Sharing Deuteronomy for the first time

So far, this has been the third time Catholic teachers in Shung Tak meet and share together. It has been nearly 15 years since I came here and 35 years since I became a teacher in Catholic schools. Credit should go to Brenda to have started it.

For the first time, we met to recite the Vespers in the Ss Peter & Paul Church and went over to Brenda's house to dine and to whine. The second time, in response to a question raised by Vonnie about the extra books found in the Catholic Bible, I talked about 'A Tale of 3 Canons' in the School Heritage Room and later created a webpage about it. This time, I invited them all to read Deuteronomy during this Lent Season because Jesus answered Satan's temptations with quotations taken from Deuteronomy. Therefore, as followers of Christ, we should know what Deuteronomy talks about. In order to keep the momentum, we will meet on Fridays to share what we have read. This is our first meeting.

I understand that my colleagues have not built up a habit of reading the Bible daily. Therefore, whenever I met them during the week, I would push them a bit and check on their progress. Some are able to start but are put off by the language and unfamiliar names found in the first chapter of Deuteronomy. Some are apologetic about not being able to take up the Bible to study. It was my fault to have chosen a difficult book, a Law book for them. In order to ease their burden, I have prepared an outline, taken from an article in the Jerome Biblical Commentary edited by Fr. Raymond Brown.

Brenda supplied the bread and salmon spread. Zette offered her salad. I bought some fruits and we shared our lunch and Bible in the Teachers' Common Room. To kick off, I started with two other passages taken from the history books to demonstrate the importance of Deuteronomy: 2 Kings 22:10-11, Nehemiah 8:8-9. Why were king Josiah and later the Jews returned from exile so moved by Deuteronomy that they rent their clothes and wept?

Then I brought up the question of divorce in Deuteronomy 24 and Mark 10 to illustrate the relevance of Church teaching in our daily life. This topic turned out to be more attractive because Zette was newly married in February. The Catholic Church has always been conservative in people's mind and my colleagues were much fascinated to hear from me that there is a possibility to divorce even in the Catholic Church.

Lunch time did not allow us to indulge too much in endless sharing. I set the agenda for our next meeting: Compare the Ten Commandments as recorded in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. That should not be too overwhelming for my colleagues. Until then.

Dear Lord, guide us along. Amen.