TEACHINGS
READ
ANY GOOD BOOKS? A
Plan for a Lifetime of Spiritual Reading
by
Father John McCloskey
The
purpose of our lives as Catholics is to become saints. By God's grace,
we can collaborate with Him on that lifelong task. You know many of the
ways already, and an indispensable one is spiritual reading, which is
accessible to all who are literate. As Blessed Josemaria Escriva put it:
"May your behavior and your conversation be such that each person
who sees or hears you may say, 'This man reads the life of Jesus
Christ.'"
Let's
look at the present situation of the majority of Catholics of in North
America and Europe. I think it I am accurate, unfortunately, in saying
that the great majority of the several hundreds of millions' only
exposure to the Bible is for approximately 10 minutes at Sunday Mass. In
addition, most of them have a rudimentary Catholic catechetical
education that usually finished at an early age. Therefore, they don't
know Sacred Scripture, and they barely remember at best the Catechism.
In addition, a paltry few are familiar with any of the great Catholic
spiritual classics.
On
the other hand, their sight and hearing are assaulted by a daily barrage
of stimulation that appears to be designed by the devil, or at least by
his many friends here on earth, to keep us immersed in the world of the
ephemeral and our minds off the supernatural life. Most people read only
books and magazines that are consistently and increasingly trashy. The
movies they watch are full of violence and sexual stimulation, as is
much of the popular music. The television is on an average seven hours a
day in the typical American home, turning many people into zombies fit
for manipulation. Its only competition is not the healthy enjoyment of
each other's company in the family, but rather computer games or the
Internet, where serious temptation is only a click away.
I
think this is an accurate portrayal of everyday life for hundreds of
millions of Catholics. Happily, this is not yet the case all parts of
the world, but given the current hegemony of the secular West, it may be
soon. What is a remedy for this soul-stultifying if not soul-destroying
assault by the culture of death? One answer is Catholic spiritual
reading, which is available for all who have eyes to see or ears to hear
(Let's not forget books on tape!) and money to buy books or libraries to
borrow from.
"Reading
indeed has made many saints." I believe it would be difficult think
of any saint who was not deeply influenced not only by spiritual reading
before he dedicated himself to God's work on this earth, but also who
did not continue spiritual reading as an integral part of their daily
routine until death.
St.
Thomas Aquinas says: "Nothing is in the intellect that did not
first come to us through the senses." The wonderful part of it is
that we are at a distinct advantage, as the years and centuries go by,
as we certainly could never begin to cover even a small portion of the
hundreds of the thousands of great spiritual classics and of the poetry
and prose inspired by a Catholic worldview.
Look
at the example of St. Augustine, who heard that "Tolle et lege"
(Pick up and read!) and opened the Gospel to a section that changed his
life, and the course of Christian civilization as a result. St. Anthony,
the founder of monasticism, was so moved by reading the story of the
rich young man that he followed the injunction, "Sell everything
you have, give it to the poor, and come follow Me." Without his
obedience to the Word, who knows if Christianity could have survived the
onslaught of the barbarian invasion. St. Ignatius, recuperating in his
bed from grave battle wounds, threw away the equivalent of today's pulp
fiction, started spiritual reading that inspired him to change his life
radically, embrace Christ, and founded the Jesuits, the great champions
of the Catholic Reformation. World history again changed.
Or
in more modern times, think of the young Anglican divine, John Henry
Newman, who reading over and over again the Fathers of the Church came
to realize that, as an Anglican, his position was analogous to a Semi-Pelagian.
He read the arguments of St. Athanasius, who said that only the Catholic
Church "surely rules the world," and the Church was graced by
one of its greatest converts whose thought still affects us today.
Take
a look at the modern spiritual writer Thomas Merton who, out of idle
curiosity, picked up a book by Etienne Gilson, the great French Thomist
on "The Elements of Christian Philosophy" and was drawn to
study more closely the claims of Catholicism. His study led to
conversion and eventually a vocation as a Trappist monk. Flannery
O'Connor, the great Southern Catholic author, made a point, she told us,
of reading at least 20 minutes of the Summa each day, and her writings
are suffused with the common sense and even irony of the Angelic doctor.
