Reminder: Scripture Day for Returning CBS Students

Year 2 - St. Thomas Seminary

Saturday, August 28

8:30-2:30 (Sign-in begins at 8:00)

Sr. Barbara Bozak, CSJ

Year 3 - St. Thomas Seminary

Saturday, August 28, 2010

9:00-3:00 (Sign-in begins at 8:30)

Ms. Celia Sirois

In Memoriam: Fr. Lawrence Boadt, CSP

Called to Eternal Life: July 24, 2010

Fr. Boadt, or "Larry," as he liked to be called, was a great friend to the Hartford Catholic Biblical School and the Office of Religious Education. He continued to work closely with our students throughout his long fight with cancer, leading our first-year Lenten Scripture Day less than four months prior to his death. He was the author of numerous books and articles, including the CBS textbook Reading the Old Testament. Please continue to pray for him, the Paulist fathers, and his family.

Personally, I will miss his subtle smile and his great wit. He was a delightful person to share a meal or conversation with. I am also grateful for the way he presented scholarly material in ways that were accessible to ordinary folks. He will be deeply missed, though I am sure his ministry will be carried on valiantly by the Paulist Fathers and in particular by Fr. Michael Kerrigan, his friend and colleague.

Fr. Boadt's presence among us has changed, but he will never be forgotten. Two great ways to honor his memory: (1) live the Word of God and promote Bible study, and (2) recruit students for the Catholic Biblical School.

The Lawrence Boadt Memorial Medal will be awarded in his honor at the Anniversary Celebration in October to an individual in the Archdiocese who demonstrates both excellence in the study of Sacred Scripture and the generosity of spirit in teaching the gospel that Fr. Boadt was so well known for.

Anniversary Tickets on Sale Now

Tickets for the CBS Fifteenth Anniversary Event are now available for purchase in the Archdiocesan Office of Religious Education for $25 per guest. Archbishop Henry Mansell will join us, and after dinner Dean Harold Attridge of Yale Divinity School will speak on “The Gospel of John, Critical Study of Scripture, and the Life of Faith.”

All are welcome to this event on Thursday, October 21, 2010, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at St. Thomas Seminary. For $25 per guest, you can be part of this historic gathering. To order your tickets, contact Jill Costa.

Additional donations will be accepted at the event to support the ministry of the Catholic Biblical School.

It's in There... NOT!

(Sixth in a series)

Camels and Kings

The beautiful tradition of setting up nativity scenes at Christmas dates back to St. Francis of Assisi, who, according to his friend and follower, St. Bonaventure:

"... prepared a manger, and brought hay, and an ox and an ass to the place appointed. The brethren were summoned, the people ran together, the forest resounded with their voices, and that venerable night was made glorious by many and brilliant lights and sonorous psalms of praise." (Life of St. Francis of Assisi)

We have, however, taken some imaginative turns in our devotion to the Christ child. For example, the gospel accounts of Jesus' birth mention nothing about camels and kings!

The Gospel of Matthew mentions "magi" from the east (sometimes translated as "astrologers" or "wise men"). "Magi" is plural for "magus," which refers to "a member of a hereditary priestly class among the ancient Medes and Persians." The magi are found only in Matthew 2, where no mention is made of how many magi visited (three comes from the number of gifts given).

Camels are probably an artist's invention (from way back) to highlight the foreign and eastern character of the visitors. Camels had been domesticated for travel thousands of years before Christ's birth, so it is entirely possible that visitors from the east would arrive on camel, if they were rich enough to afford that conveyance. And if we imagine our visitors to the Christ child as wealthy, it's only a short imaginative leap from "magi" to "kings"--especially given the high value of the gifts described in the gospel story.

Remember, though, that the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke are unique in the gospel narratives in that they may or may not be based on historical events. But that's a subject for another day!

It's in There... NOT!

(Fifth in a series)

MYTH: St. Mary Magdalene was a reformed prostitute or adulteress.

Do a "Google" search for "Mary Magdalene," and you'll get a cyber-collage of women in various states of un-dress, sometimes kneeling in repentence but just as often assuming an inviting pose or langorous recline. For centuries, St. Mary Magdalene has been revered as the ultimate repentent sinner, but the New Testament tells a very different story.

Outside of the passion narratives, there is only one mention in the gospels that describes Mary's personal history:

"Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means." Luke 8:1-3 (NIV )

Mary, then, was first among those listed as financing Jesus' ministry. She was neither destitute (and hence, reduced to prostitution to make her living) nor a social outcast. She is spoken of here with respect as one who personally encountered the healing ministry of Jesus, having had "seven demons" cast out from her.

Now, scholars tell us that "demon possession" in New Testament texts is probably best understood as what today we know as mental illnesses. And, in the Bible, the number seven symbolizes "completion" or "perfection." So the author of Luke is here telling us that Mary was filled completely with an unhealthy condition of some kind that was not understood well.

Yet, Jesus made Mary completely whole, and she became a model of faithful discipleship. In the gospels, she not only makes Jesus' ministry possible by supporting Jesus and the Twelve, but as the gospels unfold Mary is shown to be one of Jesus' most faithful followers, remaining at his side in the difficult times when most of the Twelve remained distant. She is also, in Christian tradition, called "Apostle to the Apostles," partly because, in the Gospel of John, she is the first to preach to the Twelve the central message of our faith: the Resurrection of Jesus.

This does not lessen the impact of inspiring gospel stories of sinful woman brought to faith. But because the sinful women of the gospels have been, incorrectly, identified with Mary of Magdala, the gospel story of Mary's own story--her healing, her dedication to Christ and his ministry--is eclipsed, and her identity as disciple and apostle is obscured.