How might we preach from the Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament in ways that are authentic to both Catholicism and Judaism? How can we avoid misunderstandings and anti-Jewish signaling in our interpretations of often difficult texts, written under circumstances very different from our own?
A Retreat for Catholic Clergy
Sunday, March 9 (evening) - Monday, March 10, 2025
Register by February 24
Join us at the College of the Holy Cross’s Joyce Contemplative Center, a serene refuge overlooking the beautiful Wachusett Reservoir, for an immersive retreat to prepare for Holy Week. Together, we will explore how to remain theologically authentic as Catholics while accurately portraying the historical events that underlie the Passion narrative, helping us understand the Hebrew Scriptures’ meaning and significance in both Judaism and Catholicism. The retreat is facilitated by Scripture scholars and experts in Judaism and Catholicism. The program includes shared meals, dialogue about the challenges and possibilities of preaching Scripture, conversations on how to read biblical texts, and time in prayer.
Participants are strongly encouraged to arrive on Sunday evening in time for dinner to properly set the context for Monday's sessions. The Joyce Contemplative Center includes overnight accommodation.
The retreat is open to Catholic priests from dioceses in Massachusetts or states adjacent to Massachusetts.
Sponsored by the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture with support from the Kraft-Hiatt Fund for Jewish-Christian Understanding & the Division of Mission and Ministry.
SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2025
6:00 p.m.: Dinner
7:00 p.m.: Preaching during Holy Week: What are the opportunities? What are the challenges?
With Keith Maczkiewicz, S.J., Associate Vice President for Mission and Ministry.
Overnight at the Joyce Contemplative Center.
MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2025
8:00 a.m.: Breakfast
9:00 a.m.: John, the Jews, and the Passion
With Reverend Peter Pettit, minister and teaching pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Davenport, Iowa.
10:15 a.m.: Power Dynamics Underlying the Crucifixion
With Bruce Chilton, Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Philosophy and Religion and Director of the Institute of Advanced Theology, Bard College.
11:15 a.m.: Israel’s Scripture in the Passion
With Alan Avery-Peck, Kraft-Hiatt Professor in Judaic Studies.
12:30 p.m.: Lunch
1:30 p.m.: Breakout Group Discussions
With Reverend Peter Pettit, Alan Avery-Peck, Bruce Chilton, and Mahri Leonard-Fleckman.
2:45 p.m.: Lectio Divina and “Bible Study”
With Mahri Leonard-Fleckman, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Classics.
4:30 p.m.: Mass
5:00 p.m.: Reception and Dinner
$65 All meals, overnight stay, and workshop
$35 Monday meals and workshop only
Register online by February 24. Fees are non-refundable.
Please indicate on the form if you have any dietary restrictions and if you require accommodations for handicap accessibility. Single rooms and private baths will be assigned on a first-come basis.
Parking at the JCC is very limited. High-occupancy vehicles and those with handicap placards will receive priority parking privileges. Shuttle service from Holy Cross will be provided as necessary. Once we have final registration numbers, we will let you know what parking will be available.
Alan J. Avery-Peck is Kraft-Hiatt Professor in Judaic Studies at the College of the Holy Cross. Specializing in Jewish history and religion in the first six centuries C.E., Avery-Peck is an author, co-author, and editor of numerous books and articles. These include The Encyclopaedia of Judaism (second edition in 4 vols., Brill, 2005) and The Encyclopedia of Religious and Philosophical Writings in Late Antiquity: Pagan, Judaic, Christian (Brill, 2007), and, with Bruce Chilton, Targums and Rabbinic Literature (Zondervan, 2024, in the series Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies).
Bruce Chilton is a scholar of early Christianity and Judaism. He wrote the first critical translation and commentary for the Aramaic version of Isaiah (The Isaiah Targum, 1987), as well as academic studies that analyze Jesus in his Judaic context. His popular books include Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography (Doubleday, 2000) and Resurrection Logic: How Jesus First Followers Believed God Raised Him from the Dead (Baylor University Press, 2019). He is Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Philosophy and Religion Director of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College.
Mahri Leonard-Fleckman is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Classics at Holy Cross. Her interests include scribal practices, methods of history writing, and the dynamics of empire, including responses to empire across different cultural groups. Her most recent book is Scribal Representations and Social Landscapes of the Iron Age Shephelah (Oxford University Press, 2025). Her popular book series, Ponder: Contemplative Bible Study (2020, 2021, 2022), has received honors from the Catholic Media Association and Association of Catholic Publishers.
Fr. Keith Maczkiewicz, S.J. is the Associate Vice President for Mission and Ministry at the College of the Holy Cross, where he is serving for the third time. His ministry has been mainly in campus ministry, retreat work, and faith formation. He joined the East Coast Province Jesuits in the summer of 2008 and was ordained a priest in June 2018. He graduated in May 2024 from the inaugural Executive Doctor of Higher Education cohort at Boston College, earning an Ed.D with a special concentration in Catholic Higher Education.
The Rev. Peter A. Pettit, Ph.D., serves St. Paul Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Davenport, IA, as teaching pastor. He taught Religion Studies and directed the Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding at Muhlenberg College. He is on the board of the Stimulus Foundation at Paulist Press. He is the principal author and editor of the ELCA’s guide to “Preaching and Teaching ‘With Love and Respect for the Jewish People” and has consulted on the script and production of the Oberammergau Passion Play.
A place for stillness, reflection, and prayer, the Thomas P. Joyce ’59 Contemplative Center is the home of our spiritual retreats whose purpose is to help members of the Holy Cross community deepen their relationship with God and grow in self-knowledge and interior freedom.
Situated on a 52-acre parcel of land in West Boylston, Mass., just 20 minutes from campus, the Joyce Contemplative Center overlooks breathtaking views of the Wachusett Reservoir. The building includes a chapel, meeting rooms, dining room, and bedrooms for 60 individuals.
