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Voting for February 2016 BOTM
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The Diary of St. Faustina. Would be a great way to kick off the Year of Mercy in the reading realm!
St Faustina's Diary or Merton's Seven Storey Mountain.
I also want to vote for The Diary of St. Faustina or Seven Story Mountain by Thomas Merton.
The Diary of St. Faustina by St. FaustinaBook of Lamentations, by St. Gregory of Narek
I know you already recorded this, but to add it to the thread here, I vote for Faustina and The God of the Christians. I also hope Jerzy P. doesn't drop off the list.
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The Randomizer removed Chance or Purpose? Creation, Evolution, and a Rational Faith, so I guess if I'm going to read that I should just do it.
Added to the nominations for consideration next month are Way of the Ascetics: The Ancient Tradition of Discipline and Inner Growth, by Tito Colliander and The Jesus Prayer: A Cry for Mercy, a Path of Renewal by John Michael Talbot.
I don't especially want to add it to the list, but the classic on the Jesus prayer is Way of the Pilgrim translated by R.M. French.
Jill wrote: "I don't especially want to add it to the list, but the classic on the Jesus prayer is Way of the Pilgrim translated by R.M. French."Sorry,Jill-I actually have Way of the Pilgrim and it's sequel but as we are reading so much James Martin who usually serves as a 'taster' I couldn't resist suggesting a JMT!
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Jill, the JMT book was nominated in the nominations thread.
Diary of Maria Faustina is my vote.
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Bless,
I noticed you introduced yourself as Praise in the Introductions thread, which do you prefer? Voting for the February BOTM closed on January 20, but you are in luck as we selected Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul, which we are reading and discussing now.
You are most welcome to join us.
God Bless
The Catholic Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul (other topics)Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul (other topics)
Chance or Purpose? Creation, Evolution, and a Rational Faith (other topics)
Way of the Ascetics: The Ancient Tradition of Discipline and Inner Growth (other topics)
The Jesus Prayer: A Cry for Mercy, a Path of Renewal (other topics)
Book of Lamentations, by St. Gregory of Narek (also in print as: The Armenian Prayerbook of St. Gregory of Narek)
The Prayerbook of St. Gregory of Narek is one of the most sublime works of Christian spirituality. Written around 1000 AD, it is a compendium of 95 prayers of striking depth and beautiful images. This e-book edition presents complete work in Thomas Samuelian’s reliable and readable translation. Born in 951 to a family of scholarly churchmen, St. Gregory entered Narek Monastery on the south-east shore of Lake Van at a young age. Narek Monastery was a thriving center of learning. These were the relatively quiet, creative times before the Turkic and Mongol invasions that changed Armenian life forever. Armenia was experiencing a renaissance in literature, painting, architecture and theology, of which St. Gregory was a leading figure. The Book of Prayer was the work of his mature years. He called it his last testament: “its letters like my body, its message like my soul.” St. Gregory left this world in 1003, but his voice continues to speak us.
Chance or Purpose? Creation, Evolution and a Rational Faith, by Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn
Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn's article on evolution and creation in The New York Times launched an international controversy. Critics charged him with biblical literalism and "creationism". In this book, Cardinal Schoenborn responds to his critics by tackling the hard questions with a carefully reasoned the "theology of creation". Can we still speak intelligently of the world as "creation" and affirm the existence of the Creator, or is God a "delusion"? How should an informed believer read Genesis? If God exists, why is there so much injustice and suffering? Are human beings a part of nature or elevated above it? What is man's destiny? Is everything a matter of chance or can we discern purpose in human existence? In his treatment of evolution, Cardinal Schoenborn distinguishes the biological theory from "evolutionism", the ideology that tries to reduce all of reality to mindless, meaningless processes. He argues that science and a rationally grounded faith are not at odds and that what many people represent as "science" is really a set of philosophical positions that will not withstand critical scrutiny. Chance or Purpose? directly raises the philosophical and theological issues many scientists today overlook or ignore. The result is a vigorous, frank dialogue that acknowledges the respective insights of the philosopher, the theologian and the scientist, but which calls on them to listen and to learn from each another.
Cry of Wonder by Gerard W. Hughes
In Cry of Wonder Gerard W. Hughes, celebrated author of God of Surprises encourages his readers to reflect deeply on their own experience. In our time, this is considered counter-cultural, subversive of law and order and anarchic. But the truth becomes manifest in our words and in our actions. There is an appalling rift today between our words and the truth of things, yet contemplation can be the key to peace in the world and peace within ourselves. In this compelling new spiritual work, Hughes explores how self-reflection can provide the remedies of our ills.
