EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

Book African Catholic

    Book Details:
  • Author : Elizabeth A. Foster
  • Publisher : Harvard University Press
  • Release : 2019-03-04
  • ISBN : 0674987667
  • Pages : 385 pages

Download or read book African Catholic written by Elizabeth A. Foster and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2019-03-04 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the John Gilmary Shea Prize A groundbreaking history of how Africans in the French Empire embraced both African independence and their Catholic faith during the upheaval of decolonization, leading to a fundamental reorientation of the Catholic Church. African Catholic examines how French imperialists and the Africans they ruled imagined the religious future of French sub-Saharan Africa in the years just before and after decolonization. The story encompasses the political transition to independence, Catholic contributions to black intellectual currents, and efforts to alter the church hierarchy to create an authentically “African” church. Elizabeth Foster recreates a Franco-African world forged by conquest, colonization, missions, and conversions—one that still exists today. We meet missionaries in Africa and their superiors in France, African Catholic students abroad destined to become leaders in their home countries, African Catholic intellectuals and young clergymen, along with French and African lay activists. All of these men and women were preoccupied with the future of France’s colonies, the place of Catholicism in a postcolonial Africa, and the struggle over their personal loyalties to the Vatican, France, and the new African states. Having served as the nuncio to France and the Vatican’s liaison to UNESCO in the 1950s, Pope John XXIII understood as few others did the central questions that arose in the postwar Franco-African Catholic world. Was the church truly universal? Was Catholicism a conservative pillar of order or a force to liberate subjugated and exploited peoples? Could the church change with the times? He was thinking of Africa on the eve of Vatican II, declaring in a radio address shortly before the council opened, “Vis-à-vis the underdeveloped countries, the church presents itself as it is and as it wants to be: the church of all.”

Book Authentically Black and Truly Catholic

Download or read book Authentically Black and Truly Catholic written by Matthew J. Cressler and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2017-11-14 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the contentious debates among Black Catholics about the proper relationship between religious practice and racial identity Chicago has been known as the Black Metropolis. But before the Great Migration, Chicago could have been called the Catholic Metropolis, with its skyline defined by parish spires as well as by industrial smoke stacks and skyscrapers. This book uncovers the intersection of the two. Authentically Black and Truly Catholic traces the developments within the church in Chicago to show how Black Catholic activists in the 1960s and 1970s made Black Catholicism as we know it today. The sweep of the Great Migration brought many Black migrants face-to-face with white missionaries for the first time and transformed the religious landscape of the urban North. The hopes migrants had for their new home met with the desires of missionaries to convert entire neighborhoods. Missionaries and migrants forged fraught relationships with one another and tens of thousands of Black men and women became Catholic in the middle decades of the twentieth century as a result. These Black Catholic converts saved failing parishes by embracing relationships and ritual life that distinguished them from the evangelical churches proliferating around them. They praised the “quiet dignity” of the Latin Mass, while distancing themselves from the gospel choirs, altar calls, and shouts of “amen!” increasingly common in Black evangelical churches. Their unique rituals and relationships came under intense scrutiny in the late 1960s, when a growing group of Black Catholic activists sparked a revolution in U.S. Catholicism. Inspired by both Black Power and Vatican II, they fought for the self-determination of Black parishes and the right to identify as both Black and Catholic. Faced with strong opposition from fellow Black Catholics, activists became missionaries of a sort as they sought to convert their coreligionists to a distinctively Black Catholicism. This book brings to light the complexities of these debates in what became one of the most significant Black Catholic communities in the country, changing the way we view the history of American Catholicism.

