Download or read book Honest Rituals Honest Sacraments written by Joseph Martos and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2017-12-28 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Honest rituals are ceremonial actions that celebrate what is actually happening in people's lives. Religious rituals, however, often celebrate beliefs and doctrines (e.g., the birth of Christ, God's forgiveness of sins, or the gifts of the Holy Spirit) that have little to do with people's experience. Martos argues that early Christian rituals were grounded in experiences such as conversion, community, commitment, and self-giving. Lacking a vocabulary to name such experiences, the authors of the New Testament and other early documents resorted to metaphors such as baptism into Christ, receiving the Holy Spirit, forgiveness by God, and the presence of Christ during worship. By the fourth century, however, those metaphors were taken to be unexperienced metaphysical realities rather than experienced realities. The medieval schoolmen developed philosophical explanations of what went on in church rituals, and the Catholic Church continues to teach that its sacraments are automatically effective despite growing evidence to the contrary. What if religious rituals were to regain their original authenticity? What if the guiding value in designing church ceremonies was honesty rather than liturgical correctness? After liberating the reader from doctrinal constraints, Martos invites Catholics into a re-visioning of the traditional sacraments and a reawakening of ritual imagination in non-Western cultures.
Download or read book Real Presence written by Regis A. Duffy and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2010-05-01 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why is there so much worship and so little real commitment to living out the Gospel? How can there be so much participation in the sacraments and so little growth and transformation in most of our lives? In this challenging book of practical theology, Regis Duffy tackles vital questions that are seldom asked, let alone answered. Basing his argument solidly on the New Testament and core Christian teaching, Duffy shows how ritual, sacrament, worship, and community have real meaning and worth only when they function as effective symbols of transformation and renewed commitment. What is often lacking is not God's presence, but our own. By relating individual sacraments (Initiation Eucharist, Penance) to studies of the life cycle and stages of faith, Real Presence presents a compelling vision of what genuine participation in the Christian community involves throughout our lives. Contents: - The Cutting Edge of Faith: Commitment - Unearned Gifts and Their Symbols - Conflict as Crossroads for the Christian - A Question of Presence - The People in the Water - Servants at Table - Fragmented Stories - The Future Community Now.
Download or read book Ritual in Early Modern Europe written by Edward Muir and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-08-18 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The comprehensive 2005 study of rituals in early modern Europe argues that between about 1400 and 1700 a revolution in ritual theory took place that utterly transformed concepts about time, the body, and the presence of spiritual forces in the world. Edward Muir draws on extensive historical research to emphasize the persistence of traditional Christian ritual practices even as educated elites attempted to privilege reason over passion, textual interpretation over ritual action, and moral rectitude over gaining access to supernatural powers. Edward Muir discusses wide ranging themes such as rites of passage, carnivalesque festivity, the rise of manners, Protestant and Catholic Reformations, the alleged anti-Christian rituals of Jews and witches. This edition examines the impact on the European understanding of ritual from the discoveries of new civilizations in the Americas and missionary efforts in China and adds more material about rituals peculiar to women.
Download or read book Deconstructing Sacramental Theology and Reconstructing Catholic Ritual written by Joseph Martos and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2015-05-12 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Catholic sacramental doctrine has lost much of its credibility. Baptized people leave the church, adolescents stop attending shortly after they are confirmed, supposedly indissoluble marriages regularly dissolve, few go to confession, and many do not believe in transubstantiation. Drawing upon his decades-long study of the sacraments, Martos reveals how teachings that seemed rooted in the scriptures and Catholic life have become unmoored from the contexts in which they arose, and why seemingly eternal truths are actually historically relative. After carefully constructing Catholic teaching from the church's own documents, he deconstructs it by demonstrating how biblical passages were misconstrued by patristic authors and how patristic writings were misunderstood by medieval scholastics. The long process of misinterpretation culminated in the dogmatic pronouncements of the Council of Trent, which continues to dominate Catholic thinking about the church's religious ceremonies. If the sacraments are released from their dogmatic baggage, Martos believes that the spiritual realities they symbolize can be celebrated in any human culture without being tied to their traditional rites.
