A Special Mission

Hey, remember me? The hiatus lasted longer than I had planned. However, I did do some reading while I was away from the blog. While browsing around Border's a few weeks ago I happened to walk into the history section and saw Dan Kurzman's A Special Mission: Hitler's Secret Plot to Seize the Vatican and Kidnap Pope Pius XII.

The book was quite interesting and well written. It tells the story of Hitler's plan to kidnap the pontiff and the men who for various reasons plotted to foil the plan from within the Nazi party. It also gives some insight into the moral dilemma faced by Pope Pius XII. The book does not condemn Pope Pius XII's actions without being overly apologetic either. As a matter of fact the books main focus is on those Nazi officers who would risk their careers, and lives, to prevent Hitler from invading the Vatican for various reasons.

I think it would be a very good book for anyone wanting to know more about this much debated period in Church history.

Compendium online

The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is now available online in English.

Thanks to Gerald at The Cafeteria is Closed for the link.

"The Collar"

I recently finished reading Jonathan Englert's The Collar. Englert followed five seminaries for a year at Sacred Heart Seminary. Sacred Heart specializes in second-career vocations. Therefore most of the seminarians are older and most of them have been married, now either widowed or divorced. The book is an un-apologetic look at life in a Catholic seminary. Nothing is held back when describing the seminarian's struggles with theology, celebacy, and various other issues.

However, I was not entirely impressed with the book. Often Englert ventures to explain various Catholic teachings and practices. I found many of the explanations lacking in depth and accuracy. The book also gives an at times unbalanced weight to the issue of celibacy. Even though I realize that this probably is a very big issue for many seminarians, I thought that the book didn't provide a balanced view of the issue. It lacked in discussion of the deeper meaning behind priestly celebacy.

I read the book because I think it is important to understand the struggles our priests face and what priestly formation entails so that we may better support our priests and those considering a vocation to the priesthood.

My rating:

"God's Invisible Hand"

If you are a regular reader of this blog you have already seen me talk about Gerald O'Connell's book, God's Invisible Hand: The Life and Work of Francis Cardinal Arinze. Other posts about this book can be found HERE and HERE.

I have finished reading the book and I highly recommend it. It is no wonder that many considered the possibility of Cardinal Arinze as the next pope during the last Papal Conclave. Be sure to pay attention to the footnotes. They contain interesting details and the reference information for other books and documents mentioned in the text. Many of these sound interesting as possibilities for future reading material. I found the following quote to be highly applicable to all of us on the journey of faith.

"We learn, and we strive and pray to understand more and more of God's plan; and more than understanding it, to love it and to live it, especially when we don't understand it. And to realize that even when we think we understand, what we understand is only the surface of the deeper mystery. But to sense that God loves us, and never to doubt this, that is important." - Francis Cardinal Arinze

My Rating:

Douay-Rheims Bible Online

I found this great resource lately. Searchable Douay-Rheims Bible and if you are into Latin Latin Vulgate. I'm adding it to the sidebar.

God's Invisible Hand

I am currently reading God's Invisible Hand: The Life and Work of Francis Cardinal Arinze. Gerald O'Connell presents the transcripts of several interviews he conducted with Cardinal Arinze over four years. The content of the interviews is arranged in chronological order from 1932 to 2002. I'm about halfway through it and already I'm confident in recommending it as a worthy read.

As I read what Cardinal Arinze has to say about "God's Invisible Hand" I can't help but think about the workings of God's hand in my own life. It's amazing to look back and see what events, as insignificant as they seemed at time, have shaped your journey through life.

For instance, I had no intentions of attending the University that I did. It was only a few months before classes started that a new teacher introduced me to the idea of attending this particular school. There I met someone who invited me to my first Mass at St. Joseph's. Over a few years I attended Mass sporadically at St. Joseph's until someone I worked with happened to see me at church one Sunday and invite me to the University parish, St. Thomas Aquinas. Soon after I was attending Mass every Sunday and two years later I'm Catholic!

Along the way there are several key people that had I never met I may not be where I am right now. You never know when the smallest event is going to have a big and long lasting impact.

Compendium to the Catechism of the Catholic Church

I received my copy yesterday. I recommend that everyone get a copy. It is in an easy to follow question and answer format that will be very beneficial for personal study and discussing the Catholic faith with others. As an added bonus the appendix contains many of the common prayers of the Church in both English and Latin.