The greatest psalms

We will begin a 6 week study of the greatest of all the psalms. We will follow the mighty footsteps of David and Solomon, who were themselves walking toward the Lamb.

More questions from Philippians Ch. 2

We will dig deeper into the meaning of Phil. 2:5-11, using a few more questions:

1. Do you have to strive and build up an argument to establish that you are in fact a human being?
2. What group of humans are subject to this predicament, that other humans must strive and build up an argument to establish that the individuals in that subgroup are in fact human beings, and that still other humans do not accept this argument?
3. Are there beings that are fully human and other beings only a fraction human?
4. Do we claim that, like the Greeks claimed about their gods, that God the Father is a little bit larger or greater than God the Son?
5. Does humility reside in the strong chains of a humbled slave, or does it exist elsewhere?
6. Is there any humility in the Eucharist?

Let's begin with these questions on Thursday morning, and thereby gaze deeply into the perfect law of freedom.

In the vineyard

With chapter 20, we dive back into a parable about the first and the last, the famous parable of the vineyard workers. Here are a few questions we can use to think over the meaning of God's message here:

1. What would a rabbi of Jesus' day identify as "the vineyard" -- a real farming operation or something other than that?
2. Jesus populates the parables with sets of workers, grateful for a day's work. If the parable is meant for every age, including 2011, who should we consider to be the workers of the parable?
3. Who is the master of the household, making the decisions about work and pay?
4. Which sacrament of today has its origin in a vineyard?
5. How does a vineyard worker relate to the next words of Jesus, that he must go up to Jerusalem and pass through the crucifixion?

This chapter is loaded, and we will spend most of our time tomorrow morning in vv. 1-19. Be ready.

The eye of the needle

My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you.
My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you
My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you.

- St. Nicholas of Flüe
CCC 226

Here are some questions with which to prepare for Thursday morning's look into Matthew 19:

1. In verses 17 and 21, Jesus unfolds a double reply to the rich young man. How is keeping the Commandments related to following the Messiah?
2. St. Nicholas of Flüe left a beautiful prayer for totally giving himself to God. Does it weaken a person if God takes these things away that Nicholas prays about?
3. Did Mary ever experience this unburdening, this taking away of things?
4. Did Elijah ever experience this unburdening, this taking away of things?

That is a short set of four good questions for tomorrow morning, plenty to think over. We will begin with these early tomorrow morning.

Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.

This Thursday we begin the gospel of Matthew, starting with chapter 1, which "is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about."

It is the longest gospel account, and the leadoff hitter in the New Testament. Lots of intense action. Be ready. Be alert. No napping.

Study questions will be ready on Wednesday evening.

They have threshed Gilead.

We finish Amos, and I think back now to the beginning of his message:

They have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges made of iron.

It is somber.

And Amos' message concludes with another vision from the threshing floor, this time with some consolation:

For lo, I am commanding, and I have shaken among all the nations the house of Israel, as one doth shake with a sieve, and there falleth not a grain to the earth.

Come soon, Lord Jesus.

Origins

Where does evil come from? The Church teaches a simple, unusual answer:

We must therefore approach the question of the origin of evil by fixing the eyes of our faith on him who alone is its conqueror.
CCC 385

A few more questions

Here are a few more questions for studying Amos' prophecy in its 3rd chapter:

1. How is it that Amos saw this message in a vision? What did Amos see?
2. Why does the Lord promise extra punishment to Israel instead of the nations?
3. Where are the mountains of Samaria, in relation to Jerusalem?
4. Where is the city of Ashdod?
5. Why does the Lord have a mini-proclamation to Egypt and Ashdod, in verses 9 - 11?
6. What were Israel's sins in vv. 9 - 11?
7. What are the "horns" on an altar?
8. Why does the Lord promise to break the altar apart in Bethel based on the actions of Israelites outside the altar area?
9. Do we have an altar like this one mentioned by Amos?
10. Do you have a summer home?

Let's dig into chapter 3 with these questions and some help from the Lord for our minds.

Questions for the race

The 12th chapter of Hebrews uses several metaphors for Christian life. Let's use these questions to gaze into the meaning of those words.

1. Endurance is mentioned several times in the context of a race or combat. What is it that we must endure in our race, our combat?
2. Jesus, Author and Perfecter of Faith. A lovely title. In what way can the faith be perfected?
3. Jesus endured opposition from sinners. What did sinners do to generate this opposition?
4. What scourged Jesus?
5. What scourged Israel?
6. What scourges us?
7. Jesus had disciples, Peter, James and all the rest. But what disciplined Jesus?
8. What forms discipline in a military unit?
9. Verse 12 exhorts us to strengthen weary hands and paralyzed knees. What? Why not strengthen spine or some big muscle? In this race of endurance, why strengthen hands?
10. In this epistle, Jesus gets the name, Author and Finisher. What is the famous name of Him in the heavenly Jerusalem that has a similar ring to it?
11. From Revelation, what do you recall as the main activity of all the creatures in heaven, men and angels, strange looking beasts and powerful Cherubim?

