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August 14, 2003
More for you...
Last month, we had a very nice conversation, thanks to you, about the good news about being Catholic.
Let's try something similar for these days of light posting from my end:
What book (or books or parts of books) has had a profound influence on your faith? What's enlightened or startled you, expanded your vision, given you a deeper understanding of God? And of course, the Bible's okay - just be specific!
Posted by Amy Welborn | Permalink
Comments
Just finished Novo Millenio Innuente (Pope John Paul II's encyclical "At the Dawn of the New Millenium" for the second time. It resonates even more today than it did when it was first published in the Jubilee Year 2000. It's prophetic, especially when he reminds us that the cross is the combination of both agony and bliss. That's exactly where the church is today.
Nick
Posted by: Nick ALexander "The Catholic Weird Al" at Aug 14, 2003 8:00:11 AM
The book that laid the foundation for me to become Catholic was "The Lord of the Rings." I read it several times as a teenager, unaware at the time that the author was Catholic. It so informed my worldview that when I read "The Teaching of Christ" at age 19, it was a very short step to Rome. When I re-read the book in 1999, it amazed me how much I had missed as a teen, and as a non-Catholic. It is probably the most thoroughly Catholic book I have ever read that didn't mention God, Christ or the Saints.
My Babdist family were (and remain) NOT amused. But one of my sisters converted as well and now has several Irish Catholic children.
Posted by: Jonathan at Aug 14, 2003 8:10:28 AM
Possibly the best book I have read is the book length interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger by Peter Seewald called:
"God and the world: A Conversation with Peter Seewald"
Please read this book. The Cardinal discusses the entire Faith and it will encourage you to press on in following Christ our Lord. Cardinal Ratzinger is amazingly eloquent in speaking about the Faith and one year after its publication in English, I continue to regularly read excerpts from the book.
Posted by: Simon Russell at Aug 14, 2003 8:15:02 AM
St. John's Gospel has had a profound effect on me since I was a teenager. The sixth chapter had an a huge impact in keeping me Catholic when I was seriously considering swimming the Tiber the wrong way.
A fair reading of this chapter drove me to the conclusion that the Catholic understanding of the Eucharist is correct. Therefore....
Scott Hahn's Rome Sweet Home was very influential at that time also.
John
Posted by: John Weems at Aug 14, 2003 8:16:19 AM
Louis Bouyer's "The Spirit and Forms of Protestantism" was the tipping point for my becoming a Catholic.
Written by a convert from Protestantism, the book is a loving exploration of the strengths of Protestant theology and spirituality and how these need the institutional framework of Catholicism to thrive.
Posted by: David at Aug 14, 2003 8:23:14 AM
"New Seeds of Contemplation" by Thomas Merton came into my life when I was in college and, affected by physics courses and the attractiveness of sin, seriously doubted if God existed or cared. At that time, in that place, that book was sheer holiness to me. I was completely and permanently changed after reading it and reaching out to God.
And I picked it off the library shelf "only" because it had a cool shaggy burlap cover!
Posted by: Therese Z at Aug 14, 2003 8:55:04 AM
After I returned to the faith nearly a year ago, reading Mike Aquilina's The Fathers of the Church helped me tie current practice to Scripture, and helped me lay a foundation for a historical approach to apologetics.
An interest in Genesis (as mythology I told myself) probably kept me tenuously connected to God during the 29 years I rejected Him. The bold, broad, mysterious motifs fascinated me:
"Let me go, for the day breaketh."
"I will not let thee go, except thou bless me!"
"Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast power with God and with men, and hast prevailed."
Finally, I am just finishing Frank Sheed's Theology for Beginners which has convinced me of two things: I'm not as clever and insightful as I thought I was; and Catholic Christianity requires reason as well as faith.
PS: Great site, Amy! -TFT
Posted by: Ted Fischer-Toerpe at Aug 14, 2003 9:15:55 AM
The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen has consistently helped me to live my faith over the past few years.
Peace,
Patrick
Posted by: Patrick Quinlan at Aug 14, 2003 9:21:34 AM
I have just completed reading for the third time a small book with the strange title, "Hustling God," by Dr. M. Craig Barnes. Dr. Barnes was for several years pastor of the National Presbyterian Church here in Washington, D.C. and now teaches and writes from a seminary in Pittsburgh.
The book is very much within the tradition of Christian inspirational literature (e.g., Max Lucado, A.W. Tozer, etc.) but lacks the "breeziness" of style that can make so many of the books in this genre insipid and instantly forgettable.
Barnes uses the lives of Jacob and Joseph to show us how our struggles for "better and more" seldom amount to much, and more to the point, fail to produce the blessings we long for. The story of Jacob, Esau, Rachel, and Leah is put by Barnes in a contemporary setting where Jacob becomes almost the embodiment of the American Dream. The life of Joseph in all its marvelous complexity and heartbreak is offered to the reader as an alternative where "faith in God's faithfulness" can replace the frantic strivings of Jacob. The contrast carries the reader through struggles with work, love, ourselves, and God.
