September 26 - Study and Meditations on this Sunday's Scripture Readings

To help you prepare for this coming Sunday, here are the readings and reflections for this coming Sunday's Scripture readings. In this Sunday's Gospel Reading, Jesus addresses the Pharisees and all those who "are lovers of wealth" (Luke 16:14) with the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. This Sunday is the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C.

Here are the Scripture readings from the U.S. Catholic bishops website.

My own weekly study can be found here under "Current Study."

Reflections on the Sunday Scriptures to share with the younger ones in your family by Emily and Jeff Cavins can be found at Family Night .

Here are three audio reflections on the readings by Sister Ann Shields, Dr. Scott Hahn and Fr. Robert Barron.

Here is a Catholic Bible study podcast on the Gospel Reading, about an hour long, at Sunday Gospel Scripture Study.

The Navarre Bible Commentary for each reading can be viewed here.

Further study resources for the Readings: St. Charles Borromeo Bible Study can be found here, and Catholic Matters can be found here.

Discussion, questions and charitable comments are always welcome. Have a blessed week!

"The Imitation of Christ" On Reading the Holy Scripture

From "The Imitation of Christ," the spiritual classic by Thomas a' Kempis which has nourished untold numbers of souls for centuries, including great saints like St. Therese of Lisieux:

The Fifth Chapter
READING THE HOLY SCRIPTURE

TRUTH, not eloquence, is to be sought in reading the Holy Scriptures; and every part must be read in the spirit in which it was written. For in the Scriptures we ought to seek profit rather than polished diction.

Likewise we ought to read simple and devout books as willingly as learned and profound ones. We ought not to be swayed by the authority of the writer, whether he be a great literary light or an insignificant person, but by the love of simple truth. We ought not to ask who is speaking, but mark what is said. Men pass away, but the truth of the Lord remains forever. God speaks to us in many ways without regard for persons.

Our curiosity often impedes our reading of the Scriptures, when we wish to understand and mull over what we ought simply to read and pass by.

If you would profit from it, therefore, read with humility, simplicity, and faith, and never seek a reputation for being learned. Seek willingly and listen attentively to the words of the saints; do not be displeased with the sayings of the ancients, for they were not made without purpose.

What Did Jesus Write?

When Jesus confronted the crowd that was threatening to stone the woman caught in adultery in John 8:2-11, what did he write on the ground with his finger?

This question came up in my men's group this morning, in the context of the larger question "Did Jesus ever write anything down?" First, the passage from John we were discussing:

Early in the morning [Jesus] came again to the temple; all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?" This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. (John 8:2-6, RSV-CE)

The fact is, since the Scriptures don't explicitly say in this passage, we don't really know what he wrote--or even if he was writing or drawing (the literal Greek says he was "tracing."). One theory I've heard is that he was simply doodling to show his unconcern with the debate going on around him. I myself favor what is found in the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, Gospel of John:

8:8 wrote…on the ground: What Jesus inscribes in the dirt is unknown but probably symbolic. * The gesture may recall Jer 17:13, a warning that those who forsake the Lord “shall be written in the earth” because they have rejected the “fountain of living water”. The Pharisees fall into this category for rejecting Jesus, who has just been identified as the source of “living water.” (see John 7:38).

Here is the passage from Jeremiah (17:13):

O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake thee shall be put to shame; those who turn away from thee shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.

In other words, Jesus gave them a 'two-fer' here. Not only did he (1) show those around him that he knew what their sins were, and that they had better think of mercy as well as justice, and (2) Those more educated Pharisses standing near-by, remembering the context of the entire quote from Jeremiah, would be challenged again for their not believing in Jesus.

September 19: Study and Meditation for this Sunday's Scripture Readings

To help you prepare for this coming Sunday, here are the readings and reflections for this coming Sunday's Scripture readings. In this Sunday's Gospel Reading, Jesus tells his disciples the parable of the Dishonest Steward. This Sunday is the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C.

Here are the Scripture readings from the U.S. Catholic bishops website.

My own weekly study can be found here under "Current Study."

Reflections on the Sunday Scriptures to share with the younger ones in your family by Emily and Jeff Cavins can be found at Family Night .

Here are three audio reflections on the readings by Sister Ann Shields, Dr. Scott Hahn and Fr. Robert Barron.

Here is a Catholic Bible study podcast on the Gospel Reading, about an hour long, at Sunday Gospel Scripture Study.

The Navarre Bible Commentary for each reading can be viewed here.

