Father Knows Best Show
Father Knows Best is a locally produced Question and Answer show on Siouxland Catholic Radio 88.1 FM. The show is hosted by Father Mark Stoll. He is a priest in the Sioux City diocese, canon lawyer, and trained media person on air. The program airs on Wednesdays at 9pm.
Father Knows Best Show
Father Knows Best—Episode 33: Promoting the Church's Tradition and History; The Catholic View of Heaven and the Testing of Abraham
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
This Wednesday, August 26, 9:00 pm on Siouxland Catholic Radio 88.1 FM
Episode #33 of Father Knows Best sponsored by St. Augustine Indian Mission in Winnebago, NE features Father Mark Stoll addressing questions about promoting the Church's tradition and history, the Catholic view of Heaven and the Testing of Abraham.
Tune in tonight so we may discover, learn, and engage our hearts, souls and minds so we may be illuminated, informed and inspired. Please send your questions to fatherknowsbestshow@yahoo.com.
I have questions. I don't understand. I'm confused. What's going on? That's not what I learned in school. What does the church really teach? Welcome to Funos Bellish Studios of 88.1 FM, KFA C Pankasu City, and K-O-I-A Storm Lake. Brought to you by the St. Augustine Indian Mission Winnebago. We all have questions and the curiosity about matters of faith as it is normal for humanity to ask questions and seek answers in the timeless quest for understanding regarding matters of faith in the church. We believe that there is no such thing as a foolish or dumb question. Only opportunities to learn and to connect. And I say the only dumb question is the one that is not asked. And the reality is that the questions you have are like questions others have, and so it is good to ask. Sometimes an answer leads to more questions. Sometimes the questions and answers will lead us to insights we never considered. We at Siouxland Catholic Radio want to invite our listeners from Jackson, Nebraska to Elk Point, South Dakota, to Stromlick, Iowa, and everywhere in between and beyond, send your questions to us at Father Knows Best Show at Yahoo.com. Or mail them to Father Knows Best, Sioux Line Catholic Radio, 701 West Fifth Street, Sioux City, Iowa, 51103. During this time, once a week, I or another guest will do our best to answer some of the questions I've received here at the studio so we may discover, learn, and engage our hearts and souls and minds, so we may be illuminated, informed, and inspired. So I thank you for tuning in. We invite you to open your mind, let the questions begin, and let your curiosity find its voice. I'm Father Mark Stoll, priest of the Diocese of Sioux City with you again this evening. And joining me again is Tim Soudin, Executive Director of Sioux Lang Catholic Radio, presenting some of the questions I received from your listeners. Tim, are you ready? This is our 33rd episode.
SPEAKER_01I am always excited to come to another Wednesday where I can learn about the faith. I hope the listeners truly understand how lucky they are to answer these questions answered every Wednesday night. They better feel lucky out there.
SPEAKER_00I feel very lucky. It's only here that they don't hear this. That's correct. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01That's correct. And it's so broad-based. I mean, it isn't just the mass, it isn't the catechism, it's so broad-based.
SPEAKER_00We cover all kinds of topics here. We got some wonderful topics again to talk about tonight. We do. And again, thank you again to Anne, who is at the control board, to make sure we get on the air. So wonderful to have her here. So, Tim, let's dive into our questions. And so, what's the first question that I received that we're going to address tonight?
SPEAKER_01Another faithful listener asked this question. Locally, we see a broad trend towards going to a local church who perform many acts of entertainment during their services. We are losing many church-going Catholics to this avenue of celebration. How does the Catholic Church, steeped in tradition and history, combat this trend?