There is nothing particularly "Catholic" about this book. I read it during a period of deep disappointment with life, and with God, and came away each time more aware of my own efforts to "hustle" blessings from God and why such hustles are doomed to failure.
Posted by: John at Aug 14, 2003 9:34:49 AM
Two books: Thomas Merton's "Seven Story Mountain" and Andrew Greeley's "The Great Mysteries."
Posted by: Michael at Aug 14, 2003 9:35:58 AM
The problem is that there are just stacks and stacks of such books (and many of them are in stacks next to my desk right now . . .)
Early on as a Christian I read just about everything that C.S.Lewis wrote. I love Narnia and other books but the Space Trilogy hit hard and I have reread it with great profit. Today many are writing religious fiction in what they think is the tradtion of Tolkien and Lewis, but few come close to these three books, each good for different reasons. The strongest influence was from Perelandra.
There are lots more, including many stated above. Another I would list would be Newman's On The Development of Christian Doctrine.
Posted by: Claude Muncey at Aug 14, 2003 9:44:44 AM
gk chesterton-orthodoxy and everlasting man
Posted by: tomas at Aug 14, 2003 9:49:47 AM
I like the Navarre Bible's which take one book of the Bible, and add commentary for each section. It has helped me be able to read the Bible for the first time in my life.
I also like The Good News About Sex and Marriage by Christopher West and Beyond the Birds and the Bees by Greg Popcak. Both of those books have helped me see the beauty in the Church's teachings on sexuality and given me real directions on teaching it to my children.
Two other books which really affected me were The Robe by Lloyd Douglas and Christ is My Life which is an in-depth interview with Fr. Maciel, founder of the Legionaires of Christ.
I could go on and on (and I did!). I love books and pretty much constantly read.
Nicole
Posted by: Nicole at Aug 14, 2003 9:54:54 AM
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis - it finally placed me in a position of having to fish or cut bait, so to speak. The Lord of the Rings runs as a close second. Kreeft's Summa of the Summa has turned me into an admittedly amateur Thomist.
Posted by: jquinby at Aug 14, 2003 10:00:24 AM
I've really liked _Ways of Imperfection_, a sort of historical look at Christian spirituality, by the Dominican priest Simon Tugwell. A characteristic paragraph:
"There is, as has been said, an 'anti-mystical strand' in Egyptian monasticism; the Egyptian monks were probably quite right to react against the naive supernaturalism which was found in earlier generations of ascetics. Their concern was to bring us down to earth, rather than to encourage exalted asprations. 'If you have a heart', said abba Pambo, 'you can be saved.' This is the essential thing. It does not matter so much what we do; what matters is that there should be a real human being there to do it. Salvation is offered to real people, not to fictitious saints."
A temptation for me has always been the lure of "naive supernatualism" or "exalted aspirations" that, when resulting in obvious delusion or failure, tend to leave one in despair. Father Tugwell showed me, to my relief, that this has been a perennial temptation in the Catholic tradition. For example, regarding some medieval English mystics, he concludes,
"Affective, imaginative piety could certainly make Christianity very vivid to people, and it provided an easy, human, access to Christ and to his Mother and the saints, but it ran the serious risk of reducing God to the dimensions of essentially unchanged human affections. The gospel was coopted into the joys and pains of everyday life, but it is not clear that it did not lose in the process its capacity to raise people above themselves to the mystery of God."
So, sometimes things are better imperfect than vivid. That's good to know.
Posted by: Neil Dhingra at Aug 14, 2003 10:01:19 AM
I've found Chesterton's "Orthodoxy" is the perfect antidote to the spiritual lukewarmness that I too often get mired in. It is written with a perfect blend of reason, humility and sense wonder. Somewhere (not in "Orthodoxy") Chesterton wrote that gratitude is the greatest virtue. Reading this book, you're grateful for God's magnaminity, for the Church, and for Chesterton.
Posted by: patrick at Aug 14, 2003 10:27:06 AM
St. Therese's "Story of a Soul".
Posted by: Dave Pawlak at Aug 14, 2003 10:38:52 AM
It's ironic that this question is being asked today. Twelve years ago, while in RCIA, I picked up a book entitled A Man For Others, a biography of St. Maximilian Kolbe, whose feast day we celebrate today. I was touched greatly by the heroic death of this holy man. While in Aushwitz during WWII, he volunteered to take the place of a condemned fellow prisoner, whom he did not know. This story touched me so that I chose Maximiian to be my confirmation name and it started a love affair with the saints, whose lives are an example of what God can do through holy souls. I pray for their intercession daily, that I and the whole world may have the strength and courage to follow in their holy footsteps.
