In this volume, Gregg Allison offers an overview of specific doctrines and practices that unite and distinguish different churches and denominations as each finds its unique expression through churches' views of identity, leadership, church government, sacraments, ministries, and the future.

A journey of the soul through the map of Christian time.

The liturgical year, beginning on the first Sunday of Advent and carrying through the following November, is the year that sets out to attune the life of the Christian to the life of Jesus, the Christ.

What may at first seem to be simply an arbitrary arrangement of ancient holy days, or liturgical seasons, this book explains their essential relationship to one another and their ongoing meaning to us today. It is an excursion into life from the Christian perspective, from the viewpoint of those who set out not only to follow Jesus but to live and think as Jesus did.

And it proposes to help us to year after year immerse ourselves into the sense and substance of the Christian life until, eventually, we become what we say we are--followers of Jesus all the way to the heart of God. It is an adventure in human growth; it is an exercise in spiritual ripening.

A volume in the eight book classic series, "The Ancient Practices, " with a foreword by Phyllis Tickle, General Editor.

Lent is not about giving up or taking up, but a radical opening up: the opening up of our lives to God's transformative kingdom. That is the challenge Trystan Owain Hughes sets in Opening Our Lives. Through practical daily devotions he calls on us to open our eyes to God's presence, our ears to his call, our hearts to his love, our ways to his will, our actions to his compassion and our pain to his peace.

Tried-and-tested collection of creative resources for the Church's year

This second Lent resource from the author of The Naturalist and the Christ explores Christian understandings of "salvation" in a five-part study course based on the film The Way. Starring Martin Sheen as a bereaved father, this soulful and uplifting film observes a group of pilgrims walking the Way of St James to Santiago de Compostela. As it follows their journey of inner transformation, the course examines biblical accounts and images of salvation - past, present and future - and addresses the questions: What are we saved from? What are we saved for? Who can be saved? What do we have to do to be saved? How are we saved?

* Daily Lenten reflections with a novel approach * Color images enhance message of text Lent is often a season given to denial of physical pleasure and sensation, but we're already denied these by a cultural atmosphere saturated with visual images, noise and air pollution, violence, and processed foods that dull the senses. The physical senses play an integral role in the human capacity for emotion and feeling. Overstimulation in the physical senses gradually erodes one's ability to feel emotion. Yet empathy-emotional identification and connection with others-is crucial to liturgical engagement, especially in the highly dramatic practices of the signal events of the Christian Year. Sam Portaro proposes to restore our ability to participate emotionally in the Lenten journey by revisiting the five physical senses-one per week-in Lent. The discipline of a 40-day preparation for Easter suggests the importance the Church places on this seasonal retelling of the central acts of Christian redemption. Sense and Sensibility encourages the reader to renew a relationship with the physical senses that is a prerequisite to a deeply attuned engagement with the biblical stories read, taught, and liturgically re-enacted in the rites of Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter.

A glimpse into the ideals and insights that have shaped one of the Episcopal Church's most widely known parishes, St. Gregory of Nyssa in San Francisco. Rick Fabian, well known as one of the founding priests of St. Gregory of Nyssa in San Francisco, writes his "treatise in eleven parts" on the significant signs of communal life: the welcoming table, authority (human and biblical), baptism, mystery, marriage, children, the spirit, reconciliation, the worship year, beauty, and hospitality. This "revisionist approach to sacramental theology" offers a glimpse into the depth of thought behind the praxis that has shaped one of the Episcopal Church's most widely known parishes.

Gaze on him . . . Consider him . . . Contemplate him . . . As you desire to imitate him. This advice from St Clare of Assisi is the key to unlocking the door to the heart of Jesus' teaching. Her words provide a pattern of meditation that brings alive the Gospel reading for every Sunday in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.

