9/29/15 Homework

New Testament Period 2, 6 and 8

Study for your upcoming test (see review sheet below). Think up questions for the review session next class.

Morality Period 1, 3 and 7

Study for your test tomorrow (see review sheet below)

New Testament Introduction

Test Review

Be able to name the four reasons for the Incarnation

            1) To reconcile us to God

            2) To reveal God’s love to us

            3) To be a model of holiness

            4) To make it possible for us to share in God’s nature

What is Divine Revelation?

            God revealing Himself

What is the climax of Divine Revelation in Salvation History? Why?

The fullness of revelation is in Jesus Christ because He is God in the flesh. Everything He did, said and taught were the words and actions of God. Hence all of Salvation History leads up to the coming of Christ.

What is the deposit of faith?

The original teaching Christ handed on to the apostles. This initial deposit of faith would be delved into more deeply and understood better by the Church over the course of time with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Who did Jesus give the deposit of faith to?

            The apostles

How was the deposit faith handed on?

The apostles preached what they had seen and heard from Christ and consequently handed these teachings on to their successors who with guidance of the Holy Spirit continued to preach the same Gospel message.

What Church office did the original twelve apostles hold?

            They were bishops

How do scripture and tradition relate?

            The canon of scripture was formed based on apostolic tradition.

            Scripture must always be read in light of the Tradition of the Church.

List the four names and titles of Jesus as found in your textbook. What do they mean?

            1) Jesus – God saves

            2) Christ – the Messiah, the anointed one

            3) Son of God – Jesus came down to earth from the Father

                        He and the Father are one

            4) Lord – a substitute name for Yahweh

Be prepared to discuss ways we can know Jesus today

            The Eucharist

            Prayer

            The poor

Who is Tacitus? What incident in Rome does he describe involving Christians?
            The persecution of Christians by Nero after the Great Fire in 67 AD

Who is Pliny the Younger? What position did he have in Roman government at the end of his life? Why was he writing about Christians? To whom?

Pliny was governor of Bithynia and Pontus when he wrote to emperor Trajan about what to do with people he suspected of being Christians.

Who was Flavius Josephus? What New Testament figures did he write about? Did he write about Jesus? Why or why not?

            Josephus was a Jewish historian in the service of the Romans.

            Josephus wrote about Herod, John the Baptist and St. James.

It seems he did write about Jesus, but the text we have was probably interpolated by a later copyist. This is because in the text we have, Josephus confesses Jesus to be the Messiah, but the evidence we have suggests he was not a Christian.

What are the three stages of the formation of the Gospels?
            1) Public life of Jesus

            2) Preaching and teaching after the Resurrection

            3) Writing of the Gospels

What is the canon? How was it formed? What criteria were used to determine what books belonged in the canon?

            The canon is the list of the books of the Bible as defined by the Church.

The inspired books were chosen to be part of the canon because they were in accord with apostolic tradition and believed to be written by either the apostles themselves or people who knew the apostles.

What does it mean to say that scripture is divinely inspired?

It means that the human author of the gospel is really the author but also that God is speaking through this text as well, sometimes even in spite of the author’s intentions

Name the four senses of scriptures.

“The letter teaches events; allegory what you should believe; morality teaches what you should do, anagogy what mark you should be aiming for.”

Literal

Allegory

Moral

Anagogical

Morality Introduction

Test Review

Definition of morality

Knowledge based on human experience, human reason and divine revelation that discovers what we ought to be and what we ought to do to live fully human lives.

Name the two sources of divine revelation

            Scripture

            Tradition

Be prepared to discuss some of the ways God offers us help in living a moral life:

            The example of Jesus

            The help of the Church

            The gifts of the Holy Spirit

            Prayer

            The sacraments

In light of the Church’s teaching, be able to discuss:

            Why the way you feel after an action isn’t an adequate basis for morality.

            Why what society tells you is inadequate basis for morality.

In the Catholic view, what is the relationship between living a moral life and true happiness?

One of the ways we know what the good is is that it leads to full human flourishing. Hence, if we live moral lives, we will find true happiness.

Will doing good always lead to our immediate happiness?

            No.

Sometimes doing evil will lead to short term pleasures and solutions but end badly in the long term.

                        Be prepared to give an example of this.

            Sometimes shallow pleasures can get in the way of a deeper joy.

                        Be prepared to give examples of shallow pleasures vs. deep joy.

            In the Catholic view, where do we find ultimate joy and fulfillment?
                        In God.

What is character?

            Who we are and who we are becoming through our choices and our actions.

What is virtue?

            A habit that disposes us to do good.

            How is virtue a habit?

How do you cultivate virtue?

            By forming habits in your thoughts, words and deeds

It won’t be natural at first, but over time it becomes more than just an external action but an internal disposition. For example, you might begin by just doing generous things, but eventually doing generous will make you in your heart a generous person.

What is vice?

            A habit that disposes us to do evil

Be able to name a few vices and explain how these habits dispose us to do things that are morally wrong. (The deadly sins are easy to use, but you’re welcome to think of other vices as well.)

Be able to discuss how a person with good character can turn into a person with bad character and vice versa.

Name the cardinal virtues and define the cardinal virtues

            Prudence – right reason in action

            Justice – the rendering of that which is due

            Fortitude – courage

Temperance – moderation aimed at making sure your passions don’t control you, especially in matters of food, drink and sex.  

What does the word “cardinal” mean?

