BOOK REVIEW
PARABLES FOR PREACHERS - YEAR C, THE GOSPEL OF
LUKE
by Barbara Reid, O.P., Liturgical Press, 2000,
paperback, 368 pp. $11.95
PARABLES FOR PREACHERS joins a number of other
very helpful scriptural resources available to Preachers now. The most recent
catalog I received from The Liturgical Press alone lists this work along with:
PREACHING THE NEW LECTIONARY (D. Bergant and R. Fragomeni), LET THE SCRIPTURES
SPEAK (D. Hamm, S.J.) and THE CULTURAL WORLD OF JESUS (John Pilch). All of these
feature a separate volume for each of the three Sunday Cycles. Each set has a
different approach. I have seen all but the Hamm series. Does a Preacher need to
buy 16 books?! I would suggest any of the three first sets (or even the now
venerable series by C. Stuhlmueller, C. P.) PLUS Pilch's work. But here is a
review of PARABLES FOR PREACHERS.
The approach chosen by Barbara Reid is to devote
a volume each to the parables of the three synoptic gospels as they appear in
the three Sunday Cycles (A=Matthew, B=Mark, C=Luke). Reid takes a broad approach
to the meaning of "parable." She writes:
"Included in this volume are all passages in the
Gospel of Luke in which the term parabole ("parable") occurs with the exception
of the parable of the vineyard and the tenants (20:9-19), which does not appear
in the Lectionary. Also included are similes with variations of the phrase
homoios estin, '[such] is like....' and houtos, 'in the same way' or ' so should
it be with you'. [refs. omitted]. Included as well are Lukan stories such as:
The Two Debtors (7:40-42), The Good Samaritan (10:25-37), The Friend at Midnight
(11:5-8), The Dishonest Steward (16:1-13), The Rich Man and Lazarus (16:19-31),
and The Great Feast (14:15-24). These are clearly parabolic, though the term is
not used of them in the gospel itself." [Reid, p. 2]
Thus, this approach includes some scripture that
this reviewer might not have considered a parable and some that this reader
would have been surprised to see excluded because the word "parable" is not
attached to them in the text!!! Chapter Six on Luke 4:21-30, entitled THE
UNACCEPTABLE PROPHET is an example. Jesus' address in the synagogue includes the
word, "proverb," which appears in the Greek as parabole. Anyone not looking at
the Greek text might be puzzled at first by the inclusion of this gospel reading
as a "parable." However, Reid takes care to explain her inclusion in the
exegesis that follows.
The first three chapters are given to an analysis
and treatment of "Preaching Parabolically,", "Interpreting Parables," and "An
Overview of the Gospel of Luke." I found all of this material very helpful in
understanding the author's approach. Each of the subsequent chapters immediately
gives a "title," a scriptural citation, and the Sunday [and weekday] location of
the
"parable." The text of the passage follows. Then
Reid treats us to a very rich exegetical treatment of the passage. The footnotes
show that she has been thorough in her research of the various resources. I
suspect this particular volume on Luke (Cycle C) received some special treatment
since Reid is a "Luke-Acts" scholar! Her analysis includes a section on "Lukan
literary context," a verse by verse consideration
of the text, and finally a section called "preaching possibilities." The latter
section does help with some pitfalls to be avoided and Reid makes a strong pitch
throughout for the social justice and feminist possibilities of the text. Once
in awhile I felt a suggestion was a bit tenuous or anachronistic, such as her
comments about
"master-servant" imagery in Chapter 18. The
danger and reality of domination and oppression are true enough, but a good
preacher can make necessary adjustments without "bowdlerizing" the text for
modern day sensitivities, especially when the text per se is not about
"master-servant" relationships.
The Table of Contents is adequate and is followed
by a handy section entitled, "Lukan Parables in the Lectionary", which indicates
each parable's place in the lectionary. The bibliography at the end is
wonderful. I found the book to be not only very useful for understanding a
particular passage ["parable"], but good spiritual reading as well. Whether or
not a Preacher will want to buy a three volume set of books which treat only
this material,
as compared with one that looks at all the
readings on a particular day, will really depend on individual need. I would
still recommend getting Pilch's THE CULTURAL WORLD OF JESUS to temper and enrich
whatever interpretative enthusiasms that may arise from using any of the other
new resources mentioned earlier. Barbara Reid's work is a very useful one and
I'll probably get the other two volumes.
Click here to order this book.
---R. B.
Williams, O.P.
Southern
Dominican Province, USA
