens people's hearts so that they can believe in Christ and "confess him'' (cf. 1 Cor 12:3); of those who draw near to him through faith Jesus says: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him" (Jn 6:44).
• Conversion is expressed in faith which is total and radical, and which neither limits nor hinders God's gift. At the same time, it gives rise to a dynamic and lifelong process which demands a continual turning away from "life according to the flesh" to "life according to the Spirit" (cf. Rom 8:3-13). Conversion means accepting, by a personal decision, the saving sovereignty of Christ and becoming his disciple.
• The Church calls all people to this conversion, following the examples:
A) John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Christ by "preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" (Mk 1:4),
B) Christ himself, who "after John was arrested,...came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of God and saying: 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel'" (Mk 1:14-15).
• Nowadays the call to conversion which missionaries address to non-Christians is put into question or passed over in silence. It is seen as an act of "proselytizing"; it is claimed that it is enough to help people to become more human or more faithful to their own religion, that it is enough to build communities capable of working for justice, freedom, peace and solidarity. What is overlooked is that every person has the right to hear the "Good News" of the God who reveals and gives himself in Christ, so that each one can live out in its fullness his or her proper calling. This lofty reality is expressed in the words of Jesus to the Samaritan woman: "If you knew the gift of God," and in the unconscious but ardent desire of the woman: "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst" (Jn 4:10, 15).
• Conversion to Christ is joined to Baptism not only because of the Church's practice, but also by the will of Christ himself, who sent the apostles to make disciples of all nations and to baptize them (cf. Mt 28:19).
• Conversion is also joined to Baptism because of the intrinsic need to receive the fullness of new life in Christ.
• In Baptism, we are born anew to the life of God's children, united to Jesus Christ and anointed in the Holy Spirit.
• Baptism is not simply a seal of conversion, and a kind of external sign indicating conversion and attesting to it. Rather, it is the sacrament which signifies and effects rebirth from the Spirit, establishes real and unbreakable bonds with the Blessed Trinity, and makes us members of the Body of Christ, which is the Church.
Forming Local Churches
• 48. In forming local Church there is a need of Conversion and Baptism. This give entry into a Church which already in existence but requires an establishment of new communities which confess Jesus as Savior and Lord so that it makes into a people in which his children,who mhad been widely scatered,might be gathered together in unity.
• To form a local Church is a central and determining goal of missionary activity. The mission is not completed until it succeeds in building a new particular church which functions normally in its local setting.
• The wholw mystery of the Church is contained in each particular Church, provided that it does not isolate itself but remains in communion with the universal Church and becomes missionary in its own turn.
• It is necessary to strive to establish Christian communities everywhere, communities which are a sign of the presence of God in the world and which grow until they become Churches.
• Faith must alwys be presented as a gift of God to be lived out in the community i.e.Family,Parishes,Associations, and to be extended to others through witness in word and deed.
• The Lord is always calling us to comes out of ourselves and to share with others the good we possess, starting with the most precious gift of all-our faith.
“Ecclesial Basic Communities” As force for evangelization.
• Ecclesial basic communities is a rapid growing phenomenon in the young Churches in which the bishops and conferences fostered as a pastoral priority. It is to be good centers for Christian formation and missionary outreach.
• These group of Christians who, at the level of family or in similarly resstricted setting, come together for prayer, Scripture reading, catechesis, and discussion on human and ecclesial problems with a view to a common commitment.
• These communities are sign of vitality within the Church. An instrument of formation and evangelization.
• These communities become a leaven of Christ life, of care for the poor and neglected, and of commitment to the transformation of society.
Incarnating the Gospel in Peoples’Culture
• The Church encounters different cultures and become involved in the process of inculturation while carrying the missionary activity.
• Inculturation means the intimate transformation of authentic cultural values through their integration in Christianity and the insertionn of Christianity in the various human cultures.
• Through inculturation the Church makes the Gospel incarnate in different cultures and at the same time introduces people, together with their cultures, into her own community.
• Through inculturation the Church, for her part becomes a more intelligible sign of what she is, and a more effective instrument of mission.
Dialogue with our Brothers and Sisters of Other Religions

 Inter-religious dialogue is a part of the Church’s evangelizing mission. Understood as a method and means of mutual knowledge and enrichment, it has special links with that mission and is one of its expressions.
 Dialogue does not originated from self interest, but is an activity with its own guiding principles, requirements and dignity. It is demanded by deep respect for everything that has been brought about in human beings by the Spirit who blows where he wills. Through dialogue, the Church seeks to uncover the “seeds of the Word” a ray of that truth which enlighten all men, these are found in individuals and in the religious traditions of mankind, they stimulate her both to discover and acknowledge the signs of Christ’s presence and of the of the Spirit, as well as, to examine more deeply her own identity and to bear witness to the fullness of Revelation which she has received for the good of all.
 Dialogue must be consistent with their own religious traditions and convections and be open to understanding those of the other party without pretense or close-mindedness, but with truth, humility and frankness, knowing that dialogue can enrich each side.
Promoting Development by Forming Consciences
 The best service we can offer to our brothers is evangelization, which helps him to live and to act as a son of God , sets him free from injustices and assists him overall development.
 Mission consists essentially in offering people an opportunity not to “have more” but “to be more”, by awakening their consciences through the Gospel. A authentic human development must be rooted in an ever deeper evangelization.
 Man is the principal agent of development, not money or technology.
 Man’s development derives from God, and from the model of Jesus-God and Man- and must lead back to God. That is why there is a close connection between the proclamation of the Gospel and human promotion.
Charity: Source and Criterion of Mission
 The Church all over the world wishes to be the Church of the poor…she wishes to draw out all the truth contained in the Beatitude of Christ, and especially in the first one:’
 The young Churches , which for the most part are to be found among people suffering from widespread poverty, often give voice to this concern as an integral part of their mission.
 The poor deserve preferential action, whatever their moral and personal situation. They have been made in the image and likeness of God to be his children, but this image has been obscured and even violated. For this reason, God has become their defender and loves them. It follows that the poor are those to whom the mission is first addressed, and their evangelization is par excellence the sign and proof of the mission of Jesus.
 Work of charity that reveals the soul of all missionary activity: love, which has been and remains the driving force of mission, and is also the sole criterion of judging what is to be done or not done, changed or not changed. It is the principle which must direct every action, and end to which that action must be directed. When we act with a view of charity, or are inspired by charity, nothing is unseemly and everything is good.

Question 13: Agree or disagree: The question whether or how God saves people who belong to other religions is much discussed but is not really the key question in a theology of religions because one does not need to answer that question before going ahead and engaging in Christian witness. Explain your reasons.

Answer: we disagree because of the seven reasons.
1.Acceptance of the co-existence of other faiths.
> We cannot have dialogue without other people, if we resent their presence or their view they hold.
> A Christian theology is a theology of dialogue.
>Dialogue is impossible without the acceptance of other faiths.
2. The true dialogue presupposes commitment
> Dialogue means witnessing to our deepest convection, listening to those of our neighbors. Without commitment to the Gospel dialogue is useless.
3. We are not moving into avoid
> dialogue is possible because God removed the barriers between Christians and other faiths- his Spirit is constantly at work in ways that pass human understanding.
>We are all recipients of the same mercy, sharing in the same mystery
4. Mission and dialogue can be conducted in attitude of humility
>Christ is the model of mission because Christian religion is a religion of grace and find its center, to a significant in the cross.
> The attitude of humility is intrinsic to an authentic Christian faith.
>Humility means showing respect for our forebears in the faith for what they have handed down to us.
5. Recognize that religions are worlds in themselves.
> Dialogue and mission should recognized the differences of other religions in order that they will leveled down to reach unity and harmony.
> Christ is seen as working mystically, cosmically, and anonymously in other faiths.
6. Dialogue is neither a substitute nor subterfuge for mission.
> Dialogue and mission are inseparable because they are both compatible in evangelizing, and the goal of mission can be achieved by announcing the Gospel.
7. Continuation of Preaching toward Salvation
> A Christian is not simply a somebody who stand in a better chance of being ‘saved’ but a person who accepts the responsibility to serve God and promote God’s reign in all its forms.
> Conversion involves personal cleansing, forgiveness, reconciliation and renewal in order to become a participant in the mighty works of God.

Discussion:
- We cannot disregard the question of salvation of another religion.
- We find the beauty in the teachings of other religions, but we still proclaim the Gospel.
- The question of salvation is not a key question in theology of religions because according to Bosch, we join religion not to procure salvation. It is creative tension, we Catholics should not attempt to solve it.
- Key question: personal opinion (God’s love)

14. What would be a proper “gadfly” role of mission scholars in your institution? What evidence do you see that a mission perspective is already present in the minds of the people who teach biblical studies, systematic theology and church history? What evidence is there that they see mission as a specialist subject taught by someone else? (TM 489-498)

What would be a proper “gadfly” role of mission scholars in your institution?

• To synthesize other aspects of formation as related to mission (e.g. study – nagpapari; work-nagpapari.
• To help us realize that we do not own the mission; mission is not merely a human endeavor
• To help us understand that the church exists because of mission and it will continue to exist because of its participation to mission Dei.

What evidence would do you see that a mission perspective is already present in the minds of the people who teach biblical studies, systematic theology, and church history?

• Evolution of theology or “fourfold pattern” (a) disciplines of the Bible (text); (b) church history (history); (c) systematic theology (truth); practical theology (application).
• If they see the parallelism of missionary foundations – biblical subjects; missionary theory – systematic theology; mission history – church history and missionary practice – practical theology.

What evidence is there that they see mission as a specialist subject taught by someone else?

• Theology ceases to be theology when it loses its missionary character (just as the church)
• Thus, mission should be the “theme of all theology.
• Why is the need for specialist?
o Dimensional aspect of mission
 For practical reason:
• To constantly remind other disciplines of their missionary nature.
• To accompany other theological subjects in their work; to have dialogue.
• Includes the “fourfold pattern”
o Intentional aspect of mission
 Need to discover inculturation, liberation, development, poverty, absence of faith and the challenges of the context.

Discussion:
- Misiology awakens awareness of mission of every institution.
- Twofold tasks: (TM 496)
o Respect to theology
o Respect to the missionary praxis

15. It seems that some churches are more excited about Pentecost than about Jesus’ death and resurrection while others preach the gospel without even mentioning Pentecost. What do you consider to be the right amount of emphasis on it compared to the other five Christological themes Bosch mentions? (TM 511-519)

The five Christological themes mentioned are Incarnation, the Cross, the Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost and the Parousia. Protestant churches by and large have a underdeveloped theology of the incarnation. The east and Roman Catholics and Anglicans have always taken the incarnation seriously-the Eastern Church tends to focus on incarnation. The cross the western, catholic and protestant with the passion and crucifixion of Jesus. In the Eastern churches it is the resurrection of Christ which is god’s salvific event par excellence. The Calvinist tradition, one could say, focuses on the ascension. The Pentecostal and charismatic movements tend to view the Pentecost event as God’s deed par excellence. Ever since the first century there have been the Adventest groups whose central focus was on the second coming of Christ.
The sixth Christological salvific events may never be viewed in isolation form one another. In our mission, we proclaim the incarnate, crucified, resurrected, ascended Christ, present among us in the spirit and taking us into his future as captives in his triumphal procession. The mission should be founded in the Missio Dei. The total acceptance of God’s revelation to us through Jesus must be accepted and be treated uniformly.

Discussion:
- Right amount of emphasis:
o Holistic approach, integration and balance
- Danger of overemphasizing one over the other
- The presence of Trinity in all salvific events.
- The six Christological salvific events may never be viewed in isolation from one another.

Questions for Comprehensive Examination (Missiology) 2010

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1. “The three changes from a Jewish apocalyptic worldview to a Christian worldview, insider-outsider, present age-messianic age, and defensive-missionary, are so interwoven that if any one of them is true, the other two must also be true.”
2. If you are a Catholic or have some previous knowledge of Catholicism, how accurate do you believe Bosch’s description of the medieval paradigm of mission is? Where would you refine it?
3. In the Orthodox and Catholic paradigms, partnership between the church and the state is seen as an important aid to mission. How did this partnership fit into each paradigm and make sense as part of the whole?
4. Which of the marginal movements contributed most to what you consider a sound theology of mission today – the Anabaptists, the Puritans, the Pieties? What did that one group contribute and why do you consider it so significant?
5. In your personal opinion, did the Enlightenment have a net positive effect on the church and its mission, a net negative effect, or neither (with the positives and negatives basically cancelling each other out?
6. Agree or disagree: The unraveling of the Enlightenment worldview is mostly a Western problem. It has a few implications for mission in many parts of the world where the Enlightenment never had decisive influence over the culture.

7. In your situation what signs are there of a convergence of the evangelicals and ecumenicals around justice issues? How, if at all, do the two groups still differ?
8. In your own Theology of Mission, are you more excited about the prospects of contextualization or more concerned about its dangers? Give examples for each.
9. What are some of the ways that the new inculturation Bosch calls for will go deeper than the older “accommodation,” did? Give at least two examples of the new deeper inculturation in your culture. These may be examples that are already being done or taught.
10. Relationships between Catholics and Protestants vary drastically from country to country. How important is it for the two to recognize each other as co-bearers of mission in the new paradigm? What impact would further Catholic-Protestant reconciliation have, if any, on the church’s witness in your country? (TM 457-464)
11. The missionary nature of the Church and her Trinitarian, Christological, Pneumatological and Ecclesiological dimensions. (cf. AG 2; RM 1; EN 75; chapter 3 of RM)
What would be a proper “gadfly” role of mission scholars in your institution? What evidence do you see that a mission perspective is already present in the minds of the people who teach

14. It seems that some churches are more excited about Pentecost than about Jesus’ death and resurrection while others preach the gospel without even mentioning Pentecost. What do you consider to be the right amount of emphasis on it compared to the other five Christological themes Bosch mentions? (TM 511-519)

Interreligious Dialogue Discussion Questions

2010-02-07T04:26:00.000-08:00

Hinduism

1. Discuss whether you think Hinduism is changing the western world, or whether the Western World is changing Hinduism.

2. Hinduism has numerous themes that ecological awareness and reverence for the creation. What are these themes and how they established within the tradition?

3. What are some of the important moral and ethical issues Hinduism is facing with regard to modernity? Discuss the issues.

4. How is God pictured in Hinduism? What is the significance of these pictures for interreligious Dialogue?

Buddhism

1. Who is Siddharta Gautama? What effect, if any, does our lack of knowledge about the life of Buddha have on your understanding of his teachings?

2. What are the Four Noble Truths and how are they related to one another?

3. What are the Buddha’s teaching on karma, samsara, and rebirth?

4. What role does meditation play in realizing or understanding emptiness? How does mindfulness help one transcend conventional truth and see the ultimate truth?

