Saturday, May 28, 2011

Trivia Question # 4

During the ILM summer break I'm presenting this Catholic trivia quiz one question at a time, and then giving the answer and asking a new question in the next post.

Last weeks question: As of 2009, what are the top three U.S. states with the most Catholics?

Answer: California, New York, Texas

Question # 4: What is the name for the suffering, death, resurrection, and glorification of the Lord?

Answer:

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Reading the Old Testament

Reading the Old Testament was written by Lawrence Boadt and was published by Paulist Press in 1984. This book was assigned reading for the ILM course titled Understanding the Old Testament. It provided detail about the types of literature and kinds of stories, as well as the current understanding about how it was passed on and gathered into written form, and eventually collected into what we call the Hebrew Scriptures. I found the lives and cultures of the people who eventually became the Jewish nation very interesting. Beginning as a small collection of people, with little in common other than being slaves in Egypt and a desire for freedom, it describes how they formed tribes, interacted with others, and survived despite good times and bad. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it for anyone wanting to understand the people and times of the Old Testament.

The jacket says, "Reading the Old Testament is a clear and carefully organized introduction for contemporary readers. It is designed to guide the student of the Bible through the text and its problems, enrich their understanding of the individual biblical books, and explore the way the Bible came to be written. It combines the latest scholarship with a sensitivity to religious issues and Israel's ever-deepening understanding of God's ways.

The author gives special attention to recent archaeological discoveries in the Middle East and how these affect our understanding of the Old Testament. The book contains numerous maps, graphs, and drawings. Reading the Old Testament is particularly illuminating about the way Israel's religious experience was translated into written records. No other introduction offers the same thorough treatment of the Exile and the post-exilic periods as crucial times in the formation of the Old Testament message."

Lawrence Boadt, C.S.P. is associate professor of Sacred Scripture at the Washington Theological Union in Washington, D.C. He received his doctorate in Biblical Studies and Near Eastern Languages from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and has written numerous articles and books on Old Testament subjects, especially on the Prophets.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Is Anyone Out There?

A long time ago (in a land far away and a time almost forgotten) I joined the US Navy with an opportunity to learn about something called computers. After the mandatory boot camp experience, I was sent to Northern California to attend a two year program of intense study, called Data Systems School. This was a make it or break it program, which means that if I was unable to keep up (my end of the contract) I'd be chipping paint or swabbing decks for the next 6 years (their end of the contract); instead of spending my time in an air-conditioned space doing something very new and exciting. I was competing for grade points with a couple of new friends, one with a physics degree and one with a mathematics degree, and the three of us worked so hard that we set the grade curve to high and didn't notice the dropout rate around us.

After graduating (thank goodness I was able to keep up) the ship I was assigned to had some kind of “open house", and the Data Systems Technicians were asked to show off the latest in "high tech" computing power. A couple of the guys (it was a long time ago) wrote a program so that our guests could interact with a teletype machine (Ok, it was a very long time ago). The machine would sit idle for a few minutes, and then rattle out a line of text, "Is anyone out there"? Once someone typed, "Yes" the teletype machine would come to life, asking noisy questions about who the visitor was, where they were, and if they could help. Eventually, the machine would admit that it was looking for something that had been lost, and because the visitor would be unable to help the teletype machine would become distracted with the search and would eventually become idle again.

If you've been paying attention for the last few weeks, you've noticed that the guy on a sidewalk with the large sign that reads, “The end is near”, has been replaced by a multimedia rapture blitz with a public relations twist. According to the giant billboards, social media, newspapers, and the internet, today at 6:00 PM was Judgment Day so tonight I'm asking the question, "Is anyone out there”? Didn't these people learn anything from the end of the world prediction for September 1994, or the last one (pick a date), and are they aware of the one for next year? What's scary (and very sad) is that once again people were giving away their possessions in preparation for the end, even though this same prediction has been proven false so many times in the past. I've been listening to Mr. Camping on Family Radio, for a couple of weeks during my drive home, and my unanswered question was what will he do and say on May 22. Although he has publicly refused to discuss the possibility on his radio show, how will he explain that his prediction didn't happen (again)?

