Between the Ambo and the Altar

Book excerpt: The publication of The Roman Missal, Third Edition offers an opportunity for homilists to explore the relationship between the Sunday readings and the new Roman Missal. Between the Ambo and the Altar is the second book (Year B) in a three-volume series that presents scriptural, liturgical, and preaching commentary for Sundays, solemnities, and feasts throughout the year. Each Sunday's resources are presented in three sections: exploring the Scripture, connecting the Lectionary with the liturgy, and a homiletic strategy. DeBona takes the preacher through a meditation on the language of the Missal, suggests parallels to the Sunday Lectionary, and gives practical homiletic strategies, using core themes and images. It is hoped that the commentary advances a framework for homily preparation, so that preachers might "savor the deep meaning of the word of God which unfolds each year in the liturgy" (Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini 52).