Harvest November/December 2010 : Page 2
2 The Magazine of the R What are you reading? Most Reverend Richard Joseph Malone, Th.D., is the 11th bishop of Portland. ‘‘W hat are you reading?”… a question a friend of mine inevitably poses whenever our paths cross. I am always eager to receive a recommendation of a good book. Because I suspect that you are, too, I thought I would use my column to suggest a few books that I have read recently and found to be stimulating fare. John Henry Newman by Ian Ker, senior research fellow in theology at Oxford University, is a monumental biography of the recently beatifi ed English convert. Cardinal Newman’s complex character and stunning genius radiate from each of the 750 pages of this comprehensive treatment of a man who has been called the dominating religious fi gure of the 19th century and who is one of the forerunners of the Second Vatican Council. The remarkable volume, a gift to me from a gentleman who, like Newman, converted to Catholicism from the Anglican Church, is daunting in its sheer thickness. It is well worth the reader’s eff ort, though, for the thickness reveals in both depth and detail the life, times, and thought of a towering churchman who has been the inspiration for generations of others who have come home to Rome. If you are looking for a “guidebook for the journey to God based on the wisdom of the saints,” Ralph Martin’s The Fulfi llment of All Desire is for you. This book, by a prominent lay leader in Church renewal movements and current director of the graduate program in the New Evangelization at Detroit’s Sacred Heart Seminary, is a contemporary classic on the spiritual life. Martin describes the spiritual journey in its several stages, from the fi rst awakenings as transformation begins, on towards a certain stability in prayer and deeper purifi cation, to what our tradition has called the “unitive way,” that profound intimacy with God that is a fi nal preparation for the beatifi c vision – a faithful believer’s eternal reward. Martin calls upon fi ve saints to guide the reader along the path of transformation: Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Catherine of Siena, Bernard of Clairvaux and Francis de Sales. My library includes hundreds of books I have read once and then placed on a bookshelf, sometimes never to be touched again, except to be dusted or crated for transport to a new address. The Fulfi llment of All Desire is a diff erent story. It will remain on my “active” shelf, ready at hand to be consulted often. The membership of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops includes many bishops with impressive scholarly credentials – theologians, historians, canonists, Scripture scholars. Some have been seminary and university professors, even presidents and rectors. Many are authors. On that short list of top bishop intellectuals, though, is Francis Cardinal George, OMI, Archbishop of Chicago and President of the USCCB. The Diff erence God Makes: A Catholic Vision of Faith, Conversion, and Culture is proof enough of its double doctorate author’s insight, wisdom and erudition, all of it built upon an edifi ce of robust ecclesial faith. Cardinal George is an astute observer and analyst of contemporary American culture, with all its blessings and curses. In this wide-ranging look at Catholic faith and life, Cardinal George invites us to consider the profound ways in which our relationship with God and one another makes a crucial diff erence – all the diff erence – in who we are and how we love. Our Catholic faith gives us a lens allowing us to see every dimension of our lives – personal and social – diff erently. Through that lens, Cardinal George invites us to think about the evangelization of American culture, Catholic-Muslim dialogue, the crisis of “liberal Catholicism,” the role of the lay faithful, the mission of priests and the Church’s worship. The tone of the book is perhaps best described in its fi nal sentence: “Believers are true to themselves when they raise the question of who they are in ecclesial communion and judge all their personal actions in the light of that truth which, when all is said and done, is Christ himself: ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me’” (Jn. 14:6). Three fi ne books. For Christmas gifts. For you. Enjoy! And be ready to be challenged intellectually and spiritually. gazine of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland Most Reverend Richard J. Malone, Th.D. PUBLISHER Lois Czerniak EDITOR Nov./Dec. 2010 • Vol. 5 : Issue 6 Sue Bernard COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Carol Jordan ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rev. Msgr. Michael J. Henchal Ron Gobeil CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Joe McKenney Laurie Servidio Claire Urquhart CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Saint Joseph’s College of Maine St. Mary’s Health System SUPPORTING SPONSORS FAITH Catholic Rev. Dwight Ezop EDITOR AND CHAIRMAN Patrick M. O’Brien PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Elizabeth Martin Solsburg EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Jillane Job EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Cynthia Vandecar MARKETING MANAGER Patrick Dally ART DIRECTOR Frank Iacovella Janna Stellwag Abby Wieber GRAPHIC DESIGNERS GRAPHIC DESIGNER/WEB MASTER Lynne Ridenour Betsy Miner PROOFREADING Rev. Joseph Krupp CONTRIBUTING WRITER Tom Gennara Paul Cyr CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS InnerWorkings PRINT MANAGEMENT Harvest™ (USPS 024787) is a membership publication of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland, 510 Ocean Ave., Portland, ME 04103. Published bimonthly. Subscription rates are $12 per year. Individual issues are $2.50. Send all subscription information and address changes to 510 Ocean Ave., Portland, ME 04103; 207.773.6471; fax 207.773.0182 or e-mail harvestmagazine@ portlanddiocese.org. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, ME and additional offi ces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Harvest™, 510 Ocean Ave., Portland, ME 04103. © FAITH Catholic™. Harvest is a trademark of FAITH Catholic™. Share the Harvest If you would like to purchase a $12 gift subscription or support this ministry by making a tax-deductible contribution, send checks to: Harvest Magazine 510 Ocean Avenue Portland, ME 04103 If you would like to advertise with us, call 207.773.6471 Liturgical Calendar: Solemnity All Saints Nov.1 | All Souls Day Nov. 2 | St. Martin de Porres, religious Nov. 3 | St. Charles Borromeo, bishop Nov. 4 | Feast of the Dedication o from the bishop
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