Church Life
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Faith That Dares To Speak
$24.95Add to cartThe Catholic Church at the dawn of the twenty-first century is arguably the last feudal system in the West. Once the feudal structure of the church is recognized, the bishops’ response to the clergy abuse crisis comes into focus. Bishops and other church authorities reacted to the scandal the only way their feudal culture allowed–with secrecy, denial, and a no holds barred effort to protect the reputation, authority, and resources of the institution. While tragic, and in many cases reprehensible, their response was consistent with the way feudal systems function.
In Faith That Dares to Speak, Donald Cozzens addresses the laity’s role in challenging a feudal church to embrace accountability and transparency and to bring light where there is now darkness. Awakened to their dignity and responsibility as full, equal, and adult members of the church, lay Catholics in North America are finding their voice and daring to speak to church authorities long accustomed to deferential obedience and compliance.
Church life, Cozzens believes, will never be quite the same.
The current crisis in the Church, while profoundly disturbing and troubling, offers possibilities for a renewed and revitalized Church. In Faith That Dares to Speak, Cozzens underscores the critical need for laity and clergy to speak honestly and courageously to church authorities. He addresses the obstacles to faithful speech as well as the spiritual and moral foundations of mature, adult conversation and commitment. The current crisis in the Church, while profoundly disturbing and troubling, offers possibilities for a renewed and revitalized Church. In Faith That Dares to Speak, Cozzens underscores the critical need for laity and clergy to speak honestly and courageously to church authorities. He addresses the obstacles to faithful speech as well as the spiritual and moral foundations of mature, adult conversation and commitment.
Chapters include “The Courage to Speak,” “The Humility to Listen,” “Love That Dares to Question,” “The Liberation of the Laity,” “Voice of the Faithful,” and “Contemplative Conversation.”
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Awesome Glory : Resurrection In Scripture, Liturgy, And Theology
$19.95Add to cartIn Awesome Glory, Abbot Jeremy Driscoll offers readers a deep dive into the mystery of the Resurrection of Jesus. Starting from the conviction that the liturgy is meant to be for Christians an immediate and effective contact with the Resurrection, this profound book draws out the riches of each celebration from the Paschal Triduum through Pentecost. Abbot Jeremy focuses particularly on the Scripture texts of Mass, but also on important rituals like the washing of feet, the lucernarium, and the baptism of catechumens.
Loaded with new insights and approaches, this book will be a welcome resource for homilists, pastors, liturgy directors, catechists, faith formation leaders, scholars, and any Christian adult who wants to better understand, teach, and live the startlingly good news of Christ’s Resurrection.
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Elemental Life : Mystery And Mercy In The Work Of Father Matthew Kelty OCSO
$21.95Add to cartFather Matthew Kelty was an especially beloved monk at the historic Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky. Perhaps best known as Thomas Merton’s colleague and confessor in the year prior to Merton’s death, Father Matthew was also an enormously gifted spiritual writer in his own right, one whose homilies at Gethsemani attracted a wide following. This is the first book-length study of Matthew Kelty’s life in relation to his spiritual writings and his profound reflections on the virtues of the monastic life in the modern age.
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Surrender To Christ For Mission
$24.95Add to cartThis multiauthor book celebrates the bicentenary of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), founded by St. Eugene de Mazenod, and arises from an international conference on French spiritual traditions hosted by the Oblates in San Antonio, Texas, in November 2016. More broadly, this book aims to make available to a wide readership the riches of the important family of French spiritual traditions originating between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries–not least the emphasis on mission to the poor. French traditions have been greatly underestimated in conventional histories of Christian spirituality, but their spiritual wisdom offers much to today’s believers.
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Book Of The Elders
$49.95Add to cartIn the early part of the fourth century, a few Christians, mostly men and some women, began to withdraw from “the world” to retreat into the desert, there to practice their new religion more seriously. The person who aspired to “renounce the world” first had to find an “elder,” a person who would accept him as a disciple and apprentice. To his elder (whom he would address as abba–father) the neophyte owed complete obedience; from his abba, he would receive provisions (as it were) for the road to virtue. In addition to the abba’s own example of living, there was the verbal teaching of the elders in sayings and tales, setting out the theory and practice of the eremitic life.
In due course, these sayings (or apophthegmata) were written down and, later, collected and codified. The earliest attempts to codify tales and sayings are now lost. As the collection grew, they were first organized alphabetically, according to the name of the abba who spoke them, in a major collection known as the Apophthegmata Patrum Alphabetica. A supplementary collection, the Anonymous Apophthegmata, followed. Later, both collections were combined and arranged systematically rather than alphabetically. This collection was created sometime between 500 and 575 and later went through a couple of major revisions, the second of which appeared sometime before 970.
This second revision was published in an excellent new critical edition, with a French translation, in 1993. Now, in The Book of the Elders, John Wortley offers an English translation of this collection, based entirely on the Greek of that text.
