Between the Ambo and the Altar: Biblical Preaching and The Roman Missal, Year A by Guerric DeBona, O.S.B. (review)

312 ANTIPHON 18.3 (2014) Guerric DeBona, O.S.B. Between the Ambo and the Altar: Biblical Preaching and The Roman Missal, Year A Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2013 305 pages. Paperback. $29.95. It is not altogether uncommon to hear people complaining about Catholic preaching. Lay people complain that preaching is uninspired , long-winded, overly political, not political enough, or just plain boring. Priests will complain that preaching is difficult; it is hard to find time and energy to study the Scriptures because of the many duties in a busy parish. Also, some priests and deacons lack the wherewithal to discern among the many preaching resources available, opting to recycle the same stale ideas they have used for decades. Guerric DeBona’s newest series of homiletical commentaries are a welcome contribution for the liturgical life of the Church. If used well, these books should enable the homilist to improve the quality of his preaching. At first, Between the Ambo and the Altar seems like many other homiletical aides currently available. However, what sets this commentary apart is that it is a commentary on the whole liturgical event, not just the Sunday readings. For each Sunday, DeBona comments on the Scriptures , the liturgical prayers and texts, and then gives strategies for preaching. Fr. DeBona begins each entry by listing the citations for the Sunday readings, then writes a synthetic commentary on themes and ideas present in the readings. While mentioning each of the readings, his commentary speaks to all the readings as a synthetic whole. I especially appreciated his approach to the scriptural commentary . He calls the section on the readings a “prayerful reflection on the Lectionary for the day” (5). DeBona does not simply rehash ideas from biblical commentaries. Still, his reflections are informed and sophisticated. For example, on the Third Sunday of Lent the people grumble against Moses. Fr. DeBona discusses the many nuances of the original Hebrew word and the ways in which it has been translated into Latin, Greek, and English. His discussion of the etymology helps to give fuller understanding of this biblical passage. While the prayerful reflections on Scripture are not themselves biblical commentaries in the scholarly sense, they seem informed by solid scholarship. 313 BOOK REVIEW Where this book really excels is in the connection between the Scripture readings for the feast and the liturgical setting. The second section for each Sunday and feast day is called “Connecting the Bible and the Liturgy.” In each of these sections, DeBona reflects on the prayers from the liturgy, for example the Collect or Preface. He shows how the themes for the Mass of the day are present not just in the readings, but also in the liturgical prayers. This gives the preacher more options for preaching, or more support for an idea found in the readings. For example, the Collect for the Fifth Sunday of Easter speaks of God accomplishing the Paschal Mystery within us. DeBona gives an insightful commentary into how this accomplishing takes place in and through the gift of baptism. This approach to liturgical preaching that looks at the readings and the prayers of the Mass comes straight from the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 65: “[the homily] should be an explanation of some aspect of the readings from Sacred Scripture or of another text from the Ordinary or the Proper of the Mass of the day.” I cannot say I have heard to many homilies on the propers of the day. DeBona’s work will help preachers mine these rich texts for beautiful homiletic material. The final section in each entry is called “Strategy for Preaching .” Here Fr. DeBona lists some concrete suggestions for how to preach the themes and ideas unearthed during the previous reflections . Over and again, Fr. DeBona reminds us that in order to preach well we must “exegete the community.” His strategies for preaching are general enough to inspire creativity, but are not usually specific enough that they would not apply to a local congregation . I especially appreciate his insistence on finding a homiletical core idea. The preacher who finds a core idea, and sticks to it, will find it possible to give a captivating, forceful...