Friday, Nov. 03, 2023
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Fashions of Heaven: Decoding Life Eternal by M. Francis Mannion; Wipf & Inventory, Eugene, Oregon, 2023
SALT LAKE CITY — The favored view of heaven “as a sort of everlasting, boring, retirement residence the place white-robed ghostly figures wander aimlessly between clouds, enjoying or listening to harp music, vaguely encountering deceased pals and kin, and sometimes catching a glimpse of a moderately distant and dispassionate God” is contrasted sharply with “the dynamic, overwhelming and luxurious actuality of heaven” in Monsignor M. Francis Mannion’s new guide, Fashions of Heaven: Decoding Life Eternal (Wipf & Inventory, Eugene, Oregon, 2023).
“I’ve all the time had a fascination with heaven … and as I grow old, I feel increasingly more about heaven,” mentioned Msgr. Mannion, a retired priest of the Diocese of Salt Lake Metropolis who has written a number of books, together with Pastoral Solutions (2001) and Masterworks of God Essays in Liturgical Idea and Observe (2007). He was the founding president of the Society for Catholic Liturgy, served because the editor of the SCL journal Antiphon and was a columnist for Our Sunday Customer in addition to this newspaper. A graduate of the Pontifical College of Maynooth, Eire, he holds a grasp’s diploma in liturgical research and a doctoral diploma in sacramental theology, each from Catholic College of America. As well as, he was the founding director of The Liturgical Institute on the College of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, In poor health.
Following his curiosity, he determined to learn every little thing he might discover in mainstream Christian literature about heaven, and “I found that there actually was no coherent presentation of heaven in print, so I made a decision to tackle the mission,” he mentioned.
The mission took him six years to finish, he mentioned.
His analysis was in depth; the 16-page bibliography behind the guide consists of every little thing from Joseph Ratzinger’s Church, Ecumenism, and Politics: New Essays in Ecclesiology and Karl Rahner’s essay “Angels” to The Catechism of the Council of Trent, the Lutheran E-book of Worship and Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra.
Peter Kreeft, the famend professor of philosophy at Boston Faculty, praises Msgr. Mannion’s guide as “a formidable treasure trove of knowledge each previous and new. It’s admirably clear, coherent and complete.”
Every of the guide’s eight chapters explores a mannequin of heaven “to point that there are a lot of extra biblical, theological, liturgical, religious and literary strands which may be drawn collectively to set forth a extra enough and complete therapy of the topic” of heaven than is normally offered, Msgr. Mannion writes within the introduction of the guide.
Normally, the language and presentation of the fabric is geared towards grownup Catholics who’ve an understanding of the religion however not formal theological coaching (though a stable grasp of Church educating on eschatology can be useful). In his introduction, Msgr. Mannion mentioned the guide is supposed primarily “for clergy, seminarians, pastoral theologians, educators and the inquiring Christian with an curiosity in deepening his or her information of everlasting life.”
Certainly, Fashions of Heaven provides a view of heaven’s majesty that makes the reader keen to hitch John Donne in saying, “I select to dwell towards everlasting life.”
Fashions of Heaven: Decoding Life Eternal is accessible regionally at Immaculate Coronary heart Spiritual Presents and Books, 726 12200 South, Draper; and Magdalene Spiritual Items, 836 East 3300 South, Salt Lake Metropolis; and on-line at Amazon.com and Barnsandnoble.com.