Father Mark Boyer Publishes Three New Books, Hosts Book Signing

SPRINGFIELD–-- Local author Mark G. Boyer, a retired Catholic priest and university professor, recently announced the publication of three new books in 2020–2021.

Very Short Reflections—for Advent and Christmas, Lent and Easter, Ordinary Time, and Saints—through the Liturgical Year (Wipf & Stock, 2020) presents a very short reflection based on sets of Mass texts—Entrance Antiphon, Collect, Prayer over the Offerings, Preface, Communion Antiphon, Prayer after Communion, and Prayer over the People—presented for every day of Advent and Christmas, Lent and Easter, Ordinary Time, and Saints in The Roman Missal. The reflection identifies the theme of the day and presents how it is manifested in the Mass texts. These very short reflections are designed to expose the reader to the liturgical spirituality that emanates from the Mass texts.

Living Parables: Today’s Versions (Wipf & Stock, 2020) is Boyer’s 64th book written with Corbin S. Cole, a former student. This book presents Jesus’ parables in updated language and images. Biblical parables are culture-bound; they are embedded in images that were well-known to a Jewish culture. Jesus was a first-century, Jewish, Galilean peasant, and his concerns, speech, and idioms belong to that culture. His milieu is far removed from ours today. The images found in parables carried meaning that is lost on modern audiences. This book contains parables found in the New Testament in a form that Jesus might tell today.

And Boyer’s 65th book is his autobiography. My Life of Ministry, Writing, Teaching, and Traveling: The Autobiography of an Old Mines Missionary (Wipf & Stock, 2021) situates Boyer’s growing up in the French village of Old Mines, the oldest settlement in the State of Missouri. The work covers his college years in St. Louis and his post-graduate work in Indiana, along with his ministry as a Roman Catholic priest for forty-five years, his writing of books, his teaching for thirty years in the Religious Studies Department of Missouri State University, and his extensive travels. Throughout the pages, the reader will discover the relationships that have defined Boyer’s seventy years of life.

Review copies of any of the above-mentioned books can be obtained by calling Wipf and Stock, (541) 344-1528, or visiting wipfandstock.com.

Fr. Boyer is the author of 65 books on biblical and liturgical spirituality, some of which have been translated into Chinese, Spanish, and Italian.
All Boyer’s titles are available at DeSales Catholic Bookstore, 210-J W. Sunshine, Springfield, MO, (417) 831-4630. A book signing will take place there on Saturday, April 24, 2021, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. All are welcome to attend. April 24 is Fr. Boyer’s 45th anniversary or ordination.

Boyer is an alumnus of Cardinal Glennon College, St. Louis, MO (1972); St. Meinrad School of Theology, St. Meinrad, IN (1976); Indiana University, Bloomington, IN (1981); Missouri Southern State University, Joplin, MO (1984); and Loyola University, New Orleans, LA (2000).

Before retirement, he served as an associate pastor, a high school teacher, an adult education director, a newspaper editor, the founding pastor of a new parish, a parish administrator, an episcopal master of ceremonies, and a part-time professor of Religious Studies at MSU. Now, while petting his dog—Shelby—he continues to write books.