5. What is Nirvana? How can it be realized?

THEOLOGY OF THE GOSPELS

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Introduction:
- Gospels are one and at the same time a divine and human work
- It symbolizes though to exactly but allegorically Christ (WG and HW)
- The majority of mistakes today is looking at the Bible as human work only
- God is the principal author of SS
- God’s purpose goes beyond the authors
- God speaks more than Mt Mk Lk and Jn
- Since God himself is speaking, we can never exhaust, grasp, the richness of the Bible fully
- The purpose of SS: revelation
- Christ is absolutely relevant
- The SS is the entrustment of the WG to the Church and interpret to us

I. MATHEW
1. Gospel of the Lord’s Discourses
- Because of the five long discourses
- We can hear Jesus speaks through discourses
- The entire txt is the WG
2. Gospel of Fulfillment
o 1:23
o 2:6
o 2:15
o 2:17-18
o 3:3-4
o 4:4
o 14:14-16
o 5:17
o 21:4-5
o 26:31
o 27:9-10
3. Jesus, the Rejected Messiah
o Christ is the messiah
o It points out Christ as the messiah portrayed by the prophets
o The mystery of rejection
o This rejected is already foretold and predicted
o Mt 12:17
o Mt 13:35
o Mt 26:54-56
o Mt 27:9
o St. Mathew also quotes the OT just to tell us that it has already foretold
4. Gospel of the Kingdom
o KOG comes into being in the arrival of Jesus
o Many of the parables talk about the Kingdon
5. The Divinity of Jesus
o Jesus is mentioned as being conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
o Mt 1:20
o Jesus counts himself with the Trinity
o Revelation of the Trinity portrays that Jesus is the Son of the Father and equal to the Father
6. Gospel of the Church
o Tu es Petrus…Tibi dabo claves regni caelorum…
o The Gospel of Mathew is ecclesiological in character
o Mt 18:17
o Mt 16:17-19
o The church is the New Israel, because its founder is the new Moses
II. MARK
 There are only two discourse in this Gospel
o Parables
o Eschatological discourse
 Other parts are more on actions of Jesus
 St. Mark is the interpreter of Peter in Rome
 It depicts Jesus as active leader and exorcist
 The word “Immidiately” is mentioned almost forty times
o Mk 1:29
o Mk 1:21
o Mk 1:23
o Mk 1:18
o Mk 2:11
o Mk 2:8
o It shows the sense of urgency
 This Gospel engages the readers with many questions
o Invites the believers to look at Jesus with the eyes of faith
o Calls for conversion
o Part of the first kerygma of the Church
 Main theme: The Identity of Jesus
1. Messianic secret
 Jesus open attempts to conceal his identity as messiah
 Reason: His contemporaries might misunderstood his mission (not political messiah)
 Jews would always wanted the political messiah who would restore the earthly kingdom
 Jesus distances himself to this popular but mistaken understanding of being a messiah
 Mk 1:25…
 Mk 1:34
 Mk 3:12
 Mk 5:3
 Mk 7:36
 Mk 8:26
 Mk 8:30
 Mk 9:9
 True messiah liberates the people not politically but spiritually, i.e., from sin, Satan, and sickness
 Christ wanted people to be converted to him
 The way to change the political system is to change one’s heart
2. Divine Sonship of Christ
 Mk 3:11
 Mk 1:11
 Mk 9:7
 He confirmed his being the Son of the Father through his elf revelation
 Mk 15:29
III. LUKE
 the gospels are complementing
 they are not contradicting
 they have different perspective but not contradicting
1. Emphasis on the Historicity of the Events Narrated
 the prologue of Luke is similar to classical Greek prologue
 Lk 2:1-2
o Luke adds historical detail
 Lk 3:11 in the fifth year
o St. Lukes writes history to emphasize the history of salvation
2. Jesus making his way to Jerusalem
 Jerusalem occupies a very central place
 Zechariah during the presentation is in Jerusalem
 Last temptation took place in Jerusalem
 Jerusalem is the focus of Christ’s ministry
 Jerusalem is a high place
 Lk 19:28
 Jesus’ image of going to Jerusalem shows us that we are pilgrim people
3. Catholicity of the Gospel and the Church
Ѳ Universality: Christ is not only for the Jews but for all people
Ѳ Lk 4:16-30
4. Jesus: Prophet and Savior
 Lk 13:33
 Lk 24:19
 Christ is the true prophet
 Lk 4:18
 OT: prophets were moved by the Spirit of God
5. The Blessed Virgin Mary
 This Gospel is the basic source of the doctrine of Mary
 Lk 1:49
 Lk 1:29
 Lk 1:38
 Lk 1:34
 Lk 1:39
 Lk 1:56
 Lk 2:48
 Lk 2:50
 Lk 2:19
 Lk 2:51
6. The Gospel of Lowly
 Lk 14:18
 Lk 6:20-26
 Lk 7:11
 Lk 35:50
 Prodigal Son
 Good Samaritan
7. The Gospel of Joy
 Joyful news of redemption is obvious
 Lk 1:28
 Lk 6:23
 Lk 1:14
 Lk 2:10
 Lk 15:7
 Lk 1:44
 Lk 24:52-53
III. JOHN
 Jesus went to Jerusalem
 Synotics: only once
 John: 3-4 times
• Jn 2:13
• Jn 5:1
• Jn 6:4
• Jn 12:1
 Miracles
 Synoptics: 21
 John: 2/29 +5
 No last supper account
 John uses the word “to be lifted up” instead of suffering
 Jn 8:28
 Jn 12:32-33
 Clement: John is spiritual Gospel
 John used the words “light”, “life” which points out Christ
 John was trying to fill out what was lack to synoptics
 There is no transfiguration account
 No institution of the Eucharist
 John gives more detail to the synoptics
 John opens mention the HS
 Jn 16:13
 Jn 14:26
 The narrative of john are symbolic literary device
 Mary is very much pronounced
 The fourth book of the Gospel is magnificent and beautiful

RESSURECTION

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- evidences
o empty tomb
o grave clothes
- there are three person who want the body of Christ:
o Jewish leader
 They cannot get it, in fact they put guard
 Perhaps the guards are not Roman soldiers.
 The reason is that, they will receive punishment because of the lost of the body
 Jewish leaders have to prove that resurrection is absurd
 They cannot get the body and hide it
o Apostles
 They cannot get the body because they were frighten
 They fled
 They hid
 They would not be able too do a daring thing
 They do not have the courage
o Omans (same as Jewish leaders)
- remarkable:
o the first testimony are from women
o if the writers just invented the resurrection, they should use men as the first to see Christ because women at that time are not reliable
o burial clothes
 if somebody stole the body of Christ, they must bring them the burial clothes
 they are in a hurry
 there is no time to remove the burial clothes
- see Jn 11:7 Lazarus= rising on the third day
- if the apostles lied, how could you explain their martyrdom
- 1 Cor 15:14
- 1 Pet 3:15

PASSION NARRATIVES AND RESSURECTION (Mt 26-27/Mk 14-15/ Lk 22-23/Jn 18:19

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- remarkable: the space given; two chapters are allotted
- reason: the whole life of Jesus is centered on this passion
- the passion account starts from Gethsemane until the grave
- liturgical note ins passion narrative:
o Palm Sunday (Year A=Mt; B=Mk; C=Lk)
o Good Friday (John)
- prophecy of crucifixion
o Is 52:13-53:12
- Jesus quoted the latter prophecy in Lk 22: 37
- The bloody death of Jesus is providential not accidental, design made by grace
- The apostles become aware of this after the resurrection
- During crucifixion, Apostles were hiding
- Lk 24:25-27
- “the cup”=the fourth cup in Jewish Passover meal
- Lk 22:42
- God did not remove the passion but gave him strength
- “my grace is enough for you”---to Paul
- Drops of blood are caused by mental and emotional languish (intense agony)
- Betrayal of Judas with a kiss
o Made to recognized Jesus by the soldiers
- Jesus before the Sanhedrin
o “are you the Son of God”----“You say that I am”
o It shows the divinity of Jesus
o Pontius Pilate= Roman Prefect of Judah
o Herod= Son of Herod the Great
- Lk 23:13 Barabbas (Bar= son; Aba=father; therefore: “Son of the Father”
o In a sense Christ’s is the real Barabbas
- Lk 23:24
o The execution squad usually get the things of execute
o It is the custom
- Crucifixion
o Psalm 22:16-17
- repentant thief
o paradise= eternal now
o start of the new life
- Lk 23:44
o 6th hour= 3pm

TENANTS IN THE VINEYARD (Mk 12:1-12/Mt. 21:33-46/Lk 20:9-19)

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- God has been patient with his wayward people throughout the ages
- Vineyard= Israel
- Tower= temple
- Tenants= Israel’s leaders
- Servants= OT prophets sent by God to call them for repentance
- Son= Christ
- In this parable, Jesus predicts his crucifixion
- St. Bede: the vineyard can also signify all of us. Our duty should cultivate it and to take care of it
- Servants= WG/law/prophets/Gospels
- If you do not take care your life, it would be forfeited

LOST SHEEP (Mt 18:12-14/Lk 15:3-7)

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- Christ is the shepherd
- This parable is a kind of allusion
- Acc to St. Hilary and St. Anselm: allegorically, lost sheep are mankind who lost. 99 were the angels. Christ raises them and bring in the company of angels.

THE CURING OF THE BLIND BARTHIMEUS (Mk 10:46-5/Mt 20:39-34/Lk 18:35-43)

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- It is the last miracle of Jesus before the passion in the Gospel of Mark

The Word of God
- when you read the Gospel, never take away your focus with Christ
- discover that he wants to do with us and discover what he wants for us
- what is the Father revealing to us through Christ?
- Gospel is not ancient literature. It speaks to us.
- The life of Christ is a mystery. It is something we cannot normally grasp.
- Mystery troubles us in our lukewarmness
- We have to look for every details of the Gospel
- Gospel is veiled only to those who cherish it
- 2 Cor 3:18
- 2 Cor 4:3-4
Who is the real blind?
- In this event, it looks like Barthimeus sew more than the disciples
- Mk 10:35-45
- It seems that the one who new Christ more are the one blind
- Barthimeus saw what not see by the eyes but see by the heart
- The one sees with the heart is better than the one sees with the eyes.
Expose yourself to Christ
- Barthimeus is dependent even a single step
- Although he is in misery, he is not lacking of intelligence, he stayed at the roadside to be healed by Jesus
- He get out of himself and hoped for Christ, he did not stay only in his house
- He get out of himself and exposed his misery to Christ
- Its implication: some other people hide from God
- The type of people Christ really favored are those who look for him
- Barthimaeus was cured because HE KNEW THAT HE WAS ILLED, HE ADMITTED THAT HE WAS BLIND.
- We have to acknowledge our own blindness
- We must follow Jesus continuously so that Jesus may enlighten and healed us
- There are so many blind to God
Discipleship
- Being a disciple is acknowledging our being helpless
- “Son of David”
o An act of worship
- Remember:
o Recognize your needs
o Expose yourself to Christ who really you are
o Barthimeus did not pretend that he is not blind
o Go out to yourself to encounter Christ
o Cry out to God with perseverance
o Have the boldness like of Barthimeus
o Christ always listen
o He is not interested with the crowd but in the needy individual
o When we shout for his name, he will look for us
- a true disciple does not think himself but the need of others
- the call we received must be extended to others
- our functions as disciples must be to distribute the bread as what happened in the multiplication of bead
- with Christ, we should call others
- we should call upon the Lord and implore his love
- we are afraid to talk to Christ because we do not want him to tell us who really we are
- God loves the real me not the self constructed image
- Christ told Barthimeus to go on his own way but he followed Christ instead
- The converts are much more zealous than us
- St. Bede: Jesus tells the Gentiles to rise up spiritually
- People think that they are fine but actually, they are blind

THE QUESTION OF FASTING (Mk 218-22)

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- Jesus uses marital imagery
- It is a common imagery
- Yahweh is a groom wedded to Israel
- Is 54:5
- Jer 3:20
- Hos 2:19
- The image of the bride and groom is the image covenant relationship of God and Israel
- Fasting symbolizes mourning and separation
- It is inappropriate to fast while Chris is with them

REJECTION OF JESUS TO NAZARETH (Lk 4:16-30)

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- “…Today Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing”
- Its implication in our contemporary liturgy is the importance of the sacred scripture in the mass
- The word proclaims is alive
- Basically, what they had in the synagogue is a Bible service
- Reading the WG is not reading what had happened but it is actual in that very moment you red it
- In the beginning, bible was meant to be proclaimed
- Scripture is more at home when it is read during mass
- Heb 4:12
- Jesus read in the synagogue
o Is 61:1-2
- misconception for Jesus
o Christ is a political leader
- Jesus releases the people from captivity of sin

SERMON ON THE MOUNT (Mt 5-7)

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- it encapsulates the law of the New Covenant
- it is perhaps not preached at the same time
- it speaks on how to act in New Covenant
- it is a collection of teachings on Christian living
- there is no specific mountain
- it parallels with the experience of Moses in Mt. Sinai
o Ex 24:12-18
- Acceding to St. Augustine: Mountain signifies the high standard of the New Covenant
- The difference of the Old covenant and the New Covenant is that the former is promulgated on the foot of the mountain but the New Covenant, the disciples were with Christ on the mountain. OL does not have yet the HS the NC has.
o Rom 5:5
o Rom 8:3-4
- NC includes and precludes the OC
- NC perfects and transforms the OC
- OC is the preparation for the NC
- However, Moral law are retained and refined
- In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ is sitting. It is the symbol of authority.

BAPTISM OF JESUS (Mk 1:9-11/Mt 3:13-17/lk 3:21-22/Jn 1:29-35)

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- Did Jesus really need to be baptized?
o Johns Baptism is a baptism of repentance. Therefore, Christ has no need for repentance because he is sinless.
- Mt 3:11
- Christ is sinless
o Heb 4:15
o 1 Pet 2:22
- Jesus was baptized to identify himself with sinners as part of God’s plan to save them.
- In fact john refused to baptized Christ
o Mt 3:14
- according to CCC 536:
o the baptism of Christ is acceptance of being suffering servant
o it is the inauguration of his mission
- baptism is the anticipation of Christ’s bloody death
- Christ is talking of baptism of blood
o Lk 12:49-50
- we must also be baptized in the baptism of Christ
o Mk 10:38
- 1 Cor 15
- The baptism is the revelation of the Trinity
o The Son is Baptized
o The Holy Spirit descends
o Father speaks
- “the heavens torn apart”
o Isaiah 64:1
o Mt 15:39
o Tearing is the declaration of Christ’s sonship
verse 10:
- fulfillment of Isaiah 64:1
“this is my beloved son”
o Isaiah 42:1
o Ps 2:7
o Gen 22:12

ANNUNCIATION (Lk 1:26-38)

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verse 26:
“6th month”
- refers to Elizabeth’s pregnancy
- also signifies the fulfillment of God’s promise to Zechariah
“Nazareth”- small village in Galilee in Northern Palestine
- According to John, Nazareth is a town of little
- Comes from the Hebrew word means branch
- Isaiah 11:1 A branch will sprout from David…
verse 27:
“betrothed”
- it is the first stage of marriage in Jewish culture
- temporary period between one year
- Mary got pregnant during that one year period
- There are two stages of Marriage
o Betrothal (first one year)
o Spouse bring his wife to his home
verse 28:
- Mary is graced by god because she is the vessel of the Divine Grace
- “rejoice”
o Lk 1;14
o V. 44
o V. 47
o V. 58
o 2:10
o V. 20
- Only in Mary use the word “hail”/rejoice
v. 34
- Literal Greek: “I do not know man”
- see Gen 4:1

RESSURECTION OF JESUS

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Fact: (see CCC 638-658)
639…
-642…
2 Pet 1:16…
We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming 9 of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.
643…
- The disciples were demoralized.
- They were discouraged.
644…
- The empty tomb is important in proving Christ’s Resurrection.
- No one refuted the disciples about the resurrection of Christ.
- If Christ did not really rise, they were deceived
1 Cor 15:4-8
that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures;
5
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
6
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
7
After that he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
8
Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me.

