Back in December I mentioned a friend had recommended my reading a book by Johnny Cash called The Man In White. Since I tend to read several books at the same time it typically takes me longer than it ought to finish them. Last week’s feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, however, inspired me to finish Cash’s book on the life of St. Paul and I was not disappointed.

The thing that most struck me about Cash’s telling of the story is his clear focus on the joy of being found worthy to suffer in the same way Christ did,  which was strongly present in the early Christian community. The book ends with a description of St. Paul’s own suffering and his martyrdom in Rome which was endured for the sake of the Gospel. St. Paul himself gives a summary of these sufferings, his calling card so to speak, in his 2nd Letter to the Corinthians:

Five times at the hands of the Jews I received forty lashes less one; three times I was beaten with rods; I was stoned once, shipwrecked three times; I passed a day and a night on the sea. I traveled continually, endangered by floods, robbers, my own people, the Gentiles; imperiled in the city, in the desert, at sea, by false brothers; enduring labor, hardship, many sleepless nights; in hunger and thirst and frequent fastings, in cold and nakedness. (2 Corinthians 11: 24-27)

One could read these verses out of context and think that St. Paul was complaining about the trials of his life, but when we look at the entirety of his life and writings it is clear that nothing could be further from the truth. Though I have long known the facts of St. Paul’s life, it struck me while reading this book about his life that I had not reflected deeply enough upon what type of man would be driven to endure the things he endured in order to preach the Gospel. Since finishing The Man In White I have been thinking about how traumatic it would be to be given 39 lashes just one time for the sake of Christ, let alone five times. Or what effect it would have on my life to be shipwrecked once, let alone three times. And while I have visited prisons, I have never been locked in a cell other than to minister to someone for a short period of time.

When I reflect upon the life of St. Paul, I wonder what our Church would look like if every Christian just had 10% of the zeal he possessed. When Ananias was sent to minister to St. Paul, he was told that this former persecutor of the Church was God’s chosen instrument. I’m pretty sure this was not only a surprise to the early Christian community, but to St. Paul himself. If you don’t think God can use your talents, or you think your past, your weaknesses, or your sins disqualify you, open up your Bible to the Acts of the Apostles and read the story of St. Paul. You might also want to pick up a copy of The Man In White.

H/T Frank Weathers

In The Pope & The CEO, Andreas Widmer describes what he learned from Pope John Paul II during his time as a member of the Swiss Guard and how he later applied that wisdom as a corporate CEO.

Mr. Widmer describes nine essential qualities that any leader should have that he learned from observing Pope John Paul II during his time of service as one of the pope’s personal bodyguards. These nine qualities are: know who you are, know God, know what’s right, know how to choose what’s right, know where you are and where you are going, know your team, live as a witness, live a balanced life, and live detachment.

While Widmer’s insight into the things that are essential for any successful leader are a central part of this book, an even bigger reason one should consider reading this book is his firsthand observations of the daily routines of one of the most important modern saints. As I read this book, I learned more about the daily life of Pope John Paul II that I would not have known otherwise. It helped me to see the human side of John Paul, but also the energy that goes along with a life filled with holiness.

I can recommend this book to anyone looking to improve their leadership skills, but most especially to Catholic business men and women who are seeking a bridge between their faith and the workplace.

Last night I had the privilege of meeting author Rod Bennett. I have been waiting to write a review of his book, Four Witnesses, until I had finished it, but his appearance at mass at St. Thomas last night pushed me to go ahead. If the rest of his book turns out to be terrible, I will publish a retraction but I doubt it will be necessary.

Bennett’s book has a simple premise. He aims to explore the early church by creating a narrative based upon the actual words of four early Church fathers. Through the writings of Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr and Irenaeus of Lyons, he paints a picture of what the early Church looked like. Although I was familiar with these four men through my reading of their works during my time as a seminarian, I appreciate the approach taken by Bennett to recreate their stories. He has done an excellent job of using their own words to weave together not only a compelling narrative of each of their lives, but also a snapshot of the Church during the time they lived.

Bennett admits that he is not a scholar, but simply someone who discovered the writings of the Church fathers and wished to make them more accessible to others while at the same time deepening his own faith.

I hope to finish his book soon and have the opportunity to sit down with him to discuss his thoughts on these four great saints of the early Church.

A friend recently suggested I might be interested in reading a book by Johnny Cash entitled, The Man in White. The book is a fictional account of six years in the life of St. Paul the Apostle and while I have just begun reading, I couldn’t help but share a few lines from the introduction where Cash describes a conversation with a reporter concerning his book.

“Is it written from the Baptist Church’s angle?” one (reporter) asked. “You are a Baptist, aren’t you?”

