nov 2012 137

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Upon this Rock magazine is published monthly by

EuropeAxess Media, Gibraltar.

Editor: Fr. Stuart Chipolina: [email protected]

Production Editor: A. [email protected]

Cover Photo: Courtesy of beyondpesticides.org

Xenopus tropicalis

Upon this Rock magazine is entirely supported by advertising

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It is run in liaison with the Catholic Diocese of Gibraltar by EuropeAxess Media Ltd. as a not-for-profit project. For Advertisers: This magazine is hand-delivered to homes, churches, hospitals and many businesses around Gibraltar every month. To discuss your advertising requirements, or promote your church group or charity, call Tel: 200 79335 email: [email protected] Editorial is selected by EuropeAxess Media in liaison with the Catholic Diocese of Gibraltar.

Neither of these parties is responsible for the accuracy of the information contained herein, nor do the views and opinions expressed herein necessarily reflect the views and opinions of either party. Advertisers are not endorsed by virtue of advertising in this magazine. EuropeAxess Media Ltd. reserves the right to refuse space to any submissions or advertisements. Efforts have been made to establish copyright owners of images, but if we have used your material, and have not credited you, please contact us to discuss restoration.

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Fr. Stuart’s Foreword: “Dear Friends...”

God puts in the heart of every living person the desire for unending life and happiness.

While death claims each of us at the appointed time, God gives us something which death cannot touch – his own divine life and sustaining power. In the Old Testament, one of the greatest testimonies of faith and hope in the midst of great suffering and pain is that of Job: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another”(Job 19:25-27).

Jesus made an incredible promise to his disciples and a claim which only God can make and deliver: Whoever sees and believes in Jesus, the Son of God, shall have everlasting life and be resurrected! How can we see Jesus? He is present in his word, in the breaking of the bread, and in the church, the body of Christ. Jesus reveals himself in many countless ways to those who seek him with eyes of faith. When we read the word of God in the bible Jesus speaks to us and reveals to us the mind and heart of the Father. When we approach the table of the Lord, Jesus offers himself as spiritual food which produces the very life of God within us (I am the bread of life, John 6:35). He promises unbroken fellowship and freedom from the fear of being forsaken or cut off from everlasting life with God. And he offers us the hope of sharing in his resurrection. Is your hope and desire to see God face to face?What is faith and how do we grow in it? Faith is an entirely free gift which God makes to us. It is the Holy Spirit who reveals who Jesus is. We can believe in Jesus Christ because he is himself God, the Word made flesh. Faith is a personal adherence to God and the free assent to the whole truth which God has revealed. Faith is active submission to the One who created us in love and who sustains us by his grace and power. To obey in faith is to submit freely to the word that has been heard, because its truth has been guaranteed by God, who is Truth itself. We can entrust ourselves wholly to God and believe absolutely what he says. To live, grow, and persevere in faith to the end we must nourish it with the word of God. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) said:

I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe. Jesus promises that those who accept him as their Lord and Saviour and submit to his word will be raised up to immortal life with him in the Day of Judgement. Do you know the inexpressible joy of belief and hope in the resurrection (see 1 Peter 1:3-9)?“Lord Jesus Christ, your death brought life and hope where there was once only despair and defeat. Give me the unshakeable hope of everlasting life, the inexpressible joy of knowing your unfailing love, and the unquestioning faith and zeal in doing the will of the Father in heaven.”God Bless you, Fr Stuart

seek Him with the

eyes of faith

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OPENING THE WINDOW TO FAITHAnnouncing the Year of Faith at the World Youth Day Sky Dive Film Premiere

What is Faith? It is possibly the single most important element in Christian life, writes Anne Mesilio.