What Difference the Resurrection make?
- If the bones of Jesus would be discovered, our faith cannot be affected.
1 Cor 15:14-19
And if Christ has not been raised, then empty (too) is our preaching; empty, too, your faith.
15
Then we are also false witnesses to God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised.
16
For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised,
17
and if Christ has not been raised, 6 your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.
18
Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all.

Resurrection shows the divinity of Christ because no one but God could conquer death and sin
“Resurrection is not a past event but a present one”
Lk 24:25
And he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Where is Christ? “Behold I am with you always…”
Why do you seek the living among the dead?
The cross has meaning only in Resurrection.
The resurrection of Jesus is the crowning turn of our life.
639…
The absence of Jesus in the Tomb is not of human doing.
The resurrection of Christ is different form of that of Lazarus.
Christ’s resurrection is different in the sense that it is not return to earthly life but glorified life.
Christ’s resurrection is in another life which is independent of time and space
Acts 2:24
But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it.
Jesus’ glorified body is not already subjected to time and space
Resurrection of Christ is both physical and spiritual
652…
653…
Acts 5:38-39
So now I tell you, have nothing to do with these men, and let them go. For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself.
But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God." They were persuaded by him.

Resurrection texts
A. In/Near Jerusalem
1. Mary Magdalene (Mk 16:9; Jn 20:11-18)
2. Other women (Mt 28:8-10)
3. Peter (Lk 24:34)
4. Ten disciples (Lk 24:36-43; Jn 20:19-25)
5. Eleven Apostles (Mk 16:14; Jn 20:26-29)
6. Ascension (mk 16:19-20; Lk 24:15-23; Acts 1:4-12)

B. Other Appearances
1. Emmaus (Lk 24:13-35; Mk. 16:2-13)
2. Galilee (Mt 28: 16-20; Jn 21:1-22)
3. five hundred people (1 Cor 15:16)
4. James and other apostles (1 Cor 15:7)
5. Paul (Acts 9:1-6, 22:1-10, 26:12-18; 1 Cor 15:8)
6. Guards (Mt 27)

CONTROVERSIES PASSAGES (Synoptic Gospels)

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(Verbal encounter between Jesus and other groups particularly his opponents in religion)

A. MARK
1st Group
a. 2:1-12 Jesus heals the paralytic
When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home.
Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them.
They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.
Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying.
3 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Child, your sins are forgiven."
4 Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves,
"Why does this man speak that way? 5 He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?"
Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, "Why are you thinking such things in your hearts?
Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, pick up your mat and walk'?
6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth"--
he said to the paralytic, "I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home."
He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this."

b. 2:15-17 Jesus dining with public sinners
While he was at table in his house, 9 many tax collectors and sinners sat with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many who followed him.
16
10 Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
17
Jesus heard this and said to them (that), "Those who are well do not need a physician, 11 but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."

c. 2:18-22 Fasting
The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to him and objected, "Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"
19
Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests fast 13 while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
20
But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.
21
No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
22
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins."

d. 2:17 Disciples of Jesus picking grains on the Sabbath
As he was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.
e. 3:1-6 Healing on the Sabbath
Again he entered the synagogue. There was a man there who had a withered hand.
2
They watched him closely to see if he would cure him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him.
3
He said to the man with the withered hand, "Come up here before us."
4
Then he said to them, "Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" But they remained silent.
5
Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
6
2 The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death.

2nd Group
a. 11:27-33 Jesus’ authority is questioned in the temple
b. 12:1-12 Parable of the tenants and the vineyard
c. 12:13-17 Question of tax
d. 12:18-27 Resurrection of the dead
e. 12:33-37 Jesus as David’s son

Others
a. 6:1-6 Fellow villagers
He departed from there and came to his native place, 1 accompanied by his disciples.
2
2 When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, "Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
3
Is he not the carpenter, 3 the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.
4
4 Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house."
5
So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, 5 apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
6
He was amazed at their lack of faith. He went around to the villages in the vicinity teaching.

b. 7:1-13 Purity
Now when the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him,
2
they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.
3
(For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, 2 keeping the tradition of the elders.
4
And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles (and beds).)
5
So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, "Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders 3 but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?"
6
He responded, "Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me;
7
In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.'
8
You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition."
9
He went on to say, "How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition!
10
For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'Whoever curses father or mother shall die.'
11
Yet you say, 'If a person says to father or mother, "Any support you might have had from me is qorban"' 4 (meaning, dedicated to God),
12
you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother.
13
You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things."

c. 8:11-12 Sign except Jonah
The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.
12
He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation."

d. 8:13-21 Discussion with the Disciples
Then he left them, got into the boat again, and went off to the other shore.
14
They had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.
15
4 He enjoined them, "Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."
16
They concluded among themselves that it was because they had no bread.
17
When he became aware of this he said to them, "Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened?
18
Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember,
19
when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?" They answered him, "Twelve."
20
"When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?" They answered (him), "Seven."
21
He said to them, "Do you still not understand?"

e. 18:31-33 “Get behind me Satan”
He began to teach them that the Son of Man 7 must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days.
32
He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33
At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

f. 10:1-9 Question of marriage and divorce
He set out from there and went into the district of Judea (and) across the Jordan. Again crowds gathered around him and, as was his custom, he again taught them.
2
1 The Pharisees approached and asked, "Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?" They were testing him.
3
He said to them in reply, "What did Moses command you?"
4
They replied, "Moses permitted him to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her."
5
But Jesus told them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment.
6
But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female.
7
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother (and be joined to his wife),
8
and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh.
9
Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate."

g. 10:11
He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her;
h. 10:13-16 Argument with disciples concerning children
And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.
14
When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
15
Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child 2 will not enter it."
16
Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them.

B. MATHEW
a. 4:1-11 Dispute against devil
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
2
He fasted for forty days and forty nights, 2 and afterwards he was hungry.
3
The tempter approached and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread."
4
3 He said in reply, "It is written: 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.'"
5
4 Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple,
6
and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you and 'with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"
7
Jesus answered him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.'"
8
Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence,
9
and he said to him, "All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me." 5
10
At this, Jesus said to him, "Get away, Satan! It is written: 'The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.'"
11
Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.

b. 11:2-7 Discussion with the disciples of John the Baptist
When John heard in prison 3 of the works of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to him
3
4 with this question, "Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?"
4
Jesus said to them in reply, "Go and tell John what you hear and see:
5
5 the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
6
And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me."
7
6 As they were going off, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, "What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?

c. 21:1-17 Jesus cleanses the Temple
When they drew near Jerusalem and came to Bethphage 2 on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,
2
saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find an ass tethered, and a colt with her. 3 Untie them and bring them here to me.
3
And if anyone should say anything to you, reply, 'The master has need of them.' Then he will send them at once."
4
4 This happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:
5
"Say to daughter Zion, 'Behold, your king comes to you, meek and riding on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'"
6
The disciples went and did as Jesus had ordered them.
7
5 They brought the ass and the colt and laid their cloaks over them, and he sat upon them.
8
6 The very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and strewed them on the road.
9
The crowds preceding him and those following kept crying out and saying: "Hosanna 7 to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest."
10
And when he entered Jerusalem the whole city was shaken 8 and asked, "Who is this?"
11
And the crowds replied, "This is Jesus the prophet, 9 from Nazareth in Galilee."
12
10 11 Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those engaged in selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.
13
And he said to them, "It is written: 'My house shall be a house of prayer,' 12 but you are making it a den of thieves."
14
The blind and the lame 13 approached him in the temple area, and he cured them.
15
When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wondrous things 14 he was doing, and the children crying out in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant
16
15 and said to him, "Do you hear what they are saying?" Jesus said to them, "Yes; and have you never read the text, 'Out of the mouths of infants and nurslings you have brought forth praise'?"
17
And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany, and there he spent the night.

d. 21:43 Parable of the wicked tenants
Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.
e. 23 “woe”
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the kingdom of heaven 8 before human beings. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.
14
) 9
15
10 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves.
16
11 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If one swears by the temple, it means nothing, but if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is obligated.'
17
Blind fools, which is greater, the gold, or the temple that made the gold sacred?
18
And you say, 'If one swears by the altar, it means nothing, but if one swears by the gift on the altar, one is obligated.'
19
You blind ones, which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
20
One who swears by the altar swears by it and all that is upon it;
21
one who swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it;
22
one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who is seated on it.
23
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes 12 of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. (But) these you should have done, without neglecting the others.
24
13 Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!
25
14 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.
26
Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.
27
15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth.
28
Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.
29
16 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, 17 you hypocrites. You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous,

C. LUKE
a. 7:36-50 Sinful woman who washed the feet of Jesus
A Pharisee invited him to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at table.
37
Now there was a sinful woman in the city who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee. Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment,
38
she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment.
39
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner."
40
Jesus said to him in reply, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Tell me, teacher," he said.
41
"Two people were in debt to a certain creditor; one owed five hundred days' wages 12 and the other owed fifty.
42
Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both. Which of them will love him more?"
43
Simon said in reply, "The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven." He said to him, "You have judged rightly."
44
Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
45
You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered.
46
You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment.
47
So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. 13 But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little."
48
He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
49
The others at table said to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"
50
But he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

b. 11:27 Blessed is the womb
While he was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed."
c. 11:37-54 Not washing before dinner
After he had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat.
38
The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.
39
The Lord said to him, "Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil.
40
You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?
41
But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.
42
Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others.
43
Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces.
44
Woe to you! You are like unseen graves 11 over which people unknowingly walk."
45
Then one of the scholars of the law 12 said to him in reply, "Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too."
46
And he said, "Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.
47
Woe to you! You build the memorials of the prophets whom your ancestors killed.
48
Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them and you do the building.
49
Therefore, the wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles; 13 some of them they will kill and persecute'
50
in order that this generation might be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world,
51
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah 14 who died between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood!
52
Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter."
53
When he left, the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many things,
54
for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.

d. 16:14
The Pharisees, who loved money, 10 heard all these things and sneered at him.

Pharisees
- opponents of Jesus’ teaching and mission
- waiting for the mistakes of Jesus
- they advocated religious program which is very opposite of what Jesus had in mind when he preaches to the people. (reason why they threaten by Jesus)
Sadducees
- They rank higher than the Pharisees.
- adversaries of Jesus
- more conservative than the Pharisees
- Masses considered them as corrupt because they were supported by rich people.
- They were related to Roman authority.
- They have differences in doctrine with the Pharisees.
- They denied the resurrection and existence of Angels.
- They use only Torah as their Bible.
- They opposed to the doctrines not explicitly taught in Pentateuch
- controversy with Jesus
Mt 22:23
On that day Sadducees approached him, saying that there is no resurrection. 15 They put this question to him,

- They were the one responsible for the death of Jesus. They planned for it.

Conclusion
- Controversies bring us the person of Jesus.
- Jesus’ expanded the frontiers of the KOG.
- These controversies lead him to the cross, to fulfill what has been foretold.

MIracles of Jesus

2010-01-31T18:48:00.000-08:00

A. The Issue of Miracles and Supernatural
- Miracles in some cases happen
- Why some people do not accept the possibility of miracles?
* Because of the modern western science
-What is the view point of atheists, agnostics, etc.?
* Their doctrine is naturalism. Miracles are contrary to the doctrine of naturalism. For them, “the world is a closed system of natural causes and effects. There are no outside forces to this world. The scientific law of this world cannot be changed. To say that there are miracles is to violate that law. Miracles are only illusions.
- Hume’s case for naturalism
* It is always irrational to believe that a miracle is occurred. One must weight all probability. Just look at the normal things happen in the world. Nature itself is its creator.
- Response: Miracles jumped from empirical observation to metaphysical claims. It is true that there are causes and effects. We experience the irregularity of the world. It is descriptive. On the other hand, metaphysical events are prescriptive. It prescribes what it is ought to be. Empirical events are factual report while metaphysical is statement of faith. This includes miracles.

B. Miracles in the Gospels/Synoptics (in general)
- Miracles not just make us wonder. There is a purpose behind them. That is, to show how powerful God is.
- Gospel miracles are not restrained or fantastic miracles. They are narrations with simplicity. They reveal the dimensions of the works and person of Jesus.
- Resurrection is the greatest miracle.

C. Terms Used to Refer to the Miracles of Jesus
1. “dynameis” ( “Power” (N.B. there is no specific word for miracles)
Mk 5:30 Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?"
Mk 6:14 King Herod heard about it, for his fame had become widespread, and people were saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead; that is why mighty powers are at work in him."
Mk. 9:39 Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me.
2. “semeion” (- “signs”
Mt 26:28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.
Mk 8:11-12 The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.
He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation."

Mk 13:22False messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders in order to mislead, if that were possible, the elect.
3. “semeia kai terata” -“signs and wonders”
Mk 13:22False messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders in order to mislead, if that were possible, the elect.
Mt 24:24False messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible, even the elect.
4. “ergon”- “works”
Jn 5:20 For the Father loves his Son and shows him everything that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may be amazed.
Jn 10:25 Jesus answered them, "I told you 12 and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father's name testify to me.
Jn 14:10-12 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.

Mt 11:2 When John heard in prison 3 of the works of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to him
5. “endoxa”- “wonderful/glorious things” (paradoxa) remarkable/strange things
Lk 5:26Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God, and, struck with awe, they said, "We have seen incredible things today."
Mt 21:15 When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wondrous things 14 he was doing, and the children crying out in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant

D. Groupings/Divisions of the Miracles of Jesus
1. healings
Mk 1:30-31Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

Mk 1:40-45 A leper came to him (and kneeling down) begged him and said, "If you wish, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, "I do will it. Be made clean." The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. Then he said to him, "See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them." The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

2. exorcisms
Lk 11:14-26He was driving out a demon (that was) mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute person spoke and the crowds were amazed.
Some of them said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons." Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that (I) drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger 7 than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. "When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest but, finding none, it says, 'I shall return to my home from which I came.' But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there, and the last condition of that person is worse than the first."

3. miraculous epiphanies
Transfiguration
Death
Ressurection
4. nature miracles
Jn 2:1-11 1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."
(And) Jesus said to her, "Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come."
His mother said to the servers, "Do whatever he tells you."
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus told them, "Fill the jars with water." So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it.
And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom
and said to him, "Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now."
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs 7 in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.

Lk 5:1-11 While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch."
Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets."
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man."
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him,
and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men."
When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.

5. instructive miraculous gestures
Mt 17:24-27 When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax 21 approached Peter and said, "Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?"
"Yes," he said. 22 When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him, "What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners?"
23 When he said, "From foreigners," Jesus said to him, "Then the subjects are exempt.
But that we may not offend them, 24 go to the sea, drop in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give that to them for me and for you."

E. Theological Implications
- Miracle points to something beyond.
Exorcism- a sign that the KOG has appeared to Jesus. St. Mk’s Gospel placed the exorcism in symbolic meaning of Christ’s life. In Mk 5:1-20, exorcism is done in another country. It signifies that the KOG is not confined merely in Israel.In exorcism faith is important.

