What book are you reading? #2

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I usually have a few books on the go at any one time.

The current occupants of my bedside table are:

Why go to church? The drama of the Eucharist by Timothy Radcliffe, OP

The Catholic Church in nineteenth-century Ireland: a sociological study by Desmond Keenan

Brooklyn a novel by Colm Toibin about a young girl who moves from small-town Ireland to New York in the 1950s to work in a department store.
 
A recent reviews and reading selections I’ve posted on my blog:

G.K. Chesterton St. Thomas Aquinas, the Dumb Ox here

payingattentiontothesky.com/2009/08/31/book-recommendation-st-thomas-aquinas-the-dumb-ox-by-g-k-chesterton/

The Opening:
"Perhaps the first thing one should say about this book is that it is written by G. K. Chesterton – both a caveat and an enthusiastic recommendation. Chesterton’s books can occasionally only marginally be about their titles. He is not a scholar nor making a sober appraisal yet the book shimmers with a profound knowledge of its subject. It is filled with digressions and allusions that threaten to trash the whole project but miraculously add to it in the end and make the reading experience unforgettable.

As one reader pointed out, Chesterton is probably not sure of most of the biographical details of his subject because in his own autobiography, which has much the same candid dearth of dates and details, he commented that if he had denied such careful treatment to St. Thomas and St. Francis, so how could he justify it for himself? It is conceivable that the book is as much about Chesterton as it is about Aquinas.

In spite of all this, the book is a wonderful read and may become one of your all time favorites. “Toast it with your best wine,” acclaimed one reader, “Chesterton, for me, is the embodiment of ‘A Man in Full’; he is the polar opposite of C.S. Lewis’ ‘Men without Chests’. He is so full of good sense, penetrating insight, sound moral judgment, and the joy of life that it is all spilling out in every direction. Anyone who has read his book of literary criticism on Dickens will understand what I mean: this is criticism in an old key; it is appreciative criticism; it is an encounter with a writer by an entire man, and not just by a theory. It is wonderfully refreshing. I don’t know of anyone writing today in a similar vein.”

You are in the company of someone who loves his subject and who can bring it to a kind of life that the normal author could only hope to. I forget who it was, an Aquinas scholar who confessed that after a lifetime of scholarship in his field and an acknowledged authority, he felt in awe of Chesterton’s contribution — which seems to affirm that old saw that talent is about hitting the mark and genius concerns hitting the mark that no one sees yet.

Following my usual practice, what follows are reading selections that impressed me, that had me saying “Oh that’s good, I can’t forget that. Let me write that down.” I highlight the good stuff."

Above link will allow you to peruse the reading selections. Worth your time either as a review or to give you a feel of the famed G.K. style.
 
The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan, Book #3 of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. Preparing for the Lightning Thief movie that comes out next year President’s Day weekend.

I’m going to see if my 8 year old nephew would read this series, get him to read something besides Harry Potter (I think Percy Jackson is much more interesting and the books are definitely not as HEAVY, weight wise)
 
I just got done reading ‘1984’ by George Orwell…

craaAAaazy…
 
Yellow_Belle said:
I usually have a few books on the go at any one time.

The current occupants of my bedside table are:

Why go to church? The drama of the Eucharist by Timothy Radcliffe, OP

The Catholic Church in nineteenth-century Ireland: a sociological study by Desmond Keenan

Brooklyn a novel by Colm Toibin about a young girl who moves from small-town Ireland to New York in the 1950s to work in a department store.
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“Father Solanus”, the story of Father Solanus Casey, OFM, Cap., wonderful details of the Little House on the Prairie era.👍
Colmcille
 
“Prayer…talking with God” by: Millie E. Stramm

“Bible answers for every need–The Right scriptures at the right time–Everytime” compiled by: Clarence L. Blaiser
 
My kids love “Olivia and the Little Way.” It’s about a modern-day girl who learns about the spirituality of St. Therese of Lisieux – you can’t beat that!
 
C.S. Lewis’ THE GREAT DIVORCE…novelette where the narrator finds himself in hell and is invited to go on a bus trip to heaven for a day. Enjoyed it very much.
 
I am reading ’Arise from Darkness’ by Fr. Benedict Groeschel. A great book, full of wisdom and wit. Basically I needed it at this time of difficulty as it is helping me get my focus back on Christ and how we should cling to Him, trust Him alone and realise that people including those in the Church can and sometimes will let you down in different ways. We can suffer pain at the hands of those around us just as Christ did. It gives you great insights also into the Saints lives and the hardships they endured at the hands of their own people and their own communities in some cases, such as St. Francis and St. John of the Cross. Great reading… God bless you Fr. Benedict. 🙂
 
I’m reading The Grunt Padre, a biography of Servant of God Fr. Vincent Capodanno who was killed in Vietnam while tending to a wounded man trapped by gunfire. This last Friday, September 4th, was the 32nd anniversary of his death. His beatification will occur on October 25th of this year.

Peace.
 
surritter said:
My kids love “Olivia and the Little Way.” It’s about a modern-day girl who learns about the spirituality of St. Therese of Lisieux – you can’t beat that!
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Sounds interesting. Who is the author?

