Thursday, September 30, 2010

Don't suffer fools gladly.


The Catholic faith recognizes feast days to celebrate the lives of the various Saints of the Catholic church. Today, Sept. 30, is the feast day of St. Jerome.  He was a monk, priest, hermit, mystic, and Doctor of the Church. St. Jerome also was a multi-lingual Scripture scholar who labored over a long period of time to translate the Bible from the original Hebrew language at the request of the Pope. His final product came to be known as The Vulgate. Jerome was well-studied and highly respected. St. Augustine said of him, “What Jerome is ignorant of, no mortal has ever known.”



Catholics also believe that just as you might ask a friend to pray for you, we can also ask those who have already left this life to pray for us. In the Catechism of the Catholic Faith, Part 4, Article 3, Topic 2683 GUIDES FOR PRAYER: “The witnesses who have preceded us into the kingdom, especially those whom the Church recognizes as saints, shar in the living tradition of prayer by the example of their lives, the transmission of their writings, and their prayer today. They contemplate God, praise Him, and constantly care for those whom they have left on earth . . . We can and should ask them to intercede for us and the whole world.”

The Catechism, Topic 956, also explains the Catholic belief of Intercessory prayer: “Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness  . . . They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus . . . So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped.”

By all accounts, St. Jerome was not one to “suffer fools gladly.” He was profoundly intolerant of anything but the truth. And he loved the Bible greatly.

So in following another Catholic tradition, I shall seek the aid of St. Jerome to pray for me as I continue on my study of the Bible. I will try to keep his example in mind to always seek the truth. I will enlist his prayers to be joined with mine as I seek the wisdom required to understand the message God wants me to hear through the Scriptures. St. Jerome, please pray for me!

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

I didn't know that!


Sometimes I choose these writings along a theme, but I expect I will have lots of AHA! Moments, when I learn something new from my Bible study class. Here is something I learned along the way in Bible class this week:

The person of Melchizedek was introduced for the first time in the Bible in Gen. 14:18-20. In this passage he is listed as the “king of Salem” and “Priest of God Most High.” He comes to bless Abram after Abram leads his people to defeat the king who had kidnapped his nephew. With his nephew freed, Abram is welcomed back. But it seems that there is some mystery surrounding Melchizedek.

Later, King David mentions him in Psalm 110:4. Melchizedek is noted in this passage: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

In the New Testament book of Hebrews 7: 1 – 3, Melchizedek is referred to as “. . .  King of Salem, priest of the Most High God,” . . . “He is first, by translation, of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace.  He is without father or mother or genealogy, and has neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.” 



So, who is this Melchizedek?  There are a few different theories on this: some support that he is a man, another that he is God.

1- Some say he is Noah’s favored son, Shem. This is based on two logical arguments. (a) Whoever is powerful and revered enough to bless Abram would have to be a very significant person, indeed. And (b) Shem would still be alive in that day, according to the ages and genealogy accounts given.

2- Some say that he is just exactly what the Bible says: a king of Salem and a holy Priest.

3- Another theory is the Christophany theory. In this theory, Melchizedek is actually the pre-incarnation of Jesus; the eternal, preexistent Word who later became Jesus. He mirrors Jesus in that he brought bread and wine in his welcome to Abram back from his victorious battle. His name translates to King of righteousness. Some believe that he pre-figures Christ. The statment of him having no parents and no lineage at all encourage this thinking of his being ever-present and timeless.

Scholars disagree with one another, but I find the Christophany theory to be very intriguing.  You can read lots of  varying opinions by doing a Google search on Melchizedek. Go ahead, it can’t hurt to study up so that you can form your own opinion. 

Who knew?

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Was there a Palistrophe on the ark?

One of the 5 keys to help us interpret the Bible is to be aware of the different literary styles in the many writings there. Some parts of the Bible are narratives (stories), some are poetry, some are historical accounts, some letters, etc. Knowing what we are reading can be a big aid to our understanding.

Additionally, being able to recognize various writing techniques can also help us gain understanding. Yesterday I discussed idioms. Today’s topic is the chiasmus or palistrophe.

A chiasmus (ki- az’ mus) is a writing or speaking technique wherein a topic is arranged so that two elements are discussed first in one order, then in the exact opposite order. For example:
“I entered the room and turned on the light. Then I turned off the light and left the room.”
This is a chiasmus.  There are only two pairs, told forwards and then again backwards.  This can be recognized in a code: ABBA.

