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Church Teaching

The Theology of God

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At the heart of theology — which is the study of God — is the most proper object of study and understanding: God himself. Without it, theology literally becomes an…

At the heart of theology — which is the study of God — is the most proper object of study and understanding: God himself. Without it, theology literally becomes an impossibility. The doctrine of the Trinity, the most central aspect of our faith, while revealed in Christ and made known to us through Tradition and Scripture, was one of the most hard-fought doctrines in the early Church. The Christological heresies of the early Church were just as much heresies about who God is, as the Church wrestled with the issues: How can God be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit while also holding to the idea that God is one? Also considered is: How does God and humanity relate in the Person of Jesus Christ (this is something that becomes the field known as Christology, the study of Christ).

Talking about God in theology is an effort that requires great reverence on our part and a sober approach in our language. God is infinite, ever-greater than all of creation, and so we must recognize the limits of our language. So often, when discussing the question of God, we hear in popular understanding that God — or whatever people understand God to be — is so great a mystery that we can’t actually grasp it, that every religion is just a different way of approaching the great spiritual reality that the West calls “God.” Thus, as is often said, our language is insufficient to really say anything meaningful about God. So, according to this position, it doesn’t really matter what you believe about God, or what you say, just so long as you’re sincerely pursuing some spiritual reality.

This idea, as popular as it is, fails two tests: one of reason, the other of faith. The test of reason fails because it presumes that because God is so very other, that he cannot be known at all by human reason. Though it is true that God is greater than human reason can fully comprehend, it does not mean that man can’t know things about God: i.e., that he exists, that he creates, that we can know him through creation, etc. Furthermore, the idea fails the test of faith because it forgets the idea that though there is an ever-greater difference between God and his creation, there is also a similarity: the whole of creation bears the imprint of the creator, and that this creator desires to make himself known to the world by revelation. In the Catholic tradition, the response to this problem is known as doctrine of analogy. Just as we popularly understand that analogies have similarities and differences, so it is when it comes to us talking about God. We can say there is a real similarity between the words we use for each other and God. For example, we can say that however truthfully we understand the word “good,” it can be true of both us and God. But, because God is infinite and beyond comprehension, any similarity is always balanced out by an ever-greater difference. That is, the goodness of God is more different than it is similar to our understanding of goodness. This must always be held when talking about the Trinity: our limited categories can speak about God, but they can never fully grasp the reality either since God is ever-greater.

The heart of Trinitarian doctrine revolves around the relationship between the oneness of God and the threeness of Persons. For Christian theology, the Trinity is not three separate gods — a heresy known as tritheism — nor is it just one God who uses three different ways of appearing — a heresy known as Sebellianism or Modalism, after the idea that the Trinity has just three “modes” of appearing. Instead, the Church teaches that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are each a real and distinct Persons, but each has the fullness of the one divine nature.

Trinitarian theology, along with the various aspects of Christology, help clarify the distinction between Person and nature so as to understand who God is and how we relate to him. Thus, in this distinction of nature and Person, the Church also reflected on how each Person relates to the others in the Trinity. Hence, in the Creed, we state that the Son is “eternally begotten,” that is, in all eternity he proceeds from the Father, while the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.

These reflections are important because they help us understand how God works redemption. This is how the Church has wrestled with the facts of the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus, and the sending of the Spirit at Pentecost. In all this we see a God who is a communion of love whereby each Person fulfills one particular task of love in the work of redemption, thereby making our redemption itself an act of love. And if one still thinks this to be abstract, then from the level of faith, we can see its effects on the human person when we remember that man is made in God’s image and likeness. A Trinitarian God, who is a communion of love, impacts and affects how we understand ourselves as human beings. To an extent, Trinitarian Theology affects everything and, therefore, requires care and humility when approaching it.

