Posts Tagged ‘scripture’

“What is Truth?” Miami Herald Edition

Posted: April 7, 2023 by datechguy in catholic, media, News/opinion
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So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered,

“You say I am a king.For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” 

John 18:37-38a

As Christians mark Good Friday and Catholics around the world at their churches read the exchange between Jesus and Pilate on Truth we saw an example of the question of what is truth from the Miami Herald. Concerning Rebekah Jones she of the Everybody Blog About Rebekah Jones Day and her son.

Apparently Rebekah was a tad worried about some things her son was doing and called police. Police took him into custody.

Immediately Jones decided that Ron DeSantis had her son arrested and proclaimed such to the world.

Now unstable people making wild accusations is one thing but apparently the Miami Herald decided that the chance to attack Ron DeSantis was too good to pass up and thus:

Alas for the Herald there is this thing in twitter these days called community notes that can explain what truth actually is:

And VIOLA the headline at the Miami Herald changed:

Apparently while the Miami Herald didn’t know what “truth” was they could be educated with a bit of help, although the designation of Jones as a “whistleblower” is at best iffy.

Closing thought: Speaking of Pilate and the press here is a headline from Hotair.com:

Krugman: even if Trump is innocent, this is justice

As I recall Pilate decided it was the best thing to hand a man he knew was innocent of the charges against him to the mob too.

Update: Hotair has more, it’s worse

Five Chosen Season Finale Thoughts Under the Fedora (Spoilers) A Nitpick, A surprise, A key teaching, Cliffhangers and The Bread of life in season 4?

Posted: February 8, 2023 by datechguy in catholic, culture, entertainment
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Tonight is the season finale of the Chosen season 3 for those like me who didn’t see it in the theatre. Here are some thoughts.

There was a big error right in the front. In Israel the queen wasn’t the king’s wife, kings had many wives, it was the king’s mother. We also don’t know which wife of David that was although given her age and pregnancy I’m betting Bathsheba.

It’s an interesting note because it was not uncommon to ask of the queen mother to intercede with the king on behalf of a need, which explains the “Hail Mary” prayer of the Rosary to a “T”.

I’m sure like me A lot of people expected the climax to be the feeding of the 5000, the fact that it ended on the walking on the water and calming the storm was a surprise. Thomas’ line concerning the 2nd most incredible thing he saw that day was funny but what was more significant to me was even having Jesus right and having Jesus do what he had already done that day the Disciples were still urging Simon Peter not to get out of the boat when invited by Christ.

The overall arc of the season was apparently the story of the prodigal son (which he has not told yet) in the sense that Simon Peter and Eden are the faithful child who complains “Why is the fatted calf killed for a party for the one who did not obey?” The frustration of both Eden and then Peter in their suffering while so many are healed around them is poignant.

I also thought that Eden going to her local Rabbi and not waiting for Jesus’ personally was an important reminder that when are priest intervenes when we have problems we ARE getting God’s intervention as he is there in persona Christi.

Just because you don’t see someone dramatically commanding the waves to stop it doesn’t mean your relief from the storm isn’t an act of God.

There were two significant cliff hangers. First of them is Rabbi Shmuel. We know that he was invited by Christ to pray with him when the crowds were gone and that Christ made himself available to him, so:

  1. Did they pray together
  2. Did he question Jesus
  3. If so was he satisfied with the answer

That was to me the big cliff hanger, the second is Atticus Aemilius. He was right being the rabbis from Jerusalem in getting to the crowd, although they didn’t show it he obviously would have questioned them and more importantly he SAW Christ walk on the water and the sudden end of the storm.

Presuming he is a believer in the Roman Gods the idea that Jesus might be “A” God (as opposed to “The God”) would not be out of his comfort zone. The question is will he consider him a threat to Rome, basically a God of the Jews who is acting to challenge Rome or will his part be to be the one who reports to Tiberius, basically the Roman who produces the report to Caesar that is the basis for the movie “The inquiry“.

You could actually had Atticus urging and advising the death of Christ not because he doesn’t believe he is God but because he does.

That will be very interesting to see how it plays out.

Finally as of this writing they are still millions ($13.1) away from raising the funds needed for season 4. As of this day they have not yet payed for episode 4 so we don’t know when we will see it but we know a few things.

