AEROPLANE TO AEROPLANO

    Beasts, Plants, and Mountains in the Bible by Fr. Claudio Doglio   The Fox and the Hog Since it was impossible that a prophet died outside Jerusalem, Jesus told the Pharisees to go tell Herod that He meant to continue his ministry for all the necessary time, even though the tetrarch didn’t want Him to. "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I accomplish my purpose.' ” (Luke 13,32) In that phrase Jesus used an animal metaphor to depict the character of Herod Antipas negatively. In this case, the image of the fox did not call to mind shrewdness but filth. Because the fox was an unclean and impure animal that unearthed dead bodies and lived in tainted places. In our language, we instead employ the pig as the animal symbol of dirtiness, therefore Jesus’s expression should be translated as “Go tell that pig….” Linking an animal to a person means to highlight a trait of that animal th

      Fig trees , aromatic plants, donkeys and horses  and foxes and pigs  can all be found in the Garden of God, that is the English version of a book, written in Italian by Fr. Claudio Doglio , in which he writes about all the plants and animals that are mentioned in the Scriptures. If you click on the links, you will find several chapters excerpted from the book and translated into English. The following one though, deals with small somewhat creepy and bothersome creatures that also appear in the Bible. They represent the minor problems in our lives that can eat away at our spirit or prod us to move in the right direction. Your comments, as usual, will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, L. Pavese   Small pesky critters by Fr. Claudio Doglio Small irritating animals often figure in the Bible as punishments. That happens in several cases of the so-called “plagues of Egypt,” where frogs (Exodus 7,26-8,11), mosquitos (Exodus 8,12-15), flies (Exodus 8,16-28), and locusts (Exodus 10,1