{"id":445,"date":"2012-05-10T20:18:13","date_gmt":"2012-05-10T20:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=445"},"modified":"2012-05-10T20:18:13","modified_gmt":"2012-05-10T20:18:13","slug":"var-_gaq-_gaq-_gaq-push_setaccount-ua-25646250-2-_gaq-push_trackpageview-function-var-ga-document-createelementscript-ga-type-textjava-39","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=445","title":{"rendered":"<script type=\"text\/javascript\">    var _gaq = _gaq || [];   _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-25646250-2']);   _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);    (function() {     var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text\/javascript'; ga.async = true;     ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:\/\/ssl' : 'http:\/\/www') + '.google-analytics.com\/ga.js';     var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);   })();  <\/script>  <\/heat> Session 27 \u2013 Held on Sunday, May 06, 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Summer Plans \u2013 Stay Tuned!\u00a0 Join In!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This was our last session for this year.\u00a0 During the summer months we will focus our attention on the Gospel for the upcoming Sunday.\u00a0 I plan to post some pointers no later than Tuesdays of each week and look forward to communal dialogue during the week; questions, comments, and observations.<\/p>\n<p>We also will focus our attention on a deeper appreciation of what it means to be church, especially what are we doing when we gather to celebrate the Sunday Liturgy.\u00a0 I hope to post some remarks on that topic again by Tuesdays of each week.<\/p>\n<p>When CCD begins we will gather again and begin with Genesis Chapter 16.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Covenant with Abram: Gen. 15: 1 \u2013 21.<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Before you read the passage <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/15\">http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/15<\/a>, read the notes and the remainder of this and the next paragraph.\u00a0 It always helps to focus your attention by asking a few basic questions that, if you\u2019ve followed us at all, you will know.\u00a0 Who, When, What.\u00a0 Most importantly, pay special attention to what happens on the inside of you; even if what happens is nothing.\u00a0 Whatever happens matters, because you matter.\u00a0 Finally, here is the tricky part, whenever you are moved by the Spirit you are moved but not every movement is from the Spirit.\u00a0 Always \u2013 evidence of the Spirit are inward, \u201cthe fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.\u201d Gal. 5:22 \u2013 23.\u00a0 And outward: I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was homeless, I was sick, I was imprisoned and you \u2026. Mt. 25: 35 \u2013<\/p>\n<p>This passage has two related segments v.1-6 and v.7-21, probably put together from a collection of Abram stories by our editor.\u00a0 Each has the same structure: God promises, Abram questions, God responds.\u00a0 The first deals with the issue of descendants and the issue of what is God going to do; the second, with land and how is Abram going to know.\u00a0 Keeping the time of the story and the time of the editor in minds can be very enriching.\u00a0 The events in the story take place thousands of years after the intended audience of the written account hear the story told to them.\u00a0 They are very familiar with the stories.\u00a0 It is about Abram but it is also about them and their history from David to the Babylonian Captivity. \u00a0It is meant to address their faith at a time in which there was trust in the Lord had been\u00a0severely\u00a0challenged.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps one of the most significant passages in the whole of scripture occurs in conclusion of the first segment; at least that was the case for Paul.\u00a0 So we read in v. 6 \u201c<strong>Abram put his faith in the LORD, who attributed it to him as an act of righteousness.<\/strong>\u201d \u00a0What can be of enormous help is forming you answer to questions in the bible is to draw your answer from your own life experiences.\u00a0 Start there.\u00a0 What does it mean to put faith in someone? Have you ever put your faith in anyone? \u00a0What did you do? \u00a0Why did you do it? What is the context in which Abram \u201cput his faith \u2026\u201d?\u00a0 Following up whatever conversation you may have had with just yourself but especially if there was someone else reading with you the rest of the verse.\u00a0 There we read, \u201cwho [the LORD] attributed it [put his faith] to him [Abram] as an act of righteousness.\u201d\u00a0 What is righteousness?\u00a0 Do you ever use that word in your ordinary life?\u00a0 Probably not.\u00a0 It is a biblical term and more, one general source for deepening you understanding of this one word might be <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Righteousness\">http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Righteousness<\/a>. \u00a0Google it, read more, share what you find.<\/p>\n<p>Abram\u2019s trust, when there was little, if any evidence, summons us to some of the most disturbing moments in our life, when there is little if any evidence. \u00a0It is frankly quite easy to trust when the evidence is overwhelming. \u00a0But precisely at the time when all of the evidence was not to trust, Abram trusted.\u00a0 God\u2019s response was to \u201cattribute\u201d\u00a0 &#8211;\u00a0 look for clues to that word in your life.\u00a0 \u201cAs an act of righteousness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Here we are taking a single verse and word by word asking, searching for its meaning; not just for Abram, not just for the Hebrew people, not just for Paul, but for me in the now of my life.\u00a0 How can a book invite so much from the reader, listener?\u00a0 Time to rest and listen to you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Summer Plans \u2013 Stay Tuned!\u00a0 Join In! This was our last session for this year.\u00a0 During the summer months we will focus our attention on the Gospel for the upcoming Sunday.\u00a0 I plan to post some pointers no later than &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=445\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,5],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-scripture","tag-religion-and-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=445"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":447,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445\/revisions\/447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}