  • We know that Jesus will be healing Gaius’ son.
  • We know that even larger crowds will be following him

but most important of all

  • We know that boat will end up back in Capernaum

The significance of this is that in John Gospel directly after the feeding of the 5000 comes what is called “The bread of life discourses” The feeding of the 5000 and those words are basically John Chapter six and they, combined with the last supper, are the basis for the Eucharist where Jesus tells the crowd bluntly that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood and when challenged instead of explaining it as a metaphor doubles down, thus causing many of his disciples to leave him.

I’ve mentioned this before but I recall my Pastor upon hearing of the Chosen noted that Protestant productions that are not word for word adaptions of scripture invariably leave out the bread of life discourses as they are frightfully inconvenient.

I guess the rubber will meet the road in a year, how much influence the VERY catholic Jonathan Roumie will have on this decision will be interesting but either way we will see. (Of course if they do the feeding of the 4000 too they could always put it there).

The Most Hopeful Phrase of the Old Testament Which has Special Meaning at this Time

Posted: March 2, 2022 by datechguy in catholic, Church doctrine
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Today is Ash Wednesday and the Beginning of Lent.

As we enter this Holy Season at a time of tumult and war let us remember today’s first reading at Mass and approach the day with hope:

Even now, says the LORD,
            return to me with your whole heart,
            with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
            and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
            slow to anger, rich in kindness,
            and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent
            and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations
            for the LORD, your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion!
            proclaim a fast,
            call an assembly;
Gather the people,
            notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders,
            gather the children
            and the infants at the breast;
Let the bridegroom quit his room
            and the bride her chamber.
Between the porch and the altar
            let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, “Spare, O LORD, your people,
            and make not your heritage a reproach,
            with the nations ruling over them!
Why should they say among the peoples,
            ‘Where is their God?’”

Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
            and took pity on his people.

There are many great word in the Old Testament but for my money there are no words more meaningful and more hopeful for all of mankind than these words from the 2nd Chapter of the book of Joel

May we take them to heart

Irony/Cowardice Overload Sunday 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Edition

Posted: August 23, 2021 by datechguy in catholic, Church doctrine
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Courage is the first of human virtues because it makes all others possible.

Aristotle

If you are a Roman Catholic who went to mass Sunday you heard the readings from Lectionary 122 for the 21st Sunday in ordinary time. and if you paid attention to your Missal you might be subject to an Irony overload.

Everywhere that mass took place the faithful heard the same reading from the Book of Joshua 24:1-2, 15-18 where Joshua gives the people a choice to follow God or no declaring: “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord”.

And also everywhere that mass took place that reading from Joshua was followed by the same responsorial Psalm verses from Psalm 34 (Ps 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21) with the refrain: “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.”.

But depending on where you went to mass and the choice of the Pastor the next reading might have been different. The Lectionary calls for the 2nd reading to be from the letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians 5:21-32 which goes like this:

Brothers and sisters:

Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.  Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of the body.  As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. 

He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.

    For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother

        and be joined to his wife,

    and the two shall become one flesh.

This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church.

However an option is given to reduce this reading to Ephesians 5:2a, 25-32 adding the 1st part of verse 2 which looks like this (omitted verses in strikethrough, added verse in underline)

Brothers and sisters:

Live in love, as Christ loved us.

Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.  Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of the body.  As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. 

He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.

    For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother

        and be joined to his wife,

    and the two shall become one flesh.

This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church.

So as you can see rather than both Husbands and wives being subordinate to one another and each having duties the duties of the wife are omitted while the duties of the Husband are retained. This is done to avoid the anger of feminists within the church which is very ironic given that once you have exercised your option on the 2nd reading all congregations are given the same final Gospel reading, the end of Jesus the bread of life discourses in the Gospel of John 6:60-69 begins:

Many of Jesus’ disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?”

However Jesus rather than equivocating or ducking the issue or offering an alternate teaching challenges his disciples:

Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them,

“Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”


Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said,

“For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.”

Jesus doesn’t back down one jot and because of this some of his disciples leave

As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.

At this Jesus turns to the twelve. Rather than having second thoughts about his teaching he doubles down and gives the same option to the apostles who come back with the right answer


Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” 

Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

So think about that for a second. The very week that Jesus in the Gospel stands up for his teaching even if it costs him many disciples the US Bishops precede that critical moment with the option for the local pastor to run for cover in case anyone might be offended by divinely inspired scripture. This is a shame because the church teaches us that courage is one of the four cardinal virtues.

The irony is palatable, but not as palatable as the cowardice

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