Sacramental Life Volume 15.4 (Fall 2003) Founded in 1988, Sacramental Life is one of two journals published by the Order of Saint Luke (OSL Publications). It focuses on the emerging and historical practices of Christian worship. Print distribution is to the members of the Order globally, as well as to a number of theology departments and seminary libraries in the United States.
This is a new edition of the 1963 classic which gave Christological thought a new direction. As far back as his first major book Schillebeeckx propounded an anthropological approach to the sacraments. In Christ the Sacrament of the Encounter with God , he draws on theologically fruitful work by phenomenological anthropologists like Merleau-Ponty, Buytendijk and Binswanger. That makes Schillebeeckx's distinctive idiom and modern approach appealing even today. He rediscovers, as it were from within, the notions forged by scholastic theology, and thus restores to us a theology of the sacraments rooted in the biblical and patristic soil from which they first sprang. Schillebeeckx's speculative synthesis of this quest still has a fresh ring to it. He describes Christ as the primordial sacrament in a reflection on his public ministry, death and resurrection inspired by the universal human search for such a 'sacrament'. He concludes that the church's sacraments have to be an earthly extension of the liberation brought by Christ's story. Schillebeeckx ends by describing sacraments as grace made visible that gives crowning moments in Christian life a mystical quality. Edward Schillebeeckx Collected Works bring together the most important and influential works of the Dutch Dominican and theologian Edward Schillebeeckx (1914-2009) in a reliable edition. All translations have been carefully checked or revised, some texts are presented in English for the first time. The page numbers of earlier editions are included. Each volume carries a foreword by an internationally renowned Schillebeeckx expert. This edition makes Schillebeeckx available for a new generation of scholars and students.
The present volume, the first in the new Catholic Moral Thought series, responds to the need for a new introduction to the basic and central elements of Catholic moral theology written in the light of Veritatis splendor.
Available in English for the first time, this short book is a powerful introduction to the spiritual wisdom of one of the Church's newest saints: Elizabeth of the Trinity. There was nothing extraordinary in Elizabeth of the Trinity's life. There were no ecstasies. She didn't work miracles. She didn't communicate heavenly messages through visions or words she heard. Instead, she presented a message to modern man through her own life of fidelity, showing us that the true road to contemplative prayer is not an ascent to grasp God, but a descent into the depths of one's heart. She teaches us that only by drawing our souls inward can we move toward bold abandonment and achieve immersion in God, thereby connecting our spiritual lives to the eternal praise of the saints in heaven. In our noisy culture, Elizabeth of the Trinity reminds us of God's power to establish in us a profound and peaceful stillness. She reminds us that that the Trinity is our home, and that God has created us in order to be united to Christ. In these pages, Sister Giovanna della Croce presents a brief and readable introduction to the teachings of Elizabeth of the Trinity, showing us the truth path to contemplative prayer. St. John Paul II considered Elizabeth of the Trinity to be one of the most influential mystics in his spiritual life. Now you, too, can begin incorporating in your own spiritual life the mystical wisdom of Elizabeth of the Trinity.
Guiding readers through the rites of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist, Understanding the Sacraments of Initiation explores the way in which the sacraments of Initiation affect and influence one’s daily Christian life.
In Pentecostals and Roman Catholics on Becoming a Christian, Dr. Karen Murphy explores the fifth round of the International Roman Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogue (1998-2006). Discussing Spirit-baptism, faith, conversion, experience, and discipleship, Dr. Murphy notes areas in which the Dialogue has evolved since its inception in 1972. She unpacks the commonalities that bond Catholics and Pentecostals and examines theological divergences and challenges to dialogue. While Catholics approach becoming a Christian from a sacramental perspective, most Pentecostals think of Christian initiation in non-sacramental, or conversionist, terms, a reality that fosters ongoing tensions between the two traditions. Dr. Murphy reveals how Catholics and Pentecostals seek to overcome this dichotomy by honoring spirituality and experience as integral to the ecumenical encounter.
