Archives for July, 2010

14
Jul
Posted by Peter » Add Comment »

The Ignatius NT Study Bible .. Tell-A-Friend Promotion

2 FOR $39.90 EACH!!(U.P. $49.90) * + FREE DELIVERY

Wellsprings Catholic Books is delighted to announce a LIMITED TIME OFFER for this gem of a book: The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible (NT).

Edited and designed for Bible study by two of today’s most renowned Bible teachers, this edition incorporates not only Sacred Scripture, but various Bible study references for your use. Biblical commentaries are authentically Catholic, steeped in historical as well as the best of current scholarship within the Catholic Church.

As part of our mission to bring “God Through Books” to as many people as possible, Wellsprings will be offering two copies of the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible at only SGD$39.90 each (U.P. $49.90)* when you introduce a friend to it! Also, as part of this promotion, you may choose to pick-up your order or have it delivered to you for free! So do encourage a friend to read the Bible, or ask others to join you in Bible study. Help spread the Word of God to a friend, a spouse, or a church-mate today and place your order now!

Detailed book review here!!

Click here to make your purchase! Tell-A-Friend @ Wellsprings

8
Jul
Posted by Peter » Add Comment »

Thomas Merton and His Journey

Thomas Merton (1915 – 1968) was a Trappist monk and prominent Catholic author. A prolific writer, he is the author of more than seventy books that include poetry, personal journals, collections of letters, social criticism and writings on peace, justice and ecumenism.

His autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, was published to critical acclaim in 1949, with paperback sales exceeding three million by 1984. Since then it has remained continuously in print and has been translated into more than twenty languages.

The Seven Storey Mountain (Bestseller!)

by Thomas Merton

In 1941, a brilliant, good-looking young man decided to give up a promising literary career in New York to enter a monastery in Kentucky, from where he proceeded to become one of the most influential writers of this century.

Thomas Merton’s first book, The Seven Storey Mountain, describes his early doubts, his conversion to a Catholic faith of extreme certainty, and his decision to take life vows as a Trappist. Although his conversionary piety sometimes falls into sticky-sweet abstractions, Merton’s autobiographical reflections are mostly wise, humble, and concrete. The best reason to read The Seven Storey Mountain, however, may be the one Merton provided in his introduction to its Japanese translation: “I seek to speak to you, in some way, as your own self. Who can tell what this may mean? I myself do not know, but if you listen, things will be said that are perhaps not written in this book. And this will be due not to me but to the One who lives and speaks in both.”

In the half-century since its original publication, this timeless spiritual tome has been published in over twenty languages and has touched millions of lives.This 50th anniversary edition contains an introduction by Merton’s editor, Robert Giroux, and a note to the reader by biographer William H. Shannon.

The Seven Storey Mountain

Available at Wellsprings for S$31.90

Seeds

by Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton is often considered the most prominent Christian contemplative of the twentieth century, but he was also a political activist, social visionary, and literary figure whose writings combine the candor of Thoreau and the moral vision of Gandhi. Here is a remarkably accessible introduction to his work: a collection of a short, vivid excerpts arranged in four parts so as to parallel the journey of a seeking soul in the modern world.

•  “Real and False Selves” distinguishes between our real selves, a deep religious mystery known entirely only to God, and the identities we take on in order to function in society.

•  “The World We Live In” provides a spiritual context to modern life, moving from a stark rejection of its empty promises to a deep compassion for its tragic limitations.

•  “Antidotes to Illusion” reflects on contemplative practices that can serve as the allies of our “real selves” in the battle against illusion: silence, solitude, meditation, prayer, charity, and faith.

•  “Love in Action” explores the role of the contemplative in the modern age and the challenges and pitfalls of living a life of active love.
Merton’s startling critique of a society driven by technology and rampant acquisition, the politics of “good versus evil,” and the self-deluding complacency of the spiritual “lifestyle” demonstrate beyond doubt that his writings are as urgent today as they were in his lifetime.

