Living the Call: An Introduction to the Lay Vocation

Novak, Michael, and William E. Simon

ISBN 10: 1594035865 / ISBN 13: 9781594035869

Published by Encounter Books, New York, 2011

About this Item

First American edition, stated. Inscribed and signed by coauthor Simon on the half-title page: "10/25/11 / Paul, with warmest regards and best wishes. / Bill Simon." A typed signed letter from Simon to Paul laid in. The book is unmarked; slight spine slant; corners sharp, tail of spine bumped. The dust jacket is not price-clipped (original price $21.95); Brodart protected.

Seller Inventory # 013076

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Living the Call: An Introduction to the Lay Vocation
• Publisher: Encounter Books, New York
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1594035865
• ISBN 13: 9781594035869
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Signed by Coauthor

About this title

Synopsis

Since 1965 the number of priests in the United States has fallen by some 30,000. But over that same time period, more than 30,000 laypeople have come into the employ of parishes and other Church institutions. Laypeople have stepped up to serve in a variety of new ministries, and they are relieving their pastors of many administrative burdens, enabling them to focus on their proper priestly duties. Lay teachers now outnumber nuns, brothers, and priests in Catholic schools by at least 19 to 1. In the history of the Church, laypeople have never been asked to do so much.

William E. Simon, Jr. and Michael Novak call attention to this great shift in Living the Call. The first part of the book tells the personal stories of nine faithful laypeople now serving the Church in new and diverse ways. Simon and Novak’s insight is that more and more who work in the Church feel the need to shape their lives in a new way, matched to their different needs and adjusted to the new base of knowledge about the world with which they begin. In response to this need, the second part of Living the Call offers practical examples and reflections on a number of themes, including entering into the presence of God and learning different forms of prayer, reading that refreshes the mind and deepens the soul, and the graces of the sacraments and how being a spouse contributes to holiness.