Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 12-15-04

USCCB.org/New American Bible ^ | 12-15-04 | New American Bible

[Salvation]

For your reading, reflection, faith-sharing, comments, questions, discussion.

[Salvation]

Alleluia Ping!

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[Salvation]

From: Luke 7:18b-23

The Mission of John the Baptist

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[18] The disciples of John (the Baptist) told him of all these things.
[19] And John, calling to him two of his disciples, sent them to the Lord,
saying, "Are You He who is to come, or shall we look for another?" [20] And
when the men had come to Him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to
You, saying, `Are You He who is to come, or shall we look for another?'"
[21] In that hour He cured many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits,
and on many that were blind He bestowed sight. [22] And He answered them,
"Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their
sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are
raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. [23] And blessed is he
who takes no offense at Me."

---

Commentary:

18-23. "It was not out of ignorance that John enquired about Christ's
coming in the flesh, for he had already clearly professed his belief,
saying, `I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of
God' (John 1:34). That is why he does not ask, `Are You He who has
come?' but rather, `Are You He who is to come?' thus asking about the
future, not about the past. Nor should we think that the Baptist did
not know about Christ's future passion, for it was John who said,
`Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world' (John
1:29), thus foretelling His future immolation, which other prophets had
already foretold, particularly Isaiah (chapter 53) [...]. It can also
be replied, with St. John Chrysostom, that John made this enquiry not
from doubt or ignorance, but because he wished his disciples to be
satisfied on this point by Christ. Therefore, Christ gave His reply to
instruct these disciples, by pointing to the evidence of His miracles
(verse 22)" (St. Thomas Aquinas, "Summa Theologiae", II-II, q. 2, a. 7
ad 2).

22. In His reply to these disciples of John the Baptist, Jesus points
to the miracles He has worked, which show that he has investigated the
Kingdom of God; He is, therefore, the promised Messiah. Along with
miracles, one of the signs of the coming of the Kingdom is the
preaching of salvation to the poor. On the meaning of "the poor", see
the notes on Matthew 5:3; Luke 6:20 and 6:24.

Following the Lord's example, the Church has always taken special care
of those in need. In our own time the Popes have stressed time and
again the duties of Christians in regard to poverty caused by man's
injustice to man: "Selfishness and domination are permanent temptations
for men. Likewise an ever finer discernment is needed, in order to
strike at the roots of newly arising situations of injustice and to
establish progressively a justice which will be less and less imperfect
[...]. The Church directs her attention to these new `poor'--the
handicapped, the maladjusted, the old, various groups on the fringe of
society--in order to recognize them, help them, defend their place and
dignity in a society hardened by competition and the attraction of
success" (Paul VI, "Octogesima Adveniens", 15).

23. These words refer to the same thing Simeon prophesied about when
he referred to Christ as a sign that is spoken against, a sign of
contradiction (cf. Luke 2:34). People who reject our Lord, who are
scandalized by Him, will not reach Heaven.

---

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

[Salvation]

Advent 2004: Symbols, Meanings, Facts, Calendar

Reflections for Advent and Christmas, [November 28, 2004 - January 9, 2005]

[Salvation]

Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Advent Weekday

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel:

Isaiah 45:6-8, 18, 21-25 Psalm 85:9-14 Luke 7:18-23 In our neighbor, we should observe only what is good.  -- St. Jeanne de Chantal

[Askel5]

December 15

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WITH HIM ALL THE WAY

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Presence of God.

Grace I Ask:
To hear and follow Christ's call.

The Idea:
Christ spoke the truth, fearlessly, at all times. By His words and good works, He earned a lot of hatred from evil men. And so, by doing God's work, He moved surely and rapidly toward the cross, until after years of unselfish labor, He was cast out by the very people He tried to help. Abandoned by His followers, HE was stripped of his last possessions and executed as a criminal. Thus the most perfect life ever lived, the life that has been the admiration of all succeeding ages, ended in imprisonment, suffering, failure and death.

My Personal Application:
And that's Christ's secret: the most perfect way to go about this soul-saving business is unselfish labor for others, expecting no reward in this life. Christ lived this way to its fulness. All Christians get some taste of the same thing. And the more closely I try to follow Christ, the more likely I am to get the same. And the more willing I am to take this suffering patiently for His sake, the more souls I will be able to save.

Suffering is a mystery, of course, but it is also at the very heart of Christianity. There is no necessity of my following this way which is the way of Christ and the best way. But He calls me to volunteer to follow Him in His labor and sufferings if I so wish. Let me think it over, and if I find the courage, consecrate myself as follows.

