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# The Sacred Page

## Sitemaps

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## Posts

- [Michael Barber's New Videos on Social Media and Links](https://thesacredpage.com/2026/01/09/michael-barbers-new-videos-on-social-media-and-links/) - This post lists Michael Barber's (new) accounts on the major social media platforms.
- [The Book of Proverbs' Deceptive Simplicity (Or, How to Get It Right)](https://thesacredpage.com/2024/12/16/the-deceptive-simplicity-of-the-book-of-proverbs/) - The content of the biblical "wisdom literature" appears loosely arranged, even simplistic. But to write off these works as such is to fail to read them closely.
- [Jesus, Peter, and Paul in Parallel in Luke-Acts](https://thesacredpage.com/2024/12/10/jesus-peter-and-paul-in-parallel-in-luke-acts/) - Yesterday I completed my seminar on Luke-Acts with our students in the Masters of Biblical Studies program. One aspect of our conversation was the relationship of Peter and Paul in Acts. It is abundantly clear that Acts anticipates Paul's missionary work to the gentiles by speaking of Peter's proclamation of the gospel to non-Israelites, especially
- [The 2024 Survey of Pauline Scholars](https://thesacredpage.com/2024/12/13/the-2024-survey-of-pauline-scholars/) - Bruce Longenecker has published the results of a survey of Pauline scholars taken this year regarding opinions of the "authorship" of the Pauline epistles. The results are interesting. Before we get there, however, we need to talk about this language about "authorship." I put "authorship" in scare quotes because the matter is more complicated than
- [The "Best" Bible Commentary Series](https://thesacredpage.com/2024/12/06/what-is-the-best-bible-commentary-series/) - It's been a while since I posted here. I've been meaning to revive this site but, as with most things, I just don't have the time to blog as much as I'd like. However, I've recently been asked: "What is the best Bible Commentary Series?" I've had to write up answers elsewhere, so I thought
- [The Need for Big Books: A Comment  John P. Meier Made in 1979](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/30/the-need-for-big-books-a-comment-john-p-meier-made-in-1979/) - I am putting together a reading list for a summer course I am teaching on Matthew. In the process, I went back and revisited John P. Meier's classic book, The Vision of Matthew: Christ, Church, and Morality in the First Gospel (New York: Paulist Press, 1979). Although the book contains some dated material--which is not
- [Justification in the Greek Fathers: An Important Reversal in the New Edition of Iustitia Dei (Alister McGrath)](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/05/justification-in-the-greek-fathers-an-important-reversal-in-the-new-edition-of-iustitia-dei-allister-mcgrath/) - Alister McGrath's extensive monograph on justification has long been viewed as one of the magisterial works on the topic. I was therefore quite excited to see that Cambridge University Press was publishing a new revised version this year: Iustitia Dei: A History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification, 4th ed. (Oxford: Cambridge University Press, 2020).
- [Agapē Isn't A Magical Word: Why Peter Was Hurt That Jesus Asked Him A Third Time, "Do You Love Me?"](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/07/agape-isnt-a-magical-word-why-peter-was-hurt-that-jesus-asked-him-a-third-time-do-you-love-me/) - One old familiar chestnut is the notion that Greek distinguishes various kinds of love and that the highest among these is agapē. The desire to find some magical Greek term to articulate what a truly pure form of love involves is not hard to explain. We say we "love" pizza, but we certainly mean something
- [Matthew as the "Book of the Genesis of Jesus Christ": Chris Keith, Patrick Schreiner, and Thomas Aquinas on Matt 1:1](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/18/matthew-as-the-book-of-the-genesis-of-jesus-christ-chris-keith-patrick-schreiner-and-thomas-aquinas-on-matt-11/) - What kind of work is the Gospel according to Matthew? Some have recently suggested that an answer may be found in the opening line: “the book of the genesis/genealogy [genesis] of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matt 1:1). A growing number of scholars are suggesting that, contrary to what some
- [Balaam, the Magi, Matthew, and Philo: The Problem of Using Rabbinic Sources](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/29/balaam-and-the-magi/) - In some instances, rabbinic sources appear to contain traditions that shed valuable light on what we find in the New Testament. The obvious problem, however, is that these sources clearly post-date the New Testament books. To appeal to the rabbis to account for what we find in the New Testament is therefore fraught with difficulties.
- [Lectio Sacra: A Forthcoming Book Series](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/02/02/lectio-sacra-a-forthcoming-book-series/) - When asked what one must do to enter eternal life, Jesus once responded, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” (Luke 10:26). When he was tempted in the desert, the devil quoted Scripture to tempt Jesus, to which Jesus responded with another quotation from Scripture. These verses show how important it
- [New Book: Paul and the Economy of Salvation](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/09/15/new-book-paul-and-the-economy-of-salvation/) - Byrne's new book presents the fruit of decades of research into Paul's teaching on salvation and from an angle that is too often neglected — Christ's return to judge and save.
- [Mark Reasoner's Five Models of Scripture](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/09/22/mark-reasoners-five-models-of-scripture/) - Reasoner's book lays out five approaches to Scripture, how each can be used and overused, and how using them all well can enrich our reading of Scripture for all its worth.
- [Training Our Hearts in Praise and Gratitude](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/11/10/training-our-hearts-in-praise-and-gratitude/) - "Lift up your voices to glorify the LORD as much as you can, for there is still more."
- [Mass of the Lord's Supper](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/04/14/mass-of-the-lords-supper/) - These commentaries can be purchased in book form in The Word of the Lord: Solemnities and Feasts, available here. The Readings for the Holy Thursday Mass focus on the continuity between the ancient Jewish Passover and the institution of the Eucharist. As the Passover was the meal that marked the transition from slavery to Egypt
- [Good Friday](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/04/14/good-friday-2/) - The commentaries for the Triduum are available in published book form in The Word of the Lord: Solemnities and Feasts available here. Every year on Good Friday, we read St. John’s account of the Passion from John 18-19, together with Isaiah 52-53 and Psalm 31. One of the themes that runs through these reading is
- [Caesarea Philippi, the Temple of Pan, and Peter's Confession](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/08/09/misleading-pilgrims-in-caesarea-philippi/) - Every year pilgrims to the Holy Land are taken to Caesarea Philippi and told that it was precisely here, in the shadow of a pagan temple, that Peter made his famous declaration of faith. This misreads the Gospels.
- [Guess  Who?  22nd Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/08/26/guess-who-22nd-sunday-of-ot/) - In 2005, a quasi-remake of the famous 1967 movie “Guess Who’s Coming for Dinner” was released. Entitled “Guess Who?” it starred Bernie Mac as an African-American father who struggled to deal with his daughter’s Caucasian fiancé (played by Ashton Kutcher). Much of the comedy of the film revolved around the clash of cultures at the
- [The Shining Forth of God: Epiphany 2023](https://thesacredpage.com/2023/01/07/the-shining-forth-of-god-epiphany-2023/) - (These commentaries are available in book form here.) The word “Epiphany” comes from two Greek words: epi, “on, upon”; and phaino, “to appear, to shine.” Therefore, the “Epiphany” refers to the divinity of Jesus “shining upon” the earth, in other words, the manifestation of his divine nature. The Feast of the Epiphany has an interesting
- [Biblemas!  3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time!](https://thesacredpage.com/2023/01/21/biblemas-3rd-sunday-in-ordinary-time/) - Happy Biblemas, everyone! On September 30, 2019, the Feast of St. Jerome, Pope Francis designated the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time as the “Sunday of the Word of God,” to be observed in parishes throughout the world with rituals or activities that highlight the centrality of God’s Word in the lives of Christian faithful. So
- [Get Wise! The 17th Sunday in OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2023/07/29/get-wise-the-17th-sunday-in-ot/) - 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12Psalm 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-28, 129-30Romans 8:28-30Matthew 13:44-52 or Matthew 13:44-46[I regret not posting these commentaries more regularly in recent months. However, they are all now published in book form and available from Emmaus Road Publishing at most online booksellers and stpaulcenter.com. I also have been spending a considerable amount of time
- [Jesus and the New Exodus: 5th Sunday of Lent](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/03/13/jesus-and-the-new-exodus-5th-sunday-of-lent/) - Like these commentaries? You can get them in book form here. The volume on the date-fixed Solemnities and Feasts is here. You will also love the weekly half-hour dialogues on the Readings between myself and Dr. Scott Hahn, available here. Lent is drawing to a close. This week we celebrate the last Sunday of Lent
- [The Inaugural Sacred Page Seminar: July 20-23 in Colorado](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/04/02/the-inaugural-sacred-page-seminar-july-20-23-in-colorado/) - The Augustine Institute's inaugural Sacred Page Seminar will be held July 20-23 this summer, for rising undergraduate juniors and seniors, studying the Johannine Epistles.
