LAST OF ALL

Mysterious Sacraments

Sacraments may be one of the easiest Catholic ideas to accept but most difficult to fully understand and to experience appropriately. The Wikipedia write up on the term (as of 8/30/2025) includes a good introduction to Catholic teaching as well as to the differences with other Christian views. Sometimes understanding the differences clarifies the teachings.

After reading the Wikipedia overview and learning that the vast majority of Christians are members of churches that recognize seven Sacraments and that even Baptists have applied the term, maybe with a different meaning, to Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, it is recommended to ask magisterium.com for the official Catholic meaning and understanding of Sacraments. Here is her reply to: Please explain the teaching of the Catholic Church on Sacraments.

Catholic Church Teaching on Sacraments

What a sacrament is

A sacrament is an efficacious sign of grace instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church.
It makes present the grace it signifies by the very fact of the action itself (ex opere operato), not by the holiness of the minister or the recipient (CCC-1131).
The visible rites (matter) and the accompanying words (form) together constitute the sacrament, whereby invisible grace is communicated (Reference). (If you can stand it, more about matter and form here.)

Number and common characteristic of the sacraments

The Church recognizes seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation (Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance (Reconciliation), Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony (CCC-1113) (CCC-1210).
All share the same essential elements:
- Institution by Christ – each was founded by the Lord in Scripture and Tradition.
- Visible sign (water, oil, bread & wine, etc.) that signifies and makes present the grace.
- Grace conferred to the recipient who approaches with the proper disposition1.

Purpose and effects of the sacraments

These sacraments touch all the stages and important moments of Christian life, giving birth, increase, healing, and mission to the faithful.

Theological foundations

Sacramental causality: The grace works by the power of Christ who acts through the sacraments, not by human merit. The Council of Trent declared that “the sacraments are necessary, not absolutely, but hypothetically” – i.e., they are the means God has appointed for us to obtain supernatural ends.
Necessity: While God can give grace without visible signs, the Church teaches that to obtain the grace the sacraments confer, the faithful must use the divinely appointed means.
Catechetical instruction: Catechesis must present each sacrament according to its own nature and end, emphasizing the need for the proper disposition of the faithful and the role of the sacraments as sources of grace for individuals and the whole Church.

The sacraments in the life of the Church

The whole liturgical life of the Church revolves around the Eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments.
Through the sacraments, the “sacramental economy” of the Church unfolds, giving rhythm to the Christian life and enabling the faithful to participate in the salvific work of Christ.

That’s it for the Magisterium.com response. Now take a look at the Catholic Catechism.

The Catholic Catechism on Sacraments

The Catechism of the Catholic Church has four major divisions.

Part 1 focuses on the profession of faith, the Creeds.
Part 2 focuses on celebration of Chrystian mystery, the Sacraments.
Part 3 focuses on life in Christ, Vocations and Commandments.
Part 4 focuses on Christian prayer and features The Lord’s Prayer.

Since Part 2 on the Sacraments accounts for 110 of the 688 pages in the Catechism, it is not practical to quote much of that volume in this post. Below are screen shots of the IN BRIEF section for Article 1, The Liturgy – Work of the Holy Trinity, and for the introduction to Article 2, The Paschal Mystery in the Church’s Sacraments. For a definition of Catholic Liturgy, go HERE.

Both screen shots have links to the Vatican Catechism. Clicking on the first one will open a website page with this( ). By clicking on next, a curious reader can be led through the entire section of 110 pages one at a time.

Review and Reflection

To offer a rather crude example of what Sacraments mean to Catholics, Catholics don’t “get baptized” but they receive the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. It is stated below in more sophisticated language.

That description of baptism explains why Catholics only do it once, and why my reception into the Catholic Church in 2011 required evidence of my 1952 baptism in the Southern Baptist Church in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Without some record of past baptism, Catholic baptism would have been required.

Maybe more on the individual Sacraments later.

For a list of these posts on Catholic Theology go HERE and see posts 107-118.

Why Me Lord

Post author By Darryl Williams
Post date August 27, 2025
Categories In Confession, Kris Kristofferson

This is a little break from the series on Catholic theology but it is inspired by a post I am writing on why adults become Catholic, why they sometimes remain Catholic, and why they sometimes leave the Catholic church. That may come later, but all those “whys” made me think of one of my favorite recordings, Why Me Lord by Kris Kristofferson.

A famous singer, songwriter, and actor, Kristofferson was born in 1936 and died just a year ago, September 24, 2024. You can read about him on Wikipedia. The Wikipedia article offers no evidence of any religious faith and no evidence that he ever entered a Catholic church. The link I want to share is about Baptist theology so maybe that is why it touches me. I was a Southern Baptist for my first 32 years or so. I guess, based on my Catholic education, that The Holy Spirit spoke to Kristofferson resulting in his baptism and the writing and recording of that song which has a lot of the flavor of Catholic Confession.

I asked ChatGPT whether there is any evidence that Kristofferson’s life was changed by the Baptism and the Why Me Lord response. This is the answer I got:

Yes, there is evidence to suggest that Kris Kristofferson’s writing and recording of “Why Me Lord” was a pivotal moment in his spiritual journey, especially after his baptism.

Kristofferson, who was raised in a Christian family, had experienced a period of personal struggle and searching before his baptism in 1970. At the time, he was living in Nashville, dealing with issues like alcoholism, doubt, and a sense of aimlessness in both his career and personal life. His spiritual awakening came after a period of introspection and wrestling with his own demons.

The song “Why Me Lord” was written by Kristofferson during a time of deep emotional turmoil, where he was questioning his own faith, purpose, and worthiness. After becoming a Christian, Kristofferson felt compelled to express his feelings of gratitude and confusion through the song. The lyrics reflect a heartfelt plea to God for understanding, forgiveness, and a sense of purpose:

“Why me, Lord? What have I ever done
To deserve even one
Of the pleasures I’ve known…”

In many interviews, Kristofferson has described how his spiritual awakening, symbolized by his baptism, helped him find a deeper sense of peace and clarity. The song became a form of confession, both personal and public, where Kristofferson could reconcile his past with his newfound faith. It also marked a shift in his songwriting, moving from the themes of romantic longing and personal rebellion that characterized much of his early work to more introspective and spiritual themes.

After “Why Me Lord” was released in 1973 as part of his album Jesus Was a Capricorn, it became one of his most iconic songs and is often seen as a reflection of the profound change in his life. It resonated deeply with audiences, particularly in the context of the 1970s’ growing interest in spiritual exploration. The success of the song also seemed to confirm that Kristofferson had found a new purpose, not just as an artist but as someone embracing his Christian faith.

Though Kristofferson never became a conventional religious figure, his faith became a central part of his identity. He has continued to discuss his spiritual journey and the ongoing impact of his beliefs on his music, activism, and life choices. His experience with Why Me Lord appears to have been not just a moment of artistic expression, but a genuine turning point in his personal life as well.

You can hear the song and Kris’s explanation HERE. Skip the ad!

It might inspire a trip to the confessional.

9 – Perfection and Purgatory

What about Perfection?

Forms of perfect show up fifty-eight times in the NRSVCE Bible. Below are a dozen examples that seem to refer to the possibility of perfection for us. There are others that speak more of the perfection of God, God’s law, and Jesus.

When anyone offers a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, in fulfillment of a vow or as a freewill offering, from the herd or from the flock, to be acceptable it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it. – Leviticus 22:1
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. – Matthew 5:48
Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” – Matthew 19:21
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. – Romans 12:2
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God. – 2 Corinthians 7:1
Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect – Colossians 3:14
Therefore let us go on toward perfection, leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ, and not laying again the foundation: repentance from dead works and faith toward God, – Hebrews 6:1
Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who approach. – Hebrews 10:1
For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. – Hebrews 10:14
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, ²³and to the assembly^[^a^]of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. – Hebrews 12:22-24
Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; ⁵but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: ⁶whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as he walked. – 1 John 2:4-6
No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. – 1 John 4:12

It is interesting that forms of the word love show up seven times in these verses about perfection. Be aware that the English word love does not have the depth of meaning of the Greek and Hebrew words translated as word. Read about that HERE.

Can we agree that six of these verses (2-7) challenge us to be perfect and two (9 and 10) seem to promise help in achieving that goal.

What About Purgatory?

The word purgatory, name of a fundamental belief of Catholic Christians, does not show up in the English Bible but the related word, purge, shows up 19 times in the Old Testament, usually referring to purging of evil, guilt, filthiness or sin. A popular verse is Psalm 51:7 – Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

I’m not a trained and qualified Catholic theologian so I give thanks for magisterium.com which is an Artificial Intelligence tool seeded with Catholic documents. I asked magisterium.com the following question: What is the Catholic teaching about purgatory? The answer is in italics below.

What is the Catholic teaching about purgatory?

The Catholic Church teaches that Purgatory is a state of final purification for those who die in God’s grace and friendship but are not yet perfectly purified 1. This purification is necessary to achieve the holiness required to enter the joy of Heaven 1.

