The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century
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TU’s biblical department play an important role in a brand-new edition of a renowned Catholic biblical resource. The Jerome Biblical Commentary ( JBC) is a one-volume resource that provides commentaries on each book of the Bible plus a host of other topical articles on biblical subjects. The first edition appeared in 1968, shortly after the Second Vatican Council and was spearheaded by Raymond E. Brown, SS, one of the premier Catholic scholars of the era. All of the authors were Catholic scholars to demonstrate the maturity of Catholic scholarship following upon the biblical renewal of the Council. The JBC quickly became an internationally recognized resource. A second edition appeared in 1990. Now a completely new version has appeared. Barbara Reid, OP, and Donald Senior, CP, are the New Testament co-editors of the new edition and four other CTU Bible faculty contributed to the volume: John Barker, OFM, Laurie Brink, OP, Leslie Hoppe, OFM, and VănThanh Nguyễn, SVD. The new edition reflects the advances in the Church and in Catholic biblical scholarship over the past thirty years, including a more international and diverse cast of authors. Where the authors included in the 1990 edition were mainly priests and religious, nearly half of the authors of this new edition are lay women and men. Where the previous edition had nine women
as contributing authors, this latest edition has thirty-five. There is also a dramatic increase in the ethnic diversity of the current edition’s authors, including representation from several international scholars. Also reflecting new technology, this major resource is appearing in both online and print editions from the international British publisher, Bloomsbury. A crowning flourish of this new edition is that Pope Francis himself wrote the preface to the volume! The entire work is dedicated in honor of the Pope whose own writings are steeped in the spirit of the Bible. For more information, visit theologyandreligiononline.com. P
Pathways in Professional Ministry
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his fall CTU launched a new strategic initiative with a generous grant from the Rukavina Foundation. The Career Services team rolled out the Pathways in Professional Ministry program dedicated to the transformation of CTU students’ charisms, talents, and aptitudes into fully actualized marketable business and non-profit ministry skills. The goal of the program is to help students in their career planning such that every student will have a paid ministry placement waiting for them prior to graduation if that is their desired vocational path. Both religious and lay students can learn organizational skills to advance their vocations through career coaching, job search networking techniques, management skills workshops and internships. Workshops stress networking to explore applicable job opportunities with a broad horizon in both traditional and non-traditional ministries. Job search strategies are aimed at opening doors at parishes, non-profits, healthcare, social justice advocacy and social entrepreneurship organizations as well as ethics and corporate responsibility placements. Patrick McGarry, a student in the master’s in justice ministry program commented, “For those who seek guidance on how to start down their own career path, the resources provided offer myriad ways to not only begin the job search, but to identify which career or calling best fits an individual’s strengths and talents.” Erika Tello, a student in the master’s in pastoral studies program agrees, “I have learned a lot about LinkedIn and networking, and how to write a ministry resume…I never really connected my profession with my vocation; now I know they go hand and hand.” P
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