Remythologizing the Myths

Chapter One: Beauty, Truth, Goodness, Unity, Diversity
Inspired by Genesis 1

Once upon a time a girl and a boy lived together in a warm and beautiful valley. They spent their days learning about the fragrant and delicious plants, caring for the rabbits and the cobras and all the unique and varied creation that surrounded them in the valley. In the evenings, they would talk with God about their days. God taught them how to explore the valley in safety, how to give and take with one another in compassion and understanding, how to love and heal and help the valley blossom and bear fruit. The boy and the girl found deep joy in each of their days, making shadow shapes when the sun shone, turning cartwheels in the rain and playing hide and seek on foggy mornings. God taught them to make stories and poems and jokes about their joy.

Remythologizing the Myths is a new series by BJ Daly Horell that attempts to explore and uncover some of the underlying meanings in biblical stories. This is not an attempt to rewrite the Bible (God forbid) and is not in any way Scripture. But in this Information Age, the power of stories and myths to show us deeper truths sometimes seems to get lost, and the meanings stories both hide and reveal may sometimes escape our notice. So, for your enjoyment, I offer small stories to shine a light on some features of the text that seem to be overlooked.

This is paragraph one of the first series, focusing on Genesis. I intend to offer a paragraph or (at most) two, each week.

Remythologizing the Myths: A Preview

The word "myth," for most people today, holds a sinister quality. As early as the New Testament writings, myth "is used negatively to mean an invented story, a rumor, or a fable (1 Tim. 1.4; 4.7; 2 Tim. 4.4; Titus 1.14; 2 Pet. 1.16)." ("Myth," Oxford Bible Studies Online, http://www.oxfordbiblicalstudies.com/article/opr/t94/e1296)

Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers, Anchor Books, 1991

So it's no wonder that 20th century Christian biblical scholars have tried to "demythologize" the biblical texts. That is, they tried to separate the meaning of the Bible from its mythic story context.

But myth, understood rightly, has a central place in our life of faith!  Sometimes we just need a good story to help us come to deeply encounter and inhabit the Word of God.

A myth is a story "that has as its main actors superhuman beings and that is typically set in otherworldly time and space." Oxford Biblical Studies Online goes on to say that "all myths ... communicate transcendent meaning within a culture, revealing its cosmic dimensions." Myths allow us to engage the mysteries of our faith at deeper levels than can typically be expressed in the ordinary language of explanation.

Next week, our "Bible Blog" will begin retelling some biblical stories in short mythic segments. These stories will attempt to bridge the gap between a) ancient symbols and meanings and b) current, accessible symbols and meanings. These will be stories, not lessons. They will not replace scripture reading but intend to bring out underlying themes that contemporary readers might otherwise miss. 

It is our hope that these stories might encourage some folks to explore the biblical text itself more closely.

Favorite Bible Bits

Barbara Gawle, Class of 2001 and Boadt Medal recipient, sends us this tidbit from the prophets:

When I found your words, I devoured them; your words were my joy, the happiness of my heart. (Jeremiah 15:16)

How many of us can identify with the burning desire to take in more and more of the sacred word, to know that it is a search that knows no bounds, to spill over with excitement when we share it with others, to find within it our joy and delight. We sometimes cannot devour the words fast enough to make them our own, to make God come alive, to savor the mystery and message of salvation. How wonderful is the Catholic Biblical School to set that desire ablaze within us. How good is the Spirit to keep the desire alive in our hearts.

What, today, inspires you in God's Word? Share it with us! Email your Favorite Bible Bit to catholic.biblical.school@aohct.org.

Best of Barron

Wednesday, February 22, 2017
FEAST OF THE CHAIR OF SAINT PETER, YEAR I
MATTHEW 16:13-19

Bishop Baron writes:

Friends, today’s Gospel spells out the importance of Peter’s confession. For it is upon this inspired confession that the Church is built.... It is built upon the inspired authority of Peter....

What is the focus of Peter’s confession? It has to do with who Jesus is. This is the rock upon which the Church is built. We don’t say for a moment that all of Peter’s practical decisions are right, that everything he says is right. But we are saying that he is right about who Jesus is: a man who is also the Son of the living God. And this is the source and ground of the whole operation.

From BJ: The bishop writes, "Who Jesus is" "is the 'rock' upon which the Church is built." Is knowing Jesus the rock upon which your life is built? Come to know Jesus in the Bible this Lent. (Psst! Ash Wednesday is next week!)

For Bishop Barron's reflection in its entirety, click here: http://dailycatholicgospel.com/get-reflections.

i phone fast

For the first time ever, the Archdiocese of Hartford is inviting people to fast from using cell phones on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday in an initiative called: “I Phone Fast!”

Silencing our busy phones, gives God a chance to call our hearts. Please consider including this practice in addition to fasting from food, almsgiving and prayer, which are traditional disciplines by which the Church observes Lent.

Best of Barron

Sunday, February 12, 2017
6TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, CYCLE A
MARK 8:11-13

Bishop Robert Barron writes,

Friends, in today’s Gospel ... I’d like to draw your attention to the final line in the passage: “He left them, got into the boat again, and went off to the other shore.”

Whose boat was this? Well, ... it belonged to his disciples.... Without warning, without asking permission, Jesus got into [their] boat. Now the boat was everything for Peter; it was his livelihood, his security. But Jesus just got in and began giving orders.

So it goes in the order of grace. The true God cannot be manipulated, determined by us, or controlled through our efforts.... Do what the disciples did and let Jesus enter your boat.

For Bishop Barron's reflection in its entirety, click here: http://dailycatholicgospel.com/get-reflections.

Making Sense of the Bible Schedule

At present, there are four locations that are committed to providing CBS 075 Making Sense of the Bible over the next few months. They are:

Resurrection, Wallingford--instructors, Linda and Steve Ward, CBS Class of 2015
Our Lady of Pompeii, East Hartford--instructor, Kimberly Petrillo, Class of 2014
St. Bridget, Manchester--instructors, Dcn. Bill Gilles, Class of 2009 and John Ryan
St. Mary, New Britain (in process)--instructor, Jill Costa, Class of 2010

Contact those parishes to inquire about scheduling details and registration. Contact information is available at archdioceseofhartford.org (click on "Quick Links" "Find a Parish" and search by parish name or town).

Class size is limited.

CBS Alumnae Leaders: Cee Cee Johnson, Jill Costa, and Jean Moriarty

Making Sense of the Bible ~ Early Feedback

St. Francis Xavier, New Milford 

Ten parishioners of St. Francis Xavier parish in New Milford are the first to complete the newest Hartford Catholic Biblical School (CBS) program, Making Sense of the Bible (CBS 075). Led by CBS alumna, Maura Pauli, the students unanimously rated all aspects of the course as "excellent" and had this to say about their experience:

The course was wonderful.... I feel it opening my mind and my heart. 

I enjoyed learning about the Bible. I feel I grew a lot in my faith.

Of most value to me was learning to navigate through the Bible.

Of most value to me was the need for a more comprehensive attitude and context when reading Scripture.

It was a great introductory class. I still would like more classes!

In addition to CBS 075 and the four-year intensive CBS program, there are also dozens of CBS alums who are providing biblical ministries in their parishes and schools. Contact the Biblical School at catholic.biblical.school@aohct.org to find ideas about how your community might come to know Jesus personally through Bible Study.

Best of Barron

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

5TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR I
MARK 7:14-23

Bishop Robert Barron writes:

"Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus explains that sinful behavior flows from within our hearts. How often the Bible speaks of the “heart.” By that it means the core of the self, the deepest center of who we are, that place from which our thoughts and actions arise. God wants to penetrate that heart.... We are made in the image and likeness of God, but that image can be so distorted by sin as to be barely recognizable.... We are all capable of dark and evil acts. I’m not OK and neither are you. ... [Sin] grows like a fungus or like a cancer.

"Have our hearts become hardened, so that God cannot get in? Is there a deep resistance in us to grace?"

For Bishop Barron's reflection in its entirety, click here: http://dailycatholicgospel.com/get-reflections.

New Qumran Cave Found Looted

Archaeologists recently found and excavated a new cave in the cliffs near Qumran. While no new scrolls were found, Second Temple (dating 515 BCE to 70 CE) scroll pots were uncovered, and the site showed signs of looting.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem website (http://new.huji.ac.il/en/article/33424) reports:

Piece of parchment found in clay jug in Qumran cliffs.
(Photo: Casey L. Olson and Oren Gutfeld)

"Excavation of the cave revealed that at one time it contained Dead Sea scrolls. Numerous storage jars and lids from the Second Temple period were found hidden in niches along the walls of the cave and deep inside a long tunnel at its rear. The jars were all broken and their contents removed, and the discovery ... of a pair of iron pickaxe heads from the 1950s ... proves the cave was looted.

"Until now, it was believed that only 11 caves had contained scrolls. With the discovery of this cave, scholars have now suggested that it would be numbered as Cave 12. Like Cave 8, in which scroll jars but no scrolls were found, this cave will receive the designation Q12."

CBS Classes Cancelled Today

Blizzards make for GREAT Bible-reading days! But don't come to class today. Nobody will be there. Stay safe and warm, and do your homework. 😼

Best of Barron

Saturday, February 4, 2017

4TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR I

MARK 6:30-34

Friends, today’s Gospel shows Jesus’ compassion for the multitude in the desert.... [This story is meant to remind us of] the people Israel in the desert.... [In the Gospel as in the time of Moses,] we see people who are dying to be fed and a prophet who is under threat of death. This crowd around the threatened Jesus is a metaphor for the Church. We have come to him because we are hungry, and we stay even when things look bleak.

BJ's Challenge: Do "we stay, even when things look bleak"? Does your community foster an intimate relationship with Jesus? 

We can only grow as a community insofar as we bring folks to a gospel encounter with Jesus, Our Lord. This is the purpose and goal of every Catholic Biblical School activity.

So come to our free, open to the public, Celebration of Sacred Scripture, where Dr. Harry Attridge will lead us to encounter Jesus in the Gospel of John! St. Thomas Seminary, Bloomfield, Saturday, March 25, 2017, 12:30-4:30 (food and fellowship at noon). Register online here: http://www.orehartford.org/

For Bishop Barron's reflection in its entirety, click here: http://dailycatholicgospel.com/get-reflections.

Celebration of Sacred Scripture 2015