What Makes Us Catholic: Eight Gifts for Life

What is it that makes a Catholic a Catholic In this spirited volume, Thomas Groome, a leading expert on Catholic religious education, argues that even though Catholics span a spectrum of faith—from the devout to the lapsed—they all share eight distinctive qualities: sacramentality—finding the infinite in the finite; a sense of ultimate meaning; a feeling of community; an appreciation of human potential and fallibility; a concern for justice and the unfortunate; a reverance for tradition; faith vs. despair; and all-inclusiveness.

Even the millions of non-practicing Catholics possess a distinct Catholic sensibility that forever shapes their view of reality. What Makes Us Catholic probes that character and invites Catholics of all kinds to connect more deeply and wholeheartedly with their own culture and spirituality.