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Eleazar’s Commonplace Book, or Shine Like Lights {Finding Your Fiat talk notes}

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I am still processing the wonderful Finding Your Fiat Conference I attended last weekend here in central Illinois.  So many great memories and take-aways. Before I get to my promised talk notes, here are a few highlights of “Finding Your Fiat” from me:

*Friday night gathering: a mini-concert and then Karaoke with Marie Miller. I didn’t actually do Karaoke but I loved getting to sing and dance along. So many ladies ( Bonnie and Nell and so many others) did really funny and great songs. Now I want to somehow do karaoke with the family or friends. Is there an app or inexpensive way to get started with this?

*Saturday’s program: so many awesome women, so many adorable babies, praise and worship with Marie Miller, and more.  The coloring pages provided by Katie Bogner, were lovely and relaxing as we began the day.  Katie also hand-stamped sweet charms with the word “Fiat” on them.   I wrote down tons of quotes from Colleen Mitchell and Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Jenna Guizar.  I wish I could have heard the talks by Annie Tillberg and Laura Fanucci, but I was listening to a different talk during the former and giving my talk during the latter.  I was super grateful that Mary Lenaburg agreed to come up towards the end of my talk and share some of her wisdom about finding time for life-giving pursuits even while processing grief and life changes.

So without further ado, here are notes from my talk, entitled:

Eleazar’s Commonplace Book, or Shine Like Lights

“Finding Your Fiat”

Intercession of

Venerable Matt Talbot

Venerable Father Solanus Casey

Prayer:

“Shine like lights in the world,
as you hold on to the word of life.” —Philippians 2:15-16

entire quote:

“So then, my beloved obedient as you have always been, not only when I am present all the more now when I am absent, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to dear and to work.

Do everything without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among who you shine like lights in the world, as you hold on to the word of life, so that my boast for the day of Christ may be that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”

definitions:

Eleazar:

Hebrew scribe, 90 years old, martyred in Maccabees persecution

“But making a high resolve, worthy of his years and the dignity of his old age and the gray hairs that he had reached with distinction and his excellent life even from childhood, and moreover according to the holy God-given law, he declared himself quickly, telling them to send him to Hades.

“Such pretense is not worthy of our time of life,” he said, “for many of the young might suppose that Eleazar in his ninetieth year had gone over to an alien religion, and through my pretense, for the sake of living a brief moment longer, they would be led astray because of me, while I defile and disgrace my old age. Even if for the present I would avoid the punishment of mortals, yet whether I live or die I will not escape the hands of the Almighty.  Therefore, by bravely giving up my life now, I will show myself worthy of my old age and leave to the young a noble example of how to die a good death willingly and nobly for the revered and holy laws.”  –2 Maccabees 6:23-28

(worth reading the whole chapter and 2 Maccabees 7, the martyrdom of mother and seven sons, and she died after all her sons).

Commonplace book:

a notebook/scrapbook combination, a way for a learned person, scholar, or writer to keep random bits of information in one place.

have existed in that name since the 17th century, but even beforehand in works like the Notebooks of Leonardo DaVinci.

Here is a link to a facsimile of John Milton’s Commonplace Book

Here is a link to John Locke’s A New Method of Making Commonplace Books.

So, Eleazar’s Commonplace Book: random quotes and pieces of books from one who wants to be “worthy of her years and gray hair”  to help you consider ways to “shine like lights” throughout life, and be able to persevere (“hold on to the word of life” and not “run in vain”).

Making Books–

Here is the hot dog booklet, and a link to the website with various other small book projects.

BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART, FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD

St. Gregory of Nyssa on the Beatitudes

“Bodily health is a good thing, but what is truly blessed is not only to know how to keep one’s health but actually to be healthy. If someone praises health but then goes and eats food that makes him ill, what is the use to him, in his illness, of all his praise of health?
“We need to look at the text we are considering in just the same way. It does not say that it is blessed to know something about the Lord God, but that it is blessed to have God within oneself. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
I do not think that this is simply intended to promise a direct vision of God if one purifies one’s soul. On the other hand, perhaps the magnificence of this saying is hinting at the same thing that is said more clearly to another audience: The kingdom of God is within you. That is, we are to understand that when we have purged our souls of every illusion and every disordered affection, we will see our own beauty as an image of the divine nature.”

