Tag: consequences

Jesus Is Lord: Repentance – Recognize and Receive {Week Four}

Post author By Martina Kreitzer
Post date October 9, 2013

Welcome to the Jesus Is Lord series! This is the fourth installment of the Jesus Is Lord course offered for adults at St. William Catholic Church in Round Rock, Texas.

If this is your first time visiting this series, I encourage you to take a few moments and read through the series introduction that will give a clear picture of the purpose and content of the Jesus Is Lord course. The introduction post not only outlines the course, but goes over the motivation to share in this class on the internet.

Today’s class is about Repentance – Recognize and Receive. Last week’s class was about Salvation – God’s Solution for Sin. If you would prefer to watch this class, please scroll to the bottom. Keep in mind the recorded classes are not from our current class and contain testimonies from different people presented in the text below. Check back next week for Confession and then the following installment which will cover Holy Spirit – Going from the Seat to the Feet.

TEACHING

Begin with prayer.

Noe starts the evening by sharing that repentance has two components – recognizing and receiving.

EXAMPLE. He gave his daughter the car, but there was something wrong with the suspension. The mechanic recommended putting new wheels on the car, too, and suggested another company to do the work. Fixing the alignment without putting new tires on it wouldn’t truly fix the alignment. It would just be a matter of time before the alignment was off again.

And so it is with true repentance. We need to both recognize and receive in order to have true repentance. We are going to explain in detail how to receive God’s forgiveness.

We have to take responsibility for our sins. The blame is mine.
We need true contrition. I feel sorry for what I’ve done.
We need to take an active role in avoiding the near occasion of sin. My intention is to not sin again.

Father Uche Andeh spoke to the group about Repentance: Recognize and Receive. The following is a summary of his talk:

We continue in our journey – the next phase – thanking the Lord for His special mercies and favors. So far we have talked about God’s Love, Sin and Its Consequences, and Salvation and God’s Solution for Sin. The process of “cashing the check” was written by the work on the Cross. We started talking about the Kerygma – the original message by the apostles – the message included repentance. It did not start with the apostles, but Jesus Himself as we see in

Mark 1:15 “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

The message Jesus preached then still applies. It is what He is telling you TODAY. The right time has come. The ball is in your court. You need to turn away from your sins and believe in the Good News. When He talks about turning away from sin – and Pope John VI hammered this point – He is talking about metanoia {literally repentance or penance} When you turn your back on God, God is saying turn back – 180 degrees. Bishop Fulton Sheen says when we turn away from God through sin, it’s like you turn away from the sun – what do you see when you turn away from the sun? You see your shadow, your fears, the things that give you fear, and as you walk away from the sun, the shadow gets longer. But, when you turn towards the sun, the shadow is behind you and the closer you get to the sun, the shorter the shadow is. It’s forgiveness from all the worry and anxiety we place on ourselves. But we first have to turn towards God.

CONTRITION IS AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT

Not because we fear Him, but because we love God. It is not the only thing needed in Catholicism. It is contrition and ALSO avoiding the near occasions of sin. The Catholic understanding of repentance is not “oh, I’m sorry” only.

Example. An alcoholic encounters Jesus – he knows it destroys the family. He wants to turn his life around, so he is sorry for drinking. He knows that hanging out with his friend Louie will lead to drinking…excessively. Avoiding the near occasion of sin means telling Louie the new state of affairs and ask Louie to change, too. If his friend does not, he knows spending time with his friend is an occasion of sin and he knows he will fall into the same behavior again.

Repentance is saying I’m sorry

and I’m going to make an effort to avoid situations that cause me to fall.

Repentance has to involve both components. Avoiding the near occasion of sin is being as shrewd as serpents and as simple as doves. If you intentionally put yourself in the path of sin, you are just like a child playing with fire.

When Jesus called His disciples – they left everything {metanoia} and they follow Him. That’s what we’re supposed to do as Christians – old things have passed away and new things are here now.

CONTRAST this with

John 6:66 As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.

Following Christ means changing everything – your attitude, motives, thoughts, behaviors, etc. You are a completely new creation in Christ Jesus.

CCC 1431 Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. At the same time it entails the desire and resolution to change one’s life, with hope in God’s mercy and trust in the help of his grace. This conversion of heart is accompanied by a salutary pain and sadness which the Fathers called animi cruciatus (affliction of spirit) and compunctio cordis (repentance of heart).

Turning away from evil, sin, wrongdoing, and from ruining your life is the point at which we STOP being the boss of our own life. We turn it over to Jesus. Two conflicting options will always be present, though. We can choose what we want to do instead and not what God wants us to do due to lack of trust. What we are striving for is returning to a life of obedience.

Turning away from sin has consequences and will come with some pain.

You have to be willing and able to deal with that pain in exchange for the peace that God gives you.

