We finished Romans and concluded the year with Paul's letter to the Galatians.
The Bible Study of Paul's letters made for many interesting discussions between the various participants who represented primarily the Catholics and Evangelicals in the Hingham area. Not sure how a person can measure success, yet I feel that we had a successful year. We did not end the year by reuniting in the same Church. The Baptists still go to Baptist Church and the Catholics still go to Catholic Church, but we learned some interesting things about each other, and we explored Paul's letters in depth and together we gained some new insights that will help us in our lives.
We are now taking a summer break. The Church has moved on to a special year of the Priest which began June 19th, 2009 on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This year the Church will pay special attention and honor to St. Jean-Marie Vianney, currently the Patron Saint of Parish Priests, soon to be the Patron Saint of all Priests.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Now studying Romans!
My apologies for not staying on top of this blog. Since the last post in September we have enjoyed two 6-week series on Ephesians and Philippians. Then on January 13th, 2009, we began a third series of Bible Studies on the Paul's letter to the Romans. Tonight, January 20th, we continue with Romans chapter 2.
Topics covered in chapter two include:
Topics covered in chapter two include:
- Judging others (v. 1-3)
- God will render to every man according to his works. (v. 6)
- Be a doer of the law, not just a hearer (v. 13)
- God judges the secrets of men (v. 16)
- How to be a "real Jew".
- Inward state more important than external
- then on to chapter 3, then what's so great about being a Jew, Why bother observing external Jewish laws like circumcision
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Hingham Ecumenical Study Begins
The Hingham Ecumenical Bible Study begins tonight: 7:30pm - 9pm at South Shore Baptist Church in Hingham. We will meet weekly each Tuesday, and will be studying the life and letters of Paul.
Sept. 9. Introductions. Talk by Fr. Rafferty
Sept 16. Acts 18:18 - 19:41 and 20:17-38
Sept 23. Ephesians 1
Sept 30. Ephesians 2
Oct 7. Ephesians 3:1 - 4:16
Oct 14. Ephesians 4:17 - 5:20
Oct 21. Ephesians 5:21 - 6:24
Next book TBD: Probably Philippians or Colossians
Sept. 9. Introductions. Talk by Fr. Rafferty
Sept 16. Acts 18:18 - 19:41 and 20:17-38
Sept 23. Ephesians 1
Sept 30. Ephesians 2
Oct 7. Ephesians 3:1 - 4:16
Oct 14. Ephesians 4:17 - 5:20
Oct 21. Ephesians 5:21 - 6:24
Next book TBD: Probably Philippians or Colossians
Monday, August 25, 2008
Was the Founder of Taizé Protestant, or Catholic?
Article about Fr. Roger Schutz, the founder of Taize. Raises interesting issues related to ecumenism.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
On Scripture
A few quotes related to studying Scripture:
The first is from Paul's 2nd letter to Timothy: 3:14-17
[14]But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it [15] and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. [16] All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, [17] that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
The second is from a sermon by St. Jerome:
I interpret as I should, following the command of Christ: Search the Scriptures, and Seek and you shall find. Christ will not say to me what he said to the Jews: You erred, not knowing the Scriptures and not knowing the power of God. For if, as Paul says, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and if the man who does not know Scripture does not know the power and wisdom of God, then ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.
Here is a quote from a sermon by Charles Spurgeon:
It is well to meditate upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them. A man who hears many sermons, is not necessarily well-instructed in the faith. We may read so many religious books, that we overload our brains, and they may be unable to work under the weight of the great mass of paper and of printer's ink. The man who reads but one book, and that book his Bible, and then meditates much upon it, will be a better scholar in Christ's school than he who merely reads hundreds of books, and meditates not at all.
And from Martin Luther in his commentary on the Gospel of John (chapter 16):
We are obliged to yield many things to the Papists (Catholics)–that they possess the Word of God which we received from them, otherwise we should have known nothing at all about it.
The first is from Paul's 2nd letter to Timothy: 3:14-17
[14]But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it [15] and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. [16] All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, [17] that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
The second is from a sermon by St. Jerome:
I interpret as I should, following the command of Christ: Search the Scriptures, and Seek and you shall find. Christ will not say to me what he said to the Jews: You erred, not knowing the Scriptures and not knowing the power of God. For if, as Paul says, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and if the man who does not know Scripture does not know the power and wisdom of God, then ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.
Here is a quote from a sermon by Charles Spurgeon:
It is well to meditate upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them. A man who hears many sermons, is not necessarily well-instructed in the faith. We may read so many religious books, that we overload our brains, and they may be unable to work under the weight of the great mass of paper and of printer's ink. The man who reads but one book, and that book his Bible, and then meditates much upon it, will be a better scholar in Christ's school than he who merely reads hundreds of books, and meditates not at all.
And from Martin Luther in his commentary on the Gospel of John (chapter 16):
We are obliged to yield many things to the Papists (Catholics)–that they possess the Word of God which we received from them, otherwise we should have known nothing at all about it.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
last planning meeting and thoughts from previous meeting
Last planning meeting is Tues. August 19, 7:30pm at South Shore Baptist Church.
We are planning to have the first Bible Study this fall on September 9th also at South Shore Baptist Church. We will meet Tuesdays from that point forward. The book of Ephesians will be studied and we will use the Community Bible Study's materials to give some structure to the discussions that will follow our reading of the Scripture. I have received about 20 copies of the CBS materials and will offer them to all who attend.
