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Andy Prima

It's Tuesday

"Because, most of us all walk around as if we' re sleeping walking. We really don't experience the world fully, because we're half-asleep, doing things we automatically thing we have to do."

Today I fully aprpreciate this quote. I am breathing but I dont have clear vision. I dont have clear dream.

Once I read from a blog about what imagery you would think of your life. I had one imagery last time, like a clay.

But I think the clay is almost dry now, it is very difficult to be shaped, the clay also want to know what is its shape now. No answer, no body tell it. It is confused and lost.

It is tuesday. I learned about death today.

Weekends of Tuesday with Morrie

It has been quite some time for me to write something here, and also to read a novel book. It is because of my bad habbit of Procrastination. I am now trying to cut my negative habit of procrastination by writting something that touched me so much this weekend. I supposed to write about my 10 days training at Kkotongnae as I promised one of my friend and also about my trip to Chengdu, and some other things. Rather than making the list longer I guess the best solution is just start writing from what I have now.

So here I am, after finishing the 2nd book by Mitch Albom, Tuesday with Morrie. I borrowed these 2 books ( one more day and Tuesday with Morrie ) from my roommate. The last novel that I read is harry potter which was about 1 or 2 years ago. These two books are quite thin so I could finish it quite fast. ( maybe 2 weekends is considered slow for some of you hahaha). I am not going to give a book review,but rather about my experience and reflection reading this book.

For more excerpt or preview about the book please check it on wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuesdays_With_Morrie)

I will go straight to my favorite chapter: The fourth Tuesday, we talked about Death.

Death is really the best topic that I love from this book, it serves me as a wake up call, slap on the face, or punch on my stomach. When something struck me real hurt it means that I am really weak on this ( I forgot where I heard or read about this )

My favorite part from this chapter :
" Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live .... , Because, most of us all walk around as if we' re sleeping walking. We really don't experience the world fully, because we're half-asleep, doing things we automatically thing we have to do. "
And facing death changes all that?
" Oh yes, You strip away all that stuff and you focus on the essentials. When you realize you are going to die you see everything much differently."

"Everyone knows they are going to die, but nobody believes it."

I love this part because it hit me so hard, I am that kind of person, I know that I am going to die, but I dont really believes it because I dont live my life fully. yet.

I know that I should doing what I love, living what I love, but the problem is.... I dont know exactly what it is.
I am still running here and there to find clues. I am still not at peace with my self. I dont know about you, but I really want to say that I know what I love, and I am doing what I love.

At the end of my life, I will be able to say I forgive all the things that I failed to do, but if I have a chance to repeat my life, I will do exactly the same thing that I did in my life.
I can feel it.... The sense of peace because of fulfillment.

I am still not settling down, I am open minded, searching for my true self, knowing what I love, and doing it.
By writing this, I discovered 1 clue, I love to share, I love to hear if there is anybody who could relate to what I am writing, and of course I could help them from my sharing.

I know that I am not alone, we are on the same quest. To our self discovery. Let us share and encourage one another.

Peace

The most profound life experience (Yet)

I visited the greatest place on earth, Kkottongnae, South Korea. I went there with another 4 of my friends from singapore.

From the left : Stefani, Damian, Bosco , and Dion.

We spent 10 days full of great experience, lovely people, beautiful place, and delicious food!

Our first day visit to Seoul Cathedral ( I forgot the name), and this is the first church to be built in Korea, well it is still under renovation for the front view. Something unique about Korean Christian, they know Christ for the first time was not by the foreign missionaries like many other countries in Asia.

2nd day visit, a tour to the Kkottongnae facilities, they have many buildings on their complex.There are house for children (read: orphan,children with disabilities),house for the poor ( those who stay on the street), house for the elderly ( those who were cast away by their own children/family). The picture above is only one of the building, which is the training center, and also convention hall to hold a big conference or meeting.

At the back part of the training center, there is this beautiful cemetery, this place is dedicated for the baby who were aborted by their parent. A statue of the Holy Family ( Joseph,Mary and baby Jesus) is there.

Two of the hundred children who stay at kkottongnae, they are so lovely! very active and smart. 

 

We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to do voluntary job at the house of the elderly. I help this grandmother to have her lunch, because she can't move her body well and she need help to do her daily activity. Strangely, the elderly who stay there looks happy ( for real! ) I can look at their eyes, and they feel peace and loved! Look at this!

  

We also bring them outside to have a walk ( we push their wheel chair because they can't walk anymore). They holds hand by themselves ( no body ask them to do it! ) they support one another, love one another! I really can feel the love among the people! The worker with the elderly, the worker with the volunteer, and the volunteer with the elderly.

