Dianne Bergant, C.S.A.

Jan 14 2025

Scripture Study for

Peter’s speech today proclaiming Jesus as Lord and Messiah follows the pattern of early missionary preaching: announcement of the arrival of the age of fulfillment; summary of events in the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus; recourse to the Old Testament showing Jesus as fulfillment of the promises. Only the call to repentance is absent. It is clear from the text that Peter is speaking to a Jewish community. This should be remembered lest we understand his accusation as anti-Judaic. This speech also proclaims Jesus’ resurrection and ascension and the descent of the Spirit. Finally, it provides us with an early statement about the inner workings of the Trinity.

The author of 1 Peter speaks of the cost of salvation and the responsibilities that accompany it. He reminds the audience that calling God “father” is comparable to asking God to act as disciplinarian. This presents a picture different from that of a tender parent. It points to our obligation to live the new life in Christ with integrity. The author insists that the death and resurrection of Christ have ransomed believers from the futile manner of living they inherited from their ancestors, patterns of living into which they had been socialized. Christians must now live differently.

The disciples on the road to Emmaus are probably returning from the celebration of Passover, and they doubtless assume that the unrecognized Jesus is on the road for the same reason. Although Cleopas’ companion is not named, several clues suggest it is his wife. As Jesus shows how the scriptures point to him, the hearts of the disciples burn within them. Their religious tradition is being interpreted in an exciting new way. Finally, it is in the breaking of the bread that their eyes are opened, and they recognize him. The account underscores several important issues: glory comes by way of suffering; remembering the tradition is not enough—in new situations it must be reinterpreted; and we come to know Christ in the breaking of the bread.

Jan 14 2025

Scripture Study for

Our glimpse of the Christian community in today’s first reading is an idealized picture, a kind of utopian dream. It depicts the primitive church more in its eschatological fulfillment than as it probably really was. Four characteristics of that community are given: apostolic teaching, community, Eucharist, and prayer. The signs and wonders that were performed by the apostles were primarily cures, evidence that the eschatological age of fulfillment had dawned. This miraculous activity filled the bystanders with awe, the conventional response of human beings who have witnessed the extraordinary power of God. The risen Lord brought others into their midst and made their numbers increase.

The short reading from 1 Peter contains a variety of themes: praise of God, Christology, soteriology, eschatology. It opens with a doxology patterned after a Jewish hymn of praise of God. Out of this theocentric perspective, the author develops his Christology, declaring that Jesus is the mediator of the salvation that comes from God. The new life that believers receive from God is eschatological in nature, looking to the future for the fulfillment of God’s promise. The hope to which the new life looks is eschatological, the inheritance that accompanies it is eschatological, and the salvation that it guarantees is eschatological. This is the living hope to which Christians are born.

Thomas is the hinge that connects the two Resurrection appearances in the Gospel. Absent for the first event, he is the central character of the second. Thomas represents the second generation of Christians who are called to believe on the testimony of others. The faith required of him is, in a way, more demanding than that required of those who actually encountered the risen Lord. Jesus states that Thomas’ ultimate faith does not compare with the faith of those who do not enjoy any sensible experience of the Lord. Thomas should be remembered, not because he was absent or because he doubted, but because like us he was called to believe on the word of others.

Jan 14 2025

Scripture Study for

In today’s first reading, Peter announces that the story of Jesus from his baptism, through his ministry, to his death and resurrection has been reported all over the land. He explains the mystery of Jesus in terms of prophetic expectation, at once both reinterpreting earlier prophetic tradition and developing new theological insight. With just a few words, Peter places Jesus at the heart of both the prophetic and the apocalyptic traditions of Israel. He insists that the power of the Resurrection is not circumscribed by ethnic or religious origin. It is open to all who believe in Jesus. This is truly good news to the Gentiles.

