Sacred Scripture

Week 3 and 4

Dear Families,

My apologies that I never posted last week's summary. During the past two classes, we discussed Cain and Abel, the sin of Cain, the significance of going out to the plains as opposed to the Mountains, the cause of the flood, and its typological significance as well as Abraham's role as the source of Old Testament religion and the typology between Isaac and Christ. 

Homework is to read Genesis 37-50 and to finish, if you haven't yet, the paragraph on how the author of Genesis indicates that someone has done something wrong.

God Bless,

Miss Russell

Week 2

Dear Families,

On Friday, we discussed portions of Genesis 1-4. There is so much there that it was hard to know what to cover. We ended up discussing the two creation accounts, some of their differences, and what it means to take them literally. We also talked about the creation of Woman and Man and the relations implicit in the acts of their creation. The presence of the angels and the Trinity in Genesis 1 were also touched upon.

Homework is to read Genesis 5-11 and to write a paragraph on what it means that "your eyes shall be opened."

God Bless,

Miss Russell

Week 1

Dear Families,

I'm delighted that I have the opportunity this year to teach your students Sacred Scripture! I look forward to delving into the riches of Scripture with them.

On Friday, I handed out the syllabus and we discussed the unique opportunity the students have to earn a plenary indulgence while doing their scripture homework. This article by Monsignor Pope on the power of Scripture is great reminder to us all of its importance in life: http://blog.adw.org/2021/09/the-exorcistic-effect-of-the-word-of-god/

Once introductions to the class were out of the way, we considered what it is that we are actually studying, what Sacred Scripture is. Noting that it is a book of Divine Revelation written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we considered it in relation to Revelation and reviewed what we learned regarding the two sources of revelation (Tradition and Bible) last year.

As regards Scripture we said, God is the author. The Writer is the "organ of the Holy Ghost." And Scripture itself is the word of God. The catholic encyclopedia tells us that "the text was destined by God, who inspired it, for the universal Church, in order that it might be authentically recognized as His written word."

This led to a discussion on what inspiration means, how it compares to dictation, and the freedom from error that is the result of Divine Inspiration.

We finished by reviewing the 4 senses that Scripture can have:

○       Literal

■       Gen 7:17, Noahs Ark

○       Spiritual

■       Allegorical (Typological)

■       Baptism

■       Moral

■       Be willing to seperate yourself from the world

■       Anagogical (End Times)

■       God will save those who are good in the end. 

Homework for next week is to read Chapters 1-4 of Genesis. Please also pick a verse (can be longer than a single verse i.e. could be Gen 2: 5-7) from the reading and explain how you see the 4 senses in it.

God Bless,

Miss Russell