Reviewed Book: Viladesau, Richard. The Word In and Out of Season: Homilies for the Sundays of Ordinary Time, Cycle B. New York and Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1990

Riegert, Eduard R.

English

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 17Issue 2 Health and Wholeness Article 2311-1-1991The Word In and Out of SeasonEduard R. RiegertFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationRiegert, Eduard R. (1991) "The Word In and Out of Season," Consensus: Vol. 17 : Iss. 2 , Article 23.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol17/iss2/23208 Consensussin is a deadly and contagious virus which threatens, saps and debilitatesour moral and spiritual heeJth and lives” (113).5 Sin as disease: In this model, sin and sickness get correlated at thelevel of disease, which is regarded as an invasion of the body by evil. Inascertaining whether this model has something constructive to offer to ourunderstanding of human sinfulness, he draws on the wisdom in “the twelvesteps” of the Alcoholics Anonymous program (137).6 Sin as addiction: This is described as the model of idolatry. “In sinwe struggle to supplant God, aspiring, as the addict does, to an impossibleperfection and driven by delusions of grandiosity” (161). “This idolatryis an action to that which is neither God nor life giving” (161). In anexemplary manner, McCormick explores four particular sins which thriveon this addictive energy: consumerism, neo-colonialism, militarism andsexism.As a first step in responding to a crisis of models in understanding sin,McCormick is suggesting “that an excellent corrective and contributionmight be made by shifting toward a model of addiction and recovery as away of explaining sin and grace” (190).While the identification and exploration of each of these models hasmerit in moral theology and in theological reflection, I was disappointedthat the author did so little biblical work for each model, provided few prac-tical examples and helps and devoted but one chapter—the final one—to“grace and hope”. Perhaps the strength of this volume is in its delineationof the six specific and interrelated models—each of which offers importcintdimensions and dynamics for the “doing of theology”.Arnold D. WeigelWaterloo Lutheran SeminziryThe Word In and Out of Season: Homilies for theSundays of Ordinary Time, Cycle BRichard ViladesauNew York and Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1990.$7.95The author is both a professional theologian (Immaculate ConceptionSeminary, Fordham University) and administrator of a parish in Long Is-land. In a succinct Introduction he sketches a way to hold together thesetwo ministries of the Word. Accepting St. Augustine’s goals for preaching(teach, please, persuade) and Tillich’s method of correlating ultimate exis-tential questions and God’s self-revelation, he finds in Bernard Lonergan’stranscendental method the means whereby the scriptural readings and theBook Reviews 209human situations can so interact that affirmations about God become “con-ditions of possibility” in people. This enables “foundational” preaching, i.e.,preaching which at basic levels connects faith and life for today’s plural-istic and secularized hearers. It is, admittedly, not a new homiletic (it isessentially thematic) but his concern is to undergird and deepen homileticalpractice theologically so that the “unnoticed presence of the transcendentdimension—at least as a question—[is exposed] in every aspect of humemlife” (16).The homilies are on the lections for the 34 Sundays “in ordinary time”which, in Roman Catholic usage, means Sundays which do not fall withinany of the great liturgical seasons. The scholar wins out over the pcis-tor, however. It is rewarding to see contemporary biblical exegesis sharedfrankly (including Hebrew and Greek words and their nuances), to en-counter an agile theological mind opening insights and making connections,and to observe a steady hand picking a theme (usually from the Gospel)and tracking it out with the help of First and Second Lessons without forc-ing or bending. Still, these homilies appe2d finally to the mind, and humanexperience as well as doctrine are conceptualized. Preachers will find thesehomilies helpful as expositional and interpretative £iids to the “ordinarytime” lections. Cycle B.Eduard R. RiegertWaterloo Lutheran SeminaryTo Treat or Not To Treat? Bioethics and the Handi-capped NewbornRichard C. SparksNew York/Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1988Richard C. Sparks addresses a very difficult and yet contemporarydilemma for bioethics. The singular thrust of his text is focussed on theethical question, “On what basis is it moral to forego or cease further treat-ment of a handicapped newborn?”Even though the content of this book is purposely intended for a specificreadership, the author does make a meaningful contribution to the studyof bioethics. This resource will likely be of greatest benefit for those whograpple with the thorny ethical questions revolving around the treatmentdecisions of handicapped newborns: bioethicists, students of bioethics, andneonatal medical clinicians. It may also prove useful to hospital chaplainsand pastors helping people make such decisions.This text is not intended to be the definitive word on the subject, butis to be used “cis an analytical tool, a helpful framework to foster civil dis-course and clarifying cirgument among advocates of opposing ethical view-points. This goal the author accomplishes, making significant contribution

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