  

Guess what? in Korea there are 103 canonized saints! and many more martyrs! This is also another reason why the Christian there is very strong. The origin for their faith was from their own people who went to China and become a priest there. Behind the altar there are stones on which is engraved the name of the saint.

  

It is me with the picture of the 103 saints~ 

  

At Kkottongnae, we attended a leadership training by ICCRS ( please visit the site for more details about ICCRS) The training was held for 1 week, from 5 - 13 July 2008. In the picture is Jim Murphy one of the trainer. *And Sister John whom we met at the airport for the 1st time with Br Paul.

  

In the 1st row, there are Jim Murphy  and Oreste ( the 2nd and 3rd person from the left of the 1st row). Oreste is also one of the trainer, he is currently the Director of ICCRS. The rest of the people are the Koreans from one diocesan of the 13 diocesan in Korea

 

Lastly the Sisters and Br Bartholomew who lead the Praise and Worship on the last day. They really have beautiful voices! I love to see the sisters in KKottongnae, they are so lovely, so kind and in love with Jesus!

This is really a life changing experience. To see and experience the Love and Faith of people to God. I believe this is not only my statement to say that this is the most profound life experience, but also by the entire participants of the training.

Self Love

After I change my focus to meaning, there is some changes in my life. I played soccer this Saturday. I usually play every week with my friends. But this week is a bit different. I have more love towards the game.

When the game was started, I feel the joy of kicking the ball, running to chase the ball, or pass the ball to my friends.

The wheater was also quite good, not so hot and not raining. Some how I feel good about it.

I said to my self, how good life is, I am very fortunate to have a healthy body. I said I love my body as it is. Thank you God for giving me this body.

I also said thank God for the health, appearance that I have.

I found meaning in this simple conversation, you know, it is like saying I love my self as I am.

I feel many of us like to compare with other people. Our neighbor grass always look greener!

The meaning that I discover is about self love. I think its ok to love our self. and even I think before we can love other people we need to love ourself first.

Life will be more exciting because we love ourself, we make peace and feel content about our condition. With the love that we have for ourself we can grow more!

It is strange, but it was my first time that I have this experience and insight while playing soccer.

Start to blog again!

It has been 6 months since the last time I publish something on this blog. I would like to start blogging after being off for sometimes.
There are many updates and improvement from blogger,Thanks man. They make blogging more fun and comfortable.

I would like to blog about the meaning of life. I read books from Viktor Frankl, with his most popular book titled Man Search for Meaning. This book explain a lot to me about the thing that I have been looking for.

The purpose of life, why am I here.

The meaning of life, what is this life all about.

I also feel that I am not alone, that there are many other people especially around my age who are also searching for meaning and purpose.

I will try my best to get connected with many people as possible through this media, so that we may share and help one another.

For those who have passed this stage of life, Please! Please! help me and many other people by sharing your experience.

Just drop by a comment, or message me if you wish to share something.

Thank you for your generousity

Choosing My Career

You are the only one who knows whether you have won or not. Don't try to be better than someone else. Just be the best at what you can be.

-John Wooden's Dad-

I am posting about this because one of my friend told me why don't I share or post about my experience and my knowledge about this.

I also want to write something more secular, so that I may share to my friends who have a different religion. I want to share what I learned from the books that I read in the last one month:

Rich dad Poor dad by Robert Kiyosaki
Why We Want You to Be Rich by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki
First, Break all the rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman
Now, Discover Your Strengths By Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton
8 Secrets of the Truly Rich By Bo Sanchez

I read my friend's blog today on her post about her career choice. She is discerning whether she should work on something that she likes and good at but lower salary, or she should work on something that she doesn't like and not really good at but with high salary.
My comment to her is choose the one that you are good at and you Love it and then receive a high Income.

The question is : Is that possible? My answer is YES!

Ok what I have now is merely knowledge, I can't prove it to you , Yet! So please bare with me and allow me to share what I know and what I am doing now.

My point here is to Work On your STRENGTH, this is the main consideration of my career choice. What is my Unique Selling Point aka Strength?

Strength is a consistent of near perfect performance

-Marcus Buckingham-

By taking this definition of strength, I believe and 100 % guaranteed that when I am working on my strength money won't be any problem. why? Because we are working on excellence peformance!

Let me elaborate more on this. Your strength is something unique, that means there is something which only you can do with a consistent of near perfect performance. To develop our strength we require to develop our TALENTS by learning some related SKILLS.

The equation is Strength = Talents ^ Skill ( exponential )

The reason your strength is unqiue is because it is rooted from your talents.

