This most touching letter of Saint Paul to one of his first bishops, after Saint Timothy had been given the care of the See of Ephesus, provides a short series of counsels for an infant church, establishing basic practices and providing counsel to the new bishop and the priests under him. I should begin withContinue reading “Reading through the first letter of S. Paul to S. Timothy”
Category Archives: Holy Scripture
Reading through the prophecy of Habacuc
Today’s post is about the prophecy of Habacuc, another of the twelve minor prophets and a book that can be easily compassed in an hour. Poor Habacuc, being a good man, was spiritually oppressed by the wickedness around him in Judaite society – tyranny and robbery, legalism and contention, he says, and contravention of theContinue reading “Reading through the prophecy of Habacuc”
Reading through the second letter of S. Paul to the Thessalonians
Nearing the end of the preserved body of Saint Paul’s letters, we have the second letter to the Corinthians; this one’s again rather short, so let’s get right down to it. This is a follow-up to my little post on the first letter to the Thessalonians, which letter was slightly longer. The heart of this ratherContinue reading “Reading through the second letter of S. Paul to the Thessalonians”
Reading through the prophecy of Nahum
This will not take very long, for this is a short book. As I must have said in previous posts, there are twelve ‘minor’ prophets, contrasted in the length of their work that we have preserved to the major prophets, Isaias, Jeremias and Ezechiel. The language they use, though, is very similar to that of the majorContinue reading “Reading through the prophecy of Nahum”
Where prophets come from (Sunday XV of Ordered time)
We had a sentiment of prophecy in our readings last weekend, when it seemed evident that prophets are always sent, whether or not people listen to them. The directions of the Creator for right human living arrive in every time, whether or not the worlds receives them well. In our readings this weekend, we discoverContinue reading “Where prophets come from (Sunday XV of Ordered time)”
Reading through the first letter of S. Paul to the Thessalonians
On a typical map, we can see the geographical position of Thessalonika or Salonika, a natural port and harbour, and in a central position in the Greek mainland – a crucial city today, as it was in the days of Saint Paul. There was undoubtedly a large Jewish population there, with a synagogue and everythingContinue reading “Reading through the first letter of S. Paul to the Thessalonians”
Reading through the prophecy of Micah (aka. Michaeas)
These short books of the ‘minor’ prophets have a common theme: idolatry has wrested the promise of the Holy Land from the tribes of Israel, and God is utterly fed up with them. But the prophets tend to end on a hopeful note: the terror to come is now inevitable, but one day the peopleContinue reading “Reading through the prophecy of Micah (aka. Michaeas)”
Reading through S. Paul’s letter to the Colossians
This is a rather short letter and thankfully without any sign of the politics that had arisen in several of the other churches of the time, such as those of the Galatians and the Corinthians, because of other Christian missionaries presenting a rivalry to Paul’s message with their attempts to initiate the new gentile ChristiansContinue reading “Reading through S. Paul’s letter to the Colossians”
‘Whether or not they listen…’ (Sunday XIV of Ordered time)
I have switched the word ‘ordinary’ permanently to ‘ordered’ on the website, when referring to the green Sundays of this part of the year. That’s the real intimation of the word, as I see it: the Sundays counting down to the end of the year and the season of Advent. This weekend, we have veryContinue reading “‘Whether or not they listen…’ (Sunday XIV of Ordered time)”
Reading through the Prophecy of Jonah
The book of Jonas tells the famous tale of the successful mission of a Hebrew prophet from Juda to the Assyrians of the city of Nineve. The name ‘Yona’ is literally ‘dove,’ and we can see that, while the prophet sought peace, the Holy One had a significant mission for him: the conversion of aContinue reading “Reading through the Prophecy of Jonah”
Reading through S. Paul’s letter to the Philippians
Philippi was one of the great cities of Roman Macedonia in Saint Paul’s time, sitting, as you can see by zooming in and out of the Google Map above, on the ancient Via Egnatia, the Roman Road joining Greek Kavalla on the Aegian Sea to Albanian Durres on the Adriatic. Philippi was a Roman colony,Continue reading “Reading through S. Paul’s letter to the Philippians”
Reading through Ecclesiasticus (aka. ben Sirach)
Today’s summary is on the book of Ecclesiasticus, an important bridge between the Old and the New Testaments that was excluded from by the rabbis from the Hebrew Bible in the centuries after the Resurrection, perhaps because it was considered too Christian. Sadly, protestant rebels did the same in the sixteenth century, probably trying toContinue reading “Reading through Ecclesiasticus (aka. ben Sirach)”
Reading through the letter of S. Paul to the Ephesians
