Scripture with the Fathers

Moses goes up the mountain to speak with God for forty days. During these forty days, God begins giving Moses the instructions for building the Ark of the Covenant and the other appurtenances in order to properly worship God, i.e. "right worship." We look initially to the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible and also "A Catholic Introduction to the Bible, The Old Testament" by Dr. Bergsma and Pitre. We learn how God uses those things that are familiar with the Israelites, and Moses particularly and directs it to the worship of God. We expose the faulty hypothesis of Julius Wellhausen that Moses didn't write the Pentateuch, but rather that it was written after the exile into Babylon. We look briefly at the archeological evidence that actually show how this construction of the Ark and the lampstands are familiar things in that time period. God takes these familiar things and sanctifies it and directs it to right worship.

Who are the Laborers in the vineyard? Who is the Master of the vineyard? Who are the workers who worked all day? Why did they get the same as the ones who worked only one hour? Did the Master act unjustly? What happened to the workers after they got paid? We look to Dr. Edward Sri, Curtis Mitch and St. Jerome to gain some insight.

God and the Israelites enter into a covenantal relationship through agreeing to all the words (the ten commandments) and the ordinances. Once they agreed, the first born sons of Israel offered burnt offerings and sacrifices and threw blood onto the altar and on the book and on the people. Then the 70 elders of Israel have a meal with the Lord. The covenant is one of mercy or birith, Hb. So when we read in the Psalms, "his mercy endures forever," we can understand that God's covenant endures forever. We see in the entirety of this chapter, the foreshadowing of the one and eternal sacrifice. We turn to Haydock and Ignatius Catholic Study Bible to gain further insight.

The rich young man greats Jesus by calling Him, "Good Teacher." Jesus asks the question, why do you call me "good?" The young man asks Jesus "what must I do to enter the kingdom?" Notice Jesus does not dispel the young man's understanding that one must do, i.e. requiring some effort or work on our part, to enter the kingdom of heaven, but rather answers his question by first instructing him to keep the commandments. But, the rich young man knows that even though he has done this, he is still lacking something. Jesus looks at him in love and asks him to give up the very thing in the world that is most dear to him. Jesus then turns to his disciples and answers Peter's noting that "we have given up everything, what is our reward?" Jesus explains that they will be the judges of the twelve tribes of Israel. How is this realized, or has it been? Where is this, can we see it? We look to Venerable Bede and St. John Chrysostom to gain insight. We also look to the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible to gain additional insight.

Chapter 23 of Exodus continues the Ordinances that are to govern how we are to act in juridicial proceedings. We can see the basic tenets in Ethics in these verses. We see in this chapter the proper manner in which to approach an enemy, not holding malice, being hatred in one's heart, against them. The Israelites are cautioned against making covenants with the pagans in the land that the Israelites are to conquer. Within the culture of the general peoples around them, the Israelites will create a nation based on law and not the whims of anyone who may gain power. These ordinances are conceived by authority, not power.

Jesus gives us the teaching of priestly celibacy as foretold in Isaiah, those who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. So marriage and holy orders are know as the sacraments of social order. Jesus then refers to the children who he wishes to allow the Apostles to come to Him. Who brought the children to Jesus? We look ahead to Acts 8 and 10 and see that "the whole household" was baptised. Under the covenant with Abraham, male children were circumcised on the eighth day after birth. If such is so, why would God incarnate not wish the little ones to not be baptised into the new and everlasting covenant?

We see the foundation of common law, that which is used in much of the world as a means of maintaining order in society. We discuss common law and statutory or civil code and how those two structures were developed. We see the ten commandments and how they are administered in the day to day living within the community. We see oaths in front of a judge, i.e. making statements "under oath." The basis of law and justice in our modern world are rooted here in these few chapters of Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy

Is marriage a sacrament? What does the Church say about this? What is a decree of nullity? We turn to "Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma" by Ludwig Ott to answer first what is marriage. Who has authority over the sacrament. Why does Jesus go "beyond the Jordan?" It is there the Pharisees put him to the test about marriage. Jesus' answer elevates marriage to a sacrament and we see the Church's teaching on this considering the canon of the Dogmatic Council of Trent.

Beginning with a quick review of the ordinances about slavery and the social construct of the Ancient Near East we see how the Israelites' ordinances regarding slavery were far advanced from the cultural context from which they came. Is the God of the Old Testament different than the God of the New Testament? To answer that question, we discuss briefly the Code of Hammurabi, (cir. 1700 B.C.) a code of law pre-existing the ordinances given in Exodus chapters 21-23. We consider the JEDP hypothesis of source criticism and demonstrate that this hypothesis is refuted from the text itself. We read from Dr. Bergsma and Pitre and Origen, St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. Augustine and Pope St. Gregory the Great.

