Signs of New Life: Homilies on the Church’s Sacraments

At life’s many crossroads, the sacraments of the Church—Baptism, Confirmation, Confession, Holy Eucharist, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Unwell—bring people into contact with the saving work of God. In this collection of homilies, Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) explains these celebrations of the Church and shows how they at all times offer a possibility to announce our faith in Christ and to deepen our understanding of it.

Ratzinger endeavored as a theologian to develop an understanding of the sacraments that would assist to make participation in them, and in the Paschal Mystery, more fruitful. Many of these homilies connect the sacraments with a profound interpretation of Scripture. The scriptural passages interpreted in each and every homily are listed originally of the chapter, in order that this volume can be used for scriptural meditation.

Since the Church herself is both a sacrament—that may be, a sign of God’s saving action on the planet—and the place where the sacraments take place, two of the chapters are about the Church, the body of believers where God dwells.