Seeds

Available at Wellsprings for S$26.90

Angelic Mistakes: The Art of Thomas Merton

by Roger Lipsey

In the last decade of his life, while living as a hermit-monk in dialogue with the world, Thomas Merton created a body of visual art that has remained largely unknown and little studied in the nearly forty years since his death. With this book, Merton’s art at last moves out of the shadows to be appreciated for what it is: a revealing expression of his state of mind and heart in the 1960s, and a visual correlative to his mature works of spiritual writing such as New Seeds of Contemplation and Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander. Roger Lipsey provides a fascinating analysis of the simple and striking images and their significance in Merton’s journey. He find in them resonances with Asian calligraphy and American abstract expressionism, and relates them to the influence of Merton’s wide circle of friends, which included such diverse figures as the Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain, the poet Czeslaw Milosz, the Zen scholar D. T. Suzuki, and the artist Ad Reinhardt—among many others.

But the centerpiece of the book is the art itself, presented in a portfolio of thirty-four representative pieces that reflect the changing themes and methods of Merton’s work. Each is accompanied by selections from his writings from the 1960s that reflect the inward and outward territories Merton was exploring in the period when these remarkable images were created.

Angelic Mistakes: The Art of Thomas Merton

Available at Wellsprings for S$45.90

8
Jul
Posted by Peter » Add Comment »

Books written by Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger, on 16 April 1927), is the 256th and current Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. During the early years following his ordination, he was a distinguished theological scholar and held numerous professorships.

A prolific writer, he is also the founder and patron of the Ratzinger Foundation, a charitable organisation which makes money from the sale of his books and essays in order to fund scholarships and bursaries for students across the world.

Jesus Of Nazareth (Bestseller!)

by Pope Benedict XVI

“ This book is… my personal search ‘ for the face of the Lord.’ ” — Benedict XVI

In this bold, momentous work, the pope— in his first book written as Benedict XVI— seeks to salvage the person of Jesus from recent “ popular” depictions and to restore Jesus’ true identity as discovered in the Gospels. Through his brilliance as a theologian and his personal conviction as a believer, the pope shares a rich, compelling, flesh-and-blood portrait of Jesus and incites us to encounter, face-to-face, the central figure of the Christian faith.

From Jesus of Nazareth:

. . . the great question that will be with us throughout this entire book: But what has Jesus really brought, then, if he has not brought world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world? What has he brought?

The answer is very simple: God. He has brought God! He has brought the God who once gradually unveiled his countenance first to Abraham, then to Moses and the prophets, and then in the wisdom literature— the God who showed his face only in Israel, even though he was also honored among the pagans in various shadowy guises. It is this God, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the true God, whom he has brought to the peoples of the earth. He has brought God, and now we know his face, now we can call upon him.

Now we know the path that we human beings have to take in this world. Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about where we are going and where we come from: faith, hope, and love.”

Over 2 million copies sold worldwide!

Synopsis of Jesus of Nazareth

Jesus of Nazareth

Available at Wellsprings for S$39.90

Heart of the Christian Life:

Thoughts on Holy Mass

by Pope Benedict XVI

The celebration of the Eucharist in which Jesus Christ becomes present is the center of the Catholic faith. This volume brings together substantive texts of the Holy Father on the many aspects and dimensions of the Mass and the Mystery of the Eucharist – a rich source for every Christian and a spur to reflection and personal prayer. Delivered in addresses and homilies to a wide variety of audiences, these reflections reveal the depth and breadth of Pope Benedict XVI’s profound and life-long love for the Holy Eucharist.

A major theme throughout the works of Joseph Ratzinger, the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is the Church’s source of life unity and fruitfulness. This theme has been carried deeply into his pontificate as can be seen in this collection which challenges the faithful to believe that by receiving Christ in Holy Communion they are drawn not only into the very life of God, but into the community that is Christ’s Body the Church.

Heart of the Christian Life: Thoughts on Holy Mass

Available at Wellsprings for S$26.90

Saint Paul

by Pope Benedict XVI

St. Paul is one of the most important figures in Christian history. As Saul of Tarsus he vigorously persecuted Christianity, even collaborating in the death of Christianity’s first martyr Stephen. His encounter with the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus changed Paul’s life, the Christian Church, and world history. More than anyone else in the early Church, Paul saw the universal nature of the Christian message. He became the Apostle to the Gentiles and the Teacher of the Nations . As the human author of half of the New Testament, Paul is a figure who cannot be overlooked by anyone who wants to understand Jesus Christ and Christianity.