I Speak to Christ:
Dear Lord, I make this offering with your help, in the presence of your Mother and all the saints: I firmly and deliberately resolve to follow you in the way of poverty, labor and humiliation in this world for the good of souls, in order to share with you one day in the glory of the Father. If only you wish to send these things to me, I will receive them gladly for the spreading of your kingdom, for the salvation of the world. I am only one small person, but all I have and am is at your disposal.

Take me and use me as you wish. I am yours all the way.

Thought for Today:
"If you want to come with me, you must work along with me; as you share in the labors, so will you share in the victory."

---

[St.Chuck]

Thanks

[Askel5]

Looking for commentary on Is 45 (amplified below in the Douay Version I post elsewhere) because of the "I create evil" portion, I only managed to find JPII's commentary (a part of his series of commentary on the morning and evening Liturgy of the Hours canticles):

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Canticle in chapter 45 of the Book of Isaiah
"On the Mystery and Providence of God"

1. "Truly, you are a hidden God" (Is 45,15). The verse which introduces the Canticle prayed at Lauds on Friday of the 1st week of the Psalter, is taken from a meditation of the Deutero-Isaiah on the greatness of God manifested in creation and in history: a God who reveals himself, though he remains hidden in the impenetrability of his mystery. He is by definition "the hidden God". No thought can encompass him. Man can only contemplate his presence in the universe, discern his imprint and bow down in adoration and praise.

The meditation arises from the historical event of the amazing liberation that God wrought for his people at the time of the Babylonian exile. Who would ever have thought that the exiles of Israel would be able to return to their country? Considering the power of Babylon, they could easily have despaired. Yet there came the great announcement, the surprise of God, which vibrates in the words of the prophet: as at the time of the Exodus, God will intervene. If then he broke the resistance of Pharaoh with tremendous punishments, now he chooses a king, Cyrus of Persia, to defeat the power of Babylon and restore freedom to Israel.

2. "You are a God who hides yourself, God of Israel, the Saviour" (Is 45,15). With these words the prophet invites us to recognize that God intervenes in history, even if it is not immediately apparent. We could say that he acts "behind the scenes". He is the mysterious and invisible director, who respects the freedom of his creatures, but at the same time, holds in his hand the thread of world events. The certainty of the Providential action of God is a source of hope for the believer, who knows he can count on the constant presence of Him, "who has formed the earth and made it, he established it" (Is 45,18).

Indeed, the creative act is not an episode that is lost in the night of time, so that the world, after that beginning, must be considered as abandoned to itself. God continually brings into being the creation that came from his hands. To acknowledge him is to confess his uniqueness: "Was it not I, the Lord? Outside of me there is no other God" (Is 45,21). God is by definition the only God. Nothing can be compared with him. Everything is subject to him. From here follows the repudiation of idolatry, for which the prophet pronounces harsh words: "They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep praying to a god that cannot save" (Is 45,20). How can we bow down in adoration before a human product?

3. For our present day sensitivity this polemic might seem exaggerated, as if it were criticising the images themselves, without realizing that they might have a symbolic value, which is compatible with the spiritual adoration of the one God. Certainly, what comes into play is the wise divine pedagogy which, by the rigid discipline of the exclusion of images, historically protected Israel from polytheistic contamination. The Church, basing herself on the face of God manifested in the Incarnation of Christ, recognised in the Second Council of Nicea (787) the possibility of using sacred images, provided they are understood in their essentially relational value.

The prophetic admonition retains its importance in view of all the forms of idolatry, not consisting in the improper use of images, but rather often hidden in the attitudes with which men and things are considered as absolute values that are substituted for God himself.

4. On the side of creation, the hymn places us within history, where Israel often did experience the beneficent and merciful power of God, his fidelity and his providence. Particularly, the love of God for his people appears again in such an open and striking way in setting them free from exile that the prophet calls to witness it the "survivors of the nations". He invites them to debate, if they can: "Assemble yourselves and come, draw near together you survivors of the nations" (Is 45,20). The prophet concludes that the intervention of the God of Israel is indisputable.

Then a magnificent universalist perspective emerges. God proclaims: "Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, because I am God and there is no other" (Is 45,22). So it becomes clear that the predilection which God has shown Israel as his people is not an act of exclusion, but rather an act of love from which all of humanity is destined to benefit.

Hence, we find outlined in the Old Testament the "sacramental" concept of the history of salvation, which, does not see in the special election of the sons of Abraham and later of the disciples of Christ in the Church, a privilege which does not mean to "close" or "exclude", but the sign and instrument of a universal love.

5. The invitation to adore and the offer of salvation is directed to all peoples: "To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear" (Is 45,23). To read these words from a Christian perspective means to go in thought to the full revelation of the New Testament, which points out in Christ "the Name which is above every other name" (Phil 2,9), so that "at the name of Jesus, every knee must bend, in heaven, on earth and under the earth, and every tongue proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2,10-11).

Through this hymn, our morning praise acquires a universal dimension and speaks in the name of those who have not yet had the grace to know Christ. It is a praise which becomes "missionary", forcing us to travel to every corner of the globe, announcing that God has revealed himself in Jesus as Saviour of the world.

---

---

I form the light, and create darkness,
I make peace, and create evil:

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-----------------†JMJ†-----------------
Tuesday, 3rd Week in the Season of Advent
---------------†AMDG†---------------

ENTRANCE ANTIPHON --- Hab 2: 3 and 1 Cor 4:5
Véniet Dóminus et non tardábit, et illuminábit abscóndita tenebrárum,
et manifestábit se ad omnes gentes.
The Lord is coming and will not delay:
he will bring every hidden thing to light
and reveal himself to every nation.
3 For as yet the vision is far off, and it shall appear at the end,
and shall not lie: if it make any delay, wait for it:
for it shall surely come, and it shall not be slack.
5 Therefore judge not before the time; until the Lord come,
who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness,
and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts;
and then shall every man have praise from God.


OPENING PRAYER
Father,
May the coming celebration of the birth of your Son
bring us your saving help
and prepare us for eternal life.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son …

I confess to almighty God,
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have sinned through my own fault
--strike the breast--
in my thoughts and in my words
in what I have done,
and in what I have failed to do;
and I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin,
all the angels and saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.


FIRST READING – Is 45:6c-8, 18, 21c-25
Let the clouds rain down.

That they may know who are from the rising of the sun, and they who are from the west, that

[T]here is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is none else:
I form the light, and create darkness, I make peace, and create evil:
I the Lord that do all these things.
Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above,
and let the clouds rain the just: let the earth be opened,
and bud forth a saviour: and let justice spring up together:
I the Lord have created him.

9 Woe to him that gainsayeth his maker, a sherd of the earthen pots: shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it: What art thou making, and thy work is without hands? 10 Woe to him that saith to his father: Why begettest thou? and to the woman: Why dost thou bring forth?

11 Thus saith the Lord the Holy One of Israel, his maker: Ask me of things to come, concerning my children, and concerning the work of my hands give ye charge to me. 12 I made the earth: and I created man upon it: my hand stretched forth the heavens, and I have commanded all their host. 13 I have raised him up to justice, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and let go my captives, not for ransom, nor for presents, saith the Lord the God of hosts. 14 Thus saith the Lord: The labour of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and of Sabaim, men of stature shall come over to thee, and shall be thins: they shall walk after thee, they shall go bound with manacles: and they shall worship thee, and shall make supplication to thee: only in thee is God, and there is no God besides thee. 15 Verily thou art a hidden God, the God of Israel the saviour.

16 They are all confounded and ashamed: the forgers of errors are gone together into confusion. 17 Israel is saved in the Lord with as eternal salvation: you shall not be confounded, and you shall not be ashamed for ever and ever.

For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens,
God himself that formed the earth, and made it,
the very maker thereof: he did not create it in vain:
he formed it to be inhabited.
I am the Lord, and there is no other.

19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I have not said to the seed of Jacob: Seek me in vain. I am the Lord that speak justice, that declare right things. 20 Assemble yourselves, and come, and draw near together, ye that are saved of the Gentiles: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven work, and pray to a god that cannot save. 21 Tell ye, and come, and consult together:

[W]ho hath declared this from the beginning,
who hath foretold this from that time?
Have not I the Lord, and there is no God else besides me?
A just God and a saviour, there is none besides me.
Be converted to me, and you shall be saved,
all ye ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is no other.

I have sworn by myself, the word of justice shall go out of my mouth,
and shall not return: For every knee shall be bowed to me,
and every tongue shall swear. Therefore shall he say:
In the Lord are my justices and empire:
they shall come to him, and all that resist him shall be confounded.
______________________________________________________
7 "Create evil"... The evils of afflictions and punishments, but not the evil of sin.