God bless,
goforgoal
 
Hi,
New here but this is what I’ve been looking for

I’m re-reading Triumph: the power and the glory of the catholic church by H.W. Crocker III
also slowly reading The Rosary: chain of hope by Fr Groeschel
 
I’m reading How to Be Happy, How to be Holy, by Fr. O’Sullivan. Awesome book! It makes a great reference book when you need to boost your prayers or remind youself what they mean
 
Fr. De Lubac traced the origin of 19th century attempts to construct a humanism apart from God and Christianity, the beginnings of contemporary atheism which claims to have “moved beyond God.” In the 20th and 21st we’ve moved into a scientific materialism that parades itself as a creative individualism. There is no institutional memory for atheism that corresponds to what the Catholic Church does for its believers. This leaves most atheists I know free to deny any and all sources. It’s a shame because if this were available in some form, it might help those not to be seduced yet by the latest incarnation of an old old heresy. Read this, one would like to say, learn your sordid, blood-soaked past.

“The three persons Fr. De Lubac focuses on are Feuerbach, who greatly influenced Marx; Nietzsche, who represents nihilism; and Comte, who is the father of all forms of positivism. He then shows that the only one who really responded to this ideology was Dostoevsky, a kind of prophet who criticizes in his novels this attempt to have a society without God. Despite their historical and scholarly appearance, de Lubac’s work clearly refers to the present.”

When I read this I really felt that atheistic humanism still existed but the more I converse with atheists, particularly the twenty or thirty something college graduates, I realize they have no connection with the atheistic humanism that Fr. De Lubac traced here. Most are totally unaware of it. Their teachers would know of it and most of them probably subscribed to it at one point. The newer atheists are a TV/internet phenomena, more Hollywood than literary, riding on the faux intellectualism of a scientific conceit that one sees in Richard Dawkins. Bill Maher has created more of these lost souls than we could possibly imagine.

As is my habit, reading selections follow:

You can continue with the reading selections here

payingattentiontothesky.com/2009/09/10/book-recommendation-the-drama-of-atheistic-humanism-henri-de-lubac-s-j/

In Christ,

dj
 
djeter said:
Fr. De Lubac traced the origin of 19th century attempts to construct a humanism apart from God and Christianity, the beginnings of contemporary atheism which claims to have “moved beyond God.” In the 20th and 21st we’ve moved into a scientific materialism that parades itself as a creative individualism. There is no institutional memory for atheism that corresponds to what the Catholic Church does for its believers. This leaves most atheists I know free to deny any and all sources. It’s a shame because if this were available in some form, it might help those not to be seduced yet by the latest incarnation of an old old heresy. Read this, one would like to say, learn your sordid, blood-soaked past.

“The three persons Fr. De Lubac focuses on are Feuerbach, who greatly influenced Marx; Nietzsche, who represents nihilism; and Comte, who is the father of all forms of positivism. He then shows that the only one who really responded to this ideology was Dostoevsky, a kind of prophet who criticizes in his novels this attempt to have a society without God. Despite their historical and scholarly appearance, de Lubac’s work clearly refers to the present.”

When I read this I really felt that atheistic humanism still existed but the more I converse with atheists, particularly the twenty or thirty something college graduates, I realize they have no connection with the atheistic humanism that Fr. De Lubac traced here. Most are totally unaware of it. Their teachers would know of it and most of them probably subscribed to it at one point. The newer atheists are a TV/internet phenomena, more Hollywood than literary, riding on the faux intellectualism of a scientific conceit that one sees in Richard Dawkins. Bill Maher has created more of these lost souls than we could possibly imagine.

As is my habit, reading selections follow:

You can continue with the reading selections here

payingattentiontothesky.com/2009/09/10/book-recommendation-the-drama-of-atheistic-humanism-henri-de-lubac-s-j/

In Christ,

dj
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This sounds really interesting.

There definitely is no such thing as atheistic humanism. Every atheist I’ve met who calls themselves a “humanist” tends to hate the human race. Which is the exact opposite of what a humanist believes. 😦
 
I just finished reading “The Middle Place” by Kelly Corrigan. She had breast cancer and her father had bladder and prostate cancer. Even though this sounds depressing, the book is really uplifting and happy, (although you will cry). Her dad is a devout Catholic and Lacrosse coach. Both have recovered.
 
Filius99993 said:
This sounds really interesting.

There definitely is no such thing as atheistic humanism. Every atheist I’ve met who calls themselves a “humanist” tends to hate the human race. Which is the exact opposite of what a humanist believes. 😦
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The atheist tends to mistake faith and belief. The two have a curious relationship that Michael Novak hits the head on the nail here:

“Gathering force over many years, one discovery has hit me with the force of a law: If you make mistakes about your own nature, you will make as many mistakes about God, and quite properly then, reject what your inquiries put before you. The god you fantasize will appear to you not very great, a delusion, a snare from which others ought to be freed. You will despise this god.”

So it follows that “atheistic humanism” turns out to have a very curious pedigree. Don’t let that disccourage you from learning about it though. Follow the link and read the selections to get an idea of what Fr. de Lubac is saying.

In Christ,

dj
 
I followed the link and though it is quite lengthy it is very interesting.
 
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