Sunset over Casco Bay, Maine, Picture by Priscilla Masciovecchio
Our blog is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Response. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
For your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my mother’s sons,
because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
Response. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak,
I looked for sympathy, but there was none;
for consolers, not one could I find.
Rather they put gall in my food,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Response. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving:
“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”
Psalm 69:8-10, 21-22, 31 and 33-34
It’s interesting how God works in our lives. I am reading the NRSV C.S. Lewis Bible, and I am reading it in chronological order, which means we are not starting with Mark, Matthew, Luke, and then John.
Reading the Bible chronologically, we start with the seven letters of St. Paul. Paul talks about the Theology of Christianity, but not how Jesus came to the earth, how the Eucharist was established, and not much about His death, just that Jesus was Crucified.
The Gospels then were needed to fill in the gaps, which is why the Holy Spirit Inspired Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John to write the Gospels. In the sidebar, I will lay out that order.
What was interesting to me was that I was inspired to reread the gospel of Mark fourteen days ago, and we have mentioned C.S. Lewis’s comments in our last two blogs, and the C.S. Lewis comments fit in beautifully with the blog.
The Holy Spirit is working in my, our life.
Why?
I just learned today and hadn’t fully understood that every segment of society denied Jesus. If that isn’t the Holy Spirit working in my life, I don’t know what is.
The title of Lewis’s comment is Forsaken by All:
We will summarise Lewis’s comments:
Jesus’s prayer of anguish to His Father is not answered.
Jesus turns to His friends, and they are asleep. Question are we asleep, too busy, or too preoccupied?
Jesus faces the Church that He created, and they condemned Him.
The State may take up His cause.
No,
The State, out of expedience, agrees to His Crucifixion.
Lastly, Jesus turns to the poor, the simple whom He has blessed with healings, fed, and taught, but overnight they have become a murderous rabble shouting for His Blood.
Jesus appears to be forsaken by all. That’s how Lewis’s comment ends.
But that’s not true, for His Father and the Holy Spirit NEVER left Him, and because the Love Of the Father and Holy Spirit NEVER weakened, or even worse was withdrawn,
Jesus will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving:
If you want to join Team Jesus, pray. Thank you, Father, for the difficulties (Name the difficulty……………) you have ALLOWED in my life; I know you will take care of me. Pray this until you smile, and that smile tells you, you are back with the Holy Spirit living in the “Spirit World.”
Sidebar:
As mentioned above, the chronological Order of the Bible is below, by Marcus Borge, a Liberal Protestant Theologian. Three years ago, I couldn’t find a Catholic page.
What I found interesting was why the Gospels are needed. Notice Paul’s writings are all there is for the first forty years; I believe God finally Inspired Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John to write an account of who Jesus was and what His mission was.
For example, in 1 Corinthians, Paul talks about the Eucharist:
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
1 Corinthians 10:16
Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.
1 Corinthians 10:17
Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 11:27
All that Paul said is true,
But
Paul doesn’t talk about HOW the Bread and Wine became the Body and Blood of Jesus.
I am also not suggesting Borge’s is the only Chronology available. I found this and compared it to others, and I am comfortable reading the New Testament in this order.
One further note; I read the New American Bible Revised Edition, and in the preface, before each Gospel and Letter, they estimate the approximate time the Gospel or letter, and Borg isn’t that far off. The most significant difference I have found is the timing of the letter from St. James.
1 Thessalonians (50 CE)
Galatians (50 CE)
1 Corinthians (50 CE)
Philemon (mid-50s CE)
Philippians (mid-50s CE)
2 Corinthians (mid-50s)
Romans (58 CE)
Mark (70 CE)
James (70-80 CE)
Colossians (80s CE)
Matthew (80-90 CE)
Hebrews (80-90 CE)
John (90 CE)
Ephesians (90s CE)
Revelation (90s CE)
Jude (90s CE)
1 John (100 CE)
2 John (100 CE)
3 John (100 CE)
Luke (100 CE)
Acts (100 CE)
2 Thessalonians (100 CE)
1 Peter (100 CE)
1 Timothy (100-110 CE)
2 Timothy (100-110 CE)
Titus (100-110 CE)
2 Peter (120-150 CE)
Our prayer is you and your family will enjoy an Easter filled with the Love, Joy, and Peace of the Holy Spirit and celebrate knowing a God of Outrageous Love.
Picture:
Sunset over Casco Bay, Maine, Picture by Priscilla Masciovecchio
Please keep Snapping!
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, no people, please, because we have to get permission from that person to use their photograph; in the comments section at the bottom of our blog, tell me you want to submit a picture, and I will send you my email address in our reply on Thursday. By sending your picture, you consent to allow us to reprint that picture in our next book, God Thoughts 2023, with your name and any comments in the Blog.