There are other questions that are important to this discipline which can’t adequately be dealt with in detail here, such as: How does God relate with creation? Does God change when Jesus takes on flesh (this is a question surrounding God’s immutability)? What do we mean that God is pure spirit, that he is eternal, the first cause? And so on. These are important questions that all have an impact on how we live our faith and are worthy of our study. By understanding them more deeply, though, they not only prepare us to give an answer to the world about who God is, but they aid us in worshipping God the way that we should.

Father Harrison Ayre is a priest of the Diocese of Victoria, British Columbia. Follow him on Twitter at @FrHarrison. Read the full series here.

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Church Teaching

Introduction To Canon Law

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Canon law has been in the news quite a bit recently. Normally, canon law isn’t in the spotlight; however, it effects every Catholic whether they know it or not. Some…

Canon law has been in the news quite a bit recently. Normally, canon law isn’t in the spotlight; however, it effects every Catholic whether they know it or not.

Some comments about canon law can be rather negative. Unfortunately, the law is seen by many as being opposed to mercy. This is actually not the case. Justice and mercy are always hand in hand. We need both.

The Purpose of Law

So what is canon law all about? Put simply, canon law is how the Church organizes and governs herself. The word “canon” basically means rule. There are about 1.3 billion Catholics in the world, and the Church administrates a large collection of institutions. Therefore, the Church needs an organizational structure to carry out its office of governance and its saving mission. Every society needs laws — and so does the Church. There is an old saying: ubi societas ibi lex (“where there is a society there is law”). Imagine driving on the highway where there are no rules of the road? It would ultimately lead to disaster.

Canon law deals with all the issues that any legal system does — for example, rights, property issues, procedures, administration, personnel, crimes and trials. It also does some things that civil law cannot, such as laws regarding sacraments, sacred places and magisterial teachings.

The Church’s laws have developed greatly over its 2,000-year history. Beginning in the New Testament, we see that there are procedures for replacing an apostle (see Acts 1:15-26); also, what to do when there are disputes in the Church (Mt 18:15-20). As time went on there were various councils that legislated on issues of concern. Popes would issue decretals to settle disputes or enforce discipline. Courts were established to hear cases and issue decisions. In addition, they used procedures adapted from Roman law.

Eventually, these disparate laws and decretals were collected into what became known as canon law. In 1917, there was a major reform and the law was codified, published as the first Code of Canon Law. After the Second Vatican Council there was a revision, and the 1983 Code of Canon Law was issued for Latin-rite (often referenced as Roman-rite) Catholics by Pope St. John Paul II. Later, in 1990, a separate code was issued for the Eastern Catholic Churches. While not all of the Church’s laws are in the code, it is the place to start.

Since it affects most Catholics in America, let us consider the Roman-rite code. It is organized into seven books. A brief survey of the code will provide a general idea of what it covers.

A Walk Through the Code

There are several Books in the code as follows:

Book I is called General Norms and is the backbone of the code. While it might not seem exciting, it informs the rest of the code, which cannot be understood without it. Book I deals with the various kinds of laws in the Church, how they are issued, who they pertain to, and how they are enforced. There are canons regarding juridic persons — things like your diocese or parish. Also there are canons on the officers who serve the Church. Some of these canons may seem like minor details, but the code is a complex thing. If one part of your car’s engine fails, even if it is just a small screw, it can cause the whole thing to malfunction. It is the same with the Code of Canon Law.

Book II is about the People of God. It sets out the obligations and rights of the lay faithful and clergy. If you want to know what rights you have in the Church, this is the book where you will find them. In addition, it contains the hierarchical constitution of the Church including the Pope, dioceses and religious orders. It shows how they are to be organized and governed.

Book III is on The Teaching Function of the Church. This book covers preaching, catechesis, missions and education. This book tells us what levels of authority there are for Church teachings. It also has rules for educational institutions, including Catholic universities.

