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This Week's Scripture
Working for good only comes through loving God. While we are all called, only a few are chosen, for not all will heed that call. Along with last week's Scripture, not only must we heed that call, but persevere in it.
AMDG,
Scott<<<
Feel free to add your thoughts! We haven't had comments from the readers lately, but they are always welcome!
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." -Hebrews 12:1-2
My first thought on this verse, especially with the stage I am at in this program, is to cast off things that distract me from the ultimate goal. Ultimately, this degree will be used for the glory of God regardless of where I end up when it is finished.
The second thing which comes to mind is enduring the trials and the milestones before me. Take these on one at a time and persevere to the end. The same holds true for our salvation - persevering through the challenges in life and keeping focused on the joy which awaits those who endure.
Blessings, Professor, and to those who have been keeping up with me through this process.
In Christ,
Scott<<<
This is the Morning Offering our family uses (there are several versions)
According to an article found in The Tablet this church, which was completed in 1350 AD, has been turned over to the Society of Saint Pius X - dedicated to the preservation of Catholic tradition, especially for the Mass of all time (Pope Pius V, Quo Primum).
Interior:
From SSPX - published September 15, 2021:
It has been official since June 29, 2021: One of the most important churches in Vienna has become the property of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X. Last Sunday, the Pius Brotherhood publicly celebrated Holy Mass in the Minoritenkirche in the heart of Vienna. The procession that followed exceeded all expectations.
For six years the Viennese congregation of the Pius Brotherhood had prayed to acquire a church in a prestigious location. Now the prayers were not only answered, but over-fulfilled. With the decision of the Italian Congregation to let their venerable church pass into the property of the Pius Brotherhood, the community came into the possession of one of the most important churches in Vienna - near Vienna's Ballhausplatz and thus only a few meters from the political center of Austria.
Last Sunday, the Feast of the Name of the Virgin, the Fathers of the Pius Brotherhood celebrated the first public Holy Mass in the Minorite Church with their believers. Father Waldemar Schulz, who was prior in Vienna for more than 20 years, celebrated. In his sermon he mentioned the longstanding efforts of the Priory of St. Klemens Maria Hofbauer and the District of Austria to have their own church. Now the time has come. And after the mass there was a breathtaking procession.
Around 1,000 believers - more than ever before - followed the procession over Vienna's Ballhausplatz, Kohlmarkt and Graben, past the world-famous St. Stephen's Cathedral and back over the Wollzeile to the Minoritenkirche. In beautiful weather and in front of a large audience, the faithful gave a great testimony to their faith, prayed the rosary and sang songs in honor of the Blessed Mother accompanied by the band “Die Kaiserjäger”. That seems to have made a deep impression on those standing by. At the sight of the procession, many fell silent, some even joined the procession. In the end, over 1,000 people renewed Austria's consecration to the Mother of God in the Minorite Church.
By the way, the mass and procession took place on a very special date: On September 12, 1683, the united Christian armies had victoriously ended the second siege of Vienna by the Turks with the Battle of Kahlenberg. The banner of the Madonna's protective cloak was carried in front of the army at that time. Pope Innocent XI. (1676–1689) therefore made the feast of the Virgin Mary binding for the whole Church.
The festivities ended with a great celebration under the arcades of the church and in the Minoritenplatz, where food and drink were served to the faithful. There was a pleasant time until late afternoon before returning home strengthened mentally and physically.
(Translated from German using Google Translate)
"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV
This
passage reminds me of a song I learned in catechism classes as Lutheran back in the late 1960s and early
1970s. The song is based in St. Paul’s closing in his letter to the Philippians
and is sung in a round - here is a short Youtube video of the song, pretty much as I
remember it:
4 Rejoice
in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let
your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every
situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to
God. 7 And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus.
8 Finally,
brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is
excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:4-8)
So,
what does this mean to me, here and now? I expressed to my professor a little
frustration after seeing the remaining milestones in this terminal degree. Initially,
I thought I would be done by December 2021, but the schedule changed and put my
posted “final class” to end in January 2022. Then, I received a call from the
counseling office and she shared with me the milestones remaining – and there
is no way I will be fully completed with this degree by January – but I am still
hopeful for Spring 2022. These passages remind me to continue to rejoice in the
Lord, not just when I think things are going well – but ALWAYS. I am not to be
anxious about what is laid before me, but trust in the Lord that His peace
surpasses all understanding and will keep my mind in Christ Jesus.