- [Jesus Cheered, then Jeered: Bipolar Palm/Passion Sunday](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/04/08/jesus-cheered-then-jeered-bipolar-palm-passion-sunday/) - This Sunday’s readings might seem bipolar or schizophrenic. We begin Mass with exultant cheering as we relive Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We end the Readings on a note of solemn silence, unable to process the reality of one of the most egregious abuses of judicial process and power in human history, in which the
- [The Easter Vigil](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/04/16/the-easter-vigil/) - This commentary, and others on the great Feast Days of the Church, can be found in print form in my book, The Word of the LORD: Solemnities and Feasts, available here. The Readings for the Easter Vigil recount the history of salvation by focusing on the various covenant stages throughout the Biblical storyline. I'll proceed
- [Easter Sunday](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/04/17/easter-sunday/) - The Mass of Easter Day is one of the most joyful in the Church calendar, as the Church basks in the afterglow of the most remarkable intervention of God into human history, the resurrection of his own son. 1. The First Reading is Acts 10:34a, 37-43: Peter proceeded to speak and said:"You know what has
- [Ascension Day!](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/05/25/ascension-day-2/) - Happy Ascension Day! Sadly, Ascension Day is not observed in a uniform manner across the United States. Catholics in Nebraska, Pennsylvania, New York, and New England will observe it on Thursday, May 26; the rest of the country observes it this Sunday, May 29. But the "real" Ascension Day is clearly Thursday! The First Reading
- [Seventh Sunday of Easter](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/05/29/seventh-sunday-of-easter-2/) - Here is a commentary on the Readings for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, and let me begin by saying, if you have a Seventh Sunday of Easter, you are indeed blessed! This is an important Sunday: it is climactic, the last Sunday before Pentecost in the Easter Season. The architects of the Vatican II lectionary
- [The Pentecost Vigil](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/06/03/the-pentecost-vigil/) - Regathering the Human Family Pentecost is a very important feast in the liturgical life of the Church, the culmination of a development that began with the first Sunday of Advent, and it has it’s own vigil. Not only so, but the Readings for the Vigil are particularly rich. I cannot think of another that has
- [Pentecost Sunday](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/06/03/pentecost-sunday/) - These commentaries are available in book form from Emmaus Road Publishers. This post picks up from my previous post about the Pentecost Vigil readings. For Pentecost Sunday, Mass during the Day, the First Reading is, finally, the account of Pentecost itself, from Acts 2:1-11: When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,they were all in one
- [Trinity Sunday](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/06/11/trinity-sunday-3/) - (These commentaries are available in book form here. ) Pentecost is not supposed to mark a spiritual highpoint, from which we then regress and go back to being our slovenly selves. Rather, Pentecost should be a dramatic infusion of spiritual energy climaxing a period of formation that has been ongoing since the first week of
- [Corpus Christi](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/06/18/corpus-christi-2/) - I love the early summer liturgical "trifecta" of Pentecost, Trinity, and Corpus Christi, forming a kind of "encore" to the joyful Easter Season focusing in succession on three fundamental realities of the Christian life: the Holy Spirit, the Triune Godhead, and the Eucharist. This "trifecta" comes to an end this week with the celebration of
- [Bargaining with God: 17th Sun. of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/07/23/bargaining-with-god-17th-sun-of-ot/) - Who has the guts to bargain with the Divinity? Abraham, the father of the Israel, does. In the Readings for this Sunday, we find united several themes: persistence in prayer, the justice and mercy of God, the generosity of God. 1. Our First Reading is Gn 18:20-32 In those days, the LORD said: “The outcry
- [Oh, Vanity!  18th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/07/27/oh-vanity-18th-sunday-of-ot/) - These commentaries are now available in print form here. Commentaries on immovable feasts are available here. The commentaries for Year A we hope to have available in hardcopy by October. In the Readings for this Sunday, texts from the Old and New Testaments remind us that human happiness is not to be found in the
- [Mustard Seed Faith: 27th Sunday in OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/10/01/mustard-seed-faith-27th-sunday-in-ot/) - These commentaries are available in print form here. The commentaries for Year A are already available and shipping here. Our readings this week take up the theme of faith, both Israel’s faith under the old covenant and the faith to which we are called in the new. Jesus urges us not to despair even if
- [Family Values: 20th Sunday in OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/08/14/family-values-20th-sunday-in-ot/) - In recent decades, the term “family values” has almost become a code word for “Christian culture” in American society. Influential Christian organizations have adopted names like “Focus on the Family,” “American Family Association,” the “Family Research Council”; and on the Catholic side of things we have “Catholic Family Land,” “Tradition, Family and Property,” or “The
- [Wisdom and Discipleship: 23rd Sunday OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/09/03/wisdom-and-discipleship-23rd-sunday-ot/) - My commentaries for Year A (2022-2023) have just appeared in book form! Pick up your copy today right here, and be ready for the start of the new liturgical year on November 27th! One of the most famous German opponents of Adolf Hitler and Nazism was the Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whom the
- [Prodigal Son-day: 24th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/09/06/prodigal-son-day-24th-sunday-of-ot/) - This upcoming Sunday marks one of only two times in the main Lectionary cycle that we hear the Parable of the Prodigal Son proclaimed (the other being the 4th Sunday of Lent [C]). The Readings are marked by the theme of repentance and forgiveness. 1. Our First Reading is Ex 32:7-11, 13-14: The LORD said
- [Does My Neighbor Matter? 26th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/09/24/does-my-neighbor-matter-26th-sunday-of-ot/) - (These commentaries are available in print form here, and my new volume for Year A is now available and shipping here. Then you don't have to deal with my erratic posting schedule! :-) Does it matter how we treat others? What does my neighbor’s suffering have to do with me? Can I continue living in
- [Gratitude, Anyone? 28th Sunday in OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/10/08/gratitude-anyone-28th-sunday-in-ot/) - These commentaries are available in published book form, Year C here, Year A (starting Nov 27 already) here. The Thanksgiving holiday is coming upon us shortly, and this season of the year always makes me think, How do you give thanks if you don’t believe there’s anyone there to thank? Thanksgiving is not a holiday
- [The Battle of Prayer: 29th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/10/15/the-battle-of-prayer-29th-sunday-of-ot/) - These commentaries are available in book form here. The volume for Year A, beginning November 27, is also available here. Don't forget to pick up the volume on the fixed solemnities and feasts here. Usually we think of men of prayer and men of war as complete opposites. A monk in a habit—such as St.
- [The Cry of the Poor: 30th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/10/22/the-cry-of-the-poor-30th-sunday-of-ot/) - Several years ago, Christians around the world were shocked and saddened by the execution of twenty-one Egyptian Christian men who were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and fell under the power of ISIS. This martyrdom is just one of the more dramatic examples of abuse and oppression that seems so prevalent in
- [Making Things Right: 31st Sunday in OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/10/29/making-things-right-31st-sunday-in-ot/) - These commentaries are available in book form here. Year A is about to start on Nov. 27; get Year A's commentaries here. And don't forget to get the volume on the fixed feasts and major Solemnities here. Consider joining me for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land where I teach on Scripture at the very
- [Vote for Monarchy: Feast of Christ the King!](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/11/19/vote-for-monarchy-feast-of-christ-the-king/) - Here in Steubenville one of my co-workers has a clever bumper sticker that reads: “I’m a Monarchist. And I Vote.” The day after the surprising election of 2016, then-President Obama took the high road by reminding us, “We’re not Democrats first, we're not Republicans first, we are Americans first. We're patriots first.” In the political
- [Happy New Year! 1st Sun. of Advent](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/11/26/happy-new-year-1st-sun-of-advent/) - (These commentaries are available in book form here.) Happy New Year, everyone! The Church Year begins this Sunday with the First Sunday of Advent, and we are back to reading cycle A in Church Year 2023. There is a very ancient tradition in the Church of reading the Book of Isaiah during Advent. In antiquity,
- [Light in the Darkness: Gaudete Sunday](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/12/10/light-in-the-darkness-gaudete-sunday/) - (These commentaries are available in book form here.) I always take consolation from the example of saints who faced death in the middle of a historical situation that offered little in the way of hope. Three in particular come to mind: St. Augustine died with an army of Arian Goths surrounding Hippo in what looked
- [Letting God Come In: 4th Sunday of Advent](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/12/17/letting-god-come-in-4th-sunday-of-advent/) - These commentaries are available in book form here. As Christians, we tend to assume that the idea of God coming into ones’ life is always an attractive concept. However, that’s a bit naïve. Having the almighty creator of the universe come into one’s reality could also be an upsetting prospect. When doing evangelism, I have encountered people who
- [Happy New Year! Mary, Mother of God](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/12/31/happy-new-year-mary-mother-of-god/) - (These commentaries are available in book form here.) As our Catholic readers know, this is the Solemnity (Holy Day) of Mary, Mother of God, one of the more significant liturgical celebrations in the Catholic calendar. The confession of Mary as “Mother of God” presents a stumbling block for some non-Catholic Christians, but curiously it never
- [Trinity Sunday](https://thesacredpage.com/2023/06/03/trinity-sunday-4/) - The Easter Season usually ends with a sort of “trifecta” of major feasts: Pentecost, Trinity, and Corpus Christi, as the Church celebrates the central mysteries of the faith before entering into Ordinary Time once more. In any event, this weekend is Trinity Sunday, a meditation and celebration of the central mystery of the Christian faith,
- [Readings of Pentecost!](https://thesacredpage.com/2023/05/27/readings-of-pentecost/) - I highly recommend reading the commentary I also posted on this site on the Readings for the Vigil in preparation for the Mass of Pentecost Day. The Readings for the Mass of the Pentecost pick up, as it were, where the Readings for the Vigil left off. The First Reading is, finally, the account of
- [Readings for Good Friday](https://thesacredpage.com/2023/04/07/readings-for-good-friday/) - (These commentaries can be acquired in published book form here.) Every year on Good Friday, we read St. John’s account of the Passion from John 18-19, together with Isaiah 52-53 and Psalm 31. One of the themes that runs through these reading is the Priesthood of Christ. 1. There is priestly language already in the
- [Correcting Moses: 6th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2023/02/11/correcting-moses-6th-sunday-of-ot/) - (These commentaries are available in book form here.) The “Hippie” Jesus is one of the common misunderstandings of Christ that are circulating in popular culture. People think of Jesus as a laid back guru who traveled around Israel in this Volkswagen Vanagon, accompanied by twelve dudes in tie-died T-shirts. Jesus taught that all we need
- [Pentecost Vigil! Gathering the Family of God](https://thesacredpage.com/2023/05/27/pentecost-vigil-gathering-the-family-of-god-2/) - Pentecost is a very important feast in the liturgical life of the Church, and it has it’s own vigil. Not only so, but the Readings for the Vigil are particularly rich. I cannot think of another that has such a wide variety of options, for example, for the First Reading. Even though, in most cases,
- [Schizophrenic Crowds, Crucified Savior: Palm-Passion Sunday](https://thesacredpage.com/2023/03/28/schizophrenic-crowds-crucified-savior-palm-passion-sunday/) - (These commentaries are available in book form here. ) This Sunday’s readings might seem bipolar or schizophrenic. We begin Mass with exultant cheering as we relive Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. When Jesus and the disciples drew near Jerusalemand came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives,Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them,“Go into the
- [The Quiet Voice of God: The 19th Sunday in OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2023/08/12/the-quiet-voice-of-god-the-19th-sunday-in-ot/) - These commentaries are collected in published form in my "Word of the LORD" books available here. Dr. Scott Hahn and I dialogue about each week's Sunday Readings here. There is so much turmoil in the national and international news these days, it makes it difficult to maintain a sense of peace. Instability in our own
- [Fifth Sunday of Easter](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/05/14/fifth-sunday-of-easter/) - The Easter Season is passing quickly. Already it is more than half over, as we progress toward the great Feasts of Ascension and Pentecost. We want the Season to slow down, so that we may savor the joy and consolation of these readings from Acts and John that dominate the Easter Cycle, but tempus fugit.
