Development of rural landscapes is converting once-vast expanses of open space into pockets of habitat where wildlife populations exist in isolation from other members of their species. The central concept of metapopulation dynamics -- that a constellation of partially isolated patches can yield overall stability to a system that is chaotic at the level of the individual patch -- offers an important new way of thinking about the conservation and management of populations dispersed among sm...

The three-year cycle of Sunday Mass readings is acknowledged to be one of the greatest successes of the Catholic Church's Liturgical reforms after Vatican II and is being used more and more even by non-Catholic congregations.This ebook explains how the cycle for ordinary time works, how it came about, and how to get the most out of the readings at Mass week by week.

Theological reflection upon the Eucharist is dominated by two paradigms: One approach interprets the Eucharist almost exclusively in theological terms, shaped by Scholasticism and the Reformation. Most discussions about the nature of the Eucharist, Eucharistic presence or the role of the priest follow these categories, even if they come in modern disguise. The other reads the Eucharist as an event which can be explored empirically.O'Loughlin develops a new understanding of the Euch...

The role of lay ecclesial ministers-professionally prepared laity who serve in leadership roles-is becoming critically more important in the life of the Catholic church. In Lay Ecclesial Ministry, theologians and pastoral leaders from diverse disciplines provide a deeper understanding, envision future direction, and offer inspiration for these new ministers and the community of the church.Building on the themes of the first official document addressing lay ecclesial minist...

One of the significant developments in scholarship in the latter half of the twentieth century was the awareness among historians of ideas, historians of theology, and medievalists of the importance of the Christian scriptures in the Latin Middle Ages. In contrast to an earlier generation of scholars who considered the medieval period as a ’Bible-free zone’, recent investigations have shown the central role of scripture in literature, art, law, liturgy, and formal religious education. Inde...

We all want to celebrate the liturgy well, to experience good, uplifting, and meaningful worship. But what is the best route to follow? In The Rites and Wrongs of Liturgy, Thomas O’Loughlin offers a way forward that strengthens faith, builds up Christian community, and points toward a new direction based on liturgical principles that are rooted in our natures as ritual beings as well as in the gospel.The Rites and Wrongs of Liturgy explains why good liturgy is imp...

A valuable resource for enhancing liturgical understanding.What is the point of the Lectionary? What are the problems and opportunities that it presents to those who use it? What are its strengths and weaknesses as an aid to worship? How can it be used and communicated most effectively today? These are among the key questions Thomas O'Loughlin addresses in this stimulating and much needed liturgical guide to the design, history, theology, and purposes of the Lectio...

Discipleship--that being a Christian is about learning and discovering, acting and responding, choosing and collaborating--is both a primordial Christian theme and a re-discovery of the mid-twentieth century. But how does one discover its meaning? For some it means programmes like turning out a product, ignoring the individuality of eachs path. Others emphasize the group, forgetting that every communitys richness is valuing its members diversity. Is discipleship the way of the loner and co...

The beginning of the Roman Catholic/Orthodox Theological dialogue during the 20th century raised to some high hopes for an imminent canonical unity between the two Denominations, and this, though premature, is not of course to be blamed; it is impossible for any contemporary Christian theologian not to suffer from the division within this very womb of the ontological unification of all things, which is the Church of Christ—precisely because this division gives to many the impression of a f...

What does it mean to be a eucharistic community? In Christ Now Meet Both East and West approaches the Eucharist from the perspective of Christianity being a religion of the table—a place where our thanksgiving happens by gathering as a people with Christ. Author Thomas O’Loughlin emphasizes that any renewal of ourselves as a eucharistic people involves discovering that we are then sent from that table to act, to be eucharistic in our communal activity. He explains that this task i...

The Maya. The Romans. The great dynasties of ancient China. It is generally believed that these once mighty empires eventually crumbled and disappeared. A recent trend in archaeology, however, focusing on what happened during and after the decline of once powerful societies has found social resilience and transformation instead of collapse. In Beyond Collapse: Archaeological Perspectives on Resilience, Revitalization, and Transformation in Complex Societies, editor Ronald K. Fauls...

This volume offers translations of numerous texts from the Celtic tradition from the 6th through the 13th centuries, in a cross-section of genres and forms, including saints' lives, monastic texts, poetry, devotional texts, liturgical texts, apocrypha, exegetical texts and theological treatises.