The Church in Ephesos (west of Asia Minor, just across the Aegean from Macedonia and Achaia) was always a good egg in the first century, apparently. In the last book of the Bible, she received a good report from Christ Himself for her discernment with regard to the Apostolic authority: “To the angel of theContinue reading “Reading through the letter of S. Paul to the Ephesians”
Reading through the book of Ruth
This is another short post for one of the shortest books in the Hebrew Bible. It’s purpose is to demonstrate the geneology of the great king of Israel, David of Bethlehem, following after the more general adventures of the national tribes in their possession of the Holy Land in the books of Iosue/Joshua and Judges. This is importantContinue reading “Reading through the book of Ruth”
Reading through the Prophecy of Obadyah (aka. Abdias)
This is a very short one, for it is a single-page prophecy. Already, the prophet Malachias (Malachy) had condemned Edom and the Edomites, descendants of Esau son of Isaac the patriarch, in a most final manner. Edom – the Hebrew colour red – was the name given to the twin brother of the patiarch Jacob, becauseContinue reading “Reading through the Prophecy of Obadyah (aka. Abdias)”
Reading through the letter of S. Paul to the Galatians
Dear Saint Paul, travelling miles everywhere to preach the Gospel to everybody who would listen, and there always followed in his wake other preachers who tried to get the new Christians to become judaised, taking on superficial symbols of Jewish belonging. This meant primarily circumcision, which resulted in the full obligation of these men andContinue reading “Reading through the letter of S. Paul to the Galatians”
Reading through the Prophecy of Amos
Here’s one of the first of the Hebrew prophets whose prophecies have been preserved. Aside from a few condemnations of the unfaithfulness of the people of the southern kingdom of Juda, this book is directed squarely at the northern kingdom of Israel and the syncretist king Jeroboam II of Israel. The united kingdom of DavidContinue reading “Reading through the Prophecy of Amos”
Reading through the second letter of S. Paul to the Corinthians
I’m on medical rest for the moment, so I’ve decided to put out these little summaries of the books of Scripture on an almost-daily basis, until I’ve done them all. You should find the ones I’ve already done here. Then I’ll start to put on bits of the Catechism and basic prayer. Today, we haveContinue reading “Reading through the second letter of S. Paul to the Corinthians”
Reading through the Prophecy of Hosea (aka. Osee)
The prophecy of Hosea is about the love of a husband for his adulterous wife. Hosea had a rather long ministry, overlapping with Amos during the reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel and reaching past the reigns of King Achaz and King Ezechias of Juda, reaching almost to the end of the northern kingdom of Israel.Continue reading “Reading through the Prophecy of Hosea (aka. Osee)”
Trusting divine Providence (Sunday XII of Ordered time)
Our readings this weekend speak of our trust in the providence of God, Who (we might say) always has the bigger picture, and knows therefore what is best at all times. He says so much to the patriarch Job in our first reading today. In the story of Job, this venerable old man had lostContinue reading “Trusting divine Providence (Sunday XII of Ordered time)”
Reading through the first letter of S. Paul to the Corinthians
This is one of the most popular of the preserved letters of S. Paul, so let’s try and draw a quick summary. Like most big Greco-Roman towns of the first century, Corinth had a large Jewish community, living among almost any number of other religions and philosophy, for this small city was about as metropolitan asContinue reading “Reading through the first letter of S. Paul to the Corinthians”
The King of hearts (Sunday XI of Ordered time)
This last weekend’s readings allow us to reflect on what the Church is. Especially in this month of June, a whole month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of our Lord, I like to say that He is the King of hearts. This was something the Temple priests and the scribes of His day – theContinue reading “The King of hearts (Sunday XI of Ordered time)”
Reading through the second book of the Maccabees
Find my summary of the first book of the Maccabees here. The second book of the Machabees is more properly a book of the Machabees – the followers of Judas Machabeus (‘the hammer’), the son of the priest Mattathias of Modin. The first book had rushed past Judas in a way, after marking his fall in battle,Continue reading “Reading through the second book of the Maccabees”
Reading through the first book of the Maccabees
Image by Ri Butov from Pixabay I saw a recent post on social media asking if it was worth reading the books of the Maccabees, and I thought I’d put out a short summary of my own reading of them. This post is on the first book of the Maccabees. For some reason, when theContinue reading “Reading through the first book of the Maccabees”
Making all things new again (Sunday X of Ordinary time)
We have slipped back into ‘ordinary’ time, after the great festivals of our holy religion. The word ‘ordinary’ used here is something of a misuse of the Latin in the books; a better word is ‘ordered,’ to more accurately describe the sequenced Sundays that begin at Sunday X today and end just before Advent withContinue reading “Making all things new again (Sunday X of Ordinary time)”
