St. Francis Xavier

As part of the National Eucharistic Revival, the Church of St. Francis Xavier will host lectures on the Eucharist by renowned liturgists, as well as a Eucharistic retreat and a book discussion.

Presenter: Father Bruce Morrill, SJ
Title: The Eucharist, Faith, and Social Justice.
Date: April 7, 2024
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Place: Main Church

Dr. Bruce Morrill focuses his theological scholarship in the area of liturgy and sacraments, drawing upon a range of interdisciplinary resources in the fields of systematic and historical theology, ritual studies, cultural anthropology, and biblical studies. His other primary and strongly related interest is in political theologies, as they investigate the problems of suffering in social contexts.

His work has come together most comprehensively in his books, Practical Sacramental Theology: At the Intersection of Liturgy and Ethics (Cascade Books, 2021), Divine Worship and Human Healing: Liturgical Theology at the Margins of Life and Death (Pueblo/Liturgical Press, 2009), and Anamnesis as Dangerous Memory: Political and Liturgical Theology in Dialogue (Pueblo/Liturgical Press, 2000).

Other recent books include Encountering Christ in the Eucharist: The Paschal Mystery in People, Word, and Sacrament (Paulist Press, 2012) and The Essential Writings of Bernard Cooke: A Narrative Theology of Church, Sacrament, and Ministry (Paulist Press, 2016). His current research and writing projects include constructing a mystical-political theology (mystagogy) of the Easter Season.

Dr. Morrill is Past President of the North American Academy of Liturgy. He has lectured widely in North America, Europe, and Australia and has enjoyed appointments to visiting chairs and fellowships at a number of institutions in the USA, Belgium, and Ireland. Prior to coming to Vanderbilt, Professor Morrill was on the faculty of Boston College for fifteen years, where he served as Graduate Program Director in the Theology Department. At present he is Director of the new Doctor of Ministry program at Vanderbilt Divinity School.

Bruce Morrill is a Roman Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). In Nashville he presides and preaches at area parishes, as needed, provides pastoral-liturgical ministry at state prisons (Riverbend Maximum Security Institute, Tennessee Prison for Women, and the Lois M. DeBerry Special Needs Facility) and serves as Spiritual Liaison for the local community of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. During Holy Week and Easter, 2019, he resumed his occasional pastoral service to Yup’ik eskimo villages in western Alaska, where he had made annual trips from 2001 to 2010, as well as in 2015.

As part of the National Eucharistic Revival, the Church of St. Francis Xavier will host lectures on the Eucharist by renowned liturgists, as well as a Eucharistic retreat and a book discussion.

Presenter: Rita Ferrone
Title: Pastoral Guide to Pope Francis’s Desiderio Desideravi
Date: January 7, 2024
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Place: Main Church

Rita Ferrone is an award-winning writer and frequent speaker on liturgy and church renewal issues in the Roman Catholic tradition. Rita’s books include Liturgy: Sacrosanctum Concilium (Paulist Press), Sourcebook for Sundays and Seasons 2006(LTP), and On the Rite of Election (LTP). She co-authored the eighteen-volume series Foundations in Faith (RCL-Benziger) and the parish renewal program Living the Eucharist (Paulist Evangelization Ministries). Her articles and essays have been translated into eight different languages. Her commentary has also appeared in The Washington Post and on CNN International. Her last book is Pastoral Guide to Pope Francis’ Desiderio Desideravi has been reviewed by Father James Martin, SJ. as “A clear, helpful, and pastoral guide to one of Pope Francis’s most important documents, by one of the world’s leading experts in the liturgy—and, as an added benefit, a great writer!”