Liturgical Bible Study Guide: 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A
1st Reading – Sirach 27:30-28:9 Sirach is one of the few books of the Old Testament where there is no question about the identity of the author. This book was written by one man: Jesus, son of Eleazar, son of Sira, who signed his name to the book. The book has two names: Ecclesiasticus (which means “church […]
Liturgical Bible Study Guide: 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A
1st Reading – Ezekiel 33:7-9 There is no Old Testament writer who has received more varied, even diametrically opposed, interpretations of his person and his writings than Ezekiel. He has been psychoanalyzed and found to be a victim of catatonic schizophrenia, unconscious sexual regression, schizophrenic withdrawal, and having delusions of persecution and grandeur. He has been called “one of […]
Liturgical Bible Study Guide: 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A
1st Reading – Jeremiah 20:7-9 Jeremiah lived through one of the most troubled periods of the ancient near east. He witnessed the fall of a great empire (Assyria) and the rising of one even greater (Babylon). In the midst of this turmoil, the kingdom of Judah, then in the hands of deplorable kings, came to its downfall by […]
Liturgical Bible Study Guide: 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A
1st Reading – Isaiah 22:19-23 At various times we have reviewed the three author theory for the Book of Isaiah, the last time being the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time for this cycle. The first reading for this week comes from the first portion, that which has been attributed to Isaiah himself by all scholars. But are there […]
Liturgical Bible Study Guide: 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A
1st Reading – Isaiah 56:1, 6-7 The name Isaiah means “Yahweh is salvation.” His book is the first of the books of the major prophets, majority being determined by the length of their writings. Although at the time of Christ the entire book was believed to have been written by Isaiah himself, more modern scholarship now sees three […]