Without faith it is impossible to please God, because any-one who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him”. (Hebrews 11:6). Put simply, faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see. Faith is a free gift from God, the in-strument by which we achieve our salvation. Having faith leads to an active life, it is not static, it has its origins in God and we must continue to learn and grow in Grace. Fifty years have passed since Pope John XX111 inaugurat-ed the Second Vatican Coun-

cil to invite people to return to the source of faith. He per-ceived a ‘crisis of faith’ which needed to be addressed whilst recognising that it is not easy to live our faith today given the many challenges we face. When he was asked how this was going to happen, his an-swer was to walk over to a window and throw it open…to let in a draught of fresh air! Perhaps not a lot, or indeed even enough has changed in these fifty years of trouble and strife as Pope Benedict XV1 has seen the need to open the doors and announced a spe-cial ‘Year of Faith’ running

from 11th October to Novem-ber 2013 to help us rediscover this hidden treasure which is our faith. He says it “is a sum-mons to an authentic and re-newed conversion to the Lord, the one Saviour of the world”. This call cannot go unheeded. In Gibraltar on Saturday 6th October 2012, the Apostolic Nuncio, H.E. Archbishop Antonio Mennini, on his first pastoral visit concelebrated a Votive Mass in the Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned, the Mass of Our lady of Europe, very fittingly placing this year under her patronage, she for whom faith has never wavered since 1309, despite wars, conflicts, ill use of the shrine, neglect, even during the evacuation of the civilian population during WW11. Sit-ting amongst the congregation

at this Mass my thoughts flew back to my parents, grandpar-ents and other ancestors who I realised now, no matter what hardships prevailed in their daily lives, and there were plenty, one thing that was nev-er uncertain was their steadfast faith in God. I admit to having had periods of laziness in my own faith, and shaken by their certainty I could only resolve to do better.This special year is linked with the call to New Evangelisation, “the transmission of the faith” and it begins with a deepening

On Monday the 22nd of October His Lordship Bishop Ralph Heskett attended the premiere

screening of the World Youth Day Sky Dive film, at this event Mgr. Charlie Azzopardi, who

had recently returned from Rome announced that the World Youth Day pilgrimage

programme is in line with the Year of Faith celebrations called for by the Holy Father and so,

Bishop Ralph welcomes Apostolic Nuncio, H.E. Archbishop Antonio Mennini, who met with Parish Representatives and

Apostolic Groups at the Catholic Community Centre 5th Oct. 2012


OPENING THE WINDOW TO FAITHAnnouncing the Year of Faith at the World Youth Day Sky Dive Film Premiere

of our own faith, then invit-ing people to encounter Jesus in a new way. This could be seen as overwhelming, im-agining ourselves tramping the highways of the world to proclaim the Gospel (as in-

deed the apostles did) but we can do this in a more sustained way through being part of a community where faith can be nurtured. His Excellency met with the parish representatives and Apostolic groups remind-

ing them that ‘the church ex-ists to serve not only its own faithful and believers, but the wider community’. To the youth he said ‘you are young, you are blessed to be young’ and exhorted them, at the be-

ginning of life and careers that ‘true happiness is to be found in God alone, not in worldly success, or in relationship with others, but in God’. He warned of a ‘materialistic Continued on page 15

like the four intrepid Sky Divers, the Emmaus Youth Group have hit the ground running as they

train and fund raise in order to be able to participate in the WYD pilgrimage to Rio 2013.

Louis Lombard gives his te

stimony

(published in last m

onth’s magazine).

Funds raised as we go to press:

£27,000

Can you help?


6 Share the magazine with friends all round the world www.uponthisrock.eu Share the magazine with friends all round the world www.uponthisrock.eu Panadol Advance contains paracetamol. Always read the productleaflet and consult your pharmacist or doctor for advice.

*Breaks up in your stomach.

GIBRALTAR DIOCESE

2012 CRIB COMPETITION ENTRIES ARE INVITED

FROM HOMES, SCHOOLS AND

PLACES OF WORK.JUDGING WILL TAKE

PLACE ON MONDAY 17th DECEMBER 2012.FORMS CAN BE

COLLECTED FROM CATHEDRAL BOOKSHOP AND HANDED IN AT ST THERESA’S CHURCH

ENTRANCE FEE £5 PER CRIB.

Winners will be contacted and Prizes will be handed out onat St. Theresa’s Children’s

Christmas Eve Mass at 5.00pm on the 24th Dec.