            Hinge

Be able to identify moral situations where the cardinal virtues would be applied.

Theological virtues: three important virtues bestowed on us at baptism that relate us to God: faith, or belief in and personal knowledge of God; hope, or trust in God’s salvation and his bestowal of the graces needed to attain it; and charity, or love of God and neighbor as one loves oneself.

Name the theological virtues

            Faith

            Hope

            Love: willing the good of another

Be able to give an example of how each are necessary in order to live holy, virtuous lives.

*You are responsible for the Introduction chapter in your textbook (pg. 8-21) as well as all materials in the other readings and the lectures. Please pay special attention to definitions. 

9/28/15 Homework

New Testament (Period 2)

St. Irenaeus handout (see below)

New Testament (Period 6 and 8)

Read page 32-35 in your textbook

Morality (Period 1 and 7)

Read page 26-31 in your textbook

Morality (Period 3)

Review for test

St. Iraenaeus

Against Heresies

c. 175 – 185 AD

Assignment: St. Irenaeus is writing to refute the errors of a heresy known as Gnosticism that denied the inspiration of some of the four gospels and claimed to have discovered others. This led them to deny the humanity of Christ and to hold to other strange doctrines. Please read the following passage and then answer these question:

1) Why does St. Irenaeus believe that the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) are authentic witnesses to the life of Christ? Who wrote these gospels?

2) What are the heretics doing to reinterpret the gospels according to their own views?

3) Why does St. Irenaeus say there must be four Gospels?

Book 3

Chapter 1

1. We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our faith. For it is unlawful to assert that they preached before they possessed perfect knowledge, as some do even venture to say, boasting themselves as improvers of the apostles. For, after our Lord rose from the dead, [the apostles] were invested with power from on high when the Holy Spirit came down [upon them], were filled from all [His gifts], and had perfect knowledge: they departed to the ends of the earth, preaching the glad tidings of the good things [sent] from God to us, and proclaiming the peace of heaven to men, who indeed do all equally and individually possess the Gospel of God. Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome, and laying the foundations of the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards, John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia.

2. These have all declared to us that there is one God, Creator of heaven and earth, announced by the law and the prophets; and one Christ the Son of God. If any one do not agree to these truths, he despises the companions of the Lord; nay more, he despises Christ Himself the Lord; yea, he despises the Father also, and stands self-condemned, resisting and opposing his own salvation, as is the case with all heretics.

Chapter 2

1. When, however, they are confuted from the Scriptures, they turn round and accuse these same Scriptures, as if they were not correct, nor of authority, and [assert] that they are ambiguous, and that the truth cannot be extracted from them by those who are ignorant of tradition. For [they allege] that the truth was not delivered by means of written documents, but vivâ voce: wherefore also Paul declared, But we speak wisdom among those that are perfect, but not the wisdom of this world. And this wisdom each one of them alleges to be the fiction of his own inventing, forsooth; so that, according to their idea, the truth properly resides at one time in Valentinus, at another in Marcion, at another in Cerinthus, then afterwards in Basilides, or has even been indifferently in any other opponent, who could speak nothing pertaining to salvation. For every one of these men, being altogether of a perverse disposition, depraving the system of truth, is not ashamed to preach himself.

2. But, again, when we refer them to that tradition which originates from the apostles, [and] which is preserved by means of the succession of presbyters in the Churches, they object to tradition, saying that they themselves are wiser not merely than the presbyters, but even than the apostles, because they have discovered the unadulterated truth. For [they maintain] that the apostles intermingled the things of the law with the words of the Saviour; and that not the apostles alone, but even the Lord Himself, spoke as at one time from the Demiurge, at another from the intermediate place, and yet again from the Pleroma, but that they themselves, indubitably, unsulliedly, and purely, have knowledge of the hidden mystery: this is, indeed, to blaspheme their Creator after a most impudent manner! It comes to this, therefore, that these men do now consent neither to Scripture nor to tradition.

3. Such are the adversaries with whom we have to deal, my very dear friend, endeavouring like slippery serpents to escape at all points. Where-fore they must be opposed at all points, if per-chance, by cutting off their retreat, we may succeed in turning them back to the truth. For, though it is not an easy thing for a soul under the influence oferror to repent, yet, on the other hand, it is not altogether impossible to escape from error when the truth is brought alongside it.

Chapter 11

7. Such, then, are the first principles of the Gospel: that there is one God, the Maker of this universe; He who was also announced by the prophets, and who by Moses set forth the dispensation of the law,— [principles] which proclaim the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and ignore any other God or Father except Him. So firm is the ground upon which these Gospels rest, that the very heretics themselves bear witness to them, and, starting from these [documents], each one of them endeavours to establish his own peculiar doctrine. For the Ebionites, who use Matthew's Gospel only, are confuted out of this very same, making false suppositions with regard to the Lord. But Marcion, mutilating that according to Luke, is proved to be a blasphemer of the only existing God, from those [passages] which he still retains. Those, again, who separate Jesus from Christ, alleging that Christ remained impassible, but that it was Jesus who suffered, preferring the Gospel by Mark, if they read it with a love of truth, may have their errors rectified. Those, moreover, who follow Valentinus, making copious use of that according to John, to illustrate their conjunctions, shall be proved to be totally in error by means of this very Gospel, as I have shown in the first book. Since, then, our opponents do bear testimony to us, and make use of these [documents], our proof derived from them is firm and true.