Healings- sign of the presence of the KOG. They point to spiritual healings. KOG is connected with the sick. Faith grows and has to be developed.
Mk 8:22-26 (healing of the blind man) When they arrived at Bethsaida, they brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him.
He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on him and asked, "Do you see anything?"
Looking up he replied, "I see people looking like trees and walking."
Then he laid hands on his eyes a second time and he saw clearly; his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly.
Then he sent him home and said, "Do not even go into the village."

Mk 10:46-52 (Barthimeus) hey came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging.
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me."
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me."
Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take courage; get up, he is calling you."
He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see."
Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.

Miracles- points out or proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah
- Miracles are the eschatological preaching of God.
Mt 10:7-8As you go, make this proclamation: 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
5 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.

- Miracles are signs of faith.
- Relation between miracles and the cross: as the Gospel nearer to the crucifixion, the miracles disappear.

Missiology Part III: THE DEVELOPMENT OF MISSION IN HISTORY (an overview)

2010-01-31T18:42:00.001-08:00

INTRODUCTION

• Becoming familiar with the past enables us to understand our present and then move into the future.
• How have we become the Church we are today?
• How has mission continued to change and adapt in different contexts?
• What people, events, and movements from our history can renew us today, not by reliving the past, but by being inspired and challenged by it?
• What are the constant threads through the changing contexts that can help us to understand what mission means today?
Primitive Christianity
• THE SPIRIT LEADS THE DISCIPLES IN NEW DIRECTIONS

Acts of the Apostles
• Before Pentecost (Acts 1): Disappointment and Expectation
• Pentecost (Acts 2-5): Receiving Power to Bear Witness
• Stephen and the Hellenists (Acts 6-7): Jewish Disciples Pushed beyond Their Comfort Zone
• Samaria and the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8): To the Ends of the Earth?
• Cornelius and His Household (Acts 10:1-11:18): Peter and the Gentile Mission
• Antioch (Acts 11:19-29): Mission Matures
• Universal Mission (Acts 12-28): Missional and Church Self-Consciousness Spreads
• Section Synthesis: A Tiny Church with a Universal Mission

Before Pentecost
• Most biblical and theological scholars believe that Jesus did not explicitly plan to found a church distinct from Judaism or to establish a full-blown mission to the Gentiles.
• Jesus was committed to heralding the imminent in-breaking of the reign of God, not to “long-term planning.”
• But one might say that Jesus laid the foundation for the establishment of a community separate from Israel and the idea of mission beyond Israel.
• The eventual understanding of mission and church were founded on the vision, person, and mission of Jesus.
• The establishment of the 12 [symbolic of the 12 tribes of Israel
• Appointment of Peter as leader
• The Command to celebrate a meal in Jesus’ memory provided that initial post-Easter community with the sense of identity and structure
• Jesus’ radical understanding of God was the spiritual foundation of his life and ministry, which was directed primarily toward the Jews but already had significant, though implicit pointers beyond Israel

Pentecost (Acts 2-5)
• While Pentecost is certainly a very key moment for the Church, because of the coming of the Spirit will lead the disciples in new directions in carrying out the mission of Christ and then in founding the Church, the Church is actually NOT FULLY born until the Jesus Community sees itself as DISTINCT from Judaism and crosses outside the boundaries of Judaism in mission.
• Acts 2:9-11: People coming outside Israel
• Acts 2:17: Peter’s speech to all humankind?
• Acts 2:39: “Those still far off”
• Was this the beginning of the Church and the Gentile mission
• HOWEVER, all of these people were JEWISH, by birth or conversion (Acts 2,11)
• Pentecost
• Explicit Mission to the Gentiles was still far from the disciples’ thoughts
• The women and men of the Jesus Movement saw themselves in continuity with and faithful to Jewish religious-cultural tradition
• They continued to follow Jewish Law and to go to the temple daily
• They felt no conflict with following the teachings of the apostles, meeting in homes for the breaking of the bread and proclaiming Jesus as Lord and Messiah

Stephen and Hellenists (Acts 6-7)
• Community in Jerusalem is disturbed: Hellenists (Greek-speaking disciples) complained to the Hebrew-speaking disciples (Hebrews), that the Hellenist widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food
• Community appoints seven to take care of this need : Stephen, Philip and 5 others (Acts 6:1-6)
• 7 men had Greek names, all of them were probably Hellenists
• Point: On the Community level – concern is addressed smoothly but the ISSUE reflects an underlying linguistic, cultural and social diversity among the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem
• The Greek-speaking Jewish Christians were much more influenced by the broader Hellenistic world view
• They held a less traditional view of Judaism which allowed them to place significance on Jesus over Moses
• The Hebrew-speaking Jewish Christians in Jerusalem held a more traditional view of Judaism
• The martyrdom of Stephen [one of the seven, a man filled with grace and power, wise and articulate]
• Stephen’s Speech (7:2-53): Very important not for the movement to the Gentiles, but for indicating the beginning of the SHIFT away from traditional Judaism.
• Stephen and the Hellenists challenged the ADEQUACY of Judaism

Samaria and the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8)
• Persecution of the Hellenists in Jerusalem did not prevent them from preaching the Good News (Acts 6,5)
• Philip worked miracles and preached Jesus Christ to the Samaritans - “half-Jews” both in terms of religion and race, were viewed as heretics and schismatics
• Samaria and the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8)
• Peter and other disciples approved of Philip’s initiative
• Samaritans were baptized
• Peter and disciples were taking Jesus’ initial encounter with the Samaritan much further
• The Conversion Story of the Ethiopian Eunuch showed the initiative of God’s mission
• Who was the Eunuch? Not clear whether the Ethiopian was a Gentile, a convert to Judaism, and/or a eunuch, physically speaking, he was a person very close to Judaism because he went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and read the prophet Isaiah (8:27-28), he was the chief treasurer of the queen of Ethiopia (the last known geographical region of the South.
• Philip baptizes the eunuch because nothing impedes him from doing so: not his physical state, not his foreignness, not his blackness, not his being a Gentile
• The circle of believers continues to widen

Cornelius and His Household
(Acts 10:1-11:18)
• The Conversion of the Gentile Cornelius: “the most critical phase of the expansion of God’s people” (Johnson 1992, 186).
• Cornelius was a Roman Centurion living in Caesarea with his family
• Table Fellowship: central issue in the encounter between Peter and Cornelius
• Turning point for nascent Christianity: Whether Jewish Christians could share a common meal (eventually the Eucharist) with Gentile Christians?
• Deeper realization: The God of the Jewish People as revealed in Jesus Christ, was the God calling all nations to one table.
• The Conversion of Cornelius is also the Conversion of Peter: “The truth I have now come to realize is that God does not have favorites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him (Acts 10:34-35)
• Peter had to explain to the community his action with regard to table fellowship:
• Confronts the social and religious principles of their traditional way of living;
• Table fellowship is a symbol and concrete sign of the universal scope of God’s mission
• Jerusalem community realized that even Gentiles could receive life-giving repentance

Antioch: Mission Matures (Acts 11:19-29)
• Mission to Antioch – one of the most critical events in Christian history (Andrew Walls, 1996)
• In Antioch (4th largest Roman city), we find an intentional and explicit mission to the Gentiles.
• In Antioch, Jewish and Gentile converts lived side by side
• Several elements point to the radical nature of this event:
1. Kyrios instead of Christos: “lord” was understood better by the Gentiles from their religious and cultural background – “a radical move because for the first time, the Gospel message was being presented in terms that moved beyond the pale of Judaism” (Bevans and Schroeder, 2004).
2. The community of Jerusalem sent Barnabas, a Hellenist to see what was happening in Antioch – he recognized that this was God’s work
3. Jesus movement was seeing itself as a Church: “it was at Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians” (Acts 11,26) – Jesus movement was identified and was identifying itself not as a subgroup of Judaism but as distinct from Judaism
• Antioch marks the church’s real “Birthday” – “with expanding consciousness of mission comes an expanding consciousness of being Church.” (Bevans and Schroeder, 2004)).

Universal Mission (Acts 12-28)
• The execution of James and Peter’s arrest and escape from Prison signal the shift away from the Jerusalem community
• Paul and his Mission: “Paul continued to preach to the Jews, but a pattern had been set. After further hardships and successes, Paul and Barnabas eventually returned to Antioch to report that God had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles (Acts 14:27)
• The issue of circumcision and food purity laws at the Council of Jerusalem (around year 49) – the first official discussion by a number of key leaders of the young Christian Church, of what had been happening on the ground in their spirit led community.
• The Council of Jerusalem – an act of faith in discerning God’s spirit at work in unforeseen and challenging ways as the mark of approval on the future direction and face of the Church.
• Karl Rahner (1979): Compared the Council of Jerusalem with Vatican II
• Council of Jerusalem: Christianity is not restricted to Jewish culture but rather inclusive of Jews and Gentiles
• Vatican II: Being a Christian is not limited to any cultural way but rather is open to being received and expressed by the vast array of cultures in the world.

A Tiny Church with a Universal Mission
• The Spirit was leading that small group of disciples to continue God’s mission in new and surprising ways.
• The disciples now constituted a tiny ekklesia [‘assembly’] with a growing consciousness that its message that Jesus was the Savior of the world was destined for all of humanity. The universal mission of God, now had a Church.
• The same Spirit was calling both the Gentile and Jewish Christians to repent, to embrace the reign of God, to enter into one community, and to witness to Christ as the Savior of all peoples.
• The Church was born, not so much on Pentecost, but rather in places like Antioch where the Jewish Christians saw themselves As distinct from, but not in contradiction with, their Jewish tradition and faith. A New reality and a new community, called Church came into being.

Mission From the Early Church to the Fall of Constantinople
• 100-1453
Mission in the Early Church
• Individual Christians in a Variety of Situations
• Christians at home and in the market place
• THE HOME: “The Center of Christian life. Certain houses, especially larger ones, were designated for the weekly gatherings, for prayer, community discussion, sharing resources, and the breaking of bread.”
• OUTSIDE HOME: Early Christians also witnessed to their faith outside the home. Most lived in crowded urban areas, where probably as many as half the children died at birth or as infants.
• BEYOND LOCALITY: Christians brought their faith with them when they traveled as merchants, artisans, emigrants, soldiers and slaves.
• “Gossiping the Gospel”: “This must often have been not formal preaching, but the informal chattering to friends and chance acquaintances, in homes and wine shops, on walks, and around market stalls. They went everywhere gossiping the Gospel; they did it naturally, enthusiastically, and with conviction of those who are not paid to say that sort of thing.” (Green, 1970).
• CHRISTIANITY spread rapidly through “ordinary” baptized Christians who witnessed to their faith in the face of opposition, sometimes to the point of death, but most through their daily living. It started in the home.

Women: Witnesses at the Heart of Mission
• Christianity continued to be appealing to women because of its high regard for the dignity of women compared to larger society
• Women’s role in mission began in the home: Christian women married to non-Christian Gentiles converted their husbands and the household; women talked “gossiped” about their faith in the laundry and the marketplace.
• women were also martyred: Accounts of the passion of St. Perpetua and Felicity
• Perpetua , African woman, refused to deny her faith, despite prison, separation from her nursing child, and appeals from her elderly father. Felicity: pregnant servant. Both were martyred in the ampitheater
• women in official ministry – women as co-workers of Paul [Phoebe – Rm 16, 1-2]

What to learn from early Church?
• Ordinary baptized Christians were the primary agents of mission
• Both women and men had not doubt that their baptism made them full members of the Church and responsible to share the good news of Christ, with or without words
• The martyr was the ideal Christian, one who committed his or her life to Christ
• Those interested in becoming Christians were to be transformed into persons with such faith, motivation, and identity through an intensive Catechumenate process

Synthesis Point: THE HOUSE CHURCH
• The House Church provides wonderful image of table fellowship and mission. The place where they ate, slept, showed hospitality, and lived their faith on a daily basis was also the place where they talked with others about the Gospel and celebrated the Eucharist.
• Table fellowship was expanded to include God’s extended family and pracrticed by gossiping the Gospel, quietly witnessing their faith.

Mission and the Monastic Movement
CONTEXT:
• 313 Constantine made Christianity not only a tolerated religion or persecuted religion but an officially endorsed religion. Constantine shifted the capital from Rome to Byzantium and renamed it as Constantinople.
• Persian Empire began to persecute tens of thousands of Christians with its domain
• Beginning of Islam in the 7th century – Muslim Arab rule was established over almost half of the Christian world within about a 100 years of the Muhammad’s death
• During this period, 600 years, a variety of Monastic Movement emerged around the world and became the primary means of mission.
• Thousands of people seeking a WAY TO LIVE A MORE INTENTIONAL AND ASCETIC LIFE went to the deserts of Egypt and the wildernesses of Syria.
• Communities of monks and nuns developed (benedictines, dominicans etc)
• East Syrian Monks: Traveling the Silk Road to China – in 635, a small band of East Syrian monks led by Alopen traveled along the Silk Road and arrived in Chang’an (present day Xian), the capital of the great Chinese Empire and the largest city of the world at that time.
• Initial openness to Christianity: The emperor of the T’ang Dynasty (907) asked for Chinese Translation of Christian writings.
• Emperor financed the construction of the first Chinese Church in 638. The construction of other churches and monasteries followed.

A Copy of the 1st Chinese Christian Writing of Alopen
• “Nobody has the ability to see God. Truly, God is like the wind. Who can see the wind? God is not still but moves on the earth at all times. He is in everything and everywhere. Humanity lives only because it is filled with God’s life-giving breath. Peace comes only when your heart and mind rest in God” (Palmer, 2001)
• The Early moment of openness to the East Syrian monks and Christianity began to close with changing political winds of suspicion towards the influence of outsiders.
• The Final blow came with the end of tolerant T’ang Dynasty in 907.

