This unique study explores the coherence of the Catholic tradition in relation to the fundamentals of faith. It will provide the reader with a contemporary understanding of traditional sacrifice. Catholic theology has struggled for an adequate account of the doctrine of sacrifice. In this book, McGuckian contends that the "concept of sacrifice is central to the whole vision of faith. The Eucharist makes the Church, and the Eucharist is a sacrifice, so if we do not understand sacrifice we do not understand the Church." The Catholic faith contends that the Eucharist is a sacrifice. This introspective and contemplative work gives an intriguing and compelling account of how it actually is.

Michael McGuckian, SJ, is a member of the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus. He studied theology at the Milltown Institute of Philosophy and Theology in Dublin and at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Since 1996, he has been dean of theology at St. Peter’s Major Seminary, in Zoomba, Malawi. He has published articles on ecclesiology and fundamental theology.