Turning towards God is about falling in love. What happens when people fall in love? They do things they wouldn’t normally do. Without the falling in love part, you will feel like you are being punished. Love makes it a little bit easier to bare – not easy, but easier to bare.

Being lukewarm is no longer an option.

Revelation 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

We have to make up our mind.

God has courted us all these years and now you have to decide.

You can’t stay in no-man’s land.

It takes action.

Mark 9:43-49 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ “Everyone will be salted with fire.

What does Jesus mean? He’s not talking about actually mutilating yourself, but rather some of these things we do – sins – we need to cut them from our lives. We are as attached to our sins as our hands are to our body. In other words, cutting ourselves off from our favorite sins can be as painful as cutting off our hand or foot.

Example. You are with someone who wants to gossip all the time. Something has to give…sin can become so engrained in us that it becomes second nature – it’s impossible for us to separate from it. God says bring your addiction to Me and we will remove/operate/cut that aspect off so that you can start the healing process.

God gives you a simple proposition at this point in your journey. Are YOU willing to take this step with Him? This 180? Sometimes we doubt, but if you do your part, God will do His part because He is always faithful.

He is challenging you today – if you do your part, He will do His. He will see you through.

DURING THE SACRAMENT OF CONFESSION. Whatever sins you forgive are forgiven – and that confession is principally between you and God. So that you can make a good confession, do not focus on the priest, do not worry with what he might think of you. Think of the priest as the phone you would use to talk directly to God. Confession is complete when you do penance.

Based on Psalms 51:10, play this song and use the music as meditation to allow it to be an administration of the Holy Spirit to you. Use the words to respond to God and make it a prayer to Him.

SCRIPTURE

Below is a summary of the Scripture that Noe used to break down Father Uche’s talk.

Sacrament

Matthew 5:14-16 You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.

When we get rid of the obstructions in our lives through the sacrament of Confession, the light of Jesus will touch people.

EXAMPLE. Noe uses a flashlight to demonstrate how we are a light for others. Facilitators turn off the lights, but…

photo-85 — …darkness. The light doesn’t work!

The flashlight should have lit the whole place! It’s a Catholic flashlight! I saw it going to confession! The light of Jesus should have shown.

Examination of conscience

We need to let the Holy Spirit show us our sin. The more sin we allow Him to show us, the better our confession is and, the more we confess, the brighter our light can shine.

An examination of conscience is like reading through the Texas driver’s handbook – you might know some of the rules, but not all of them. A good examination of conscience will help you go over all the rules, not just the ones you know. The one above is based on the Ten Commandments.

::Please click AFF Examination of Conscience to retrieve the examination of conscience used for this class::

EXAMPLE. I am the Lord, your God, you shall have no other gods besides me. Looking over the first commandment, our first reaction may be no, I don’t break that one! I don’t bow down to tree stumps or have golden calves in my living room. So, we look to the italicized questions that further break down each commandment. It says I am the Lord your God. God is in charge and it is He who tells us what to do. Consequently, no other gods should be before Him.

So, how do I find out what God wants me to do each day?

I report for duty…through prayer.

If I don’t pray, I don’t get my marching orders and I end up doing my own thing.

Not praying everyday is bending the first commandment.

EXAMPLE. If you’re going to write on your examination of conscience, don’t write your name on it. Noe put his name on his EoC booklet – certain parts were highlighted. He used his booklet so often that one time he went to confession – and it was devastating. He had his list and was waiting for the line to get smaller. He left his booklet in his haste, but when he went back to church, it wasn’t there and didn’t see it again until an old lady gave it to him. Noe jokes the woman probably knew him better than anyone else!

Let the Lord tell you what you need to take to confession and you will make a good confession.

EXAMPLE. You shall not desire your neighbor’s goods. 10^th commandment – Do I trust that God will care for all my material and spiritual needs? Noe spoke about his car and transmission that fell out in Denton, TX. He gave the mechanic a hard time. He was angry that the mechanic couldn’t get the car fixed and he refused to pay the mechanic who had already put in 20 hours labor. All of this came back to Noe as he reflected on that question. His answer was no, I don’t think God can fix a Honda. And that’s why I’m acting so rude and unfair. Noe repented and confessed – called mechanic to apologize for how he spoke to him. He agreed to pay for the 20 hours.

The next day the car was running.

Don’t think the Holy Spirit isn’t going to use your experiences to help you make a better confession.

EXAMPLE. Noe, opens the flashlight and sees there were some sins the flashlight didn’t confess – pornography, lying, deliberately missing Mass {and he has little flashlights who are following his example!}.

photo-86 — Now that he has confessed those sins, let’s try the flashlight again.

photo-87 — Confession helps us better shine the light of Christ!

TESTIMONY

54:03 is where the testimony starts.

