Winner of a 2021 Catholic Media Association Book Award for Spirituality.
Living Resurrected Lives:
What it Means and Why it Matters
Veronica Mary Rolf and Eva Natanya
(Wipf & Stock Publishers, Cascade Books Imprint, 2020)
Christ’s bodily resurrection is the foundation of Christian faith;
at least, it is supposed to be. But how often do we really consider what that means? Living Resurrected Lives explores what it would take for Christians to understand and believe so clearly in resurrection—both Christ’s glorification and the promise of our own—that our lives would be radically transformed by that faith right now. We take a daringly integrated approach, balancing careful consideration of sacred Scripture with attention to history, theology, and personal contemplative practice. We offer arguments to re-establish a firm bedrock for belief in the Gospel accounts, suggest a new theological perspective that integrates scientific insights into quantum uncertainty with reflections on the malleable nature of identity, and provide heart-stirring guided meditations for daily practice. We elucidate St. Paul’s teachings on the transformation of the body and grapple with age-old conundrums about decaying corpses and the continuity of personal identity: What dies? What lives on? We revisit early Christian intuitions about the sublime qualities of the glorified body and explore how we might cultivate such qualities through our own individual practice. Thus we propose an embodied resurrection mysticism that can permeate every moment of our lives.
Praise for Living Resurrected Lives:
“The case for the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and the bodily resurrection of those who live by faith in him, is presented with clarity and conviction. What it means to believe in the resurrection of the body in the twenty-first century, and to live as those who believe it, is unfolded with gentle erudition, heartfelt passion, and practical wisdom. This labor of love will touch hearts and minds for the better.” —John Saxbee, former Bishop of Lincoln, United Kingdom
“This is a rooted, readable, entertaining, and encyclopaedic resurrection tour de force, guiding us through antiquity, Scriptures, the church fathers, and the schoolmen to forensically examine their take on the subject. Rolf, an upbeat apologist for the resurrection, intelligently demolishes the views of demythologizing scholars, with Natanya’s Ignatian-style meditations on the Gospel narratives enabling the reader to see their every moment as resurrectable. An Easter treasure trove to cheer every Good Friday.” —David Wilbourne, Honorary Assistant Bishop of York
“Living Resurrected Lives combines insightful scholarship and practical spiritual wisdom to unpack the meaning of Christ’s resurrection—showing how the promise and possibility of eternal life can bring joy and meaning to our lives today. It will open your mind and nurture your heart.”—Carl McColman, author of Unteachable Lessons and The Big Book of Christian Mysticism
Living Resurrected Lives:
What it Means and Why it Matters
Veronica Mary Rolf and Eva Natanya
(Wipf & Stock Publishers, Cascade Books Imprint, 2020)
Christ’s bodily resurrection is the foundation of Christian faith;
at least, it is supposed to be. But how often do we really consider what that means? Living Resurrected Lives explores what it would take for Christians to understand and believe so clearly in resurrection—both Christ’s glorification and the promise of our own—that our lives would be radically transformed by that faith right now. We take a daringly integrated approach, balancing careful consideration of sacred Scripture with attention to history, theology, and personal contemplative practice. We offer arguments to re-establish a firm bedrock for belief in the Gospel accounts, suggest a new theological perspective that integrates scientific insights into quantum uncertainty with reflections on the malleable nature of identity, and provide heart-stirring guided meditations for daily practice. We elucidate St. Paul’s teachings on the transformation of the body and grapple with age-old conundrums about decaying corpses and the continuity of personal identity: What dies? What lives on? We revisit early Christian intuitions about the sublime qualities of the glorified body and explore how we might cultivate such qualities through our own individual practice. Thus we propose an embodied resurrection mysticism that can permeate every moment of our lives.
Praise for Living Resurrected Lives:
“The case for the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and the bodily resurrection of those who live by faith in him, is presented with clarity and conviction. What it means to believe in the resurrection of the body in the twenty-first century, and to live as those who believe it, is unfolded with gentle erudition, heartfelt passion, and practical wisdom. This labor of love will touch hearts and minds for the better.” —John Saxbee, former Bishop of Lincoln, United Kingdom
“This is a rooted, readable, entertaining, and encyclopaedic resurrection tour de force, guiding us through antiquity, Scriptures, the church fathers, and the schoolmen to forensically examine their take on the subject. Rolf, an upbeat apologist for the resurrection, intelligently demolishes the views of demythologizing scholars, with Natanya’s Ignatian-style meditations on the Gospel narratives enabling the reader to see their every moment as resurrectable. An Easter treasure trove to cheer every Good Friday.” —David Wilbourne, Honorary Assistant Bishop of York
“Living Resurrected Lives combines insightful scholarship and practical spiritual wisdom to unpack the meaning of Christ’s resurrection—showing how the promise and possibility of eternal life can bring joy and meaning to our lives today. It will open your mind and nurture your heart.”—Carl McColman, author of Unteachable Lessons and The Big Book of Christian Mysticism
Winner of a 2020 Catholic Media Association
Book Award for Scripture.