Posted by: Bob at Aug 14, 2003 10:42:04 AM
When I was in high school the book that had the most influence was "Imitation of Christ"...it was the pocket edition, black covers, with 19th century engravings scattered throughout. I remember buying several copies to give to friends as a senior (who mostly didn't know what to do with it).
Over the last decade, I have been very strongly encouraged by the Starbridge series of novels (Glittering Images, Glamourous Powers, Glittering Images, etc.) by Susan Howatch.
And throughout all this time, I turn often to Victor Gallancz's compilation "God and Man". The story of Bonzye still makes me cry.
Posted by: Steve Cavanaugh at Aug 14, 2003 10:51:05 AM
As an unhappy child who had difficulty making friends and who moved a lot, I was given C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by a kindly neighbor lady when I was 11. I started it reluctantly, but by the time I had finished the first chapter I couldn't put it down. I eagerly read all of the Chronicles of Narnia. In fact, I can't imagine anyone who has been more affected by a book than I was by these books. They gradually led me to Christ; I began attending church by myself as a teenager -- my parents were very nominal protestants -- though at first it was the Episcopal Church because that was the church Lewis belonged to. Gradually I was led into Catholicism. One of the most important books helping me to take that step was The Meaning of Grace, by Charles Journet.
Posted by: Rob at Aug 14, 2003 10:52:32 AM
About 10 years ago, while at a Steubenville summer conference, I finally picked up Augustine’s Confessions. It was one of those books I, another Catholic "revert" from evangelical Protestantism, had long known I had to read because it fit Mark Twain’s definition of a classic: something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read. To my great surprise, I was hooked the moment I opened to page 1. I can remember reading the passage about the theft of the pears aloud to my conference roommate, thrilled all to pieces over this dusty old character from the 5th century perfectly articulating my persistent, neurotic, 20th-century regrets over the delight I once took, many years prior, in meaningless acts of vandalism. What a guy!
As that summer went by, the more I read, the more I related. (I took my time, not wanting the experience to end.) The conversion, the insights, the wisdom, the personal anecdotes -- I’ve read a lot, but had never before had a reading experience that plumbed the depths of my Christian consciousness so deeply. By the time I got to Augustine’s dense meanderings on the nature of time and memory, I realized I truly *was* in the virtual presence of one of the greatest and liveliest intellects who ever lived: the person I’d most like to be hanging out with when I’m gazing at the stars on a cloudless night and contemplating the meaning of it all. (Favorite question: "How could God have always existed; how could *anything* that exists not have had a beginning?")
Separately, one book passage that has stuck with me with especial resonance over the years is from Thomas Howard’s "Evangelical is Not Enough." It’s the part where he describes his discovery of the saints as people who had been praying to Christ and reading Scripture all through the centuries "and might have something to teach me." It wasn't long after reading that book -- and triple-highlighting that passage -- that I came home to the Catholic faith myself.
Finally, my single favorite Scripture passage is Philippians 3:13-14: "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Thanks for asking this thought-provoking question, Amy. Great fun!
Posted by: Dave P. at Aug 14, 2003 11:24:06 AM
I did an intense study of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy 18-24 months ago. It affected me in a number of ways:
1. It showed the relationship between Christ and the Mosaic Law
2. It demonstrated how the specific manner of Christ's sacrifice was necessary to achieve redemption through His atonement
3. Most of all, it taught me that God seeks to initiate a relationship of trust with all men. This is why he performed the various miracles (plagues to the Egyptians) for the Israelites: to develop trust in an enslaved, abused people.
Posted by: Joseph D'Hippolito at Aug 14, 2003 11:26:16 AM
Being a Benedictine at heart, I'd have to say that St. Benedict's Rule has had a profound impact upon me and will, hopefully, have a continuing impact upon the way that my family will live amongst each other.
Merton's Seven Storey Mountain and Thoughts in Solitude had a real effect on my life.
Various of Cardinal Newman's Parochial and Plain Sermonas as well as his Apologia pro vita sua stand out for me as well.
Posted by: Sean Gallagher at Aug 14, 2003 11:33:55 AM
THE HEART OF MAN by Fr. Gerald Vann was a big influence on me in college for its limid, gracious picture of God.
C.S. Lewis's THE FOUR LOVES was also memorable and his A GRIEF OBSERVED helped me through a personal tragedy.
Posted by: Sandra Miesel at Aug 14, 2003 11:45:02 AM
"You Set My Spirit Free: a 40 Day Journey in the Company of St. John of the Cross" by David Hazard.
It's based on the writings of St. John of the Cross. Of course, I should probably go on and read the actual writings of the man. But, this little book came at a pivotal time in my spiritual life and really made an impact on me.
Posted by: Meggan at Aug 14, 2003 11:48:25 AM