Talents is a recurring pattern of thought , feeling, or behaviour that can be productively applied
-Marcus Buckingham-

What did I do when I chose my career? I follow my passion, I ask my self: what am I good at?, what do I love to do? Which kind of job that will bring a great satisfaction?

I chose to follow my passion which is one of the trace in order to discover my talent, and then I can work on it, to develop my strength. How about you?

I hope this posting may help my friends who are discerning. Please leave a comment to give a feedback to me.

Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase.

-Martin Luther King, Jr.-

-To be continued-

Working for the Lord- Day 2

The second day, I woke up at 8.00 am and then as usual I clean my body as well my soul. I was refreshed body and soul after I ended my morning prayer. Yes it looks boring but this boredom will bring to my greatness.

My second day to write on my heart the verse from Colossians 3 : 23-24.
23 Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters,24 since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ.

By the time I arrived at my lab I checked my emails, organised my plan for today and then drink a glass of coffee.... Then....get Hustle!!! I continue my work , the design for the part of the robotic endoscopy surgery.

Today it didn't go so smooth, but that is the main thing... the difficulties, the challenges make me to learn how to meditate upon the verse!! I learn how to pray when I am working.

Praise the Lord!!

Working for the Lord- Day 1

Yeah I am so motivated today. I woke up a bit late, at 8.30 am because last night I slept at around 2.00 am. Normally I will be like zombie for that day because I am a person who need a sleep for about 7 - 8 hours a day.

Before I went to my office today, as usual, I pray and listen to God's word. It sounds so boring to pray every morning but I realize without asking the strength from the Lord before I start my day, I may not be able to work at my best capacity.

When I pray, although I may not feel anything but something routine, but throughout the day or the week God will help me so that I may grow and find at least a clue to be in His plan. I totally agree and believe that God's plan is the best for me.

God's word for me today is from Colossians 3 : 23-24.
23 Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters,24 since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ.

This word is the centre of my attention for today.

Whenever I find something exciting in my work ,I learn to praise the Lord, to thank him for an exciting job.
Whenever I find some difficulties in my work, I learn to praise the Lord, to thank him for a wonderful lesson and experience.
Whenever I meet a difficult person, I learn to praise my Master, to thank him for teaching me to be patient and understanding.

Today my Employer taught me about these things. He wants me to do my work for Him.
Not for my salary, not for my personal achievement, nor for any other things but for Him.

I also believe that the reward He promised me is greater that anything that the world can offer me.

Today I regain my motivation, spirit and focus to work on the robotic endoscopy surgery. I can design the robot more patiently and wholeheartedly.Even now I am still excited to continue my work although I am quite tired physically.

Praise the Lord!!

Working For God

I spend my weekend to refresh my mind,body and spirit. I enjoy my weekend and I have a wonderful moment with my girlfriend. We had a very fruitful conversation and she helped me to regain my spirit and motivation.

So.. as I said that I learned to work for the Lord, especially in my current job. I learned that working for God doesn't necessary to be at the church or any social work or ministry.

I can work for God in my current job.

I can work to please my Master as a research staff. I can design for God, I can think for God, I can contact supplier for God. It is a previlage for me to work right now. I also can earn enough money for my living.

I am still not sure how this work will lead me to come closer to God, but I believe right now He is leading me. He want to teach me something, and I know He wants me to do something here, to learn something from my current job.

I want to start praying for my job, colleague, supervisor so that I can learn as much as I can, and I may contribute as much as possible.

Christ@Work Conference

Hi all... I have not been posting for few months and today I am so inspired to write about my experience at the Christ@Work Conference today. It was held at Catholic JC from the morning to the evening around 7.00 pm.


What I want to share is the great experience regarding the spirituality of work.

Before I attended the conference, especially this last 1 month, I felt that I was lacking something in my job. I felt that there is something missing. Although I just have been working for about 4 months, but my first 3 months was a great experience for me to work. I am so excited to go to my lab and think of exciting idea on how to build the surgical robot.


I thought the thing that I missed was my passion, maybe I am at the wrong job? ( Maybe some of you have asked this to yourselves)
Or maybe I am not suitable or not good enough? Or even maybe because I am not earning enough?


I asked myself many questions alike this past one week. I couldn't find the answer, until today I attended the conference. Today I was taught by God through the wonderful preachers in the conference that I should regard my work as a service to the Lord. What I am doing right now is part of His plan, He wants me to discover Him through my work right now. He want me to become witness and beacon of light in my lab ( it's sound awkward though).


But!!!! I get the answer, what is the thing that I am missing this past one month. It is not about passion, or skill, or talent, or salary.... but it is about my employer... Whom am I working for?


