Bear read and liked booklady's review of Teresa of Avila: The Progress of a Soul:

"Very enjoyable biography of my mentor and patron. I have yet to find a single book which does her justice but I do like and recommend this one. Its strengths include: 1.) attention given to both historical record and deep spiritual insight; 2.) a ...more Very enjoyable biography of my mentor and patron. I have yet to find a single book which does her justice but I do like and recommend this one. Its strengths include: 1.) attention given to both historical record and deep spiritual insight; 2.) a credible picture of the flawed humanity of Teresa, and 3.) the skillful employment of humor. I can't help thinking even Teresa wouldn't have had too many arguments with this portrayal of herself. She was a woman who liked to laugh at herself, to appreciate her own foibles as opportunities for humility and spiritual growth. As such, I think she would scoff at many of the books, works of art, pictures, etc. which glamorize or glorify her. If I understand her at all, she would say that all that honor and tribute belong to Him; she is but His servant.

On the down side, there were times as I was reading this book, I wanted more information than the author supplied; this may be due to my inordinate interest in Teresa combined with what I already know about her, or it could be a function of this type of biography, which was more geared toward the saint's spiritual development than the normal course of her life. Whichever is the case, Teresa of Avila The Progress of a Soul often only whetted my appetite for information about Teresa.

All-in-all, a good read and a worthwhile addition to anyone's Teresian library, however it doesn't satisfy as the first or last book on the great Spanish mystic and Carmelite Reformer.(less) "

Bear read and liked booklady's review of The Soul of the Apostolate:

"How do I even begin to write a review of this book? Well, for starters, I didn't even try to read it quickly; I've been reading and listening to it for almost two months now. Ignatius Press has an excellent audio version of the book which I highly ...more How do I even begin to write a review of this book? Well, for starters, I didn't even try to read it quickly; I've been reading and listening to it for almost two months now. Ignatius Press has an excellent audio version of the book which I highly recommend. As this is one of those books I put on my 'worth reading over and over and over...' shelf, the money invested in the CDs was money well-spent. I have listened to this book while cleaning, ironing, driving and just sitting. I have read it and listened to it at the same time. I have read and reread huge parts of it. It IS my book of the summer, along with The Spirit of the Liturgy—not my plan, His!

On the 10th of August, I began blogging about my own experiences trying to put into practice the precepts of Dom Chautard’s teachings on mental prayer. At the time, I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going with this. Eventually it turned into a series of seven posts (12 AUGUST 2009, 13 AUGUST 2009, 16 AUGUST 2009, 20 AUGUST 2009, and 24 AUGUST 2009) which I finished on the 4th of September—and yet it doesn’t feel “finished”. It feels as if I’ve just started on the greatest adventure of my life!

GREAT book!



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15 Aug '09 Update: This book has so changed my life, I've resumed a regular practice of mental prayer and been blogging about it.

4 Aug '09 Update: This section focuses on the question: Why are so many enterprises of our time fruitless? 'Because they are not firmly enough based on the interior life, the Eucharistic life, the liturgical life, fully and properly understood.' (page 187) Although written in 1946, these words are just as true today.

This book is AWESOME! Thematically-speaking it is very much like Fire Within St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and the Gospel-On Prayer except that it draws on the spirituality of the entire history of the Church and not just the Carmelites. Emphasizes, drives home and convinces beyond a shadow of a doubt that nothing happens without God and outside of a deep, deep prayer life.(less) "

Bear read and liked booklady's review of Black Like Me:

"Although John Howard Griffin was known primarily for Black Like Me and it fully deserves all five stars I’ve awarded it, I’m hard pressed to say which impressed me more—the book itself or the brief biography of the author at the end. In only s...more Although John Howard Griffin was known primarily for Black Like Me and it fully deserves all five stars I’ve awarded it, I’m hard pressed to say which impressed me more—the book itself or the brief biography of the author at the end. In only sixty years (1920-1980) Griffin managed to fight in the French Resistance, lose his eyesight as a result of a nearby explosion during a Japanese air raid, become Catholic, marry and have four children and ultimately go on to become a spokesman for the Civil Rights Movement.

