Jeremiah grew up in a time of peace and died in exile. He lived to see the temple burned to the ground, Jerusalem destroyed, and his people marched into a foreign land. A reluctant prophet, Jeremiah preached the renewal of the covenant, teaching in parables like Jesus. His God was a God of hope, promise, power, and the will to make the people of Israel a holy people.
The book of Baruch deals with the challenges faced by the Jews of the Diaspora who never returned to their homeland. Out of their exile, they became the people of the book" gathering in their synagogues, studying the law and the prophets, and producing their own inspired sacred literature.
"Pauline A. Viviano is an associate professor of theology at Loyola University Chicago. She received her doctorate in biblical languages and literature from St. Louis University. Besides articles in academic and popular journals, her publications include reading guides for the books of Joshua, Judges, First and Second Samuel, First and Second Kings, and Ruth for the "Catholic Study Bible" published by Oxford University Press, and "Collegeville Bible Commentary Volume 2: Genesis "(Liturgical Press, 1985). In addition to university teaching she often lectures at parishes in and around Chicago.""
