Jesuit theologian John D. Laurance has long served at Marquette University, guiding students to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the liturgical and sacramental traditions of the church. This book, the fifth in the series he is editing for Liturgical Press, offers a refreshing approach to the theology of the Eucharist. He divides the book into two sections: theological themes that underlie his approach to the Eucharist, and a theological commentary on the celebration of the Eucharist (this latter being the goal of the series).

Part 1 is organized into three chapters, focusing on Christ as a sacramental figure. Laurance relies on Louis-Marie Chauvet, Karl Rahner, David Coffey, and Edward Kilmartin for much of his development. He offers clarity, but also introduces technical terms such as “entelechy” that signal that this is not a text for the beginner in theology. He moves to understanding the sacramental role of the church in the second chapter, relying for his exposition on the same cast of characters, but adding the ritual studies perspective of Catherine Bell. The third chapter explores the famous dictum lex orandi lex credendi in order to situate his commentary as an authentic theological act. His summary of the history of this adage is nuanced. He gives his own twist to how he will use it, and gives enough bibliography in the notes to allow interested readers to delve into this complex issue on their own.

Part 2 offers Laurance's theology of the celebration of the Eucharist, which he presents in four chapters. Chapter 4 is on the assembly of the community in time and place, and in a sense is a continuation of the theological chapters. Laurance examines the liturgical assembly as a gathering of the baptized under the presidency of the ordained. He gives brief, basic overviews of the role of Sunday for the Christian community, and the role of a church building. He deftly presents the history of Western and Eastern church spaces, highlights the processional character of the space (leading from door to apse), and cites approvingly an insight of Klaus Gamber on the transcendent character of Christian worship. Then he embraces the centrality of the altar and the placement of it in the center of the community. It is a breathtaking act of inclusion of several theological points of view in a synthetic vision of the Eucharist.

The remaining chapters explore the celebration of the Eucharist part by part, from the Introductory Rites, the Liturgy of the Word, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. He chooses to use the texts of a single Sunday, and these texts serve as the focal point of his commentary: there are just too many texts in the Missal (both prayers and readings) to offer a complete commentary, so a single parish Sunday celebration offers the basis for his comments. As he walks through the celebration, he deftly weaves theological insight with historical and ritual observations that offer a cohesive view of the Eucharist. The chapter on the Liturgy of the Word is particularly welcome, as it is rare that treatments of eucharistic theology study it within the context of the word of God proclaimed during it.

Laurance reveals his years in the classroom by his clear organization of the material, his use of images from poetry and art, and his use of brief conclusions for the first three chapters. This reviewer would have liked to have seen these conclusions at the end of each chapter. The book includes indexes of documents, Scripture, proper names, and subjects. As has been usual in the Lex Orandi series, there is no bibliography. The notes found at the end of each chapter give a sense of the sources and collaborators that Laurance uses.

The volume offers a good overview of current eucharistic theology, through the lens of a commentary on the celebration. It will be helpful in college courses and may serve adult-education gatherings as well. There are times when Laurance uses technical vocabulary, but he is careful to offer contextual definitions (see, e.g., “entelechy” above). The book is a good contribution to the literature on the Eucharist.