Saint Jerome Library
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Complaints against God by one of His creatures 242 THO A glance at the title makes this book seem one to avoid, almost sacrilegious. What arrogance for a creature to complain against the Creator! And this book is not for everyone. But if you are akin to Moses or Abraham, who both argued with God, I think you’ll like this book. For, once you look inside, it becomes clear that many of the complaints are tongue in cheek. For example, the first four complaints are:
As you can see, the complaints highlight valuable truths. And in reality, they are actually prayers. St. Teresa of …The fact remains that I am tired and weary of being me. I don’t even find the thought of being someone else especially attractive. You may dismiss this, Lord, as merely the sign of middle-aged identity crisis. Let me simply note that that’s easy for you to do because one thing is certain, you’ve never been middle-aged. But I am, and I don’t like it. Amen. _________________________________________________________________ |
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God, A Woman, and the Way Rev M. Raymond, O.C.S.O 232.98 RAY This book explores the Seven Dolors (sorrows) of Mary. Its meditations would be helpful not only for May and October, the months of Our Lady, but also for Lent, especially Holy Week, and also around the feast of the Sorrows of Mary on the 15th of September. Sometimes, we ignore old books (this one was published in 1955). A mistake, I think; many contain gems we need to cherish. In addition to Fr. Raymond’s meditations on Mary’s Seven Sorrows, this book contains seven gems by John Andrews: etchings that depict each sorrow. They are primarily in black and white with color only for the skin and the wood. Even if you completely skip the meditations (which I wouldn’t recommend, as they work hand in hand with the etchings), this book is a great aid to prayer. ___________________________________________________________________ |
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ILUSTRISSIMI, LETTERS FROM POPE JOHN PAUL I Pope John Paul I 262.13 JOH John Paul I was pope for only one month. He wrote no encyclicals nor any papal letters. So it was a real joy for me to find this book, the fourth edition of this compilation his letters. But these are not the letters of a statesman, or even the formal letters of a Roman Catholic cardinal. They are letters showing the joy that permeated the life Cardinal Luciani. That joy becomes clear not only from the letters themselves, but also from the list of addressees: Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Pinocchio, Penelope (wife of Ulysses), St. Therese of Lisieux, and many others, alive and dead, real and imaginary. His whimsical and bantering letters each chat, correct, exhort, and teach about truths of our Catholic faith. He remarked that to him St. Therese, who called her story that of a “little flower,” resembled more a “steel bar” because of her courage, will power and decision. He commended Penelope for her steadfast love for Ulysses. Given that Pinocchio will become a teenager with all its challenges to the faith, Pope John Paul I gives him some very good advice the rest of us can use: First: respect certitudes (especially the certainty that Christ existed and that the Apostles saw Him dead and then resurrected) and Second: remember that man needs the sense of mystery. (After all, if I can’t know everything about myself, how can I insist on knowing and understanding everything about God?) As John Cardinal Wright says in the forward, It would be a great mistake to see the charming essays that combine to make a delightful book as the diverting writings of an idle cleric. Cardinal Luciani was first and foremost a pastor of souls…[He wrote] to teach some point of the Christian ideal. Again and again this comes through clearly…[in a] light, confident and happy manner. Just as Pope John Paul I showed us a smiling pontiff who preached the “good news” of Jesus Christ, his letters reach out to touch a responsive chord in our hearts, hearts that look to the Lord for the face of our Father—a Father who also smiles. ____________________________________________________________________
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The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton 261.2 CHE In The Everlasting Man, G.K. Chesterton considers world history as informed by the Incarnation. As he says, “those who say that Christ stands side by side with similar myths, and his religion side by side with similar religions, are only repeating a very stale formula contradicted by a very striking fact.” Then with great glee and triumph, Chesterton shreds that “very stale formula,” proclaiming in vivid language the glory and unanswerable logic of Jesus’ divinity. In the first part of the book, written in response to H.G. Wells’ anti-Christian Outline of History, Chesterton brings together the available evidence from paleontology, ancient history, comparative religions, etc. in remarkable ways. Chesterton asks (and to some extent, answers) basic questions: How is man different from other animals? Why are there so many religions? How do we make some sense out of our long and tumultuous human history? In the second part of the book, Chesterton asks what it would really be like to read the Gospel free of all preconceptions. The effect would not be "gentle Jesus, meek and mild," but rather someone who jars our sensibilities. As Chesterton points out, the most honest response might be "stark staring incredulity:" Did Jesus really do that? How could He say something so preposterous? Chesterton, like C.S. Lewis after him, helps us confront the incredible implications of this greatest of all paradoxes: Jesus’ claim to be God. Even though The Everlasting Man was written almost 75 years ago, it addresses many still current concerns: evolution, feminism, historicism, cultural relativism, economic and social determinism, etc. It’s interesting to see that back in the 20's these issues were already "old hat"—making TV programs and magazine articles meant to be bold or shocking all of a sudden seem hackneyed. Be warned that this is not an easy read. Chesterton sometimes piles paradox upon paradox. The reader can feel dazzled and wonder if there is substance behind his words. Don’t rush to a hasty conclusion. Ye4s, reading Chesterton requires effort and patience. However, to read him slowly and meditatively brings great rewards. |
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The Great Divorce C.S. Lewis F LEW The Catholic Church canonizes those she knows are in heaven. She makes no claim to know who is in Hell. And that leads some people to question if anyone other than the fallen angels is there. “If God is Love,” they ask, “how can he condemn anyone to eternal damnation?” William Blake, among other authors, wrote that some day there will be an ideal union of the secular and divine, of Heaven and Hell. As Lewis explains in his preface, The Great Divorce is a response to that attitude. People have debated the idea of hell for hundreds of years. For example, in the middle ages, Dante Alighieri wrote The Inferno, describing a journey down through the various levels of Hell. Lewis takes a different approach. Instead of travelling down through all the levels of Dante’s hell, Lewis leaves hell on an outing with a group of other tourists. When they arrive at a place we recognize as heaven, Lewis witnesses the interaction between the residents of heaven and the tourists. We see those solid heavenly people trying to encourage the insubstantial tourists to remain in this wondrous substantial place, to journey farther to the Source of life and glory. Unfortunately, most of the spirits prefer to deal with their various troubles “some other time” or not at all. Wishing to remain as they are, they refuse the help of the heavenly beings. We see those tourist spirits literally and figuratively in chains of pity, anger, pride, arrogance, and fear. The answer to all of these maladies is offered to them with outstretched arms, they need only accept the gift. Lewis’ view comes though clearly that God does not “send” anyone to hell. Any who go to hell are there because that’s where they choose to be—because they can’t choose God. |
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