Finish the old year with the best....

I thought I would finish the old and start the new year with the best of scholars:  Pope Benedict.  I listened to his book "Jesus of Nazareth" when it first came out on cd, but it was very unsatisfactory.  There's nothing like holding a book in your hands and reading it for yourself.  From what I remember he quotes extensively from the book of Matthew and since this is the liturgical year of Matthew's Gospel I thought it would be good to read it.  According to the back cover Pope Benedict said "This book is my personal search 'for the face of the Lord'"  In the introduction he speaks of the value of the historical critical method but says that this cannot take the place of Jesus as portrayed in the Gospels and proclaimed in the Church.  In the first chapter he speaks of how the prophets of Israel were different from the fortune tellers of the surrounding nations.  They were to discern the will of God rather than fortell the future, and it is through his relationship with the Father that we are to understand Jesus.  It's a very dense book and one that I think I will reread from time to time.