I want to say now with conviction and faith that I am working for God!!!

Another blessing that I get today is this:

Its me with one of my favorite preacher. Bo Sanchez.
He comes from Phililpine to bring a session about spirituality at workplace. He is very busy because of the kerygma conference last weekend.


I love his preaching so much because it is so practical and factual. He is really blessed as a preacher and he has touched many people with the love of God including me.


I hope when we meet again next time we could talk more and we could share our experience. To be honest I really want him to become my mentor, but its quite difficult because of place and time constraint.



I want to spend my weekend by meditating and reflecting on the messages that I receive today, and I will start my day on monday to work for God. I am building the robot for God. I want to develop all the talents He gives me.

Praise The Lord!!!

The Faith of Our Abundance Life

Today's readings are from http://www.usccb.org/nab/081107.shtml

From the 1st reading we can read about this :
“When the LORD, your God, brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,that he would give you,
a land with fine, large cities that you did not build,
with houses full of goods of all sorts that you did not garner,
with cisterns that you did not dig,
with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant;
and when, therefore, you eat your fill,take care not to forget the LORD,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.

I am so amazed even the Lord swore for my abundance, the land with fine, large cities that i did not build, houses that full of goods, and etc. If I want to translate to my language it would be like this. God swore to give me : a house that full of love and comfortable for me to live with my family, Passive incomes so that I always satisfy the needs of me and my family, cars or transportation so that I can go to many places God want to show me, and etc.

Maybe some people might say that how come God swore the abundance but there are so many poverty in the world? I was thinking like that, but again today I get the answer from the Gospel:
He said to them, “Because of your little faith.Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed,you will say to this mountain,‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.Nothing will be impossible for you.”

I dont ignore the facts that out there, there are still many people who are hungry or suffer. However I take these passage for the context of my life. What I can do is just give thanks to the Lord for the abundance that I have right now. I keep believing that if I have the faith of the Abundance and believe in the Word that God swore. Nothing is impossible for me.

Thank you Lord!

The Abundance Of Our Life

Brothers and sisters:Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion,for God loves a cheerful giver.Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you,so that in all things, always having all you need,you may have an abundance for every good work.

As it is written:He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;his righteousness endures forever.The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness. (2 Cor 9:6-10)

This verse taught me about the principle of sow and reap, what we sow is what we will reap. If we sow bountifully thought we will reap bountifully action. If we sow bountifully action we will reap bountifully habit. If we sow bountifully habit we will reap bountifully character. If we sow bountifully character we will reap bountifully life!! So how do we get a bountifully life?

God is so good that we live in abundance. He is able to make that all things always having all that I need. If life is so abundance what do we need to complaint for? why we don't be a generous person? the abundance is so great that it will be always enough for everyone!!

If you don't believe that our life is so abundance, try the principle of sowing and reaping.
Sow the thought which is full of abundance, and see what is your life look like.

Praise the Lord for His greatness in the abundance that we receive in this life.

The Image of God

Yesterday I attended a mass which homily talk about the image of God. I was quite surprised by the homily when the priest told us that we tend to have the image of God which we like. We tend to wrap it by the image that we want to receive, or which we are comfortable or happy with.

I am also still do that thing, I have the image of God who is like a loving father ( I think many of people have this image ) and also merciful God who always forgive me, lastly as a great teacher who will always teach me how to grow more and more.

Those images are not wrong, its not a matter of right or wrong, but with this tendency ( which is also normal ) I might not be able to get the real image that God want me to have. I think may be not everyone will have the same image.

The new image that I receive is the image of God who challenge me to do or answer His calling. I just also learn about listening to God's voice. I think God's voice could be in many form : our self talk, our intuition, or even just an idea that pop up during our free time. This new image add in the richness of my relationship with Him.

The point that I want to add is do I receive the image of God that He want to show to me? or the Image that I am comfortable with? for some people the answer is yes, for some people might be no. The most important thing is what are we going to do as the response of our answer?

Faith, prayer and The Secret

I have just read today's reading which are taken from here. The first reading is really interesting, when I see that after looking by themselves, the promised land which is so abundance. The Israelites were so pessimistic and discouraged themselves. Instead of being positive like Aaron who wanted to see at the abundance not to the "challenge" which is the presence of the fierce inhabitant on the promised land.

From the first reading, I asked my self, how many times that in my life, or even in the last one week that I discourage myself by focusing to the negative, to the scarcity? Even the abundance is already in front of me. It just need me to take action to take it, there is no free lunch!!