These are just a few of the many examples that can be cited. In fact, I
am sure virtually every reader of this article could tell us his own
story in that regard or will be able to tell it soon!
In
the apostolic blueprint for our century, "At the beginning of the
New Millennium," the Holy Father urges us to "Contemplate the
face of Christ." One of the primary means he points to is Sacred
Scripture: "Scripture has its rightful place of honor the in the
public prayer of the Church. It is especially important that listening
to the word of God should become a life-giving encounter, in the ancient
and ever new tradition of lectio divina, which draws from the biblical
text the living word which questions, directs, and shapes our
lives."
Sacred
Scripture -- according to the Catechism of the Church and the Second
Vatican Council -- is the speech of God as it is put down in writing
through the breath of the Holy Spirit. The Bible is composed of books in
the New and Old Testaments, 72 books confirmed as canonical (or divinely
inspired) by the Church at the provincial Council of Hippo in 393. It is
not only our guide to salvation, from which flows virtually all Catholic
theology and practice, but also forms the basis for Christian culture.
Without the Bible, we surely would all be nature worshipers or worse. To
paraphrase the Catechism: "The truth that God revealed, for the
sake of our salvation, He confided to the Sacred Scripture." But
since the Holy Spirit worked through human authors, who used many
literary forms to communicate His message, it is understandable that we
look above all to the Church to guide us to the proper interpretation.
After all, even St. Peter found some of St. Paul's writings puzzling!
This all time best-seller, by far most quoted book in history, must be
our favorite book, to be read and mediated upon for at least a few
minutes each day in an orderly fashion.
We
could call The Bible the never-ending book since once we finish it, we
simply begin it again, over and over, until God calls us to himself. It
is most important that we learn how to live from it and make daily
resolutions to that effect. Over time we will find the stories of the
Bible, especially from the New Testament, as familiar as the story of
our own life and we will begin to live in Christ, being soaked in His
words and example.
The
Bible will be a frequent inspiration for our meditation and a primary
text for our work of evangelization. Having a large Bible for home and a
pocket-sized version of the New Testament will assure that our book is
never far from us. The home version should have if at all possible a
commentary concentrating more on the practical, spiritual or ascetical
sense of Scripture rather than the hermeneutical or exegetical. The
commentary should be faithful to the teaching of the Church. The Bible
above all is a book where by you learn how to live the Christian life,
rather than settle arguments on interpretation. Happily, in more recent
times, there are several that fit that bill nicely. Some good books on
Christ and his life, such as Frank Sheed's "To Know Christ
Jesus" or Fulton Sheen's "Life of Christ," also can help
you to "contemplate His face."
A
good complement to the daily reading of Sacred Scripture is the reading
of a spiritual book, normally recommended by your spiritual director. As
a whole universe of books could not tell all that Jesus did and taught
in His life, it will be impossible ever to run out of classic Catholic
spiritual books. These books can include works from the magisterium of
the Church, lives of and books by the saints, works of theology, and a
plethora of Catholic spiritual classics.
The
reader should be working on just one book at a time, which he should
read from beginning to end, perhaps taking notes or otherwise
highlighting those points that particularly strike him, so that way they
may be brought to his silent prayer, or to conversation in spiritual
direction. As the Catechism says (2654): "Seek in reading and you
will find in meditating; knock in mental prayer and it will be opened to
you by contemplation." Good spiritual reading will lead to prayer,
self-denial and an ever-growing desire to evangelize family, friends,
and the culture.
Just
a few words of practical advice in ending: when you do your spiritual
reading, put yourself in God's presence and invoke the Holy Spirit. Make
sure you are fully alert and located in a well-lit space, far from
distractions. That's right -- not late at night and in bed. Don't you
think God's Word and great spiritual classics deserve better than that?
The reading need not last more than 15 minutes, but never less. John
Paul II urges us to follow the Lord's command and "Go out into the
deep for a catch." Our commitment to spiritual reading on a daily
basis will help to make us "fishers of men."
Father
McCloskey is director of the Catholic Information Center in Washington,
D.C., and a priest of Opus Dei. His Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan is
available at www.cicdc.org.
(Source:
New Covenant, Nov. 2001)
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