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Showing 1901–1950 of 2173 results
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Ezra And Nehemiah
$44.95Add to cartEzra-Nehemiah has been neglected in biblical studies, but it is important as one of the few windows into the Persian period of Israel’s history, the setting for so much of the final shape of the Hebrew Bible. To know this period is to know what influenced these redactors. In Ezra and Nehemiah Gordon Davies provides that knowledge using rhetorical criticism, a methodology that reveals the full range and progress of the book’s ideas without hiding its rough seams and untidy edges.
The purpose of rhetorical criticism is to explain not the source but the power of the text as a unitary message. This approach does not look at plot development, characterization, or other elements whose roughness makes Ezra-Nehemiah frustrating to read. Instead, it examines the three parts of the relationship-the strategies, the situations, and the effects-between the speaker and the audience. Rhetorical criticism’s scrutiny of the audience in context favors the search for the ideas and structures that are indigenous to the culture of the text.Rhetorical criticism is interested in figures of speech as means of persuasion. Therefore, to apply it to Ezra-Nehemiah, Davies concentrates on the public discourse-the orations, letters, and prayers-throughout its text. In each chapter he follows a procedure that: (1) where it is unclear, identifies the rhetorical unit in which the discourse is set; (2) identifies the audiences of the discourse and the rhetorical situation; (3) studies the arrangement of the material; (4) studies the effect on the various audiences; (5) reviews the passage as a whole and judges its success. In the conclusion, Davies explains that Ezra-Nehemiah makes theological sense on its own terms, by forming a single work in which a range of ideas is argued.
Biblical scholars as well as those interested in literary criticism, communication studies, rhetorical studies, ecclesiology, and homiletics will find Ezra and Nehemiah enlightening.
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Petrine Ministry And The Unity Of The Church
$24.95Add to cartIn the context of the ecumenical dialogues which have taken place after the Second Vatican Council, few topics have generated as much discussion and reflection as that of the papacy. What has been the function of this service of unity? What are the foundations of its existence? What are its unrelinquishable elements which cannot change? What can be renewed in the manner in which the office is carried out?
John Paul II’s encyclical “On Commitment to Ecumenism” (Ut unum sint) inspired these essays originally presented at a symposium in Rome. In this encyclical the Bishop of Rome recognizes the difficulty that the Petrine office holds for many on the ecumenical journey and exhorts Church leaders and theologians to engage [him] in a patient and fraternal dialogue on his ministry. This symposium was the first attempt to begin this dialogue in Rome with theologians from many Christian traditions: the oriental and orthodox, the Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist, Baptist and Free Church traditions.
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Making Faith Sense
$14.95Add to cartMaking faith-sense is a new term for an ancient practice. It is what the early Christians called mystical or wisdom theology: understanding life in the light of God’s participation recorded in the Gospels, recognizing the signs of God’s presence in everyday events and shaping one’s life accordingly. In Making Faith-Sense, Robert Kinast shows all who seek to unify their life experience around their belief in God how to follow that ancient practice. Drawing upon the award-winning process he has used with students for the ministry, Father Kinast explains how to make sense of family, work, and cultural experience from the perspective of Christian faith. Each chapter contains numerous real-life examples and practical guidelines that can be used privately or with a group.
Making Faith-Sense begins with a discussion of wisdom theology and its revival in modern times, highlighting “the turn to experience” that characterizes feminist, liberation, and enculturated theologies. The methods for making faith-sense embrace three main components: experience, reflection, and action. The first section describes what is meant by experience, the value of narrating it, how to analyze it, and what to pay attention to so that experience will reveal its theological meaning. The second section explains the role of reflection, its similarity to prayer, techniques for connecting experience to theological tradition, and the most useful theological resources for making faith-sense. The third section affirms the importance of putting reflection into practice, of ensuring that action flows from reflection, of planning and evaluating the effect of one’s practice, and of using practice as the starting point for continuing the process of making faith-sense. Examples from work, family, and cultural life are used throughout to provide illustrations of these general points. A concluding chapter summarizes the reemergence of practical theology since the 1980s as an effort of church communities to make faith-sense of their collective lives.
