This past semester, when we gathered for class, before we would begin the lecture the whole class would engage in a prayer. Many from St. Thomas of Aquinas but also, a recurring prayer was the “Our Father” prayer. This week’s reading from the Catechism of the Catholic Church was an in depth analysis of the “Our Father”, discussing the meaning behind it’s words and the cause for saying them. An aspect of the prayer that the Catechism heavily covered was how baptism was the uniting factor in the prayer. The “Our Father” connects all the different facets of Christianity but only to those who are baptized. It was almost a footnote, every time the book would discuss people speaking the prayer, it would attach a little statement at the end, stating that yes it is a prayer for all people, but just those who are baptized. I have been saying the “Our Father” in school since the 4th grade, a version which ends slightly different to the one we say in class, but the “Our Father” nonetheless. I am not a baptized person, but I am still interested in the Catholic faith and maybe joining it. I attend a Catholic university where it is said in both dorm and academic life. Yet apparently it is against the will of God for me to say it. The Catechism states that the “Our Father” is supposed to be a prayer that develops the disposition to desire to become like God and to have a humble and trusting heart. Does it fall within those dispositions to disallow others from saying their prayer?

This week’s reading from The First Thousand Years by Robert Louis Wilken discusses the establishment of the Christian religion in its earliest state. It goes into detail on the decisions surrounding the basis of the Christian calendar, a calendar that is highly important because it dictates times when followers of the Christian faith needed to properly observe their religion. To follow a faith, Wilken writes on how you cannot just believe in your faith, you must act in accordance with the religion’s beliefs, allowing your actions and decisions to prove your faith. Christians could not celebrate their faith without having legitimized sacred days whose purpose was purely to observe the faith. Following the customs of the Jewish people with their calendar celebrating their holiday such as Passover and Yom Kippur, was conflicting to the Christian faith. The article states “By the second century the Church wished to establish its collective identity independent of the Jews. Christians were no longer another ‘way’ under the umbrella of Judaism”. The Christians with no other religious calendar or religious observance days other than the weekly celebration of the “Lord’s Day” or Sunday, needed to find their times to recognize and celebrate the birth and death of Christ. The Christian’s making their own calendar for religious observation allowed their religion to flourish independently from Judaism.

Up until the recent demise of all extracurriculars at Notre Dame due to the lovely pandemic the world is struggling with currently, I would spend all my evenings in the basement of DPAC rehearsing for the FTT’s upcoming production of Jesus Christ Superstar, which is a musical version of the last three days of Jesus’ life. I was cast to play one of the priests and guards, so basically the whole show I was trying to capture and brutalize the character of Jesus. Being an actor who does not prepare and a nonreligious student, I had never properly read the passion before. What stuck out to me was the differences in how the Bible and the show portray Jesus’ reaction to his arrest and consequential demise. You see that there is a grand difference between accepting defeat and not challenging fate. In our production, Jesus was far more questioning of God’s path for him, to the point where on the cross he is crying out to God asking why he must pay this ultimate price, until he finally accepts the defeat, in a far more human way. Yet when you read chapter 23 of Luke, Jesus almost floats through the violent actions committed against him, floggings, betrayals, mobs rioting for his crucifiction until he finally passes on after the ninth hour on the cross at their hands. I use the word float because he stays truly above his opposers such as the high priest, Pilate, and Herod, who mistreat him viciously. He stays a forgiving soul, one without doubts, who trusts his God’s path, all the way to his final words of ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit’.

Lessie Newbigin’s book A Walk through the Bible goes through the most important stories of the Bible and adds context to the situations of the readers of the Bible at the time it gained cultural fame. Newbigin’s book relates the biblical stories to the hardships it’s reader would have been experience, giving cause for the reason as to which the Bible is considered a guidebook on how to live a good moral life and a solicice for those who believe that incapable of ever achieving such a life. The Bible is not about the stories themselves, but the lessons the subjects of the stories learn after the fact.

In chapter 2, the creation of the Tower of Babylon is told to the reader as the weakness of men’s ability to trust in their God and inability to exist in their status, which is one of being lesser than God. They build the tower to learn what the world is like from God’s eyes, which then leads to God’s decision to begin again on Earth. Newbigin highlights that the lesson you should take away from learning about the Tower of Babylon is that you must find contentment in your life and not to life a wanting dissatisfied life.

This is my first time reading the “Catechism of the Catholic Church”. This is actually my first time reading religious texts since I attended a catholic middle roughly four years ago. I have since lacked comfortability in my knowledge of the writings of and about the catholic church. I appreciated the explanatory nature of these passages, quotes followed by further breakdowns of the context of the text.   

I am roughly aware of the stories of the bible but I am not versed in all the details attached. I experienced some confusion, that was followed by googling for clarification, when reading paragraphs 56-64. They were describing ‘The Stages of Revelation’ and the stories within that book of the Bible, including passages about Noah, Abraham, and Moses. After all these years some of those stories have all morphed away from what they originally are and it was nice to have a simple yet concise explanation. 

Out of the assigned reading, I most enjoyed paragraph 79 which stated “The Father’s self communication made through his Word in the Holy Spirit, remains present and active in the Church” and is then followed by a passage from a bible discussing God communicates through the Holy Spirit and dwells within the richness of life. 

The main aspect of the reading that stuck out to me was the capitalization of certain words that I would not necessary capitalize in daily use. It adds another layer of emphasis and importance the words used describing religion. 

This is my first time reading the “Catechism of the Catholic Church”. This is actually my first time reading religious texts since I attended a catholic middle roughly four years ago. I have since lacked comfortability in my knowledge of the writings of and about the catholic church. I appreciated the explanatory nature of these passages, quotes followed by further breakdowns of the context of the text.   

I am roughly aware of the stories of the bible but I am not versed in all the details attached. I experienced some confusion, that was followed by googling for clarification, when reading paragraphs 56-64. They were describing ‘The Stages of Revelation’ and the stories within that book of the Bible, including passages about Noah, Abraham, and Moses. After all these years some of those stories have all morphed away from what they originally are and it was nice to have a simple yet concise explanation. 

Out of the assigned reading, I most enjoyed paragraph 79 which stated “The Father’s self communication made through his Word in the Holy Spirit, remains present and active in the Church” and is then followed by a passage from a bible discussing God communicates through the Holy Spirit and dwells within the richness of life. 

The main aspect of the reading that stuck out to me was the capitalization of certain words that I would not necessary capitalize in daily use. It adds another layer of emphasis and importance the words used describing religion.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

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