Roman Catholic Universe

  SIGNIFICANCE OF ANOINTING WITH OIL The ancient practice of anointing a person with oil, often with  perfumed oil, has several meanings, all of them related. The  anointed person is recognized as a “marked or sacred person,” set  apart in certain ways from the community the better to be of service to the community. As an act of the community, it also  signifies the pledge of the community to respect and support the  one anointed. In many ways, the significance of anointing is similar  to the granting of public degrees and licenses to special  persons who serve the community, such as doctors, lawyers,  pharmacists, and the like. Christian sacramental anointing goes  far beyond the merely human practice and relates the anointed and the anointing community authoritatively (by the authority  of Christ and effectively through the gift of the Spirit) directly to  God in his saving work. Anointing with oil was also a common  med...

REALITY OF SIN The very concept of sin presupposes seven other ideas that  are historically derived from God’s revelation to Abraham and  the three religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) that stem  from that; seven ideas are denied by alternative religions  and philosophies. 1) Atheism (“no-God”) denies that there is a God to sin  against. 2) Polytheism (“many-gods”) denies that there is only one  God, who is all-good and deserves to be obeyed. 3) Pantheism (“everything is God”) denies that God has a  will that discriminates between good and evil. 4) Deism (a God, but an absent God) denies that God has  intervened in history to make his will known by  establishing a covenant and giving commandments 5) Skepticism denies that we can know God’s law, God’s will,  or God’s character. 6) Determinism denies that we have free will and are  therefore personally responsible for our good or evil choices . 7) And naive optimism denies tha...

  SACRAMENTS In the Gospel according to John, Jesus teaches at length about the greatest of the sacraments, the Eucharist (see 6:22-59) . In this discourage, he lays out what we might call the "sacramental principle" that lies at the heart of the Christian faith: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven: whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world"  "The World became flesh / and made his dwelling among us" (Jn 1:14 . In Jesus Christ, God -who is spirit (see Jn 4:24)  -came down from heaven and entered into his own creation this physical universe. He joined to his own divine nature a human nature of soul and body; he took up into himself the matter and energy of this world In this "Incarnation" (literally, "becoming flesh"), as Christians call it, God made it possible for the everyday elements of our lives to convey the transforming power of his grace. This is t...

  WHY BISHOPS? St. Timothy in Ephesus and St. Titus in Crete each received instructions from the apostle Paul about the qualifications for a bishop (see 1 Tim 3:1-7)   (1 Tim 1:7-9) . This "noble" officer was to "teach" and to"manage" the affairs of the Church in each locale. (The Greek word for bishop, episkopos, literally means "overseer"). How did the office of bishop come about? Our Lord appointed the apostles to teach and govern the Church (see Mt 28:16-20) . Since the place of Judas had been vacated by the traitor's suicide, a successor was appointed by the other apostles to fill his "office" (see Acts 1:20)  -literally his "episcopacy" or "bishopric" (Greek,  episkopen). The first apostles, then, were bishops, as were their appointed successors In referring to ordained Church leaders, biblical writers do not always distinguish clearly between bishops/overseers and presbyters/ elders/priests. St. Luke, for ...

 JESUS SACRIFICED AGAIN AND AGAIN The dazzling vision of St. John in the Book of Revelation is perhaps best known for its depictions of horrific worldwide catastrophic. Yet at the heart of this stands a poignant figure full of mercy, hope, and glory: the "Lamb" who was slain for our sins, Jesus Christ (see 5:6) . Biblical scholars have pointed out that at one level, in presenting us a vision of heaven, Revelation also provides us a glimpse of the Mass, our foretaste on earth of heaven's "wedding feast of the Lamb" (Rev 19:9) Catholics agree with other Christians that the divine sacrifice made "once for all" described in Hebrews 7:27  is a unique historical event: the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. But Jesus' sacrifice, though occurring in the past to us, is nevertheless always present to God, because God himself does not exist in time as we do. John's vision depicts this eternal reality; the presentation of Jesus as "Lamb" to the...