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    Word Made Flesh: A Companion to the Sunday Readings (Cycle C)
    Word Made Flesh: A Companion to the Sunday Readings (Cycle C)
    Word Made Flesh: A Companion to the Sunday Readings (Cycle C)
    Ebook83 pages1 hour

    Word Made Flesh: A Companion to the Sunday Readings (Cycle C)

    By Christopher West

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    About this ebook

    One of the most influential movements in the Church today is centered on St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body (TOB), of whose teachings Christopher West is the preeminent translator for a popular audience. In Word Made Flesh: A Companion to the Sunday Readings (Cycle C), West offers reflections on an entire cycle of Sunday Mass readings through the lens of TOB, providing a fresh way to process and act on the Good News by orienting our desires for union with God with our understanding of ourselves and our relationships with others.

    St. John Paul II’s TOB is most often framed as an extended catechesis on human sexuality and married love. It is that, to be sure, but, as John Paul II observed, what we learn in the TOB “concerns the whole Bible” and the “whole mission of Christ.” Wearing John Paul II’s “spousal lenses,” West takes us on a tour of the Sunday readings throughout the liturgical year and opens their hidden meaning, allowing God’s word to take flesh in our own lives.

    In a clearly written introduction, West provides a primer on TOB—an overview of its main teachings and an explanation of how these teachings brilliantly illuminate the whole story of salvation from Genesis to Revelation.

    In Word Made Flesh, West offers distinctive reflections on all fifty-two Sunday readings from the first Sunday of Advent through Christ the King Sunday. Some weeks he focuses primarily on the Gospel, while in others he emphasizes a specific passage or verse from one of the other readings. The reflections naturally and deeply connect with the human experience of living with body and soul in the world while also contemplating the nature of the glorified body in the eternal kingdom to come.

    The material in Word Made Flesh can be used as a weekly devotional or as a preparation for Sunday Mass. Subsequent editions of Word Made Flesh will be released prior to the start of liturgical cycles A (Advent 2019) and B (Advent 2020).

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAve Maria Press
    Release dateSep 7, 2018
    ISBN9781594718601
    Word Made Flesh: A Companion to the Sunday Readings (Cycle C)
    Author

    Christopher West

    Christopher West is a renowned educator, best-selling author, cultural commentator, and popular theologian who specializes in St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.

    Read more from Christopher West

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      Book preview

      Word Made Flesh - Christopher West

      "The entirety of the scriptures—from Genesis to Revelation—recounts the story of God’s profound love for his creation. Christopher West’s Word Made Flesh provides an ongoing reflection on this love through the lens of St. John Paul II’s catechesis on the nuptial meaning of creation. Since these meditations follow the Sunday Lectionary, every Catholic can benefit from this companion as they pray their way through the liturgical year."

      Most Rev. Kevin C. Rhoades

      Bishop of Fort Wayne–South Bend

      Christopher West does it again! Through the lens of Theology of the Body, he helps break open the Sunday readings to reveal the deep mysteries of our desires. Let him personally walk alongside you each week and you will find your heart burning within you.

      Rose Sweet

      Catholic author, speaker, and retreat leader

      "Christopher West’s new book has been a secret dream of many familiar with Theology of the Body, including myself. So many liturgical Bible readings lend themselves to an explication through the lens of St. John Paul II’s masterwork, and now West has connected the dots. As Catholics, we have three sources of Revelation: Creation (the Father), Scripture (the Son), the Church (the Holy Spirit). In Word Made Flesh, West, with his gift of clarity, helps us to discern all three sources working together and assists both clergy and laity in breaking open the Word of God in all its physical and spiritual richness and beauty."

      Sr. Helena Burns, F.S.P.

      Theology of the Body presenter

      The calendar dates of the Sundays for the most recent Liturgical Year C as determined by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops are found at www.avemariapress.com/liturgicalyearC.

      Please note that liturgical calendars vary from year to year and often by country.

      Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

      Some scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, Revised Edition © 2011, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, DC, and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible, Revised Edition may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

      English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for the United States of America copyright © 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.—Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission.

      ____________________________________

      © 2018 by Christopher West

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews, without written permission from Ave Maria Press®, Inc., P.O. Box 428, Notre Dame, IN 46556, 1-800-282-1865.

      Founded in 1865, Ave Maria Press is a ministry of the United States Province of Holy Cross.

      www.avemariapress.com

      Paperback: ISBN-13 978-1-59471-859-5

      E-book: ISBN-13 978-1-59471-860-1

      Cover image © Qweek/iStock.

      Cover and text design by Brianna Dombo.

      Printed and bound in the United States of America.

      To my mother, Marian (Bonnie) West, who has dedicated her life valiantly to incarnating the Word.

      CONTENTS

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      INTRODUCTION

      THE ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS SEASONS

      ORDINARY TIME

      THE LENT AND EASTER SEASONS

      ORDINARY TIME

      SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      My sincere thanks go to Bill Howard who first proposed the idea of turning my weekly reflections on the Sunday readings into a book. He worked diligently to get this off the ground and bring it to fruition.

      Phillip Rolfes was a godsend in all the work he did organizing the manuscript, pulling scripture quotes, and providing scripture references. Thank you!

      My thanks also to Ian Rutherford who recommended Ave Maria Press as the right fit for this kind of book.

      Finally, my thanks to everyone at Ave Maria Press who embraced this project and brought it to publication.

      INTRODUCTION

      Christianity is the religion of the Word of God, a word which is not a written and mute word, but the Word is incarnate and living (St. Bernard). If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, open [our] minds to understand the Scriptures (Lk 24:45).

      —Catechism of the Catholic Church, 108

      The sacred words of scripture are, of course, critically important to our faith. Still, the Christian faith is not a ‘religion of the book,’ as the Catechism insists (108). It is the religion of the Divine Word that became flesh and made his dwelling among us (Jn 1:14). Scripture, in fact, will remain a dead letter unless every word of it is read in view of the Word made flesh.

      That is the purpose of the volume you now hold in your hands. Inspired by the scriptural vision St. John Paul II unfolded for us in his 129 Wednesday audiences from 1979 to 1984 that came to be known as the Theology of the Body (TOB), the brief, prayerful reflections on the Sunday readings in this book are intended to open [our] minds to understand the Scriptures by reading them in light of the Word [which] is incarnate and living.

      ULTIMATE MEANING IS MADE FLESH

      Have you ever paused to

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