This coming Sunday is Holy Trinity Sunday. The selection of the first reading from the Book of Proverbs can be seen as a celebration of Wisdom even in the primordial moment of creation. It is as though the scribes are saying, “Look, we are celebrating in our day, what the Lord has provided for us since the dawn of creation.” The dawn when the Spirit hovered over the chaos. Continue reading
In today’s gospel we hear a warning from Jesus about anger and the words we use.
“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.” (Mt 5:21-22)
In Hebrew the word “raqa” means “empty” or “foolish.” Here is a story from the Talmud about “raqa.” Continue reading
This coming Sunday is Holy Trinity Sunday. In the previous two posts we considered the larger tradition of the Wisdom books of the Old Testament, as well as the Book of Wisdom specifically. Today we will endeavor to focus on the first reading for the upcoming Sunday liturgy.
Many commentaries refer to Proverbs 8:22-31 as a celebration of Wisdom even in the primordial. It is as though the scribes are saying, “Look, we are celebrating in our day, what the Lord has provided for us since the dawn of creation.” This shift of focus is marked by the change from “I” (vv.12, 17) to the Lord (vv. 22–31). The section begins with “the Lord” and ends with benê ʾādām (“I found delight in the sons of men”), the climax and aim of God’s creative works.
This section, unified thematically by wisdom’s connection with God’s creative works, falls into two equal stanzas. The first pertains to her origin before creation (vv. 22–26); the second, to her presence and celebration during the creation (vv. 27–31). These two halves are linked by a thematic chiasm:
A, wisdom’s origins (vv. 22–23);
B, the negative state of the creation (vv. 24–26);
B′, positive presentation of the creation (vv. 27–29);
A′, wisdom’s celebration of humanity’s origins (vv. 30–31).
22 “The LORD begot me, the first-born of his ways, the forerunner of his prodigies of long ago; 23 From of old I was poured forth, at the first, before the earth. 24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no fountains or springs of water; 25 Before the mountains were settled into place, before the hills, I was brought forth; 26 While as yet the earth and the fields were not made, nor the first clods of the world.
The first stanza establishes that wisdom’s has precedence in rank and dignity over the rest of the creation. Wisdom’s precedence is both qualitative (i.e., begotten, not created) and temporal (i.e., existing “before” any other creature). As a result she is competent to counsel and authoritative when she speaks. The stanza’s first strophe represents Wisdom’s begetting in the primordial past (vv. 22–23), and its second strophe represents her begetting before the sea (v. 24), land (vv. 25–26), and implicitly sky (v. 27).
Begotten, Not Created. The language of “begetting,” “created,” and the like has, historically, been the source of great controversies. Beginning at least as early as the apologist Justin Martyr (A.D. 125), Christians, almost without exception, identified Sophia/Wisdom in Proverbs 8 with Jesus Christ. This almost universal interpretation of the passage embroiled the church in controversy about the precise nature of the relationship between God and Christ. From the time of Origen (ca. A.D. 180) patristic exegesis interpreted Wisdom’s birth in Proverbs 8:25 as Christ’s continual coming into existence. Not all agreed with such understanding. Led by the Alexandrian deacon Arius, a group called the Arians held that there was a time when the Son “was not” and thus the Son was created as God’s most exalted creature. They concluded this using Prov. 8:22, “the LORD begot/created me,” as their primary text. In contrast, orthodox Christians held that Christ was of the same substance as the Father, the true Son of God, and not a creature. Orthodoxy interpreted Prov. 8:22 by explaining that the ever-existing Son was “created” when he became incarnate. According to his second strategy, the “creation of Wisdom was actually the creation of Wisdom’s image in creatures as they were brought into being.”
Before all else. The expression “the first born”(rēʾšît) can also be translated as “in the beginning” which has appeal to the Christian ear given the Prologue of the Gospel of John. Verses 22-25 point to Wisdom (Sophia) as perhaps the agent or creative force of all creation. The creation is first described a “what there was not” – depths, fountains, mountains, hills, and fields
Many have noted the movement from the subterranean depth (v. 24a) to the springs leading to the surface (v. 24b) to the visible mountains rooted in the depths (v. 25a) to the hills (v. 25b) to the land and its fields (v. 26) to the sky and its horizon (v. 27)..Sea, land, and sky depict the entire universe of the living. All of this is described with reference to human habitation: from the oceans, which is most remote (v. 24), to mountains, which is less remote (v. 25), and climatically to land, where human beings dwell (v. 26). The latter is progressively intensified from “land” to “open fields” to “arable soil.”
It is during the month of June when the Supreme Court of the United States (SOCTUS) releases its decisions on the cases it has agreed to hear. There are five cases that are expected to be significant for life in these United States – and for those who carry the mantle “pro-life.” Continue reading
Fish or cut bait is a common English language colloquial expression, dating back to the 19th-century United States. Its origins are not exactly clear and over time the meaning has changed. Most often these days its meaning is clear enough: get to the important task at hand, or get out of the way and at least do something supportive. More generally it can be an admonishment to stop procrastinating. Continue reading
This coming Sunday is Holy Trinity Sunday. In yesterday’ post. Yesterday’s post was an introduction to the Wisdom books in general. In today’s post we focus the introduction on the Book of Proverbs. Continue reading
The first reading today often focused on the miraculous: “For the LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’” – and that is miraculous, the work of God. Sometimes the miraculous plays out before our eyes. Continue reading
This coming Sunday is Holy Trinity Sunday. In yesterday’ post we touched upon the “theology and economy” of God’s innermost life which is a fundamental part of the Christian creed. In many forms, the Trinity and all that it implies in terms of person and nature, is at the heart of a whole range of heresies during the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries. But there was no Sunday that was universally dedicated to this most fundamental of beliefs – not until the 14th century. As noted yesterday, this week I plan to consider the first reading from Proverbs in which the focus is on the oikonomia of the Wisdom of God. Let me provide some context with an overview of the Book of Proverbs (adapted from a word by Rev. Donald Senior). Continue reading
In 2018 Pope Francis decreed that the ancient devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Mother of the Church, be inserted into the Roman Calendar. The liturgical celebration, B. Mariæ Virginis, Ecclesiæ Matris, is celebrated annually as a Memorial on the day after Pentecost. In the decree, it was noted that the Pope’s decision took account of the tradition surrounding the devotion to Mary as Mother of the Church. The Pope also noted his desire to promote this devotion in order to “encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety”. Importantly, this feast specifically commemorates Mary’s motherhood of the Church rather than her motherhood of God, a feast celebrated on January 1. Continue reading
This coming Sunday is Holy Trinity Sunday. If you have been following the Gospel readings from weekday Masses, you will find that this Sunday gospel is very much in continuity with those readings. They come from the Farewell Discourse within the Gospel of John. A synopsis of the discourse can be understood as: the warning of Jesus’ coming death, that He is going away to a place they know and where the Father has a room prepared for them, not to worry, the Holy Spirit will come to enlighten their minds, enflame their hearts and remind them of all they have been taught. On Pentecost Sunday, just a week ago, that promise was fulfilled with the coming of the Holy Spirit. Before fully entering “Ordinary Time” in the liturgical year, we shift gears to celebrate Holy Trinity Sunday followed by Corpus Christi. Continue reading
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