SPEAKER_00Thank you for that question. Again, it's a very interesting question, might be even the million-dollar question. But again, I believe that too, you know, we in this local area are not the only ones losing church-going Catholics to evangelical churches. It's happening all over the place, you know, especially with these evangelical churches that do offer this more entertainment style service. And so, first of all, I believe there's some several reasons why church-going Catholics are drifting to these evangelical churches. And part of it again, the larger auditoriums, some people, you know, people like this larger group uh atmosphere. They love people love bands and lots of contemporary Christian music. Uh there's some feel-good sermons there, I understand, and then they have great hospitality, including coffee cafes. Because the reason is I think people are drawn often to what feels good and right. They're drawn to what engages the emotions, they they're drawn to what gives immediate satisfaction, and of course, we also are drawn to what we believe we need and what we want. Now, the reality is that you know what feels good and right, what engages the emotions, what gives immediate satisfaction, what we believe we need and want, is really maybe not always truly good, right, engaging, satisfying, needing, or what we truly want. But I just want to you know clarify, I'm not denouncing you know what these invalid churches are doing because they do offer some good music and they all offer wonderful hospitality and they do preach Jesus Christ. Yes. However, there is a difference in the type of service that will truly help save souls as opposed to what will give us what we need or want. And so the question is I'm gonna ask is do we really need to replace authentic worship of God with an entertainment style that we can then receive this enjoyment, that we can enjoy this good Christian uh like a good Christian music concert festival, you know, like we could do if we went, like say, to a concert, or even went and and in our home watched a similar Christian program or TV program on the on TV or on the radio, or we sat on our comfortable chair, feasting our favorite beverages and snacks. You know, we could sit in that comfortable cushioned chair with our favorite beverages and listen to a band that just lifts our emotions so that we really feel good. You know, will that save our souls? Well, the church, Catholic Church, as our questioner asks noted that we are steeped in a very deep tradition and history, which is based on what Jesus gave us. And what Jesus gave us is for the good of our souls and for the good of our lives. And those things include, of course, the seven sacraments, prayers, devotions, various spiritual practices, the scriptures, and I can go on and on. And of course, we in the Catholic Church, we have various forms of arts, including music, statues, paintings, etc., etc., all to enhance our expression of love for God. Now, one of the deep desires that we have as God's people is for what is good and beautiful. And God has given to us what is good and beautiful, including what we find in our tradition or history. Yet we as human beings, we are often drawn to other things, people or whatever it might be, that we consider maybe more beautiful or better than what God has given us. And this, of course, is where addictions will arise. Now, we often also, I believe, we often forget too, or even reject history and tradition because we believe that we can create something better, more beautiful than what God has given us. And so, again, that's another issue that we face. And so, how does the church, here's the question again, how does the church, Catholic Church, steep in tradition and history, help to see what Christ has given us is what we truly need? And so I believe first it begins with, I would say, proper and good evangelization of our people. That is again sharing the story of Christ, story of salvation. Again, namely that is God created us all in his image and likeness. We sinned by disobeying God. Jesus then came and lived among us. He suffered and died and rose again from the dead, so that we might have eternal life. You know, this is our story. And it's good to share the story of us, even our history as Christians, which again, we do have some dark times. It's it's you know part of human nature. But again, this does not mean that we are unredeemable. And this is what Jesus came to do, to help to redeem us. Now, evangelizing includes also then catechizing our members, you know, both young and those advanced in years. So about catechizing about our tradition, our history, what God's given us, and again, especially what we believe and why we believe, and also what we see and why we see things as good and beautiful. This includes, again, I think, properly celebrating the sacraments, especially the mass. That's includes following the rubrics, again, not adding or innovating or detracting from the parts of the Mass. Again, really being true to what the church has given us and how we celebrate the Mass and other sacraments. Because again, we are looking for beauty when we come to celebrate. And again, there are things that can detract from that. And of course, this involves prayer, lots of prayer. Now, in doing all this, too, we have to again remind ourselves that we are imperfect human beings, and it's it's a work in progress we are to correct our imperfections or faults. And so this involves to even looking past our imperfections or faults. Again, you know, all of us, the church, the individuals, we've had our imperfections. But again, that's involves seeing ourselves as God sees us, as imperfect people on a journey of faith, working to be perfect as God wants us to be. And so this includes, of course, offering to help share what we've done, what the church is all about, sharing again what is truly good and beautiful. And that includes our architecture of our church buildings, the