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Why I Became a Catholic
Book by Zolli, Eugenio
209 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1954
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 1, 2025
What a beautiful soul. 4.5 stars.
"The books of the Sacred Scripture contain much more than what is written in them. Our soul also has depths unknown to us. On the sacred pages and in our soul, there are melodies we do not hear. In the spaces of the world there are melodies which no one catches because no one listens. How I weep for this beauty which is lost to us! How I long for songs without words, sweet harmonies that could be ours and are not! There are echoes of songs that are as many songs. There are groans that no one hears, tears that no one sees or wipes away. There are tables at which no one sits. There are sanctuaries where no one prays. There is a nostalgia which no one shares. There are symphonies that no one hears, something resounding within us and smothered by us—words not written that nevertheless mean so much. There are words without echo, questions without answers.
Every word of the prophets, every saying of Christ, is full of celestial harmonies. We do not treasure what is so near us; perhaps the Lord’s words and our souls have much to say to us, but we are distracted. Often we are near God and yet far from God.
...Will the Lord gather the tears not yet shed, the harmonies suspended in the air, the songs not yet sung? Will the Lord receive my soul’s weeping?
I have nothing except what I have lost, except what I shall never have and what I regret. This regret and this weeping are the only thing that I could still, all though unworthily, offer to my Lord. It is the better part of myself."
Only a former Rabbi and someone who knows and loves Scripture profoundly could write like this.
"The books of the Sacred Scripture contain much more than what is written in them. Our soul also has depths unknown to us. On the sacred pages and in our soul, there are melodies we do not hear. In the spaces of the world there are melodies which no one catches because no one listens. How I weep for this beauty which is lost to us! How I long for songs without words, sweet harmonies that could be ours and are not! There are echoes of songs that are as many songs. There are groans that no one hears, tears that no one sees or wipes away. There are tables at which no one sits. There are sanctuaries where no one prays. There is a nostalgia which no one shares. There are symphonies that no one hears, something resounding within us and smothered by us—words not written that nevertheless mean so much. There are words without echo, questions without answers.
Every word of the prophets, every saying of Christ, is full of celestial harmonies. We do not treasure what is so near us; perhaps the Lord’s words and our souls have much to say to us, but we are distracted. Often we are near God and yet far from God.
...Will the Lord gather the tears not yet shed, the harmonies suspended in the air, the songs not yet sung? Will the Lord receive my soul’s weeping?
I have nothing except what I have lost, except what I shall never have and what I regret. This regret and this weeping are the only thing that I could still, all though unworthily, offer to my Lord. It is the better part of myself."
Only a former Rabbi and someone who knows and loves Scripture profoundly could write like this.
December 12, 2022
At the end of World War II, the Chief Rabbi of Rome announced that he was a Christian, and was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church. It wasn't due to anything in the war itself, he insisted to the curious press; it was that he was convinced that God was in fact revealed in Jesus. This book is his exploration and recounting of his spiritual journey.
Right away, as a Christian myself, I realized that his spirituality is very different than mine. He was something of a mystic, he explains; the (kabbalistic) Zohar always seemed more lively to him than the Targumim or Mishnah. He felt God's presence; prayer for him was more basking in that presence and praising Him than it was ever making requests. And, even before the war, he recognized that presence of God in the writings of the New Testament and in the person of Jesus. Zolli didn't see any contradiction between that and his Judaism, but he finally realized God was telling him to make a clear profession of his faith in Jesus.
This is only half of the autobiography I was expecting. Zolli outlines his life, but out of (I assume) humility, he passes quickly over what he was doing in the war. As the subtitle says, it's more his meditations on God and God's revelation and on how we should respond to that. I appreciated it, but I'll only recommend it to people who want those meditations from someone who loves the presence of God.
Right away, as a Christian myself, I realized that his spirituality is very different than mine. He was something of a mystic, he explains; the (kabbalistic) Zohar always seemed more lively to him than the Targumim or Mishnah. He felt God's presence; prayer for him was more basking in that presence and praising Him than it was ever making requests. And, even before the war, he recognized that presence of God in the writings of the New Testament and in the person of Jesus. Zolli didn't see any contradiction between that and his Judaism, but he finally realized God was telling him to make a clear profession of his faith in Jesus.
This is only half of the autobiography I was expecting. Zolli outlines his life, but out of (I assume) humility, he passes quickly over what he was doing in the war. As the subtitle says, it's more his meditations on God and God's revelation and on how we should respond to that. I appreciated it, but I'll only recommend it to people who want those meditations from someone who loves the presence of God.
October 1, 2017
Zolli has an immense talent for writing theology, but no particular skill at writing history. The book jumps around a lot, leaving it difficult to follow where he is at any particular time. Some of this is admittedly due to my poor knowledge of World War II. Writing so soon after the war ended, it would have seemed unnecessary to provide much background on these events, as the world would have already been intimately familiar with it, having just lived through it. But a few footnotes from the publisher would have been beneficial.
The theological reflections were deep, profound, and moving. The discussion of his childhood was beautiful and pleasant. These were the highlights of the book for me.
The theological reflections were deep, profound, and moving. The discussion of his childhood was beautiful and pleasant. These were the highlights of the book for me.
January 24, 2026
Excellent book with marvelous prose and imagery. I greatly enjoyed his reflections on the Old Testament and the depth of the Jewish tradition. His conversion is only covered in the very end of the book, but you can see how it is the culmination of his entire life’s work and stems from deep spiritual insight into the Old Covenant.
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June 3, 2010A gift from my uncle. I don't quite know how I feel about this book. Very well written, but at the same time it has the thumbprints of the urban intellectual (at first I liked the reflection that the university was a planting of turnips, but then upon thinking of it, it seems that the glory of God is as much (or even more) in the growth of a turnip than in higher education). His final conversion vision was certainly heartfelt, but cannot convince anyone but himself.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews