Deacon Kevin Bagley, D. Min.

• Master of Arts, Theology • Doctor of Ministry

• Saint Mary’s Seminary • The Catholic University of
and University America
CONFIRMATION
 CONFIRMATION

• Confirmation deepens our baptismal life that calls us to

be missionary witnesses of Jesus Christ in our families,
neighborhoods, society, and the world.
• We receive the message of faith in a deeper and more
intensive manner with great emphasis given to the
person of Jesus Christ, who asked the Father to give the
Holy Spirit to the Church for building up the community in
loving service.
from the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults
 CONFIRMATION NAME
Choosing a Confirmation name is an opportunity to choose a

name that has special meaning to you, a name that will help you

in your journey of faith.

By choosing a saint’s name, you’re asking him or her to pray for

you in a special way. Having a special connection to someone in

Heaven is a big deal!

“Parents, sponsors, and the pastor are to take care that a name foreign to
Christian sensibility is not given” (Canon 855 in the Code of Canon Law)
 Baptismal Promises
• Priest:Do you renounce Satan?
• All: I do.

• Priest:And all his works?

• All: I do.

• Priest:And all his empty promises?

• All: I do.

• Priest:Do you believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?
• All: I do.

• Priest:Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, was
crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the Father?
• All: I do.

• Priest:Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the
forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
• All: I do.
KNOWING GOD’S WILL
Magisterium

Scripture Tradition
Dei Verbum,
21
The Bible
• Divinely inspired
• Written by man
• Library of books
• Salvation history
• Scripture is used in Liturgy
• Scripture is used to “prove points”
The BIBLE
Sacred Scripture: the books which contain
the truth of God’s Revelation and were
composed by human authors inspired by
the Holy Spirit (105). The Bible contains
both the forty-six books of the Old
Testament and the twenty-seven books of
the New Testament (120).

• Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Ed.

(Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2000), 868.
Hebrew scripture
• Transmitted orally for centuries. After the Jewish Diaspora*
fewer Jews spoke Hebrew and for them a Greek version of
the Bible was produced.
• Legend has it that Ptolemy II in 275 BC ordered 72 scholars,
working separately and isolated in 72 rooms to translate the
Scripture into Greek.
• At the end of 72 days they all emerged with an identical
translation
• The Septuaginta, Latin for 70, abbreviated LXX
*The first exile was the Assyrian exile, the expulsion from the Kingdom of
Israel (Samaria) by Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria in 733 BC. Continued
with the exile of a portion of the population of the Kingdom of Judah in
597 BC with the Babylonian exile.
What the Bible means, and what the
Bible meant
• No issue if the writer and the readers are the “same”
• “Real” meaning intended by the author or
• Once it leaves the author, it has a life of its own
• Meant
• Literal sense
• What was happening in the day

• Means
• How it is interpreted
• Symbols, signs, language
 Other Bibles
• Martin Luther included 73 books in his edition of the Bible - he placed
the seven so-called apocryphal OT books in an appendix between the
OT and NT
• Ulrich Zwingli produced a Bible with only 66 books.
• The Gutenberg Bible – the first printed Bible – was a complete 73-book
Catholic edition
• The first edition of the King James Bible in 1611 contained the so-called
apocrypha - treated as an appendix between the OT and NT
• Over 300 years after the Reformation – the first major edition, published
by the British and Foreign Bible Society, eliminated the
deuterocanon/apocrypha altogether.
• In 1885 the King James Bible was published as a 66-book edition
Apocrypha Books
• Sirach
• Wisdom
• Judith
• Tobit
• Baruch
• 1 Maccabees
• 2 Maccabees
• Longer version of Daniel
• Longer version of Esther
Inerrancy (in the Bible)
• Word not used in official church language
• Better choice of words – without error
• The Catholic position on “lack of error” in the Bible
embraces only doctrinal and moral teaching, not
scientific or historical
• Allows for growth in the moral perspective in the
Bible, recognizing that moral insight deepens over
time
"The most highly valued
treasure of every family library,
and the most frequently and
lovingly made use of, should be
the Holy Scripture. We trust
that no family can be found
amongst us without a correct
version of the
Pastoral Holy
Letter
Baltimore, 1844
of the Scriptures".
Third Council of
Not every teaching of the Church
can be found in Sacred Scripture

The Holy Spirit continues to

guide the Church to understand
God’s revelation as it evolves and
is revealed through the ages.
 BE CAREFUL
• EXEGESIS
• Interpreting FROM Scripture
from what is there

• EISEGESIS
• Accidentally(or intentionally)
reading INTO Scripture
something that is not there
Catholics recognize the canonicity of the Bible.