8. It is not possible that the Gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are. For, since there are four zones of the world in which we live, and four principal winds, while the Church is scattered throughout all the world, and the pillar and ground of the Church is the Gospel and the spirit of life; it is fitting that she should have four pillars, breathing out immortality on every side, and vivifying men afresh. From which fact, it is evident that the Word, the Artificer of all, He that sits upon the cherubim, and contains all things, He who was manifested to men, has given us the Gospel under four aspects, but bound together by one Spirit. As also David says, when entreating His manifestation, You that sits between the cherubim, shine forth. For the cherubim, too, were four-faced, and their faces were images of the dispensation of the Son of God. For, [as the Scripture] says, The first living creature was like a lion, symbolizing His effectual working, His leadership, and royal power; the second [living creature] was like a calf, signifying [His] sacrificial and sacerdotal order; but the third had, as it were, the face as of a man,— an evident description of His advent as a human being; the fourth was like a flying eagle, pointing out the gift of the Spirit hovering with His wings over the Church. And therefore the Gospels are in accord with these things, among which Christ Jesus is seated. For that according to John relates His original, effectual, and glorious generation from the Father, thus declaring, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Also, all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made. For this reason, too, is that Gospel full of all confidence, for such is His person. But that according to Luke, taking up [His] priestly character, commenced with Zacharias the priest offering sacrifice to God. For now was made ready the fatted calf, about to be immolated for the finding again of the younger son. Matthew, again, relates His generation as a man, saying, The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham; and also, The birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise. This, then, is the Gospel of His humanity; for which reason it is, too, that [the character of] a humble and meek man is kept up through the whole Gospel. Mark, on the other hand, commences with [a reference to] the prophetical spirit coming down from on high to men, saying, The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in Esaias the prophet,— pointing to the winged aspect of the Gospel; and on this account he made a compendious and cursory narrative, for such is the prophetical character. And the Word of God Himself used to converse with the ante-Mosaic patriarchs, in accordance with His divinity and glory; but for those under the law he instituted a sacerdotal and liturgical service. Afterwards, being made man for us, He sent the gift of the celestial Spirit over all the earth, protecting us with His wings. Such, then, as was the course followed by the Son of God, so was also the form of the living creatures; and such as was the form of the living creatures, so was also the character of the Gospel. For the living creatures are quadriform, and the Gospel is quadriform, as is also the course followed by the Lord. For this reason were four principal (καθολικαί) covenants given to the human race: one, prior to the deluge, under Adam; the second, that after the deluge, under Noah; the third, the giving of the law, under Moses; the fourth, that which renovates man, and sums up all things in itself by means of the Gospel, raising and bearing men upon its wings into the heavenly kingdom.

9. These things being so, all who destroy the form of the Gospel are vain, unlearned, and also audacious; those, [I mean,] who represent the aspects of the Gospel as being either more in number than as aforesaid, or, on the other hand, fewer. The former class [do so], that they may seem to have discovered more than is of the truth; the latter, that they may set the dispensations of God aside. For Marcion, rejecting the entire Gospel, yea rather, cutting himself off from the Gospel, boasts that he has part in the [blessings of] the Gospel. Others, again (the Montanists), that they may set at nought the gift of the Spirit, which in the latter times has been, by the good pleasure of the Father, poured out upon the human race, do not admit that aspect [of the evangelical dispensation] presented by John's Gospel, in which the Lord promised that He would send the Paraclete but set aside at once both the Gospel and the prophetic Spirit. Wretched men indeed! Who wish to be pseudo-prophets, forsooth, but who set aside the gift of prophecy from the Church; acting like those (the Encratitæ) who, on account of such as come in hypocrisy, hold themselves aloof from the communion of the brethren. We must conclude, moreover, that these men (the Montanists) can not admit the Apostle Paul either. For, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, he speaks expressly of prophetical gifts, and recognises men and women prophesying in the Church. Sinning, therefore, in all these particulars, against the Spirit of God, they fall into the irremissible sin. But those who are from Valentinus, being, on the other hand, altogether reckless, while they put forth their own compositions, boast that they possess more Gospels than there really are. Indeed, they have arrived at such a pitch of audacity, as to entitle their comparatively recent writing the Gospel of Truth, though it agrees in nothing with the Gospels of the Apostles, so that they have really no Gospel which is not full of blasphemy. For if what they have published is the Gospel of truth, and yet is totally unlike those which have been handed down to us from the apostles, any who please may learn, as is shown from the Scriptures themselves, that that which has been handed down from the apostles can no longer be reckoned the Gospel of truth. But that these Gospels alone are true and reliable, and admit neither an increase nor diminution of the aforesaid number, I have proved by so many and such [arguments]. For, since God made all things in due proportion and adaptation, it was fit also that the outward aspect of the Gospel should be well arranged and harmonized. The opinion of those men, therefore, who handed the Gospel down to us, having been investigated, from their very fountainheads, let us proceed also to the remaining apostles, and inquire into their doctrine with regard to God; then, in due course we shall listen to the very words of the Lord.

Morality Test Review 9/30/15

*This is a draft of your review sheet. I will add more details later. You will receive a hard copy of the review sheet in class and that will be the final edition. Please look this over and use this to begin studying for your test.

Definition of morality

Knowledge based on human experience, human reason and divine revelation that discovers what we ought to be and what we ought to do to live fully human lives.

