Saying Amen: A Mystagogy of Sacrament

In liturgy, as in life, one thing regularly leads to another: understanding leads to loving, loving to participation, participation to commitment, and commitment to a reformed way of living. It seems so elementary. Believers simply need to understand what they are doing when they gather for prayer, and the rest will follow. This book explores a new way of contemplating the liturgy, a mystagogical way based on the actual experiences of women and men at prayer. Kathleen Hughes interviewed hundreds of ordinary believers about worship, how they had prepared for it, what it touched in their lives, how it helped them name God, and what it asked them to say Amen to. Using the language of the people she interviewed--including images, stories, and metaphors--Hughes explores the meaning of sacraments, including the Christian Initiation of Adults, Infant Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage and Vocation, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Funerals, and Eucharist.In these pages you are invited to share the experiences of many different types of people: young and old, lifelong Catholics, and those recently welcomed (or welcomed back) into the Church, newly confirmed teenagers, first communicants, newlyweds, those who have recently experienced the death of a loved one, a community of religious women.This book will help you and those you work with to understand and love the liturgy more, to participate more thoughtfully in its celebration, and to embrace a sacramental way of living.