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 SECULARITY AND THE GOSPEL: Being Missionaries to Our Children, edited by Ronald Rolheiser. The
Crossroad Publishing Company. 237
pp. $18.95.
Reviewed by PATRICIA M. BERLINER,
C.S.J., Ph.D. She is a Sister of St. Joseph of
Brentwood, New York, and a psychologist
in private practice. She writes and presents
workshops developed from a holistic, psychospiritual
perspective.
DO SECULARITY and the gospel have
any chance of coming together to create
a world of peace for our children?
How can we keep our universe from
imploding because of our choices, our
actions, our isolations, separations and
fears?
In this volume, Father Ronald
Rolheiser and other contributors from
the worlds of theology/spirituality/
pastoral ministry
and the social sciences discuss
the need for religion
and secularity to complement
one another, so that
each brings its best and surrenders
its shortcomings.
Just before the end of the
first session of the Second
Vatican Council, Cardinal
Leon Joseph Suenens asked
the Church to address the
urgent needs of the entire
world, not just the issues facing the
Roman Catholic Church. From this
plea emerged the Constitution on the
Church in the Modern World, a mandate
calling the Church to make its home in
this world, as well as in the world “beyond.” And still today we struggle
to understand what this commission
means and how to fulfill it.
In the first and major section of this
work, Father Ronald Rolheiser summarizes
four symposia sponsored
between 2002 and 2004 by his religious
congregation of missionaries, the
Oblates of Mary Immaculate. At the
end of these symposia, six contributors
to this work met to share key
insights that emerged in this process.
According to the documents of Vatican
II, the secular world is no longer to
be seen as the enemy of the Church,
but as the place where God’s people
dwell, struggle and search for meaning.
Vatican II acknowledged that the
Church itself had made mistakes and
that, perhaps, there were good reasons
why people did not turn to the Church
for meaning.
Father Rolheiser begins with the
paradox that, while the churches seem
to be emptier, there is a spiritual resurgence
happening in the Western hemisphere
(albeit not necessarily in the
Roman Catholic Church). Although he
states that “secularity is more friend
than enemy,” it sometimes seems that
the members of the symposia
found it a challenge
to accept the idea that “secular”
and “spiritual” are
complementarities.
We used to speak of the
Church and its representatives
as being “in the world
but not of it.” One of the
book’s contributors, Walter
Brueggermann, calls for the
institutional Church to
develop a new imagination,
to “make the secular world
fall in love with God again.” Recognition
that the Church has the same need
to love and be healed is a doorway
between the secular and spiritual
worlds through which both may be
transformed.
To be a voice worth hearing, the
Church must “re-found” itself. Contributor
Rev. Ronald Young reminds us
that God is “breaking in” upon us, calling
us all to “strengthen the common
good and to change what is harmful for
the better.”
Similarly, Gilles Routhier says that,
comfortable or not, we need to move
the Church out of its own private realm
and into the secular domain, where
most of life is lived.
It is from our “homeland,” writes
Robert Brown, that we need to have
the courage to preach the resurrection
of the Christ who, though killed by
violence, speaks words of peace and
compassion.
These are indeed challenges. But in
reading this work, I was struck that “secular” sometimes seemed synonymous
with “materialistic” and that
some sections about the Church’s relationship
to the “secular world” seemed
condescending. I was also struck by
how few practical examples there were
of things that worked, and I was glad
that Sister Mary Jo Leddy generously
shared her experiences.
Although the book alludes to the
fact that the Church has often been a
cause of pain and failed its people, I
wondered why there was not more discussion
of the “sinfulness,” selfishness
and injustice perpetrated upon its own
members by our current Church structure,
policies and practices. Perhaps
that will be considered in another symposium.
You can order SECULARITY AND THE GOSPEL: Being Missionaries to Our Children from St.
Francis Bookshop.
LIVING VATICAN II: The 21st Council for the 21st Century, by Gerald
O’Collins. Paulist Press. 243 pp.
$19.95.
Reviewed by MICHAEL J. DALEY, a
teacher and writer at St. Xavier High
School in Cincinnati, Ohio. He recently
edited (with Bill Madges) Vatican II: Forty
Personal Stories (Twenty-Third Publications).
“THE COUNCIL is over; the Council
has just begun.” These words were spoken
some 40 years ago by Cardinal
Lawrence Shehan, who was then the
archbishop of Baltimore. They also apply well to the book, Living Vatican II,
by Father Gerald O’Collins, S.J.