Nature of Purgatory

Purgatory is understood not as a place, but as a “condition of existence” 2. It is entirely distinct from the punishment of the damned 3 4. Those in Purgatory are assured of their eternal salvation and are immersed in the love of Christ 5 6. The Church’s teaching on Purgatory was particularly formulated at the Councils of Florence and Trent 3 4.

Purpose of Purification

The purification in Purgatory addresses any remaining imperfections or attachments to evil that a soul may have after death 2. While Jesus Christ offers expiation for sins, every trace of sin and imperfection must be eliminated before entering God’s Kingdom 6. This process ensures that the soul achieves the absolute purity required for the encounter with God 2.

Scriptural Basis and Tradition

The tradition of the Church, referencing certain scriptural texts, speaks of a “cleansing fire” 3 4. For example, 1 Corinthians 3:15 mentions a person being saved “as through fire” 7. Saint Gregory the Great also noted that certain offenses can be forgiven “in the age to come,” implying a purification after death 3 4. The practice of praying for the dead, as mentioned in 2 Maccabees 12:46, supports the belief that some souls can be loosed from sins after this life, which would not be necessary for those in Heaven or possible for those in Hell 8.

Relationship to the Mystical Body of Christ

Those undergoing purification in Purgatory remain united with the saints in Heaven and with believers on Earth within the Mystical Body of Christ 6. This unity allows the faithful on Earth to offer prayers and good works on behalf of the souls in Purgatory, providing them with consolation and aid 6 7.

Distinction from Earthly Life

It is important to note that the state of purification in Purgatory is not a prolongation of earthly life, nor does it offer another chance to change one’s eternal destiny 2. The Church unequivocally teaches that each person receives their eternal retribution at the moment of death in a particular judgment 3.

References

CCC 1030 (See below)
General Audience of 4 August 1999 5 / Pope John Paul II
Is Limbo Ready to Be Abolished? Limbo Revisited 10 / Basil Cole, O.P.
CCC 1031 (See below)
CCC 1054 (See below)
General Audience of 4 August 1999 / Pope John Paul II
Catechism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church: Christ – Our Pascha 250 / Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (Couldn’t find this)
Summa Theologiae Appendix II, Q. 1, A. 1, co. / Thomas Aquinas

The Catechism on Purgatory

Explanation of Purgatory in the Catechism is in the section on The Profession of Faith titled “I believe in life everlasting,” CCC-1030 through CCC-1032. Also below are CCC-1051 through CCC-1060 titled IN BRIEF for the whole section entitled I Believe in Life Everlasting. CCC-1054 addresses purgatory.

III. The Final Purification, or Purgatory

CCC-1030 All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

CCC-1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.⁶⁰⁴ The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. the tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:⁶⁰⁵

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.⁶⁰⁶

CCC-1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: “Therefore Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.”⁶⁰⁷ From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.⁶⁰⁸ The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:

Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.⁶⁰⁹

604 Cf. Council of Florence (1439): DS 1304; Council of Trent (1563): DS 1820; (1547): 1580; see also Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336): DS 1000.

605 Cf. 1 Cor 3:15; 1 Pet 1:7.

606 St. Gregory the Great, Dial. 4, 39: PL 77, 396; cf. Mt 12:31.

607 2 Macc 12:46.

608 Cf. Council of Lyons II (1274): DS 856.

609 St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in 1 Cor. 41, 5: PG 61, 361; cf. Job 1:5.

IN BRIEF (For the Catechism section titled I Believe in Life Everlasting)

CCC-1051 Every man receives his eternal recompense in his immortal soul from the moment of his death in a particular judgment by Christ, the judge of the living and the dead.

CCC-1052 “We believe that the souls of all who die in Christ’s grace . . . are the People of God beyond death. On the day of resurrection, death will be definitively conquered, when these souls will be reunited with their bodies” (Paul VI, CPG # 28).

CCC-1053 “We believe that the multitude of those gathered around Jesus and Mary in Paradise forms the Church of heaven, where in eternal blessedness they see God as he is and where they are also, to various degrees, associated with the holy angels in the divine governance exercised by Christ in glory, by interceding for us and helping our weakness by their fraternal concern” (Paul VI, CPG # 29).

CCC-1054 Those who die in God’s grace and friendship imperfectly purified, although they are assured of their eternal salvation, undergo a purification after death, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of God.

CCC-1055 By virtue of the “communion of saints,” the Church commends the dead to God’s mercy and offers her prayers, especially the holy sacrifice of the Eucharist, on their behalf.

CCC-1056 Following the example of Christ, the Church warns the faithful of the “sad and lamentable reality of eternal death” (GCD 69), also called “hell.”

CCC-1057 Hell’s principal punishment consists of eternal separation from God in whom alone man can have the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.

CCC-1058 The Church prays that no one should be lost: “Lord, let me never be parted from you.” If it is true that no one can save himself, it is also true that God “desires all men to be saved” (1 Tim 2:4), and that for him “all things are possible” (Mt 19:26).

CCC-1059 “The holy Roman Church firmly believes and confesses that on the Day of Judgment all men will appear in their own bodies before Christ’s tribunal to render an account of their own deeds” (Council of Lyons II [1274]: DS 859; cf. DS 1549).

CCC-1060 At the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness. Then the just will reign with Christ forever, glorified in body and soul, and the material universe itself will be transformed. God will then be “all in all” (1 Cor 15:28), in eternal life.

Catechism – I BELIEVE IN LIFE EVERLASTING (By clicking Next on each page, it is possible to see and read all 10 pages of this section.)

Personal Reflections

Beginning with the belief that God is divine mystery beyond our understanding and that we believers are always searching for the truth, for greater understanding, I accept the current teaching of the Catholic Church on purgatory. Catholic theology is complicated, probably because of human desire to better understand and 2500 years of study, reflection, and publication. However, I must add that I will not be surprised if I learn eventually, through personal experience, that current teaching was not exactly right, that God had even greater things, even things beyond our human imagination, in store for us.

Given that personal openness to surprises, I am not going to dwell too much on the currently taught details about purgatory but rather on confessing my failures and asking God to help me live in a way that is more pleasing to Him. And I am expecting some purging in purgatory, whatever it turns out to be.

Catholic Theology

This is the ninth post in a series on Catholic Theology. Here are links to the others.

115 – 8 – Bible Love

114 – 7- More on Sola Scriptura

113 – 6- Angels in the 21st Century?

112 – 5 – Mary, Mother of God

111 – 4 – God?

110 – 3.5 – My Theological Journey

109 – 3 – Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium

108 – 2 – Creation of the Universe

107 – 1 – Magisterium AI

8 – Bible Love

Post author By Darryl Williams
Post date August 18, 2025
Categories In Bible, Love

The English word Love has no deep 21^st century meaning. We love our spouses, God, Jesus, golf, football, beaches, mountains, cars, and peanut butter.

In English translations of the Bible, love is a very common word. It occurs about 500 times in the Old Testament and about 200 times in the New Testament depending on the version. A barrier to understanding the Bible passages containing that word is that there are different Hebrew and Greek words with different meanings, all translated to love, noun or verb, in English versions.

Three Hebrew Words

Ahavah

At Chabad.org there is a helpful detailed Jewish explanation of this word usually translated to love in English. The several paragraphs are worth reading but I offer only this which the author labels The Big Idea: True love is not about how you feel in someone else’s presence: it’s about how you make them feel in yours.

Chesed

There is an excellent two-minute Jewish explanation of Chesed by Jewish Teachings for All on YouTube. It is worth our time to listen to it. Here is their punch line: Chesed represents a profound expression of love and selfless action central to Jewish values and tradition.” In Psalm 136, chesed describes God’s “steadfast love”

Racham

Another place to look for the meanings of Hebrew words is Bible Hub which has Strong’s Lexical Summary. That site says the meaning of racham is compassion, mercy, tender love. In Isaiah 49:15, racham is used to describe God’s love for Israel as like a mother’s love for her child.

Three Greek Words

Agape

Christianity.com offers this explanation of the meaning of agape in the Bible: “When the word “agape” is used in the Bible, it refers to a pure, willful, sacrificial love that intentionally desires another’s highest good.

Philéō

According to Bible Hub, phileo is a Greek term that expresses a warm, sincere affection. It conveys the idea of heartfelt friendship, closeness, and the fondness shared between dear companions or family members.

Storge

According to Bible Hub, Storge in Biblical Greek refers to a natural, familial affection or fondness. This appears only twice in the New Testament, Romans 1:31 and 2 Timothy 3:3, both using the negative form referring to absence of such natural affection.

Summary So Far

Of the definitions above, one refers to mutual love between friends and one to mutual love within the family. The other four refer to God’s love for us which we are to share to the best of our abilities. They have nothing to do with us and how we feel but are about what we do to promote the good for others, even our enemies.

The Catholic View

No Catholic sources were used in the above comments so it’s probably a good idea to see what Catholic AI site magisterium.com has to say about the Catholic view of the Biblical meaning of the word love. Here is is in italics below:

The Catholic understanding of love in the Bible is multifaceted, encompassing divine love, human love, and the relationship between the two. It is rooted in the belief that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 4:16). This divine love is the source and model for all human love.