Mission and the Monastic Movement
• Cyril and Methodius: (b. early 9th centurt) Apostles to the Slavs: Brothers who preached in the local language.
• They developed the slavonic language
• John Paul II: “The work of evangelization which they carried out as pioneers in territory inhabited by Slav peoples contain both a model of what today is called inculturation (SA 21)
• Synthesis:
• The period 313-907: ordinary baptized Christians were no longer the primary agents of mission; rather, the growing number of men and women who sought a more distinct and austere life in the various monastic movements became the MININSTRUMENTS OF MISSION
• Monks and nuns inspired Christians and others around the world
• Mission became associated more with particular vocation than with baptism in general
• The association between mission and politics is ambiguous and dangerous! Politics could facilitate missionary efforts or threw obstacles to mission
• Rivalries and divisions within Christianity can seriously harm the witness and work of mission

Bibliography
• Bevans, Stephen B., and Rroger P. Schroeder. Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2004.
• Irvin, Dale T., and Scott W. Sunquist. History of the World Christian Movement. Vol 1, Earliest Christianity to 1453. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2001
• Mission and the Mendicant Movement (1000-1453)
• CONTEXT: The Church was in a very difficult state at the beginning of the 2nd millenium
• EXTERNALLY:
 Confined by the Muslim Political Rule and mission was not possible, almost nonexistent
 Christendom in Western Europe = Holy Roman Empire and Strong papacy (unity of Church and state)
 Series of military crusades vs. Muslims in the Middle East and vs. Heretics in Europe
 Military Conquest then forced baptisms (Scandinavia and Prussia
 Inquisition for the Heretics
• INTERNALLY:
 Church in the West (ca. 1000) = serious problems due to influences of Wealth, Power and Clericalism
 Christian world tried to survive under Muslim Rule or Threat of Muslims
 Two Schisms: [1] Between Latin West (Holy Roman Empire) and Greek East (Byzantine Empire) = 1054 came mutual excommunication
• Crusaders of Latin West sacked the sacred city of Constantinople in 1204 (“It was the straw the broke the Camel’s back)
• [2] 2nd Schism (West) in 14th Century = result of church-state power struggles.
• FALL of Constantinople to Muslim forces in 1453 = the end of the Byzantine Empire and the seeming end of Christian mission
• MENDICANT MOVEMENT And MISSION
• The RENEWAL of mission in this period through the mendicant movements reinvigorated the church
• The Franciscans, Dominicans, and other new movements like Third Orders provided new mission impetus or spark within the church of the West
• A RELIGIOUS revival became the spirit and motivation of true Christian mission (backdrop: crusades and forced baptisms)
• The LAITY took the lead in reforming the Church by searching for ways to live the Gospel as Jesus did through:
 popular preaching
 voluntary poverty
 traveling
 mendicancy (begging for sustenance)

FRANCIS OF ASSISI
• Francis of Assisi: Born in the late 12th century in Assisi (Central Italy); life-changing events: [1] imprisonment; [2] serious illness; [3] encounter with a leper
• Francis ‘ Mission: “Francis, go and repair my Church” = witnessing to and preaching Christ far beyond Assisi
• ST. FRANCIS AND MUSLIM SULTAN
• After several attempts to travel to Muslim lands, Francis arrived at a Crusaders’ camp situated at the mouth of the Nile River.
• Francis and Brother Illuminato crossed the battle lines and were received by Al MALIK Al-Kamil as persons of peace , not of the sword.
• Thomas of Celano, a biographer wrote:
“The Sultan honored him as much as he was able, and having given him many gifts, he tried to bend Francis’ mind toward the reaches of the world. But when he saw that Francis most vigorously despised all these things as so much dung, he was filled with the greatest admiration, and he looked upon him as a man different from all others.”
• After several days of conversation, Francis and Illuminato were safely escorted back to the crusaders’ side
• They were also granted a safe passage through Holy land
• This event showed Francis’ integrity and character and Sultan’s hospitality and openness
• Franciscans’ Approach to Non-Christians:
• BEGUINES: A MOVEMENT OF LAY WOMEN

BEGUINES
• A loose network of women developed
• They supported themselves and wore a common dress of gray similar to early Franciscans
• Due to fear of heretical movements, they were under clerical supervision and official religious and civil recognition
• Beguinage (residence of beguines): enclosed circle of cottages in the midst of a town or city, often surrounded by a canal or wall
• Beguinage had a church, buildings for community work, charitable ministry, and administration
• A number of beguines became widely known for their holiness, mystical visions and great learning (e.g. Mechtild of Magdeburg – Germany 13th century)

SIGNIFICANCE OF BEGUINE MOVEMENT:
• Although the movement declined after 200 years, they represented an ALTERNATIVE MODEL for women seeking to LIVE THE LIFE OF JESUS: “Living an acceptable form of the apostolic life, they could remain within the boundaries of traditional spirituality; but being laywomen and free of restrictions imposed upon cloistered nuns , they had the liberty to experiment and break new ground.” (Devlin 1984, p. 189)

recap:
• There was strong Christianity in the WEST but there was a DECLINE in the rest of the world by 1453.
• With the fall of Constantinople and the expansion of Muslim rule, only a few Christian communities remained in the Middle East and across Asia
• Opinion of Irvin and Sunquist:
“The Christian movement thus found itself in a rather lopsided situation. The majority of the World’s Christians resided in the European West. The dominant culture of Western Europe was virtually synonymous with Latin Christianity.”
(Irvin and Sunquist 2001, p. 504)
• Synthesis Point: MISSION IS BACK TO EVANGELICAL LIFE
 There was a desire to live a GOSPEL LIFESTYLE (Lives of Francis and Claire touched lives of many people)
 Franciscans and Dominicans, each in their own way, reclaimed Jesus’ mission of explicit preaching linked to witness
 Claire reaffirmed the connection between contemplation and mission
• Synthesis Point
• The sweeping renewal within the Church did not come from the monks and nuns but from the laity
• The birth of third orders provided a NEW AVENUE for men and women to live their faith in their daily life (ideal of the early Church)
• The Beguines remind us of the strong presence of women in the Church (precursors of active religious life and other lay associations and movements in the Church)
• The Third orders especially the Beguines provided NEW WAYS for combining personal and communal spirituality with ministerial and missional service
• Mission was understood and practiced both at home and in faraway places in a seamless fashion
• MISSION cannot be defined geographically.
• Challenge: HOW DO WE WITNESS AND PREACH WITH OR WITHOUT WORDS IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD AND IN OUR WIDER WORLD?

MISSION FROM COLUMBUS TO THE FALL OF BERLIN (1492-1989)
• Prophets, Jesuits, Missionary Societies and New Approaches
• Overview
• Deal with events surrounding the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas in 1492
• Fall of Berlin Wall in 1989 which historians consider as the end of the 20th Century
• They symbolize as a major shift in both world and Christian history
• In the previous discussion, Christianity spread from Jerusalem quickly and extensively through Asia, Africa and Europe with a notable presence in Ethiopia, India and Russia
• In this discussion, Christian faith will shift from being the religion of a European majority to a worldwide religion

MISSION IN THE AGE OF DISCOVERY (1492-1773)
CONTEXT:
 Fall of Constantinople – Europe boxed in by Muslim Power-domain
 After reforms of Mendicant Orders, the Church was preoccupied with WEALTH, POLITICS, AND INTERNAL PROBLEMS
 Reform and Division Shook Christianity:
 Protestant Reformation
 Catholic Reformation
 Anabaptist Reformation
• 30 years’ war began as a religious conflict between Catholics and Protestants and ended as a nationalistic, political and economic affair
• European ships navigated the coast of Africa to Asia across Atlantic to Americas
• Two MAJOR navigational and economic power of Spain and Portugal were disputing claims over new lands
• Pope drew a dividing line from North to South
 PORTUGAL: Brazil, Africa and Asia
 SPAIN: Rest of the Americas and the Philippines
• Since the Church was not in a position to direct the missionary efforts in new lands on its own, the Pope created the PATRONAGE agreement, that is, he gave the two royal governments the rights and responsibilities for mission
• IMPLICATION: The action of the Pope illustrated the close and dangerous identification of the Church and State as a single Christendom and the overlapping goals of colonialism and mission
• Spain and Portugal succeeded in removing the final foothold of 700 years of Muslim rule in Europe, the same year Columbus discovered America
• Spain’s re-conquering of the Iberian Peninsula turned toward conquering new lands and peoples
• Worst tragedies in human history: The creation of a massive trans-Atlantic slave trade
• FACT:
 Around 24 million Africans were taken forcibly as slaves over 400-year period
 12 milliion died in the journey in the coastal holding cells and castles even before being loaded on the ships to Americas

MISSION SITUATION
• Many Missionaries travelled from Europe to these new lands for the sake of the Gospel
• 4th Period of Mission ended in 1773 through the suppression of the Jesuits

BARTOLOME DE LAS CASAS:
A Prophet in the Americas
• As a young boy he heard about the conquests of Columbus and his discovery of the Americas
• He traveled to the new world
• He went to Rome to study theology, was ordained a priest and returned to the Americas
• He became a chaplain of the Spanish soldiers and settlers in Cuba
• He owned an encomienda, a plantation

BARTOLOME’S TURNING POINT:
• Christmas Sermon in 1511 to A Spanish Congregation in the Caribbean Island of the Hispaniola (present day Dominican Republic and Haiti)
• A Dominican, Fr. Antonio Montesinos, spoke against the terrible treatment of indigenous peoples: “You are all in mortal sin! You live in it and you die in it! Why? Because of the cruelty and tyranny you use with these innocent people.”
• Las Casas experienced a deep conversion, a change from a plantation owner to the defender of the rights of indigenous peoples
• He joined the Dominicans
• He became known as the “defender of the Indians” = He championed the cause that the Indians were not a lesser race and asserted their FULL HUMANITY
• Las Casas also fought for the NO USE OF FORCE to baptize Indians
• He affirmed their right of choice and religious freedom

RESULT OF LAS CASAS’ ADVOCACY:
• He influenced Pope Paul III to write a statement on the Fundamental Human Dignity of the Indians
• King Charles V (Carlos V) of Spain wrote new laws to eliminate major abuses in the Americas
• He became a bishop in Chiapas in Southern Mexico but he received death threats due to his advocacy , thus he resigned as a bishop
• Even after his resignation, he continued to fight for the Indigenous peoples’ human rights and for social justice until he died at the age of 82

FRANCIS XAVIER: Missionary to Asia
• SITUATION: Some Asian civilizations such as China and Japan resisted extensive foreign invasions
• Missionaries in Asia were not driven by a sweeping Conquest
• JESUITS: Founded by Ignatius of Loyola in 1540 (part of Catholic Reformation) were the main missionaries to Asia
• The Jesuits’ positive attitude toward human nature and non-Western cultures led to a more accommodating and creative approach toward mission
• Francis Xavier grew up in a Castle, studied in Paris and belonged to the founding group of Jesuits
• His passion for mission work carried him by land and sea over 10,000 miles in ten years
• He was responsible for the baptism of 700,000 converts
• More than the statistics, his greatest achievement was seen in his missionary passion and conversion
• His passion for mission led him to Goa (South of Bombay), Paravas (pearl-finding people of India), Malacca (present Malaysia), and Japan
• His STRATEGY of bringing the Gospel to the common folk will have to change in Japan

JAPAN:
• Xavier’s Strategy: Instead of approaching the common folk he tried to go to the FEUDAL Lords first hoping that their favorable stance could open up the Gospel to their subjects
• Xavier’s first converts and baptisms in Japan:
 Buddhist monk
 Wandering professional minstrel who became the first Japanese brother and spread the Gospel through music
• After 27 months in Japan, he baptized more than 1,000 converts.
• Xavier left Japan and headed towards China but before he could enter China, he became seriously ill on the ship and died at the age of 46 in an island off the coast of China
• Other Jesuits continued his mission work
 Roberto di Nobili - work with Hindus (Caste)
 Matteo Ricci – entered the world of Confucianism in China
 Alexander of Rhodes – language and culture of Vietnam
• In 1927, Pius XI proclaimed Francis Xavier together with Therese of Lisieux as the Patron of missionary work
• The suppression of the Jesuits in 1773 marked the end of this fruitful period of mission
• By 1800 only about 300 Catholic Missionaries left in the world

SYNTHESIS POINT: PASSION FOR MISSION
• BARTOLOME DE Las CASAS’ concerns for human rights and social justice are INTIMATELY a part of mission
• In his context, he confronted blatant racism, prejudice and violence toward indigenous peoples; he addressed the structure of injustice
• FACT: due to racism, only three natives were ordained in the Americas in the course of 300 years
• We see in Las Casa the need continually to CONFRONT prejudice and racism within ourselves
• Las Casas was open to God’s grace which turned his life upside-down twice, first in facing his prejudice vs. native Americans and second vs. Africans
• PERSONAL CONVERSION and MISSION go hand and hand
• FRANCIS XAVIER: Realized the VALUE of the ways of life and the cultures of the peoples among whom he worked.
• Xavier was a wonderful example of one who combi9ned burning passion for the proclamation of the Gospel with the need to inculturate it or accommodate it to the culture and context to which he preached
• The Attitude of Xavier and fellow Jesuits in Asia opened the door for Asians to become co-workers and fellow Jesuits which was extremely rare in the Americas
• In de Las Casas and Xavier, we see both sin and grace in the Church
• Jesus described the Kingdom of God as going out to the crossroads and inviting everyone to the wedding feast (Mt. 22, 2-10).
• De las Casas and Xavier were models of missionaries out on the crossroads

MISSION IN THE AGE OF PROGRESS (1792-914)
• A period of civilizers, evangelizers and volunteer societies
• CONTEXT:
 1773 – the state of mission in the Church was dismal
 The banner was passing from Spain and Portugal to France as the leading Catholic nation
 French Revolution of 1789 and Napoleonic ward until 1815 put a hold on the French Church
 The Pope and the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of Faith established in 1622 to direct Catholic missions was under house arrest
 Religious orders were suppressed
 Religious authority and even religion itself were called into question
 After Napoleon, the Church was preoccupied with struggles between liberal and conservative movements
• The Church returned to mission matters
• It was the Protestant missions that represented the bulk of Christian Missionary movement (1890 women represented 60 percent of the Protestant missionaries)
• THE 3 C’S
• Understanding and practice of mission, for both Catholics and Protestants are linked with another wave of COLONIALISM

The Three C’s:
 Christianity
 Commerce
 Civilization
• Innovations: steam engine, railroads, and electricity fueled economic and social development in Europe and later in North America (known as the Age of Progress)
• Missionaries became ambassadors for bringing these developments to the rest of the world
• The beginning of World War I in 1914 marks the end of 19th century period of mission optimism

Samuel Ajayi Crowther: African Missionary to Africans
• 1792: First Africans arrived in Freetown Sierra Leone (West Africa), a settlement for freed slaves
• One of the leaders of the freed slaves was SAMUEL Ajayi Crowther known as “probably the most widely known African Christian of the 19th century” (Walls, 2002, 155)
• Crowther became a teacher and was ordained an Anglican priest, he also became a bishop
• He led an all-African mission effort: Instead of English in worship, he used the local language (yaruba) and he translated the bible in the local language
• Crowther was committed to the gospel and calling people to true conversion, he respected the African culture
• He was a voice against slavery and developed a good working relationship with the Muslims
• Intense Colonialism under Germany, new missionaries from Europe did not support Crowther.

DANIEL CAMBONI: Regeneration of Africa by Africans
• CONTEXT:
 Recovery of the vision and means for mission after French Revolution and Napoleonic wars
 Jesuits restored in 1814
 Congregation of the Propagation of Faith reconstituted in 1817
 Gregory XVI (1831), a missionary Pope, brought missionary commitment in his papacy
 Hundreds of new religious congregations for men and women were founded during this period
• Short Profile
• Comboni was sent to Sudan as a missionary through the Mazza Institute in Verona, Italy
• He had to return home due to the closure of the effort and due to his poor health
• Comboni’s ongoing passion for Africa coupled with abhorrence of slavery prompted him to become involved in efforts to ransom African slaves and bring them to Europe for Education
• In 1864 he drew up his plan for the regeneration of Africa by having centers in Africa and Europe for training of Europeans and Africans for mission work
• Comboni’s MOTTO: “Save Africa for Africa
• He established the Comboni Institute and the foundation of two missionary congregations of men and women
• He was unsuccessful to get the whole Church to embrace mission to Africa during Vatican I (1870)
• In 1914, Christian missionaries had reached most parts of the world, except for Tibet, Afghanistan, Nepal and interior of Papua New Guinea
• Mission Work of Redemptorists, Passionists, Franciscans, Jesuits, Missionary of Mary, Society of the Divine Word and Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters

SYNTHESIS POINT: MISSION FROM WITHIN
• Las Casas and Xavier affirmed the human dignity of the indigenous peoples and the Japanese
• Crowther and Comboni confronted the 19th century evils of Imperialism, paternalism and racism
• Colonized peoples need to become active subjects in shaping their own history and their own Christian faith
• Missionaries of the past and of today should not get too much credit or too much blame because the power of God’s Word goes beyond the limitations and sins of missionaries
• We can’t forget that it is God’s WORD , and not OUR OWN!

