Study of the Readings
Ed. by
Joyce Ann Zimmerman,
et al
• Words, Phrases
• To the point
• First Two Readings
• Experience
Dennis
Hamm, SJ
Full shalom (peace, in the sense of fullness of life) is not a human accomplishment. It is a deed of God: “So will the Lord God make justice and praise spring up before all the nations.”
John Kavanaugh, SJ
We are the Thessalonians “waiting for the coming of the Lord,” advised not to stifle the Spirit or despise prophecies. We must in some way make John the Baptizer’s words our own.
John J. Pilch
The Baptizer is not behaving like a priest. Instead, he looks very
much like a member of the numerous groups of alienated priests that
emerged as early as the sixth century BCE.
These groups found themselves increasingly separated from the
aristocratic priests in Jerusalem.
The evangelist’s intention was to differentiate between the fleeting voice and the eternally unchanging Word. The one, he would suggest, was the morning star appearing at the dawning of the kingdom of heaven, while the other was the Sun of Justice coming in its wake.
Reginald H. Fuller
The evangelist’s prose insertion is clearly designed to counter a false estimate of the Baptist: he is not the light but only a witness to the light.