Days of the Lord: Volume 1: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany Volume 1

Days of the Lord: The Liturgical Year : Ordinary Time, Year B I have found this series inspiring in its simplicity and easy to read style. It not only gives me insights for preaching exegesis but is a wonderful tool to stimulate meditation and "praying the scriptures". I use it when I'm preaching and when my prayer time hits a dry spell. This is a really well done series and I'm thriled to reccomend it no holds barred.

I own the entire set of Days of the Lord which covers the Sunday readings of Years A,B,and C, Advent, Lent and Easter, and I finally got this volume which is a commentary on the Solemnities and Feasts of the liturgical year. In all of the volumes is a wealth of insight regarding the readings for any particular Sunday or holy day. It is not casual reading but simple enough for the laity to understand. I agree that this is a great resource for ministers and would creat sparks to start a homily with. But I also believe that for anyone who seriously wants to prepare and understand the Liturgy of the Word, this is an excellent tool. It puts you in the right disposition for Mass. As a Lector, it also helps me put more expression in my reading because I understand what it is all about. I highly recommend this and all the other volumes of this set.

Since the revision of the Roman Lectionary, scriptural based preaching has become the ideal and the norm. Unfortunately, many preachers find it difficult to make connections with all the readings for a given Sunday or Feast Day. The Days of the Lord series is not an exegetical commentary, but rather a guide for insights into what the Church desires to be preached from its selection of readings. The text is clear and easy to read. It provides some exegesis to ground the readings in the thought of the biblical world. But it also includes enough poetry and symbolic language to allow a good homilist to use these readings to speak to the people of today. These books are a great help in constructing a lectionary-based homily or sermon, thereby achieving the goals set forth by the bishops in their pastoral instruction on preaching.