Paulist Press Liturgy and Sacraments Bundle (21 vols.)

In The Eucharist, popular writer and lecturer Joseph M. Champlin explores the eucharistic mystery from three different perspectives: as sacrifice, sacrament, and presence. In addition, he analyzes another mystery of faith: the Paschal, Passover, or Easter Mystery of Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and return.

Champlin outlines several desirable inner qualities with which we greet the Risen Christ as our guest, and describes ways in which the Eucharist can inspire us to sere others. Each chapter begins with a personal reflection by a eucharistic minister and concludes with a brief related excerpt from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Eucharist and American Culture is a unique resource that considers the impact of American individualism upon the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist. Short, insightful chapters offer key sociological points and liturgical understanding as well as summarize recent academic works and research results of Robert Bellah, Robert Putnam, and Jean Twenge. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal is consulted regarding the celebration of the liturgy.

Suitable for use as an undergraduate religious studies resource, this book will also find a place in courses in religion and culture and sociology of religion, as well as in seminary formation programs and programs for parish liturgical ministers.

The Eucharist and Social Justice argues that the Eucharist is deeply political and potentially subversive. It explores the inseparable relationship between Eucharist and social justice. The eucharistic texts embrace a whole host of social issues around poverty and injustice, and this book teases out their wider implications. It also rediscovers the dimension that God intended for the Eucharist: to be the life of the world.

The sacraments are rooted in the most basic elements of human existence. In Eucharist: The Meal and the Word, an essay of “meditative theology,” Ghislain Lafont reflects on the intimate connection between food and language in the Eucharist. Tracing the progression from the act of eating to the celebration of a festal meal, he then moves to language, because the festal meal often concludes with a discourse addressed to the heroes of the feast. Finally, he examines eucharistic discourse in order to relate the Eucharist to all other festal meals: what it remembers; what is given in it to eat; and what is realized. The Eucharist turns out to be the place of communion with God founded on the memory of Jesus Christ, hoped for in its perfection in eschatological time, and already realized in the symbolic celebration. And yet it also reveals itself as the symbolic fullness of human existence.

Models of the Eucharist outlines how the Eucharist is integral to and integrative of nothing less than the Christian life itself. Its premise is that the liturgy of the Eucharist—especially the post-Vatican II liturgy—should be a primary source for both eucharistic theology and eucharistic spirituality.

Our Daily Bread provides wisdom and inspiration about the Eucharist chosen from 21 centuries of writing. The diverse selections range from St. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians—the earliest-surviving written account of the Eucharist—through Francis of Assisi and Julian of Norwich, to Blessed Teresa of Calcutta and Pope Benedict XVI, with dozens of saints and scholars in between. The forward is written by Francis Cardinal George, archbishop of Chicago.

With poems and hymns to focus our gaze, Our Daily Bread will be a permanent resource for nourishing and deepening a person’s faith in the Eucharist—the summit and source of our life in Christ.

Serving the Body of Christ is a careful collection, summary, and commentary of the Catholic Church’s official teaching on the Eucharist and ordained priesthood from Trent through Pope Benedict XVI, with avenues for theological exploration.

Study the sacramental action that joins individuals into an intimate union with Jesus. Catechetical expert Richard J. Reichert delves into the Catholic understanding of the sacrament of Baptism, how it unites us with the Church and lays the foundation for Christian spiritual life.

Explore the history and development of each of the three sacraments of initiation—baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist—and draw upon the biblical foundations of each sacrament. Based firmly in the teaching of the Church, this book is mindful of the contemporary reader and the issues that confront the Church today in celebrating and living these three rites of initiation.

Each chapter has questions for reflection and further discussion. Ideal for adult-education programs and small groups, Walking in Newness of Life offers an insightful combination of the theology and spirituality of the sacraments of initiation presented in a most accessible way.

Kenan B. Osborne radically rethinks sacramental life and theology from the standpoint of postmodern philosophy.

In Pastoral Foundations of the Sacraments, Carmelite priests Gregory L. Klein and Robert A. Wolfe propose a model for exploring and understanding Catholic worship. The model begins with the human experience of persons who come to the Church for a variety of reasons and occasions. Many chapters begin with an actual pastoral situation, then examines the sacraments and a review of the history of the sacraments in the Church. Finally, the model focuses on the actual rites of the Church and some of the pastoral challenges Catholics encounter in their efforts to live the truth that only memory can treasure.

The authors make continual reference to the wealth of doctrinal and catechetical material contained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and all of the chapters conclude with Questions for Reflection and Discussion.”

