"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
How do the Hahn Children know they’re my kids?
(1) They live in my house
(2) They’re called by my name
(3) They sit at my table
(4) They share my flesh and blood
(5) My bride is their mother
(6) We celebrate together
(7) They receive instruction and discipline from me.
– Scott Hahn, First Comes Love
In Bible Study last week we just finished up our study of St. Paul’s first epistle to the Thessalonians. During our time together, it struck me how many times the subject of “imitation” is raised in the letter. In this post I’d like to take a brief survey of these references.
The first example of imitation and mimicry appears in the very first chapter of the epistle:
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit… – 1 Thessalonians 1:6
This is typically the verse that I reach for when speaking with Christians who object to the Catholic devotion to Saints, and who tell me that “The only person we need to imitate is Jesus”. Clearly, this wasn’t the opinion of St. Paul, who speaks proudly of how his fledgling congregation imitates, not only Lord, but also the senders of this letter (Paul, Timothy and Silas).
In that first chapter Paul describes himself as a nursing mother and a loving father:
But we were gentle… among you, like a nurse taking care of her children… for you know how, like a father with his children – 1 1 Thessalonians 2:7,11
Given these loving parental terms, it’s hardly surprising that the Thessalonians began to imitate the evangelists.
A Contemporary Christian Worship classic, “Heart of worship” by Matt Redman:
When the music fades
and all is stripped away
and I simply come.
Longing just to bring
something that’s of worth
that will bless Your heart.
I’ll bring You more than a song,
for a song in itself
is not what You have required.
You search much deeper within,
through the way things appear,
You’re looking into my heart.
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
and it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus.
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it
when it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus.
King of endless worth,
no one could express
how much you deserve.
Though I’m weak and poor,
all I have is Yours,
every single breath!
Today’s post is one of those posts which I’m writing purely for my own benefit. Who said this has to be selfless?! I’m hoping that, in the process of writing this, that the information will stay in my brain, or at the very least, make it easier for me to find when I forget it… 🙂
If any of you have heard Fr. Donald Callaway give a talk, you will have almost certainly heard him mention at some point something called Fetal Microchimerism, the biological process whereby cells from a fetus pass through the placenta into the mother’s own body (and vice versa).
The amazing thing about this process is that these cells have been shown to persist not only beyond pregnancy, but have even been found to remain in the mother’s body for decades afterwards. As far as I can tell, the scientific community is uncertain as to the consequence of the presence of these cells, with some suggesting that this is a source of potential disease, while others suggest that the child’s cells actually help to defend the mother.
When speaking about Fetal Microchimerism, Fr. Callaway reflects upon the intimate nature of the connection between mother and child. Even after a child has grown up, or even in the tragic cases of miscarriage or abortion, through Fetal Microchimerism, part of the child lives on in the mother.
Of course, where Fr. Callaway really goes to town is in the application of this biology to the area of theology. If this process is found in normal human pregnancies, then it is more than possible that this took place during the Blessed Mother’s pregnancy with Jesus. This would mean that some of the Saviour’s cells passed to His mother and remained there. The Lord’s human nature lived on in Mary’s body, even as He lay in the grave and even after He rose again and ascended into Heaven.
Not only that, if it is true that the child’s cells come to protect the mother from disease, then this has implications for Mary’s Assumption/Dormition, as well as providing a beautiful foreshadowing of the Eucharist, whereby Jesus gives us His Body, in the words of St. Ignatius of Antioch, as the “medicine of immortality”.
Today’s “Quick Apology” concerns a very common objection heard by Catholics from Protestants…
“Why do Catholics confess their sins to a priest? He’s just a man. Why not confess your sins to God directly?”
Obviously, a question like this truly deserves thorough theological treatment. However, since these are quick apologies, these are the points I typically try to make:
1. Nowhere in the Bible is confession to God through a priest explicitly forbidden. In fact, Scripture explicitly encouraged to confess to other humans (James 5:16).
2. In the Old Covenant, God set up a priesthood for the forgiveness of sins (Leviticus 5).
3. Following this pattern, in the New Covenant Jesus grants His apostles the particular grace and authority to forgive sin:
“He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whoever’s sins you forgive they are forgiven, whoever’s sins you retain, they are retained'” – John 20:20-23
Why grant this power unless it is to be used? Through exercising this gift, Church leaders are entrusted with a “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18) and to act “in persona Christi” (2 Corinthians 2:10).
However, in addition to these points, when answering the above objection, I try to include a little testimony about the healing I’ve received through the Sacrament Confession. I’ve often found this more effective and lead to more productive conversations than simply giving above the arguments.
A parody of the “I’m a Mac/I’m a PC” advert:
A while back, I posted about Catholic apologist Trent Horn’s debate with Dan Barker on the subject of atheism, as well as his debate with Cecili Chadwick concerning abortion. Well, later this month Trent is going to be debating Dr. Richard Carrier on the historicity of Jesus. You can register for tickets here. Since I couldn’t find one, I also created a Facebook event:
This debate should be particularly interesting since Dr. Carrier is a prominent Jesus Mythicist and, to the best of my knowledge, the only historian with a PhD in Ancient History who casts serious doubt of Jesus’ existence. He’s published a couple of books on the subject where he explains why he thinks the scholarly consensus is wrong and what historical methods should be used instead.
If you’ve been to the other debates which Trent has done, you’ll know that this is sure to be a charitable and engaging debate. See you there 🙂