Sacraments and Justice

Sacraments speak a language and disclose their power through symbols. Beyond 'representing' another reality, sacramental symbols are intimately connected with the reality they express and sources of joy, solace, confrontation, peace, healing, strength, and life-giving sustenance to the initiated.

Sacraments and Justice describes the social implications of worship, the history of each sacrament, and reveals how the seven sacraments—baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, marriage, orders, and the anointing of the sick—link to social justice. It offers an integrated understanding of the transformation that is inextricably linked to each sacrament, as well as the active presence of Christ who lives in expectation of our response to participate in the urgent response to unjust policies and systems that affect the most vulnerable in our global family.

Educated Catholics, or Catholics looking for a first-rate education on the sacraments, as well as parish teams, study groups, and Catholic educators, will cheer this volume as solid and incisive, while at the same time accessible and engaging. Each contributor is an academic who writes with a human touch about the gracious promise embedded in sacraments. They include:

• John Baldovin, SJ, on baptism
• Edward Hahnenberg on confirmation
• Michael Driscoll on Eucharist
• Doris Donnelly on penance
• Thomas Scirghi, SJ, on holy orders
• Natalie Weaver on marriage
• Paul Turner on anointing of the sick