“…prophets told them that David would return, a son of David, another man ‘after God’s own heart,’ who would resolve the question not only for them but for every tribe of mankind: who is your Lord?”
Tag Archives: messianic expectation
And you, Bethlehem-Ephratha (Sunday IV of Advent)
“Bethlehem-Ephrata! Least do they reckon thee among all the clans of Juda? Nay, it is from thee I look to find a Prince that shall rule over Israel. Whence comes He? From the first beginning, from ages untold! Marvel not, then, if the Lord abandons His people for a time, until she who is in travailContinue reading “And you, Bethlehem-Ephratha (Sunday IV of Advent)”
Christmas Day! At last…
“The shepherds had more to rejoice about than simply proving the words of the angels on the hills. As religious Jews, they may have remembered the lines of Isaiah, given us by the first reading at the dawn Mass, which were coming to fruition before their eyes.”
Humanity renewed (Sunday II of Advent)
“The link of our gospel story to Baruch’s prophecy is clearly in the levelling of mountains and filling in of valleys, in order to allow Jerusalem and Judah to be more quickly restored, as per Baruch. But S. John the Baptist has a greater vision: it isn’t only the Hebrew nation returning to God in the Messiah, but all nations of the earth – all mankind.”
Awaiting the King (Sunday I of Advent)
“…we are to watch ourselves, take up self-control to avoid possible drunkenness and debauchery, we are to stay awake, praying for the strength to survive every threat to our perseverance and faithfulness to God, and to stand confidently in all purity before the Son of Man.”
The light of Faith (Sunday XXX of Ordered time)
Let’s attempt to establish a timeframe for our readings this weekend. Jerusalem and the Jerusalem Temple was destroyed calamitously twice, once in 587 BC by the Chaldeans and the second time in AD 70 by the Romans. So, the first time was a little less than 600 years before our Lord, and the second timeContinue reading “The light of Faith (Sunday XXX of Ordered time)”
Christian leadership (Sunday XXV of Ordered time)
As with last weekend, we meditate upon the suffering of our Lord in the course of His great Sacrifice, so let’s again try to unite all three of our Mass readings together to establish a common message. Remember that September is traditionally the month of our Lady of Sorrows, when we stand with our blessedContinue reading “Christian leadership (Sunday XXV of Ordered time)”
Reading through the book of Genesis
How do you summarise the first and greatest of the books of the Torah? Let’s put it into the following portions: (i) the Creation and the early prehistory, (ii) the story of Abraham, and (iii) the son of Israel and the heads of the tribes The most significant theme of the first three or fourContinue reading “Reading through the book of Genesis”
Reading through the Prophecy of Malachi (aka. Malachias)
Moving on to the end of the long list of prophetic books, I have arrived at Malachy’s short work, which was a later prophecy of the second Temple period, after the return from exile in Babylon. This is the pre-eminent Messianic prophecy. In the very first chapter, we hear of the malignancy of the HebrewContinue reading “Reading through the Prophecy of Malachi (aka. Malachias)”
Reading through the prophecy of Sophonias (aka. Zefaniah)
At the tail-end of the Hebrew Bible, in the collection of the ‘minor’ prophecies, is the rather short prophecy of Sophonias, the prophet of the Remnant, the royal prophet of the family of David. Sophonias was apparently working in the reign of the good King Josias of Juda and ministering to the southern Judaite kingdom.Continue reading “Reading through the prophecy of Sophonias (aka. Zefaniah)”
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 the Book of Psalms
The book of Psalms is the ancient hymn-book of both the Jewish communities and the Church as well. This should be the easiest book to summarise, since it’s the only one that I have read repeatedly daily and weekly for more than almost ten years. And this is because the book of Psalms forms theContinue reading “Reading through the Book of Psalms”
‘Integrity His cloak…’ (Sunday III of Advent)
Our readings this weekend invite us to compare our Lord the Messiah with His forerunner or herald, S. John the Baptist. For the first reading gives us a rather vivid picture of the Messiah the Jewish people were expecting and the gospel message gives us a picture of the rather fiery character that John was/is.Continue reading “‘Integrity His cloak…’ (Sunday III of Advent)”
Quick read through the prophet Zecharyah
Above is Michelangelo’s version of the prophet from the heights of the Sistine chapel at S. Peter’s on the Vatican hill. Zecharyah, or Zacharias as he is in the old Catholic bibles, was a later prophet, who lived only a few hundred years before Christ, in the Jewish period of Sacred Scripture. The Israelite kingdomsContinue reading “Quick read through the prophet Zecharyah”
Catholic Louth and Mablethorpe 