Catholic Thought discussion

Last week I read a book Silence wonderfully written I encourage you all to read this book. It will really help you to strengthen your faith. My review of this book, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Hi all! Back from my very long hiatus (I had a baby in November). I am so behind on reading and truly only have time to read to my daughter who is almost 6 months.

Anyone have recommendations for Catholic children's books?

Congratulations Colleen! How exciting to have a new baby and all the wonderful blessings that come every day. Though not getting enough sleep isn't one of them... When my boys were infants my heart was overflowing, and I am sure yours is too.
We are awaiting our first grandson any day now, and we're on pins and needles. :)

Colleen wrote: "Hi all! Back from my very long hiatus (I had a baby in November). I am so behind on reading and truly only have time to read to my daughter who is almost 6 months.

Anyone have recommendations for ..."

Welcome back Colleen. Congratulations! And God bless the little girl. I know how little free time one has with children. When you can join us, please do.

Congratulations Coleen!

Just finished

Accidental Theologians by Elizabeth Dreyer
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Dreyer presents the four Catholic women saints who have been named Doctors of the Church, summarizing their life and an aspect of their writings. Each chapter concludes with a reflection on what that saint might offer the contemporary western world and several questions for discussion. Although I would have brought out different elements at several points then Dreyer chose to present, this was a nice introduction to these four saints that might inspire readers to learn more about their legacy. 3.5 stars

Irene wrote: "Just finished

Accidental Theologians by Elizabeth Dreyer
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Dreyer presents the four Catholic women saints who have been named Doctors of the Church..."

Oh I want to read that. I hope he gave a sparkling write up to my beloved patron saint, St. Catherine of Siena.

I just finished
Small Faith Great God by N.T. Wright
www.goodreads.com/review/show/2466273970

This collection of biblically based reflections on Christian discipleship hit the perfect balance of challenging head and heart. I often buy highly discounted books, read them, then donate them to my parish library. That was my intention with this volume. But, these highly accessible essays are too good to let go of; I will want to read them again and again. This book is an easy 4 stars and then some.

Irene wrote: "I just finished
Small Faith Great God by N.T. Wright
www.goodreads.com/review/show/2466273970

This collection of biblically based reflections on Christian discipleship hit the perfect balance of c..."

Sounds interesting Irene. I’ve been wanting to read something by NT Wright. Frances is a big fan of his.

Christianity, what mattered was not people going from earth into God's kingdom in heaven. What mattered, and what Jesus taught his followers to pray, was that God's kingdom would come on earth as in heaven." (Simply Jesus, pages 146 and 148)

N.T. Wright has commentaries on You Tube, also. I particularly like the short (under 4 minutes) talk on the historicity of the Gospel of John.

Somehow, I clipped off the first lines of my post. It should begin:
A good place to start with N.T. Wright's work is the book called Simply Jesus. In it Wright states one of the themes that runs through all his work: We cannot understand Jesus without reference to his Jewish context. "In first-century Christianity, what mattered was not people going from earth into God's kingdom in heaven. What mattered, and what Jesus taught, etc."

N.T. Wright is Anglican, but probably the most brilliant -- certainly one of the most brilliant -- theologians of our time. Bishop Robert Barron refers to him often.

I have run into short pieces or quotes from Wright, but have not yet read anything substantial by him. This is certainly not a great theological volume and does not show off the brilliance of his intellect. But, it was a wonderful bit o f spiritual reading for me. I do need to read more by him.

I started G. K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy yesterday. Only the second Chesterton thing I've ever picked up.

Joseph wrote: "I started G. K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy yesterday. Only the second Chesterton thing I've ever picked up."

I truly love that book!

Still Point: Loss, Longing and Our Search for God by Regis Martin
www.goodreads.com/review/show/2472245895

This slim volume is a reflection on the necessity for Christian hope in face of our innate recoiling from death. It is peppered with literary allusions, most I did not have the context to fully appreciate. This book could inspire the reader to ponder deep questions, but I was not in the right space for that.

Irene wrote: "Still Point: Loss, Longing and Our Search for God by Regis Martin
www.goodreads.com/review/show/2472245895

This slim volume is a reflection on the necessity for Christian hope in face of our innat..."

Well, I can tell you the literary allusion in the title, "Still Point." I comes from the first of TS Eliot's great sequence of poems called "The Four Quartets."

