The Gospel of Matthew

Workshop # 20
Gail Thomas

Matthew is an intriguing mixture of very old and newer traditions about Jesus. We will consider both the content and the context, and how the text can deepen and transform our spiritual lives today.

Percentage of time:
Worship/worship-sharing 30; Lecture 20; Discussion 25; Experiential 25

Required Reading: New Collegeville: Gospel of Matthew

Open to all

My chief objective leading gospel workshops -this will be my 8th- is to help us identify the lenses that may prevent us from experiencing the truth and power of the gospels. I believe understanding the socio-economic-political situation of Jesus's times, the likely explanations for passages that may trouble us, and what we bring to the text can help to open us to transformation, which I feel is the what spiritual truth and Jesus' s message is all about..

We will use the Gospel of Matthew - in any translation you have-and the New Collegeville Bible Commentary by Barbara E. Reid. I will also prepare handouts.

My usual format is 1/2 hour of worship, @ 1 hour of discussion and activities; a break; @ another hour of same, followed by 15 minutes of worship sharing. This past year when we used The Last Week, I found 1/2 hour of worship sharing more appropriate. We'll see.

Try to read Matthew at least once before the workshop since you probably won't have time to do a lot of reading during the Gathering and Matthew is long.