Russell Shaw

This book examines how thirteen extraordinary men and women from apostolic times to the present--most of them canonized saints--came to see how God wanted them to organize their lives and, seeing that, set out to shape their lives accordingly. It adopts a new and illuminating approach to a familiar literary genre--the lives of the saints and what the turning points were in their dedicating themselves to God. Instead of concentrating on the question of vocation, the book situates the thirteen notable men and women in the context of their lives as a whole and profiles them in this broader framework. Turning Points probes the stories of highly motivated individuals who in a variety of ways committed their lives to wholeheartedly following Christ, and it discusses a number of issues as timely for the Church now as they were then. It is engagingly written for all who are interested in serious religious ideas, as well as in the inspiring stories of thirteen outstanding people whose lives shed fresh light on living the faith in their times--and our own. Among those whose stories are told are Saint Paul the Apostle, Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint Ignatius Loyola, Saint Thomas More, Saint Th r se of Lisieux, Saint John Henry Newman, Saint Josemar a Escriv , Caryll Houselander, and Dorothy Day.

The Catholic Church in the United States has reached a tipping point. The crisis is painfully visible in the sharp declines that have already taken place in many essential areas of Church life, from Catholic marriages and infant baptisms to Sunday Mass attendance and the number of priests. Meanwhile, the number of semi-active and inactive Catholics is rising, and the number of ex-Catholic "nones" is skyrocketing. What happens in the immediate future will determine how the Church in America will emerge from this crisis: a smaller but more committed body of faithful Christians or a stagnant, inward-looking remnant. The American Catholic laity must decide whether they will be passive onlookers or will choose to act.Revitalizing Catholicism in America provides nine practical action items every faithful Catholic can undertake - nine steps which, all together, will form the building blocks of a renewed Catholic subculture.No matter what your specific gift or walk of life, you have a role to play in revitalizing Catholicism in America. This book will show you how.

How often have you heard the Gospel at Sunday Mass and wondered, "What happens next?" Often, our only experience of the Gospels is of those isolated segments taken out of context, like unassembled pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, rather than the story of our Savior's life. The Life of Jesus Christ: Understanding the Story of the Gospels aims to change that experience. Author Russell Shaw weaves together the events of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John's narratives in chronological order to capture a true and rounded picture of Jesus' life. The Life of Jesus Christ is the scriptural companion you've been searching for. Together, the four Gospels reveal Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, as a man of complexity and depth -- compassionate but stern, who knew how to laugh and how to cry, a charismatic leader uninterested in worldly power, a subtle thinker who drew sublime messages from ordinary life. With Shaw guiding you, you'll truly get to know the Son of God in a new way. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Russell Shaw is an author and journalist who has written more than twenty books. For eighteen years, he was secretary for public affairs for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference. He later oversaw media relations for the Knights of Columbus for ten years.

Assaults on the dignity and rights of the human person have been central to the ongoing crisis of the modern era in the last hundred years. This book takes a searching look at the roots of this problem and the various approaches to it by the eight men who led the Catholic Church in the twentieth century, from Pope St. Pius X and his crusade against Modernism to Pope St. John Paul II and his appeal for a renewed rapprochement between faith and reason. Thus it offers a distinctive, illuminating interpretation of recent world events viewed through the lens of an ancient institution, the papacy, a key champion of human rights under attack in modern times. The fascinating story is told through short profiles of the eight popes combining crucial, often little known, facts about each by an author who is a veteran observer of Church affairs, a former top official of the conference of bishops of the USA, and consultant to the Vatican. It is written clearly and simply, but with carefully documented precision. A special feature are the substantial excerpts from the writ- ings of the popes that give important insights into their personalities and thinking. It also includes a useful overview of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) and its pivotal role in reshaping the Catholic Church. Eight Popes and the Crisis of Modernity contains judgments that will be challenged by partisans of both liberal and conservative ideological persuasions. But serious and open-minded readers, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, will find it an informative, timely, and inspiring guide to understanding many central events and issues of our times, while students of Church history will find it indispensable.

Fulfillment in Christ presents an original, contemporary treatment of one of the most challenging parts of Catholic theology. Germain Grisez and Russell Shaw offer a radical rethinking of fundamental moral theology in the light of Vatican II and in response to the current turmoil in that field.

Fulfillment in Christ presents an original, contemporary treatment of one of the most challenging parts of Catholic theology. Germain Grisez and Russell Shaw offer a radical rethinking of fundamental moral theology in the light of Vatican II and in response to the current turmoil in that field.

First published in 1974, with a second, revised edition in 1980, Beyond the New Morality, third edition, retains the best elements of the earlier versions, including the authors' clear, straightforward presentation and use of nontechnical language. Although the basic approach, content, and organization remain substantially the same, the new edition does develop and amend some aspects of the theory. For example, the community dimension of morality is brought out more clearly and the first principle of morality is now formulated more accurately in terms of willing in line with integral human fulfillment. We are proposing an ethics. But what is ethics? As we use the word, it means a philosophical study of morality, of the foundations on which morality is based, and of the practical implications of a systematic moral outlook. We believe ethics must start by clarifying the fundamental notions of freedom, action, and community. Then it can go on to examine the question "What is the ultimate distinction between moral good and moral evil, between action which is right and action which is wrong?" An answer becomes useful in practice, however, only after one has worked out a satisfactory way of thinking through concrete moral issues—"Should I do this or that?" Thus we next turn to the problem of establishing basic moral principles. Finally, once one is in a position to take a reasoned view of moral issues, it is possible to ask and try to answer the question "To what extent can I close the gap, in my life and in society, between the way I think things ought to be and the way they are?" History studies human actions, but it looks at particular actions which have actually taken place; ethics is concerned with human action in general or with possible kinds of actions. Psychology and the social sciences also have somewhat the same subject matter as ethics, but they arc mainly concerned with how human beings actually do act and societies actually do work; ethics concentrates on how persons ought to act and societies ought to be formed and reformed.