Divine Love (Agape)

The Bible reveals God’s love as a steadfast, generous, and self-sacrificial love, often referred to by the Greek term agape. This love is not merely an emotion but an active concern for the good of the other, even to the point of renunciation and self-sacrifice.

Origin and Nature: God’s love is infused into human hearts by the Holy Spirit. It is a love that is freely given, not earned, as expressed in 1 John 4:10: “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins”.
Revealed in Christ: The fullness of God’s love for humanity is revealed in the Incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The cross of Christ is considered the true starting point of the Christian definition of love, demonstrating “love in its most radical form” 5. By contemplating Christ’s pierced side, Christians learn that “God is love”.
Forgiving Love: God’s love is also characterized by forgiveness, overcoming human infidelity by forgiving sins. This is evident in God’s reconciliation of sinners to Himself, transforming them into believers justified in Christ.
Universal Embrace: The Old Testament already expresses God’s love for all peoples, gathering them into a single universal family, a plan that culminates in the Paschal Mystery in the New Testament.

Human Love and its Relationship to Divine Love

Human love is understood as a participation in God’s love. It is both a gift from God and a sign of His presence.

Charity (Caritas): In Catholic theology, the theological virtue of love is often called charity (caritas). It is a divinely infused habit that inclines the human will to cherish God for His own sake above all things, and to love others for the sake of God.
- Seat and Act: Charity properly resides in the rational will and involves wishing God all honor and glory and endeavoring to obtain it for Him. It also emphasizes reciprocity, making it a friendship between humanity and God.
- Motive: The motive for charity is God’s absolute goodness and amiability, recognized as infinitely worthy of love for its own sake.
- Range: Charity extends to both God and humanity. While God alone is entirely lovable, all people are capable of sharing in the Divine goodness, thus supernatural love includes them.
Love for Neighbor: The commandment to love God is intrinsically linked to the commandment to love one’s neighbor (Matthew 22:39, Luke 10:27). Those who claim to love God but hate their brothers or sisters are considered liars, as love for the unseen God cannot exist without love for the visible neighbor (1 John 4:20).
- Characteristics: Love for neighbor is selfless and sacrificial, not insisting on its own way (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). It manifests in the capacity to love even enemies (Matthew 5:44-45).
- Practical Expressions: Romans 12:9-21 outlines various ways love is to be lived out, including genuine affection, showing honor, zeal in service, patience in suffering, perseverance in prayer, contributing to the needs of saints, extending hospitality, blessing persecutors, rejoicing with those who rejoice, weeping with those who weep, living in harmony, and overcoming evil with good.
Eros and Agape: The Church recognizes different forms of love, including eros (romantic love) and agape (self-sacrificial love). While seemingly opposite, Benedict XVI teaches that there is a single reality underlying all loves, and that human eros is called to grow ever more deeply agapic in character. Marriage, in particular, is seen as a unique way for human eros to reflect and participate in God’s generous and forgiving love, becoming a visible sign of God’s permanent and faithful love for His people.

The Primacy of Love

St. Paul emphasizes the supreme importance of love, stating that even if one possesses prophetic powers, understanding of mysteries, all knowledge, or faith to move mountains, without love, one is nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2). He concludes that “faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Love is described as patient, kind, not envious or boastful, not arrogant or rude, not insisting on its own way, not irritable or resentful, not rejoicing in wrongdoing but rejoicing in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never ends.

Conclusion

Maybe we should start liking peanut butter and being crazy about football and reserve loving for God, neighbors, friends, family, and enemies, always meaning desiring the other’s highest good.

For more about this blog go to About This Blog – LAST OF ALL

For more about this series of posts, go to 3.5 – My Theological Journey – LAST OF ALL

7 – More on Sola Scriptura

The Protestant Reformation was a rebellion against some positions and practices of the 1500-year-old Christian Church which had been described as catholic or universal since the second century. The use of Roman Catholic Church as the official name became common after the Reformation. The Roman Catholic Church today, with about 1.4 billion members, still considers itself to be “universal” and to be the Church established by Jesus during the incarnation, God in flesh.

Sola Scriptura (Only Scripture) was a common theme of the 16^th century reformers and was commonly linked with Sola Gratia (Only Grace) and Sola Fides (Only Faith) meaning that the Bible, the grace of God, and a person’s faith were all that was needed for salvation. There is no doubt that Scripture, Grace, and Faith are a powerful combination capable of drawing people to the truth, but the obvious issue is that there is a wide variety of interpretations of the Bible and even of understandings of grace and what it means to have faith. As a result of that split in the Church, there are now hundreds of denominations teaching a variety of theologies.

I hasten to admit that the catholic or universal church of the 16^th century was not without fault. Luther correctly identified the sale of indulgencies, promises of heaven in return for donations, as something Jesus would not approve. And there were many other corruptions and errors. Jesus had not promised that the gates of hell would not attack the Church but only that they would not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18). And, despite the corruption, there were thousands of saintly people preserving sacred scripture and teaching sound theology. And the Catholic Church rightly responded to the reformation with the Counter Reformation or Catholic Reformation addressing various complaints of the reformers.

Speaking of corruption, the Pope at the time of the Reformation was Leo X, a wealthy man who came up with the indulgence selling plan which attracted the attention of priest Martin Luther. Pope Leo X excommunicated Luther for his criticism, and I have often thought how differently things might have gone if he had just appointed Luther to head up a task force to address the various corruptions. It wouldn’t have stopped the reformation which had other drivers, but we wouldn’t have so many Lutheran churches today.

Well, that is enough rambling from an interested layman. Let’s ask Catholic AI site, magisterium.com a question:

Why is the Catholic Church opposed to the concept of sola scriptura?

The Catholic Church is opposed to the concept of sola scriptura (Scripture alone) because it holds that divine revelation is transmitted through both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, interpreted by the living Magisterium of the Church ¹ ⁴ ⁷. This position contrasts with the Protestant principle that the Bible is the sole source of theological truth and the only rule of faith ¹ ³.

The Catholic understanding is based on several key points:

Dual Sources of Revelation

The Church teaches that God’s self-revelation was conveyed through the words and deeds of Christ, which the Apostles then preserved and handed down through both their preaching and their writings ⁵. This resulted in two interconnected modes of divine revelation: Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture ⁵. The Council of Trent affirmed that revealed truth is found in both the sacred books and in unwritten traditions coming from God through the Apostles ¹. The Church does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from Holy Scripture alone; both Scripture and Tradition are to be accepted and honored with equal devotion ⁴ ⁷.

Incompleteness of Scripture Alone

The Catholic Church believes that Scripture alone constitutes an incomplete record of revelation ⁵. Without Tradition, the Gospel would not remain “whole and alive” within the Church ⁵. Early controversialists demonstrated to Protestants that to be consistent, they would need to admit unwritten traditions, citing examples such as resting on Sunday instead of Saturday, infant baptism, or baptism by infusion, none of which are explicitly and solely mandated by the Bible ¹.

The Role of Tradition in Understanding Scripture

Sacred Tradition is essential for a deeper understanding and continuous activation of Sacred Scripture within the Church ⁵. Scripture is not merely a text but the “Word of God” that arose within the People of God and has been unified, read, and interpreted by them ⁴. It belongs to the living Tradition of the Church as the canonical witness to faith ⁴. The Church’s living Tradition ensures that a faithfully preserved, comprehensive, and properly demarcated canon of Scripture can exist ⁵.

The Necessity of the Living Magisterium

The task of authentically interpreting the Word of God, whether in written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted solely to the living teaching office of the Church, known as the Magisterium ³ ⁴ ⁶. This Magisterium, guided by the Holy Spirit, listens to, preserves, and faithfully expounds the Word of God, drawing from the single deposit of faith all that it proposes for belief as divinely revealed ⁴ ⁶. The Magisterium is not above the Word of God but serves it ³ ⁶. Without this divinely authorized teaching authority, it would be impossible to resolve controversies arising from the interpretation of the Bible itself ¹.

In summary, the Catholic Church rejects sola scriptura because it views Scripture and Tradition as inseparably linked, forming a single sacred deposit of the Word of God, which is authentically interpreted by the Magisterium ⁴. This comprehensive approach ensures the full integrity and proper understanding of divine revelation ⁵.

Summing Up

For more detail including 25 pertinent Bible verses and quotes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, go to Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium, an earlier post on this blog.

For some background on the reason for this series of posts, go to My Theological Journey.

6 – Angels in the 21st Century?

Post author By Darryl Williams
Post date July 29, 2025
Categories In Angels, Theology

Angels have a prominent role in the bible with 130 mentions in the Old Testament and 178 in the New Testament. In the New Testament, they are most prominent in Matthew, Luke, Acts, Hebrews, and Revelation, 85% of the NT instances being in those five books.

Only three angels are named in the Bible. Michael is mentioned in Daniel, Jude 9, and Revelation as defender of God and defeater of a dragon. Gabriel helps Daniel understand a vision in the Old Testament and makes important announcements to Zechariah and Mary in the New Testament. Raphael appears in Tobit as a companion and protector of Tobias.