Book IV is about The Sanctifying Function of the Church. This pertains to the sacraments. It tells us who can receive them, administer them and what is required for their validity. The section on matrimony is of particular interest since the recent synods on the family. It defines marriage and its valid celebration, and gives the legal reasons why a marriage may be ruled invalid in an annulment process. This book also covers other liturgical acts such as funerals. In addition, it contains regulations for churches, shrines and other places of worship.

Book V covers The Temporal Goods of the Church. This is basically the Church’s property law. It gives regulations on how to properly administer the Church’s property and finances. Also, it includes rules on contracts and wills.

Book VI is on Sanctions in the Church. This is the Church’s criminal law. It sets out the authority the Church has to punish crimes, who can be punished, what crimes may be punished, and what the penalties are for those crimes. It may surprise many people to find this in the Code of Canon Law, but every institution has disciplinary regulations. However, in our law, the goals are to repair scandal, restore justice and reform the offender. So there is more to it than simply punishing crime.

Book VII is about Processes. This book covers trials, their procedures, officers of the court, how to organize courts, the rights of the parties and appeals. Those who watch “Law & Order” on television would find Church trials not nearly as exciting. Normally, cases are handled in a documentary way. Rarely do the parties meet each other in an open court. This may strike us as odd, but, in fact, it is the norm in many judicial systems influenced by Roman law in other parts of the world.

In total, there are 1,752 canons in the code, so to cover them all would require a lengthy commentary. In fact, there are a variety of commentaries and other books that are helpful in understanding canon law.

Canon law includes both divine law and ecclesiastical law. Divine law is unchangeable and is applicable to every human being — for example, the law against murder. Ecclesiastical law is rooted in Church law and is not infallible, although it is authoritative — for example, the laws regarding fast and abstinence. Our system of law is human and not perfect.

Justice and Mercy

As mentioned earlier, often in our minds we think of law and mercy as being opposed. Even some priests do not see the law as being “pastoral.” However, the law is about order and justice. These are necessary if there is to be mercy.

Justice is defined as giving and receiving one’s due. If we are wronged, we desire justice. If someone hits your car in the parking lot, you will want their insurance to pay for the accident. Justice involves moral obligations and responsibilities.

The law is concerned with the common good. Of course, there are disputes about what the common good is, and that is where the law comes in, to settle the issue fairly. The Church is concerned with spiritual realities, but these are lived out in the material world. We are not divorced from this world. This is where we must live out the demands of the Gospel. These include justice for the poor, oppressed and others who cannot defend their own rights. Therefore, mercy, in fact, includes justice rather than opposing it.

For us to show mercy to others means ensuring that their rights are respected and upheld. It also means that they have the right to the true teachings of the Church, that the sacraments will be validly administered, that the finances will be handled properly, that those who injure others will be restrained and punished and that everyone will receive the due process of law. All of these things are part of our canon law. They are concrete ways in which mercy is accomplished in the Church.

In the bull of indiction by which he opened the Jubilee of Mercy, Misericordiae Vultus, Pope Francis said: “It would not be out of place at this point to recall the relationship between justice and mercy. These are not two contradictory realities, but two dimensions of a single reality that unfolds progressively until it culminates in the fullness of love” (No. 20). He added, a little bit later: “Mercy is not opposed to justice but rather expresses God’s way of reaching out to the sinner, offering him a new chance to look at himself, convert and believe.… God’s justice is His mercy given to everyone as a grace that flows from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thus the Cross of Christ is God’s judgment on all of us and on the whole world, because through it He offers us the certitude of love and new life” (No. 21). Pope Francis points out that Jesus Christ is to be at the center of all that canon law aims to accomplish.

Ultimately, canon law is at the service of the Church. It exists to assist the Church in its mission to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to the world. The last canon in the code states clearly that the purpose of the law — indeed, the highest law — is the salvation of souls. That makes canon law a true work of mercy.

The Very Rev. James Goodwin, J.C.L., is a graduate of The Catholic University of America and judicial vicar of the Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota.