When there are more than two on each side, then the name of the technique is different. Palistrophe (sounds similar to “apostrophe”). There is no limit to how many individual components can be included, as long as they re repeated in reverse order on the other side.

An example of a palistrophe is in the story of the flood: There are up to 15 different elements on both sides leading up to and away from the central line “God remembered Noah.” Read Genesis 6:10 through 9:19. See if you can recognize them all. (They are included at the end here, in case you don’t have your Bible handy.)



The reason the Bible makes use of these types of techniques is two-fold. First, it draws attention to a central passage. One can easily see the importance of the middle verse “God Remembered Noah” in this palistrophe.

Secondly, we must recall that the Bible stories weren’t written down at first. Instead, they were passed down orally, from generation to generation. The palistrophe technique served as a memory aid, a nmemonic.  (Imagine learning the alphabet forward and then backwards. Same kind of aid.)

Here, then is the palistrophe in the flood story:

A  Noah (6:10a) [P]
B    Shem, Ham, and Japeth (6:10b) [P]
C      ark to be built (6:14-16) [P]
D        flood announced (6:17) [P]
E          covenant with Noah (6:18-20) [P]
F            food in the ark (6:21) [P]
G              command to enter ark (7:1-3) [J]
H                7 days waiting for flood (7:4-5) [J]
I                  7 days waiting for flood (7:7-10) [J]
J                    entry into ark (7:11-15) [P/J]
K                      Yahweh shut Noah in (7:16) [J]
L                        40 days flood (7:17a) [P]
M                          waters increase (7:17b-18) [J/P]
N                            mountains covered (7:19-20) [P]
O                              150 days water prevailed (7:21-24) [P/J/P]
P                                GOD REMEMBERED NOAH (8:1) [P]
o                              150 days water abated (8:3) [P]
n                            mountain tops visible (8:4-5) [P]
m                          waters abate (8:5) [P]
l                        40 days (end of) (8:6a) [J]
k                      Noah opens windows of ark (8:6b) [J]
j                    raven and dove leave ark (8:7-9) [J]
i                  7 days waiting for waters to subside (8:10-11) [J]
h                7 days waiting for waters to subside (8:12-13) [J/P/J]
g              command to leave the ark (8:15-17, or 22) [P, or P/J]
f            food outside ark (9:1-4) [P]
e          covenant with all flesh (9:8-10) [P]
d        no flood in future (9:11-17) [P]
c      ark (9:18a) [J]
b    Shem, Ham and Japeth (9:19b) [J]
a  Noah (9:19) [J]


So now you know a little more about the Holy Bible!

More on the idiom.

I got word from a friend who did some research on this passage on Noah and his nakedness. She sent word to me which that confirms that Biblical scholars disagree on the meaning of this passage. But I shared with her something that I failed to post earlier. No matter what happened between Ham and Noah, Ham had over-stepped his bounds in his efforts to pridefully advance himself beyond his rightful place. This was his sin and for this he was punished.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Sometimes I feel like an idiom


Among the many things I am learning in my class at the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan is that to understand the Bible, one must study a lot of background material. This includes the customs and cultures of the people of those times. Which brings me to the following point about idioms. In class this week we were studying the book of Genesis. In Chapter 9, we read about Noah and his family. By this chapter the great flood has subsided and Noah & family have left the ark and returned to the land. Noah’s three grown sons (Shem, Ham, and Ja’pheth) and their wives, as well as Noah’s wife, are all living in the same community. Then a puzzling passage is presented.  “Noah was the first tiller of the soil. He planted a vineyard; and he drank of the wine, and became drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Ja’pheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.” – Genesis 9:20-23 (RSV). The next verses go on to say how terribly upset Noah was when he awoke and learned what had happened. He was so upset with Ham that he cursed him and cursed his descendants.

What was this all about? The father, Noah, was drunk and naked. Wouldn’t a son who stumbled upon this scene normally just pretend he never saw him? Or perhaps cover him up? And why would this seemingly minor problem cause such an extreme reaction on Noah’s part? He cursed Ham and his descendants!  Isn’t that extreme for seeing Noah naked? That was the question posed to our class. And here is what we learned.

The people of Biblical times often spoke in idioms. An idiom is a method of saying one thing while you really mean something else. And the audience for which it is intended understands the idiom, that is, what the speaker really means. An example in our time would be if I said, “Boy, my dogs are sure barking tonight!” Most people in our culture can interpret that I am not speaking about my pets nor the noise they are making. Instead, it is a phrase that means that my feet hurt. (You knew that, right?) Or if I were to say that my friend was “given a slap on the wrist,” you know that it does not convey an actual physical punishment, but instead a mild rebuke. And if you said “we are all in the same boat,” I know you don’t mean we were actually in a boat together. Those are idioms.