- [Good Shepherd Sunday (4th Sunday of Easter)](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/05/07/good-shepherd-sunday-4th-sunday-of-easter/) - This upcoming Lord’s Day is often known as “Good Shepherd Sunday,” since each year the Gospel reading is taken from John 10, the “Good Shepherd Discourse.” It’s also often observed as a day of prayer for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, since priests and religious are visible manifestations to us of Christ in
- [Primacy of Love: 3rd Sunday of Easter](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/04/30/primacy-of-love-3rd-sunday-of-easter/) - This week is the Third Sunday of Easter, and our readings highlight the primacy of Peter among the Apostles, and the primacy of love in following Jesus. Just a few comments on the preliminary readings before we concentrate on the Gospel. During the seven weeks of the Easter Season, the Lectionary reads semi-continuously through Acts
- [Beginning the New Exodus: 2nd Sunday in Lent](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/03/13/beginning-the-new-exodus-2nd-sunday-in-lent/) - Please support the ministry of the St. Paul Center by purchasing my commentaries on the Sunday Readings for Year C, available in book form here. Please also pick up the volume on the date-fixed Solemnities and Feasts here. If you like these commentaries, you will love the weekly half-hour dialogues on the Readings between myself
- [The Name of God: 3rd Sunday of Lent](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/03/13/the-name-of-god-3rd-sunday-of-lent/) - Please support the ministry of the St. Paul Center by purchasing my commentaries on the Sunday Readings for Year C, available in book form here. Please also pick up the volume on the date-fixed Solemnities and Feasts here. Also, if you enjoy this posts, please subscribe to The Word of the LORD weekly dialogues on
- [Laetare Sunday](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/03/13/laetare-sunday-2/) - Please support the ministry of the St. Paul Center by purchasing my commentaries on the Sunday Readings for Year C, available in book form here. Please also pick up the volume on the date-fixed Solemnities and Feasts here. Also, if you enjoy this posts, please subscribe to The Word of the LORD weekly dialogues on
- [The Drama of Temptation: 1st Sun of Lent](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/03/05/the-drama-of-temptation-1st-sun-of-lent/) - At the beginning of Lent, the Church reads to us the account of Jesus doing spiritual combat with the devil in the wilderness, reminding us that Lent is a time of warfare. Through our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we do battle with the power of the devil in our lives, and with
- [Role Models: 8th Sunday in OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/02/26/role-models-8th-sunday-in-ot/) - Several years ago Charles Barkley, when confronted with the misdeeds of his private life, famously quipped, “I’m not paid to be a role model. I’m paid to wreak havoc on the basketball court.” He went on to rake in quite a bundle of cash making an “I’m no role model” commercial with Nike. Many people
- [Loving Your Haters: 7th Sun. of OT (Feb 20)](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/02/12/loving-your-haters-7th-sun-of-ot-feb-20/) - My commentaries on Year C are available in printed book form here. Please buy it and support the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology! In many years, we wouldn’t have a seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time, because of how Lent usually falls, but we do this year, and it is providential, because the teachings of
- [The Upside Down Kingdom: 6th Sun. of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/02/12/the-upside-down-kingdom-6th-sun-of-ot/) - As we continue our journey through the Gospel of Luke in Ordinary Time, Jesus keeps teaching us that his kingdom, the Kingdom of God, reverses many of our expectations and stereotypes. His is a kingdom where the typical markings of “blessing”—health, wealth, prosperity, power—are doomed to woe, and the typical markings of “curse”—weakness, sickness, poverty,
- [Awe and Apostolate: 5th Sun. of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/02/05/awe-and-apostolate-5th-sun-of-ot/) - Our Readings for this Sunday combine two major themes: awe and apostolate. Both Isaiah and Peter are awed and ashamed to find themselves in the presence of God; but both are subsequently sent out (in Greek, apostello) on mission for the Almighty. We, too, feel our unworthiness and need of mercy in God’s presence, and
- [Rejected! 4th Sunday of OT (C)](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/01/15/rejected-4th-sunday-of-ot-c/) - (These commentaries are now available in a book form: Year C Readings here, fixed Solemnities and Feasts here). The Readings for this Sunday (Jan 30, 2022) show both Jesus and Jeremiah facing opposition for speaking God’s truth to their contemporaries. They raise interesting questions about why it is that the “good person” so often suffers
- [Wedding at Cana Sunday! (2OTC)](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/01/15/wedding-at-cana-sunday-2otc/) - (These commentaries are now available in a book form: Year C Readings here, fixed Solemnities and Feasts here). This Sunday (Jan 16, 2022) we remain in the afterglow of Epiphany, the celebration of the “manifestation” of Jesus’ divine glory. [Greek epi – phaino = “shine upon” = “reveal, manifest.”] Epiphany, which once was its own
- [Sunday of the Word of God! (3OTC)](https://thesacredpage.com/2022/01/15/sunday-of-the-word-of-god-3otc/) - (For Jan 23, 2022) The past three Sundays have focused on the three early “manifestations” or “epiphanies” of Jesus’ divine nature recorded in the Gospels: the Visit of the Magi, the Baptism, and the Wedding at Cana. Now the Lectionary “settles in” to Ordinary Time, which this year involves reading through the Gospel of Luke.
- [Epiphany](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/12/30/epiphany-2/) - My commentaries on Feast Days and Solemnities that are fixed to a date of the calendar and/or have unchanging readings from year to year (like Epiphany) can be found in book form here. The word “Epiphany” comes from two Greek words: epi, “on, upon”; and phaino, “to appear, to shine.” Therefore, the “Epiphany” refers to
- [Mary, Mother of God!](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/12/30/mary-mother-of-god-2/) - My commentaries of fixed feast days and solemnities, like Jan 1, Mary, Mother of God, are available in book form here. January 1 is the Solemnity (Holy Day) of Mary, Mother of God. To call Mary the “Mother of God” must not be understood as a claim for Mary’s motherhood of divinity itself, but in
- [Feast of the Holy Family](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/12/29/feast-of-the-holy-family-2/) - The Readings for the Feast of the Holy Family The Sunday within the octave of Christmas is always dedicated to contemplation of the Holy Family, giving us the opportunity to meditate on the way in which the family structure, established by God and perfectly mirrored in the Holy Family, reflects His own familial nature (as
- [Queen Mother of the Crown Prince: 4th Sun. of Advent](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/12/11/queen-mother-of-the-crown-prince-4th-sun-of-advent/) - My commentaries on the Readings for Year C are available in a beautiful hardback volume here, and the commentaries on immovable Feasts and Solemnities are here. Videos of Dr. Scott Hahn and I dialoguing on the Advent Readings are free, here. The Fourth Sunday of Advent marks a switch in focus from John the Baptist
- [Gaudete Sunday!](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/12/11/gaudete-sunday/) - My commentaries on the Readings for Year C are available in a beautiful hardback volume here, and the commentaries on immovable Feasts and Solemnities are here. Videos of Dr. Scott Hahn and I dialoguing on the Advent Readings are free, here. This Sunday is “Gaudete” Sunday, from the Latin gaudete, “Rejoice!” which traditionally begins the
- [Readings for Christmas](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/12/11/readings-for-christmas/) - My commentaries on immovable Solemnities and Feast Days is now in printed book form, available here! The Christmas Solemnity has distinct readings for four separate masses: Vigil, Midnight, Dawn, and Day. There’s such a wealth of material here to meditate on, that not everything can be covered. In fact, there is almost an entire biblical
- [Lesson of Faith: 32nd Sun. OT/Nov. 7](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/11/07/lesson-of-faith-32nd-sun-ot-nov-7/) - [Do you like these commentaries? You can buy them in book form: Year C is about to start, purchase it here. Don't forget to get Feasts and Solemnities here!] In this month of November, we are pondering the Last Things (Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell) and gearing up for the celebration of Christ the King in
- [Time Flies: 33rd Sun. OT/Nov. 14](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/11/07/time-flies-33rd-sun-ot-nov-14/) - [Do you like these commentaries? You can buy them in book form: Year C is about to start, purchase it here. Don't forget to get Feasts and Solemnities here!] “Tempus fugit,” the Romans used to say. “Time flies.” It’s hard to believe that we are already at the second-to-last Sunday of the liturgical year. [My
- [Christ the King: November 21](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/11/07/christ-the-king-november-21/) - [Do you like these commentaries? You can buy them in book form: Year C is about to start, purchase it here. Don't forget to get Feasts and Solemnities here!] This Sunday is the 34th Sunday of Ordinary Time, and as everyone knows, that means it is the Solemnity of Christ the King! This is the
- [Love and Priesthood: 31st Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/10/30/love-and-priesthood-31st-sunday-of-ot/) - We enter this Sunday into the last four weeks of the liturgical year, an unofficial liturgical season dedicated to reflection on the four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. The Readings for this upcoming Sunday revolve around the themes of love of God and perfect priesthood, necessary elements to enter into heaven. 1. The
- [20/20 Vision: 30th Sunday in OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/10/23/20-20-vision-30th-sunday-in-ot/) - (For my commentaries in print/book form, get the Year B commentaries here; Year C starts in a few weeks so order the book now! here; Don't forget the Solemnities and Feasts here.) My vision is terrible. Uncorrected, it’s probably much worse than 20/200. My glasses prescription is about -8.5 diopters, for those of you who
- [How Can I Live Forever? 28th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/10/09/how-can-i-live-forever-28th-sunday-of-ot/) - (My commentaries on Year B are available in book form here, also upcoming Year C, and the unmovable Feasts and Solemnities.) Very few of us want to die. In fact, there’s an obsession in this country with staying young and looking young. Entire industries have developed around cosmetics, nutritional supplements, plastic surgery, and fitness gyms,
- [What God Has Joined Together: 27th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/10/02/what-god-has-joined-together-27th-sunday-of-ot/) - You don’t need to read a lot of news to realize marriage and family in the United States and Western culture generally are really in a bad state and getting worse. Marriage and birth rates in the US are at historic lows and continue to decline. The average age a person gets married in the
- [Living as  Prophet of God: 26th Week of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/09/20/living-as-prophet-of-god-26th-week-of-ot/) - Sorry I never got the post up for last week, the 25th of Ordinary Time, but I'm posting early this week. As always, if you'd like the complete collection of my commentaries in book form, Year B is available here, and Year C has just come out as well! Available here. Feast and Solemnities is
- [The Paradox of Discipleship: 24th Sunday in OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/09/11/the-paradox-of-discipleship-24th-sunday-in-ot/) - We have been getting a number of rousing challenges from Jesus in the past several weeks, as our readings have followed the progress of his ministry, and Jesus repeatedly makes clear that following him is not going to be easy in any way. This Sunday we get another challenge from Jesus to “fish or cut
- [Sound and Light: 23rd Sunday in OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/09/04/sound-and-light-23rd-sunday-in-ot/) - The reality of sight and hearing are a great mystery that natural science has difficulty explaining. Robots, of course, can be equipped with sensors to detect sound and light, and react in various ways to audio and visual stimuli. But a robot cannot “see” or “hear” in the way that a human person does. A
- [Jesus the Demanding One: The 22nd Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/08/23/jesus-the-demanding-one-the-22nd-sunday-of-ot/) - Last week I never got around to posting a commentary at all--many apologies for that. However, all the more reason to check out my collected commentaries in print, available from Emmaus Road publishers here. This week we make the shift from John 6 and its Eucharistic theme (which has occupied us for the past five
- [The Solemnity of the Assumption!](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/08/10/the-solemnity-of-the-assumption/) - Well, I dropped the ball last week and never posted any commentary for the Sunday Readings, so I'm trying to get this up early this week, as this coming Sunday is a Big One: the Solemnity of the Assumption! The Assumption has a unique set of Readings for the Vigil Mass, and those are all
- [Mysterious Bread of the Covenant: 18th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/07/30/mysterious-bread-of-the-covenant-18th-sunday-of-ot/) - What does it mean to be a human being? What are we, really? The answer our children are taught in school is that we are just animals, the result of a long process of accidents in which an amoeba became a fish, became a lizard, became a monkey, became us. So, all we are is
