I purchased these two books separately, and they lay on my
reading pile for a while before I recently read them back-to-back. It was a fruitful way to absorb them. The first was published in 1982, and consists
of retreat talks by Bishop Karol Wojtyla to college students in Poland. The second book contains excerpts from the
words of Pope (Saint) John Paul II. Both
explain critical points of faith and love, and what it means to live life
fully. I plan to give copies to my
Goddaughter as she graduates from high school next month.
The Way To Christ, Spiritual Exercises, has fourteen talks given by
the future pope and saint, focused on God within us. The talks are very personal; they speak to
you. Some were focused on the male and
some the female students. He gave both
groups much to think about:
The Gospels are not a description of God. In them, God IS.
·
The
antigospel has two main characteristics:
… the primacy of matter, material things (and) the belief that freedom
is an end in itself. In the world of the
antigospel there is no place for forgiveness, no place for the parable of the
prodigal son, because the world of the antigospel has no Father.
·
Today we
are witnessing a certain crisis; one of its symptoms is that young people do
not admire the family. … We are coming to have more and more homes FOR
children, instead of homes WITH children.
·
The Church
today is composed of three elements. The
first is the dignity of the human person. The second is that man lives out his
own supernatural life within the community; the narrowest dimension is the
family, (but) each parish is a special community with specific tasks because of
the people of which it is composed. The
third element is the vocation of each individual Christian. We must view ourselves, our life, our
profession and our situation in the framework of the Church. (This) means that in everything you do in
your life by way of professional training and education and pursuit of your
career must also contribute to some good God wants for the world.
As I read Bishop Karol’s words, I could almost see the rapt
attention of the students as they listened and thought on what he was
saying. Reading these words, I think
they will capture the attention of students today in the same manner.
Be Not Afraid, Wisdom
from John Paul II, is part of Pauline Books’ Wisdom Collection. I have found that most of the books in this
series of fourteen are exceptional, and would provide excellent short
meditative readings for any chapel. This
latest book, of 100 short pages, has 24 meditations on the Catholic faith, on
the value of a person, and on how to live a fruitful life. Here too you find many of the short, concise
sentences that make you stop and think:
·
In the chapter To Young
People we read: Life raises many
questions, but one above all must be answered:
What sense is there in living and what awaits us after death? This is a question which gives meaning to all
existence.
·
In The Importance of Families is the note that: The love with which God “loved the world”
makes it possible to address this message to each family, as a living “cell” of
the great and universal “family” of mankind.
·
In Our Restless Hearts JPII states: From
the very moment of conception, and then of birth, the new being is meant to
express fully his humanity, to “find himself” as a person.
·
And in Do Not Be Discouraged he says: “Bear your share of the hardship which the
Gospel entails (2Tim 1:8). (This) is an
invitation to enter more deeply into the Christian vocation which belongs to us
all. There is no evil that Christ does
not face with us, … no enemy Christ has not already conquered, … no cross that
Christ has not already borne for us.
This is our faith, our witness before the world.
I said these books, in my opinion, are a good read for young
people, but please don’t emphasize that point.
They are a good read for anyone, and especially those who normally don’t
read much. The chapters in each book are
short; they are made for whenever you have just a few minutes to read --- or if
that is your attention span. With these
books, those few minutes will be well spent.
- - - - - - - - - -
Spring has finally
arrived in Michigan. Although I am still
taking antibiotics for the bugs which found their way into my body recently,
the weather itself does makes one feel better.
The curbside flowers in front of my house are blooming beautifully ---
albeit about a month later than they usually do, and yesterday I purchased two
carfuls of flowers and vegetables from the nursery. Tomorrow is planting day!
In all things and in all ways, God is good to
us, if we would but open our eyes to His beauty.
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