Book Handbook of African Catholicism

Download or read book Handbook of African Catholicism written by Ilo, Stan Chu and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 2022-07-13 with total page 1003 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A disciplinary map for understanding African Catholicism today by engaging some of the most pressing and pertinent issues, topics, and conversations in diverse fields of studies in African Catholicism"--

Book Black Catholics on the Road to Sainthood

Download or read book Black Catholics on the Road to Sainthood written by Michael R. Heinlein, Editor and published by Our Sunday Visitor. This book was released on 2020-12-15 with total page 77 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Church in the United States is greatly blessed by the contributions of Black Catholics and the legacy of holiness of so many men and women of color. These men and women lived lives that are worthy of our study and emulation. In Black Catholics on the Road to Sainthood, Michael R. Heinlein provides the first book to explore the lives of the six Black Catholics from the United States whose causes are under formal consideration by the Catholic Church for canonization. Including biographies and personal reflections from diverse contributors, this book shows how these six men and women provide a model of holiness for all Catholics and people of good will. Venerable Pierre Toussaint, Venerable Henriette Delille, Venerable Father Augustus Tolton, Servant of God Mother Mary Lange, Servant of God Julia Greeley, and Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman are sources of inspiration for us all. As we continue to pray for the advancement of their causes for canonization, all Catholics of every race can learn a great deal from these holy men and women. By their stories of faith and virtue, they show us how to respond to the call to holiness, bringing healing, reconciliation, and peace to our wounded nation and world. “It is my profound honor to add my voice in support of Black Catholics on the Road to Sainthood. This book gives an insightful look at the Black Americans that are on the path to canonized sainthood in the Catholic Church. The book introduces readers to six Black Americans who dealt in their lifetimes with the human denigration and suffering that is manifested by America’s Original Sin of racism. Yet they not only persevered, but truly lived as Christian people, which so many Americans claim to be, but whose actions do not support that claim. These Black Americans sought to show love, compassion, and forgiveness to all people, regardless of their race, ethnicity, or station in life. All of the men and women you will meet in Black Catholics on the Road to Sainthood — through their faith in God and by giving of themselves to God’s people, their sisters and brothers — did what Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman said: ‘we must return love, no matter what.’ These men and women show us the way forward.” Most Reverend Roy E. Campbell, Jr., Auxiliary Bishop of Washington, President of the National Black Catholic Congress “Black Catholics on the Road to Sainthood is an inspiring look at six holy Black men and women who mirrored Christ in service to others. All of them persevered, despite the many rejections they encountered, giving Black Catholics today the inspiration to meet the obstacles of racial inequity with equal grace and love, and providing insight to all Catholics, regardless of race, into the effects of systemic racism and the many gifts and talents people of color bring to the Church. The accompanying reflections, written by Catholic laity and religious, provide deeper insight into the lives of the six candidates for Canonization, and how best we can learn from them and emulate their examples in our own lives.” The National Black Catholic Congress “Black Catholics on the Road to Sainthood is a great expose on the lives and faith of some of our Black ancestors who responded with both prayer and action to overcome racism. Discovering through this book their life stories, their suffering, and their faith-filled response, one is inspired to seek the conversion of hearts with regard to racism through prayer and action so that we too can aspire to be saints by the manner in which we love one another.” Most Reverend Shelton J. Fabre, Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, Chairman of the USCCB Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism “Black Catholics on the Road to Sainthood provides a glimpse into the power of God’s grace at work in the lives of men and women who were often treated with disdain. The Archdiocese of Denver has been blessed by the heroic, charitable witness of Julia Greeley on our streets, in our churches, and in our homes. This book extends that blessing to all who are seeking additional examples of courage, perseverance, and determination. As our country and Church work to address racism, may we turn to these holy men and women for their example and intercession.” Most Reverend Samuel J. Aquila, Archbishop of Denver “Michael Heinlein performs a great service in bringing together engaging reflections on and portraits of Black Catholics who are on the road to sainthood. Their stories differ but they have at least one thing in common: They rose above the racism of their day to the heights of holiness. From their place in eternity, they challenge us to root out racism from our midst. This volume should prompt us to pray and work for the canonization of these worthy witnesses to the Lord’s truth and love.” Most Reverend William E. Lori Archdiocese of Baltimore “The last three Bishops of Rome have called Christ’s Church to a New Evangelization, a renewal of the mandate given at Pentecost: to carry on the mission of the Redeemer. Heinlein’s book offers us a glimpse of a central theme of our renewal — personal witness, the heart of it seen in the cloud of witness of these holy ones. These men and women of color lived their faith life and became living gospels of the Gift: the Passion of the Cross, seen in the evil of racism; the Liberation of the Resurrection, recognized in the courage of the prophets; and the songs of the Kingdom, heard and shared in the joy of the Spirit. They call us to witness.” Most Reverend David P. Talley, Bishop of Memphis “‘Can anything good come from Nazareth?’ was Nathaniel’s response in John’s gospel to Philip’s invitation to meet Jesus. Philip’s words in reply echo down the centuries: ‘Come and see’ (John 1:45–46). Within this book is a cohort of six awe-inspiring disciples who encountered the Lord and proved that, when grasped by Jesus Christ, God can raise up goodness from anywhere. As former slaves and descendants of chattel slavery, they bore fruit a hundred-fold in their time and place and bequeathed to the Church a lasting legacy. I invite all who yearn for racial justice and peace to come and see in this book six black women and men who show us the path to life in this world as they continue on the road to sainthood.” Most Reverend Joseph Kopacz, Bishop of Jackson “Black Catholics on the Road to Sainthood gives us an opportunity to become better acquainted with six black women and men from the United States and to be inspired by their lives of faith. As we strive for holiness, we are given the privilege to learn more about their journey to canonization and to participate in their process.” Most Reverend Gregory M. Aymond, Archbishop of New Orleans “Black Catholics on the Road to Sainthood is essential reading for all Catholics, particularly at this time in our country’s history. There is a common thread in the stories of these six holy men and women: a strong faith, love for others, and personal sacrifice. I appreciate OSV raising awareness of the lives of these candidates for sainthood. It is my hope that reading about their lives and struggles will inspire not just devotion but others to follow in their footsteps. The world desperately needs models of holiness and virtue like the ones contained in this short volume. May their testimony of faith help us bring healing and reconciliation to a divided world and inspire us to respond to our own call to holiness.” Most Reverend Nelson J. Pérez, Archbishop of Philadelphia, chairman USCCB Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church

