Wednesday, July 17, 2019

The Queue

This was the second time I read the 33 Days to Morning Glory do-it-yourself retreat, & thus the first time I renewed my Marian consecration. "Yes" to Marian consecration & "yes" to renewing that Marian consecration, at a minimum, on an annual basis. (Maybe on all the big Marian feasts? The next two are the Assumption on 15 August & the Immaculate Conception on 8 December.) "No" to 33 Days to Morning Glory; I don't question any of the theology, as I did the first time I read it, but Father Gaitley's writing is incredibly obnoxious. Por ejemplo:
Belonging completely to Mary is the quickest, easiest, & surest way to Jesus.
The Faith ought not sound like a direct-response sales pitch from the late, lamented Billy Mays. (To whom no disrespect is intended. Requiescat in pace.) Next time I want to deepen &/or refresh my Marian consecration, I ought to look into other works pertaining to Marian consecration, perhaps starting with the texts Father Gaitley synthesized into 33 Days to Morning Glory.

To anyone familiar with the work of Bishop Robert Barron, there's nothing particularly surprising in Letter to a Suffering Church, just the affirmative orthodoxy & fierce intellectualism we've all come to know & appreciate. (The devil take "beige Catholicism"!) Letter to a Suffering Church is the best response I've seen to the renewal of the clergy sex abuse crisis, & is having the intended effect: I bought a box ($1 a copy) & distributed them to one of my men's groups; the facilitator wants to talk about the book & how to bring it to more persons throughout the parish. It's not a fun conversation, but it is a necessary conversation.

Hundredfold is a book I've long wanted to read. This June's ordination of no priests in my home Diocese of Lansing—a fiasco I had to bring to the attention of my parish priest & pastoral team, the moves & shakers on the the parish council, & the broader parish—gave me the kick in the caboose finally to jump it to the top of the queue. I've set aside No Greater Love, possibly 'til next Lent, in order to prioritize Hundredfold & the Spiritual Handbook for Catholic Evangelists, which the parish Director of Religious Education gave all of us "Seekers ministers" as a gift/obligation.

Recently
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Father Michael E. Gaitley, M.I.C., 33 Days to Morning Glory: A Do-It-Yourself Retreat in Preparation for Marian Consecration
Bishop Robert Barron, Letter to a Suffering Church: A Bishop Speaks on the Sexual Abuse Crisis

Currently
Rhonda Gruenewald, Hundredfold: A Guide to Parish Vocation Ministry

Presently
I. Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard, Spiritual Handbook for Catholic Evangelists: How to Win Souls without Losing Your Own
II. Edward Sri, No Greater Love: A Biblical Walk through Christ's Passion
III. Scott Hahn, A Father Who Keeps His Promises: God's Covenant Love in Scripture
IV. Tim Gray & Jeff Cavins, Walking with God: A Journey through the Bible
V. Trent Horn, Hard Sayings: A Catholic Approach to Answering Bible Difficulties
VI. Steve Weidenkopf, Timeless: A History of the Catholic Church
VII. Diane Moczar, Converts and Kingdoms: How the Church Converted the Pagan West—and How We Can Do It Again
VIII. Sherry A. Weddell, Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus
IX. Curtis Martin, Making Missionary Disciples
X. Dynamic Catholic Ambassadors, Why I Love Being Catholic
XI. Bishop Robert Barron, Seeds of the Word: Finding God in the Culture
XII. Mike Aquilina, Understanding the Mass: 100 Questions, 100 Answers
XIII. Xavier Rynne, Vatican Council II
XIV. John W. O'Malley, What Happened at Vatican II
XV. Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est (God Is Love)
XVI. Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis (The Sacrament of Charity)
XVII. Rosario Carello, Pope Francis Takes the Bus and Other Unexpected Stories
XVIII. Father Mathias D. Thelen, Biblical Foundations for the Role of Healing in Evangelization
XIX. Jennifer Fulwiler, Something Other than God: How I Passionately Sought Happiness and Accidentally Found It
XX. Richard Price, Clockers
XXI. Sir Richard Francis Burton, translator, "Sinbad the Sailor" from The Arabian Nights
XXII. Sir Ernest Shackleton, South: A Memoir of the Endurance Voyage
XXIII. William F. Buckley Jr., The Unmaking of a Mayor
XXIV. John le Carré, A Legacy of Spies
XXV. Chris Stepien, Three Days: The Search for the Boy Messiah

Perpetually
Norman Davies, Vanished Kingdoms: The Rise and Fall of States and Nations

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