10 Books on the Essentials of Catholic Thought - from CatholicJournal.us

24 Nov, 2024, No comments

Catholicism has logic. Catholicism has reasoning. Catholicism has a way of life and of thinking. His way, not ours. Reading any one of the following would be of great spiritual benefit.

De Sales, St. Francis. 2010. An Introduction to the Devout Life. Charlotte, NC: Tan Classics.

This 16th century work by one of the most highly regarded Doctors of the Church refers to the process of Philothea, or the love of God. You can say this five-part book covers it all, from guiding and renewing your soul to approaching God in prayer and practicing virtue. Yes, sanctity is possible in everyday life on the way to heaven. Meditations, reflections, and self-examination are part of the process.

Kempis, Thomas A. 2024. The Imitation of Christ. Thriving on Purpose Publishers.

A 15th century timeless masterpiece on godly living, devotion, and the pursuit of divine love. Conversational in tone, its focus is on personal humility and renouncing the world. It is very readable when edited into today’s modern English. After the Bible, this is the most widely read book in the world.

Ratzinger, Cardinal Joseph. 1969. Introduction to Christianity. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.

A prolific writer even before becoming Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Ratzinger gives an excellent interpretation of the foundations of Christianity. His clear explanation of the Apostle’s Creed is certainly effective in expanding one’s knowledge in Catholicism. It boils down to an excellent account of the Catholic faith in God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Honestly, though written relatively recently, probably the most difficult to read of all those listed here.

Robinson,Jonathan. 2003. Spiritual Combat Revisited. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.

This is a terrific revitalization for the 21st century of Lorenzo Scupoli’s classic, ‘Spiritual Combat.’ Our spiritual life conflicts with modernity and, in everyday life. Short chapters, as in the original, allow us to internalize many of the precepts of Scupoli, along with clear modern examples. Robinson focuses on asceticism and humility, virtue ethics and theology, prayer and perfection in being united with Christ. It’s a war out there, and in there.

Ruggiero, Vincent Ryan. 1998. The Art of Thinking: A Guide to Critical and Creative Thought. New York: Addison Wesley.

The ‘Art of Thinking’ can be a year-long effort in learning how to evaluate, create, and communicate with the logic of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas, I might add. Yes, this is not a Catholic book per se but written by a Catholic author grounded in Aristotelian logic. It is Aristotle’s philosophy that profoundly shaped Catholic theology, and here it is. Used as a college textbook in critical thinking, ‘The Art of Thinking’ is, in fact, authored by one of the Catholic Journal’s most prolific and premier writers. One of the best learning tools for all.

Sarah, Cardinal Robert. 2019. The Day Is Now Far Spent. San Francisco: St. Ignatius Press.

Cardinal Sarah [pronounced Saraa’] was overlooked in becoming our next Pope, but his influence remains. He is a prophet, a shining light, realistic in this post-Christian world and yet filled with hope. Offered is recognition of a world facing moral and spiritual crises with solutions, difficult to accept as they might be. In a conversational format and with pristine logic, African-based Cardinal Sarah examines the identity and cultural crisis of the West in particular.

Sheen, Bishop Fulton J. 1958. The Life of Christ. New York: Doubleday.

Soon to be canonized, Bishop Sheen was one of the most prominent Catholic leaders in American history. He wrote 17 books, and this was his best. He visited millions of homes across America via his popular TV show, ‘Life is Worth Living.’ Restoring a devotion to Christ is what this book is all about, with timeless lessons from His life and times for today’s world. Sheen’s interpretation of scripture is riveting and inspirational. Keep this companion book of the Bible with you.

Sheen, Bishop Fulton J. 2019. Your Life Is Worth Living. New York: Penguin Random House.

Subtitled, “50 Lessons to Deepen Your Faith,” you can keep this as a companion to both the Bible and ‘The Life of Christ’, as mentioned above. So many lessons are here pertaining to God and man, Christ and His Church, sin, the Sacraments, and the Commandments. Bishop Robert Barron, in the introduction, recognized his magnificent formation of the Catholic faith and philosophy; this being a great summary of the archbishop’s teachings. Popes and presidents consulted with Archbishop Sheen on matters of faith and politics, and rightly so.

Spitzer, Robert J. 2008. Five Pillars of the Spiritual Life. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.

EWTN superstar, Father Robert Spitzer, S.J. subtitled this book, “A Practical Guide for Active People.” He is such a highly regarded spiritual teacher and writer today. So well organized and packed with logic, I never really grasped the Beatitudes until I read Fr. Spitzer’s explanations. The ‘Five Pillars’ are The Holy Eucharist, Spontaneous Prayer, The Beatitudes, Partnership with the Holy Sirit and the Contemplative Life. A stronger spiritual life is guaranteed by reading the ‘Five Pillars’.

