In our 6th class on Wisdom Literature, we look to the book of Wisdom which is also called the Wisdom of Solomon. This book is part of the Deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament, contained in the Catholic Bible but removed from the modern Protestant Bible.
Handout is below.
We consider the parable of the workers who were hired at various hours but all paid the usual daily wage, and the concluding reversal, "the last shall be first, and the first last."
This parable is given in the context of our Lord's instruction to the Apostles in the final portion of our Lord's preaching in St Matthew's Gospel prior to Holy Week. This parable falls in the context of Matthew 19 and 20.
We then consider the details of this parable and what it means for the Christian. Finally, we encourage reading "Revelation" by Flannery O'Connor.
Listen online [here]!
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The short story of Flannery O'Connor is online [here]! Or [here]! And the audiobook format (with some commentary) is [here]!
We discuss the parable of the unforgiving servant, noting the extremes of debt and forgiveness. The unforgiving servant was forgiven 10,000 talents; which is 60 million denarii (164,000 years of daily work, or somewhere around $10 billion in modern terms). The other servant owed him 100 denarii; not nothing (100 days of work, around $15,000) but much less.
And we then put this parable in the context of the five discourses of St Matthew's Gospel: The Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5-7); the Apostolic or Missionary Sermon (chapter 10); the Parabolic Sermon (chapter 13); the Sermon on the Church or Ecclesiological Sermon (chapter 18); and the Sermon on the End Times or Eschatological Sermon (chapter 24-25).
This parable is within the discourse on the Church -- it is the life of the Church which teaches us how to forgive.
Listen online [here]!
In this fifth class on Wisdom literature of the Old Testament, we look to the third book of Solomon - Song of Songs. This book is a series of hymns commemorating the love of a king and his bride, the days before, during, and after the wedding. From ancient times, this book is recognized as a mystical expression of the love of Christ and his Church.
Handout below.
Inspired by the Gospel this Sunday, we preach on fraternal correction and also other forms of charitable correction (especially parents to children, or superiors to subjects).
Before being able to offer proper fraternal correction, one must first receive correction well and in the spirit of humility. We then discuss St Thomas Aquinas' treatment of fraternal correction as part of the virtue of charity.
Listen online [here]!