The Unprofitable Servant: If They Hear Not Moses and the Prophets

Thursday, March 24, 2011

If They Hear Not Moses and the Prophets

Photo of the "Parable of Lazarus and Abraham" taken by Fergal Claddagh.

This Gospel always scares me to death. What if I had not been born after Christ walked the earth? What if I had lived when Moses did and I did not have the Gospels? What if I did not have the benefit of Our Lady of Fatima? Would I have believed? Would I be begging for someone to help cool the flames to which I had been condemned?

"Blessed are those who have not seen yet believe" - John 20:29

5 comments:

MannyMarch 24, 2011 at 8:24 PM
Well, it's fruitless to engage in such hypotheticals. You would have been a completely different person.

Speaking of the OT, I've been read Deuteronomy the last few days, and I'm having trouble accounting for what God dictates, especially in chapter 20. This is not a loving God. Read this:

10
"When you march up to attack a city, first offer it terms of peace.
11
If it agrees to your terms of peace and opens its gates to you, all the people to be found in it shall serve you in forced labor.
12
But if it refuses to make peace with you and instead offers you battle, lay siege to it,
13
and when the LORD, your God, delivers it into your hand, put every male in it to the sword;
14
but the women and children and livestock and all else in it that is worth plundering you may take as your booty, and you may use this plunder of your enemies which the LORD, your God, has given you.
15
"That is how you shall deal with any city at a considerable distance from you, which does not belong to the peoples of this land.
16
But in the cities of those nations which the LORD, your God, is giving you as your heritage, you shall not leave a single soul alive.
17
You must doom them all-the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites-as the LORD, your God, has commanded you,
18
lest they teach you to make any such abominable offerings as they make to their gods, and you thus sin against the LORD, your God.

There are several other passages that seem just as cruel. How do we reconcile this with the compassionate God of later in the Bible? Can someone help me with this? It's really bothering me.
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TLWMarch 24, 2011 at 8:33 PM
Manny I have to tell you that I, too, struggle with such readings. You can always do a Google search on the reading and see what scholars have to say about it. Also, it's important to remember that a lot of what seems like advocacy for murder and pillaging is not always meant to be taken literally. Leviticus is another book full of stuff that makes me say "Huh?" There's all kinds of warnings about men with bald heads and sores on their bald heads, etc. I kid you not! LOL I'm not smart enough to know what it all means.

Perhaps one of our other friends has some insight they can offer.
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meMarch 25, 2011 at 6:16 AM
The way I see it, God has no favourites. Every single one of us gets our chance/s to enjoy Eternal life with God. Not sure how it works out, but I'm sure it does!!

1 Peter 3:18-20a: For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey . . .

1 Peter 4:5-6 4:5 But they will have to give an accounting to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. 4:6 For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.
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KellyMarch 25, 2011 at 9:02 AM
Well, seeing as how I just lost my entire comment (DOH!)--I will try again. Perhaps I need to be briefer.
I agree with Joyce, that the OT is a different animal in terms of understanding the context and style in which it was written. I think if you could talk to an OT scholar, he or she would be able to explain how those sorts of passages fit in to the whole. I do think that is an important point, that to section out any passage to stand on its own, can change its meaning. The Bible is like a living thing, if you will. It all goes together,and to read and understand those really ancient texts, one has to have some understanding about the whole Bible.
I have a book called Understanding the Scriptures, By Scott Hahn that I highly recommend. As you may already know, he is 1. A Bible scholar; 2. A convert, and 3. really smart. He covers the OT as well as the New.

I wold not allow things like this to disturb you too much. We know the end of the story!
Peace, Brother!
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MannyMarch 26, 2011 at 10:02 PM
Thank you Kelly. I am very familiar with Scott Hahn. He's brilliant. I'll look for that book.
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Mary, Queen of Peace

