Little Rock Catholic Study Bible Digital Edition

Here is a little bit more information on the Little Rock Catholic Study Bible (NABRE) digital/e-book edition which came out last year.  If you go to their site, there are additional views of this edition.

Open the Little Rock Catholic Study Bible and feel at home with the Word of God. Through accessibly written information and engaging visuals that highlight and clarify significant areas of Scripture, readers will easily gain an understanding of these ancient texts that can be carried into today’s world. Using the authorized translation in the New American Bible Revised Edition, this lasting volume is ideal for both personal use and group Bible study.

The valuable information in the Little Rock Catholic Study Bible is offered in small notes and inserts that accompany the Bible texts as well as in expanded essays, articles, and graphics. Key symbols help readers quickly identify the type of information they need, such as explanations, definitions, dates, character and author profiles, archaeological insights, personal prayer starters, and insights connecting Scripture and its use in today’s church. Colorful maps, timelines, photographs, and charts further enhance the study experience. Longer articles are dedicated to explaining study Bible fundamentals, the Catholic Church’s use of the Bible, and the people and places of the biblical world.

Here is some additional information for the e-book:

• Search quickly and easily
• Adjustable text size allows for easy viewing
• Convenient links instantly connect key Scripture references
• Enlarge photos and illustrations
• Key symbols help you quickly identify important information
• Full–color maps and timelines
• Comprehensive searchable index
• * Take notes for quick insight and overview
• * Highlight Bible text for ease of reference

• * Features only available on select devices

Benedict on Wednesday

"We have raised the question: can our encounter with the God who in Christ has shown us his face and opened his heart be for us too not just “informative” but “performative”—that is to say, can it change our lives, so that we know we are redeemed through the hope that it expresses? Before attempting to answer the question, let us return once more to the early Church. It is not difficult to realize that the experience of the African slave-girl Bakhita was also the experience of many in the period of nascent Christianity who were beaten and condemned to slavery. Christianity did not bring a message of social revolution like that of the ill-fated Spartacus, whose struggle led to so much bloodshed. Jesus was not Spartacus, he was not engaged in a fight for political liberation like Barabbas or Bar- Kochba. Jesus, who himself died on the Cross, brought something totally different: an encounter with the Lord of all lords, an encounter with the living God and thus an encounter with a hope stronger than the sufferings of slavery, a hope which therefore transformed life and the world from within. What was new here can be seen with the utmost clarity in Saint Paul's Letter to Philemon. This is a very personal letter, which Paul wrote from prison and entrusted to the runaway slave Onesimus for his master, Philemon. Yes, Paul is sending the slave back to the master from whom he had fled, not ordering but asking: “I appeal to you for my child ... whose father I have become in my imprisonment ... I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart ... perhaps this is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back for ever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother ...” (Philem 10-16). Those who, as far as their civil status is concerned, stand in relation to one an other as masters and slaves, inasmuch as they are members of the one Church have become brothers and sisters—this is how Christians addressed one another. By virtue of their Baptism they had been reborn, they had been given to drink of the same Spirit and they received the Body of the Lord together, alongside one another. Even if external structures remained unaltered, this changed society from within. When the Letter to the Hebrews says that Christians here on earth do not have a permanent homeland, but seek one which lies in the future (cf. Heb 11:13-16; Phil 3:20), this does not mean for one moment that they live only for the future: present society is recognized by Christians as an exile; they belong to a new society which is the goal of their common pilgrimage and which is anticipated in the course of that pilgrimage." -Spe Salvi 4

Arctic Vortex Contest

It is freezing here in Michigan today, something like -9.   Alas, the only real good thing about it is that I get a day off from teaching.  So, why not have a contest.  This one is a unique blend of old and new, consisting of not only a couple of fine books, but also an audio Bible study.  

The winner of the contest will receive the following:
Scripture in the Parish by Mary Sperry

Jesus Shock by Peter Kreeft

The Catholic Book of Scripture Passages from The Word Among Us Press

The Gospel of Mark 5 CD Bible Study by Scott Hahn

Confraternity New Testament (paperback)

The rules:

1) If you have a website or blog or are active on Facebook, please announce this contest.   If you don't, that is OK.  You can still enter the contest. 