Last meeting (July 29) we talked about some interesting issues. On the surface the issues of salvation and Baptism appear to be issues that divide Catholics and Evangelicals, yet after some discussion I think there was more similarity than we had guessed. We discussed the pope's formulation of ecumenism as shown below. Does it begin as he says with Baptism and is the goal full communion? This Catholic view was looked at and contrasted to Evangelical and Baptist views of Baptism and Salvation. Very interesting discussion. Topics that I'm sure will be discussed a lot this fall.
We are planning to have the first Bible Study this fall on September 9th also at South Shore Baptist Church. We will meet Tuesdays from that point forward. The book of Ephesians will be studied and we will use the Community Bible Study's materials to give some structure to the discussions that will follow our reading of the Scripture. I have received about 20 copies of the CBS materials and will offer them to all who attend.
Last meeting (July 29) we talked about some interesting issues. On the surface the issues of salvation and Baptism appear to be issues that divide Catholics and Evangelicals, yet after some discussion I think there was more similarity than we had guessed. We discussed the pope's formulation of ecumenism as shown below. Does it begin as he says with Baptism and is the goal full communion? This Catholic view was looked at and contrasted to Evangelical and Baptist views of Baptism and Salvation. Very interesting discussion. Topics that I'm sure will be discussed a lot this fall.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Goal of Ecumenism
Next meeting will be Tuesday July 29th at SSBC.
On July 18th, 2008, the pope gave a speech on Ecumenism to a group of Christian leaders in Australia. I have provided a link to that speech under the "Ecumenism" category on the menu on the right side of this page. I found a few excerpts from that to be very much in line with our Mission Statement of growing in Unity:
...
"This year we celebrate the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of Saint Paul, a tireless worker for unity in the early Church. In the scripture passage we have just heard, Paul reminds us of the tremendous grace we have received in becoming members of Christ’s body through baptism. This sacrament, the entryway to the Church and the “bond of unity” for everyone reborn through it (cf. Unitatis Redintegratio, 22), is accordingly the point of departure for the entire ecumenical movement. Yet it is not the final destination. The road of ecumenism ultimately points towards a common celebration of the Eucharist (cf. Ut Unum Sint, 23-24; 45), which Christ entrusted to his Apostles as the sacrament of the Church’s unity par excellence. Although there are still obstacles to be overcome, we can be sure that a common Eucharist one day would only strengthen our resolve to love and serve one another in imitation of our Lord: for Jesus’ commandment to “do this in memory of me” (Lk 22:19) is intrinsically ordered to his admonition to “wash one another’s feet” (Jn 13:14). For this reason, a candid dialogue concerning the place of the Eucharist – stimulated by a renewed and attentive study of scripture, patristic writings, and documents from across the two millennia of Christian history (cf. Ut Unum Sint, 69-70) – will undoubtedly help to advance the ecumenical movement and unify our witness to the world. "
.....
"For this reason, ecumenical dialogue advances not only through an exchange of ideas but by a sharing in mutually enriching gifts (cf. Ut Unum Sint, 28; 57). An “idea” aims at truth; a “gift” expresses love. Both are essential to dialogue. Opening ourselves to accept spiritual gifts from other Christians quickens our ability to perceive the light of truth which comes from the Holy Spirit. Saint Paul teaches that it is within the koinonia of the Church that we have access to and the means of safeguarding the truth of the Gospel, for the Church is “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets” with Jesus himself as the cornerstone (Eph 2:20). "
....
On July 18th, 2008, the pope gave a speech on Ecumenism to a group of Christian leaders in Australia. I have provided a link to that speech under the "Ecumenism" category on the menu on the right side of this page. I found a few excerpts from that to be very much in line with our Mission Statement of growing in Unity:
...
"This year we celebrate the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of Saint Paul, a tireless worker for unity in the early Church. In the scripture passage we have just heard, Paul reminds us of the tremendous grace we have received in becoming members of Christ’s body through baptism. This sacrament, the entryway to the Church and the “bond of unity” for everyone reborn through it (cf. Unitatis Redintegratio, 22), is accordingly the point of departure for the entire ecumenical movement. Yet it is not the final destination. The road of ecumenism ultimately points towards a common celebration of the Eucharist (cf. Ut Unum Sint, 23-24; 45), which Christ entrusted to his Apostles as the sacrament of the Church’s unity par excellence. Although there are still obstacles to be overcome, we can be sure that a common Eucharist one day would only strengthen our resolve to love and serve one another in imitation of our Lord: for Jesus’ commandment to “do this in memory of me” (Lk 22:19) is intrinsically ordered to his admonition to “wash one another’s feet” (Jn 13:14). For this reason, a candid dialogue concerning the place of the Eucharist – stimulated by a renewed and attentive study of scripture, patristic writings, and documents from across the two millennia of Christian history (cf. Ut Unum Sint, 69-70) – will undoubtedly help to advance the ecumenical movement and unify our witness to the world. "
.....
"For this reason, ecumenical dialogue advances not only through an exchange of ideas but by a sharing in mutually enriching gifts (cf. Ut Unum Sint, 28; 57). An “idea” aims at truth; a “gift” expresses love. Both are essential to dialogue. Opening ourselves to accept spiritual gifts from other Christians quickens our ability to perceive the light of truth which comes from the Holy Spirit. Saint Paul teaches that it is within the koinonia of the Church that we have access to and the means of safeguarding the truth of the Gospel, for the Church is “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets” with Jesus himself as the cornerstone (Eph 2:20). "
....
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