The Bible Study Evangelista

Category: Social Justice Tag:  Bible reading , faith , faith and works , social justice One of the most unique and attractive beacons in the Catholic Church is her well-defined, carefully articulated, deeply-held, and concisely packaged body of social teachings, a body of doctrine with which, the bishops say, “far too many Catholics are not familiar.” In fact, they add, “many Catholics do not adequately understand that the social teaching of the Church is an essential part of Catholic faith.” Our times have made us hungry for guidance on how to live social justice with catholicity. We acknowledge that every baptized Catholic must live his or her faith in truth and justice. If you don’t get anything else out of all God is allowing in our world right now, get this week’s overview of the Seven Principles of Catholic Social Justice, and hear the Holy Spirit guide you in *your* next steps.

Category: A Biblical Walk Through the Sacraments , Sacraments Tag:  Bible reading , marriage , Old Testament , sacraments Like all the sacraments, holy anointing was instituted by Jesus Christ during his earthly ministry. “This sacred anointing of the sick was instituted by Christ our Lord as a true and proper sacrament of the New Testament. It is alluded to indeed by Mark, but is recommended to the faithful and promulgated by James the apostle and brother of the Lord” (CCC 1511; Mark 6:13; Jas. 5:14-15). The anointing of the sick conveys several graces and imparts gifts of strengthening in the Holy Spirit against anxiety, discouragement, and temptation, and conveys peace and fortitude (CCC 1520). These graces flow from the atoning death of Jesus Christ, for “this was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, ‘He took our infirmities and bore our diseases’” (Matt. 8:17).

Category: A Biblical Walk Through the Sacraments , Sacraments Tag:  Bible reading , marriage , Old Testament , sacraments The Bible begins and ends with marriage. “Scripture speaks throughout of marriage and its ‘mystery,’ its institution and the meaning God has given it, its origin and its end, its various realizations throughout the history of salvation, the difficulties arising from sin, and its renewal ‘in the Lord’ in the New Covenant of Christ and the Church. ‘From a valid marriage arises a bond between the spouses which by its very nature is perpetual and exclusive; furthermore, in a Christian marriage the spouses are strengthened and, as it were, consecrated for the duties and the dignity of their state by a special sacrament'” (CCC 1602, 1638).