LectioTube

What is the greatest commandment in the Bible? When someone asked Jesus this question, his answer was simple: 1. Love God 2. Love Your Neighbor LOVE GOD The first and greatest commandment is to love God. Jesus quotes the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4-5, which the Jewish people recited every day: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." How should we love God? Drawing from the Shema, Jesus says to love God with all your: - Heart - Soul - Mind - Strength LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR How do we love our neighbor? Love your neighbor as yourself. Love others as you would...

The shamrock is a popular symbol in Christianity. St. Patrick used the shamrock (or three-leafed clover) in Ireland to teach about God as the Holy Trinity. The Trinity: God is one substance with three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Here is the Christian meaning of the shamrock symbol: Three Leaves = God is Three Persons of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) One Stem = God is One Substance The shamrock is sometimes depicted with heart-shaped leaves to show that God is love. God is the love that is shared between each person of the Trinity. That love is poured out to the whole world. When you see the shamrock decorations for St. Patrick's Day in March, remember ...

There is a practice among Catholics to tell each other and their kids to "offer it up" when they hear complaining. The practice of "offering it up" means to take our small suffering and offer it up quietly as a sacrifice for the holy souls in purgatory. Why? Because when we suffer, we can unite that suffering with the passion of Jesus on the cross. As St. Paul wrote: "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church" (Colossians 1:24). And, therefore, in the Catechism: “By his passion and death on the cross Christ has given a new meaning to suffering: it can hen...

The Catholic Church offers a helpful way of distinguishing between two kinds of grace: sanctifying grace and actual grace. This video explains what sanctifying grace and actual grace mean and how they are different. First, let's define grace. With the Catechism of the Catholic Church as our guide, let's offer these definitions: Grace is "free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life." (CCC, 1996) Sanctifying grace is "is an habitual gift, a stable and supernatural disposition that perfects the soul itself to enable it to live with God, to act by his love." (CCC, 2000...

The Catholic Church uses the phrase "papal infallibility" to describe the teaching office of the pope. When the pope is teaching "ex cathedra" (from the chair), he can declare a Church teaching about faith and morals. Let's clarify what Papal Infallibility means: 1. What does "infallible" mean? Infallible means a statement is without error. 2. When is the pope infallible? Not everything the pope says is infallible. - Infallibility only applies to teachings about faith and morals. - Infallibility only applies when the pope is teaching "ex cathedra." "Ex cathedra" means literally "from the chair" in Latin. When the pope is teaching "ex cathedra" (from the chair), he is speaki...

Manna is the bread from heaven sent by God to the Israelites in the Old Testament. The word "manna" is based on the Hebrew word "man," which means "gift." The manna, therefore, was a gift from God. When the Israelites wandered in the desert, they complained about being hungry. They felt regret for leaving Egypt because at least in slavery they had food to eat. After the complaints, God told Moses he would rain down bread from heaven for the people to eat. Each morning they would go out and gather the bread and eat it that day. In the New Testament, Jesus refers to himself as the "bread of life" that comes down from heaven (John 6). Instead of feeding his people with bread from he...

In Christianity, Pentecost is the celebration of the Holy Spirit descending on the Apostles fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The apostles were gathered together to celebrate an originally Jewish feast of Pentecost (Acts 2). Pentecost means fiftieth, as in the fiftieth day. Pentecost was the fiftieth day after Passover. It occurred during the Jewish Festival of Weeks, which was seven weeks after Passover. 7 weeks x 7 days = 49 days The 50th day marked the celebration of Pentecost. Here is what happened to the Apostles on Pentecost according to Acts 2: "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a s...

What was the Ark of the Covenant? The Book of Exodus describes the Ark of the Covenant that the Israelites created to hold the tablets with the Ten Commandments. It also contained Aaron's rod and some of the manna that God sent to feed the Israelites. The Ark was made with acacia wood and covered in gold. At the top of the ark stood two cherubim (angels) facing each other. It had four rings on the sides so that large staves could be used to carry the ark. The Israelites carried the Ark with them while they wandered the desert for forty years. When they stopped to make camp, they put the Ark in a tent called the Tabernacle (dwelling place for God). The Ark was often a source of str...

