Readings:
Wisdom 2, 7-11, I prayed and prudence was given to me.
Psalm 90, Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy.
Hebrews 4, 12-13, The word of God is living and effective.
Mark 10, 17-30, It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom.
"Hi, Everybody," says Genevieve, "Welcome to my baptism. This is my mom, Mary, and my grandmom, Jill."
Wisdom:
Date of Composition: 100-200 BCE, which is why it is considered significant. It provides a glimpse into the cultural & social milieu which prevailed just before & during the time of Christ. We had Wisdom for our first reading 3 weeks ago.
Place of Composition: Alexandria, Egypt.
The Composer: a Jew who wrote educated Greek.
Unique Quality: Wisdom is one of a set of 12 (or 14) books written in Greek considered not part of the original 39 books of the Hebrew Bible, the O.T. This blew up around 350 CE when St. Jerome, one of the Fathers of the Early Church, i.e., a church leader who influenced a lot of church dogma, said the books were not genuine. He was opposed by St. Augustine. It was the Council of Trent (ca. 1550), that declared the 12 books okay. Another person doubting the validity of the books was Martin Luther.
Rich, Ray's dad, and Jill and George, Mary's parents, with The Queen.
You probably won’t find these books in the Protestant Bibles.
Our Selection in Chapter 7: the book of Wisdom generally says that good guys get rewarded by God, bad guys don’t. This selection personifies the virtue of wisdom, using the feminine pronoun she, and praises her as above all other values & pleasures. I loved her even more than health or beauty, the composer declares.
Sources: The Good News Bible, Got Bible Questions on line.
Genevieve's moment has arrived.
Mark, an observation
I do not want to talk about the Gospel this morning, but I would like to give you a head's up about one line, It being easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for the rich to enter the kingdom.
1. I've been there and done what it says. I am left with the belief that we don't have to be so hard on ourselves. We are talking about infinite demand. Balance that with infinite acceptance.
2. Change the perspective. Instead of the infinite demand focused on saving my soul for eternity, focus on the kingdom being present tense. Peace is the kingdom now. Do we often push ourselves to achieve a goal in this life? And with the goal do we experience peace? I experienced peace in going to East Africa even though it tore my heart out to leave my mom and friends.
"Robert, Ray, where have you seen God most recently?"
Don’t Judge that Book by the Cover
I did it again, Folks. I judged the book by the cover. In fact, I did not realize I was doing it. The book, the German People living during the 3rd Reich and the War.
This is not saying that I had not met some marvelous Germans when I worked in Tanzania. In fact, I even visited two German medical sisters in their homes on my various home visits. One lived in Bonn, the former capital while Germany was divided. The other lived in Cologne, which we visited this past trip on the Rhine.
"When I saw this perfect little girl this morning."
There was a series of insights into the German people on this journey, but in particular there was one Sunday afternoon in a little town called Speyer. We had docked overnight, been toured around the town in the morning, and then the afternoon we were free. Around 6:00 we would depart Speyer.
Rosemary was pooped, so I told her I would just walk over to the plaza in front of the church and look around. I had walked around for maybe an hour when I decided to simply sit on a park bench in the shade and watch the people. It was a beautiful, contemplative afternoon for me.
Today, even the gorilla gets a hug from Kevin.
In the park I was struck by the simple family enjoyment, parents with kids and people with dogs. Europe is very dog friendly. Rosemary & I saw three elderly ladies seated at an outdoor coffee shop, and the fourth seat, a little white poodle. The dog was very well trained and polite.
The little town of Speyer was also neat and clean and people had red geraniums in almost every window sill. I saw this in every German town and city.
It takes preparation, bread, wine, readers, and song books, and Jan coordinates is all.
On top of this, Germany is just drop dead beautiful, as Ron A. has told me repeatedly. Green, hilly, forested, and dotted with these lovely towns.
I have a bad habit of judging the book by the cover. This is the first time I discovered that I have judged a whole people. I had been shifting, I admit, because Rosemary has been feeding me these gripping novels about the conscientious German during the Reich.
Ray & Leo, dad & son.
How to survive if you disagreed with the program, when even a word overheard by a person could get you reported, visited in the night by the S.S., and then sent to a death camp. There were a number of priests and Jesuits who encountered this.
Cupcake of the Week to Angela on her birthday.
I have come to see how I have been judging this book by its cover, the German people.
What is the book you are judging by its cover?
Not only does Jan coordinate everything.