| |
|
| |
My Prayer Box
for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
from My
Catholic Tradition
“You cannot strengthen the
weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help the
wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You
cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You
cannot help men permanently by doing for them what
they could and should do for themselves.” -
Abraham Lincoln
To subscribe to the newsletter, please follow this
link. |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
Why
We do what We Do |
| |
 |
Do Catholics Believe in the Bible? |
|
| |
When most
people think of Bible-Christians, they usually
mean those in the Protestant denominations. They
"own" the Bible, right? And the Church really does
not want us to read the bible, right again? Well,
wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Bible was written for the Catholics, and
interpreted infallibly only by the teaching
authority vested by Jesus in the Catholic Church. |
| |
|
| |
"It was declared by the Vatican Council (Sess.
III, c. ii) that the sacred and canonical
character of Scripture would not be
sufficiently explained by saying that the
books were composed by human diligence and
then approved by the Church, or that they
contained revelation without error. They
are sacred and canonical "because, having
been written by inspiration of the Holy
Ghost, that have God for their author, and
as such have been handed down to the
Church." The inerrancy of the Bible
follows as a consequence of this Divine
authorship. Wherever the sacred writer
makes a statement as his own, that
statement is the word of God and
infallibly true, whatever be the
subject-matter of the statement.
It will be seen, therefore, that though
the inspiration of any writer and the
sacred character of his work be antecedent
to its recognition by the Church yet we
are dependent upon the Church for our
knowledge of the existence of this
inspiration. She is the appointed witness
and guardian of revelation. From her alone
we know what books belong to the Bible. At
the Council of Trent she enumerated the
books which must be considered "as sacred
and canonical." FRANCIS E. GIGOT,
The Catholic Encyclopedia.
And
yet the Bible is perceived as a "Protestant"
book. The reason for that is because the
Bible was claimed by the Protestants as
their sole rule of faith during the
Reformation, rejecting the authority of the
Catholic Church.
It also
became "known" to non-Catholics that Catholics
rejected the Bible and that the Church did not
encourage reading the Bible. In fact even from the
early church, popes, councils, priests and
scholars have encouraged Bible reading.
Another
reason why non-Catholics, or even Catholics who do
not know history, had the wrong perception that
the Church did not encourage the lay people to
read the Bible was the story that at the early
Church the Bibles were chained down.
Now, let
me ask you. Have you seen the phone directory at
phone booths? Why are secured? To prevent the
books from "walking away," right? You have to
remember that in the early Church there were no
mass printing presses. Every letter in the old
books, including the Bible was painstakingly
copied by monks in monasteries by hand, in all
their glorious illumination – a task that
sometimes takes years to complete. There was
little wonder then why the Bibles were chained
down.
Some also attribute Martin Luther, during
reformation as the first to have published the
Bible in vernacular. In fact the first Bible was
printed with the Catholic Church approval by
Johann Guttenburg, a Catholic, in 1455, long
before the Reformation even started. Before that
the earliest precursor to the English-language
Bible was a paraphrase of Genesis written around
670 - quite a few years before 1483 when Martin
Luther was born.
Indeed the
primary author of the Bible is the Holy Ghost, or,
as it is commonly expressed, the human authors
wrote under the influence of Divine inspiration.
But it was the Church that pointed us towards the
existence of the inspiration. |
| |
|
| |
For
the article,
please click here. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Our
Faith: What you might want to know |
|
The Trinity |
| |
The Office of Catechism
of the United States Congress of Catholic Bishops
website puts our knowledge of the Catholic
Faith to a test! |
|
|
|
|
1. |
True or false.
Our faith in God leads us to neither prefer
anything to him nor substitute anything for
him.
|
|
|
|
2. |
True or false.
The Hebrew shema, which expresses belief in
one God, and
which reads: “Here, O Israel, the Lord our God
is one Lord”, has been contradicted by the
Christian belief in the Trinity of three
Persons.
|
|
|
|
|
3. |
True or false.
God’s revelation of himself means that
eventually we will know him fully.
|
|
|
|
4. |
By what
sacrament
are we called to share in the life of the
Blessed Trinity? |
|
|
|
|
5. |
True or false.