QUESTION: How is the Kingdom of God Within You?

BE A DECIDER

From City of Saints: A Pilgrimage to John Paul II’s Kraków by George Weigel.

“He was a moral reference point for his friends and did not hesitate to be a challenging counselor and confessor. But the pastoral stress … was always on personal responsibility. He was not the decider for his friends; they must be their own deciders, he insisted, if they were to be true to the moral dignity built into them as human persons and as Christians. “

later in the book:

“(Fr. Wojtyla was), according to one of his friends and penitents, uninterested in the ‘mass production of Christians’ in a confessional assembly line, but deeply committed to accompanying a fellow believer in his or her quest for the truth, including the truth of failure and the truth about making wise decisions. Yet Wojtyla, the confessor who gently prodded good decisions, never imposed decisions. ‘You must decide’ was his signature phrase in spiritual direction. One couldn’t opt out of the drama of life in the gap. One had to decide–and, with the grace of God and the support of the Church, wise and true decisions could be made.”

QUESTION: How can you be a decider? How can you be a good decider, filled with personal responsibility?

WIN HAPPINESS

 Rilla of Ingleside by Lucy Maud Montgomery (writer of the Anne of Green Gables books).  I dearly love all of the Anne books, and this is the last in the series about her family, and about Anne & Gilbert’s youngest child, darling, charming and growing-up Rilla (named after Marilla). Rilla of Ingleside is such a good book as a coming-of-age story, but also great historical fiction about WWI written close to the time. Noble and heartbreaking without being completely depressing, as a lot of fiction about WWI is, and rightfully so, since it’s the first modern war.

At one point, Rilla is bemoaning in a conversation with her brother Walter how the war is changing their whole community and family. Her brother Walter says:

“Now we won’t be sober any more. We’ll look beyond the years—to the time when the war will be over and Jem and Jerry and I will come marching home and we’ll all be happy again.”

“We won’t be—happy—in the same way,” said Rilla.

“No, not in the same way. Nobody whom this war has touched will ever be happy again in quite the same way. But it will be a better happiness, I think, little sister—a happiness we’ve earned. We were very happy before the war, weren’t we? With a home like Ingleside, and a father and mother like ours we couldn’t help being happy. But that happiness was a gift from life and love; it wasn’t really ours—life could take it back at any time. It can never take away the happiness we win for ourselves in the way of duty.”

QUESTION: What kind of happiness have you won in the way of duty?

MUSTER YOUR WITS


Emily of Deep Valley by Maud Hart Lovelace

Set in early 20th century Minnesota, Emily of Deep Valley by Maud Hart Lovelace, author of the iconic Betsy-Tacy books, is a coming-of-age story about a high school graduate, Emily, who can’t go away to college like her cousin and friends since she is taking care of the elderly grandfather who raised her. At first, she wallows in pity.

“Depression settled down upon her, and although she tried to brush it away it thickened like a fog. “Why, the kids will be home for Thanksgiving! That will be here in no time. I mustn’t get this way,” she thought. But she felt lonely and deserted and futile. “A mood like this has to be fought. It’s like an enemy with a gun,” she told herself. But she couldn’t seem to find a gun with which to fight.

Later, she learns to “muster her wits” and she starts a reading group, and goes out to dances, and becomes active in helping Syrian immigrants.  She discovers a quote in Shakespeare: 

“Muster your wits: stand in your own defense.” She had no idea in what sense he had used it, but it seemed to be a message aimed directly at her. “Muster your wits: stand in your own defense,” she kept repeating to herself on the long walk home. After dinner she sat down in her rocker, looked out at the snow and proceeded to muster her wits. “I’m going to fill my winter and I’m going to fill it with something worth while,” she resolved.

QUESTION: How Can you Muster Your Wits? What are your Resources for Doing that?  (friends, faith, outside help) 

EMBRACE YOUR GOOFY HOBBIES

C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters is a series of imaginary letters from a senior demon “(Screwtape) to his nephew about ways to ensnare a young man in WWII-era England.  It’s a classic on the spiritual life and growth in holiness, both funny and spiritually insightful. All the terms and suggestions are backward (the Enemy is God).

