The Sacraments and Consumer Culture

What does consumerism have to do with the sacraments? We live in cultures where our senses of meaning, identity, and purpose are often found in what we purchase. Apart from the question of hedonism, there is the question of how we orient ourselves in an environment in which we end up marketing our very selves. In this book, Timothy Brunk examines how this consumer culture has had a corrosive effect on the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. He also assesses how sacramental worship can provide resources for responsible Christian discipleship in today's consumer culture.

Timothy Brunk is associate professor of theology at Villanova University, where he has taught courses on sacraments, care for the sick, and the interplay of liturgy and culture since 2006. He holds a PhD from Marquette University and has an abiding interest in the connection between liturgical practice and ethical action. Brunk is the author of Liturgy and Life (Peter Lang, 2007).