QUESTIONS: ONE MORE WAY 

 OF  READING  THE  SCRIPTURES

INTRODUCTION

There are different ways of reading, studying, praying with or opening up a Bible. One can start with Page 1 and go to the end like any book - or one can do an individual book in the Bible one at a time - meaning starting anywhere.

A new way hit me last night when sitting down to come up with a short homily for this morning. It’s this.  Take a Mass reading - the first or the Gospel - on the middle one from a Sunday Mass. Read it. Then jot down questions about the reading that hit you.  Like, “When was this document written?”

So that’s the idea that hit me last night - as I was preparing this homily for the 24th Thursday in Ordinary Time.

So that’s why  I came up with the title of this homily: “Questions: One More Way of Reading the Scriptures.”

BETSY ROSS - TOMATOES

I remember hearing a program on NPR - National Public Radio  - about the writing of a biography about Betsy Ross.

First of all, the author being interviewed for PBS figured out there was no significant biography about Betsy Ross. So he or she decided to go there.

Betsy Ross - as you know - was in the story of how we came  up with the American flag. In the research she found out there are questions about who should get the credit etc. However, what hit me while listening to that PBS program - was the question of tomatoes. The biographer found out that Betsy Ross was interested in tomatoes - so she ended up spending a year doing research especially about the state of tomatoes in 1777.

That’s unique. That’s interesting. That’s something I remembered.

To write non-fiction, one ought to be an exact writer - and deal with all the questions a researcher might ask. Research. Research! Questions. Questions.

So that’s why I thought of questions as a way to do Bible reading and Bible research.

SO TOO THE SCRIPTURES

So in this homily, I’m suggesting reading a reading and come up with various questions that might hit  you.

So Luke 7: 36 to 50 talks about perfume - or ointment.

What do we know about perfume in Palestine in the time of Christ?

Do we have any idea what triggered the Pharisee in today’s gospel  to invite Jesus to his house for dinner?

Did Jesus ever turn down an invitation of a dinner?

Does this woman have a name?

At the end of this gospel it says that others were also at the dinner.

What did they think when they saw this woman come into Simon the Pharisee’s house - stand behind Jesus - start crying - started  weeping and washing  Jesus’ feet with her hair. Then she anointed his feet with the ointment. What was the scent like? What were their thoughts besides the one question stated at the end of today’s gospel: “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

As Father Dennis said Tuesday morning - women were second class and backroom people. Here was this woman becoming center stage?

It’s a great story that would trigger lots of questions.

In today’s gospel, Jesus tells a parable about two people in debt - one owing 500 days wages and the other owing 50 days wages. Commentators say that people in Palestine at the time of Jesus had big time debt problems. Where would they get information to say that. In the Judean War of A.D. 66-73 rebels got into the debt archives and burnt the debt records.

I hear these candidates for president saying they will cancel student college debts.  What would that be like?

Have we ever been in debt?  What was that like?

Have we ever been forgiven big time for some big mistake we made? Have you ever been near a confession and we heard some person go, “Phew! Wow!”

CONCLUSION

So that’s my homily and my idea for a homily thought.

Read today’s readings again and pick out one good question that hits you.

Like: who am I more like, Simon or the woman who washed and anointed Jesus’ feet?

Or take  the first reading for today. It says, “Do not neglect the gift you have?”  What would be the most important gift I have and on a scale of 1 to 10, how well  do I use it?  Amen.