ALLELUIA – See Is 40:9-10
Exálta in fortitúdine vocem tuam, tu qui evangelízas;
ecce D'ominus Deus in virtúte véniet.
Alleluia, alleluia
Raise your voice and tell the Good News:
Behold, the Lord God comes with power.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Get thee up upon a high mountain,
thou that bringest good tidings to Sion:
lift up thy voice with strength,
thou that bringest good tidings to Jerusalem:
lift it up, fear not.
Say to the cities of Juda: Behold your God:
Behold the Lord God shall come with strength,
and his arm shall rule:
Behold his reward is with him and his work is before him.


PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS
Lord,
may the gift we offer in faith and love
be a continual sacrifice in your honor
'and truly become our eucharist and our salvation.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.

COMMUNION ANTIPHON – See Is 40:10, 34:5
Ecce Dóminus noster cum virtúte véniet, et illúminet'óculos servórum suórum.
The Lord our God comes in strength and will fill his servants with joy.
10 Behold the Lord God shall come with strength,
and his arm shall rule:
Behold his reward is with him and his work is before him.
(34:5 ??) For my sword is inebriated in heaven:
behold it shall come down upon Idumea,
and upon the people of my slaughter unto judgment.
______________________________________________________
5 "Idumea"... Under the name of Idumea, or Edom a people that were enemies of the Jews, are here understood the wicked in general, the enemies of God and his church.


PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
God of mercy,
may this eucharist bring us your divine help,
free us from our sins,
and prepare us for the birthday of our Savior,
who is Lord for ever and ever.

---

[No_Outcome_But_Victory]

I found this at http://www.ewtn.com/library/SCRIPTUR/ISAIAH2.TXT. It is commentary from both 44 and 45 of Isaiah, since 45 continues 44.

--------------------------------------------------------

God predicts restoration, Cyrus will accomplish it. Chapter
44. Summary and Comments

He tells Jacob to listen and calls him His servant - a tie
to the first servant song perhaps? Then he even says that He is
the one who formed them in the womb. Is this meant as an allusion
to the sort of thing God was going to say to Jeremiah in 1. 5:
"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. . . I dedicated you
as a prophet to the nations." God could call them prophets only
in that they were destined to preserve the clear knowledge of the
true God and eventually to give it to the gentiles. So He says;
Do not be afraid. Then he calls Jacob <Jesrun> - a name that also
is found in Dt 32:15; 33:5, 26. Meaning is uncertain, probably
means <upright>, in contrast to the seeming etymology of Jacob,
which may mean <deceiver>.

So to bring them back, He will pour water on the thirsty
land and pour out His Spirit on their offspring, which will
flourish like the grass in the meadow. Then verse 5 according to
some means that gentiles will accept the God of Israel.
The Jews did not at first see that this meant the Gentiles were
to be accepted as part of God's people without becoming Jews. Cf.
again St. Paul Eph. 3:6.

To try to keep them from going back into idolatry - into
which so many had fallen before the exile -- he says: I am the
first and the last, there is no God but me. In proof of that: The
idols have never done anything, never foretold anything. The true
God has done so.

Verse 7 speaks of what has happened since He established "My
ancient people." This may refer to the whole human race.

But returning to idolatry,. He tells what is obvious: the
craftsman makes an idol - an expensive one from fine wood, a
cheaper one from lesser wood. But half of the wood he cut he uses
to make a fire to warm himself and to cook food. What an
implication of the worth of the idol! Their craftsmen who make
them are only human - so they could not make a real god. If the
craftsman works long he gets weak. When he has made a god -- out
of half the material of which the one half served for cooking --
he bows down before it: Save me, my god! What nonsense! Shall
anyone bow down to a block of wood? Anyone who does this is like
a man who tries to make a meal of ashes.

So Israel should remember these things. God has made Israel,
and has redeemed Israel. So the heavens should sing for joy.

The beginning of the actual restoration is God's choice of
Cyrus. The Lord who made all things, who makes fools of diviners,
called Cyrus, who is called His shepherd, who will do all God
wills. Interestingly, the Hebrew form of Cyrus is <Koresh>.

We notice the diviners are called fools. Isaiah is thinking
probably of the Babylonian pseudo- science of divination. They
even made clay models of livers, and marked on them the
significant spots to look for in the liver of sacrificed animals.

But their predictions are haphazard. Only God can predict
and make His predictions come true. He will say of Jerusalem: Let
it be rebuilt, and of the temple: Let its foundations be laid.

