FOUNDATIONS OF VATICAN II LITURGY, VOL. 1
Liturgy for the People of God

Volume One of this three volume trilogy on the Liturgy for the People of God sets the tone and establishes the basis for the volumes that follow. In a lighthearted yet serious way, it tackles the most fundamental of all religious questions: Who is Jesus, and how and why do we worship him as we do in the liturgy? What is prayer and what does it mean to pray as little children? How did the Second Vatican Council bring together the teachings of the Popes over the past century in its "revolutionary" liturgical reform? Why have Catholics found the changes in the way they worship God to be either too little too late, or too much too soon? How can we enter the spirit of the liturgy and reap its benefits? What about the sense of awe and reverence that once seemed to be so much a part of Catholic prayer at Mass? Have we lost an awareness of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist? What does Pope John Paul II teach us about the various cultural expressions that have found their way into the liturgy? The Second Vatican Council placed its emphasis on a study of the Church as a single people who worship God in spirit and in truth. What impact did that have on the way we pray? What roles do the various ministries of the laity play and how do they differ from that of the ordained priest? With the pastoral conviction that liturgy is truly our life as Catholics, Father Miller enters into a conversation with the reader about this indispensable source of the true Christian spirit. Volume Two of this series deals with the Celebration of the Eucharist and Volume Three treats the Sacraments and Other Matters Liturgical.

About the Author: Father Charles E. Miller, CM, was ordained as a Vincentian priest on Trinity Sunday, May 27, 1956. From almost that time he has been on the faculty of St. John’s Seminary in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles as professor of homiletics and liturgy. He served three terms as rector from 1978 to 1987. In 1988 Cardinal Roger Mahony conferred upon him the Laudatus award “for excellence in the promotion of the liturgical life of the parishes and people of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.” In 1996 he was appointed to the Wilfred L. and Mary Jane Von Der Ahe Chair of Homiletics and Liturgy at St. John’s Seminary. He has written several books for Alba House.