Reproducible Sheets for Home and School Few Easter activity books focus on more than bunnies and candy. Even fewer focus on the season through a specifically Catholic viewpoint. This imaginative new book takes kids on a journey from Ash Wednesday through Pentecost, engaging them at every point through fun activities while introducing and reinforcing the richness of their heritage. This lively new work- * uses such proven favorites as word finds, word scrambles, dot-to-dot pictures, matching, crosswords, code breakers, and more. * challenges and satisfies kids from second through fifth grade. * includes over two dozen activities plus an answer key. * offers the best-loved prayers and devotions of the season. * provides busy parents, teachers, and home-schoolers with a moment of quiet time while their children are fully involved, learning. * can be reproduced for a variety of home, school, and church uses.

The Blood Covenant is one of the least understood, and yet most relevant covenants for our understanding of God's dealings with man throughout the Bible. This covenant of life and death spans the entire sacrifical system of the Old Testament, to the Act of Communion in the New Testament. Learn more about the primitive rite of the Blood Covenant, perversions of this rite, indications of this rite in the Bible (Circumcision, Passover, at Mt. Sinai, Mosaic Ritual, in the Gospels). Includes an Appendix of useful information on the role of blood in life.

"Chicken Soup for the Soul: Christmas Magic "will warm readers' hearts and spread the wonder of the holiday season with its tales of love, joy, and awe. A fantastic holiday gift for the young and young at heart.
Christmas is a magical time of year -- a time of family, friends, and traditions. Readers will revel in the 101 holiday stories in "Chicken Soup for the Soul: " "Christmas Magic" that spread the special joy, wonder, and blessings of the season with its tales of finding the perfect Christmas tree, being with family, seeing the awe in a child's eyes, and enjoying the magic of the season.

Part keepsake, part teaching book, this small volume is filled with inspiration, encouragement, and reflections to ponder for 4th graders and up. Through simple text, it explains the privileges and responsibilities imparted through the sacrament of Confirmation. Compelling stories about saints and children their own age will help kids become more familiar with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and learn how the gifts can be active in their own lives. The apostolic mission of a confirmed Catholic is emphasized and readers are reminded that the sacrament of Confirmation is exciting-the same Holy Spirit who appeared to the apostles and the Blessed Mother at Pentecost is the one who will come to them when they are confirmed. "Too often we whisk our youth through the Sacrament without a clear understanding of what's happening. That's tragic, because a grace misunderstood is easily unappreciated, and a grace unappreciated is easily lost. My Confirmation Book empowers young people to receive the Holy Spirit in a way that's active, personal, willing, and enduring. Highly recommended." - Mike Aquilina, co-host of The Lamb's Supper on EWTN, and Executive Vice-President of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology "A wonderful tool for parents, religious education leaders, and all who are concerned about raising up strong young Catholics - Catholics who will be able to boldly and joyfully proclaim their faith and engage a culture so in need of God." -Teresa Tomeo, Catholic syndicated talk show host, Ave Maria Radio " Another winner from Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle! Clear, concise and inspiring - everything Confirmation candidates could want in a book that will help them prepare for one of the most important moments in their lives! A great resource for parents and catechists, too. Kudos on a job well done!" - Marge Fenelon Author of Strengthening Your Family: A Catholic Approach to Holiness at Home "Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle has created a resource of great simplicity and beauty for young confirmands. Tenderly and wisely written, My Confirmation Book explains and explores the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Concise, but powerful, the text includes illuminating stories and discussion questions, and a superb collection of brief quotes from saints and sacred scripture. I am eager to buy an armload of copies, not only for all the young people I know who are preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation, but for those who have already received it. In fact, I found so much encouragement and clarity in the pages of this small book of reflections; I'm going to give them to my adult friends, as well." -Lisa Mladinich, author "Be an Amazing Catechist: Inspire the Faith of Children," OSV

This is a classic book from the unique insight and spiritual wisdom of Evelyn Capel. She covers the main festivals and events in the Christian Year: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Ascension, Whitsun, St John's tide, and Michaelmas, always linking them back to the Gospels and Christ. She considers the cycles of our world: the changing seasons; life, death and resurrection; waking and sleeping; breathing in and breathing out. Throughout, Capel never loses sight of the over-arching cosmic themes which influence the spiritual rhythms of the Earth and human beings.