Mission in the 20th Century (1919-1989)
• CONTEXT:
 World War I: Shattered hopes on science, progress , and Christianity to evangelize the world
 Benedict XV (1919) – Missionary Encyclical – Maximum Illud (On Spreading the Catholic Faith Throughout the World) – signaled reyurn to mission agenda and the beginning of the Catholic 20th century mission movement
 Economic Depression of 1930
 Rise of Hitler and Mussolini
 World War II: 47 million civilians died, 25 million military personnel, Jewish genocide (6 million), Heroshima (200, 000 people died – ended colonialism
 Communism (1917 – Europe/1953 – China)
• Cold War
• Fall of Berlin Wall in 1989 – end of Cold war
• 20th century was a time of tremendous change, tension, rebirth and growth for the Church and mission

ICONS of Mission Transformation
• Mother Teresa of Calcutta
• Dorothy Day

Missiology Part II: CONTEMPORARY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE THEOLOGY OF MISSION (The Challenges of Culture and Cultures)

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• Culture: the way of life of people, the meaning systems of a society
• Two-fold task of the Gospel in relation to culture: [1] it must find embodiment—incarnate itself—in a culture to become a local Church; [2] it must seek to transform the culture
• Difficulty: the conditions for cultural encounter is quite diverse

Mission is Countercultural
• Freedom and creativity of the local community and the spirit of kenosis on the part of the preachers of the Gospel
• Prophetic role – Church as the conscience of the community; it has to defend human and spiritual values and to be critical of anything that is not in accord with them.
• When Church is a small minority, the challenge is not to be foreign presence

Challenge of Secularization
• The greatest problem of religion in contemporary culture is secularizationj
• Secularization has purified the Church from some of its myths and superstitions
• Negatively: secularization has taken away from the Church the social control through other social institutions like science and knowledge

Mission is Reaching Out
• Religion must reach out to individuals and small groups and seek to give meaning to their lives through symbol and ritual
• A mere repetition of credal statements and symbols is not sufficient
• WE HAVE TO SEEK TO PERSUADE, TO CONVINCE
• We have to create new symbols – to make religion meaningful to the contemporary world

The Challenge of Pluralism
• Encounter of the Gospel with culture means cultures in the plural
• The plurality of cultures witnesses to the richness of people’s creativity
• Pluralism must be gathered into a unity, not by suppression of differences that leads to a dull uniformity but by creating mutual integration through a constant dialogue

Mission is Unity in Diversity
• The key to unity is the unity of the community of persons. The trinity is our model – different persons linked in relationships

The Challenge of Interreligious Dialogue
• Existentially: people of different religions are living together under one society
• Ideologically: we have a positive view of and respect for other religions

Mission is Dialogue and Proclamation
• Dialogue is not between two religious systems
• Dialogue is a conversation and sharing between two persons and communities where there is mutual respect for each other, but also mutual honesty with regard to one’s identity.
• Dialogue and proclamation are dialectical moments of one action that builds the Kingdom
• We should not subordinate one to the other

The Challenge of Justice
• Mahatma Gandhi: “to a hungry person God dares to appear only in the form of bread.”
• The need for the liberation of the whole person

Mission is Integral Development
• Holistic view of salvation: not only the soul but the whole person
• God’s love transforms not only the hearts but lives and the world people live in
• People are called to be co-creators with God, of this new heaven and new earth.
• Development Clusters:
• Mission and the Groaning of Creation
• Mission and the Margins
• Mission and the Peaceable Kingdom
• Mission and Integral Development

Missiology Part I: MISSION IN OUR NEW GLOBAL CONTEXT

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• Globalization is a multifaceted phenomenon
• Globalization is both an opportunity [build up the global community and a danger [provoke violence and resistance]

Globalization of the Church
• The Church has become globalized in its own way without wanting it
• Church is a global spiritual and moral presence
• Internally: a communion of local churches
• Externally: Opened itself up to the world
• Present challenge: Tension between the center and the periphery; between uniformity and unity

Globalization of Mission
• Global context of the world and the Church
• Account for the paradigm shifts in mission

From Mission of the Church to the Mission of God:
• “Mission is not primarily the task of the Church, but of God. The Church is only at the service of God’s mission, which englobes and transcends it.”
• Mission of the church is global: the first task of the Church is to contemplate how God is present and active in a particular situation and to collaborate with it.

From Mission as Anti-Religions to Mission as Anti-Evil
• Jesus condemned selfishness, pride and self-righteousness
• Back to BASIC: “ We have to struggle against evil in ourselves, in our socioeconomic and political and even religious structures and not against groups and religions outside the Church”

Church: From Safe Haven to Salt and Leaven
“Our identity is defined by what we are, not negatively by what we are not. It is our rootedness in the spirit who animates and guides us that should protect our identity, not the walls around ourselves.”

Some Challenges of Mission in our global context:
• Poverty and marginalization
• Human rights
• Women and children
• Ecological destruction

Mission Priorities:
• Global mandate but local mission
• Improve on knowledge and services
• Option for the non-poor (not rich) = people who can bring about change
• Peace among religions
• Need to re-found the Church as credible agents of mission

Emerging Trends in Asia:
• Back to the small, micro, basic communities
• Holistic and integral perspective [ecological and feminist movements]
• Positive recognition of pluralism
• Modernization as a value-laden proposal
• Integral alternative development and social entrepreneurship

Missiology (Lecture outline, Course presentaion, and Introduction)

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DEVELOPMENTS AND TRENDS
IN MISSION
Purpose of the Course
The course provides students with an extended introduction to present contemporary contexts vis-à-vis the mission of the Church. At the heart of the course is a general mapping of the frontiers of the Church’s mission and its articulation in the present faithing experience of men and women today that are the living stones of the Church.

Aims of the Course
• To know the frontiers of the mission of the Church today
• To understand the mission of the Church in different contexts
• To find the historical continuity and discontinuity of the Church’s mission
• To respond with courage and passion to the challenge of mission at the frontiers

Course Requirements

• Reading Portfolio: Obligatory reading materials will be given to students. A summary of each article and short missiological reflection will be required from students.

• Research Work: Each student will be required to do a research project on a particular mission trend (a maximum of 15 pages, double space.)
• Course Requirements
• Examinations: There will be three preliminary examinations before the final exam. When a student obtains high marks in the first two preliminary examinations, the third examination is optional. The final examination is obligatory.
• Attendance and Participation: Class attendance and participation are major factors in the computation of the final grade. All students are expected to participate actively during lectures and discussion.
• Lecture Outline
• Course Presentation & Introduction
• Mission in Our Global Context
• Emerging trends and the Challenge of Mission Today
• Introduction to Mission Frontiers
• Conclusion

• INTRODUCTION
“Our understanding of Christian mission develops in response to issues and questions that arise in living out our faith… Theology is not formed in a vacuum but emerges in response to concrete situations or crises that stimulate study and reflection.”
(Allan Effa, IBMR, October 2008)
“The issues shaping our approach to mission today are different from those our ancestors struggled with… as each new crisis is addressed, however, our perspective on the nature of the Christian mission is enriched and enlarged.”
• On Developments & Trends:
• Mission develops in response to issues and questions that arise from living faith
• Creative tension between the mission mandate and the mission context
• Mission emerges in response to concrete situations or crises
• Stimulate study and reflection
• Permanent validity of mandate vis-à-vis context
• On Mission Frontiers:
• Jesus sends his disciples to the ends of the earth
• Developments deal with frontiers : the unchartered course, the dangerous and virgin territories
• Frontiers not simply geographical territories or landscapes but HUMANSCAPES
Developments and trends in mission deal with Redeemed HUMANITY’S frontiers today

Prophets (Notes from Fr. Rustam Sabularse)

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THE PROPHETIC LITERATURE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

CHAPTER II: PRE-EXILIC PROPHETS

A. AMOS

a. The Prophet: a sheepherder (1:1) and caretaker of sycamore trees (7:14) from Tekoa in the southern kingdom. Though connected to the temple at Bethel (whence he was driven off in 7:10-12-13), he did not belong to any prophetic guild or among the so-called royal prophets, his prophetic activity being charismatic in origin (7:15).

b. Date of prophetic activity: ca. 760-755 BCE, during the reign of Jeroboam II (north, 793-753 BCE) and Uzziah (south, 792-740) near the end of the northern kingdom. It was a time of relative financial ease and political peace: the Assyrians were pre-occupied with internal turmoil, while the Syrians were still exhausted from their continuous wars with her neighbors especially the Assyrians.

c. Mission: Amos prophetic mission can be divided into three:

1. To pass judgment on all the neighbors of Israel, including Judah, because of their sins (1:3-2:5);
2. To warn Israel of her impending doom because of two sins:
-the social evils of the within its kingdom (2:6-16, 4:1-3, 5:10-15, 8:4-6);
-their on-going idol worship apparently even at the temple at Bethel (5:25-27, 8:14);
3. To invite Israel to repentance (5:1-9).

d. Message:

1. Amos anticipates, in spite of the relative peace in Israel, the coming punishment of the northern kingdom culminating in the destruction at the hands of the Assyrian. Yahweh has abandoned Samaria’s because of her infidelity to the covenant as seen in her religious and socio-economic practices;

2. After Israel’s punishment, there will come a ‘Day of the Lord’ (9:11-15) a future redemption and restoration when Israel will again be rebuilt and even vanquish her neighbor Edom.

e. Literary Content

-Oracles: e.g. 1:3-2:16, 4:4-12;
-Visions: e.g. 7:1-9.

f. Structure and Division

1:1-2 = Introduction
1:3-2:16 = Oracles against the nations
chs. 3-6 = Oracles against Israel
7:1-9:10 = Destruction of Israel
9:11-15 = Hope for the Future

g. Notes on Amos

-Amos is the third (3rd) among the Twelve Minor Prophets. It’s the ‘earliest’ of all the prophetic books;

-There are two ways in which the ‘Day of the Lord’ is seen in Amos: as a day of destruction and doom (5:18-20) and as a day of redemption (9:11-15).

2. HOSEA

a. The Prophet: Hosea was the son of Beri (or Beeri). He apparently prophesied in the northern kingdom, and lived probably in Samaria or Shechem. As per God’s command, he married Gomer, daughter of Diblaim, a prostitute who always returned to her sinfulness. His sons were Jezreel (as a reference for the bloodshed committed by Jehu at Jezreel, cfr 2 Kings 9-10), Unloved (for Yahweh will no longer love Israel), and Not-My-People (for Israel has ceased to be Yahweh’s people and Yahweh no longer Israel’s God). Although the book presented a sort of biographical narration of his own familial life, it is not certain if such domestic situation in the prophet’s life was in fact real or merely symbolic like the names of his three children.

b. Date of Prophetic activity: ca. 758-722 BCE (from Jeroboam II until before the Assyrian conquest of the north). Hosea was a contemporary of Amos. But unlike Amos, he seemed to have prophesied for a longer period of time, stretching the reigns of Uzziah, Jotam, Ahaz and Ezechiah on the south, and Jeroboam II on the north (1:1).

c. Mission: Hosea felt more than Amos the imminent destruction of Israel (1:4) due to her sins. These sins are:

1. Primarily due to the rampant idolatry (9:10, 13:1-2) and the ‘whoring’, i.e. cultic prostitution Israel was doing (4:12-14);
2. Murders and bloodbath especially in the political arena (4:2, 7:7);
3. The rejection of priests to acknowledge Yahweh (4:6);
4. Social injustice (e.g. 12:7-8).

d. Message: The message Hosea concerns explaining that the impending destruction of Israel (and partly of Judah) under the Assyrians will in fact be a divine judgment due to Israel’s (and Judah’s numerous sins. But like Amos, Hosea encourages while he condemns. Notwithstanding the inevitability of punishment, the prophet insisted on the assurance of God’s unfailing love (14:4-8).

e. Literary Content: Aside from the symbolic gesture of his own familial situation, Hosea used poetic images (e.g. 5:14, 10:11-13, 13:15), oracles (e.g. 9:15-16) and exhortations (e.g. 6:1-3). Interesting to note are the inclusion of prophetic historiography that depicts Yahweh’s perspective of Israel’s calling and demise (11:1-4, 13:4-8) with emphasis to the fact that Yahweh is the God ‘who took them out of Egypt’ (12:19).

f. Structure and Division

chs 1 - 3 = The Marriage of Hosea
chs 4 – 13 = Prophecy against Israel
ch 14 = Message of Repentance and Promise

g. Notes on Hosea

-Hosea is the first and the longest among the Twelve Prophets;

-Hosea seems to be of two minds regarding Judah. Like Israel, Judah was also guilty of sinning against Yahweh and therefore also to be punished (11:12-12:2). But unlike the former, Hosea saw that Judah was still faithful and thus to be spared the full punishment of Yahweh (1:6-7);

3. PROTO-ISAIAH

a. The Prophet: Isaiah the son of Amoz (2:1) is from Jerusalem, maybe of the higher class (acc. to JBC because of his literary quality), with a prophetess wife (?) and two sons with symbolic names: She’ar Yashûb (7:3 = ‘a few will return’, i.e. the punishment of Israel in 10:20-22. ) and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (8:3 = ‘Quick-Loot-Fast-Plunder’, the plight of Damascus and Samaria at the hands of the Assyrians in 8:4).

b. Date of Prophetic Activity: ca. 740-701 BCE. Proto-Isaiah started his prophetic call towards the death of King Uzziah (ca. 742-740 BCE, Is 6:1) in Jerusalem until the time of King Hezekiah (ca 701 BCE). Assyria though undergoing a brief decline was asserting its control over the whole of Palestine (Shalmaneser V, 726-722, and Sargon II, 721-705 were the one responsible for the destruction of the kingdom of Israel).

c. Mission: Isaiah’s role as a prophet coincided with the rise of the Assyrians. Two of the Judean kings who were given much attention by Isaiah (Ahaz and Hezekiah) had to contend with this imperial threat. With Ahaz, Judah became a slave-state after Israel was captured in 733, and Damascus in 732. Hezekiah, relying on the non-existent promise of support from Egypt, revolted against Assyria ending in disaster in 701 with Judah suffering great destruction and paying a huge fine to Assyria (although the prophet himself also saw that Assyria will not totally destroy Judah (8:5-10).

