De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

This is the second of my posts talking about the theology of the Sunday readings. This post relates to the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B). If you want to know how and why this came about, please read the first post here . This Sunday is the feast of St. Martha of Bethany and also  the third anniversary of my daughter Ruth's death on 29th July 2009. It is a difficult day and we always go to Mass and listen carefully to what God is telling us through sacred Scripture. The theme this Sunday could best be described as: The Bread of Life The readings are: First Reading: 2 Kings 4: 42-44 Psalm: 144: 10-11, 15-18; Response: v. 16. Second Reading: Ephesians 4: 1-6 Gospel: John 6: 1-15 First, a little preliminary survey of each of the books. I will post the same, or similar prelims week on week, for each book as we encounter them. 2 Kings  is the second part of the Deuteronomist's chronicle of the rueful story of Israel's decline fr...

The 'Wailing Wall' in Jerusalem when I visited. I had the honour of reading at Mass this morning, a powerful reading from 2nd Kings 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-36. One of those passages that had me reaching for my study Bible as soon as I got home because it mentions a couple of things that always fascinate me. One is 'the Ban', the ancient custom of slaughtering every man woman and child of a people in order to avoid retribution. The other is the survival of an Israel loyal the to the Covenant despite overwhelming odds. The Assyrians suffer the loss of one hundred and eighty-five thousand men and struck camp without firing an arrow. Wow! My analytical mind immediately wonders what is the history behind this passage? Did this really happen? Psalm 91 seems to say that the Assyrians were struck by plague and thus decimated. The theological ramifications are serious. Think about it in this context: Today, more than half of the six billion people alive in the world trace thei...