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Ladder Of The Beatitudes
$20.00Add to cartDrawing on stories from the lives of the saints, scripture, and everyday life, Jim Forest opens up the mysteries of the Beatitudes. These ancient blessings, with which Christ began his Sermon on the Mount, are all aspects of communion with God. As Forest shows, they are like rungs on a ladder, each one leading to the next. They appear at the doorway of the New Testament to provide an easily memorized summary of everything that follows, right down to the crucifixion (“Blessed are you who are persecuted”) and the resurrection (“Rejoice and be glad”).
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Community Of The Beautiful
$29.95Add to cartThe Community of the Beautiful is not simply an analysis of Balthasar’s theology; there exists a more personal and concrete reason for a reconsideration of the connection between God and the beautiful. The experience of a particular living ecclesial tradition, the Latin Church of the Americas, may be a guide to a world that lost its confidence in the religious dimensions of the beautiful.
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Marks Of The Body Of Christ
$21.99Add to cartMartin Luther once listed seven “marks” of the church-those defining ecclesial features that show where the true church is to be found. This volume brings together essays by Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, and Orthodox theologians, each analyzing one of the seven tradional marks of the church and discussing how it is found, or not found, in our various churches today.
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College Students Introduction To The Trinity
$14.95Add to cartWhere did the Holy Trinity originate as a doctrine? Why did this doctrine develop? How can Christians speak of God as three persons and also worship one God? This volume examines how the doctrine of the Trinity has been interpreted in Eastern Christianity, Western Chrsitianity, and by contemporary theologians, including feminists and process theologians.
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Women And The Value Of Suffering
$29.95Add to cartIs there a value to suffering for women? Is Christianity a religion that condones the victimization of women? Can Christians faith, who are called to hope in the midst of despair, respond to experiences of suffering in all their ambiguity and complexity? How can people proclaim the “good news” in the midst of radical suffering? Women and the Value of Suffering explores these questions and offers a critical summary of recent discussions of evil and suffering from a variety of women’s theological and spiritual perspectives. It incorporates the insights of feminist theory, cultural studies, biomedical research, psychology, theology, and spirituality. By exploring the complexity of suffering in our times, it reflects on how women of faith can come to terms with the enormity, diversity, and, at times, apparent senselessness of human suffering.
Chapter one introduces the search for meaning in suffering. Chapter two defines the experience of pain and suffering from current and historical perspectives. Chapter three surveys how women within a Christian context have spoken about suffering and how these expressions might be similar to or differ from the ways men theologize about suffering. Chapter four considers how an incorporation of a tragic vision of reality might enhance theological considerations on evil and radical suffering of women. Chapter five focuses on the role of Christian spirituality in responding to the experiences of women’s suffering. The conclusion provides a response to the question, is there a value to suffering for women, and incorporates the poem Rowing by Anne Sexton to convey that response.
Women and the Value of Suffering contemplates whether women can find value in their suffering-individually and effectively-so that they are empowered to work for change while acknowledging their need for and openness to God’s activating presence in transforming their suffering. Woman and the Value of Suffering shows that through suffering and despite all expectations to the contrary, people can come to an encounter with One who knows our suffering with love, grace, and even joy.
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Freedom Of Obedience
$24.95Add to cart‘The spiritual centre of the human person, the self’, writes the author, ‘maintains its fundamental identity for the whole of life on earth and is destined for participation in the eternal life of God… The person is not a succession of separate points at the mercy of the conditions of the moment. God has given us a share in his power as creator, and to create ourselves through our liberty, to go beyond ourselves towards absolute values’. These reflections by a Carthusian novice master for those training for the life of silent love show that in the obedience born of love, one responds to the all encompassing, deeply intimate and sustaining love of God.
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Venerable Bede
$26.95Add to cartFrom his remote Northumbrian monastery, Bede (673-735) exerted an enormous and enduring influence on the study of Scripture, history, mathematics, and Latin literature. This overview of his life and writings, first published in 1990, has now been revised in the light of the most recent scholarship. In it noted scholar Sister Benedicta Ward introduces Bede and analyzes his works and the traditions and events which gave form to his thought.