“Paul was not a Baptist,” I replied. “He admonished those whose doctrinal tenets focused on John the Baptist.”

“Then you’re a Catholic, maybe?” he asked.

“Maybe,” I said, “since Catholic means universal.”

“But not the Roman Catholic Church?” he asked.

“No,” I said. “Paul was a Jew. He was a doctor of the law.”

“Then it’s written from the Jewish viewpoint, right?”

“No, mine,” I said.

“But you’re a Baptist.”

“I finally settled on a fundamental answer. “I, as a believer that Jesus of Nazareth, a Jew, the Christ of the Greeks, was the Anointed One of God (born of the seed of David, upon faith as Abraham had faith, and it was accounted to him for righteousness), am grafted onto the true vine, and am one of the heirs of God’s covenant with Israel.”

“What?”

“I’m a Christian,” I said. “Don’t put me in another box.”

“There was a long pause and then he said, “Really, Adolph Hitler was a Christian.”

“He was not,” I argued. “There was nothing Christlike in what he did.”

“How do you know?” he asked.

I thought for a minute. “I don’t really know,” I said, “but Jesus said, ‘By their fruits ye shall know them,’ and I’ve seen his fruits.”

“Where?” he asked.

“At the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem,” I said.

As someone who admires the life of St. Paul and loves the music of Mr. Cash, I look forward to reading this book.

Read good books a little at a time.

Maxim # 16

Fr. Thomas Hopko’s 16th Maxim for Christian Living is to read good books a little at a time. This is very similar to one of Matthew Kelly’s Seven Pillars of Catholic Spirituality.

As a young seminarian I was given the same advice by Fr. Lou Cameli, who recommended finding a few really good spiritual books and reading them again and again over the course of a lifetime. It is also noteworthy that Fr. Hopko suggests reading the books a little at a time. Reading a few pages of a book each day allows what we are reading to sink in far more than speeding through a book and moving on to the next one.

Here are a few books that I continue to return to for spiritual nourishment.

Dakota by Kathleen Norris

For the Life of the World by Fr. Alexander Schmemann

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis

New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

What are the books that have guided you on your spiritual journey?

This weekend at St. Thomas we are celebrating Father’s Day with a gift for each family who gathers to celebrate the Eucharist. My hope is that this gift will remind all who receive it of the great love that has been given to us by our Father in heaven. My hope is that it will also deepen the faith of our parish and that it will open the door for more of our parishioners to explore the message of love contained in God’s words to us in the Bible.

At our most recent priest gathering at Fall Creek Falls, one of my brother priests posed the question that with the second biggest religious group in the country being fallen away Catholics, why it is that the bishops are not doing more to address this dire situation. Msgr. Arsenault’s response was excellent. He first pointed out that he couldn’t think of one bishop who was not greatly concerned with increasing our efforts towards evangelization. He then posed his own question to the room,

What are you doing about it?

As we enter this Father’s Day weekend I have been thinking a great deal about Msgr. Arsenault’s question. The number one goal of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish is evangelization. We have decided that reaching out to those without a church home, those who have fallen away from the Catholic Church and those of other faith traditions should be at the top of our list when we are considering how to use the resources and gifts which have been given to us by God.

As part of that effort, this weekend we are being assisted in our work by Matthew Kelly’s Dynamic Catholic Institute. Matthew Kelly continues to ask basically the same question that was posed by my brother priest,

When 70% of Catholics don’t go the church on Sunday, isn’t it time somebody did something?

While I am not completely certain of Kelly’s figure of 70%, I am very convinced that there are large numbers of Catholics who are at best marginal in the living out of their faith today and countless more who are not connected to Christianity at all. Kelly also makes the claim that “32% of the people in the pews at Christmas only go to Church once a year,” and that “only 1% of Catholics read a Catholic book each year.”  He suggests that if every Catholic were to just read two good Catholic books each year, we would see a great deepening in the faith of Catholics. I’m not going to argue with him!

One of the great things about Matthew Kelly is that he not only talks the talk, he walks the walk. Through the Dynamic Catholic Institute, he is able to provide low cost books to parishes so that they can put his theory into practice by giving Catholics good books to read each year. I for one am willing to help him in his experiment by providing our parishioners with a free copy of Scott Hahn’s book, A Father Who Keeps His Promises.

If this sounds like a shameless plug for Matthew Kelly and the Dynamic Catholic Institute, I have only one response. It is. I have been following Matthew’s work for several years now and I want him to succeed in his work to assist parishes in the work of evangelization. If what he is doing sounds good to you, perhaps I can ask you to consider a couple of action items. First, visit Dynamic Catholic to learn about their work. Second, consider ordering a good Catholic book from them to enrich your own spiritual life and making a donation to support their work. Third, and this especially goes for you pastors and DRE’s out there, consider putting aside some of your annual budget to providing your parishioners with a book that will lead them closer to Christ. Or if you are like most people and don’t work for the Church, consider passing this idea along to your pastor for consideration.

