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Posts Tagged ‘St. Peter’

Council of Jerusalem Guidelines

02 Feb

I mentioned a couple of times last year that I was leading a Bible study working through the Acts of the Apostles. During that time, Paul Pavao over at The Rest of the Old, Old Story was writing a series of posts working through books of the Bible (he was also recently recently kind enough to advertise this blog).

When my Acts of the Apostles Bible study was just beginning, Paul wrote a post about the Council of Jerusalem which is found in Chapter 15 of Acts. The Council of Jerusalem was the first recorded council of Church. The apostles and elders of Jerusalem were called together to respond to an issue concerning the Gentile converts to Christianity. Did a Gentile convert need to be circumcised? Did he have to become a Jew before he could become a Christian?

Twelve Apostles

The Council’s Response

At the Council there was extended discussion around the issue before Peter stood up and affirmed that the Gentiles did not need to be circumcised. St. James then said:

Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the pollutions of idols and from unchastity and from what is strangled and from blood. – Acts 15:19-20

In his blog post, Paul wrote:

“The council decides that they will ask just four things from the Gentiles, and they make it clear that circumcision is not necessary for the Gentiles. There may be people who understand why those specific four things were chosen, but I’m not one of them.”

In the comment section of the article I offered my two cents, saying:

“I’ve always seen the requirements from the Council of Jerusalem as measures to ease tensions between Jews and Gentiles in the Church.

“If I was a lifelong Jew who subsequently recognized Jesus as the Messiah I may find it hard to get used to the relaxed restrictions of the New Covenant. I may be a little sensitive about it, so if my gentile brothers and sisters could refrain from consuming strangled meat, food sacrificed to idols and blood, it would be far more likely that family harmony would be maintained.

“Just a thought”

As my own Bible study progressed towards Acts 15, I had the opportunity to do a little bit of research looking at this question and to dig into it a little more…

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Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul

29 Jun

Today is my patron’s Feast Day…

St. Peter

St. Peter, weak-willed and head-strong, pray for me.

 
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Sunday Lectionary: Saving Shepherd

24 Apr

Producing these Lectionary Notes has been taking too long again. Therefore I’m giving myself a time limit of a few hours. Let’s do this…

Fourth Sunday of Easter: April 29th, 2012

The Readings at Mass this week focus around the person of Jesus Christ and his unique, fundamental place in Salvation History. In our First Reading, St. Peter boldly proclaims that “There is no salvation through anyone else”. In our Psalm we sing the words quoted by Peter in that speech to the Sanhedrin, declaring that Jesus is “the stone rejected by the builders [which] has become the cornerstone”. In the Gospel Reading, Jesus declares that He is “the good shepherd”  who “lays down his life for the sheep” and, as we hear in our Second Reading, because of this we may truly be called “the children of God”.

At this Sunday’s Mass, confident in the goodness of our Shepherd, let us firmly put our trust in Him.

The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever – Psalm 23

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Sunday Lectionary: A Father who keeps His Promises

17 Apr

Third Sunday of Easter: 22nd April, 2012

Happy Easter! Yes, it’s still Easter! This week we celebrate the third Sunday of the Easter season as we continue on the road towards Pentecost.

For our Gospel Reading we hear another resurrection account, this week from St. Luke. In it, the Lord appears to His disciples and demonstrates to them that He has risen bodily from the dead. He then “opens their minds” to see how all that had come to pass was the will of the Father, His plan and His promise from the beginning.

In our Responsorial Psalm, David speaks of a God who comes to the rescue, bestowing light and peace to those in trouble. God’s rescuing love finds its fullest expression, of course, in the coming of Jesus Christ and in our First Reading we hear St. Peter proclaim this Good News to the crowd. Peter explains that through Christ’s saving sacrifice can be saved and in our Second Reading St. John reflects upon this and upon our call to respond in obedience to this great love of God.

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Sunday Lectionary: You called, I answered

17 Jan

Since JP2 is now meeting again, I will be resuming my “Sunday Lectionary” posts for the coming week’s Sunday Mass Readings. I did begin one last week but I didn’t finish it in time :-( . So, from now on I’m limiting my writing time to two hours – I do tend to get a bit carried away… ;-)

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time: 22nd January 2012

U-TurnLast week’s Readings focused on God’s call to us. In turn, this week’s Readings focus upon our response to Him.

In the First Reading we hear of how Jonah (eventually) responded to God’s call and then how the people of Nineveh responded to God through the message of His Prophet.

In the Gospel we hear Jesus’ message: repent and believe for the Kingdom is at hand. He calls four fishermen to come and follow him, simple men who, later when He is gone, will become great pillars in His Church.

Having before you many examples of sinners who repented and were saved, be you also earnest in confessing to the Lord, that you may receive pardon for past sins, be made worthy of the heavenly gift, and inherit the kingdom of heaven with all the saints  -St. Cyril of Jerusalem (c. AD 386)

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“Master, it is good for us to be here…”

01 Sep

Tonight, after Benediction, I felt drawn to tarry in the church a while longer than usual. Soon there were only one or two other people left in the church.

While sitting there, I felt a deep, tremendous peace; a peace I haven’t felt in some time.

