Books
More recommendations from NCR readers
John P. Doyle
Arlington, Va.
Call and Response: Ordaining Married Men as Catholic
Priests, by Frederick Luhmann (Dialogue Press). Fascinating reading in the
midst of today’s church scandals. While celibacy may not be the villain
behind clerical pedophilia, optional celibacy may offer one solution. Thus,
many argue, Rome should permit a married priesthood. It flourished in the early
church and continues today in the Eastern churches.
In fact, for 50 years the Vatican has been approving the
ordination of a particular group of married men, namely, converted Protestant
ministers. The author gives readers the history of this development.
He argues convincingly that the U.S. bishops should now secure
approval for a “new pastoral provision” to permit the ordination of
married Catholic men deemed fit for priesthood. This should be done to meet the
pastoral needs of the faithful as the ranks of celibate priesthood continue
their steep decline.
Mary B. Heyman
Endwell, N.Y.
Absolute Flanigan, by Jack Gilroy (Global Publications).
This book carries the reader through the moral struggle of the hero, just
coming of age at the beginning of World War II, to decide whether to serve or
to take the moral position of refusing to register. He encounters Catholic
leaders on both sides of the issue, including Dorothy Day.
He is sent to Danbury Federal Prison, where in 1943 he becomes
involved in a strike there that ends segregated eating. As a former social
studies teacher and longtime peace activist (six month’s imprisonment for
crossing the line at Fort Benning), the author is close to his material. He
received the Peace Hope International Writing Award for 2001.
Sr. Judith Ann Zielinski, OSF
Los Angeles
Biblical Characters and the Enneagram: Images of
Transformation, by Pearl Gervais, Bishop Remi J. De Roo and Diane Tolomeo
(Newport Bay Publishing). This book gives a sense that the people whose stories
I read in the Bible offer a rich trove of modern behavioral parallels useful to
my own life. The book requires some prior knowledge and understanding of the
Enneagram, an ancient-and-yet-modern personality typing system that reveals
root neuroses that shape our behaviors. I know the Enneagram, having studied,
used and shared the system for many years as a means to spiritual growth. This
book offered me something new: scriptural friends around the circle who behaved
as I often do!
The writers present 18 Biblical characters from both Old and New
Testaments -- two for each of the Enneagram’s nine numbers -- as
representatives of the spiritual growth each personality is invited to accept.
Some do; some don’t.
For me, there was David, a Three, serving as a brilliant king and
administrator but fighting his inner demons of lust and duplicity; Martha, an
Eight, challenging Jesus about her sister Mary’s unwillingness to work and
Jesus’ own tardiness in arriving to save her brother Lazarus; and the
Woman at the Well, a Seven, busy and preoccupied and trying to distract Jesus
from calling her to face the core issue of her life. Been there, done all
that.
The authors took me beyond psychology to link the nine
number-spaces to the wholeness and holiness God invites us to claim. They
stressed the energy of the Enneagram system, urging me to think beyond my one
number to look at the flow and the process that exists on a larger level. They
reorganized the nine numbers in fresh groupings. Most important, they stressed
that this is not primarily an Enneagram book, but one that they hope will
“open hearts and souls and minds to the indwelling divine energy, conveyed
in the stories of the Bible, but always and ever alive in our own stories and
lives.” It worked for me.
Marita Haffart
Minot, N.D.
Remarkable Women, Remarkable Wisdom: A Day Book of
Reflections, by Sr. Mary Francis Gangloff, OSF (St. Anthony Messenger
Press). A full year of meditation on women from ancient times to the present.
Each day has a scripture theme and then a quotation from the woman being
commemorated that day, or a quote about her and then a summary of her life or
work, and then several reflective questions, concluding with a prayer.
One can keep company with remarkable women for a whole year. Or
one can selectively focus on women of interest and read only those at random;
the year of birth and country of origin is also included. For example: May 1:
Kate Smith and “God Bless America.” Oct 6: Jihan Sadat, social
activist from Egypt born in 1934 and still alive today.
Women have been authors, religious founders, mountain climbers,
writers of etiquette books, physicians, piano virtuoso, composers, stateswomen,
pioneers, diarists, social reformers, to mention a few callings of the
remarkable women portrayed here.
Nancy McGunagle
Petaluma, Calif.
The Wisdom of Tenderness: What Happens When God’s Fierce
Mercy Transforms Our Lives, by Brendan Manning (Harper San Francisco). We
follow the author as he touches upon his struggles as a recovering alcoholic.
We meet Mephisto, whose mystical, fatherly presence affects Manning in his
darkest hour leading him into profound tenderness and care for others in
similar straits.
We are given practical ways of exercising these same techniques in
our own lives, such as choosing the most loving response to hurtful actions,
comments and innuendo. If one wishes to open the door to experiencing the
Father’s love and tenderness, Manning’s book makes an excellent
locksmith.
Br. Patrick Hart, OCSO
Trappist, Ky.
The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love and Terror in Algeria,
by John Kiser (St. Martin’s Press). Coming out after the tragedy of Sept.
11, this book helped me to understand better the whole world of Islam. Besides
being the most complete story of the brutal massacre of the seven Trappist
monks of Tibhirine by a Muslim extremist group in 1996, it brings out the
complexities of the relationship that exists between the various factions of
Muslims in Algeria by providing a solid historical context. The author is to be
congratulated for explaining the complex political situation and providing an
account of the international efforts extended throughout the world to free the
monks. It should be required reading for all religious departments in
seminaries and universities.
Al Dio Dati
Yonkers, N.Y
The Holy Longing, by Ronald Rolheiser (Doubleday). This
book was written way ahead of its time. Fr. Rolheiser challenges his readers to
walk with our Creator with a desire to help God bring this planet to
completion. We do this by being God’s ongoing incarnation, putting skin on
God, making God present on earth.
When we look for God’s guidance, we find it in voices here
that complement the voices from heaven. Christian spirituality is not as much
about admiring God or trying to imitate God, as it is about participating in
the flow of God’s life. Because God took on flesh, we can experience God
through the ordinary senses. God’s love must show in our faces. We are
responsible together for the ministry of the church. This means we are mutually
accountable to each other for our lives.
Kitty Steed
Kansas City, Mo.
Goddess Icons: Spirit Banners of the Divine Feminine, by
Lydia Ruyle (Woven Word Press). Lydia Ruyle gives us an exciting opportunity to
see powerful images of goddesses, madonnas and women saints from around the
world. She has created banners that celebrate the images of the divine feminine
from world cultures. Using materials traditional to women’s work, she has
re-created the goddess icons in cloth, embroidery and weaving. They are
reproduced in vibrant colors, accompanied by a short statement about each image
and its history. This is sacred art. This is the book you will want to share
with those who revere the many divine faces of the Great Mother.
National Catholic Reporter, October 11,
2002
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