Sunday, November 19, 2006

There is a House in Steubenville...

"The House of the Rising Son: The Book of Hebrews" That's the name of Scott Hahn's intense study of the Letter to the Hebrews. It was recorded during a university summer session course, and it's available from St. Joseph's Communications. Be warned: Dr. Hahn's stuff is densely packed as he starts teaching about stuff he's passionate about. Young Fogeys can certainly listen to it while driving in a car, but to get the most out of it, this is one of those things you're also going to want to listen to at a desk with your bible and a notepad handy. The tapes/CDs are arranged by chapter, so you can read the chapter ahead of time, or judge how many of them to bring along (depending on the length of your road trip).

Why do I bring this up? Since the beginning of October, the second reading on Sundays has been from the Letter to the Hebrews. Since the 29th Sunday (October 22), the passages have been about the superiority of the eternal Priesthood of Jesus Christ over the Levitcal Priesthood previously established by God.


The readings are filled with passages such as, "passed through the heavens", "according to the order of Melchizedek", "he has no need to offer sacrifice day and night", "offering the sacrifices that can never take away sins", etc. Terms we can't fully appreciate unless we have a little understanding of the theology of Old Testament Jewish Priesthood and what liturgical worship was like back then. Then we can see how Christ's Priesthood is the perfect consummation of what was only only temporarily accomplished by the Temple Priests on earth.

And while you're in the Christmas shopping season, you should check out the entire catalog of St. Joseph's Communications. They've got it all: tapes, CDs, DVDs, videos, for the Young Fogey in your life who seeks to learn more about their faith.

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