The Sacred Page

Psalm 129 (130) is more familiarly known by its Latin title, "De profundis", the first line of its Vulgate translation. It is one of the penitential psalms and is often used at burials. But the liturgy of the Church also employs it in Advent, the Christmas season and Easter, apart from Lent. It can... Sign in to see full entry.

The present selection from Matthew which is read during the first week of Lent (Friday) is about an aspect of community living that is also found elsewhere in the New Testament. From Matthew 5:17-48, the Lord sets down some guidelines as to how to practise the Law of Moses. He has not come to... Sign in to see full entry.

Psalm 138 is a thanksgiving for an answered prayer. Though it is marked as "belonging to David", one can be assured that it can be used by anyone who has experienced the hand of God in one's life. There are difficulties in the first part of the text. The first difficulty is introduced by the phrase... Sign in to see full entry.

The present selection from Luke is a Q passage that originally belonged to a Wisdom stage in the development of pre-Gospel Christianity. When incorporated into the Gospels of Matthew and Luke additional nuances were added. In Matthew, the sign of Jonah is the resurrection (cf. Matthew 12:40). In... Sign in to see full entry.

God's word is not primarily something written, but an event. Dabhar in the Hebrew mind is first of all a "happening." After it "happens", then it is proclaimed, spoken about, and later, even written down. We have had the occassion to describe this event-aspect of the Word within the context of the... Sign in to see full entry.

Mark 1:12-13 The Victory in the Desert Mark 1:12-13 is Mark's account of the temptation of Jesus in the desert. It is quite brief since in Mark's gospel, the main concern is to lead to reader to Jesus' ministry. This thumbnail-like presentation of the temptation, however, anticipates many of the... Sign in to see full entry.

This prophetic oracle may have been uttered during the time of the restoration of Judah's ruins (see Isaiah 58:12). We know from other sources how bad the situation was then (see Ezra and Nehemiah). It would appear that the Jews of the restoration not only worked hard to eke out a living (even at... Sign in to see full entry.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 A Question of Life and Death Deut. 30:15-20 comes at the conclusion of the third discourse of Moses (Deut. 29:1-30:20). It is in a way a summary of the contents of this last discourse since the main ideas in the body of the discourse are crystallized in it: the relationship... Sign in to see full entry.

The relationship between discipleship and wealth is covered by the section that goes from Mark 10:17-31. It follows the topic of politics and discipleship (9:33-50) and family life (10:1-16). The present section can be divided thus: 10:17-23| The Rich Young Man 10:24-27| Wealth and the Kingdom, Not... Sign in to see full entry.

Hosea 2:16-25 is a prophetic oracle about the future that God reserves for her if and when she realizes her sins and returns to Yahweh, her "first husband (cf. Hos. 2:15)." The oracle develops in three stages corresponding to three moments in a love story: courtship (vv. 16-17), marriage (vv.... Sign in to see full entry.