Book Historical Trajectories of Catholicism in Africa

Download or read book Historical Trajectories of Catholicism in Africa written by Valentine Ugochukwu Iheanacho and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2021-10-21 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book masterfully knits together the various curves and routes traveled so far by the Catholic Church in Africa. From an African perspective, the book presents a general trajectory of Catholicism on the continent by highlighting some significant events and moments in the evolution of the Catholic Church in Africa. It equally profiles the Vatican’s policy of indigenization as realized on the continent through the Africanization of the local episcopate. That policy prepared the way for the emergence of the local churches in Africa on the heels of the post-missionary phase that terminated with the convocation of the First African Synod of Bishops in 1994. Beyond the vicissitudes of the relatively recent past, the book boldly indicates the likely future shape and direction of African Catholicism. It contends that the future shape of the church in Africa may not be determined by a belabored inculturation, but instead by how the local churches concern themselves with concrete realities such as poverty, lack of opportunities, and ecological issues. It envisages a church that may not shy away from asserting itself within the mainstream ecclesiastical politics of global Catholicism where it must “connect, compete and collaborate.”

Book Black Saints in Early Modern Global Catholicism

Download or read book Black Saints in Early Modern Global Catholicism written by Erin Kathleen Rowe and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-12-12 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the untold story of how black saints - and the slaves who venerated them - transformed the early modern church. It speaks to race, the Atlantic slave trade, and global Christianity, and provides new ways of thinking about blackness, holiness, and cultural authority.

Book African Catholicism and Hermeneutics of Culture

Download or read book African Catholicism and Hermeneutics of Culture written by Joseph Ogbonnaya and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2014-08-05 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study of Christianity in the non-Western world reveals a demographic shift in the center of Christianity from the Northern Hemisphere to the South. But the contradictory aspect of the massive African conversion to Christian faith is the grinding poverty level in Africa. This condition raises important theological and ecclesiological questions that demand urgent answers. Therefore, the research objectives of this book are to examine African Catholicism's involvement in human promotion and to seek a new way of theologizing Christianity that moves sub-Saharan African peoples to action against the massive injustices that keep them poor. Drawing on Africae Munus, the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Second African Synod (2011), and Bernard Lonergan's notion of culture, African Catholicism and Hermeneutics of Culture argues that to truly be "the spiritual 'lung' of humanity," African Catholicism must appropriate the Christian message to transform African attitudes and personhood and so foster a self-reliant commitment to integral African development.