When his eyesight unexpectedly returned in the late 1950s, he was an established author with a strong sense of “otherness”, something he never lost even though now he could see again physically. More importantly to the man, John Griffin, he could see human beings and human life at a deeper level than many others around him could due to those years of not being able to ‘see’.

What I liked best about Black Like Me was Griffin’s plain style of writing. He didn’t embellish. And yet he describes the Negro (to use the book’s own terminology) men, women and children he met and befriended with befitting gentleness and grace. Although they lived in poverty and endured much, they were without exception unfailingly kind, generous and helpful to Griffin, a total stranger.

The hardest part of the book to endure was the blindness and cruelty of the whites he described. I cringed. I was ashamed. I was deeply saddened. But I also (re)learned some valuable lessons about “otherness” from Griffin’s journey into obscurity.

First of all, I learned to look at people, really look at them. Look them in the face. Don’t avoid looking at anyone, no matter who they are. Often I have looked away out of something in me, shyness or fear—but the other person doesn’t know that and they may see it as something in them. So have the courage to look at others in and with love.

Second, a smile is the best gift you can give almost everyone. So don’t be stingy. Smiles are free and they can mean the world to someone who is hurting; give away as many as you can. There are so many hurting people in need of kindness and love.

And finally, black and white are only coverings on the outside and we have no control over them—well most of us don’t. On the inside, that’s another matter. There we can be whatever color we make of the character God has given us.

These aren’t stunning revelations, I know. They’re just simple reminders of truths I’m sure I heard a long time ago. But reading Black Like Me revealed that it’s the simple things like this that really do make all the difference.

Fifty years young and as relevant as ever! EXCELLENT!

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Bear read and liked booklady's review of Love in a Fearful Land: A Guatemalan Story:

""We diocesan priests have lost our historical sense. If Stan (Fr. Rother) had been a Jesuit, twenty books would have been written about him by now." ~~Fr. John Vesey to his fellow priests during a Tulsa-Oklahoma City clergy week 5 June 19...more "We diocesan priests have lost our historical sense. If Stan (Fr. Rother) had been a Jesuit, twenty books would have been written about him by now." ~~Fr. John Vesey to his fellow priests during a Tulsa-Oklahoma City clergy week 5 June 1984

Although not what I was expecting – a straight biography of the martyred Father Stanley Rother – Love In A Fearful Land is an interesting and worthwhile book, especially during this Year For Priests because it brings together in one book three incredible priests who never had the chance to meet, although two were both friends of Fr. John Vesey. The author, Fr. Henri Nouwen, the best known of the three, has written over forty spiritual books and yet he was in the middle of a writing slump at the time Fr. Vesey asked him to tell the story of a quiet Oklahoma farm boy who became a priest, traveled to Guatemala in the late 1960s and fell in love with the people there. Writing this book brought Fr. Nouwen out of his slump.

Love In A Fearful Land is agonizingly brief, as was the life of Fr. Stan, this gentle yet strong priest, beloved by his parish. You will probably want to study the all too few surviving pictures of him; I know I did. He is always smiling and so is everyone who is with him. Despite the constant danger he lived in, Fr. Rother was not seeking martyrdom; he just believed a shepherd’s place was with his flock.

On the night of July 28th shortly after midnight, three men broke in to the rectory and attempted to kidnap Fr. Rother as was the practice of the time. There was a civil war in Guatemala in 1981 and the government was powerless – or claimed it was anyway – to stop roving bands of terrorists from kidnapping anyone perceived as a threat. Once kidnapped, the individuals were brutally tortured, killed and their bodies left by the side of the road or worse yet, never found. It was considered far better not to be taken alive. Father Rother, apparently put up quite a fight before he was shot twice in the head. The room where he died is now used as a chapel by his ‘flock’ who has already proclaimed him a saint.

Here is the prayer for canonization the Archdiocese of Oklahoma has written in his honor.


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On the 28th of this month I'm going on pilgrimage to Holy Trinity Church, Father Stanley Rother's home parish, in Okarche, Oklahoma. It's the 28th anniversary of his death in Guatemala. We've been praying for his canonization for many years now, but I've yet to visit his town or parish and ... always wanted to!(less) "