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This is an amazing sale, so don't wait.  Bible translations include the NABRE, RSV-CE, Douay-Rheims, and a Confraternity New Testament.

Sunday Knox: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Knox:
"So it was, brethren, that when I came to you and preached Christ’s message to you, I did so without any high pretensions to eloquence, or to philosophy.  I had no thought of bringing you any other knowledge than that of Jesus Christ, and of him as crucified.  It was with distrust of myself, full of anxious fear, that I approached you; my preaching, my message depended on no persuasive language, devised by human wisdom, but rather on the proof I gave you of spiritual power; God’s power, not man’s wisdom, was to be the foundation of your faith."

NAB Lectionary:
"When I came to you, brothers and sisters, proclaiming the mystery of God, I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of Spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God."

Catholic Study Bible Nominations

I am planning to do a series on Catholic Study Bibles in the coming months.  So, I'd like to solicit from you, my faithful readers, your nominations for the best Catholic Study Bibles available today.  Please limit your entry to one Study Bible.

Here are some things that I will be looking at as I begin this series on Study Bibles:

1) Quality of the Study Notes and Commentary

2) Inclusion of Other Study Helps, Articles, Maps, Concordance, Essays, etc....

3) Overall Appearance of the Volume (This Includes Page Layout, Binding, Cover Material, Etc....)

4) Usefulness in the New Evangelization

5) Fully Catholic Study Bibles Only.  (While I certainly like, and utilize, the various editions of the NOAB, let's keep this focused on Catholic Study Bibles.)

6) Translation

7) Any Unique Contribution Not Found In Other Study Bibles

Benedict on Wednesday

"First, the world of the Bible presents us with a new image of God. In surrounding cultures, the image of God and of the gods ultimately remained unclear and contradictory. In the development of biblical faith, however, the content of the prayer fundamental to Israel, the Shema, became increasingly clear and unequivocal: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord” (Dt 6:4). There is only one God, the Creator of heaven and earth, who is thus the God of all. Two facts are significant about this statement: all other gods are not God, and the universe in which we live has its source in God and was created by him. Certainly, the notion of creation is found elsewhere, yet only here does it become absolutely clear that it is not one god among many, but the one true God himself who is the source of all that exists; the whole world comes into existence by the power of his creative Word. Consequently, his creation is dear to him, for it was willed by him and “made” by him. The second important element now emerges: this God loves man. The divine power that Aristotle at the height of Greek philosophy sought to grasp through reflection, is indeed for every being an object of desire and of love —and as the object of love this divinity moves the world—but in itself it lacks nothing and does not love: it is solely the object of love. The one God in whom Israel believes, on the other hand, loves with a personal love. His love, moreover, is an elective love: among all the nations he chooses Israel and loves her—but he does so precisely with a view to healing the whole human race. God loves, and his love may certainly be called eros, yet it is also totally agape.

The Prophets, particularly Hosea and Ezekiel, described God's passion for his people using boldly erotic images. God's relationship with Israel is described using the metaphors of betrothal and marriage; idolatry is thus adultery and prostitution. Here we find a specific reference—as we have seen—to the fertility cults and their abuse of eros, but also a description of the relationship of fidelity between Israel and her God. The history of the love-relationship between God and Israel consists, at the deepest level, in the fact that he gives her the Torah, thereby opening Israel's eyes to man's true nature and showing her the path leading to true humanism. It consists in the fact that man, through a life of fidelity to the one God, comes to experience himself as loved by God, and discovers joy in truth and in righteousness—a joy in God which becomes his essential happiness: “Whom do I have in heaven but you? And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides you ... for me it is good to be near God” (Ps 73 [72]:25, 28)."  -Deus Caritas Est 9

Son of God Movie Book

Our friends at Saint Benedict Press/TAN will be releasing a coffee table book to coincide with the release of Roma Downey's and Mark Burnett's film Son of God which will be in theaters at the end of the month.  The Son of God: The Life of Jesus Christ in Pictures seems aimed at a Catholic audience and includes a foreword by Roma Downey.  It will be released very soon.  If I happen to get a copy, I'll let you know how it is.    

Here is a bit more about this:

For a brief span of time the SON OF GOD walked among us, ate with us, laughed and cried with us. Jesus, God Himself, became one of us, and ultimately died for us. He gave his life for our sins and on the third day rose again, so that we might rise again from the death of sin and live with him forever.

Now, with SON OF GOD: The Life of Jesus Christ in Pictures, immerse yourself in that time. Witness his miracles, listen to his divine teachings, and walk with him on the road to Calvary as he carries out the redemptive plan for mankind.

In these pages, read informative and inspiring profiles of key biblical figures. And discover the background and meaning of key events from Jesus’ life, including his . . .

• Birth in a manger
• Baptism in the Jordan
• Calling of Peter
• Sermon on the Mount
• Miraculous healings
• Rising of Lazarus 
• Institution of the Eucharist
• Passion and Death
• Triumphant Resurrection
• And much more


Featuring more than 50 full color photographs from the major motion picture SON OF GOD and a Foreword by producer and star Roma Downey, this life of Christ is a beautiful, inspirational, and devotional journey with Jesus from his humble birth to his passion and death to his triumphant resurrection.

Arctic Vortex Contest Winner

Stuart Dunn is the winner.  Please send me an email with your address and the prize will be shipped out to you later this week.  Thanks to all who participated.

Sunday Knox: Presentation of the Lord

Malachi 3:1-4

Knox:

See where I am sending an angel of mine, to make the way ready for my coming! All at once the Lord will visit his temple; that Lord, so longed for, welcome herald of a divine covenant. Ay, says the Lord of hosts, he is coming;  but who can bear the thought of that advent? Who will stand with head erect at his appearing? He will put men to a test fierce as the crucible, searching as the lye that fullers use.  From his judgement-seat, he will refine that silver of his and cleanse it from dross; like silver or gold, the sons of Levi must be refined in the crucible, ere they can offer the Lord sacrifice duly performed.  Then once more the Lord will accept the offerings of Juda and Jerusalem, as he did long since, in the forgotten years.

NAB:

Thus says the Lord God: Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; And suddenly there will come to the temple the LORD whom you seek, And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire, or like the fuller’s lye. He will sit refining and purifying silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, Refining them like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD. Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in the days of old, as in years gone by.