Book Communion Ecclesiology and Social Transformation in African Catholicism

Download or read book Communion Ecclesiology and Social Transformation in African Catholicism written by Idara Otu and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2020-05-15 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, Idara Otu, one of the new theological voices from Africa, rethinks ecclesiology in the changing context of a wounded and broken world. What does the Catholic Church in Africa look like post-Vatican II? This book creatively illuminates the intrinsic connections between ecclesial communion and social mission in the changing face of the church in Africa. The multiple levels of dialogue in African Catholicism, especially in the reception and contextualization of conciliar teachings, is redefining world Christianity. The author explores how dialogue, synodality, inculturation, leadership, human security, social issues, and social transformation are shaping the identity and mission of the church in Africa. This book also engages recent magisterial teachings and diverse theological voices in developing the praxis for the emergence of particular churches in Africa that are defined by the joys and sorrows of God's people. The book calls for a Triple-C church, revitalized through Conversion, Communality, and Conversation, as well as fostering integral and sustainable social transformation in Africa's contested march toward modernity.

Book Black Catholic Studies Reader

Download or read book Black Catholic Studies Reader written by David J. Endres and published by CUA Press. This book was released on 2021-04-16 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This first-ever Black Catholic Studies Reader offers an introduction to the theology and history of the Black Catholic experience from those who know it best: Black Catholic scholars, teachers, activists, and ministers. The reader offers a multi-faceted, interdisciplinary approach that illuminates what it means to be Black and Catholic in the United States. This collection of essays from prominent scholars, both past and present, brings together contributions from theologians M. Shawn Copeland, Kim Harris, Diana Hayes, Bryan Massingale, and C. Vanessa White, and historians Cecilia Moore, Diane Batts Morrow, and Ronald Sharps, and selections from an earlier generation of thinkers and activists, including Thea Bowman, Cyprian Davis, and Clarence Rivers. Contributions delve into the interlocking fields of history, spirituality, liturgy, and biography. Through their contributions, Black Catholic Studies scholars engage theologies of liberation and the reality of racism, the Black struggle for recognition within the Church, and the distinctiveness of African-inspired spirituality, prayer, and worship. By considering their racial and religious identities, these select Black Catholic theologians and historians add their voices to the contemporary conversation surrounding culture, race, and religion in America, inviting engagement from students and teachers of the American experience, social commentators and advocates, and theologians and persons of faith.

Book Afro Atlantic Catholics

    Book Details:
  • Author : Jeroen Dewulf
  • Publisher : University of Notre Dame Pess
  • Release : 2022-08-15
  • ISBN : 0268202796
  • Pages : 427 pages

Download or read book Afro Atlantic Catholics written by Jeroen Dewulf and published by University of Notre Dame Pess. This book was released on 2022-08-15 with total page 427 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume examines the influence of African Catholics on the historical development of Black Christianity in America during the seventeenth century. Black Christianity in America has long been studied as a blend of indigenous African and Protestant elements. Jeroen Dewulf redirects the conversation by focusing on the enduring legacy of seventeenth-century Afro-Atlantic Catholics in the broader history of African American Christianity. With homelands in parts of Africa that had historically strong Portuguese influence, such as the Cape Verde Islands, São Tomé, and Kongo, these Africans embraced variants of early modern Portuguese Catholicism that they would take with them to the Americas as part of the forced migration that was the transatlantic slave trade. Their impact upon the development of Black religious, social, and political activity in North America would be felt from the southern states as far north as what would become New York. Dewulf’s analysis focuses on the historical documentation of Afro-Atlantic Catholic rituals, devotions, and social structures. Of particular importance are brotherhood practices, which were critical in the dissemination of Afro-Atlantic Catholic culture among Black communities, a culture that was pre-Tridentine in nature and wary of external influences. These fraternal Black mutual-aid and burial society structures were critically important to the development and resilience of Black Christianity in America through periods of changing social conditions. Afro-Atlantic Catholics shows how a sizable minority of enslaved Africans actively transformed the American Christian landscape and would lay a distinctly Afro-Catholic foundation for African American religious traditions today. This book will appeal to scholars in the history of Christianity, African American and African diaspora studies, and Iberian studies.

