Daily Retreat 08/03/07
2007 Aug 3 Fri
Lv 23:1. 4-11. 15-16. 27. 34b-37/ Ps 80(81):3-4. 5-6. 10-11ab/ Mt 13:54-58
From today’s readings: “These are the festivals of the LORD which you shall celebrate at their proper time with a sacred assembly.... Sing with joy to God our help.... Jesus came to His native place and taught the people in their synagogue....”
Leviticus
There’s a number of people I’ve met who have made the excellent resolution to read the entire Bible. With determination in their hearts, they sit down and start reading Genesis, “In the beginning....” After quickly reading the fifty exciting and involved chapters of that first book of the Bible, they hunger for more, and turn at once to Exodus, the second book. Here too, they find themselves on pretty familiar holy ground:the life of Moses, and the liberation of the Israelites from the slavery in Egypt, the 10 commandments, and many other precepts of the Torah.
And yet, after awhile, a bit past the midway point of the 40 chapters of Exodus, many readers find the wheels of their enthusiasm clogged by the tedious details recounting obsolete case law and outmoded liturgical practices. Upon reaching the end of Exodus, and the beginning of Leviticus, readers are thrown into a panic as they find themselves hurled into the midst of a flooding sea (27 chapters!) of such minutia, with no clear way out! And so all too often, that noble intention of reading the whole Bible gets drowned and lamentably lost in the Book of Leviticus.
Yes, Leviticus, I will admit, right offhand, is one of the hardest biblical books to read. It presents excessively detailed laws about even the smallest little things that touch upon cultic worship and daily life for the Jewish people way back then, about 33 hundred years ago, so naturally, it’s rather difficult for us to relate now to so many of those things. Does that mean we shouldn’t read the book of Leviticus at all? Well, if it’s going to cover and wash away all the forces of your enthusiasm for reading scripture, then we’d have to admit you probably should “let it go,” and pass over the book of Leviticus.
On the other hand, if nothing else, at least the verse from Leviticus 19:18, “Love your neighbor as yourself!” is affirmed by Jesus as one of the greatest commandments (cf. Matthew 22:39), and so, if you figure there’s got to be some good reason that the book of Leviticus was included in Sacred Scripture, then I invite you to come closer, stretch out your hand, and open your Bible to the book of Leviticus, and then do not fear to march into the midst of this third book, and see how the Lord will part the sea of our difficulties, with every tedium like a wall to our left and our right....
Lv 23:1. 4-11. 15-16. 27. 34b-37/ Ps 80(81):3-4. 5-6. 10-11ab/ Mt 13:54-58
From today’s readings: “These are the festivals of the LORD which you shall celebrate at their proper time with a sacred assembly.... Sing with joy to God our help.... Jesus came to His native place and taught the people in their synagogue....”
Leviticus
There’s a number of people I’ve met who have made the excellent resolution to read the entire Bible. With determination in their hearts, they sit down and start reading Genesis, “In the beginning....” After quickly reading the fifty exciting and involved chapters of that first book of the Bible, they hunger for more, and turn at once to Exodus, the second book. Here too, they find themselves on pretty familiar holy ground:the life of Moses, and the liberation of the Israelites from the slavery in Egypt, the 10 commandments, and many other precepts of the Torah.
And yet, after awhile, a bit past the midway point of the 40 chapters of Exodus, many readers find the wheels of their enthusiasm clogged by the tedious details recounting obsolete case law and outmoded liturgical practices. Upon reaching the end of Exodus, and the beginning of Leviticus, readers are thrown into a panic as they find themselves hurled into the midst of a flooding sea (27 chapters!) of such minutia, with no clear way out! And so all too often, that noble intention of reading the whole Bible gets drowned and lamentably lost in the Book of Leviticus.
Yes, Leviticus, I will admit, right offhand, is one of the hardest biblical books to read. It presents excessively detailed laws about even the smallest little things that touch upon cultic worship and daily life for the Jewish people way back then, about 33 hundred years ago, so naturally, it’s rather difficult for us to relate now to so many of those things. Does that mean we shouldn’t read the book of Leviticus at all? Well, if it’s going to cover and wash away all the forces of your enthusiasm for reading scripture, then we’d have to admit you probably should “let it go,” and pass over the book of Leviticus.
On the other hand, if nothing else, at least the verse from Leviticus 19:18, “Love your neighbor as yourself!” is affirmed by Jesus as one of the greatest commandments (cf. Matthew 22:39), and so, if you figure there’s got to be some good reason that the book of Leviticus was included in Sacred Scripture, then I invite you to come closer, stretch out your hand, and open your Bible to the book of Leviticus, and then do not fear to march into the midst of this third book, and see how the Lord will part the sea of our difficulties, with every tedium like a wall to our left and our right....
posted by FrPitstick | 8/02/2007
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