Advent Book Study

Over the four weeks of Advent, I will be highlighting some of my favorite parts of our Advent book study on Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary. There are so many aspects of the first two chapters that I thought were very enlightening. Dr. Pitre begins the book discussing his own journey of faith, particularly his encounter with the popular protestant claims that Catholics “worship” Mary, are idolatrous, and that our very understanding of the Blessed Mother is simply unscriptural. Dr. Pitre mentioned that while he knew his Catholic faith pretty well, he simply didn’t know how to respond to many of these claims. That is, until he found himself at Notre Dame studying for his PhD in Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity.

While it would be difficult for me to highlight all my favorite ideas highlighted in these first two chapters, perhaps one of my favorite concepts he discusses is the concept of typology. He says, “The key to understanding what the Bible teaches about Mary can be found in what is called typology: the study of Old Testament prefigurations (or ‘types’) and their New Testament fulfillments” (Pg. 10). For example, Mary can be found in the prefigurement of the “Queen Mother” of the Old Testament. The queen mother was second only to the king himself. She was honored with a royal throne and functioned as the supreme royal intercessor with the king (2 Kings 1-2; Psalm 45). This is only one of many areas where typology can be used in the study of Mary.

Chapter 2 revolves around the concept of Mary as the “New Eve.” He begins this chapter by visiting the Garden of Eden, primarily focusing on the person of Eve. Dr. Pitre illuminates areas of typology between Eve and Mary. For example, Eve invites Adam to commit the first sin. Mary invites Jesus to perform his first sign (Wedding at Cana), Eve is the mother of the “offspring” who conquers the “serpent.” Mary is the “woman” whose “offspring” conquers the Devil. In light of such parallels, there is good reason to conclude that in the Gospel of John, the mother of Jesus is no ordinary woman!

Next week, I’ll highlight my favorite aspects of chapters 3 & 4.  Please join us for a live discussion of these two chapters this Thursday, Dec. 5, at 7 PM in the St. Cecilia Commons.

Amen? Amen.
Father Jamie
 

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Pastor's Ramblings

Feast of St. Cecilia Reception. I want to thank the St. Cecilia Pastoral Council for the lovely reception they arranged after the 10 AM Mass at St. Cecilia to celebrate the patroness of the parish.

Knighthood. The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is a Roman Catholic order of knighthood under the protection of the Holy See. The Pope is sovereign of the order. The order creates Ladies as well as Knights, with the primary mission to “support the Christian presence in the Holy Land.” The order today is estimated to have some 30,000 knights and ladies in 60 lieutenancies around the world. Savio and Anita Soares have been a part of the North Eastern Lieutenancy since 2010. This year they were promoted to Lady and Knight Commanders because of their years of charity and service to the order. Congratulations and thank-you to you both!

Congratulations! Mary VonLehman and Michael Spigner celebrated the Sacrament of Matrimony on Saturday, Nov. 16, at St. Cecilia.

Back in Town. Former St. Cecilia parishioners Jacquie and Luc Sicotte were back in Cincinnati a couple of weekends ago to attend a wedding. They came to Mass at St. Cecilia the following Monday morning and had breakfast with me and Larry Misleh at Larry’s diner. They gave me a copy of the bulletin from St. Gabriel, The Archangel, their new parish in McKinney, Texas saying, “yours is still the best we have seen!”

Welcome, Children of God.  Welcome, Evelyn Nicole Olson, daughter of Mackenzie and Chase and Rory Ann Fitzpatrick, daughter of Amanda and Brian. Rory Ann is being held by Deacon Michael Huffman from St. Margaret of York who is a friend of the family and who concelebrated with Deacon Nathan Beiersdorfer. Both girls were baptized on Nov. 1 at St. Cecilia.

Confirmation. Kayla Brotherton was confirmed on Saturday, Nov. 16, at St. Cecilia.