Includes index

Originally published as Expressions of the Catholic Faith by Ballantine Books in 1994

Substance and image: how to tell religion from culture -- Pt. 1: Faith. Faith of our fathers: what the church has to work with ; Feed my sheep: how the church makes laws ; Chapter and verse: the hard-fought genesis of the New Testament ; That old-time religion: why the church still guards the Old Testament ; The church's family albums: other good books besides the Bible ; The cycle of redemption: Purgatory, etc. -- Pt. 2: Worship. In memory of me: a short guide to the meaning and structure of the mass ; Outward signs: decoding symbols of scripture and the sacraments ; The sun of justice: the calendar as the image of Christ's life ; Until we meet again: the ceremonies of the Christian funeral ; The station of the cross: the logic of their development ; The rosary: a garden of Christian images -- Pt. 3: Culture. The rite stuff: the many faces of the universal church ; The pope: what he does and why it matters ; Priests, bishops, and deacons: the church's general staff ; A people set apart: the laity in the modern world ; A different order of life: monks, nuns, and the rules that guide them ; Saints: how you get to be one ; Fátima, Lourdes, and elsewhere: the story of apparitions ; Wondering about signs: does the Madonna really weep through images? -- Pt. 4: Customs. How beautiful thy dwelling place: the basic forms of churches ; Priestly vestments: their origins and meanings ; Like unto pure gold: the meaning of the precious metal in the service of the church ; The Vatican: a holy city ; Relics: the church remembers ; The sign of the cross: the surprising story of Christianity's best-known symbol ; Sacramentals: souvenirs of sanctity ; Water: holy and plain ; The odor of sanctity: making sense of incense ; Let there be light: candles in prayer and liturgy ; A star out of Jacob: why Nativity sets look that way ; Our Lady's cloak: the color of the sky in Christian art ; The miraculous medal: the history of an extraordinary sacramental ; Unceasingly chant: music in the life of the church ; The numbers game: symbols you can always count on -- Postscript: If you'd like to know more