A child begs her father to take her to the baseball game, where she roots for the home team and eats peanuts and Cracker Jack.

Guiding readers through the rites of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist, Understanding the Sacraments of Initiation explores the way in which the sacraments of Initiation affect and influence one’s daily Christian life.

Understanding the Sacraments of Vocation presents insightful catechesis or mystagogy on the sacraments of vocation based on the words, actions, and signs of the rites and pastorally connects the meaning of the sacraments into daily Christian life.

From playing video games to sleeping-in, teens can think of countless things they would rather do than go to Mass on Sunday morning. That is, unless they knew what they were missing. Do I Have to Go? explains the meaning and the mystery of Mass in such a way that teens will be asking, 'Why wouldn’t I go?' With wit, clarity, and common sense, Matthew Pinto and Chris Stefanick answer the tough questions teens have about the Mass-from the rituals contained in the liturgy, to the doctrines of the Eucharist and the priesthood. When teens understand that the Mass is literally the meeting place between heaven and earth, they will have a newfound sense of awe and a deeper understanding of their role as a Catholic in a post-modern world. In Do I Have to Go? teens will learn: ● Why the Mass is an essential part of the Christian life. ● The mystery of the Eucharist as the Real Presence of Jesus’s Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. ● How the redemptive work of Jesus Christ is communicated to and through the Church and the sacraments. ●The meaning of all the gestures and symbols of the the Mass. ● How the Mass has developed from its roots in the Old Testament, through its institution by Christ. ● The importance of the liturgical seasons for the spiritual life.

This book engages the theology of Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI in dialogue with African Catholic theological concerns and challenges. After an Introduction by Matthew Levering arguing that African Catholic theology is an important resource for the whole Church, the book contains ten chapters by African and non-African Catholic theologians. Paulinus Odozor investigates whether and, if so, how the God of Jesus Christ stands in continuity with the God known to African Traditional Religions. Paul Ọlatubọsun Adaja addresses faith and reason in light of the current African anthropological crisis. Tegha Nji and Valery Akoh connect Ratzinger's idea of "pro-existence" with traditional African understandings of solidarity. Jacob Phillips compares the theologies of Robert Cardinal Sarah and Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI. Dennis Kasule examines the requirements of a New Evangelization for Africa, in light of the case of Uganda. Joseph Lugalambi proposes that the Catholic liturgies of Africa are in need of reform. Mary-Reginald N. Anibueze explores the Eucharist as a socio-communitarian event. Emery de Gaal reflects upon Ratzinger/Benedict's theology of inculturation. Joseph Ogbonnaya treats Caritas in Veritate with a focus upon the case of Nigeria. Maurice Ashley Agbaw-Ebai meditates upon Ratzinger's understanding of political power.

Sacramentum Caritatis. In his first apostolic exhortation issued on February 22, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI explains why the Eucharist is so important in the Church. Continuing the theme of his first encyclical, God Is Love, Benedict shows how in the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus shows us the truth about love. The document points out the way to living an authentic Eucharistic spirituality so that the sacrament of love extends beyond the liturgy into every aspect of our daily lives. Thus the sacrament brings us the hope of eternal life and makes us holy.