Pauline A. Viviano Advent is a time of waiting and preparation for the joyful entry of God into our world, but after the celebration of Christmas we shift our focus to the life and teaching of Jesus and to his death and resurrection. The books I recommend confront us with the implications of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth for ourselves and for the world in which, and to which, we bear witness to Christ and the mystery of salvation. The 100th birthday of Thomas Merton has been celebrated in many conferences throughout this year, and though it has been nearly 50 years since his death, publications by and about Thomas Merton have continued unabated. Of these many publications I recommend “In the School of Prophets: The Formation of Thomas Merton’s Prophetic Spirituality” by Ephrem Arcement, OSB (Liturgical Press, $24.95). The author shows how Merton brings his own experience of contemplative life into dialogue with a select group of writers, philosophers, poets, activists, social theorists and religious thinkers of the 19th and 20th centuries and over time develops his own understanding of a prophetic spirituality. For Merton a prophetic spirituality takes seriously the role of the prophet as one who speaks the truth revealed by God. One of the ways a prophet gains an insight into God’s truth is by surrendering to God in contemplative prayer. Merton is thus able to hold in balance a contemplative life, which is in some sense removed from the world, and a concern to be active in the world by witnessing God’s truth to that world. This book is not an easy read, but the time and effort put into it will be amply rewarded, especially given the state of the world in which we find ourselves. One manifestation of Merton’s prophetic spirituality is to seek justice in our troubled world and this is the focus of my second recommendation, “Seek Justice That You May Live: Reflections and Resources on the Bible and Social Justice” by John R. Donahue, SJ (Paulist Press, $29.95). The Second Vatican Council challenged Catholics to read and study the Bible; Pope Francis challenges Catholics to take seriously the social dimensions of our faith. Jesuit Father John R. Donahue, as a leading Catholic biblical scholar and as a pastor, takes up these challenges and provides us with an in depth, but readily accessible, study of the Bible and its treatment of issues of justice. After a brief treatment of the history of social justice in the Catholic Church, Donahue explains various texts relevant to the topic of justice found in the Old and New Testaments. He unfolds their meaning in light of their historical and literary contexts and then suggests how these biblical texts inform and challenge us today, both as church and as citizens. Donahue’s book contains extensive bibliographies useful for further study and enrichment. This would be an ideal book for parish discussion groups on justice and what justice demands of us as Christians. Viviano is associate professor emerita of Loyola University Chicago. Jesuit Father Jim McDermott Much like the television business itself, essay-writing about television has entered a kind of golden age. Whether it’s the history of “Saturday Night Live,” former New York Times columnist Bill Carter’s fantastic books about the late night television wars or the columns from people like the New Yorker’s Emily Nussbaum, Variety’s Mo Ryan or Vox.com’s Todd van der Werff, there really has never been a better time for rich reflections about your favorite television shows. My personal favorite, and a great Christmas gift for anyone who loves television, is “The Revolution Was Televised: The Cops, Crooks, Slingers, and Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever” (Amazon, $16.99). Written by TV critic Alan Sepinwall, “Revolution” tells the story of 12 recent s h o w s—i n c l u d i n g “Breaking Bad,” “The Sopranos” and “Friday Nights Lights” — that have transformed television drama. Sepinwall, who used to be the television columnist for the Newark Star- Ledger and now writes “What’s Alan Watching” on hitfix.com, is addictively readable. Through a combination of creator interviews and story analysis, each chapter is like a little drama in itself. We learn how AMC, a movie network nobody had ever heard of, surged to prominence with “Mad Men”; the challenge to make “Battlestar Galactica” a show that could speak to the post-9/11 world; how Baltimore journalist David Simon managed to turn “The Wire” into the next great American novel; cast and crew reactions to the ending of “The Sopranos”; and so on. The second edition of “Revolution” has just been released, with additional material on the final seasons of “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad.” It’s well worth a look. Just remember, should you buy it for loved ones, you may not see much of them until they finish! In 2002, almost one year after terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center, then-Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams