Last sunday's gospel: an allegorical meaning of the unforgiving servant
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In my previous article on Loaves and Fishes....we saw that the partitioning of the loaves and fishes perfectly mirrored the way the Sacraments are partitioned. More specifically, we saw that just as there were 5 loaves and 2 fish in one story of the Gospels, so heretics, the more grave form of Christian division, lose five sacraments and retain only 2, Baptism and Marriage, with the other five being the ones that require the Episcopate or priests, which the heretics lose by very way of heretical separation. Too, they had fish, just as Protestants are tossed to and fro by every wave of doctrine.
Similarly, we saw that just as, in the other loaves and fishes story, there were seven loaves and a few fish, so in the other form of separation, schism, which is of lesser degree than heresy, the schismatics, since they retain the Episcopate and only lose Peter, retain all seven sacraments and are only a little tossed in doctrine (a few fish, or, that is, they have the first 1000 years of dogma in common with us. They rather debate the last thousand years of Catholic doctrinal development.)
Well, then, are there are any other loaves or fishes incidents in the Gospels? YES! There is a Parable of the THREE loaves at MIDNIGHT! Luke 11:
And he said to them: Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and shall say to him: Friend, lend me three loaves,
[6] Because a friend of mine is come off his journey to me, and I have not what to set before him.[7] And he from within should answer, and say: Trouble me not, the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. [8] Yet if he shall continue knocking, I say to you, although he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend; yet, because of his importunity, he will rise, and give him as many as he needeth.
What might this be seen as? Well, how many ways can the Sacraments be partitioned? Well, we have already done partitioning according to Christian DIVISION. Either 5 and 2, or no partition, 7. So there is no 3!
AHAH! Vatican II gave us a wonderful way to partition the Sacraments, and not by Christian Division, but by primary form of CATEGORY, or TYPE!
Well, what are they? And is there any Category that has THREE Sacraments only? YES!
INIITIATION
HEALING
VOCATION
Healing and Vocation each have 2 Sacraments, respectively:
Healing: Confession, Anointing of the Sick
Vocation: Marriage, Holy Orders
Which leaves THREE Sacraments, maybe even three LOAVES to
INITIATION! THREE Sacraments: Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation.
Note only that, for an ADULT CONVERT to Christianity and Catholicism at the same time (or Orthodoxy), WILL receive three loaves all at once, in the "middle of the night",the Easter Vigil. For has not the adult person who never knew God before, journeying in cold and hunger for so much of life, not knowing where to go, and he finds the Church at last, is he not famished? And will not the Church, after some preparation, allow him to come into her house and feed him the three great sacraments that fully INIITIATE someone into the bosom of Mother Church?:
Baptism
Confirmation
Eucharist
These sacraments, too, also have liturgical separation: the Roman Rite spreads the three sacraments out across youth, with first Baptism at infancy, Confession provided before Eucharist near age of reason, and finally, at some point before full adulthood, usually adolescence, Confirmation is offered.
But Eastern Rite Catholics, and Orthodox, who many times have a different time schedule than Catholics, (day begins in Jesus' time, or Jewish time, at sunset, whereas pagan Roman time begins at midnight, as the friend comes at "midnight"), give all three loaves at infancy!
Finally, the three ARE loaves, since at least two of them require the priests: Confirmation and Eucharist, and therefore cannot be seen as fish, since the only two sacraments that are fish are those that DON"T require the priesthood.
So, there we have it:
Five loaves, two fish, heretics lose five sacraments and retain only two.
Seven loaves, few fish: schismatics retain all seven sacraments
Three loaves after a long journey in the middle of the night: the Three Sacraments of Initiation
I am a Catholic revert. I desire to share deeper theology about the Catholic Church that is admittedly speculative but that makes perfect sense from Catholic doctrine and church teaching.
The Catholic Church shows us that we are all priceless regardless of what anything the world may say about us. We can hold our heads high and know that God loves us no matter what and desires us to be with him forever if we but persevere in love with him unto the end.
To know these things gives me great joy and I am just a poor sinner striving to become holier little by little.
May God bless all writers and readers on this site in all ways, amen!
