Raymond E. Brown - Christ in the Gospels of the Liturgical Year

Christ in the Gospels of the Liturgical Year

Christ in the Gospels of the Liturgical Year

Raymond E. Brown, S.S. (19281998)

Expanded Edition,

with introductory essays by

Ronald D. Witherup, S.S., and John R. Donahue, S.J.

Edited by Ronald D. Witherup, S.S.

LITURGICAL PRESS
Collegeville, Minnesota

www.litpress.org

Nihil Obstat: Rev. Robert C. Harren, J.C.L., Censor deputatus.

Imprimatur: Most Rev. John F. Kinney, J.C.D., D.D., Bishop of St. Cloud, Minnesota. April 25, 2008.

Cover design by Ann Blattner. Illustration by Mary Jo Pauly.

All Scripture in Raymond E. Browns texts appears in his own translation unless otherwise noted.

Scripture texts in part 1 of this work are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Revised Psalms 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, DC and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All rights reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Excerpts from documents of the Second Vatican Council are from Vatican Council II: The Basic Sixteen Documents, by Austin Flannery, OP 1996 (Costello Publishing Company, Inc.). Used with permission.

Raymond E. Browns work previously appeared in the following volumes published by Liturgical Press:

A Coming Christ in Advent 1988

An Adult Christ at Christmas 1978

A Crucified Christ in Holy Week 1986

A Risen Christ in Eastertime 1991

A Once-and-Coming Spirit at Pentecost 1994

Christ in the Gospels of the Ordinary Sundays 1998

2008 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, microfilm, microfiche, mechanical recording, photocopying, translation, or by any other means, known or yet unknown, for any purpose except brief quotations in reviews, without the previous written permission of Liturgical Press, Saint Johns Abbey, P.O. Box 7500, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7500. Printed in the United States of America.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication

Brown, Raymond Edward.

Christ in the Gospels of the liturgical year / Raymond E. Brown. Expanded ed. / with introductory essays by Ronald D. Witherup and John R. Donahue; edited by Ronald D. Witherup.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-8146-1860-8 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-8146-3531-5 (ebook)

1. Bible. N.T. GospelsCriticism, interpretation, etc. 2. Church year. I. Witherup, Ronald D., 1950 II. Donahue, John R. III. Title.

BS2555.52.B76 2008

226.06dc22

2008012385

Only days after the untimely death of Father Raymond E. Brown, S.S., on August 8, 1998, his final book in the Liturgical Press series on preaching the Scriptures in the liturgical year appeared, Christ in the Gospels of the Ordinary Sundays. The arrival of this slim volume brought to completion a project that had begun in the mid-1970s. At that time Father Brown had published in Worship several popular essays on the Christmas stories narrated in Matthew and Luke. These essays were a convenient digest of his monumental The Birth of the Messiah. The result of this popularization, An Adult Christ at Christmas, resonated with many people, especially Catholics who were eager to learn more about the Gospels but who often lacked the inclination or background to plow through the larger, more technical study. Thus began the series of six volumes (published over a span of twenty years, 19781998) that are now collected here in one volume to mark the tenth anniversary of Father Browns death.

This volume began in a conversation with Peter Dwyer of Liturgical Press when I suggested that it might be good to reissue all six volumes in a new and updated format to reach a new audience. As individual volumes, they have continued to attract interest. Yet since more than thirty years have passed since the appearance of the first volume, it seemed opportune to enhance the collection with a few useful additions. First, there are two new essays on preaching the liturgical year and on Father Browns hermeneutical method, respectively, by John R. Donahue, S.J., and myself. In addition, Father Donahue has provided a bibliography of useful resources for preaching the word of God in the context of the lectionary. There are also useful indexes and a revised chart on the liturgical year. It should also be emphasized that I have used some literary license in merging the six forewords of the original volumes into one introduction that attempts to preserve the tone and content of the originals but in a unified edition. (I trust the author would be indulgent to a Sulpician confrere!)

Also, the order of the volumes has now been adjusted somewhat. The first chapter of the last-published volume on Ordinary Time has been placed at the head of the entire collection because it provides the clearest statement of Browns intention and method. This essay orients the reader to the whole enterprise. The rest of the essays are arranged to follow the flow of the liturgical year, from Advent through Pentecost and into Ordinary Time. Otherwise, the text and notes have not been revised other than to make changes necessitated by this reorganization. No attempt has been made to update Browns bibliography in the notes, except in obvious instances of revised works now available.

It is my hope that this commemorative edition will reach a whole new generation of readers and, especially, preachers of the word, for the original essays still contain a lot of wisdom that can inform our understanding of Gods word for today. As is well known, Father Brown, a scholars scholar, had the rare capacity to simplify complex biblical studies in a manner that did not dumb down the material but allowed it to be understood by a wide audience devoid of technical expertise in biblical studies. He did this in a fashion that was both inspiring and educational.

I wish to thank sincerely Peter Dwyer and his colleagues at Liturgical Press for supporting this project enthusiastically from the beginning. I am also grateful to John Donahue, S.J., Research Professor in Theology at Loyola College in Maryland, for his willingness to contribute to this volume from his own vast experience of biblical exegesis and preaching the word of God. Father Donahue was the first Raymond E. Brown Distinguished Professor of New Testament Studies at St. Marys Seminary & University (20012004), and his essay on liturgical preaching and his list of annotated bibliographical resources have greatly enhanced the utility of this book.

R.D.W.

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, 2008

Part I

Ronald D. Witherup, S.S.

John R. Donahue, S.J.

Ronald D. Witherup, S.S.

All avid readers probably have certain books they return to time and again, so much so that the binding breaks or the pages get dog-eared. For me, the little books by Raymond E. Brown, S.S., on preaching the Gospels in the liturgical year have become such objects of endearment. Produced and used over the span of some thirty years, I have nonetheless gone back to them with relish each time a new lectionary year begins.

But what makes them so appealing? How do they retain their attractiveness year after year? This essay attempts to answer these questions by an analysis of Father Browns hermeneutical method, that is, his approach to biblical interpretation.