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Christ In The Gospels Of The Ordinary Sundays
$17.95Add to cartFather Brown discusses how a Gospel was formed and explains what is distinctive about each of the four Gospels. Then he fits the Sunday readings into an overall picture of each Gospel, showing how the Gospel shapes the narrative, its the theological emphases, and what it says to readers.
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Characters Of The Passion
$12.99Add to cartThis inspiring book by one of Christianity’s most prolific authors brings to life many of those who played important roles in the “Eternal Drama of the Cross.” This “journey” to Calvary dramatically introduces the reader to a deep and personal knowledge of faith.
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Let Justice Sing
$15.95Add to cartJustice has been an urgent concern of twentieth-century hymn writers, but are they the first to place such an emphasis on it? In Let Justice Sing, Paul Westermeyer offers an answer with the hope that it will stimulate dialogue, future studies, and an understanding of the past that can be applied to the present.
Let Justice Sing explores the content, context, and importance of justice within the “warp and woof” of hymnody. By analyzing these aspects and past hymnic repertoires, it suggests to the Church and others who wish to join the moral deliberation it presumes, that not only have Christians always sung about justice, but the message transcends the messengers.
The perspective and dialogue fostered by Let Justice Sing is directed to students in college or seminary courses where hymnody, Church music, or ethics is the topic; adults in forums or classes where questions about music and justice arise; and anyone with an interest in hymnody, justice, or the relationship between the two.
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Quilting And Braiding
$16.95Add to cart“Can a male savior save women?” In answering this profound question, and as a way of engaging women and men who seek a deeper understanding of the role of Jesus Christ in contemporary Christianity, Quilting and Braiding explores the Christologies of pivotal feminist theologians-Sallie McFague and Elizabeth Johnson-and examines the impact of feminist Christology on the field of theology.
For centuries scholars have studied, debated, and articulated their understanding of the life, message, and impact of Jesus Christ (incarnation and salvation). In Quilting and Braiding, Shannon Schrein examines critical questions arising from feminist thought that address these core Christian beliefs. She explores the constructivist Christology of McFague and the revisionist Christology of Johnson and examines how each makes use of language, particularly metaphor and analogy, in addressing the Christological concerns of women today.
Drawing its imagery from practices that have typically been a part of women’s heritage-quilting and braiding-this work forms a footbridge between tradition and contemporary concerns, bringing the study of Christology into the lives of God’s people.
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Book Of Margery Kempe
$19.00Add to cartThough a familiar name, little was known about the English mystic Margery Kempe (c. 1373-c. 1440) for hundreds of years except that she had an association with the great Julian of Norwich. This all changed in 1934 with the discovery of The Book of Margery Kempe in a library where it had lain hidden for four hundred years. Finding Margery’s own story was important not just because of the light it shed on her life, but it also turned out to be the first known autobiography in the English language. Even more intriguing to the experts of the day, this unique document was written by a woman.
But if anyone had expected to find her anything like her cloistered contemporary, Julian, they were in for something of a surprise. Far from being a typical holy woman, Margery Kempe was married and mother of fourteen children. Moreover, she had been a woman of substance, even running a large brewery for a time. After turning to religion, she traveled thousands of miles around the known world on pilgrimages to distant lands.
Beyond the circumstances of her life, what’s most compelling about the text is the inner Margery that emerges. Her account of spiritual awakening, far from being a blissful episode is instead full of conflict and recrimination. What good was this new way of life if it caused her such trouble? Was this really the only way to lead a holy life? Margery remained unsure of the answers. But her patience in her struggle is a wonder to behold, and an example for us today.
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Prayer Of Love And Silence
$24.95Add to cartCalm and spirituality-the true hallmarks of Carthusian writings-distinguish this book. The first part sets out the principles of the interior life; the second works out a method of prayer. There follow eleven sermons, originally given to monks in chapter, which illustrate this approach. The final portion discusses the complex doctrine of the Trinity: the extraordinary clarity. Broken into short chapters, the book is designed for personal reflection and meditation.
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Different Touch : A Study Of Vows In Religious Life
$34.95Add to cartThis work speaks of the challenges of religious life today where the essentials of Christian living and union with God are sought with a different touch. Reflecting on the history of religious life since the nineteenth century, Sister Judith comments on how each of the traditional vows shape the ongoing adult development of a religious, and she related these vows to current cultural and sociopolitical issues. A Different Touch is addressed both to those in religious formation and to congregations that are engaged in theological renewal.