- [The Bread of Life: 17th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/07/23/the-bread-of-life-17th-sunday-of-ot/) - My commentaries for Ordinary Time of Year B are now available in book form here. This weekend we begin a five-week stretch of meditation on John 6, a kind of summer Eucharist-fest that comes around every three years. The rationale for this is that we are in Year B of the Lectionary, which covers the
- [Good Shepherds: 16th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/07/16/good-shepherds-16th-sunday-of-ot/) - The Catholic community in Steubenville was greatly cheered this past month by the celebration of an ordination to the priesthood. Ordinations are always a time of hope and joy for a diocese, but this one was especially so, as the ordinand was (Fr.) Jeremiah Hahn, who was much-beloved in the community not just for his
- [The Unlikely Messenger: 15th Sunday in OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/07/08/the-unlikely-messenger-15th-sunday-in-ot/) - The "unlikely messenger" is a theme in literature that we see reflected in numerous works. J. R. R. Tolkien's Hobbit and Lord of the Rings series comes to mind, in which the hobbits Bilbo, Frodo, and Sam often seem like the least likely candidates to be chosen to wield the Ring of Power and send
- [God of Life: 13th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/06/19/god-of-life-13th-sunday-of-ot/) - The readings for this Sunday focus on the theme of death, and God’s power over it. They discuss God’s relationship with, and intentions for, the natural world: topics that resonate with Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment Laudato Si. Since my reflections on the Sunday Readings for Year B are now all available in book
- [The Nativity of St. John the Baptist](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/06/19/the-nativity-of-st-john-the-baptist/) - This Thursday we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist, a great saint and biblical character who led a very difficult life and ministry. The Solemnity of John the Baptist is a very important feast day that is given the dignity of marking the mid-point of the liturgical year, six months from Christmas. On or
- [Waves Can't Drown God: 12th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/06/19/waves-cant-drown-god-12th-sunday-of-ot/) - I’ve always had a bit of apprehension swimming in large bodies of water, like lakes or oceans. Especially if the water is dark and cold. I grew up in Hawaii, where there are many almost crystal-clear bays and the water is generally around 80 degrees, but even there, especially in the winter, the surf could
- [11th Sunday of Ordinary Time](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/06/10/11th-sunday-of-ordinary-time/) - Welcome back to Ordinary Time, folks! This Sunday is the Eleventh of Ordinary Time! Yet we haven’t had an “Ordinary” Sunday since the Sixth (Feb. 14), so what happened? The 8th–10th Sundays were replaced by Pentecost, Trinity, and Corpus Christi respectively, and the 7th gets skipped this year to make the calendar end before Advent
- [Solemnity of the Sacred Heart](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/06/10/solemnity-of-the-sacred-heart/) - And so we arrive again at the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, which is the last feast day of the year that is tied to the date of Easter and forms part of what we might call the “Easter Narrative” that begins with Ash Wednesday, then Lent, Holy Week, Triduum, Easter Octave,
- [Corpus Christi!](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/06/03/corpus-christi/) - This is a truly joyful time of the Church year as we conclude the long sequence from Advent to Pentecost with these great feasts celebrating central truths of our faith: the Trinity last Sunday, and the Eucharist this week, followed by the Sacred Heart on Friday.One might ask, What is the relationship between the Trinity
- [Trinity Sunday!](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/05/29/trinity-sunday-2/) - Hello, readers! Most of you know that my commentaries are now available in book form here at Emmaus Road Publishing, so that means going forward I just can't put my whole commentary online. So starting this Sunday I'll be focusing on just one of the Readings, and the rest of my commentary will be in
- [Pentecost Day](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/05/22/pentecost-day/) - Did you know? My commentaries are now available in book form! Year B is here. Solemnities and Feasts is here. Now let’s turn to the Readings for Pentecost Sunday Mass during the Day. The First Reading is, finally, the account of Pentecost itself, from Acts 2:1-11: When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,they were all
- [Pentecost Vigil: Gathering the Family of God](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/05/22/pentecost-vigil-gathering-the-family-of-god/) - Pentecost is a very important feast in the liturgical life of the Church, and it has its own vigil. Not only so, but the Readings for the Vigil are particularly rich. I cannot think of another that has such a wide variety of options, for example, for the First Reading. Even though only one First
- [Seventh Sunday of Easter!](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/05/10/seventh-sunday-of-easter/) - Those of you fortunate enough to live in a diocese where the Ascension is observed on its proper Thursday will be able to hear proclaimed this Sunday the proper Readings for the Seventh Sunday of Easter. Pre-empting this Sunday by the Solemnity of the Ascension is a bit unfortunate, because it damages the pattern of
- [Ascension Day!](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/05/10/ascension-day/) - In the Diocese of Steubenville, as well as in most of the USA, Ascension Day is observed this Sunday. I wish the traditional observance on Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter was retained, but reality is what it is. Therefore, this weekend we will look at the powerful readings for Ascension Day. This is
- [How Do You Know You're Saved?](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/04/30/how-do-you-know-youre-saved/) - The Fifth Sunday of Easter Back in the nineties, when I was serving as an urban pastor/missionary in West Michigan, I did a lot of door-to-door and contact evangelism. I was trained to talk with people and hone in on their assurance of salvation: the key question was, “If you died tonight, are you sure
- [Good Shepherd Sunday!](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/04/24/good-shepherd-sunday/) - The readings for this Sunday’s Masses are truly “scandalous” in more ways than one. Our English word “scandal” comes ultimately from the Greek skandalon, “a stumbling block.” A “scandal” is something that causes people to “stumble,” i.e. that offends or injures them in some way. As we will see, the exclusive claims made for and
- [Third Sunday of Easter](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/04/18/third-sunday-of-easter/) - One of my favorite movies is M. Night Shyamalan’s “Signs.” It’s a cross between Robert Benton’s “Places in the Heart” and Roland Emmerich’s “Independence Day,” and probably a couple other movies I’m forgetting at the moment. Anyway, one of the marked features of the movie is its foreshadowing. Shyamalan introduces all sorts of strange themes
- [Divine Mercy Sunday](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/04/10/divine-mercy-sunday-2/) - Behind the readings for this Sunday lies a Gospel text which is never read, but whose influence is felt and whose concepts and images serves as a link between the texts that are read. That passage is John 19:34: John 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once
- [Easter Vigil](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/04/01/easter-vigil/) - The Readings for the Easter Vigil recount the history of salvation by focussing on the various covenant stages throughout the Biblical storyline. My book Bible Basics for Catholics follows this same pattern, using stick figure drawings to illustrate these various stages. I'll proceed to point out how all these covenants appear in various forms in
- [Good Friday](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/04/01/good-friday/) - Every year on Good Friday, we read St. John’s account of the Passion from John 18-19, together with Isaiah 52-53 and Psalm 31. One of the themes that runs through these reading is the Priesthood of Christ. 1. There is priestly language already in the First Reading, from Isaiah 52 & 53, the famous “Suffering
- [Holy Thursday](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/04/01/holy-thursday/) - The Readings for the Holy Thursday Mass focus on the continuity between the ancient Jewish Passover and the institution of the Eucharist. As the Passover was the meal that marked the transition from slavery to Egypt to the freedom of the Exodus, so the Eucharist is the meal that marks the transition from slavery to
- [My God! Why Have You Forsaken Me? Readings for Passion Sunday](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/03/25/my-god-why-have-you-forsaken-me-readings-for-passion-sunday/) - How could the Messiah die? Despite a few mysterious prophetic texts that seemed to intimate this possibility, the idea that the Messiah could arrive and subsequently be killed was radically counter-intuitive to most first-century Jews. Yet the conviction of the early Christians, based on Jesus of Nazareth’s own teachings about himself, was that the radically
- [The New Covenant: 5th Sunday of Lent](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/03/20/the-new-covenant-5th-sunday-of-lent/) - In this Lent of Year B, we are taking a survey through the Old Testament of the great covenant moments. We have seen the Noahic covenant, the Abrahamic covenant, the Mosaic covenant, the covenant failure of Israel resulting in exile, and now finally, on this fifth week, we witness the promise of the New Covenant
- [Laetare Sunday!](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/03/13/laetare-sunday/) - Welcome to Laetare Sunday! This Sunday marks the halfway point of Lent, but actually we are more than halfway through—there is just one more Sunday of Lent proper and then we enter into Holy Week. Doesn’t time fly? How are your Lenten practices going? Are you sticking to your chosen acts of penance and mortification?
- [Jesus, God's Law: 3rd Sunday of Lent](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/03/06/jesus-gods-law-3rd-sunday-of-lent/) - What is the best way to communicate law? Written law has its limitations, because we are all familiar with the concept of the “loophole.” There always seem to be methods of interpreting the written law in ways that run contrary to its intent. The constitution of the United States, for example, says that the “Congress
- [Premonition of Calvary: 2nd Sunday of Lent](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/02/26/premonition-of-calvary-2nd-sunday-of-lent/) - One week into our Lenten journey, the Readings for this weekend’s Masses focus on passages that look ahead or anticipate Christ’s self-sacrifice on Calvary, which awaits us, as it were, in the “liturgical future,” on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. 1. The First Readings is one of the most pivotal texts in the Old Testament,
- [The New Creation: 1st Sunday of Lent](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/02/16/the-new-creation-1st-sunday-of-lent/) - In the contemporary Lectionary, the First Readings during Lent in all three years attempt to rehearse and teach salvation history, not only as a refresher for the congregation but as an initiation for catechumens, who are preparing to enter in the story of salvation through the sacraments. World literature has many stories, with variations, about
- [It's Ash Wednesday, Everyone!](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/02/16/its-ash-wednesday-everyone/) - Holy Mother Church calls us to begin the Great Fast in preparation for Easter by proclaiming the following Scriptures: 1. Our First Reading is Joel 2:12-18: Even now, says the LORD,return to me with your whole heart,with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;Rend your hearts, not your garments,and return to the LORD, your God.For gracious and
- [Is Life a Drudgery? 5th Sun. of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/02/07/is-life-a-drudgery-5th-sun-of-ot/) - I went to a public high school in Hawaii back in the late 1980s, and the social group I hung out with had more than its share of young cynics. For some reason, it was cool to be morose, and one of my buddies was fond of responding to anyone’s account of some problem or
- [Listening to the Great Prophet: 4th Sunday in OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/01/30/listening-to-the-great-prophet-4th-sunday-in-ot/) - In the Readings for this Sunday, we are following 1 Corinthians and the Gospel of Mark ad seriatim, so there is less cohesion between the Second Reading and the Gospel than on a high feast day. Nonetheless, the Readings this week can be linked by the theme of “hearing the voice of the prophet.” We
- [The Sunday of the Word of God! (3rd Sun. of OT)](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/01/22/the-sunday-of-the-word-of-god-3rd-sun-of-ot/) - In September of 2019, Pope Francis released an apostolic letter motu proprio “Aperuit Illis” designating the third Sunday of Ordinary Time—the Sunday on which the semi-continuous reading of the Gospel of the year begins—as “The Sunday of the Word of God,” and suggested that local parishes adopt some ceremonies or practices—like the presentation of Bibles
- [The God Who Calls Us By Name: 2nd Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/01/15/the-god-who-calls-us-by-name-2nd-sunday-of-ot/) - George Lucas concocted an interesting religion for his Star Wars film series by combining elements of Christianity and eastern religion. Ultimate reality, or “God,” in Star Wars turns out to be “the Force,” an impersonal power with a “dark” and “light” side, similar to the way many forms of eastern religion conceive of the divine.
