sacraments
Take & Read: Theology
Five new books that address today’s theological challenges
Ready for communion: Living in holy space
Sacramentality is the breath of Christian life—life that springs from the sacraments and life that yearns to return to them.
Public intimacy
U2's subway prank created a strange sort of intimacy and spontaneous community. I felt a similar dynamic at play at a recent funeral.
Listening well: A chaplains vocation
Listening itself has a sacramental dimension. When a family gathers around a hospital bed, it becomes a sort of communion table.
Extravagant Affections, by Susan A. Ross
A priest poses the question to a group of children: "How many sacraments are there?" Without missing a beat a little girl responds: "Seven for boys, and six for girls." The math may differ for different communions, with fewer sacraments distributed more equitably among the genders, but Susan A. Ross of Loyola University raises questions that no sacramental tradition can ignore. She posits a principle all traditions could embrace: all of life is potentially revelatory of the divine. Then Ross surveys all facets of her question: how can one construct a sacramental theology that takes the bodies of men and women as seriously as it takes the body of Christ?
reviewed by Martha Ellen Stortz