Though the Council officially ended
on December 8, 1965, the Church is
still receiving and living the Council’s
teachings. Thus, a central question for
O’Collins is: “To what extent and in
what ways has the Catholic Church
harnessed the power of the Second Vatican
Council?”
In answering this, the Australian
O’Collins begins by offering the reader
an autobiographical sketch. Ordained
in 1962, he has one foot in the triumphalist
Catholicism of Pius XII and
the other in the aggiornamento (renewal)
Catholicism epitomized by John
XXIII. O’Collins connects most with
the Council’s emphasis on Scripture,
desire for Christian unity, and fostering
of dialogue with non-Christians.
O’Collins’s role as a professor of theology
at the Gregorian University in
Rome cannot be underestimated. For
over 30 years, he has prepared countless
priests and laypersons for public
ministry in the Church shaped and
guided by the teachings of Vatican II.
Institutions in Rome have also
played a role in implementing the
Council’s reform. O’Collins is not naïve
enough to believe that they—Curia,
Pontifical Biblical Commission, International
Theological Commission,
Synod of Bishops and the like—all have
facilitated this process. Some, in fact,
have played the role of “gatekeeper,”
selectively interpreting the Council and
its teachings.
Throughout the book, one of
O’Collins’s main concerns is creative
fidelity. He describes this as “a fidelity
that does not decline into rigidity and
a creativity that does not lose its roots
in the mainstream tradition.” To show
how this takes place, he examines what
happened in the fourth century with
the Cappadocian Fathers who responded
to the teachings of the Council
of Nicaea (325 A.D.). Suffice to say,
as history confirms, the reception of a
Church council’s teachings takes time.
For O’Collins, the achievement of
Vatican II is multiple: active liturgies,
improved relations with non-Catholics
and non-Christians, renewal of the
priesthood, engagement with the
world, and the call to holiness for all
persons.
As the Church continues to live the
Council, with some encouraging us to
go even further with the reforms of
Vatican II while others say it’s time to
reconsider current Church practices,
O’Collins is guided by four
questions: “Does this way
of receiving the Council
involve our being led by the
Holy Spirit and by Christ?
Does it help us to worship
better? Is it being illuminated
and supported by
prayerful reflection on the
Scriptures? Does it lead us to
a more generous service of
the needy?”
As far as we have come as
a Church, O’Collins still
sees areas that need to be addressed: the
gap between the rich and poor, the role
of women and inculturation of the
faith. He laments that in some places,
especially the West, a feeling of polarization
and distrust pervades not only
the world, but also the Church. Love,
he says, cannot flourish in a climate of
fear and greed.
Though one may be tempted to pass
over the last part of the book, given
its title, “Appendixes: Some Postconciliar
Texts,” it is an
important feature. Here
O’Collins provides four
writings from 1975 to 2002
which give a sense of “the
way in which the teaching
and decisions of Vatican II
have been interpreted,
implemented and frustrated.”
Living Vatican II will serve
well those looking for an
introduction to the Second
Vatican Council (and the
state of present-day Catholicism). He
combines both information about the
Council and its intersection with his
own life in an engaging and interesting
fashion.
You can order LIVING VATICAN II: The 21st Council for the 21st Century from St. Francis Bookshop.
GOOD NIGHT GOD, LOVE OLIVIA, by Beth Ann Mammola-Koravos.
Illustrated by Helena Bebirian.
Lifevest Publishing. 25 pp. $10.95.
Reviewed by SUSAN HINES-BRIGGER, an
assistant editor of this publication, and her
eight-year-old daughter, MADDIE.
NOW THAT my daughter Maddie is
reading, it seems as though I can’t bring
new books into the house fast enough.
So she was more than happy to help
review Good Night God, Love Olivia. In
fact, she read it to me.
The book was inspired by nighttime
prayers of author Beth Ann Mammola-Koravos’s own daughter, Olivia. In the
book, Olivia explains to her mother
that, even though she has already said
her nighttime prayers, she forgot to
say “good night” to God and thank
him for all the wonderful things in her
life. She also wants to ask God things
such as, “if He could see the blue sky,
the puffy white clouds and feel the
warm sun.”
The author does a nice job of presenting
the story in a way that reminds
us that children have their own unique
way of talking to God. Artist Helena
Bebirian provides beautiful watercolor
illustrations for the book.
As a second-grader at a Catholic
school, Maddie was interested in and
familiar with this book’s subject matter.
It made for a nice bedtime read for her.
There were, however, a few things
that we both stumbled over in the
book. For instance, at times the book’s
text would run across two pages and
then it would be complete on one.
Maddie became confused as to where to
go next when reading.