The passage from Colossians contains the fundamental teaching about the Resurrection and how it transforms the lives of Christians. It is set against the backdrop of ancient cosmology. Two different realms are delineated: the world above and the world below. Christ rose from the dead and is now in the realm of heaven, seated at God’s right hand. Christians believe that they are joined to Christ. Having died with him, they have also risen with him. Here is an example of the complex eschatological view, “already, but not yet.” Joined to Christ, Christians are living in the final age already, but this age of fulfillment is not yet complete.

The Resurrection stories begin with a report of Mary Magdalene’s visit to the tomb. The stone had been moved, but she does not entertain the possibility of Jesus’ resurrection, only the removal of his body. She runs off to tell Peter and “the other disciple” (John 20:2). The choice of this reading for Easter Sunday highlights the incomprehensibility of the event. The fact that neither Mary, probably Jesus’ closest female disciple, nor Peter, the leader of the Christian community, was prepared spontaneously to embrace the truth of the Resurrection should caution us lest we too glibly presume to grasp it. There is much in the reality of the Resurrection that continues to challenge us.

Jan 14 2025

Scritpture Study for

The dynamics of hearing and speaking are featured prominently in the first reading’s passage from Isaiah. God has appointed the speaker to a particular ministry and has provided him ears to hear God’s word and a well-trained tongue to speak that word to others. This word is alive and fresh each day, for God opens the speaker’s ears morning after morning. This means that the speaker must be always attentive to hear the word that comes from God. A heavy price is exacted of the speaker. He suffers both physical attack and personal insult. Despite this, he does not recoil from his call.

The reading from Paul is one of the New Testament’s most important Christological statements. The first verse sets the tone for the actions of Christ Jesus. He did not cling to the dignity that was rightfully his, but he emptied himself of all privilege. Though in the form of God, he chose the form of a servant or slave. Without losing his Godlike being, he took on the likeness of human beings. Having taken on the form of a slave, he became obedient like a slave. The exaltation of Christ is as glorious as his humiliation was debasing. All will praise Christ, whose exaltation gives glory to God.

The Passion account from Matthew’s Gospel is a collection of episodes that tell the story of Jesus’ last days. Though in several episodes Jesus appears to be the passive object of the brutality of others, it is quite clear that he is really in charge of his destiny. He makes many of the major decisions. Then he hands himself over to others, allowing them to decide his fate in those cases. Jesus declares that the time of his death and resurrection is the kairós time, that decisive moment when the promises of God are brought to fulfillment. The reading closes at the sealed tomb. Neither Pilate nor the Jewish leaders realize that everything is now in place for the eschatological event of the Resurrection.

Jan 14 2025

Scripture Study for

Ezekiel uses bodily resurrection as a metaphor for the reestablishment of the nation after its exile. The scene is a graveyard, the ultimate place of death and decay. Three statements of reversal are made: the sealed graves will be opened, the dead will be raised, and the exiled will return home. Both original creation and this restoration, considered a new creation, are unconditional gifts from a magnanimous God. It is clear that God controls the powers of life and death, destruction and restoration. Since the people believed that exile was punishment for sin, they viewed their restoration as yet another pure gift from God. Paul contrasts two ways of living: life in the flesh and life in the spirit. Flesh and spirit both signify the whole person, but from particular points of view. For Paul, flesh refers to human nature in all its limitations; spirit refers to that nature attuned to God. Paul insists that life in the flesh cannot please God, while life in the spirit is a form of union with God. The real point of this passage is the resurrection of those who are in union with God. Just as Christ conquered death and lives anew, so those joined to Christ share in his victory and enjoy new life.

The resurrection of Lazarus points to the future death of Jesus. The parable about day and night can be understood in at least three ways. First is the literal meaning. The second metaphorically points to an inner light that guides the person. Finally, light can refer to Jesus. All of this cryptic speech prepares for Jesus’ instruction on resurrection. With a self-revelatory exclamation, Jesus proclaims that he is the resurrection and the life, and faith in him guarantees life for others. The resurrection of Lazarus cannot be denied, but it can be misunderstood. Jesus is not merely a wonder-worker; he himself has the power of resurrection and he is the source of eternal life.