Further study resources for the Readings: St. Charles Borromeo Bible Study can be found here, and Catholic Matters can be found here.

Discussion, questions and charitable comments are always welcome. Have a blessed week!

September 12: Study and Meditations on the Sunday's Scripture Readings

To help you prepare for this coming Sunday, here are the readings and reflections for this coming Sunday's Scripture readings. In this Sunday's Gospel Reading, we hear the much beloved--and challenging-- story of the Prodigal Son. This Sunday is the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C.

Here are the Scripture readings from the U.S. Catholic bishops website.

My own weekly study can be found here under "Current Study."

Reflections on the Sunday Scriptures to share with the younger ones in your family by Emily and Jeff Cavins can be found at Family Night .

Here are three audio reflections on the readings by Sister Ann Shields, Dr. Scott Hahn and Fr. Robert Barron.

Here is a Catholic Bible study podcast on the Gospel Reading, about an hour long, at Sunday Gospel Scripture Study.

The Navarre Bible Commentary for each reading can be viewed here.

Further study resources for the Readings: St. Charles Borromeo Bible Study can be found here, and Catholic Matters can be found here.

Discussion, questions and charitable comments are always welcome. Have a blessed week!

September 5th: Study and Meditation on the Scripture Readings for this Sunday

To help you prepare for this coming Sunday, here are the readings and reflections for this coming Sunday's Scripture readings. In this Sunday's Gospel Reading, Jesus warns those who would follow him to count the cost of doing so. This Sunday is the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C.

Here are the Scripture readings from the U.S. Catholic bishops website.

My own weekly study can be found here under "Current Study."

Reflections on the Sunday Scriptures to share with the younger ones in your family by Emily and Jeff Cavins can be found at Family Night .

Here are three audio reflections on the readings by Sister Ann Shields, Dr. Scott Hahn and Fr. Robert Barron.

Here is a Catholic Bible study podcast on the Gospel Reading, about an hour long, at Sunday Gospel Scripture Study.

The Navarre Bible Commentary for each reading can be viewed here.

Further study resources for the Readings: St. Charles Borromeo Bible Study can be found here, and Catholic Matters can be found here.

Discussion, questions and charitable comments are always welcome. Have a blessed week!

What Was the Story of "The Tower of Babel" All About?

In the Catholic Answers "Quick Questions" newsletter I receive by e-mail each day, there was an interesting question asked and answer given about the familiar story in Genesis 11. I don't think I've heard this particular interpretation on the event, so I thought I'd share:

Q: “ What was the sin of the tower of Babel?"

A: A Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture explains Genesis 11:1-9 as follows:

The inhabitants of the city started to build a great stage-tower zigguarat, which they raised to some considerable height and then were unable to complete. The massive remains were a visible reminder of the ineffectual attempt which tradition recorded to have been accompanied by discord and consequent migration of many of the population. This meager historical record explains why the sacred writer did not mention the nature of the sin which led to the frustration of the grandiose design. But his deep conviction of God’s overruling government of the world taught him that the attempt had been displeasing to God and the narrative suggests that the sin was one of overweening human pride and self-sufficiency.

The story has been widely understood to tell of a miraculous intervention by which different languages were introduced and the population thus became unable to understand one another. But it must be noted that the different groups among not only the Japhethites and Chamites, 10:5,20, but also among the Semites, 10:31, are already recorded to have had their various languages, and as the two former groups are already out of the story, the origin of languages is not recorded here. Moreover, the word for "languages" is lason which is that used in 10:5, 20, 31. In our passage this word is not found. That used is sapah, "lip," which also signifies "utterance." The natural meaning here is that the people at first in complete harmony "all saying the same thing" fell out among themselves and could not agree upon a common policy; and as a result of the discord (and possibly of fighting) there was a migration. Already in the fourth century St. Gregory of Nyssa was quite emphatic that God did not miraculously impose different languages on mankind. (192-193)

The Jerome Commentary on Genesis 11:1-9 says:

The evil is in their desire to "make a name" for themselves (cf. 12:2) rather than in the attempt to build a tower "with its top in the heavens" . . . Human smallness, not divine impotence, is emphasized in the Lord’s descent (vs. 5). The plural in verse 7 may reflect the concept of God’s royal court, an early idea in Israel. The punishment had been anticipated in verse 4. The name of the city, Babel, is here associated with the Hebrew root bll, "to confound." The great city and its (implied) defeat thus becomes synonymous with man’s revolt against God and its consequences. (17)

For more information about the getting Catholic Answers "Quick Questions," go here.