- [Feast of the Baptism](https://thesacredpage.com/2021/01/06/feast-of-the-baptism/) - This Sunday is like the image of the ancient Roman divinity Janus, God of beginnings and endings, which consisted of a man’s head with two faces, one looking backward and one looking forward. On the one hand, this Sunday concludes the joyful Christmas season: the Baptism marks the end of Jesus’ childhood and education, and
- [Epiphany!](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/12/29/epiphany/) - The word “Epiphany” comes from two Greek words: epi, “on, upon”; and phaino, “to appear, to shine.” Therefore, the “Epiphany” refers to the divinity of Jesus “shining upon” the earth, in other words, the manifestation of his divine nature. The Feast of the Epiphany has an interesting history, and arose from the liturgical commemoration of
- [Mary Mother of God!](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/12/29/mary-mother-of-god/) - January 1 is the Solemnity (Holy Day) of Mary, Mother of God. To call Mary the “Mother of God” must not be understood as a claim for Mary’s motherhood of divinity itself, but in the sense that Mary was mother of Jesus, who is truly God. The Council of Ephesus in 431—long before the schisms
- [Feast of the Holy Family](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/12/26/feast-of-the-holy-family/) - The Sunday that falls in the Octave of the Solemnity of Christmas is dedicated to celebrating the Holy Family. There are a standard set of readings that may always be used for this Feast Day, and there are optional sets of Readings for Years B and C. This commentary follows the options for Year B,
- [Readings for the Four Christmas Masses](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/12/24/readings-for-the-four-christmas-masses/) - The Christmas Solemnity has distinct readings for four separate masses: Vigil, Midnight, Dawn, and Day. There’s such a wealth of material here to meditate on, that not everything can be covered. In fact, there is almost an entire biblical theology in the sequence of readings of these four masses. In what follows, I am going
- [The Once and Future King: 4th Advent](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/12/18/the-once-and-future-king-4th-advent/) - T.H. White wrote a fantasy novel about King Arthur in the 1950s called “The Once and Future King,” which my English class was assigned to read in 8th grade. The title comes from the legendary Latin inscription on Arthur’s tomb, Hic iacet Arthurus, rex quondam, rexque futurus: “Here lies Arthur, king at one time, and
- [Excellent Video Interview with Daniel Gurtner on Pseudepigrapha](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/12/16/video-interview-with-daniel-gurtner-on-pseudepigrapha/)
- [John Meier, Jesus, and "Rethinking"](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/12/14/john-meier-jesus-and-rethinking/) - On every cover of John Meier's comprehensive series on the historical Jesus one sees, prominently displayed, the subtitle of the series: "Rethinking the Historical Jesus." This is important. Although each volume is given its own name (e.g., vol. 4, Law and Love), the overall project's title is: A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus. Look
- [Rejoice!  It's Gaudete Sunday!](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/12/11/rejoice-its-gaudete-sunday/) - Rejoice, everybody! This Sunday we light the rose-colored (not pink!) candle of the Advent wreath, as a sign of our joy that we have passed the mid-point of Advent. During this penitential season (are you practicing a small penance?) in anticipation of the coming of Our Lord, we take a break from our practices of
- [Four Reasons You Should Read Jude](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/11/10/four-reasons-you-should-read-jude/) - Jude addresses the faithful in the midst of scandal and calls them to build themselves up in deeper faith, sure hope in God's judgment and mercy, and merciful charity toward others. Relevant? Always.
- [New Book by Daniel Gurtner, INTRODUCING THE PSEUDEPIGRAPHA OF SECOND TEMPLE JUDAISM: MESSAGE, CONTEXT, AND SIGNIFICANCE](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/12/04/new-book-by-daniel-gurtner-introducing-the-pseudepigrapha-of-second-temple-judaism-message-context-and-significance/) - Daniel Gurtner has written an especially important book that I will be recommending to my students for years to come. Let me explain why. It is well known that the New Testament writers often draw heavily from the Old Testament. What is less often appreciated is the way that they also use ideas and traditions
- [Herald of Glad Tidings: 2nd Sun of Advent](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/12/04/herald-of-glad-tidings-2nd-sun-of-advent/) - The basic four-week structure of Advent remains the same throughout the three years of the lectionary cycle: the first week of Advent focuses on the Second Coming of Jesus; weeks two and three meditate on the figure of John the Baptist, the herald and forerunner of the Lord; and week four zooms in on the
- [Waiting on the Lord:  First Sunday of Advent](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/11/27/waiting-on-the-lord-first-sunday-of-advent/) - The final month of the liturgical year was spent reflecting on the Last Things, culminating in the Feast of Christ the King last week, when we pondered the Final Judgment, the separation of the “sheep” and the “goats.” There is actually a fairly smooth transition from the end of the liturgical year to its beginning,
- [Solemnity of Christ the King!](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/11/20/solemnity-of-christ-the-king/) - Congratulations, everyone! God has seen fit to let us live to complete another liturgical year! We have journeyed with Our Lord from his birth through his ministry, passion, death, resurrection, and into the growth of the Church and the spread of the Gospel to all the nations. Now, at the end of the year, we
- [Faithfulness in Small Things: 33rd Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/11/10/faithfulness-in-small-things-33rd-sunday-of-ot/) - St. Josemaría Escrivà, the founder of the personal prelature Opus Dei, has often been called the “saint of the ordinary” for the emphasis he placed on achieving holiness in every-day living. In fact, one of his most famous sermons was entitled “The Richness of Ordinary Life.” St. Josemaría once said he could tell a great
- [When is the party going to start? 32nd Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/11/08/when-is-the-party-going-to-start-32nd-sunday-of-ot/) - Many years ago I worked in a cafeteria in northern Virginia with a large group of people who mostly knew each other and lived in the same neighborhood. Around the 4th of July, they all decided to have a party, and out of politeness invited me, even though I was a stranger. They told me
- [All Saints!](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/10/30/all-saints/) - A happy Feast of All Saints to one and all! This year All Saints falls on a Sunday, pre-empting what would have been the 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time. The month of November is not formally a liturgical season, but since it begins with All Saints and ends with Christ the King, these four weeks
- [Of Law and Love: 30th Week of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/10/24/of-law-and-love-30th-week-of-ot/) - How does love relate to law? The two can seem opposed, a contrast to one another. Love is a romantic dinner for two on a veranda overlooking the Seine. Law is a solemn old man in a black robe, sitting behind a high podium with police officers at his side. The Readings for this Sunday
- [BOOK NOTICE:  Matthew J. Thomas, Paul's "Works of the Law" in the Perspective of Second Century Reception](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/10/20/book-notice-matthew-j-thomas-pauls-works-of-the-law-in-the-perspective-of-second-century-reception/) - In today's world of Pauline studies it is rare to find a manuscript that is equally careful and groundbreaking. In his newly released Paul’s "Works of the Law” in the Perspective of Second Century Reception (IVP Academic, 2020), Matthew J. Thomas of the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology has published such a volume. Originally his
- [Implications of the Election for Catholic Institutions and Catholic Biblical Scholarship](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/10/20/implications-of-the-election-for-catholic-institutions-and-catholic-biblical-scholarship/) - I don't often comment on political issues as others are more qualified, but it's hard to ignore the flurry of activity and commentary on the current election cycle in the U.S. This is not an endorsement of any candidate or party, just a discussion of some of the implications of the U.S. election for Catholic
- [Jesus and Politics: 29th Sunday in OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/10/17/jesus-and-politics-29th-sunday-in-ot/) - Religion and politics are a volatile mix, such that the old dictum was, these were the two topics one should not raise in polite conversation. The readings for this Sunday are concerned, in part, with the interaction of religion and politics, in the rule of God vs. the rule of men. The Scriptures affirm that
- [Dressing for Success: 28th Sunday in OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/10/09/dressing-for-success-28th-sunday-in-ot/) - The standard of dress at Mass has declined in recent years. People show up looking like their ready for the beach or a football game. Some pastors are calling attention to this problem. I agree--I’m all for encouraging modesty and taste in the way we physically dress for worship But our external dress is not
- [Are We a Fruitful Vineyard? 27th Sun](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/10/01/are-we-a-fruitful-vineyard-27th-sun/) - Are We a Fruitful Vineyard? Readings for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time The past several Sundays we have been reading from the vineyard parables of Jesus in Matthew, and this Sunday we reach a climactic point in the hostility between the leaders of the people (chief priests and Pharisees) and Jesus. The Readings for
- [Pope Francis Releases Surprise Letter on Jerome and Scripture Study on the 16th Centennial of His Death](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/09/30/pope-francis-releases-surprise-letter-on-jerome-and-scripture-study-on-the-16th-centennial-of-his-death/) - Jerome--often called "the greatest of the doctors of the Church"--once wrote: “He who is united to the Chair of Peter is one with me” (Ep.16, 2). In turn, throughout history, various popes have honored him. Today, Pope Francis took up that tradition. It was announced this morning that Francis has released an Apostolic Letter, Scripturae
- [My New Article in Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus and How I Changed My Mind About Jesus Studies](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/09/24/my-new-article-in-journal-for-the-study-of-the-historical-jesus-and-how-i-changed-my-mind-about-jesus-studies/) - The Journal of the Historical Jesus has published a new piece of mine: "Did Jesus Anticipate Suffering a Violent Death?: The Implications of Memory Research and Dale Allison's Methodology." I have long admired this excellent journal. In fact, I think I have read every article ever published in it. To be included in it is
- [Is God Fair? Part 2: 26th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/09/23/is-god-fair-part-2-26th-sunday-of-ot/) - Is God Fair? Round Two: The 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time Apparently Holy Mother Church wants us to learn something about God’s justice and mercy, because the themes of this Sunday’s Readings repeat, with variation, those of last week’s. Last week we had to deal with the difficult Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard,
- [NEW BOOK: Jesus and the Forces of Death: The Gospels' Portrayal of Ritual Impurity within Judaism (Matthew Thiessen)](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/09/21/new-book-jesus-and-the-forces-of-death-the-gospels-portrayal-of-ritual-impurity-within-judaism-matthew-thiessen/) - Long blog posts render a person unclean--or at least they should. Nonetheless, I cannot restrain myself in this case. Matthew Thiessen's new book, Jesus and the Forces of Death: The Gospels' Portrayal of Ritual Impurity within First-Century Judaism (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2020), merits all the attention it has already received. You can read the
- [Your Verbal Steering Wheel: James, the Tongue, and My Plans](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/08/24/your-verbal-steering-wheel-james-the-tongue-and-my-plans/) - James is calling believers to grab the wheel, to use our speech in a positive way to temper our expectations and ambitions with humility.
- [Is God Fair? 25th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/09/15/is-god-fair-25th-sunday-of-ot/) - The Gospel Reading for this Lord’s Day raises the issue of the fairness of God. Jesus, being a good teacher, wants his students to think. He teaches in parables that—on the one hand—do indeed communicate truth and answer questions, but—on the other—do raise new, puzzling questions that require the student (disciple means student, after all)
- [Forgiving a Billion Dollar Debt: 24th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/09/09/forgiving-a-billion-dollar-debt-24th-sunday-of-ot/) - The Readings for this Lord’s Day are unified around the theme of forgiveness. We begin and end with the words of “Jesus” on this topic: the First Reading records the words of Jesus, son of Sira, and the Gospel records the words of Jesus, Son of God. One of the last books of the Christian
- [About The Sacred Page](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/03/27/about-the-sacred-page/) - The Sacred Page is a blog written by Catholic professors of biblical studies and theology. Here we offer thoughts on recent trends in contemporary biblical scholarship as well as reflections on the role of Scripture in the life of the Church. This site, therefore, has two audiences in mind: scholars and believers interested in learning
- [Christian Confrontation: 23rd Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/09/01/christian-confrontation-23rd-sunday-of-ot/) - I don’t like personal conflict. I try to avoid it as much as possible. Probably most Americans do. I’m not sure what it’s like in other cultures, although I’ve heard of places where open social confrontation is more common. This Sunday’s readings deal with situations in which Christians have a duty to confront one another.