(For more information please contact Maria Louisa Aguilera

on Mob: 58008677)

God chose to communi-cate Himself and the eternal decisions of

His will through divine revela-tion.1 The Word is set forth and “shows its power”2 in Holy Scripture, es-pecially in the New Testament. This is the principal witness for the life and teaching of Jesus, within which the Gospels have “a special pre-eminence”3. They are not “lives” of Jesus but four versions of the record of the Good News, the evangelium.4 They are a product of a time and culture, and therefore reflect a particular cultural conditioning different from today’s thoughts and behav-iour. They came from the tradition handed down in the early Chris-tian communities in5 the form of stories, sayings, parables – faith-fully transmitted by the Apostles and revered for Jesus’ teaching - “those divine treasures”.6 They contain the words and deeds of Christ, demonstrating He was in-deed the Son of God.7

Matthew is one of the ‘synoptic’ Gospels. Which of these came first is in dispute but tradition holds that “Matthew stands au-thority for Matthew; Mark repre-sents Peter’s tradition; and Luke is companion to Paul”8 There is a hypothesis that Matthew and Luke came first, with Mark using both to form a synthesis or digest.9 Indeed, tradition always names Matthew first, underlying the re-gard in which it is held10. Howev-er, most scholars tend towards the Mark-first hypothesis, as the most “economical explanation”. In this, Matthew uses the whole of Mark, a collection of sayings des-ignated as “Q”, and his own mate-rial, designated as “M”11. In terms of date, we can only be sure that they all stem from the last forty years of the 1st Century.12 Modern scholarship would set the compo-sition of Matthew at around AD 85 or 90.13 St. Ignatius, Polycarp, and St. Jerome all establish its authenticity and by the 3rd Cen-tury, the whole Church held it as a

Divinely inspired document, and, consequently, canonical.14

The length of the Gospels was limited by length of scrolls and Matthew nearly always used shorter, more economical, but neater language than Mark.15

There is some evidence that the original Gospel was written in Aramaic, with a later Greek trans-lation.16 Most scholarship places its composition in Syria. Though Matthew the Apostle’s direct au-thorship is questioned, the coher-ency and Jewishness of the author is in no doubt. His “individuality is so strikingly evident” it is “im-possible” to consider it a “mere compilation”.17 Some claim it comes, at one remove, from a “School of St. Matthew”.18

continued on page 14

Julio Alcantara’s scholarly notes on the Four Evangelists

St Matthew-

the bridge between Old and New


What is the Pill doing to the Environment?

Sponsored by

In 1960, the combined oral contraceptive pill was first approved for use in the

United States. Seven years later, “the Pill” was featured on the cover of Time Magazine, illustrating its enormous societal impact (1). Roughly two generations later, statistics from the United Na-tions show that, within more de-veloped nations worldwide, just under 16% of “partnered” wom-en use contraceptive pills, a number which does not include usage among single women (2).However, even as the popularity of oral contraceptives remains high, the drugs themselves have been evolving in response to further discoveries about the human reproductive system, as well as efforts to reduce the Pill’s negative side effects. As with any major technological or medical development, particu-

larly one embraced very quickly by a large sector of the popula-tion, it can take years, and even decades, for the full range of ef-fects to become evident. And as demonstrated by several recent studies, many questions remain unanswered regarding the long-term and environmental effects of the hormones used in oral contraceptives, as well as other medical treatments.When a new synthetic substance is created, or a naturally occur-ring substance is generated at greatly increased levels, the ef-fects can be far longer-lasting and wider-reaching than its manufacturers predict or intend. In the case of oral contracep-tives, the key ingredients are synthetic hormones known as progestins, which mimic pro-gesterone, either alone or com-bined with estrogen. When used therapeutically in contraceptive



pills or in hormone replacement treatments for menopause, these synthetic hormones make their way into the water supply after being excreted in the patients’ urine. As environmental con-taminants, these are referred to as endocrine-disrupting chemi-cals (EDCs), due to the fact that they interfere with the endocrine systems of humans and animals alike following exposure. While its impact is still being widely studied, there is no doubt that the exposure is occurring: multiple international stud-ies have documented elevated levels of natural and synthetic hormones in drinking water, and one such study conducted in France noted that progestins in particular were more resistant to removal by water treatment methods, compared with other types of pharmaceuticals (3).Due to the accumulation of syn-thetic steroids in water, much

of the research conducted on its impact has been done us-ing water-dwelling vertebrates such as fish and frogs. An ever-increasing collection of studies report harmful effects of these hormones on aquatic verte-brates, particularly with regard to their reproduction, as would be predicted given the nature of the contaminants (4). One study focused on the effects of expo-sure to the progestin Levonorg-estrel (LNG) on the frog Xeno-pus tropicalis.

