Archive for 2013
New Year’s Eve Mass
This New Year’s Eve, we will be hosting a special Mass for us here at the Center for our St. Irenaeus community. The Mass will begin at 8:00 PM, and will be followed by a bit of New Year’s Eve repast and some time for good fellowship. Later in the evening as we approach the…
Read MoreExodus 3 – Hardness of Heart
Moses asks Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go to sacrifice to God, but Pharaoh instead makes their work harder, as slaves are not to petition Pharaoh. The overseers see that the workload is too much but Pharaoh calls the workers idle, as they are asking for time to spend worshipping God.When Pharaoh refuses, God hardens Pharaoh’s heart initially to…
Read MoreExodus 2 – The Burning Bush
Moses sees a bush that is burning but not consumed. He hears a voice telling him to take off his shoes because it is a holy place. This is not because it is inherently holy, but because God is in this place. God tells Moses that He has seen His people’s suffering and that He will uses Moses to…
Read MoreExodus 1 – Background on the Exodus
Exodus is named after the Greek phrase for the road out, which is an appropriate term for the events of the book. Ex 12:40 states that the time in Egypt was 430 years, but the precise dating of the events lends to two possibilities. The events can be dated in 1 Kings 6:1 to 480 years before the fourth year of…
Read MorePorta Fidei – Second Session
Pope Benedict, in The Door of Faith, gives several practical methods for growing in faith, which can be summarized by cultivating, professing, intensifying celebration of, living, and rediscovering the faith. Benedict asks us to profess our faith publicly during the year of faith.The year of faith also provides an opportunity for love, as faith requires charity. Download MP3 (46:33; 26…
Read MorePorta Fidei – First Session
Porta Fidei – Introduction The study of the Bible is part of the faith that we are asked to cultivate in the year of faith that the Pope has asked us to celebrate in the letter titled The Door of Faith. It is through this faith that we are brought into life, and through the…
Read MoreGenesis 22 – Conclusion
Jacob dies and Joseph embalms him and buries him in Caanan. Joseph’s brothers beg him to forgive them, stating that they are the servants of God, and Joseph forgives them. Joseph dies and is embalmed and buried in Egypt. During the Exodus, his body will be returned to the land of Israel. Download MP3 (34:54; 19 MB)
Read MoreGenesis 21 – Blessings
Jacob, nearing his death, begins to bless his sons. Jacob claims Joseph’s Egyptian-born sons as his own, incorporating them into his heritage. This doubles Joseph’s tribal allotment. Jacob also blesses Ephraim, the secondborn, more than Manasseh, the firstborn. Jacob also gives Joseph a mountain slope, and all the blessings on Joseph’s children will be remembered in Heb 11:21.Jacob remembers Reuben as…
Read MoreGenesis 20 – Israel in Egypt
Israel goes to Egypt and sees Joseph, his son once again. When he meets with phararoh, Israel identifies himself as a shepherd, which means that the Egyptians will set them apart in the land. Joseph buys all the land in Egypt for pharaoh in exchange for feeding the people, and the people are grateful.Israel begins to prepare for his…
Read MoreGenesis 19 – Joseph Reunites with His Brothers
Jacob sends his sons (except Benjamin) to Egypt to buy grain during the famine. Joseph is shocked to see his brothers and accuses them of being spies as part of a plan to test them. Joseph consents to give his brothers grain, but keeps Simeon to ensure that they prove that they are not spies. Joseph gives them their…
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