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Mystical Theology : The Science Of Love
$24.00Add to cartFrom the earliest centuries there has existed a Christian theology of mysticism, defining the state which Bernard Lonergan called a “being in love with God.” St. John of the Cross wrote such a theology for the sixteenth century, calling it “the science of love.” Now, William Johnston, one of the great spiritual writers of our time, attempts to do the same for the twenty-first century.
In Part One of Mystical Theology Johnston surveys Christian mysticism through the centuries. Johnson shows that such a theology today must dialogue with modern science and with Eastern religions. Part Two provides this dialogue, where Johnston engages Einstein’s theories as well as Zen Buddhism. In Part Three, it becomes clear how the “science of love” is no longer an esoteric discipline for monks and nuns. In Johnston’s writing it becomes accessible to all modern people grappling with problems of sexuality, social justice, world peace, and the protection of the environment.
Mystical Theology is indispensable to all those seeking guidance as well as intellectual and historical foundations of the Christian mystical experience today.
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Mission In The New Testament
$30.00Add to cartMission in the New Testament articulates Scriptural teachings on mission from a contemporary American Evangelical standpoint, contributing a fresh statement of the biblical foundations of mission and serving as a catalyst for completion of the church’s universal mission in this generation. After investigating the historical background of the idea of mission in the Hebrew Scriptures, inter-testamental Judaism, the life of Jesus and the beginnings of the church, the book proceeds in a roughly canonical order through the New Testament. Essays analyze the works of Paul, the Synoptic Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, the General Epistles, and Revelation. While well-versed in the historical-critical method of biblical interpretation, editors and contributors alike offer a cogent argument for recovering the “missional horizon” of the New Testament. They also emphasize that “mission” today can no longer be defined geographically and that non-Western churches are assuming major leadership roles in Christian world mission.
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Cross Resurrection And Ascension Cycle A
$12.95Add to cartThis book of sermons moves from the desert of Ash Wednesday to the cross of Calvary on Good Friday, to the empty tomb on Easter, and finally to Jesus’ return to the Father. Richard Gribble’s preaching style is vibrant and relevant to the person in the pew. The deeply spiritual content is punctuated by poignant story illustrations that illustrate the scriptural text and enlighten the listener.
Preachers will find this book inspiring for their own sermons, while lay readers will discover rich insights to the Bible for their personal study and devotions.
Contents include:
Ash Wednesday: The Journey To Freedom Begins
First Sunday In Lent: Greed Leads To Destruction
Fourth Sunday In Lent: Looking To The Heart
Maundy Thursday: Carrying On The Tradition
Easter Sunday: Our Need To Talk With The Son
Seventh Sunday Of Easter: The Community Of Life
Ascension Sunday: Completing The Master’s Work
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Christian Social Witness And Teaching 2
$40.00Add to cartThe second volume of Rodger Charles’ two volume presentation of the Catholic Tradidition from Genesis to Centesimus Annus addresses the Modern Social Teaching of the Church from the reign of Pope Leo XIII. The encyclical Rerun Novarum(1891) was a response to the problems of liberal capitalism and the industrial revolution in the Western world. Leo’s successors were largely concerned with the ongoing problems of that programme, though Pius XI (1922-39) and more markedly Pius XII (1939-58) were also concerned with international problems. The years following the end of the Second World War demanded even more attention to these. Meanwhile many Western intellectuals doubted the viability of capitalism and some liberation theologians from the 1970s used Marxist social analysis as an integral part of their search for justice. As it happened, the 1980s brought about the collapse of real socialism and the resurgence of liberal capitalism. From the time of John XXIII (1953-63), the pastors of the Church have been responding to these new needs and with the advent of John Paul II, the controversies over liberation theology and the collapse of socialism, the pace of that response has quickened. Rodger Charles, Lecturer and Tutor in Moral and Pastoral Theology at Campion Hall, Oxford, has spent over thirty years researching, lecturing and writing in London, Oxford and San Francisco on the social teaching of the Church and its application. His book provides a masterly and an unrivalled introduction to this topic.
