The sacrifice of our father Abraham

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Thursday, 04 July 2013

Thursday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time

Book of Genesis 22:1-19.

God put Abraham to the test. He called to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am!" he replied.

Then God said: "Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a holocaust on a height that I will point out to you."

Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey, took with him his son Isaac, and two of his servants as well, and with the wood that he had cut for the holocaust, set out for the place of which God had told him.

On the third day Abraham got sight of the place from afar.

Then he said to his servants: "Both of you stay here with the donkey, while the boy and I go on over yonder. We will worship and then come back to you."

Thereupon Abraham took the wood for the holocaust and laid it on his son Isaac's shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife.

As the two walked on together, Isaac spoke tnued, "Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for the holocaust?" 

"Son," Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the sheep for the holocaust." Then the two continued going forward. o his father Abraham. "Father!" he said. "Yes, son," he replied. Isaac conti...

The Supreme Sacrifice

Since the Fathers of the Church, many authors have exerted considerable effort trying to interpret the “true meaning” of Genesis, chapter 22, including modern thinkers such as Kant and Kierkegaard, and postmoderns such as Derrida and Marion. It is no wonder, then, that this episode about the sacrifice of Isaac should pose a huge challenge to artists as well! Such difficulty is hardly surprising, since in this text the divine pedagogy is just beginning to reveal the mystery of faith, this mystery which, in the fullness of revelation, will nourish Christian life from the profession of baptismal faith to every Mass, when the Church renews in an unbloody manner the sacrifice of Christ.

In this painting, Gentileschi proposes a multi-leveled interpretation. On the first level, that of the first Covenant, the angel abruptly stops the horrible act of infanticide. His expression is severe, and with his left hand raised toward heaven he points, in a sort of anticipation of Sinai, to the Law of God: You shall not kill! God thus gives a harsh lesson to Abraham, guilty of having believed it possible that the Lord would have asked him to adopt the monstrous practice of that period—offering first-born sons in sacrifice to the titular deity. Later, Moses will explain that offering first-born sons to God means to consecrate them, not sacrifice them. On the second level, that of the new and eternal Covenant, Gentileschi, unlike Caravaggio and Rembrandt, represents Isaac as neither constrained nor terrified. He who carried the wood for his own sacrifice is here the figure of Jesus Christ. Now, Jesus testifies that God his Father, our Father, does not wish to sacrifice his Son, just as he did not want Abraham to sacrifice Isaac: No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down on my own, he affirms. But as Savior of the world, it is no less true that Jesus exalts the greatness of the supreme sacrifice, since he is the only offering pleasing to God: No one shows greater love than by laying down his life for those he loves. 

Pierre-Marie Dumont 

  

The Sacrifice of Isaac, Orazio Gentileschi (1563-1639),

Galleria Nazionale di Palazzo Spinola, Genoa, Italy.

© Electa / Leemage.

Who do people say I am? Lk. 9:20

 Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C  

Sunday, 23 June 2013

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: William J. W...
To: Donald.....
Sent: Sunday, 23 June 2013, 19:53
Subject: Today's Gospel: Who do people say I am? The person of Jesus

Dear Father Donald,

 

I am fascinated by today's Gospel... and have been meditating about it before I knew it was scheduled, the study of Christology being alive in my mind.

My study book is "Christology - a Biblical, Historical, and Systematic Study of Jesus' by Gerald O'Collins.

 

When someone tells us of someone they have met, our question is inevitably, 'what kind of person are they, what are they like?'

The mission of the Twelve had clearly been asked this question about Jesus, but even more directly - 'who is He'?!

Peter answers for us, and are we not so often considering how we might then have answered regarding the person of Jesus...

 

The identity of a person, who they are, what they are like... we 'feel' our way through life's introductions, so what of our meeting with Jesus?

 

If we turn the question to our embarrassment upon ourselves, what kind of person are we? what is our identity? what / who are we like?

Do I represent Christ as I follow Him, is my imitation a true representation of Him? The question to the Twelve must have needed this answer.

 

I do not think I dare to take this reflection further than that of the prayer of the publican...

  

It begs the question of us - WHO ELSE do we want to be like, if not Jesus? 

 

This passage in the Gospel is the litmus paper of our faith.

 

... in Our Lord,

William

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dear William,

Thank you.

You were in bright hearing the Lord at ^V20 He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’

You are the best Reader for a tutor, and stear me to more details from Gerald O'Collins.

Our organist was away to serve the Mass at our neigbour Parish, over from the Lammermuirs, at Duns. I asked Fr' Raymond to bring his camera to the place of Blessed John Duns Scotus.

So we have the famous Immaculate Concepthion stained glass window in the RC Church. 

Potuit - Decuit - Ergo - Fecit (Dun Scotus)

Pictures attached.

... yours Donald 

     

John 5:17-30 "My Father goes on working, and so do I."

MAGNIFICAT www.magnificat.com

Community Eucharist:

This morning the Abbot read the riveting passage - every word of a long Gospel.

A commentary by Benedict xvi is a glimpse of his insight.

MASS

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

"The Lord consoles his people and takes pity on those who are afflicted." The Lord assures us, "I will never forget you." "The Lord supports all who fall." It is for us simply to ''call on him from [our] hearts." For "the Son gives life to anyone he chooses."

A reading from                                           '

the holy Gospel according to John   5: 17-30

JESUS SAID TO THE JEWS, "My Father goes on working, and so do I." But that only made them even more intent on killing him, because, not content with breaking the ...