In this book, Pope Benedict XVI, a profound spiritual leader in his own right and a first rate theologian and Bible commentator explores the legacy of Paul. Pope Benedict follows the course of the Apostle’s life, including his missionary journeys and his relationship with the other apostles of Jesus such as St. Peter and St. James, and Paul’s martyrdom in Rome. Benedict also examines such questions as Did Paul know Jesus during his earthly life and how much of Jesus teaching and ministry did he know of? Did Paul distort the teachings of Jesus? What role did Jesus death and resurrection play in Paul’s teaching? What are we to make of Paul’s teaching about the end of the world? What does Paul’s teaching say about the differences between Catholic and Protestant Christians over salvation and the roles of faith and works in the Christian life? How have modern Catholic and Protestant scholars come together in their understanding of Paul? What does Paul have to teach us today about living a spiritual life?

These and other important issues are addressed in this masterful, inspirational and highly readable presentation of St. Paul and his writings by one of today s great spiritual teachers, Pope Benedict XVI.

The Apostle Paul – an outstanding and almost inimitable yet stimulating figure stands before us as an example of total dedication to the Lord and to his Church as well as of great openness to humanity and its cultures.

Saint Paul

Available at Wellsprings for S$26.90

Church Fathers:

From Clement of Rome to Augustine

by Pope Benedict XVI

Following his best selling book Jesus of Nazareth, and his talks published in Jesus the Apostles and the Early Church, Pope Benedict’s Church Fathers presents these important figures of early Christianity in all their evangelical vitality, spiritual profundity and uncompromising love of God. Benedict tells the true story of Christianity’s against all odds triumph in the face of fierce pagan Roman hostility and persecution. He does this by exploring the lives and the ideas of the early Christian writers, pastors, and martyrs, the men so important to the spread of Christianity that history knows them as “the Fathers of the Church”.

This rich and engrossing survey of the early Church includes those churchmen who immediately succeeded the Apostles – the “Apostolic Fathers” – Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus of Lyon. Benedict also discusses such great Christian figures as Tertullian Origen and Cyprian of Carthage, the Cappadocian Fathers as well as the giants John Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine, Leo the Great and Benedict of Nursia, the Pope’s namesake.

Church Fathers: From Clement of Rome to Augustine

Available at Wellsprings for S$26.90

Church Fathers and Teachers:

From Saint Leo the Great to Peter Lombard

by Pope Benedict XVI

After meditating on the Apostles and then on the Fathers of the early Church, as seen in his earlier works Jesus, the Apostles and the Early Church and Church Fathers, Pope Benedict XVI devoted his attention to the most influential Christian men from the fifth through the twelfth centuries. In his first book, Church Fathers, Benedict began with Clement of Rome and ended with Saint Augustine. In this volume, the Holy Father reflects on some of the greatest theologians of the Middle Ages: Benedict, Anselm, Bernard, and Gregory the Great, to name just a few.

By exploring both the lives and the ideas of the great popes, abbots, scholars and missionaries who lived during the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christendom, Pope Benedict XVI highlights the key elements of Catholic dogma and practice that remain the foundation stones not only of the Roman Catholic Church but of Christian society itself. This book is a wonderful way to get to know these later Church Fathers and Teachers and the tremendous spiritually rich patrimony they have bequeathed to us.

Church Fathers and Teachers: From Saint Leo the Great to Peter Lombard

Available at Wellsprings for S$30.90

Pilgrim Fellowship of Faith:

The Church as Communion

by Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)

Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, is perhaps the most visible member of the Catholic clergy in the world. In addition, his status as the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has made him one of the most controversial churchmen in recent history.

On the occasion of Ratzinger’s seventy-fifth birthay, his former students have selected essays, lectures, letters, and conferences that Ratzinger has written in recent years-writing that they feel best represents the position of the Cardinal on issues of theology, the modern world, secularism, non-Christian religions, and other key topics of the Catholic Church. This book, characterized by Ratzinger’s concisely reasoned style, is an invaluable resource to those who wish to understand the modern Church, as well as a treasured volume for those who are students of Ratzinger’s theology.

Pilgrim Fellowship of Faith: The Church as Communion

Available at Wellsprings for S$29.90

8
Jul
Posted by Peter » Add Comment »

Our Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger, on 16 April 1927), is the 256th and current Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Prior to his election as Pope, he was the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and reputed for his conservative theology and support for traditional Catholic values and teachings.