Download or read book Real Presence written by Regis A. Duffy OFM and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2010-05-01 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why is there so much worship and so little real commitment to living out the Gospel? How can there be so much participation in the sacraments and so little growth and transformation in most of our lives? In this challenging book of practical theology, Regis Duffy tackles vital questions that are seldom asked, let alone answered. Basing his argument solidly on the New Testament and core Christian teaching, Duffy shows how ritual, sacrament, worship, and community have real meaning and worth only when they function as effective symbols of transformation and renewed commitment. What is often lacking is not God's presence, but our own. By relating individual sacraments (Initiation Eucharist, Penance) to studies of the life cycle and stages of faith, Real Presence presents a compelling vision of what genuine participation in the Christian community involves throughout our lives. Contents: - The Cutting Edge of Faith: Commitment - Unearned Gifts and Their Symbols - Conflict as Crossroads for the Christian - A Question of Presence - The People in the Water - Servants at Table - Fragmented Stories - The Future Community Now.
Download or read book Doors to the Sacred written by Joseph Martos and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Doors to the Sacred has endured as an indispensable account of the sacraments of the Catholic Church. Used in hundreds of university and seminary courses and full of critical acclaim, it details their historical and cultural evolution and the rituals and practices associated with them. This Vatican II Golden Anniversary Edition explains the liturgical changes found in The Roman Missal, Third Edition, and provides extensive resources for students and seekers alike, including: A visual timeline of people, events, and sacramental changes in Church history, A glossary of philosophical and theological terms An updated annotated bibliography for further reading An improved design for easier reading and reference.
Download or read book Catholicism in the Third Millennium written by Thomas P. Rausch and published by Liturgical Press. This book was released on 2016-03-24 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is Catholicism? And where is the Catholic Church headed in the third millennium? These two questions provide the structure for Thomas Rausch's Catholicism in the Third Millennium. Here Rausch combines a faithful presentation of the tradition with a critical theological reflection and interpretation of where the Church is today and where it might be moving. Catholicism in the Third Millennium offers an appreciation of the forces and movements that have shaped, and continue to influence, the ongoing change and development of Roman Catholicism. Chief among these is the influence of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) in reshaping Catholicism. This revised edition includes updated text from Rausch's Catholicism at the Dawn of the Third Millennium particularly the final chapter on "The Unfinished Agenda" of Vatican II. Each chapter concludes with focus questions developed by Catherine E. Clifford of St. Paul's University, Ottawa. This experience of guided reading provides readers with a broad survey of Roman Catholic faith and practice in its contemporary context. For readers who wish to compare particular passages of this volume with the Catechism of the Catholic Church, an outline is provided in an appendix, with references to the appropriate sections of the Catechism. A second appendix offers a glossary of terms used in the book, while a third appendix lists a number of basic works for further investigation of Catholic faith and life. Chapters are "The Church and the Council," "Faith and the Believing Community," "A Visible Church," "A Living Tradition," "Sacraments and Christian nitiation," "Christian Life and Discipleship," "Sin, Forgiveness, and Healing," "Sexual Morality and Social Justice," "Prayer and Spirituality," "The Fullness of Christian Hope," and "The Unfinished Agenda." Includes Appendix I: Outlook of Book, with References to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Appendix II: Glossary of Terms, and Appendix III: Basic Reference Works on Catholicism. An Index of Names, and an Index of Subjects are also included. Thomas P. Rausch, SJ, PhD, is professor of theology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He is the author of Catholicism at the Dawn of the Third Millennium, Reconciling Faith and Reason, and editor of the bestselling The College Student's Introduction to Theology published by Liturgical Press. Catherine E. Clifford, PhD, is a professor of theology at St. Paul's University in Ottawa, Ontario.
Download or read book The Bloomsbury Guide to Christian Spirituality written by Peter Tyler and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-08-30 with total page 692 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A scholarly yet accessible introduction to Christian Spirituality. What is Christian Spirituality? How does it relate to non-Christian traditions? Where does it arise from and where is it going? These are some of the key questions addressed in this innovative new guide from Bloomsbury. The Bloomsbury Guide to Christian Spirituality is written by foremost academics in their fields who distill their knowledge for a wide intelligent audience. They do this with huge skill and attention to the needs of modern readers. Appealing equally to those studying the tradition for religious formation or those wishing to acquaint themselves with this fascinating subject, this guide is destined to become an essential text in the field.
Download or read book Signs of Freedom written by Martinez, German and published by Paulist Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive, innovative, and coherent vision of the sacraments that takes into account current biblical, theological, liturgical, and ministerial developments and challenges the reader to a new awareness of their spiritual power to transform communities and lives.
