Dare to be Christ

Words of the author, Walter J. Burghardt, from his Preface: "The six collections of my homilies which the Paulist Press graciously published during the 1980s have enjoyed a gratifyingly warm welcome -- not only from harried clergy in quest of a homiletic hint but from all manner of Christian folk hungering for a contemporary spirituality. Letters from the latter suggest that three approaches pervading these homilies have an especial appeal: the effort 1) to retell the scriptural story, especially the parables of Jesus, in a contemporary idiom; 2) to deepen our understanding of the Word with the insights of today's theology; and 3) to link all this to a 'faith that does justice,' i.e. life lived for 'the other,' particularly those who experience more of Christ's crucifixion than of his resurrection. These approaches, I believe, continue to characterize the homilies in this volume. Hence my title and subtitle: the challenge to follow in the footsteps of the Crucified and Risen One in the context of a new decade, still plagued with poverty and pain, with indignity and injustice, yet unexpectedly, from East to West, 'born anew to a living hope' (1 Peter 1:3)." The homilies and sermons in this book are as relevant today as they were in the 1990s. Anyone who must prepare sermons or other spiritually-based speeches will find this book extremely helpful. -- Provided by Publisher