Name the two sources of divine revelation

            Scripture

            Tradition

Be prepared to discuss some of the ways God offers us help in living a moral life:

            The example of Jesus

            The help of the Church

            The gifts of the Holy Spirit

            Prayer

            The sacraments

In light of the Church’s teaching, be able to discuss:

            Why the way you feel after an action isn’t an adequate basis for morality.

            Why what society tells you is inadequate basis for morality.

What is character?

            Who we are and who we are becoming through our choices and our actions.

What is virtue?

            A habit that disposes us to do good.

            How is virtue a habit?

            How do you cultivate virtue?

                        By forming habits in your thoughts, words and deeds

It won’t be natural at first, but over time it becomes more than just an external action but an internal disposition. For example, you might begin by just doing generous things, but eventually doing generous will make you in your heart a generous person.

What is vice?

            A habit that disposes us to do evil

Be able to name a few vices and explain how these habits dispose us to do things that are morally wrong. (The deadly sins are easy to use, but you’re welcome to think of other vices as well.)

Be able to discuss how a person with good character can turn into a person with bad character and vice versa.

Name the theological virtues

            Faith

            Hope

            Love

Be able to give an example of how each are necessary in order to live holy, virtuous lives.

Name the cardinal virtues and define the cardinal virtues

            Prudence – right reason in action

            Justice – the rendering of that which is due

            Fortitude – courage

Temperance – moderation aimed at making sure your passions don’t control you, especially in matters of food, drink and sex.  

            Be able to identify moral situations where these would be applied.

9/24/15 Homework

New Testament (Period 2, 6 and 8)

Read passage from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (see handout, pasted below)
Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-34
If you were a person living in the first century and one of the apostles came up to you and told you that some guy had risen from the dead, would you believe them? Why or why not? Jot down thoughts in your notebook so you're prepared for a class discussion on this topic.

Morality (Period 7)

Look over the review sheet for your test on Wednesday, September 30th. (See separate post.)

Morality (Period 1 and 3)

Review your handout on the saints. Be prepared to discuss in class tomorrow how the theological virtues were necessary for the way they lived their lives.
Look over the review sheet for your test on Wednesday, September 30th. (See separate post.)

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

CS Lewis

Chapter 5

Lucy has just walked through a wardrobe and wound up in a magical forest. On coming back from the forest, she tells her siblings what she saw. They refuse to believe her. They look in the wardrobe and see nothing and note that no time had passed since Lucy walked in there.

It was not surprising that when they found Lucy, a good deal later, everyone could see that she had been crying. Nothing they could say to her made any difference. She stuck to her story and said:

"I don't care what you think, and I don't care what you say. You can tell the Professor or you can write to Mother or you can do anything you like. I know I've met a Faun in there and - I wish I'd stayed there and you are all beasts, beasts."

It was an unpleasant evening. Lucy was miserable and Edmund was beginning to feel that his plan wasn't working as well as he had expected. The two older ones were really beginning to think that Lucy was out of her mind. They stood in the passage talking about it in whispers long after she had gone to bed.

The result was the next morning they decided that they really would go and tell the whole thing to the Professor. "He'll write to Father if he thinks there is really something wrong with Lu," said Peter; "it's getting beyond us." So they went and knocked at the study door, and the Professor said "Come in," and got up and found chairs for them and said he was quite at their disposal. Then he sat listening to them with the tips of his fingers pressed together and never interrupting, till they had finished the whole story. After that he said nothing for quite a long time. Then he cleared his throat and said the last thing either of them expected:

"How do you know," he asked, "that your sister's story is not true?"

"Oh, but -" began Susan, and then stopped. Anyone could see from the old man's face that he was perfectly serious. Then Susan pulled herself together and said, "But Edmund said they had only been pretending."

"That is a point," said the Professor, "which certainly deserves consideration; very careful consideration. For instance - if you will excuse me for asking the question - does your experience lead you to regard your brother or your sister as the more reliable? I mean, which is the more truthful?"

"That's just the funny thing about it, sir," said Peter. "Up till now, I'd have said Lucy every time."

"And what do you think, my dear?" said the Professor, turning to Susan.

"Well," said Susan, "in general, I'd say the same as Peter, but this couldn't be true - all this about the wood and the Faun."

"That is more than I know," said the Professor, "and a charge of lying against someone whom you have always found truthful is a very serious thing; a very serious thing indeed."

"We were afraid it mightn't even be lying," said Susan; "we thought there might be something wrong with Lucy."

"Madness, you mean?" said the Professor quite coolly. "Oh, you can make your minds easy about that. One has only to look at her and talk to her to see that she is not mad."

"But then," said Susan, and stopped. She had never dreamed that a grown-up would talk like the Professor and didn't know what to think.

"Logic!" said the Professor half to himself. "Why don't they teach logic at these schools? There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth. You know she doesn't tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth."

Susan looked at him very hard and was quite sure from the expression on his face that he was no making fun of them.

"But how could it be true, sir?" said Peter.

"Why do you say that?" asked the Professor.

"Well, for one thing," said Peter, "if it was true why doesn't everyone find this country every time they go to the wardrobe? I mean, there was nothing there when we looked; even Lucy didn't pretend the was."

"What has that to do with it?" said the Professor.

"Well, sir, if things are real, they're there all the time."

"Are they?" said the Professor; and Peter did'nt know quite what to say.

"But there was no time," said Susan. "Lucy had no time to have gone anywhere, even if there was such a place. She came running after us the very moment we were out of the room. It was less than minute, and she pretended to have been away for hours."

