Reviews

Books

A Good Death: Challenges, Choices and Care Options
Charles Meyer
Twenty-Third Publications, PO Box 180, Mystic, CT 06355; 1998; 57p; $6.95.
Meyer has provided a timely book which covers topics related to many issues facing individuals, families and society as a whole. Six brief chapters cover topics relating to changes in healthcare, alternatives to traditional treatment, euthanasia and the role of spirituality. An excellent glossary is included, assisting the layperson in understanding the medical terms used.

Meyer believes that a change in attitude is needed as we or those we love face the significant moment of death. This is due to all the changes currently taking place in the medical field. The chapter on spirituality offers practical advice for family, friends or ministers who pray with the dying.

This is an ideal book for those in pastoral care, hospital chaplains, hospice and retirement home workers, social workers, family members who are facing the death of a loved one or even for someone who would like more options in planning one's own death.
-- Sr. John Martin Ebrom, CDP

Clergy Killers: Guidance for Pastors and Congregations Under Attack
G. Lloyd Rediger
Westminister John Knox Press, 100 Witherspoon St., Louisville, Kentucky 40202-1396; 1997; 200p; $15.00.
Clergy Killers addresses the contemporary matter of pastors abused by congregations as well as congregations abused by pastors. The acceptance of this reality by pastors and governing bodies of congregations is still reluctant. The clergy-killer phenomenon calls out for attention and action on the part of responsible leadership in churches. According to G. Lloyd Rediger, "We are not just talking about conflict anymore; we are talking about emotional and spiritual abuse of traumatic proportions."

This publication not only sounds a red-alert warning, it also provides strategies for healing and reconciling in the church. Responsibility on the part of both pastor and congregation will effect health and holiness for all engaged in pastoral ministry.

Rediger awakens many to the growing pastoral problem of "clergy killers" and "killer clergy." The wisdom of these pages will hasten attention and action to help both pastor and congregation.
-- W. Regis Halloran

Why I Am Still a Catholic
Edited by Kevin and Marilyn Ryan
The Berkley Publishing Group, 200 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016; 1998; 312p; $13.
This collection of autobiographical accounts, purportedly written for the young but more likely to be relished by the intellectual and mature Catholic, reveals the diversity, satisfaction and often the struggle of persons guided by faith. The Ryans have produced an interesting array of witnesses, each of whom reflect a unique style, perspective and experience of church. Some are Catholic since birth; others, not so; still others, returning to the church when maturity, grace and faith make it reasonable to do so. Throughout the book the reader is treated to various analyses of pre- and post-Vatican II thinking and experience. Each writer tells candidly why being a Catholic is important, what people and situations have been influential, and how life in its many aspects converges or conflicts with being Catholic. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend discusses her early schooling as the place she learned to develop her talents and to strive for excellence for the greater glory of God. Father Andrew Greeley reveals that when we see the love Mary had for her newborn son and has for us today, we do indeed share the good news with joy. Michael Novak holds that some of what the church stands for is countercultural, and he is proud of that. However, he notes as well that the church often contributes to a world climate in which many nations can agree that enslaving other human beings, forcing children to labor, practicing torture, genocide and rape are wrong. These writers, along with 22 others, present us with a vibrant kaleidoscope of the Catholic Church as it was, is now and continues to be.
-- Sr. Francis Borgia, OSU

Live the Story: Simple Plays for Churches
Compiled by Cheryl Perry
Wood Lake Books, 10162 Newene Rd., Winfield, BC, Canada, V4V 1R2; 1997; 143p; $15.95.
Catechists and youth ministers striving to bring life to the liturgical seasons as well as to stories from the Old Testament will welcome this collection of 24 plays suitable for all ages including adults. The editor points out that in the early Middle Ages, the rubrics for the Easter and Christmas liturgies incorporated drama along with chant. The feast of Corpus Christi was introduced into the church calendar in 1311. The mystery (or miracle) plays associated with Corpus Christi provide the inspiration for this book. The plays are fresh, lively, short and easily staged. They are intended to entertain as well as teach. Each play has short sections on characters, staging notes and props. The introduction includes two pages of performance tips. Many of these plays could be incorporated into liturgies and other prayer celebrations.
-- Mary J. McDonald

Volunteering: 101 Ways You Can Improve the World and Your Life
Douglas Lawson, PhD
ALTI Publishing, 15708 Pomerado Rd., Ste. 209, Poway, CA 92064; 1998; 125p; $7.95.
Anyone involved in church ministry knows the identity of the most precious commodity available -- the volunteer. Lawson's book offers current and potential volunteers meaningful ways to consider and augment their vocation. In 101 mini-chapters a relevant question is given a substantive answer supported by a quotation from a famous person.

The dedication can awe readers by placing them in juxtaposition with three great volunteers who changed the world and who left us within the same week: Mother Teresa, Princess Diana and Victor Frankl. From the slums of Calcutta through the hospitals of Great Britain to the concentration camps of World War II, these three humanitarians modeled Gospel values of service for us.

