Faith Formation and Popular Religion: Lessons from the Tejano Experience [Paperback]

Anita de Luna hopes this book will motivate Mexican Americans and other cultural groups to design faith formation texts that inspire and sustain their own spirituality. It succeeds brilliantly. Why? Because like history's best catechists Anita competently begins with experiences of the heart and faith.Anita de Luna has created a masterpiece by examining the writings of internationally known theologians who identify popular religion as the locus of theology. She validates popular religion expressed in symbols, rituals, drama, and music as a sacred way Tejanos learn, express, live, celebrate, and share faith. This book is a must for all pastoral agents ministering to Hispanics.Focusing on catechesis as the bridge between theological understanding and lived spirituality, Anita de Luna invites her readers to accompany the Tejana/o people on an inspiring journey of faith, cultural identity, and the struggle for justice.Faith Formation and Popular Religion provides the reader with a cultural and historical context of catechetical and pastoral formation among hispanics, which is the backdrop to understanding the importance of popular piety. Always a catechist, Anita de Luna teaches us that the 'beauty of memory with a heartrecuerdos'helps reconnect the theological, spiritual, and the lived experience to make the message of the Word come alive in our time, while being respectful of the cultural context.A fascinating book.Anita de Luna's book offers an historical vision, through firsthand material, of the way Christian faith has been taught in the region which is now Texas. More than that, the author shows how the teaching of faith cannot be separated from popular piety. The great value of this book consists, through the analysis of the specific situation of Texas, in relating popular spirituality, catechesis and theology, a theology of beauty.This book places catechesis against the background of popular religion and makes a new connection among theology, spirituality, anlS.