While the male reproductive system did not appear to be impaired, female tadpoles exhibited severe defects in the development of their ovaries and oviducts, leaving them sterile(5).

While studies such as these can-not be taken as a direct assess-ment of the impact of environ-mental EDCs on humans, they

do have certain advantages: the capability of controlling for the duration and concentration of ex-posure, and the fact that these an-imals’ life cycles are much short-er than those of humans, thus en-abling multigenerational studies in far less time. Like the prover-bial “canary in the coal mine,” animal studies can serve as early indicators of environmental con-ditions that may prove harmful to humans and direct our atten-tion toward seemingly innocu-ous substances we encounter in the air we breathe, the food we

eat, and, as in this case, our water supply. However, the effects of EDCs are not limited to water-dwelling frogs: female sterility resulting from early exposure to progestins has been reported in studies involving rats and mice, whose mammalian reproductive systems more closely resemble those of humans (6). The female reproductive system undergoes many key developmental chang-es in the early stages of life, and these changes are dependent on endocrine signaling events that are sensitive to contaminating environmental hormone expo-sure. A series of studies by a group at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have demonstr--ated that mice exposed to phy-toestrogens – plant estrogen

continued on page 13


“The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”. (Matt 26:41).

In this single sentence we find encapsulated the meaning of the word sloth

which has been defined as physical and spiritual laziness. The word comes from the ancient Greek meaning neglect, either of oneself or ones duties. Sloth is counted among the seven deadly sins and interestingly, the Bible says nothing about them. So, where did all begin, this listing of deadly sins which could imperil ones soul? What is sin? It has been defined as an immoral act considered a transgression against Divine law. We do this in two ways by committing venial and mortal sins. Way back in the Middle Ages the Roman Catholic church differentiated between Cardinal sins which could cost us our soul and the venial or lesser sins which impede our progress, whilst the former cuts us off from Grace. An example of venial sin could be our failure to fulfil a civic obligation like paying a fine;

here sloth might play a part as laziness was probably the reason

rather than a deliberate intent not to do so. Mortal sin is committed with

full knowledge and consent to do so, e.g. murder, which cuts us off from Grace.There can be no doubt that original sin by Adam and Eve set us on a thorny and troublesome path which destroyed our innocence in that Utopian garden. Since then mankind has

been immoral, untrustworthy, lazy, self-seeking, exploiting

the weak, mired in rivalries and hatreds etc. This brings

us to Cain and Abel, sons of Adam and Eve when Cain murdered Abel in a fit of jealous

anger letting sin entangle him. He was

severely punished for this being banished from the presence of the Lord and the land he worked as a farmer, to become a wanderer. Despite the appalling litany just enumerated it is worth remembering that despite mankind’s limitations and frailties we humans have a great capacity for compassion and love and for doing what is right.However, this is about the sin of sloth and its contribution to the difficulty of living up to the high moral standards we set ourselves. This summer has been described as ‘a golden summer of sport’ which saw the hugely successful Olympic and Paralympics Games take place in London. There was no evidence of sloth here as humans exerted themselves to reach their fullest potential to achieve and overcome limitations, and prejudices, especially in the Paralympics Games. In the global challenges which face us we can perceive sloth in the lack of political will

t h e spirit is willing but the flesh is weak

Anne Mesilio writes:


t h e spirit is willing but the flesh is weak for intervention.A year of faith has been proclaimed (see article) to try and overcome the spiritual apathy which prevails, leading to an absence of God from our lives.You would think that since Moses received the Ten Commandments, this set of biblical principles with prohibitions such as murder, theft, adultery, would be enough guidelines in trying to live a moral life. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) said sloth is ‘sluggishness of the mind which neglects to begin good….it is evil in its effects if it so oppresses man as to draw him away entirely from good deeds’ Church leaders from the Middle Ages recognised our human frailties and even as early as the third century the “greatest sins” list was written, then around 590AD it was re-written and the Roman Catholic church today recognises seven; pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony and sloth. This list, to my mind, is a damning indictment on