- [The Cost of Discipleship: 22nd Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/08/28/the-cost-of-discipleship-22nd-sunday-of-ot/) - If last Sunday’s Readings were a soft-ball pitch, a nice high arc to knock out of the park, this Sunday’s Readings are a wicked curve ball for the Catholic preacher. Nonetheless, while these readings aren’t the “feel good” homiletical experience of last week’s, the truths are just as important and just as “Catholic.” We begin
- [Is the Pope in the Bible? 21st Week of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/08/21/is-the-pope-in-the-bible-21st-week-of-ot/) - In terms of Catholic “preachability,” this Sunday’s Readings are a soft-ball pitch, a long high arc that every homilist ought to be able to knock out of the park. The lectionary readings have been set up for a clear explanation of the nature of the Papacy and its basis in Scripture. The context of the
- [Who Let in the Riffraff?: 20th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/08/14/who-let-in-the-riffraff-20-sunday-of-ot/) - According to Wikipedia, that source than which none more authoritative can be thought, “Riffraff is a term for the common people or hoi polloi, but with negative connotations. The term is derived from Old French ‘rif et raf’ meaning ‘one and all, every bit.’” My ancestors are Dutch, and—like many other ethnic groups—think their pretty
- [OnScript and Introducing Lectio Sacra](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/08/11/onscript-and-introducing-lectio-sacra/) - One of our favorite podcasts here at The Sacred Page is On Script. Brant, Michael, and I recently had the privilege of appearing on the show to talk about our book Paul, A New Covenant Jew. Brant and Michael had a great discussion of the book with our friends Matthew Bates and Chris Tilling, it is well
- [Was Mary Ritually Impure After Jesus's Birth?](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/08/10/was-mary-ritually-impure-after-jesuss-birth/) - I’ve just read Matthew Thiessen’s new book Jesus and the Forces of Death: The Gospels’ Portrayal of Ritual Impurity within First-Century Judaism (Baker Academic, 2020). Michael Barber will be posting a review of this important and thought-provoking volume soon here on The Sacred Page, but I couldn’t resist writing up a couple of thoughts…and more
- [Calm in the Storm: 19th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/08/07/calm-in-the-storm-19th-sunday-of-ot/) - There is so much turmoil in the national and international news these days, it makes it difficult to maintain a sense of peace. Instability in our own country seems capable of spiraling out of control, not to mention the various political hotspots around the world. Christians are targeted for elimination in Muslim and communist countries
- [NEW BOOK: Introducing the Pseudepigrapha of the Second Temple Period (by Daniel Gurtner)](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/08/01/new-book-introducing-the-pseudepigrapha-of-the-second-temple-period-by-daniel-gurtner/) - Daniel Gurtner, one of the most impressive and prolific New Testament scholars working in the field today, has written an important new book introducing the Jewish literature of the Second Temple period. This is a must-read for any serious student of the New Testament. I have already written of the remarkable two-volume work he co-edited
- [Bread of the Covenant: 18th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/07/30/bread-of-the-covenant-18th-sunday-of-ot/) - When approaching this Sunday’s Readings, I’m again reminded of the Eucharistic symbolism in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, especially the elven lembas bread that strengthened Frodo and Sam’s bodies and spirits as they journeyed through the darkness of Mordor. Mordor symbolizes the sufferings of this mortal life, in which so often it seems
- [Get Wise! 17th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/07/24/get-wise-17th-sunday-of-ot/) - When I was a kid, the phrase “Get wise!” was a provocative taunt—essentially, a way to start a fight. It meant: “I invite you to act like a smart aleck, so I will have an excuse to assault you physically.” I’ll never forget it, because I was only involved in about four fist-fights in my
- [NEW BOOK: Matthew within Judaism: Israel and the Nations in the First Gospel (eds. Anders Runesson and Daniel M. Gurtner)](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/07/16/new-book-matthew-within-judaism-israel-and-the-nations-in-the-first-gospel-eds-anders-runesson-and-daniel-m-gurtner/) - Last week I received in the mail a book I have long-awaited: Anders Runesson and Daniel M. Gurtner, eds., Matthew within Judaism: Israel and the Nations in the First Gospel, Early Christianity and Its Literature 27 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2020). This book represents a major contribution to Matthew scholarship. The past decade or
- [Those Lousy Hypocrites in the Church! 16th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/07/14/those-lousy-hypocrites-in-the-church-16th-sunday-of-ot/) - Our Readings for this upcoming Lord’s Day involve a meditation on both God’s mercy and his justice, and the complex way both virtues of God are expressed in his government of human affairs in general and his people in particular. We see that God’s apparent tolerance of evil in the short-term is an expression of
- [Cultivating the Seed: 15th Week of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/07/10/cultivating-the-seed-15th-week-of-ot/) - Ordinary Time focuses on the growth of the Church. I would prefer we called it “Extraordinary Time,” because there is nothing ordinary about the Second Person of the Divinity becoming en-fleshed in our presence through the Sacrament. Be that as it may, the Readings for this Lord’s Day are clearly united by the motif of
- [Ancient Christian Writers on the Interconnectedness of the Beatitudes: Insights from D. H. Williams, Matthew (The Church's Bible)](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/07/07/ancient-christian-interpreters-on-the-interconnectedness-of-the-beatitudes-insights-from-d-h-williams-matthew-the-churchs-bible/) - I recently reviewed D. H. Williams' new installment in The Church's Bible series, which is entitled, Matthew: Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans, 2018) for Religious Studies Review. It was a fascinating read. I won't reproduce my RSR review here, but I did want to say a bit more about an aspect of Williams' work
- [Gentle King of the Universe: 14th Sunday of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/07/03/gentle-king-of-the-universe-14th-sunday-of-ot/) - At this time in the Church year, it can feel like we’re “stuck” in Ordinary Time until the end of November. Not that that’s a bad thing! Ordinary Time has extraordinary insights. This Sunday we find Jesus more or less in the middle of his earthly ministry (Matt 11), and the Readings are marked by
- [Introducing a New Contributor to The Sacred Page: James Prothro](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/20/introducing-a-new-contributor-james-prothro/) - We are very pleased to announce that yet another scholar has joined The Sacred Page as a contributor: James Prothro. In a way, this is a double announcement. In addition to welcoming him to this site, I am also excited to say that James has joined Brant Pitre, John Sehorn, and me as a new
- [Introducing A New Contributor to The Sacred Page: John Sehorn](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/08/introducing-a-new-contributor-to-the-sacred-page-john-sehorn/) - We are very pleased to announce a new writer to The Sacred Page, John Sehorn. John Sehorn is Assistant Professor of Theology at the Augustine Institute Graduate School of Theology (Greenwood Village, CO). An Oregon native, John holds a PhD in the History of Christianity from the University of Notre Dame. He is especially interested in
- [Remembering James Dunn and the Time I Got to Write a Book with Him](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/07/01/remembering-james-dunn-and-the-time-i-got-to-write-a-book-with-him/) - The world of New Testament Studies was saddened last week to learn of the passing of James D. G. Dunn, one of the premier scholars in biblical scholarship. Many touching tributes have been written, including those by Scot McKnight (with some words from Jeff Wisdom), Nijay Gupta, James Ernest, Loren Stuckenbruck, James McGrath, and B.
- [The Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul: The Upward Call of God](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/06/29/the-upward-call-of-god/) - Today is the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. One of my favorite passages in Paul’s epistles is Philippians 3:12–14: Not that I have already obtained this* or am already made perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that
- [Children for Abraham (Matthew 3:9)](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/07/02/children-for-abraham-matthew-39/) - The first verse of Matthew’s Gospel identifies Jesus as “the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Compared to his Davidic pedigree, Jesus as “son of Abraham” has until recently been relatively neglected. Leroy Huizenga’s 2009 book The New Isaac was a tremendous leap forward for appreciating Matthew’s presentation of Jesus as “son of Abraham.”[1]
- [Accepting a Prophet: 13th Week of OT](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/06/27/accepting-a-prophet-13th-week-of-ot/) - God is generous, and he rewards those who help his servants as generously as he rewards his servants themselves. That is the message of the Readings for this 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time. We begin with an account from 2 Kings concerning the reward of a wife of the town of Shunem, who was consistently
- [Thomas Aquinas on the Scriptures as the "Heart of Christ": A Thought for Today's Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/06/19/thomas-aquinas-on-the-scriptures-as-the-heart-of-christ-a-thought-for-todays-solemnity-of-the-sacred-heart-of-jesus/) - Today Catholics around the world celebrate the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. What many people do not realize is that there is a venerable tradition of associating the heart of Jesus with the Scriptures. In his commentary on the Psalms, Thomas Aquinas writes, The phrase “heart of Christ” can refer to Sacred Scripture,
- [NEW BOOK: Catherine Hamilton's, The Death of Jesus in Matthew (Cambridge University Press)](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/06/22/new-book-catherine-hamiltons-the-death-of-jesus-in-matthew-cambridge-university-press/) - One important recent contribution to Matthean studies is Catherine Sider Hamilton's, The Death of Jesus in Matthew: Innocent Blood and the End of the Exile, Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 167 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017). I would like to share a few thoughts about it here. This monograph was a real eye-opener
- [Fear No One: 12th Week of Ordinary Time](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/06/19/fear-no-one-12th-week-of-ordinary-time/) - After the celebrations of Pentecost, Trinity, and Corpus Christi, this Sunday finds us transitioning back to Ordinary Time, and the transition is a bit painful. The Readings for this Sunday shift right back into the reality of persecution in the Christian life, as we read about Jesus advising the apostles to be prepared for the
- [Listening to the Conversation on Paul and Faith (4): Downs's and Lappenga's The Faithfulness of the Risen Christ](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/06/18/listening-to-the-conversation-on-paul-and-faith-4-downss-and-lappengas-the-faithfulness-of-the-risen-christ/) - This post continues a series of notices on recent books that treat “faith” in the letters of Paul. As we have seen, many recent books are pressing to see the connection between saving faith and participation in Christ. Today’s entry is a coauthored work by David J. Downs and Benjamin J. Lappenga, The Faithfulness of
- [The Flesh of Our Savior: Corpus Christi Readings](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/06/13/the-flesh-of-our-savior-corpus-christi-readings/) - This weekend is another great liturgical feast, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, otherwise known as Corpus Christi. Corpus Christi is one of a handful of feasts that celebrates the very gift of the Eucharist itself. It is one of my favorite feasts, because the doctrine of the Real Presence
- [Listening to the Conversation on Paul and Faith (3): Jeanette Hagen Pifer's Faith as Participation](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/06/11/listening-to-the-conversation-on-paul-and-faith-3-jeanette-hagen-pifers-faith-as-participation/) - As we continue our reviews of recent books on “faith” in Paul’s letters, I get to talk about my favorite: Jeanette Hagen Pifer’s PhD dissertation at the University of Durham, Faith as Participation: An Exegetical Study of Some Key Pauline Texts. WUNT 2/486 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2019). Pifer’s book is detailed, clear and well-written, and nuanced—more than
- [Blessed Are Those Who Mourn: The Goodness of Tears amid Tumult](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/06/15/blessed-are-those-who-mourn-the-goodness-of-tears-amid-tumult/) - In Ezekiel’s visions, God tells of the current and coming destruction of Jerusalem. “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice” (9:9). They, or the majority, have not only forsaken the Lord for idols and spurned God’s commands, but
- [BOOK NOTICE: Sandra Huebenthal, Reading Mark's Gospel as a Text from Collective Memory (Eerdmans, 2020)](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/06/08/book-notice-sandra-huebenthal-reading-marks-gospel-as-a-text-from-collective-memory-eerdmans-2020/) - I was very happy to finally get my hands on Sandra Huebenthal's work, Reading Mark as a Text from Collective Memory (Eerdmans, 2020). This English translation of Huebenthal's German scholarship will help ensure that her work gets a wider hearing. New Testament studies has become increasingly interested in memory research and this book represents an
- [Trinity Sunday!](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/06/04/trinity-sunday/) - The Easter Season usually ends with a sort of “trifecta” of major feasts: Pentecost, Trinity, and Corpus Christi, as the Church celebrates the central mysteries of the faith before entering into Ordinary Time once more. In any event, this weekend is Trinity Sunday, a meditation and celebration of the central mystery of the Christian faith,
- [Listening to the Conversation on Paul and Faith (2): Gupta's Paul and the Language of Faith](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/06/04/listening-to-the-conversation-on-paul-and-faith-2-guptas-paul-and-the-language-of-faith/) - On Thursday of last week, James Prothro’s review of Harrisville’s The Faith of St. Paul served as the first in a series of posts covering recent scholarship on Pauline faith. Today I will offer the next installment in this series by taking a brief look at Nijay Gupta’s recent monograph, Paul and the Language of Faith (Eerdmans,
- [RECENT BOOK: Brian Dennert, John the Baptist and the Jewish Setting of Matthew, WUNT 2/403](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/06/03/recent-book-brian-dennert-john-the-baptist-and-the-jewish-setting-of-matthew-wunt-2-403/) - A few weeks ago, I worked through Brian C. Dennert's fine monograph, John the Baptist and the Jewish Setting of Matthew, WUNT 2/403 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck). This is a must-read for anyone interested in "JBap." (Yes, I have probably read too much from Raymond Brown). At the beginning of book, the reader is treated to
- [Parapets, Biblical Laws, and Loving our Neighbors](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/06/02/parapets-biblical-laws-and-loving-our-neighbors/) - If the central command behind love of God is to love one’s neighbor as oneself (Leviticus 19:18), this law offers one instance that should help shape our practice of love for others. And the logic of this law and what it teaches us to value, if we want to hear it, stretch beyond rooftop decor.
