Catholic Readers discussion

From the Introduction to the book:

"At this moment you have natural life. You did not choose to live; this life was a gift to you. The moment will come when you must die: this also, not subject to your choice. Between these two boundaries, now and the moment of death, is a lifetime of choices and responses which are of ultimate importance and significance to each person. We did not choose to live but we must choose how we will live. We do not choose to die but we must choose how we will live the years or hours or moments of our dying."

This journey on which we find ourselves is in truth the journey on which we can find ourselves! It is a journey from life to death, a journey of both living and dying all along the way. Jesus describes, paradoxically (as He often chooses to do), the strange but necessary intertwining of living and dying along the journey:

"Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Mt 16:25-26)

This journey begins and continues in Another: Jesus Christ. It is a walk of self-discovery through self-forgetfulness, finding through losing, enrichment and fulfillment through self-offering, self-sacrifice, self-donation: it is a walk with the saving Cross.

I write this, above, in retrospect of course. My discovery and retelling (in book form) of the treasure of traditional Catholic spirituality did not start out with the intention of losing myself, but of finding. I wanted to find God! I found that He is love, and that entering and remaining in His life which is love, is the journey of the path to holiness. This journey is no “walk in the park”! Not entirely, anyway. Not every day nor every night. But the journey is the greatest adventure a man or woman can ever choose and resolve to walk. The journey is what life is all about. It is why we are here: to find Him, our beginning and our end.

The journey has been travelled and described by many great saints throughout history. Through their experience and teachings the pattern, the normal and ordinary characteristics of the journey, can be seen and understood. The ordinary path to holiness is the journey to our vocation, our calling to return to God. This traditional Catholic spiritual theology is a gift of immense value to anyone who knows the hunger, the yearning, the aching to finally come to blessed union in God - the beginning and the end of all.

I invite you to read the book, and perhaps we can discuss some of it. (If interested but you don't own a copy, books are available through Amazon/B&N in ebook and in paperback.) The Church teaches that we are all called to holiness! Catholic Christians who sincerely want to grow to that holiness, but do not yet know of this wisdom of our saints, this great treasure - find it, please - if not in this book then somewhere.

Probably the best description page for the book is here (also has links to Amazon and B&N vendor's pages):
http://www.renewthechurch.com/Renew_t...

Goodreads page for the Paperback: The Ordinary Path to Holiness
Goodreads page for the ebook: The Ordinary Path to Holiness

R. Thomas Richard

This is an excellent book, by R. Thomas Richard. I have read it and recommended it to others, especially to lay persons who are longing for more depth in their spiritual lives.

The author has written a real "primer" on how to grow spiritually according to the testimony of the saints and the teachings of the Catholic Church which have sustained clergy, religious and lay persons for centuries. So many Catholics are unaware of the treasures of Catholic Spirituality, or perhaps only learned "academically" without knowing how to apply it in everday life. This is a book which was an open door for me to better appreciate the truth that we are all called to holiness.

I am speaking from the perspective of one who had a good formation in Catholic schools from elementary through graduate school, yet in reading The Ordinary Path to Holiness I began to see more clearly what the classic writers like St. John of the Cross and Theresa of Avila were saying to us women and men of today, and not merely to Religious Brothers and Sisters.

The great minds of St. Bernard, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine, likewise became more intelligible to me, thorough the explanations given in this book. What a gift to read words written by a layman prayerfully sharing the Truth of Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium in a way so needed by us lay persons today! Clergy and Religious also can profit a great deal by reading this book, non Catholics as well as Catholics, but most of all, I would urge the ordinary Catholic in the pew to dig deeper into his/her faith by reading this wonderful little book.

Thank you, MariaChristi. I appreciate the positive comments.

It seems that most of the books promoted here are works of fiction - and certainly fiction can help us toward the truths that can save us, and that can facilitate growth in the interior life and communion with God and one another. Personally, I prefer the "directness" of the lights and insights of our saints, into the path to God - our calling, our vocation in Christ.

Of course, Jesus taught using "directness" as well as stories, parables and analogies - so stories certainly have a part to play. I pray for fiction writers, that they develop their own interior life with great care and diligence. Only from truth well-established within, can stories have the power and unction that radiate Him. We all need such a life of prayer!

I had forgotten about this (old) discussion, from 2012. I'm happy to update the discussion: The book is now in a 3rd Edition, a few revisions, but now in both paperback and ebook (Kindle only, for now, but Nook soon I hope).

The book started as self-published (1999), then was picked up by St. Pauls/Alba house and published (2003) with an Intro by Fr. Benedict Groeschel - and now back to self-published in 2018 (aka "Independently Published", Fidelis Presentations). Thanks to the marvel of POD - Print on Demand - the world of publishing has been changed.

So I am very grateful to get this book back onto the public market via Amazon.

We, the Church, NEED the wisdom of the saints in this matter of the spiritual life! We need to grow in the life of prayer-communion with our God. We cannot be Church as we are called and sent to be, His witnesses in this darkening world, without the light of His life in His saints and the power of His grace in the Holy Spirit. I can't stress too much the force with which this need presses upon me.

The saints have left us treasures! Yet so many in the Church have never heard it, or if some have, they do not understand or appreciate it. We need to grow in prayer, to know HIM better, more intimately, more authentically, more personally. We need to be His witnesses.

So now these two books are again out and available: The Ordinary path to Holiness, and also:
The Interior Liturgy of the Our Father.
I pray and hope they can speak to this need, and help.

The Interior Liturgy of the Our Father

The Ordinary Path to Holiness: The treasure of Catholic spirituality re-presented for our times