Continuation of the above thought. Chapter 45. Summary and
Comments

The Lord speaks to Cyrus, His anointed, whose right hand He
takes. He calls Cyrus the anointed. Kings were anointed. Cyrus
has a special mission for God. So God will subdue nations and
kings before him, and will level the mountains. We notice the
same language as He used for preparing a way for the exiles to
return. God will give Cyrus the treasures of darkness, that is,
things that have been hidden away, so Cyrus may know God is the
Lord. God will cut through bars of iron: Herodotus the Greek
Historian (1. 179) said there were a hundred brass gates in the
walls of Babylon.

God will do all this for the sake of Jacob, His servant.
Again we see a connection to the Servant songs, in which the
Servant sometimes seems to be Israel, sometimes the Messiah.
Really, Hebrew writing often enough used an individual to stand
for and in a sense be identified with a group. This was commonly
done with the King of Israel.

God will honor Cyrus, even though Cyrus does not know or
honor Him, so that from the rising to the setting of the sun man
may know there is no Master but God. For Cyrus does all this only
by commission of the Lord.

Then God says: I form light and create darkness. Amos 3:6 says:
"Is there an evil in the city which God has not caused?" This was
in accord with the Hebrew way of saying God positively did things
that He really only permitted. We compare 1 Samuel 4:3, in which
the Israelites exclaim (in the Hebrew, NAB disguises it) after
being beaten by the Philistines: "Why has the Lord struck us
today before the face of the Philistines?" They knew the
Philistines did it, but that was their way of speaking. Again,
during the plagues before the Exodus, the Pharaoh more than once
was on the point of letting Israel go, but then became hardened.
Exodus at times says that the Pharaoh hardened his own heart.
More often it says God hardened his heart. -- Really, if we
remember Aristotle's potency and actuality, even when some evil
is done, it is the power of God, the First Cause, that actualizes
the potency - though the evil orientation comes from the
creature, not from God: cf. Phil 2:13. As a loose comparison,
think of an electric outlet. The power company furnishes the
power that makes things go, but the customer decides the way it
will be used: cf. 2 Cor 6:1.

Poetically Isaiah exclaims: Let the heavens and the clouds
shower down righteousness. Let the earth cause salvation to
spring up. Salvation here means rescue from temporal danger, not
eternal salvation.

Then: woe to him who quarrels with his master, as if a pot
should tell the potter: why did you not make me into something
nicer? (We think of the same comparison in Romans 9:20-24 --
where the comparison is to bring out the fact that God alone
decides who will get the special added favor of full membership
in the People of God. These verses do not at all refer to
predestination to heaven or hell, as was once mistakenly thought.

But the Holy One of Israel, its Maker says: Why question me
about what I am doing? It is I who made the earth, who gathered
the stars. So if I will to use Cyrus for my purposes, who can
speak against it?

After this is over, the gentile nations will bring gifts to
Jerusalem, even Egypt, Cush, and Saba, wanting to attach
themselves to Israel, for God is there. Basically a prediction of
the time when the Gentiles would be invited to be part of the
People of God, without becoming Jewish: cf. again Eph 3:6.

In wonder, Isaiah exclaims: Truly, you are a God who hides
himself, Savior of Israel. He hides self in that His ways are
cloaked in impenetrable mystery, even though we see some things,
such as His use of Cyrus to end the exile. But this is the God
who created the heavens. He fashioned the earth, wanting it to be
inhabited. He did not tell Jacob to seek Him in vain. He said He
has not spoken in secret from the land of darkness - may be an
allusion to the practice, in Babylon and even in Israel, of
necromancy, of consulting the dead.

He says: Was it not foolish of you gentiles who are
fugitives from Cyrus to trust in idols instead of in me? They are
gods who cannot save. They never did anything, never foretold
anything. But Israel's God does all things, even creating
darkness as well as righteousness. There is no other God. He is
righteous. He wants all things to be done in accord with
objective morality. And that same Holiness leads Him to keep His
covenant when the people do what He has prescribed. So He says to
the gentiles: Turn to me, and be saved. Every knee will bow to
me. All the descendants of Israel will become righteous: this
includes the gentiles who will join the People of God.

[Askel5]

Thank you so much!

I tend to "color outside the lines" a bit when doing the readings elsewhere and was bummed there was no Navarre on the Isaiah to post. Curious as to the take on some of the lines therein.

