One of the most interesting ways to read the Bible is through the lens of typology. Typology is where a person or event in the Old Testament foreshadows a greater person or event in the New Testament. The word “typology” comes to us from St. Paul himself, in , where he referred to Adam as a “type” of Christ. So let’s get started on this most interesting study.

Desert Wanderings

Remember the story about the and wan...

"And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the desert, for the space of forty days; and was tempted by the devil.  And He ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended, He was hungry."  (Luke 4:1-2)

1. What is fasting?
      Fasting means that on certain days, you may eat --
   1. One full meal with meat (unless it is also a day of abstinence)
   2. Two small meals without meat.
   3. No food between meals.
   
   

   A fast day consists of 24 hours, from ...

"And one of them, a doctor of the law, asked Him, tempting Him:  'Master, which is the great commandment in the law?'  Jesus said to him:  'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind.  This is the greatest and the first commandment.  And the second is like to this:  Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets.'"  (Matthew 22:35-40)

1. What is charity...

"And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.  The tongue is placed among our members, which defileth the whole body, and inflameth the wheel of our nativity, being set on fire by hell.  For every nature of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of the rest, is tamed, and hath been tamed, by the nature of man:  But the tongue no man can tame, an unquiet evil, full of deadly poison.  By it we bless God and the Father:  and by it we curse men, who are made after the likeness...

"Thou shalt not steal."  (Exodus 20:15)

"A thief is better than a man that is always lying:  but both of them shall inherit destruction."  (Ecclesiasticus 20:27)

"He that stealeth any thing from his father, or from his mother:  and saith, 'This is no sin', is the partner of a murderer."  (Proverbs 28:24)

"Nor thieves, nor covetous... nor extortioners, shall possess the kingdom of God."  (Corinthians 6:9-10)

"He that stole, let him now steal no more; but rather let him labor...

"But the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.  Now God hath both raised up the Lord, and will raise us up also by His power.  Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ?  Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot?  God forbid.  Or know you not, that he who is joined to a harlot, is made one body?  For they shall be, saith he, two in one flesh.  But he who is joined to the Lord, is one spirit.  Fly fornic...

"And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth:  and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul."  (Genesis 2:7)

1. What is the Fifth Commandment?
      Thou shalt not kill.
   
   
2. What does the Fifth Commandment oblige you to do?
      To take care of your own life and the lives of others.
   
   
3. What are the mortal sins against the Fifth Commandment?
   1. Murder, the unjust killing of an innocent person.
   2. Abortion, deliberately causing the death of an unborn baby.
   3. Suicide, taki...

"Son, support the old age of thy father, and grieve him not in his life; and if his understanding fail, have patience with him, and despise him not when thou art in thy strength:  for the relieving of the father shall not be forgotten.  For good shall be repaid to thee for the sin of thy mother.  And in justice thou shalt be built up, and in the day of affliction thou shalt be remembered:  and thy sins shall melt away as the ice in the fair warm weather."  (Ecclesiasticus ...

"Remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day.  Six days shalt thou labor, and shalt do all thy works.  But on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God:  thou shalt do no work on it, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates.  For in six days the Lord made Heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them, and rested on the seventh day:  therefore the Lord blessed th...

"Kings of the earth and all people:  princes and all judges of the earth:  Young men and maidens:  let the old with the younger, praise the name of the Lord:  for His name alone is exalted."  (Psalm 148:11-13)

"But [Our Lord] emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man.  He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross.  For which cause God also hath exalted Him, and hath given Him ...

"Come let us praise the Lord with joy:  let us joyfully sing to God our savior.  Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to Him with psalms.  For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.  For in His hand are all the ends of the earth:  and the heights of the mountains are His.  For the sea is His, and He made it:  and His hands formed the dry land.  Come let us adore and fall down:  and weep before the Lord that made us.  For H...

"But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea." (Matthew 18:6)

1. To give their children the necessary food, clothing and shelter.
      This obligation rests on both parents, whether living together or separated.  They must also keep their children from all danger to life and protect them from possible death.
   
   
2. To give them good example....

"Then Tobias exhorted the virgin, and said to her:  'Sara, arise, and let us pray to God today, and tomorrow, and the next day:  because for these three nights we are joined to God:  and when the third night is over, we will be in our own wedlock.  For we are the children of saints, and we must not be joined together like heathens that know not God.'  So they both arose, and prayed earnestly both together that health might be given them, and Tobias said:  'Lord God of our father...

"Being subject one to another, in the fear of Christ.  Let women be subject to their husbands, as to the Lord:  Because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the Church.  He is the savior of His body.  Therefore, as the Church is subject to Christ, so also let the wives be to their husbands in all things.
   "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church, and delivered Himself up for it:  That He might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in t...

