ESV with Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals) is Ordered!

Well, I decided to pre-order the ESV with Apocrypha from Amazon. I am still not sure if I will use it on a regular basis, but at the very least it will have a place on my ever growing Bible translation shelf. Plus, it only cost my a little over twenty dollars to purchase it, including the shipping. Anyways, it still has a January 1 publication date, so hopefully it will be in my hands a week or so after. The description says that it "will include a full-color map section, a table of weights and measures used in the Bible, and many other attractive features." I love Bible maps, but I am interested in what these "many" other attractive features will be. Cross-references would be sweet, but I have been disappointed with assuming that Bibles will include them in the past, so I am not getting my hopes up. Actually, I would be more shocked if they were included. However, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a concise concordance included.

After thinking about it, I may be willing to give the ESV the same treatment I gave the NRSV last year, when I spent a good 6 months using it in ministry work and personal prayer. I guess a lot of it will depend on what is included in this edition, as well as the quality of binding and page layout. Unlike the NRSV, this is the only ESV that includes the Apocrypha/Deuterocanonicals, so my options are limited. We shall see! I will certainly blog about my first impressions, once I receive the ESV with Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals) in the mail.

Update: Amazon has emailed to let me know that they are "trying to obtain" the ESV w/ Apocrypha.

Update 2: Thanks to the comment post by Michael, the Oxford University Press site shows that the ESV w/ Apocrypha is due January 14.

Merry Christmas!

"Et Verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis"

- Evangelium Secundum Ioannem 1:14

Excavation at Sha'arayim (Kh. Qeiyafa)

One area that I find fascinating is Biblical archaeology. I always get excited when my monthly edition of Biblical Archaeological Review comes in the mail. Although one doesn't have to agree with everything that is written in it, it does provide some great information on what is actually going on in the Holy Land. I, myself, was fortunate enough to be involved in a 4 week excavation at the small Greek settlement located in Satriano, Italy in 2000. After spending a semester in Rome at the small Italian/American John Cabot University, my Roman history professor, who was also an archaeologist, invited me to spend the summer in southern Italy on an excavation. (See! It is always good to study hard and be engaged in the course work....you never know what opportunities might arise!) Anyways, the experience was formative and helped me to truly appreciate the hard work that goes into excavating a site. Indiana Jones has nothing on those who are real archaeologists. (Plus, you would never see a real archaeologist hide in a refrigerator!)

So, thanks to the blog Singing in the Reign, I have been following the happenings at Khirbet Qeiyafa. The site, which is a border fortress known as the Elah Fortress, seems to date to around the 10th century B.C. and may shed light on the history of the Davidic Monarchy. If this site becomes the "21st Century Dead See Scrolls" how exciting would that be? Interestingly enough, the site has its own website. So, check it out for more info, which includes a promo video.

Update: The January/February '09 issue of BAR has a nice article summarizing this newly discovered site.

Joseph Ratzinger's Episcopal Ordination

Pope Benedict's episcopal ordination took place on May 28, 1977 in the Archdiocese of Munich. Sorry, but there will be no English translation forthcoming.

(Thanks to Ignatius Insight)

If You Love the Latin Vulgate, You Will Love This!

Just released by Baronius Press, this one volume edition containing both the Douay-Rheims and Celementina Vulgata will make the traditionalist's heart warm with glee! The British-based publishers, Baronius Press, have been in recent years re-publishing many classics in Catholic theology and spirituality. Oftentimes, these new editions are newly type set and are produced at a high quality level. I, myself, am quite interested in their forthcoming edition of the Knox Bible.

For those who are interested, the new Douay-Rheims & Clementina Vulgata [side-by-side] is 1488 pages long and has a size of 8.5" x 11.5".

Here is part of their description:

Included in this Bible are Challoner’s notes, and the texts found in the appendix to the Vulgate, namely 3 and 4 Esdras and the prayer of Manasses (in Latin with an English translation). This makes the Bible totally comprehensive and ideal for theology students.
Owning one of these beautiful Bibles will give you great pleasure each time you read it, and ensure that your family is familiar with sacred scripture in Latin as well as English.
Bound in leather with ornate gold blocked cover and spine. Gilded page edges, head and tail bands and two satin ribbons.

