Similar to an earlier publication, Between Heaven and Earth: New Explorations of Biblical Texts (Liturgical Press, 2022), this book is a collection of forty-eight short essays, divided into three parts: part 1: “Basics,” part 2: “Feasts and Sacred Seasons,” and part 3: “Distinctions.” Preachers who read this book will appreciate the chart that is included at the end of the work that locates fifty-five places where Lohfink’s commentary on various biblical texts can be applied to the calendar of the church year.
Given the brevity of the long list of chapters, it is not possible to comment upon all of them. There are, however, common approaches and themes that are present in many chapters. In one thread, Lohfink laments that, for many, the Old Testament is relegated to a time in the past and to an age of irrelevance. In this vein, he recounts a story of the lector who proclaimed an Old Testament reading and ended with: “These are the words of today’s reading.” When asked why he said this, the man responded: “I simply cannot see these texts from the Old Testament, so many of them horribly violent, as the word of God. I just can’t do it. I imagine God differently.” Lohfink’s scholarship is an antidote to this growing aversion to, and even absolute rejection, of certain Old Testament texts. Instead, his insights explain how the Old Testament “reveals the violent exercise of power for what it is, for after all, the essence of violence is that it should be concealed or trivialized, repeatedly covered up, given pretty names, made unrecognizable, veiled, shrouded in fog … the Old Testament does not veil social violence; it uncovers it.” Indeed, rather than reject what is unfamiliar and uncomfortable, Lohfink continues to mine the Old Testament to charge New Testament texts with new understanding. For instance, Lohfink examines Isaiah 5:1-7, Psalm 80, and Ezekiel 15 to provide the background for John 15:1-8 and its application to today:
Thus the image of the vine threatened with destruction because it bears no fruit is changed at a crucial point: the vine that is Israel is now forever secure. Nothing will definitely damage it; nothing can ever destroy it. The question is now: will all its branches bear fruit?—and that is a question for us. Have we grasped the fact that everything we do is completely useless if we do not cling to the vine “Christ” and live from it? And have we understood that we may not complain to God about all the violence in the world as long as we have not taken a look at our own thoughtlessness and excessive violence?
Another important thread throughout the book is Lohfink’s positive assurance that God is acting in our world, whenever and wherever people commit to God’s cause. Commenting upon Philippians 4:4-5, Lohfink writes:
The joy of which Paul speaks is thus about God’s acting; it is joy at God’s nearness in the space of salvation God has created in the world. It is the profound happiness over all the repentance that is happening in communities, all the newly gained unanimity, all the things that faith fosters. It is joy in God’s beloved bride, the church.
Several chapters stand out because they are lengthier, allowing for the development of a theme. These include chapters entitled “The Sacrifice of Lips,” “My Shepherd Is the Lord,” “The Testing of Abraham,” “The Eucharistic Prayer,” and “How the Reign of God Comes.”
As a priest, I was inspired to read Lohfink’s “A Talk for Candidates for the Priesthood.” He was ordained in 1960, serving as a priest for sixty-four years. Despite his vast experience and his impressive scholarship, his talk is framed in humility, offering advice, but only if it is truly sought. Not surprisingly, he encouraged future priests to set priorities for their ministry. First, he encourages preparation for and worthy celebration of the Sunday Eucharist, where in every eucharistic celebration, we are incorporated in the whole history of salvation and are gathered with the whole church, earthly and heavenly, praising God with all the angels, and receiving a share in Jesus’s death and resurrection. Second, he urges preparation for an inspired preaching of the Sunday homily, keeping in mind Paul’s words, “Woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16). Third, he advises pastors to follow the model of Jesus who gathered disciples around him, by discovering faithful believers within his or her sphere of duty, and to gather and care for them, to support and guide them in their faith, and to view them as coworkers who are crucial for building up the community.
A comment about the style of Lohfink’s writing. We know that the Bible is a complicated book and despite our best efforts there are too many parts that seem foreign or unclear. Reading this book, however, makes one feel as though one is sitting in a comfortable chair by the fireside with Lohfink as he illuminates various texts in a conversational style that includes criticism, wit, urgency, and inspiration. Frankly, there are not many times when one reads a scholarly work and begins to laugh out loud at the words of the author. In one such instance, Lohfink recounts how a preacher “interpreted” Jesus’s saying, “No one can serve two masters” (Matt 6:24), and said:
The root of our inner unrest lies in the fact that we are always doing two things at the same time: eating breakfast while reading the newspaper, listening to the radio while we are driving…. But Jesus says in today’s Gospel: “No one can serve two masters.” So we should always be doing only one thing, and doing that one thing correctly, not two things at once.
I laughed when I read this, but I laughed even more when I read Lohfink’s comment:
Wasn’t that a good, up-to-date reading of the Gospel? No! It was a positively embarrassing dumbing-down of Jesus’ real intention. In this logion Jesus is talking about the profound choice before which his disciples stand: they can no long divide their existence—half service of God, half living for their own interests. They can only come to the aid of God’s cause undividedly, with their whole lives—with everything they have and are.
On April 2, 2024, Gerhard Lohfink passed from this world into the gentle and loving hands of the God whom he inspired many to follow “with everything we have and are.” May he rest in peace and may perpetual light shine upon him!
