{"id":843,"date":"2019-08-02T17:04:28","date_gmt":"2019-08-02T17:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=843"},"modified":"2019-08-02T17:04:28","modified_gmt":"2019-08-02T17:04:28","slug":"reflection-4-august-2019-c-18th-sunday-of-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=843","title":{"rendered":"Reflection 4 August 2019  (C) 18th Sunday of Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>From heaven the risen Christ continues to\npreach his Gospel.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two principles in\nthe interpretation of the scriptures in the Church are: \u201cdistanciation\u201d and\nimmediacy. \u201cDistanciation\u201d is recognition of the distance in time, full two\nthousand years, between the New Testament texts and our own day. They were\ncomposed in and for different social circumstances and mindsets, not\nnecessarily compatible with those of our own day. Humanists will regard them\njust as historical documents. Some believers advance the view that the original\ntexts are so removed from us that the New Testament has no message for our own\nday. The position of the Catholic Church, and of Christians in general, is\nquite different. God and Christ speak to us in and through the New Testament.\nWith regard to the ongoing relevance and use of these texts in the Church we should\ndistinguish at least two matters. In doctrinal matters the Church has used the\nNew Testament documents as central and essential in the developing theology on\nChrist and the blessed Trinity. Fidelity to the contents and implications of\nthe New Testament texts directed Council definitions and Church teaching. In other\nmatters one has to ask whether a given New Testament position represents teaching\nvalid for all times or is historically conditioned, arising from the social\nconditions and mindset, such as slavery and the role of women. The question\nwhether this is the case will determine discussion on matters of sexual\nmorality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; These are doctrinal matters, having\nto do with the mind. Together with these there is an immediacy involved with\nregard to the place on the Bible and the New Testament in the life of the Church.\nIt is a matter attended to in the Vatican Council in its Constitution on the\nsacred liturgy (paragraph 7). Just as Christ was sent by the Father so also he\nsent the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit. This he did so that they might\npreach the Gospel to every creature and proclaim that the Son of God by his\ndeath and resurrection has freed us from the power of Satan (paragraph 6). To\naccomplish so great a work Christ is always present in his Church, especially\nin her liturgical celebrations. Among other ways \u201che is present in his word\nsince it is he himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the\nChurch\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Today\u2019s second reading serves as an\nexcellent background to this Church teaching. The risen Christ, seated at God\u2019s\nright hand, has from the beginning through the apostles (Paul and others)\nreminded his followers that their life on earth should show forth the new\nnature, in keeping with his teaching and that of the Church. Paul instances\npractices to be avoided, and others to be followed. The Church has continued to\ndo so. Christ is preaching his Gospel at every reading of the Scriptures in the\nliturgy. Christ can also have his Gospel message activated in various other\nways, by charismatic figures such as Saint Francis and poverty, the Pope by calling\non all ministers of the Church to avoid career seeking and practice simplicity\nof life, by making clear that certain points of New Testament teaching and\npractice called into doubt are not historically conditioned but still valid,\nand even \u201cdefinitive\u201d, not open to discussion. The Church\u2019s teaching is not\njust some human invention. It is a reassertion and continuation of Christ\u2019s\nmessage. The centrality of Christ in Christian life should be constantly\nstressed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From heaven the risen Christ continues to preach his Gospel. Two principles in the interpretation of the scriptures in the Church are: \u201cdistanciation\u201d and immediacy. \u201cDistanciation\u201d is recognition of the &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reflections"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=843"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":844,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843\/revisions\/844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}