The Sacrament of Love (Corpus Christi Sunday)
It was not too long ago that this last Thursday was everywhere the feast day of the body of Christ (in Latin, Corpus Christi) and the first day of July was the feast day of the blood of Christ. But these days, the two have been lumped together into one feast day on the Thursday,Continue reading “The Sacrament of Love (Corpus Christi Sunday)”
Reading through the book of Judith
This is another folk-story (like the book of Tobit) with so many names of people and places changed that the historical situation cannot be matched to historical documentation and stands apart from any historical situation. If you happen to be using a protestant Bible, you may not have this book in (unless you have anContinue reading “Reading through the book of Judith”
Love is three, and Love is one (Trinity Sunday)
I shouldn’t try to explain in ten minutes the greatest mystery that is present to us in our religious tradition. Ever since the Holy One revealed Himself to us as somehow three while being one, those who hate the Church have ridiculed our embrace of this mystery of the Trinity. Of old, great masters ofContinue reading “Love is three, and Love is one (Trinity Sunday)”
Reading through the prophecy of Joel
It’s Pentecost Sunday, and the prophet of Pentecost is Joel; so let’s have a run through this short book of prophecy… Joel begins with a great calamity upon the nation of Israel: either some terrible invading army that is figured as swarms of locusts has destroyed the countryside, or else some terrible natural calamity (likeContinue reading “Reading through the prophecy of Joel”
Engraved upon our hearts (Pentecost Sunday)
We suitably terminate our seven weeks of Easter with today’s festival of Pentecost. This is not necessarily a Christian system; it is a Jewish one. Long before our Lord walked this earth as a man, the Hebrew nation celebrated their liberation from slavery in Egypt with the festivals of Passover and of unleavened bread. ImmediatelyContinue reading “Engraved upon our hearts (Pentecost Sunday)”
Elected out of this world (Sunday after the Ascension)
Following Thursday’s feast of the Ascension (forty days after Easter Sunday), we are now on the approach towards Pentecost Sunday (fifty days after Passover/Easter). That’s what Pentecost means : fifty days in weeks. And our readings now relate to the promise of the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Who will animate the Church while ChristContinue reading “Elected out of this world (Sunday after the Ascension)”
The unifying love that is friendship (Sunday VI of Easter)
Cornelius, a leading character of our first reading this weekend, was a Roman, and so not Jewish, although not necessarily a pagan, for he was sufficiently devoted to the God of Israel to received the angelic vision that led him to call for the Apostle S. Peter. The Romans looked down upon the Jews asContinue reading “The unifying love that is friendship (Sunday VI of Easter)”
Reading through the letter of S. James
The first bishop of Jerusalem, Saint James the Just, was greatly honoured during his lifetime, by Christian and Jew alike. The tradition of the Church speaks through S. Jerome who quotes an older description of him thus: “After the apostles, James the brother of the Lord surnamed the Just was made head of the ChurchContinue reading “Reading through the letter of S. James”
One in Christ, Jew and Gentile (Sunday V of Easter)
One of the books I have been reading this week was written by a Jewish rabbi from Rochester in the US, who a few decades ago came to a understanding of Our Lord Jesus Christ that his fellowmen mostly abhor. He realised that Christ was the Hebrew Messiah long awaited by the Jews. This man’sContinue reading “One in Christ, Jew and Gentile (Sunday V of Easter)”
The Shepherd-king as Father (Sunday IV of Easter)
We must always marvel at the benevolent love of the Holy One for the men and women that He calls His own. And we know that He calls the Church His own, because He actually calls it the sheepfold of which He is the Good Shepherd. And this is the theme of the readings today,Continue reading “The Shepherd-king as Father (Sunday IV of Easter)”
The Old Testament and the New (Sunday III of Easter)
Let’s try to find a common thread for all of our readings at Mass this weekend. There is first of all the sermon of Saint Peter on the occasion of a miracle of healing performed upon a cripple in Christ’s Name. “Peter, when he saw it, addressed himself to the people; ‘Men of Israel,’ heContinue reading “The Old Testament and the New (Sunday III of Easter)”
The Church in effect (Sunday II of Easter)
This Sunday is the octave day of Easter Sunday, and just as a musical octave at its end pitches the same note higher, the Resurrection of our Lord raises in pitch on the eighth day in a way, to the flourishing of the Church. For the grand theme of all our readings this weekend isContinue reading “The Church in effect (Sunday II of Easter)”
Reading through the prophecy of Baruch