"That is the very thing that makes her story so likely to be true," said the Professor. "If there really a door in this house that leads to some other world (and I should warn you that this is a very strange house, and even I know very little about it) - if, I say, she had got into another world, I should not be at a surprised to find that the other world had a separate time of its own; so that however long you stay there it would never take up any of our time. On the other hand, I don't think many girls of her age would invent that idea for themselves. If she had been pretending, she would have hidden for a reasonable time before coming out and telling her story."

"But do you really mean, sir," said Peter, "that there could be other worlds - all over the place, just round the corner - like that?"

"Nothing is more probable," said the Professor, taking off his spectacles and beginning to polish them, while he muttered to himself, "I wonder what they do teach them at these schools."

"But what are we to do?" said Susan. She felt that the conversation was beginning to get off the point.

"My dear young lady," said the Professor, suddenly looking up with a very sharp expression at both of them, "there is one plan which no one has yet suggested and which is well worth trying."

"What's that?" said Susan.

"We might all try minding our own business," said he. And that was the end of that conversation.

9/23/15 Homework

New Testament (Period 6)

Read the excerpt from the Chronicles of Narnia. (See below.) Is it logical to believe people who claim to be eye witnesses to miraculous events?
Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-34 Pretend you're living in the first century A.D. and one of the apostles tells you that Christ rose from the dead. Would you believe them? Why?

New Testament (Period 2 and 8)

Read the Bible passages in the handout below. For each passage, what is the relationship between the author and the events he describes? Write out on a piece of loose leaf. In other words, based on what the author says, did they witness the events themselves? Did they hear about what Christ did from someone else? Or do they have a third way of knowing about Christ? You'll have to read into the passages a little to pick up on this.

Morality (Period 7)

Review theological and cardinal virtues
Look through the test review (to be posted)

Morality (Period 1 and 3)

Read the three saints' lives (see yesterday's post.) Pick one saint. Explain how their life required each of the theological virtues (faith, hope and love.) Write on a piece of loose leaf to be turned in.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

CS Lewis

Chapter 5

Lucy has just walked through a wardrobe and wound up in a magical forest. On coming back from the forest, she tells her siblings what she saw. They refuse to believe her. They look in the wardrobe and see nothing and note that no time had passed since Lucy walked in there.

It was not surprising that when they found Lucy, a good deal later, everyone could see that she had been crying. Nothing they could say to her made any difference. She stuck to her story and said:

"I don't care what you think, and I don't care what you say. You can tell the Professor or you can write to Mother or you can do anything you like. I know I've met a Faun in there and - I wish I'd stayed there and you are all beasts, beasts."

It was an unpleasant evening. Lucy was miserable and Edmund was beginning to feel that his plan wasn't working as well as he had expected. The two older ones were really beginning to think that Lucy was out of her mind. They stood in the passage talking about it in whispers long after she had gone to bed.

The result was the next morning they decided that they really would go and tell the whole thing to the Professor. "He'll write to Father if he thinks there is really something wrong with Lu," said Peter; "it's getting beyond us." So they went and knocked at the study door, and the Professor said "Come in," and got up and found chairs for them and said he was quite at their disposal. Then he sat listening to them with the tips of his fingers pressed together and never interrupting, till they had finished the whole story. After that he said nothing for quite a long time. Then he cleared his throat and said the last thing either of them expected:

"How do you know," he asked, "that your sister's story is not true?"

"Oh, but -" began Susan, and then stopped. Anyone could see from the old man's face that he was perfectly serious. Then Susan pulled herself together and said, "But Edmund said they had only been pretending."

"That is a point," said the Professor, "which certainly deserves consideration; very careful consideration. For instance - if you will excuse me for asking the question - does your experience lead you to regard your brother or your sister as the more reliable? I mean, which is the more truthful?"

"That's just the funny thing about it, sir," said Peter. "Up till now, I'd have said Lucy every time."

"And what do you think, my dear?" said the Professor, turning to Susan.

"Well," said Susan, "in general, I'd say the same as Peter, but this couldn't be true - all this about the wood and the Faun."

"That is more than I know," said the Professor, "and a charge of lying against someone whom you have always found truthful is a very serious thing; a very serious thing indeed."

"We were afraid it mightn't even be lying," said Susan; "we thought there might be something wrong with Lucy."

"Madness, you mean?" said the Professor quite coolly. "Oh, you can make your minds easy about that. One has only to look at her and talk to her to see that she is not mad."

"But then," said Susan, and stopped. She had never dreamed that a grown-up would talk like the Professor and didn't know what to think.

"Logic!" said the Professor half to himself. "Why don't they teach logic at these schools? There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth. You know she doesn't tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth."

Susan looked at him very hard and was quite sure from the expression on his face that he was no making fun of them.

"But how could it be true, sir?" said Peter.

"Why do you say that?" asked the Professor.

"Well, for one thing," said Peter, "if it was true why doesn't everyone find this country every time they go to the wardrobe? I mean, there was nothing there when we looked; even Lucy didn't pretend the was."

"What has that to do with it?" said the Professor.

"Well, sir, if things are real, they're there all the time."

"Are they?" said the Professor; and Peter did'nt know quite what to say.

"But there was no time," said Susan. "Lucy had no time to have gone anywhere, even if there was such a place. She came running after us the very moment we were out of the room. It was less than minute, and she pretended to have been away for hours."

