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IOANNES PAULUS PP. II REDEMPTOR HOMINIS To his venerable Brothers in the Episcopate the Priests the religious families, the sons and daughters of the Church and to all men and women of good will at the beginning of his papal ministry 1979.03.04
IOANNES PAULUS PP. II DIVES IN MISERICORDIA 1980.11.30
QUAS PRIMAS ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XI ON THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING
MYSTICI CORPORIS CHRISTI ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XII ON THE MISTICAL BODY OF CHRIST TO OUR VENERABLE BRETHREN, PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES, ARCHBISHOPS, BISHIOPS, AND OTHER LOCAL ORDINARIES ENJOYING PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE
CHRISTMAS MESSAGE OF POPE JOHN XXIII December 23, 1959 To urge the world to remove from the path of peace the obstacles put there by the malice of men.
APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION REDEMPTIONIS DONUM OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II TO MEN AND WOMEN RELIGIOUS ON THEIR CONSECRATION IN THE LIGHT OF THE MYSTERY OF THE REDEMPTION Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus!
25 The woman said to him, "I know that Messias is coming (who is called Christ ), and when he comes he will tell us all things." 26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak with thee am he."
(John 4:25-26 ) Douay - Rheims Bible.
42 And they said to the woman, "We no longer believe because of what thou hast said, for we have heard for ourselves and we know that this is in truth the Savior of the World."
( John 4:42 ) Douay - Rheims Bible.
18 But he said to them, . . .I was watching Satan fall as lightning from heaven...
( Luke 10:18 ) Douay - Rheims Bible.
"...By the death of One the world was redemmed. For Christ, had He willed, need not have died, but He neither thought that death should be shunned as though there were any cowardice in it, nor could He have saved us better than by dying. And so His death is the life of all..."
Saint Ambrose ( 340-397 A.D. ), bishop of Milan.
"...Without interruption, therefore, let us persevere by our hope and by the guarantee of our righteousness, which is Jesus Christ, who bore our sins in His own body on the tree ( 1 Peter 2:24 ), who did no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth ( 1 Peter 2:22 ); but for our sake, that we might live in Him, He endured all things..."
Saint Polycarp ( 69-155 A.D. )
"...Christ, therefore is one, perfect God and perfect man: and Him we worship along with the father and the Spirit, with one obeisance, adoring even his immaculate flesh and not holding that the flesh is not suited for worship: for in fact it is worshipped in the one subsistence of the Word, which indeed became subsistence for it. But in this we do not do homage to that which is created. For we worship Him, not as mere flesh, but as flesh united with divinity, and because His two natures are brought under the one person and one subsistence of God the Word. I fear to touch coal because of the fire bound up with the wood. I worship the twofold nature of Christ because of the divinity that is in Him bound up with the flesh..."
( Saint John Damascus. )
According to Scripture, the Mosaic Law, is to be given a Spiritual Interpretation.
( Romans 7:6 ) Douay-Rheims Bible.
...We know that the Law is spiritual...
( Romans 7:14 ) Douay-Rheims Bible.
... 1 For the Law, having but a shadow of the good things to come, and not the exact image of the objects, is never able by the sacrifices which they offer continually, year after year the same, to perfect those who draw near; 2 for in that case would they not have ceased to be offered, because worshippers, once cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sin ? . . .
( Hebrews 10:1-2 ) Douay-Rheims Bible.
... 28 But before the faith came we were kept imprisoned under the Law, shut up for the faith that was to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has been our tutor unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26 For you are all the children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all you who have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor freeman; there is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are the offspring of Abraham, heirs according to the promise..."
( Galations 3:23-29 ) Douay-Rheims Bible.
A Few ( there are many more ) Early Church Fathers
on Types, Shadows, and the Spiritual Interpretation of the Law.
Saint Justin Martyr, ( aprox. 160 A.D. ), apologist.
"According to the apostle, the Law is spiritual. It contains the representation of future good things. So, then, come and let us take off the veil of the letter that is spread over it and consider its naked and true meaning."
Methodius, ( aprox. A.D. 290 )
"We do not deal with the Law any further than [to remark] that the apostle here teaches clearly how it has been abolished - by passing from shadow to substance. That is, it has passed from figurative types to the reality, which is Christ.
Tertullian, ( aprox. A.D. 207 )
"These things serve as a pattern and a shadow of the heavenly ones that we have spoken of. Yet, not only are such things as food, drink, new moons and Sabbaths a shadow of the things to come, but the festivals are shadows, too. Origen, ( aprox. 228 A.D. )
Bibliography:
The Teachings of The Church Fathers, by John R. Willis, S.J., Ignatius Press, San Francisco.
A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs by David W. Bercot, Editor.
Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. Peabody, Massachusetts 01961
Douay-Rheims Bible, Confraternity Edition 1962. Catholic Book Publishing Company, New York.
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[ Many thanks to my good friend Pastor Michael Harvey of the Irving Park Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois, for his kind permission to publish this article on my web site. Michael and I have spent many hours studying the Bible together. We have been in dialogue for a few years now and have never argued. We dialogue in charity and in truth - towards unity. Michael is currently working in the New England area as a Pastor to Pastors.]
September 11, 2001
"It is in God that we live and move and have our being."
– Paul ( Acts 17:28 )
I am writing on Wednesday, September 12, 2001, a day after the horror in New York and Washington that has put us in a state of shock. I spoke of this word from Paul on Sunday. It had a different sense then. Click here to read more.
A Psalm of David
Davidic, Thanksgiving, Liturgy
The Shepherd Psalm 23
THE LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside still waters.
Click here to read more.
A Call to Christian Unity. History of a Christian Prayer. The Sign of The Cross. Answer the Call!
Click here to read more.
English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for the United States of America Copyright 1994, United States Catholic Conferences, Inc. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. English translation of the: Cathechism of the Catholic Church Modifications from the Editio Typica copyright 1997, United States Catholic Conferences, Inc. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission.
Catechism of the Catholic Church Second Edition
Part One: The Profession of Faith
Section Two: The Profession of the Christian Faith
Chapter Two: I Believe in Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God
Article 5: "He Descended into Hell on the Third Day He Rose Again"
Paragraph 1. Christ Descended into Hell
"The gospel was preached even to the dead.quot;484 The descent into hell brings the Gospel message of salvation to complete fulfillment. This is the last phase of Jesus' messianic mission, a phase which is condensed in time but vast in its real significance: the spread of Christ's redemptive work to all men of all times and all places, for all who are saved have been made sharers in the redemption. Click here to read more.