humanity that we are capable, each and every one of us of

harbouring the capacity for all of the named seven. What a battle

for the soul which must survive in this moral desert and we depend on our leaders to guide our decisions

on issues of morality, and of course ultimately, the decisions are ours alone. Apathy is part of the sin of sloth as we find doing the right thing often means really exerting ourselves. Take what we call ‘compassion fatigue’ today in relation to the countless images of human suffering which fill our homes via the media. They fill us with despair and sorrow and often leave us feeling helpless and empty. If we cannot, in any physical way help alleviate this suffering, then surely we can pray? “Could you not watch one hour with me” Jesus asked of his apostles who had fallen asleep whilst he wrestled with the suffering he knew awaited him. They were tired, it had been a long day,

nay, weak even, momentous happenings had occurred, (the entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper that very evening) and surely they had been overcome by physical more than spiritual torpor, the spirit willing……In a well-lived day we will not have let the sin of sloth violate the first commandment; “you shall love the lord your God with all your heart, your entire mind, all your soul, and all your strength”. This is asking us to make perhaps a superhuman effort as our days are filled stresses, traumas, meeting deadlines etc and it is so easy to get lost amid all this clutter of daily living. Maybe we need to slow down our lives somewhat and whilst this sounds like a contradiction let us take a look at the animal sloth. In zoology, this tree dwelling mammal is the worlds slowest, spending 18/20 hours per day sleeping, hanging upside down in the trees. It is a lethargic lifestyle and not one we need aspire to, yet, as I visualise this

Continued on page 13

YEAR Of fAITh NEwS

In conjunction with the Year of Faith called for by the Holy Father, there will

be a Diocesan Pilgrimage and Retreat to FATIMA next year led by His Lordship the Bishop and Fr Stuart.

The full programme will be available soon, but the itinerary will include a visit to the Church of the Eucharistic Miracle in Santarem.The pilgrimage will be between the the 21st and 25th of February next year, and it will cost 240 Euros per person (with a 50 Euro Single Supplement)If you are interested contact either Fr Stuart or Richard Martinez on Tel 20077135

Also as one of the Year of Faith initiatives

in the Diocese of Gibraltar, His Lordship, Bishop Ralph Heskett has it in his heart that we should open a new CHRISTIAN BOOKSHOP offering the wealth of Christian Literature that is available. This will be situated next to Jury’s café on Main St. and will offer devotional books, the lives of the saints, church documents and other Christian literature, as well as Catholic Life Posters, CDs, and DVDs. In partnership with CTS, Redemptorist Publications, Gracewings, Ignatious Press and others the shop will be able to offer UK and USA books. It is hoped the shop will be open in time for Christmas and that Denis McBride, C.Ss.R may be able to come for the opening of the bookshop and to launch some of his titles locally. Upon This Rock looks forward to reviewing books of interest during this very special Year of Faith.



the spirit is

willing but

the flesh

is weak

Continued from page 11life of ease among the trees, and see us always rushing along in the frantic pace of modern life I see my soul caught in an unquiet eddy as this coursing river of life carries us ever onwards. “What is this life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare”. Sloth is spiritual laziness too but I am beginning to fear it is born out of not having, no, maybe I mean not making the time to stand and stare. “Awake, my soul, and with the sun, thy daily stage of duty done, shake off dull sloth and joyful rise, to pay thy morning’s sacrifice”.

continued from page 9s such as those found in soy prod-ucts – at key developmental time points exhibited impaired fertility

