What's Up with That?

Something that has troubled me about the New Mass, and I don't know if this goes on in other countries .. well right there .. the idea that there are different readings in different countries breaking the whole concept of "Catholic" but there is something weird going on with the readings.  If you look at the readings selected on any given Sunday, the passages chosen are always broken up, missing sentences, somewhat nonsensical.

Let's take this week's readings for a starter and then perform this analysis of what the USCCB (United State Conference of Catholic Bishops) has deemed inappropriate for the ears at Mass.  The Second Reading for this Sunday (Feb 14) is listed as: 1 Cor 15: 12, 16-20.  To the uninitiated that Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 15, verses 12 and then 16 through 20. But wait, what about verses 13, 14 and 15?  What is contained in there ?  How often is this done? Is there a pattern here? On a  more basic level.  If you wrote a letter, how would you feel about an editing committee chopping out whole sentences?


At first glance, it looks like the USCCB completely butchers the passage, joining 12 & 13 but even still you can see what they chopped (which I highlighted in read in text lifted right off the Vatican site.)


 FROM THE USCCB: 

Brothers and sisters:
If Christ is preached as raised from the dead,
how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
If the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain;
you are still in your sins.
Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

WHOLE SECTION FROM THE VATICAN:

12

⁵ But if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?

13

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised.

14

And if Christ has not been raised, then empty (too) is our preaching; empty, too, your faith.

15

Then we are also false witnesses to God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised.

16

For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised,

17

and if Christ has not been raised, ⁶ your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.

18

Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

19

If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all.

20

^{7 8} But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 

So the USCCB did worse than leave out sentences (in red) , they chopped them in half!

In the red, Paul takes to task those that do not preach correctly. Hmm... looks like the USCCB didn't like that.  He is addressing them directly.  He convicts them. And they must be guilty of something, not wanting to hear the words or wanting us to hear them. The USCCB manipulates the passage to solely point the finger at the laity, when Paul is actually warning both the laity and the clergy (and thereby, himself).

On a side note, here's the Douay Rheims which translates closely and honestly from the Latin.  Not only is it a clearer formulation of the concepts .. Verse 20 is actually staring a whole new paragraph !!!!

12 Now if Christ be preached, that he arose again from the dead, how do some among you say, that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen again. 14 And if Christ be not risen again, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God: because we have given testimony against God, that he hath raised up Christ; whom he hath not raised up, if the dead rise not again. 16 For if the dead rise not again, neither is Christ risen again. 17 And if Christ be not risen again, your faith is vain, for you are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ, are perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

 20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, the firstfruits of them that sleep:

It gets worse. In the Gospel the USCCB inexplicably chops out these sentences (verses 18 & 19) just before Jesus gives the sermon on the Mount.

17

⁹ And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon

18

came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.

19

Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.

20

And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.

21

            Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are...........

I mean, why do this? Why go through the effort of mangle the Bible in this fashion? How dare one do that?  Let's go the context of what is chopped: People go to Jesus to hear him, get cured of their diseases, even those who were tormented by unclean spirits.


Based on my thesis of Bishops chopping what they do not like because it burns their ears: The Bishops don't want people going to Jesus for direct healing, including those with unclean spirits.  In a modern context one can take "unclean spirits" to mean things like addictions, things that take over your mind and lead you away from morality.

Conclusion:
1. The USCCB supplied readings are mangled, manipulated and exhibit the worst mistake that all protestants make .... taking snippets from the Bible to misconstrue points

2. There's a theme and reason for the omissions. Theme: [The Bishops] are false witnesses to God, their preaching is empty. ( I will keep coming back to the main theme of what is chopped so in the end of this little weekly excercise we can see what's in the Bible that the Bishops hate. Theme: The Bishops want to foster unclean spirits.

 Saint Jerome, ora pro nobis.