With the moaning and groaning, complaints, pessimistic of the Israelites even God also became angry with them and He said this :
The LORD also said to Moses and Aaron:
"How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the Israelites against me.
Tell them: By my life, says the LORD, I will do to you just what I have heard you say." (Num 14: 26-27)

God will do to them as what He have heard them say, what does this mean?
Now I want to go to the Gospel reading, instead of being like the Israelites, the woman who has not seen the abundance in front of her, but she believe, she know in her faith. She keep asking Jesus to heal her daughter, she keep trying and trying through the rejection she get from the disciple even from Jesus. Guess what? She never give up!! Until Jesus said "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed from that hour. (Mattew 15 :28 )

Why Jesus said that? Let it be done for you as you wish... I want to relate this to the book of the secret or the Law of Attraction. We can see that the woman focus in the healing of her daughter, she know and believe that her daughter will be healed. Before she met Jesus we don't know how many times and fervent she had been praying for the healing of her daughter.
Then she took action, she asked, persistently and believe... with this she was sending her will to the universe and the universe send the answer to the Son of God to heal her daughter.

I was surprised when I reflected these to readings in my life. How many times I was like the Israelites? How many times I was like the woman? both of them get what they wishes, God give them both. Both of them have the same persistence and faith, in different ways or wishes. As the Law of Attraction says "Like attract like". Interestingly Jesus also taught this to us, even our ancestor from the time of moses also taught this to us. If you really ask for something and you really believe it or not, whether it is bad or good wishes, you will get it.

you also can refer to my post about the review of The Secret book at http://seeds-project.blogspot.com/2007/08/secret.html

Sacred Scripture -5-

Return to Sacred Scripture ~4~

This is the last post regarding the Sacred Scripture refering to the CCC, I really hope this small contribution on my perception regarding the Sacred Scripture may help you.

As you can see I don't really give any addition on the 4th posting, because I think it is quite clear. However I am always open for any discussion or comments. Please feel free to give any feedbacks to me.The mystery or I would say the experience of reading and understanding the Word of God has helped me to grow in my spiritual and personal growth. Surprisingly this is also aplicable for non Christian, you can reflect more on the principle that God's Word deliver through this writing.You may try it what the Scripture said, try to open it today and read it, and see how you can learn from it.

On my next posting I will also put my perspective as a Christian on what I receive and understand from my journey in my personal growth.

SACRED SCRIPTURE IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH

131 "And such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve the Church as her support and vigor, and the children of the Church as strength for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life."Hence "access to Sacred Scripture ought to be open wide to the Christian faithful."

132 "Therefore, the study of the sacred page should be the very soul of sacred theology. The ministry of the Word, too - pastoral preaching, catechetics and all forms of Christian instruction, among which the liturgical homily should hold pride of place - is healthily nourished and thrives in holiness through the Word of Scripture."

133 The Church "forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful. . . to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.

IN BRIEF

134 All sacred Scripture is but one book, and this one book is Christ, "because all divine Scripture speaks of Christ, and all divine Scripture is fulfilled in Christ" (Hugh of St. Victor, De arca Noe 2, 8: PL 176, 642: cf. ibid. 2, 9: PL 176, 642-643).

135 "The Sacred Scriptures contain the Word of God and, because they are inspired, they are truly the Word of God" (DV 24).

136 God is the author of Sacred Scripture because he inspired its human authors; he acts in them and by means of them. He thus gives assurance that their writings teach without error his saving truth (cf. DV 11).

137 Interpretation of the inspired Scripture must be attentive above all to what God wants to reveal through the sacred authors for our salvation. What comes from the Spirit is not fully "understood except by the Spirit's action' (cf. Origen, Hom. in Ex. 4, 5: PG 12, 320).

138 The Church accepts and venerates as inspired the 46 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New.

139 The four Gospels occupy a central place because Christ Jesus is their center.

140 The unity of the two Testaments proceeds from the unity of God's plan and his Revelation. The Old Testament prepares for the New and the New Testament fulfils the Old; the two shed light on each other; both are true Word of God.

141 "The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures as she venerated the Body of the Lord" (DV 21): both nourish and govern the whole Christian life. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Ps 119:105; cf. Is 50:4).

Sacred Scripture - 4 -

IV. THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE

120 It was by the apostolic Tradition that the Church discerned which writings are to be included in the list of the sacred books. This complete list is called the canon of Scripture. It includes 46 books for the Old Testament (45 if we count Jeremiah and Lamentations as one) and 27 for the New.
The Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, Esther, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, the Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah and Malachi.
The New Testament: the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the Acts of the Apostles, the Letters of St. Paul to the Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, the Letter to the Hebrews, the Letters of James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John, and Jude, and Revelation (the Apocalypse).

