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This volume, using multiple methods, seeks to bring together the best scholarship and insight--Jewish and Christian, past and present--that has contributed to our understanding and appreciation of the biblical book of Ruth. As a feminist commentary, it is particularly sensitive to issues of relationship and inclusion, power and agency. In addition to the voices of the primary co-authors, Alice Laffey and Mahri Leonard-Fleckman, the volume incorporates and integrates important contributing voices from diverse contemporary social contexts and geographical locations. In sum, the commentary seeks to allow Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz to speak again for the first time.

Though the five poems of Lamentations undoubtedly refer to the Babylonian siege and destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BCE, the multiple voices that narrate unspeakable suffering and labor to make sense of the surrounding horror do so at women's expense.In the opening chapters, a prevailing metaphor of Jerusalem as a woman (Woman Zion) portrays a weeping widow, abandoned and alone, who soon becomes the target of blame for the downfall of the city and its inhabitants. Vague sexual improprieties craft the basis of her sinfulness, seemingly to justify her immense suffering as punishment. The damning effect of such a metaphor finds company in subsequent accounts of women, young girls, and mothers--all victims of the destruction recorded therein. But this feminist interpretation of Lamentations does not stop at merely documenting the case against women; it also demonstrates how such texts can serve as sources of strength by lifting up portraits of courageous resistance amid the rubble of misogynist landscapes.

Reading Haggai and Malachi in conversation with feminist theory, rhetorical criticism, and masculinity studies reveals two communities in different degrees of crisis. The prophet Haggai successfully persuades a financially strapped people to rebuild the temple, but the speaker in Malachi faces sustained resistance to his arguments in favor of maintaining the priestly hierarchy. Both books describe conflicts among men based upon social class, and those who claim to speak for God find their claims and, with them, God's presumably unquestionable authority as the ultimate male contested. From the Wisdom Commentary series Feminist biblical interpretation has reached a level of maturity that now makes possible a commentary series on every book of the Bible. It is our hope that Wisdom Commentary, by making the best of current feminist biblical scholarship available in an accessible format to ministers, preachers, teachers, scholars, and students, will aid all readers in their advancement toward God's vision of dignity, equality, and justice for all. The aim of this commentary is to provide feminist interpretation of Scripture in serious, scholarly engagement with the whole text, not only those texts that explicitly mention women. A central concern is the world in front of the text, that is, how the text is heard and appropriated by women. At the same time, this commentary aims to be faithful to the ancient text, to explicate the world behind the text, where appropriate, and not impose contemporary questions onto the ancient texts. The commentary addresses not only issues of gender (which are primary in this project) but also those of power, authority, ethnicity, racism, and classism, which all intersect. Each volume incorporates diverse voices and differing interpretations from different parts of the world, showing the importance of social location in the process of interpretation and that there is no single definitive feminist interpretation of a text.

Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah are among the so-called deuterocanonical books of the Bible, part of the larger Catholic biblical canon. Except for a short article in the Women's Bible Commentary, no detailed or comprehensive feminist commentary on these books is available so far. Marie-Theres Wacker reads both books with an approach that is sensitive to gender and identity issues. The book of Baruch--with its reflections on guilt of the fathers, with its transformation of wisdom into the Book of God's commandments, and with its strong symbol of mother and queen Jerusalem--offers a new and creative digest of Torah, writings, and prophets but seems to address primarily learned men. The so-called Letter of Jeremiah is an impressive document that unmasks pseudo-deities but at the same draws sharp lines between the group's identity and the "others," using women of the "others" as boundary markers.

