What this format looses, of course, is the interaction we enjoyed during the group study. This format (below) requires more personal energy to look up all the passages and other references. I do believe, however, such a format can be useful.
And so, I will try doing the study this way and see if it is useful for anyone.
Please let me know either way.
One more thing, I use a variety of Bible texts in my study, such as the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the New American Bible (NAB), as well as the New International Version (NIV), the Amplified Bible and a few others. I use different versions, along with lexical helps from http://www.blueletterbible.org/ and http://www.biblegateway.com/, because I believe good research and study requires a variety of helps in order to better understand the nuances of Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic words used in Scripture.
Unfortunately, the NAB internet site search engine (found at http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/index.shtml) does not permit citation links to isolated texts.. That weakness in the site's search engine makes listing the various NAB verses more tedious and time consuming. I invite you to use your own NAB along with the blueletterbible and biblegateway links for your study.
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Ephesians chapter 3
(we pick up at verse 12. See earlier posts for earlier online studies)
a. See Heb 4:16; 10:19-23; 1 John 4:15-19; 1 John 5:10-13
What doe these Bible texts and the Catechism paragraphs below have in common? What can we learn from the combination?
3:13 “I ask you not to lose heart . . .they are for your glory . . .”
a. Compare 1 Corinthians 4:9-15; 2 Corinthians 11:24-29
b. How do we handle distress? The world is watching
Eph 3:14-19 “For this reason . . .” (refers to all after v 8)
a. How would our lives change if we acted (instead of theorizing) on this message? (Esp His love: See John 17:23, Gen 50:20 with Romans 8:28; Job 13:15; Habakkuk 3:17-18)
Eph 3:20 “Able to do more abundantly . . .”
a. See 1 Chronicles 29:10-16; 2 Cor 8:9; Psalm 33:6-22
b. If He is able, but He doesn’t – is He still good? (see CCC 2609)
2608 From the Sermon on the Mount onwards, Jesus insists on conversion of heart: reconciliation with one's brother before presenting an offering on the altar, love of enemies, and prayer for persecutors, prayer to the Father in secret, not heaping up empty phrases, prayerful forgiveness from the depths of the heart, purity of heart, and seeking the Kingdom before all else. This filial (Webster: having or assuming the relation of a child or offspring) conversion is entirely directed to the Father.
2609 Once committed to conversion, the heart learns to pray in faith. Faith is a filial adherence to God beyond what we feel and understand. It is possible because the beloved Son gives us access to the Father. He can ask us to "seek" and to "knock," since he himself is the door and the way.
2610 Just as Jesus prays to the Father and gives thanks before receiving his gifts, so he teaches us filial boldness: "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will." Such is the power of prayer and of faith that does not doubt: "all things are possible to him who believes." Jesus is as saddened by the "lack of faith" of his own neighbors and the "little faith" of his own disciples as he is struck with admiration at the great faith of the Roman centurion and the Canaanite woman.
2777 In the Roman liturgy, the Eucharistic assembly is invited to pray to our heavenly Father with filial boldness; the Eastern liturgies develop and use similar expressions: "dare in all confidence,". . . . Our awareness of our status as slaves would make us sink into the ground and our earthly condition would dissolve into dust, if the authority of our Father himself and the Spirit of his Son had not impelled us to this cry . . . 'Abba, Father!' . . . When would a mortal dare call God 'Father,' if man's innermost being were not animated by power from on high?"
end of this lesson
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