On or near the Feast of St. Blaise, Catholic Churches provide the Blessing of the Throats after Mass. We actually don't know a lot about the life of St. Blaise, but according to most accounts, he was a doctor before he became a priest and bishop. According to one story, he came across a boy who was choking on a fishbone. The boy nearly died, but St. Blaise miraculously healed him. For this reason, churches offer a Blessing of the Throats in honor of St. Blaise. This blessing includes two giant candles that are placed on two sides of our throats. The two candles join together to resemble a cross. Here is what the priest, deacon, or lay minister says: "Through the intercession of...

The Tabernacle is the box in Catholic churches where the Eucharist is stored. The Eucharist is the body of Christ and the Tabernacle exists to express the sacredness the consecrated hosts. It is also locked to protect the Eucharist from being improperly removed. The name tabernacle actually comes from the Old Testament. Tabernacle means "tent" or "dwelling place." The Israelites constructed a tent in which they could place the Ark of the Covenant, which held the Ten Commandments. This tent was known as the dwelling place for God. It wasn't until King Solomon, the son of David that the Temple would be built in Jerusalem as the new dwelling place for God. The Catholic Church uses this s...

The Catholic Church refers to the liturgy as the Mass. What does Mass mean? What is the word's etymology? The name Mass comes from very end of the celebration of the liturgy. The priest pronounced in Latin "Ite, missa est," which means "Go, it is dismissed." Missa is the root word for "dismissed," but also "mission." Pope Benedict XVI once wrote: "In antiquity, missa simply meant 'dismissal'. In Christian usage, however, it gradually took on a deeper meaning. The word 'dismissal' has come to imply a 'mission'. These few words succinctly express the missionary nature of the Church." (Sacramentum caritatis, 51) Therefore, when we hear or say the word "Mass" we should think about ...

What does Emmanuel (or Immanuel) mean in the Bible? We hear the name "Emmanuel" often during the Christmas season because of the number of times it is mentioned in the Biblical narratives about Jesus Christ's birth. Here are the Emmanuel Bible verses: The name originally appears in a prophecy in the Book of Isaiah about the Messiah: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14) This passage is quoted in the Gospel of Matthew. An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said: "'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child concei...

Sacramentals are sacred signs of the spiritual effects of a blessing. Here is a definition from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "Sacramentals are instituted for the sanctification of certain ministries of the Church, certain states of life, a great variety of circumstances in Christian life, and the use of many things helpful to man. In accordance with bishops' pastoral decisions, they can also respond to the needs, culture, and special history of the Christian people of a particular region or time. They always include a prayer, often accompanied by a specific sign, such as the laying on of hands, the sign of the cross, or the sprinkling of holy water (which recalls Baptism)." (...

The Books of the Old Testament are often divided into the "Major Prophets" and "Minor Prophets." There are many prophets throughout the Old Testament and many of them have their own books in the Bible. What is a prophet? In the Old Testament, the prophets were people called by God to be his spokespersons. They passed on messages from God to convince kings and God's people to change their ways. Their messages were less about predicting the future than changing the behaviors of God's people in the present. Although this might be too broad a generalization, the main message of the prophets aligned well with the two greatest commandments: love God and love your neighbor. Love God: The...

The Catholic Church describes a collection of works of mercy to fulfill the great commandment to "love they neighbor." There are seven corporal works of mercy and seven spiritual works of mercy. The Corporal Works of Mercy The corporal works of mercy appeal to the physical needs of the body. Their foundation is in Jesus's teachings about the Last judgment in Matthew 25:31-46: "Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared ...

What does liturgy mean in the Catholic Church? The origin of the word liturgy is the Greek word "leitourgia," which means "work for the people." In ancient Greece, the citizens would do public service for their city. They would give back to their community. It was their duty as citizens. leos/laos = people, public ergo = to do In the Catholic Church, we use the word liturgy to refer to the public prayers of the Church, especially the Mass. It includes the rites and rituals that we do together as a Church to worship God. The Liturgy of the Hours, for example, is the public prayer of the Church that all religious and even laity can join in together at specific times of day. We ha...