"That is the very thing that makes her story so likely to be true," said the Professor. "If there really a door in this house that leads to some other world (and I should warn you that this is a very strange house, and even I know very little about it) - if, I say, she had got into another world, I should not be at a surprised to find that the other world had a separate time of its own; so that however long you stay there it would never take up any of our time. On the other hand, I don't think many girls of her age would invent that idea for themselves. If she had been pretending, she would have hidden for a reasonable time before coming out and telling her story."

"But do you really mean, sir," said Peter, "that there could be other worlds - all over the place, just round the corner - like that?"

"Nothing is more probable," said the Professor, taking off his spectacles and beginning to polish them, while he muttered to himself, "I wonder what they do teach them at these schools."

"But what are we to do?" said Susan. She felt that the conversation was beginning to get off the point.

"My dear young lady," said the Professor, suddenly looking up with a very sharp expression at both of them, "there is one plan which no one has yet suggested and which is well worth trying."

"What's that?" said Susan.

"We might all try minding our own business," said he. And that was the end of that conversation.

Authors of the Gospels

Assignment: Read the following Bible passages. For each of the passages, identify what relationship the author claims to the events he is describing. What relationship does he have to the events of Christ’s life?

Luke 1:1-4

¹ Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, ² just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, ³ I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, ⁴ so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.

John 20:1-10, 30-31

¹ On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark,^[c] and saw the stone removed from the tomb. ² So she ran^[d] and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” ^3 [e]So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. ⁴ They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; ⁵ he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. ⁶ When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths^[f] there, ⁷ and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. ⁸ Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. ^9 [g]For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples returned home…

³⁰ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of [his] disciples that are not written in this book. ³¹ But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

John 21:20-25

²⁰ Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved, the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper and had said, “Master, who is the one who will betray you?” ²¹ When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” ²² Jesus said to him, “What if I want him to remain until I come?^[a] What concern is it of yours? You follow me.” ^23 [b]So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple would not die. But Jesus had not told him that he would not die, just “What if I want him to remain until I come? [What concern is it of yours?]”

²⁴ It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them,^[c] and we know that his testimony is true. ²⁵ There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.

Galatians 1:11- 2:10

¹¹ Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not of human origin. ¹² For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.^[j]

^13 [k]For you heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it, ¹⁴ and progressed in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my race, since I was even more a zealot for my ancestral traditions. ¹⁵ But when [God], who from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace, was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult flesh and blood,^[l] 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; rather, I went into Arabia^[m] and then returned to Damascus.

^18 [n]Then after three years^[o] I went up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas and remained with him for fifteen days. ¹⁹ But I did not see any other of the apostles, only James the brother of the Lord.^[p] 20 (As to what I am writing to you, behold, before God, I am not lying.) ²¹ Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²² And I was unknown personally to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; ²³ they only kept hearing that “the one who once was persecuting us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴ So they glorified God because of me.

Chapter 2

^q] 1 Then after fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas,^[r] taking Titus along also. ² I went up in accord with a revelation,^[s] and I presented to them the gospel that I preach to the Gentiles—but privately to those of repute—so that I might not be running, or have run, in vain. ³ Moreover, not even^[t] Titus, who was with me, although he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised, ⁴ but because of the false brothers^[u] secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy on our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, that they might enslave us— ⁵ to them we did not submit even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel^[v] might remain intact for you. ⁶ But from those who were reputed to be important (what they once were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those of repute made me add nothing. ^7 [w]On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter to the circumcised, ⁸ for the one who worked in Peter for an apostolate to the circumcised worked also in me for the Gentiles, ⁹ and when they recognized the grace bestowed upon me, James and Cephas and John,^[x] who were reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas their right hands in partnership, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ Only, we were to be mindful of the poor,^[y] which is the very thing I was eager to do.

2 Peter 1:1-2, 16-21

^1 [a]Symeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of equal value to ours through the righteousness of our God and savior Jesus Christ: ² may grace and peace be yours in abundance through knowledge^[b] of God and of Jesus our Lord…

¹⁶ We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming^[i] of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. ¹⁷ For he received honor and glory from God the Father^[j] when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory, “This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” ¹⁸ We^[k] ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain.¹⁹ Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable. You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. ^20 [l]Know this first of all, that there is no prophecy of scripture that is a matter of personal interpretation, ²¹ for no prophecy ever came through human will; but rather human beings moved by the holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God.

Revelation 1:1-3, 9-20

¹ The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, to show his servants what must happen soon. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, ² who gives witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ by reporting what he saw. ³ Blessed is the one^[b] who reads aloud and blessed are those who listen to this prophetic message and heed what is written in it, for the appointed time is near….

^g] 9 I, John, your brother, who share with you the distress, the kingdom, and the endurance we have in Jesus, found myself on the island called Patmos^[h] because I proclaimed God’s word and gave testimony to Jesus. ¹⁰ I was caught up in spirit on the Lord’s day^[i] and heard behind me a voice as loud as a trumpet, ¹¹ which said, “Write on a scroll^[j] what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.” ^12 [k]Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands¹³ and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man,^[l] wearing an ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around his chest. ¹⁴ The hair of his head was as white as white wool or as snow,^[m] and his eyes were like a fiery flame. ¹⁵ His feet were like polished brass refined in a furnace,^[n] and his voice was like the sound of rushing water. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars.^[o] A sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth, and his face shone like the sun at its brightest.

