D
djeter
Guest
One of the earlier books I read after I had made up my mind to go through RCIA and join a parish was this wonderful little book by Josef Pieper. He became one of my favorite Catholic authors. He lived to the ripe old age of 93 and passed away in 1997. A tribute published by First Things said:
“Pieper emphasizes the close connection between moral and intellectual virtue. Our minds do not — contrary to many views currently popular — create truth. Rather, they must be conformed to the truth of things given in creation. And such conformity is possible only as the moral virtues become deeply embedded in our character, a slow and halting process.
We have, he writes on one occasion, “lost the awareness of the close bond that links the knowing of truth to the condition of purity.” That is, in order to know the truth we must become persons of a certain sort. The full transformation of character that we need will, in fact, finally require the virtues of faith, hope, and love. And this transformation will not necessarily — perhaps not often — be experienced by us as easy or painless. Hence the transformation of self that we must — by God’s grace — undergo ‘perhaps resembles passing through something akin to dying.’”
I remember turning pages in this little book thinking “Oh my God, I’ve signed on for THIS?!! Angels!!!” And then being reassured by Pieper’s marvelous intellect and wonderful interpretations. I felt so much smarter and reassured after I had finished. As is my custom, some memorable reading selections to give you a taste of the book.
I think you will see it is just right for an RCIA class: a quick read supplemental kind of thing and if it gets your converts interested in Pieper then they will be off to a great start. Caution though: there are so many books out there with this title – this one comes from the 1950s – I encountered two or three others while chasing down the book cover image.
regards
dj
“Pieper emphasizes the close connection between moral and intellectual virtue. Our minds do not — contrary to many views currently popular — create truth. Rather, they must be conformed to the truth of things given in creation. And such conformity is possible only as the moral virtues become deeply embedded in our character, a slow and halting process.
We have, he writes on one occasion, “lost the awareness of the close bond that links the knowing of truth to the condition of purity.” That is, in order to know the truth we must become persons of a certain sort. The full transformation of character that we need will, in fact, finally require the virtues of faith, hope, and love. And this transformation will not necessarily — perhaps not often — be experienced by us as easy or painless. Hence the transformation of self that we must — by God’s grace — undergo ‘perhaps resembles passing through something akin to dying.’”
I remember turning pages in this little book thinking “Oh my God, I’ve signed on for THIS?!! Angels!!!” And then being reassured by Pieper’s marvelous intellect and wonderful interpretations. I felt so much smarter and reassured after I had finished. As is my custom, some memorable reading selections to give you a taste of the book.
I think you will see it is just right for an RCIA class: a quick read supplemental kind of thing and if it gets your converts interested in Pieper then they will be off to a great start. Caution though: there are so many books out there with this title – this one comes from the 1950s – I encountered two or three others while chasing down the book cover image.
regards
dj