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Church Teaching

Introduction to Ecclesiology

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One of the more contemporary fields of theological study in the last century has been the discipline of ecclesiology, which studies the Church. This is a vital area of study…

One of the more contemporary fields of theological study in the last century has been the discipline of ecclesiology, which studies the Church. This is a vital area of study because if Jesus intended to found a Church, then we must look to revelation to understand what this Church looks like and what Christ intended.

Ecclesiology, therefore, begins with the basic question: Did Jesus intend to found a Church? The New Testament, as well as early Church history, makes this abundantly clear, and it is relatively well-accepted among both Protestants, Catholics (and other Christians, like the Orthodox, for that matter) that Jesus did, in fact, establish a Church as a body of believers called to gather around his teachings and live them out as a manifestation of the Kingdom of God.

That is where Protestants and Catholics agree. But what the Church looks like — i.e. her external features — is where major disagreement begins. For Catholics, there are essentially two aspects that are necessary for a Church to be a Church. First, it must have a hierarchical structure, centered upon the bishops and pope; second, it must have the sacraments. These are the two essential features for an ecclesial structure to be called a Church.

The hierarchical structure is vital to the Church because without the bishops, there is no Church. The bishop of each diocese is the symbol of unity in his local diocese. Communion among the bishops comes from unity with the pope, as the one who holds the Church’s unity together in communion. The pope is the guarantee that we are all part of the same Church that Christ instituted. The bishops, then, exist as ministers of the Church’s unity. Through them we have apostolic succession, which means that their office is traced back all the way back to Jesus’ apostles. As presiders over the Church’s unity, the bishops oversee things such as the sacraments, which are at the core of the Church’s life. Without the bishops, there are no sacraments, and without both, there is no Church.

The Church’s hierarchy exists to facilitate the unity of the Church, which exists as a communion.This is to say that each member exists and lives for all the other members of the Church. Each of us has a mission in the life of the Church, called to be in service to one another. Episcopal leadership being solely defined by power has no place, since the power attached to the bishop’s office is only given to achieve and guarantee the Church’s unity.

There are other aspects of ecclesiology equally vital: What does it mean to say the Church is “one, holy, catholic,” too? How do we understand, for example, that the Church is holy when sinful at the same time? The Church’s holiness is possible only because her head, Jesus Christ, our Lord, is holy, and we are the members of his body. As sinners, clergy and laity can become holy through Christ alone.

The Church is first and foremost a sacrament — that is, a visible sign that makes effective and visible the invisible reality she signifies. The mission of the whole Church is a mission for the life of the whole world. All those who are baptized into Christ are to make Christ’s salvation not only visible but effective to all the world. This is because the Church is inherently missionary by nature, an idea reiterated time and again by Pope St. Paul VI. It is the task of every single Catholic, then, to be cooperators with Christ’s saving mission, through word and deed. The whole of our lives are to be defined by Christ. That means Christianity cannot be simply a hobby — an addition to one’s life — but a whole way of being. Because the Church is a sacrament, her members – always and everywhere — have the opportunity to be a sign by which the saving actions of Jesus are made effective in the lives of others.

Father Harrison Ayre is a priest of the Diocese of Victoria, British Columbia. Follow him on Twitter at @FrHarrison. Read more in the “Introduction to Theology” series here.

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Church Teaching

Theological Anthropology 101: Why the Church is adamant on the male-female nature of marriage

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Sometimes it appears that the only thing modernity is obsessed with is sexuality. From the debates surrounding pronouns to the question of sexual orientation, there is a deeper truth that…

Sometimes it appears that the only thing modernity is obsessed with is sexuality. From the debates surrounding pronouns to the question of sexual orientation, there is a deeper truth that the contemporary world reveals: human sexuality touches the core of our humanity.

It is important to understand that human sexuality is a much deeper and richer reality than human sexual expression between husband and wife. By sexuality, the Church means that “in which man’s belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman” (CCC No. 2337). In short, it is an expression of our bodiliness – and therefore is something we share with the animals. But, the Catechism goes on to talk about how sexuality becomes “personal and truly human” when it is expressed in relationships. That is: this purely physical aspect of human sexuality also has a spiritual and personal character to it that also separates us from the animals.

