Much of Christian theology is focused on the story of Jesus and the promised consummation of all things-but the church spends its life in the gap between them. How can we live more faithfully as Christians in this gap between the resurrection of Christ and the eschaton? In Church in Ordinary Time, Amy Plantinga Pauw argues that the liturgical season of ordinary time aptly symbolizes the church's existence as God's creature in this time between the times. Pauw presents a compact Trinitarian ecclesiology that is attuned to church life in this era of ordinary time. Formal ecclesiologies have largely neglected this ordinary- time dimension of Christian life, she says, and in so doing have virtually ignored the ongoing graciousness of God's work as Creator. Drawing on the seasons of the church year and the creation theology elaborated in Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, Pauw offers wisdom for daily life in Christian communities of faith.
From USCCB Publishing, this revision of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) seeks to promote more conscious, active, and full participation of the faithful in the mystery of the Eucharist. While the Missale Romanum contains the rite and prayers for Mass, the GIRM provides specific detail about each element of the Order of Mass as well as other information related to the Mass.
Witty and thought provoking, two Vatican astronomers shed provocative light on some of the strange places where religion and science meet. “Imagine if a Martian showed up, all big ears and big nose like a child’s drawing, and he asked to be baptized. How would you react?” —Pope Francis, May, 2014 Pope Francis posed that question—without insisting on an answer!—to provoke deeper reflection about inclusiveness and diversity in the Church. But it's not the first time that question has been asked. Brother Guy Consolmagno and Father Paul Mueller hear questions like that all the time. They’re scientists at the Vatican Observatory, the official astronomical research institute of the Catholic Church. In Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? they explore a variety of questions at the crossroads of faith and reason: How do you reconcile the The Big Bang with Genesis? Was the Star of Bethlehem just a pious religious story or an actual description of astronomical events? What really went down between Galileo and the Catholic Church—and why do the effects of that confrontation still reverberate to this day? Will the Universe come to an end? And… could you really baptize an extraterrestrial? With disarming humor, Brother Guy and Father Paul explore these questions and more over the course of six days of dialogue. Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial will make you laugh, make you think, and make you reflect more deeply on science, faith, and the nature of the universe.
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At its beginning Christianity was surprising, powerful, creative, world-shaking. Today in the West it is many times familiar, common, and expected, losing its power to surprise and transform. We have developed societal amnesia and ignorance of what Christianity originally was – and what it still can be. We need to recover the surprise of Christianity. We need to ask the same fundamental questions as the early Christians, which will help us rediscover the surprising power of Christianity in our midst. Focusing on the surprise of the gospel message takes us into the heart of what it is to understand Christianity at all, and thus what it is to remember and relearn the life-giving power and witness that went with being Christian at the beginning. This remembering and relearning can, in turn, surprise us all over again and chart a course for our witness today.
Chene Heady was a believing Catholic whose daily concerns were shaped primarily by forces other than his faith--career demands, financial decisions, scheduling conflicts, etc. He worked long hours and had limited regular interaction with his wife, also a busy professional, and his young daughter. He was the typical overextended and anonymous modern Catholic man. Then he tried an experiment that dramatically rearranged his life. After reading about the importance of the Church's liturgical year, Heady took up the challenge to live as though the Church's calendar, not the secular one, stood at the center of his life. Every day for a year, he observed the Church's seasons and feasts, and meditated on the Church's daily readings. As he did so, he found that his life, and his relationships, became more meaningful and fruitful. Numbering My Days tells the story of one man's renewal, and it offers an authentic model of spiritual development for anyone.
The Common Worship Main Volume is the primary worship and service book for the Church of England. It contains material used on Sundays by most churches: a variety of Communion services and non-eucharistic forms of worship, as well as the basic Baptism service and the Psalms. Full contents: The Declaration of Assent The Calendar A Service of the Word Morning and Evening Prayer on Sunday Morning and Evening Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer Night Prayer (Compline) Night Prayer (Compline) in Traditional Language Prayers for Various Occasions The Litany The Litany from the Book of Common Prayer Authorized Forms of Confession and Absolution Creeds and Authorized Affirmations of Faith Holy Communion including A Form of Preparation, Order One, Order One in Traditional Language, Order Two, Order Two in Contemporary Language, Supplementary Texts, Seasonal Provisions Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child Holy Baptism Collects and Post Communions Collects and Post Communions in Traditional Language Rules Lectionary The Psalter Canticles
Everybody seems interested in innovation and entrepreneurship these days. Start-ups are generating new jobs, creating wealth and providing solutions to longstanding problems. People are also aware that old-line social institutions need innovative approaches that provide renewal, re-establish trust and cultivate sustainability. What do faith communities have to do with innovation and entrepreneurship? Faith communities have their own need for innovation, demonstrated in a growing interest in starting new churches, developing “fresh expressions” for gatherings of community and discussions about how to cultivate a renewed sense of mission. But do faith communities have anything unique to contribute to conversations about innovation and entrepreneurship, especially in “social entrepreneurship”? At first glance, the answer seems to be “no.” Burgeoning literature on social entrepreneurship barely mentions the church or other faith-based institutions — and when it does they’re often described as part of the broken institutional landscape. Recently much of the most innovative and entrepreneurial work in these sectors has been done apart from faith communities, whether through secular non-governmental organizations (e.g., Teach for America, Knowledge is Power Program schools) or for-profit businesses (e.g., hospitals and hospices). Indeed, it is now often assumed that faith and faith communities either are irrelevant to social innovation and entrepreneurship or are a significant obstacle. We believe too many people in faith communities, and faith-based organizations themselves, turned inward. They became preoccupied with managing what already existed rather than focusing on innovative renewal of their organizations and entrepreneurial approaches to starting new ones. However, Christian social innovation, at its best, depends on a conception of hope different than the optimism that often characterizes secular endeavors, a hope that acknowledges personal and social brokenness. Further, faith communities, at their best, have embodied perseverance, often bringing people together across generations and diverse sectors to imagine how common effort and faith might overcome obstacles. Although some faith communities have lost the “at-their-best” focus, new conversations and experiments are emerging beyond the goal of starting new congregations. But they tend to be “and” conversations: faith and innovation, faith and entrepreneurship, faith and leadership. We don’t think this goes deep enough. Faith might truly “animate” social innovation and entrepreneurship. In this perspective, faith is not held at a distance from the activities of life but is instead its vital force, providing the imagination, passion and commitment that lead to transformation.
"Provides rich reflections on every Sunday gospel reading in the three-year Lectionary from Augustine, Bede, Ambrose, Gregory the Great, Aelred, John Scotus Erigena, Origen, Cyril of Alexandria, and many more"--P. [4] of cover.