This volume brings gender studies to bear on Micah's powerful rhetoric, interpreting the book within its ancient and modern contexts. Julia M. O'Brien traces resonances of Micah's language within the Persian Period community in which the book was composed, evaluating recent study of the period and the dynamics of power reflected in ancient sources. Also sampling the book's reception by diverse readers in various time periods, she considers the real-life implications of Micah's gender constructs. By bringing the ancient and modern contexts of Micah into view, the volume encourages readers to reflect on the significance of Micah's construction of the world. Micah's perspective on sin, salvation, the human condition, and the nature of YHWH affects the way people live--in part by shaping their own thought and in part by shaping the power structures in which they live. O'Brien's engagement with Micah invites readers to discern in community their own hopes and dreams: What is justice? What should the future look like? What should we hope for? From the Wisdom Commentary series Feminist biblical interpretation has reached a level of maturity that now makes possible a commentary series on every book of the Bible. It is our hope that Wisdom Commentary, by making the best of current feminist biblical scholarship available in an accessible format to ministers, preachers, teachers, scholars, and students, will aid all readers in their advancement toward God's vision of dignity, equality, and justice for all. The aim of this commentary is to provide feminist interpretation of Scripture in serious, scholarly engagement with the whole text, not only those texts that explicitly mention women. A central concern is the world in front of the text, that is, how the text is heard and appropriated by women. At the same time, this commentary aims to be faithful to the ancient text, to explicate the world behind the text, where appropriate, and not impose contemporary questions onto the ancient texts. The commentary addresses not only issues of gender (which are primary in this project) but also those of power, authority, ethnicity, racism, and classism, which all intersect. Each volume incorporates diverse voices and differing interpretations from different parts of the world, showing the importance of social location in the process of interpretation and that there is no single definitive feminist interpretation of a text.

We all have moments of grace in our lives, glimpses of God's presence and God's mystery. The Word made flesh, God-with-us, inspires these moments and sometimes lets us see and feel that transformation in grace. In 100 Days Closer to Christ, Father William C. Graham invites us to consider these moments and experience the transforming presence of God in our lives. These compelling essays invite you to immersion in joyful hope: dreams, disciplines, and promises; fond embraces and quiet satisfaction; plans and prospects; awe and wonder. The chapters consider moments of grace through encounters that resemble lectio divina, inviting reflections flowing from God's word or the church's life of prayer, giving flashes of insight and meaning on a pilgrim's way. The essays in 100 Days Closer to Christ are meant to inspire thoughtful prayer. Whether they are seasonal or attitudinal, each seeks to stand before Mystery in awe, wonder, praise, and thanksgiving.

A change in pastors can be one of the most difficult times in parish life. Navigating Pastoral Transitions: A Parish Leader's Guide helps make the transition smooth and successful. By helping parish leaders understand their unique role in managing change, this guide enables communities to turn crisis into opportunity.This resource walks parish leaders through a detailed Pastor Transition Timeline that includes vigils, liturgies, and rituals for saying goodbye to the current pastor and welcoming the new one. You will also find solutions for common concerns and a welcoming orientation process.This invaluable guide should be part of every pastor transition. The practical tips and guidelines in this book will help to assure the parish continues to thrive under new leadership.This book is designed to be used with Navigating Pastoral Transitions: A Staff Guide and Navigating Pastoral Transitions: A Priest's Guide.

The book of Job is a vivid testimony to pain, a plea for justice, and a wrenching theological debate about suffering and its causes. Central to this debate are questions about the roles that God and humans play in causing human suffering and whether divine-human relationships can proceed in the midst of overwhelming anguish. Like a riddle, the text grasps readers' minds and emotions, inviting them to participate in Job's story and to work toward their own solution to the dilemmas of both Job and his friends.

First and Second Samuel tell the story of the beginnings of monarchy in ancient Israel. These two powerful narratives present many great figures of biblical history--Samuel, Saul, and David--and explore the complex interaction of historical developments and human fidelity under God. In the books of Samuel, characters interact to influence and persuade, to express motivation and desire, and to shape the reader's understanding of the issues that faced the Israelites as they responded to God's invitation to covenant. Through the medium of story, the reader shares in the perennial struggle to discover, in the midst of personal and political conflict, God's ways for humanity.

2019 Association of Catholic Publishers Book of the Year In this volume, Alice Ogden Bellis considers the book of Proverbs as a structural whole, the sages having designed it in such a way as to make positive statements about women and to undercut the negative ones. By grouping Proverbs together around common issues, the reader is called to consider the perennial moral questions of wealth and poverty, diligence and laziness, and integrity and corruption, as well as the relationship among these values. The result is much more complex and has greater depth than the random list of bromides that most of Proverbs is often thought to be. This volume opens up a multi-dimensional spiritual puzzle.

