Suggested Reading
Have a Book Going
Rev. Victor Clore
When I was in college at Sacred Heart Seminary, one of our most engaging professors, Fr. William Sherzer, gave us this bit of advice: “Always have a book going.” I have done that ever since; in fact, there are markers in five or six books that I have going at any one time.
Here is a Reading List that might inspire you to get going with a good book.
Joyce Rupp is a thoughtful and prayerful contemporary Christian woman. Her first book on prayer is still in print; and now she has a new one.
- Prayers to Sophia (Innisfree Press, 2000)
- Prayer (Orbis, 2007)
Fr. Ronald Rolheiser is one of the most insightful and practical spiritual writers today. A few years ago, a publisher at Doubleday challenged him, “Write a book for us Catholics with adult children who confront us with: ‘Why do you believe anymore?’” The result is:
- The Holy Longing: The Search for A Christian Spirituality (Doubleday, 1999).
The Holy Longing has gone through several printings, and now Rolheiser has revealed that this will actually be the first of a trilogy.
The second volume is about to be published under the title:
- Grace.
Read The Holy Longing now, and watch for Grace when it is published.
Bishop Kenneth Untener was a very thoughtful and spiritual church leader. He wrote several topical articles about practical religious questions; they are summarized in one volume:
- The Practical Prophet: Pastoral Writings (Paulist Press, 2007).
Two other bishops writing on contemporary Catholic spirituality are:
- Reconciliation by Bishop Robert Morneau (Orbis, 2007)
- Ecumenical Commitment by Bishop Howard Hubbard (Orbis, 2008).
Henri Nouwen is one of the most insightful spiritual writers in the last 30 years. Here are a few of the many spiritual reflections he has written:
- The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society (Image, 1979)
- The Return of the Prodigal Son: a Story of Homecoming (Doubleday, 1994)
- Bread for the Journey: a Daybook of Wisdom and Faith (HarperOne, 1996)
- Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom (Image Books, 1999)
- Way of the Heart (Ballantine, 2003)
- With Burning Hearts: a Meditation on the Eucharist (Orbis, 2003).
Kathy Coffey has been praying over the Bible to find inspiration from the women in the History of Salvation. She has written two books on the spirituality of Biblical women:
- Hidden Women of the Gospels (Orbis, 2003)
- Mary (Orbis, 2008).
Pope John Paul was a charismatic church leader for more than a quarter century; he was also a thoughtful theologian. Popes usually do their theology in the form of Encyclicals. I remember sitting in my dentist’s office, reading John Paul’s first Encyclical, The Redeemer of Humankind. Encyclicals are notoriously hard to read, because they are really whole books condensed into a hundred paragraphs. Pope John Paul II wrote fourteen encyclicals. Joseph Donders has created an excellent definitive abridged version of them all, in very readable verse:
- John Paul II: The Encyclicals in Everyday Language by Joseph Donders (Orbis, 2005).
Speaking of Pope John Paul, there is a legend about the day on which Carol Wojtyla was installed as Bishop of Rome, leader of the Universal Catholic Church. The story goes like this:
St. Peter’s Square had been bustling with enthusiastic celebration all day, but now it was evening, and the square was empty and silent. Suddenly, as the new pope began to settle into his apartment in the Papal Palace, he heard a single voice calling out from far below the famous Third Story Window: “Corragio! Forza, Pappa Giovanni Paulo! Corragio!” Someone standing in the middle of the square was calling up to the new pope to have courage. Pope John Paul was quite amused, and he had someone go down to find out who this was. It was a young Capuchin Friar named Raniero Cantalamessa.
It is important to know that Franciscans have a unique role in the inauguration of a new pope. During all the pomp and ceremony of the entry procession, suddenly everything stops dead, and a Franciscan brother steps out, holding a candle. He looks straight into the eyes of the man who has been chosen to be pope and calls out, “Sic Transit Gloria Mundi!” [“Watch how the glory of the world slips away!”], and he blows out the candle. He then disappears into the crowd, and all the music and pomp resumes. This happens three times.
Young Fr. Cantalamessa was taking it upon himself to add a little footnote to the venerable Franciscan tradition of encouraging the new Pope. But now Raniero was suddenly quite sheepish as Vatican officials approached him during his dramatic display of encouragement. It turned out that Cantalamessa was more than simply an exuberant friar. Pope John Paul recognized him as a very intelligent and spiritual young man. Soon he was made the “Chaplain to the Papal Household.” He has been preaching the annual Lenten Retreat for the Pope and his staff ever since.
Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM, Cap. published these retreats as simple but perceptive books:
- Jesus Christ, the Holy One of God (Liturgical Press, 1991)
- The Mystery of Easter (Liturgical Press, 1993)
- The Eucharist, Our Sanctification (Liturgical Press, 1993)
- The Holy Spirit in the Life of Jesus: the Mystery of Christ’s Baptism (Liturgical Press, 1994)
- The Mystery of Pentecost (Liturgical Press, 2001)
- Life in Christ: the Spiritual Message of the Letter to the Romans (Liturgical Press, 2002)
- Sober Intoxication of the Spirit: Filled with the Fullness of God (St. Anthony Messenger, 2005)
- Easter: Meditations on the Resurrection (Liturgical Press, 2006)
- Contemplating the Trinity: Path to the Abundant Christian Life (Word Among Us Press, 2007).
The Word of God is the fountain that never runs dry, the bread that never gets stale. Every Sunday morning we hear from the Old Testament, one of the Psalms, a New Testament Letter, and a Gospel. If you take the time to read these passages before you come to Mass, you will be surprised how much they come alive when you hear them proclaimed during mass. If you want to have them REALLY come alive, there are commentaries that introduce you to the readings.
John Shea is one of our readable American theologians. He has three volumes of commentaries, one for each Cycle of the Year (A, B & C):
- The Spiritual Wisdom of the Gospels for Christian Preachers And Teachers: On Earth as It Is in Heaven – Year A (Liturgical Press, 2004
- The Spiritual Wisdom of the Gospels for Christian Preachers And Teachers: Eating With the Bridegroom – Year B (Liturgical Press, 2005)
- The Spiritual Wisdom of the Gospels for Christian Preachers And Teachers: The Relentless Widow – Year C (Liturgical Press, 2006
Living a Christian life in our secular society can be a challenge. Some people are so taken in by the values of the world (like the seed that fell among thorns) that their faith becomes smothered by distractions. Others, however, are so frightened by the dangers of the world that they feel they must separate themselves from society as much as possible. These are two extremes. The Mission of Christ and the Mind of the Catholic Church is not to fear the world, but to transform it. Here are some books that give us the courage and tools to transform our society.
- Jesus Today: A Spirituality of Radical Freedom by Albert Nolan (Orbis, 2007).
Nolan is a Dominican priest living in South Africa, known for an earlier book that many people have found insightful, Jesus Before Christianity (which is still available). In this new spirituality of Jesus, Nolan helps us see quite clearly “What would Jesus do?” in our contemporary world.
- A Civilization of Love: What Every Catholic Can Do to transform the World by Carl Anderson (HarperCollins, 2008).
In this up-to-date reflection, Anderson addresses many of the social values that are of concern. He passes over two urgent issues, the world economy and the war in Iraq; but this is nevertheless an excellent manual for a concerned Catholic.
- Finally Comes the Poet: Daring Speech for Proclamation by Walter Brueggemann (Fortress, 1989).
There are several dimensions of the church: Sacrament, Discipleship, Social Structure, Servant, Prophet. Professor Brueggemann has been a Bible scholar and a prophet in his own right for many years. This book is about the prophetic responsibility of the church.
- Following Christ in a Consumer Society: The Spirituality of Cultural Resistance by John F. Kavanaugh (Orbis, 2006)
This book is now reprinted in its 25th anniversary. It is still a relevant treatment about the frantic efforts to "keep up with the Joneses" that never help us be fulfilled. It explains what is missing and why we are never satisfied by tangible wants and desires.
- Housing Heaven’s Fire: The Challenge of Holiness by John C. Haughey (Loyola Press, 2002).
Haughey is a college teacher, and this is an excellent reflection on the ways in which all of us, especially the younger generation, can transform the world we actually live in now.
While I was still an undergraduate student, the first book of theology I ever read was The Resurrection by F. X. Durrwell. This book was a young theologian’s doctoral dissertation, and one of the first examples of what the Vatican Council would call “Biblical Theology.” It was a little over my head, but I was quite impressed. Fr. Durrwell continued to do biblical theology for the next forty years. The highpoint of his work was a trilogy on the Holy Trinity:
- Le Pere: Dieu en son mystere (The Mystery of God the Father, never translated into English);
- Christ Our Passover: The Indispensable Role of Resurrection in Salvation (Liguori, 2004);
- Holy Spirit of God: An Essay in Biblical Theology (St. Anthony Messenger, 2006).
A very influential book on the Holy Spirit, not in print, but still available from used book dealers is:
- A New Pentecost? by Cardinal Leon Joseph Suenens (Seabury, 1975).
The following well-known Catholic writers have books coming out that are not yet available:
- Holiness by William O’Malley;
- Creation and Incarnation by John Shea;
- Listening to and Proclaiming the Word by Alice Camile;
- The Sunday Eucharist by Robert Barron;
- The Spirituality of Community by Adele Gonzalez;
- The Primacy of Charity by Virgil Elizondo;
- Diversity of Vocations by Marie Dennis (Orbis 2008).