Download or read book Bringing Bernard Lonergan Down to Earth and into Our Hearts and Communities written by John Raymaker and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2018-11-29 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bernard Lonergan is a world-renowned philosopher, methodologist, and theologian. The complexity of his work has tended to limit his accessibility to average readers. Bringing Bernard Lonergan Down to Earth seeks to remedy this limitation by showing how Lonergan did address problems of community life. He also broadened his interest after writing Insight to include a reaching into our hearts as modeled, for example, by the genius Blaise Pascal. Lonergan also sought to bridge religious divides. Here the Christian theological virtues of faith, hope, and love are indispensable but that does not curtail from Lonergan's uncanny ability to reach out to secularists by focusing on ethics. The importance of Lonergan's interdisciplinary work is signaled in the book's twelve explorations (in the concluding Part IV) that detail for interested readers his extraordinary ability to solve major philosophical issues.
Download or read book Catholic Divorce written by Pierre Hegy and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2006-02-20 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many people believe that the Roman Catholic Church's teaching on marriage is clear and consistent: marriage is a sacrament, the marriage contract is indissoluble, divorce and remarriage are forbidden. In this book, theologians, historians, and sociologists overhaul the church's teaching and practice on divorce and remarriage, as well as personal testimonies from a number of persons who have gone through the annulment process.
Download or read book Thinking Through Rituals written by Kevin Schilbrack and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-08-02 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thinking Through Rituals explores religious ritual acts and their connection to meaning and truth, building upon their special status as virtually pure forms of belief in action.
Download or read book Why be Catholic written by Richard Rohr and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rohr and Martos answer the question, "Why Be Catholic?" fairly and squarely, showing a deep appreciation about what is good in Catholicism and a penetrating honesty about the Church's shortcomings. They also examine what it means to be Catholic in the United States today. Finally, to answer the title question in a more personal way, they present portraits of some outstanding Catholics, especially those we call saints, who have found personal fulfillment by living their faith to the utmost.
Download or read book The Sacraments written by Joseph Martos and published by Liturgical Press. This book was released on 2009-08-01 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What are the sacraments, really? For centuries, the religious lives of Catholics and other Christians have revolved around church rituals with generally accepted individual and social effects. What, precisely, are those effects, and how are they produced? Traditional theology used Greek philosophy to understand the sacraments and how they work. But is there no other way to understand them? In fact, there are a number of ways, and this book invites you to look at the sacraments through a variety of lenses: psychology, sociology, anthropology, history, theology, morality, and spirituality. As the introduction to this volume challenges, "If you read this book, and especially if you engage in the interactive study to which it invites you, your understanding of sacraments will be changed forever." To help personalize your investigation, the author has created a web site with thought-provoking questions that encourage you to interact with the ideas being proposed in this volume. To engage these topics more deeply, see www.TheSacraments.org.
Download or read book Sacramental Guidelines written by Kenan B. Osborne and published by Paulist Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sacramental Guidelines is an indispensable tool for religious education teachers. Parents and pastors will appreciate its straightforward overview of the sacraments and how they function in our faith as the heart of our Catholic belief and the soul of our spirituality.
Download or read book Sacraments Sacramentality written by Bernard J. Cooke and published by Twenty-Third Publications. This book was released on 1994 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cooke reflects on the sacramental liturgies and their relation to love and freedom, reconciliation and concerned service to one another. Includes discussion questions, a bibliography, and an index.
Download or read book Christian Ritualizing and the Baptismal Process written by Susan Marie Smith and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2011-11-15 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most people, even non-Christians, know that Christians gather for worship once a week, and that they are right there to support each other when there is a baptism or a wedding or a funeral. But what about other poignant, vulnerable, or life-changing times? How does the church help people handle changes that in the past, in Christendom, were considered "secular"? Does the church have a role at retirement when one's ministry changes, or when a family's children leave home and familiar patterns seem to grind to a halt? Is there any rite possible for someone who is called to Christian ministry but not to ordination? Or to someone whose vows are broken in divorce? Christian Ritualizing and the Baptismal Process asserts that baptism marks the beginning of a process of participation in Christ's ministry, so that no part of life can finally be considered secular. Susan Marie Smith shows how every passage, healing, and ministry vocation is "holy," and she lays the groundwork needed for every church to create the rituals necessary to lament and celebrate the endings and beginnings that happen in every Christian life.
