 |
 |
|
08/26/08 |
|
Our Chaplain's Wisdom....
Rev. Leo Gagnon is a retired Dominican priest, a native of New Hampshire and now lives in the Henrico. Father Leo, we welcome you to our council and look forward to your guidance. Email Father Leo at: leogagnon@verizon.net Anyone who has ever undertaken a study of the Catholic Church has undoubtedly had a number of surprises and eye openers. First of all we come to realize how very weak and human the Church is. After all it was and is composed by people just like us - good people - but sinners nevertheless. The most amazing thing however is the holiness of the Church - all the wonderful works it has accomplished in the world despite its weak members! That is the miracle of the Holy Spirit! That is how the impossible becomes the possible! That is why the Church has produced saints.In addition, a study of Church History helps us to understand where our beliefs come from - why we do the things we do - why we believe the things we believe - why we worship the way we do. We also come to realize that the Church holds to two sources of REVELATION: Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. This differentiates us from our Protestant brethren who accept only Scripture (the famous Sola Scriptum of Martin Luther). But what do Catholics mean by Holy Tradition? First of all we must make a distinction between tradition (small t) and Tradition (capital T). Small "t" traditions are just customs and traditions that are subject to change and adaptation examples: meatless Fridays, celibacy for priests, the number of holy days, the language of the Liturgy, the manner of celebrating etc". Now Tradition (with a capital T) refers to the long held beliefs of the Church through the centuries. NEVER can these beliefs contradict the Word of God in Scripture!!! Here we are talking of respect for the Sanctity of human life, the number and purpose of the sacraments, the magisterial authority of the Church etc. Let me state an example. On August 15th we celebrated the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is a Feast rooted in ancient Church Tradition going back to the earliest days of the Church. There is no mention of this event in Scripture. It is an essential belief of the Church that Mary was conceived without sin in the womb of her mother. One of the results of Original Sin was bodily death and corruption. Besides her Immaculate Conception, she never committed any sin nor did she die in sin. For that reason, her body was NOT subject to the grave or bodily corruption. She was assumed body and Soul into heaven. Scripture speaks of two other similar "assumptions: --- Ezekiel in the Old Testament who was taken up into heaven body and soul in a fiery chariot and Jesus, in the New Testament, who ascended into heaven. Why not Mary if she too was totally without sin? That is the belief of the Church's Unbroken Tradition! But it does not end there. In her Tradition (backed up by Scripture), the Church teaches very clearly that when Jesus comes again, at the end of time, we will be resurrected and our bodies and souls will be reunited never again to be separated! Alleluia! LOVE AND PRAYERS Father Leo O O
|
This site was last updated 08/26/08