"But for fear of fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.  Let the husband render the debt to his wife, and the wife also in like manner to the husband.  The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband.  And in like manner the husband also hath not power of his own body, but the wife.  Defraud not one another, except, perhaps, by consent, for a time, that you may give yourselves to p...

"And God created man to His own image:  to the image of God He created him:   male and female He created them.  And God blessed them, saying:  Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it.'"  (Genesis 1:27-28)

1. Who made marriage?
      God made marriage and the laws concerning marriage.
   
   
2. When did God make marriage?
      When He created Adam and Eve.
   
   
3. Why did God make marriage?
      For two purposes:
   1. For bringing children into the world and rearing them...
   2. For ...

"Having therefore a great high priest that hath passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God: let us hold fast our confession.  For we have not a high priest, who cannot have compassion on our infirmities:  but one tempted in all things like as we are, without sin.  Let us go therefore with confidence to the throne of grace in seasonable aid.  For every high priest taken from among men, is ordained for men in the things that appertain to God, that He may offer up gifts and sacrifices f...

"Is any man sick among you?  Let him bring in the priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man:  and the Lord shall raise him up:  and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him."  (James 5:14-15)

1. What is the Sacrament of Extreme Unction?
      Extreme Unction is the Sacrament which gives health and strength to the soul and sometimes to the body to persons who are in danger of death.

   The ...

"Jesus saith to them:  'But whom do you say that I am?'  Simon Peter answered and said:  'Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.'  And Jesus answering, said to him:  'Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father Who is in Heaven.  And I say to thee:  That thou art Peter; and upon this Rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.  And I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of Heave...

1. Examination of conscience.
      Kneel in church and ask God to help you know your sins.  Try to remember, as well as you can, what sins you have committed since your last Confession and how many times or how often you committed each one.  Tell God that you are sorry for your sins.  Then go over to the confessional booth and pray while waiting your turn to go in.
   
   
2. In the confessional.
   1. Kneel down and wait until the priest opens the little window.  Make the Sign of the Cross and say:  "Fo...

"Now when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them:  'Peace be to you.'  And when He had said this, he shewed them His hands and His side.  The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord.  He said therefore to them again:  'Peace be to you.  As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you.'  When He had said this, He breat...

"For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to My name a clean oblation:  for My name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts."  (Malachias 1:11)

"And it was almost the sixth hour; and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple wa...

"I am the bread of life.  Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead.  This is the bread which cometh down from Heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die.  I am the living bread which came down from Heaven.  If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give, is My flesh, for the life of the world."
   "The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying:  How can this man give us His flesh to eat?"
   "Then Jesus said to them: ...

"Now when the apostles, who were in Jerusalem, had heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John.  Who, when they were come, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost.  For he was not as yet come upon any of them; but they were only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  Then they laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost."  (Acts 8:14-17)

1. What is Confirmation?
      Confirmation is the Sacrament which gives you th...

"Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death; and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned...  For as by the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners; so also by the obedience of one, many shall be made just."  (Romans 5:12, 19)

Read the first three chapters of Genesis.

1. What is Original Sin?
       The sin committed by Adam, the father of the human race.  By Original Sin, Adam lost Sanctifying Grace.
   
   
2. Who were Adam and Eve?
       The first man and wom...

"And there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night, and said to Him:  Rabbi, we know that Thou are come a teacher from God; for no man can do these signs which Thou dost, unless God be with him.  Jesus answered, and said to him:  Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again, He cannot see the kingdom of God.  Nicodemus saith to Him:  How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb, ...

"Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on.  Is not the life more than the meat:  and the body more than the raiment?  Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns:  and your heavenly Father feedeth them.  Are not you of much more value than they?  And which of you by taking thought, can add to his stature one cubi...

"Jesus saith to them:  But whom do you say that I am?  Simon Peter answered and said:  Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.  And Jesus answering, said to him:  Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona:  because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father Who is in Heaven.  And I say to thee:  That thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.  And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven.  And wha...

"And He gave some apostles, and some prophets, and other some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:  Until we all meet into the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ; that henceforth we be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the wickednes...

"Whom do you say that I am?  Simon Peter answered and said:  Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.  And Jesus answering, said to him:  Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona:  because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father Who is in Heaven.  And I say to thee:  Thou art Peter; and upon this Rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it."  (Matthew 16:16-18)

"And Jesus coming, spoke to them,...