So, what does this have to do with Noah being naked?  This was an idiom, a phrase meaning something totally different. What actually happened was that Noah’s son, Ham, raped his mother. This is and was a terrible sin and was a severe insult to Noah. Warring armies in ancient times would often rape the women of the villages they conquered to show their power and might, and this rape was an action Ham used to grab power from his father, Noah. Since Shem was the older son, he would normally be the favored son, as was the custom of the time. Ham was jealous and wanted to gain a higher place in the family structure. So he raped his mother to gain power, to show his might and usurp his father.  Ham’s mother, (Noah’s wife), later gave birth to the child of the rape. He was Canaan. This child was cursed by Noah because he was the child of that rape.

How do we know this is what was meant when Genesis discusses Noah’s nakedness? In the same Revised Standard Version’s book of Leviticus (which contains so many of the laws) Chapter 18, verses 6 through 18, the laws state specifically how one must never uncover the nakedness of one’s father, mother, sister, granddaughter, aunt, daughter-in-law, etc. Again, the phrase is hard to grasp. But if we turn to another translation of the Bible, the New American Bible, the phase in Leviticus shows us a different picture. This version states “None of you shall approach a close relative to have sexual intercourse with her. I am the Lord. You shall not disgrace your father by having intercourse with your mother. Besides, since she is your own mother, you shall not have intercourse with her. You shall not have intercourse with your father’s wife, for that would be a disgrace to your father.” – Lev. 18: 6 – 8, (NAB). It continues to list all other family members one must refrain from having sexual intercourse with.

So we see here that the two phrases “nakedness” and “sexual intercourse” mean the same thing.  And that is the meaning behind the idiom. It was a great “AHA!” moment for our class. And it reminded me of how much we need to really study the Bible to understand its truth. 

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Bring on the rain!

Today’s rain is welcome, as the dry grass has remained brown for so much of my lawn. And the rain reminded me of a Scriptural reference to rain I found applicable for today’s journal topic.

“Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.” (Deuteronomy 32:2 – NIV)  



In the Catholic faith, the Holy Spirit is recognized as the source of spiritual enlightenment and wisdom. This spirit has been referred to as coming down upon God’s people like the gentle rain. I think the analogy is fitting to my posting this week, as I think it may be raining, or even pouring down on me as of late, through the new opportunities presented to me for furthering my spiritual journey.

This has been a busy week, with work and other obligations, so my postings have been neglected. But my journey has not!  On Monday evening I attended my weekly class of the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan - Monroe group. Within the next few days I will be posting my thoughts of our current topic from Genesis in that class. But in the few minutes I have available today, I want to share something new I also will be starting. I am joining an 8-week program in Toledo: Learning How to Pray with the Bible (subtitled- A way to nourish your relationship with Jesus.) 

I expect this program will be much different from the Monroe class, as this is being promoted as a program that "teaches you how to meditate and contemplate the great themes and stories of the Bible by using methods of prayer taken from St. Ignatius of Loyola's Spiritual Exercises." This should be much different because of the focus on prayer.  I think I can greatly improve my prayer experience and Biblically-based prayer sounds very interesting to me. Mind you, I know nothing about St. Ignatius, so this should be enlightening in more than one way. But I am most interested in enriching my prayer life. We were told to bring our Bibles and a notebook for journaling.  (Wish I had a tiny netbook computer to take along, as I do so much better writing on a keyboard than longhand! Too much joint paint, which comes from years of repetitive stress on my wrists.)

The program is offered by the Sisters of Notre Dame at their Provincial House Conference Center at Secor and Monroe Roads. The flyer promoting this says it is sponsored by the Manresa Retreat Center in Bloomfield Hills, MI.  They have one group from 1 to 3:30 pm, and an evening session at 7:00 to 9:30 pm.  I have registered for the daytime session, as I can go to work in the morning and then make the trip over there without too much trouble. The whole 8 weeks costs just $25 and they still have openings in both. (Interested people can call Sister Marcia Marie Destatte at 419-474-5485 or by emailing mdestatte@gmail.com.)