Suddenly There is God:
The Story of Our Lives in Sacred Scripture
by Veronica Mary Rolf
(Wipf & Stock Publishers/Cascade Books Imprint, 2019)
Suddenly There is God plunges you into the key stories of biblical characters who find themselves caught up in the divine-human drama. Then it relates these stories directly to the distinct stage of your own lives; being created, falling from grace, leaving the safety (or confinement) of your childhood ark, hearing God’s call, gaining your freedom, embracing covenant, praying the psalm in times of joy and sorrow, learning forgiveness, choosing divine and human love, and expecting resurrection. The scenes will unfold before your eyes like a riveting play or film as you discover with astonishment how closely the progression of Old and New Testament stories reflects your own spiritual journey.
Packed with historical content and written with dramatic intensity, Suddenly There is God also suggests contemplative ways for you to nurture an “ardent expectation” of encountering God. By identifying with the biblical characters—their conflicts, difficult choices, and sudden realizations—you may recognize how divine presence continually “breaks in” to your own life story. The book features a Foreword by Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, and will be a valuable resource for clergy, students, and spiritual seekers of all ages who long to experience the drama of sacred Scripture as deeply personal revelation.
**** Visit the Wipf and Stock Publisher's website to receive a 20% discount for Suddenly There is God. https://wipfandstock.com/suddenly-there-is-god.html
Book Award for Scripture.
Suddenly There is God:
The Story of Our Lives in Sacred Scripture
by Veronica Mary Rolf
(Wipf & Stock Publishers/Cascade Books Imprint, 2019)
Suddenly There is God plunges you into the key stories of biblical characters who find themselves caught up in the divine-human drama. Then it relates these stories directly to the distinct stage of your own lives; being created, falling from grace, leaving the safety (or confinement) of your childhood ark, hearing God’s call, gaining your freedom, embracing covenant, praying the psalm in times of joy and sorrow, learning forgiveness, choosing divine and human love, and expecting resurrection. The scenes will unfold before your eyes like a riveting play or film as you discover with astonishment how closely the progression of Old and New Testament stories reflects your own spiritual journey.
Packed with historical content and written with dramatic intensity, Suddenly There is God also suggests contemplative ways for you to nurture an “ardent expectation” of encountering God. By identifying with the biblical characters—their conflicts, difficult choices, and sudden realizations—you may recognize how divine presence continually “breaks in” to your own life story. The book features a Foreword by Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, and will be a valuable resource for clergy, students, and spiritual seekers of all ages who long to experience the drama of sacred Scripture as deeply personal revelation.
**** Visit the Wipf and Stock Publisher's website to receive a 20% discount for Suddenly There is God. https://wipfandstock.com/suddenly-there-is-god.html
Endorsements & Reviews
“Veronica Mary Rolf has written a series of beautifully clear and direct meditations on how the biblical story traces our own developmental history and invites us to understand ourselves more deeply
by reading ourselves into the text and the text into ourselves.”
— from the Foreword by Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury
“Suddenly There is God is deeply scholarly, deeply accessible, deeply faithful, deeply scriptural, deeply poetic, deeply personal, deeply integrated, deeply readable, deeply converting, deeply catholic, and deeply connecting. For thirty years I have been selecting and forming people for ordination; if all they did was to read and digest this soigné book, their ministry and spirituality would be remarkable, and their sermons absolutely stunning!”
—David Wilbourne, Honorary Assistant Bishop of York
“Martin Buber said that the Bible is not a theology for us but an anthropology for God.
With insightful interpretation of the texts, Veronica Mary Rolf shows us that it is an anthropology for us as well, revealing how God deals with humanity, from biblical characters to our own lives.”
—Carolyn Osiek, RSCJ, Fischer Professor of New Testament, Emerita, Brite Divinity School
“Good literature introduces you to yourself. These insightful reflections do just that. Clear and compassionate. This book belongs on your coffee table where your friends and your children can chance upon it.