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Prayers For The Seasons Of Gods People Year C
$26.99Add to cartJust what the pastor ordered! Basing the entire worship service on readings from the Revised Common Lectionary, Hostetter creates calls to worship, invocations, declarations of pardon, and prayers of confession, thanksgiving, dedication, intercession, and commemoration. Useful in any denomination.
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Desert : An Anthology For Lent
$26.95Add to cartThe desert, with its great emptiness and silence, has long been a symbol of solitude. In our Spiritual lives, we sometines seek such isolation as a means of abandoning ourselves completely to God. At other times, solitude comes upon us uninvited and unwelcome, as we find ourselves totally alone and desolate. In facing the silence and the vast expanses of loneliness, we test our courage, deepen our faith, and hear the voice of God anew. This book explores the tradition and relevance of desert spirituality in the life and worship of the church today and offers a collection of pertinent writings in a daily format, by many acient and contemporary authors.
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Targum Pseudo Jonathan Deuteronomy
$99.95Add to cartThis volume on Deuteronomy represents the last volume of the Pentateuch in the Pseudo-Jonathan series. It includes the translation and notes of Pseudo-Jonathan of Deuteronomy as well a complete index. Many of the methods of translation unique to Pseudo-Jonathan noted in the Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers volumes are also found in Deuteronomy. The editors of Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Deuteronomy used a creative literary style that resulted in a text with a character independent of the other volumes. The question of when, where, and by whom the targum was composed is unanswerable. The present text of Pseudo-Jonathan is the result of much editing, reediting, copying, and recopying of the “original” manuscript. The only certain fact is the 16th-century date of the present manuscript.
Those interested in the Aramaic tradition of biblical interpretation, and students of Jewish studies will find Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Deuteronomy an invaluable resource.
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Trinity And The Paschal Mystery
$24.95Add to cartSomething quite extraordinary has happened in Catholic trinitarian theology in the last thirty years or so: the mystery of the Trinity is being approached by reflection on the paschal mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Astonishing though it may seem, the traditional Augustinian-Thomistic treatment of the trinity made no such direct reference to those Easter events, even though it was through them that Jesus’ disciples came to proclaim that Jesus is Lord and that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The redemptive significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection was clearly recognized, but not its revelatory significance.
But here, in a radically new development, the death and resurrection of Jesus is perceived to have properly “theological” meaning; it is not just redemptive but revelatory of God’s being. A startling revitalized trinitarian theology emerges. “So what does this development contribute to trinitarian theology?” And “Why has this extraordinary development arisen at this stage in the tradition?” The Trinity and the Paschal Mystery answers these questions and examines and assesses this new development in relation to the classical tradition of trinitarian theology and offers a meta-methodological perspective from which to understand it.
One of the few theologians who have pursued this innovative line of thought, Anne Hunt in The Trinity and the Paschal Mystery analyzes the works of four contemporary theologians. Franois Durrwell, C.SS.R., Ghislain Lafont, O.S.B., Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Sebastian Moore, O.S.B., have all written on this interconnection of the mysteries. Each expressed dissatisfaction with classical Latin trinitarian theology and sought a fuller, richer, and more adequate explication of the mystery. A vividly revitalized theology of the Trinity results, one that is constructed in a distinctly soteriological context. But the trinitarian theology which emerges is not only a soteriology. The triune God emerges with a distinctively “paschal character” when approached in this way and this profoundly affects an understanding of the divine perfections. Both aspects represent significant gains in the contemporary cultural and theological context.
The Trinity and the Paschal Mystery is not only significant on a systematic and methodological level, it is also timely. Recent trinitarian theologies (e.g., LaCugna, Johnson, Boff, Weinandy, Coffey) do not deal with the Trinity-paschal mystery connection. Orthodox theology has v
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Call To Holiness
$14.95Add to cartThe Charismatic Renewal of the church is now thirty years old. Appearing soon after the close of Vatican II, it has been one of a number of movements of the Spirit in the Church. After three decades, it seems appropriate to gather the wisdom within the Renewal to help guide its continued life. This document comes out of several years with leaders, theologians, and bishops associated with the Renewal from various national backgrounds.
