The Queue

Great Catholic Parishes is a valuable & informative read, full of best practices & whatnot. I recommend it to anyone who is involved in his or her parish, anyone who spends time pondering how best to go about reaching souls for Christ.

When the Church was young (a phrase I love, stolen from the title of a book, When the Church Was Young: Voices of the Early Fathers by Marcellino D'Ambrosio), before the Holy Spirit inspired the Church to set the canon of the Bible, Pope St. Clement's First Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Clement) was sometimes read liturgically, that is, read in the Church's communal worship. Despite being divided into a preposterous fifty-nine chapters, I suspect it's no longer than the Biblical epistles, or perhaps the lengthier gospels. The comparison is hard to eyeball, since the writings are all gathered together in single-volume Bibles, while my copy of The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians is printed as a standalone book.

I received the following books for my recent birthday:

Gratuitously
Pope Saint Clement I (A.K.A. Clement of Rome), The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
Hilaire Belloc, The Great Heresies
David Hobbs with Andrew Marriot, Hobbo: Motor Racer, Motor Mouth—The Autobiography of David Hobbs
Adrian Newey, How to Build a Car

I devoured Belloc's How the Reformation Happened with great relish; so, I eagerly await wading into his treatment of the great heresies—Arianism, Mohammedanism, Albigensianism, Protestantism, & Modernism—in The Great Heresies. Ecumenism does not come naturally to me, & Belloc speaks to my deepest nature.

Formula One journo Will Buxton aptly said of David Hobbs, "Hobbo's like your crazy grandfather. You never know what he's going to say next!" The television coverage of the 2018 F1 season, fascinating though the racing has been, has been dishwater dull thanks in part to the absence of Hobbs & his broadcasting partner of the previous fifteen glorious, hilarious years, Steve Matchett (whose insightful, amusing books Life in the Fast Lane, The Mechanic's Tale, & The Chariot Makers I've also read). Hobbo is a coffee table book-sized, but I fully intend to read it cover to cover, & hope to hear Hobbs's voice in my head as I do so.

Adrian Newey is an F1 car designer (a chariot maker, in Matchett's phrase), currently working for Aston Martin Red Bull Racing. He's worked for numerous teams & designed innovative, race-winning cars everywhere he's been. Newey is a specialist in aerodynamics, a dark art that is as much intuition as it is calculation. Before unwrapping How to Build a Car I had had no idea he'd authored a book. This was an excellent & warmly-received off-list gift.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled queue, already in progress.

Recently
Pope Blessed Paul VI (with Pope Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, & Pope Francis), Humanae Vitae with Related Papal Texts
Matthew Kelly, The Biggest Lie in the History of Christianity: How Modern Culture Is Robbing Billions of People of Happiness
William E. Simon Jr., Great Catholic Parishes: A Living Mosaic—How Four Essential Practices Make Them Thrive

Currently
Pope Saint Clement I (A.K.A. Clement of Rome), The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians

Presently
Norman Davies, Vanished Kingdoms: The Rise and Fall of States and Nations ***oft delayed***
Sherry A. Weddell, Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus
Bishop Robert Barron, Seeds of the Word: Finding God in the Culture
Mike Aquilina, Understanding the Mass: 100 Questions, 100 Answers
Xavier Rynne, Vatican Council II
John W. O'Malley, What Happened at Vatican II
Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est (God Is Love)
Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis (The Sacrament of Charity)
Scott Hahn, A Father Who Keeps His Promises: God's Covenant Love in Scripture
Rosario Carello, Pope Francis Takes the Bus and Other Unexpected Stories
Father Mathias D. Thelen, Biblical Foundations for the Role of Healing in Evangelization
Richard Price, Clockers
Sir Richard Francis Burton, translator, "Sinbad the Sailor" from The Arabian Nights
Sir Ernest Shackleton, South: A Memoir of the Endurance Voyage
William F. Buckley Jr., The Unmaking of a Mayor
Margaret MacMillan, Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World
John le Carré, A Legacy of Spies
Trent Horn, Why We're Catholic: Our Reasons for Faith, Hope, and Love
Diane Moczar, Converts and Kingdoms: How the Church Converted the Pagan West—and How We Can Do It Again