THURSDAY
March 2, 2000
volume 11, no. 44

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APPRECIATING THE PRECIOUS GIFT OF OUR FAITH Series         INTRODUCTION

    Every day we present a short point that helps bring into focus the treasures of the Roman Catholic Church that comprise the great Deposit of Faith.

    It is no secret that over the past thirty years fewer and fewer know their Faith and it shows with the declining number of vocations, parish participation and attendance at Holy Mass. We have the new Catechism of the Catholic Church but for the common man, the one brought up on sound bites and instant gratification, it is more of a text book and that in itself prompts them to shy away from such a tome. So what's a loyal Catholic to do in evangelizing to fellow Catholics and understand their Faith? Our answer: go back to basics - to the great Deposit of Faith. We have the Baltimore Catechism which, for unknown and ridiculous reasons, was shelved after Vatican II. We have the Holy Bible but there are so many newer versions that the Douay-Rheims and Confraternity Latin Vulgate in English versions, the ones used for so long as the official Scriptural text authorized by the Church, seem lost in a maze of new interpretations that water down the Word. This is further complicated by the fact there are so few Douay-Rheims editions in circulation though it is available on the net at DOUAY-RHEIMS BIBLE. We have so many Vatican documents available at the Vatican web site and other excellent Catholic resource sites that detail Doctrine, Dogma and Canon Law. We have the traditions, and the means of grace but how do we consolidate all these sources into one where it is succinct and easy to understand? We have the perfect vehicle. It is called "My Catholic Faith", now out of print, that was compiled by Bishop Louis Laravoire Morrow and published by My Mission House. This work ties in Scriptural references, the Sacraments, Dogmas, Doctrines, Traditions, Church documents, Encyclical and Papal decrees to clearly illustrate the Faith in simple, solid and concise terms that all can understand and put into practice. We will quote from this work while adding in more recent events and persons when applicable since the book was written in the late forties during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII. We also quote from the Catholic Almanac published by Our Sunday Visitor for the Roman Curial offices and from Old Testament Confraternity Edition and New Testament Confraternity Edition of the Saint Joseph New Catholic Edition of the Holy Bible.

    Nothing in Holy Mother Church's teaching has changed and therefore we feel confident that these daily "points of enlightenment" will help more Catholics better understand their faith, especially those who were not blessed with early formation of the faith in the home and their parish school. Regardless of where any Catholic is in his or her journey toward salvation, he or she has to recognize that the Faith they were initiated into at the Sacrament of Baptism is the most precious gift they have been given in life. For points covered thus far, click on APPRECIATING THE PRECIOUS GIFT OF OUR FAITH


installment 123:
Adam and Eve: Our First Parents part two

    If our first parents had not sinned these gifts would have been transmitted to all men as the possession of human nature. God put Adam and Eve in the "paradise of pleasure", a garden which contained all kings of plants, flowers, birds, and beasts, - everything good that could be imagined. All the birds and beasts were perfectly obedient to Adam and Eve. In the midst of the garden grew the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Neart it was the tree of life, which protected Adam and Eve from disease.

    God also gave Adam and Eve infused knowledge; that is, without experience or study they knew all that full-grown persons needed to fulfill the purpose of their creation, and as educators of men. For example, Adam knew the indissolubility of marriage; his insight helped him give suitable names to the animals.

    God blessed Adam and Eve with a freedom from subjection to their lower appetites, such as impurity, drunkenness, etc. They had no inclination to evil. Their will was free from all weakness, weakened by no sensual desires. On account of the absence of rebellion of the flesh against the spirit, they felt no shame even though they were naked in Paradise.

    Lastly, God gave Adam and Eve freedom from bodily disease and death. Adam and Eve were created immortal, and were made free from all subjectio to sickness, which is the prelude to death. Had they been faithful to God, they would never have died, nor suffered disease. God gave Adam and Eve the commandment not to eat of the fruit of a certain tree that grew in the Garden of Paradise.

    God wanted Adam as head and representative of the human race to merit heaven. And so, after granting him His abiding grace, and blessing him with wonderful gifts, and giving him the Garden of Paradise to live in, He commanded him not to eat of the fruit of a certain tree. "Of every tree of Paradise thou shalt not eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat; for in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death" (Genesis 2:16, 17). The fruit of the forbidden tree was not evil in itself, for in Paradise God did not place anything bad. It was bad only because it was forbidden; and if Adam and Eve partook of it they would have disobeyed God.

    If Adam and Eve had been faithful to God, they would have passed without disease and without bodily death from their earthly Paradise to heaven, God's home, where they would see Him face to face. All the children of Adam, the entire human race, would have been born as Adam had been created, in a state of friendship with God, and with all his gifts. If one had sinned, he would have been punished by God, but no being the head of the entire huma race, he would not have passed on the stain to his descendants. Everybody would then have suffered for his own sins alone.

    Adam and Eve did not obey the commandment of God, but ate of the forbidden fruit. The devil tempted Eve to eat of the fruit, and she ate; then she gave some to Adam, and he also ate (cf. Genesis 3: 1-13). They committed sins of pride and disobedience.

Tomorrow: Evolution and the Bible part two

          

March 2, 2000
volume 11, no. 44
APPRECIATING THE PRECIOUS GIFT OF OUR FAITH

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