- [Listening to the Conversation on Paul and Faith: Harrisville's The Faith of St. Paul](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/28/listening-to-the-conversation-on-paul-and-faith-harrisvilles-the-faith-of-st-paul/) - It has been now over forty years since the “New Perspective on Paul” and responses to it reinvestigated old oppositions between Paul and the Judaism of his day regarding divine mercy and grace, Paul’s view of humanity, the place of the Law given to Israel, righteousness and justification “by faith,” etc. Though these issues have
- [The Feast of Pentecost](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/26/the-feast-of-pentecost/) - I highly recommend reading the commentary I also posted on this site on the Readings for the Vigil in preparation for the Mass of Pentecost Day. The Readings for the Mass of the Pentecost pick up, as it were, where the Readings for the Vigil left off. The First Reading is, finally, the account of
- [The Vigil of Pentecost:](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/26/the-vigil-of-pentecost/) - Gathering the Human Family Pentecost is a very important feast in the liturgical life of the Church, and it has it’s own vigil. Not only so, but the Readings for the Vigil are particularly rich. I cannot think of another that has such a wide variety of options, for example, for the First Reading. Even
- [Ears and Eyes at Nazareth](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/26/ears-and-eyes-at-nazareth/) - Luke 4:16–21 has always been one of my favorite scenes in the Gospels. Jesus comes home to Nazareth and goes to synagogue as usual. He stands up and reads from Isaiah 61: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the good news to the poor;He has sent me
- [Christ's Prayer for Unity: 7th Sunday of Easter](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/22/christs-prayer-for-unity-7th-sunday-of-easter/) - In the provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, and Omaha, Ascension Day is observed on it's proper day, and this Sunday is observed as the Seventh Sunday of Easter. It's a shame that so much of the country will not have a chance to meditate on these Scriptures, but perhaps even those of
- [Enthroned as King: Ascension Day](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/22/enthroned-as-king-ascension-day/) - In the Diocese of Steubenville, as well as in most of the USA, Ascension Day is observed this Sunday. I wish the traditional observance on Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter was retained, but "it is what it is." Therefore, this weekend we will look at the powerful readings for Ascension Day. This is
- [Luke and the "Vision of Peace": Some Musings](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/19/luke-and-the-vision-of-peace-some-musings/) - At the end of the Canticle of Zechariah, we read that the daybreak of Jesus’ birth is on its way to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.Luke 1:79 Two themes are hereby announced that will remain important throughout
- [Pentecost for Israel: 6th Sunday of Easter](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/15/pentecost-for-israel-6th-sunday-of-easter/) - So we have arrived at the sixth Sunday of Easter, and Pentecost is only two weeks away! It is hard to believe that this blessed season has traveled by so quickly. Yet we are approaching the end, now is the time to prepare more seriously than ever to be filled anew with the Holy Spirit
- [NEW BOOK: "Matthew, Disciple and Scribe: The First Gospel and Its Portrait of Jesus" by Patrick Schreiner](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/12/matthew-disciple-and-scribe-the-first-gospel-and-its-portrait-of-jesus-by-patrick-schreiner/) - There is much to like about Patrick Schreiner's new book, Matthew, Disciple and Scribe: The First Gospel and Its Portrait of Jesus (Baker Academic, 2019). In fact, I like it so much I have decided to use it as one of the textbooks for an elective I am teaching on Matthew's Gospel this summer (over
- [The Simpsons and Methodological Caution](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/13/the-simpsons-and-methodological-caution/) - This clip from The Simpsons has been making the rounds online lately: Looks a lot like 2020, doesn’t it? But the fact is, the clip comes from the season-four episode “Marge in Chains.” It originally aired on May 6, 1993, almost three decades ago. The apparently prophetic scene has caught the attention of MSM outlets,
- [Westcott and Augustine on Rebirth: A Life One and Indivisible](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/11/westcott-and-augustine-on-rebirth-a-life-one-and-indivisible/) - How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? (John 3:4, KJV) In his classic commentary on the Gospel of John (1881), B. F. Westcott glosses Nicodemus’s question as follows: How is it possible for a man whose whole nature at
- [Building the Temple of God: 5th Sunday of Easter A](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/07/building-the-temple-of-god-5th-sunday-of-easter-a/) - Since the beginning of time, human beings have sought to construct buildings that would bridge the gap between the temporal and eternal, earthly and heavenly planes of existence. These temples have taken widely differing forms in many cultures. One of the greatest was the Jerusalem temple begun by Herod the Great (73–4 BC), an architectural
- [Jesus Did Not Tell Stories Simply to Make His Meaning More Clear](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/04/jesus-did-not-tell-stories-to-make-his-meaning-clearer/) - The headline of this post will not be all that shocking to those who have carefully studied the Gospels, but I suspect others will find it surprising. It is not uncommon to hear people claim that Jesus spoke in parables because, as a good teacher, Jesus wanted to make his meaning easy to understand. Stories,
- [Good Shepherd Sunday (4th Easter)](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/05/01/good-shepherd-sunday-4th-easter/) - So we have reached the mid-point of the Easter Season and come to the Lord’s Day unofficially called “Good Shepherd Sunday,” because every year at this time we read from John 10, the famous “Good Shepherd Discourse.” For the most part, the Readings are focused around the idea of Jesus Christ as our divine Shepherd.
- [John, Jesus, and History: Mark Allan Powell's Thought Experiment](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/29/john-jesus-and-history/) - For the most part, historical Jesus scholarship has traditionally focused on the Synoptic Gospels. The Gospel of John has often been viewed as essentially irrelevant to the task of Jesus research. For a number of years, the "John, Jesus, and History" group at the Society of Biblical Literature has been challenging this perspective. I was
- [Jesus Research, Historical Methodology, and the Temple Conflicts in Acts: A Note from Eyal Regev's New Book](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/23/jesus-research-historical-methodology-and-the-temple-conflicts-in-acts-a-note-from-eyal-regevs-new-book/) - One of the major shifts in historical Jesus research in the last decade has been an emerging skepticism over the use of the so-called "criteria of authenticity." Perhaps most significantly, scholars joined voices in the collection of essays edited by Chris Keith and Anthony Le Donne, entitled, Jesus, Criteria, and the Demise of Authenticity (London:
- [Keck on Why Paul Wrote So Little about Jesus' Public Ministry](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/22/keck-on-why-paul-wrote-so-little-about-jesus-public-ministry/) - We are still celebrating "Easter Season" and so I thought I would offer a post on just how important the resurrection was for Paul. Specifically, I would like to spotlight what seems to be a throw-away paragraph in Leander Keck's insightful book, Christ's First Theologian: The Shape of Paul's Thought (Baylor University Press, 2015). First,
- [The Gospel as More Than "Words": The Bates-McKnight Controversy and Graham Twelftree's New Book](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/20/the-gospel-as-more-than-words-a-note-from-graham-twelftrees-new-book/) - Scot McKnight and Matthew Bates have new pieces in Christianity Today in which they respond to a recent criticism of their work. The two men are first-rate scholars and I have learned much from their work. They are also wonderful men who model what it looks like to do serious academic work in a way
- [The Early Christians: A Model for the Easter Season](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/22/the-early-christians-a-model-for-the-easter-season/) - While doing some research on an unrelated project, I came across the Apology of Aristides, apparently a second-century defense of Christianity addressed to the Emperor Hadrian (AD 117-138) and attributed to the Athenian philosopher and convert to Christianity Aristides [not to be confused with the famous ancient Athenian statesmen for whom he was probably named],
- ["Emmaus Road Sunday": 3rd Sunday of Easter A](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/21/emmaus-road-sunday-3rd-sunday-of-easter-a/) - Jesus the Unique Savior. How do we know that Jesus was someone and something different than the numerous religious leaders or founders of religions that have appeared on the stage of world history over the centuries? Last week, we saw one way that he is different: unlike Buddha, Mohammed, or Zarathustra, Jesus rose from the
- [#BiblicalStudiesMemes](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/21/biblicalstudiesmemes/) - I am starting a new feature on Twitter (@MichaelPBarber) called #BiblicalStudiesMemes. Here are the first three:
- [Live Reading of "Stunned By Scripture" 4pm Today](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/21/live-reading-of-stunned-by-scripture-4pm-today/) - I'll be doing a live-streamed reading of my book, "Stunned by Scripture: How the Bible Made Me Catholic," from chapter 3, "I have a confession t make," about how the Sacrament of Confession factored into my conversion to the Catholic Church. I'll post links to follow it soon. It will be hosted via Facebook streaming.
