Gratitude & Thanksgiving

 Psalm 72 is a coronation hymn for a king. Verse 1 “king” = David; “king’s son” = Solomon (because of Solomonic attribution) “righteousness” (tzedaqah 159x; tzedeq 160x) (righteous person = tzaddiq 206x) means behaviour that conforms to some standard (e.g. interpersonal agreement, rules/regulations/laws, covenant) Verses 2-4 “he” = the king or the king’s son, i.e. every leader of the people Vv. 2 and 4: the king maintains and restores justice V. 3: the mountains and hills, representing creation, bring peace and righteousness “peace” [Hebrew: shalom = wholeness, completeness, integrity] “lowly” [Hebrew: ani = socially dependent] “needy” [Hebrew: evyon = destitute] King Soloman was confronted with 2 women, each with a child, one dead and one living.  Both women wanted claim on the living child, Soloman wisely gave an option - to cut the child into two.... one woman said yes do that, the other woman said no let the child live, and she was prepared to give the child away so long a...

Psalm 8 is a psalm of praise. Starts with praise to God. Praise his creation The heart of the psalm - what is human worth that HE cares for man Then the inclusio - closing with praise This psalm contains vocabulary of majestic glory The triple us of the pronoun is lost in the English translation at v1, 4, 9 Verse 1 Hymns in the psalter usually praise God in the 3rd peron (eg Psalm 19, 24) Hymns in the Psalter usually begin with an imperative call to praise God, e.g. Ps 33; 47. Psalm 8 begins differently — with an exclamation of praise spoken directly to God : “O LORD, our Lord” → Psalm 8 is a poem about God and us and about our relationship with God Verse 2 When Jesus quoted this psalm in teh NT, he quoted the Septuagint, the Greek bible. not the Hebrew bible.   In the NT, there is the story of the entrance into the holy city. Interpretation 1: Matthew 21:15-16 ESV: But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in ...

The following is a collection of notes from various sources, including teachings by Rev Fr Ferdinan Purnomo, OCD. ORIGIN OF THE WORD PSALM PSALMS AS SALVATION HISTORY FIVE BOOKS Blessed is the one who meditates on the Torah Torah, the five books of Moses, means Teachings. The book of psalms is offered as a new Torah about the life long practice of prayer, as they strive to obey God's commands given in the Torah HEBREW AND GREEK NUMBERING AUTHOR/ATTRIBUTION THE ORGANISATION The ending of each of the five books has a thoughtful pattern, each book ends with: The entire collection concludes with five psalms, each ending with Alleluia TYPES OF PSALMS Psalms 1 and 2 Most psalms in book 1 are linked to David except Psalms 1 and 2. So Psalms 1 and 2 are taken as Introductory psalms. Psalm 1 Celebrates how blessed the person is who meditates on the Torah day and night, and obeying it. Psalm 2 is a poetic reflection of God's promise that one day a messianic king will come concludes that ...

Watching the 3-hour long movie "The Odyssey" was exhilarating.  Several parts of the dialogue made me sense that the 3000-year-old ancient poem is far deeper than what it seems.   After the show, I tried to search out those parts of the dialogue that moved me to deeper thoughts.  This led me to resources that enlightened me, especially a particular Youtube video which gave me what I was looking for.  Below are notes from the video transcript, organised for easy reference, and given headings (my own) for clarity.  Link to the Video A DIFFICULT RETURN We would use the word odyssey for any long, difficult journey. But Homer gives more of the Odyssey to the broken household waiting for him, the disguises he wears after returning, the people who do or do not recognize him, and the violence required to make his home his own again. It is whether a man can return to the life that once made him who he was. ESCAPING THE BURDENS THAT MAKES LIFE MEANINGFUL In the land ...

Personal NOTES taken during mass Personal notes taken during homily by Rev Fr Edmund Chong, Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour 26 July 2026 Sunday