Isaiah attacks several sins and evils of Judah:
1. Rebellion against YHWH (1:2-5, 3:8-9, 30:1-5, 8-11);
2. Idolatry and worshipping other gods and objects (1:29);
3. Social sins (1:15-17, 23, 3:12-15);
4. Sins of the priests and prophets (28:7-13).

d. Message

-YHWH’s righteousness (the Holy One of Israel) and saving mercy: he punishes in order to purify (1:24-27);
-YHWH has everything under his power, including all the nations whom he used as instruments to punish Israel (5:25-30, 10:5-6), but at the same time will be condemned for doing evil to Israel (10:13-14, 30:30-33, 33:1);
-Israel and Jerusalem’s failure: lack of trust in Yahweh, constant flirtation with idols (10:10-11), and lack of social justice. The real threat to Israel is not Assyria, but her sins;
-After all the punishment and destruction, YHWH’s mercy will still be on the ‘remnant’ that will trust in the Lord (10:20-23).

e. Literary Content: Isaiah 1-39 are mostly words of warning and consolation delivered to King Ahaz (735-715; chs. 1-11) and King Hezekiah (715-687; chs. 28-32), both reigned during a time of political crises and social unrest in Judah (chs 6-7, 36-39) . Isaiah used oracles from the Lord (1:2-20), images and visions (11:1-9, 27:1-13), and even prophecies (7:13-25). Isaiah also provided us with the narrative of his prophetic call (ch 6).

f. Division and Structure:

chs. 1-12 = Warnings and promises (mostly to Ahaz)
chs. 13-23 = Punishment of the nations
chs. 24-27 = God’s judgment of the world
chs. 28-45 = Further warnings and promises
chs. 36-39 = King Hezekiah and the Assyrians

g. Notes on Proto-Isaiah:

1. The books show evidence of being a compilation of three works, the first composed before the exile (chs 1-39), the second during the exile (chs 40-55) and the third immediately before or after the end of the Babylonian captivity (chs 56-66). But this three-fold division accepted by the majority of scholars and manuals may not be that clear cut since there are blocks of verses that show a different time setting to the surrounding passages (e.g. 13:1-14:23 is apparently exilic but found within the pre-exilic division of Isaiah).

2. The Immanuel Prophecy (7:14). This prophecy of Isaiah which in the Christian tradition is interpreted as messianic, was originally a prophecy of hope whose focus was the immediate historical context. King Ahaz (son of Jotham, grandson of Uzziah) was terrified since Israel (King Pekah) has joined forces with Syria (King Rezin), the latter already well within the territory of Israel and marching towards Jerusalem. This war was done in order to force Judah into a three-fold coalition against the Assyrians. Isaiah delivered this prophecy interestingly with the focus not on the fact that ‘a young woman will bear a child’ but that this child, as his name imply, symbolically meant that Yahweh will not abandon Jerusalem and that by the time that he is ‘old enough to make his own decision’ (7:15), both Syria and Israel will have fallen to the Assyrians and Judah will again be drinking milk and honey.

3. Is 39:5-7 already foretells of Judah’s exile into Babylon. Hezekiah however misunderstood it as a period of peace and prosperity for Judah.

4. Although Isaiah has a predominantly negative attitude towards foreign nations especially those inimical to Jerusalem (e.g. Is 13-25), Is 2:2-4 (cfr Micah 4:1-3) incorporate universal redemption and peace among the future salvific actions of YHWH.

5. For Isaiah, the ‘Day of the Lord’ has a more spiritual tone: that of obliterating human pride and arrogance, and the exaltation of the Lord (2:11).

6. Isaiah manifest the beginnings of the hope for a ‘future king’ who would be righteous and will be faithful to YHWH (32:1-2, 33:17).

4. MICAH

a. The Prophet: almost nothing is known about the prophet except that he is from the town of Moresheth in the kingdom of Judah (1:1).

b. Date of Prophetic Activity: (ca. 740-680) Micah was a younger contemporary of Isaiah and his prophetic activity apparently was much longer than the latter. He prophesied from the time of King Jotham until the reign of Hezekiah (Judah).

c. Mission: Micah witnessed the destruction of Samaria. He tried to warn the northern kingdom of this impending doom because ‘Israel has sinned and rebelled against God’ (1:5). But unlike Amos and Hosea, Micah like Isaiah included Judah in his prophetic scope, convinced that she will suffer the same fate as Samaria for the same reasons (1:9). The prophet also anticipated the coming into power of Babylon (4:10).

The lists of Israel’s sins are:
-rebellion (1:5);
-idolatry (1:5-7, but here Jerusalem is the culprit, 5:12-14);
-religious prostitution (1:7);
-social sins (2:1-2, 8-10, 6:10-12, 7:2-3);
-evil leaders (3:1-4, 7:3-4);
-false prophets (2:11, 3:5-7).

d. Message

1. Like the previous prophets, Micah saw the exile from the Promised Land as consequence of these two principal evils: unfaithfulness to YHWH and social injustices depriving the poor of their traditional inheritance;

2. Micah connects the promise of deliverance with the coming of a Davidic messianic king (5:1-5). This futuristic leader also has the role not only of giving peace and order to Israel but also to every nation (4:1-4). Here we see the growing universalistic attitude of the prophets, i.e. Yahweh will also be the God of all nations, all nations shall worship him in one Temple in Jerusalem, and he will extend his blessings upon them.

e. Literary Content: Micah is mainly oracles of destructions and deliverance against Samaria and Jerusalem. But it also incorporates prophecies (e.g. ch 5) and even the prophet’s own prayer for deliverance (7:14-20).

f. Structure

chs 1 – 3 = Judgment on Israel and Judah
chs 4 – 5 = Restoration and Peace
chs 6 – 7 = Message of Warning and Hope

g. Notes on Micah:

1. Micah 6:8 fairly summarizes what the prophets of Israel has to say, ‘What he (God) requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God’;
2. Micah is the sixth among the Minor Prophets.

5. NAHUM

a. The Prophet: nothing is known about the author, except that he came from Elkosh.

b. Date of Prophetic Activity: like the prophet, the date of Nahum’s prophetic activity is equally vague. It is likely that Nahum wrote in Judah around 612 probably during the reform of Josiah, but before the death of Josiah (609). The reference to the destruction of Nineveh by the Babylonians towards the end of the 7th century BCE also supports this estimate.

c. Mission: The book containing Nahum’s words is about the incoming destruction and judgment of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire. A century earlier, Assyria had destroyed Samaria and attacked but spared Judah. Judah then had been a vassal state of Assyria ever since. But Assyria’s power now was collapsing and Babylon was becoming more powerful.

d. Message:

1. God who is faithful and “tolerates no rival’ (1:2) has not abandoned Judah. He will protect his people in times of trouble (1:7). The enemy will not prevail forever, and they will not invade Judah again (1:15);

2. The fall of Nineveh is an act of divine justice. God will execute vengeance upon Nineveh. The destruction of the oppressor will bring joy to God’s people and to all who have suffered Assyria’s cruelty (3:19).

e. Literary Content: Nahum is a poem that celebrates the fall of Nineveh. Within this poem are divine oracles (2:13, 3:5-7) and imagery (3:15-17).

f. Structure

1:1 = Title
1:2-15 = Divine Judgment on Nineveh
Chs 2-3= Fall of Nineveh

g. Notes on Nahum:

1. Nahum is the seventh among the Minor Prophets

6. ZEPHANIAH

a. The Prophet: What we know of the prophet is simply that he was descended from King Hezekiah through Amariah, Gedaliah, and Cushi (1:1)

b. Date of Prophetic Activity: Zephaniah prophesied around the reign of King Josiah (640-609 BCE).

c. Mission: Zephaniah probably witnessed the religious revival under King Josiah. Unfortunately, he also saw Israel’s return to the evil ways (i.e. idolatry in 1:4-6, social injustice in 1:9, irresponsible leaders and priests in 3:3-4)) after the king’s death. His mission was both to warn Judah of God’s judgment, invite his people to repentance before the appointed time of ruin (2:1-3) and to announce the coming future blessing for Judah and the Gentiles.

d. Message:

1. The fate of all the nations, not only of Judah, is in God’s hand (cfr. 2:4-15, 3:6-8). All nations will eventually recognize YHWH as their God (3:9-10);

2. God is purifying his people so that a small remnant will be left behind which will be pleasing to him (3:11-13).

e. Literary Content: The book of Zephaniah is a long oracle of doom, repentance and redemption (1:2-3:13) which concludes with a poem that celebrates the future redemption and joy of Israel (3:14-19).

f. Structure

1:1 = Title
1:2-3:13 = Oracles of Doom
3:14-19 = Salvation of Jerusalem and Judah

g. Notes on Zephaniah:

1. Zephaniah is ninth among the Minor Prophets;
2. The ‘Day of the Lord’ is for Zephaniah a day of doom and destruction (1:14-16);

7. HABAKKUK

a. The Prophet: Nothing is known about the prophet except that he prophesied in Judah.

b. Date of Prophetic Activity: sometime between 612 and 599 BCE, when Assyria began to decline and Babylon had started to dominate the region but before Nebuchadnezzar’s attack and invasion of Jerusalem in 598 BCE.

c. Mission: prophesying just before the invasion of Judah, Habakkuk answers the questions of why God allows Judah to sin (injustice: 1:2-4, 2:6, idolatry: 2:18-19), and why God will punish her with Babylon who is apparently more sinful than Judah (1:13).

d. Message:

1. God only apparently tolerates the sins of Judah. Though slow in coming, he already has planned her punishment at the hands of the Babylonians (2:2-4);
2. God as the one who raised up Babylon to execute justice against Judah (1:6-8, 12);
3. Though victorious, there is a subtle reference to the eventual destruction of the Babylonians (cfr. 3:7-8, 13, 16-19).

e. Literary Content: the book is an extended lament predicated to God. It basically asks the question of ‘Why’ and ‘How Long’ at what seems a divine tolerance of injustice and evil in Judah.

f. Structure

1:1-2:5 = Habakkuk’c complaints and God’s response
2:6-20 = Oracles against the oppressor
Ch 3 = Habakkuk’s prayer and confession of trust in the Lord

g. Notes on Habakkuk:

1. Habakkuk is the eighth among the Twelve;
2. No oracle was addressed to Israel, God is the sole predicate.

THE PROPHETIC LITERATURE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

CHAPTER III: EXILIC PROPHETS

A. JEREMIAH

a. The Prophet: Jeremiah son of Hilkiah is from the priestly family. He came from the village of Anathoth, about three miles south of Jerusalem in the territory of Benjamin (1:1). Although Jeremiah uttered the oracles, he himself might not have written the book but his secretary Baruch (cfr. 36:32; 45:1-5). During the destruction of Jerusalem, some Judeans escaped to Egypt taking Jeremiah with them. He probably died in Egypt around ten years after.

b. Date of Prophetic Activity (627-585): Jeremiah prophesied around 627 (the 13th year of reign of Josiah: 1:2) until 585. He started his prophecies before the exile and lived to witness the destruction of Jerusalem in 587. Although he received his call during the time of Josiah, only one of his oracles is dated to that time (3:6-10). Most seem to have been delivered during the tumultuous reign of his two sons Jehoiakim (609-598) and Zedekiah (597-586)

c. Mission: Jeremiah has two purposes in his book:

1. to pass judgment on Jerusalem due to her sins of idolatry (2:5, 23-25, 5:7, 7:30), rebellion and refusal to acknowledge YHWH as God (2:20, 9:3), and apparently social injustice (12:1, 23:10, 14),
2. and to encourage Israel to hope for a future redemption (the new covenant in 31:31).

d. Message: Jeremiah’s main message is about the true religion of Israel and their covenant. After Josiah’s reform, the Judeans went back to their idolatrous tendencies. But Jeremiah faced opposition, persecution, and even threat to his life in conveying his message of loyalty to Yahweh. Judah’s unfaithfulness to Yahweh will end in its destruction, but in keeping with the promises of Deuteronomy, God has a bright future for his people-a time of restoration and a new covenant.

e. Literary Content: The book is mainly composed of oracles in forms of poetry and imagery concerning Judah and other nations, interwoven with narratives of Jeremiah’s life and prophetic role in the concluding days of Jerusalem.

f. Outline:

1:1-3 = Introduction (The Call of Jeremiah);
1:4-25:3 = Oracles to Judah;
chs 26-45 = Life and Martyrdom of Jeremiah
chs 46-51 = Oracles against the nations
ch 52 = An Historical Appendix: Fall of Jerusalem and Exile

g. Notes on Jeremiah:

1. Jeremiah used extensively the remembrance of Egypt as basis for the coming destruction of Jerusalem (2:6, 11:4);
2. Jeremiah used both the imagery of marital relationship (2:1-3, 3:20) and paternal love (3:4, 19) to describe his covenant with the two ‘sisters’ that are Israel and Judah. With emphasis on the former, God’s punishment is depicted as an act of divorce (3:8);
3. Jeremiah included in his oracle of hope a messianic prophecy: the righteous branch of David (Jer 23:5);
4. Tradition exists and recorded in 2 Macc that Jeremiah was the last person to see the Ark of the Covenant. This tradition narrates that during the destruction of Jerusalem, Jeremiah managed to escape the Babylonians bringing with him the Ark which he hid in an unmarked caved. It is said that no one will be able to find the Ark except in the last days.

*Prophetic Literature connected with the Prophet Jeremiah

1. LAMENTATIONS

a. Content and Outline: a series of five laments (corresponding to each of the five chapters) over the (well-deserved) fall and desolation of Jerusalem, destruction of the Temple, Israel’s exile, and the sorry plight of those left behind (from whose perspective the poems were written).

b. Date of Composition: unknown probably soon after the fall of Jerusalem

c. Message:

-the deep personal suffering and suffering and spiritual agony experienced by Judah at the fall of Jerusalem;
-the justice of God in carrying out the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple;
-hope lies ultimately in God alone.

d. Notes on Lamentation:

-the first four poems are acrostics, while the fifth though not acrostic is composed of 22 stanzas (the total sum of the Hebrew letters);
-there are three voices in the book: Jerusalem personified (chs 1-2), the author (chs 3-4), and the desolate remnant (ch 5);
-Jews still use these lament poems to commemorate the destruction of the 1st Temple;
-Lamentation included interestingly a condemnation against Edom (4:21-22).

2. BARUCH

a. Author and Date of Composition: although claiming to have been written by Baruch, the secretary of Jeremiah, the book was more probably composed by several unknown authors reflecting on Jeremiah’s words from different periods in Israel’s history. It is estimated that the earliest among these discourses was from 587 BCE while the latest between 300 BCE and 70 CE, during which time when pseudepigraphy was the common practice in the Jewish literature. The original was perhaps written in Hebrew, but the earliest form known is in Greek.

b. Mission and Message: Baruch is a drama of sin, of conversion, and of salvation. Sin is a perversion of a moral order based on God’s justice (2:12), a proud rejection of wisdom (3:9ff), rebellion against the Law and indifference to the warnings of the prophets (1:18, 21, 2:5ff). The antidote to sin is humble return to God who is the source of all good (2:8, 30ff, 4:28) and the observance of the Law. Salvation comes from the Everlasting God 4:8) who has been offended but manifests his glory by chastening and then saving sinners. Baruch’s primary motive therefore seems to be the call to repentance so that God would end the exile.

c. Outline:

1:1 – 3:8 = Confession and Prayer of Baruch
3:9 – 4:4 = Wisdom Poem
4:5 – 5:9 = Prophetic Address
Ch 6 = The Letter of Jeremiah

d. Literary Content: Baruch is a collection of several short and distinct Jewish literatures that are set against the background of the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BCE.

e. Notes on Baruch:

-part of the deuterocanonical books of the OT;
-the Letter of Jeremiah forming the sixth and the last chapter of Baruch is really a separate work from Baruch.