(7). In contrast to mice, in which the critical period of time is dur-ing the neonatal period, the hu-man female reproductive tract is undergoing development from prior to birth through adoles-cence. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the risk of exposure to EDCs across a broader window of time, beginning in the womb.The use of hormonal contracep-tives by pregnant women is dis-

couraged for the obvious reason that they are not ovulating, in ad-dition to the potential for harm to the unborn child. However, post-partum contraception guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control in 2011 state that the use of progestin-only contraceptives “can be initiated immediately postpartum,” and discourage the use of estrogen-containing com-bined contraceptives in breast-feeding women primarily because the estrogen can reduce the moth-er’s milk supply (8). The presence of progestins in the breast milk of women taking oral contraceptives has not been demonstrated to ad-versely affect their babies’ health, although such assessments tend to focus on the short-term outcomes rather than those that might not manifest until adulthood. Nev-ertheless, the most recent report from the NIH group studying the effects of phytoestrogens high-

lights the notion that limiting early exposure to plant estrogens, such as those found in soy-based infant formulas, may prove to be benefi-cial to female reproductive health in the long term. Furthermore, the potential harms of prevalent EDC pollution in the environment are not restricted to women: in November of last year, the Brit-ish Medical Journal published a report indicating that levels of prostate cancer in men are highest in geographic areas with the great-est use of oral contraceptives (9). While the authors stress that their findings are correlative rather than causative, their work provides a sobering hypothesis for further important research.Ultimately, the Catholic opposi-tion to contraception is grounded in a fundamental understanding of the meaning of human life and the purpose of procreation as a part of God’s plan, not a pragmatic conclusion reached by painstak-ing scientific research. While it makes intuitive sense that hu-mans both individually and as societies benefit by living in ac-cordance with the wishes of their Creator, in a fallen world there are practical things that can be done

to alleviate some of our suffer-ing, including the use of medical technology and pharmacology. It should be noted that synthetic hor-mones are not exclusively used in contraceptives, nor are the chemi-cal compounds marketed as con-traceptives intrinsically immoral – for instance, an unmarried and abstinent woman using hormonal treatments to treat endometriosis in the hopes of safeguarding her future fertility is doing nothing sinful, regardless of the efficacy or side effects of her decision. However, in a world in which influential groups and individu-als are increasingly advocating for population control, often in a manner that recalls the eugenics movement of decades past, it is necessary to insist that research be done to uncover truths regarding the long-term and unintended side effects of widespread contracep-tive pill usage.* * *Rebecca Oas, Ph.D., is a Fellow of HLI America, an educational initiative of Hu-man Life International. Dr. Oas is a post-doctoral fellow in genetics and molecular biology at Emory University. She writes for HLI America’s Truth and Charity Fo-rum. To read the full article and refer to footnotes see: http://www.zenit.org/article-34791?l=english

ThINkING GREEN AuThOR’S PACkAGEOn the 21st October 2012

EuropeAxess Media’s Internet Electronic

Publishing (IEP) took part in the Gibraltar Government’s ‘Thinking Green Conference and Trade Show’.A representative explained that new technologies are able to cut down the number of trees and other resources used, compared to traditional publishing processes. “The message of this Conference is that we cannot continue squan-dering the Earth’s resources like the Prodigal Son, and expect it to provide a comfortable home for us. Figures from the Publishers Association show that 77 million unsold books a year are pulped.

We are advocating the use of ebooks and new print technolo-gies where we distribute new titles electronically with as few paperbacks as are required.”The stand displayed recent-ly published printed paper-backs and e-books, with demonstrations available on Chiquita Neven du Mont’s illustrated biography, ‘My Seven Lives’ on an iPad 2, supplied by Newton Systems Ltd as well as Dr. Diane Sloma’s ‘Financial Services Handbook’ on her own Kindle Touch e-reader.IEP launched a special ‘Think-ing Green Author’s Package’ which includes an ebook and paperbacks to be distributed to

Amazon.co.uk, with a supply of paperbacks for Gibraltar book-shops. Further copies can be ordered singly, or in small quan-tities at a very attractive cost. If your book is ready to come out, call Angela on Tel: 20079335 for more information.

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continued from page 7 In many ways it resembles a ‘teacher’s manual’ with its dis-tinct feature of five large ‘blocks’ or discourses around a ‘theme’. Matthew is the most Semitic of the Gospels, constantly touch-ing on Jewish and rabbinic cus-toms19.The destruction of the Temple in AD 70 was an event of seismic proportions. It led to serious con-cern and division among Jews as to the continuation, and nature, of Judaism.20 “We have nothing now apart from the Mighty One and his Law”21 It was within this ‘debate’ that Matthew entered the field. Matthew’s Gospel was directed to these concerns. Juda-ism had to adjust to new realities and to him the only response was the Evangelium. The com-munity Matthew addressed was largely, though not exclusively, Jewish Christian. He wrote for Jewish readers and felt no need to explain Jewish customs and usages. He wrote for Jewish Christians still exposed to Jewish influence and to “Jews who still resisted the Gospel”.22