In
Christ,
Scott<<<
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St. Paul sends these words of encouragement to the Church at Corinth after informing them that Apollos was not willing to visit them at that time – but that he would go when the opportunity arises. The advice to remain on guard, firm in the faith, courageous, and strong is followed by “Do everything in love” (v. 14). He also reminds them that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus were available for their guidance and leadership – and they should be recognized for their service and authority.
Applying this to my current situation – while we (my professor and I) are separated by three-fourths of a continent, we are only seconds apart by the Internet! Oh, what St. Paul would have done had he been around in this day and age! Though geographically separated, I do not feel apart from you. I respect your guidance and leadership as we walk through this journey.
On a side-note – I was in a discussion with our piano tuner (wife plays, not me!) and he spoke of a conspiracy theory that the entire New Testament was originally in Aramaic. I had not heard that before. I had heard of the likelihood that the Gospel of Matthew was originally in Aramaic since it was primarily directed at the Jews, and we have Irenaeus of Lyons who wrote circa 180 AD “Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect” (Against Heresies, 3:1:1). I bring this up because St. Paul, in his conclusion to this letter uses the phrase “Maranatha” – often left untranslated (see KJV, NASB, DRA, NAB, and others) which is Aramaic! Very interesting!
AMDG,
Scott<<<
Recently at Mass (local, Ordinary Rite, parish) I noticed a guy walk in wearing a Catholic t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops walk in and sit down, nearly front and center in the sanctuary. Others were wearing everything from quite casual to a few wearing full suits.
If you were invited to dine with the President of the United States...
If you were invited to dine with the Pope...
If you were invited to dine with God Almighty...
What would you wear?
Would you "come as you are," or would you prepare and wear your "Sunday best?" I think most of us would get dressed up nicely for any of these options - and would not show up in flip-flops.
In the third option, we have that invitation at EVERY Mass we participate in! EVERY time you go to Mass you KNOW - or at least SHOULD know that you are going before the REAL PRESENCE of God Almighty. I know, I've heard the excuses "God accepts me for who I am, not what I wear to Mass," but the point is there is a modicum of respect expected when approaching any world leader and should be even more true for the Leader and Creator of the universe! When we do not take the time to clean up or change into something a bit more dignified - or even deliberately wear such casual clothes it is just plain disrespectful.
The problem is that many have lost that level of respect for God, especially in His House - our place of worship. If He is worthy of our worship, He is worthy of our respect too.
In the image below, from Real Men, Real Style, the encircled attire is most appropriate - and even "Casual" can suffice, but not "Ultra Casual" or "Sloppy." On the other end of the scale, while those would not be inappropriate, "White Tie" or "Black Tie" would not be required (and really not much difference between "Black Tie Optional" and "Semi-Formal or Business").
There are a few points that I would have added into the already excellent material.
(1) Dr. White made an excellent point about 2 Thessalonians 2:15, that the verb, “you were taught” is past tense, so it cannot include things like the (2) Bodily Assumption of Mary (1950) or (3) the Immaculate Conception of Mary ( 1854) or (4) the infallibility of the Pope ( 1870) nor certain dogmatic decrees of the Council of Trent (1545-1563) – the ones against Protestantism and justification by faith alone. I would add (5) also Purgatory, which all the elements of it only came together after Gregory the first, bishop of Rome from 590-640 AD. (6) He made a good point that John Henry Cardinal Newman knew this, that is why he had to come up with his “development of doctrine” theory of the Roman Catholic Church.