“The deepest likings and impulses of any man are the raw material, the starting-point, with which the Enemy has furnished him. To get him away from those is therefore always a point gained; even in things indifferent it is always desirable to substitute the standards of the World, or convention, or fashion, for a human’s own real likings and dislikings. I myself would carry this very far. I would make it a rule to eradicate from my patient any strong personal taste which is not actually a sin, even if it is something quite trivial such as a fondness for county cricket or collecting stamps or drinking cocoa. Such things, I grant you, have nothing of virtue in them; but there is a sort of innocence and humility and self-forgetfulness about them which I distrust. The man who truly and disinterestedly enjoys any one thing in the world, for its own sake, and without caring two-pence what other people say about it, is by that very fact forearmed against some of our subtlest modes of attack. You should always try to make the patient abandon the people or food or books he really likes in favour of the ‘best’ people, the ‘right’ food, the ‘important’ books. I have known a human defended from strong temptations to social ambition by a still stronger taste for tripe and onions.”

QUESTION: What is Your Tripe & Onions?

AIR YOUR ROOMS

Rumer Godden’s Autobiography: A House with Four Rooms.

“There is an Indian proverb that says that everyone is a house with four rooms, a physical, a mental, an emotional, and a spiritual . Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time but unless we go into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, we are not a complete person.” 

Question: How can you air out those four rooms each day, or even each week?  What can you do to be well-rounded?

RESOLUTION: How can you make time for something you “want” to do, not “have” to do?

My best example of a “want to”: The New York Times mini-crossword.

Some of mine:

Running

Daily Mass–more when kids were tiny, less when kids were busy

Adoration

Reading

QUESTION: What “want-tos” are you going to make intentional over the next few weeks? 

I would love to hear what want-tos are in your line-up the next few weeks.  If you attended “Finding Your Fiat,” I’d also love to hear your favorite parts and things you are pondering.

As a sharing of one of my “want-tos,” here is my completed New York Time mini-crossword for Wednesday (BTW, I didn’t do it in 35 seconds! I did it late last night, as I mentioned in my talk, and forgot to take a screen shot, so I did it again this morning. But many times I do get it in under a minute.):

IMG_5296

“The Global War on Christians” Offers Sobering Look at An Epidemic of Martyrdom {My June column @TheCatholicPost }

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The ancient Christian expression, “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,” is commonly known. We as American Christians may think of it as an encouraging or awe-inspiring reminder of the courage of martyrs, often in centuries past, and how their witness inspired others and us to live our faith today.  But I think few of us realize the extent to which our brothers and sisters are persecuted right now, throughout the world, for the faith we share.

That’s why John Allen’s new book, The Global War on Christians: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution is such an important read.

The book is divided into three sections: anti-Christian persecution around the world; myths about the global war on Christians; and fallout, consequences, and response.  Allen proves that anti-Christian persecution is undeniable. He also shows how the term “war” is not hyperbole in describing this problem.  He also shares some of the myths surrounding the victimization of Christians, importantly sharing what’s true and what is not, to help put things in a realistic context.

John Allen, who is a prolific author on all things Catholic, and editor of the Catholic news website cruxnow.com, has a unique perspective. He is himself Catholic, so he has an insider’s view of things.  He has a keen sense of how Catholicism interacts with the world culture at large, and so he can and does write about it fairly and comprehensively.  He’s written about so many Catholic issues,  from papal elections to scandals, from Church politics to theology.

Reading John Allen on any topic can sometimes seen overwhelming, so thorough is he to cover all aspects.  And in a book about Christian persecution and martyrdom, that can be even more daunting. But it’s both sobering and uplifting to have such a well-rounded  picture of what millions of Christians of the rest of the world experiences.

The Global War on Christians is a 2016 edition of a book originally published in 2013.  It’s been updated because in just those three short years, the notion of Christian persecution has become a settled fact, rather than a “stretch” by those of us in the West.  That’s because of the dramatic stories from the Middle East, but Allen points out that the Middle East is not the only place where Christians are marginalized or martyred.

In this new edition, Allen shares even more stories and facts to reflect the most recent areas of concern.

Allen tells a ruefully funny story in The Global War on Christians.  David Barrett, a pioneer of the study of Christian martyrdom before his death in 2011, spoke to a group of Christian business people.  They asked him, “What is the single most effective form of evangelization?” He said that the evidence points to martyrdom as the most effective form of evangelization. 