With the Silent Glimmer of God’s Spirit gives a comprehensive account of recent developments in sacramental theology in the context of postmodern thinking. Lambert J. Leijssen uses the concepts of “gift” and “icon” to speak about the sacraments in a way that implies interaction between giver and recipient. Leijssen discusses the individual sacraments according to the usual categories of initiation, healing, and vocation, but views these categories through the lens of their relation to everyday life. He considers the grace of each sacrament as a gift of the Holy Spirit by which the Christian’s daily life is illuminated with a silent glimmer of God’s Spirit. He also looks at the current realities faced by those responsible for administering the sacraments and considers the pastoral implications. The book concludes with ecumenical perspectives for the celebration of the sacraments in agreement with the Eastern churches and the churches of the Protestant Reformation.

For many years, A Confessor’s Handbook has been the indispensable guide for priests and seminarians on the sacrament of Reconciliation. There are many books for priests on preaching, leadership, liturgy, spiritual direction, and counseling, but A Confessor’s Handbook focuses specifically on the priest’s ministry as confessor. This essential book is not limited to general principles, but offers a rich trove of practical examples drawn from the author’s decades of experience as a priest and confessor. This revised and expanded edition remains as insightful and faithful to church teaching as the first, but also addresses the challenges of hearing confessions in the twenty-first century. It includes a new appendix on Reconciliation for priests, and contains the whole text of the Pontifical Council for the Family’s Vademecum for Confessors. Priests, seminarians, and even lay people who wish to make the most of their sacramental experience will find that they cannot do without this book.

Healing God’s People is a collection of essays on reconciliation written by prominent theologians, many of whom are on the faculty of Boston College’s School of Theology.

The sacrament of penance has fallen on hard times in recent decades. There is a much diminished use of the sacrament, and frequent reports of dissatisfaction with the experience of it on the part of both penitents and confessors. Reversing this trend would seem to require a changed mentality. In The Future of the Sacrament of Penance, Father Frank O’Loughlin aims to equip us for just such a change.

First, O’Loughlin explores the rise of the varied forms of the sacrament of penance, locating them within their respective ecclesial and social contexts and highlighting the considerable transitions through which this sacrament has gone. Building on this, he stimulates readers to look at the issues which remain to be addressed in this time of widespread change in order to move forward into a renewed understanding and use of the sacrament.

Christ, Our Love for All Seasons is a prayer book geared toward every liturgical season in the year—and each “season” of our lives. All the major feast days are featured with poems, hymns, and psalms relevant to the occasion. It also functions as a poetry supplement to the one- and four-volume Liturgy of the Hours, which the Second Vatican Council proclaimed “The Public Prayer of the Church.” Father Ralph Wright’s book helps all seekers to pray this ever-ancient, ever-new prayer.

Gospel Spirituality and Catholic Worship returns to the mindset of Jesus as encountered in the Gospels to discover the unity between spirituality and worship. This book helps Catholics integrate their personal prayer life and liturgical experience.

Dennis C. Smolarski, SJ, offers this guidebook of principles and norms to help all those involved in worship to avoid the common pitfalls that occur in the celebration of the Eucharist. This edition has been completely revised in accord with the 2002 General Instruction of the Roman Missal.

This volume traces the history of liturgy from its origins in the second century to the present-day Church. Written by one of the foremost liturgical scholars, Father Keith Pecklers, this exceptional book is a geography of Christianity, analyzed period by period. It is an anthropological history of the Church that involves relationships with architecture, art, literature, culture, pastoral and ecclesiastical government—as well as with its connections with the civil power and the organization of society.

Liturgy: The Illustrated History is a bridge among various disciplines, and its illustrative documentation ranges from architecture to music, from politics to linguistic cartographies, and from ecclesiastic to monastic history. It features a colorful design and a vast array of extraordinary illustrations and maps in full color. This volume is sure to appeal to lovers of history as well as liturgy professionals.

Encompassing all three liturgical cycles, including feast days and the seasons, this comprehensive collection of prayers has been written with the principal themes of the daily readings in mind—reinforcing their teaching and connecting their message with our lives as disciples of Jesus.

This book is an excellent resource for seminaries, colleges, and schools where liturgy is taught; as well as for parishes, schools, and communities preparing a celebration of the Eucharist; and for individuals who want a thoughtful personal preparation for Mass.

Sheer Grace shows the unbreakable link between theology, liturgy, and spirituality, grounding it in a radical tradition of liturgy as transformation, which has its roots in the Scriptures and lived liturgical experience of our biblical and ecclesial ancestors.

At the same time, Draško Dizdar looks to the present experience of Christians who feel a deep need for the kind of transforming experience that liturgy can be. He looks to the future with hope as a gift of “sheer grace,” as something only God can and does give, and not as something we can manufacture by our own efforts at renewal or restoration.