First
Psalm: Psalm
29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10 (11 b)
Second
Cf.
Mark 9:7
B Gospel Mark 1:7-11
C Gospel Luke 3:15-16, 21-22
B First
Isaiah 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6
Second
Cf. John 1:29
Gospel Mark 1:7-11
C. First Reading Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
Psalm 104:1 b-2, 3-4, 24-25, 27-28, 29-30 (1)
Second
Cf. Luke 3:16
Gospel Luke 3:15-16, 21-22
Commentary
This is a continuation of comments on the Magnificat ® begun last Sunday. For November 4, Magnificat ® mentions that Saint Charles Borromeo was both a civil and a canon lawyer, as well as a bishop. Magnificat ® does not mention that his uncle, Pope Pius IV made him cardinal and secretary of state at age twenty-two.[1] Such a young cardinal and secretary does not speak of a passive spirituality.
Cardinal Henry Edward Manning mentions that a bullet “had not even pierced his [Borromeo’s] rochet …”[2] A rochet is a close-fitting white ecclesiastical vestment resembling a surplice usually with long close sleeves but sometimes winged or sleeveless that is worn especially by bishops and privileged prelates in some ceremonies.[3] Borromeo was not a pay-pray-and-obey passive Catholic. Cardinal Manning founded the Mill Hill Fathers, from whom the Josephite Fathers and Brothers originated in the United States. The Josephite apostolate is with African-Americans.
Magnificat ® presents passivity in Intercessions for November 5.[4] Magnificat ® uses the passive voice; teach us to, rather than the active voice, we praise you. The Intercessions for November 6 are similar, the passive, make our hearts wise,[5] rather than the active, our hearts find virtue in your wisdom. The Meditation of the Day is in the active voice, “Acting Prudently.” Prudence is that virtue which keeps the other virtues in balance. Intercessions for November 7 are still in the passive voice,[6] teach us, grant us, and the like, rather than the active, we ask for, we pray for and the like.
For Sunday, November 8, we are allowed to have reasonable comfort ourselves, does not indicate who does the allowing. The Magisterium? The quotation is from Caryll Houselander who died in 1954. Magnificat ® attacks a society sometimes ill-prepared and unwilling to protect them [the Faithful] from exploitation and starvation, as if the Faithful themselves were not responsible for what society did and implying that the Church offers the perfect society—despite the fact that civil courts are proving evil in the current hierarchy, to the extent that dioceses are regularly declaring bankruptcy.
In the Gospel, John and Jesus seem
to bow toward one another. John with his
famous sandel-strap comment and Jesus by accepting the baptism of John. The Gospels portray neither John nor Jesus as
particularly passive in their spirituality.
On the positive side, Pope Benedict XVI gave two addresses pertinent to these Notes. Both of his addresses seem to endorse an active, rather than a passive, spirituality. As might be expected, Benedict proclaims the importance of his Magisterium. We accept that importance.
In his address to academics of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, the Pope said, “We give thanks to the Lord for this work of yours that aims to interpret biblical texts in the spirit in which they were written (cf. Dei Verbum, n. 12), open to dialogue with other disciplines, with diverse cultures and religious.” The Pope goes on to recognize “… the necessity of this historico-critical method, outlining its three essential components: attention to literary genres, study of the historical context and examination of what is called Sitz im Leben [context].”[7]
Benedict also had some comments pertinent for these Notes in his General Audience Catechesis. Benedict spoke of the “Love of words and the desire for God.” He also spoke of listening to the word of God, “especially during Sunday Mass.” Benedict went on, “… the problem the reader faces in approaching the words of Scripture and of Tradition. In the face of the problem that these authoritative texts pose, questions arise and the debate between teacher and student comes into being.” Benedict praises this debate.[8]
These Notes engage such debate. Benedict praises what these Notes try
to accomplish. “Faith and reason, in
reciprocal dialogue, are vibrant with joy when they are both inspired by the
search for intimate union with God … knowledge only grows if one loves truth.”
================================================================
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 scholarly prayer-provoking information.
Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7
Isaiah 40:2, 3, 5, 10[9]
The Sinaiticus uses the ordinary word for lord, rather than the proper name for God, which Moses learned and which may be in the original Masoretic Hebrew.
Isa 42:1-4
David L. Balch, review of Helmut Koester, Paul and His World: Interpreting the New Testament in Its Context[10]
Balch implies that Koester is past his time. Balch quotes Ulrich Luz,
I understand Matthew’s story of Jesus as a story. The Evangelist narrates who Jesus is (italics in original). For this reason we should not refer in an unreflected manner to a Christology of the gospel of Matthew. Rather, by means of concepts and titles. … He introduces the Suffering Servant passage from Isa 42:1-4 in a key position as a formula quotation, but his purpose is not to develop a particular Suffering Servant Christology.
Isa 42:1-4
Leroy Andrew Huizenga, “Obedience unto Death: The Matthean Gethsemane and Arrest Sequence and the Aqedah”[11]
Huizenga also cites Isa 42:1-4 as a “formula citation.” Huizenga uses this as “… another passage emphasizing Jesus’ obedience; Jesus is obedient like Isaac, contrasted with the Pharisees, who in chap. 12 confront Jesus, ascribe his works to Beelzebul, and seek to kill him, God’s chosen.”
Psalm 104:1 b-2, 3-4, 24-25, 27-28,
29-30 (1)
Psalm 104:24[12]
The dash (—) in the Lectionary is not in the Sinaiticus. You
have wrought them all— The
Sinaiticus is without any punctuation.
Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7
Titus 2:13 has difficult Greek at our
great God and savior Jesus Christ.
Some manuscripts omit Jesus Christ
. The Sinaiticus,[13]
has the abbreviation for Jesus Christ. I do not understand what the Nestle-Aland
apparatus is indicating about the Sinaiticus.
Cf. Luke 3:16
Luke 3:15-16, 21-22
Nestle-Aland has minor difficulty with Luke 3:17 and 20, both of which the Lectionary avoids.
For more on
sources see the Appendix file. Personal Notes are on the web site at www.western-civilization.com/CBQ/Personal%20Notes
[1] The
Order of Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours and Celebration of the Eucharist:
2009: Year B: Sunday Cycle: Year 1: Weekday Cycle: Archdiocese of Louisville:
Dioceses of Arlington, Covington, Lexington, Owensboro, Richmond;
Wheeling-Charleston, Rev.
[2] Magnificat ® Monthly Vol. II, No. 9 / November 2009, 69.
[3] http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/unabridged (accessed November 4, 2009).
[6] Magnificat
® Monthly Vol. II, No. 9 / November 2009, 98-99.
[7] Benedict XVI, “Address to academics of the Pontifical Biblical Institute on the occasion of its centenary: Scripture as the source of spirituality in a secularized world,” L’Osservatore Romano: Weekly Edition in English, Vol. 42, No. 44 (Wednesday, 4 November 2009, Vatican City) 4.
[8] Benedict XVI, “”Benedict XVI’s General Audience Catechesis on monastic and scholastic theology: A natural friendship between faith and reason,” L’Osservatore Romano: Weekly Edition in English, Vol. 42, No. 44 (Wednesday, 4 November 2009, Vatican City) 12.
[9] http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/print.aspx?manuscript=true&imageType=standard&translation=true&transcription=true&transcriptionType=verse&phd=true&lg=en&quireNo=44&folioNo=8&side=v (accessed November 8, 2009).
[10] the Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Vol. 71, No. 1 (April 2009) 181.
[11] the Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Vol. 71, No. 3 (April 2009) 518.
[12] Psalm
104 in the Lectionary is Psalm
103 in the Sinaiticus (accessed November 16, 2008). http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/print.aspx?manuscript=true&imageType=standard&translation=true&transcription=true&transcriptionType=verse&phd=true&lg=en&quireNo=62&folioNo=4&side=v (accessed November 8, 2009). Psalm 104 in the
Lectionary is Psalm 103 in the Sinaiticus.