This testimony is taken from another semester, but is the same person who shared for the Fall 2013 Repentance: Recognize & Receive class.

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION

PRAYER
QUESTIONS

1. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE DAY OF THE HOMEWORK? {read and share why}
2. ANY COMMENTS ON PRAYING FOR YOUR PARTNER?
3. WHAT STRUCK YOU ABOUT THE PRESENTATION?

HOMEWORK

STUDY: Read John 14 and Acts 2

SUMMARY

Homework is to be done daily – reflect on Scripture and Repentance: Recognize & Receive through the week. If you are in a group, pair up two or three and commit to pray daily for your prayer partner. Small groups come together for a few minutes of question and answer in the large group. If you have any questions, please leave a comment in the combox below so that we can help in any way possible.

CONCLUSION

Prayer of Abandonment

Father,
I abandon myself into Your hands;
do with me what You will.
Whatever You may do, I thank You:
I am ready for all, I accept all.

Let only Your will be done in me,
and in all Your creatures –
I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into Your hands I commend my soul:
I offer it to You with all the love of my heart,
for I love You, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into Your hands without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for You are my Father.

Charles de Foucauld

OPTIONS: If you would like to watch the class, please visit the St. William Adult Faith Formation page to watch the previously recorded class on Repentance: Recognize & Receive. The testimony is given by the same person, but is from a different semester, OR you can watch the video below of the same class given by Father Uche in Spring 2013. The testimony portion begins at 49:40 on the video shown below.

Tags Adam & Eve, Adult Faith Formation, Christ, consequences, conversion of heart, disciples, Faith Formation, Father Dean Wilhelm, God's promise, Jesus is Lord, Kerygma, Noe Rocha, Salvation, sin, St. William Catholic Church

Conversion Discipleship Faith Formation Ink Slingers Jesus Is Lord Jesus Is Lord course Martina Series

Jesus Is Lord: Salvation – God’s Solution for Sin {Week Three}

Post author By Martina Kreitzer
Post date October 2, 2013

Welcome to the Jesus Is Lord series! This is the third installment of the Jesus Is Lord course offered for adults at St. William Catholic Church in Round Rock, Texas.

Today’s class is about Salvation – God’s Solution for Sin. Last week’s class was about Sin and Its Consequences. If you would prefer to watch this class, please scroll to the bottom. Keep in mind the recorded classes are not from our current class and contain testimonies from different people presented in the text below. Check back next week for the fourth installment which will cover Repentance – Recognize & Receive.

ITEMS NEEDED: Crucifix, basket, rocks {enough for all participants} – place the basket of rocks in front of the crucifix.

TEACHING

Father Uche Andeh spoke to the group about Salvation – God’s Solution for Sin. The following is a summary of his talk:

Begin with prayer.

We continue to explore the story, but first things first. What did you remember from last week?

::take a few moments to discuss and review last week’s content::

Sin is an abuse of freedom,
distrust of God.
Sin affects all of us.

God & Man

Adam and Eve cast out of the garden

There are things in the world that are so messed up beyond our control; but, there are things we do have control over. In our broken world, it is difficult to depend on anybody else.

What is God’s solution for this situation?

Romans 6:23 tells us the wages of sin is death. There was a price that had to be paid.

What did God do to remedy the situation?

What did he do to bring us back into a right relationship with Him?

He didn’t snap his fingers to immediately rectify the situation even though He could have.

The God who created us could have decided to save us in the moment. He didn’t choose the easiest route. Instead, He sent His Son to die on the Cross for us.

The CRUCIFIX – we have had a tendency to make it glamorous. It was actually the height of public disgrace and shame. He was 100% naked and did not have a loin cloth like we see in pictures, statues, etc.

What Jesus did on the Cross – He saved us from the lie, the doubt that was sown into us by the devil. He saved us from the distrust we have in God by becoming one of us. The crucifix shows us the horror of sin, and shows us what our sin does to God, but also it shows us how much God loves us. Because Jesus is God, He could have wished away His pain. He instead chose to feel the pain and agony.

Psalms 22 – My God, my God, why have You abandoned me?

The Crucifix shows us the depths of God’s love for us – there is always the temptation for us to think that when we look at our lives, our sins, our history – that we can atone for our past sins. {being active in the pro-life movement, we think we can save ourselves}. The truth is that there is nothing we can do in this life to be able to pay back for our sins. That’s why Christ did it for us – we are incapable of doing it ourselves – we were in need of a Savior.

You are required to believe that Jesus Christ who died on the Cross was not a phantom, a ghost. How is it He died on the Cross if He is God? we might think to ourselves. He is 100% God and 100% man. Jesus is not “god-lite” –

…the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God, begotten, not made,
consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.

Father Uche said please do not ask me about the chemistry of the situation – it’s a mystery for a reason!