Un-Named Angels

Appearances of un-named angels in the Bible are important. I asked Grok the following question: What are some of the most interesting and significant appearances of un-named angels in the Bible? Here is the list Grok provided, further details and comments excluded from this post:

The Angels at Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:1–29)
Key Verse: “The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom” (Genesis 19:1, ESV).
The Angel at the Sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22:11–18)
Key Verse: “But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am’” (Genesis 22:11, ESV).
The Angel in the Burning Bush (Exodus 3:2–6)
Key Verse: “And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush” (Exodus 3:2, ESV).
The Angel Who Opposes Balaam (Numbers 22:22–35)
Key Verse: “And the angel of the Lord said to him, ‘Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me’” (Numbers 22:32, ESV).
The Angel Announcing Samson’s Birth (Judges 13:2–25)
Key Verse: “And the angel of the Lord said to him, ‘Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?’” (Judges 13:18, ESV).
The Angels at Jesus’ Tomb (Matthew 28:2–7; Luke 24:4–7; John 20:11–13)
Key Verse: “And the angel answered the women and said, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said’”(Matthew 28:5-6, ESV).
The Angel Strengthening Jesus in Gethsemane (Luke 22:43)
Key Verse: “And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him” (Luke 22:43, ESV).

What does the Catholic Church teach about angels? (Answer by Magisterium.com)

The Catholic Church teaches that angels are spiritual, non-corporeal (no material body) beings whose existence is a truth of faith, supported by both Sacred Scripture and Tradition. They are invisible, immortal, and personal beings endowed with intelligence and will.

Nature and Purpose of Angels
Angels are pure spirits, created by God before the visible world. Their name, “angel,” signifies their office as “messengers” or “delegates” of God, rather than their nature, which is “spirit”. They ceaselessly contemplate God face-to-face and glorify Him. Their primary function is to serve God and act as His messengers in the accomplishment of His saving mission. They are described as “potent executives of his commands, and ready at the sound of his words” (Ps 103:20) and are “sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” (Heb 1:14).

Role in Salvation History and Human Life
Angels manifest God’s presence in the world and announce His will to human beings. Scripture refers to some angels by name, such as Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel. Angels assist human beings in their spiritual growth . The Church’s Tradition strongly teaches that God grants every human being a guardian angel. These guardian angels illuminate, guard, rule, and govern those entrusted to them by heavenly piety.

Angels in Liturgy and Veneration
The unity of the visible and invisible creation—human beings and angels—is made manifest in the Divine Liturgy, where the earthly expresses the heavenly, and humans serve together with angels. In the Byzantine rite, the Divine Liturgy is seen to take place in the presence of angels, who are invoked in hymns like the Cherubikon. The Church associates herself with the angelic hymn, proclaiming the thrice-holy God (cf. Isaiah 6:3) during the celebration of the sacred mysteries.

The Church venerates (does not worship) these heavenly spirits and seeks their intercession. The veneration of angels is considered equal to that of the saints. The Church celebrates the role of Holy Angels in salvation events and commemorates them on specific days, such as September 29 (Feast of Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael) and October 2 (Feast of the Guardian Angels). The Church also implores God to send His angels to protect the faithful, assist them in their last agony, and accompany the souls of the just into paradise.

Angelic Choirs
While there is no systematic treatise on angels in the East, the nine choirs of angels described by Pseudo-Dionysius were adopted in the West by St. Thomas Aquinas.

Fallen Angels
The Church also teaches about the existence of pure spirits who, through a radical and irreversible act of rejection of God’s will, separated themselves into angels of darkness. However, the victorious power of Christ the Redeemer surrounds human life, ensuring that believers can overcome the temptations of these evil angels, with the valid assistance of the good angels.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church Teaching on Angels

Information about Angels is found in the section on The Profession of Faith, Creation of Heaven and Earth, in the section on what is not seen. This includes CCC-325 to CCC-336 and CCC-350-CCC-352, all copied and pasted below.

Paragraph 5. HEAVEN AND EARTH
CCC-325 The Apostles’ Creed professes that God is “creator of heaven and earth”. the Nicene Creed makes it explicit that this profession includes “all that is, seen and unseen“.

CCC-326 The Scriptural expression “heaven and earth” means all that exists, creation in its entirety. It also indicates the bond, deep within creation, that both unites heaven and earth and distinguishes the one from the other: “the earth” is the world of men, while “heaven” or “the heavens” can designate both the firmament and God’s own “place” – “our Father in heaven” and consequently the “heaven” too which is eschatological glory. Finally, “heaven” refers to the saints and the “place” of the spiritual creatures, the angels, who surround God.¹⁸⁶

CCC-327 The profession of faith of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) affirms that God “from the beginning of time made at once (simul) out of nothing both orders of creatures, the spiritual and the corporeal, that is, the angelic and the earthly, and then (deinde) the human creature, who as it were shares in both orders, being composed of spirit and body.”¹⁸⁷

THE ANGELS

The existence of angels – a truth of faith

CCC-328 The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls “angels” is a truth of faith. the witness of Scripture is as clear as the unanimity of Tradition.

Who are they?

CCC-329 St. Augustine says: “‘Angel’ is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is ‘spirit’; if you seek the name of their office, it is ‘angel’: from what they are, ‘spirit’, from what they do, ‘angel.'”¹⁸⁸ With their whole beings the angels are servants and messengers of God. Because they “always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven” they are the “mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word”.¹⁸⁹

CCC-330 As purely spiritual creatures angels have intelligence and will: they are personal and immortal creatures, surpassing in perfection all visible creatures, as the splendour of their glory bears witness.¹⁹⁰

Christ “with all his angels”

CCC-331 Christ is the centre of the angelic world. They are his angels: “When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him. . “¹⁹¹ They belong to him because they were created through and for him: “for in him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities – all things were created through him and for him.”¹⁹² They belong to him still more because he has made them messengers of his saving plan: “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?”¹⁹³

CCC-332 Angels have been present since creation and throughout the history of salvation, announcing this salvation from afar or near and serving the accomplishment of the divine plan: they closed the earthly paradise; protected Lot; saved Hagar and her child; stayed Abraham’s hand; communicated the law by their ministry; led the People of God; announced births and callings; and assisted the prophets, just to cite a few examples.¹⁹⁴ Finally, the angel Gabriel announced the birth of the Precursor and that of Jesus himself.¹⁹⁵

CCC-333 From the Incarnation to the Ascension, the life of the Word incarnate is surrounded by the adoration and service of angels. When God “brings the firstborn into the world, he says: ‘Let all God’s angels worship him.'”¹⁹⁶ Their song of praise at the birth of Christ has not ceased resounding in the Church’s praise: “Glory to God in the highest!”¹⁹⁷ They protect Jesus in his infancy, serve him in the desert, strengthen him in his agony in the garden, when he could have been saved by them from the hands of his enemies as Israel had been.¹⁹⁸ Again, it is the angels who “evangelize” by proclaiming the Good News of Christ’s Incarnation and Resurrection.¹⁹⁹ They will be present at Christ’s return, which they will announce, to serve at his judgement.²⁰⁰

The angels in the life of the Church

CCC-334 In the meantime, the whole life of the Church benefits from the mysterious and powerful help of angels.²⁰¹

CCC-335 In her liturgy, the Church joins with the angels to adore the thrice-holy God. She invokes their assistance (in the Roman Canon’s Supplices te rogamus. . .[“Almighty God, we pray that your angel…”]; in the funeral liturgy’s In Paradisum deducant te angeli. . .[“May the angels lead you into Paradise. . .”]). Moreover, in the “Cherubic Hymn” of the Byzantine Liturgy, she celebrates the memory of certain angels more particularly (St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael, and the guardian angels).

CCC-336 From infancy to death human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession.²⁰² “Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.”²⁰³ Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God.

IN BRIEF

CCC-350 Angels are spiritual creatures who glorify God without ceasing and who serve his saving plans for other creatures: “The angels work together for the benefit of us all” (St. Thomas Aquinas, STh I, 114, 3, ad 3).

CCC-351 The angels surround Christ their Lord. They serve him especially in the accomplishment of his saving mission to men.

CCC-352 The Church venerates the angels who help her on her earthly pilgrimage and protect every human being.

Personal Thoughts on Guardian Angels

I’ve never given much thought to angels, guardians or not. I know only one Catholic Christian man who routinely speaks of his Guardian Angel. Having spent ten years involved with him and hundreds of teen volunteers in often risky repairs of homes for elderly low-income people and observing no significant injuries to him or other volunteers, I am quite comfortable accepting his Guardian Angel testimony.

There are at least four interesting bible passages suggesting guardian angels.

In the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18:10 we find this statement about what the Church calls Guardian Angels: ¹⁰“Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.

And in Acts 12:13-15, we find this:¹³When he knocked at the outer gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴On recognizing Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. ¹⁵They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she insisted that it was so. They said, “It is his angel.”

