The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Wednesday of the Thirtieth-First Week in Extraordinary Time
Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them,
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
In the same way,
every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple.” Emphasis Mine Lk 14: 25-33
When I first started reading the Bible, the New Testament especially, I became confused and distressed.
I was confused because the Fifth Commandment in the Ten Commandments tells us to Honor our Fathers and Mothers. I didn’t say it. God wrote on the first tablet that Moses took with him to share with the Jewish people.
The first four Commandments on the First Tablet tell us how to worship and Honor God and our Father and Mother.
For two thousand years, the honor of Father and Mother was considered very important, right after the love of God.
What happened?
Luke tells us that they can’t be a disciple if anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother.
Decades ago at Sunday Mass, Msgr. Henchal explained the word hate didn’t exist in the Jewish language at that time.
O.K. I buy that explanation, but the Old Testament is filled with enemies of the Jewish People, and they may not have had the word hate, but they had a similar word.
Msgr. Henchal said the words that should have been used was love less.
This I agree with.
God HAS to be number one in my life, and the reason is that God is God, and Jesus, the Son of God, climbed up on the Cross so we might be Justified.
So, I guess the New American Bible Revised Edition, NABRE, editors had a word count limit, and Love Less violated that word count. I, yes, I am being sarcastic. Sorry, but this really grates at me because the NABRE was updated in 2016.
For years, I figured I wouldn’t make it to Heaven because I didn’t hate my Mother and Father.
What also grates at me is the lack of respect for Jesus and the Holy Spirit shown in the NABRE.
As I understand it, God was spelled G d at the time of Jesus. The respect given to God was so great that the early Jewish people wouldn’t even spell G d’s entire name.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple. Lk 14:27
I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.”Jn 1:31
Me and My, a small m in both cases and Him and He once again, a small h; all four words refer to Jesus. I copied the above texts from the NABRE.
I don’t give a whit what the English rules say; I want to give Glory to The Triune God in every way, and I believe a Capital M or H when referring to Jesus is totally appropriate.
I did a word search in the NABRE of the word satan, which I, yes I, absolutely refuse to capitalize. Interesting: satan’s first s is in small type throughout the Old Testament, but it’s capitalized in the New Testament. The exception in the Old Testament is when satan is in Job 1:6 describing what will be discussed by the author next: The Interview Between the Lord and the Satan.
We’re not done.
The Holy Spirit in the NABRE is written, For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. Mt 1:20
For me, a person who was and is lousy at English grammar but who has a deep love for the Triune God and The Holy Spirit who stayed with me to change my life and find Them, I find this offensive, and we wonder why God is not given the respect that They deserve.
Good news: I quickly checked the word “Father” pertaining to God the Father and found this to be correct. The F was always capitalized.
Sidebar:
One morning, I was exercising when I, Holy Spirit, thought: Why not do exercises to a Holy Number? The numbers The Holy Spirit revealed to me were 3 – 7 -12 and multiples thereof. Why use just any number? Why not use a Holy Number?
The Holy Spirit encouraged me to look up Holy Numbers, and on the web page www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/meaning-of-numbers-in-bible/10.html, I was surprised to learn the extent of Holy Numbers—many, many more than I first thought. We felt you might be interested in the three I started using.
I also didn’t realize Ten was an important Holy Number, so we included Ten.
The number 3 conveys the meaning of completeness, though to a lesser degree than 7. It derives its symbolism from the fact that it is the first of four spiritually perfect numerals (the others being 7, 10, and 12).
The number 7 is the foundation of God’s word. It derives much of its meaning from being tied directly to creation and symbolizes completeness and perfection (both physical and spiritual).
Ten is made up of 4, which represents the physical creation, and 6, which symbolizes man. As such, the meaning of 10 is one of testimony, law, responsibility, and the completeness of order. (Day four and day six of creation.)
The number 12 is one of the foundations of Scripture. The meaning of 12 is that it symbolizes God’s power and authority, as well as serving as a perfect governmental foundation. It can also symbolize completeness or the nation of Israel as a whole. Emphasis mine for all four numbers.
The thought that came to me, Holy Spirit, was, “Why do an exercise to any number, twenty-five, for example? Why not stop at a Holy Number and bring God into my now our exercise routine?”
Why?
Years ago, I was at a small faith group meeting, and we spent over an hour discussing how much time God gets and how much time we get. After an hour’s discussion, we concluded that God gets twenty-four-seven. When I drove home that night, I looked up through the windshield and asked God, “Twenty-four-seven, you’ve got to be kidding?” God answered, “Twenty-four-seven.”
Why?
There are many reasons, the biggest of which is the Cross.
It made sense, and satan tried to get me to do other numbers, which is how I knew I was on the right track.
I also discovered that 21 and 30 combine two Holy Numbers: 3 x 7 and 3 x 10. So I now go to twenty-one, forty-two, and thirty.
We have talked many times about bringing God into our lives twenty-four-seven, and when I exercise, exercising to a Holy Number helps me become a Conscious Competent by giving more of my(?) time to God.
Exercise has been a drag for eighty-three years and now has a new meaning. I did twenty-five push-ups and decided to increase to twenty-eight because it was one Holy Numbers 3 x 9. I just learned from our blog that ten combines two Holy Numbers, so I will increase my push-ups to thirty 3 x 10.
Picture:
Hi Fred!
I am glad that you spoke of the fruit of the Holy Spirit when we lay people were doing Mass in the little chapel years ago. I memorized them, but I must admit that I must pray for them daily. I only do it occasionally. So, thanks again for the reminder through your and The Holy Spirit’s blog! I took a picture last week overlooking Mooslookmeguntic Lake while bird hunting in Rangeley. After I took the photo and looked at it, I saw an angel blowing a trumpet. I thought it was pretty cool! God is so awesome!
In Love, Joy, and Peace
Dottie
Please keep Snapping!
Email me if you want a copy of the prayers we discussed or the three hiking pictures we showed.
fprince101@gmail.com
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, please do not include people. We have to get permission from that person to use their photograph.
