A perfect gift for yourself to read/experience during the Easter Season.

Over the last 25 years I have read about a dozen books by Scott Hahn, and each and every one of them I found helped my spiritual life. They have helped my understanding or God, Mary, the Church, or a specific theological point. But of all his books I have read this is one of my favourites. In fact it was so good it inspired me to add a couple of his others I have not got around to reading back towards the top of my to be read list. The description of this book is:

"Well-known Catholic theologian Dr. Scott Hahn explains Christ's Paschal sacrifice on the cross as the fulfillment of the traditional fourth cup used in the celebration of Passover, drawing symbolic parallels to the Last Supper and Christ's death on Calvary. Through his scholarly insights and important biblical connections, Mass will come alive for you as never before!"

And does it ever live up to that promise. I found that while I was reading this book I did not want to put it down. I have noticed a marked difference in my participation at mass in the few weeks since I have read this book. I read a good number of books, and of those many are excellent. But this book moved me in a way that is hard to describe. It was a very moving work; it stirred my spirit and my desire to draw closer to God through the mass. The chapters in this book are:

Preface
What Is Finished?
Passover and Covenant
A Typical Sacrifice
Rite Turns
The Paschal Shape of the Gospels
Behold the Lamb
The Lamb from the Beginning
Unleavened Bread
The Cups
The Hour
The Chalices and the Church
The Paschal Shape of the Liturgy
The Christian Passover
The Paschal Shape of Life
Notes
Works Consulted

The way that Hahn ties the Passover, the last supper and the Eucharist together in a study of the Jewish practices of the time will open the reader's eyes. Now much of the material in this book has appeared before. Hahn states that:

"In 1989 at Marytown in Chicago I first gave a talk titled "The Fourth Cup." It was about some of the studies that had led to my conversion to Catholicism just three years before. I was, at the time, an assistant professor of religious studies at the College of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois. I wasn't earning much. I had no tenure or publications. But I was a happy man because I was Catholic, and I wanted to tell the world. Now I had an opportunity."

He goes on to say that he has given this talk, and talked about the Fourth Cup many times over the years, but he always gives slightly different versions of the talk. And that this book is the culmination of telling this story over the last 29 years since Hahn became Catholic, and his processing of this information for the over the 7 years before that as he made his way from being a pastor and academic who was being convinced by this specific study of the validity of the Catholic faith.

It all began with an Easter Sunday sermon, and a professor and mentor paused after stating "It is finished" but did not come back to it. It began the quest for Hahn to determine what was finished. Scott was upset by this question and challenged by the pastor to answer it. And ultimately this book is that answer. And it is a question and answer that is one of the foundations of Catholic belief. At nearly the end of the book Hahn says:

"This entire book is the story of my conversion. I wish I could say my conversion to Jesus was complete when I first encountered him, but that would be untrue. Conversion is never a one-time event. It's ongoing and ever-deepening. It was for Saint Peter. It was for Saint Paul."

And his search for answers will inspire us and draw us deeper into the mass, and deepen our relationship with God. An incredible read! Thank you.

Oh, this book! I wish I had adequate words to describe to you how much I adore this book. It's one of those that I desperately want (make that NEED) to have in paperback so that I can highlight, write notes and post-it note to my heart's content.

As a convert to the Catholic faith, I found the author's enthusiasm for finding answers to be absolutely contagious. I couldn't put this book down. Scott Hahn is brilliant at pulling the reader in and holding them hostage until the very last page. I learned so very much and simply must read everything this author has ever written.

A short and lovely book that takes its twin themes and weaves them together well. First Hahn recounts, for the first time in book form, how his quest to understand the meaning of "it" in "It is finished." lead him ultimately to Catholicism.

He also recounts how the Last Supper and the Eucharist are part of the Passover and how Christ's death was the final cup in the Passover, the fourth cup.

I really loved all the scholarship and insight in this book. While much of what Hahn considered wasn't new to me, I loved his insights and the way he put stuff together.

Read it during Lent to make your Easter better.