In Psalm 91:11-13 which is about “Assurance of God’s Protection” according to the NRSVCE we find comforting words: ¹¹For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. ¹²On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone. ¹³You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

In Exodus 23:20-22 we find this promise of God to the Israelites: ²⁰I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. ²¹Be attentive to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression; for my name is in him²²But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

An Interesting Issue

There is also the issue of God and angels being spiritual beings unhampered by physical bodies and the occupants of Heaven in some mysterious and undefined place. It is interesting to think of our souls, spiritual beings also I presume, joining those other spirits in that mysterious place prior to the promised resurrection of our bodies at the second coming of Jesus. I hope we get to be more helpers of God.

The End Comments

Just to answer the title question, of course there are angels in the 21st century. They just don’t get the attention the got in the Bible.

Just one man’s unauthorized observations, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to point out any errors. In the meantime, I will try to be alert for any messages from my guardian angel. Based on the way my 82 years have turned out, I suppose there have been many that I heard and used without recognizing the source.

And thanks to AI which seems to be very competent, thanks to human intelligence, in theft, organization, and presentation of information.

For other posts in this series on theology, go HERE and start with Post 107.

5 – Mary, Mother of God

Post author By Darryl Williams
Post date July 27, 2025
Categories In Mary, Theology

The Catholic teachings of Mary’s Immaculate Conception, Perpetual Virginity, and Assumption into Heaven are certainly among the most mysterious to Protestant believers in Jesus. Granted these are not specifically stated in the Bible but even among the Reformers agreeing on Sola Scriptura, there were two positions. Some argued that unless something is specifically stated in the Bible, it is not valid. Others argued that anything not explicitly forbidden in the Bible is permissible. That second position leaves an opening for Catholic explanation of their beliefs about Mary. And for the more conservative, we might argue that if Enoch and Elijah were assumed into Heaven without dying, surely that is reasonable for Mary the Mother of God.

The Catholic Church has reams of publications explaining its theology but digging out the whole truth requires some searching. That is a gap that seems to be fulfilled somewhat by AI. Magisterium AI is loaded with approved Catholic information and is a good place to start. So I made this request to Magisterium AI: How does the Catholic Church justify its unique beliefs about Mary?

Note that the numbers 1 through 27 in the text refer to the sources at the end of the summary. Copy and paste those into new tabs on your browser for more information.

I suggest that the posts on God and on Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium are fundamental to understanding and accepting the uniqueness of Mary so, it is best to check those out first.

Here in italics is the response from Magisterium.com to my request:

How does the Catholic Church justify its unique beliefs about Mary? (Magisterium AI)

The Catholic Church justifies its unique beliefs about Mary through a combination of Sacred Scripture, Tradition, and the exercise of its infallible Magisterium, which has progressively clarified and defined these doctrines over time. These beliefs are understood not as additions to the faith, but as deeper understandings of truths revealed by God, particularly in relation to Christ’s saving work 1.

The principal Marian dogmas are:

The Immaculate Conception
The Perpetual Virginity
The Assumption

The Immaculate Conception

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception states that the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the very first moment of her conception, was preserved free from all stain of original sin by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race 2 3 4 5. This means that the formal active essence of original sin was never present in her soul; rather, it was excluded, and she was simultaneously endowed with original sanctity, innocence, and justice 2.

Pope Pius IX solemnly defined this dogma on December 8, 1854, in the Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus 2 3 4 6. This definition was the culmination of centuries of theological reflection and popular devotion 7 6 8. The Church understood that Mary, being “full of grace” (Luke 1:28), was redeemed from the moment of her conception 5. This preservation from original sin was fitting for her role as the Mother of God, ensuring her purity and conformity to her Son 9.

The Perpetual Virginity

The Catholic Church teaches that Mary remained a virgin before, during, and after the birth of Christ 10 11 12 13 14 15. This doctrine is known as the Perpetual Virginity of Mary.

Virginity before birth: Mary conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, without human intervention 16.
Virginity during birth: Christ’s birth did not diminish His Mother’s virginal integrity but rather sanctified it 12 13. As the Word of God proceeds from the mind without corruption, so too was it fitting that the body of the Word of God be born of a virgin incorrupt 12.
Virginity after birth: The Church rejects the idea that Mary had other children after Jesus 11 15. Scriptural references to “brothers and sisters of Jesus” are understood to refer to His close relatives or cousins, in accordance with the broader use of such terms in Sacred Scripture 10 16 15. This perpetual virginity is seen as fitting for the Mother of God, whose virginal womb was a “shrine” of the Holy Spirit 11.

The Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the “Ever-virgin” 13 17 14. This belief has been consistently affirmed throughout Christian tradition, with figures like St. Augustine and St. John of Damascus strongly defending it 11 18 15.

The Assumption

The dogma of the Assumption states that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory 19 20 21 22. This means that Mary, like her Son, overcame death and is already triumphant in heavenly glory, in the totality of her being, “in body and soul” 20.

Pope Pius XII solemnly defined this dogma on November 1, 1950, in the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus 19 20 21. While the New Testament does not explicitly affirm Mary’s Assumption, the Church understands it as a logical continuation of her perfect union with Jesus’ destiny and her participation in His redemptive work 23 24. Her body, being entirely holy and the dwelling place of God, was fittingly preserved from corruption 25.

The belief in Mary’s Assumption has ancient roots, appearing in apocryphal accounts from the second and third centuries and later leading to the institution of liturgical feasts in both the East and West 26. The widespread belief among the faithful and the requests from bishops worldwide affirmed this truth as divinely revealed 27 24. The Assumption is seen as the supreme culmination of Mary’s privileges, a glorification of her virginal body, and a sign of the complete victory over sin and death 20 23.

References

Ineffabilis Deus / Pope Pius IX
Catholic Encyclopedia Immaculate Conception / The Encyclopedia Press
Fulgens Corona / Pope Pius XII
The Sources of Catholic Dogma (Enchiridion Symbolorum) 2803 / Heinrich Joseph Dominicus Denzinger
CCC 491
Ineffabilis Deus / Pope Pius IX
Fulgens Corona 18 / Pope Pius XII
Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum / Pope Pius X
Compendium of Theology (Compendium Theologiae) Part I – Chapter 224 / Thomas Aquinas
Compendium of Theology (Compendium Theologiae) Part I – Chapter 225 / Thomas Aquinas
Summa Theologiae III, Q. 28, A. 3, co. / Thomas Aquinas
Summa Theologiae III, Q. 28, A. 2, co. / Thomas Aquinas
CCC 499
Catechism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church: Christ – Our Pascha 189 / Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church 99 / Promulgated by Pope Benedict XVI
Catholic Encyclopedia The Blessed Virgin Mary / The Encyclopedia Press
Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Christian East Theotokology / Edward G. Farrugia
An Exposition of the Orthodox Faith Chapter 14 / John of Damascus
Munificentissimus Deus 44 / Pope Pius XII
15 August 2010: Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Mass at the Parish of Saint Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo 15 August 2010: Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Mass at the Parish of Saint Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo / Pope Benedict XVI
The Sources of Catholic Dogma (Enchiridion Symbolorum) 3903 / Heinrich Joseph Dominicus Denzinger
General Audience of 2 July 1997 1 / Pope John Paul II
The Sources of Catholic Dogma (Enchiridion Symbolorum) 3901 / Heinrich Joseph Dominicus Denzinger
General Audience of 2 July 1997 3 / Pope John Paul II
General Audience of 29 April 2009: Germanus of Constantinople / Pope Benedict XVI
General Audience of 2 July 1997 2 / Pope John Paul II
Fulgens Corona 19 / Pope Pius XII

Catechism of the Catholic Church on Mary

CCC-491 and CCC-499 are included in the list of references above. They are in the section of the Nicene Creed about Jesus which includes CCC-484 to CCC-511. That section is copied below for fuller and more detailed explanations.

CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. . .

CCC-484 The Annunciation to Mary inaugurates “the fullness of time”,¹¹⁹ The time of the fulfilment of God’s promises and preparations. Mary was invited to conceive him in whom the “whole fullness of deity” would dwell “bodily”.¹²⁰ The divine response to her question, “How can this be, since I know not man?”, was given by the power of the Spirit: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.”¹²¹

CCC-485 The mission of the Holy Spirit is always conjoined and ordered to that of the Son.¹²² The Holy Spirit, “the Lord, the giver of Life”, is sent to sanctify the womb of the Virgin Mary and divinely fecundate it, causing her to conceive the eternal Son of the Father in a humanity drawn from her own.

CCC-486 The Father’s only Son, conceived as man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, is “Christ”, that is to say, anointed by the Holy Spirit, from the beginning of his human existence, though the manifestation of this fact takes place only progressively: to the shepherds, to the magi, to John the Baptist, to the disciples.¹²³ Thus the whole life of Jesus Christ will make manifest “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.”¹²⁴

II…. BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY

CCC-487 What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ.