From "Burnt Norton" (the first of The Four Quartets):

At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.
I can only say, there we have been: but I cannot say where.
And I cannot say, how long, for that is to place it in time.
The inner freedom from the practical desire,
The release from action and suffering, release from the inner
And the outer compulsion, yet surrounded
By a grace of sense, a white light still and moving,
Erhebung without motion, concentration
Without elimination, both a new world
And the old made explicit, understood
In the completion of its partial ecstasy,
The resolution of its partial horror.
Yet the enchainment of past and future
Woven in the weakness of the changing body,
Protects mankind from heaven and damnation
Which flesh cannot endure.

I think the still point in the poem refers to a location of eternity, or perhaps where the metaphysical world touches the physical.

The entire Four Quartets in my mind is possibly the greatest poem in English of the 20th century. Each of the Quartets is a symphony, and like great symphonies it captures an incredible scope of life.

I can not tell you how often I am surprised to see German words used in the English language. Here we have the word "Erhebung", it is a noun literally meaning "being moved up", or "being lifted up" and can be used in many connotations. Here I would use the translation of raising, uplifting, or elevation - yet Eliot chooses the German word. I wonder if it is the passive element of the word that can't be quite expressed in English.

What a valuable insight, Kerstin. I have never heard that explanation before. It's beautiful. Thanks so much.

You're welcome :)

Murray, Matt, "The Father and the Son"

This is a curious and out of the ordinary story of a family by the youngest son. He researches the family records, talks to his relatives to understand why his father, a widower with four children, mostly out of the home becomes in the end a Benedictine monk and an ordained priest in the middle of Illinois. The son learns to sympathize with his father’s return to Catholicism but does not return to the faith himself or he would have told us he did.

The author is a journalist educated at Northwestern School of Journalism. He was named Editor-in-Chief of the Wall Street Journal in June, 2018.

I believe the book may have grown out of a column written in the WSJ years ago. The subject of that column was a Benedictine monk, a connection too close to be a coincidence, don't you think?

Editor of the Editorial Page Paul Gigot is Catholic and so is Deputy Editor Daniel Henninger. One of the Journal's finest writers, Bill McGurn, also is Catholic. I mention his name because today he had an important, if difficult to read, column called "When the Cardinal Sins." It was a sober reflection on the struggle the Church faces coping with the abuse problem in a culture that is becoming more hostile to Catholicism.

Frances wrote: "I believe the book may have grown out of a column written in the WSJ years ago. The subject of that column was a Benedictine monk, a connection too close to be a coincidence, don't you think?

Edit..."

Thank you Frances for the information. I have heard about the Theodore McCarrick case from European media before I saw it here.

Galicius, I would like to share with you and the other members of our group thoughts written in a Wall Street Journal column some time ago by James Martin, S.J.

"I will never forget what one Catholic sister said to me in 2002. 'If only the bishops had acted more like Christians and less like lawyers, Catholics might have forgiven them.' I asked her what it would mean for them to act like Christians.

"She paraphrased the line by the prodigal son to his father after the youth had spent years squandering his inheritance: 'I have sinned against God and against you, and I no longer deserve to be called your bishop. I will resign and spend the rest of my life in prayer and penance.'

" 'Catholics,' she told me, 'would have understood this.' "

Frances wrote: "Galicius, I would like to share with you and the other members of our group thoughts written in a Wall Street Journal column some time ago by James Martin, S.J.

"I will never forget what one Catho..."

Words of wisdom! In the past decades that these abuses have been going on and fill the media constantly I have only heard one comment on the issue from our pastor during a Sunday homily. He said that the seminaries did a poor job of screening the applicants and accepted some who had other reasons and purposes than genuine vocations.

Over the past 2 1/2 decades, I have never heard my pastor speak of the sexual abuse scandal except to say that the media is out to get the Catholic Church. When fellow priests had credible accusations brought against them, child porn found on their computer, etc, he has brushed it off saying that everyone just likes to pick on Catholics. Our recently retired bishop took the cautious, silent road, moving any priest if he could and silently retiring any he could not. Our new bishop, with us about 3 years, is wonderfully proactive, publically saying that there is no room for abuse in the Church and turning over all accusations to police for independent investigation. An older priest who spent his career quietly moved out of one parish after the next ahead of accusations is now sitting in jail due to our current bishop. I think this issue has finally turned a corner in the Church.

