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Posted October 15, 2007
Book: The Best Catholic 2007 Writing Edited by: Jim Manney Loyola Press. Chicago. 2007. Pp. 241 An Excerpt from the Jacket:
The selections this year bring vivid Catholic personalities to life (Henri Nouwen, Charles de Foucauld, Bruce Springsteen) and explore urgent topics at the intersection of faith and culture (evolution, Opus Dei and The Da Vinci Code, public prayer). Notable contributions in this edition include challenging essays on Catholic culture in America by Joseph Bottum and Farrell O’Gorman, Ron Hansen’s classic essay on faith and fiction, Philip Jenkin’s argument that religion is the key to history, an Easter sermon by Rowan Williams, and Pope Benedict XVI’s memorable address at Auschwitz. This edition includes material from the UK and Australia, and material first published on the Internet. An Excerpt from the Book: This is what the Church in America, at its best, can be: not only a sign of universal humanity that cuts across divides of race and class, but also a place where Catholic teaching frees us from what we wrongly deem to be freedom — as with my father’s submission to the monks who told him that blacks were his equals. From a perspective geographically and historically broader than any narrowly “American” one, the Church constantly reminds us that what we think of as liberty might well be slavery. We are called to embrace standards that run counter t what our immediate culture often teaches. Our clerical leaders are sworn to poverty, chastity, and obedience — what could be more un-American? If God’s an American, then why’s the pope Polish? Or German? Or (one day) Venezuelan or Nigerian? And what’s he doing in Italy? I’ve found that Catholicism can not only give me a critical perspective on America but also to help me make better sense of what I love about it. The whole notion of loving America as an idea or ideal, noble as it sounds, seems to me both more dangerous and less honest than loving it as a reality. As a Catholic whose faith is grounded in the sacraments, I know that what I love in the real sense of the word must be concrete: that which I can taste, touch, see, hear. When I think about what I really love about America, it’s stuff I can feel in my gut. I’d miss the look and feel of the land the way I used to miss damp blue-green pine horizons when I lived in the asphalt and dry open hills of Southern California. Given time and money, there’s not much I’d rather do than get in my car and start driving west until the grass ends in desert and rock, then high up north along the grand blue Pacific, east over high peaks and long prairies, all the way through wooded New England to the rocky Atlantic, and south toward home again. If I don’t watch myself I can start sounding like that crazed quasi-Catholic Jack Kerouac, too in love with America to sit still, perpetually longing to be on the road. Table of Contents: I could not fail to come here -- Pope Benedict When the swallows come back to Capistrano: Catholic culture in America -- Joseph Bottum Opus Dei’s Box-office Triumph -- Paul Fortunato Lord Acton was right: religion really is the key to history (and other lessons from Christian history) -- Philip Jenkins Faith and fiction -- Ron Hansen Editing Henri -- Robert Ellsberg How to be an American in spite of being southern and Catholic -- Farrell O’Gorman The greatest Catholic poet of our time. . .is a guy from the Jersey Shore? Yup -- Jim Cullen The miracle of evolution -- Stephen Barr In his steps: the stations of the Cross in Lower Manhattan -- Dawn Eden Requiem for a parish -- Emily Stimpson Battlegrounds -- Joan Sauro Why Protestants can’t write -- Peter Leithart Poems -- Gregory Orr Menento mori: the abolition of Limbo and the importance of eternity -- Ross Douthat The Amish way: “Imitation of Christ at its most naked -- Rod Dreher The historical Mary -- Robert Maloney Sermon for Easter day -- Archbishop Rowan Williams The kingdom and the flea market: why do people join churches? -- John Garvey The hidden life of Charles de Foucauld -- Kate White Confession -- Michael Mack Shower of Roses -- Therese Borchard An interview with John Allen Jr. -- John Romanowsky How to understand Transubstantiation -- Terence Nichols One thousand sleeps -- Terry Monagle As sin -- Brian Doyle |
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