At one of our Turning to God’s Word retreats, we discussed the meaning of imprimatur and nihil obstat in Latin and in Church usage, and it seemed as though readers would appreciate a Lost in Translation post on the topic. The Latin phrase nihil obstat literally means “nothing obstructs.” It …

Throughout the Gospels Jesus constantly speaks in parables, though he’s willing to explain them to his inner circle. In the Gospel According to Matthew 13:1–23 (NABRE), Jesus discusses his use of parables with his followers and suggests that he deliberately uses them to make his message unclear. When evaluating this …

Vulgar is one word that comes up occasionally in a Catholic context. Its meaning has changed so much over time that it may be misunderstood. One such example is in the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE and RSV2CE) translations of the Second Book of Samuel 6:20: “And David returned …

Holy Week culminates in the celebration of the Triduum—Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. During this liturgy, one of the events we call to mind is Jesus’ agony in the garden of Gethsemane. As the first sorrowful mystery of the Rosary, the Agony in the Garden initiates Jesus’ Passion …

One of the more familiar passages from the Letter to the Philippians is hard to grasp in English because the original Greek defies easy translation. Let’s walk through this challenge and see if some clarity can be added t. The original Greek of the Letter to the Philippians 2:6 (NABRE)—ὃς …

The eighth chapter of the Letter to the Romans (NABRE) deals extensively with themes of death, sin, and God’s spirit. These are interesting and essential concepts supporting our Christian theology of salvation, and having a clearer concept of their Greek meaning may help in understanding their interrelationship. Let’s begin with …

The fourth chapter of the Gospel According to John (NABRE) highlights one of many instances in which different people use the same title to refer to Jesus, though this fact has been lost in most translations. Whenever someone uses the title Lord or sir to refer to Jesus, they’re using …

During the season of Lent, the Church shifts the focus of its readings to sin and repentance. In the Gospel According to Matthew 4:1–11 (NABRE), Jesus is led out into the desert to be tempted by Satan. The Greek verb πειράξω (peirazo) means “to make proof or trial of” or …

In the Gospel According to Matthew 6:24 (NABRE), Jesus makes a statement about what it means to be a servant of God: “No one can serve two masters.” The remainder of this passage goes on to explain what Jesus meant in more depth, but even with all that additional context, …

In the book of Leviticus 19:2 (NABRE), the LORD commands Moses to say to the Israelites: “Be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy.” This passage raises the important question of what holiness means and what it looks like. The Hebrew word used in this passage, qadowsh, at its …