The Pharisees come to Jesus to "test (peirazo Gk.) him" This greek word is the same word that Jesus uses to respond to Satan in chapter 4, "You shall not tempt (ekpeirazo Gk. (put to the test)) the Lord your God." So in this verse, Matthew is showing us the malice or hardness of the hearts of the Pharisees. They ask about divorce and Jesus answer is so shocking that the disciples exclaim, "if such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry!" We first look to the OT references made by Jesus and the Pharisees and then look to a modern Catholic commentary (1953). We end with the commentary of St. John Chrysostom and St. Jerome to begin to unpack all of this.

Chapter 21 of Exodus begins with the laws regulating slavery. Unfortunately, many have suggested that this demonstrates that God endorses slavery. However, we must look at the Scriptures in their entirety, and how God moves His people to grow in justice, love and mercy. It is not God who changes, but rather man does, from slavery in Egypt to the formation of a nation under God as their King. We look to the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, the prophet Ezekiel, St. Jerome and St. John Chrysostom and St. Ambrose to decipher what we should understand from these instructions from God to Moses. Is the God of the Old Testament the same as the God of the New Testament, or not?

We end with a prayer for those parents who have been the subject of a child or children's curse, pray for reconciliation and illumination of conscience of the children who have separated themselves from their parents for peace.

What is a talent as Matthew relates it here? What is a denarius? How then does 10,000 talents relate to 100 denarii? What does this mean for us who wish to be in the kingdom of heaven? We look to St. John Chrysostom and Origen to gain some insight as well as doing a bit of accounting math in order to understand the precarious place we put ourselves to ask for God's mercy and then demand justice from our fellow servants. What then will the Master do to us in justice? Here we touch on the Lord's prayer and the petition that asks God to forgive us just as we forgive our brother for just debts.

W look at God's Word and How He confirms that what he says is true and a reflection of the disposition of the heart and how sin that takes root there is soon to manifest in action. This is why Jesus tells his audience that "anyone who looks at a woman in lust has already committed adultery in his heart. At the end of the chapter, God instructs the Hebrews to make altars of natural earth and stones not hewn by human hands as it profanes it. We read from Haydock's Biblical commentary and the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible. We wrap up Exodus Chapter 20.

Jesus continues his fourth discourse in instructing the disciples (Apostles) on the authority He is bestowing to them to bind and loose sins. Then Peter, in what he believes is a statement of forgiveness greater than the law requires, suggests to Jesus that seven times would be the limit. Jesus then, referencing the prophecy of Daniel explains to Peter that their mercy must be equal to His, which is unlimited. At the same time, Jesus is confirming Peter's confession that Jesus is in fact the Son of the Living God. We hear from the Fathers and Dr. Hahn, Dr. Pitre and Dr. Bergsma for further insight.

In this episode we cover the tenth commandment and what it entails. We here from St. Thomas Aquinas to discuss the operations of the soul. We continue to look at the Catechism, St. Paul's letter to the Galatians, St. Chrysostom and St. Augustine to gain a handle what it means to "covet".

We discuss briefly the lost sheep and then go into our discussion about binding and loosing sins. Jesus gives us the process by which to correct a brother who has done us ill or caused injury, or sinned against us. We hear from St. Jerome, Pope St. Gregory the Great, St. Augustine, St. Hilary and Venerable Bede.

We explore the ninth commandment, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. What does this mean to covet? Who is my neighbor's wife? What about coveting thy neighbor's husband? Is that covered too? The previous eight commandments dealt with the actions of the body, while this and the next deal with the dispositions of the soul. We explore the operations of the soul, how they were affected by original sin and the answer for those disordered affections.

We continue our discussion about Temptations to Sin which is a far worse fate for those who would temp others than to fall into sin. The Fathers reiterate Jesus in saying that whomever it is in one's life that may cause one to sin or who is not one who "does the will of my Father," should be cut off from us. While it is painful to remove people from our lives, if they are leading us to sin, we cannot have them in our close circles. Jerome tells us it is better to be alone than to have many people around us and fall into hell.

The eighth commandment: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. We look to the Catechism as well as Fr. Heribert Jone's Moral Theology, to discuss what this means and what areas of our life it covers. Lying, while always immoral, has different levels of seriousness depending on the nature of the falsehood, who it is spoken to and for what reason. A distinction is rendered as to being a venial or mortal sin. The most serious types of bearing false witness is calumny and detraction. What is that and why are these types of speech so seriously disordered? Finally we look to St. Augustine to have a rule of speech to govern our tongue.

We begin Chapter 18 and the fourth discourse of Jesus within the Gospel According to Matthew. We turn to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and St. Jerome to look into what Jesus means by being childlike and what it means for causing scandal to a little one who are the very ones who are great in the kingdom of Heaven.