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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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Jesuit Saints And Martyrs (Revised)
$19.95Add to cartHere is a collection of short biographies of Saints, Blessed, Venerables, and Servants of God of the Society of Jesus. The brief biographies are arranged by calendar date and highlight significant information to reveal what it means to be a Jesuit and what it means to be saintly. This recent edition is a wonderful resource for Jesuits, lay Catholics, and those who enjoy reading about the saints.
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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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Celtic Christianity : Sacred Tradition A Vision Of Hope
$21.00Add to cartThis fascinating book introduces the mysterious and extraordinary world of Celtic Christianity. Timothy Joyce, a Benedictine monk of Irish descent, evokes the distinctive spirituality that drew on pre-Christian beliefs and culture. He shows how this style of Christianity changed, was subordinated, and gave way to the larger Roman church, and yet how elements endured. Finally, he explores what Celtic spirituality has to offer today to the church as well as spiritual seekers.
Celtic spirituality is holistic — a joyful, mystically-inclined spirituality that affirms the goodness of creation, urges respect for women’s gifts, and finds expression in poetry, myth, and song. Joyce recounts the heroic stories of such saints as Patrick, Bridget, Columcille, and Columba. But he goes beyond other treatments to explore how this tradition was gradually subsumed by a more rigid style of “Irish Catholicism, ” and he reflects on the centuries of suffering that have left an indelible mark on the Irish consciousness and spirit. Yet ultimately Joyce shows how the recovery of this ancient tradition of Christianity might rejuvenate the church and contribute to spiritual renewal today.
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Rest Stops For The Soul
$14.95Add to cartOn the challenging road of transformation, and the larger journey of life, we inevitably hit bumps that bruise our souls. Along the highway called holiness we encounter roadblocks and detours that fuel our frustration. When we are weary of the road, it’s time to rest awhile. This book invites us to turn off on a rest stop that refreshes our souls, where we can “listen to those sacred stories of both pain and promise from our past, present and future that shape our lives and show us our destiny.” Rest Stops for the Soul is filled with the language of the soul. It recounts formative stories of creation, incarnation and redemption from our faith tradition, mythic and folk stories, true life stories and original tales by the author that illuminate the trail of transformation. In addition, Joe Nassal, in his uniquely poetic style crafted in “the storyteller’s sanctuary,” offers abundant insight into this journey that God calls and impels us to undertake. Father Nassal guides us along the trail of transformation in which God surprises us, saves us and sustains us. He suggests how we carry on when we’re “walking on empty,” how ritual and a “carousel” humor in the midst of the three-ring circus we call life can help carry us home at last.
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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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Embracing The Spirit
$35.00Add to cartOnce again, Emilie Townes brings together essays by leading womanist theologians, interweaving a concern for matters of race, gender, and class as these bear on the well-being of the African-American community. Her emphasis is not on evil and suffering, but on “hope, salvation, and transformation” for individuals and their communities.
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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. -
Mother Teresa : In My Own Words
$9.99Add to cartExperience the same Spirit-filled words that Mother Teresa shared with the poor, the dying, the hurting, and the skeptical. The quotes, stories, and prayers in this book are hers.
Mother Teresa’s work for-and among-the poor has become the yardstick by which millions measure compassion and generosity across religious and political divides. While Mother Teresa herself always stressed action over words, it is the latter that have provided solace and hope to those who never have had the opportunity to meet her during her life. Though the world has lost one of its most admired women, Mother Teresa’s words and her memory still serve to move men and women from every race and religious background to volunteer to help the poor.
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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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Users Guide To The Holy Eucharist Rite 1-2
$15.95Add to cartBecome a full partner in the worship of God using these guides, which illuminate the theology, history, and practical concerns of each part of the liturgy.
These two new guides are designed to help newcomers, confirmation classes, and lay members understand and appreciate the Episcopal liturgy. They invite the person in the pew to participate in the service, not merely as a spectator, but as a full partner in the worship of God in community.
Developed specifically to address the needs of inquirers and others not familiar with the book of Common Prayer, each volume provides an easily accessible introduction to the liturgy. They provide running commentary on the major services of the Prayer Book on pages facing the text along with glossaries and lists of books for further reading.
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365 Mary : A Daily Guide To Marys Wisdom And Comfort
$17.99Add to cartShe has been called the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of God, the Queen of Heaven, Mother of Perpetual Help, Queen of Peace, and Mother of Mercy. But by any name and in every age, Mary has been the beloved bringer of solace, hope, and faith to the world.