We both also noticed that, while
most of the story was accompanied
with nice illustrations, there were
no drawings on the final four pages.
This lapse left us both feeling a bit
let down.
Other than those minor issues, however,
this book is a nice nighttime read
for both parent and child.
You can order Good Night God, Love Olivia from St.
Francis Bookshop.
GOD BETWEEN THE COVERS: Finding Faith Through Reading , by
Marcia Ford. The Crossroad Publishing
Company. 222 pp. $19.95.
Reviewed by ANN TASSONE, an intern
at St. Anthony Messenger last summer.
Ann graduated in May from
Xavier University in Cincinnati
with a double major in
English and communication
arts.
THIS HELPFUL GUIDE to
finding God through literature
is appropriately written
by a professional book
reviewer. Marcia Ford
recounts her own faith journey
toward Christ and the
books that helped her along
the way.
In eight chapters, Ford introduces
us to more than 100 authors and provides
descriptions of their important
books for spiritual growth. She details
her own story of losing faith in Christ
and finding it again between the covers
of the books she describes.
She writes, “It was during my final
year of college that I conceded victory
to God. He just wouldn’t go away....I
became immersed...in the books of
myriad Christian writers. I wanted to
know everything I could about the
Bible and Jesus and Christianity.”
This book walks through literature
that has been called “powerful, influential
and life-changing.” The chosen
books are outlined according to how
they have reintroduced Ford to Christ,
and how her faith has grown as a result
of reading.
Ford discusses her favorite authors,
such as C. S. Lewis and Robert Frost,
and the way in which their writing has
the power to “carry an infinite ring in
its sound. In those sounds, I hear God.”
She writes of the many times when she
read a book in order to pass a college
class, and then reread the book as an
adult, suddenly seeing God all over it.
Ford introduces a wide array of genres,
ranging from well-known books
such as To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper
Lee, and The Long Winter, by Laura
Ingalls Wilder, to little-known authors
and books. She explores fiction, nonfiction
and poetry, searching for and
discovering God in every work. This
book’s selections include 20th- and
21st-century writers.
In addition, Ford discusses the people
in her life who led her to Christ and
recommended these particular
books.
The book ends with Ford’s
proclamation of faith.
She admits that, through
reading, she learned that no
research or theory would
ever shake her faith in Christ
because her faith and trust
are not based on provable
fact. It was a milestone when
she realized that her personal
experience with God
carried more weight than all
the facts about God. And through reading,
her faith was encouraged and
enhanced.
This book serves as a beacon of light
for those who may feel lost in their
faith. By reading the books profiled,
Marcia Ford has returned to Christ. The
spiritual journey can be a hard road to
travel, but with these books as companions
it is evident that we will never
walk alone.
You can order GOD BETWEEN THE COVERS: Finding Faith Through Reading from St. Francis Bookshop.
SAINTS BEHAVING BADLY: The Cutthroats,
Crooks, Trollops, Con Men
and Devil-Worshippers Who Became
Saints, by Thomas J. Craughwell.
Doubleday. 191 pp. $15.95.
Reviewed by JOHN F. FINK, author and
columnist. Four of his books are about
saints.
THIS BOOK OFFERS evidence that it’s
never too late to reform our lives. It’s about men and women who were sinners
but who changed their lives and
became saints—28 of them. Even these
unsavory characters could become
saints—it gives one hope.
There are, as you would expect, stories
about well-known saints who spent
less than exemplary lives in their
youth, including Augustine, Francis of
Assisi, Ignatius of Loyola and Thomas
Becket. But there are also stories of
lesser-known saints, who really were
great sinners—like St. Mary of Egypt
who once seduced all the men on a
pilgrimage to the Holy Land. After her
conversion she became a hermit in
Egypt for 47 years.
Even mass murderers have become
saints. Craughwell writes about the
bloodbath St. Olga unleashed on her
husband’s assassins, the murders committed
by the gang leader St. Moses
the Ethiopian, and the ruthlessness of
St. Vladimir, including his rape of his
sister-in-law.
Another promiscuous woman in this
book was St. Pelagia, “whose reputation
as a great lady of the stage and as
a woman of notoriously easy virtue
extended throughout Asia Minor.” St.
John Chrysostom said of her, “Nothing
was more vile than she was, when she
was on the stage.”
Blessed Giles of Portugal was the
devil worshipper in the subtitle. The
con man was St. Camillus de Lellis, a
cardsharp. St. John of God was another
former gambler and drunkard who was
once committed to an asylum.
Craughwell has written about saints
for this magazine. He also writes a
monthly column about patron saints
for Catholic diocesan newspapers. He
writes wittily, but without titillation.