Lawson firmly believes in the value of volunteering but does not hesitate to ask the tough questions: "I'm Bedridden, Can I Volunteer?" "Can I Really Trust the Charity Where I Volunteer?" "Is Volunteering My Money Really Enough?" "I'm a Yuppie with Three Kids. What Can I Do?" The desire to find the answer to these and 97 other queries is sufficient motivation to explore this lexicon of sharing hope and self- esteem.

Among the many significant quotations, one by Winston Churchill sums up the purpose of this portfolio: "We make a living by what we do; but we make a life by what we give."
-- Marilyn Peters Krawczyk

The Joy of Being a Eucharistic Minister
Mitch Finley
Resurrection Press, Ltd., Mineola, NY; 1998; 96p; $4.95.
This slender volume is ready to put in the hands of all who are undergoing formation as extraordinary ministers of communion. It offers a balance between devotional spirituality and theological revelations of the Eucharist. Readers will not feel alienated or unworthy about their vocation but according to Finley's introduction "will feel a deeper joy in being a eucharistic minister."

The nourishment of communion is so central to our faith that we extend ourselves in a unique type of "presence." This becomes the topic of the final chapter which interweaves the presence of Christ in the Eucharist with the eucharistic minister's presence to each person who receives the Body and Blood of the Lord from their hands.

This touch, this recognition, this intimacy is the witness of humility as Jesus is revealed anew by this interaction of commitment and acceptance. The pastoral minister will find this book most valuable.
-- Marilyn Peters Krawczyk

Music

Away in a Manger: Carols of Christmas, Evening Prayer of Christmas (Music of Richard Hillert)
Robert Randall
Abingdon Press, PO Box 801, Nashville, TN 37202- 0801; 1998; 125p; CD $14.95.
Are you looking for a great idea for a Christmas Eve prayer service? Have you ever wanted to sing a setting of Christmas Vespers before Midnight Mass to help hearts and minds enter into the mysteries of Christmas? Away in a Manger gives a great example of how we can accomplish this goal. Even the notes in the CD jacket set the scene: "We have come to church on Christmas Eve.... The assembly and choir are joining the instrumentalists in their favorite seasonal carols.... The assembly then stands as a large lighted candle is carried down the center aisle of the church, and the leader begins the Evening Prayer of Christmas." The ensembles involved in this recording, J. Michael Thompson's Schola Cantorum of St. Peter's in the Loop, Chicago, and John Folkening's Grace Lutheran School Centennial Choir, are superb. Hillert's music is accessible to most any ensemble. Arrangements of familiar carols are quite lovely and provide good alternatives to other arrangements of these same carols. What is most particularly stunning is the Evening Prayer of Christmas, which includes sung dialog between leader and assembly in the Service of Light, Litany and Prayer for Peace, and the Lord's Prayer and Benedicamus. Even if your goal might not be within reach for a while, include this CD on your "play list" for Christmas!
-- Jeannette L. Oliver

Sing the God of Ultimate Justice: Music for the End Time
The Schola Cantorum of St. Peter's in the Loop
The Liturgical Press, St. John's Abbey, Collegeville, MN 56321; cassette $11.95, CD $14.95.
When treating the subject of the "end time," artists throughout history reflect a wide range of human emotions. The introduction to this CD describes it best: "Reflection on what the medieval church called the 'four last things' -- death, judgment, hell, and heaven -- has inspired some of the most beautiful and yet most honest music in the ecclesiastical repertory." J. Michael Thompson chose a variety of repertoire from both Eastern and Western traditions that reflects these "four last things." The CD includes brief notes about the work and composer as well as texts with translations appropriate for each selection. Style periods range from plainchant ("Dies Irae") to Renaissance (Byrd's "O Quam gloriosum est regnum," which is divine) to music written quite recently (Tavener's "Funeral Ikos" or Hommerding's quodlibet "Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning"). Perhaps the most powerful piece in the collection is "Kontakion: On the Victory of the Cross" written and conducted by Paul Nicholson. This setting was a commissioned work for the 150th anniversary of St. Peter's Church. Thompson's excellent Schola Cantorum of St. Peter's in the Loop is a delight to hear. This ensemble has wonderful diction and good intonation and sings appropriately for the styles of repertoire it performs. If you enjoy choral music sung especially well by a good ensemble, this CD should be in your collection.
-- Jeannette L. Oliver

Reviewers

Sr. John Martin Ebrom is a Sister of Divine Providence of Texas and is currently serving as director of community services for the Diocese of Alexandria, La.

W. Regis Halloran serves in St. John the Baptist Parish in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Mary J. McDonald is the director of religious education for the Diocese of Alexandria, La.

Sr. Francis Borgia, OSU, is a pastoral associate in St. Malachi Parish, Cleveland.

Marilyn Peters Krawczyk serves as director of religious education at Holy Cross Parish in Deerfield, Ill.

Jeannette L. Oliver is director of music at St. Mark Parish, Hyattsville, Md.

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