Archimedes said, 'give me a lever and a fulcrum, and a place whereon to stand, and I'll move the world.' The lever is the seven Sacraments, the fulcrum is prayer, and the place whereon to stand is the Church. With these 'masterworks of God' we can move the world to love, peace, and joy--to God. This is an indispensable guide to understanding the Sacraments.

The sacramental economy was instituted by Christ and entrusted to His Church in order to build up the Body of Christ in a twofold communion: binding the members together with God and one another. Touched by Christ: The Sacramental Economy is an introductory course on Sacramental Theology suitable for all who seek a deeper understanding of how the Church’s sacraments constitute channels of grace, nurture supernatural life, and heal us from our sins. Lawrence Feingold expertly describes the nature of the sacraments; their purpose, fittingness, and relationship with Christ and the New Covenant; their relationship with the Old Covenant rites that prefigured them; the character and grace that they communicate; and the nature of their causality. Touched by Christ shows that the sacraments of the New Covenant should be understood as instruments of Christ’s humanity that are used as words of power to communicate the sanctification that they signify, infuse grace, communicate the Holy Spirit, and build up ecclesial communion in those who receive them with the right dispositions.

The most solemn, majestic, and beautiful gifts that Jesus Christ gave to the world are His sacraments. He endowed them with unprecedented and unparalleled power—power to change lives, save souls, and share God’s very life. The sacraments are the ordinary means by which God directs the course of each human life and all of world history. The Church celebrates seven sacraments: baptism, Eucharist, confirmation, matrimony, holy orders, confession, and anointing of the sick. Each was established by Jesus for the sake of salvation. When Jesus spoke of the sacraments, He made clear that they were essential: Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God (Jn 3:5) . . . unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you have no life in you (Jn 6: 53). In Swear to God, Dr. Scott Hahn explores the richness of Christ’s sacraments—their doctrine, history, symbols, and rituals. Drawing upon the Bible and the Church’s tradition, he shows how God’s covenants—with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David—became the driving forces in history. When Jesus came to fulfill all these covenants, He established a new covenant, with greater power than ever before. Christians are God’s children now. Joined to Christ by baptism, we can already share in the eternal life of the Trinity, a life we hope to know fully in heaven. But heaven is with us, even now, in the sacraments.

Participant Workbook Revised and reformatted! Genesis to Jesus opens the door to deeper understanding of Scripture for all Catholics, especially those who find reading the Bible a daunting task. The book leads the reader on an overview of salvation history in order to give the "big picture," the single plot that runs through the books of the Bible. What is that overarching story? God's plan to bring all humanity into his covenant family. This overview of key covenants from creation to the New Covenant established by Jesus not only helps the reader see how various biblical stories fit together in God's plan, it also provides a foundation for ongoing Bible study. Genesis to Jesus is the first in a series of study guides produced by The St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, based in Steubenville, Ohio. The Center, founded in 2000, develops materials to help Catholics deepen their faith through Scripture study. KIMBERLY HAHN is the author of Life-Giving Love: Embracing God's Beautiful Design for Marriage, the Life-Nurturing Love series published by Servant Books, and coauthor, with her husband Scott Hahn, of Rome, Sweet Rome: Our Journey to Catholicism. DR. SCOTT HAHN teaches theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio. He is the author of A Father Who Keeps His Promises: God's Covenant Love in Scripture and many other books. They are the parents of six children.

Masterworks of God Essays in Liturgical Theory and Practice by M. Francis Mannion (2007).

A logical presentation of the sacraments as the principle acts of worship in the Catholic church. Synthesizes contemporary research on symbol, ritual, and sacramental, liturgical, and pastoral theology into a single, readable resource. Each chapter ends with questions for reflection and discussion. +

A collection of essays by some of today’s most respected liturgists and sacramental theologians that offers wisdom and insight into the meaning and practice of Catholic sacraments.