¹⁷ When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead.^[p] He touched me with his right hand and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld.^[q] 19 Write down, therefore, what you have seen, and what is happening, and what will happen afterwards.^[r] 20 This is the secret meaning^[s] of the seven stars you saw in my right hand, and of the seven gold lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

The Theological Virtues and the Saints

Assignment:

Read the following short biographies of three canonized saints. (You will be responsible for knowing all three.) Once you have read the biographies, choose one saint and explain how faith, hope and love were necessary virtues in the lives they lived. Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper to be turned in.

St. Peter Claver

The son of a Catalonian farmer, was born at Verdu, in 1581; he died 8 September, 1654. He obtained his first degrees at the University of Barcelona. At the age of twenty he entered the Jesuit novitiate at Tarragona. While he was studying philosophy at Majorca in 1605, Alphonsus Rodriguez, the saintly door-keeper of the college, learned from God the future mission of his young associate, and thenceforth never ceased exhorting him to set out to evangelize the Spanish possessions in America. Peter obeyed, and in 1610 landed at Cartagena, where for forty-four years he was the Apostle of the negro slaves. Early in the seventeenth century the masters of Central and South America afforded the spectacle of one of those social crimes which are entered upon so lightly. They needed labourers to cultivate the soil which they had conquered and to exploit the gold mines. The natives being physically incapable of enduring the labours of the mines, it was determined to replace them with negroes brought from Africa. The coasts of Guinea, the Congo, and Angola became the market for slave dealers, to whom native petty kings sold their subjects and their prisoners. By its position in the Caribbean Sea, Cartagena became the chief slave-mart of the New World. A thousand slaves landed there each month. They were bought for two, and sold for 200 écus. Though half the cargo might die, the trade remained profitable. Neither the repeated censures of the pope, nor those of Catholic moralists could prevail against this cupidity. The missionaries could not suppress slavery, but only alleviate it, and no one worked more heroically than Peter Claver.

Trained in the school of Père Alfonso de Sandoval, a wonderful missionary, Peter declared himself "the slave of the negroes forever", and thenceforth his life was one that confounds egotism by its superhuman charity. Although timid and lacking in self-confidence, he became a daring and ingenious organizer. Every month when the arrival of the negroes was signalled, Claver went out to meet them on the pilot's boat, carrying food and delicacies. The negroes, cooped up in the hold, arrived crazed and brutalized by suffering and fear. Claver went to each, cared for him, and showed him kindness, and made him understand that henceforth he was his defender and father. He thus won their good will. To instruct so many speaking different dialects, Claver assembled at Cartagena a group of interpreters of various nationalities, of whom he made catechists. While the slaves were penned up at Cartagena waiting to be purchased and dispersed, Claver instructed and baptized them in the Faith. On Sundays during Lent he assembled them, inquired concerning their needs, and defended them against their oppressors. This work caused Claver severe trials, and the slave merchants were not his only enemies. The Apostle was accused of indiscreet zeal, and of having profaned the Sacraments by giving them to creatures who scarcely possessed a soul. Fashionable women of Cartagena refused to enter the churches where Father Claver assembled his negroes. The saint's superiors were often influenced by the many criticisms which reached them. Nevertheless, Claver continued his heroic career, accepting all humiliations and adding rigorous penances to his works of charity. Lacking the support of men, the strength of God was given him. He became the prophet and miracle worker of New Granada, the oracle of Cartagena, and all were convinced that often God would not have spared the city save for him. During his life he baptized and instructed in the Faith more than 300,000 negroes. He was beatified 16 July, 1850, by Pius IX, and canonized 15 January, 1888, by Leo XIII. His feast is celebrated on the ninth of September. On 7 July, 1896, he was proclaimed the special patron of all the Catholic missions among the negroes. Alphonsus Rodriguez was canonized on the same day as Peter Claver.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11763a.htm

Br. Andre Bessette

Alfred Bessette was born Aug. 9, 1845…[In 1870], Alfred presented himself as a candidate at the novitiate of the Congregation of Holy Cross in Montreal. Because of his uncertain health, his superiors had doubts concerning his religious vocation. Finally, he was accepted and given the name Brother Andre. He was made porter at Notre Dame college and was known to say: "When I entered the community, my superiors showed me the door, and I remained there 40 years without leaving." He also washed floors and windows, cleaned lamps, brought in firewood, and worked as messenger.

Soon Brother Andre started to welcome the sick and broken-hearted. He invited them to pray to St. Joseph to obtain favors. Before long, many people reported their prayers were being answered. For 25 years, in his small office or in the tramway station across the street from the college, Brother Andre spent six to eight hours a day receiving visitors. He built a chapel with the help of friends and with the money he earned giving haircuts to the students of the college. He was certain that St. Joseph wanted a place on the mountain and he spent his whole life preparing a beautiful shrine in the saint's honor.

In the meantime, there was talk of healings which doctors could not explain. Brother Andre began visiting the sick and earned the reputation of miracle-worker. But he strongly protested: "I am nothing ... only a tool in the hands of Providence, a lowly instrument at the service of St. Joseph." He went even further: "People are silly to think that I can perform miracles. It is God and St. Joseph who can heal you, not I."

His aloofness in the presence of strangers contrasted sharply with the carefree side he showed friends. He loved to tease. He would often say: "You must not be sad; it is good to laugh a little." Brother Andre was always cheerful and tried to communicate his happiness to others, especially to the poor and unfortunate. He used his sense of humor to share his joy and to slip some good advice into a conversation, or to change the subject when a verbal attack on someone was brewing.

