Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Sunday Readings for November 17, 2013




Malachi 4:1-2a (some bibles have it listed as Malachi 3:19-21)
Psalm 98
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Luke 21:5-19

Malachi:

"(Malachi) was composed by an anonymous writer before Nehemiah's arrival in Jerusalem (455 B.C.). Because of the sharp reproaches he was leveling against the priests and rulers of the people, the author probably wished to conceal his identity. To do this he made a proper name out of the Hebrew expression for 'My Messenger' (Malachi), which occurs in 1:1 and 3:1. The historical value of the prophecy is considerable in that it gives us a picture of life in the Jewish community returned from Babylon, between the period of Haggai and the reform measures of Ezra and Nehemiah. It is likely that the author's trenchant criticism of abuses and religious indifference in the community prepared the way for these necessary reforms."
 
- introduction to Malachi from The New American Bible
 
 
2 Thessalonians:
 
 
"Traditional opinion holds that this letter was written shortly after 1 Thessalonians. Occasionally it has been argued that 2 Thessalonians was written first or that the two letters are addressed to different segments within the church at Thessalonica (2 Thessalonians being directed to the Jewish Christians there) or even that 2 Thessalonians was originally written to some other nearby place where Paul carried out mission work, such as Phillipi or Beroea. Increasingly in recent times, however, the opinion has been advanced that 2 Thessalonians is a pseudepigraph, that is, a letter written authoritatively in Paul's name, to maintain apostolic traditions in a later period, perhaps during the last two decades of the first century. In any case, the presumed audience of 2 Thessalonians and certain features of its style and content require that it be read and studied in a Pauline context, particularly that provided by 1 Thessalonians. At the same time, and especially if the letter is regarded as not by Paul himself, its apocalyptic presentation of preconditions for the parousia (2:1-12) may profit from and require recourse to a wider biblical basis for interpretation, namely Old Testament books such as Daniel and Isaiah and especially, in the New Testament, the synoptic apocalyptic discourse (Mk 13; Mt 24-25; Lk 21:5-36*) and the Book of Revelation."
 
 
-introduction to 2 Thessalonians from The New American Bible
 
*Note how the introduction to 2 Thessalonians makes a connection between the letter itself and our Gospel passage connected with it this weekend: Lk 21:5-19+.

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