Tomb of Zachariah Found



With an interesting twist...



From the Star-News Online:



The discovery was a stroke of luck: the light of the setting sun hit an ancient tomb at just the right angle and revealed hints of a worn inscription, unnoticed for centuries, commemorating the father of John the Baptist.



"This is the tomb of Zachariah, martyr, very pious priest, father of John," the inscription of 47 Greek letters reads.



Was John the Baptist's father a martyr? Evidently the early church linked the Zachariah mentioned in the writings of Josephus (or indeed they knew of the actual case) with that of John's father:



The Gospel of Luke describes him as an elderly man from the priestly caste of Abijah who, while burning incense in the Temple one day, was told by an angel that his wife Elizabeth, also advanced in years, would bear a son, who was later to become John the Baptist.



Jewish historian Josephus writes that a priest named Zachariah was slain by Zealots in the Temple and thrown into the Kidron Valley below - which would explain the "martyr" reference in the Greek text.



The inscription suggests that local Christians believed Zachariah was buried at the site of the tomb. But because hundreds of years had passed from his death to the inscription, and with no other corroboration, Zias and other scholars say they'll never know for sure.

Sad News--Separated Conjoined Twins Die



From The Globe and Mail:



Neurosurgeons separated 29-year-old Iranian twins born joined at the head after two days of delicate surgery, but both sisters died Tuesday shortly after their parting.



The hospital announced Ladan Bijani's death, then, a few hours later, a nurse involved in the surgery said Ladan's sister, Lelah, had died.

Myth of ADHD?



Interesting piece on Attention Defecit Disorder, that begins like this:



In 1851, a Louisiana physician and American Medical Association member, Samuel A. Cartwright, published a paper in the New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal in which he described a new medical disorder he had recently identified. He called it drapetomania, from drapeto, meaning to flee, and mania, an obsession. He used this term to refer to a condition that he felt was prevalent in runaway slaves. Dr. Cartwright felt that with “proper medical advice, strictly followed, this troublesome practice that many Negroes have of running away can be almost entirely prevented.”1



If Dr. Cartwright would submit his paper today, even to the most unrespectable medical journal, it would merely raise a laugh, or Dr. Cartwright himself would be considered disordered. But in 1851, slavery was still acceptable and therefore his invented disorder was not frowned upon.



A great opening!

Ontario and Merton



Amy has blogged about our recent trip to Canada over the weekend. My own experience focused upon the diversity but at the same time the unity. Where here we still seem to be segregated into our subgroups--there it seemed a rather remarkable merging of peoples, as I commented to Amy once during the weekend that this truly seemed to be the "melting pot" that we in the United States often pride ourselves in being.



As I sat listening to music (some of which wasn't all that impressive but truly unique) and watching people, I had an experience similar to that of a trip we made to the zoo when a peacock strutting around shaking with color tried to entice the female into some embrace of unity. The colors and cultures seem to shake about me and invite me to become one with them--this seemed to reach an apex at an early morning Mass when the words from the Eucharistic Prayer seemed to leap out at me "Fill us with his Spirit through our sharing in this meal. May he take away all that divides us. May his Spirit keep us always in communion... Father, make your church throughout the world a sign of unity and instrument of your peace."



It was sort of a Merton experience similar to one he had while waiting at the corner of Fourth and Walnut in Louisville and later wrote:



"In Louisville, on the comer of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all these people, that they were mine and I was theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. I have the immense joy of being human, a member of the race in which God himself became incarnate. The sorrows and stupidities of the human condition can no longer overwhelm me, now that I realize what we all are. If only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun."



Anyway, we have much to learn about Communion and all of the attempts to build community have only thwarted what God wills.

New Evidence Suggests:

Forget Everything You Learned in that Scripture Class on Matthew you Took in High School, College, Grad School or Wherever



Matthew written early, by an eyewitness (the Apostle) and the virgin birth really did mean "virgin" not maiden.



From a story in the Kansas City Star:





In an essay written for the book Passover and Easter: Origin and History to Modern Times, Israel J. Yuval of Jerusalem's Hebrew University reported a find in the Talmud that appears to show Matthew could have been written earlier than some scholars contend.



Yuval wrote that a leading rabbinical scholar of the time was "considered to have authored a sophisticated parody of the Gospel according to Matthew."



The parody, written by a rabbi known as Gamaliel, is believed by some well-respected liberal Christian scholars to have been written about A.D. 73 or earlier.



The fact the parody exists and the date when it was believed to be written "would undercut badly (biblical critics') claims of a late date of A.D. 85-90 or later," said Bob Newman, professor of New Testament at Biblical Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania.



"That is very significant and very important," said Tim Skinner, associate professor of Bible and theology at Luther Rise Seminary in Georgia, because that validates the legitimacy of Matthew's Gospel...it confirms the truthfulness of the biblical account in Matthew and confirms the truth of what Jesus did."



Blomberg said a close study of the parody's wording indicates it was based on an existing text. If that text was Matthew, the Gospel existed much earlier than some scholars believe.



Similarly the earlier the Gospel was written, the more likely eyewitnesses to Jesus' life would still be alive.



"(Which) would mean that Matthew's Gospel would be seen by other eyewitnesses who could check and authenticate it," Blomberg said.

Co-Adujutor of Orlando Speaks



From the Lakeland Ledger (a paper that once was delivered daily at my doorstep):



In his remarks, Wenski said he learned of the appointment last week from the papal nuncio, or representative, while at a conference in Texas.



"My own feelings about the task ahead of me are relieved by having as a mentor Bishop Dorsey," he said. "I remember the words of Jesus to Peter, `Put out into the deep,' and I trust in Jesus, who in spite of my unworthiness has chosen me for this task."



Wenski said his primary mission would be "to save souls for Christ."



"We will not be saved by a formula or some new program. We and the promise he gives -- `I am with you always,' " he said, quoting Jesus. "This is a great grace but a daunting challenge. It is a contradiction for us to settle for a life of mediocrity."



Wenski is a native of West Palm Beach. He was ordained a priest in 1976 and has served his entire career in the Archdiocese of Miami. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from St. Vincent de Paul Seminary in Boynton Beach and a master's degree in sociology from Fordham University in New York.



Please note several things about Bishop Wenski: First, his point of reference is Jesus and the Scriptures, Secondly, he knew about his apointment for over a week (contrast that with the story below).

New Bishop of Palm Beach's Tale



From the Palm Beach Post:



In contrast to O'Malley's beard, brown friar's robe and sandals, Barbarito stood before his new staff in traditional clerical black and admitted he'd known about his new posting only "since about 5 after 9 yesterday morning." He said he'd barely had time to look at the plane ticket and find his seat for the trip south.



He was visiting his 83-year-old widowed mother, Anna Marie, in Brooklyn on Monday when he heard a radio report that O'Malley was being sent to Boston. He said he laughed because he'd heard two weeks ago that Bishop Donald Wuerl of Pittsburgh was the choice, and besides, he knew O'Malley had been in Palm Beach only a short time.



"About a half-hour after that," he said, "I received a phone call from the apostolic nuncio telling me that I was coming to Palm Beach... I had a spaghetti dinner set with (his mother) for last night, and I had to tell her that I couldn't make it -- but I would get back to her for that dinner."





This is really unusual. Makes me wonder if there was another plan that was changed at the last minute?