I own the two volumes already released, and they are fantastic. The goal of the series is to provide “accessible yet substantive commentary” on each book of the New Testament. This certainly is a major need in the Church. Too often Catholic Bible commentaries are either too academic or too devotional. From my experience of using the volumes that have been published so far, this series clearly meets the intended goal.
Each volume has considerable introductory material, explaining important issues like authorship, dating, themes, etc… The Biblical text is presented before each section of a given commentary, along with OT and NT cross-references and important references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In addition, there are Bible maps, photographs, as well as illustrations included throughout the work. Overall, the layout is very pleasing to the eyes and easy to navigate.
One last feature I want to point out is the index of pastoral topics found at the end of each volume. I have found this little index to be very helpful. It has topics listed from “apostasy” to “youth”, covering a variety of topics which are helpful for anyone in pastoral work. I highly recommend picking up these commentaries. They provide a wonderful mix of scholarly and pastoral aids.