The Old Testament

121 The Old Testament is an indispensable part of Sacred Scripture. Its books are divinely inspired and retain a permanent value, for the Old Covenant has never been revoked.

122 Indeed, "the economy of the Old Testament was deliberately so oriented that it should prepare for and declare in prophecy the coming of Christ, redeemer of all men.""Even though they contain matters imperfect and provisional, the books of the Old Testament bear witness to the whole divine pedagogy of God's saving love: these writings "are a storehouse of sublime teaching on God and of sound wisdom on human life, as well as a wonderful treasury of prayers; in them, too, the mystery of our salvation is present in a hidden way."

123 Christians venerate the Old Testament as true Word of God. The Church has always vigorously opposed the idea of rejecting the Old Testament under the pretext that the New has rendered it void (Marcionism).

The New Testament

124 "The Word of God, which is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, is set forth and displays its power in a most wonderful way in the writings of the New Testament"96 which hand on the ultimate truth of God's Revelation. Their central object is Jesus Christ, God's incarnate Son: his acts, teachings, Passion and glorification, and his Church's beginnings under the Spirit's guidance.

125 The Gospels are the heart of all the Scriptures "because they are our principal source for the life and teaching of the Incarnate Word, our Savior".

126 We can distinguish three stages in the formation of the Gospels:
1. The life and teaching of Jesus. The Church holds firmly that the four Gospels, "whose historicity she unhesitatingly affirms, faithfully hand on what Jesus, the Son of God, while he lived among men, really did and taught for their eternal salvation, until the day when he was taken up."
2. The oral tradition. "For, after the ascension of the Lord, the apostles handed on to their hearers what he had said and done, but with that fuller understanding which they, instructed by the glorious events of Christ and enlightened by the Spirit of truth, now enjoyed."
3. The written Gospels. "The sacred authors, in writing the four Gospels, selected certain of the many elements which had been handed on, either orally or already in written form; others they synthesized or explained with an eye to the situation of the churches, the while sustaining the form of preaching, but always in such a fashion that they have told us the honest truth about Jesus."

127 The fourfold Gospel holds a unique place in the Church, as is evident both in the veneration which the liturgy accords it and in the surpassing attraction it has exercised on the saints at all times:
There is no doctrine which could be better, more precious and more splendid than the text of the Gospel. Behold and retain what our Lord and Master, Christ, has taught by his words and accomplished by his deeds.
But above all it's the gospels that occupy my mind when I'm at prayer; my poor soul has so many needs, and yet this is the one thing needful. I'm always finding fresh lights there; hidden meanings which had meant nothing to me hitherto.

The unity of the Old and New Testaments

128 The Church, as early as apostolic times, and then constantly in her Tradition, has illuminated the unity of the divine plan in the two Testaments through typology, which discerns in God's works of the Old Covenant prefigurations of what he accomplished in the fullness of time in the person of his incarnate Son.

129 Christians therefore read the Old Testament in the light of Christ crucified and risen. Such typological reading discloses the inexhaustible content of the Old Testament; but it must not make us forget that the Old Testament retains its own intrinsic value as Revelation reaffirmed by our Lord himself.Besides, the New Testament has to be read in the light of the Old. Early Christian catechesis made constant use of the Old Testament.As an old saying put it, the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New.

130 Typology indicates the dynamic movement toward the fulfillment of the divine plan when "God [will] be everything to everyone."Nor do the calling of the patriarchs and the exodus from Egypt, for example, lose their own value in God's plan, from the mere fact that they were intermediate stages.

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III. THE HOLY SPIRIT, INTERPRETER OF SCRIPTURE

Now we will discuss more on How to read the bible, which is my greatest question about the bible. Here is the beautiful plan of God in how to read in His way, through the Holy Spirit, the inspirator and the interpreter.


109 In Sacred Scripture, God speaks to man in a human way. To interpret Scripture correctly, the reader must be attentive to what the human authors truly wanted to affirm, and to what God wanted to reveal to us by their words.

110 In order to discover the sacred authors' intention, the reader must take into account the conditions of their time and culture, the literary genres in use at that time, and the modes of feeling, speaking and narrating then current. "For the fact is that truth is differently presented and expressed in the various types of historical writing, in prophetical and poetical texts, and in other forms of literary expression."

