Reviews
Barbara Reid's lyrical prose and compelling imagery delight the reader. She gracefully uses the best of contemporary and traditional scholarship. Her attention to often obscure references, locales' significance and often misinterpreted phrases open possibilities for understanding that go deeper than a superficial reading. Clearly, Reid is a preacher, and in this book shares insights and scholarship that gift anyone who preaches the Sunday readings.
Honora Werner, OP, Director, DMin in Preaching Program, Aquinas Institute of Theology
Barbara Reid brings her years of experience as a Dominican religious and professional biblical scholar and teacher to a work that is both inspiring and practical. She will deepen your awareness of what it means to taste and savor God's word in the Sunday lectionary as well as challenge your comfort zone to move into a new perspective and a clearer horizon. With reflective questions as conversation partners for each week's reflection, this book is well suited for both individual prayer and group reflections. Abiding Word is an altogether perfect companion for the baptized assembly gathering for praise and thanksgiving at the Sunday Eucharist.
Guerric DeBona, OSB, Professor of Homiletics and Communication, Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology
Rich fare indeed! This volume offers a rare combination of the fruits of biblical and liturgical scholarship and keen attention to human experience and the signs of the times. Providing striking new insights into the Sunday readings for Year B, Abiding Word is an invaluable resource for preachers, pastors, catechists, spiritual directors, and all who seek to share the word of God with others. For those who long to make the word of God their home, but aren't sure how to begin, this invitation to dwell in the word offers wise and practical suggestions for how to enter into a contemplative reading of biblical texts.
Mary Catherine Hilkert, OP, Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame
This rich volume draws the biblical text into the hearts of its readers and invites them to ponder, wonder, listen, and be surprised by the Spirit in celebration of Christ's abiding love that rests in the midst of all people, all creation. With clarity and graced imagination, Barbara Reid has given us a concise yet insightful collection of reflections on the Sunday readings for Year B. Solid in its scholarship and possessing a practical awareness of daily life with its challenges and blessings, this volume links the biblical text to the text of life, thereby making ancient stories and teachings wondrously new and ever refreshing.
Carol J. Dempsey, OP, Professor of Theology (Biblical Studies), University of Portland, OR
From both pulpit and pew, good preaching invites reflection on daily life and the life of the soul, as illuminated by the images and rituals of Scripture and liturgy, and in constant dialogue with family, community, nature, and social context. Barbara E. Reid's love of literature and passion for justice combine with a deep knowledge of Scripture to inspire weekly insight for listeners called to abide in the living word of God as found in the Roman Catholic Lectionary for Mass.
Gregory Heille, OP, Professor of Homiletics, Aquinas Institute of Theology, St. Louis
An old proverb declares: One good turn deserves another. Simply put, if someone does you a favor, you return the goodness. In this volume of her Sunday reflections for Year C, Abiding Word, Dominican sister Barbara Reid graces us twice with goodness and returns to print a double portion of wisdom. What once appeared in a Jesuit periodical, now reappears in a single volume, again to inspire the reader to savor the living experience of the Word, the abiding presence of Christ. So do yourself a favor and return to these meditations over and over again.
Richard N. Fragomeni, Catholic Theological Union
Barbara Reid demonstrates the gift of helping us find fresh insight in biblical passages quite and long-familiar, thanks to her life of scholarship and ministry, evident in these pages. She maintains a sense of urgency of the biblical storyline, posing questions for us but also offering insights from her own rich experience and that of people she has come to know deeply. Her language is fresh and clear, suggesting apt explanations for what might puzzle without quite foreclosing that we may see differently, thanks to her attentiveness to the depth of the text she reads with us.
Barbara Green, OP, Professor of Biblical Studies, Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California
Along with her scholarly acumen, Barbara Reid, OP, has a wonderful knack for interpreting the Scriptures in a way that is attractive and comprehensible to those who may have no technical background at all in biblical exegesis. You don't have to take my word for it-it is apparent on every page of this book.
Donald Senior, CP, The Bible Today