In this bulletin, we feature some books which look at the man who sits upon the throne of Peter, and the wider implications for the Roman Catholic Church. For a fuller list, visit our Benedict XVI page.

The Rule of Benedict:

Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World

by David Gibson

“The Rule of Benedict” takes the reader from the dramatic moments in St. Peter’s Square, when the most unlikely candidate in the conclave was announced as the next pope, and goes back through Joseph Ratzinger’s life to decipher how he became Benedict XVI–and what that surprising journey means for his papacy and for the church. Gibson’s earlier book, The Coming Catholic Church , was almost a psychological profile of Catholicism. In the same way, The Rule of Benedict is a psychological profile of the man who heads the Catholic Church. “The Rule of Benedict” is the first biography of Ratzinger as a pope, not just as a priest and cardinal. It is also provides the first in-depth look at the legacy and final days of Pope John Paul, and the first inside look at the politics inside the secret conclave that led to Ratzinger’s election. All of this is placed in the wider historical and religious perspective of Catholicism then and now, providing novel insights into the present and future of the Catholic Church.

The Rule of Benedict: Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World

Available at Wellsprings for S$26.90

The Rise of Benedict XVI

by John L. Allen, Jr.

When Pope Benedict XVI walked onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on April 19, it was the first time that many people had ever heard of him. But for the last 24 years, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was a celebrity in Catholic circles, widely known for his intellectual prowess and his role as the Vatican’s notorious defender of the faith. Allen’s book seeks to fill in the blanks about the man known in the media as “God’s rottweiler,” revealing a person who cannot be summarized in a catchphrase.

But this book isn’t just an examination of the new pope’s Christian principles; it is also a glimpse into the inner machinations of the Vatican, which Allen covers for the “National Catholic Reporter” and from time to time on CNN. Drawing on his many sources -including eight cardinals who participated in the conclave that elected Pope Benedict -Allen gives a play-by-play assessment of how the pope was chosen and what he might have in store for the church’s 1.1 billion followers. Readers who want a cloak-and-dagger political whodunit should look elsewhere. Allen’s book is much smarter than that; it’s a rich and thoughtful analysis of the present-day Catholic Church and its complex new spiritual leader.

The Rise of Benedict XVI

Available at Wellsprings for S$21.90

God’s Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church

by Pope Benedict XVI

George Weigel’s bestselling biography of Pope John Paul II, Witness to Hope, set the standard by which all portraits of the modern papacy are now measured. With God’s Choice, he gives us an extraordinary chronicle of the rise of Pope Benedict XVI as well as an unflinching view of the Catholic Church at the dawn of a new era.

When John Paul II lapsed into illness for the last time, people flocked from all over the world to pray outside his apartment. He had become a father figure to millions in a world bereft of strong paternal examples, and those millions now felt orphaned. After more than twenty-six years of John Paul II’s guidance, the Catholic Church is entering a new age, with its bedrock traditions intact but with pressing questions to address in a rapidly changing world. Beginning with the story of John Paul’s final months, God’s Choice offers a remarkable inside account of the conclave that produced Benedict XVI as the next pope, drawing on George Weigel’s unrivaled access to this complex event.

Weigel also incisively surveys the current state of the Church around the world: its thriving populations in Africa, Latin America, and parts of the post-communist world; its collapse in western Europe; its continued struggles in Asia; and the vibrancy of many aspects of Catholic life in the United States, even as the Church in America struggles to overcome its recent experience of scandal.

Reflecting on John Paul II’s greatness, drawing on firsthand interviews to paint an intimate portrait of the new Pope, and boldly assessing the Church’s current condition, God’s Choice is an invaluable book for anyone seeking to understand the Catholic future and the larger human future the Church will help to shape.

God’s Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church

Available at Wellsprings for S$33.90

Benedict XVI: An Intimate Portrait

by Peter Seewald

In the person of Pope Benedict XVI, one of the most significant of Europe’s intellectuals is heading-up the Vatican. The journalist Peter Seewald, who has known Ratzinger since 1992, conducted the “longest interviews in church history” with him, for two books which were best-sellers world-wide, Salt of the Earth, God and the World.

Now he describes these intensive encounters in detail for the first time, and draws a portrait of this brilliant theologian who has put his life entirely at the service of the Catholic Church. Above and beyond that, this book is also the story of a long dialogue which changed Seewald’s life.