artworks, as paintings, murals, mosaics, and statues, the music that we uh offer to give praise to God, our liturgies, our sacred spaces, our silence, our the time we spend there in church, for example, even the homilies, catechesis, and we can go on and on, all these wonderful things that we can offer to help people to understand and to know, you know, what we have is good and beautiful. So then kind of part of the maybe the one underlying question is, you know, what is beauty? And beauty, I believe, to me, is the heart knows what is beautiful because we all have this desire for what is good and beautiful. And when we see something that is good and beautiful, you know, we know it is good and beautiful when we are drawn towards God. Now, of course, there is a little caution here because there are some things that seem good and beautiful, but will even and can lead us away from God. Let's just use an example. You know, we in the church we have a long tradition of using Gregorian chant. Now, we've probably used it a lot less than we've done in the past, but when we compare Gregorian chant to modern Christian music, you know, we may feel more drawn to our emotions by modern Christian music. However, on the other hand, when we use Gregorian chant, we may find ourselves more drawn to God, and that's the power of Gregorian chant. So that's one reason why we promote Gregorian chant. Again, nothing wrong with Christian music at the proper place, but Gregorian chant has a way of lifting our hearts to God. So again, the church is steeped in tradition history. It's all about saving souls, about guiding us to heaven, it's all about reminding us what God wants and desires for us. You know, the church is all about offering authentic and beautiful worship to God, it's about truly receiving the fullness of God's love through, especially in the through the very body and blood of Christ and the sacrament of the Eucharist, you know, sacrifice of the Mass. The church, of course, is not about what we want, or even maybe what we need might say. Yes, we may want to be entertained, you know, just as we do as we go to a sports game or to a movie theater or to concert. But we truly what we truly need is the graces that God gives us through the sacraments and through supporting one another to help strive to follow God's will. And so there are many ways, I think, to combat this trend of church-going Catholics who are drifting to evangelical churches. Again, it's about good evangelization, catechesis, beautiful liturgies, music and art, prayer, and even you know, uh programs, you know, such as this one here on Sun Line Catholic Radio, others on EWTN. Again, it's all about sharing the truth. And again, the other thing we just have to realize, you know, this matter of fact, it's the old saying, you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink. Right. And so we as church-growing Catholics need to continue to strive to be people that God calls us to be. And that includes striving to be good examples of love. And that, again, go back to the early church, is what that love that we share with one another is what draws people to what we really need and what God is what God has given to us through the church. So I hope that answers your question.
SPEAKER_01That's a really good answer to the question. I personally find a lot of comfort in knowing that a lot of the mass sequences are the same that I had as a child. I I I see a lot of comfort in the stability of the Catholic religion. I think there's a lot of positive to that.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. And then the rituals are just so beautifully written. Yes. And it brings comfort. I think it's all about giving worship to God, and that's again brings what we really need.
SPEAKER_01Agreed.
SPEAKER_00Let's try a second one.
SPEAKER_01Okay, this is from another faithful listener. Is there only one heaven for all faithful people? Do we believe that we will share eternal life with Lutherans, Methodists, Mormons? What is the Catholic view of heaven?
SPEAKER_00Thank you for the question. So the answers are yes, not with all people, and it's heavenly. So we'll go to the next question. Now let's I like doing that. Let's let's dive a little deeper. You know, so this kind of touches on some uh questions I've already addressed in episodes six, seven, twelve, fourteen, twenty-nine. But again, this is all stuff that's on people's minds. And so basically, first of all, there is only one heaven, right? As there's only one God. So there is no heaven just for Catholics, or for just Lutherans, or for Methodists, or hillbilies, or even Mormons. So there is no Catholic heaven, no Lutheran heaven, no Methodist heaven, no Mormon heaven, no hillbilly heaven. There's only one heaven. So Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1023 states, those who die in God's grace and friendship and are perfectly purified, live forever with Christ. They are like God forever, for they see him as is face to face. And this paragraph comes into, you know, uh comes from a quote from Pope Benedict XII from the year 1336, again talks about being purified, again, reference to purgatory and seeing God face to face. And thus from this paragraph of the Catechist Catholic Church, we can find define heaven as eternal life with God, communion of life and love with the Trinity and all the blessed. Heaven is a state of supreme and definitive happiness, the goal of the deepest longings of humanity. So, in other words, everyone who has been found faithful to God, been purified, will be welcomed in heaven, whether they're male or female, Gentile or Jew, slave or free, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Mormon, Hillbiller, or whatever. And it will all be together forever with God. And so that is the Catholic view of heaven based on a long tradition that we developed over all these centuries, including despite all the splits we've had in the church. Okay, very good.
