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Lectionary Notes Update

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The Past

For the last few weeks I have not been pleased with the quality of the Lectionary Notes I’ve produced. They have seemed terse and inadequate and, even to produce notes of this mediocre quality, have consumed a substantial amount of time during my week.

As you may have noticed, no notes were posted this week…

Empty Book

The Present

Recently I have been trying to cut down on activities in an attempt to get a little bit more balance in my life. I haven’t felt that I’ve been doing justice to all my different responsibilities by spreading myself so thinly.

burn candle at both ends

The Future

I’ve therefore decided to no longer produce Lectionary Notes each week (Don’t worry though, I won’t be Vandapooling!). However, despite this news, I am not planning to give up these notes either completely or permanently…

I originally began producing the notes for whomever was leading Bible study at the JP2 Group. Since most members of this Young Adult group have now led Bible study several times, I will now only produce my notes if the person leading that week is leading for the first time. For those more experienced leaders, I will simply point them to my Lectionary Resources post.

Over the lifetime of this blog I have produced commentary for forty-two different Sundays which, if one includes the vigils and feast days, is approximately 18% of the Lectionary. It would be great to reach 100% coverage, writing a complete commentary for the entire Lectionary. If the Lord grants me the years and the opportunity, I would love to pick it up regularly once again and complete it…

New Testament Warm-Ups: Answers 1-16

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A while ago I enumerated all the warm-up questions asked each week at the beginning of our Bible study group. Several people sent me messages asking me for the answers, but one reader, Alexandra, went ahead and sent me her own responses!

So, in case you were curious, over the next couple of days I’m going to be posting the answers to the questions, based upon Alexandra’s email…

1. In what language was the New Testament written?
(Koine) Greek

2. What is the likely exception to this?
The Gospel According to Mathew. The Early Church Fathers say that it was originally written in Aramaic and soon translated into Greek.

3. Which books appear first in the New Testament?
The four Gospels.

4. Why are these books placed first in the canon?
These books appear at the beginning of the New Testament because they contain the teaching, life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus and therefore hold pride of place in the New Testament.

5. Why do they appear in this order?
They are arranged in the order of composition as believed by Early Church Fathers.

6. Which Gospels are attributed to Apostles?
Matthew and John

7. With whom is Mark associated?
He was companion of Paul and later Peter. It is said that Mark’s Gospel is the preaching of Peter in Rome.

8. What is Mark’s other name?
Mark is also called John (Acts 12:12). We was the cause of some friction between Paul and Barnabas.

9. With whom is Luke associated?
He was a companion of Paul.

10. What is Luke’s profession?
Physician

11. What comes after the Gospels?
Acts of the Apostles

12. By whom is it written?
Luke, the author of the Gospel which bears his name.

13. To what genre does it belong?
“Acts” is a genre of books in the ancient world that described people’s great deeds. This book describes the history of the Early Church.

14. What is the first main message of the Acts of the Apostles?
The Church continues the mission of Jesus.

15. What is the second main point of the Acts of the Apostles?
The unity of the mission of Paul and Peter. There are numerous parallels between the acts and deeds of these two apostles.

16. Between what years do the events described in Acts of the Apostles take place?
Probably between about AD 30 and AD 60

I’ll post the next set of answers after lunch…

1-16 | 17-27 | 27-42 | 43-52 | 53-57 | 58-67 | 68-71 | 72-81
All Questions

The article New Testament Warm-Ups: Answers 1-16 first appeared on RestlessPilrim.net

Bible Alone? Part 4

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Over the last few days I’ve been looking at the subject of Sola Scriptura. Today I would like to discuss the alternative to Sola Scriptura which I realized made more sense of both history and the Biblical data…

The Alternative: Apostolic Authority

Ironically, the answer itself was in Scripture. After the Ascension, writing the New Testament wasn’t the priority because it wasn’t what Jesus commanded the Apostles to do. At the Great Commission Jesus told His disciples to “teach” all nations what He had taught them (as opposed to write a book). If you wanted to know the truth in c. 30AD you would go to Jesus. Who would you go to after the Ascension? You would go to the Apostles He taught and commissioned. It was this living Tradition that sustained the Church – primarily by orally passing on to others what Jesus had taught. Jesus wanted to found a Church, not a book club.

In the Book of Acts, when there was a disagreement over the question of Gentile circumcision, the Christians didn’t use Scripture to decide the answer, but called a Church Council. I could only think of one Church today which still calls [Ecumenical] councils to resolve matters of doctrine and practice…

The more I read Scripture, the clearer it became that the Early Church was one which exercised authority (1 Corinthians 16:16, Hebrews 13:17) given to her by Christ – to forgive sins, no less! Even in my most anti-Catholic moments I could still clearly see that Matthew 16 showed Christ giving Peter a special authority. I could only think of one Church today which claimed to still have that same authority passed on from Peter….

“If a man does not hold fast to this oneness of Peter, does he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he deserts the Chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, has he confidence that he is in the Church?” – St. Cyprian (A.D. 251)

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TEA: Entrepreneurial Faith (San Antonio)

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Entrepreneur

Last week I was in San Antonio giving my “Entrepreneurial Faith” talk to the YCP chapter there.

“Entrepreneurial Faith” (Download)

Q&A (Download)

 

— Questions —

• You’re an British Catholic. How is that possible?!

• What did you read which led you back into the Catholic Faith?

• How can I put the gift of writing to the service of the Church?
(Just as I was about the answer this question, there was a thunderclap outside!)

Don’t be too eager to hit "Send"

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I had this blog entry in my “drafts” folder for over six months and it’s been quite some time since I posted an entry for the “Stuff I’ve had to learn“ category. Today I would like to remedy this situation by presenting a piece of wisdom that I’ve been forced to learn over the years.

This bit of advice has certainly resolved many tense situations and has saved more than one friendship:

Don’t be too eager to hit…

Turbo-Charged Communication

Communication today is certainly quicker than it was in the past.  It is now extremely easy to fire off a quick message to someone on the other side of the world, whereas in times past it required the purchase of stationery equipment, the composition of a letter, the purchase of the appropriate stamp and delivery to the nearest postbox.  A substantial wait was then required before a reply would be received.

I’m all in favour of modern communication methods – cell phones, skype, email and text messaging make communicating with those in far-flung places both efficient and cheap. For me personally, it’s what makes living in America and staying in close contact with friends in England possible. However, I would suggest that our advances in technology sometimes make communication just a little bit *too* easy…

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