Book review: A Time to Reflect - Year B

Gemma Simmonds is a sister of the Congregation of Jesus, a bye-fellow of St Edmund's College, Cambridge, director of the Religious Life Institute at the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology at Cambridge, and past president of the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain.

Part of her purpose in writing these reflections was to help readers understand the links between the different Mass readings for each Sunday and many of the major feasts of Year B, the liturgical year which is about to begin this Advent Sunday, 29 November.

She points out that those attending Mass may not always pick up the links between the readings, and the homily may not always make them clear. 'Hearing the Scriptures proclaimed in church is for many people the only time they come across them,' she notes in the Introduction, 'and they deserve a chance to make sense of them in relationship to one another.'

She continues: 'I focus on the entirety of the liturgy with the reception of the Eucharist as its source and summit, but want the preaching and proclaiming of the word to be an integral part of that. … The Scripture readings at Mass are not incidental texts but the central verbal principle that shapes the whole liturgy, giving it theological meaning, narrative direction and a sacramental horizon. It's my hope that these reflections … will enable those who preach and meditate on the Sunday Scriptures to find themselves led to make stronger connections between the Scriptures and the liturgy as a whole, and find within the liturgy the expression of their deepest hopes and longings for themselves and for a world famished for wisdom.'

Each entry contains a summary of the First Reading, Responsorial Psalm and Second Reading, and the complete Gospel reading. This is followed by the reflection, which not only draws out the themes common to the readings but provides background, references to contemporary culture and the spiritual heritage of the Church (including, for instance, to the life of St Francis of Assisi, Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love and the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola). Sister Gemma's commentary balances the heart and the head, the individual and the social, the earthly and the eschatological. It manifests the depth and breadth of her learning while at the same time being down to earth, easy to grasp, utterly unpretentious and at times humorous. Each entry ends with a prayer and questions for reflection.

Written homilies, or suggestions for homilies, do not have the immediacy of the word being preached. If you, like me, attend a church where the standard of preaching is very high, this immediacy is a blessing. Not so, perhaps, if your parish priest does not seem to have the gift of inspiring with his preaching. All the more need for this book, which I found enlightening and inspiring. But it also made me yearn for the day when theologically learned and deeply wise women, such as Sister Gemma, are allowed to preach the homily at Mass. This would be a great blessing for all the faithful.

A Time to Reflect, Year B: Meditations Through the Year Based on the Catholic Lectionary, by Gemma Simmonds, is published by SPCK, ISBN 978-0-281-09149-2, £18.99. To order a copy see: https://spckpublishing.co.uk/a-time-to-reflect-year-b