There is also a sample page here.

Pope Benedict: St. Paul and the Sacraments

Below is another summary from the Vatican Information Services on yesterdays audience by Pope Benedict. He continued his year long catechesis on St. Paul this time focusing on the Sacraments:

In his general audience this morning, held in the Paul VI Hall in the presence of 5,000 people, Benedict XVI spoke on St. Paul's teaching concerning the Sacraments.

The Holy Father indicated how "from St. Paul we have learned that there is a new beginning of history in Jesus Christ, ... Who is man and God. With Him, Who comes from God, a new history begins, formed by the 'yes' He pronounced to the Father, ... out of love and truth".

"How can we enter", the Pope asked, "into this new beginning, this new history? ... How can Jesus reach my own life, my own being? The fundamental response of St. Paul, of all the New Testament, is: by the Holy Spirit" which "at the Pentecost created the beginning of a new humanity, a new community: the Church, the body of Christ".

The spirit of Christ "touches me within ... using two visible elements: the Word of announcement and the Sacraments, in particular Baptism and the Eucharist. ... Faith comes not from reading but from listening. It is not only an interior experience but a relationship".
"The Word became flesh in Jesus to create a new humanity. For this reason, the Word of announcement becomes Sacrament. ... No-one can baptise himself; ... no-one can become Christian by himself. ... We can only become Christian through the meditation of others, and this gives us the gift of faith. ... Autonomous Christianity is a self-contradiction. ... These 'others' are, in the first place, the community of believers, the Church. ... Only Christ can constitute the Church, Christ is the true giver of the Sacraments".

"Being Christian is more than a cosmetic operation that embellishes life, ... it is a new beginning and rebirth, death and resurrection. ... It is not purely spiritual but involves the body, the cosmos, and extends to the new earth and to the new heavens".

On the subject of the Eucharist, the Holy Father pointed out that St. Paul speaks of the institution of this Sacrament in his First Letter to the Corinthians, and he explained that "with the gift of the chalice of the new covenant Christ gives us the true sacrifice, the only true sacrifice is the love of the Son".

After highlighting how the Apostle of the Gentiles says that the chalice we bless is communion with the Blood of Christ and the bread we share is communion with the Body of Christ, the Pope pointed out that "Christ unites Himself with each one of us, and with the men and women around us".

Referring then to chapter ten of the First Letter to the Corinthians in which St. Paul speaks of us becoming "one body, for we all partake of the one bread", Benedict XVI affirmed that "the realism of the Church is much more profound and authentic than that of the nation State, because Christ truly gives us His Body, converts us into His Body ... and unites us to one another. ... The Church is not just a corporation like a State, it is a body; it is not an organisation but an organism".

The Pope then recalled how St. Paul defines the Sacrament of Matrimony as "a great mystery. ... Married love has as its model the love of Christ for His Church", he said. "People will enjoy a rewarding experience of true marriage if a constant human and emotive development remains united to the effectiveness of the Word and the significance of Baptism. ... Participating in the Body and the Blood of the Lord consolidates the union and makes it visible, a union that grace then makes indissoluble".

Update on Revised Grail Psalter

GIA Music, which produces hymnals used by many Catholic parishes has provided some additional information about the upcoming Revised Grail Psalter that was recently approved for Mass in the US. You can read all about it here. Earlier in November, during the USCCB meeting, I posted about the USCCB's decision to adopted the new Revised Grail Psalms. It appears like it will be a completely new translation, under the guidelines of Liturgiam Authenticam. Liturgiam Authenticam is an important Vatican document that was released in 2001 to deal with future liturgical translations, in light of the commission of the Second Vatican Council. If you are not up to reading the whole document, the Vatican published a short press release that gives a good overview of the document.

Whenever the new Revised Grail Psalms are released, it will be interesting to see how they conform to Litugiam Authenticam, along with comparing them to the original Grail Psalms and the NAB '91 Psalms, which was rejected.