As Allen shares, “The response of the crowd quiet for a minute, until one of the industrialists finally had the nerve to ask, ‘Dr. Barrett, could you tell us what the second most effective form of evangelization is?’”

A highlight of Allen’s writing is how he is able to tell the stories of so many in a detailed, respectful way, so that the reader gets to know many individual stories, rather than the trends.  For instance, he explains that one such person was known in his community as “a man of God, trusted by all” before his martyrdom.

“One spiritual fruit of the global war on Christians is providing the contemporary church with more such stories, both those told about the dead by others and those that survivors can tell for themselves,”  Allen writes.

I confess that I found the book incredibly depressing at times, and wondered how in the world the average American Catholic can do anything at all about it.  I also have a healthy dose of guilt pondering my relatively easy Catholic life in the West. That’s why Allen’s final chapter, “What’s to be Done,” is so powerful.  It details the ways that a number of solutions, from prayer, global thinking, “micro-charity,” institutional humanitarian relief, political activism, and refugee resettling, can help to alleviate the sufferings of those most vulnerable to abuse.

There’s a new documentary about the writer and “farmer-philosopher” Wendell Berry and about his life-long advocacy for simple living.  The film’s producer/director, Laura Dunn, talked with an interviewer about how making the film overwhelmed her about the state of the world, but Berry’s approach to life helped her reconcile it with her own life.  You can read that interview here.

As Dunn shares in the interview, ”What he’s saying to me is, there is no big solution. It’s broken. We’re all complicit in a broken system, and it a broken world. The question isn’t how can I fix it all. But how can I, with my own two hands, do good work, every day. And I find that immensely hopeful.”

In the same way, we Catholics who feel overcome by the state of the world, the evil present, the enormity of what Christians in other places undergo, we can feel hopeless. But by making concrete actions, beginning with prayer, we can create change in the world, with our own two hands.

Young Authors Offer Fresh Take on Catholic Life {July column @TheCatholicPost}

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Following is my July column that appears on this month’s book page of the print edition of The Catholic Post.

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Full disclosure: I sometimes disparage younger authors. You know, the ones writing memoirs at 15 or how-to-parent books at 25. It may be a kind of reverse ageism, but the older I get, the more I see that wisdom often comes with age.

But it’s also true that generalizations are dangerous and unhelpful, especially when I recall so many exceptions to the rule, such as Colleen Swaim’s excellent books for young people, or Elizabeth Esther’s searing memoir Girl at the End of the World, to name just two.

And then I realized that a number of new recent books, all by young authors, are excellent, each in their own way. See? Even middle-aged and older people can change their views, and—I say only partly joking— there can be harmony among the generations.

Leah Libresco is one of those younger authors.

Her first book, Arriving at Amen: Seven Catholic Prayers That Even I Can Offer, is a quirky and brainy mix of popular culture, literature, philosophy, and Church doctrine, that’s both enjoyable to read and a challenge to live out one’s Catholic faith more fully and intentionally.

Libresco is an accomplished writer and popular blogger at Patheos, a religious blog portal. She grew up in an atheist home, but during her time as an undergrad at Yale (just a few short years ago) she encountered intelligent, thoughtful Christians unafraid of intellectual rigor applied to faith.

Eventually, she converted to Catholicism and blogged her journey in real-time. This book recounts part of that improbable, highly intellectual, and spiritual journey.

But far more than a personal journey memoir, Arriving at Amen is a thoughtful book on seven of the basic elements of a healthy Catholic life: Petition, Confession, Examen, the Divine Office, Lectio Divina, and the Mass. The book shares, in-depth, how these nourish and inspire a robust faith and life.

For such a recent convert, and young writer, Libresco writes with a mature spirituality that is enlightening to readers of all ages.


Chastity Is for Lovers: Single, Happy, and (Still) a Virgin by Arleen Spenceley is another smart book by a talented young author.

Spenceley is a young but experienced journalist, so the writing is keen and clear. Like Arriving at Amen, Chastity is for Lovers is part personal story, but more an attentive analysis of what’s great about our Catholic faith; in this case, on what makes for healthy sexuality.

Spenceley sets out the argument for chastity as the healthiest, most integrative way of life, no matter one’s state in life. She explores, with humor and grace, how it can be a challenge in our culture, but so worthwhile.

