The purpose of this book, write the authors, is "to help priests and people to enter into the Eucharist at its deepest level, to experience it in its fullness, so that they will find they can pray the Eucharistic prayers as their own personal prayers." Although not a history of the liturgy, the authors explore moments in the past when liturgy and spirituality went their separate ways.

"We will then go back to the beginnings of Christian spirituality and liturgy. There, within the consciousness of Jesus," write Cioffi and Sampson, "we will discover the unity he saw in the two. We will show how his spiritual direction of the apostles was the preparation for them to experience the Eucharist in its fullness."

The authors explore how the principles of spirituality, which they have derived from the Gospels, can help us to understand the role of the liturgy of the Word in the Mass, and how the readings and the homily can lead to fuller participation in the eucharistic ritual.

This challenging, thought-provoking book will find an audience among Christians serious about their spiritual lives, priests, religious educators and Catholic parents.