Many people are trying to understand who Benedict XVI really is. On one point they are all agreed: in the person of Joseph Ratzinger, the chair of Peter is occupied by one of the most brilliant minds in the world. Peter Seewald’s portrait of Benedict recounts details about the personality and life of Benedict which were hitherto completely unknown.

Benedict XVI: An Intimate Portrait

Available at Wellsprings for S$44.90

Benedict XVI: Commander of the Faith

by Rupert Shortt

The latest offering in a flurry of books about Catholicism’s leader delves into the mind of the man and explores how his thinking is likely to affect the church and the world. Shortt, religion editor of the Times Literary Supplement and author of two previous books (one on Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury), traces Benedict’s evolution from supporter of reform to agent of restoration.

In analyzing the pope’s past and present views, Shortt probed Benedict’s extensive writings and interviewed about three dozen individuals spanning various religious and academic realms in Europe, Latin America and the United States. He skillfully blends Benedict’s own words with the observations of others to create a balanced portrayal of the man who was first characterized by such appellations as “enforcer” and “God’s Rottweiler” (though Shortt seems to prefer casting Benedict as “The German Shepherd,” the title of his last chapter.) Throughout his concise assessment, the author touches on Benedict’s involvement in such issues as liturgy, the relationship of church to world, the ordination of women, ecumenism and liberation theology. Shortt’s book is commendable for its balance and thoroughness, though some readers may find its theological analyses a bit tedious.

Benedict XVI: Commander of the Faith

Available at Wellsprings for S$27.90

Covenant and Communion:

The Biblical Theology of Pope Benedict XVI

by Scott W. Hahn

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s election as Pope Benedict XVI brought a world-class biblical theologian to the papacy. There is an intensely biblical quality to his pastoral teaching and he has demonstrated a keen concern for the authentic interpretation of sacred Scripture. Here a foremost interpreter of Catholic thought and life offers a probing look at Benedict’s biblical theology and provides a clear and concise introduction to his life and work. Bestselling author and theologian Scott Hahn argues that the heart of Benedict’s theology is salvation history and the Bible and shows how Benedict accepts historical criticism but recognizes its limits. The author also explains how Benedict reads the overall narrative of Scripture and how he puts it to work in theology, liturgy, and Christian discipleship.

“A superb introduction to the way in which the theology of Pope Benedict XVI has been shaped by the Bible. Scott Hahn’s crisp and clear analysis puts the reader at the very center of this remarkable pope’s thought.”

- Gary Anderson, University of Notre Dame

“The increasingly painful bankruptcy of the historical-critical method in our time has created a vacuum precisely at the point where the living Church requires substantial nurture. Pope Benedict XVI has spoken into this crisis like no one else, and his best expositor, Scott Hahn, has done us a tremendous service by synthesizing Benedict’s erudite and prayerful biblical theology into a lively, readable, and intellectually reliable conspectus. This excellent volume will be indispensable for all Christians who seek to be more maturely grounded in Scripture.”

- David Lyle Jeffrey, Baylor University

“As a Protestant biblical scholar, I found Hahn’s exposition of Pope Benedict’s biblical theology both informative and inspiring. In spite of differences, Protestants need to read this book to understand how deeply we can agree on the primacy of Christ and the Word. Through Hahn, I have a new appreciation for the mind and heart of Pope Benedict.”

- Tremper Longman III, Westmont College

Covenant and Communion: The Biblical Theology of Pope Benedict XVI

Available at Wellsprings for S$32.90

7
Jul
Posted by Peter » Add Comment »

David Richo – Psychotherapist Today

David Richo, Ph. D., is a psychotherapist who leads popular workshops at the Esalen Institute and around the U.S. He is the author of several books, including How to be an Adult and Shadow Dance: Liberating the Power and Creativity of your Dark Side.

How to Be an Adult in Relationships:

The Five Keys to Mindful Loving

by David Richo

“Most people think of love as a feeling,” says David Richo, “but love is not so much a feeling as a way of being present.” In this book he offers a fresh perspective on love and relationships– one that focuses not on finding an ideal mate, but on becoming a more loving and realistic person. Drawing on the Buddhist concept of mindfulness, How to Be an Adult in Relationships explores five hallmarks of mindul loving and how they play a key role in our relationships throughout life.

