For two weeks, we heard first readings in our daily masses from the Book of Genesis. This week, our first readings have come from the Old Testament Book of Sirach. This book of wisdom teachings was written by a Jewish scribe living in Jerusalem about two centuries before the birth of Christ. The book was translated from the original Hebrew into Greek by the scribe’s grandson, who was living in Alexandria Egypt at the time and who added a prologue to the book. Today, Sirach advises us about the dangers of allowing money control our lives and allowing our money and power to manipulate others. Sirach also advises against giving ourselves over to the pleasures of the heart, forsaking our faith and God’s laws and commandments in the process. I find it so interesting how teachings from the Early Church and before the time of Christ still speak of truths that seem so relevant and timely in our modern world, like they were written by some of our Church leaders today. Yes, I guess that even though the world changes, human nature does not change very much, does it?
One other thing of note that I wanted to mention today. Since we were mentioning the original Biblical languages, it is interesting to note that on this day, February 28 in the year 1759 Pope Clement XIII gave official permission for the Bible to be translated into vernacular languages spoken by Catholics around the world. Even though the Protestant Bible was translated into the different vernacular languages during the Protestant Reformation in the early 16th century, it was not until more than two centuries later that this was approved by the Catholic Church. Wow, has this development changed the way we practice the faith, as the Church now encourages all Catholics to read and study the Sacred Scriptures with fervor and zeal. We take a lot of things in our lives for granted, don’t we?
No comments:
Post a Comment