New Book Authored by UMary Professor Gaining National Acclaim
BISMARCK, ND—University of Mary Associate Professor of Theology and Administrative Chair of Arts and Letters, Dr. Leroy Huizenga, is excited to share with the public his newly published work entitled “Behold The Christ: Proclaiming the Gospel of Matthew,” at a premiere book launch event Wednesday, Dec. 11, 3 to 5 p.m. in the lower level of the Lumen Vitae University Center (LVUC) on campus.
This event gives the public an opportunity to hear and meet from Huizenga, ask him questions and purchase a new autographed book. “Behold the Christ: Proclaiming the Gospel of Matthew,”printed in hardcover by Emmaus Road Publishing (448 pages, 5.5” x 8.5”, ISBN 978-1-645850-0-90), is now available at StPaulCenter.com and Amazon for $27.95.
Huizenga has already garnered national media attention by appearing on several national, regional and local Catholic radio programs leading up to the upcoming book launch.
St. Matthew’s Gospel gives us a compelling portrait of Jesus Christ: He is Emmanuel, God with us always, who saves his people from their sins by dying for them.
In showing how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament, gave us a way to live, and taught us how to follow the narrow way to the kingdom of heaven, St. Matthew modeled the fourfold way of reading Scripture according to its letter and spirit.
In his follow-up to “Loosing the Lion: Proclaiming the Gospel of Mark,”Huizenga looks at the founding of the Catholic Church and its rich rituals, chiefly the Eucharist—our sustenance on the narrow way to heaven.
Keyed to the lectionary and featuring a section on the relevance of St. Matthew’s Gospel for our contemporary age, “Behold the Christ”will make the Gospel and indeed the Faith real to today’s readers.
“This is the ideal handbook for homilists,” added Scott Hahn, bestselling author of “The First Society.” “Both preachers and scholars alike will love this book and want to keep it handy. For that matter, it will be treasured by all Bible students and teachers.”
Jennifer Fulwiler, host of “The Jennifer Fulwiler Show” on Sirius XM Radio says “Huizenga cracks open the Gospel of Matthew so that you will see it anew, as if you are encountering it for the first time.”
John Bergsma, co-author of “A Catholic Introduction to the Old Testament” believes “This remarkable book is both a comprehensive theology of the First Gospel, as well as a handbook for preaching and teaching it through the Church year.”
After teaching at Wheaton College (Ill.) for five years, Dr. Huizenga was received into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil of 2011. He is the author of “The New Isaac: Tradition and Intertextuality in the Gospel of Matthew” (Brill, 2012) and is currently writing a major commentary on the Gospel of Mark for Bloomsbury T&T Clark’s International Theological Commentary series. “Loosing the Lion: Proclaiming the Gospel of Mark,” was published by Emmaus Road (2017).