Eucharistic Reciprocity

This volume probes the nature of gratitude as a virtue and identifies its moral value in the Christian life in order to enhance pastoral effectiveness in ministering to those gripped by sins of desire. Such impulses are explored in terms of the seven deadly sins, which this inquiry regards as distorted desires for the good God provides. Utilizing a method of mutual critical correlation, this volume brings philosophical and psychological claims about gratitude into conversation with the Christian tradition. On the basis of an ontology of communion in which humans are inextricably situated in giving-and-receiving relationships with God, others, and the world, this inquiry defines gratitude as a social response involving asymmetrical, agapic reciprocity, whereby a recipient freely, joyfully, and fittingly salutes a giver for the gift received in order to establish, maintain, or restore a personal and peaceable relationship. Critiquing especially the reductions of gratitude by Aristotle and Jacques Derrida, this inquiry recommends gratitude as a virtue which, when embodied, practiced, and ritualized especially, though not exclusively, in the Eucharist, has potential to repel the destructive idolatries generated by the seven deadly sins and thus function as a crucial ingredient in human social flourishing. Familiarity with the virtue of gratitude as a vital ingredient in moral flourishing therefore equips pastors for greater ministerial effectiveness.

The seven sacraments lie at the centre of Christian life and experience, for here God the Holy Trinity touches human lives and hearts. This book is one of the few at the present time to offer a global synthesis of the main themes in the sacramental mystery in which the human and divine, the material and the spiritual realms are intimately intertwined. Paul Haffner outlines how the sacraments are the chief means in the Church through which God's people are reconciled to the Father, through His Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. The book illustrates classical issues like the conditions for the validity and the efficacy of the sacraments, as well as the minister, recipient and effects of these sacred mysteries; it deals with particular topics like the necessity of Baptism, the sacrificial character of the Eucharist, and the nature of marriage. As he examines each sacrament in turn, the author also explores how new ecumenical questions affect Christian sacramental understanding. 'I warmly commend this work on the subject of sacramental theology' Archbishop Csaba Ternyak Secretary of the Vatican Congregation of the Clergy Paul Haffner is lecturer in systematic and dogmatic theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, the Pontifical Lateran University, the Pontifical Athenaeum 'Regina Apostolorum' and the Pontifical Institute 'Regina Mundi' in Rome. His publications include 'The Mystery of Creation', 'The Mystery of Reason' and 'The Mystery of Mary' - all also published by Gracewing.

At the heart of Roman Catholicism lies the celebration of the Eucharist as it both expresses and renews the living faith of Catholics. Each new generation accepts the tradition, even as it articulates its own authentic understanding and expression of the Eucharistic doctrine. The Authentic Doctrine of the Eucharist documents the rich heritage of this living tradition.

Is the priesthood a power to be exercised, or a call to share in the broken Christ? Ross sets modern questions about ordained ministry in the Church within a much wider context, encouraging us to reflect anew on the relationship between administrative power and spiritual authority within the Church, and to redefine the priesthood. She minces no words in her critique of the contemporary Church, and goes on to propose changes so sweeping and fundamental that we sense what a truly Christian Church would be.

The mixed results of the ecumenical dialogue since the Second Vatican Council have made it clear that the primacy of the Bishop of Rome remains the single most serious obstacle on the path of ecumenism. In his landmark 1995 encyclical Ut unum sint, Pope John Paul II reiterated the constant teaching that the Catholic Church "has preserved the ministry of the Successor of the Apostle Peter, the Bishop of Rome." He also invited leaders and theologians of other Christian communities to engage in a "patient and fraternal dialogue on this subject...to find a way of exercising the primacy which, while in no way renouncing what is essential to its mission, is nonetheless open to a new situation." This book explores in depth the discussion of papal primacy in the Catholic-Orthodox, Catholic-Lutheran and Catholic Anglican dialogues, along with an appendix on the concept of "Sister Churches." Each chapter describes how the primacy is viewed in the respective churches or ecclesial communities, then it analyzes the documents of the official ecumenical dialogue and realistically evaluates the results achieved thus far.

This book is a general reader's abridgement of five reports by diocesan ecumenical officers from the Episcopal and Roman Catholic diocese in America. Feelings of church leaders about such topics as eucharistic sharing, ministry, authority, theology, pastoral care, ecumenics, and shared responsibility were investigated. Contributors: Ernest R. Falardeau, Robert S. Ervin, Raymond A. Barton, George A. Kilcourse, Donald W. Gross, Richard W. Townley, Jr., William D. Nix, Jr., G. Donald Ferree, Jr., Monica K. Hellwig, Louis Weil, John T. Ford, Marianne H. Micks, V. Nelle Bellamy, Frederick M. Jelly, Patrick R. Granfield and James E. Griffis. Written for the general reader, this study should be of interest to theologians. Co-published with the National Association of Diocesan Ecumenical Officers.

With this new lectionary commentary series, Westminster John Knox offers the most extensive resource for preaching on the market today. When complete, the twelve volumes of the series will cover all the Sundays in the three-year lectionary cycle, along with movable occasions, such as Christmas Day, Epiphany, Holy Week, and All Saints' Day. For each lectionary text, preachers will find four brief essays--one each on the theological, pastoral, exegetical, and homiletical challenges of the text. This gives preachers sixteen different approaches to the proclaimation of the Word on any given occasion. The editors and contributors to this series are world-class scholars, pastors, and writers representing a variety of denominations and traditions. And while the twelve volumes of the series will follow the pattern of the Revised Common Lectionary, each volume will contain an index of biblical passages so that nonlectionary preachers, as well as teachers and students, may make use of its contents.