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Sep 2018
In order better to understand the words of the prophet, I want mercy, not sacrifice (Hos 6:6), I turned to Jesus’ statement about the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and fidelity. I am approaching these three essential requirements of the covenant through the lens of the original Hebrew words that lie behind them (mishpat, chesed, and emeth respectively). Last week I wrote about mishpat/judgment. Mishpat is in the first place the quality a ruler needs in order to recognize what is right and just in each of the tangled and......
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September 14, 2018
The covenant qualities of judgment, mercy, and fidelity: judgment
In the past weeks I have been writing about how the Old Testament compares the covenant between God and Israel to a marriage. We have seen that Israel acted in relation to God as a...
September 07, 2018
Sacrifice and Covenant in Hosea and Ezekiel
I have been writing about sacrifice in the Old Testament in the context of the covenant between God and Israel, which was compared to a marriage. In this context idolatry was seen as the spiritual...
August 31, 2018
Idolatry, Adultery, and the renewal of the Covenant in the Prophet Hosea: Part I
Last Sunday I began writing about the role of sacrifice precisely within the context of the covenant between God and his people Israel. The covenant between God and Israel, precisely because it is founded not...
August 24, 2018
Sacrifice in the Old Testament – Part IV
Last Sunday I resumed writing about the meaning and practice of sacrifice in the Old Testament and followed line of thought that starts with the idea of a gift given to honor a ruler and...
August 17, 2018
Sacrifice in the Old Testament – Part III
I had been writing about the Mass as a sacrifice and had begun trying to deepen our understanding through a consideration of the meaning and practice of sacrifice in the Old Testament. As I return...
August 10, 2018
Pope Pius XI on Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Last Sunday I introduced for the Prayers of the Faithful an act of reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, composed by Pope Pius XI. The reason I introduce the prayer was the corruption that...
August 03, 2018
Corruption in the Clergy
Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus, committed the most abominable crime in the history of humanity by betraying Jesus Christ into the hands of his enemies. Through his act of betrayal...
July 29, 2018
Sacrifice in the Old Testament – Part II
Last week, in order to deepen our understanding of the meaning of sacrifice I turned to the Old Testament culture of giving gifts to honor the excellence of a ruler (homage) and to honor God,...
July 22, 2018
Sacrifice in the Old Testament – Part I
Last Sunday I wrote about the meaning of the Mass as the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the participation of the faithful in that sacrifice. I concluded by writing: “At the moment of the consecration...