The Second Vatican Council envisioned a liturgical assembly that could understand and participate fully in the liturgy. Even when parishes have helped their members to understand and participate in the Sunday eucharistic liturgy, responses at liturgies for the other sacraments may seem uncertain and lukewarm. Do we know what we're doing when we celebrate the sacraments? In this book, as in its companion, Forming the Assembly to Celebrate the Mass, Larry Mick, a seasoned presider and writer on the liturgy, offers insights and suggestions for helping our communities understand the work we are called to do when we celebrate sacraments. The author explains each sacrament and its liturgical aspects in ways that will invigorate and prepare parish ministers for the work of liturgical catechesis. Once leaders are prepared, the book can then be used for catechizing the whole assembly. Parish councils, liturgy boards, liturgical ministers, adult formation groups and individuals in the assembly will all find in this book fresh perspectives for celebrating and savoring the sacraments.

With a theological and historical overview of the newly translated texts of The Order of Confirmation, this practical resource provides your parish team with a collaborative approach to catechizing about and preparing for the Confirmation liturgy. Paul Turner walks through each part of the rite, noting best practices and highlighting differences in the newly translated ritual; provides guidance selecting Scripture readings, prayer texts, and music; advice for preparing the liturgical environment; and offers suggestions for evangelization and hospitality.

In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the encounter of the penitent with the mercy of God is one of the most transforming moments in the spiritual life of a Catholic. The ritual itself has changed throughout history, but the purpose of the sacrament has remained the same: to seek the forgiveness of the Lord and to renew one’s efforts to live as a faithful and loving disciple of Jesus Christ. This resource provides pastoral insights for celebrating individual confession, communal Reconciliation services, and non-sacramental penance services with attention given to liturgical ministries, liturgical environment, and evangelization.

This fundamental resource for presiders and lectors, homilists and liturgy planners is perfect for lector training programs, liturgy committee meetings and scripture study groups to promote good proclamation and love of scripture in the Sunday assembly. Readings are presented in sense-line format--exactly as they appear in the lectionary--to aid the reader in preparation, and lectionary numbers are included for each set of readings. Aelred R. Rosser offers helpful commentaries for each reading, providing background information and tips for effective proclamation. Margin notes point out logical divisions in the passages and help the reader with difficult pronunciations. Words are marked in the reading to aid the reader in stressing important sections and concepts. Workbook is arranged according to the liturgical year, from the First Sunday of Advent, December 1, 2002, to the solemnity of Christ the King, November 23, 2003. The readings for Year B of the Sunday lectionary are provided in the revised New American Bible translation, approved for use in the dioceses of the United States.

The celebration of infant Baptism stirs joy within a community and reminds those who have gathered that God has called each of us to be missionary disciples. Celebrating Baptism well has the potential to evangelize and transform a parish community so that their faith will be stirred, deepened, and renewed. This resource provides pastoral guidance for preparing joyful and communal celebrations of infant Baptism within or outside Mass. It provides guidance for selecting Scripture readings, prayer texts, and music; arranging the environment; scheduling ministers; and preparing liturgies that engage and evangelize.

What happened to the mystical body? A theology that stoked much theological creativity in the first half of the twentieth century both in Europe and in the United States had receded by the latter half of the century. One in Christ explores the theology of the mystical body of Christ as developed by Virgil Michel, OSB, examines the reasons for its decline, and traces it throughout the work of Louis-Marie Chauvet, a surprising custodian of the mystical body’s “French stream.” By delineating three major streams of mystical body theology, Timothy R. Gabrielli helps readers understand it more clearly and, in so doing, lays the groundwork for harvesting its potential for contemporary theology.