The Father at Work
by POPE BENEDICT XVI

Father - with this word I express my certainty that someone is there who hears me, who never leaves me alone, who is always present. I express my certainty that God, despite the infinite difference between him and me, is such that I can speak to him, may even address him familiarly as "thou" (German du).

His greatness does not overwhelm me, does not reject me as insignificant and unimportant. Certainly I am subject to him as a child is subject to his father, yet there is such a fundamental similarity and likeness between him and me, yes, I am so important to him, I belong so closely to him, that I can rightly address him as "Father".

My being born is not a mistake, then, but a grace. It is good to live even though I do not always perceive it. I am wanted; not a child of chance or necessity, but of choice and free­dom.

Therefore I shall also have a purpose in life; there will always be a meaning for me, a task designed just for me, there is a conception of me that I can seek and find and fulfil. When the school of life becomes unbearably hard, when I would like to cry out as Job did, as the psalmist did - then I can transform this cry into the word "Father" and the cry will gradually become a word, a reminder to trust, because from the Father's perspective it is clear that my distress, yes, my agony, is part of the greater love for which I give thanks.

His Holiness Benedict XVI was elected to the See of Saint Peter in 2005.

Benedict XVI (Pope)

From Co-Workers of tile Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year, Sr.lrene Grassl, Ed .• Sr. Mary Frances McCarthy, S.N.D., & Rev. Lothar Krauth, Trs. C 1992, lgnatius Press, San Francisco, CA. wwwignatius.com.

Used with permission. 

Parallel New Testaments

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 10:38-42.

Martha and Mary

A homily on Martha and Mary speaks well on the hospitality of Jesus in Bethany.

In contrast plethora of New Testament versions, English Octapia, English Hexapla or more in the vernacular, the parallel NY translations must bemuse and bewilder us.. The Oxford University Press seems to have cornered a special market on parallel NY translations.

Catholic Comparative New Testament-PR-RSV/NRSV/Douay-Rheims/Nab/Gnt/Jb/NJB

By Oxford University Press 2006

The Contemporary Parallel New Testament: King James Version; New American Standard Bible Updated Edition; New Century Version; Contemporary English ... New King James Version; The Message [Hardcover] Oxford University Press, USA 1999

The most powerful argument about the collectable library of translations must be to drive Scripture students to the original languages.

The great incentive to learning Bible Greek is open to vast Internet tutorial systems.

The story of Martha and Mary makes an enjoyable exercise in the Greek analysis. The choice is plentiful in Online resources.

Luk 10:41 [But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha,] you are anxious and troubled about many things; Luk 10:42 one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her." RSV

Biblos Lk 10: 41-42

3309 V-PAI-2S μεριμνᾷς merimnas you are anxious	2532 CONJ καὶ kai and	5182 V-PPI-2S θορυβάζῃ thorubazē troubled	4012 PREP περὶ peri about	4183 A-APN πολλά, polla things	42 1520 42 A-GSN 42 ὀλίγων 42 oligōn 42 thing
1161 CONJ δέ de but	2076 V-PAI-3S ἐστιν estin is	5532 N-NSF χρεία chreia necessary	2228 PRT ἡ ē and	1520 A-GSN ἑνὸς· enos thing	3137 N-PRI Μαριὰμ mariam Mary
1063 CONJ γὰρ gar and	3588 T-ASF τὴν tēn the	18 A-ASF ἀγαθὴν agathēn good	3310 N-ASF μερίδα merida part	1586 V-AMI-3S ἐξελέξατο exelexato chosen	3748 R-NSF ἥτις ētis which
3756 PRT-N οὐκ ouk not	851 V-FPI-3S ἀφαιρεθήσεται aphairethēsetai will be taken away	846 P-GSF αὐτῆς. autēs her			Courtesy of Biblos com

Parallel New Testaments:

The Oxford University Press productions conform to a template for the two sets of eight translations, one set called Catholic set and the second set a the Others.

This synopsis of the Catholic Comparative NT is fits the template for both productions.

“The Douay-Rheims, RSVCB, NRSVCB, and NAB are called formal equivalent translations (popularly referred to as "word-for-word" translations). This means that scholars rendered the New Testament's original language into English that is as close as possible to its original wording. The result is a translation that is particularly valuable for careful analysis of the text. Meanwhile, the JB, GNB, NJB, and Christian Community Bible represent the "thought-for-thought" school of Bible translation (technically described as dynamic or functional equivalent). This method places the priority on the intended meaning of the original vocabulary, adapting it to English syntax and grammar. Such a translation tends to be easier to read and understand.”

This review is from: The Contemporary Parallel New Testament: King James Version; New American Standard Bible Updated Edition; New Century Version; Contemporary English ... New King James Version; The Message (Hardcover)

This Parallel New Testament is nothing more than a preface and foreward and the scriptures of eight more popular translations (with their preface and forewards). But that is great! The eight represent a strong cross section of translation styles, from the more literal word-for-word (NAS, NIV) to the more thought-for-thought (The Message, The Living Translation). I believe the variation of translations draws one closer to understanding what God is saying to us; this is the next best thing to reading it in the Greek (and having a Greek expert and 1st century historian available for interpretting those phrases that don't make sense in a word for word translation).

There seems the great divide between the two leagues, “from the more literal word-for-word (NAS, NIV), to the more thought-for-thought”. It seems a neat and useful distinction and hopefully not somewhat facile.