Book African Catholicism

Download or read book African Catholicism written by Adrian Hastings and published by SCM Press. This book was released on 1989 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Twenty or more years have passed since the Second Vatican Council made African Catholicism seem a feasible, bewitching mixture of Gospel freedom, mediaeval en rootedness and Third World contemporaneity. Now it has entered a 'dark tunnel', a church of silence working out its future in isolation, poverty and faith. In these essays Adrian Hastings analyses aspects of African Catholicism today, the prophetic role of the christian church in Africa, the sacrificial death of some of its prophetic figures, the ambiguous situation of the church in racist South Africa, the position of women who are Christianity's principal asset, the importance of African theology, now a lived rather than a published, phenomenon and the ambiguous figure of Archbishop Milingo, exorcist and healer. A single theme binds them together, that of the abiding ministerial reality of the village, the priestless peasant religion which has made Catholicism in Africa as indigenous as maize meal or banana beer. Adrian Hastings draws on examples ancient and modern to illustrate this theme: the Donatists of fourth-century North Africa the Monophysites of Egypt, and his own personal experience of a rural parish in Uganda. No longer in a formal structure of ministry himself, Hastings launches a hard-hitting attack on an ultramontanist, curial bureaucracy. This is a controversial, but fascinating, book, which affords many important glimpses of what is happening in the 'dark tunnel".

Book Saints of Africa

    Book Details:
  • Author : Vincent J. O'Malley, C.M.
  • Publisher : Our Sunday Visitor
  • Release : 2001-09-14
  • ISBN : 1612782760
  • Pages : 220 pages

Download or read book Saints of Africa written by Vincent J. O'Malley, C.M. and published by Our Sunday Visitor. This book was released on 2001-09-14 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over 117 million Catholics live in Africa - almost twice as many as in the United States. Is it any surprise that the saints of Africa number in the thousands? They include three popes, three Doctors of the Church, eight Fathers of the Church, thousands of martyrs, hundreds of monks, plus countless religious and lay leaders. Yet, how many of us can name even a handful of these saints? Saints of Africa presents a cross section of these remarkable men and women. From the earliest defenders of the Faith to twentieth-century martyrs, they bear witness to the remarkable sanctity of the world's second-largest and second-most-populous continent. Read the stories of these Christian heroes and heriones of African origin or African descent whose influence touches all of our lives.

Book The Blackwell Companion to Catholicism

Download or read book The Blackwell Companion to Catholicism written by James J. Buckley and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-04-15 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Blackwell Companion to Catholicism offers an extensive survey of the history, doctrine, practices, and global circumstances of Roman Catholicism, written by a range of distinguished and experienced Catholic writers. Engages its readers in an informed and informative conversation about Roman Catholic life and thought Embraces the local and the global, the past and the present, life and the afterlife, and a broad range of institutions and activities Considers both what is distinctive about Catholic life and thought, and how Catholicism overlaps with and transforms other ways of thinking and living Topics covered include: peacemaking, violence and wars; money, the vow of poverty and socio-economic life; art by and about Catholics; and men, women and sex