"Gertrud the Great (1256-1302) entered the monastery of Helfta in eastern Germany as a child oblate. At the age of twenty-five she underwent a conversion that led to a series of visionary experiences, some of which she recorded in Latin "with her own hand," in what became Book Two of The Herald of God's Loving-Kindness, the standard version of her revelations. The other four books were written down by a close confidant of the saint, now often known as "Sister N."Recently a different version of Gertrud's revelations has been discovered, in an early fourteenth-century manuscript held at the University of Leipzig, Germany, much older than the known manuscripts of The Herald. The Memorial of the Abundance of the Divine Sweetness is shorter than The Herald, and while the two versions have some text in common (notably most of The Herald's Book Two), the new manuscript also contains some completely new material, which sometimes modifies and sometimes complements what readers already know of the saint. "--

From the Wisdom Commentary series . This volume offers a womanist and feminist analysis of the books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, attending to translation and textual issues, use of power and agency, and constructions of gender and its significance for the real and metaphorical women in the texts. The unit on Nahum takes an unflinching look at God's role and rhetoric in the rape of Nineveh and considers implications for the women of Nineveh and Israel and for contemporary readers. Habakkuk is read employing a womanist stratagem, talking back to God. The section on Zephaniah explores the racialized history of interpreting "Cushi" in Zephaniah's genealogy and the figures of Daughter Zion/Jerusalem. The commentary also assesses these texts as scriptures of synagogue and church, their use and utility. A Jewish feminist reading and womanist hermeneutic accompanies each biblical book.?

"This commentary on 1-2 Peter and Jude provides a feminist interpretation of Scripture in serious, scholarly engagement with the whole text, not only those texts that explicitly mention women. It addresses not only issues of gender but also those of power, authority, ethnicity, racism, and classism"--

What should preachers aim for in Sunday preaching? In 1982, the USCCB document Fulfilled in Your Hearing: The Homily in the Sunday Assembly answered this question. Here, in a pastoral commentary on Fulfilled in Your Hearing, several Catholic scholars in homiletics, liturgy, and biblical studies both appreciate the abiding insights of Fulfilled in Your Hearing and also propose areas for continuing reflection. Following the four sections of the Bishops' document: The Assembly, The Preacher, The Homily, and Homiletic Method. This commentary emphasizes the document's continuing importance for the initial and ongoing formation of Catholic liturgical preachers, while also inviting conversation about present-day cross-cultural, liturgical, and communication concerns for Catholic preaching.Priests, deacons, seminarians, bishops, and all others engaged in the preaching task are invited to deepen their appreciation of the homily's unique role in the liturgical life of the church and to stir their enthusiasm for preaching and preaching preparation.

Let us bring our prayers to the Lord."Each week when the community comes together for Mass, we gather to listen to the Word, to partake of the Eucharist, and to pray. The Prayer of the Faithful is marked by the same needs from week to week, but it is always an opportunity to approach God collectively in a way that reflects the richness of our particular celebration. This series of prayers by Father Michael Kwatera is rooted in the present moment: the liturgical season, lectionary readings, and the needs of the church. He draws on the readings, as well as the significance of feasts and of other celebrations. He is also attuned to the many ways we approach God, in language that is clear and attentive to the oral quality of the prayer."To place prayerful words on human lips and in human hearts is a most sacred work," writes Father Kwatera in the introduction. The fruit of this work is a set of texts that invites the community to draw near to God each week in prayer.

For almost half a century Trappist monk Matthew Kelty has delivered homilies to monks and retreatants in his unique style. Visitors at his monastery have been inspired, and challenged by his talks, given after Compline each evening, and monks have come to love and appreciate his preaching skills at Mass and in Chapter. In this collection of his homilies we read his reflections on life and death, the mysteries of faith, the monastic life from the inside, and his love of the Mass. Those who have heard Father Matthew speak will welcome this new volume, and those who have not will be introduced to a speaker and writer of exceptional talent.