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Salt Of The Earth
$15.95Add to cartContents
Foreword
The Catholic Faith: Words And SignsPART 1: Personal Biography
Background And Vocation
The Young Professor
Bishop And Cardinal
The Prefect And His Pope
SummaryPART 2: Problems Of The Catholic Church
Rome Under Fire
On The State Of The Church
The Situation In Germany
Causes Of The Decline
The Mistakes Of The Church
The Canon Of CriticismPART 3: On The Threshold Of A New Era
Two Thousand Years Of Salvation History-and Still No Redemption?
Catharsis-A New Millennium-A Time Of Testing
A “New Springtime Of The Human Spirit” For The Third Millennium
Priorities Of The Church’s Development
Future Of The Church-Church Of The Future
The True History Of The World P. 276Additional Info
CARDINAL JOSEPH RATZINGER
SALT OF THE EARTH: The Church at the End of the Millennium
An Interview with Peter SeewaldCardinal Joseph Ratzinger, well-known Vatican prelate and head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, gives a full-length interview to a secular journalist on a host of controversial and difficult issues
facing Catholicism and Christianity at the end of the Millennium. He responds with candor and insight,
giving answers that are often surprising and always thought-provoking on a series of wide-ranging topics
regarding the present and future state of Christianity.Ratzinger begins by discussing his own life, including his family life, seminary studies, being a theology
professor and writer, becoming a Bishop, Cardinal, and the Pope’s top authority on doctrine as head of the
CDF. He then discusses the problems of the Catholic Church today, answering tough questions about the
Church’s position on divorce, celibacy, contraception, abortion, women’s ordination, ecumenism, etc., and
talks about the challenges and hopes of the future of the Church and the world at the beginning of the Third
Millennium.This is a rare and powerful in-depth interview of a renowned theologian and high ranking Vatican official on
issues of critical importance for the Church and Christianity at the end of an age. -
To Live Is To Pray
$15.99Add to cartCarmelite spirituality is a way of life that spells Freedom. Rooted in the experience of the desert mothers and fathers who sought God in solitude, it can accommodate many temperaments and approaches. The primary focus is on Finding the way of prayer that will bring you closest to God. This warm and engaging book introduces six great Carmelite Figures and their individual ways of prayer. Let Teresa of Avila, St John of the Cross, Brother Lawrence, Therese of Lisieux and others help you discover the pathway to authentic spiritual growth.
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Season Of Light
$14.95Add to cartThe Season of Light is a guide for families, households, classrooms, communities, and parishes who wish to make the lighting of the Advent candles a daily prayer. For each day of the season, from the First Sunday of Advent until Christmas Day, The Season of Light offers a brief liturgy that is based on the structure of Vespers or Evening Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours: the lighting of the candles (the “lucernarium”), a reading from the Advent Scriptures, petitions and collect, and a final blessing.
The Advent wreath is one of the most enduring customs of the Christmas season. Rich in meaning, the four lights of the Advent wreath kindle “our blessed hope and manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13). It is a symbol of our faith: that light and life will triumph over darkness and death, that our hope in God’s providence and love will never leave us disappointed.
With this rich tradition in mind, Jay Cormier has structured the daily liturgies in The Season of Light as follows: “The Lucernarium,” the lighting of the candle(s); “The Word of God,” in which a lector reads a Scripture passage that reflects the Advent themes of joyful expectation and the restoration of justice and peace in the dawning of Jesus Christ, the Light of the World; and “Prayers,” in which the presider or leader offers petitions and all respond. Then the Lord’s Prayer is recited, and the final collect and the blessing (including a scriptural blessing and a table blessing before meals) are offered by the presider.
The structure and prayers in The Season of Light are offered as suggestions; adaptions are encouraged. For example, families may wish to make the intercessions an opportunity for spontaneous prayers offered by participants; groups with musical ability and leadership may want to incorporate hymns from the rich treasury of Advent and Christian hymnody; those who pray the Liturgy of the Hours regularly might consider including the Advent wreath custom with the psalms and prayers of the Hours.
Designed for all those who wish to make the Advent wreath a daily prayer and part of their Christmas observance and tradition, The Season of Light helps Christians celebrate that we are an Advent people: a people who live in the eternal hope and expectation of the ever-burning light of Jesus Christ.
