A Lamp for Today
A Lamp for Today
Understanding the Old Testament With Jesus and the Apostles
Join Edith Humphrey in reading Old Testament passages designed to bring to life the weekly Gospel and/or Epistle reading for the Divine Liturgy. The apostle Peter, speaking of these books, called them a “lamp,” confirmed in Christ, which we must heed until the very return of our Lord (2 Peter 1:19). Discover how the apostles and the New Testament writers followed the pattern of Jesus in their understanding of the “Holy Scriptures” of the early Church—the Law, the Prophets and the Writings.  See what happens as we “read backwards” from the New Testament to the Old, just as the evangelists do: here is a quest to see the continuity between the testaments that will both encourage and challenge. As Jesus opened the Old Testament to the two on Emmaus, their “hearts burned within them:” can we afford to ignore words that so powerfully witness to our Lord Christ, through which the Holy Spirit still speaks today?
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Friday, October 31, 2025
Light from the Readable Books 32: The Ezra Apocalypse and Transfiguration
This week we complete our series on the Readable Books by looking at 4 Ezra (2 Esdras 3-14), and reading its central visionary episode in the light of Luke 9:28ff; Isaiah 65:17-25; Rev 12; Rev 21; and 2 Cor 3. We learn, with “Ezra,” that suffering is not futile, but can be transformed into glory by God, who ruled as the King of Glory from the cross. The next episode in two weeks will begin a new series, called “Light from the Old Testament Upon the Nativity.”
Friday, October 17, 2025
Light from the Readable Books 31: 1 Esdras, the Domestic, and the Divine
The relatively unknown book of 1 Esdras (1 Ezra in the Orthodox Study Bible) commends itself to us through the fathers’ attention to its central episode, 1 Esdras 3:1-5:6 (OSB 1 Ezra). In reading the young man Zerubbabel’s discourse concerning the power of women and the victory of truth, we are helped by referring to 1 Corinthians 13, Proverbs 31, Psalm 119 [118 LXX]:160, Matthew 19:5, and Matthew 24:3. God uses the domestic and ordinary things of this world to raise us up to the truths and graces that are divine.
Friday, October 3, 2025
Light from the Readable Books 30: The Prayer of Manasseh, Repentance, and Forgiveness
We read the contrite Prayer of Manasseh in the light of Ezra 9, Nehemiah 9, Psalm 51, and 1 Chronicles 21:14-15. We then move on to consider how it is that we as Christians must forgive, and the relationship of repentance to forgiveness, with the help of Matthew 6:9-15, Luke 23:34, Acts 7:60, Romans 5:8, and Ephesian 4:32.
Friday, September 19, 2025
Light from the Readable Books 29: Psalm 151 and David the Small
We look at this “extra” signature Psalm of David, alongside his story in 1 Samuel/1 Kingdoms 17, and with reference to 1 Corinthians 1:22-27. In these we find a particular Christian theme, connected with the triumph of the Holy Cross: God uses what we consider weak in order to bring about His mighty deeds!
Friday, September 5, 2025
Light from the Readable Books 28: 4 Maccabees, God’s Reason, and the Passions
We read 4 Maccabees, a book on the very edge of the canon, in the light of what St. Gregory Nazianzen says, as well as in light of Hebrews 11, Acts 22, and Revelation 12. In it are poignant examples of martyrdom, and strong encouragement to not be ruled by our passions.
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English Talk
Gregory the Great 6-NF6-1