First Reading: Zephaniah
3:14-18 a
Responsorial Psalm: Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 (6)
Second Reading: Philippians
4:4-7
Alleluia: Isaiah
61:1 (cited in Luke 4:18)
Gospel: Luke 4:10-18
Commentary
This Sunday is about the thrill of having God dwell in the souls of the
Faithful. This Sunday is about the fires
of divine love spreading from human to human, from generation to generation. Zephaniah is about anticipating the arrival
of the Messiah in the hearts of the Faithful.
Shout for joy, O daughter
Zion! Isaiah 12:6, the antiphon, has
a similar approach, Cry out with joy and
gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel. Philippians tells the Faithful, Rejoice in the Lord always. The Alleluia verse, Isaiah 61:1, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Finally, the Gospel, reports that John
the Baptist preached good news to the
people.
The real life context for rejoicing is human
crises and tragedy, as exemplified and illustrated by the human consequences
found on the Weather Channel. Eventually,
everyone confronts a variety of crises.
Coping frequently involves a change in identity. The human condition requires accepting change
without self-destructing. Pages 351
through 386 in Mark A. Yarhouse and James Sellers are about “Attending to
Families in Crisis Subsequent to Trauma or Loss.”[1] The thrill of having God dwell in the souls
of the Faithful, becomes only a consolation in times of crisis. The prayer for this Sunday has to be for a
realization of the hymn, “Jesus loves us, yes he does.”
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Annotated
Bibliography
Material above the double line
draws from material below the double line.
Those uninterested in scholarly and tangential details should stop
reading here. If they do, however, they
may miss some interesting material.
Zephaniah 3:14-18 a
It looks to me as if the Sinaiticus Greek has the festivals with verse 17,[2] rather than the 18 in the Lectionary documentation. Because the New Jerusalem Bible seems to agree with the Lectionary versification, the problem may not be sloppy scholarship. I do not know what to make of the difference.
Isaiah 12:2-3,
4, 5-6 (6)
Where the Lectionary has for
great in your midst, the Sinaiticus Greek carries the causal sense, because. In other words, Shout with exultation, because, God is present. The presence
of God is a reason (rather than a for
obligation) to rejoice.[3]
Codex Sinaiticus[4]
Digitization
One of the core undertakings
of the project was to capture each page of Codex Sinaiticus (abbreviated Sinaiticus in these Personal Notes)
as a high-quality digital image. Each
image offers a substitute for the real manuscript leaf. Careful imaging of Codex Sinaiticus therefore
provides a life-like view of the pages and allows, for the first time,
worldwide access to the manuscript.
The digital photography of
Codex Sinaiticus had to establish the best practice, taking into account that
- the leaves could not travel and had to
be photographed at four different venues with different equipment;
- the writing on the leaves had to be
readable on the digital images;
- the natural appearance of the parchment
and ink had to be faithfully reproduced.
Technical
standards
To make sure that the images
produced were consistent, common standards and imaging practices were
established across all venues by the Technical Standards Working Party.
The recommendations included equipment (cameras, camera software,
lighting, lenses, etc.) and processes (setup, color profiling, etc.).
Lighting
When choosing the best
lighting conditions for digitizing Codex Sinaiticus, two aspects had to be
carefully balanced. The writing on the
leaves had to be readable on the digital images, to allow researchers to read
and analyze it. At the same time, the
natural appearance of the parchment and ink had to be faithfully reproduced, to
allow the appreciation of the physical traits of Codex Sinaiticus.
Different angles and levels
of intensity were tested for the lighting, as the same set-up had to be used
for every page. Since each page
reflected the light at different angles, owing to the natural undulation of the
parchment, a compromise had to be found to minimize this effect. Best results were achieved when the pages
were lit at an angle of 45 degrees on low intensity without any backlighting.
The parchment leaves of Codex
Sinaiticus feature many marks on its surface - pricking holes, ruling
indentations, as well as many other natural details - which are not easily
visible with the 45 degree lighting directed from both sides of the page. The decision was therefore made to digitize
each page twice, the second time with a light source at a low angle from a top
corner. These are the 'raking light'
images which optimize the view of the physical features of the parchment.
Background
The leaves of Codex
Sinaiticus are so thin that the text from the other side of the page can show
through when photographed. An
appropriate background had to be used to lessen the show-through and at the
same time to keep as true as possible to the color of the parchment.
Tests showed that white
background paper allowed a relatively faithful representation of the parchment
color. The text, however, was often very
hard to read because of the show-through from the text on the other side of the
leaf. Black background paper, on the
other hand, reduced the show-through considerably in tests and made the text
more readable. The page, however,
appeared too dark and the colors were not represented faithfully.
|
|
|
|
Test image of a Codex Sinaiticus page on a white background. |
Test image of a Codex Sinaiticus page on a black background. |
Through testing, the decision
was made to opt for a compromise color.
A light brown background was chosen that was close enough to the color
of the parchment to give a sense of its warmth, while reducing the show-through
to a point where it rarely makes reading the page difficult.
See a list of the digitization experts
in the Codex Sinaiticus Project.
Philippians
4:4-7
Isaiah 61:1
(cited in Luke 4:18)
The Lectionary does not use Luke
4:18. The Lectionary uses Isaiah
61:1 for the Third Sunday of Advent in Cycle B.
In Cycle B, the verse is more complete, in agreement with the
Sinaiticus.[5]
Luke 3:10-18
The Sinaiticus notes a difficulty in verse 17 that I do not understand. For verse 17, the Sinaiticus and Nestle-Aland agree, except that the letter nu is dropped inconsequentially in two words.[6]
Luke 3:10-18
Kurt Aland and Barbara Aland, The Text of the New Testament: An
Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern
Textual Criticism, 2nd ed., Erroll F. Rhodes, tr. [7]
The Alands write, “The Bodmer papyri, which became known in the 1950s, contain ... in P75 the gospels of Luke (from Luke 3:10 with a few lacunae) ...” The Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris has a Third Century papyrus manuscript with Luke 3:8—4:2. The Bibliotheca Bodmeriana in Cologny has a Third Century papyrus mentioned above. The Alands note that the Curetonian Syriac lacks ... Luke 1:1—2:48; 3:16—7:33.
Luke 3:11
United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops, United States
Catholic Catechism for Adults[8]
The Bishops use Luke 3:11 in Chapter 31, “Seventh Commandment: Do Not Steal—Act Justly.” “Whoever has two cloaks should share ... “
Luke 3:12
Robert Doran, "The Pharisee and the Tax Collector: An Agonistic Story"[9]
Doran argues that Luke always portrays tax collectors in a positive light; but not the Pharisees. Even tax collectors came to be baptized. The message is not to be overly self-righteous.
For more on sources see the Appendix file. Personal Notes are on the web site at www.western-civilization.com/CBQ/Personal%20Notes