There are many good things about Chastity is for Lovers, but the best chapter is Spenceley’s sharp critique the “purity culture” promoted in some Protestant churches, and how it can harm young people and impair healthy sexual development. “Purity culture” involves, at its worst, shame-based and condemning messages about premarital sex in a misguided effort to promote purity, but often having the result of creating unhealthy sexual messages and lead people away from the truth, rather than towards it.

Spenceley shares throughout her book how the Catholic vision of chastity is so very different from that, and how vital it is to convey that message to young people.

Decent Exposure, by actress and designer Jessica Rey, and former model Leah Darrow, is a very different book than the previous two, but has its place here. This is especially true since this kind of book is probably best created by young authors.

A line from the book sums up the authors’ well-met aim: “Decent Exposure was written with the simple idea that women need positive, uplifting guidance. It is not about shame; it is about empowerment.”

The book is a well-designed large volume, with engaging graphic design and appealing photos. This book is a great conversation starter for pre-teen, teen, and older girls on up about body image, beauty, relationships, and mostly, living in our culture without being overwhelmed by it.

Decent Exposure is not a perfect book, and some topics are worded differently than I might express them, but it’s a sensible resource for ideas to start or continue a healthy dialogue with the girls in your life.

Meet God Halfway {My January column, The Catholic Post}

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Following is my January column, that appears in this weekend’s print edition of The Catholic Post.

You probably know this old chestnut–a man prayed faithfully every day for years: “Lord, please let me win the lottery.”  Finally, after 10 years of petition, God answers the man: “Meet me halfway–buy a ticket.”

I’ll avoid commenting on whether “win the lottery” is a good prayer petition, except to say that the right number of lottery tickets to buy is one, every once in a while.  Even God (well, the God of this joke) agrees.  

The reason that joke has longevity is that it’s so true, especially at this time of year when making resolutions.

We want to eat healthier, but don’t put away the leftover Christmas chocolate.  I’m using the royal “we” here, as I’m currently guilty of that one.

We want to start an exercise routine, but don’t plan out when we’d get to the gym or go for a walk.

We say we’ll get more organized, but spend more time on Pinterest pinning gorgeously organized spaces, than actually cleaning out the closet.  

Even in the spiritual life, we might desire to grow in faith, but don’t take the practical steps needed.  We need to recommit to meeting God “half-way” by doing what we can to cooperate with grace.

There’s a common formula for goal-setting that helps people get more specific—have you heard it? Goals should be SMART—specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.  

Because I’m a goals and resolutions type of person, I love this approach.  So following is a newly-released book paired with each of the SMART principles. 

First is specific—so let’s tackle a specific, and often controversial, topic: contraception.

Angela Franks, PhD, has written Contraception and Catholicism: What the Church Teaches and Why a helpful, easy-to-read guide that covers the personal, the practical, and the nitty-gritty about openness to life.  Dr. Franks calls herself a “theologian mom,” so she manages to be intellectual and down-to-earth, and funny, as she shares the Catholic Church’s teaching in this area, and what it means for couples and families.

Next is measurable—and what better than a book about science?

Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial?: . . . and Other Questions from the Astronomers’ In-box at the Vatican Observatory by Guy Consolmagno, SJ, and Paul Mueller, SJ has a long, potentially intimidating title, but it’s a highly readable and engaging book.

Brother Consolmagno and Father Mueller are both Jesuits who are work at the Vatican Observatory, one of the world’s leading research facilities, and they write about “what its like when science encounters faith on friendly, mutual respectful terms . …for people who want to take (both) science and faith seriously.”

Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? points out, “Science isn’t a big book of facts. It’s a conversation.” 

So the two authors have an actual, back-and-forth conversation throughout the book explaining and learning together about various topics, from Galileo to the star of Bethlehem to the end of the world.  The conversation format allows the authors to cover complex topics without overwhelming readers.

As Father Mueller writes, “We don’t claim to be able to teach you, ‘How to’ do it.  Instead, we simply want to share with you the joy and hope—and fun—that we find in doing science and living faith.”

Well said, and well-written.

Next for goal- setting is attainable.  How about working to achieve a real trust in God?


From Fear to Faith: A Worrier’s Guide to Discovering Peace
by Gary Zimak is a sensible, back-to-basics overview of ways to begin the never-ending work of leaving behind our worries and fears, and focus on Jesus and our faith.

