The popular Sunday homily column from the Saint Vincent Archabbey website is now presenting in print the scholarship and wisdom of Father Demetrius Dumm, O.S.B., and Father Campion Gavaler, O.S.B. The column has been appearing on numerous websites, and newspaper columns, including The Catholic Accent of the Diocese of Greensburg and Jednota, the newspaper of the First Catholic Slovak Union.
The first book, Sunday Homilies: Saint Vincent Archabbey, Cycle B, contains reflections on Cycle B, which is the upcoming cycle for the next liturgical year. Cycle C will be released mid-winter and Cycle A in the spring of 2015. All books, in paperback, will retail for $12.95 and will be available on www.stvincentstore.com. Orders can also be mailed to Archabbey Publications, 300 Fraser Purchase Rd., Latrobe, PA 15650, and should include an additional $3 for shipping and handling.
The reflections “are a collection of scholarly insights on the gospel that contain a beautiful simplicity mirroring they are more than academic exercises; they are the result of both priests being immersed in monastic contemplation. Their commentaries go directly to the essence of the gospel message without useless details and distinctions that distract from its spirit. Their down-to-earth applications of the gospel to daily living also reveal that their profound understanding of it cannot but be the result of the powers of contemplation for comprehending the essence of life,” said Rev. Eugene Hemrick, National Institute for the Renewal of the Priesthood, in a review of the book.
Sister Patricia McCann, R.S.M., former associate professor of Church History at Saint Vincent Seminary wrote that “Father Demetrius and Father Campion enable Gospel passages long familiar to us to find new life in their relevance to our own experience. These homilies, based on sound scholarship, will provide an excellent resource for homilists, teachers, religious, and lay persons who are seeking a deeper understanding of what it means to live a life of biblical faith in the contemporary world.”
Father Demetrius (1923-2013), a former rector and professor of Scripture at Saint Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, was the author of Flowers in the Desert: A Spirituality of the Bible, Cherish Christ Above All: The Bible in the Rule of Saint Benedict, A Mystical Portrait of Jesus, New Perspectives on John’s Gospel, Praying the Scriptures, and So We Do Not Lose Heart: Biblical Wisdom for All Our Days. In addition to studies at Saint Vincent Seminary, Father Demetrius earned a Doctor of Sacred Theology Degree from the Pontifical Institute of Sant’ Anselmo, Rome.
Father Campion studied at Saint Vincent Seminary, Notre Dame, and received the S.T.L. degree from Sant’ Anselmo in Rome. His article “Theology of the Sermon as Part of the Mass” (Worship March 1964) explains that the purpose of a homily is to convey the good news of the Lord’s presence to redeem our present situation — however hopeless it may appear to be. He taught theology at Saint Vincent College and Seminary, and was visiting professor at Penn State and Seton Hill. He also has served as academic dean, provost, and acting president of Saint Vincent College.
