Byline: Father Ray Ryland

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Sacraments

Why Do We Baptize Infants?

Father Ray Ryland

August 13, 2023 7:23 am August 13, 2023

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First, a reminder about “scriptural foundation”: To speak of the Catholic faith as “based” in Scripture is pure anachronism. The Church herself wrote the New Testament, and canonized the Old Testament. The Church had been expanding throughout the world for more than three centuries before she established the canon of Scripture. In the New Testament, the Church enshrined key elements of the Gospel, but not its entirety. Read again John 21:25. The Catholic faith, therefore, cannot be “based” in Scripture, but it is reflected in Scripture.

We are all born with original sin; what the Council of Trent called “death of the soul.” That is the reason the Church baptizes even infants who have no personal sins. We want our newborns to be incorporated into the Mystical Body of Christ at the earliest possible time. The fact that grace is purely a gift is most clearly demonstrated in baptizing infants.

Consider this: When a child is born of American parents, the child receives a great gift, American citizenship. In order to exercise that gift the child will need instruction for mature citizenship. But never will the child be more of a citizen than at the moment of birth. By analogy we can say that the infant becomes a Christian at the moment of baptism. Yet that infant will need nurture for the rest of his or her life to grow in sanctity. The Acts of the Apostles refers to baptism of households (see 16:15), which presumably included young children, even infants. Beginning in the second century, there is clear testimony to infant baptism as an immemorial tradition of the Church.

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Jesus

What Was The Transfiguration?

Father Ray Ryland

August 6, 2023 6:58 am August 6, 2023

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In both the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, the account of the Transfiguration immediately follows Jesus’ prediction of His passion and His stating the arduous demands of discipleship…

In both the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, the account of the Transfiguration immediately follows Jesus’ prediction of His passion and His stating the arduous demands of discipleship (see Mt 16:21-28; Mk 8:31-38).

We may assume that the Transfiguration not only clearly revealed Jesus’ divinity for a moment. He also allowed His glory to shine forth for the encouragement of the key apostles who were present: Peter, James and John.

Like so many incidents in Jesus’ earthly ministry, the Transfiguration was foreshadowed in the Old Testament. In this case, the type (the foreshadowing) is God’s revelation of himself to Moses on Mount Sinai. The “Ignatius Catholic Study Bible (Gospel of Matthew)” lists several parallels between the two epiphanies as recorded in Exodus and in St. Matthew’s Gospel.

Each takes place on a mountain (see Ex 24:13 and Mt 17:1).

Each occurs on a seventh day (Ex 24:16 and Mt 17:1).

Each shows forth the glory of God’s presence.

Each reports God speaking through a cloud (Ex 24:16 and Mt 17:5).

Moses and Elijah are the key representatives of the Law and the prophets. Their coming to talk with Jesus shows Him to be the fulfillment of God’s revelation to them.

Only Luke specifies the subject of their conversation with Jesus. Moses and Elijah “spoke of his [Jesus’] exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem” (Lk 9:31).

Note the word “accomplish.” It was important for the apostles to know that Jesus did not simply endure His passion; He accomplished it, by totally submitting himself to it.

A final note: Peter proposed building three booths, one each for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. He may have wished to extend their stay on the Mount of Transfiguration. But St. Mark, who was Peter’s protégé, simply tells us that Peter blurted out this proposal because “he hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified” (9:6).

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Liturgy

What is a Mass Intention?

Father Ray Ryland

August 2, 2023 8:11 am August 2, 2023

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From the days of the early Church it has been common practice to offer Mass for the dead, as well as for others. Archaeologists have discovered epitaphs on tombs in…

From the days of the early Church it has been common practice to offer Mass for the dead, as well as for others. Archaeologists have discovered epitaphs on tombs in the Roman catacombs, asking for prayers for the departed one. Numerous early Church Fathers witness to this practice. Recall from St. Augustine’s “Confessions” St. Monica’s one dying request, “that you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be.” Countless Christians have made this same request of their survivors.

