When I Survey the Wondrous Cross: Scriptural Reflections for Lent - Softcover

Ryan SJ, Patrick J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0809142074 ISBN 13: 9780809142071

Publisher: Paulist Press, 2003

Synopsis

The season of Lent―the Church's spring―begins the celebration of the dying and rising of Jesus, a time of deep personal renewal only completed in the Easter season. With the revival of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, Lent returns to its original character as a time of formation for catechumens. But the Sunday and daily liturgical readings for the season of Lent do more than prepare catechumens for the reception of Baptism at the Easter Vigil. Even the long baptized can progress through the liturgical readings of this season into a deeper experience of their Baptism, their death and rebirth in the Lord. As in the early Church, all of us can take the season of Lent, and especially its forty weekdays of fasting, as an opportunity to turn back to the Lord, our God. Patrick Ryan's reflections on the liturgical readings of the Lenten season arise not only from study of the scriptural passages involved but also from his extensive familiarity with the history of religion and his long experience of life in the Christian churches both of Africa and the United States. From years of inter-religious encounter he has come to a different sense of the Paschal mystery, one enriched by a broad appreciation for the complexity of human longing, religious and secular, for the transcendent. †

About this title

About the Author

Patrick J. Ryan, S.J., received a Ph.D. in the comparative history of religion from Harvard University. He has lived and taught in Nigeria and Ghana for more than twenty years. He is currently the President of Loyola Jesuit College, a secondary school on the outskirts of Abuja, the Nigerian capital. His earlier publication with Paulist Press was The Coming of Our God: Scriptural Reflections for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany (1999).

The drawings for this volume by the Austrian-born but New York-based artist Charlotte Lichtblau arise from long years of spirited exchange with the author.

Reviews

This book opens with a truly edifying historical treatment of Lent—what it is, when it originated, and how it is celebrated. Even experienced Catholics may learn something new here as Ryan (the president of a Jesuit college in Nigeria) tackles Lenten symbolism, fasting, ashes and the season's traditional status as a preparatory period for those candidates seeking baptism at Easter. Ryan then goes through the Lenten season week by week, with reflections that are deeper and longer than those found in most other Lenten devotionals. The section on the Sacred Triduum (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday) is not to be missed, while the final chapter on the "saints of Lent"—those saints with feast days occurring during the first five weeks of the season—will enhance the devotional experience for many readers.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Paulist Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0809142074
• ISBN 13: 9780809142071
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192