Liturgical Bible Study Guide: 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A
1st Reading – Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31 The book of Proverbs is attributed to Solomon and is the oldest collection of inspired texts in the body of Wisdom literature. The book takes its name from the Hebrew word masal which means “a provocative saying;” a saying which gets the listener’s attention. In the early stages, these sayings […]
Liturgical Bible Study Guide: 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A
1st Reading – Wisdom 6:12-16 This book, which the Vulgate calls “Wisdom” and the Septuagint calls “The Wisdom of Solomon,” is one of the most typical books of Wisdom literature. Although the book itself claims that it was written by Solomon, it is a case of pseudonymity: a device often used in the ancient world to […]
Liturgical Bible Study Guide: 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A
1st Reading – Malachi 1:14b-2:2b, 8-10 The book of Malachi gets its name not from the author, who is unknown, but from the opening words of the book “An oracle. The word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi.” Malachi is a Hebrew word meaning “my messenger.” We know nothing of the author’s life, but from […]
Liturgical Bible Study Guide: 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A
1st Reading – Exodus 22:20-26 Like his forebears, Abraham and Isaac, Jacob led a semi-nomadic existence in Canaan. He was forced by a severe famine to emigrate with his entire family to Egypt, where they settled around the beginning of the eighteenth century before Christ. Over the next 400 years the Scriptures tell us nothing about […]
Liturgical Bible Study Guide: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A
1st Reading – Isaiah 45:1, 4-6 Cyrus was the founder of the Persian empire and as King of Persia he led the overthrow of the occupation by the Babylonians of Syria and Palestine in 539 B.C. The name Cyrus means shepherd, in Hebrew the name is koresh (from which David Koresh of Branch Davidian fame coined his […]