The mystery of the Trinity would remain
unknown unless God had revealed it to us.
|
|
|
|
|
6. |
Which of these are
true? |
|
|
a. |
The God of our faith
has revealed himself as He who is. |
|
b. |
He has made himself
known as abounding in steadfast love and
faithfulness. |
|
c. |
God’s very being is
Truth and Love. |
|
d. |
a and c |
|
e. |
All of the above. |
|
|
|
|
|
7. |
Which of the following is
correct? |
|
|
a. |
There is one Person
in the Trinity, who has three natures. |
|
b. |
There are three
Persons in the Trinity, each one
possessing part of the Divine nature. |
|
c. |
There are Three
Persons in the Trinity, each fully
possessing the Divine nature. |
|
d. |
There is only one
Person in the Godhead, who relates to us
in different ways as Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. |
|
e. |
None of the above. |
|
|
|
|
8. |
Which of the
following is true? |
|
|
a. |
The Holy Spirit
eternally proceeds from the Son. |
|
b. |
Holy Spirit
eternally proceeds from the communion of
the Father and the Son. |
|
c. |
The Holy Spirit is
eternally begotten by the Father. |
|
d. |
The Holy Spirit is
eternally begotten by the Son. |
|
e. |
The Holy Spirit is
eternally begotten by the communion of the
Father and the Son. |
|
|
|
|
|
9. |
How does the revelation
of Jesus as the Son of God affect the notion
of
God as Father
as it was understood in the Old Testament?
|
|
|
a. |
It demonstrates that
the Father became Father when Jesus became
man. |
|
b. |
Of little
significance, since the Jews already knew
of God as Father of creation, as Father of
his covenant with Israel, as Father of the
king of Israel, and as Father of the poor. |
|
c. |
It demonstrates
that, since the Father truly has a son to
whom he is related as Father that,
therefore, the Father must also be male. |
|
d. |
It shows that the
Father is Father not only in being
Creator; he is eternally Father by his
relationship to his only Son. |
|
|
|
|
|
10. |
True or false.
The work of creation is accomplished by the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. |
|
| |
|
|
To
learn more about Our Faith, please
click here. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Thirtieth
Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 26,
2008
You shall
love the Lord, your God, with all
your heart, with all your soul,
and with all your mind. Matt22:37
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
First Reading
from the Book of Exodus |
|
|
Ex 22:20-26 |
|
|
|
|
|
Thus says the LORD:
"You shall not molest or oppress an alien,
for you were once aliens yourselves in the
land of Egypt.
You shall not
wrong any widow or orphan. If ever you
wrong them and they cry out to me, I will
surely hear their cry.
My wrath will
flare up, and I will kill you with the
sword; then your own wives will be widows,
and your children orphans.
"If you lend money to one of your poor
neighbors among my people, you shall not
act like an extortioner toward him by
demanding interest from him.
If you take your
neighbor's cloak as a pledge, you shall
return it to him before sunset; for this
cloak of his is the only covering he has
for his body.
What else has he
to sleep in?
If he cries out to me, I will hear him;
for I am compassionate." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Responsorial From the Book of Psalms |
|
Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47,
51 |
|
|
|
|
| |
R. I love you, Lord, my
strength.
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my
stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
and I am safe from my enemies.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
The LORD lives and blessed be my rock!
Extolled be God my savior.
You who gave great victories to your king
and showed kindness to your anointed.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Second Reading from
the Letter to the Thessalonians |
|
1 Thes 1:5c-10 |
| |
|
| |
Brothers and sisters:
You know what sort of people we were among you for
your sake. And you became imitators of us and of
the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction,
with joy from the Holy Spirit, so that you became
a model for all the believers in Macedonia and in
Achaia.For from
you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not
only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but in every
place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we
have no need to say anything.
For they themselves
openly declare about us what sort of reception we
had among you, and how you turned to God from
idols to serve the living and true God and to
await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the
dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming
wrath. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Reading From the Gospel of Matthew |
|
Mt 22:34-40 |
When the Pharisees heard
that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they
gathered together, and one of them, a scholar
of the law tested him by asking,
"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the
greatest?"
He said to him,
"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all
your heart, with all your soul, and with all
your mind.
This is the greatest
and the first commandment.
The second is like
it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The
whole law and the prophets depend on these two
commandments."
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Suggested Readings |
|
 |
|
|
intersection of
morality, reason, and politics. This isn’t
just a book for Catholics, but for anyone who
cares about the state of America’s soul —and
how that concern might shape the 2008
elections.”
—John
L. Allen Jr., NCR and CNN senior Vatican
correspondent, Amazon |
|
|
|
 |
Happiness Is a Serious
Problem: A Human Nature Repair Manual
by Dennis Prager.
In this unique blend of self-help and moral
philosophy, talk-radio host Dennis Prager
asserts that we're actually obligated to be
happy, because it makes us better people.
|
|
|
|
 |
Praying With Frederic Ozanam
(Companions for the Journey Series)
-
Paperback, by Ronald Cm Ramson (Author) |
|
|
|
 |
Praying With Louise De
Marillac (Companions for the Journey Series)
by Audrey Gibson (Author), Kieran Kneaves
(Author) |
|
|
|
 |
Praying with Vincent de
Paul (Companions for the Journey)
2004, by Thomas McKenna
|
|
|
|
 |
The Rise of Christianity:
How the Obscure, Marginal, Jesus Movement Became
the Dominant Religious Force ....
