De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

Following on from yesterday , I thought I would try something new and record a video message. Me being me I totally busked it, but hopefully I get some important points across. Naturally I forgot to say lots of things I really wanted to include. Perhaps one thing I would add would be that these comments are very much in the context of a Catholic Church which is silent about the beauty and importance of human sexuality as taught by Jesus in Scripture and consistently held and taught by the Church. But also in the context of a Church which seems to applaud clergy who constantly push the boundaries of Catholic teaching in terms of the acceptance of behaviour long condemned by Christians everywhere. Today it appears to be de rigeur for priests to promote homosexuality, to be lax (read: merciful) towards adultery or fornication. We are in the world but not of the world and we must be careful that we do not lose our salt and our light by constantly echoing the message of the world.  Th...

Kerygma (Greek: κήρυγμα , kérugma ) is the Greek word used in the New Testament for preaching (see Luke 4:18-19, Romans 10:14, Matthew 3:1). It is related to the Greek verb κηρύσσω ( kērússō ), to cry or proclaim as a herald, and means proclamation, announcement, or preaching. Preaching or proclaiming, is distinct from teaching or instruction ( didache ) in the Gospel of Christ. Before the Gospel was written, it was first preached (Romans 16:25), but beyond preaching it was also to be taught (Matthew 28:19) in order that, as far as possible, it might be understood (Matthew 13:19). The New Testament teaches that as Jesus launched his public ministry he entered the synagogue and read from the scroll of Isaiah the prophet. He identified himself as the one Isaiah predicted in Isaiah 61 (Luke 4:17-21). The text is a programmatic statement of Jesus' ministry to preach or proclaim ( Kerygma ), good news to the poor and the blind and the captive. If one carefully considers the ea...

St. Luke with his symbol, the winged ox on the Cathedral Portal at Sienna. I've been working hard on this week's exploration of Sunday's Scripture and reflecting on what's being said. This week we move away from the Gospel of Mark, with whom we have been travelling for a number of weeks, and take up Luke's narrative. We haven't had Luke since I started writing my reflections so I have written a short survey of the book as is my habit. Obviously, this sets one's mind racing in various directions. I remain fascinated with Scripture, especially it's extraordinary depth, and part of my prelim' notes how Luke shapes his account. I thought it might be useful to post a concise examination of how this theological shaping (which is evident in each of the Synoptics) effects the historic veracity of the Gospels.  It can be demonstrated that the Evangelists carefully chose their material and that they have varied their accounts to accentuate them...