SW: There is nothing in any of those (later) books which states all oral traditions were included in them! Mr. Temple's eisegesis is clearly pointed out in this fact. Since he is slinging verses, how about considering 3 John "13 I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face." St. John, the Apostle who wrote much, did NOT want to put everything in writing! He wanted to wait until he could speak to them, face to face - orally. Mr. Temple's use of Jude 3 has nothing to do with sola scriptura as Jude is referring to a specific situation of those who have turned against the Lord and are infiltrating the faithful to try and get them to turn away also (so much for once saved, always saved too, but that's a whole different topic) and certainly Temple is not implying that the tiny book of Jude contains ALL which is necessary to be taught and learned for salvation! Is he? Also, that Galations might include things "spoken" of in 2 Thessalonians 2:15 does not say there were not other things passed on by word of mouth and NOT written, such as our example from 3 John 13-14, a much later epistle.KT: 1. I would add something about the early date of 1 Thessalonians, and 2 Thessalonians 2:15 (51-52 AD) and so the oral traditions include things written earlier in Galatians (49-50 AD), and
2.. also, it seems certain that the oral traditions that Paul is saying are binding there in 2 Thessalonians 2:15, were all later written out in the rest of the NT books – Romans, Ephesians, 1-2 Corinthians, Colossians, Philippians, John, Acts, Luke, (even by other authors in Hebrews, Matthew, John, Mark, Peter, James and Jude – “the faith once for all delivered to the saints”, (Jude 3), etc.
KT: Acts 15:19 – the apostle James, the half-brother of Jesus, says, “I judge” – Dr. White made a great point: “but James, don’t you know “the Vicar of Christ” is seated here right next to you?” The fact that Peter was right there with him, shows there was no such thing as a Pope; and Peter was not the “first Pope.”SW: St. James was the Bishop of Jerusalem, I don't think even our Protestant detractors deny this fact, and as such - he was "responsible" for the Council of Jerusalem, regardless of the fact that the "Vicar of Christ" (a title which comes later) is sitting there with him. The fact of the matter is that it was St. Peter who stood up and ended the debate! St. James "judgment" is simply affirmation of what St. Peter already declared!
SW: I, for one, do not deny the sufficiency or profitablility of Scripture - which is spoken of in 2 Tim. 3:16-17, but sufficiency is not the point of the debate - "sola" is! That Jim-Bob's Bike Shop can sufficiently supply the cyclist with everything he needs doesn't mean that Billy-Bob's Bike Shop cannot do just as good a job supplying the cyclist. A claim of sufficiency (satis scriptura) or profitability does not validly answer the challenge the adherent to sola scriptura is presented with.KT: 3. also, I would point out that 2 Tim. 3:16-17 is expanding “the sacred Scriptures” of v. 15 from OT to all Scripture; even NT books written later.
SW: This is a non-argument in the sola scriptura debate - I am not aware of any Christian who does not put the Gospels on the same level as the Torah. The bigger point here is not just the Gospels, which among Christians were widely accepted as Scripture, but also the Epistles which were also accepted as Scripture - as well as some of the other books which were included in early canons of Scripture, but ultimately rejected as such in the late 4th century (and they are still good reading, just not "on the same level as Torah").KT: 4. Paul already put Gospels on same level as Torah in 1 Timothy 5:18. “Paul is enlarging on the previous reference . . especially by his use of πασα.” (πασα = pasa = “all”) George Knight, Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, p. 448
Well, in use - any of these can be used but the traditional use is "piqued."
To "pique" one's attention is to stimulate (Oxford Languages). Originally from the French, it was a word meaning to "prick." In the original English use it most often had a negative connotation or resentment. However, in more common or modern usage it means to arouse curiosity or interest in a subject.
To "peak" - when used as a transitive verb, can mean "to cause to come to a peak, point, or maximum." This can have appropriate use for "peaking one's attention." (Webster's).
Likewise, to "perk" is to bring something to the top - so again, it could be used to "perk" one's attention.
All that said, what is traditionally meant is to "pique" one's attention. English can be funny at times, especially since even improperly used words can become "accepted" if usage is high enough.
From class this week:
Verse: The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns (Ecclesiastes 1:6, English Standard Version).
Translation: No matter how exciting life is, it is of little value without God.
Application: Under the sun, there is nothing new. We can get what we need from the Maker of the sun.
I like this passage, especially the application of it above, though I might change the wording a bit.
Under the sun, there is nothing new. We get what we need from the Son, who is the Maker of the sun and of all else which exists.
From the same context, going to verse 17:
"Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind."
Solomon here, though considered quite wise among men, realizes that all wisdom of men is folly before the Lord. Therefore, we need to be reminded of our place - and remain humble in our pursuits. Never think ourselves wise before the Lord, always willing to yield to His Will in our lives.