(Paperback) by Rodney Stark
(Author)
From the Publisher
"... this account of Christianity's remarkable
growth within the Roman Empire is already the
subject of much fanfare. |
|
"Anyone who has puzzled
over Christianity's rise to dominance... must
read it,"
...
Read the first page. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Living Liturgy:
Spirituality, Celebration, and Catechesis for
Sundays and Solemnities, Year A,
2008 (Paperback) by C.PP.S. Joyce Ann Zimmerman
(Author), Thomas A. Greisen (Author), S.N.D. de
N. Kathleen Harmon (Author), M.S. Thomas L.
Leclerc (Author) |
|
"Perfect for home use or to prepare for weekly
liturgy . . . It includes help for the
celebration, ideas for catechesis on the
particular event, and ways to understand the
readings more deeply. Finally, it includes
sample questions from which priests, deacons,
lay groups, ministers and others can jump off
into deeper discussion." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Straight Answers, Answers
to 100 Questions about the Catholic Faith
by Ph.D Rev. William P.
Saunders (Author)
Review by: Reverend William G. Curlin Bishop of
Charlotte
Straight Answers offers Catholics a simple and
direct response to the many questions concerning
the Catholic Church. It spells out profound
truths in very |
|
simple language for all who seek a better
understanding of their Faith. I highly recommend
it for Catholics, both young and old. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
The Power of Intention:
Learning to Co-create Your World Your Way
From Amazon:
After years of spiritual study and reflection,
inspirational speaker and |
|
bestselling
author Wayne Dyer has emerged a highly esteemed
teacher. His current message about tapping into
the power of intention may sound like good old
positive thinking: just stay focused on what you
want, rather than focusing on the lack of having
what you want. But the teaching here goes deeper
than just controlling thoughts (although he does
acknowledge that thought control is a
surprisingly challenging and significant
endeavor).
This book might
help readers land a better job, but it's more
relevant for those who are ready to detach from
an ego-driven life filled with quick fixes of
happiness and step into a more authentic,
joyful, and spiritually fulfilling life. His
core teachings speak to tapping into a universal
source of energy that can also be called the
"power of intention." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
The Chariot of Israel:
Exploits of the Prophet of Elijah
THE CHARIOT OF ISRAEL: When Elijah was caught up
to heaven, his disciple Elisha cried out, "the
chariot of Israel, and its horsemen." Elisha was
referring not to the chariot but to the prophet.
This study of Elijah’s life will captivate you
as it walks you through a pivotal period in
Israel’s history, and illustrative maps will
give you a better picture of the physical
geography of this ancient land. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Read
more about the Liturgical Year |
| |
|
 |
The Origins of the
Liturgical Year (Pueblo Books)
by Thomas J. Talley (Author) The Rev. Dr.
Thomas J. Talley, Professor of Liturgics
at the General Theological Seminary in New
York, is one of the leading liturgists in
the country. He gives us a fresh
examination of the complex history of the
Liturgical Year. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
The Cultural World
of Jesus: Sunday by Sunday, Cycle C.
(Bestseller! the Cultural World of Jesus:
Sunday by Sunday)
by John J. Pilch (Author)
Reader
Review: The book by Pilch provides those
who not only fill the pulpits across this
country but also all interested in the
cultural world in which Jesus lived with a
lot of pertinent information that sheds
light on a lot of areas that have been
"muddled" in the past. Yes, I highly
recommend this book. - James Mauldin |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Learn
more and read the Old Testament. |
 |
Preaching from the
Old Testament
by Elizabeth Achtemeier (Author) Reader
Review: The author of these thirty-two
short chapters begins and ends with the
assumption that problems we experience
with the Old Testament are our problem,
not the Bible's. This subordinating of the
Bible reader to the well-weathered book he
holds in his hand opens doors, not to
forced |
|
harmonisations of problematic
passages, but to fresh reappraisal of
difficult texts on their own terms. -
David A. Baer |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
The Navarre Bible:
Pentateuch (The Navarre Bible: Old
Testament)
This volume helps
you make the first five books of the Old
Testament a vital part of your spiritual
reading and practical growth in the
Christian life. It contains the full
English and Latin texts of these books,
along with extensive and
|
|
faithfully Catholic
commentaries. Like other volumes in the
world-renowned Navarre Bible series, these
commentaries draw on Church documents, the
exegesis of Fathers and Doctors of the Church, and the works of
contemporary spiritual writers — particularly
St. Josemaría Escrivá, who initiated the
Navarre Bible project. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Comments and Suggestions are Most Welcome.
If you have any comments or contributions,
please
use the form in this link.
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
| |
Our Engine |
| |
|
|
|
 |
This newsletter
and the website is powered by Site Build It!
It really is a "Genie In A Box."
Don't forget to check out the Quick Tour Slide
Show!
|
|
| |
|
| |
Want to try to win a free copy of
the "Genie In A Box?"
Click right here!
|
|
|
|
by