"Again the high priest asked Him, and said to Him:  Art Thou the Christ the Son of the blessed God?  And Jesus said to him:  I am.  And you shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of the power of God, and coming with the clouds of Heaven.  Then the high priest rending his garments, saith:  What need we any further witnesses?  You have heard the blasphemy.  What think you?  Who all condemned Him to be guilty of death."  (Mark 14:61-64)

1. Who is Jesus Christ?
      Jesus Christ is t...

"For God so loved the world, as to give His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.  For God sent not His Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by Him."  (John 3:16-17)

1. Did God abandon the human race after Adam's sin?
      No, He promised to send a savior into the world and to open again the gates of Heaven.

   "I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed:  She shall cr...

"And the day following Judas [Machabeus] came with his company, to take away the bodies of them that were slain, and to bury them with their kinsmen, in the sepulchres of their fathers.  And they found under the coats of the slain some of the donaries of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbiddeth to the Jews:  So that all plainly saw, that for this cause they were slain.  Then they all blessed the just judgment of the Lord, who had discovered the things that were hidden.  And so betaki...

"The Son of Man shall send His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all scandals, and them that work iniquity.  And shall cast them into the furnace of fire:  there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  (Matthew 13:41-42)

1. What is Hell?
       The place in the next world where the souls of the damned are condemned to suffer forever with the devils.

   "If any one abide not in Me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him int...

"Let no man, when he is tempted, say that he is tempted by God.  For God is not a tempter of evils, and he tempteth no man.  But every man is tempted by his own concupiscence, being drawn away and allured.  Then when concupiscence hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin.  But sin, when it is completed, begetteth death."  (James 1:13-15)

1. What is sin?
       Sin is any thought, word, desire, action, or neglect (omission) prohibited (forbidden) by the law of God.
   
   
2. When are you guilty of sin?
      ...

"Behold what manner of charity the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called, and should be the sons of God.  Therefore the world knoweth not us, because it knew not Him.  Dearly beloved, we are now the sons of God; and it hath not yet appeared what we shall be.  We know, that, when He shall appear, we shall be like to Him:  Because we shall see Him as He is."  (1 John 3:1-2)

1. What is Heaven?
       The place of perfect happiness in the next world.

   "Eye hath not seen, nor ear he...

"And Jesus addressed them, and spoke to them again in parables, saying,  "The kingdom of Heaven is likened to a king, who made a marriage for his son...  And the marriage was filled with guests.  And the king went in to see the guests:  And he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment.  And he saith to him:  Friend, how camest thou in hither not having on a wedding garment?  But he was silent.  Then the king said to the waiters:  Bind his hands and feet and cast him into the exter...

"Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth:  where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal.  But lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven:  Where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal.  For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also."   (Matthew 6:19-21)

1. What is a human being?
       A creature who has a body and soul.

   "Thou hast made him a little less than the angels, thou hast crowned him with glory an...

"And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the living creatures, and the ancients;  and the number of them was thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice:  The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power, and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and benediction."   (Apocalypse 5:11-12)

1. What is an angel?
       An angel is a spirit, that is, a creature who does not have a body.
2. Is an angel a real per...

Note:  As a creature of God, you are bound to pray to Him, not only as an individual, but also as a member of society.  The chief form of public worship in the Catholic Church is the Mass, which is explained in this lesson.  A fuller explanation will be given in Lesson 25.

1. What happens at Mass?
       The priest changes bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and offers them to God the Father.
2. Who said the first Mass?
       Jesus Christ, right after the Last Supper on the nig...

"Ask, and it shall be given you:  seek, and you shall find:  knock, and it shall be opened to you.  For every one that asketh, receiveth:  and he that seeketh, findeth:  and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.  Or what man is there among you, of whom if his son shall ask bread, will he reach him a stone?  Or if he shall ask him a fish, will he reach him a serpent?  If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children:  how much more will your Father who is in Heave...

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God!  How incomprehensible are His judgments and how unsearchable His ways!  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been His counsellor?  Or who hath first given to Him, and recompense shall be made Him?  For of Him and by Him and in Him, are all things; to Him be glory forever.  Amen."  (Romans 11:33-36)

1. Who is God?
       God is the Supreme Being, the Creator, "who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all th...

"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all in these days hath spoken to us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the world."  (Hebrews 1:1)

1. What is the Bible?
       A collection of writings which were inspired by God.

   "All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good wor...

1. What is the purpose of these lessons?
       To fill in what is missing in the lives of so many people - the knowledge and practice of true religion.

       "The heart of the wise seeketh instruction:  and the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness."    (Proverbs 15:14).

2. Why is religion the most important study?
       Because God expects you to know what He has taught and what He wants you to do in this life.

       "Let no man deceive himself:   if any man among you seem to be wise in this world, le...