September 25, 2010 – Catechism 519-524

Thoughts on the two basic sections here.  First, the idea that Christ did everything He did for each of us as an individual.  As the mysteries, all the teachings, everything is not only for the world as a whole, but also for each of us on a personal level.  There is something very reassuring about that.  It is also something that people find very hard to accept.  In a world of sound bites and where everyone is just a small part of the grand scheme, where you are a number and not a person, the idea that something can be done for the individual is becoming foreign.  Everything that is beneficial must benefit as many people as possible or it doesn’t get off the ground.  The world appears to miss the trees for the forest.  Faces of each person blur and blend into the masses.  God does see things as the big picture.  He sees all peoples of all times of all universes simultaneously.  How, I don’t have a clue.  But just as mysteriously, He knows each individual in the most intimate and personal way.  He knows us and our thoughts better than we do.  He does not miss the forest for the trees or the trees for the forest but mysteriously sees both perfectly.  He is watching over and guiding me as I type and is watching over you as you read, whenever that may be. 

Secondly, the idea that everything up and until Christ birth was pointing towards that event.  I think there are a lot of times when we discard or give second billing to the Old Testament because we focus so much on the New and the Life of Christ.  This is important, but we cannot understand the New Testament without knowing and digging into the Old.  Everything that happened and was said was the journey that needed to occur in order to get to Christ.  We see it over and over that God would not give the Hebrews quick cures to what they wanted.  Like children, He guided them, step by step.  By picking up the New Testament without an understanding and appreciation for the Old, we are going to make the mistakes of the Hebrews.  We need the lessons God taught them to prepare ourselves for the concluding lessons we receive from Christ.