Pope Benedict XVI/Ratzinger
Benedict and Francis: Their Ministry as Successors to Peter
Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have each approached the papacy in strikingly different ways, yet they share the same fundamental vision of the world and man. In these pages, Cardinal Muller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, explores the differences and commonalities of these two popes, showing how the challenge for the Church's hierarchy remains the same, and how these two popes are leading the Church to resist worldly infections and to heal the spiritual diseases of our time.
He also provides a succinct and fascinating look into the universal ministry of the Church, showing how the popes, as successors to Peter, are the visible head of the pilgrim Church and are tasked with carrying out the pastoral ministry of Christ.
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Benedict XVI: Defender of the Faith
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Called to Communion: Understanding the Church Today
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Christ Our Joy: The Theological Vision of Pope Benedict XVI
Noticing how often the new Pope had the topic of joy as the central theme of his many addresses, Murphy delved into the vast writings of the Pope, before and after his election to the papacy, and found that the theme of joy has pervaded all of his theology. Recognizing the Pope's invitation to joy as a key to understanding his basic theological vision, Murphy develops those ideas and writings in a creative way, and helps the reader to engage personally with the original and pastoral mind of Joseph Ratzinger, professor, pastor, and now Pope Benedict XVI.
This joy is nothing other than the joy of the Christian faith. Indeed, the first word of the New Testament, says Pope Benedict XVI, is an invitation to joy. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, he insists, is not a burdensome imposition but is truly glad tidings for mankind. Christianity is the key to true and lasting joy, the only joy that abides in the midst of life's anxieties and difficulties.
Written in a clear and engaging style, this book argues that joy is central to all of Pope Benedict's thought. All the other great themes of the Christian faith are intimately connected with it and radiate out from it. The world is in need of hearing once again the message of joy which Jesus Christ makes known.
For priests, religious and laity who are concerned with presenting the Christian message in a positive, attractive and convincing way, as well as for all who wish to delve into the rich and exciting thought of Pope Benedict XVI, one of the most inspiring Christian thinkers of recent decades, this timely book will provide insight for personal reflection, preaching and teaching.
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Divine Project: Reflections on Creation and the Church
It took nearly thirty years for a forgotten box of cassette tapes, mislaid in an abbey in Austria, to be brought to light. On these tapes, recorded in 1985, the voice of Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) walks his listeners, with small, careful steps, through the thick terrain of contemporary theology. Now, after decades, these lectures have been dusted off, transcribed, and published for readers across the globe.
The Divine Project is a study of God the Creator and of man as this Creator's masterpiece. "Ratzinger", as Professor Matthew Levering writes, "guides us through the most difficult domains of modern theology and modern life: how to read the Bible; the Reason of God and the reasonableness of the cosmos; the meaning of original sin; technology, ecology, and creatureliness; the Cross and the Eucharist; and Vatican II, pluralism, the Magisterium, and the nature of the Church."
This once-forgotten work offers a short and accessible tour of the whole theological world of Joseph Ratzinger, one of the most important minds of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
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Eschatology Death & Eternal Life
Originally published in English in 1988, Joseph Ratzinger's Eschatology remains internationally recognized as a leading text on the "last things"--heaven and hell, purgatory and judgment, death and the immortality of the soul. This highly anticipated second edition includes a new preface by Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI and a supplement to the bibliography by theologian Peter A. Casarella.
Eschatology presents a balanced perspective of the doctrine at the center of Christian belief--the Church's faith in eternal life. Recognizing the task of contemporary eschatology as "to marry perspectives, so that person and community, present and future, are seen in their unity," Joseph Ratzinger brings together recent emphasis on the theology of hope for the future with the more traditional elements of the doctrine. His book has proven to be as timeless as it is timely.
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Holy Days: Meditations on the Feasts, Fasts, and Other Solemnities of the Church
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Introduction to Christianity
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Jesus of Nazareth Vol 3 Infancy & Childhood
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Jesus of Nazareth Vol.1 from his baptism
In this bold, momentous work, Joseph Ratzinger--in his first book written since he became Pope--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 invites 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: What did Jesus actually bring, if not 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 formerly unveiled his countenance gradually first to Abraham, then to Moses and the Prophets, and then in the Wisdom Literature--the God who revealed 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, Isaac, and 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."
The Study Guide is also available!
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Mary the Church at the Source
Two great theologians endeavor to recover the centrality of Marian doctrine and devotion for the contemporary Church, offering a spiritually rich approach to Mariology that brings into new relief the Marian contours of ecclesial faith. Ratzinger and von Balthasar show that Mary is both the embodiment of the Church, and the mother who co-operates in giving birth to the Church in the souls of believers.
At once profound and yet readily accessible, Mary: The Church at the Source offers a theologically balanced and biblically grounded presentation of traditional and contemporary thought on Marian doctrine and spirituality.
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Meaning of Christian Brotherhood
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Saint Paul
Saint 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 Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Paul's encounter with the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus changed his life, the Church, and the world. 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 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 and a first-rate theologian and Bible commentator, explores the legacy of Saint Paul. The pope follows the course of the Apostle's life, including his missionary journeys, his relationships with the other Apostles, and his martyrdom in Rome. Benedict also examines the following questions: Did Paul know Jesus during his earthly life. How much of Jesus' teaching and ministry did he know about? 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 his teaching say about 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?