Ever glorious and blessed Mary, Queen of Virgins, Mother of Mercy, hope and comfort of dejected and desolate souls, through that sword of sorrow which pierced thy tender heart whilst thine only Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord, suffered death and ignominy on the cross; through that filial tenderness and pure love He had for thee, grieving in thy grief, whilst from His cross He recommended thee to the care and protection of His beloved disciple, St. John, take pity, I beseech thee, on my poverty and necessities; have compassion on my anxieties and cares; assist and comfort me in all my infirmities and miseries, of every kind whatsoever. Thou art the Mother of Mercies, the sweet comforter and only refuge of the needy and the orphan, of the desolate and afflicted. Cast, therefore, an eye of pity on a miserable, forlorn child of Eve, and hear my prayer; for since, in just punishment of my sins, I find myself encompassed by a multitude of evils, and oppressed with much anguish of spirit, wither can I fly for more secure shelter, O amiable Mother of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, than under the wings of thy maternal protection? Attend, therefore, I beseech thee, with an ear of pity and compassion, to my humble and earnest request. I ask it, through the bowels of mercy of thy dear Son; Through that love and condescension wherewith He embraced our nature, when, in compliance with the divine Will, thou gavest thy consent, and whom, after the expiration of nine months thou didst bring forth from the chaste enclosure of thy womb, to visit the world, and bless it with His presence. I ask it, through that anguish of mind wherewith thy beloved Son, our dear Saviour, was overwhelmed on the Mount of Olives, when He besought His eternal Father to remove from Him, if possible, the bitter chalice of His future passion. I ask it, through the threefold repetition of His prayers in the garden, whence afterwards, with dolorous steps and mournful tears, thou didst accompany Him to the doleful theatre of His death and sufferings. I ask it, through the welts and bruises of His virginal flesh, occasioned by the cords and whips wherewith He was bound and scourged, when stripped of His seamless garment, for which His executioners afterwards cast lots. I ask it, through the scoffs and ignominies by which He was insulted; the false accusations and unjust sentence by which He was condemned to death, and which He bore with heavenly patience. I ask it, through His bitter tears and bloody sweat; His silence and resignation; His sadness and grief of heart. I ask it, through the blood which trickled from His royal and Sacred Head, when struck with the sceptre of a reed and pierced with His crown of thorns. I ask it, through the excruciating torments He suffered, when His hands and feet were fastened with gross nails to the tree of the cross. I ask it, through His vehement thirst, and bitter potion of vinegar and gall. I ask it, through His dereliction on the cross when He exclaimed, "My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken me?" I ask it, through His mercy extended to the good thief, and through His recommending His precious soul and spirit into the hands of His eternal Father before He expired, saying, "It is consummated." I ask it, through the blood mixed with water, which issued from His Sacred Side when pierced with a lance, and whence a flood of grace and mercy has flowed to us. I ask it, through His immaculate life, bitter passion and ignominious death on the cross, at which nature itself was thrown into convulsions, by the bursting of rocks, rending of the veil of the Temple, the earthquake, and the darkness of the sun and moon. I ask it, through His descent into hell, where He confronted the Saints of the old law with His presence, and led the captivity captive. I ask it, through His glorious victory over death, when He arose again to life on the third day, and through the joy which His appearance for forty days after gave thee, His blessed Mother, His Apostles, and the rest of His Disciples; when in thine and their presence He miraculously ascended into heaven. I ask it, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, infused into the hearts of His Disciples, when He descended upon them in the form of fiery tongues, and by which they were inspired with zeal in the conversion of the world, when they went to preach the gospel. I ask it, through the awful appearance of thy Son, at the last dreadful day, when He shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world, by fire. I ask it, through the compassion He bore thee in His life, and the unspeakable joy thou didst feel at thine assumption into heaven, where thou art eternally absorbed in the sweet contemplation of His divine perfections. O glorious and ever blessed Virgin! comfort the heart of thy supplicant, by obtaining for me, (Mention your prayer intention here...) And as I am persuaded my Divine Saviour doth honour thee as His beloved Mother, to whom He refuses nothing, because thou asketh nothing contrary to His honour, so let me speedily experience the efficacy of thy powerful intercession, according to the tenderness of thy maternal affection, and His filial loving heart, who mercifully granteth the requests and complieth with the desires of those that love and fear Him. Wherefore, O most blessed Virgin, beside the object of my present petition, and whatever else I may stand in need of, obtain for me also of thy dear Son, our Lord and our God, a lively faith, firm hope, perfect charity, true contrition of heart, unfeigned tears of compunction, sincere confession, condign satisfaction, abstinence from sin, love of God and my neighbour, contempt of the world, patience to suffer affronts and ignominies, nay, even, if necessary, an opprobrious death itself, for love of thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Obtain likewise for me, O sacred Mother of God, perseverance in good works, performance of good resolutions, mortification of self-will, a pious conversation through life, and, at my last moments, strong and sincere repentance, accompanied by such a lively and attentive presence of mind, as may enable me to receive the last Sacrament of the Church worthily, and die in thy friendship and favour. Lastly, obtain through thy Son, I beseech thee, for the souls of my parents, brethren, relatives and benefactors, both living and dead, life everlasting, from the only Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Lord God Almighty, to Whom be all power now and forever. Amen.

Prayer of St. Bonaventure

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true, calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee, may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be dissolved and to be with Thee.
Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and super substantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste.
May my heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the fullness of the house of God;
may it ever compass Thee, seek Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, with perseverance to the end; and be Thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession, my treasure; in Whom may my mind and my heart be ever fixed and firm and rooted immovably. Amen.

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The Unprofitable Servant

Thursday, March 24, 2011

If They Hear Not Moses and the Prophets

5 comments:

Mary, Queen of Peace

St Michael the Archangel

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

St. Teresa Benedicta of The Cross