So, yes, I am going to participate in a Monday night class with the Catholic Biblical School (from Oct. to May) and then also participate in this brief 8-week “Pray with the Bible” class on Tuesday afternoons.  I know, I can hear you now . . . isn't that a bit much? Well, I think the results will well be worth the time I will invest. I am sure there will be homework from both, but I really feel led by the Spirit to do this. So, please wish me well. I will post that part of my journey to my online journal also.

Finally, a reminder that my church is once again offering the Jeff Cavin Bible study, "A QUICK Jouney Through the Bible" on Thursday mornings for 8 weeks. It teaches about the 12 time periods of the Bible and the 14 narrative books which advance the salvation story from Adam through Jesus to the Church today. The weekly program started today, though I think you can still join in. This is offered on a DVD video and then is followed by discussion questions. Of course, you read some of the Bible as part of this for homework. I took this study during Lent this past year and it was really a good program. If you are interested, call 734-847-2895 for more information. The videos are by well-known Jeff Cavin and are extremely enlightening.

So, as you can see, it is raining here. And that's my report of where I am on my journey. How is the weather in your part of the world? How is your journey going?

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Here, have an apple.


9/11/2010 ~ Here, have an apple.

Most people around the world probably know the story of Adam and Eve and “The Fall.” God’s first people, the man and woman he created “in his own image,” start out in Paradise. The Garden of Eden, where God placed them, offers everything they will ever need. And God told them they could have anything in the entire garden, except for the fruit of one tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If they eat from that tree, they will die.

But as you recall, this warning did not stop Adam and Eve. The serpent came and tempted Eve, who later tempted Adam, to eat the forbidden fruit. And immediately they saw their sin and hid themselves from God. You know how the story ends. God cursed them to have to work hard for their entire lives, bear pain-filled childbirth, and banished them from the Garden of Eden.

So, what does this mean to us? The obvious answer is that the story is about obedience. We must follow God’s rules, doing what He tells us to do. But at Bible study last Monday I learned something new, in regards to the tree with the forbidden fruit. (You may have heard that Eve ate from an apple tree, but no translation of the Bible calls it that.)  What I learned new is that there is more to it than that.

Eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil means that we think that we, not God, get to decide what is right and what is wrong. When we take of this forbidden fruit, we rationalize away God’s laws, conforming them to our own liking. God gives us commandments but instead of following them, we interpret them as suggestions. I am joining Adam and Eve in this same sin when I understand what a commandment from God says, but then say it doesn’t apply to my circumstances. WOW! I had never thought of that before.

Here is the bottom line: We don’t get to decide what is right or wrong. Only God gets to decide that. Period. No rationalization, no excuses. Right is right and wrong is wrong, per God. If He said something is wrong, it is wrong. I need to stop justifying it. It is that simple— and that hard, too. That was the sin related to the tree of knowledge of good and evil. That was the original sin, it was Adam and Eve’s sin, and is my sin, too.

So now you know. And it had nothing to do with an apple. As the old saying goes, the sin wasn’t in the apple in the tree. It was in the pair on the ground!


Friday, September 10, 2010

Stephen Hawking - "Stop doubting and believe."- John 20:27


By now you have probably heard: world-renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, co-author of a new book, The Grand Design (published this week), has stated that God does not exist and there is no need to include God in our story of how the universe was formed. He says that the science of physics answers all the creation questions and God had no roll in any of it. He states that God in unnecessary in understanding the world and how it was created.

This “news” reminded me of something I read on the web last weekend. The NY Times publishes a regular column called The Stone, written by contemporary philosophers. In this week’s column, an atheist questions why so many more people are willing to follow their non-scientific faith instead of enthusiastically supporting the world of science. This author is Tim Crane, also an atheist and a Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. He writes “religion commands and absorbs the passions and intellects of hundreds of millions of people, many more people than science does.” He believes one of the reasons for this is that science demands proof of its hypotheses while religion does not. Basically, he states that religious people are willing to accept things that they don’t understand as a mystery.

OK, but why is that? Why are believers willing to accept that God created the world, that God rules the universe, when non-believers cannot? I believe this acceptance is a gift from God. He offers it—this ability to believe His truth without scientific proof–to us all, and we just have to accept it.

“There is, to be sure, a certain wisdom which we express among the spiritually mature. It is not a wisdom of this age . . . No, what we utter is God’s wisdom: a mysterious, hidden wisdom, God planned it before all ages for our glory.” ~ 1 Corinthians 2:6, 7

The temptation to follow the latest opinions of well-known scientists and or scholars of the day doesn’t shake the faith of those who accept His gifts. Faith—it will help you see through the ‘false prophet’s’ proclamations.