wrote a slim book, “Writing in the Dust: After September 11” (Eerdmans, $9.99) reflecting on those events. Williams had actually been in lower Manhattan when the attack occurred, but his interest is far less in what happened to him than in considering the events themselves and what we might learn from them. In particular, Williams is moved by the way those on the planes used their final moments not to offer expressions of hate or condemnation but for love, how “someone who is about to die in terrible anguish makes room in their mind for someone else, for the grief and terror of someone they love.” He finds their example instructive; so often in the midst of crisis we rush to reaction, when what we need, Williams argues, is time for hesitation, a breathing space within which true understanding can grow. “The danger of imagination,” Williams writes, citing Simone Weil, “[is] that it fill[s] up the void when what we need is to learn how live in the presence of the void.” Much like Cardinal Joseph Bernardin’s beautiful book “The Gift of Peace,” “Writing” is a short, moving essay that inspires thought and prayer. Almost 15 years after the World Trade Center attacks, and just weeks after those in California, it remains both insightful and all too sadly relevant. McDermott is a Jesuit priest from Mount Prospect working as a screen and magazine writer in Los Angeles. Joyce Duriga, Editor There’s so many books to read in the world and no time to read them all but two books I read this year stuck with me and I’ve recommended them to others. They are “Ways to Pray: Growing Closer to God” (Our Sunday Visitor, $11.95) by Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., and “Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project” (Long Trail, $17.95) by Jack Mayer. Inspiration for “Ways to Pray” came to Cardinal Wuerl after a 2013 flight when an attendant saw his Roman collar and asked for some spiritual advice. She was raised in a nominally Catholic home and attended Catholic school for a few years. As an adult she felt like something was missing and remembered the peace she felt in the early years when there was some faith in her life. The cardinal then asked her if she prayed. She said she didn’t remember how. He said, “Sure you do,” and led her through the basics. Later he realized many people may have forgotten how to pray, don’t pray or think they don’t have time. In response he put together a short book covering the basics of Catholic prayer life like grace before meals, Morning Offering and Night Prayer, spiritual reading, devotion to the Eucharist, mental prayer and more. He draws on all of the masters like Teresa of Avila, Thomas Aquinas and John Paul II and gives advice for further reading. This book isn’t just for those wanting to start to pray more, it’s for we “veteran pray-ers” who can use a little reminder of the gems available to us in our spiritual lives. A book completely different than Cardinal Wuerl’s is “Life in a Jar,” which tells the story of Irena Sendler, a brave Catholic in Poland during the Nazi occupation who rescued more than 2,500 children from Warsaw’s Jewish ghetto. It also tells the story of two American students who helped make Sendler’s story known through a play they wrote. While the story about the play is interesting, what drew me to the book was Sendler’s life. During a time when many turned their backs on the Jewish people, she was one of the “righteous among many” who didn’t accept what was happening. Through her work as a social worker and nurse, Sendler developed a network of volunteers to enter the ghetto, which was teeming with disease and starvation, and found a way to smuggle the children out right under the noses of the Nazi soldiers. This sometimes meant hiding the children in sacks filled with dirty linens from diseased patients. Sendler’s is a brave, harrowing tale and worth the read. - - - Contributing to this story was Pauline A. Viviano, Jesuit Father Jim McDermott, and Joyce Duriga
Local priest releasing book on eucharistic adoration Have you ever wanted to participate in eucharistic adoration, but shied away because you didn’t know whether you could just sit there for an hour? Or even a half hour? Or have you wanted to develop a habit of daily prayer but found the mechanics of it daunting?
Book helps people explore pope’s teaching on belonging Pope Francis’s concern for migrants and refugees, his focus on ecology, his calls to “go out” to share the good news of salvation, even his support for the controversial possibility of informally blessing LGBTQ+ couples flow from his conviction that people need to know they belong to God, to one another and to creation.
Giving trees a part of Christmas charity at parishes Fifty years ago, Margaret Hilliard, a parishioner at St. Gilbert Parish in Grayslake, read about giving trees in a magazine and thought it would be a good thing for her church to try.