"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."
-- Pope Benedict XVI
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School of Prayer: The Saints Show Us How to Pray
The Complete Edition
Prayer is essential to the life of faith. In this superb book, based on Pope Benedict's weekly teaching, he examines the foundational principles of the life of prayer. Believers of various backgrounds and experience in prayer-from beginners to spiritually advanced-will be enriched by this spiritual masterpiece.
Benedict begins considering what we can learn from the examples of prayer found in a wide range of cultures and eras. Next, he turns to the Bible's teaching about prayer, beginning with Abraham and moving though Moses, the prophets, the Psalms to the example of Jesus. With Jesus Christ, Pope Benedict considers not only the Lord's teaching about prayer, but also his example of how to pray, including the Our Father, his prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane, and prayers on the Cross. The prayers of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and the early Church are also explored. Benedict also draws on insights from spiritual masters, the saints, and the Church's liturgy. He challenges readers to live their relationships with God even more intensely, as it were, at a 'school of prayer'.
Although Benedict provides a sweeping survey of great figures of prayer, his discussion centers on Jesus Christ and even invokes him in the study of prayer. It is in fact in Jesus, writes Benedict, "that man becomes able to approach God in the depth and intimacy of the relationship of fatherhood and sonship. Together with the first disciples, let us now turn with humble trust to the Teacher and ask him: 'Lord, teach us to pray' (Lk 11:1)."
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Seek that which is Above
Within the pages of this gem of a book, readers from all backgrounds will find helpful and encouraging wisdom which can be referred to again and again. It is a perfect gift, as well as inspirational and instructive spiritual reading for oneself throughout the year.
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Signs of New Life
At life's many crossroads, the sacraments of the Church--Baptism, Confirmation, Confession, Holy Eucharist, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick--bring people into contact with the saving work of God. In this collection of homilies, Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) explains these celebrations of the Church and shows how they always offer an opportunity to announce our faith in Christ and to deepen our understanding of it.
Ratzinger endeavored as a theologian to develop an understanding of the sacraments that would help to make participation in them, and in the Paschal Mystery, more fruitful. Many of these homilies connect the sacraments with a profound interpretation of Scripture. The scriptural passages interpreted in each homily are listed at the beginning of the chapter, so that this volume can also be used for scriptural meditation.
Since the Church herself is both a sacrament--that is, a sign of God's saving action in the world--and the place where the sacraments take place, two of the chapters are about the Church, the body of believers where God dwells.
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The Spirit of the Liturgy -- Commemorative Edition
In honor of its fortieth anniversary (1978–2018), Ignatius Press presents a special Commemorative Edition of one of the most important works written by Joseph Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy.
This edition includes the earlier classic work with the same title by Servant of God Romano Guardini, a book that helped Ratzinger to "rediscover the liturgy in all its beauty, hidden wealth and time-transcending grandeur, to see it as the animating center of the Church, the very center of Christian life".
Considered by Ratzinger devotees as one of his greatest works, this profound and beautifully written treatment of the liturgy will help readers to deepen their understanding of the"great prayer of the Church". The cardinal discusses fundamental misunderstandings of the Second Vatican Council's intentions for liturgical renewal, especially about the priest's orientation of prayer to the Father, the placement of the tabernacle in churches, and the posture of kneeling.
Other important topics are the essence of worship, the Jewish roots of Christian prayer, the relationship of the liturgy to time and space, sacred art and music, and the active participation of the faithful in the Mass.
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Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions
Is truth knowable? If we know the truth, must we hide it in the name of tolerance? Cardinal Ratzinger engages the problem of truth, tolerance, religion and culture in the modern world. Describing the vast array of world religions, Ratzinger embraces the difficult challenge of meeting diverse understandings of spiritual truth while defending the Catholic teaching of salvation through Jesus Christ. But what if it is true? is the question that he poses to cultures that decry the Christian position on man's redemption. Upholding the notion of religious truth while asserting the right of religious freedom, Cardinal Ratzinger outlines the timeless teaching of the Magisterium in language that resonates with our embattled culture. A work of extreme sensitivity, understanding, and spiritual maturity, this book is an invaluable asset to those who struggle to hear the voice of truth in the modern religious world.
Beyond all particular questions, the real problem lies in the question about truth. Can truth be recognized? Or, is the question about truth simply inappropriate in the realm of religion and belief? But what meaning does belief then have, what positive meaning does religion have, if it cannot be connected with truth?
--Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
From the Preface
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What Does It Mean to Believe? Faith In the Thought of Joseph Ratzinger
In What Does it Mean to Believe?, Fr. Daniel Card outlines the different insights of Joseph Ratzinger on the act of faith""understood as a personal, integral, and ecclesial act. Card provides an organic view of the rich contribution made by the Pope Emeritus in his many theological works.
What Does it Mean to Believe? is also an invitation to appreciate the mind and the faith of one of the greatest theologians of our time.
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Yes of Jesus Christ
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