2) Please enter your name in the comment section of this blog post.  I will randomly draw one winner at the conclusion of the contest, which will be on Sunday February 2nd at 11:59 PM.   

3) I will announce the winners on Monday February 3rd.  The winners must contact me, via email, within a week with their full name and address.

4) One entry per person.

5) Contest is only available to those who live in the United States

Getting to Know Your Bible

Spotted this at Adam4D.com. How about our Catholic translations?  How would you describe them?  I might suggest one or two in the comment section. 

Sunday Knox: 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17

Knox:

"Only I entreat you, brethren, as you love the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, use, all of you, the same language. There must be no divisions among you; you must be restored to unity of mind and purpose.  The account I have of you, my brethren, from Chloe’s household, is that there are dissensions among you;  each of you, I mean, has a cry of his own, I am for Paul, I am for Apollo, I am for Cephas, I am for Christ.  What, has Christ been divided up? Was it Paul that was crucified for you? Was it in Paul’s name that you were baptized? Christ did not send me to baptize; he sent me to preach the gospel; not with an orator’s cleverness, for so the cross of Christ might be robbed of its force."

NAB Lectionary:

"I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose. For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers and sisters, by Chloe’s people, that there are rivalries among you. I mean that each of you is saying, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,”  or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning."

Another Hahn Book Due Later This Year

Angels and Saints: A Biblical Guide to Friendship with God's Holy Ones is set for release at the end of May.

It will be published by Image.  

Benedict on Wednesday

I am planning to devote a post every Wednesday to our beloved Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.  I have been truly blessed to be alive during the pontificates of three amazing popes, JPII, B16, and Francis.  The Church has truly been blessed.  Benedict, however, holds a special place in my heart, so I want to continue to share his wisdom on this blog on Wednesdays each week.  This first post seems appropriate for this day.

"Pro-Life Day is being celebrated today throughout Italy and is a precious opportunity for prayer and reflection on the themes of the defence and promotion of human life, especially when it is found to be in difficult conditions.

Many of the lay faithful who work in this area are present in St Peter's Square, some of whom are involved in the Pro-Life Movement. I address my cordial greeting to them, with a special thought for Cardinal Camillo Ruini who has accompanied them, and I once again express my appreciation for the work they do to ensure that life is always received as a gift and accompanied with love.

As I invite you to meditate on the Message of the Italian Bishops, which has as its theme"Respecting life", I think back to beloved Pope John Paul II, who paid constant attention to these problems. I would like in particular to recall the Encyclical Evangelium Vitae, which he published in 1995 and which represents an authentic milestone in the Church's Magisterium on a most timely and crucial issue.

Inserting the moral aspects in a vast spiritual and cultural framework, my venerable Predecessor frequently reasserted that human life has a value of paramount importance which demands recognition, and the Gospel asks that it always be respected.

In the light of my recent Encyclical Letter on Christian love, I would like to underline the importance of the service of love for the support and promotion of human life. In this regard, even before active initiatives, it is fundamental to foster a correct attitude towards the other:  the culture of life is in fact based on attention to others without any forms of exclusion or discrimination. Every human life, as such, deserves and demands always to be defended and promoted.

We are well aware that all too often this truth risks being opposed by the hedonism widespread in the so-called society of well-being:  life is exalted as long as it is pleasurable, but there is a tendency to no longer respect it as soon as it is sick or handicapped. Based on deep love for every person it is possible instead to put into practice effective forms of service to life:  to newborn life and to life marked by marginalization or suffering, especially in its terminal phase.

The Virgin Mary received with perfect love the Word of life, Jesus Christ, who came into the world so that human beings might "have life... abundantly" (Jn 10: 10). Let us entrust to her expectant mothers, families, health-care workers and volunteers who are committed in so many ways to the service of life. Let us pray in particular for people in the most difficult situations." -Angelus, 5 February 2006.

Little Rock Scripture Study: The Word of God at Vatican II

Coming in June, Little Rock Scripture Study will be releasing a new 4 session study on Dei Verbum called The Word of God at Vatican II.  This looks very promising, as well as being something that is really needed.  The sessions are led by Catholic Scripture scholar Ronald D. Witherup, SS.   Fr. Witherup is the superior general of the Sulpicians and lives in Paris, France. He holds a doctorate in biblical studies and is the author of articles on Scripture and of numerous books including Gold Tested in Fire: A New Pentecost for the Catholic Priesthood, and is New Testament editor of the Little Rock Catholic Study Bible (Liturgical Press).   He has published widely, with a number of his books being available for purchase. 