From these two paragraph, it is said, we must interpret the way God want us to interpret. So that we can get the teaching, meaning, truth of the Word of God. This explanation really amazed me at the first time I read it. I didnt know at all, about the beauty of the Scripture, I didnt know about the Word of God in the human language!! I told to myself, how come that God who is infinite, use the human language to deliver His Word, as we know the language of man has a lot of err and also aruable things. I was reminded by our saviour, Jesus Christ. True God and true man!! How could it be, He who is so holy want to be human? The immortal come down to earth to be the mortal? It works through a similar way in the scripture.

111 But since Sacred Scripture is inspired, there is another and no less important principle of correct interpretation, without which Scripture would remain a dead letter. "Sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted in the light of the same Spirit by whom it was written."
The Second Vatican Council indicates three criteria for interpreting Scripture in accordance with the Spirit who inspired it.

112 1. Be especially attentive "to the content and unity of the whole Scripture". Different as the books which compose it may be, Scripture is a unity by reason of the unity of God's plan, of which Christ Jesus is the center and heart, open since his Passover.
The phrase "heart of Christ" can refer to Sacred Scripture, which makes known his heart, closed before the Passion, as the Scripture was obscure. But the Scripture has been opened since the Passion; since those who from then on have understood it, consider and discern in what way the prophecies must be interpreted.

113 2. Read the Scripture within "the living Tradition of the whole Church". According to a saying of the Fathers, Sacred Scripture is written principally in the Church's heart rather than in documents and records, for the Church carries in her Tradition the living memorial of God's Word, and it is the Holy Spirit who gives her the spiritual interpretation of the Scripture (". . . according to the spiritual meaning which the Spirit grants to the Church").

114 3. Be attentive to the analogy of faith.By "analogy of faith" we mean the coherence of the truths of faith among themselves and within the whole plan of Revelation.

The three criterias here are the great reflection for me personally. It is like telling me about the aspects of the scripture. First criteria, to read in the unity and the wholeness of the scripture, that is why in the liturgy of word during the mass, there are first reading, responsial psalm, second reading and the Gospel reading. This is one of the example to read in the unity of the scripture. It taught me that the content of each book in the bible is unseparated, they are different but unseparated.

The second criteria, as I have mentioned before, that we should read in within the living tradition of the Church. Why is that so? Because the Church pass down the experience from the aposlte, disciple who lived together with Jesus on His earthly ministry through what we called the Living Tradition. So by reading within the tradition of the Church, we keep the context, the meaning and the teaching from the Scripture affirmed by the living tradition of whom lived and experience Jesus.

The third criteria, the analogy of faith. The scriputre contains the Word of God, which revealing Himself to us. Many of the aspects requires faith for us to understand or graps the meaning. Its impossible for us to elaborate everything about God using our mind only.

The Senses of Scripture

115 According to an ancient tradition, one can distinguish between two senses of Scripture: the literal and the spiritual, the latter being subdivided into the allegorical, moral and anagogical senses. The profound concordance of the four senses guarantees all its richness to the living reading of Scripture in the Church.

116 The literal sense is the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture and discovered by exegesis, following the rules of sound interpretation: "All other senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the literal."

117 The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God's plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs.
1. The allegorical sense. We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of Christ's victory and also of Christian Baptism.
2. The moral sense. The events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written "for our instruction".
3. The anagogical sense (Greek: anagoge, "leading"). We can view realities and events in terms of their eternal significance, leading us toward our true homeland: thus the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem.

118 A medieval couplet summarizes the significance of the four senses:
The Letter speaks of deeds; Allegory to faith;The Moral how to act; Anagogy our destiny.

119 "It is the task of exegetes to work, according to these rules, towards a better understanding and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture in order that their research may help the Church to form a firmer judgement. For, of course, all that has been said about the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgement of the Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God."
But I would not believe in the Gospel, had not the authority of the Catholic Church already moved me.

Praise The Lord!!

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II. INSPIRATION AND TRUTH OF SACRED SCRIPTURE

This part will discuss more about the author of the bible, the "content" of the bible. First, who is the author of the bible?

105 God is the author of Sacred Scripture. "The divinely revealed realities, which are contained and presented in the text of Sacred Scripture, have been written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit."
"For Holy Mother Church, relying on the faith of the apostolic age, accepts as sacred and canonical the books of the Old and the New Testaments, whole and entire, with all their parts, on the grounds that, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author, and have been handed on as such to the Church herself."

Since the sacred scripture is the Word of God, obviously the author is God Himself. But it was written by man who are inspired by the Holy Spirit. God chose the people who became the writers of the Word of God.

106 God inspired the human authors of the sacred books. "To compose the sacred books, God chose certain men who, all the while he employed them in this task, made full use of their own faculties and powers so that, though he acted in them and by them, it was as true authors that they consigned to writing whatever he wanted written, and no more."