In inspiring and encouraging terms, this book shows us how a handful of steadfast commitments can lead to mature and lasting relationships. Adult love is based on a mutual dedication to granting attention, acceptance, appreciation, affection, and “allowing,” These are the doorways to the joys and wealth of relationship, but too often we don’t grasp what these words really mean and don’t know how to fully manifest them in our relationships.

Brimming with practical exercises for couples and singles, this book offers heartening insights into the lifelong journey of love, from childhood to adulthood, from dating to breakups.

How to Be an Adult in Relationships: The Five Keys to Mindful Loving

Available at Wellsprings for S$25.90

Shadow Dance:

Liberating the Power and Creativity of Your Dark Side

by David Richo

Our “Shadow” is the collection of negative or undesirable traits we keep hidden – the things we don’t like about ourselves or are afraid to admit: egotism, non-”PC” proclivities, forbidden s exual desires. But it also includes our positive, untapped potential, qualities we may admire in others but disavow in ourselves. Befriending the Shadow makes fear an ally and enables us to live more authentically. It also automatically improves our interpersonal relationships, because we are freed from the need to project our own negativity on to others, and we become more acutely aware when theirs is projected onto us.

David RIcho looks for where the Shadow manifests in personal life, family interaction, religion, relationship, and the world around us. He shows how to use the gentle practice of mindfulness to work with our shadow side, and he provides numerous exercises for going deeper. He is remarkably skillful at making the Shadow concept not only east to understand, but supremely practical for enhancing the quality of our lives.

Shadow Dance: Liberating the Power and Creativity of our Dark Side

Available at Wellsprings for S$29.90

The Five Things We Cannot Change . . .

and the Happiness We Find by Embracing Them

by David Richo

Why is it that despite our best efforts, many of us remain fundamentally unhappy and unfulfilled in our lives? In this provocative and inspiring book, David Richo distills thirty years of experience as a therapist to explain the underlying roots of unhappiness – and the suprising secret to finding freedom and fulfillment.

There are certain facts of life that we cannot change – the unavoidable “givens” of human existence: (1) everything changes and ends, (2) things do not always go according to plan, (3) life is not always fair, (4) pain is part of life, and (5) people are not loving and loyal all the time. Richo shows us that by dropping our deep-seated resistance to these givens, we can find liberation and discover the true richness that life has to offer. Blending Western psychology and Eastern spirituality, including practical exercises, Richo shows us how to open up to our lives – including to what is frightening, painful, or disapointing – and discover our greatest gifts.

The Five Things We Cannot Change … and the Happiness We Find by Embracing Them

Available at Wellsprings for S$23.90

When the Past is Present:

Healing the Emotional Wounds that Sabotage Our Relationships

by David Richo

In this book psychotherapist David Richo explores how we replay the past in our present day relationships – and how we can free ourselves from this destructive pattern. We all have a tendency to transfer potent feelings, needs, expectations and beliefs from childhood or from former relationships onto the people in our daily lives, whether they are our intimate partners, friends or acquaintances. When the Past Is Present helps us to become more aware of the ways we slip into the past so that we can identify our emotional baggage and take steps to unpack it and put it where it belongs.

When the Past is Present

Available at Wellsprings for S$29.90

Being True to Life:

Poetic Paths to Personal Growth

by David Richo

Psychotherapist David Richo offers a fresh and inspiring approach to personal growth: we can use the process of writing and reading poetry to move toward greater self understanding and emotional healing. Even if you’ve never written a poem before, you can learn to use poetry to explore your feelings your relationships, your childhood your dreams and more.

Richo explains how the creative, intuitive process of making poetry can help us gain access to our deepest truths, leading us to make connections and explore experiences in a new way beyond the constraints of everyday language. This book offers a range of practical exercises for getting started, as well as guidance on how to read poetry in a way that can be personally transformative.

Being True to Life shows us that poetry is not reserved for a few specially talented individuals but is a deeply human activity that anyone can tap into for greater clarity and insight into life’s struggles, beauty and mysteries.

