"The ‘Commentaries’ offered here are more than elucidations of the lectionary texts. Rather, they are meditations, mostly by well-known scholars and saints which bring out not just the original meaning of the texts as the sacred authors wrote them, but use the texts to confront us in the present with the very presence of God and his word. These reflections will serve primarily to quicken personal devotion and secondly to inspire the homilist in the public liturgy. They bring us the thought of the ages and of many traditions--medieval, Reformation and Counter-Reformation, and contemporary; Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant. We have here a rich harvest of Christian spirituality."

Reginald H. Fuller
Professor Emeritus
Virginia Theological Seminary

"Meditations on the Sunday Gospels, Year A is a fine resource for both preachers and 'ponderers' of the Sunday readings. As Year A approaches, this broad collection of writings from diverse sources will serve to illuminate the cycle of Sunday gospel texts from Matthew, leading--in the intention of the editor--'to greater depths of thought and prayer.' Such an anthology which makes our rich Catholic tradition more readily accessible for lectio divina is always a welcome addition."

Kathleen Hughes, RSCJ
Academic Dean and Professor of Liturgy
Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, Illinois

 "This collection of seventy-four meditations on the Sunday Gospels (Year A) and the solemnities of the church year have been assembled by Father John Rotelle, O.S.A., to serve both as a stimulant for personal prayer and as optional readings for public prayer celebrations. Drawn primarily from the works of twentieth-century spiritual writers, the collection complements the patristic writings included in the Liturgy of the Hours. Though cast in formal English that contemporary Christians will be able to identify with, the selections concentrate on the enduring aspects of the Paschal Mystery as it is celebrated throughout the church year. If read carefully and prayed sincerely, they should prove to be living words through which the Word of God is meditated into the minds and hearts of Christians today."

R. Kevin Seasoltz, O.S.B.
Editor, Worship

"In selecting these Meditations, John Rotelle has, with characteristic skill and grace, brought us to the heart of the Gospel which they illuminate. Carefully chosen for their content and relevance to the Sunday Gospels (Year A), for their breadth of authorship and comprehensiveness of historical perspective, the Meditations give us ease of access to lectio divina, the prayerful reading of scripture. The men and women from whose writings John Rotelle has excerpted the Meditations speak directly out of their own lives and theological reflection to our life in Christ in the contemporary world. This volume of Meditations will be used the world over by individuals, by small groups and in public worship by clergy and laity as a reflective response to the gospel. John Rotelle is to be congratulated warmly on this first volume in what will, in time, be an indispensable series on the three-year cycle of the Sunday Gospel."

Dr. Michael Jackson,
Christ Anglican Church, Oxford, England

 "This is a fine collection of commentaries from a wide range of Christian thinkers and `practitioners.’ It illustrates how the gospel is incarnate in every age. This book represents an impressive combination of the scholarly and the pastoral, the mystical and the familiar, responding to the hungers of those in pulpit and pew for spiritual nourishment. In one volume we can find Christian exegesis, theology, historical reflection, inspiration and helps from everyday living. Preachers and congregation will find themselves returning to this resource again and again as a way of making the liturgical year more meaningful."

Mary Ann Getty, S.T.D.,
Associate Professor
St. Vincent College, Latrobe, PA