The Sacrament of Interruption: Living with a Holier Spirit

Embracing change is the key to refresh and renew our lives, according to author Donna Schaper. This book explores this idea through the lens of the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church: baptism, confirmation, marriage, penance, communion, ordination, and last rights. When we embrace change and stop looking for or at the past with fear; instead of worrying what big bad will be next – another 9-11 or Sandy or Sandy Hook – or worrying about climate changes nearly guaranteed enforcement of a new way of life – we enter these interruptions with hope. Instead of worrying what small event – traffic, lost passwords, mental congestion, overwork, family difficulties – will make 4 pm look too hard without a drink – we enter these interruptions with hope. This small book embraces interruptions, small and large, as sites for the sacred. It teaches a small sacramental way of living by revisiting and reimagining the seven sacraments Roman Catholics enjoy. These ritualised ways of looking at transitions enable a sacramental kind of life, while normalising trouble and transitions. They ritualise and resacralise what has been desacralised and blown apart.