In a time when Catholic Laity are being particularly challenged to develop as Laity, the Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar's work, drawing on Scripture and Tradition, offers a rich source of understanding of what it means to be a lay person; what it means to be a Catholic man or a Catholic woman; what it means to participate in liturgy. Most of all however his work offers a profound understanding of what it means to be in the world as a follower of Christ in his Church. Bevil Bramwell OMI offers an extensive survey of the theology of von Balthasar comparing it with other luminaries of the twentieth century such as Joseph Ratzinger, Karl Rahner SJ, Yves Congar OP, Henri de Lubac SJ and John Paul II. There are also numerous references to the secondary literature and a substantial comparison with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council. This book is a tribute to one of the great theologians of the Twentieth century.