Book The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Catholicism

Download or read book The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Catholicism written by Frederick C. Bauerschmidt and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2024-06-04 with total page 645 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides a broad and deep survey of Roman Catholic life and thought, updated and expanded throughout The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Catholicism provides an authoritative overview of the history, doctrine, practices, and expansion of Catholicism. Written by a group of distinguished scholars, this comprehensive reference work offers an illuminating account of the global, historical, and cultural phenomena of Catholicism. Accessible chapters address central topics in the practice of Catholic theology and the development of doctrine, including God and Jesus Christ, creation and Church, the Virgin Mary, the sacraments, moral theology, eschatology, and more. Throughout the text, the authors illustrate the unity and diversity of Catholic life and thought while highlighting the ways Catholicism overlaps with, and transforms, other ways of living and thinking. Now in its second edition, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Catholicism is fully updated to include recent developments in the study of Catholicism. Extensively revised and expanded chapters, many of which written by new authors, address contemporary issues such as theology and politics, environmentalism, and the clerical sexual abuse crisis. Entirely new chapters cover the early modern Church, the Bible in Catholic theology, the Eastern Catholic churches, liturgy, care for creation, the consecrated life, challenges for the Catholic Church, and more. An informed and engaging intellectual journey through the past and present of Roman Catholicism, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Catholicism: Illustrates the diversity of modern Catholic life and thought Describes Catholics in different lands, including the Holy Land, India, Africa, Europe, the British Isles, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas Surveys spirituality and ecumenism, inter-religious dialog, Catholic schools and hospitals, art and the sciences, the Holy See, and other central Catholic institutions and practices Covers major eras in Catholic history, from the Scriptures and the early Church to Post-Modernity Features new material on diverse practices of Catholicism across cultures, the global dimensions of the Catholic Church, race and ethnicity, and Eastern Catholic Churches The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Catholicism, Second Edition, is the ideal textbook for surveys classes on Catholicism and Catholic theology in Catholic, Protestant, and non-confessional colleges and universities. It is also an invaluable resource for scholars and general readers interested in broadening their knowledge of Catholicism.

Book In Search of Foundations for African Catholicism

Download or read book In Search of Foundations for African Catholicism written by Mika Vähäkangas and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2016-05-18 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study deals with the interaction between neo-Thomism and African traditional thinking in Charles Nyamiti's theological methodology. The approach of the study is groundbreaking as it is the first monograph published on the theological method of any African theologian. The question about the position and relevance of Western philosophical-theological systems in a non-Western context also has a wider relevance concerning contextual theologies in general. Nyamiti's theology is a germane and a fruitful choice for the study of this issue because of his programmatic attempt to build a coherent African Roman Catholic theological system. His theology is also well-known for its strong African flavor in elaborating theological questions within the framework of orthodox Roman Catholic doctrine.

Book Church We Want

    Book Details:
  • Author : Orobator, Agbonkhianmeghe E.
  • Publisher : Orbis Books
  • Release : 2016-08-18
  • ISBN : 1608336689
  • Pages : 270 pages

Download or read book Church We Want written by Orobator, Agbonkhianmeghe E. and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 2016-08-18 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Featuring essays from a broad range of contributors this book is a treasure for anyone interested in theological reflection from an African perspective and is a necessary resource for theologians and scholars working in a church that is steadily moving its center to the Global South.

Book Let It Shine

    Book Details:
  • Author : Mary E. McGann, R.S.C.J.
  • Publisher : Fordham Univ Press
  • Release : 2009-08-25
  • ISBN : 9780823229932
  • Pages : 181 pages

Download or read book Let It Shine written by Mary E. McGann, R.S.C.J. and published by Fordham Univ Press. This book was released on 2009-08-25 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Let It Shine! probes the distinctive contribution of black Catholics to the life of the American church, and to the unfolding of lived Christianity in the United States. This important book explores the powerful spiritual renaissance that has marked African American life and selfunderstanding over the last several decades by examining one critical dimension: the forging of new expressions of Catholic worship rooted in the larger Catholic tradition, yet shaped in unique ways by African American religious culture. Starting with the 1960s, the book traces the dynamic interplay of social change, cultural awakening, and charismatic leadership that have sparked the emergence of distinctive styles of black Catholic worship. In their historical overview, McGann and Eva Marie Lumas chronicle the liturgical and pastoral issues of a black Catholic liturgical movement that has transformed the larger American church. McGann then examines the foundational vision of Rev. Clarence R. J. Rivers, who promoted forms of black worship, music, preaching, and prayer that have enabled African American Catholics to reclaim the fullness of their religious identity. Finally, Harbor constructs a black Catholic aesthetic based on the theological, ethical, and liturgical insights of four African American scholars, expressed through twenty-three performative values. This liturgical aesthetic illuminates the distinctive gift of black Catholics to the multicultural tapestry of lived faith in the American church and can also serve as a pastoral model for other cultural communities. Blending history, theology, and liturgy, Let It Shine! is a valuable resource for scholars, teachers, and students and a practical pastoral guide to bringing African American spirituality more firmly into the sacramental life of American parishes.