Where did the Bible come from? In recent generations Catholics in Texas find themselves surrounded by beliefs arise in predominantly Protestant influences. So, where, exactly did the Bible come from?

The Bible came from the Mass. From the earliest generations of the Church, when Bishops met in large groups or synods, they would ask one another what scriptures do you read at Mass? This all happened even before there was a Bible, which actually took two or three centuries. They did always read the Old Testament at Mass. In the beginning, the New Testament did not yet exist, as it was written mostly in the first century of the Church. Many things were read at Mass early on, even things that today we do not consider as part of the Bible. Gradually, they acquired and began reading at Mass the four Gospels and the letters of Paul, James, John and Peter. And so, the formation of the Canon of the Bible, the official collection of the books of the Bible as the Word of God, came about through generations of Bishops asking one another, “What do you read at Mass as the Divine Word of God?”

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In the first reading the prophet Habakkuk asks a question many of us ask sometimes in our faith life.

How long, O LORD?  I cry for help
 but you do not listen!

We may doubt God is really doing anything, and that our faith is in vain.

In the Gospel, we hear the apostles struggling with their doubts when they say to Jesus,

Lord, “Increase our faith.” 

Jesus essentially tells them they have enough faith.  They just need to learn patience in God and trust him, and do their work.

St. Paul tells his younger companion, Timothy, probably a new Bishop of Ephesus,

I remind you, to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.(Timothy’s ordination)
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control. 

In the case of Habakkuk, he was probably giving his prophecies shortly before 587 BC, when the dreaded Babylonians would come and destroy Jerusalem and take the Jews into exile in Babylon for the next 70 years.  There is the question we all hear:  Why does God permit evil and destruction?

For generations, the Jews had turned their back on God and the teachings of their faith.  There was rampant corruption and violence, with the strong in Judah abandoning their faith, and taking advantage of the poor, not unlike today.  The Jews apparently counted upon God’s protection, but they themselves were probably worse than what they expected from the feared empire of Babylon.  Several prophets had come to warn them, including Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Habakkuk.  Habakkuk was now saying, it’s over.  That’s the last straw.  Jerusalem will be destroyed and the people were going to be sent into exile.

Habakkuk was also saying, “Lord, get on with it!  Make it happen soon!”  God replied to Habakkuk,

“Write down the vision (of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Exile) clearly upon the tablets,
 so that one can read it readily.
 For the vision still has its time,
 presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
 if it delays, wait for it,
 it will surely come, it will not be late.
 The rash one has no integrity;
 but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.”

Often we are “rash”, demanding of God, insisting He act upon our instructions. It may be something like, “God, please make this happen!  I’ll give you until Thursday.”

The lesson God gives us is that His promise is true, and his chastisement is for our good.  As I said, there was much evil in Jerusalem, probably equivalent to any evil in Babylon.  Jerusalem had become like Babylon. Jerusalem had been warned by God, through the prophets, but rejected the warnings.  The destruction and exile happened in 587 BC.

Therefore, we must learn to be patient and wait on Him, not the other way around.  God says, “Wait for it.  Turn to me.” We must learn to endure God’s chastisement, because He is perfecting us, not the other way around.  Our impatience is often against God.  He asks us for patience in our faith and endurance.

In the Gospel, Jesus is showing us how to serve one another, patiently, in faith, when he said.

“Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’? 
Would he not rather say to him,
‘Prepare something for me to eat.
Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished’? 

Allow me to share a different way to think about this parable.  Think about the “Last Supper”.  Jesus has just come in from tending the sheep.  Jesus is the servant.  We are the ones saying, “Prepare something for me to eat … put on your apron and wait on me.”

At the Last Supper, Jesus takes a towel and washes the apostles’ feet. Jesus is the servant at the Last Supper who serves his apostles, before and during the Supper.  He shows us exactly how to become the true servant who does what is expected of him, only eating after his service is finished. Jesus is the servant who feeds us, and asks us to do likewise.  Do your job. Complete your ministry without grumbling.  That is the faith of the mustard seed that can move mountains.

Instead of saying, “Lord, increase my faith”, we must simply do what is expected of us.  Then, he will give us rest, only after we have completed our task.

So, as St. Paul tells the young bishop, St. Timothy,

… stir into flame
the gift of God that you have …

… Take as your norm the sound words that you heard from me,
in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 

Love grows.  Love matures. Love can be messy.

When I engage in marriage prep, I love to use love stories. I recall an interview I heard on National Public Radio years ago.  NPR was doing a series on marriage, and they interviewed an older married woman about her marriage.  The interviewer asked, “Was it love at first sight?”  The woman answered, “No.  But it is now.”

She revealed that her love for her husband had evolved.

Let’s take a look at the situation of Martha and Mary.

Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

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I mentioned at the beginning of our pilgrimage the importance of knowing the difference between “tourism” and “pilgrimage”.  We should consider another spiritual dimension:  A pilgrimage should involve discernment, or an intention.

Jesus’ last evening at Gethsemane was a discernment.  He was completely free.  He knew he had a choice.  He knew what his choices were.  He knew what was coming.

The word Gethsemane is derived from the word for oil press.  Gethsemane was not only an olive grove, but also a place where the oil was pressed out of the olives.

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The first written teaching we possess regarding the Eucharist, the Holy Mass, comes to us from St. Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, written from Ephesus to the Church in Corinth around the year 56, some 23 years after Jesus’ crucifixion.

I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, 
that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, 
took bread, and, after he had given thanks,
broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, 
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

By this we see that the Church had the custom of the Holy Mass very early after the Resurrection and Pentecost of Jesus.

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St. Luke wrote both the first reading from Acts and the Gospel reading. Luke was the only Gospel writer who was not a Hebrew or a Jew.  He was probably a Greek-speaking Christian from the city of Antioch in Syria.  St. Paul referred to him as a physician, so he was well educated, and wrote and spoke excellent Greek.  Some have called Antioch the “Cradle of Christianity”, since it was from Antioch that St. Paul and St. Barnabas were sent out by the Church there to evangelize the gentiles.  Antioch was a Greek/Roman gentile city.  Luke became a companion of St. Paul in his mission travels.

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At daybreak on the first day of the week 
the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus 
took the spices they had prepared
and went to the tomb.
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb;
but when they entered,
they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

The Resurrection of Jesus changed the world.  Death died.  Life conquered death.  Everything changed.  Nothing would ever be the same for those who came to know Jesus, His Resurrection, and claim the Hope it promised.

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Remember the old Protestant gospel song, probably written and sung prior to the 1870’s.

Give me that old-time religion,
Give me that old-time religion
Give me that old-time religion
It’s good enough for me

The song represents a spiritual mindset that goes against the teachings of scripture, particularly with Isaiah and the prophets and St. Paul.

Isaiah briefly recalls the great works of God, particularly how He brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt through the Red Sea, saying,

Remember not the events of the past,…
see, I am doing something new!

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