Mary’s predestination

CCC-488 “God sent forth his Son”, but to prepare a body for him,¹²⁵ he wanted the free co-operation of a creature. For this, from all eternity God chose for the mother of his Son a daughter of Israel, a young Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, “a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary”:¹²⁶

The Father of mercies willed that the Incarnation should be preceded by assent on the part of the predestined mother, so that just as a woman had a share in the coming of death, so also should a woman contribute to the coming of life.¹²⁷

CCC-489 Throughout the Old Covenant the mission of many holy women prepared for that of Mary. At the very beginning there was Eve; despite her disobedience, she receives the promise of a posterity that will be victorious over the evil one, as well as the promise that she will be the mother of all the living.¹²⁸ By virtue of this promise, Sarah conceives a son in spite of her old age.¹²⁹ Against all human expectation God chooses those who were considered powerless and weak to show forth his faithfulness to his promises: Hannah, the mother of Samuel; Deborah; Ruth; Judith and Esther; and many other women.¹³⁰ Mary “stands out among the poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently hope for and receive salvation from him. After a long period of waiting the times are fulfilled in her, the exalted Daughter of Sion, and the new plan of salvation is established.”¹³¹

The Immaculate Conception

CCC-490 To become the mother of the Saviour, Mary “was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role.”¹³² The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as “full of grace”.¹³³ In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God’s grace.

CCC-491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, “full of grace” through God,¹³⁴ was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.¹³⁵

CCC-492 The “splendour of an entirely unique holiness” by which Mary is “enriched from the first instant of her conception” comes wholly from Christ: she is “redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son”.¹³⁶ The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person “in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” and chose her “in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love”.¹³⁷

CCC-493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God “the All-Holy” (Panagia), and celebrate her as “free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature”.¹³⁸ By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.
“Let it be done to me according to your word. . .”

CCC-494 At the announcement that she would give birth to “the Son of the Most High” without knowing man, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responded with the obedience of faith, certain that “with God nothing will be impossible”: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word.”¹³⁹ Thus, giving her consent to God’s word, Mary becomes the mother of Jesus. Espousing the divine will for salvation wholeheartedly, without a single sin to restrain her, she gave herself entirely to the person and to the work of her Son; she did so in order to serve the mystery of redemption with him and dependent on him, by God’s grace:¹⁴⁰

As St. Irenaeus says, “Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.”¹⁴¹ Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert. . .: “The knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied by Mary’s obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith.”¹⁴² Comparing her with Eve, they call Mary “the Mother of the living” and frequently claim: “Death through Eve, life through Mary.”¹⁴³

Mary’s divine motherhood

CCC-495 Called in the Gospels “the mother of Jesus”, Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as “the mother of my Lord”.¹⁴⁴ In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father’s eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly “Mother of God” (Theotokos).¹⁴⁵

Mary’s virginity

CCC-496 From the first formulations of her faith, the Church has confessed that Jesus was conceived solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, affirming also the corporeal aspect of this event: Jesus was conceived “by the Holy Spirit without human seed”.¹⁴⁶ The Fathers see in the virginal conception the sign that it truly was the Son of God who came in a humanity like our own. Thus St. Ignatius of Antioch at the beginning of the second century says:
You are firmly convinced about our Lord, who is truly of the race of David according to the flesh, Son of God according to the will and power of God, truly born of a virgin,. . . he was truly nailed to a tree for us in his flesh under Pontius Pilate. . . he truly suffered, as he is also truly risen.¹⁴⁷

CCC-497 The Gospel accounts understand the virginal conception of Jesus as a divine work that surpasses all human understanding and possibility:¹⁴⁸ “That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit”, said the angel to Joseph about Mary his fiancee.¹⁴⁹ The Church sees here the fulfilment of the divine promise given through the prophet Isaiah: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.”¹⁵⁰

CCC-498 People are sometimes troubled by the silence of St. Mark’s Gospel and the New Testament Epistles about Jesus’ virginal conception. Some might wonder if we were merely dealing with legends or theological constructs not claiming to be history. To this we must respond: Faith in the virginal conception of Jesus met with the lively opposition, mockery or incomprehension of non-believers, Jews and pagans alike;¹⁵¹ so it could hardly have been motivated by pagan mythology or by some adaptation to the ideas of the age. the meaning of this event is accessible only to faith, which understands in it the “connection of these mysteries with one another”¹⁵² in the totality of Christ’s mysteries, from his Incarnation to his Passover. St. Ignatius of Antioch already bears witness to this connection: “Mary’s virginity and giving birth, and even the Lord’s death escaped the notice of the prince of this world: these three mysteries worthy of proclamation were accomplished in God’s silence.”¹⁵³

Mary – “ever-virgin”

CCC-499 The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the Church to confess Mary’s real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made man.¹⁵⁴ In fact, Christ’s birth “did not diminish his mother’s virginal integrity but sanctified it.”¹⁵⁵ and so the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the “Ever-virgin”.¹⁵⁶

CCC-500 Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus.¹⁵⁷ The Church has always understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary. In fact James and Joseph, “brothers of Jesus”, are the sons of another Mary, a disciple of Christ, whom St. Matthew significantly calls “the other Mary”.¹⁵⁸ They are close relations of Jesus, according to an Old Testament expression.¹⁵⁹

CCC-501 Jesus is Mary’s only son, but her spiritual motherhood extends to all men whom indeed he came to save: “The Son whom she brought forth is he whom God placed as the first-born among many brethren, that is, the faithful in whose generation and formation she co-operates with a mother’s love.”¹⁶⁰

Mary’s virginal motherhood in God’s plan

CCC-502 The eyes of faith can discover in the context of the whole of Revelation the mysterious reasons why God in his saving plan wanted his Son to be born of a virgin. These reasons touch both on the person of Christ and his redemptive mission, and on the welcome Mary gave that mission on behalf of all men.

CCC-503 Mary’s virginity manifests God’s absolute initiative in the Incarnation. Jesus has only God as Father. “He was never estranged from the Father because of the human nature which he assumed. . . He is naturally Son of the Father as to his divinity and naturally son of his mother as to his humanity, but properly Son of the Father in both natures.”¹⁶¹

CCC-504 Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary’s womb because he is the New Adam, who inaugurates the new creation: “The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.”¹⁶² From his conception, Christ’s humanity is filled with the Holy Spirit, for God “gives him the Spirit without measure.”¹⁶³ From “his fullness” as the head of redeemed humanity “we have all received, grace upon grace.”¹⁶⁴

CCC-505 By his virginal conception, Jesus, the New Adam, ushers in the new birth of children adopted in the Holy Spirit through faith. “How can this be?”¹⁶⁵ Participation in the divine life arises “not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God”.¹⁶⁶ The acceptance of this life is virginal because it is entirely the Spirit’s gift to man. the spousal character of the human vocation in relation to God¹⁶⁷ is fulfilled perfectly in Mary’s virginal motherhood.

CCC-506 Mary is a virgin because her virginity is the sign of her faith “unadulterated by any doubt”, and of her undivided gift of herself to God’s will.¹⁶⁸ It is her faith that enables her to become the mother of the Saviour: “Mary is more blessed because she embraces faith in Christ than because she conceives the flesh of Christ.”¹⁶⁹

CCC-507 At once virgin and mother, Mary is the symbol and the most perfect realization of the Church: “the Church indeed. . . by receiving the word of God in faith becomes herself a mother. By preaching and Baptism she brings forth sons, who are conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of God, to a new and immortal life. She herself is a virgin, who keeps in its entirety and purity the faith she pledged to her spouse.”¹⁷⁰

IN BRIEF

CCC-508 From among the descendants of Eve, God chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of his Son. “Full of grace”, Mary is “the most excellent fruit of redemption” (SC 103): from the first instant of her conception, she was totally preserved from the stain of original sin and she remained pure from all personal sin throughout her life.

CCC-509 Mary is truly “Mother of God” since she is the mother of the eternal Son of God made man, who is God himself.

CCC-510 Mary “remained a virgin in conceiving her Son, a virgin in giving birth to him, a virgin in carrying him, a virgin in nursing him at her breast, always a virgin” (St. Augustine, Serm. 186, 1: PL 38, 999): with her whole being she is “the handmaid of the Lord” (Lk 1:38).

CCC-511 The Virgin Mary “co-operated through free faith and obedience in human salvation” (LG 56). She uttered her yes “in the name of all human nature” (St. Thomas Aquinas, S Th III, 30, 1). By her obedience she became the new Eve, mother of the living.

4 – God?

Post author By Darryl Williams
Post date July 25, 2025
Categories In Artificial Intelligence, Theology

It is a common temptation to see God as a sort of superhuman, created in our image but perfected, no character flaws, no sin, and the ability to do perfectly all the things we fail to do or do imperfectly. He is sometimes seen as the kindly “Man Upstairs,” waiting to hear from us and promising to do what we want done. “God is good!” is a true statement depending on the meaning of “good”, but these primitive views of God don’t even touch the whole truth.

The Universe

Catholic theology is that we are not the model for God but are created in the spiritual image of God which enables us to have enough understanding to profess belief in One God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. The memorized words just flow. But if we think seriously about “all things visible and invisible,” the universe, heaven, angels, space, and spirits, we realize how primitive our understanding of God the Creator must be. “I asked Grok about the universe, and this is the secular description I got of what Catholics profess to believe God created.

