Horizons of the Sacred: Mexican Traditions in U.S. Catholicism (Cushwa Center Studies of Catholicism in Twentieth-Century America)

Since the Hispanic or Latino population of the United States represents 20 countries, the editors... have chosen a specific focus for this study: the religious traditions of Mexican American communities.

Horizons of the Sacred is an inviting multidisciplinary collection of essays about Mexican American Catholics.... The book challenges domination in American culture and shows traditions strengthening Mexican Americans against injustice. The authors are careful not to assume Catholic knowledge on the part of readers. The book is intended for classroom use, scholars, church leaders, pastoral ministers and meets its goals. Audiences may draw different benefits from it but each will be pleased, for the authors are eloquent. Ideas swarm. No review can do justice to Horizons.

In Horizons of the Sacred, the authors deal specifically with the Mexican American role and influence within the Catholic Church in the United States. Matovina and Riebe-Estrella state that while at one time the Catholic Church was dominated by European immigrants, the modern Catholic Church remains an entity where Mexican Americans continue to practice their religious custom and traditions, and thus have helped shape many of the rituals, practices, and traditions within the context of modern day Catholicism.... Overall, Matovina and Riebe-Estrella have compiled a valuable and much-needed addition to the understanding of Mexican American Catholic traditions. This book will be of value and interest to students, scholars, church ministers, and lay readers who wish to understand how Mexican American customs and traditions are, and will continue to be, a part of the Catholic tradition in the United States.

Matovina and Riebe-Estrella have produced a collection of scholarly articles that combines historical, social science and theological perspectives on the Catholicism of Mexican Americans/Chicanos in the United States.

This outstanding volume illuminates the rich and vibrant symbolic world underlying the religious mestizaje of Mexican Americans. It is essential reading for scholars and pastoralists alike.

This volume is both a welcome contribution to the growing literature on the religious practices of Hispanic immigrants and a useful resource for reflecting on the theological implications of relgiosidad popular (religion of the people).

Those wishing to broaden their perspective will find in this collection a sound resource. Thus, this book will be useful for scholars of liturgy, sacraments, culture and religion, inculturation, popular religion, ritual studies, cultural anthropology, theological anthropology, and history. It is especially good for liturgists and liturgical theologians working in a Mexican American context as well as with other Hispanic/Latino groups since some of the core values and approached presented are shared among them.