Mondays with Verbum Domini

More from section 12 of Verbum Domini:

"Jesus’ mission is ultimately fulfilled in the paschal mystery: here we find ourselves before the “word of the cross” (1 Cor 1:18). The word is muted; it becomes mortal silence, for it has “spoken” exhaustively, holding back nothing of what it had to tell us. The Fathers of the Church, in pondering this mystery, attributed to the Mother of God this touching phrase: “Wordless is the Word of the Father, who made every creature which speaks, lifeless are the eyes of the one at whose word and whose nod all living things move”.Here that “greater” love, the love which gives its life for its friends (cf. Jn 15:13), is truly shared with us.

In this great mystery Jesus is revealed as the word of the new and everlasting covenant: divine freedom and human freedom have definitively met in his crucified flesh, in an indissoluble and eternally valid compact. Jesus himself, at the Last Supper, in instituting the Eucharist, had spoken of a “new and everlasting covenant” in the outpouring of his blood (cf. Mt 26:28; Mk 14:24; Lk 22:20), and shows himself to be the true sacrificial Lamb who brings about our definitive liberation from slavery."

Spot Check: NAB(RE) or RSV

Today’s spot check comes from this coming Sunday's second reading from 1 Corinthians 1:26-31. It really shouldn't be difficult figuring out which is which, but there are some interesting differences between the NAB and RSV versions. Which one do you like best and why?

Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God. It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.”

OR

For consider your call, brethren; not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth; but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption; therefore, as it is written, "Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord."

NABRE Psalm 23

If you are a subscriber to the newsweekly Our Sunday Visitor, you will have already noticed that there is an article in this week's edition about the NABRE. The fine article by Sarah Hayes gives some interesting information about the upcoming revision, which will be released on Ash Wednesday. Included in this article is a short interview with Mary Sperry from the USCCB, a sidebar on the long process of the NABRE revision, and the complete version of the NABRE's Psalm 23.

Psalm 23 in the current NAB was one of those areas that was heavily criticized by some for its use of vertical inclusive language, as well as some occasional odd renderings. Most notably verse two which says "In green pastures you let me graze" and verse 6 which concludes "I will dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come." According to the OSV article, the new NABRE version of Psalm 23 is a definite upgrade to the older version:

NABRE Psalm 23 (snippet)
Verse 2: "In green pastures he makes me lie down"
Verse 4: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death"
Verse 6: "I will dwell in the house of the Lord for endless days"

I should also point out that the use of "you" to make the passage conform to vertical inclusive language standards has been removed as well. Again, if you are an OSV subscriber and would like to see the entire Psalm and article, you can go here.

NRSV Thinline Available Next Week

Next week, February 1st to be precise, will be the release date for the HarperCollins NRSV- Go-Anywhere Thinline Bible Catholic Edition. It will be published in bonded leather, paperback, and hardcover XL editions. If you would like to see a sample, follow this link. From what I can tell, this edition looks similar to the full Apocrypha version that was released back in October. The only major difference being the inclusion of the Deuterocanonical books in their proper order. If you would like to see my review of the earlier edition, you can follow this link. I am not sure, at this point, whether or not I will be picking up a copy, but since I have been asking for a true Catholic thinline for the longest time, perhaps I am obliged to do so.

This NRSV edition includes:
Less than 1 inch thick
Easy-to-read 9-point type in a double-column setting
Bonded leather with craft-sewn binding for added strength and long life
Fine Bible paper to maximize readability and portability
Concordance for finding key verses
Gilded edges and a ribbon marker
Presentation page and maps

NABRE Sneak Peak #1

In honor of todays March for Life in Washington, the NABRE Facebook site has released a full version of Psalm 139. You can view that here. It includes not only the new text, but also the notes/commentary that will accompany it. I cannot reproduce that version here, but for comparison purposes, below you will find the '91 NAB Psalms version of Psalm 139:

For the leader. A psalm of David. O LORD, you have probed me, you know me:
2 you know when I sit and stand; you understand my thoughts from afar.
3 My travels and my rest you mark; with all my ways you are familiar.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue, LORD, you know it all.
5 Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is beyond me, far too lofty for me to reach.
7 Where can I hide from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee?
8 If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol, you are there too.
9 If I fly with the wings of dawn and alight beyond the sea,
10 Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light" --
12 Darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day. Darkness and light are but one.
13 You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew;
15 my bones were not hidden from you, When I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.
17 How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them!
18 Were I to count, they would outnumber the sands; to finish, I would need eternity.
19 If only you would destroy the wicked, O God, and the bloodthirsty would depart from me!
20 Deceitfully they invoke your name; your foes swear faithless oaths.
21 Do I not hate, LORD, those who hate you? Those who rise against you, do I not loathe?
22 With fierce hatred I hate them, enemies I count as my own.
23 Probe me, God, know my heart; try me, know my concerns.
24 See if my way is crooked, then lead me in the ancient paths.

So, what do you think?

Mondays with Verbum Domini

"Those who know God’s word also know fully the significance of each creature. For if all things “hold together” in the one who is “before all things” (cf. Col 1:17), then those who build their lives on his word build in a truly sound and lasting way. The word of God makes us change our concept of realism: the realist is the one who recognizes in the word of God the foundation of all things.[31] This realism is particularly needed in our own time, when many things in which we trust for building our lives, things in which we are tempted to put our hopes, prove ephemeral. Possessions, pleasure and power show themselves sooner or later to be incapable of fulfilling the deepest yearnings of the human heart. In building our lives we need solid foundations which will endure when human certainties fail. Truly, since “for ever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens” and the faithfulness of the Lord “endures to all generations” (Ps 119:89-90), whoever builds on this word builds the house of his life on rock (cf. Mt 7:24). May our heart be able to say to God each day: “You are my refuge and my shield; I hope in your word” (Ps 119:114), and, like Saint Peter, may we entrust ourselves in our daily actions to the Lord Jesus: “At your word I will let down the nets” (Lk 5:5) (VD 10)."

Select NABRE Cover @ Saint Benedict Press

You can help Saint Benedict Press select a cover for their upcoming NABRE paperback releases at their Facebook site. The one I picked is here on the left, which is "The Baptism of Christ" by Fra Angelico. You can also choose from the "Disputation of the Holy Sacrament" by Raphael and "Pentecost" by Titian. No matter which one you choose, they are all quite beautiful and befitting of a Catholic Bible. So bravo, once again, to the fine people at Saint Benedict Press! The NABRE will be released on March 9.