Journeybread for the Shadowlands: The Readings for the Rites of the Catechumenate, RCIA by Pamela E. Jackson (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 329 ]oumeybread for the Shadowlands: The Readings for the Rites of the Catechumenate, RC/A. By PAMELA E. JACKSON. Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1993. Pp. 171. $12.95 (paper). The purpose of this book is to promote interior conversion of adult catechumens by means of its meditative and complex interpretation of the readings for the last, pre-baptismal stages of the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. The author anticipates that the baptized and unbaptized alike, together comprising "the Elect," will come from unbelief to belief by the process of hearing the Word, recognizing and abhorring their sinfulness, rejecting Satan, trusting Jesus, and entering his church. The author expects that, if read slowly and carefully, the book will move its readers closer to understanding and living the biblical story as their own, so that they may become viatores leaving the darkness of the present world and entering the light of the kingdom of heaven (p. 171). Jackson intends the book to be "a source-book for meditation," based on some of the possible combinations specified for each of the final rites of the catechumenate. Its genre is liturgical theology, and it claims as its patrimony the early Christian exegesis of the Bible. Indeed, ]oumeybread is an eloquent expression of one aspect of the Christian life, and of one type of Christian spirituality: the soul poised between the claims of the world and the Deceiver (e.g., pp. 58-59) and Christ, pictured in one passage as the Captain of Salvation spoken of by the Church: To those engulfed in death's black nothingness they cry: "Come to Him whose bright obedience reaches out to encircle you with the infinite hues of His divine compassion! Let Him Hold you in that rainbow of His arms ...." (p. 41) In eight chapters Jackson comments on the proper readings for the rites of the catechumenate: Acceptance in the order of Catechumens, Election (Years A, B, and C), the Three Scrutinies, Presentation of the Creed, Presentation of the Lord's Prayer, and Recitation of the Creed. Her commentary is an unusual one, however. Because it attempts to revive a patristic approach to the Biblical texts, which shows by interpretation the living Word speaking to believers through the inspired Scriptures, the book's style and substance will be unfamiliar to many readers accustomed to the historical-critical or literary approaches to the Scriptures. Jackson aims to have the readers experience not only this more traditional, spiritual reading of the Bible, but also experience the profound existential crisis and decision of those approaching baptism . Therefore, the Scripture passages cease to be an object of study in her treatment; rather, they are read as different lines of the same melody. Harmonized, all the passages specified for the RCIA sound the call to depart from the world with its "service of individualistic self-fulfillment" (p. 67), repent, convert, and be united with Ch1ist. 330 BOOK REVIEWS As the Introduction explains, the book is informed by the catecheses and mystagogies of Cyril of Jerusalem, Ambrose, and John Chrysostom: In my studies of the Fathers I came to share their perception of the Church as living in the world of the Bible in the sense that the Church understands itself in Biblical terms and sees itself as a continuation of the story of God's saving work recorded in the Bible .... (p. 5) The resulting book "is offered simply as one example of what can happen when one gazes into the kaleidoscope of the Word, believing it to be a catalyst for conversion" (p. 6). Thus, Jackson intentionally places the book within the context of the half-century of patristic revival in Roman Catholic theology usually associated with the names of de Lubac, Danielou, Balthasar, and, more recently, Schoenborn. Having its origins in European theology, the revival of patristic studies as a foundation for modern theology is now an American and ecumenical project as well. It has received official validation of a sort in the new Catechism ofthe Catholic Church, a document abounding in references to patristic authors, and in the recent Vatican instruction on the role of patristic studies in priestly formation. Such a movement reflects the...