Warren, Cornelius J. 2012. The Twelve Steps to Holiness and Salvation. Charlotte, NC: Tan Books.

I just picked this up at the Ave Maria University bookstore. It is a book on the works of St. Alphonsus Ligouri, 18th century priest born into Neapolitan nobility, and emerging as a doctor of the Church. A man after my own heart, if you know what I mean. Developed are the 12 key virtues necessary for salvation: faith, hope, love of God, love of neighbor, poverty, chastity, obedience, humility, mortification, recollection, prayer, and self-denial. Currently, I do not know if the works of Ligouri or De Sales [# 1 above] are better. You tell me.

And One for Good Luck:

Baglino, Michael J. ed. 2025. One a Day Readings from the New and Old Testament. Lake Worth, FL: Self-Published.

Shameless, I know. But really, if you want to read the bible within a year, this will certainly help. With 365 daily readings for Christians on the go, I hope verses from the 27 books of the New Testament, plus Psalms, Proverbs, and the Pentateuch, would whet the appetite of daily readers toward a more complete commitment. Certainly, feel free to delve further into that Bible chapter should any daily reading reach out to you in a special way.

Two Authors Every Christian Should Read

3 Aug, 2022, No comments

Excerpt from 'More from a Florida Catholic': Dostoevsky and Hugo

Who are your favorite books and authors? Here is my choice: ‘Crime and Punishment’ by Fyodor Dostoevsky and ‘Les Miserables’ by Victor Hugo.

It boils down to this. Really, I was intimidated. The book was sitting on my shelf for twenty years. I don’t even know how I acquired it and how it got there, but this was a classic. The only classic in literature I had read previously was Charles Dickens’ ‘Great Expectations’ and that was in 9th grade. The other was ‘Victor Hugo’s ‘Les Miserables in my college French class, but I hardly understood a word since we as a class read it in French. Later on this one.‘Crime and Punishment’ intimidated because I had visions of that great Russian novelist style of grand epics, spanning generations, spanning continents, multiple plots and a thousand pages long, such as Leo Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’. This was the prototype of the great Russian novel. My wife read Tolstoy’s ‘Anna Karenina’, 1100 pages. It read like a Danielle Steel novel, she said.

So one day I picked up my ‘Crime and Punishment’ book and of course could not put it down as it fascinated me from the beginning. This was 1991. Hardly a grand epic, but rather it was a murder mystery with the protagonist committing the murder[s] in chapter one. It was a psychological thriller with ongoing diatribes of the then contemporary philosophies of the day. It took place in St. Petersburg, Russia seemingly within a 4-block area of a hidden inner-city neighborhood, far from spanning continents. The protagonist, Raskolnikov, was in a battle with his conscience throughout, what is called the psychopathology of guilt, all the way from his neighborhood in St. Petersburg to his prison cell in Siberia. Replete with Christian themes, Dostoevsky maintains that perseverance and persistence, commitment and hard work is our calling for true success in life. That adherence to God’s commandments is what is required of us regardless of socio-economic circumstances. No excuses. But what really fascinated me was that I was there. I was there in Russia itself in 1861, in that small hidden neighborhood, in those streets, in Raskolnikov’s mind. Dostoevsky had that ability, and he has been copied ever since. Genius. And it was fun reading all those long Russian names.

My college French class at Winona State was a disaster for me. My knowledge of the language was insufficient and could not appreciate our daily assignment of us sharing reading responsibilities, orally. I think I developed a proper French accent from it, but that was about it. I dropped the class, the only class I ever dropped in college.

My major in the social sciences allowed me to study European history and what better reading assignment to supplement history class than reading ‘Les Miserables’. My father worked for the U. S. Department of Defense and had posts in Europe in the 60s and 70s. So, my residence there was very educational, visiting all the spots known to me about European history and interacting with Europeans. I identified with Europeans much more than Americans, but I loved baseball.

However, I only visited France briefly around 1970 and Marseilles and the French Riviera at that, not even Paris. Fifty years later wife and I decided to take a trip to Paris. Reviewed my high school and college French, read up on Paris and France in general, purchased Frommer’s Travel Guide, no longer Europe on $5 a day. A great trip it was, philosophically, religiously, gastronomically.

Well, this was an epic. It spanned generations and Hugo’s research impressive. He wrote of European politics, French politics, the French Revolution, political ideologies, the Catholic church and religious history. He further researched military history and the Battle of Waterloo, cultural descriptions of both rich and poor, the penal system, the banking system, the police system, even the Parisian sewer system and its history. He said baboons lived down there; how in the world did that happen?

The major theme was protagonist’s Jean Valjean’s struggle for redemption. Certainly a more difficult struggle than ours. A romanticist for sure, Victor Hugo captured my heart as well as my mind and interest. My conclusion was, no college education is complete without reading the 1032 page masterpiece, ‘Les Miserables’. Forget those silly musicals.