The Catechism also states that sexuality “affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul. It especially concerns affectivity, the capacity to love and to procreate, and in a more general way the aptitude for forming bonds of communion with others” (No. 2332). It also says that “everyone, man and woman, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity. Physical, moral, and spiritual difference and complementarity are oriented toward the goods of marriage and the flourishing of family life. The harmony of the couple and of society depends in part on the way in which the complementarity, needs, and mutual support between the sexes are lived out” (No. 2333).

What the Catechism attempts to make clear here is that human sexuality is essential to human life and identity and is a good given us by God that brings about human flourishing.

Human Sexuality as Essential

If human sexuality is a personal living out of being embodied creatures, then a few necessary things follow. The first is that being male and female is essential to our human condition, and, more fundamentally, is a gift from God. This implies its goodness. But since it is a gift, meaning sexuality is something that is given, it is not something we make on our own. Our bodies determine our sexual expression and orientations.

This last claim is a difficult pill to swallow for contemporary society. The issues around gender and our given sex as male and female demonstrate, first, that the issue of sexual identity digs deep into our core as human beings. The fact that there are strong voices for different gender ideologies is a sign that human sexuality is a strong part of who we are. But the Church will always defend the givenness of our humanity. While it will not doubt the suffering of people who struggle with things like same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria, it will always defend the fact that humanity is male and female and that the two sexes are created to be in communion with each other through the bond of marriage. These are the ends or purposes of our human sexuality. Only by living these given purposes by God do we find our identity and live more perfectly our humanity.

Human Sexuality and Human Flourishing

Human sexuality is the means by which bonds of communion are formed. This is expressed most perfectly in the bond of marriage between a man and a woman, but is not reserved to it. Human sexuality, again, is not reserved to the conjugal act. The bonds of friendship and the complementarity of the sexes are means by which the communion of persons is built up. In short, in as much as men and woman see the gift of being man and woman as core to their humanity, then society itself will flourish because of the essential character of the relationship between man and woman in the social nature of humanity. It is so essential that its disorientation can lead to the disintegration of communion in society.

This is why the Church is adamant on the male-female nature of marriage. The covenant of marriage is the “first society” and the “domestic Church.” As the relationship between the sexes is lived out in marriage, it trickles down and impacts the way the same relationship is lived out on a larger scale in society. The more the home is in harmony, the more society will grow to be in harmony, and this is all rooted in the male-female relationship that completes the total expression of being human. As Pope St. John Paul II once said, “As the family goes, so goes the nation, and so goes the whole world in which we live.”

Father Harrison Ayre is a priest of the Diocese of Victoria, British Columbia. Follow him on Twitter at @FrHarrison. Read more from his Theological Anthropology 101 series here.

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Church Teaching

Christology 101: What Is the Hypostatic Union?

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One of the core teachings about the person of Jesus is traditionally called the hypostatic union. This term developed in the early Church, whereby the word “hypostatic” was used officially…

One of the core teachings about the person of Jesus is traditionally called the hypostatic union. This term developed in the early Church, whereby the word “hypostatic” was used officially at the Council of Chalcedon as a way to express the union of Jesus’ two natures. Simply put, it means that in the Person of Jesus are two natures — divinity and humanity — in complete unity without mixture, change, division or separation, as the Council of Chalcedon famously said.

The Church worked toward this teaching over centuries based on a couple core questions: How is it that in Jesus both God and humanity come together? Does this entail that both humanity and divinity are kept intact, or does Jesus lose some of his divinity or humanity in the Incarnation?

These questions are central because how we answer them has an effect on how we understand the salvation that comes from Jesus. It is for this reason that the Church fought so vigorously over the centuries to defend both the full humanity and the full divinity of Jesus. If Jesus is not fully God and fully man, then, simply put, we are not saved, and we are still in sin.

