Category Archives: Easter

“Not without reason, Christians in the early centuries were required to learn the creed from memory.  It served them as a daily prayer not to forget the commitment they had undertaken in baptism.  With words rich in meaning, Saint Augustine speaks of this in a homily on the redditio symboli, the handing over of the creed: ‘ the symbol of the holy mystery that you have all received together and that today you have recited one by one, are the words on which the faith of Mother Church is firmly built above the stable foundation that is Christ the Lord.  You have received it and recited it, but in your minds and hearts you must keep it ever present, you must repeat it in your beds, recall it in the public squares and not forget it during meals: even when your body is asleep, you must watch over it with your hearts.'” –Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Porta Fidei (n.9)

Instead of professing the Creed on Easter Sunday, the priest poses the questions of the Baptismal liturgy to the whole congregation so that we may all respond with a faithful “I do!”  So, at least, once a year, we can renew our baptismal promises and affirm our assent to the fundamentals of the mysteries of our faith.

Every other Sunday, we renew our act of faith in the mysteries of revelation by proclaiming the Nicene Creed.  We renew our commitment to our Faith by saying “Credo!” or “I believe!”

Now we are going to look up the Scriptures that underlie each statement of the Creed.  May God’s grace help us to make ever deeper commitments to these mysteries.  And may we come to know Him more intimately through them.

The following is taken from The Year of Faith by Father Mitch Pacwa, S.J.  (pg. 40-41)

Next Time:  Conversion

Meditation:  What new insight about the faith have we received from the cited Scripture readings this past week?

“To rediscover the content of the faith that is professed, celebrated, lived and prayed, and to reflect on the act of faith, is a task that every believer must make his own, especially in the course of this year.” -Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Porta Fidei (n. 9)

Consider

Jesus was concerned with the truth.  He was especially strong in His rejection of the teachings of the Pharisees.  He often rebuked them for neglecting God’s deeper truths while observing the external rituals of tradition.  In Matthew 23: 1-35, He give a long critique of the Pharisees.  He rejects them for failing to practice what they preached.  Jesus never tolerated anything that contradicted His own Gospel.

After Pentecost, the Church criticized false teaching and morals just as Jesus did.  Sts. Paul, James, Peter, John, and Jude had to vigorously reproof those who taught false content of faith and morals.  These false teachers threatened the very core of the Faith; so the saints had to address these falsehoods strongly and publicly.

Heresies in the Early Church

Now, we are going to look up some passages that deal with false teachings and heretical groups in the early Church.  As we read each passage, determine what errors are contained in each variant form of Christianity.  If there is a motive for those that taught error, write those down, too.  Here’s an example:

Galatians 1: 6-9; 2: 4-5  The False Teaching:  that circumcision was a necessary prerequisite for salvation.  Motive: the Judaizers preach circumcision in order to avoid persecution by their Jewish kinsmen.

Here are the other verses:  (2 Corinthians 11: 1-6, 12-15) (Philippians 3: 2-11, 17-21) (1 Timothy 1: 3-7, 18-20) (Hebrews 6: 1-6) (2 Peter 2: 1-3: 4) (1 John 2: 18-25; 4: 1-6)

The early Church considered true and correct doctrine an important component of authentic faith in Jesus Christ.

Other Heresies

In the second century, Gnosticism arose.  Gnostics believed that the material world (and their bodies) were created by a wicked deity in the Old Testament while God the Father created a spiritual world.  Gnostics also rejected apostolic tradition and the New Testament.

Another false teaching was that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not 3 persons in one God, but three modes of one divine person as he relates to the world and the humans in it.

Arianism held that Jesus Christ is not divine.

Monophysitism taught that Jesus had only one divine nature without a human soul so that he wasn’t truly human.

Nestorianism taught that Jesus was 2 separate persons; one human and one divine.

To preserve the orthodoxy of the faith, the bishops met in Synods and councils to confront the false doctrines of the day.  (more about this on Wednesday.)

Our Meditation:  Reread the Baptismal Promises from Easter Sunday.  How can we show that we truly mean our “I do’s?”