Craughwell’s personal favorite
among these 28 was St. Thomas Becket,
who went from being a worldly, ruthless
king’s man to a man of God and a
defender of the rights of the Church.
He was murdered in his cathedral in
Canterbury.
I’ve long been fascinated by the story
of St. Callixtus (or Callistus). He was a
slave who embezzled money from his
employer’s bank, then a brawler who
was captured and sent to the island of
Sardinia to work in the mines. Then he had the good luck to be freed when the
mistress of Emperor Commodus asked
that the Christians on Sardinia be freed.
Back in Rome, he ingratiated himself to
a priest named Zephyrinus who became
pope. When Pope Zephyrinus died in
217, lo and behold, Callixtus
was elected pope. In 222
an anti-Christian mob murdered
him. He is revered as
a martyr.
There is also a chapter
about St. Hippolytus, who
became the first antipope
after Callixtus was elected
pope.
One of the things I appreciated
about the book
is that it does not include
Mary Magdalene.
Craughwell correctly explains why: “Mary Magdalene was not a notorious
sinner. Nowhere in the four gospels
does it ever say that Mary Magdalene
was a prostitute or in any other way
sexually promiscuous.” He explains
how she got confused with Mary of
Bethany and the penitent sinner.
As Craughwell writes, “The point of
reading these stories is not to experience
some tabloid thrill, but to understand
how grace works in the world.”
He further says that a conversion experience
is not magic, but only the first
step in a lifetime of striving
to avoid the old sins
and grow in virtue.
If these saints could do it,
so can we.
You can order SAINTS BEHAVING BADLY: The Cutthroats,
Crooks, Trollops, Con Men
and Devil-Worshippers Who Became
Saints from St. Francis Bookshop.
FORTY DAYS TO A CLOSER WALK WITH GOD: The Practice of Centering Prayer, by J. David
Muyskens. 141 pp. Upper
Room Books. $13.
Reviewed by the REV. LAWRENCE M.
VENTLINE, D.Min., longtime religion
writer for The Detroit News and author of seven books.
Securing Serenity in Troubling
Times (Xulon Press) is
his latest.
ARE YOU TRYING to do it
all yourself? That question
prompted J. David Muyskens
to write this book. Muyskens
is a spiritual director, retired
pastor in the Reformed
Church in America and
graduate of the Spiritual
Guidance Program of Shalem Institute
in Bethesda, Maryland. As coordinator
of Contemplative Outreach of West
Michigan, for 15 years, he has presented
an introductory workshop on
Centering Prayer.
Where the relationship exists in any
given moment with God and others is
key to this practical, 40-chapter book.
Its three-page descriptions explore such
topics as the gift of prayer, contemplation
and the present moment.
With others, Trappist monk Thomas
Keating pioneered in describing and
promoting “Centering Prayer.” Keating
wrote this about Muyskens’s book: “A
thorough and friendly introduction to
Centering Prayer especially for lovers of
Scripture. The quotations from Protestant
Divines are especially confirming
of the contemplative dimension of the
Gospel.” It works for anyone.
God seeks a relationship with creatures
in a mutual dialogue that is experientially
based, Muyskens concludes.
Centering Prayer moves beyond the
confines of rational dialogue and is
embedded in the gospel and tradition.
Jesus spent countless hours in union
with his Abba (Father).
Muyskens lists qualities for fruitful
praying: openness, listening and
focused time. He recommends that a
person find a regular space for encountering
God and engage in Centering
Prayer two times daily, for about 20
minutes each time.
In my own practice of Centering
Prayer, I find that I need at least 15
minutes or more of each 20-minute
segment to release what I like to call “the toxicity of living”—the criticisms,
rejections, put-downs and judgments I
make about relationships.
The remaining few minutes
are imbued with the power,
awesomeness and beauty of
God as I soak and surrender
in divine love.
The challenge in Centering
Prayer practice is to become
still: “Be still and
know that I am God,” as
Psalm 46 reads. In reader-friendly
stories and language,
Pastor Muyskens
teaches how to grow a relationship
with God daily. A reorientation
of the day is crafted with one’s
heart steered toward “the one who is
the Center of all.”
This simple yet powerful way of
praying is outlined for individuals’ and
study groups’ use. Exercises in praying
Lectio Divina (literally, the “Divine
Lessons,” sacred Scriptures) are provided
for 40 days.
You can order FORTY DAYS TO A
CLOSER WALK WITH
GOD: The Practice of Centering
Prayer from St. Francis Bookshop.
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