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Women In The Old Testament
$12.95Add to cartThe women in the Old Testament, too long invisible, have rich stories that are vital to the on-going revelation of God’s relationship with a covenant people. Women in the Old Testament introduces readers to some biblical women. Here, readers meet mothers and wives, queens and slaves, prophets and warriors, powerful women and victims; women whose stories offer us courage and insight.
In Women in the Old Testament Sister Irene explores not only the lives of such well-known women as Sarah, Deborah, Ruth, Eve, and Naomi, but also those of lesser-known women such as Michal, Tamar, and Jezebel. Each of these women has unique characteristics; each of their stories is food for our imaginations. In addition, Sister Nowell looks at those Bible stories that tell us what it means to be a woman created in the image of God and that portray God in the image of a woman.Biblical stories help us imagine the relationship of God with human beings, and they give us words to describe our own relationship with God. This introduction to the lives of biblical women encourages readers-in adult study groups and those who are interested in the many women in the Old Testament-to search for more accounts of biblical women and also to find the narrative of faith reflected in the stories of their own lives.
Sister Irene begins each chapter with suggestions for readings and includes biblical excerpts.
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Need And Blessing Of Prayer
$24.95Add to cartA new translation of Father Rahner’s book on prayer.
Karl Rahner stands in a long line of great Christian theologians who were likewise great teachers of prayer. He has been called the voice of Vatican II, and is acknowledged as the rare theologian whose writings speak to the “ordinary” Christian.
In The Need and the Blessing of Prayer , Father Rahner views the human person as essentially one called to prayer. He also highlights prayer as the act of human existence, the great religious act. By encouraging people to “pray in the everyday”-to pray regardless of the desire or mood of the moment-Rahner’s theology of the prayer of everyday life challenges us to surrender ourselves to God so that God dwells at the very center of our lives.
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Cloister Walk
$16.00Add to cartAmazon.com
In the tradition of Thomas Merton, Kathleen Norris gives us an intimate look at how religious life fills a gap in the soul. Her poetic sensibilities internalize the monastery as a symbol of spirituality, with its sanctity and humor, questioning and uncertainty, rhythm and vigor. Beyond moral precepts and Bible stories, Cloister Walk is a very personal account of religion lived fully. It depicts a depth and beauty of spirituality in monastic life that has survived the vicissitudes of Roman Catholic politics and pomp.From Publishers Weekly
The allure of the monastic life baffles most lay people, but in her second book Norris (Dakota) goes far in explaining it. The author, raised Protestant, has been a Benedictine oblate, or lay associate, for 10 years, and has lived at a Benedictine monastery in Minnesota for two. Here, she compresses these years of experience into the diary of one liturgical year, offering observations on subjects ranging from celibacy to dealing with emotions to Christmas music. Like the liturgy she loves, this meandering, often repetitive book is perhaps best approached through the lectio divina practiced by the Benedictines, in which one tries to “surrender to whatever word or phrase captures the attention.” There is a certain nervous facility to some of Norris’s jabs at academics, and she is sometimes sanctimonious. But there is no doubting her conviction, exemplified in her defense of the much-maligned Catholic “virgin martyrs,” whose relevance and heroism she wants to redeem for feminists. What emerges, finally, is an affecting portrait?one of the most vibrant since Merton’s?of the misunderstood, often invisible world of monastics, as seen by a restless, generous intelligence. -
Spirituality Of The Diocesan Priest
$24.95Add to cartBeyond the dramatic drop in seminarians and the declining numbers of priests, beyond the sexual misconduct scandals shaking the confidence and trust once readily given to priests, a spiritual deepening and maturing is renewing the spirit and confidence of the diocesan priest. In this collection of essays, twelve priests (including four bishops) reflect on the spirituality of the diocesan priest from their personal and pastoral experience.
Have diocesan priests finally transcended the monastic and religious order spiritualities that have shaped their prayer and interior lives for centuries? Is a spirituality particular to the diocesan priest emerging precisely at a time when the priesthood is under such close scrutiny? The contributors-pastors, theologians, poets, and bishops-grapple with the maturing of the diocesan priest’s soul, touch the mystery of the priesthood, and unveil personal, often moving, dramas of grace.