Formal decision by the early church:

46 books in the Old Testament
27 books in the New Testament

Bidirectional
Scripture helped form the community of the Church
The Holy Spirit guided the process about the books
Bible (Greek “biblia” meaning books)
Old Testament New Testament

• Stories about an agreement • Stories about an agreement

between God and the between God and the people
Hebrews, as revealed to based on the life and
Moses. teachings of Jesus
• Tells how the agreement • Stories of the early life of the
works out church
• Development of rules,
behaviors, laws and how to
maintain the covenant
• The story of our family history
Grouping the Books of the OT
• The Law (Pentateuch)
• Historical Books
• Prophets
• Wisdom / Writings
Grouping the OT
Books • The Law
• Genesis
• Exodus
• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy
Grouping the OT • Historical
Books • Joshua
• Judges
• Ruth
• 1 & 2 Samuel
• 1 & 2 Kings
• 1 & 2 Chronicles
• Ezra
• Nehemiah
• Tobit
• Judith
• Ester
• 1 & 2 Macabees
Grouping the OT • The Minor
Books Prophets
• Hosea
• Joel
• Amos
• The Major Prophets • Obadiah
• Isaiah • Jonah
• Jeremiah • Micah
• Ezekiel • Nahum
• Lamentations • Habakkuk
• Daniel • Zephaniah
• Haggai
• Zechariah
• Malachi
• Baruch
Grouping the OT
Books
• Wisdom &
Writings
• Job
• Psalms
• Proverbs
• Ecclesiastes
• Song of Solomon
Genre of the
Bible
NEW TESTAMENT
27 BOOKS
New Testament
• Gospels - proclamations of the "good news" about Jesus
intended to establish and/or strengthen people's faith in him;
quasi-biographical, semi-historical portraits of the life,
teachings, and actions of Jesus (Mark, Matt, Luke, John)
• The NT Gospels contain many sub-genres of literature (see below)

• Acts - a partial narrative account about the beginnings and the

growth of early Christianity; not a complete history of the early
Church, since it focuses only on the actions of a few missionary
leaders (Acts)
• Letters - real letters addressing practical and theological issues
relevant to particular communities (esp. Paul's)
• Church Orders - collections of instructions for the practical
organization of religious communities (1 Tim, Titus)
Grouping the Books of the NT
• Gospels
• Acts
• Pauline letters
• Other letters
Grouping the NT
Books
• Gospels
• Synoptics
• Matthew
• Mark
• Luke
• John
Grouping the NT
Books
• Acts of the
Apostles
Grouping the NT • Pauline Letters
Books • Romans
• 1 & 2 Corinthians
• Galatians
• Ephesians
• Philippians
• Colossians
• 1 & 2 Thessalonians
• 1 & 2 Timothy
• Titus
• Philemon
Grouping the NT
Books • Hebrews
• James
• 1 & 2 Peter
• 1, 2 & 3 John
• Jude
• Revelation
Old Testament in the Lectionary

http://catholic-resources.org/Lectionary/index.html
New Testament in the Lectionary

http://catholic-resources.org/Lectionary/index.html
 Overview of the Bible
•Best selling book for over 2000 years
•Not a history book, but a book of salvation history
•It is the inspired and revealed Word of God, written and compiled by
man
•Scripture is the life of the Church (CCC 131 – 133)
•Scripture is the genuine spiritual food for the Christian, and the
church opens the Scriptures to the faithful for their edification
•The Old and New Testament reveal the unity of the Father’s plan
(CCC 128 -130)
•The Old Testament prefigures and prepares for the coming of Christ
•The Old Testament is revealed in the light of the Paschal Mystery
which brings the Father’s divine plan of salvation to fulfillment
 Overview of the Bible
• The New Testament DOES NOT render the Old
Testament as void (CCC 123)
• The text matters - different texts available: CATHOLIC:
Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Douay-Rheims,
OTHERS: New Revised Standard Version Good News
Bible, King James, Mormon, red letter bibles. etc…
• Scholarly research leads to new revelation and revised
translations – Advances in language interpretation and
understanding; Archaeological findings; Historical
research
• Explanation of B.C. and A.D.
• Understanding the numbers (Chapter and verse)…
B. C. vs. A. D.
• B.C. Before Christ

• A. D. Anno Domini
Year of our Lord
 Chapter and Verse
• Jn 3:16
– John
• Chapter 3
– Verse 16

•Ps 118:8
• Psalms
• Chapter 118
• Verse 8
 Look up Mk 9:23-24
• RSV – “And Jesus said to him…’All things are possible
to him who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child
cried out and said, ‘I believe; help my unbelief’”
• NAB – “And Jesus said to him…’Everything is possible
to one who has faith.’ Then the boy’s father cried out, ‘I
do believe, help my unbelief!.’”
• NJB – “…’Everything is possible for one who has faith.’
At once the father cried out, ‘I have faith. Help my lack
of faith!’”
• NIV – “…Everything is possible for him who believes.’
Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe;
help me overcome my unbelief!”