Our universe is a vast, dynamic, and complex expanse that began approximately 13.8 billion years ago with the Big Bang, an event that marked the origin of space, time, matter, and energy. It is characterized by its immense scale—spanning at least 93 billion light-years in diameter, though its true size may be infinite or beyond observation due to the limits of light travel. The universe is composed of roughly 5% ordinary matter (stars, planets, gas), 27% dark matter (invisible, gravitationally influential), and 68% dark energy (driving accelerated expansion).

It is structured hierarchically: particles form atoms, atoms form molecules, and these coalesce into stars, planets, and galaxies, which cluster into superclusters connected by cosmic webs of filaments, walls, and voids. Galaxies, like our Milky Way, contain billions of stars and diverse phenomena, from black holes to nebulae. The universe is governed by fundamental forces—gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces—described by physical laws, though mysteries like quantum gravity and the nature of dark matter remain unresolved.

The universe is expanding, as evidenced by the redshift of distant galaxies, with its rate accelerating due to dark energy. Its geometry appears flat on large scales, and its evolution includes epochs like the cosmic microwave background (CMB) formation, galaxy formation, and the eventual fate, potentially a “Big Freeze” as expansion continues. It hosts a rich array of phenomena, from supernovae to gravitational waves, and possibly life, though Earth remains the only confirmed habitable world.

Philosophically, the universe raises profound questions about its origin, purpose, and whether it is unique or part of a multiverse. Scientifically, it is studied through telescopes, particle accelerators, and simulations, yet much remains unknown, making it a humbling and awe-inspiring frontier of exploration.

Impressive and sobering, isn’t it? Note that Grok credits the Big Bang with origin of the universe but doesn’t include any suggestions about what went Bang and where that came from. There is only a brief mention of life and none of evolution, but we should have no problem believing that God, a spirit outside of space and time, eternal, all knowing, all seeing, and everywhere present, chose such as his means of creation. It is beyond our imagination though not beyond our willingness to believe.

Catholic Teaching About God

One approach I took to exploring this question about God was to ask Magisterium.com to prepare a brief but complete summary of Catholic teaching about God. This is what I got:

The Catholic Church teaches that God is one yet exists as a Trinity of three distinct Persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. This central doctrine of Christianity affirms that these three Persons are co-eternal, co-equal, uncreated, and omnipotent, sharing one divine nature or substance.

The Mystery of the Trinity: The Trinity is considered a profound mystery, revealed by God Himself, particularly through the person, works, and words of Jesus Christ. While the Old Testament emphasized the unity of God, it also foreshadowed the mystery of the Trinity, which was fully explicated in the New Testament. Jesus explicitly named these Persons when he commanded the Apostles to baptize “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).

Distinct Yet Inseparable Persons: The three divine Persons are truly distinct from one another, with their distinction residing solely in their relationships of origin.

The Father is eternally Father in relation to His only Son.
The Son is eternally Son only in relation to His Father.
The Holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son.

Despite these distinctions, the Persons are inseparable in their being and actions. They are not three Gods, but one God. For example, creation is attributed to the Trinity as a whole, not some parts by the Father, some by the Son, and some by the Holy Spirit. Similarly, salvation is achieved by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit together.

Attributes of God: God is revealed as infinitely holy, possessing perfections such as omnipotence, infinite knowledge, providence, will, and love. He is “He who is,” as revealed to Moses, and is also love, as taught by St. John. These names, “being” and “love,” express the same divine reality of God, who dwells in “light inaccessible” and is beyond all created intellect.

Humanity’s Relationship with God: Through faith, believers come to understand that their life, beginning at baptism, involves acquiring a more intimate familiarity with the three divine Persons. Christians are called to share in God’s divine nature through the gift of the Holy Spirit. The revelation of God as Trinity also highlights that God is an infinite communion of love, and humanity is called by grace to become His children in the Spirit 10.

Sacred Scripture About God?

Finally, I asked both Grok and Magisterium for Bible verses that support the teaching of the Catholic Church about God. There were some differences in the two lists, but all seemed appropriate and are included here.

Bible verses that explain Catholic belief about the nature of God.

Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning when God created^[a] the heavens and the earth, ²the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God^[b] swept over the face of the waters.Bottom of Form

Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”^[a] He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
Exodus 34:6 The Lord passed before him, and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord,
a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,

Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.

Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
John 1:1-5, 9, 14, 18 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴in him was life,^[a] and the life was the light of all people. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. ⁹The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.¹⁴And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son,^[d] full of grace and truth. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son,^[e] who is close to the Father’s heart,^[f] who has made him known.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

John 4:24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

John 10:30 The Father and I are one.

Acts 5:3-4 “Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? ⁴While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us^[a] but to God!”

1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.

1 John 4:13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

1 John 5:6 This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.

1 John 5:11-12 And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Why Theology (About this series of posts)

3.5 – My Theological Journey

Post author By Darryl Williams
Post date July 23, 2025
Categories In Theology

I grew up in the shadow of the East Tennessee Smoky Mountains. All my exposure to church was Southern Baptist. I remember my dad’s skepticism about local Episcopal and Presbyterian churches. They did not forbid alcohol consumption!

Except for some delinquency during my college years, I have always been a church attender actively involved in whatever church I was a member of and that was certainly true of the Baptist Churches I joined (except that one in my college town).

In my thirties, I questioned the Baptist policy of requiring Presbyterians and Methodists who had married a Baptist to be baptized by total immersion before being granted Baptist membership. In discussion of that with a friend, I recall him saying that it took more to be a Baptist than to be a Christian. Well, I knew that was wrong and was one factor that made transfer of membership to a Southern Presbyterian church easy.

I was quite happy in Presbyterian churches for a couple of decades until transferred to northern New York. I looked for a Presbyterian church there and found them all unwelcoming and uninspiring. A warm and enthusiastic welcome to a Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, initiated a couple of decades as a Lutheran involving active membership in four Lutheran churches in different cities.

Upon retirement, I spent three years at a Lutheran Seminary, not seeking ordination but just staying busy, exercising the mind, and looking for information and understanding. I even took Greek and Hebrew and wish I could still remember what I had to remember then to pass the exams. That seminary experience was my first serious exposure to the history and theology of the first 1500 pre-reformation years of the church, and it made transfer to the Catholic Church easy when my ELCA Lutheran church started revising fundamental theological principles.

That is the short story of my journey through Baptist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran churches to the 2011 reception to the Catholic Church. I hope that sharing the story will lend some credibility to this current series of posts on Catholic theology.

I want to assure readers that I don’t question the professed faith of Christians outside the Catholic Church. I deplore the way some Protestants and Catholics view each other, sometimes with scorn or pity and, a few hundred years ago, even killing each other.

I suggest that a Catholic who does not understand the theology of a different denomination has no business criticizing it. And a Protestant who does not understand Catholic theology has no business criticizing it. Catholic theology is much more complex than Protestant theology, probably due to its 2000-year age, and needs some explanation. So that is what I hope to provide in this series of posts.

I’m not an authorized spokesman but will be expressing my opinions based on the education I have experienced, hoping that they are consistent with Catholic teaching. Let me know if you see an error.

3. Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium

Post author By Darryl Williams
Post date July 23, 2025
Categories In Artificial Intelligence, Theology

Introduction

The Catholic Church emphasizes Bible readings in its worship, hearing readings from the Old and New Testaments at Mass and usually hearing a homily about one of those readings. However, tradition and Church authority are also important. The pertinent words from the Nicene Creed are these:

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

Tradition is a puzzling word needing some explanation. All Christian denominations value tradition, often in the form of their understanding of Bible passages. The simple fact that those understandings vary widely is evidence that Sola Scriptura can be problematic.

For example, John 6:22-71 is a passage that is understood differently by Catholics and Baptists. The Baptist tradition is that it is metaphorical or symbolic while the Catholic tradition, based on traditional practices of the early church, is that it is literally true. It is the foundation of Catholic belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, The Lord’s Supper.

There are fundamentalist churches that treat the Genesis creation stories as literally true while the Catholic understanding is that they are metaphorical or symbolic while loaded with theological truth.

The Catholic view of Matthew 16:18-19 is that it is literally true and is the basis of the Catholic Magisterium while Protestants see it as metaphorical or symbolic, an entirely different tradition.

My plan for posts in this series is to identify an important Catholic belief and then to share Bible passages consistent with the belief followed by pertinent sections from the 688-page Catechism of the Catholic Church. Having found AI very useful in finding and organizing pertinent information, I will use Magisterium.com and Grok.com and maybe others as search tools.

In the first section below are Bible verses that are understood by the Catholic Church to support those three Catholic fundamentals in the Post Title, Sacred Scripture, Tradition, and The Magisterium.

(1) Sacred Scripture is the Bible, which supplies plenty of evidence that there is more to be known than what is in the Bible.

(2) Tradition merges early pre-Bible Church practices and Church Fathers writings with Sacred Scripture.

(3) The Magisterium is the current Pope and Bishops, successors of Peter and the Apostles, bearing permanent Church responsibility for defining and teaching and protecting the Truth.

Sacred Scripture on Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium

Matthew 16:18-19 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Catholics see this as the establishment of the “one holy, catholic, and apostolic church.”)

Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (For Catholics, this promises a permanent unique link between Jesus and the Church, led by the Apostles and their successors, the Pope and Bishops.)

