Cultural World of Jesus: Sunday by Sunday, Cycle A

This is an excellent choice for background information pertinent to the Sunday Gospels. It gives you an excellent reference to put the reading in context. Coupled with a good homily you will get much more out of the Sunday readings. For a full reference to any book of the Bible try the Collegeville Bible Commentaries.

This book, like the cycle A and C books, deals with the Gospel readings for the Cycle B year of the Latin Rite Catholic lectionary. It gives pertinent information on the Mediteranean culture and the times in which Jesus lived. This allows us a deeper insight into Jesus' teachings, and their meanings. This is therefore, a very valuable resource for those working in RCIA, adult education, religious education or for someone who just wants a deeper understanding of the Gospels. Each week is covered by an essay ranging from two to four pages in length. It is written in very easy to understand language making the whole learning process easier andmore enjoyable. I highly recommend this set of books.

This series of books (there is one for each cycle [A/B/C] of the Catholic Liturgy) prove very useful for religious education and RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) classes. Each week of the year is represented, with each week having a homily based on the gospel (NOTE: the essays are concerned ONLY with the Gospel reading, and not the 1st or 2nd readings for that same liturgical week) reading for that week. Each essay(homily) attempts to give the reader a feel for the Mediterranean culture that was representative of the palestinian region that Jesus inhabited during His ministry. These books will give the reader invaluable insight into Jesus' times and culture and will be sure to give the reader a better look at Jesus' parables and what they meant for people at that time. It is also a nice tool for people to have to supplement their weekly Bible study, as people can follow the liturgical year at home on their own or in a group (which makes this book an excellent resource for Bible study groups).