Gerhard LOHFINK.  Between Heaven and Earth: New Explorations of Great Biblical Texts.  Translated by Linda M. Maloney.  Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2022.  pp. 362.  $39.95.  ISBN 9780814667323 (hardcover).  Reviewed by Peter DRILLING, retired professor of theology, Lackawanna, NY 14218.

 While it is true that Gerhard Lohfink is a biblical scholar, his books do not provide only exegetical studies.  Lohfink's presentations are also meditations directly related to living a life of faith in contemporary society.  That being said, Between Heaven and Earth, although grounded in biblical exegesis, is fully focused on meditation.  Stunningly, the book is a compilation of seventy meditations (yes, 70).  On the one hand, the chosen texts range throughout the Old and New Testaments.  On the other hand, the meditations relate to significant contemporary situations, including one of the lengthier meditations on COVID-19.

The meditations are divided into three sections.  Part I is called Basics, Part II Festivals and Feasts, and Part III In the Joy of Faith.  For this review I will highlight two meditations from each of the sections in order to give a more precise sense of the book's content.

The COVID-19 chapter is included in the opening section of the book, Basics.  Lohfink puts the virus into the context of plagues, and epidemics, and pandemics, but he claims that "no pandemic has yet struck the world population with such fury as COVID-19."  The author goes on to reflect on the virus in terms of theology of creation and of the entrance of evil into the world, mainly as recounted in the Book of Genesis.

In another meditation included in the section on Basics, Lohfink focuses on "A World Transformed."  Based on Jesus' strong words in Luke 17:6 that the person with faith the size of a mustard seed can demand that a mulberry tree be uprooted, the author berates that "[e]ither one orients one's life entirely to the reign of God or one remains fixated on the old world."  Because the words about the mustard seed follow upon the call of Jesus to forgive again and again, it is clear that faith is about community, fellowship, and forgiveness, i.e., love of neighbor.

The second series on Festivals and Feasts includes a meditation entitled "Learning from the Disciples at Emmaus."  The disciples walking away from Jerusalem are all of us when our faith becomes difficult and we don't think that we can continue any longer along the way, although, as Lohfink notes, we might still go to church regularly, or at least at Christmas.  But there needs to be more.  Like the two disciples we have to return to Jerusalem.  We have to recognize that our "faith in Jesus Christ exists only where the Twelve are--that is, where the apostolic tradition and the church are."

In "The Longer Easter Story" we are invited to reflect on John 21-1-23.  In that account there is the contrast between John, the Beloved Disciple, and Peter who had denied his master at the moment when Jesus needed his support so much.  Yet the church needs both disciples.  "There has to be the Beloved Disciple, who first understands, but there also has to be Peter, who leads the church humbly, admitting his own faults."

In section III, called In the Joy of Faith, there is a meditation on "How God Consoles."  The author celebrates how "Sacred Scripture offers us consolation at many points."  He begins with Matt 5:4: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."  Who will comfort us?  Ultimately, God will console us, as the Book of Revelation 21:4 assures us that God will wipe all tears from our eyes.  Among the forms of consolation that God offers is forgiveness of sins.  And, for example, in the sacrament of penance and reconciliation, God invites us to offer divine forgiveness to one another.  Lohfink concludes this meditation by quoting from the grave of Johann Adam Möhler: Solamen ecclesiae, i.e., "He was a comfort for the church."

Another meditation in section three is "The Burden and the Joy of Being Chosen."  It is a reflection on the four Servant Songs included in the book of the prophet Isaiah.  Originally, the chosen servant is Israel.  Later the Messiah is the chosen servant, and then all God's elect people.  Our author then makes three important points.  First, because God has chosen servants does not mean that only those people are loved by God.  "God desires the salvation and happiness of all."  Second, election does not mean that God's chosen are better than others.  Rather these people are elected to bring into the world God's true meaning of what life is all about.  Third, election is not just a joy.  It is also "a burden and a constant responsibility."

Once again Gerhard Lohfink has given us such profound and challenging themes to reflect upon and pray about.  Once again, we can be grateful to Linda M. Maloney for her translation.