Saint Norbert, Bishop
Biographical Information about St. Norbert[1]
Readings for Friday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 2 Timothy 3:10-17
St. Paul, in this passage, enjoins St. Timothy to remain steadfast because, like Paul he will be persecuted “all who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” He warns that others will attempt to challenge the truth, use it for their own ends.
To combat this attempt by false teachers, St. Paul recommends “sacred Scriptures” as giving “wisdom for salvation”. This selection, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work” is a foundational belief of the Church used as a major support for “Dei Verbum” (The Word) from the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 119:157, 160, 161, 165, 166, 168
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
Psalm 119, the longest of the psalms, in general is a hymn in praise of the Law. It is not legalism, but rather a love of doing what is right in the sight of God. In these strophes, the psalmist proclaims his faithfulness to the law in the face of his adversaries and waits for final salvation.
Gospel Mark 12:35-37
It is now Jesus’ turn to question the Pharisees. He asks them who the Messiah will be, to which they answer that he will be a son of David (of the lineage of David). Jesus then, while not denying their statement (as he is from the line of David), tells them, quoting scripture, that David called the Messiah “Lord” and would he do that to his own off spring? In other words the Messiah would be more than just true man, he would be true God as well.
Reflection:
St. Paul’s charge to St. Timothy that “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching,
for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work” dominates our thoughts today. This is especially true because it puts in perspective what we believe about Sacred Scripture and how it should be used.
St. Paul says it clearly “All Scripture is inspired by God…” This is an important distinction. When God chose to reveal himself through the oral and written word (oral because for the first two thousand years of sacred history, the Word was passed on orally, not in writing.) he used human authors to transmit his existence, his will, and his desires. These authors were limited in their ability to express all that God showed them by human language (to get a better sense of this, try describing a gorgeous sunset to a person who cannot see it). Because of those limitations, and because the human mind is shaped in its perceptions by the society in which it was formed, the revelation of God in the Holy Bible cannot be taken literally in all cases. There are some thoughts and ideas that simply cannot be expressed by human language and to compound the situation, most of us do not read the sacred texts in their original language; we read translations from the Hebrew, the Aramaic, or Greek.
Regardless of the limitations of language and human thought, Sacred Scripture is the source of understanding we are given and commended to use for “…refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” Study of the Word helps us understand God’s will for us and gives meaning to the instructions we receive from the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.
Today we thank God for his gift of Sacred Scripture for even through the limits of human understanding we are in awe of His marvelous majesty and love for us. We thank him most especially for fulfilling all his promises in Christ Jesus the Word made flesh.
Pax
[1] The Picture today is “St. Norbert” by Marten Peplin 1637
[2] After Links to Readings Expire
Biographical Information about St. Norbert[1]
Readings for Friday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 2 Timothy 3:10-17
St. Paul, in this passage, enjoins St. Timothy to remain steadfast because, like Paul he will be persecuted “all who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” He warns that others will attempt to challenge the truth, use it for their own ends.
To combat this attempt by false teachers, St. Paul recommends “sacred Scriptures” as giving “wisdom for salvation”. This selection, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work” is a foundational belief of the Church used as a major support for “Dei Verbum” (The Word) from the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 119:157, 160, 161, 165, 166, 168
R. O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
Psalm 119, the longest of the psalms, in general is a hymn in praise of the Law. It is not legalism, but rather a love of doing what is right in the sight of God. In these strophes, the psalmist proclaims his faithfulness to the law in the face of his adversaries and waits for final salvation.
Gospel Mark 12:35-37
It is now Jesus’ turn to question the Pharisees. He asks them who the Messiah will be, to which they answer that he will be a son of David (of the lineage of David). Jesus then, while not denying their statement (as he is from the line of David), tells them, quoting scripture, that David called the Messiah “Lord” and would he do that to his own off spring? In other words the Messiah would be more than just true man, he would be true God as well.
Reflection:
St. Paul’s charge to St. Timothy that “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching,
for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work” dominates our thoughts today. This is especially true because it puts in perspective what we believe about Sacred Scripture and how it should be used.
St. Paul says it clearly “All Scripture is inspired by God…” This is an important distinction. When God chose to reveal himself through the oral and written word (oral because for the first two thousand years of sacred history, the Word was passed on orally, not in writing.) he used human authors to transmit his existence, his will, and his desires. These authors were limited in their ability to express all that God showed them by human language (to get a better sense of this, try describing a gorgeous sunset to a person who cannot see it). Because of those limitations, and because the human mind is shaped in its perceptions by the society in which it was formed, the revelation of God in the Holy Bible cannot be taken literally in all cases. There are some thoughts and ideas that simply cannot be expressed by human language and to compound the situation, most of us do not read the sacred texts in their original language; we read translations from the Hebrew, the Aramaic, or Greek.
Regardless of the limitations of language and human thought, Sacred Scripture is the source of understanding we are given and commended to use for “…refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” Study of the Word helps us understand God’s will for us and gives meaning to the instructions we receive from the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.
Today we thank God for his gift of Sacred Scripture for even through the limits of human understanding we are in awe of His marvelous majesty and love for us. We thank him most especially for fulfilling all his promises in Christ Jesus the Word made flesh.
Pax
[1] The Picture today is “St. Norbert” by Marten Peplin 1637
[2] After Links to Readings Expire
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