The work that Christ entrusted to his first disciples to bring the good news to the entire world is not yet finished. Here is one way to make a small step forward in sharing the Gospel with those who have yet to hear it.

One of the things that I love most about our current social media craze is having had the opportunity to meet so many thoughtful Christians of various different traditions. It was through several of my friends from evangelical traditions that I first learned of the book Love Wins by Rob Bell. My curiosity was piqued by the high level of controversy among evangelicals that his book seemed to be raising. I wondered to myself what it might be in his reflections on heaven and hell that could be causing such a stir. So I decided to read the book.

As I made my way through the book, granted as a Roman Catholic priest but also as one who grew up in the buckle of the Bible Belt, I kept asking myself what all the controversy was about. It seemed to me that all the chatter in the Christian blogosphere about Rob Bell having renounced traditional Christianity because he didn’t believe in hell couldn’t be supported when one actually read his book. Let me offer an example. Near the end of Love Wins Bell reflects with his readers on the parable of the prodigal son. He suggests that the two sons who are described in the parable each have their own understanding of the truth about themselves, and that their father has a different story to tell. The question is whether or not they will cling to their own version of the truth, or their father’s.

What the father does is retell the older brother’s story. Just as he did with the younger brother. The question, then, is the same question that confronted the younger brother–will he trust his version of his story or his father’s version of his story?

Who will he trust? What will he believe?

The difference between the two stories is, after all, the difference between heaven…..and hell.

Now most images and understandings people have of heaven and hell are conceived of in terms of separation.

Heaven is “up” there, hell is “down” there.

Two different places, far apart from each other.

One over there, the other over there.

This makes what Jesus does in his story about the man with two sons particularly compelling. Jesus puts the older brother right there at the party, but refusing to trust his father’s version of his story. Refusing to join the celebration.

Hell is being at the party. That’s what makes it so hellish.

I can’t see one place in Bell’s book where he claims that hell does not exist. What he does claim is that God’s love is the most powerful force in the universe. He also claims that it is because of God’s love that hell can exist. You see, God’s love is so great that he has given complete freedom to those he has created. God has so much love for us that he allows us to walk away from him, in essence choosing hell, rather than to control us or to coerce us into choosing him.

While I am certain that Rob Bell’s description of heaven and hell, one that clashes with a more traditional evangelical view of salvation, is part of what has made this book controversial, I can’t help but wonder if the controversy might be more due to the fact that he challenges us to accept that the Gospel is much better than we can imagine it to be and that he calls out many of the false gospels among us today.

Jesus calls his disciples to keep entering into this shared life of peace and joy as it transforms our hearts, until it’s the most natural way to live that we can imagine. Until it’s second nature. Until we naturally embody and practice the kind of attitudes and actions that will go on in the age to come. A discussion about how to “just get into heaven” has no place in the life of a disciple of Jesus, because it’s missing the point of it all.

An entrance understanding of the gospel rarely creates good art. Or innovation. Or a number of other things. It’s a cheap view of the world, because it’s a cheap view of God. It’s a shriveled imagination.

It’s the gospel of goats.

When I read these words, I understood fully the controversy. Rob Bell is calling out to Christians to abandon false gospels in order to embrace the Good News of Jesus Christ.

There is, however, one place in the book that made me sad. At one point Bell seems to plead with his readers not to put down the book and quit reading because he mentions the fact that Jesus is both at the same time fully human and fully divine. This highlighted for me what is only one of my recent discoveries, that being there are many people today who claim the name Christian yet deny the central tenet of the Christianity, the Incarnation of Christ. I do not in any way doubt Bell’s firm belief in the Incarnation, but the very fact that he has to defend his belief to some of his readers speaks volumes about the state of some traditions of Christianity in America today.

My only other critique of Love Wins is that on the surface it seems like a book that has been written by someone who is still trying to find his way to the truth within a community that may not be completely willing to accept the beliefs being professed. In many ways, the book has the voice of one who is still searching for the truth, rather than one who has firmly established his beliefs. Perhaps it is not a fair comparison, but if asked to recommend a book about heaven and hell, I would still point someone to The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. On the other hand, I would suspect that there are many who are still searching for the truth and who may find Bell’s book helpful for their journey.

Even with minor flaws, I found Love Wins to be a quick, though thoughtful read and a book I would recommend to those who are open to asking questions, to those who seek the truth about God, to those who dare to believe the words of Scripture that tell us,

There are in the end three things that last: faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)