"As we are taught by Guardini, the essence of Christianity is not an idea, not a system of thought, not a plan of action. The essence of Christianity is a Person: Jesus Christ himself."--Cardinal Josef Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI).Romano Guardini (1885-1968), an Italian-born German priest and theologian, was an influential writer whose efforts to relate the Christian message to a modern audience helped prepare the way for Vatican II. According to Karl Rahner, Guardini was a Renaissance man who led Catholics out of an intellectual and cultural ghetto and into the contemporary age. His Christian humanist vision at once deeply traditional and finely attuned to the questions of men and women today deserves the attention of a new generation