I Have Freewill To Obsess On Predestination!

I was reading Exodus this morning and came across the use of the word "freewill" in the Revised Standard Version I am reading. I had been under the impression that "predestinists" claimed the term was not used in Scripture.

For fun, I ran a word search at BibleGateway.com, and here are the results:

Use of word freewill: 22 times
Use of word predestined: 4 times

Seems that freewill wins in this unofficial face off. At the very least, I am heartened to see that the term freewill DOES appear in Scripture. Since the Word can not contradict itself, we must assume there is a way for the two terms to exist in harmony. My answer is that the concept of predestination is applied from God's timeless point of view, who knows all things. He knows the choices we will freely choose to make.

What's yours?

I Now Pronounce You God and Church

At once virgin and mother, Mary is the symbol and the most perfect realization of the Church: "the Church indeed. . . by receiving the word of God in faith becomes herself a mother. By preaching and Baptism she brings forth sons, who are conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of God, to a new and immortal life. She herself is a virgin, who keeps in its entirety and purity the faith she pledged to her spouse." (CCC 507)

Wow. That's some deep imagery and symbolism.

The Cathechism also points out that by being born of a virgin, there can be no doubt that Jesus is the Son of God. While God could have brought Jesus into this world through the ordinary means of procreation (namely, an earthly mother AND father), the method he chose provides us with a new Adam. While the old Adam was born of the earth, the new Adam is born of Heaven.

We can further see in Jesus' virgin birth how we too can be "born" into God's family through the Sacrament of Baptism whereby we are given new life "not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (CCC 505). As the Catechism goes on to say:

The acceptance of this [new] life [in Christ] is virginal because it is entirely the Spirit's gift to man. The spousal character of the human vocation in relation to God is fulfilled perfectly in Mary's virginal motherhood.

Again I say, "Wow."

Not My Will, But Yours Be Done

Similarly, at the sixth ecumenical council, Constantinople III in 681, the Church confessed that Christ possesses two wills and two natural operations, divine and human. They are not opposed to each other, but cooperate in such a way that the Word made flesh willed humanly in obedience to his Father all that he had decided divinely with the Father and the Holy Spirit for our salvation. Christ's human will "does not resist or oppose but rather submits to his divine and almighty will." (CCC 475)

Jesus was fully God and fully man. My friends and I have often discussed whether Jesus, the man, new that he was the Son of God, and if so, did he know from his birth or was it slowly revealed to his human nature over time?

I tend to believe that while he knew of his divinity from the beginning, his humanity still had the free will to choose his path in life, and had to consciously choose to follow the divine will of the trinitarian God which is why he can be a role model to us for his obedience.

Remember that when Adam was created, he was in full communion with God just as Jesus was in his humanity. Jesus IS the new Adam because he shared the same humanity of Adam. Where Adam gave into temptation, Jesus resisted and remained obedient to God. His obedience is a model to us, and while our tendency to sin can be overwhelming at times, we can see that it is possible to submit fully to the will of the Father.

(I've written this blog at least three times, and have yet to put my thoughts accurately into words. I suppose smarter theologians than I have tried, and surely they were as frustrated as I, but I suppose that's why its faith, and not science, to understand the mystery of Jesus' dual nature!)

Building Up God's House

This is what the LORD then said to Moses: "Tell the Israelites to take up a collection for me. From every man you shall accept the contribution that his heart prompts him to give me. These are the contributions you shall accept from them: gold, silver and bronze; violet, purple and scarlet yarn; fine linen and goat hair; rams' skins dyed red, and tahash skins; acacia wood; oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; onyx stones and other gems for mounting on the ephod and the breastpiece. They shall make a sanctuary for me, that I may dwell in their midst." (Exodus 25:1-8)

I have sometimes heard others wonder aloud why we give our money to build big, fancy churches rather than putting that money to better use such as a charity for orphaned children or AIDS victims. Wouldn't Jesus want us to take care of His children instead of building huge cathedrals?

Certainly we are called to take care of those less fortunate then ourselves, and we should give a portion of our wealth (be it money, time or talent) to those in need. But as Catholics, we also should give a portion of our wealth to building the house of God much as God commanded Moses to do in Exodus 25.

In this chapter we read about God giving specific instructions on how the Jewish people are to construct the ark which will hold the rod, manna, and commandments as well as how to construct what would become the holy of holies where God would reside among His people.

As Catholics, we believe that Christ is present in a unique way when we celebrate the Eucharist. At the moment of the consecration, Jesus is present in body, blood, soul and divinity and remains so as long as the consecrated host and wine turned blood are in our midst. The tabernacle in a Catholic church becomes for us a holy of holies since God is truly residing with us.

For those who are not Catholic (or do not truly believe that Christ is uniquely present in the Eucharist) I can understand why there might be doubt about putting large sums of money into a building. After all, is a gymnasium or a classroom not sufficient for a service which amounts to a bible study given by a wise pastor or minister? In such scenarios I would be inclined to agree that extravagant buildings with rich tapestries, colorful murals and precious metallic accoutrement are simply means of showing off one's wealth.

But if in fact God is truly present in that place, then shouldn't we offer Him the very best that we can? A Catholic Church IS the House of God, and to do anything less than to give him our first fruits would be to disrespect His sovereignty and power.

In Matthew 26:6-11 we see Jesus affirming the actions of a woman who pours costly perfumed oil on Him. His disciples argued that the oil could have been sold to provide for the poor, but Jesus rebukes them stating that the poor will always be there, but He will not always be there. Should we assume then that Jesus covets the oil or claims to be more important than the lowly poor? Surely not. Instead our Lord is affirming the command the Father gave to the Israelites by confirming that they should offer their best for their Messiah.

We as Catholic Christians are called to do nothing less.