Running through the liturgy of the Easter vigil, some of us must have noticed the extract from Baruch about idolatry, that great sin of mankind. Baruch was an associate of the prophet Jeremias in the last years of the kingdom of Juda, and he was a scribe. When Jeremias was asked to compose a bookContinue reading “Reading through the prophecy of Baruch”
Faithfulness rewarded (Easter Sunday)
The readings of the Easter vigil in particular take us on a run through the Old Testament, and tell us progressively of the sin of our first parents, which created the seemingly irreparable rift with the Will of the Holy One, and then of the first mending of the rift through Father Abraham’s willingness toContinue reading “Faithfulness rewarded (Easter Sunday)”
Humility rewarded (Palm Sunday)
The point of our palm-waving festival this weekend is to honour the King, Who entered His own capital of Jerusalem as the Successor of David, to claim not political power but His eternal priesthood. Indeed He went not to the palace of the tetrarch Herod on that day, nor even the residence of the RomanContinue reading “Humility rewarded (Palm Sunday)”
Glorified in suffering (Sunday V of Lent)
This Sunday is called Passion Sunday. Not Palm Sunday – that comes next weekend. The reason we begin already to speak of the Passion this Sunday is because the liturgy features today the moment when our Lord set His face towards Jerusalem and to His great ordeal. As He says in the gospel reading today,Continue reading “Glorified in suffering (Sunday V of Lent)”
Commandments of love (Sunday III of Lent)
I would like to look at the readings this weekend very broadly. I shall give the usual introduction I give at our scripture-study hours. The problem mankind has had, from its very beginning, is its determination to ignore the direction or guidance of the God Who made it – the Shepherd King of hearts –Continue reading “Commandments of love (Sunday III of Lent)”
Up the mountain (Sunday II of Lent)
As we persevere in our Lenten observance, a week in now, we hope to carry through until the sixth week, and this weekend we have in our readings two episodes that take place on high mountains. Ascending towards a sanctuary was very significant in both the old and the new testaments. A sanctuary has nothingContinue reading “Up the mountain (Sunday II of Lent)”
Reading through the second book of the Chronicles of the kings (aka. II Paralipomena)
Here is the second book of Paralipomena, which is the Greek name used in old Catholic Bibles for the books of Chronicles. In this follow-up to 1 Chronicles, the author continues with the story of the Israelite kings, after the death of David. The books of Chronicles are very Jerusalem-centred, so are more the work ofContinue reading “Reading through the second book of the Chronicles of the kings (aka. II Paralipomena)”
Forty days and forty nights (Sunday I of Lent)
And so we begin the forty days, or so, of Lent. As the gospel story indicates, our forty days is a shadow of His forty days, the period in which He prepared for his three-year mission of preaching and teaching and for His great Sacrifice with the retreat into the wilderness. “At this time, JesusContinue reading “Forty days and forty nights (Sunday I of Lent)”
The leprosy of sin (Sunday VI of Ordinary time)
“A man may lose the hair on his crown, and still be clean; may lose the hair on his forehead, and still be clean, despite his baldness. But if in the bald patch on crown or forehead a white or reddish tinge is shewing, the priest who finds it there will hold him unclean beyondContinue reading “The leprosy of sin (Sunday VI of Ordinary time)”
Reading through the first book of the Chronicles (aka. I Paralipomena)
Also called the para-lipomena in our old Catholic Bibles, which use old Greek names for several of the books, the two books of Chronicles attempt to provide more detail to some of the more important narratives in the books of the Kings. This takes the form usually of extremely long lists of names, establishing genealogiesContinue reading “Reading through the first book of the Chronicles (aka. I Paralipomena)”
Reading through the Acts of the Apostles
I’m not certain exactly how to summarise the Acts of the Apostles. Saint Luke did not write it precisely as a history, as we understand histories today, any more than he wrote his Gospel as a history. Rather, the Acts is his continuation of that Gospel demonstrating the ongoing abiding of Christ with His Church in theContinue reading “Reading through the Acts of the Apostles”
Duty bound as Apostles (Sunday V of Ordinary time)
If I were to pull out a message from our readings this weekend, it would be about hard work and dedication in the midst of great difficulty and terror. And I do not mean hard work at labour, or a profession of this world. The greatest work at this moment in history for men andContinue reading “Duty bound as Apostles (Sunday V of Ordinary time)”
The Teacher above teachers (Sunday IV of Ordinary time)
We have recently heard in the Sunday readings about how, when S. John the Baptist very daringly established a ritual baptism of repentance for sin, he was accosted by priests and zealots from the Jerusalem Temple. It was at the Temple where God forgave sin through the sacramental system of the animal sacrifices. How dareContinue reading “The Teacher above teachers (Sunday IV of Ordinary time)”
Catholic Louth and Mablethorpe 