Pentecost Sunday (Cycle A) - Mass during the Day

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Pentecost (Day) Lectionary:  63 Reading 1 -  Acts 2:1-11 Responsorial Psalm -  Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34 Reading 2 -  1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 Alleluia Gospel -  John 20:19-23 Receive the Holy Spirit LESSON: The Church's Work: Reuniting Mankind Today our 50 day Easter season concludes with Pentecost Sunday, commemorating that day in the early Church … when the Father and the Son poured out the Holy Spirit in a special way upon the Apostles … who then took up the mission of proclaiming the Gospel throughout the whole world.  This makes Pentecost one of the most significant moments in our Christian faith. However, before it was a Catholic feast, it was a Jewish feast … and when we look at Pentecost in that context, we add a deeper and richer understanding of what it all means for us today. In its Greek origin, the word “Pentecost” means simply “fifty” … and … for Christians … occurs 50 days after the Easter Resurrection of our Lord Jesus and marks ...
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Review: The Book of Enoch for Beginners: A Guide to Expand Your Understanding of the Biblical World

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The Book of Enoch for Beginners: A Guide to Expand Your Understanding of the Biblical World The Book of Enoch for Beginners: A Guide to Expand Your Understanding of the Biblical World by Phillip J. Long

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As mentioned in the Intro, this is not a full translation of 1 Enoch, but is a guided summary into the history, content and context of this very interesting pseudepigrapha that helps to also set the milieu of the second temple period of Jesus. The author starts with a summary of each book (includes a Facts at a Glance bulleted call out) before reviewing the specific book in sections. These sections are further broken down into an historical and contextual review, followed by a “Key Verse” and commentary and often an added boxes digging a little more deeply into terms and concepts … such as “Who ARE the Watchers?” or “Demons in Early Judaism.”

Over all, this was an accessible academic work that I found absolutely fascinating from an historical and theological context that definitely can contribute to canonical biblical exegesis … or simply as a history buff interested in that time period. The only downside I had was that it apparently doesn’t include the complete text, so this is really more of a companion piece .. albeit one that you should definitely use with a complete copy if you care to read it. As an added bonus, it is currently available on Kindle Unlimited making it super easy to take for a test drive.

Part One: An Introduction

Part Two: Uncovering the Five Books
- Book I: The Book of the Watchers
- Book II: The Book of Parables
- Book III: The Book of Astronomical Writings (aka The Book of Luminaries)
- Book IV: The Book of Dream Visions
- Book V: The Epistle of Enoch

I was given this free advance review copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#Enoch #NetGalley #KindleUnlimited

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