About this 4 session study:
Did you ever wonder how the Bible became such an essential part of being a Catholic in our Day? Dei Verbum—The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation—remains one of the foundational teachings of the Second Vatican Council. Discover how this teaching helped to move the Bible into the heart of parish faith formation, and continues to direct our efforts in liturgy, education, and spirituality. Appropriate for all parish adult faith formation efforts, Bible study groups, and diocesan education programs.

Sunday Knox: Isaiah 49:3, 5-6

Knox:
"Thou art my servant, he whispers, thou art the Israel I claim for my own.*  But now a new message he sends me; I am his servant, appointed ever since I lay in the womb, to bring Jacob back to him. What if Israel will not answer the summons? None the less, the Lord destines me to honour; none the less, he, my God, protects me. Use thee I will, he promises, nor with thy service be content, when the tribes of Jacob thou hast summoned, brought back the poor remnant of Israel; nay, I have appointed thee to be the light of the Gentiles, in thee I will send out my salvation to the furthest corners of the earth."

Knox Note:
*Perhaps in the sense that this one man is all the Israel left, at a time of general apostasy. The sentence may also be rendered, ‘Thou, Israel, art my servant’; but verse 6 below seems to indicate that the person addressed is a messenger sent to Israel, not the people itself.



NAB:
"The LORD said to me: You are my servant, Israel, through whom I show my glory. Now the LORD has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, that Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him; and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD, and my God is now my strength! It is too little, the LORD says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth."

The Bible Reborn

The following article will be found in the upcoming edition of America magazine as part of their ongoing series on the Bible in Catholic life.  This one is from Dianne Bergant, C.S.A., who is the Carroll Stuhlmueller, C.P., Distinguished Professor of Old Testament studies at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.  The title of her article is: The Bible Reborn: Rediscovering the Riches of Scripture.  

"A revolution has taken place in the Roman Catholic Church’s understanding of the Bible. As a result, the life and mission of the church have been transformed. Biblical stories and themes formerly unknown have become familiar. This is a relatively recent phenomenon. While the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century championed biblically based preaching and teaching (sola scriptura), the Roman Church focused on traditional doctrine and insisted that its leaders alone were authorized to interpret the Bible. It was not until Pius XII’s encyclical “Divino Afflante Spiritu” (“On Promoting the Study of Sacred Scripture,” 1943) that a dramatic change in church teaching on the Bible was launched. Considered the Magna Carta of the biblical movement, this document inaugurated a new era in Catholic life.

The Second Vatican Council spearheaded a marvelous revitalizing of the Bible in the church. Many of the council participants frequently attended private lectures given by prominent biblical scholars. The Book of the Gospels was solemnly enthroned at the beginning of many general sessions. In 1965, “Dei Verbum” (“The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation”) opened the door to critical approaches to biblical interpretation. It was almost as if the Bible had been rediscovered, and those engaged in Bible study found new meaning in their religious tradition. The study of the Bible became exciting, and this excitement responded to a profound hunger in the people of God for the word of God. In a matter of decades, the hundreds of years of unfamiliarity with the Bible were quickly spanned and many Roman Catholics became as biblically astute as their Protestant sisters and brothers."

Go here for the rest of the article.

Knox Compact New Testament

I was fortunate enough, via a reader's comment, to obtain a compact edition of the Know New Testament.  If you have done a search online, like at bookfinder.com, you will notice that there are a number of Knox Bibles out there for purchase.  Some of these editions are from the US, while a number come from book sellers in the UK.  Also, depending on the condition, these Knox Bibles, both compact and full, can get a bit pricey.  The edition I purchased is published by Sheed & Ward from 1954.  This edition is the paperback one and, surprisingly, it has held up pretty well for being over sixty years old. 

 The layout is in single-column, with verse numbers on the margins, just like the recently released Baronius edition.  It includes all the notes composed by Msgr. Knox, as well as the cross-references.  There is really nothing else included in this compact Bible, which is fine.    

