Last week I offered mottos from the Old Testament which you will never see on the coat of arms of a Catholic bishop. This post offers mottos from the New Testament. Because of the explicitly Christian nature of the 27 books, there's lots more to pick from. So, here are the Top Twenty passages from the New Testament (New American Bible, revised edition) which you will never see on a bishop's coat of arms.
20. "A bishop must be irreproachable, married only once, temperate, self-controlled, decent, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not aggressive, not a lover of money." [1 Timothy 3:2]
19. "Do not throw your pearls before swine." [Matthew 7:6]
18. "I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling." [1 Corinthians 2:3]
17. "When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites." [Matthew 6:5]
16. "Do not be amazed if the world hates you." [1 John 3:3]
15. "Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless?" [James 2:20]
14. "Are you envious because I am generous?" [Matthew 20:15]
13. "Give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter." [Matthew 14:8]
12. "As Paul talked on and on a young man named Eutychus who was sitting on the window sill sunk into a deep sleep, fell down from the third story, and was dead." [Acts 20:9]
11. "No one should consider me foolish, but if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little." [2 Corinthians 11:16]
10. "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, for she must be quiet." [1 Timothy 2:11]
9. "Do you not realize that everything that enters the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled into the latrine?" [Matthew 15:17]
8. "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" [Luke 24;5]
7. "I neither know nor understand what you are talking about." [Mark 14:68]
6. "Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord." [Colossians 3:18]
5. "I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal." [1 Corinthians 13:2]
4. "They said, 'He has an unclean spirit.'" [Mark 3:30]
3. "Now for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king, bring them here and slay them before me." [Luke 15:27]
2. "Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather." [Matthew 24:28]
And the top passage from the New Testament that you will never see in a Catholic bishop's motto is:
1. "And Jesus wept." [John 11:27]
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ReplyDeleteI think of how close you are to Wampum and recall the Apocryphal story of C.O. Rice, Hugh C. Boyle, and the Red Chrysler convertible. (If you are in New Castle of your own volition, they will never be able to touch you!)
ReplyDeleteKeep at it! -Tony Green