B. OBADIAH

a. The Prophet: a prophet from Judah. (?)

b. Date of Prophetic Activity: the book must have been written after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BCE and before Edom was conquered by the Nabateans in 312.

c. Mission and Message: the book is essentially a condemnation of Edom (Judah’s ‘brother’, vv 10-14) for betraying Jerusalem or taking advantage of Jerusalem’s destruction by the Babylonians ( a bitterness also expressed in Ps 137:7). It also encourages the Judeans amidst their national tragedy by giving hope to a future deliverance and restoration on the day of the Lord (vv15-21).

d. Outline:

vv. 1-14 = Oracle against Edom
vv. 15-21 = Day of the Lord

e. Literary Content: essentially, the book is one single prophetic oracle against Edom

e.Notes on Obadiah:

-it’s the fourth among the Twelve prophets;
-it is the shortest book among the prophets;
-the ‘Day of the Lord’ for Obadiah is a time of judgment for the nations especially Edom.

C. EZEKIEL

a. The Prophet: Ezekiel was an Israelite priest who was taken to Babylon among the first wave of captives from Judah in 598 BCE when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem. He was a younger contemporary of Jeremiah.

b. Date of Prophetic Activity: Ezekiel prophetic activity lasted for about 22 years, from approximately 593 (1:2) until 571 BCE (29:17). His ministry began during the turbulent last days of Judah as an independent state. Babylon had already conquered Judah in 598 and had taken king Jehoiachin to Babylon along 8000 prisoners (2 Kings 24:16). Zedekiah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, was left as king-regent, but he rebelled and Judah was completely destroyed with all her cities in 587.

c. Mission: Though a prophet, Ezekiel roots are in the tradition of the priesthood). More than any prophet’s before him, Ezekiel saw the cause of Israel’s apporaching fall in her failure in the sphere of holiness: she has defiled the sanctuary (5:11), turned aside to other cults (8:7-1 8), and taken idols into her heart (14:13-11). She has in a sense ‘rendered herself unclean’ in the sight of Yahweh.

d. Message:

-the inevitability of the fall of Jerusalem because of her sins, especially idolatry;
-the loss and restoration of the land and God’s presence among the people of God;
-the transcendent sovereignty of God as Lord of all nations and all history.

e. Literary Content: The book is a series of prophecies, allegories and symbolic actions announcing the fall of Jerusalem, including the departure of Yahweh, followed by Israel’s eventual restoration with the return of Yahweh.

f. Outline:

chs 1-3 = The call of Ezekiel
chs 4-24 = Judgment against the city and her Temple
chs 25-32 = Oracles against the nations
*Babylon is excluded from these oracles
chs 33-39 = Oracles of restoration
*ch 37:1-14 = The vision of the dry bones
chs 40-48 = Ezekiel’s vision of the new Temple and the new cult

f. Notes on Ezekiel:

-all oracles of Ezekiel are dated, but not arranged chronologically (his last oracle was 29:17ff);
-Ezekiel shows his priestly tendencies in his special interest to the Temple and the need for holiness;
-Ezekiel shows already evidence of later Jewish messianism (34:23ff);
-Ezekiel is sometimes called the father of Judaism;
-Four great visions of Ezekiel: The Chariot of Yahweh (chs 1-3), the Sins of Jerusalem (8-11), the Dry Bones (37:1-14), the New Jerusalem (40).

D. DEUTERO-ISAIAH (40-55)

a. Author and Prophetic Activity: It is now generally accepted that Is 40-55 was written by a man who lived some 150 years later than the ‘First’ Isaiah, during the Babylonian exile, about the year 550 BCE (because Cyrus of Persia was already on the march).

b. Mission and Message: the second part of the book of Isaiah has the apparent intention of comforting the Jews in exile. The present situation would not last for there will be a ‘new exodus’ (40:3-11). In this scene, Jerusalem is seen as announcing Israel’s return across the desert (40:9-10), and as a lonely widow who will become the happy mother of many children (54:1-10).

c. Outline

ch 40 = Overture/Introduction
chs 41-48 = The New Exodus
chs 49-54 = Comforting of Zion
ch 55 = Conclusion to the Book of Comfort.

d. Literary Content: Second Isaiah is a series of poems that expresses the unwavering hope of the prophet on Yahweh. God will eventually redeem Israel.

e. Notes on Deutero-Isaiah:

-The Prophet places the ancient traditions in a cosmic setting, so that the new exodus levels mountain or strikes flowing water in the heights (40:3-4, 41:17-20);
-Four ‘Servant Poems’: 42:1-7, 19:1-7, 50:4-9, 52:13-53:12 (the ‘servant’ as a beloved or chosen one redeemed by Yahweh or in a negative sense, Israel –blind, deaf, and despoiled…the slave of kings…burdened by her sins). Christian tradition elevated these traditions to Christ (53:3-6).

Homiletics (Homily)

2010-01-28T05:31:00.000-08:00

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

Readings:
1st Reading Wisdom 9:13-18
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 90:3-4; 5-6; 12-13; 14-17
2nd Reading Philemon 9-10; 12-17
Gospel Luke 14:25-33

General Topic: Discipleship

Specific Topic: Requirements of a disciple of Christ

Specific Purpose: The audience will know the requirements of being a disciple of Christ.

Method of Approach: I will use the scriptural support and illustrations.

Theme Statement: Being a disciple of Christ has certain requirements.

I. INTRODUCTION
A. Attention technique (picture or statue of a disciple)
I am now holding the statue of St. Paul. For those who do not now yet, St Paul is called as Apostle to the Gentiles. The word Apostle comes from the Greek word, meaning “teacher”. But, an apostle once in his life was a follower, a disciple, a learner.

B. Relevance
Why do I am telling these things to you? In today’s Gospel, Jesus is preaching to those people following him. He talks about “discipleship”. What must people do to be a disciple of Christ?

C. Lead-in
Let me share with you the three requirements Jesus Christ in today’s Gospel is asking for us to be a disciple of Him like St. Paul…
…

II. BODY
1. A disciple of Christ has a Christ-centered life
a. Scriptural Support
“If anyone comes to me without turning his back on his father and mother, his wife and his children, his brothers and sisters, indeed his very self, he cannot be my follower.”
b. Illustrtaiton
St. Thomas More was a chancellor of the King Henry VIII of England. The king wanted him to declare his marriage with Catherine null and void. But More in conscience could not do it and was thrown in jail by his king. Even his wife and favored daughter Margaret, visiting him in jail, wanted to persuade him to acknowledge the king as highest religious authority to save his life… More asked his wife, “How many years could we still live together?”. His wife answered, “About twenty,”… More replied, “Twenty, if you would have said, thousand! But twenty! How could I desert my Lord Christ who has been so faithful to me for so many years, for living twenty years with you against Him!”
c. Transition
Thus, St. Thomas More chose to die rather than committing a mistake that would separate himself from Christ… If Christ is really the center of your life, then you also have to carry your crosses in life…because the second requirement is that…

2. A disciple of Christ takes up his crosses in life.
a. Scriptural Support
“Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple…”
b. Illustrtaiton
There was a man who dreamt. In his dream, he saw himself in heaven carrying a cross. While he was walking in heaven, he saw a department store full of crosses. There were short, there were long, there were light, and there were heavy—all kinds of crosses.
What the man did was put down his cross and chose from the crosses in the store. He saw one, but it is too long for him. The other was too short, other was too light, and other was too heavy… He was choosing for a long time.
In the end, he found the cross really fitted to him. Unaware of it, the one he chose was his own cross; he left in the portal of the department store.
c. Transition
How will you carry your cross? Part of the crosses that we should carry is the third requirement of a disciple of Christ …thus…

3. A disciple of Christ detaches himself from earthly things
a. Scriptural Support
“…none of you cannot be my disciple if he does not renounce all his possessions.”

b. Illustrtaiton
One day, while man is walking in the seashore, he saw an attractive bottle. He opens it… A genie went out the bottle.
“Thank you for making me free from that bottle… Because of what you did, I will grant you one wish.” The genie said.
The was astonished when he saw the genie.
The man said,“ Are you really going to grant me a wish?”.
“That’s true; I will grant you a wish.” The genie answered.
“I want to have a one year advance subscription of all the newspaper in the Philippines.”.
“Why one year subscription of newspaper?” The genie asked.
“I want to have a one year subscription of newspaper because I want to know in advance the winning number combinations in lotto. If that happens, I will become instant millionaire.”
“You are bright man.” The genie praised him. “Your wish is my command”. The genie grants his wish.
But…When the man opened the newspaper for the following day, he found out his name written in the obituaries…

III. CONCLUSION

a. Review of main points
Allow me to review these three things I have mentioned for us to be a follower or disciple of Christ:

First, a disciple of Christ has a Christ-centered life.

Second, a disciple of Christ takes up his crosses in life.

Third, a disciple of Christ detaches himself from earthly things.

b. Application
How could we apply these threes things in our daily life?

First, to have our life centered on Christ is to have our devotion to the Holy Eucharist. The things we do daily must be the fruit of what we experience in the celebration of the Eucharist. Our acts must be rooted in the Eucharist wherein Christ is present.

Second, difficulties and problems are part of our life. Instead of complaining, why not bear them with our whole heart and offer them to other people who are also suffering. Remember that we share in the suffering of Christ.

Third, the things on earth do not last forever. But we care so much on these material things. The third challenge for us being a disciple of Christ is not much on material things but for our soul. We have to nourish our soul through constant communication to our God in prayer.

c. Memorable Closing
My dear friends, to follow Jesus is a lifelong journey. Like St. Paul, discipleship is more than a one time decision. It is a process. It is a lifelong process.

Bio- Ethics (Final Examination)

2010-01-28T05:28:00.000-08:00

True or False
1. Abortion is generic term.
2. Terminating pregnancy resulting seduction of minors is psychosocial abortion.
3. By virtue of physician’s oath, he cannot withdraw from a case even if what the patient decides and demands from him is against his own or the institution’s value.
4. In ethics or bioethics, viability of the embryo means that it has already implanted itself on the uterine wall.
5. The principle of proportionality requires that there should be a balance between benefits or risks burdens.
6. The objective of the euthanasia is to end the extreme suffering.
7. In the cases of maternal fetal conflicts, the principle of autonomy should be applied.
8. Therapeutic abortion is morally acceptable.
9. There is no moral problem in obstetrical procedures in the case of threatened abortion.
10. In the case of enclampsia where there is maternal-fetal conflict, the principle of double effect is used.
11. The Church morally allows indirect positive euthanasia.
12. In indirect abortion the particular principle to be used and applied is the principle of inviolability of life.
13. Adysthanasia and allowing a hopelessly ill person to die are the same.
14. In the case of ectopic tubal pregnancy, when the tube is so damaged as to constitute a serious threat to the maternal life, the tube may be removed as a damaged organ.
15. Human life is the absolute ethical value.
16. Means of treatment which are at the experimental stage, though considered risky, may be used with patient’s consent.
17. Ordinary mean of treatment must offer hope of recovery.
18. The EEG is not required to confirmed death.
19. If and when extraordinary/disproportionate means of treatment are not to be used on a patient, there is also no need to give nourishment and hydration.
20. Fullness of life is when the one has reached at least the age of 18 which is considered of adulthood.
21. Clearly futile treatment is not morally required.
22. The principle of double effect is applicable in the case of enclampsia.
23. The Church morally allowed dysthanasia.
24. Abortion should always result in death even if the fetus has reached viability.
25. In an inevitable abortion, it is morally permissible to empty the uterus when the separation of placenta from the uterine wall is in its initial stage.
26. The humanization of illness and death includes the duty of a Christian to make death a personal action.
27. The maternal life and the fetal life are equal in value and dignity.
28. The explicit objective of therapeutic procedure on human embryo is to terminate pregnancy if and when it is found out that the embryo has malformation or congenital anomalies or hereditary illness.
29. Abortion, to be abortion, must be always with human intervention when expelling the embryo.
30. Human life starts at the first cell division.

In case of a conflict between the maternal life and the fetal life, which life is to be preferred? Or which life is to be saved?

There can be no direct answer to the question. But, the nature of the disorder may help determine which could be saved. Usually, the one with great chance of survival will be saved, without intending to ill the other.

When may the principle of double effect be applied in the case of enclampsia?

When there is a need for medication to be administered in order to arrest the blood pressure of the mother. The medication may be fatal to the fetus but it is not directly willed. Then enters the principle of double effect.

Some theological Reflections (Ecumenism)

2010-01-28T05:27:00.002-08:00

1. Christian Attitudes towards the “Other”
The word “other” has gained a new meaning, a positive one. It evolved from the term “non-Christians” which is negative. It is preferable to say “other faiths” or other religions” because it is more positive.
What is our behavior towards the “other”? Hand with hand with the evolution of the term is the evolution of our attitude towards the “other”. We focus on our commonalities rather that our differences. We have a lot of commons rather than differences.
We try to develop a positive attitude. If our point of departure is the Church, we are exclusivists; if Christ, we are exclusivists; and if God, we belong to the pluralists. Additional to these three is if our point of departure of attitude is the Holy Spirit, we are mystical pluralists.
For Asians, ours starting point is the “theology of harmony”. It is concern on how we balance things. We balance things through holistic perspective. To demonstrate this, we look at the Western mind and the Asian mind. Western mind says that “death comes in the end of life”. Notice that it is from the Greek philosophy. On the other hand Asians would say, “Life and death are inseparable partners”. Also notice that it is related in the philosophy of Taoism.
Now, what is the Asian Christian attitude towards the other? Our starting point is the “poor”. Our attitude with the poor is solidarity and compassion. It is both gift and challenge. We do not separate the poor with us. In this sense, the solidarity or similarity found in both Christians and Non-Christians (the other) is poverty. In other words, it is the poverty of both Christian and the “other” builds solidarity. And so, we share the same humanity.

2. Asian Epistemology and Implications to Dialogue
Asian epistemology is a kind of mindset. It is a mindset that is “holistic”. Holistic mindset is the thinking that “the ‘other’ is part of oneself”.
Moreover, Asian epistemology is both inclusivist and pluralist. Why plural? The reason is that Asia is a continent of many worlds, so it has to be pluralist not otherwise.
To have a “wider ecumenism”, we have to break ourselves from the western mindset. We have to go back to our native way of thinking, holistic thinking. This is not easy. The focus is not religion but where that comes from. Religion would be the last thing

“MUTUAL TRANSFORMATION”

2010-01-28T05:27:00.001-08:00

Asia is a continent of different race, cultures, traditions, and religions. Some of the negative effects of these diversities are violence, injustices, and war. Moreover, there is discrimination among Asians. Asia is not yet one nation. It is still many nations.
Unity in Asia is possible in spite of differences. If there is unity, peace and justice follows. The missionaries have to develop the spirituality of dialogue. The latter could change the present situation of Asia. It could change not only the subject of the mission but also the missionary himself.
The objective of the missionary is not only to transform his subjects. He, first and foremost must be open for self-transformation. The effect of dialogue is both on the subject and the missionary. One learns from the other. While the two sides are opening themselves for change, the Spirit of God works in their midst. However, readiness for dialogue is a must. If the missionary is not read, instead of dialogue, arguments may occur.
Cooperation is achievable in the diversities in Asia. Spirituality of dialogue is not only reaching out others. It is also letting others reach you. In this manner, God will make one way for diverse roads. Dialogue plus openness is the key for being Asia a one nation though different in many aspects.