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Catholic Practices and the Sacraments Systems

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John 23-24

• 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; † and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him.

• 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.”

• † In Spirit and truth: not a reference to an interior worship within one’s own spirit. The Spirit is the spirit given by God that reveals truth and enables one to worship God appropriately (John 14:16–17). Cf “born of water and Spirit (John 3:5).

• Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Board of Trustees, Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, & United States Catholic Conference. Administrative Board. (1996, c1986). The New American Bible : Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources and the revised New Testament (Jn 4:23). Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

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2 Kings 13:21

21 Once some people were burying a man, when suddenly they spied such a raiding band. So they cast the dead man into the grave of Elisha, and everyone went off. But when the man came in contact with the bones of Elisha, he came back to life and rose to his feet.

• Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Board of Trustees, Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, & United States Catholic Conference. Administrative Board. (1996, c1986). The New American Bible : Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources and the revised New Testament (2 Ki 13:21). Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

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Mark 5:30

30 Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?”

• Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Board of Trustees, Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, & United States Catholic Conference. Administrative Board. (1996, c1986). The New American Bible : Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources and the revised New Testament (Mk 5:30). Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

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Exodus 20:4-5

• 4 You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth;

• 5 † you shall not bow down before them or worship them.

• Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Board of Trustees, Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, & United States Catholic Conference. Administrative Board. (1996, c1986). The New American Bible : Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources and the revised New Testament (Ex 20:4). Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

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Acts 19:11-12

• 11 So extraordinary were the mighty deeds God accomplished at the hands of Paul

• 12 that when face cloths or aprons that touched his skin were applied to the sick, their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them

• Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Board of Trustees, Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, & United States Catholic Conference. Administrative Board. (1996, c1986). The New American Bible : Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources and the revised New Testament (Ac 19:11). Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

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Exodus 25:18

18 † Make two cherubim of beaten gold for the two ends of the propitiatory,

• † [18–20] Cherubim: probably in the form of human-headed winged lions. The cherubim over the ark formed the throne for the invisible Lord. Cf Psalm 80:2. For a more detailed description of the somewhat different cherubim in the temple of Solomon, see 1 Kings 6:23–28; 2 Chron 3:10–13.

• Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Board of Trustees, Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, & United States Catholic Conference. Administrative Board. (1996, c1986). The New American Bible : Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources and the revised New Testament (Ex 25:18). Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

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Numbers 21:5-9 • 5 † the people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you

brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!”

• 6 † In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died.

• 7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you. Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people,

• 8 † and the LORD said to Moses, “Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover.”

• 9 † Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he recovered.

• † This wretched food: apparently the manna is meant.• † Saraph: the Hebrew name for a certain species of venomous snakes; the word probably signifies “the fiery one,” these snakes being so called from the burning effect of

their poisonous bite.• † If anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover: “and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that those who

believe in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting” (John 3:14–15).• † King Hezekiah, in his efforts to abolish idolatry, “smashed the bronze serpent which Moses had made” (2 Kings 18:4).• Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Board of Trustees, Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, & United States Catholic Conference. Administrative

Board. (1996, c1986). The New American Bible : Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources and the revised New Testament (Nu 21:5). Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

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CCC 2132The Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the

first commandment which proscribes idols. Indeed, "the honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype," and "whoever venerates an image venerates the person portrayed in it." The honor paid to sacred images is a "respectful veneration," not the adoration due to God alone:

Religious worship is not directed to images in themselves, considered as mere things, but under their distinctive aspect as images leading us on to God incarnate. The movement toward the image does not terminate in it as image, but tends toward that whose image it is.

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CCC 2113

Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. It remains a constant temptation to faith. Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example, satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc. Jesus says, "You cannot serve God and mammon.“

Many martyrs died for not adoring "the Beast" refusing even to simulate such worship. Idolatry rejects the unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with communion with God.

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CCC 1674

Besides sacramental liturgy and sacramentals, catechesis must take into account the forms of piety and popular devotions among the faithful. The religious sense of the Christian people has always found expression in various forms of piety surrounding the Church's sacramental life, such as the veneration of relics, visits to sanctuaries, pilgrimages, processions, the stations of the cross, religious dances, the rosary, medals,etc.

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CCC 1675

These expressions of piety extend the liturgical life of the Church, but do not replace it. They "should be so drawn up that they harmonize with the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some way derived from it and lead the people to it, since in fact the liturgy by its very nature is far superior to any of them."

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CCC 1676

Pastoral discernment is needed to sustain and support popular piety and, if necessary, to purify and correct the religious sense which underlies these devotions so that the faithful may advance in knowledge of the mystery of Christ. Their exercise is subject to the care and judgment of the bishops and to the general norms of the Church.

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Matthew 6:7

7 † † In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.

• † [7–15] Matthew inserts into his basic traditional material an expansion of the material on prayer that includes the model prayer, the “Our Father.” That prayer is found in Luke 11:2–4 in a different context and in a different form.

• † The example of what Christian prayer should be like contrasts it now not with the prayer of the hypocrites but with that of the pagans. Their babbling probably means their reciting a long list of divine names, hoping that one of them will force a response from the deity.

• Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Board of Trustees, Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, & United States Catholic Conference. Administrative Board. (1996, c1986). The New American Bible : Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources and the revised New Testament (Mt 6:7). Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

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1 Samuel 28:7-8

• 7 Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, to whom I can go to seek counsel through her.” His servants answered him, “There is a woman in Endor who is a medium.”

• 8 So he disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and set out with two companions. They came to the woman by night, and Saul said to her, “Tell my fortune through a ghost; conjure up for me the one I ask you to.”

• Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Board of Trustees, Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, & United States Catholic Conference. Administrative Board. (1996, c1986). The New American Bible : Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources and the revised New Testament (1 Sa 28:7). Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

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1 Samuel 28:11

Then the woman asked him, “Whom do you want me to conjure up?” and he answered, “Samuel.”

• Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Board of Trustees, Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, & United States Catholic Conference. Administrative Board. (1996, c1986). The New American Bible : Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources and the revised New Testament (1 Sa 28:11). Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

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1 Samuel 28:15

15 Samuel then said to Saul, “Why do you disturb me by conjuring me up?” Saul replied: “I am in great straits, for the Philistines are waging war against me and God has abandoned me. Since he no longer answers me through prophets or in dreams, I have called you to tell me what I should do.”

• Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Board of Trustees, Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, & United States Catholic Conference. Administrative Board. (1996, c1986). The New American Bible : Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources and the revised New Testament (1 Sa 28:15). Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

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Romans 15:30

30 I urge you, (brothers,) by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in the struggle by your prayers to God on my behalf,

• Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Board of Trustees, Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, & United States Catholic Conference. Administrative Board. (1996, c1986). The New American Bible : Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources and the revised New Testament (Ro 15:30). Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

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Revelations 5:8

8 When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones.

• Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Board of Trustees, Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, & United States Catholic Conference. Administrative Board. (1996, c1986). The New American Bible : Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources and the revised New Testament (Re 5:8). Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

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Revelations 8:3-4

• 3 Another angel came and stood at the altar, † holding a gold censer. He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne.

• 4 The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel.

• † Altar: there seems to be only one altar in the heavenly temple, corresponding to the altar of holocausts in Rev 6:9, and here to the altar of incense in Jerusalem; cf also Rev 9:13; 11:1; 14:18; 16:7.

• Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Board of Trustees, Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, & United States Catholic Conference. Administrative Board. (1996, c1986). The New American Bible : Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources and the revised New Testament (Re 8:3). Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.