Customer Reviews

Gospel of Mark, The (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture)

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As described in the Editors' Preface, "The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture aims to serve the ministry of the Word of God in the life and mission of the Church." For the Church in America, this series of commentary is both relevant and timely. As lay persons take on more active roles within the life of the Church, the need for accessible sources of catechesis is great. It has been my experience that the commentaries available are either simplistic or highly scholarly. What is needed are documents that help us understand what the original authors meant, what the Church has taught regarding these scriptures, and what it means in the living Church today.

The Catholic Commentary is deigned to do just this. For me, it is in the design of the commentaries that most effectively communicates. First, the biblical text is grouped based on subject. For example, Mark 10:13-16 is grouped and labeled as "The Blessing of the Children." Immediately following the text, the authors present a List of References which includes Catechism paragraphs, and other Scriptural cross references relative to the grouped subject. This is very helpful since both scripture and Tradition are referenced in one convenient location grouped around a biblical theme. This alone is worth the price of the book for those of us who want to understand the teachings of the Catholic Church in light of Holy Scripture.

To further illuminate the relationship between Scripture and Tradition, the authors have designed their manuscript to include "sidebars". These sidebars insert brief articles relative to topics in their commentary section. These articles are titled either Biblical Background or Living Tradition.

The Biblical Background sidebar provides historical evidence regarding persons, places, things, etc. For example, a brief narrative regarding the Sea of Galilee is inserted in the commentary on The Calming of the Storm (Mark 4:35-41). The Living Tradition inserts will provide reflections on the biblical text from early Church Fathers, Catechism, etc. Again, the authors' ability to effectively communicate to the lay person is successful due in part to the design of this manuscript layout. All of the Living Tradition and Biblical Background sidebars are indexed by subject so they can be easily located.

Following the List of References is the commentary itself. Thankfully, the commentary is not written for the authors' peers, but rather for the common person. The authors claim that the commentary is designed to "focus on the meaning of the text for faith and life." For me, they have accomplished their goal.

Following the Commentary section of the passage is a section titles "Reflection and Application." This narrative attempts to crack open the word and shed light on life and meaning today. I would think that this section will provide a wealth of ideas for small group discussions.

The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture should enjoy wide popularity. It is written for the person who wants to understand scripture in light of the teachings of the Church with reflections relevant to Parish life. I have the complete Navarre Bible, but it has just been superseded by the superior Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture.

This commentary is much more than an academic commentary. The references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church; its succinct 'reflection and application' paragraphs; its cross referencing with the OT and NT, give a variety of opportunities for greater reflection. The Biblical Background boxes are invaluable for understanding the Sitz in Leben, the cultural background of the time, and the quotations from the Fathers of the Church entitled 'Living Tradition' provides continuity of teaching throughout the ages. There is so much more, anyone can read it and grow in faith. And it's still academic.

I've read a couple of bible commentaries and flipped through several more, trying to find one that is comprehensive and informative. However, most end up simply restating the biblical text in different words with little insight provided.

Healy's commentary on the Gospel of Mark is, I am happy to say, extremely informative, going far beyond the text at hand and connecting that particular text to the context of the history of the times, as well as to other provisions of scripture, both Old and New Testaments. The difficulty in reading any book of the Bible is that, 2000 years later, we inevitably read it in isolation, rather than from the perspective of the times. As such, things often go right over our head. What would have been obvious to a Second Century reader is not even thought relevant by us today. Healy gives us that much-needed context, throwing light on aspects of the Gospel that we otherwise do not see.

(For example, I did not realize, simply from reading the Gospel itself, how much time Jesus spent in territories that were either Gentile or mixed. I did not realize that He had carried His ministry into present-day Jordan and up near if not into Syria.)

On another note, if you are familiar with their writings, you will definitely see the influence of John Paul II and Benedict on Healy.

I hope that the rest of the series is as good, although I am disappointed that they will apparently take a while to be published.

I enjoyed reading the commentary for its straightforward and full explanation of Mark's gospel. The commentator gave competing interpretations of difficult passages when necessary; she always provided the background and implications for Mark's readers so that I was able to experience his message to early Christians. The commentary brought out Mark's forceful thrust of Jesus' ministry from casting away demons to establishing God's kingdom. I felt the power of Jesus' life and teaching while I read the commentary.

I used this book in my parish's Bible study group when we spent about 10 weeks on the Gospel of Mark. It is a co-ed group of adults ranging in age from early 40's to early 80's. Overall, the reaction was quite positive and it was refreshing to find a Catholic commentary that was both scholarly and readable. I asked the group to rate the commentary and 15 of the members filled out my rating form. A theme running through the comments of those who rated the book was that it was easy to read and that Mary Healy made Mark's gospel easier to understand. A couple of people thought the commentary was too repetitive. One person thought the commentary's treatment of the exorcisms performed by Jesus was troubling because the book kept emphasizing that demons are real and gave the impression that each of the exorcisms in the gospel involved a person who was truly possessed by the devil. Two of the people who rated the book complained about the quality of the production, pointing out that the material printed in the grey boxes was extremely difficult to read. Several members of the group were grateful that the author of the commentary consistently tried to help readers see how the gospel might be applied in our daily lives.

This is the first in a series of commentaries on the New Testament. I now have all books in the series that have thus far been published. I found this gospel commentary fantastic! (By the way, Mary Healy is a consecrated virgin in the Catholic Church, a professor and highly regarded among her scripture scholar peers. She even teaches at a seminary.) This book, and the others in the series, are very insightful and comprehensive. They also have wonderful graphics, charts and tables. I learned a lot from this book and plan to purchase the others in the series when they are available.

Our bible study class used this book for a year and a half. We really let it settle in. It was wonderful, wise and life changing. Mary Healy has a way of giving you a paradigm shift every few pages...those great aha moments. The history given and the use of old testament readings, offers great insight into the meaning of Mark. Mark seems such a simple Gospel, but Mary Healy will help you to believe otherwise. Read it and believe.

I am only about 2/3rds of the way through this book, but I love it. I don't have a theology background, but I like spiritual reading and have wanted to get more in depth in the Scriptures. This book is packed with information and it is presented through eyes of deep faith. I plan on buying more books by Ms. Healy and more in this Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture series.

I haven't read through the book, but just flipping through I get the impression I made a good choice.
I am satisfied with the services of Amazon.