Online Commentary On Hebrews

Danny Garland of Irish, Catholic and Dangerous has alerted us to an ongoing online commentary on Hebrews by Biblical Scholar Fr. James Swetnam.

Fr. Swetnam “is a distinguished Fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology” who “entered the Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus in 1945 and was ordained a priest in 1958. He holds degrees in classical languages, philosophy, theology and Scripture.  His doctoral degree is from the University of Oxford.

Since 1962 he has been a scholar of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, where he has held numerous posts, including vice rector and dean of the biblical faculty. He has also served in an editorial capacity for several academic journals, including: Orientalia, Analecta Orientalia, and Biblica. His area of specialization is the Epistle to the Hebrews. Swetnam is the author of Jesus and Isaac: A Study of the Epistle to the Hebrews in the Light of the Aqedah (Rome: Analecta Biblica, 1981) and An Introduction to the Study of New Testament Greek (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1992)” [source].

Fr. Swetnam’s home page can be found here.

His introductory material to Hebrews, along with his ongoing commentary (he’s up to chapt. 7) can be found here.

His “entries” page contains links to a number of his other online writings, most of which deal with biblical topics and text.

Latest Podcast On The Gospel Of Matthew

As I note in a previous post, St Irenaeus Ministries is doing a new podcast series, this time on the Gospel of Matthew.

This weeks presentation is on the mission of John the Baptist.  Here is the description given by S.I.M: The Gospel that Jesus preaches is recounted as being preceded by John the Baptist, who came in the mode of Elijah and preaching a baptism of repentance. John was a fairly ascetic man, and his coming as a voice crying in the wilderness heralds the time of the Christ. John’s message is quite stark, warning that the God will soon make a harvest of souls. Jesus comes to John to be baptized, but John objects, declaring that he needs to be baptized by Jesus. Jesus allows Himself to be baptized to ”fulfill all righteousness,” and in doing so, blesses the waters and transforms them into the waters of the sacrament. At this point, the Spirit of God descends like a dove and a voice declares, ”This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Jesus then leaves for the wilderness to be tempted or tested for forty days and forty nights. Satan tests Jesus, but He beats the devil back on all counts. When John is imprisoned, Jesus begins to proclaim the Gospel and seeking out apostles.The closing theme is Gerard Satamian’s Chansons Sans Paroles Op. 2 Pastorale, from the album Dry Fig Trees. http://www.magnatune.com

You can listen to the latest installment HERE.

For some reason the St Irenaeus site has been rather lax in recent weeks when it comes to updating their content-I suspect the college student who does it was home for the Christmas break-but recent content is readily available at Podcast Alley.  Your best bet is to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes; you’ll receive an update from S.I.M every Monday.

Prayers & Donations For Haiti

The news out of Haiti is becoming worse with each passing hour.  Catholic Relief Service, one of the highest rated charitable organizations in the world (see Better Business Bureau)  has an online page for donations to Haiti and other areas of the world.  Likewise Food For The Poor.

Prayer: the following prayer was offered by Pope Benedict XVI after the earthquake in L’aquila in April of last year.

“Holy Father, Lord of heaven and earth, / listen to the cry of suffering and hope / that is raised from this community harshly tested by the earthquake! / It is the silent cry of the blood of mothers, fathers, young people / and also the little innocents that arises from this land. / They have been torn from the affection of their loved ones, / welcome them into your peace, Lord, who are God-with-us, / the Love of capable of giving life without end. / We need You and Your power, / because we feel small and fragile in the face of death; / we pray to You, help us, because only Your support / can raise us up and set us to resume together, / holding one another trustingly by the hand, the journey of life.”  More prayers below.

The Anchoress at First Things  has up a rather lengthy post which includes the following links to other charitable organizations:

Other ways to help:
Catholic Relief Services
United Methodist Committee on Relief
The Red Cross
Salvation Army
Providence in Haiti
American Jewish World Service
Lutheran World Relief
Cross International
World Vision
International Orthodox Christian Charities
Beyond Borders
Mercy Corps

If, like me, you do not have a credit card contact your Diocese about sending a check or money order, or inquire whether they will be taking up a special collection during the weekend services, as most certainly will UPDATE: see news item here.

More Prayers:

O Mother of Perpetual Help, Patroness of Haiti, with the greatest confidence we kneel before you to present ourselves before you in our many afflictions. We implore your help for us and for our neighbors suffering from the devastating earthquake and its aftermath, especially as we struggle to provide aid and support for the survivors. Trials and sorrows often depress us; misfortunes and privations bring misery into our lives, especially now when the poorest of the poor are afflicted so terribly; everywhere we meet the cross. Comforter of the Afflicted, beg your Son Jesus to strengthen us as we bear one another’s burdens and to free us from our sufferings. Or if it be the will of God that we should suffer still longer, help us endure all with love and patience. May we follow the example of your Son, and through him, with him and in him commend ourselves to the care of our heavenly Father.  Jesus and Mary I love you, save souls!  Amen. [source]

Obama Approves New Coat-Of-Arms For Health & Human Services

Spiritual Thought: January 13th

therefore deadly sin is a breach of nature, a death of the soul, a disquiet of the heart, a weakening of power, a blindness of the sense, a sorrow of the spirit, a death of grace, a death of virtue, a death of good works, an aberration of the spirit, a fellowship with the devil, an expulsion of Christianity, a dungeon of hell, a banquet of hell, an eternity of hell.  Therefore, if thou committest a deadly sin thou art guilty of all these and incurrest their consequences.  Regarding the first point: Deadly sin is a breach of nature, for every man’s nature is an image and likeness and mirror of the Trinity, of Godhead and of eternity.  All these together are marred by a deadly sin; therefore, it is a breach of nature.  Such sin is also the death of the soul, for death is to lose life.  Now God is the life of the soul, and deadly sin separates from God; therefore it is a death of the soul.  Deadly sin is also a disquiet of the heart, for everything rests nowhere except in its own proper place; and the proper resting place of the soul is nowhere except in God as St Augustine saith, “Lord! Thou hast made us for Thyself, therefore we may not rest anywhere save in Thee.”  Deadly sin is also a weakening of the powers, for by his own power no one can throw off the load of sin nor restrain himself from committing sin.  It is also a blindness of the sense, for it prevents a man recognizing how brief is the space of time that can be spent in the pleasure of voluptuousness, and how long are the pains of hell and the joys of heaven.  Deadly sin is also a death of all grace, for whenever such a sin is committed; the soul is bereft of all grace.  Similarly, it is the death of all virtue and good works, and an aberration of the spirit.~Meister Eckhart

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