Of course, these are my opinions, based on my understanding of the issue. So, readers, I ask you. What do you think makes one person a believer while another is skeptical of religion? And what do you believe?

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Revelations!







As I began my journey, I learned some things that are very important to understand at the start of the Bible study.  At our initial session at the Seminary, we began by addressing topics from the summer reading assignment, The Bible Compass by Dr. Edward Sri. This author identifies five interpretive keys to studying the Bible:
  • Discover the author’s intention
  • Be attentive to the Unity of Scripture
  • Read Scripture within the Living Tradition of the Church
  • Read Scripture with the Symphony of God’s Revelation
  • Use the Four Senses of Scripture: Literal, Allegorical, Moral, & Anagogical
These five keys were discussed in some detail at our Seminary day and then again back in Monroe when we attended our first weekly meeting.

Additionally, we discussed that while there are 73 books in the Bible (66 in the Protestant version), the narrative of the story of Salvation is found in just 14 books. (Seems a little less over-whelming when you think of it that way, doesn't it?)  Additionally, the entire Bible is broken into 12 separate periods of time. All other books supplement the narrative found in these 14 books. Listed below are the 12 timeline periods and which of the 14 corresponding books go with each period:
  1. Early World ~ Genesis 1 - 11
  2. Patriarchs ~ Genesis 12 – 50
  3. Egypt & Exodus ~ Exodus
  4. Desert Wanderings ~ Numbers
  5. Conquest & Judges ~ Joshua, Judges
  6. Royal Kingdom ~ 1-2 Samuel, 1 Kings 1 – 11
  7. Divided Kingdom ! 1 Kings 12 – 22, 2 Kings
  8. Exile ~ 2 Kings
  9. Return ~ Ezra, Nehemiah
  10. Maccabean Revolt ~ 1 Maccabees
  11. Messianic Fulfillment ~ Luke
  12. The Church ~ Acts of the Apostles
As I mentioned in an earlier posting, I attended a brief Bible study at my church last Spring. The program was called The Great Adventure: A QUICK Journey Through the Bible. That program also recognizes the 12 periods.  In their program, each of the 12 time periods was given a color to help people remember the events tied to that particular time period. To aid our memories further, a bookmark and a bracelet with colorful beads was given to each participant.



12 periods of the Bible bracelet*
The colors and what they represent are listed next to the numbers in the following list. (The numbers correspond to each of the 12 periods in the list above.)
  1. Turquoise – color of earth seen from space
  2. Burgundy – Reminder of the blood covenant
  3. Red – crossing the Red Sea
  4. Tan – Desert Sand where God’s people wandered
  5. Green – Lush green hills of the promised land
  6. Purple – King David, who was promised an eternal throne
  7. Black – Represents a Divided kingdom
  8. Baby Blue – recalls the Children of Judah “singing the blues” in Babylon
  9. Yellow – Brighter days ahead as the exiles come home to make a fresh start
  10. Orange – Reminder of the Oil Lamps in the purified temple
  11. Gold – gold reminds us of the gifts of the Magi to Jesus, who would fulfill God’s promises
  12. White – The spotless bride of Christ 
As you can see, everything covered so far is still BIG PICTURE, prlminary information. In the next posting, we get down to work in Genesis. Until then, Peace!


* The Great Adventure program is a wonderful introductory study. You can find a link to it on my blog page. Also, my church is offering the course in an 8 week program, starting in mid-September, 2010. It is well worth the low cost and you can learn how to enroll by calling 734-847-2805.

4.   

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Knock and it shall be opened unto you ~ Matt 7:7


Door to ambulatory at Sacred Heart

My journey with the Catholic Bible School of Michigan began last Saturday with a Day of Reflection. The new program is being held in three different cities in Michigan and over 120 people from these locations traveled to central Detroit to the Sacred Heart Major Seminary to begin the journey. Ten of the people from the Monroe group took a school bus to Detroit, placing finding the Seminary and the drive there in the capable hands of the bus driver. The Seminary is beautiful, four-story Gothic-style building located on 17 acres. It was built in the 1920s with the expressed purpose of educating men for the Catholic Priesthood.


Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit

This was my first time to visit the Seminary and I was struck by the dichotomy of the grounds and the neighborhood. The property is beautiful and well-tended, sitting like an oasis in the middle of a very poor, blighted, inner-city neighborhood. Compared to the buildings nearby, Sacred Heart is the only thing that remains in good condition. A reminder of the history and strife of the neighborhood is the statue of Christ in the grotto on the front lawn. In the summer of 1967, the Detroit race riots began just a few blocks away. On the second day of the disturbance, an African American housepainter jumped the fence and painted the face and hands of the statue black. While it was an act of vandalism, the seminary found it fitting to keep the black features on the white statue of Christ with arms out-stretched to symbolize Jesus' love for all races. The black paint remains to this day and the statue is known as "Black Jesus." The Seminary has also held multi-racial prayer services and other gatherings at the grotto to strengthen ties to the community in which it sets.

"Black Jesus"

While Sacred Heart is still dedicated primarily to the purpose of educating men for the priesthood (with 100 men in the program last year!), the school now also welcomes lay people (Catholic term for non-clergy) to study there to learn about their faith. This can take the form of regular college classes at both the undergrad and graduate levels. Our day there was different. We were not there for traditional classes, but instead to learn more about the program we were undertaking from a gathering of scholars.

Our day opened with a welcome by Deacon Jack Gardner. Deacon Jack is the director of the new program and he has a robust enthusiasm for this new venture. He also will be the program facilitator for our Monroe group's classes. I look forward to learning more from him. Morning presentations featured Dr. Peter Williamson and Ms. Cathryn Torgerson. Dr. Williamson, a 1972 convert to the Catholic Church, is a Catholic Theologian and is the Chair in Sacred Scripture at the Seminary. He offers Bible studies, is a noted author, and teaches Scripture at Sacred Heart. Ms. Torgerson is a lay woman who had a conversion experience after years away from the Church. She has since returned to the Catholic faith and later studied at the Seminary, where she earned a Master's Degree. She now offers classes, workshops, and seminars throughout the region. She will serve as the facilitator for the Canton program. (To learn about Cathryn's conversion, see her video on YouTUBE.) Both Williamson and Torgerson spoke about what can come from our experience of studying the Bible and what to expect on the journey. We also heard that this program is both an academic and spiritual study of the Bible. It will work into both our heads and our hearts. What stikes me about these two speakers is that they were both seekers like me, searching for answers. After their conversions, they have dedicated many years of their lives to learning more about God and now share what they have learned with others. I was also very impressed that the Catholic Bible School brought two such prominent presenters together for our inaugural day in the program.

Our morning sessions ended with a Mass at 11 o'clock. We all went to the chapel for the Mass, which was celebrate by Fr. John Riccardo, from Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Plymouth, MI. While the term "chapel" makes me think of a small, intimate sacred space, the Chapel at SHMS is not at all small. (There are about three times as many pews as show in the photo below. There are also two side aisles, not visible in my photo, with side altars in each.) It is a grandly sacred space, as large as many churches you may find anywhere. Our 120+ people did not fill even half of the pews. In his homily, Fr. Riccardo tied our undertaking to the story of the conversion of St. Augustine, whose feast day was celebrated that day. It added greatly to the message of the day.

Sacred Heart Major Seminary Chapel

After Mass we returned to our large meeting room for a hearty lunch. After lunch we broke down into small groups. Our group assignments are the same ones we will have for our on-going classes that will meet in Monroe each week. Most groups have a half-dozen members, and none of us knew each other before that day. As we embark on this journey together, we understand that we will grow to know each other very well, and will likely become close friends. It is was interesting to sit with these strangers that will be traveling on this journey with me. We each have a different past, but all share the same reason for joining this group. We are all seeking more knowledge about how God is speaking to us through the Bible.

In our small groups, we were assigned questions to answer. These questions were related to the reading assignment we had been given in the weeks prior to the event. The reading was a book: THE BIBLE COMPASS, a Catholic's Guide to Navigating the Scriptures, by Dr. Edward Psi. This book addresses several topics, but most importantly, the five keys to interpeting Scripture correctly (more about these 5 keys at a later time.) Our group did a fine job of working through the questions.

After group time we all rejoined for a final talk by Deacon Jack. This talk summarized the themes from the day and commissioned us to spread the message that we learn in Holy Scripture throughout the Church. It is the desire and prayer of the founders of this program that a spirit of renewal will spread from it to the Church at large. We then closed our day by getting our reading assignments for the first week of classes back in our host parishes (mine is St. John the Baptist in Monroe).

My group of ten then reboarded our bus for the trip back to Monroe. While we had taken the ride north as ten strangers, we all felt closer, having shared this experience together. The excitement and anticipation was palpable on the ride home.  Our journey has begun!