from Crossroad Publications
Harvard Diary I
Reflections on the Sacred and the Secular
Coles's reflections offer a virtual canon of the dominant spiritual questors of our age... a warm, candid and engaging book... a remarkable labor to help us all see ourselves better. An ideal book for thoughtful, meditative reading.
Harvard
Diary II
Essays on the Sacred and the Secular
"God forbid that one sits at a desk and lets one's mind wander and wonder; that one takes seriously what William James called booming, buzzing confusion; that one learns from what one has sensed, experienced, remembered; that one allows the head to settle into train of thought, put it down on paper - then, lo, discovers what seems significant to oneself... But that is what follows in this book - a mind's discursive, even rambling expository efforts to comprehend various aspects of a late twentieth-century American life as it has been lived by a doctor, a teacher, a husband, a father, and not least, a citizen who has had good reason to worry about the country he loves." ... From the Introduction
Here
Comes Everybody!:
Stories of Church
Unsworth's
essays about the Catholic church are almost Chaucerian, except that the
characters in his stories are not linked by a common earthly journey.
These portraits range from views of diocesan scandal to tales of individual
goodness to the exploits of a few sinners, as well. They'll prove entertaining
for religious-minded folk and those not involved in Catholicism because
they are stories about ordinary people, their problems, and their poignant
moments. As Unsworth says about Buddy Charles, a saloon pianist who is
also a father of four and a teacher, "He just doesn't have the kind
of faith that bores God." And Unsworth just doesn't have the kind
of religious writing that bores readers. His humor and insight will have
wide appeal.
The
Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life
"The Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life" is an accessible study aid for adult catechesis and religious education in preparation for the Holy Year 2000. It is the second in a series of four volumes on the Son, the Spirit, the Father, and the millennial year itself, to be published one per year.
How
to Understand Islam
By Jacques Jomier
168 pp., Paperback, PhP 150
Category: Religion
"This is an excellent exposition of Islam from a Christian point of view for the purpose of constructive understanding and Christian-Muslim dialogue." - Journal of Ecumenical Studies.
"Written from a Catholic vantage point and in a popular vein, Jomier's work serves as a basic text on the religious aspects of the emergence and expansion of the Islamic Empire, Islamic dogma, and laws and practices of Islamic society… a quick introduction to a vast and complex subject." - Library Journal
This is not a marriage handbook, but rather an explanation of the nature of Christian marriage at a time when it seems under severe threat. It begins with the Old Testament, where women can be treated as objects and marriage can be seen as no more than a commercial contract. Then it traces the course of growing awareness of love and personal relationships often subject to severe setbacks, which can be seen through the prophets, the ministry of Jesus, and the church. The changes in understanding brought about by this history will underlie any modern view of marriage, and the book ends by sketching out some of the features that view will include.
Here is an important book for those in love, whether preparing for marriage or hostile or indifferent to the idea; for parents and friends; and for clergy who are concerned with marriage preparation and counseling.
How
to Understand Church Ministry in the United States
Written by an expert and illustrated throughout, this popular handbook is for Catholics who are interested in contributing to the life of their church. It introduces them to the history of the church in the U.S., its unique contributions and challenges, its diverse ministries, its relationship to the universal church, and its future. Here is must reading for lay leaders who will be doing the work of the church as laity have never done before.
I
Am A Happy Theologian
Conversations with Francesco Strazzari
Edward Schillebeeckx shares stories of his life, his adventures as a theologian, and the joy he finds in his work. With humor and enthusiasm, he engages in theological gossip and offers unfettered opinions about controversial church issues and church people.
I
Am Your Brother Joseph
Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago
One of the Greatest living theologians speaks from his heart and his mind.
Hard on the heels of Cardinal Bernardin's own moving memoir, The Gift of Peace (Loyola), comes this anecdotal tribute to Chicago's beloved prelate. Unsworth, a columnist for the National Catholic Reporter and a personal friend of Bernardin's, sketches the life and, particularly, the very public death of the bishop who took Chicago by storm in 1982 when he introduced himself to the priests of his new archdiocese as "your brother Joseph." As leader of America's second largest diocese, "Bernardin set an entirely new style, one marked more by gentle leadership than feudal authority," says Unsworth, who admires the cardinal as fiercely as he deplores authoritarian hierarchy. This passionate memoir might have gained coherence from more editing, but nothing could improve Unsworth's exuberant storytelling, already known to the readers of his previous books, for example Catholics on the Edge and Here Comes Everybody! The portrait that emerges here is of a prince of the church who, through prayer and personal pain, learned to make humble personal ministry his priority.
In
Ten Thousand Places:
Dogma in a Pluralistic Church
"In Ten Thousand Places" is a profound reinterpretation of the role of dogma that respects the pluralism of the contemporary church. The book develops an understanding of dogma that not only provides for its essential function for unification but also acknowledges and affirms a church that is a communion of local churches.
In
Their Own Right
The History of American Clergywomen
"In Their Own Right" looks at women as Roman Catholic "parish administrators", ordained Mormons, Methodist bishops, conservative Jewish rabbis, Episcopal priests, prison chaplains, Salvation Army officers and New Age practitioners. A cross-denominational history of American clergywomen, this book is an important contribution to church history and women's history.
The
Jesuit Republic of the Guaranis (1609-1768) and Its Heritage
Since the time of the Enlightenment, the experience of the Reductions of Paraguay has never ceased to intrigue scholars - historians - and artists - film directors and playwrights. It remains a unique event in the history of human society. Its spirit has been summarized in the handsome title of this recent book: Jesuits and Guaranis: A Battle for Liberty.
Not since Fulton Sheen's majestic A Life of Christ has a writer captured for his time the beauty, the power, and the holiness of Jesus. But more than this, Jean Vanier writes with a go-to-the-heart simplicity that makes the man Jesus come alive in all his humanity, revealing his immense goodness and his bountiful love for everyone he meets. This book is the story of Jesus as it is told in the four Gospels, brought together into one meditation. The author says that, "Together they give a clear portrait of Jesus as he was and as he lived, a clear vision of his message. From his conception to his death and resurrection, we see a man manifestly sent by God to reveal God, to point to a way of universal love, of truth, of justice, and of peace".