Catholics profess this about Jesus – it is not optional – that is why He is able to pay the debt of your sin, and every sin from the beginning to the end of time. His life was so incredibly valuable because He is fully God and fully man.

The break between God and man was restored through the work on the Cross.

Hebrews

4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin.

Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin.

God did not create anything bad – the flesh was always good, but needed redemption. Most would have looked at the brokenness of humanity and thought it was not worth saving, but God always saw the good in us.

God understands our suffering when things happen to our children because He saw what happened to His own Son.

2:10-11 For it was fitting that he, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the leader to their salvation perfect through suffering. He who consecrates and those who are being consecrated all have one origin. Therefore, he is not ashamed to call them “brothers,”

He who sanctifies and we who are being sanctified come from the same Father – and that is why He is not ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters. He has come to take that which is fallen and rotten. Jesus is on the right side of the Father, interceding for us always.

2:17-18 therefore, he had to become like his brothers in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God to expiate the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

He had to become like us in every way so that He could pay that debt. If Jesus was not like us, that means God was “gaming the system – cheating the system.”

The wages of sin was death – and it was not paid by Adam and Eve. He would become like us in order to change everything.

He did not restore us to the time of Adam and Eve, but to something more than paradise. He catapulted us to a level that was way above what Adam and Eve took away from us through their sin.

The Lord’s descent into hell

“What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled.

Truly he goes to seek out our first parent like a lost sheep; he wishes to visit those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, he who is God, and Adam’s son.

The Lord goes in to them holding his victorious weapon, his cross. When Adam, the first created man, sees him, he strikes his breast in terror and calls out to all: ‘My Lord be with you all.” And Christ in reply says to Adam: ‘And with your spirit.’ And grasping his hand he raises him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.

‘I am your God, who for your sake became your son, who for you and your descendants now speak and command with authority those in prison: Come forth, and those in darkness: Have light, and those who sleep: Rise.

‘I command you: Awake, sleeper, I have not made you to be held a prisoner in the underworld. Arise from the dead; I am the life of the dead. Arise, O man, work of my hands, arise, you who were fashioned in my image. Rise, let us go hence; for you in me and I in you, together we are one undivided person.

‘For you, I your God became your son; for you, I the Master took on your form; that of slave; for you, I am above the heavens came on earth and under earth; for you, man, I became as a man without help, free among the dead; for you, who left a garden, I was handed over to Jews from a garden and crucified in a garden.

‘Look at the spittle on my face, which I received because of you, in order to restore you to that first divine inbreathing at creation. See the blows on my cheeks, which I accepted in order to refashion your distorted form to my own image.

‘See the scourging of my back, which I accepted in order to disperse the load of your sins which was laid upon your back. See my hands nailed to the tree for a good purpose, for you, who stretched out your hand to the tree for an evil one.

‘I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side, for you, who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side healed the pain of your side; my sleep will release you from your sleep in Hades; my sword has checked the sword which was turned against you.

‘But arise, let us go hence. The enemy brought you out of the land of paradise; I will reinstate you, no longer in paradise, but on the throne of heaven. I denied you the tree of life, which was a figure, but now I myself am united to you, I who am life. I posted the cherubim to guard you as they would slaves; now I make the cherubim worship you as they would God.

‘The cherubim throne has been prepared, the bearers are ready and waiting, the bridal chamber is in order, the food is provided, the everlasting houses and rooms are in readiness; the treasures of good things have been opened; the kingdom of heaven has been prepared before the ages.”

~A reading from an ancient homily for Holy Saturday

Your history has been deleted if you give your life to Jesus – He paid it for you and there is nothing you can do to earn it.

Amen?

SCRIPTURE

Below is a summary of the Scripture that Noe used to break down Father Uche’s talk.

John

1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

verse 14 And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.

Who is the Word?

Jesus. Fully God. Fully man. He came to pay a debt He didn’t owe because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay. And when He paid it, there were two reactions.

verse 10 He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him.

1) The first reaction was that folks didn’t recognize He was God. Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Doesn’t he live on Maple Street? They couldn’t go beyond His humanity – they couldn’t recognize Him as God. The only proper response is to recognize He is God and to surrender to Him. There is hesitation sometimes because we want to do things our own way.

verse 11 He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.

2) The other reaction was folks did not accept Him. I don’t need your forgiveness, I don’t do wrong, I don’t kick the dog, I don’t rob liquor stores, etc. but go a couple of blocks down the road – THEY need your help. My mother-in-law lives there! Some people can’t see the sin in their own lives and can’t repent and therefore can’t receive the good news.

verse 12 But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name,

Everyone is a child of God, but not everyone has the power, right, privilege to live as a child of God. If you have not received God’s forgiveness through repentance, you aren’t able to love as God loves you.