As I sat there, just enjoying the moment, I was reminded of something that my patron Saint, St. Peter, said at the Transfiguration when he beheld the Jesus’ glory:

“Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah” – Luke 9:33

I know there’s a lot of theological significance in what Peter is saying here, but sitting in that church tonight I understood those words in a slightly different light. Peter was seeing the beauty of the Lord and wanted to prolong that mountaintop experience. He didn’t want to go back down the mountain just yet – he wanted to setup camp for a little while…

After Benediction, I, too, wanted to prolong the experience, remain in my pew and maybe setup camp for a little while…

The purpose of getting to higher ground isn’t so we can just enjoy the view, it’s so that, when we come back down from the mountain, we can approach the terrain ahead with a new perspective and with confidence.

 
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Sunday Lectionary: August 21st

15 Aug

August 21, Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

In this week’s readings we hear the passages of Scripture which have been used by the Church throughout the centuries to defend the Primacy of Peter and the authority of the Pope. Our Gospel Reading, in particularly, was cited at the First Vatican Council in the document “Pastor aeternus”.

I’m going to do my best this week to ensure that these notes remain a Scripture commentary, rather than an apologetic defense of the Papacy. I may well write a more apologetic piece later in the week. ;-)

“When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the LORD, as prescribed by David king of Israel.” – Ezekiel 3:10

 

Reading I: Is 22:19-23

The First Reading this week is our hermetical ”key” for understanding the Gospel Reading.

In this section of the prophet Isaiah we hear how Shebna, the Chief Steward of the Kingdom, was replaced by a man called Eliakim. Understanding this ministerial office is critical to our understanding of what Jesus says in the Gospel which, in turn, is paramount to our understanding of the Papacy.

In this passage we see foreshadowed a man on whom God would bestow His blessing. This man would exercise authority on behalf of the King in the administration of the Kingdom. He would be a secured feature, a father to the people and an honoured member of the family of God…

Thus says the LORD to Shebna, master of the palace: “I will thrust you from your office and pull you down from your station. On that day I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah; I will clothe him with your robe, and gird him with your sash, and give over to him your authority. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim’s shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut when he shuts, no one shall open. I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot, to be a place of honor for his family.”

Questions:

  • What is happening here in Isaiah?
  • Who is Shebna?
  • What kind of job did he have?
  • Who is Eliakim?
  • What symbol of authority is Eliakim given?
  • What does he mean when he says “when he opens, no one shall shut when he shuts, no one shall open”?

Commentary:

“Thus says the LORD to Shebna, master of the palace: ‘I will thrust you from your office…’”

Through the Prophet Isaiah, God “fires” Shebna from his position as “master of the palace”. Up until this point, Sheba was the Chief Steward, the Prime Minister in the Davidic Kingdom. The Master of the Palace was not the one ultimately in charge, the King was, but the Prime Minister exercised the King’s authority in the administration and running of the Kingdom. This is the same kind of post that Joseph (son of Jacob) had when he lived in Egypt.

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Voice of truth

03 Aug

This Sunday’s Gospel reading is of Peter walking on water with Jesus. In preparation of that, here is the song “Voice of Truth” by Casting Crowns:

Oh, what I would do to have the king of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I’m in onto the crashing waves,
To step out of my comfort zone into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is, and he’s holding out his hand

But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I’ve tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me time and time again “Boy, you’ll never win, you’ll never win…”

But the Voice of truth tells me a different story
the Voice of truth says “Do not be afraid!” and the Voice of truth says “This is for My glory”
Out of all the voices calling out to me I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of truth

 
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Lectionary Notes, August 7th

02 Aug

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1: 1 Kgs 19:9a, 11-13a

The events of this passage take place after Elijah has defeated the Prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:22-40). As a result of this humiliating defeat, Princess Jezebel has sworn to kill him (1 Kings 19:1-2). Elijah flees into the desert where, dejected and overcome by fear, he tells God that he may as well let him die (1 Kings 19:3-4). He then goes to sleep, but is awoken twice in the night by an angel who gives him bread and water. Strengthened by this food, he travels for 40 days to Mt. Horeb (1 Kings 19:5-8), also known as Mt. Sinai, the mountain where God revealed the Law to Moses.

Whereas Moses interceded for the Israelites (Exodus 32:11-13), Elijah appears to have reached the end of his tether (1 Kings 19:10). Elijah complains about his lack of success, saying that the people have abandoned God and he effectively condemn them. In saying this, there is the subtle implication that God’s promises have failed…

Then in the passage assigned for this Sunday, God reveals Himself to Elijah, indicating his patience, mercy and gentleness with His people. In the text that follows afterwards, God gives Elijah instructions as to what to do next.

At the mountain of God, Horeb, Elijah came to a cave where he took shelter. Then the LORD said to him, “Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will be passing by.”

A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD— but the LORD was not in the wind.

After the wind there was an earthquake— but the LORD was not in the earthquake.

After the earthquake there was fire— but the LORD was not in the fire.

After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.

Suggested Questions:

  • What is this “mountain of God” mentioned? Does it have another name? What other events have also taken place there? Why does Elijah go there?
  • What do you think is the significance of the “wind…earthquake…fire”? Why was the Lord not “in” them?
  • What do you think is the significance of the “tiny whispering sound”?
  • Why does Elijah hide his face?

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