Mass and the Sacraments

• Paperback – 210 pages
• by Fr. John Laux
• TAN Books – 1994

The Fr. Laux texts provide excellent, thoughtful, somewhat challenging information. Fr. Laux lays this material out and in order to understand it the student has to put his mind on the matters. He has to think. This is the way one’s mind is formed. Also, Fr. Laux doesn’t just give interesting information, he gives arguments. He leads the reader from one premise to another, and to the conclusion that comes from putting those premises together. Additionally, the Fr. Laux texts have in depth questions at the end of the chapter. They require laying out a position, or arguing from one point to another. There are also very helpful paper outlines.

We are working toward a very clear understanding of the motives of credibility. The argument started in 9th grade with an exposition of basic Catholic Doctrine, laid out in a causal order. We move on this year to the proof for the existence of God, the claims of Jesus to be God, made in a reliable historical document, the fact that He founded a religion and that religion is the Catholic Church. One can make that argument well because he has been prepared for it. Fr. Laux was not only an intelligent man, he was a teacher. He takes the student by the hand and directs him, in the right order, from one truth to the next, building the student’s understanding of the arguments and giving him the tools to deepen that understanding.