Minor Prophets Contest Winner

Congrats to Holly Murphy who was chosen randomly by my wife.  Holly, please email me at mccorm45(at)yahoo(dot)com with your address. I'll have the book shipped out to you sometime in the coming week.  

Stay tuned, I have a special contest coming up in little over a week!

Your Bible: Ronald's RSV

Gone Wrong?

I once had a Murphy’s Law calendar which offered a daily page with a humorous variation on the famous maxim, whatever can go wrong will go wrong.  It may seem this piece is a perfect example of the truth of Murphy’s Law; I’m not following my gracious host’s plan that a few guest writers talk about the Bible they use daily for study and prayer.  Even so, I do propose to share a little about a Bible I use every day, just in another way.  It’s sitting on the desk next to me now, in fact, not being read, but still in an important way, in use nonetheless.  The story of this little Bible parallels my own faith journey; it’s been with me through it all and is with me still, every day.  I’ll begin by telling you about the Bible itself, and then how it fits into my story.

It’s easy to provide you a description of the volume – it's an RSV edition published by Thomas Nelson & Sons in the early 1950s.  It’s quite small, only 5 ½ by 7 ½ .  As you might expect with such a small book, the print is small although still legible; it has few study aids, no maps, concordance or the like.  It’s a no nonsense little volume, typical of Bibles its age.  Because of its age, the wear and tear it’s seen is clearly visible and so I no longer risk putting it through daily use.

As for my faith journey, when I was seven years old I was baptized in a Lutheran church in St Clair Shores, Michigan.  My parents wanted to let me choose when I was ready to take such a step, so I wasn’t baptized as an infant.  When they decided it was time to ask me, I agreed, obviously being led by the Spirit because I don’t think I clearly understood what I was doing.  After my baptism, on beautiful April morning, much to my surprise, my aunt and uncle gave me this Bible to commemorate the event.  It was enclosed in a maroon box wrapped in white wrapping paper and I loved it.  All through my elementary and high school years, by which time we were Presbyterians, I used my Bible for reading and taking to church each week for Sunday school and to refer to during the pastor’s sermons. 

Back then, I was pretty ardent in my faith and my Scot’s Calvinist aunt was absolutely certain I would grow up to become a famous Presbyterian pastor, along the lines of Peter Marshall.  It wasn’t to be; about the time I graduated from high school I decided that I was through with “organized religion.”  When I joined the Air Force soon after, I knew I was no longer a believer.  Yet, this Bible, now a little worn but still in good shape, went with me to Lackland AFB for basic training and, later, to Sheppard AFB where I spent two years of my enlistment.  I don’t know why I other than to say it was God acting in my life, maybe trying to keep me from straying too far.  It could only have been the Spirit which made me pick up my Bible now and then and read a familiar passage, Psalm 23 perhaps, or the first chapter of Genesis.  Perhaps God was reminding me that He was near and wanted me to come back to Him.

When I went to Viet Nam, however, the Bible stayed with my parents and I forgot about it, sort of like my faith, until my mother passed away roughly 15 years later.  One day I was sorting out her things and found it carefully stored in her dresser drawer.  She had kept it safe for me and must have used it herself, judging by the signs of wear it now showed. 

I was shocked and, surprisingly, elated at the same time; it was like finding an old, long lost but still much loved friend.  Even though I still claimed I didn’t believe in God, I think it was at His instigation that I again opened up my Bible on occasion and reread those familiar passages from my youth.   It must have been so, because it was only a couple of years later I began my journey back to faith by becoming a member of a Presbyterian church in El Paso, Texas.  Once more I was using my Bible regularly, but by now it was obvious it wouldn’t hold up to that, it was tattered and becoming fragile and so I purchased a nice new NIV version for daily use.

Within five years I found myself receiving the sacraments of the Church at the Easter Vigil in 1995.  Just a few days later I happened to spot my first Bible on the bookshelf. I picked it up and opened it to my aunt's inscription, written nearly 41 years to the day of our reception into the Church. 

It’s because of that inscription, and the occasion it marks, that my Bible is never far from me; I look at it often because it reminds me of the incredible journey I’ve been on, a long and hard one, beginning with my baptism so long ago.  While it started with an ill-informed decision, I see it could only have been through the working of the Spirit that I made it at all.  Also, I can’t help but see that, when I chose to run away from God, I left my Bible behind too.  And when I woke up to the truth, my old friend was there again to help me return to the God I thought I’d left behind so long ago. 

Finally, my Bible shows me that God can work in mysterious ways indeed.  I know my Scots Calvinist aunt had a plan that, in giving me that Bible, she thought she was guiding me to become a Presbyterian minister.  She could never have imagined it would lead me to Rome instead.  It calls to mind a saying from that old Murphy’s Law calendar: “The best laid plans of mice and men are usually about equal.”  My Bible offers daily proof of that, my own and my aunts.  Come to think of it, maybe things haven’t gone too wrong after all.