From the very beginning Mat-thew anchors Jesus at the very centre of the Old Testament, showing continuity between it and the Christian movement - “all this took place to fulfil ….” is a constant ‘formula’. Matthew quotes from the Old Testament forty-one times.23 He presents Jesus as the authoritative in-terpreter of The Torah; “I have come not to abolish but to com-plete.”24 It is a continuation of the Jewish tradition with Jesus fulfilling the ancient prophecies in their entirety. By assembling Jesus’ teaching into five dis-courses, Matthew deliberately alluded to Moses and the five books of the Pentateuch.25 Jesus is the new Moses “inaugurat-ing the new people of God”. He brings to completion the work of Abraham, Moses, David, and the Prophets.26

In Jesus, all the prophecies on the Messiah are fulfilled. He is a king who receives homage from all around him.27 In his genealogy, David is named be-fore Abraham emphasizing “the royal anointed one.”28 Jesus sets

about proclaiming the Messianic Kingdom, a theme richly Jewish. Indeed, Matthew’s is often called the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven - (Jewish Matthew never uses the “Kingdom of God” – out of respect for His Name). But, His kingdom “is not a kingdom of this world”29 much to the cha-grin of apocalyptic Jews expect-ing a triumphant release from the Roman ‘jackboot’. There was increasing antagonism between converted Christians and Jews who did not accept Jesus. The break between Christianity and Judaism was already apparent.30

Matthew Ch. 23 shows how se-vere these tensions were. We are at the start of a Christian-ity in transition from being just another movement within Juda-ism;31 a movement now inclusive of non-Jews in response to His command.32 Christ’s Church is the new Israel. 1 Dei Verbum 6, 2 DV 17, 3 DV 18, 4 New Jerusalem Bible p1147, 5 New American Bible, 6 DV 6, 7 New Advent Catholic En-cyclopedia, 8 NJB p1147, 9 Sacra Pagina p6, 10NAB, 11SP sect 3, 12NJB p1147, 13SP sect 4, 14NACE, 15Maryvale, 16NACE – Language of the Gospel, 17Adolf Julicher quoted in NACE, 18SP Intro. Sect 4, 19NJB, 20SP Intro Sect 5, 212 Baruch 85:3 quoted in SP p13, 22NACE Destination of Gospel,23Maryvale, 24Matt 5 :17, 25Catholic Truth Society p 20, 26Maryvale, 27Matt. 2: 10-11,28NAB, 29Jn 18:36, 30CTS p21, 31SP p21, 32Matt 28: 19-20

Julio Alcantara’s scholarly notes on the Four Evangelists

St Matthew- the bridge between Old and New


Announcing the Year of Faith Anne Mesilio reports.continued from page 5and hedonistic philosophy of life……which does not seem to bring joy, contentment or satisfaction’. Only in the name of the Lord can we offer to our society ‘hope, inspira-tion, and where possible, even concrete progress in the crea-tion of a better world’.Before leaving the Rock, where, on this all too short a visit, he received a ‘wonder-ful, warm, welcome’, he cel-ebrated Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Europe where he invoked her intercession ‘for ourselves certainly, but also for all the peoples of this con-tinent’.I have been writing about the sin of Sloth in this issue where it has been defined as physical and spiritual laziness. If there has ever been a time to shrug off a mantle of indolence surely the time is now? The New Evangelisation offers the gifts of faith, hope, love and a new life in Christ. The church seeks to comfort all those who

are burdened as Jesus “grants all people rest and comfort from the world’s burdens by offering us the hope of salva-tion and eternal life”. We begin a busy year where we must try to let it not be that “the spirit is willing…but the flesh is weak”. Spiritual lazi-ness can only be overcome by practicing the virtue of diligence, which is the habit of keeping focused and paying attention to the work at hand — be it the work of employ-ment or the work of God.


16 Share the magazine with friends all round the world this Christmas at www.uponthisrock.eu

nov 2012 137

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