He was a man of determination who refused to compromise his principles. His great respect for others was largely responsible for the respect others had for him. He was a very sensitive man. At times, he could be seen crying with the sick or being moved to tears after hearing a particularly sad story from one of his visitors.

During all these years, an immense project was being realized and larger crowds were swarming to the Oratory. The first small chapel had been erected in 1904, but it soon became too small to receive all the people who were coming to the mountain. The chapel was extended in 1908 and again in 1910. Still, a larger church was needed.

In 1917, a new crypt church, able to hold a thousand persons, was inaugurated. This, however, was only the starting point of an even more important endeavor. During his whole life, Brother Andre devoted his efforts to building the Oratory, which was to become the world's greatest sanctuary dedicated to St. Joseph.

And yet, Brother Andre never referred to "my project, my work". On the contrary, he said: "God chose the most ignorant one. If there was anyone more ignorant than I am, God would have chosen him instead of me."

When crowds came to the Oratory for important celebrations, Brother Andre would go into seclusion. He would hide behind the choir and pray quietly.

The economic crisis of 1931 forced the construction of the basilica to come to a standstill. In 1936, the authorities of the Congregation of Holy Cross called a special meeting to decide if the project should continue, especially since snow and frost threatened to damage the roofless structure. The provincial summoned Brother Andre for his opinion. The aging brother had only a few words for the assembly: "This is not my work, it is the work of St. Joseph. Put one of his statues in the middle of the building. If he wants a roof over his head, he'll take care of it."

Two months later, the congregation had the necessary funds to continue working on the construction.

https://www.ewtn.com/library/mary/broandre.htm

St. Isaac Jogues

French missionary, born at Orléans, France, 10 January, 1607; martyred at Ossernenon, in the present State of New York, 18 October, 1646. He was the first Catholic priest who ever came to Manhattan Island (New York). He entered the Society of Jesus in 1624 and, after having been professor of literature at Rouen, was sent as a missionary toCanada in 1636. He came out with Montmagny, the immediate successor of Champlain. From Quebec he went to the regions around the great lakes where the illustrious Father de Brébeuf and others were labouring. There he spent six years in constant danger. Though a daring missionary, his character was of the most practical nature, his purpose always being to fix his people in permanent habitations. He was with Garnier among the Petuns, and he and Raymbault penetrated as far as Sault Ste Marie, and "were the first missionaries", says Bancroft (VII, 790, London, 1853), "to preach the gospel a thousand miles in the interior, five years before John Eliot addressed the Indians six miles from Boston Harbour". There is little doubt that they were not only the first apostles but also the first white men to reach this outlet of Lake Superior. No documentary proof is adduced by the best-known historians that Nicholet, the discoverer of Lake Michigan, ever visited the Sault. Jogues proposed not only to convert the Indians of Lake Superior, but the Sioux who lived at the head waters of the Mississippi.

His plan was thwarted by his capture near Three Rivers returning from Quebec. He was taken prisoner on 3 August, 1642, and after being cruelly tortured was carried to the Indian village of Ossernenon, now Auriesville, on the Mohawk, about forty miles above the present city of Albany. There he remained for thirteen months in slavery, suffering apparently beyond the power of natural endurance. The Dutch Calvinists at Fort Orange (Albany) made constant efforts to free him, and at last, when he was about to be burnt to death, induced him to take refuge in a sailing vessel which carried him to New Amsterdam (New York). His description of the colony as it was at that time has since been incorporated in the Documentary History of the State. From New York he was sent; in mid-winter, across the ocean on a lugger of only fifty tons burden and after a voyage of two months, landed Christmas morning, 1643, on the coast of Brittany, in a state of absolute destitution. Thence he found his way to the nearest college of the Society. He was received with great honour at the court of the Queen Regent, the mother of Louis XIV, and was allowed by Pope Urban VII the very exceptional privilege of celebrating Mass, which the mutilated condition of his hands had made canonically impossible; several of his fingers having been eaten or burned off. He was called amartyr of Christ by the pontiff. No similar concession, up to that, is known to have been granted.

In early spring of 1644 he returned to Canada, and in 1646 was sent to negotiate peace with the Iroquois. He followed the same route over which he had been carried as a captive. It was on this occasion that he gave the name of Lake of the Blessed Sacrament to the body of water called by the Indians Horicon, now known as Lake George. He reached Ossernenon on 5 June, after a three weeks' journey from the St. Lawrence. He was well received by his former captors and the treaty of peace was made. He started for Quebec on 16 June and arrived there 3 July. He immediately asked to be sent back to the Iroquois as a missionary, but only after much hesitation his superiors acceded to his request. On 27 September he began his third and last journey to the Mohawk. In the interim sickness had broken out in the tribe and a blight had fallen on the crops. This double calamity was ascribed to Jogues whom the Indians always regarded as a sorcerer. They were determined to wreak vengence on him for the spell he had cast on the place, and warriors were sent out to capture him. The news of this change of sentiment spread rapidly, and though fully aware of the danger Jogues continued on his way to Ossernenon, though all the Hurons and others who were with him fled except Lalande. The Iroquois met him near Lake George, stripped him naked, slashed him with their knives, beat him and then led him to the village. On 18 October, 1646, when entering a cabin he was struck with a tomahawk and afterwards decapitated. The head was fixed on the Palisades and the body thrown into the Mohawk.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08420b.htm