SPEAKER_01Hope that answers your question. I'm very much looking forward to spending time in heaven with Hillbillies. Exactly. That could be there. I like that diversion.
SPEAKER_00So if you're just tuning in, you're listening to Father Knows Best here on Siouxland Catholic Radio as I answer your questions about faith in the Catholic Church. I'm Father Mark Stoll. I'm joined by Tim Sadine, who is presenting some of the questions I've received from you, our listeners. And so let's try a third question.
SPEAKER_01From another devoted listener, and we have so many of them out there.
SPEAKER_00Man, we love those devoted listeners.
SPEAKER_01Please keep summoning, keep sending the questions. Amen. Love you. I struggle with the Old Testament passage in which God asks Abraham to sacrifice his child Isaac. But in the New Testament, Jesus asks, What man of you, if his son is asked for bread, would give him a stone? And again, if anyone offends these little ones, it would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he were cast into the sea. So, God asked for the death of a child in the Old Testament, and Jesus insists children should be revered in the New Testament. What am I missing?
SPEAKER_00Thank you for this question. Again, it's a kind of a you know kind of a conflict here. What's going on? What's going on in the Old Testament and the New Testament? So, first of all, we look at Genesis chapter 22. This is the account we find God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, and this account is sometimes called the testing of Abraham or the binding of Isaac. And this is probably one of the most best-known and theologically challenging stories in all of Scripture, probably, regarding, especially Abraham and his wife Sarah. So again, Abraham is called by God to leave his native land of Ur and travel west to a land that would now become known as Israel later on. In addition, Abraham and Sarah are advanced in years and they have no child, remember, no heir. And then God promises Abraham he'll become the father of many nations. So despite being childless, Abraham places his faith and trust in God. Other than there are several times when Abraham falters and takes matters in his own hands. And so, one of those times, of course, is when he gives his uh when Sarah gives his her maidservant, Hagar, to Abraham, then follows a child called Ishmael. So in this account in chapter 22, we see God put Abraham to the test, and Abraham again asked to take his son to the land of Moriah to sacrifice his son. As we know, this is going to be a test. And it's a test of his faith, Abraham's faith and trust in God, and probably even to overcome some of the several times that Abraham faltered and took matters in his own hands. Again, Isaac is the only son of Abraham and his wife Sarah. Again, remember Ishmael is the other son, of course, that's with his wife's maidservant Hagar. So out of obedience, Abraham follows God's instructions, as he's done many times before. And as we know in the end, the angel of the Lord stops Abraham shortly before he's about to kill his son, Isaac. So what's going on here? Why would God ask Abraham to kill his only son with Sarah, who is the heir of his fortune, and the key to him being the father of many nations? In short, what we see occurring with God's request to Abraham is not contrary to what we find elsewhere in the Bible. And again, in the first chapters of Genesis, again, we read the accounts of how, you know, God creates man and woman, creating an image and likeness of God. Again, the blessing of creation upon humanity and the dignity of human life. When we see Cain and Abel's story, we see Cain is punished by God for killing his brother Abel. Again, uh Cain has done a really bad thing, so uh God's not happy with Cain. In the New Testament, of course, we hear Jesus speak many times about love and reverence for children. You know, he says in one place, let the children come to me, do not prevent them, for the kingdom of heaven belonged to such as these. So we need to remember at the time of Abraham, this is you know thousands of years before Jesus was born, human sacrifice was common. Um, and also at this time, firstborn males were, of course, the rightful and normal heir of the father's estate. And in the Bible, the firstborn male is recognized as belonging to God. So, God tests Abraham with a common practice of the time for several reasons. I think first to test Abraham's love and obedience and fidelity to God. Second, I think it's very important, is this demonstrates that God does not want human sacrifice. And so it was a lesson to Abraham, too, that you know, no more, no more human sacrifice. Now, again, I don't know what Abraham did prior to uh meeting God, but but again, this would be an example that we would see followed up through all the sense