Being True to Life: Poetic Paths to Personal Growth

Available at Wellsprings for S$23.90

The Power of Coincidence:

How Life Shows Us What We Need to Know

by David Richo

Meaningful coincidences and surprising connections occur all the time in our daily lives, yet we often fail to appreciate how they can guide us, warn us, and confirm us on our life’s path. This book explores how meaningful coincidence operates in our daily lives, in our intimate relationships, and in our creative endeavors.

The Power of Coincidence will help you to: interpret a series of similar happenings, open yourself to assisting forces around you, understand how your dreams can guide you through life events, use your creative imagination in life choices—and live in accord with your deepest needs and wishes, as revealed to you by meaningful coincidences. Originally published under the title Unexpected Miracles, the author has fully revised and updated the book for this edition.

The Power of Coincidence: How Life Shows Us What We Need to Know

Available at Wellsprings for S$26.90

1
Jul
Posted by Peter » Add Comment »

Explaining the New Roman Missal

The Genius of the Roman Rite

by Keith F. Pecklers, S.J.

The Roman Rite has evolved over the centuries in very diverse contexts and situations, and it has endured to our own day precisely because of its capacity to adapt and be shaped by the distinct cultures where it has been celebrated. In 2002 the Latin third edition of the Missale Romanum was promulgated and in subsequent years episcopal conferences have been busy at work producing vernacular translations of the Latin text. As the English-speaking world prepares to receive and implement the English translation of the Missal, Dr. Pecklers’ book is offered as an instrument of catechesis in helping clergy and laity alike to better grasp the rationale for the new translations by considering the wider context of the Rite itself.

Recommendation:

Genius is neither a list of major changes nor a procedure for catechesis; rather, it is a book that offers its readers a comprehensive look on the background of the third edition of the Roman Missal, and its place as the latest development of the ancient Roman Rite. The book is authored by Dr. Keith Pecklers, S.J., professor of liturgy at the Pontifical Gregorian University and professor of liturgical history at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in Rome.

The book is loosely framed in two parts—the first looks at the history of the Roman Rite, and the important liturgical developments which have occurred since the early days of the Church up to the Second Vatican Council. In beginning the latter part of the book, Dr. Pecklers first establishes with the reader the various principles and processes behind liturgical translations, before making a detailed study of the 2002 General Instruction on the Roman Missal and the new Missal itself.

Readers will find a tidy and comprehensive work on the Roman Rite in this book; in its earlier chapters, time and care is taken to ensure that the reader is first endowed with knowledge on not only the historical development of the Rite, but also its very ethos and fundamental character that distinguished it from the many Rites which emerged over the centuries. The work can be seen as an apologetics for the new Missal, and strives to address the doubtless questions and disagreement that accompanies change.

From there, Dr. Pecklers brings the reader to the present-day, and into the meticulous world of liturgical translation of the post-Vatican II era. This important chapter introduces to us the various issues taken into consideration in the translating of liturgical texts. Translation isn’t merely about accuracy (“peace to all people” versus “peace to all men of good will”) here, but takes into account pastoral factors (can the congregation understand this multi-syllabled word?), theological factors (‘in one being with the Father’ or ‘consubstantial’?), and even literary devices (the translation of antithetic parallelisms from the Latin).

Armed with this background knowledge, the book then brings us into a detailed and informed study of the various issues and implications of the new translation of the Missal in the final two chapters. Dr. Pecklers highlights for us the many improvements in the new translation, relating them to their theological and liturgical significances. At the same time, major changes and translation disputes in the new Missal are also raised and discussed in detail. The book is concluded with Dr. Pecklers pointing out the practical and pastoral challenges ahead for those involved in implementing the new Missal worldwide.

Evident throughout this book is the author’s concern for the implementation of the new Missal. Improved as it is, he notes that “reception and implementation will not happen overnight”. Looking back at the Vatican II reforms, he warns that “the fundamental problem with the implementation of Vatican II liturgical reforms was the lack of proper catechesis to facilitate such implementation”.

This book is invaluable for all those involved in the catechesis and implementation of the new Missal; clergy, liturgical committees/commissions, and senior parish leaders throughout the English-speaking world. It is a work written and created precisely for those involved in the guiding and teaching ordinary Catholics. In understanding the rationale and processes behind the Rite and its translation, it is a work that seeks to enable the few to better prepare and nurture those participating and celebrating in this Sacred Liturgy.

Please order by clicking this link — The Genius of the Roman Rite: On the Reception and Implementation of the New Missal