Veronica Mary Rolf is a trustworthy mentor.”
—Ronald Rolheiser, OMI, President, Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio, Texas, and author of The Holy Longing
"Veronica Mary Rolf is a master teacher of the dramatic arts and playwright who brings this background to her exploration of sacred Scripture. Here she employs a dramatic method of interpretation to some of these sacred stories. . . . Rolf seeks to get under the skin of the sacred texts, seeking for her reader to experience and pray these stories imaginatively, emotionally, and spiritually. She is true to her word. . . . Each chapter begins with a touch point. For example, in the chapter on “Struggle for Freedom,” she begins with “Freedom is never free” (69). She then moves into a very readable exploration of the biblical story pertinent to each chapter, grounded in solid scholarship. She weaves Old Testament and New Testament stories seamlessly with current realities, inviting the reader to see portions of our personal struggles reflected in these ancient stories. Rolf suggests an answer to the “so what” question in each chapter, namely, what is the relevance of the ancient stories to our own lives. As the book progresses from chapter to chapter I see an intentional progression of human growth into maturity, both emotional and spiritual—from creation (and our own personal creation) to resurrection. Each chapter is an excellent example of extended lectio divina—in the very best sense of the word.
While most of us would appreciate Suddenly There is God, as a Postulant/ Novice Director and spiritual director, I value this as a tool for those I might work with who are new to any consistent study of Scripture and to lectio divina.
The book helpfully includes footnotes, a bibliography, and an index.
--Laura Swan, OSB, St. Placid Priory, Washington (Reviewed in Cistercian Studies Quarterly, 55:3)
“Veronica Mary Rolf has written a series of beautifully clear and direct meditations on how the biblical story traces our own developmental history and invites us to understand ourselves more deeply
by reading ourselves into the text and the text into ourselves.”
— from the Foreword by Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury
“Suddenly There is God is deeply scholarly, deeply accessible, deeply faithful, deeply scriptural, deeply poetic, deeply personal, deeply integrated, deeply readable, deeply converting, deeply catholic, and deeply connecting. For thirty years I have been selecting and forming people for ordination; if all they did was to read and digest this soigné book, their ministry and spirituality would be remarkable, and their sermons absolutely stunning!”
—David Wilbourne, Honorary Assistant Bishop of York
“Martin Buber said that the Bible is not a theology for us but an anthropology for God.
With insightful interpretation of the texts, Veronica Mary Rolf shows us that it is an anthropology for us as well, revealing how God deals with humanity, from biblical characters to our own lives.”
—Carolyn Osiek, RSCJ, Fischer Professor of New Testament, Emerita, Brite Divinity School
“Good literature introduces you to yourself. These insightful reflections do just that. Clear and compassionate. This book belongs on your coffee table where your friends and your children can chance upon it.
Veronica Mary Rolf is a trustworthy mentor.”
—Ronald Rolheiser, OMI, President, Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio, Texas, and author of The Holy Longing
"Veronica Mary Rolf is a master teacher of the dramatic arts and playwright who brings this background to her exploration of sacred Scripture. Here she employs a dramatic method of interpretation to some of these sacred stories. . . . Rolf seeks to get under the skin of the sacred texts, seeking for her reader to experience and pray these stories imaginatively, emotionally, and spiritually. She is true to her word. . . . Each chapter begins with a touch point. For example, in the chapter on “Struggle for Freedom,” she begins with “Freedom is never free” (69). She then moves into a very readable exploration of the biblical story pertinent to each chapter, grounded in solid scholarship. She weaves Old Testament and New Testament stories seamlessly with current realities, inviting the reader to see portions of our personal struggles reflected in these ancient stories. Rolf suggests an answer to the “so what” question in each chapter, namely, what is the relevance of the ancient stories to our own lives. As the book progresses from chapter to chapter I see an intentional progression of human growth into maturity, both emotional and spiritual—from creation (and our own personal creation) to resurrection. Each chapter is an excellent example of extended lectio divina—in the very best sense of the word.
While most of us would appreciate Suddenly There is God, as a Postulant/ Novice Director and spiritual director, I value this as a tool for those I might work with who are new to any consistent study of Scripture and to lectio divina.
The book helpfully includes footnotes, a bibliography, and an index.
--Laura Swan, OSB, St. Placid Priory, Washington (Reviewed in Cistercian Studies Quarterly, 55:3)