Thank you to Ronald for sharing with us.  If you would be interested in participating in the "Your Bible" series, just send an email to me at: mccorm45(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Sunday Knox: Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24A

Knox Bible:
"What is the scene, now, of your approach to God? It is no longer a mountain that can be discerned by touch; no longer burning fire, and whirlwind, and darkness, and storm. No trumpet sounds; no utterance comes from that voice, which made those who listened to it pray that they might hear no more. The scene of your approach now is mount Sion, is the heavenly Jerusalem, city of the living God; here are gathered thousands upon thousands of angels, here is the assembly of those first-born sons whose names are written in heaven, here is God sitting in judgement on all men, here are the spirits of just men, now made perfect; here is Jesus, the spokesman of the new covenant, and the sprinkling of his blood, which has better things to say than Abel’s had."


NAB Lectionary:
"You have not approached that which could be touched
and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness
and storm and a trumpet blast
and a voice speaking words such that those who heard
begged that no message be further addressed to them.
No, you have approached Mount Zion
and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and countless angels in festal gathering,
and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven,
and God the judge of all,
and the spirits of the just made perfect,
and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant,
and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel."

Go Away with My Wife........on Retreat

My wife, who authors The Pitter Patter Diaries blog, is giving away a free registration for a December retreat with the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  You can enter on her blog.  The sisters are truly a dynamic order!  You may have seen them on Oprah a few years ago. Perhaps you saw them on the CBS Morning Show recently as their CD has hit the top of the classical charts on iTunes and Amazon. Founded in 1997 with four women (Mother Assumpta Long, O.P., Sister Joseph Andrew Bogdanowicz, O.P., Sister Mary Samuel Handwerker, O.P. and Sister John Dominic Rasmussen, O.P.), the Sisters have quickly grown to over 110 women in just sixteen years. 

This contest is only open to women, since it is a women's retreat with its focus being on the married life and motherhood.  So head over to wife's blog to enter if you are interested and able to attend this overnight retreat. 

The Poverty and Justice Bible Catholic Edition (NRSV)

I received a copy of this new Bible a couple days back.  It was released in July.

The Bible where God’s voice for the poor and oppressed shouts loud and clear.

This new Catholic edition of the ground-breaking Poverty and Justice Bible – with Deuterocanonical books in Catholic book order – highlights over 3,500 verses revealing what God has to say about poverty and injustice.

This Bible also features an additional 32-page study section of practical ways to respond.

KEY POINTERS

• A Catholic edition of the ground-breaking Poverty & Justice Bible.
• Key passages highlighted – over 3,500 verses which clearly show God’s heart for the poor and oppressed.
• New ‘get involved’ information from CAFOD – the leading overseas development organisation.
• Uses New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation – approved for use within the Catholic community.
• Includes Deuterocanonical books in Catholic book order with highlighted passages.
• Exclusive 32-page study guide section encouraging the reader to take action.
• Easy to use – the reader sees at a glance God’s attitude to the poor and oppressed.
• Credible – testimonials and study sections endorse the Bible’s relevance to today’s world.
• Perfect for the socially aware to get more involved in today’s issues and take things further.

Also included is a section on Catholic Prayers, a concordance, a table of weights and measures, and the Sunday and Major Feast Lectionary.

This edition is available in a sturdy paperback at Amazon or the American Bible Society.  

Some Views of the The New African Bible Compact Edition

Back-to-School Contest

To celebrate back to school, at least for me, I am going to offer a contest a new hardcover for the Navarre Bible: Minor Prophets volume.

This volume of the Navarre Bible commentaries sheds light on the twelve minor prophets of the Old Testament: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The Psalms aside, the books of the prophets are the Old Testament sources most often referred to in the New. Their message covers all aspects of Israelite and Christian faith - belief in One God, his chosen people, the Messiah and the path to salvation. Like all the books in the Navarre series, this edition will help to deepen your understanding of these sacred texts. This book completes the Navarre Bible Old Testament series.

This edition includes the RSV-CE and Nova Vulgata.

So here are the rules:

1) If you have a blog, please advertise this contest on your site. (If you don't, you can still enter the contest.)

2) This contest is only for people who are in the North America. (Overseas shipping costs remain too high for me right now. Sorry.)

3) To enter, please put your name in the comment section of this post.  Winner will be drawn randomly.

4) The contest ends on Sunday, September 1st, at 11:59 PM. I'll announce the winner on Monday morning.  At that time, the winner must contact me, via email, with their address within one week to receive their prize.

5) One entry per person. If you post anonymously, you must leave a name at the end of your comment entry