The Diary of St. Faustina
The Diary chronicles the message that Jesus, the Divine Mercy, gave to the world through this humble nun. It reminds us to trust in His forgiveness — and as Christ is merciful, so, too, are we instructed to be merciful to others. This message exemplifies God’s love toward mankind and to this day remains a source of hope and renewal. Keep the Diary next to your Bible for constant insight and inspiration for your spiritual growth!
A History of God, by Karen Armstrong
"An admirable and impressive work of synthesis that will give insight and satisfaction to thousands of lay readers." THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD In this stunningly intelligent book, Karen Armstrong, one of Britain's foremost commentators on religious affairs, traces the history of how men and women have perceived and experienced God, from the time of Abraham to the present. From classical philsophy and medieval mysticism to the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the modern age of skepticism, Karen Armstrong performs the near miracle of distilling the intellectual history of monotheism into one superbly readable volume, destined to take its place as a classic.
Jerzy Popieuszko: A Martyr for the Truth, Grazyna Sikorska
(Neither Shelfari nor Amazon had a description of this. The following is from a summary of a different book on Fr. Popieuszko (one that is much more expensive to buy on line):
In October 1984, the Polish priest and Solidarity activist Father Jerzy Popieluszko was abducted along a public highway and killed, his body dumped into a reservoir. Four agents of the Interior Ministry, led by Grzegorz Piotrowski, were quickly arrested and convicted after a show-trial.
On the God of the Christians: (and on one or two others), by Rémi Brague
On the God of the Christians tries to explain how Christians conceive of the God whom they worship. No proof for His existence is offered, but simply a description of the Christian image of God. The first step consists in doing away with some commonly held opinions that put them together with the other “monotheists,” “religions of the book,” and “religions of Abraham.” Christians do believe in one God, but they do not conceive of its being one in the same way as other “monotheists,” like the first of them, the pharaoh Akhenaton (18th century before J.C.), like some philosophers, e.g., Aristotle, or like Islam. Christians admit the authority of a Holy Book, but don’t consider it as being the peak of God’s revelation. For them, revelation culminates in the person, life, and doings of Jesus – including his passion and resurrection. Christians acknowledge the exemplary figure of Abraham, but the stories they tell about him they share with Jews, but not with Muslims, who see in him the first Muslim. The Trinity is not a way to loosen the exclusivity of the only God. It is the very way in which God is one, i.e., in the inner richness and fecundity of love. The God of the Christians is Father, but not male. Human males become fathers through the mediation of a female. God is so radically the Father of everything and, in a very special sense, of the eternal Son, that He is not in need of a partner. His fatherhood can in no way legitimate the superiority of the male over the female sex. The God of the Christians doesn’t want us to obey Him in order to enslave us; He expects us to act freely according to what is good for us. Now, the Good is not something that He has in store and bestows on His creatures. The Good is what He is and He is the Good of His creatures. The God of the Christians is merciful, but He takes seriously man’s freedom, even when man doesn’t accept Him. Hence, He doesn’t content Himself with forgiving from the outside. He has to contrive a system (technically speaking: salvation history or “economy of salvation”) that will enable Man freely to accept His love.
Seven Storey Mountain, by Thomas Merton
Travelling in his early years with his artist father in the United States, France and England, Thomas Merton prided himself on his worldly accomplishments. His year at Clare College, Cambridge, was indulgent, and although Columbia University to which he went next suited his temperament better, it did nothing to assuage his restlessness. Gradually Merton recognized his need for faith and became a Catholic. With his baptism he began entertaining thoughts of monasticism but his desire to enter the priesthood in a Franciscan monastery came to nothing, and he remained a lay teaching member of the order for some time. However, when he was twenty-seven he made a retreat to a Trappist monastery in Kentucky. This momentous experience convinced him that the silence of the Cistercian Order was what he craved. The Seven Storey Mountain tells the story of Merton's search for faith and peace in a world which first fascinated and then appalled him. It is written with the profound insight of a man who has seen himself clearly.
Staggerford, by Jon Hassler
It is only a week in the life of a 35-year old bachelor school teacher in a small Minnesota town. But it is an extraodinary week, filled with the poetry of living, the sweetness of expectation, and the glory of surprise that can change a life forever....
The Struggle with God, by Paul Evdokimov
If we know how to listen, we can hear above the noise of the world the questions put to us by the meaning of things. More than ever before, human existence entails the need for clarity and asks the sole question that can be addressed to every man. Beyond all catechetical or propaganda literature, and at the level of a conscience freed from every prejudice, the 20th-century believer is invited to ask: “What is God?” and the atheist, the one who denies, is invited to make clear the object of his negation. (I was unable to locate a description of this book, but did locate an electronic copy online. The foregoing is the first paragraph of the introduction.)