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NOW COMING OUT IN COLLECTED FORM (Year C is currently in the book stores. Year A will be available this fall. ) Let the Scriptures Speak
Realizing that the toughest challenge facing most people at Mass is to hear the Sunday readings afresh and with understanding, Dennis Hamm, S.J., helps preachers and worshipers discover the meaning of the Scriptures for us today. In Let the Scriptures Speak, a collection of commentaries that first appeared as a popular weekly column in America, he provides readers with an understanding of the Scriptures. By examining their original context, Hamm offers reflections on how those words hold true even today. Hamm offers an approach that differs from the commentaries written on the readings by focusing on three dimensions of the readings’ original context. First, he considers the full document from which a particular Lectionary selection is taken. Second, Hamm examines the background in the Hebrew Bible that the authors presume on the part of their readers. Third, he considers the historical setting, when it is known and adds to the understanding of the reading. Rather than reflecting on all three readings, Hamm cites each but only reflects on the one whose message he develops. Knowing that no one can write another’s homilies or pray their prayers, Hamm sheds light on the Sunday readings in order to help others preach and pray. Dennis Hamm, S.J., Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Theology at Creighton University. He is the author of numerous journal and encyclopedia articles, including an article in The Collegeville Pastoral Dictionary of Biblical Theology published by The Liturgical Press. Liturgical Press
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