Mark 3:14-15 And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles,^[a] to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, ¹⁵and to have authority to cast out demons. (Catholics consider the Pope and Bishops to be successors of the Apostles with the same powers and responsibilities.)

Luke 10:16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.“

John 16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

John 21:25 But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

Acts 15:6-7 The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. ⁷After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. –

1 Corinthians 11:2 I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I handed them on to you. –

2 Thessalonians 2:15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.

1 Timothy 3:14-15 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you so that, ¹⁵if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth. –

1 Timothy 4:6 If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed. –

2 Timothy 1:13-14 Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us. –

2 Timothy 2:1-2 You then, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; ²and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well. –

2 Peter 1:20-21 First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, ²¹because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. –

2 Peter 3:15-16 Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, ¹⁶speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures. –

Catechism of the Catholic Church on Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium

Article 2 of the 688-page Catechism is titled The Transmission of Divine Revelation and includes these three topics. Recommended only for the curious, it is copied below and is accessible at the hot links. For a quick summary of the key points, scroll down to IN BRIEF.

I. The Apostolic Tradition
CCC-75 “Christ the Lord, in whom the entire Revelation of the most high God is summed up, commanded the apostles to preach the Gospel, which had been promised beforehand by the prophets, and which he fulfilled in his own person and promulgated with his own lips. In preaching the Gospel, they were to communicate the gifts of God to all men. This Gospel was to be the source of all saving truth and moral discipline.”³²
In the apostolic preaching. . .
CCC-76 In keeping with the Lord’s command, the Gospel was handed on in two ways:
– orally “by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves had received – whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit”;³³
– in writing “by those apostles and other men associated with the apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of salvation to writing”.³⁴
. . . continued in apostolic succession
CCC-77 “In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them their own position of teaching authority.”³⁵Indeed, “the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time.”³⁶
CCC-78 This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition, since it is distinct from Sacred Scripture, though closely connected to it. Through Tradition, “the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes.”³⁷“The sayings of the holy Fathers are a witness to the life-giving presence of this Tradition, showing how its riches are poured out in the practice and life of the Church, in her belief and her prayer.”³⁸
CCC-79 The Father’s self-communication made through his Word in the Holy Spirit, remains present and active in the Church: “God, who spoke in the past, continues to converse with the Spouse of his beloved Son. and the Holy Spirit, through whom the living voice of the Gospel rings out in the Church – and through her in the world – leads believers to the full truth, and makes the Word of Christ dwell in them in all its richness.”³⁹
II. The Relationship Between Tradition and Sacred Scripture

One common source. . .
CCC-80 “Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal.”⁴⁰Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with his own “always, to the close of the age”.⁴¹
. . . two distinct modes of transmission
CCC-81 “Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit.”⁴²
“and [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching.”⁴³
CCC-82 As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, “does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.”⁴⁴
Apostolic Tradition and ecclesial traditions
CCC-83 The Tradition here in question comes from the apostles and hands on what they received from Jesus’ teaching and example and what they learned from the Holy Spirit. the first generation of Christians did not yet have a written New Testament, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the process of living Tradition.
Tradition is to be distinguished from the various theological, disciplinary, liturgical or devotional traditions, born in the local churches over time. These are the particular forms, adapted to different places and times, in which the great Tradition is expressed. In the light of Tradition, these traditions can be retained, modified or even abandoned under the guidance of the Church’s Magisterium.

III. The Interpretation of the Heritage of Faith
The heritage of faith entrusted to the whole of the Church
CCC-84 The apostles entrusted the “Sacred deposit” of the faith (the depositum fidei),⁴⁵contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, to the whole of the Church. “By adhering to [this heritage] the entire holy people, united to its pastors, remains always faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. So, in maintaining, practising and professing the faith that has been handed on, there should be a remarkable harmony between the bishops and the faithful.”⁴⁶
The Magisterium of the Church
CCC-85 “The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ.”⁴⁷This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.
CCC-86 “Yet this Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens to this devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it faithfully. All that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed is drawn from this single deposit of faith.”⁴⁸
CCC-87 Mindful of Christ’s words to his apostles: “He who hears you, hears me”,⁴⁹The faithful receive with docility the teachings and directives that their pastors give them in different forms.
The dogmas of the faith
CCC-88 The Church’s Magisterium exercises the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent when it defines dogmas, that is, when it proposes truths contained in divine Revelation or also when it proposes in a definitive way truths having a necessary connection with them.
CCC-89 There is an organic connection between our spiritual life and the dogmas. Dogmas are lights along the path of faith; they illuminate it and make it secure. Conversely, if our life is upright, our intellect and heart will be open to welcome the light shed by the dogmas of faith.⁵⁰
CCC-90 The mutual connections between dogmas, and their coherence, can be found in the whole of the Revelation of the mystery of Christ.⁵¹“In Catholic doctrine there exists an order or hierarchy 234 of truths, since they vary in their relation to the foundation of the Christian faith.”⁵²
The supernatural sense of faith
CCC-91 All the faithful share in understanding and handing on revealed truth. They have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who instructs them⁵³and guides them into all truth.⁵⁴
CCC-92 “The whole body of the faithful. . . cannot err in matters of belief. This characteristic is shown in the supernatural appreciation of faith (sensus fidei) on the part of the whole people, when, from the bishops to the last of the faithful, they manifest a universal consent in matters of faith and morals.”⁵⁵
CCC-93 “By this appreciation of the faith, aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth, the People of God, guided by the sacred teaching authority (Magisterium),. . . receives. . . the faith, once for all delivered to the saints. . . the People unfailingly adheres to this faith, penetrates it more deeply with right judgment, and applies it more fully in daily life.”⁵⁶
Growth in understanding the faith
CCC-94 Thanks to the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the understanding of both the realities and the words of the heritage of faith is able to grow in the life of the Church:
– “through the contemplation and study of believers who ponder these things in their hearts”;⁵⁷it is in particular “theological research [which] deepens knowledge of revealed truth”.⁵⁸
– “from the intimate sense of spiritual realities which [believers] experience”,⁵⁹ The sacred Scriptures “grow with the one who reads them.”⁶⁰
– “from the preaching of those who have received, along with their right of succession in the episcopate, the sure charism of truth”.⁶¹
CCC-95 “It is clear therefore that, in the supremely wise arrangement of God, sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others. Working together, each in its own way, under the action of the one Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.”⁶²
IN BRIEF

CCC-96 What Christ entrusted to the apostles, they in turn handed on by their preaching and writing, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to all generations, until Christ returns in glory.
CCC-97 “Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God” (DV 10) in which, as in a mirror, the pilgrim Church contemplates God, the source of all her riches.
CCC-98 “The Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes” (DV 8 # 1).
CCC-99 Thanks to its supernatural sense of faith, the People of God as a whole never ceases to welcome, to penetrate more deeply and to live more fully from the gift of divine Revelation.
CCC-100 The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him.

Any who read all of that from the Catechism may be justified in believing that the Vatican has way too many priests and theologians working on such documents. There are condensed versions, but this one is the whole complicated story copied from the Vatican website. Considering the complexity of God and his creation, it should not be surprising that theology is also complex. (By the way, it is important to point out that Catholics worship not the Church, not the magisterium, not the Bible, not Angels, not Mary, not the Catechism but only the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.)

Catholic Church Teaching on Sacraments

What a sacrament is

Number and common characteristic of the sacraments

Purpose and effects of the sacraments

Theological foundations

The sacraments in the life of the Church

The Catholic Catechism on Sacraments

Review and Reflection

Catholic Theology

Three Hebrew Words

Ahavah

Chesed

Racham

Three Greek Words

Agape

Philéō

Storge

Summary So Far

The Catholic View

Divine Love (Agape)

Human Love and its Relationship to Divine Love

The Primacy of Love

Conclusion

Summing Up

Un-Named Angels

What does the Catholic Church teach about angels? (Answer by Magisterium.com)

Angelic Choirs While there is no systematic treatise on angels in the East, the nine choirs of angels described by Pseudo-Dionysius were adopted in the West by St. Thomas Aquinas.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church Teaching on Angels

The existence of angels – a truth of faith

Who are they?

Christ “with all his angels”

The angels in the life of the Church

IN BRIEF

Personal Thoughts on Guardian Angels

An Interesting Issue

The End Comments

How does the Catholic Church justify its unique beliefs about Mary? (Magisterium AI)

The Immaculate Conception

The Perpetual Virginity

The Assumption

References

Catechism of the Catholic Church on Mary

CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. . .

II…. BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY

Mary’s predestination

The Immaculate Conception

Mary’s divine motherhood

Mary’s virginity

Mary – “ever-virgin”

Mary’s virginal motherhood in God’s plan

IN BRIEF

Other Posts in this Series

The Universe

Catholic Teaching About God

Sacred Scripture About God?

Introduction

Sacred Scripture on Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium

Catechism of the Catholic Church on Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium

Angelic Choirs
While there is no systematic treatise on angels in the East, the nine choirs of angels described by Pseudo-Dionysius were adopted in the West by St. Thomas Aquinas.