- [Divine Mercy Sunday](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/17/divine-mercy-sunday/) - Behind the readings for this Sunday lies a Gospel text which is never read, but whose influence is felt and whose concepts and images serves as a link between the texts that are read. That passage is John 19:34: John 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once
- [My Interview with Brian LePort about Paul, A New Covenant Jew](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/16/my-interview-with-brian-leport-on-paul-a-new-covenant-jew/) - It was a great honor to be interviewed by Brian LePort who is doing a series of fun interviews with biblical scholars. These videos, which you can find on his blog, Google-Hermeneutics and Wiki-Exegesis, are being recorded for his students, who are taking their courses online during this quarantine period, but they are also intended
- [Fredriksen and Hays on the Message of the Resurrection](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/15/frederiksen-and-hays-on-the-message-of-the-resurrection/) - Nearly two millennia later, it is hard to fully comprehend just how earth-shattering the news of Jesus of Nazareth’s resurrection was to its original audience. In her book, Paul: The Pagans Apostle, Paula Fredriksen writes: What distinguishes Jesus from . . . John the Baptizer, or from the Dead Sea sectarians’ Teacher of Righteousness, or from the
- [How to Find Old Sacred Page Posts](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/03/26/how-to-find-old-sacred-page-posts/) - I am getting emails from people interested in accessing older posts, particularly those offering reflections on the lectionary readings. Many of the posts from the old site can be found here: https://thesacredpagearchive.blogspot.com/
- [RECENT BOOK: Divine Wrath and Salvation in Matthew (Anders Runesson)](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/14/recent-book-divine-wrath-and-salvation-in-matthew-anders-runesson/) - Anyone interested in serious scholarship on Matthew should pick up a copy of Anders Runesson's recent book, Divine Wrath and Salvation in Matthew: The Narrative World of the First Gospel (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2016). I realize this book has already been out for about 4 years, however, I do not believe it has received the
- [Augustine on the Resurrection: An Easter Monday Homily](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/13/augustine-on-the-resurrection-an-easter-monday-homily/) - Around 412 or 413 AD, Augustine delivered a remarkable homily on Easter Monday, now known as Sermon 231. In order to solicit resurrection faith, Augustine appealed to the universal human longing for happiness. After briefly examining and eliminating a number of possible paths for achieving happiness, Augustine turned to the risen Jesus of Nazareth and
- [Nijay Gupta Writes about Our New Paul Book](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/11/nijay-gupta-writes-about-our-new-paul-book/) - I am very grateful for this book notice from Nijay Gupta. I regularly read his site and enjoy it tremendously. Truth be told, Crux Sola inspired me to get back into blogging. It is always wild to have a scholar you have spent a lot of time reading and deeply respect comment on your work.
- [The Priesthood of the New Covenant: Easter Sunday](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/09/the-priesthood-of-the-new-covenant-easter-sunday/) - The Mass of Easter Day is one of the most joyful in the Church calendar, as the Church basks in the afterglow of the most remarkable intervention of God into human history, the resurrection of his own son. 1. The First Reading is Acts 10:34a, 37-43: Peter proceeded to speak and said:“You know what has
- [Christ Our Priest: Good Friday](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/09/christ-our-priest-good-friday/) - Every year on Good Friday, we read St. John’s account of the Passion from John 18-19, together with Isaiah 52-53 and Psalm 31. One of the themes that runs through these reading is the Priesthood of Christ. 1. There is priestly language already in the First Reading, from Isaiah 52 & 53, the famous “Suffering
- [The Story of Salvation: The Easter Vigil](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/09/the-story-of-salvation-the-easter-vigil/) - The Readings for the Easter Vigil recount the history of salvation by focusing on the various covenant stages throughout the Biblical story line. My book Bible Basics for Catholics follows this same pattern, using stick figure drawings to illustrate these various stages. I'll proceed to point out how all these covenants appear in various forms
- [Grace and the Gift of Christ on the Cross: Insights from John Barclay for Good Friday](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/10/grace-and-the-gift-of-christ-on-the-cross-insights-from-john-barclay-for-good-friday/) - One of the most important books I have read in the last ten years is John Barclay's book, Paul and the Gift (Eerdmans, 2018). The book is widely recognized in scholarly circles as a landmark contribution to Pauline studies. In particular, Barclay, a brilliant Anglican New Testament scholar, focuses on the meaning of the term
- [The Foot Washing of the Disciples and Jesus as the Suffering Servant in the Gospel of John: Some Insights from the Greek Text of John 13](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/09/the-foot-washing-of-the-disciples-and-jesus-as-the-suffering-servant-in-the-gospel-of-john/) - One of the unique features of the Holy Thursday liturgy is the remembrance of Jesus' act of washing the disciples' feet. My favorite depiction of this scene has always been the one above by Ford Madox Brown. I think it really captures Peter's extreme discomfort at having his feet washed by Jesus. I must confess
- [Christ Our Passover: Holy Thursday](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/09/christ-our-passover-holy-thursday/) - The Readings for the Holy Thursday Mass focus on the continuity between the ancient Jewish Passover and the institution of the Eucharist. As the Passover was the meal that marked the transition from slavery to Egypt to the freedom of the Exodus, so the Eucharist is the meal that marks the transition from slavery to
- [SNEAK PEAK: Michael Gorman's Preface for Paul, A New Covenant Jew: Rethinking Pauline Theology](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/07/sneak-peak-michael-gormans-preface-for-paul-a-new-covenant-jew-rethinking-pauline-theology/) - Eerdmans has permitted us to offer a sneak peak of our new book on Paul. Here you can see the Table of Contents and the Foreword by Michael Gorman. We are so grateful for his generous contribution. You can find more information about the book on Eerdmans’ website: https://www.eerdmans.com/Mobile/Products/7376/paul-a-new-covenant-jew.aspx Here it is on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Paul-New-Covenant-Jew-Rethinking/dp/0802873766
- ["The Cross Is Not the Worst Death Possible": Elizabeth Klein on Athanasius](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/08/the-cross-is-not-the-worst-death-possible-elizabeth-klein-on-athanasius/) - My colleague at the Augustine Institute Graduate School, Elizabeth Klein, has an excellent piece up on why Jesus' death was not the worst possible death. She draws on Philippians 2, Athanasius, and Thomas Aquinas. During this Holy Week, I encourage you to read it in full.
- [Did Jesus Forgive the Paralytic's Sins or Simply Announce God Had Done So? Notes from Beniamin Pascut's Recent Book](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/06/did-jesus-forgive-the-paralytics-sins-or-simply-announce-god-had-done-so-notes-from-beniamin-pascuts-recent-book/) - I just finished reading a recent study by Beniamin Pascut, entitled, Redescribing Jesus' Divinity Through a Social Science Theory: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Forgiveness and Divine Identity in Ancient Judaism and Mark 2:1-12, WUNT 2/438 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017). The book is primarily focused on explicating the story of Jesus' healing of the paralytic in
- [Paraded, then Persecuted: Readings for Palm/Passion Sunday](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/03/paraded-then-persecuted-readings-for-palm-passion-sunday/) - This Sunday’s readings might seem bipolar or schizophrenic. We begin Mass with exultant cheering as we relive Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We end the Readings on an note of solemn silence, unable to process the reality of one of the most egregious abuses of judicial process and power in human history, in which the
- [OUR NEW BOOK: Paul, A New Covenant Jew: Rethinking Pauline Theology](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/03/25/example-post/) - Paul was and remained a Jew.—E. P. Sanders This year saw the release of a new book I co-authored with Brant Pitre and John Kincaid, entitled, Paul, A New Covenant Jew: Rethinking Pauline Theology (Eerdmans, 2019)(available on Amazon.com here). In the book we tackle some of the biggest questions in Pauline studies. We begin with
- [NEW BOOK: 1-2 Thessalonians Commentary by Nathan Eubank (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture)](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/04/01/new-book-1-2-thessalonians-commentary-by-nathan-eubank-catholic-commentary-on-sacred-scripture/) - This term I am once again teaching Pauline Literature. One of the new books I assigned to students is Nathan Eubank's recently published commentary on 1-2 Thessalonians in the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture Series (Baker Academic, 2019). This has become one of my favorite volumes in this series. Eubank's book is perfect for anyone
- [NEW RELEASE: A Beginner's Guide to New Testament Studies (Nijay Gupta)](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/03/27/new-release-a-beginners-guide-to-new-testament-studies-nijay-gupta/) - The prolific Nijay Gupta has yet another new book out, A Beginner's Guide to New Testament Studies: Understanding Key Debates (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2020). I was very grateful to receive a copy in the mail so I wanted to say a few things about it. I hope to write more on this down the
- [NEW BOOK: Matthew within Sectarian Judaism (John Kampen)](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/03/25/new-book-matthew-within-sectarian-judaism-john-kampen/) - In 2019, Yale University published a book on the Gospel of Matthew that is sure to rock some boats: Matthew within Sectarian Judaism, written by John Kampen. You can purchase the book from the publisher here. Kampen is probably best known for his work on the Dead Sea Scrolls, which makes this book especially interesting
- [Baptism as Resurrection: Readings for 5th Sunday of Lent](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/03/25/baptism-as-resurrection-readings-for-5th-sunday-of-lent/) - In the season of Lent, the Gospel of John becomes very prominent, especially in Year A, the readings of which can be used in any year that a parish is doing RCIA. Unlike the other Gospels, John recounts only a limited number of miracles of Jesus, which he designates as “signs,” a rare term in
- [Welcome to the TheSacredPage.com 2.0](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/03/25/welcome-to-catholicbiblicalstudies-com/) - Announcing the New TheSacredPage.com On this, the Feast Day of Annunciation, after years of planning and redesign, we are pleased to announce the relaunch of TheSacredPage.com. This website will remain devoted to Catholic biblical studies, but the fresh look is more than a face-lift. A little history is in order. I began to blog in
- [A Noun for "the New Christ-faith" Preached by Paul](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/03/25/thoughts-on-leander-kecks-christs-first-theologian/) - I regularly read Leander Keck. His work is often insightful and stimulating. I recently picked up his recent title, Christ's First Theologian: The Shape of Paul's Thought (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2015). While I hope to say some more things about this book down the road, I would just briefly like to consider a remark
- [NEW BOOK: The State of New Testament Studies (eds. McKnight and Gupta)](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/03/25/the-state-of-new-testament-studies/) - I was very grateful to receive this new book edited by Scot McKnight and Nijay Gupta when it was released. I have been carefully working through it. For anyone serious about New Testament studies, this is a very valuable collection of essays. A little backstory. In 2004, Baker Academic released, The Face of New Testament
- [NEW RELEASE: T and T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism (eds. Daniel M. Gurtner and Loren T. Stuckenbruck)](https://thesacredpage.com/2020/03/25/new-release-tt-clark-encyclopedia-of-second-temple-judaism-eds-daniel-m-gurtner-and-loren-t-stuckenbruck/) - No one can do serious study of the the New Testament without carefully studying the Jewish world out of which it came. Scholars generally refer to this era as the "Second Temple period." There are numerous works that are helpful for better understanding this time span of time. Among the most important for me has

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- [Proverbs](https://thesacredpage.com/tag/proverbs/)
- [Wisdom](https://thesacredpage.com/tag/wisdom/)