When we first pick it up and open it, the Bible can seem confusing and perhaps even frightening. Here is this bulky book, made up of seventy-three sections with unfamiliar titles such as Deuteronomy, Ecclesiastes, Colossians, and Corinthians, with numbers in front of almost every sentence, rarely any pictures, and perhaps a few maps of ancient areas such as Mesopotamia, Assyria, and Judah. Since the Bible looks like a book, we may start to read it as we would any other book, hoping to move from cover to cover. Then we begin to wonder, Who wrote this? When was it written? What kind of writing is this: History? Science? Biography? Fiction? What am I supposed to get out of it? As (or if) we keep reading the Bible page by page, section by section, we soon realize that this is no ordinary run-of-the-bookshelf volume. Without a guide the Bible is likely to remain the book most often purchased but not very often read and even less often understood.To rescue Bible readers and students from turning their initial enthusiasm into boredom, Gregory Dawes gives us this Introduction to the Bible, the indispensable prologue to the entire series of the New Collegeville Bible Commentary. Dividing the contents into two parts, the author first describes how the Old and New Testaments came to be put together, and then explores how their stories have been interpreted over the centuries. In the words of Dawes, this very broad overview of a very complex history offers the general reader a helpful framework within which to begin to understand the Bible. The author writes clearly, frequently seasoning his explanations with crisp examples. This book anchors individual and group Bible study on the solid foundation of basic biblical vocabulary and concepts.

El ministerio de la Comunió ofrece consejos prácticos y teología vital para ministros de la Eucaristía. Este libro, actualizado con las más recientes normas y leyes litúrgicas, es una guía excelente para tanto las personas que sirven a la gente de Dios como para las que los ayudan a prepararse para el ministerio El Padre y Doctor Michael Kwatera, OSB, un monje de St. John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota, ha sido unmaestro de liturgia a nivel universitario y de postgrado y un practicante de liturgia en parroquias y comunidades religiosas. Es autor de numerosos arta­culos y varios libros de Oraciones. Ademas de enseanar, dirige taleres acerca de los ministerios litargicos. Actualmente sirve Como director de oblatos para Saint John's Abbey. Este título disponible solamente en Español./This book is written in Spanish onlyThe Ministry of Communion offers practical advice and vital theology for Eucharistic ministers. Updated with the latest liturgical laws and norms, and with an expanded section on leading Communion services, this book is an excellent guide for both those who serve God's people, and those who help them prepare for the ministry.Fr. Michael Kwatera, OSB, PhD, is director of Oblates for Saint John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota. He is a teacher and practitioner of Christian liturgy and the author of several Liturgical Press books, including Come to the Feast: Liturgical Ministry of, by, and for Everybody and The Collegeville Prayer of the Faithful Annual published by Liturgical Press. "

Al darle énfasis a la preparación espiritual y vocal, El ministerio de los lectores ayudará a los lectores con experiencia al igual que a los principiantes en el ministerio de proclamar la palabra de Dios. El Padre Wallace ofrece varios modos de cómo entender la obra del lector (trabajo, servicio, vocación) y reflexiona sobre el misterio de Dios quien habla con--y a través--de nosotros en la Palabra. Incluye ideas sobre cómo continuar desarrollando nuestras habilidades, al igual que una guía para poder atender a las necesidades del texto, de los oyentes, y el espacio litúrgico. Emphasizing both spiritual and speaking preparation, this book will help experienced and beginning lectors in the ministry of proclaiming the word of God. Wallace offers insight to various understandings of the lector's work (job, ministry, vocation), and reflects on the mystery of God who speaks to-and through-us in the Word. Includes ideas for ongoing technique development, as well as a guide to meeting the needs of the text, listeners, and liturgical setting. Divided into three parts, this work begins with Part One, The Lector--What's in a Name? Sections in Part Two, God's Word Spoken to Us are: "The Word of the Lord," The Word of God and the Bible, The Word of God and the Liturgy, The Word of God and the Lectionary, and The Word of God and the Lector. Sections in Part Three, God's Word Spoken Through Us are Spiritual Preparation, Speaking Preparation (includes The Requirements of the Text, The Requirements of the Listeners, The Requirements of the Setting), From Skill to Art: Three Suggestions. Concludes with a Final Word. James A. Wallace, CSsR, PhD, is professor of homiletics at Washington Theological Union and co-editor of New Theology Review. His previous works include Preaching Through the Saints, Preaching to the Hungers of the Heart, and The Ministry of Lectors, published by Liturgical Press. Este título disponible solamente en Español./This book is written in Spanish only.