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Everyday Life At La Trappe Under Armand Jean De Rance
$29.95Add to cartThis is an annotated translation of the classic Description de l’abbaye de La Trappe, the most important eye-witness account of life at the abbey of La Trappe under Armand-Jean de Rance. The work includes a map showing the physical layout of the abbey and detailed discussions of the monks’ daily life and practice. It was written by Andre Felibien des Avaux for Jeanne de Schomberg, duchess of Liancourt, in 1671, with a new and enlarged edition being published in 1689. That is the edition translated here, with copious notes to help the reader appreciate Felibien’s account.
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Catholic Traditions And Treasures
$19.95Add to cartNew converts and cradle Catholics alike are often perplexed by the myriad of devotions, traditions, practices, and beliefs that the Catholic Church has accumulated over the past twenty centuries. Why pray to St. Anthony to find something lost? Why keep a St. Christopher medal in your car? Or why bury a statue of St. Joseph – upside down! – in your yard when selling your house?
In Helen Hoffner’s lovingly-illustrated, encyclopedic Catholic Treasures and Traditions, you’ll find succinct – and sometimes amusing – answers to these and hundreds of other questions. This delightful book explains the origin and nature of most of the common traditions of the Catholic Faith, as well as the source and meaning of many of the quaint and obscure ones.
From Forty Hours to First Fridays and from Holy Hours to Holy Days, you’ll find in these pages an informative, delightful compendium of the Catholic way of life, including information about:
Novenas * Penance * Prayers for the Dead * First Fridays * Votive Candles * Religious Medals * St. Francis Statues * Bathtub Madonnas * Holy Cards * Crucifixes * House Blessings * Prayer Corners * Advent Calendars * Jesse Trees * Marian Apparitions * Vestments * Icons * Divine Mercy * The Sacred Heart * The Liturgical Year * Holy Days * Religious Orders * The Holy See * The Roman Curia * The Divine Office * Holy Oils * Genuflecting * Relics * Stations of the Cross * The Sacraments * The Angelus * Litanies * Patron Saints
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Divine Symphony : An Exordium To The Theology Of The Catholic Mass
$12.95Add to cartSaint Dominics Media Inc
This work consists of four very accessible and easy-to-read movements that narrate, explore, and explain the meaning, mystery, theology, history, symbolism, and continuity of the Catholic Mass.
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Church Faith Future
$19.95Add to cartIn this challenging but hopeful new book, Church, Faith, Future: What We Face, What We Can Do, Father Louis J. Cameli renders a carefully composed portrait of the church in North America today. Drawing on philosophy, history, cultural analysis, and sociology, he offers a sobering picture of where church and faith stand in our society and where they seem to be headed. Identifying several possible ways forward, Fr. Cameli points out the way he sees as the most promising and most faithful to Catholic tradition.
In a fascinating afterword to the book, Archbishop Blase Cupich enters into dialogue with Fr. Cameli s thinking, describing how the Archdiocese of Chicago has begun to address the issues and the directions indicated. -
When The Church Was Young
$22.99Add to cartIf the word trinity isn’t in Scripture, why is it such an important part of our faith?
And if the Bible can be interpreted in many ways, how do we know what to make of it? And who decided what should be in the Bible anyway?
The Church Fathers provide the answers. These brilliant, embattled, and sometimes eccentric men defined the biblical canon, hammered out the Creed, and gave us our understanding of sacraments and salvation. It is they who preserved for us the rich legacy of the early Church.
D’Ambrosio dusts off the dry theology and brings you the exciting stories and great heroes such as Ambrose, Augustine, Basil, Athanasius, Chrysostom, and Jerome. This page-turner will inspire and challenge you with the lives and insights of these seminal teachers from when the Church was young.
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Everyday Catholics Guide To The Liturgy Of The Hours
$16.99Add to cartYou don’t live in a cloister or a monastery, but you take your prayer life seriously and want to explore ways to pray regularly and better. The Liturgy of the Hours is one of those ways-but for those of us who find it a little intimidating, Daria Sockey provides a solid overview to this ancient prayer practice. The Everyday Catholic’s Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours will answer questions like: What is the history of the Liturgy of the Hours? How can the Liturgy of the Hours fit into a busy schedule? Why is the Liturgy of the Hours relevant today? Print or online resources: Which is better? There is a rhythm of prayer, not just throughout the day, but throughout the year. Sockey explores the spiritual riches of the seasons, the saints, and special feast days, which add depth and variety to prayer. She also addresses the practice of praying the Scriptures, especially the psalms, and helps the reader to appreciate the universal beauty of these ancient prayers. Don’t let concerns about “what page am I supposed to be on?” scare you away. Sockey will be your guide to answer common questions and overcome common fears. Your prayer life will never be the same!
