Hans Urs von Balthasar once said that theology should be done on one's knees, suggesting that the attitude it should create in the reader or hearer is one of adoration and praise for the divine mystery. Few contemporary theologians achieve this effect, but here Kevin Seasoltz comes close. This book is a profound but simply written mediation on the central mysteries of the Christian faith—the trinity, redemption, the eucharist, human participation in the divine life and solidarity with one another--in a contemporary idiom. It begins with the notion of gift giving, which ever since Marcel Mauss's Essai sur le don has been the subject of intense discussion among ethicists, cultural anthropologists, and political scientists, as well as among philosophers like Jacques Derrida and theologians like Jean-Luc Marion. Seasoltz takes up these contemporary notions of gift giving and teases out various facets of the divine gifts of word and sacrament, of the Spirit, of communion and community. As Seasoltz says in one summary sentence: "The mystery of the Trinity is made accessible to us above all in the eucharist, for it is there in a special and ongoing way that we are drawn into the very life of God and into the lives of each other."

Table Of Contents

1. God and Gift Giving
2. God's Gift of Sacrifice
3. God's Gift Giving and Christ as Victim in the Eucharist
4. God's Gift of Word and Sacrament
5. God's Gift of the Spirit
6. God's Gift Giving: Some Pastoral Implications

Authors

R. Kevin Seasoltz, OSB, is perhaps the leading Roman Catholic liturgical scholar in the English-speaking world. Editor of Worship for 18 years, professor of liturgy at the Catholic University of America for 25 years, and now professor of liturgy at St. Johns’s University, Collegeville, he is the author of 4 books and over 200 academic articles and has lectured extensively throughout the English-speaking world. His "Sense of the Sacred: Theological Foundations of Christian Architecture and Art" won first place in the category of liturgy for the Catholic Press Associations's 2006 Awards

Reviews

"From his rich background in the field of liturgical studies and many years as editor of Worship, Kevin Seasoltz has drawn together multiple resources on a number of important theological, liturgical, and pastoral issues in a single volume. The book's focus on God's gift giving provides a valuble lens for reframing some of the major theological topics of our day, including what it means to speak of the Eucharist as sacrifice, how to speak of the cross in a world of violence, the relationship of word and sacrament, and the role of the Spirit throughout creation and within the liturgy."

—Mary Catherine Hilkert, OP, Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame

"Social scientists of all stripes, some philosophers (including deconstructionists), and an increasing number of theologians have become infatuated with 'gift-giving.' Gifts, they find, offer important clues into the character of the giver, the recipient, and the ties that bind them to each other and to their culture. Seen as a gift-giver, God's being and relationship to creation take on new meaning. Kevin Seasoltz rethinks the significance of sacrifice, Jesus as victim, word and sacrament, the gift of the Spirit, and sundry other gifts of which we are beneficiaries. Without mentioning the word, he has produced a fresh and engaging treatise on grace that will appeal to serious readers wanting to keep abreast of current developments in theology."

--Berard L. Marthaler, OFMConv, Profesor Emeritus, Catholic University of America

"Seasoltz, the longtime editor of Worship, is finely attuned to the problems the idea of sacrifice can present; in particular, he is familiar with the critique of certain crude understandings of the 'sacrifice of the Mass.' His book includes a wonderful chapter on the gift of the Holy Spirit, a subject now seriously considered in Catholic theology after a long period of Christomonism in the Western church, when the Third Person of the Trinity often seemed to figure only as an afterthought...Finally, Seasoltz provides a rich account of sacramental and liturgical theology. The book's footnotes are the product of a careful and exhaustive scholarship...and Seasoltz's exemplary exposition is clear and free of jargon...The author's success in bringing the concept of gift to bear on so many theological topics will make this book useful to any educated Catholic, but especially to those who preach, teach, or conduct spiritual exercises."-Lawarence S. Cunningham, Commonweal, January 18, 2008

"This highly regarded editor of Worship and Berakah award winner cogently makes the case that "God lives primarily for giving, giving to the extent of giving his only Son who in turns gives the fullness of his life for his people Our response to that gift is meant to be eucharist" (235). To arrive at that conclusion, Seasoltz carefully examines the conceptual foundations behind it. In the process, her tackles many complex issues and refuses to sidestep thorny and contentious ones Seasoltz' gift for historical insight is especially evident in his chapter on "God's Gift of Word and Sacrament.” —Dwight W. Vogel, Doxology, 2007

"In a book that will be accessible to Catholic and Christian believers with at least some theological background, Benedictine Kevin Seasoltz approaches the mystery of God and God's work in our world from the point of view of gift-giving it is clear that the author is a liturgist who loves this aspect of Christian living and knows how to indicate its relevance in a general way to ethics and even politics... This is a thoughtful book, fruit of much scholarship and wisdom." —Gerry O'Hanlon, The Furrow, March 2008

“If you are planning to read only one book on the theology of the Eucharist in the near future I would heartily recommend this book to your consideration Seasoltz is wide-ranging in his reading. He is also extremely literate, making excellent use of literature, art and music along the way. I hope that this book is used widely in college and seminary courses.” —John F. Baldovin, Worship, May 2008, Vol. 83 No. 3