The chosen people who became the writters are the people, you and me that God want to call and use. As God has given us talents,He called certain men with the talents of writting and who had a close relationship with Him to be the writters. Those people listen and inspired by the Holy Spirit, which is God Himself to write the Sacred Scripture. Therefore we must understand that in the Bible there are both God and human elements there. The Holy Spirit inspiration guard the writters so that the meaning and the truth about God were written according to His will.

107 The inspired books teach the truth. "Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures."

This paragraph is also very interesting, the content of the sacred scripture is the Truth! and without error. Again I repeat the meaning and the teaching of the scripture are without error. However we must also taken note the writer is human, and we can't ignore the human factor in the scripture. When it is said that the scripture teach without error, we must remember that we can't take it as all the language or even the commas are flawless. The inspired writers, was not possessed by the Holy Spirit when they wrote it, but they are inspired. Therefore we need to read it and interpret the way God want us to read and interpret so that we can receive the truth without error.

108 Still, the Christian faith is not a "religion of the book." Christianity is the religion of the "Word" of God, a word which is "not a written and mute word, but the Word is incarnate and living". If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, "open [our] minds to understand the Scriptures."

This is the teaching of the Catholic church that as a Christian we believe that the entire teaching of the scripture is truth, but not the entire truth is in the Scripture. That is why we don't agree with the Sola Scriptura. From the last sentence, Christ, through the Holy Spirit open our minds to understand the Scripture. We need to understand it as the way Christ want to reveal Himself to us through the Scripture. That is why we need the Magisterium (The Church) with its Living Tradition from the Apostle and passed down to us, to guide us so that we can read and understand the Word of God in His way.

Praise The Lord!!

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I. CHRIST - THE UNIQUE WORD OF SACRED SCRIPTURE

The way of CCC is organised is by paragraph, so if I mentioned about CCC 101, it means the paragraph no 101 from the CCC. Why do I choose to discuss start from Chapter 2-Article 3 regarding the Sacred Scripture? It's because I found a lot of shocking facts regarding the Church teaching and perspective about the Sacred Scripture.

Due to my lack of knowledge and understanding, I didn't know how actually the Catholic or Universal Church interpret, love, respect and inspired by the Sacred Scripture.

Let me start from the first paragraph of this article:
101 In order to reveal himself to men, in the condescension of his goodness God speaks to them in human words: "Indeed the words of God, expressed in the words of men, are in every way like human language, just as the Word of the eternal Father, when he took on himself the flesh of human weakness, became like men."

The definition of the Sacred Scripture or the bible that we as Christian reads its actually the Words of God, in human language. Similar to Jesus who is indeed God but decided to became man, God also use human language in His word to be written in the Sacred Scripture.

102 Through all the words of Sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word, his one Utterance in whom he expresses himself completely:

You recall that one and the same Word of God extends throughout Scripture, that it is one and the same Utterance that resounds in the mouths of all the sacred writers, since he who was in the beginning God with God has no need of separate syllables; for he is not subject to time.

The one Word here means is God Himself, or about Jesus Christ!!He who was in the beginning God with God. We can try to read the entire bible, we will learn and see that it is about God, the father,son and the holy spirit revealing Himself through His Word.

103 For this reason, the Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord's Body. She never ceases to present to the faithful the bread of life, taken from the one table of God's Word and Christ's Body.

This paragraph remind me, that during the Gospel acclamation, the reason why , when the priest raise the Bible that he hold before he read it, we usually genuflect. I do it as well, after I got the understanding that the Gospel contains the Word of God in human language, and the Word represent God Himself, because the Word was God (John 1)

104 In Sacred Scripture, the Church constantly finds her nourishment and her strength, for she welcomes it not as a human word, "but as what it really is, the word of God"."In the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children, and talks with them."

This paragraph conclude of what we believe as a Catholic, that the bible was really the Word of God, and it was about the divine revelation, that God who loves us so much want to reveal Himself through human language. For me, after reading about this four paragraph, I was really amazed, since I didn't really read bible and respect it as the Word of God. The perspective of the Church on the Sacred Scripture from this first four paragraph gave me a bigger picture of what the Word of God is in the bible.

Now I can understand that no wonder we are so encourage to read bible daily by the Church, because by reading it, we are meeting our God, our heavenly Father who wants to reveal Himself to me and to you. I am trying starting from today to read the daily reading from the liturgical calendar of the church. I recommend you to read from this resources : http://www.wau.org/meditations/meditations.asp? with the reflection that really help me to understand and meditate on the Word of God in the daily reading.

Praise the Lord!!!

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