Zimak writes from first-person perspective, since he has struggled with anxiety and depression for most of his life. From Fear to Faith is a book-length explanation of the main talk he gives in his work as a Catholic evangelist.

What I love most about the book is that Zimak doesn’t downplay— at all — the importance of getting professional help for mental health issues, whether that includes counseling, medication, or many other ways.  But he’s not providing those in “From Fear to Faith,” but enriching them. by offering simple and effective spiritual strategies—a way one can follow Jesus at His word and “be not afraid.”

Next is relevant — having a goal that is personally meaningful, like sharing the faith with loved ones.

I can hardly believe it, but I’ve never reviewed a book by the excellent and prolific Scott Hahn.  Knowing I will date myself, let me share that I recall listening to a Scott Hahn cassette tape in the late 1980s, and it has always stayed with me.

Evangelizing Catholics: A Mission Manual for the New Evangelization is Hahn’s exploration, through his usual Scott Hahn style, of how to spread the faith naturally in our lives.

As Hahn writes, “You can’t keep the Faith unless you give it away,” and this book offers personal stories, background of church history of how Catholics have shared the faith, and practical advice about how and why to “do evangelization.” It’s an encouraging read that is informative and inspiring.

Finally, goals should be time-bound.  What better than a daybook, which promotes a small amount of reading each day?

I enjoy and recommend daybooks often, but Peace and Good: Through the Year with Francis of Assisi by Franciscan Fr. Pat McCloskey, stands out.

Each month offers a specific theme, such as peace in January and service to the poor in September.  Each day has a quote from Francis or early writings about him, then “Life as Francis Did” applying it to today, and then “Growing with Francis,” with a very specific, and very do-able, action item.

Father Benedict Groeschel, Rest in Peace

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I learned this weekend that Father Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R., died on the eve of the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.  May he rest in peace!

He was such a sensible, holy voice in so many ways. Anyone who saw him on EWTN‘s “Sunday Night Live” for many years will recall many great interviews and insights there.

Here are four books that I consider Father Groeschel classics, from a quick perusal of my bookshelves.  I know he wrote many more, and I loved many more, but it’s a start.

Father Groeschel was a psychologist, and worked in the field for many years, so his advice about matters emotional and mental is both time-tested, professional and sensible, but with gentleness.

Here is where I briefly reviewed Arise from Darkness: What to Do When Life Doesn’t Make Sense, along with several newer classic book about mental health issues.  But it’s a gem.

Travelers Along the Way: The Men and Women Who Shaped My Life is a  relatively easy read, but very substantial and edifying at the same time.

I’m going to excerpt from my prior review of this great read:

This book is like a “who’s who” of Catholicism, from mini-biographies of saints and blessed, the famous and the obscure, in fascinating color. Each chapter is a little gem of anecdotes and memories of the particular fellow “traveler,” from Cardinal Cooke to Groeschel’s secretary.

The prolific Fr. Groeschel is easy to read (in the best sense of the word); he’s such an excellent writer that he makes it look easy to write in a conversational, relational style. Travelers Along the Way puts that great style to good use, as you can easily pick up and read one “traveler’s” story.

The Saints in My Life: My Favorite Spiritual Companions is very similar to Travelers Along the Way, but instead of stories of people Fr. Groeschel knew, the stories here are about his spiritual friendship with saints over his life and vocation. Nicely organized and useful for considering how the reader is impacted by saints.

Finally, here is a book I couldn’t locate on my bookshelf–I must have loaned it out to someone.  But even thinking about this book again brings up strong emotions.

In , A Priest Forever: The Life of Eugene Hamilton, Father Groeschel writes so beautifully about the life of a young man who had a longtime vocation to the priesthood. From the description (since I can’t peruse the book, nor can I find where I’ve written about it before–it must be offline):

This is the true story of Eugene Hamilton, a young man who dreamed of becoming a priest; a young man stricken with terminal cancer as his life was just beginning; a man who was ordained, by papal dispensation, just hours before he died.

My memory of reading it:  I  was a new mother with one baby when I first read this book.  I found myself weeping about his death, but also deepening my sense of by the nature of vocation, the gift of the priesthood to the rest of the people of God, and the beauty of life and death.

