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Sacred/Sacred Space: What does the word mean? What makes a place sacred?

Sacred is a place, experience, or object that is set apart from the ordinary and is holy. It is a connection to and experience or feeling of peace, wisdom, or healing. To me what makes a place sacred is that it has a significance that has a lasting impact on someone. A sacred place also reveals a truth about something.

Dei Verbum: Four important ideas for how Catholics interpret Scripture

Consult commentary, work as a community, pay attention to texts that make you uncomfortable, pray

The Four Sources of Wisdom: How can they be used in a "Catholic" approach to reading scripture?

The four sources of wisdom are scripture, tradition, reason, and human experiences. Scripture can be used in a "Catholic" approach by interpreting and paying attention to historical context and is best used in a community. Tradition gives us ways of thinking that were passed down, we take tradition and use it as an ongoing conversation. Using reason we distinguish what we know using secular interpretations. With experience, we read the scripture with our own point of view from what we have found to be true from our own lives.

"Interpreting the Bible" by Sandra Schneiders (18-22) Seven practical techniques?

The seven practical techniques in Sandra Scheiders's "Interpreting the Bible" the seven practical techniques are...
- Consult a commentary
- Remember that Scripture can be strange and familiar
- Read text holistically
- Work as a community
- Pay attention to texts that make you uncomfortable
- Pay attention to trajectories in Scripture
- Pray

Types of Truth: What are the various types of truth found in Scripture?

• Symbolic - conveyed through symbols and stories that are about deeper meaning, the symbols are cultural.
• Religious - the relationship between God and the people of Israel
• Moral - reveals, in complexities, what is right and wrong, and what we need to do to be close with others and God
• Relational - how relationships work, interactions and dynamics between people
• Historical - historical accuracy
• Geographical - the "whole world" of the Bible consisted of the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian areas
• Scientific - primitive science of the writers time, the "unexplained" was demystified in myth and symbol

Authorship: What are the major characteristics of each of the three sources (P, Y, E) we studied in the creation of the book of Genesis? You should be prepared to analyze a passage and identify the author based on the clues in the text?

Priestly Source (P) - 550-450 BC by priests working to preserve religious traditions and community identity of the Israelites
• Refers to God as "El" (the one, the God)
• Importance of "blessing and curse"
• Covenants with God mark important movements
• Genealogies (lists of family tree)
• Focus on the social and religious role of priests
Yahwist Source (Y) - 950 BC in Judah, earliest source of Torah, focuses on the royal house of King David
• Refers to God as "YHWH" (God's personal Name)
• Use of anthropomorphic imagery (God in human form)
• "Down to earth" style
• Importance of "divine promise"
Elohist Source (E) - 850 BC in Israel, fragments/periscopes inserted into the J story, beginning with Gen 20, refers to Mt. Sinai as Horeb
• Refers to God as "YHWH Elohim" ("God the Almighty")
• God communicates through dreams
• "Fear of God" as an important characteristic
• Great concern for moral & ethical issues
• Great heroes of faith are portrayed as prophets

Covenant: What is covenant? How do the stories of Genesis 17 and Exodus 19-20 illustrate the nature and characteristics of covenants?

A covenant is a mutual agreement between two or more people to do or refrain from doing certain acts. The story of Genesis 17 Abraham promised that all males would be circumcised and God promised that he would have a son with his wife. Exodus 19-20, the Ten Commandments, and The Covenant of Circumcision illustrate the nature and characteristics of covenants because there is a mutual agreement and it is made in trust.

Rabbi Shelly Waldenburg: What is a master story? Why is Exodus the "master story" for Judaism? In Exodus, what four things does God reveal? How did the Exodus story parallel the experience of Rabbi Waldenburg's own life?

A master story is the central narrative for a person or people, which informs how one sees the world and themselves in that world. Egyptians controlled the Israelites and the rabbi was controlled by his learning disability. They both did not have complete control but eventually broke free.

Prophets: What is a prophet? What does the word mean in Hebrew? What is the role of a prophet in society? When God calls prophets, how do they usually respond?

A prophet is someone who has a close relationship with God. Prophet comes from the Hebrew word navi meaning "to call." The role of a prophet is to communicate a divine message. When God calls prophets, they call out to the world.

Advent: length, symbolic colors, practices and history

The coming/arrival of Jesus
4 weeks leading up to christmas
Purple, Pink, White
Advent wreath
1. Purple: Hope
2. Purple: Love
3. Pink: Joy
4. Purple: Peace

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