In this lovely giftbook, designed in the popular “365” format, Woodene Keonig-Bricker presents daily words of wisdom from Mary–including miracles, blessings,ectasies, and healings. Drawn from Scripture, legend, and study, 365 Mary offers the world a powerful invitation to prayer, foregiveness, hope, and love.
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Trinity
$15.95Add to cartUsually considered the finest Catholic theologian in the 20th century, Rahner has written a succinct, pithy account of the mystery of God—divine self-disclosure, the relationship between oikonomia and theologia, the economic and immanent Trinity—which has been highly influential.
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Daily We Touch Him
$16.95Add to cartPrayer of the Heart, an early Christian form of contemplative prayer, has once again become commonplace in the Christian community thanks to the efforts of Trappist monks. Father Basil Pennington, one of the pioneer leaders in this movement, here tells the story of this recovery of contemplative prayer as it was experienced, first in the United States and then in different parts of the world.
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Christology As Narrative Quest
$29.95Add to cartIn exploring these questions Michael Cook maintains in Christology as Narrative Quest the primacy and centrality of narrative in communicating the significance of Jesus Christ, and demonstrates ways in which “narrative” in four faith images has played a role in the shaping of ChristoloThese forms and their texts are: biblical (the Gospel of Mark); creedal (the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed); systematic (Aquinas’ Summa theologiae ); and social transformat(the “story” of Mexican-Americans.) All of these images are ways of using narrative imagery to connect idea and experience.
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Worship As Body Language
$39.95Add to cartWorship sets an assembly in motion movement towards God in response to God’s movement towards humans thus creating a resilient and caring community. Worship as Body Language brings the African community’s experience of the body and its gestures together with the Christian liturgy, since worship and social action are closely related.
The “body language” or gestures of praise, adoration, contemplation, ritual dance, and care of the neighbor are meaningful to the ethnic group; African Christians tune into these body motions to express the one Christian faith. In Worship as Body Language, Father Uzukwu details how patterns of African ritual assemblies and sacred narratives have merged with Jewish, gospel, and early Church traditions to create living Christian communities and liturgies.
Using a socio-historical method, this book sheds new light on liturgical action and theology, and suggests more transition rituals. It also provides samples of emergent African Christian liturgies that emphasize intense community participation with appropriate gestures. These local liturgies attest to the patristic principle that different customs actually confirm the unity of our faith in Christ. Scholars teaching and researching the foundations of the liturgy and liturgical inculturation, graduate students, and those organizing workshops on the regional, diocesan, or parish level will find Worship as Body Language a ready handbook on the liturgy. It is also a useful textbook for introducing college students and seminarians to the anthropological, historical, and theological dimensions of the liturgy.
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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. -
Comfort In Sorrow
$9.95Add to cartCardinal Manning, preaching at a Requiem Mass, spoke of John Henry Newman as a ‘preacher of justice, or piety, and of compassion.’ Nowhere can this be seen more clearly that in his letters to those who were bereaved. This selection links his correspondence with words of comfort from his sermons and other writings. Many, including Manning, found comfort in Newman’s sympathy. They can be used in times of personal grief as well as to bring consolation to others.
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Short Dictionary Of The Psalms
$16.95Add to cartCan the psalm found in the Sunday liturgy truly nourish our prayer? A Short Dictionary of the Psalms helps Christians who pray the psalms to return to the sources of these ancient inspired texts and understand them better and thus to participate more fully in this great school of prayer and the interior life that the Church has received from Israel.
The psalms have deeply influenced, and continue to influence, Jewish and Christian prayer. A Short Dictionary of the Psalms helps all those who are exposed to the psalms to enter more readily into their theological and spiritual world. In this practical work, Father Prevost takes an in-depth look at forty words in the psalms, chosen largely because of their frequency but also because of the diversity of meanings that modern users might assume. He encourages looking at the psalms that were composed in the past to ask ourselves how they can contribute to our own prayer today.
Each of the forty words are examined from two perspectives. The first gives etymological and semantic information on the meaning of the root and the words compounded from it. The second section is devoted almost exclusively to the use of the word or the root in the Psalter, and identifies its characteristic meanings. A series of separate short essays serves as general introductions to the Psalter to help readers with problems that may be encountered when using the psalms as prayer in today’s world. The word study is done on the original Hebrew, but a table in the back of the book allows those who don’t know or are unfamiliar with Hebrew to learn the words’ and themes’ English equivalents.
A Short Dictionary of the Psalms helps the faithful enter into the world of the Psalter through the gateway of the specific words that constitute the characteristic vocabulary of the psalms. This small volume provides the tool to savor the psalms and more readily internalize their meaning.