Do you have a favorite Father Groeschel book?  Any impressions of his life or advice?

Theology for the Rest of Us {my September column, The Catholic Post}

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(Following is my column that appears in this week’s print edition of The Catholic Post.)

To paraphrase Marcus Welby, M.D., I’m not a theologian, nor do I play one on television.

And while I do plenty of reading and reviewing of Catholic books in various genres, consider me firmly in the “normal layperson” category. Believe me, I can be just as intimidated by a heavily theological book as the next Catholic. Despite that, I’m like many people, who strive be able to know and understand better the rich intellectual history of the Catholic Church and her saints.

It can be good to have a “translator” to help bridge the gap between important Catholic thought and normal readers like me. Here are some good recent books to help us to branch out.

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In Saints and Social Justice: A Guide to Changing the World, author Brandon Vogt uses the lives of saints to illuminate and explore each of the seven themes of social justice.

The idea behind this book is brilliant—who better than the saints and the lives they led to explain key tenets of our faith? But it’s Vogt’s execution is what makes this book a stand-out.

Each social justice theme is highlighted through two saints; usually one better-known, one less so. For instance, for the justice theme of rights & responsibilities, Vogt profiles both St. Thomas More and St. Roque Gonzalez, a Paraguayan Jesuit. And the theme of life & dignity of the human person uses the lives of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, as well as St. Peter Claver.

Vogt explains why he uses saints to illustrate the themes of social justice:

“Catholic social teaching should be well-known, well-understood, and, most of all, well-practiced. The saints knew this best and so it’s the them we turn.”

Each saint profile is both succinct and packed with detail about how he or she lived a heroic life, told through the lens of one of the social justice themes. Helpful sidebars quote from church documents and tell other stories to bring social justice alive. It’s a great combination.

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I, personally, have always been a little intimidated by St. Thomas Aquinas, even though he is a doctor of the church and for many the theologian. When my husband and I were dating in Washington, D.C., we sometimes attended a St. Thomas Aquinas study group led by a saintly older Dominican priest. But I use the word “we” loosely, for while everyone was very nice, the discussion was often on a different plane than my non-philosophical mind.

I wish more than 20 years ago, I had had for translation, The One Minute Aquinas: The Doctor’s Quick Answers to Fundamental Questions” by Kevin Vost, Psy.D. This new book is a great bridge from St. Thomas Aquinas, theologian and doctor, to the rest of us.

In “small, digestible portions” Vost offers an outline of St. Thomas’ major works and his wisdom in counseling others. What I love best about The One-Minute Aquinas is that can pick up the book at any point, rather than read it as a start-to-finish. Finally, I’m able to (slowly) learn at my own pace about this great saint and how his mind worked.

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I am intrigued by St. Teresa Benedita of the Cross (St. Edith Stein), but I’ve never known how to start reading her writings. So I was delighted to find Embracing Edith Stein: Wisdom for Women by Anne Costa.

Costa writes beautifully about how she came to love Edith Stein (known now as St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross). It’s part biography, part spiritual memoir of both Edith Stein and Costa herself, and a great introduction to this fascinating 20th century saint.

I found myself writing down quotes as I read, both of St. Teresa herself as well as Costa’s insightful journey of knowledge.

Costa writes at one point about Edith Stein, pre-conversion, being strongly impacted by a woman coming into church for a visit: “What strikes me most about this encounter is that, as intelligent and knowledgeable as Edith was and as satisfied as she was with her ever-widening circle of friends, she never closed her mind or heart to new ideas and experiences. Her keen sense of observation and engagement with the world around her wasn’t just an intellectual exercise, but a spiritual one.”

And finally, a wonderful quote from Edith Stein:

“It all depends on having a quiet little corner where you can talk with God on a daily basis as if nothing else existed..and regarding yourself completely as an instrument, so that you treat your most frequently demanded talents, not as something that you use, but as God working through you.”

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Quirky aside from me.  When I wrote the first line for this column, it never occurred to me that it wasn’t Marcus Welby, M.D. (actually, actor Robert Young) who spoke those famous words, so much a part of my cultural knowledge is that concept.  It turns out I was wrong, but I’ve kept it in since most people make a similar mistake.  Here is an article to get you started, and here’ s a link to a video of one of Robert Young’s decaf coffee ads.