One day, I would really like to see the leather edition of this compact New Testament.  Until then, I have found this handy little paperback edition to be very helpful for devotional reading before Mass, as well as during our Sunday family rosary.   With the uncertainty of ever seeing a compact Knox from Baronius Press, this may the best option out there.  

"Such was the history of Nicanor; and since that time the city has been in Jewish possession. Here, then, I will make an end of writing; if it has been done workmanly, and in historian’s fashion, none better pleased than I; if it is of little merit, I must be humoured none the less. Nothing but wine to take, nothing but water, thy health forbids; vary thy drinking, and thou shalt find content. So it is with reading; if the book be too nicely polished at every point, it grows wearisome. So here we will have done with it." --2 Maccabees 15:38-40

Contest Winner

Thank you all for the great response for this contest.  The winner, randomly chosen, is Steve Roberts. Congrats! Steve, you have one week to send me an email with your name and address.  My email is mccorm45(at)yahoo(dot)com.   If Steve does not contact me within a week, I will redraw a new winner and let you all know next Monday.  Thanks again to all who participated!

Sunday Knox for the Baptism of the Lord: Matthew 3:13-17

Knox:
Then Jesus came from Galilee and stood before John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have restrained him; It is I, he said, that ought to be baptized by thee, and dost thou come to me instead? But Jesus answered, Let it be so for the present; it is well that we should thus fulfil all due observance. Then John gave way to him. So Jesus was baptized, and as he came straight up out of the water, suddenly heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and resting upon him. And with that, a voice came from heaven, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.*

Knox Notes:
*vv. 1-17: Mk. 1.2; Lk. 3.1.


NAB:
Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying,  “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him. After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him,  and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying,  “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

The Catholic Men's Bible

This first ever Catholic Men's Bible is due out next week.  It uses the NABRE translation.  I am really excited that this is being published, particularly under the care of Fr. Larry Richards.  However, I just wish that OSV wouldn't resort to using inserts, but rather integrated the the extra material into the text itself, much like the Every Man's Bible.  However, I do understand why they do this.

"No Bible no breakfast, no Bible no bed!"-- Fr. Larry Richards

Well known preacher, teacher, and author Fr. Larry Richards has the God-given gift of being able to meet men right where they are, and his no-holds-barred approach has helped millions draw closer to God and more fully live out their Catholic faith.

Now for the first time, Our Sunday Visitor has combined the trusted NABRE version of the Catholic Bible with the teachings, wisdom, and instruction of Fr. Larry Richards in the Catholic Men's Bible, NABRE.

In 88 inserts, you will be challenged, enlightened, and even amused with topics like:

• The Most Important Question
• The Key to Manhood
• God Has a Plan for Your Life
• Men Strengthen Men
• Sex is Holy
• The Courage to Be a Man
• What a Good Man is Like
• Just Do It!

The combination of Holy Scripture with Fr. Larry's instructional selections gives you a new and easy way to become the man God intended you to be by incorporating Bible study into your daily life - before breakfast, before bed, or any time during the day!

Letter & Spirit, Vol. 8: Promise and Fulfillment: The Relationship Between the Old and the New Testaments

Now available:
Promise and Fulfillment: The Relationship Between the Old and the New Testaments is the eight volume in the acclaimed series from Scott Hahn's St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. Letter & Spirit, the most widely read journal of Catholic Biblical Theology in English, seeks to foster a deeper conversation about the Bible. The series takes a crucial step toward recovering the fundamental link between the literary and historical study of Scripture and its religious and spiritual meaning in the Church's liturgy and Tradition.

This volume features an all–star lineup tackling one of the oldest questions in Christian biblical scholarship — the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. Highlights include Hahn's essay on the meaning of covenant in Hebrews 9 and Brant Pitre's reading of the parable of the Royal Wedding Feast (Matt 22:1–14) against the backdrop of Jewish Scripture and tradition.