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Hispanic Ministry In The 21st Century
$22.99Add to cartThe Hispanic presence in the Church in the United States is profoundly reshaping the direction and character of Catholicism in this country. As we reach the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, nearly half the Catholic population is Hispanic and it is estimated that by 2050 Latinos/as will constitute the vast majority of U.S. Catholics. Hispanic Catholics as a group bring abundant gifts to the Church in the United States yet together face many challenges.As the century unfolds, the achievements and struggles of Hispanic Catholics will be undoubtedly perceived as those of the whole Church in the U.S. Hosffman Ospino brings an edited collection of essays written by leading voices in the field of ministry and theology that explore the present and future of Catholic Hispanic Ministry. The essays were crafted as study documents for a national symposium on this topic and were edited for further reflection in ministerial and academic contexts. This Book offers an important contribution to understand the future character of Catholicism in the U.S.
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Worship Matters : Leading Others To Encounter The Greatness Of God
$18.99Add to cartNothing is more essential than knowing how to worship the God who created us. This book focuses readers on the essentials of God-honoring worship, combining biblical foundations with practical application in a way that works in the real world. The author, a pastor and noted songwriter, skillfully instructs pastors, musicians, and church leaders so that they can root their congregational worship in unchanging scriptural principles. Bob Kauflin covers a variety of topics such as the devastating effects of worshiping the wrong things, how to base our worship on God’s self-revelation rather than our assumptions, the fuel of worship, the community of worship, and the ways that eternity’s worship should affect our earthly worship. Appropriate for Christians from varied backgrounds and for various denominations, this book will bring a vital perspective to what readers think they understand about praising God. Includes a special addendum for pastors and worship leaders.
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Passing From Self To God
$29.95Add to cartIn this book an experienced spiritual master provides an intensive directed retreat. Readers may read and digest at their own pace, savoring the author’s contagious enthusiasm for the monastic way and the medieval monks who formed this distinctive contemplative tradition.
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People Adrift : The Crisis Of The Roman Catholic Church In America
$26.99Add to cartIn this widely acclaimed book that will long remain an indispensable work on American religion and the Catholic Church, one of its most influential laymen in the United States says that the Roman Catholic Church in America must either reform profoundly or lapse into irreversible decline.
In addition to providing a spiritual identity for over 60 million Americans, the church is the nation’s largest nongovernmental provider of education and social services, as well as the largest not-for-profit provider of health care. But even before the recent revelations about sex abuse by priests, American Catholicism was already heading for a major crisis, with its traditional leadership depleted by the decline in religious vocations and paralyzed by “theological gridlock.”
Catholicism in the United States confronts hard choices among contrasting visions for the future, choices with huge implications for American life. Analyzing these choices in ways that escape all the familiar labels of conservative or liberal, Steinfels points to the directions the church must take to survive.
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Surprised By Canon Law
$11.99Add to cartFrom time to time, all Catholics have them: nagging questions about church life, often prompted by some personal encounter or challenging situation:
Is a layperson allowed to preach a homily?
Is a pastor required to report to someone regarding parish finances or is he on his own?
It seems like the parish council is running your parish. Does it have the authority to do so?
Must a child be baptized in a church, or may the baptism take place at home?Surprised By Canon Law tackles these and many other questions, all of which have been formally addressed by the Roman Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law. The Code – the internal legal system that governs the church’s day-to-day workings – deals with far-flung concerns of interest to the person-in-the-pew.
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Season Of Ash And Fire
$20.99Add to cartIn addition to prayers and liturgies for Ash Wednesday through Ascension Day, this book includes suggested themes and symbols for the Sundays of Lent, daily Scripture readings for Lent and the fifty Days of Easter, household prayers for Lent and Easter, and an order for Lenten study groups. A Selected Scripture Index is included. This book has been designed for ease of use in both thematic and lectionary-based worship services.
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Worship By The Book
$24.99Add to cartToday’s believers gather on Sundays just as they always have—but what should biblical worship look like in the 21st century? The authors explore how creative, biblically sound, and spiritually rewarding worship unfolds in the Presbyterian/Reformed tradition, the liturgical practices of the Anglican/Episcopal church, and the “free church” perspective. Includes sample services.
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Church And Revolution
$27.00Add to cartThough sometimes a source of controversy regarding certain issues, the Catholic Church has in many ways lead the struggle for social justice and rights for the poor in our age. Pope John Paul II never lets an opportunity pass without insisting on the need for greater respect for human rights and the need to alleviate the pains of poverty. In the United States the Catholic Church is the single largest private organization providing assistance to the underprivileged–operating soup kitchens and shelters for the homeless, providing care for the sick, and education for the needy.
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Book Of Feasts And Seasons (Revised)
$13.95Add to cartWhen it was published in 1986 A Book of Feasts and Seasons was the first popular attempt to recapture the lost traditions surrounding our major feasts and festivals. Since then it has gone through several printings, and has become a well-loved source book all over the world. For this third edition, the author has added a wealth of new celebrations, stories, activities, and recipes. The book has been printed in a larger format to increase ease of use in home, church, and school, while wholly new illustrations enhance the text. In today’s fast moving world it gets harder and harder for people to keep in touch with their Christian history and customs. This book allows families, schools, and church groups to do just that, and to have fun while doing it. Joanna Bogle is a journalist and broadcaster.
