Study of the Readings
ed. by
Joyce Ann Zimmerman,
et al
• Words, Phrases
• To the point
• First Two Readings
• Experience
John Kavanaugh, SJ
One need not be St. Paul, once a blasphemer, a persecutor, a man filled with arrogance, to thank God for being treated mercifully in this life and hereafter.
John J. Pilch
Jesus routinely deals with opponents by insulting them plainly and directly. The central characters (shepherds and women) of the twin parables are deeply offensive to the Pharisees.
You see how the loss of a single sheep made the shepherd grieve as though the whole flock were no longer in safe keeping but had gone astray.
Dennis
Hamm, SJ
Prodigal Father, Two Lost Sons
A careful, Torah-keeping Jew was not expected to share the table with those who did not eat according to the Law’s prescriptions.
Reginald H. Fuller
All three parables are linked with the atonement, which, as we have seen, runs like a thread through all the readings of the day.