From the Editors' introduction: 
On the day of his resurrection, Jesus' exposition to two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:25 27, 32) and shortly afterwards to his eleven apostles and other disciples (Luke 24:44 47) included "all the scriptures" "beginning with Moses and all the prophets." An idea implicit and underlying Jesus' expositions in these two episodes is that a unity of purpose exists throughout the many diverse sacred books of the Old Testament. Jesus discerned there a story line, an orderly plan—a Divine economy—unfolding throughout history and expressed in the inspired record that would culminate in his own saving work. The idea of Typology is implicit and flows from this unified story—this Divine economy—that we find in the Bible. The scriptures encompass a single story, but it is composed of two parts: the Old Testament and the New…The other New Testament writers follow his example in applying "all the scriptures" to the doctrine of the church and Christian moral, ascetical, and sacramental life. It is not merely, or even primarily, a correspondence of prediction and fulfillment. It is, rather, a pattern of analogy. What began in the Old Testament is fulfilled partially even within the Old Testament, but definitively in the New, in a way that is both restorative and transformative…This issue of Letter & Spirit seeks to explain and demonstrate the propriety and necessity of interpreting the Bible using the hermeneutics of the divine economy and typology.

Articles:

From Old to New: “Covenant” or “Testament” in Hebrews 9?

Scott W. Hahn

Jesus, the Messianic Wedding Banquet, and the Restoration of Israel
Brant Pitre

Matthew as Exegete:
The Unity and Function of the Formula Citations in Matthew 1:1-4:16
Jeremy Holmes

The Tradition of Christian Allegory Yesterday and Today
Leroy A. Huizenga

The New Temple, the New Priesthood, and the New Cult in Luke-Acts
Michael Patrick Barber

New Approaches to Marian Typology in Luke 1:
Mary as Daughter Zion and Queen Mother
Edward Sri

Qumran and the Concept of Pan-Israelite Restoration
John S. Bergsma

Divine Pedagogy and Covenant Memorial:
The Catechetical Narratio and the New Evangelization
Sean Innerst

Historical Criticism as Secular Allegorism: The Case of Spinoza
Jeffrey L. Morrow

Purchasing the Rewards of Eternal Life:
The Logic of Resurrection and Ransom in Matthew’s Gospel
Nathan Eubank

Contest for a New Year

A Happy New Year to you all.  To welcome in the new year, I am offering a contest where the winner will receive all three volumes of Susan Sink's The Art of The Saint John's Bible and a new copy of HarperOne's The Life With God Bible with the Deuterocanonical Books (NRSV).  

Rules for the contest:

1) If you have a website or blog or are active on Facebook, please announce this contest.   If you don't, that is OK.  You can still enter the contest. 

2) Please enter your name in the comment section of this blog post.  I will randomly draw one winner at the conclusion of the contest, which will be on Sunday January 12th at 11:59 PM.   

3) I will announce the winners on Monday January 13th.  The winner must contact me, via email, within a week with their full name and address.

4) One entry per person.

5) Contest is only available to those who live in the United States and Canada

Sunday (Blah, Get Rid of Transferring Feast Days to Sunday) Knox for the Epiphany: Ephesians 3:2-3A, 5-6

Knox:
 "You will have been told how God planned to give me a special grace for preaching to you; how a revelation taught me the secret I have been setting out briefly here*; It was never made known to any human being in past ages, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets, and it is this: that through the gospel preaching the Gentiles are to win the same inheritance, to be made part of the same body, to share the same divine promise, in Christ Jesus." 

Knox Note:
* ‘I have been setting out’; in the last two chapters, especially in 2.11-22.


NAB:
"You have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for your benefit, namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation. It was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and co-partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel."

Knox on Translation: Douay version of Hebrews 13:4

"The Authorized Version, in Hebrews Xiii. 4, gives you 'marriage is honorable in all'; it was an attack, Martin held, on celibacy, and it was bad scholarship.  And, sure enough, the Revised Version and all modern Protestant editions give you 'Let marriage be held in honor' or words to that effect.  Not so Gregory; he would not interpret, for fear of giving the Protestants license to interpret.  His sentence runs, 'Marriage honorable in all and the bed undefiled', without any pretense of a main verb; grammar be hanged!"  - "Challoner and the Douay Version" in On Englishing the Bible 29

The Theotokos

“You are the glory of Jerusalem!

You are the great pride of Israel!

You are the great boast of our nation!

By your own hand you have done all this.

You have done good things for Israel,

and God is pleased with them.

May the Almighty Lord bless you forever!”

-Judith 15:9-10 (NABRE)