I don't think I've ever heard any of our pastors ever talking about sexual abuse either. Perhaps I have a vague memory of it once happening, but it's vague in my mind, so perhaps it didn't. I do remember a while back someone in the Philadelphia diocese told me when a priest scandal happened a few years ago, the pastor at her church just called for a silent moment at the time of the homily.

Irene the pastor at your church is both right and insular. He's right in that the general culture does not look favorably on the Catholic Church or actually any Christian institutions. The media has focused this as strictly a Catholic Church issue. From what I understand of the statistical analysis, the Catholic Church doesn't have any more of an issue than secular institutions, for instance like public schools. However, he still is being insular. Priests should be held to a higher standard. The Catholic Church has had a problem here, and the fact that it's priests is rather shocking. I won't even go into Cardinal McCarrick, which is a complete disgrace.

But can we move on? This folder is about current reads, and I prefer at Catholic Thought to avoid these types of discussions.

Currently reading The Life of St. Dominic when I can sqeeze off some time. This might be the best of the bio books on him. I once nominated this as a book read but didn't win. St. Dominic is becoming a personal favorite of mine. Also don't forget, August 8th is St. Dominic's feast day!

I'm sorry, Manny. It was my fault for introducing Bill McGurn's column about the abuse issue.

I am reading Exiles, by Ron Hansen. The book is an imagining of the individuals and circumstances that led to Gerard Manley Hopkins writing his masterpiece, The Wreck of the Deutschland. I recommend Exiles not only for its beautiful language but also for its scholarship and historical detail.

That's OK. It's not a dictatorship. Just don't want to get carried away with it. That Ron Hansen book would be a great read for our club!

I finished reading “The Mass: The Glory, the Mystery, the Tradition” by Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, DC, written with Mike Aquilina. Manny recommended it here as a free download to Kindle some time ago. Other reviewers describe it very well so there is no need for me to repeat the many accolades given. It’s a detailed examination of every small part of the Mass, words, actions, gestures and their historical background.

Galicius wrote: "I finished reading “The Mass: The Glory, the Mystery, the Tradition” by Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, DC, written with Mike Aquilina. Manny recommended it here as a free download to Kindle s..."

Funny you brought this up today. I noticed it on my Kindle this morning and told myself I should go ahead and read it. But unfortunately I'm backlogged with several books I've started and probably won't finish. I need to finish some before I move on to another.

Manny wrote: " I'm backlogged with several books I've started and probably won't finish. I need to finish some before I move on to another. "

I think all avid readers are afflicted with this particular "problem." :)

Quadrupani, Carlo Giuseppi (1740-1807)
“Instructions for Devout Souls to Dispel Their Doubts and Allay Their Fears”
I read this text again this time to take it in chapter by chapter. It is much inspired by the writing of St. Francis the Sales (1567-1622 and Thomas A. Kempis (1379?-1471). Quadrupani adds some prayers at the end. The one prayer that for me pointed to one major focus of his writing is “Act of Love”. It is worth quoting.
“Notwithstanding the coldness and insensibility that benumb my soul, I know that I love Thee. O my God! Since my will prefers Thy service to all the joys of the world, since Thy grace is the sole good to which I aspire, and because I suffer so much be reason of my lack of sensible love for Thee.”

That's a beautiful prayer!
I don't recall ever hearing of Quadrupani. How did you find him?

There is a link to the book for anyone interested:
Light and Peace: Instructions for Devout Souls to Dispel Their Doubts and Allay Their Fears

Thank you for asking Kerstin. I came across Quadrupani through librivox recordings. There is a reader who goes by the name of “dave7” who recorded several spiritual and religious books mostly solo. I listened to several of them while commuting (and dealing with traffic) to my stressful 8 to 5 occupation to prepare my mind for the day ahead. It helped. This title appealed to me and I have returned to it several times. (I thank God that those stressful times are in the past.)

Now that's an endorsement, Galicius! I'll put the title on our bookshelf :)

We all need ways to reduce stress and decompress, to find a center. We live such stressful lives. I recall when we still lived in the DC area it took me 45 min to cover 13 miles to work. It was horrible, yet for a time we knew we were stuck. When the opportunity came we escaped!

