Gospel Reflection for The 19th day of January in the year of Our Lord, 2024
Gospel
Mk 3:13-19
13 And going up into a mountain, he called unto him whom he would himself: and they came to him. 14 And he made that twelve should be with him, and that he might send them to preach. 15 And he gave them power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils.
16 And to Simon he gave the name Peter: 17 And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he named them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: 18 And Andrew and Philip, and Bartholomew and Matthew, and Thomas and James of Alpheus, and Thaddeus, and Simon the Cananean: 19 And Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
One thing that many believe in error is that anyone can pick up a Bible, read it and fully understand it. This is a foundational belief of Protestantism, that the Holy Spirit will enlighten the mind into full understanding of each person who reads the Bible. Well, the first problem is that not all translations of the Bible are accurate. Martin Luther began to change the words of our Lord and cut entire books out of the Bible to fit his doctrine in the 1400s. From then on, many seriously flawed and incomplete versions of the Bible have been published. Each one, no matter how flawed, is considered to be inerrant by the denomination that uses it. If you doubt me, just ask a Southern Baptist about the incredibly inaccurate King James Version, which they venerate as the true Word of God.
In truth, the Catholic Church selected and compiled the books of the Old Testament and wrote the New Testament. Saint Jerome translated all books from Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic to Latin in the 300s. This was called the Biblia Sacra Vulgata, or Bible in the common language. Good English versions include the Douay Rheims, which is approximately the same age as the King James, but complete and accurate. The best modern version is the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition. In reading these Bibles, you at least have the truth in your hands. But, can you understand it?
If each Christian, of any denomination, could understand the Bible as God intended, how can there be 50,000 Protestant denominations who disagree with each other, and all of whom disagree with the Catholic Church who wrote the Bible? There cannot.
Today’s Mass Readings include a parable. Jesus usually spoke in parables to the Jews. He explained that because their ancestors had killed the prophets and because they had rejected the true meaning of the religion God had given them, they would not be able to understand His messages or to recognize Him as the Messiah. As in similar instances, He explains the meaning of the parable to His Apostles, privately. In the book of John, we are told that Jesus told His Apostles many such things, only a few of which were written down in the Gospels.
In one of the earliest writings by the early Church, Saint Barnabas tells us that much of the Old testament was also allegory or parable. He goes so far as to state that even the Mosaic Law against eating pork was actually symbolic… that God did not mean that the meat was forbidden, but that His people should not be like pigs or associate with men who lacked in virtue. Is that true? I have no idea. The Church has never issued a formal statement on the authenticity of the Epistle of Barnabas. But, it is certain that much of the Old Testament, especially the first few books, is legend and that many of even the later stories are allegorical.
So, how can one understand the Bible? The answer is simple – Jesus taught His Apostles and gave them both the power and authority to accurately teach. Through the sacred tradition of the Catholic Church, we may know with absolute certainty what the Bible means and what it doesn’t include, those things not written down. For instance the Bible does not explain the Holy Trinity, the Church does. Remember, nowhere does the Bible say that it is the sole authority. The Bible merely says in 2nd Timothy, “All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, That the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work.” Yet, Saint Paul states, just prior in 1st Timothy that the Church is the “pillar and foundation of the truth.”
A Daily Catholic Devotional Reflections on the Daily Mass readings January-June, 2024. may be purchased as a .pdf directly from me using this link https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/12/a-daily-catholic-devotional-reflections.html or in paperback on Amazon amazon.com/dp/B0CPD1DC7Q
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Gospel passages are taken from the Douay Rheims Bible.