Give a gift of Ratzinger's brilliance

The beginning of a new liturgical year is a suitable time to think about the liturgy in a broader and deeper way. Two recent books from Ignatius Press help us to do so in a devout and scholarly way. They are not for the casual reader, but parishioners looking to challenge their priests with some serious reading this Christmas would do well to consider them as gifts.

The first is Collected Works: Theology of the Liturgy by Joseph Ratzinger. Nearly two years removed from listening to him daily as pope, it is likely more clear now how extraordinary a scholarly and rhetorical gift Benedict XVI was to the Church. I remember that soon after his election 10 years ago next spring, one cardinal remarking that if all that was achieved in his pontificate was that more people would read his writings it would be a triumph. Indeed, not long after his election, publishing a collection of his voluminous works was proposed and Benedict agreed, asking that they be published under the name Joseph Ratzinger.