Conference delivers insights on early Church

Some speakers from the 2019 Fullness of Truth conference in Corpus Christi are from left, Dr. Michael Barber, Mike Aquilina, Jim Papandrea, Abby Johnson and Bishop Michael Mulvey who spoke on the wisdom of the early Church Fathers.

Contributed photo
 

The 2019 Fullness of Truth conference, entitled “Discover Your Roots: Early Church Wisdom for Modern Day Catholics,” was held at the American Bank Center on March 9-10. The two-day conference was chock-full of worship, reflection and speakers, who brought insight into the scriptures and how to apply them to daily life.

Dawn Eden Goldstein

One speaker, Dawn Eden Goldstein, spoke twice during the conference, bringing her perspective as a theologian and a convert from Judaism. On Saturday she discussed the topic, “Was Christ Really Forsaken?: The Fathers of the Church on Jesus’ Cry from the Cross.”

 “As a child growing up in Galveston, the Broadway musicals “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Godspell” were popular,” she said. “We had the cast albums in my home, and this was my first exposure to the Jesus story. There were some great songs from “Godspell” that used scripture and stuck with me. I was able to connect my faith to my childhood through these beautiful songs.

“But they didn’t help me understand the fullness of Christ. They depict the scene, ‘My God, my God why have you forsaken me?’ They have the crucifixion, but not the resurrection. With no resurrection that seems like the end of the story,” she continued. “Even though the early Christians had the end of the story, from the testimony of those who were there, they reflected on His death. It is the only saying of Jesus from the cross that appears in two gospels, both Matthew and Mark.

Goldstein said one particular reason why that saying would have stood out to those who were present is that those who were present were all Jewish. They were all familiar with the Psalms that were prayed daily. They knew that Jesus was quoting Psalm 22. 

“We are talking about a mystery in which Jesus expresses abandonment. This is a question that brings us into deep waters theologically,” Goldstein said. “Jesus says he and the father are one. He says that ‘they may be one as we are one.’ The Church has taught from its earliest days that Jesus always had the beatific vision. God was always present to Jesus throughout his earthly life.”

Bishop Michael Mulvey addressed the Fullness of Truth Conference in a talk that furthered the theme of the conference. He asked the audience to think about the early Church as one would remember a wedding day. That memory is a beautiful moment in time that serves as a reminder of our great love when tougher moments come along. Now that the Church is in the midst of one of these difficult moments, it is important to go back to the beginning, urged Bishop Mulvey. 

He presented the image of the early Church, that they were of “one heart and one mind,” that they shared everything they had and there was “no needy person among them.” Of course, this exact picture isn’t possible to live today, but he posited that it is possible to live the spirit of this unity in the Church of today. 

Doing so would require us to become mystics of a sort. He quoted Karl Rahner, “In the days ahead, you will either be a mystic or nothing at all.” To do this is to know God and to experience him as real, explained Bishop Mulvey. The faithful must let God’s grace flow through them. This starts with reading the Scriptures. Without knowledge of the Scriptures, he emphasized, the doctrine doesn’t make sense. Reading the Scriptures makes the doctrine of the Church come alive. 

Jim Papandrea

On Sunday, Catholic theologian and historian Jim Papandrea spoke about, “The Memoirs of the Apostles: How the Church Got Its Bible and How the Church Fathers Read It.” Papandrea explained how the New Testament documents are the most reliable of the Bible. 

“For example, if Paul writes a letter to your church, you immediately send your scribe to copy it,” he said. “Then, they invented a new containment system. Instead of sewing rolled up scrolls together, they stacked them and sewed them on one side. They invented the book, and by the 2nd Century, they were widely circulated. At this same time, the documents of the Gospel were read in Mass.

Papandrea discussed the tradition of the Church and scripture saying, “Tradition does not come after scripture, it is the thing that helps us interpret it.”

Other speakers included Mike Aquilina and Dr. Michael Barber.

On Saturday evening Planned Parenthood clinic director turned pro-life advocate, Abby Johnson, spoke about her movie, “Unplanned,” with musicians Dave and Lauren Moore at “The Gathering – Concert of Praise and Stories.” 

Anyone unable to attend the conference but would like to hear the presentations can order the audio files from www.FullnessofTruth.org.