1. On the necessity of Lent
“Recently, I heard a homily where the priest focused on the ancient Jewish ritual of offering the best/first fruits to God. For example, the best animal (one’s unblemished lamb) would be sacrificed as an offering back to God, or the first fruits of a crop were burned as an offering. This was done because without God’s abundance”…read the rest here.
2. What is the blessing of first fruits?
3. Choicest fruits
4. Cain & Abel…
5. First fruits first, a commentary on Cain & Abel
“When as a young boy I first heard about the story of Cain and Abel, I thought I understood why God preferred Abel’s sacrifice over Cain’s. Abel’s real, living lamb was certainly more valuable than Cain’s fruits and vegetables, I thought, especially if the offering included lima beans”…read the rest here.