Another preliminary note on Hebrews

His Grace, Bishop N.T. Wright, the retired Anglican bishop of Durham, England and one of the leading English-language New Testament and early Church scholars, describes the Letter to the Hebrews in this way:

Half the fun of Christmas morning, especially for young children, is the exciting packages in glittering wrapping, with ribbons and bows, all telling you something about how wonderful the present itself will be. Many small children are so excited by the wrapping and the beautiful boxes that they almost ignore the present itself.

The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews is anxious that the people it is written to should not make the same mistake. The wrapping of the old covenant and its sacrificial system had come off the present; and the present was Jesus himself, God's own, unique son, sent to fulfill everything the law and the prophets had spoken of. They could move on from the earlier stages of God's purpose and gladly live out the new one which had dawned. Hebrews is written to urge its readers to not go back to their old ways (Hebrews: 13 Studies for Individuals and Groups)

My dear friend and Catholic reporter extraordinaire, Christine Young, did a very nice write-up for our diocesan newspaper, The Intermountain Catholic: "Deacon Scott Dodge to lead 12-week course on Letter to the Hebrews for Year of Faith."