of Abraham, no more human sacrifice. Also, God's test of Abraham provides Abraham what he needs, including the fulfillment of the promise to be the father of many nations. And then there's also very important here is a pre-figuring of an important event that will come generations later, many generations later. So the testing of Abraham is just one of several examples when God does test people's love, obedience, and fidelity. Again, we see that with Jacob being wrestled by an angel, Moses when he's leading the people out of Egypt, and even Jesus testing his own disciples with like the bread and life discourse or prediction of his death, and even when he questioned Peter three times after his resurrection. But we are continued even to challenge, be tested, you know, as we are called to you know pick up our cross and follow him. But in this account of testing of Abraham, we see several, as I just said earlier, prefiguring images and events. God asked Abraham to go to land of Moriah. Here's the question: where is the land of Moriah? The Jewish people identify this region specifically as a mountain, Mount Moriah, which is mentioned also in the book of Chronicles, which happens to be the location where King Solomon builds his temple in Jerusalem. This is now, of course, the current location of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It's located just above the Western Wall in the old city of Jerusalem. Again, it's a highly significant religious site for Judaism, Islam, and for Christianity. It's also, of course, the location now of Dome of the Rock and the Al Qa's mosque. Again, due to Islam's own respect, you know, for this whole event of testing of Abraham, who is, of course, the father of Ishmael, who is Muslim's ancestral link to Abraham. So again, the land of Marah, the Mount of Mirah, Merah, is there in Jerusalem. That's where God sent Abraham. Very significant location. Then there's a report that Abraham took wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. This prefigures Jesus taking up the wood of the cross for his sacrifice on Mount Calvary. And of course, remember, Mount Calvary would have been the view of the Temple Mount. And then there is another interesting thing, a question raised by Isaac as he and his father are walking there to Moriah, and he asks his father, Where is the sheep for the burnt offering? Abraham responds, My son. God will provide the sheep for the burnt offering. However, several verses later, after the angel stops Abraham from killing his son, Abraham looks up and sees a single ram caught by its horns in a thicket. And so Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son. And so first we see that after God tests Abraham, and Abraham passes the test, God provides. He provided an ammo for the sacrifice. However, it's simply not a sheep, it's a ram, a male sheep. This ammo that God provides to Abraham prefigures again Jesus, the Lamb of God, who'd be sacrificed on the altar of the cross for us. And so at the end of this account, we hear God speak through an angel to Abraham. He says, Because you acted as you did, and not withholding from me your son, your only one, I will bless you and make you your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore, your descendants will take possession of the gates of their enemies. And thus, God provides and presents to Abraham a reward. A reward of an extraordinary promise that is fulfilled many years before that promises that was made earlier, many years before, that God that Abraham will be the father of many nations. And we know that God has kept his promise because we enjoy that promise still today, because we are descendants of faith from Abraham. And there's countless numbers of us. And so, in summary, the testing of Abraham, we see God doing several things that is key to salvation history, including forbidding the practice of human sacrifice, which says we must respect and revere our children, including those still in the womb. This testing of Abraham shows to us also that this test secures Abraham's love, obedience, and fidelity to God. We also see that if Abraham, you know, if Abraham is willing to sacrifice his own son, then it says God is willing to sacrifice his only son for us. And of course, it also demonstrates the testing that God still offers to us, you know, tests our love, our obedience, our fidelity today. And when we pass that test, God provides God rewards. And thus, while the testing of Abraham may seem to be contrary to what Jesus taught about respecting and revering children, again, what we see is that this testing of Abraham, again, a well-known and theological challenge of biblical account, does affirm and support respect and reverence for children, for all of our children, including those still in the womb. And so I hope that uh answers your question.