Now we have a set of questions to guide us through chapter 12 to its last verse! It is a good morning to gaze into the Perfect Law of Freedom.

Can you savvy these questions in Hebrews 10?

Here are some questions to think over as you prepare for Thursday morning.

1. Re-read Romans 7:7. How does Paul's concept about the Torah compare to Hebrews 10:3?
2. Prior to the actual moment of crucifixion, what was the moment of most extreme suffering for Jesus?
3. Is it possible to offer your life to God but not offer your will?
4. In v. 20, there is a mention of a new, fresh way into the true tent. Is there an everyday way for us to follow Him through this veil?
5. Carefully read verses 19-25. Do you notice any kind of a special list of familiar things?
6. What kind of endurance is required of us? What are we asked to endure?

The perfect law of freedom in this section of Hebrews is loaded with everyday concepts for us to apply. If you sort through these six questions, you will be prepared for Thursday morning, although, as always, you must EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED.

Hebrews 3 questions

Here are some questions we will review today:

1. How accurate and proper is the comparison of Jesus and Moses to a builder of a house and the house itself?
2. Where else in scripture are we compared to a house?
3. The author mentions the phrase "God's rest" in this chapter. What is the origin and meaning of that phrase?
4. Why does the author connect God's rest to the Exodus?
5. Our faith connects which sacrament(s) to the day God rested?

OK, that will be a good start to challenge our brains this morning, and we can hope that, once our brains are challenged, some of that brainpower will get into our hearts!

Questions concerning James 4

We gaze into the perfect Law of freedom, and it is like looking in a mirror. Therefore, to become a doer of the Word, we must attend to our own actions. In this chapter of James' letter, there is one concept repeated: humble yourselves. Here are some questions to help sharpen our view in the mirror:

1. There are many action words in this chapter: make war, covet, possess and so on. Which of the actions James describes are typical of the enemy that prowls the world seeking the ruin of souls?
2. In contrast, which of the actions are the actions we see in the great saints like Blessed Charles Lwanga and his companions?
3. Jesus also lived out many of the actions James describes. Which actions?
4. Combo question: which of the actions of Jesus and the saints (questions 2 and 3) are absolutely impossible for the enemy to attempt?
5. How many different works of mercy are there, anyway?
6. Now that you have looked in the mirror... which of the actions of Jesus and the saints can you improve on in your own life?

See you early on Thursday morning!

Progression, confidence

During our discussion last Thursday, we talked about one question at length: Why should we be confident before the judgement of God?

And now, children, remain in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be put to shame by him at his coming. 1 John 2:28

Here is the progression of answers we came up with, each answer getting closer and closer to the center of the question.

1. Confident if we keep the commandments.
2. Confident if we acknowledge the Lamb.
3. Confident because it is nor a surprise -- it is something foretold.
4. Confident because of faith.
5. Confident because of the Messiah's sacrifice on the Cross.
6. Confident because it is based on God's love for us.

At that point, we could go no deeper into the matter: God's love for us is a sure and solid bedrock.

Or, as St. Paul said in the city of Athens, "in Him we live and move and have our being."

Envy

In Mark's fifteenth chapter, verse 10, we read,

For he knew that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over.

Why envy? Why does Mark feature this fault in the αρχιερειs, the chief priests, and not some other fault? Some of the insights from men:

1. Dave: the chief priests were envious because they were losing adherents.
2. Jim: they envied Jesus because Jesus had answers -- they didn't.
3. German: It was because God the Father was with Jesus. German compared the situation to the parable of the prodigal son, especially the elder, faithful son, who was envious of his father's generosity to the prodigal son. It is a good comparison, one shared by another German, Pope Benedict!
   
   And what of the elder brother? Is he not, in a certain sense, all men and women as well; perhaps particularly those who sadly distance themselves from the Church? ...Unable to think beyond the limits of natural justice, he remains trapped within envy and pride, detached from God, isolated from others and ill at ease with himself.
4. Sal: Envy goes along when pride starts to move. It is like the enemy falling through the sin of pride, compared to the Messiah who won the victory in humility.
   
   For God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he made him.
   But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who are in his possession experience it.

The betrayal event

This morning, we discussed the emphasis on the cup of salvation in Mark 14:22-25, and how Mark devotes so many more words to it than he devotes to the one bread. After looking through Psalms 116 and 118, and re-examining the passages before and after Mark 14:22-25, we decided that Mark was emphasizing the cup in the middle of the betrayal event, all the betrayal and abandoning and the difficult prayer in Gethsemane.

It is curious that Jesus can sing the psalms of praise, the Hallel psalms, Psalms 113-118, in the midst of such a trap. Yet that is exactly what he does, the sacrifice of praise. The stone that was rejected became the cornerstone.

German describes an example in the life of St. Vincent de Paul, concerning a similar sacrifice in the midst of abandonment and betrayal.

Jesus the Lamb

We discussed the plan of God the Father that the promised Lamb should be sacrificed in the Passover that year, recorded by Mark in his gospel. It was a promise long time coming.