Fortress Press

Pope Francis, addressing young people in Singapore in fall 2024 said, "All religions are paths to God. I will use an analogy: they are like different languages that express the divine." Lynn Cooper's book is important for Catholics in the parishes and seminaries. We have so many divisions, and with the rise of racism and Christian nationalism, this work is even more needed. Her gentle insights, suggestions, and years of experience can help midwife Catholics to appreciate the richness of living in a pluralistic society, forming interfaith relationships and meaningful collaboration. Parishes, through the Baptismal call of the Laity, can learn from Cooper's experience and theology, as she facilitates students in uncovering the tools at their disposal for interfaith living and justice, especially through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching and praxis. Though challenging, there is also celebration and joy in the doing. We are called to build bridges of friendship and mutual respect for the dignity of all human beings.

Lynn Cooper's book on interfaith friendship is a warm embrace of story, theology, and practicality. Every page nourishes the reader and encourages the adventure of interfaith engagement so needed in our time. Be bold! Engage in this journey that can help nourish healing, understanding, and some new growth.

Lynn Cooper is a wonderful storyteller, as she draws on her many interfaith experiences to show us vividly how interreligious values come to the fore in ordinary life amid the work we do and, above all, in the evolving friendships gifted to us and cultivated over the years. This is a fine book about friendship in interreligious dialogue, but it is more--a rich testimony to Cooper's own life journey, a path enriched by stories of finding God amid the relationships that keep giving vitality to her life and ministry.

If beauty will save the world, friendship will hold it together. Cooper offers spiritual resources and stories to inspire a generation to see friendship as the aim of our relationships with those from beyond our traditions, cultures, and practices. For any interfaith organization or clergy group, college campus, or local community seeking to connect across religious differences, Embracing Our Time provides a spiritual grounding to sustain the work of tending to these sacred relationships.

Lynn Cooper's fine work on friendship is a gift and blessing for the church, for the academy, and especially for readers who come with a personal longing and appreciation for friendship. Jesus said, "I have called you friends" (Jn 15:15). In that very spirit, Lynn Cooper calls us to a deeper, richer, and fuller immersion and investment in friendship. This is a marvelous book.

In Embracing Our Time, Lynn Cooper brings Vatican II's vision of dialogue to life for our nascent synodal moment, inviting us to view interfaith friendship as a path toward deeper communion. With insights and stories drawn from her work with young people in campus ministry, Cooper vividly illustrates how empathy, deep listening, and friendship can transform both our spiritual lives and the church itself. Her work is a timely guide for communities seeking to embrace Vatican II's call to an open, relational faith.

Lynn Cooper's book invites Catholics into the enriching world of interfaith friendship, showing how Catholic theology, spirituality, and practice provide a foundation for--not a contradiction to--cross-religious engagement. Her anecdotes are compelling, her reflections thoughtful, and her expertise practical. Cooper offers readers not only new information but also an opportunity to cultivate the necessary disposition for interfaith work, one which she herself embodies and models beautifully.

This is a beautiful and generous book. Rich in storytelling, rooted in Scripture, drawing on Catholic social teachings and personal experience, Cooper guides us through a treasure trove of resources for building deep connections with others. Cooper makes the case that cultivating friendships is not only essential to human flourishing, but also a deeply faithful way of being Catholic. Profoundly relevant in this time of heightened polarization, this is a resource for all of us who want to connect across lines of division. In defiance of forces that would separate us, Cooper's book is a timely counterargument for embracing the transformative power of unlikely friendships.