Study of the Readings
Ed. by
Joyce Ann Zimmerman,
et al
• Words, Phrases
• To the point
• First Two Readings
• Experience
Dennis
Hamm, SJ
Regarding the end—be it one's own death or the end of the world—the point is not the knowledge of when but the wisdom of readiness.
John Kavanaugh, SJ
Wisdom is not so much knowing what one values as it is valuing something that is worthy of our care. We celebrate choice, but choices are a dime a dozen. What is rare is the wise choice.
John J. Pilch
The image of God behind all the gospel parables is based on the Mediterranean institution called patronage. Each of us has a human father, but God was perceived in the Middle East as a father in the sense of a patron, a “godfather.”
We must beware of entering through the wide gate and taking the easy road that leads to perdition, for many go that way. Instead we must enter by the narrow gate and take the path of sorrow and affliction that leads to life.
Reginald H. Fuller
Paul urges the Thessalonians not to grieve and then states his grounds for not grieving: since Jesus died and rose again, the believers who die will likewise rise again. Then he seeks to prove this from a “word of the Lord.”