In his encyclical Mirae caritatis (1902), Pope Leo XIII situated the offering of Mass for others in the true context of our concern for others, the Communion of Saints. “For faith teaches us, that although the venerable Sacrifice may be lawfully offered to God alone, yet it may be celebrated in honor of the saints reigning in heaven with God who has crowned them in order that we may gain for ourselves their patronage. And it may also be offered — in accordance with an apostolic tradition — for the purpose of expiating the sins of those of the brethren who, having died in the Lord, have not yet fully paid the penalty of their transgressions” (No. 12).

Father Ray Ryland, Ph.D., J.D., was an adjunct professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio.

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Sacraments

Is It Possible for Catholics to Receive Communion at a Non-Catholic Church?

Father Ray Ryland

July 22, 2023 7:17 am July 22, 2023

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The answer is no. The reason is this. The Church teaches that to partake of Communion in any Christian tradition is publicly to declare one is in full agreement with…

The answer is no. The reason is this. The Church teaches that to partake of Communion in any Christian tradition is publicly to declare one is in full agreement with what that tradition teaches or holds. Therefore, if you, a Catholic, were to share in the Communion of a non-Catholic tradition, your action would bespeak a falsehood.

For the same reason, the Church does not allow non-Catholics to receive the Body and Blood of Our Lord in the Eucharist. This prohibition has nothing to do with the spiritual state of non-Catholics. In fact the rule exists for the protection of the integrity of non-Catholics who happen to be present at a Eucharistic celebration. It prevents them from unwittingly, but still symbolically, making a public statement that is untrue.

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Angels

Can Angels Speak or Sing?

Father Ray Ryland

July 11, 2023 9:00 pm July 11, 2023

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It’s true that angels have no voice box, because they have no physical bodies. But that doesn’t prevent their communicating with human beings. Angels who serve God on earth have…

It’s true that angels have no voice box, because they have no physical bodies. But that doesn’t prevent their communicating with human beings.

Angels who serve God on earth have the capacity for assuming human form in carrying out their divine missions. We see many instances of this in the Old Testament.

Hebrews 13:2 refers to those occasions when it teaches, “Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.”

In ways keeping with their own nature, angels indeed can speak and sing. Sacred Scripture repeatedly refers to angelic choirs around the heavenly throne. All the prefaces in our liturgy invoke the example of the angels glorifying and praising God. The Epiphany preface thus joins us with the angels’ worship: “Now, with angels and archangels, and the whole company of heaven, we sing the unending hymn of your praise.”

They in their way, we in ours. But there are hints in divine revelation that in heaven we shall have with the angels a common medium of communication.

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Scripture

The Tree of Life In Genesis

Father Ray Ryland

June 20, 2023 5:27 am June 20, 2023

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Genesis 2:9 introduces us to the tree of life: “Out of the ground the Lord God made grow every tree that was delightful to look at and good for food,…

Genesis 2:9 introduces us to the tree of life: “Out of the ground the Lord God made grow every tree that was delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life also in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” According to Genesis 2:16-17, God told Adam, “You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden [evidently including the tree of life] except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die” — that is, become subject to death.

Why did God make Adam and Eve subject to this danger? For Adam and Eve’s wills to be free, there had to be the possibility of misusing them. Otherwise, our first parents would have been mere automatons.

The tempter, the father of lies, persuaded Eve (and through her, Adam) that eating the forbidden fruit would confer divine status on them. Indeed, the tempter spoke the truth, but with an entirely different, ominous meaning. By this act of disobedience, she and Adam certainly would know good and evil. But how? By themselves, actually becoming evil, disobedient to God.

Note that the fruit of the tree of life, which was believed to confer eternal life, was not forbidden to Adam and Eve not prior to their fall, but after their fall. Only then — and for Adam and Eve’s ultimate benefit — did God forbid them to eat the fruit of the tree of life (see Gn 3:22-24). In their condition of disobedience they would eternally have been cut off from God. It was an act of mercy for God to prevent them from plunging themselves into damnation. God had in mind the new Adam through which he would restore to the human race the possibility of eternal life lost in the fall of Adam and Eve.

What became of the tree of life after the fall? God drove out our first parents, “stationing the cherubim and the fiery revolving sword east of the garden of Eden, to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gn 3:24). Again, God took precaution against fallen humanity being eternally separated from Him. We know now the new Adam reopened the way to eternal life.

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