SPEAKER_01I had never even considered the symmetry there between Abraham and Isaac and the Lord and his son. That is an incredible level of symmetry that I never even recognized before.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and that's one of the interesting things about that story. Uh just the prefiguring. Uh it's like, wow, it's like this is what's gonna happen down the road in the future. So it's again, it's amazing what God does to prove his love for us, and what he does to show the people from the time of Abraham, right all the way up to the time of Jesus, that he's gonna fulfill his promise, which was made all the way back at the time of the creation. Remember when Adam and Eve fell?
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_00God promises, basically says, I'm gonna send a savior.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_00Uh it's not worded that way in the in the in the book of Genesis, but that's what he says. And so we see that happening all throughout. And again, we look at Abraham. You know, he he he struggled at times to be faithful to God. And so God is continually, you know, testing him and calling to be faithful. And again, call him the father of faith. And he uh, you know, he had his own challenges. So again, he even helps us uh to understand our own faith and why, you know, if he was tested, we we know we're tested too. And God is is not testing us to that hopes that we fail, but it's testing us to to uh to see that we are growing in strong strength and faith in God. So I think we're coming to the end tonight. I think we're gonna just go do three questions tonight because those last couple of those were kind of long questions. They were very long questions, but they're very good.
SPEAKER_01It is so interesting, the eye-popping types of knowledge that come each Wednesday night, and I hope the listeners feel that way too. That it is just an incredibly level of mind-opening experience that we learn through the Catholic faith.
SPEAKER_00Right. Again, I say we have a lot of uh uh information that you know sometimes we overlook or we've forgotten. We might have learned it as a child, but uh it's there's a lot more things we need to dive in deeper. Just like, wow, um, God's more mysterious and more powerful and more interesting than we maybe consider. So I think uh for the next episode, let's maybe look at uh you know, it's an interesting question about you know, Jesus was Jewish, and how come we're not Jewish? And maybe we'll talk about that next week, and maybe even why we're not talking about politicians promoting abortion, and maybe even a uh kind of a hot button question about you know, does Holy Communion forgive sins? So we'll see what comes up next week. But how but again, thank you for tuning in. Uh, we really appreciate you uh tuning into Sun Line Catholic Radio as we offer both national and local programs, including Faith in Action, Draw Near, Life Plan, Catholic Ministry Professionals, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and Sunday Morning Mass. So please also check out the Facebook pages of Sun Line Catholic Radio and Father Knows Best for more information about this show, including more information about questions and answers I've addressed, and more information I have not addressed in this show. As we wrap up today's questions and answers session, we extend our heartfelt thanks to all of our listeners for tuning in and sharing your thought provoking questions, your curiosity, your engagement make this show possible, and we're always inspired by the incredible range of topics to bring to the table. We hope you found the answers both informative and enlightening, and that you'll carry some new insights with you as you go about your week. If your question was not answered this show, please you may hear it next week. If you missed this episode, would like to re-listen to this or other episodes, please visit our website, SudancathRadio.com, and visit the programs drop menu. Click on local programs to find this episode and other episodes of Father Knows Best and other local programs. If you have any questions, please send your questions to me at Father Knows Best Show at uh yahoo.com or mail them to Father Knows Best, Sudan Catholic Radio 701 West Fifth Street, Sioux City, Iowa, 51103. And thank you to our sponsor, St. Augustine Indian Mission, Winnebago. Please join us again next Wednesday at 9 p.m. for another round of questions. Until then, stay curious, stay faithful, keep your light shining, and keep those questions coming. And I'm Father Mark Store, your host, signing off, wishing you a great week ahead. May Mighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.