Louise-Marie Chauvet has followed his major work, Symbol and Sacrament, with this penetrating study that continues to elaborate his stimulating combination of sacramental theology, theories of ritual and symbol, and liturgical texts. Chauvet proposes that sacramentality is essential to Christian identity and shows how language and gesture in Christian rites are the place where scripture, sacrament and ethics are realized as experiences of the presence of the risen Lord whose grace transforms his people. It will be suited for a wide readership, not only of professional theologians but also of many who are concerned to relate the divine and the human in everyday life.Gregory Woolfenden, Oxford

Chauvet has wonderfully succeeded in making his work on symbolic mediation classroom-accessible, clear, and pastorally sensitive. He offers a viable alternative to overly objectivist and subjectivist approaches to sacramental theology. This book, rich with examples, connects sacramental theology with contemporary culture.Susan K. Wood, S.C.L., Associate Professor of Theology, St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota

The Sacraments, with its attention to presence and absence, achieves what might be called a sacramental iconoclasm, which possesses broad ecumenical appeal and resonates with contemporary philosophy and concern for praxis.America