Praying with Saint Paul: Daily Reflections on the Letters of the Apostle Paul

by Peter John Cameron

Praying with Saint Paul  is a handbook of daily reflections that leads the reader into the richness of the writings of the great Apostle. The words of Saint Paul are very familiar to us from the readings of the eucharistic Liturgy. Yet, we rarely get a chance to reflect on Paul's wisdom.  Praying with Saint Paul  offers a kind of lectio divina?a "spiritual reading"?of Paul's letters by which one can go deeply into the mind and heart of this great saint in a very practical, convenient, and user-friendly way day-by-day. You will find an entry for each day of the year that starts with a short quotation from one of Paul's letters. It is followed by an original reflection by one of the book's thirty-two gifted spiritual authors. Each entry concludes with a thought-provoking prayer.  Praying with Saint Paul  will guide you through the spiritual treasury of Saint Paul's thought?from the  Letter to the Romans to the Letter to Philemon . This volume will help you to meditate, giving deeper illumination and deepening your familiarity with one of the spiritual giants of the Church.

Genres: Theology, Catholic, Spirituality, Religion

382 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 2008

About the author

Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P., (Playwright, Director) holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in playwriting from the Catholic University of America. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and is the author of more than a dozen plays. His first play, Full of Grace, received the David Lloyd Kreeger Creativity Award and was performed in showcase at the Kennedy Center in 1988. Fr. Cameron's play about the life of St. Therese of Lisieux, The Sacrament of Memory, was produced in 1998. He recently wrote a screenplay for a video about the vocation to the priesthood produced by the Knights of Columbus. Fr. Cameron is the former Artistic Director of the American Catholic Theater, and the former Director of Creative Affairs for Paulist Productions, Los Angeles, and the founder of the Blackfriars Repertory Theatre.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great little daily devotional book. There are a variety of authors and each day is also based on a verse from one of Paul's letters. So good!

[Paula]

Christmas gift from Noah

Considering what I just wrote about the Advent devotional book, I'm not entirely optimistic that I'll stick with this on a daily basis. Currently I'm keeping up by reading about three days worth at a time (because I get about 3 days behind pretty quickly).

So far it has offered some meaningful thought into my life. Last Sunday the entry was something about hope, and then I went to church with a friend and the message was about hope, and it was all very related and things I needed to hear just then. So hopefully I will be better than usual about keeping up with this one.

March update: Still reading but taking this off of my 'currently reading' spot because I don't really want to leave it there for a year.

[Laura]

I will probably read this like you are, Paula, several days at a time, when I remember. If fact, I'm glad you reminded me that we have the book. I'm reading the first ten days worth today to get caught up!

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an odd little book. I'm not much of a fan of the daily reflections type of book in any case. This is a miscellany that tracks straight through the epistles of Paul in order (although by no means do they hit every verse) and gives you a series of reflections by a very large cast of authors in chunks. So far as I noticed, each of around 30 authors got assigned one contiguous piece--and it might cross an epistle boundary, say, Romans 16 + 1 Corinthians 1--and you get a dozen or so one page essays from each. Their interests, outlook, writing ability, ability to use paragraphs, etc. are all over the map; there were definitely stretches where I was dreading what tedious wall of unparagraphed text would come next, rooting for the next author to make an appearance. There were definitely inspirational stretches, too, enough for me to deliberately give it 3 stars. If daily readers are the sort of thing you like, this is a net positive on average, although I'd hardly recommend anyone seek it out given the ocean of books in the world.

Aesthetically and, so to speak, ecclesially there are some odd choices: There is absolutely no stylistic celebration of reaching a new month. There are also no, or almost no (maybe Christmas Day?) reflections on the liturgical season or individual feast days, no matter how exalted. I found it a very odd book.

[Pete Kieffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

WONDERFUL DAILY MEDITATION

This book is great for daily devotion and for deepening our understanding of St. Paul's writings. I recommend this book to anyone for a daily meditation and prayer.

[Ben Larson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reflections on Paul's letters.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is nearly impossible to write a review on a book of meditations. Obviously, some touched me deeply and others did not, some gave me much food for meditation and others did not.