Noli Me Tangere

Last night, during our monthly SMF moms' meeting, we begun discussing Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth. We talked about an excerpt of the book I had found at Studeo, and discussed the power and heart of homeschooling that revolves around the stories we tell our children.

Now, every educator, every teacher who wants to communicate new knowledge to his listeners naturally makes constant use of example or parable. By using an example, he draws to their attention a reality that until now has lain outside their field of vision. He wants to show that something they have hitherto not perceived can be glimpsed via a reality that does fall within their range of experience. By means of parable he brings something distant within their reach so that, using the parable as a bridge, they can arrive at what was previously unknown. A twofold movement is involved here. On one hand, the parable brings distant realities close to the listeners as they reflect upon it. On the other hand, the listeners themselves are led onto a journey. The inner dynamic of the parable, the intrinsic self-transcendence of the chosen image, invites them to entrust themselves to this dynamic and to go beyond their existing horizons, to come to know and understand things previously unknown. This means, however, that the parable demands the collaboration of the learner, for not only is something brought close to him, but he himself must enter into the movement of the parable and journey along with it.

And we read another excerpt as well, dealing with Our Lord's Baptism, and the powerful and multi-symbolic image of water in Scripture. This led to a discussion on the mass and the liturgy, since this past Sunday, the Baptism of Lord, the pope celebrated mass ad orientem in Rome.

We also discussed the scripture passage Noli Me Tangere, painted by Fra Angelico and numerous other great masters. I found this morning some discussion on this very passage at Catholic Exchange. Enjoy it.

And lastly this brings up another point discussed last night: the importance of a good bible translation. Catherine and I talked about the "Ignatius Bible": for the ones not familiar with it, I add below a good quote and link.

RSV-Catholic Edition This is the only major modern translation of the Catholic Bible available in standard English. All other major translations have been revised to conform to feminist demands for "inclusive language" (the same language Rome rejected in the new Catechism). Acclaimed for decades as the clearest, most accurate and most beautiful modern translation of the Bible in English.

Ignatius Press has a new, second edition of this bible, available in paperback, hardcover or a nice leather edition as well. I am putting one in my birthday wish list!