Didache Release Date Update

As mentioned by reader Rolf, and confirmed when I received the Ignatius Fall Books catalogue, the Didache Bible is set for release on December 15 according to Ignatius Press.  It will be available in hardcover and bonded leather editions.  For a first look, go here.

A Reader's Question

Greetings, I wasn't sure were to post my question (if you'd be so kind as to answer it)? I was looking for a commentary for using the NABRE for Lectio Divina, is there any spiritual commentaries you'd recommend?

Any thoughts?  My initial thought would be the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture.  Although it isn't specifically a spiritual commentary, it certainly has that component in it.  

Listen to the Pope!

Coming Soon from the PBC

Liturgical Press will be publishing The Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture: TheWord That Comes from God and Speaks of God for the Salvation of the World in mid-November.  It will come with a foreword by Gerhard Ludwig Müller.   

In his 2009 post-synodal apostolic exhortation Verbum Domini, Pope Benedict XVI pointed out that “theological reflection has always considered inspiration and truth as two key concepts for an ecclesial hermeneutic of the sacred Scriptures” and that there is today the need “for a fuller and more adequate study of these realities, in order to better respond to the need of interpreting the sacred texts in accordance with their nature.”

The Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture: The Word That Comes from God and Speaks of God for the Salvation of the World is the contribution of the Pontifical Biblical Commission toward a more adequate understanding of the concepts of inspiration and truth that respects both the nature of the Bible and its significance for the life of the Church. Drawing on a close reading of the Scriptures themselves, the document focuses on three main aspects:

1.    The inspiration of Sacred Scripture and the exploration of its divine provenance

2.    The truth of the Word of God, emphasizing the message about God and his project of salvation

3.    Challenges that arise from the Bible itself, on account of certain aspects that seem inconsistent with its quality of being the Word of God

Reading this document, formally approved by Pope Francis, will strengthen the reader to receive the word of God—in the liturgical assembly and in every other place—in its theological, Christological, soteriological, and ecclesiological context in a way that corresponds ever more closely to this unique gift of God whereby God communicates his very self and invites us into communion with him.

Sunday's Message

I am continuing a new weekly series which will be posted every Sunday morning called "Sunday's Message." Here, I will reproduce the readings for Mass from The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition.  I want to thank Greg Pierce at ACTA for giving me permission to do this weekly post.  While this is not an "official" Catholic edition, one of my hopes for doing this new series is to have a lively discussion on the renderings, compared to the more formal ones we are use to reading and hearing at Mass.  Is there a place for a translation like this?  Could this be a good Bible to give to a Catholic "seeker" or young adult? 

Isaiah 5:1-7

I’ll sing a ballad to the one I love,

a love ballad about his vineyard:

The one I love had a vineyard,

a fine, well-placed vineyard.

He hoed the soil and pulled the weeds,

and planted the very best vines.

He built a lookout, built a winepress,

a vineyard to be proud of.

He looked for a vintage yield of grapes,

but for all his pains he got junk grapes.

“Now listen to what I’m telling you,

you who live in Jerusalem and Judah.

What do you think is going on

between me and my vineyard?

Can you think of anything I could have done

to my vineyard that I didn’t do?

When I expected good grapes,

why did I get bitter grapes?

“Well now, let me tell you

what I’ll do to my vineyard:

I’ll tear down its fence

and let it go to ruin.

I’ll knock down the gate

and let it be trampled.

I’ll turn it into a patch of weeds, untended, uncared for—

thistles and thorns will take over.

I’ll give orders to the clouds:

‘Don’t rain on that vineyard, ever!’”

Do you get it? The vineyard of God-of-the-Angel-Armies

is the country of Israel.

All the men and women of Judah

are the garden he was so proud of.

He looked for a crop of justice

and saw them murdering each other.

He looked for a harvest of righteousness

and heard only the moans of victims.

Psalm 80

You prepared the good earth,

you planted her roots deep;

the vineyard filled the land.

So why do you no longer protect your vine?

Trespassers pick its grapes at will;

Wild pigs crash through and crush it,

and the mice nibble away at what’s left.

God-of-the-Angel-Armies, turn our way!

Take a good look at what’s happened

and attend to this vine.

Care for what you once tenderly planted—

the vine you raised from a shoot.

And those who dared to set it on fire—

give them a look that will kill!

God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, come back!

Smile your blessing smile:

That will be our salvation.

Philippians 4:6-9

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Matthew 21:33-43

“Here’s another story. Listen closely. There was once a man, a wealthy farmer, who planted a vineyard. He fenced it, dug a winepress, put up a watchtower, then turned it over to the farmhands and went off on a trip. When it was time to harvest the grapes, he sent his servants back to collect his profits.

“The farmhands grabbed the first servant and beat him up. The next one they murdered. They threw stones at the third but he got away. The owner tried again, sending more servants. They got the same treatment. The owner was at the end of his rope. He decided to send his son. ‘Surely,’ he thought, ‘they will respect my son.’

“But when the farmhands saw the son arrive, they rubbed their hands in greed. ‘This is the heir! Let’s kill him and have it all for ourselves.’ They grabbed him, threw him out, and killed him.

“Now, when the owner of the vineyard arrives home from his trip, what do you think he will do to the farmhands?”

“He’ll kill them—a rotten bunch, and good riddance,” they answered. “Then he’ll assign the vineyard to farmhands who will hand over the profits when it’s time.”

Jesus said, “Right—and you can read it for yourselves in your Bibles:

The stone the masons threw out

is now the cornerstone.

This is God’s work;

we rub our eyes, we can hardly believe it!

“This is the way it is with you. God’s kingdom will be taken back from you and handed over to a people who will live out a kingdom life.”

Pope Francis and United Bible Societies

A Reader's Question

"I have a bit of a strange question that I wondered if you or your readers might have an answer for. Does anyone have any good ideas on how to reinforce a paperback Bible? Originally I was trying to make due with my Lighthouse App with the Ignatius Study Bible add on, and my Ignatius Study Bible NT, since for various reasons I never recieved my paperback bible during RCIA last year, but I mostly was figuring I only had to make due until October when the Didache Study Bible was supposed to be out. Well of course I found out it was postponed thanks to your blog, and I've also in the meantime finally recieved said paperback Bible through a retreat at church. I have always been scared to death to try to use paperback Bibles because they tear up and get bent so easily (I still can see one from a youth convention in 1996 in my mind all torn up from attempting to use it as my school Bible) - but I didn't know if anyone had any ideas that would at least make it usable at home? And prevent it from needing to go in the recycling bin?"

Any thoughts?