Believing, then, that Jesus is fully God and fully man at the same time means he has everything that we have in our humanity except sin as well as everything that belongs to the nature of God. Chalcedon’s declaration that these two natures exist without mixture, change, division or separation tells us, in a mysterious way, how the two natures are in union with each other.

The Divine Person of the Son is the bond between these two natures. The humanity and divinity of Jesus do not mix — that is what the Church fought against when it battled Arianism. There is no change to either nature: the humanity does not change at the moment of the Incarnation nor does the divine nature change in that moment. They are not separated or divided: the power of the divinity is always in union with the human actions of Jesus.

Such statements may cause one to scratch his or her head in confusion, yet it is usually a sign that one is entering the mystery. The humanity and divinity of Jesus are united without mixing, different without being separated or mingled.

While no analogy perfectly holds, a glimpse of this is found in marriage. There two people, different and distinct, come together in a communion so deep that God pronounces it to be a one flesh, even though two people are present. They are not mingled together, nor are they so separate that they do not work together.

Another image that can help us begin to comprehend the mystery of the hypostatic union, and is worth praying with, is the image of the burning bush at the beginning of the Book of Exodus, where the bush is on fire and yet not consumed.

The reason why the Church stops here in clarifying the relationship between the two natures of Jesus is to respect the mysteriousness of the union. No human mind can perfectly comprehend this mystery. This does not mean we do not seek to understand the relationship between the humanity and the divinity of Jesus, rather it means we have a healthy respect for the uniqueness of the event and the limitedness of our nature.

What is offered here is, ultimately, meant to be guideposts to help navigate a way into the mystery. Meditating on these truths is worthy of our prayer because, as we delve into this mysterious union, one fact becomes abundantly clear: In Jesus God does not destroy, overwhelm or annihilate our humanity. Rather, he enters into our nature and lifts it up to a dignity hitherto unknown. In Jesus we see that humanity is most itself when it is nearest to God.

Father Harrison Ayre is a priest of the Diocese of Victoria, British Columbia. Follow him on Twitter at @FrHarrison.

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Church Teaching

The Creed (Part 2): Jesus Christ, Only Begotten and Consubstantial

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In speaking of Christ, the Creed uses two words that we are not used to: “begotten” and “consubstantial.” Although unfamiliar, these terms can help us appreciate who Jesus is. The…

In speaking of Christ, the Creed uses two words that we are not used to: “begotten” and “consubstantial.” Although unfamiliar, these terms can help us appreciate who Jesus is.

The Father eternally begets the Son, which means that for all eternity the Father gives his being to the Son. To put it differently, there is never a “moment” in which the Son doesn’t exist. He is not created, but eternally comes from the Father. The relationship that God has with his creation, therefore, is rooted more firmly and eternally in his relationship with his Son. This reveals to us that God is an eternal relationship. The Father exists for the Son, and the Son for the Father, through the bond of the Holy Spirit. Thus when God creates, all creation is rooted in this relationship of God.

The fact that the Son is eternally begotten of the Father is confirmed by the term “consubstantial.” The word “con” is rooted in the Latin for “with,” and substance refers to what makes up an entity. Consubstantial, as used in the Creed, refers to the Son as “with the same substance” of the Father. Substance is the very being of God. Whatever is of God is completely and totally in the Son as it is in the Father and the Holy Spirit.

This Son of the Father is the one who takes on human flesh so that he may come to rescue humanity from the bonds of sin and death. He takes on a humanity that is totally ours from his mother Mary. By entering into the world, the Son comes to repair what is broken, namely, that relationship with the Father. He comes to lift up creation once again into proper relationship with God, but this time with something new: to have by adoption what he has by nature: to share the substance, the very life of God.

Father Harrison Ayre is a priest of the Diocese of Victoria, British Columbia. Follow him on Twitter at @FrHarrison. Read part one in the series here.

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