Great Catholic Parishes: How Four Essential Practices Make them Thrive by William Simon
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Simon identified 300 U.S. Catholic parishes that he regards as thriving. After interviewing the pastors of these communities, he claims that their success can be found in 4 areas: good leadership, attention to spiritual growth, quality Sunday liturgies and an emphasis on outreach. This is a lateral presentation, not an in-depth look at any particular model. The reader is given numerous short statements from a wide number of pastors, generalized statistics, and many examples of the various incarnations each practice might take. For someone new to this field of inquiry, this might be thought provoking. However, I have read numerous books and articles on the question of why religious communities might thrive or fail, so this gave me nothing new.

Hahn, Scott (1957- )
“Reasons to Believe: How to Understand, Explain, and Defend the Catholic Faith”

Halfway through the book I am learning and have answers to questions I had myself. Take for example the question of Purgatory. History authors, other than Catholic, write that the Church added Purgatory to our Christian faith in the 11th Century. The author goes to some length to show convincingly how the Church “always taught that there is an intermediate state for those who are bound for heaven;” (p. 123) He shows many places in the Bible where we find references to it both in the New and Old Testament.

Galicius wrote: "Hahn, Scott (1957- )
“Reasons to Believe: How to Understand, Explain, and Defend the Catholic Faith”

Halfway through the book I am learning and have answers to questions I had myself. Take for e..."

I’m pretty sure I have that book somewhere. Unread though. Thanks Galicius.

A Nnew Way To Be Church: Parish Renewal From the Outside In by Jack Jezreel
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Jezreel, well known to U.S. Catholics involved in Catholic justice and peace work, argues that parishes need to be more intentional about the social mission of the Gospel. Serving those in need, advocating for policies that support the most vulnerable in society, lobbying for laws that protect the environment, promote international peace, foster just economic systems and fight for equality for all people should be at the heart of every Catholic parish’s life because this is what is at the heart of the Gospel. He would like to see every parish allocate half its financial, staffing and campus resources for carrying out the social mission of the Gospels. Although I would like to see jezreel’s vision become reality, it did not always feel do-able. This book had me cheering, challenged and discouraged in equal measure.
3.5 stars

While not an outwardly Catholic book, I just finished Hamlet by William Shakespeare and loved it. It's so funny re-reading those high school classics with fresh eyes.

Leslie wrote: "While not an outwardly Catholic book, I just finished Hamlet by William Shakespeare and loved it. It's so funny re-reading those high school classics with fresh eyes."

That's great Leslie. Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's most Catholic plays. If you ever want to read a great book that shows that William Shakespeare was most likely a Catholic and a devout one at that, you really should read Joseph Pierce's The Quest for Shakespeare

I would love to re-read that with the book club one day.

Manny I know!!! I was thinking the same thing. Hamlet with the companion read of Pierce's book would make an excellent monthly read. :-)

Actually Pearce does a super job in that book showing the Catholic elements of King Lear.

Related to that, for my Shakespeare class in college I read Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare which does a good job going over both the textual and circumstantial evidence for Shakespeare's Catholicism.

I finished our current read "Confessions of a Convert" by Robert Hugh Benson.

Joseph wrote: "Related to that, for my Shakespeare class in college I read Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare which does a good job going over both the textual and circumstantial ..."

I've heard of that book but after reading Pearce's bio of Shakespeare I could no long read another that sidestepped Shakepeare's obvious Catholicism. I did not realize that Greenblatt's book touched upon it. None of the review's I saw when it came out brought it up, which I guess doesn't surprise me. Now I guess I'll put it on my to read list. I'm curious.

By the way, Protestant England has no inclination of accepting Shakespeare, it's greatest writer, as being Catholic. It would almost be a slap in the face of the last four hundred years of British prejudice toward Catholics.

Manny wrote: "Joseph wrote: "Related to that, for my Shakespeare class in college I read Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare which does a good job going over both the textual and ..."

Greenblatt devotes an entire chapter to it, I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned in any review. But then again since it's pretty much the scholarly consensus at this point they may not have thought it worth mentioning in a review.

Joseph wrote: "Manny wrote: "Joseph wrote: "Related to that, for my Shakespeare class in college I read Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare which does a good job going over both th..."

Is it really the scholarly consensus? It's been eighteen years since Grad school, and it was in English Literature. It wasn't the consensus then, but I don't keep up with scholarly publications. I do hope that's true.

I took my Shakespeare course 10 years ago and I think I'd seen it on at least a couple television programs before that.