This is precisely the sort of passage I needed. The "God creates evil" or "sets man up to fail" bit is something some of us contend with regularly elsewhere.

---

This was in accord with the Hebrew way of saying God positively did things that He really only permitted. We compare 1 Samuel 4:3, in which the Israelites exclaim (in the Hebrew, NAB disguises it) after being beaten by the Philistines: "Why has the Lord struck us today before the face of the Philistines?" They knew the Philistines did it, but that was their way of speaking.

Again, during the plagues before the Exodus, the Pharaoh more than once was on the point of letting Israel go, but then became hardened. Exodus at times says that the Pharaoh hardened his own heart. More often it says God hardened his heart. --

Really, if we remember Aristotle's potency and actuality, even when some evil is done, it is the power of God, the First Cause, that actualizes the potency - though the evil orientation comes from the creature, not from God: cf. Phil 2:13. As a loose comparison, think of an electric outlet. The power company furnishes the power that makes things go, but the customer decides the way it will be used: cf. 2 Cor 6:1.

---

[Askel5]

=== (in the Hebrew, NAB disguises it)


This is the reason I sub out the Douay texts. I don't always repost them here but more frequently than I'd imagine (or wish), I'm astounded at the differences between NAB and Douay which go far beyond "nuanced."

[No_Outcome_But_Victory]

I'm astounded at the differences between NAB and Douay which go far beyond "nuanced."

Agree totally. I am not a fan of the NAB. I think it has low literary quality, is tuneless, and is filled with liberal Protestant book introductions (JEDP, Deutro-Isaiah, Daniel written at time of Maccabees, etc.). The Jerusalem bible of 1966, while better in literary quality suffers from inaccuracies, and is full of liberal notes.

It is kind of hard to get faithful Catholic study bibles in America today, with acceptable modern translations. The RSV-CE is OK in the NT, but the editors in 1952 had an agenda to translate the OT in the manner of Jewish post-Advent tradition to weed out Messianic prophecy. The Catholic Edition corrects it somewhat but not enough for me. (Some conservative Protestants actually licensed the copyright of the RSV, corrected the OT and called it the English Standard Version.)

[Askel5]

"Tuneless" ... that is the perfect description!

Thanks for the background on the changes. I've taken to combing dusty secondhand shelves and Abebooks.com for truly Catholic books and Bibles.

I find that what Catholic booksellers exist in England generally have outstanding stuff (including the best English editions of what poor France once had to offer).

[No_Outcome_But_Victory]

"Tuneless" ... that is the perfect description!

Yeah, I got it from another Catholic Freeper, who travels abroad.

I've had a crazy dream lately of learning the original Biblical languages, along with Latin to make my own translation with a specifically Catholic character. I would want to include detailed translation notes, and probably adapt Fr. Haydocks notes to it and give it all away on the internet. (Yeah, it is a job for a crazy nut! :) )

[Ciexyz]

Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk....

I LOVE these verses! They make me want to jump and shout with joy.

[Ciexyz]

"Advent" bump.

[Askel5]

Sounds like a labor of love to me. You certainly can't go wrong trying regardless how far you end up getting.

[Salvation]

TGreetings from Chicago! I'm trying to get used to a laptop and will catch up on posting some other things on other threads.

[annalex]

Lk 7:18-23
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
18	And John's disciples told him of all these things.	et nuntiaverunt Iohanni discipuli eius de omnibus his
19	And John called to him two of his disciples and sent them to Jesus, saying: Art thou he that art to come? Or look we for another?	et convocavit duos de discipulis suis Iohannes et misit ad Dominum dicens tu es qui venturus es an alium expectamus
20	And when the men were come unto him, they said: John the Baptist hath sent us to thee, saying: Art thou he that art to come? Or look we for another?	cum autem venissent ad eum viri dixerunt Iohannes Baptista misit nos ad te dicens tu es qui venturus es an alium expectamus
21	(And in that same hour, he cured many of their diseases and hurts and evil spirits: and to many that were blind he gave sight.)	in ipsa autem hora curavit multos a languoribus et plagis et spiritibus malis et caecis multis donavit visum
22	And answering, he said to them: Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, to the poor the gospel is preached.	et respondens dixit illis euntes nuntiate Iohanni quae vidistis et audistis quia caeci vident claudi ambulant leprosi mundantur surdi audiunt mortui resurgunt pauperes evangelizantur
23	And blessed is he whosoever shall not be scandalized in me.	et beatus est quicumque non fuerit scandalizatus in me