My prediction was that like the teletype machine, tomorrow these noisy people would become distracted by something else (like another important date) and would stop communicating for a while. However, a friend of mine helped me realize that what's at stake is much more important. Tomorrow all of Family Radio's devoted followers will wake up and realize that their world has in fact come to an end. The world that they knew and understood and the world that they believed in will be gone; replaced by a reality and truth that will be difficult for some of them, and maybe even most of them, to accept. Mr. Camping's obsession with Bible alone and his unique style of interpretation has led himself and others far off track. It's also created an opportunity for each of us to pray for and support those in need and in trouble. Beginning on May 22, we who believe in the message of Jesus Christ, have an opportunity to witness to those who have given up their possessions and lives, to follow the insight of one man.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The End is Near

Remember the cartoon of the guy on a sidewalk with the large sign that reads, “The end is near”? In the 50's it was a homeless guy with shredded clothes carrying a sign and declaring the end of the world. The sidewalk was crowded except for where he stood, as everyone went around him trying not to look at him or his sign. In the 70's it was a hippy with a long beard carrying the sign and declaring the end of the world. Again, the sidewalk was crowded except for where he stood, as everyone hurried around him ignoring the message and the messenger. In the 90's it was a business man in a faded suit trying to get everyone's attention, but it was obviously too late because he was practically alone on the sidewalk.

One of my favorite cartoons was a guy on the sidewalk, dressed in a long robe and carrying "The End is Near" sign. Although he too was trying to convince everyone that the end was near, there was no one else on the sidewalk and no cars on the street. In this version an arm is reaching down from a dark cloud above, slipping up behind the guy with fingers ready to flick the guy off the sidewalk the way you would flick a bug off a table. Recently I saw another one, in which a couple in a car has just past the guy carrying the sign. Of course it reads, "The End Is Near", and the driver of the car has just noticed a Dead End sign at the end of the street. He says to the passenger, who is still looking back, "Well, actually he does have a point".

Over the years the cartoon has been updated to reflect the times, but the messenger does have a point: The end is near. It's not just a message for kooks and cartoons; it's a message that has meaning for each of us today. If you look around you will see lots of people in a hurry trying to ignore the message and the messenger. You will also see the message being proclaimed loud and clear, on giant freeway billboards, in nationwide and local newspapers, and on the radio. Especially by an organization called Family Radio, which is convinced that this coming Saturday is Judgment Day. According to them it's clear that God's plan for salvation ends on May 21, 2011, and 5 months of tribulation begins (they've picked the date for the end of the world too).

I don't believe Mr. Camping's prediction about the end of the world, or his reasons about why this is going to happen, or his belief in how it's going to happen. But I do believe that it's going to happen, to all of us in some-way and at some-time, according to God's plan. Each of us must be prepared to be "taken up", not in the sense of a cataclysmic public rapture, but in a personal sense. The fact is that we must be "ready to go" at any moment, and maybe even without warning because accidents happen. The message is obvious, and it's important that we don't ignore the messenger. Jesus told us that no one knows when the end will come, but each of us knows that we won't live forever. Our "End Is Near" and we must remain vigilant, prepared, and in harmony with God's plan for our life.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Trivia Question # 3

During the ILM summer break I'm presenting this Catholic trivia quiz one question at a time, and then giving the answer and asking a new question in the next post.

Last weeks question: Which apostle was the first to be martyred?

Answer: James

Question # 3: As of 2009, what are the top three U.S. states with the most Catholics?

Answer:

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Jesus of Nazareth - Part One

Jesus of Nazareth was written by Pope Benedict XVI and was published by Doubleday in 2007. It was not one of the books assigned for the ILM program but was something I read during the summer of 2010. I really enjoyed this book because I closely identified with the Pope's portrait and understanding of Jesus, which is based on the Gospels and other Biblical references. Unlike many of the encyclicals that I've read, this book is easy to read and easy to understand. I recommend this book because it clearly presents what we know about Jesus in an orderly fashion and brings the Love of Jesus to life in a way that I found inspiring.

The jacket says, "In this bold, momentous work, the Pope, in his first book written as Benedict XVI, seeks to salvage the person of Jesus from recent "popular" depictions and to restore Jesus' true identity as discovered in the Gospels. Through his brilliance as a theologian and his personal conviction as a believer, the Pope shares a rich, compelling, flesh and blood portrait of Jesus and incites us to encounter, face to face, the central figure of the Christian faith.

The great question that will be with the reader throughout this book is "What did Jesus actually bring, if not world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world?" What has he brought? The answer is very simple: God. He has brought the God who formerly unveiled his countenance gradually, first to Abraham, then to Moses and the Prophets, and then in the Wisdom Literature, the God who revealed his face only in Israel, even though he was also honored among the pagans in various shadowy guises."

It is this God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the true God, whom he has brought to the nations of the earth. He has brought God, and now we know his face, now we can call upon him. Now we know the path that we human beings must take in this world. Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about our origin and destiny: faith, hope and love.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Trivia Question # 2

During the ILM summer break I'm presenting this Catholic trivia quiz one question at a time, and then giving the answer and asking a new question in the next post.

Last weeks question: Despite petitions by priests to ban this drink given its Muslim origin, "the devils drink" was approved by Pope Clement VII who found it delicious.

Answer: Coffee

Question # 2: Which apostle was the first to be martyred?

Answer: