This post is a recap of my notes on the Tuesday morning men’s bible study discussion at my home parish. All verses will be cited from the New American Bible, Revised Edition.

Lectionary #4

Reading I: Isaiah 11:1-10

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse.
    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
    or decide by what he hears with his ears;
but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
    with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
    with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
Righteousness will be his belt
    and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

The wolf will live with the lamb,
    the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
    and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
    their young will lie down together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
    and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

Commentary:

• Removal of obstacles = docile to the spirit = submitting to the Lord = Fear of the Lord
• Align ourselves to predators, they submit to what they hunt prey has power over predator?
• Dead tree stump = crucifix/cross
• Stump still has roots, a history of what has been, water in NT = holy spirit. Our society is so different than His. These animals act as a subversion of our world and the new Kingdom. As men what do we do with this?
• These new relationships are so unbelievable yet they generate hope, I make judgments that lions don’t eat hay! I need to share that hope & prayer with others
• Do we live out the kingdom or the old ways?

Reading II: Romans 15:4-9

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans

For whatever was written previously was written for our instruction, that by endurance and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I say that Christ became a minister of the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, to confirm the promises to the patriarchs, but so that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:

“Therefore, I will praise you among the Gentiles
    and sing praises to your name.”

Commentary:

• Unification, one voice of the church enemies can dwell together and be pointed towards one “Good”

Reading III: Matthew 3:1-12

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea [and] saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said:

“A voice of one crying out in the desert,
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make straight his paths.’”

John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Commentary:

• Peace is the most valued, prepare the way for the Lord failing to prepare is preparing to fail
• I tried to geta specific priest for confession but no matter what I did I went to the other that was uncomfortable
• share my good fruit with others as easy as smiling
• confession advent, a call to repent
• first half of life is repenting, now I am preparing for Christ. Slaying the wicked ad loving thy enemy
• Confession is uncomfortable, video submission over zoom?
• Man of the house reversal of roles with wife and kids when called. Self-examination DAILY, confession isn’t the only place to repent. Regret that comes with selfish retirement. One particular thing is not enough
• Prior proper planning prevents piss poor performance. Martha at Jesus’s feet. Feeling like you can’t keep up, becomes checking the box. Stop with comparison, be the best you can be
• Family, intentional leadership, unafraid to express what Christ embodies. Happy with oneself, genuine peace.
• If you’re not preparing as a businessman, you are at the whim of the wicked. I don’t like free time, when I don’t know where to focus it. “Why fight mode?” be the gatherer. “Lord I’m trying, but the wicked feels so evil”
• Strong women protect us from what we don’t see internally and externally
• Beat myself up peace seems unreachable we want control, but we ultimately hand it to Him
• eliminate the stress of your life except what is happening in the present. There are no bad outcomes, the bad outcome is you refusing to move forward. Peace is accepting gifts & repenting shame

Called to Order

A Catholic Apologist Archive

Disclaimer:

The opinions of Called to Order and it’s author Ryan Fegan, are personal beliefs and should not be held to the same level of importance as official church or biblical doctrine and/or teachings.