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R e v i e w s
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This Rock
Volume 15, Number 9
 November 2004 
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Heady Stuff
George Weigel has been a theologian of note for decades, but his profile was raised dramatically with the publication of Witness to Hope, the outstanding biography of Pope John Paul II. Among its most edifying features are Weigel’s concise summaries of the Holy Father’s dense thought, especially his seminal theology of the body.
During the abuse scandal crisis of 2002, Weigel’s The Courage to Be Catholic was the best analysis of the problem this reviewer read. He highlighted the bishops’ struggle with "headship," a struggle that continues to be lived out before our eyes as they deal with sexual abuse fallout and issues like pro-abortion politicians availing themselves of Holy Communion.
In a sense, "headship" continues to be Weigel’s focus in much of Letters to a Young Catholic: The Art of Mentoring. Only this isn’t "headship" as the leadership obligations of apostolic succession; rather, it is "headship" in the (admittedly punning) sense of being stuck too much in one’s head. Too intellectual. Not touching the reader’s soul. This problem affects most—but not all—of the book’s letters.
That said, the book is without a doubt an impressive accomplishment. As the title indicates, the book is a collection of fourteen letters Weigel writes from around the world. He takes the reader on a great journey to meet people, visit places, and encounter art that all speak to essential elements of our Catholic faith. He shares many of his favorite passages from writers such as G. K. Chesterton and Flannery O’Connor, and he gives over pages to favorite quotations. The collection of great lines from Chesterton alone makes the book worth the price. He shares his visits to great shrines in Rome and Jerusalem, Egypt and Poland, but some of the most memorable and moving visits are to places of lesser historical significance. He introduces us to not only art but its significance for us as Christians, in particular in his discussion of the iconoclast controversy in the early Church.
And yet, for much of the book, Weigel pushes these concepts as concepts, happily and forcefully asserting the intellectual correctness of the Catholic faith without capturing the deepest essence, which is love for God. One gets the sense through the first several letters that the greatest thing about the Church is that it’s right about things. And that it continues to be right, even when its members mess up. That’s a nice intellectual argument, but I don’t think it’s what wins converts.
In the first letter, Weigel reflects on his urban Catholic childhood in Baltimore. He jokes about the frustration of English teachers with his generation’s use of Latinate terminology, "a source of aggravation to generations of high school and college English composition teachers, eager to get us using short, sharp words of Anglo-Saxon origin" (3). Perhaps he should have paid more attention to those teachers. At its best, Weigel’s writing makes deep concepts accessible; at its worst, it makes the "grittiness" he celebrates seem like just an abstract argument. There is a disconnect at times between the "earthiness" he lauds and his erudite language. Though he is careful to define his terms, he often will send his "young" readers to the dictionary for terms such as cenotaph, crenellations, and abattoir.
Because of the title, I read the book with a question: Would it be good to share with my niece, a high school student who has opted not to seek the sacrament of confirmation? Could it change her mind? Sadly, the answer is no. A more apt title might be "Letters to a Young Ph.D. Candidate."
The tone changes in letter nine, in which Weigel takes us to a parish in Greenville, South Carolina. Its pastor, an Ivy League–educated convert named Fr. Jay Scott Newman, gives a shining example of how to renew parish life through a vibrant embrace of all that our faith gives to us. Through Fr. Newman and his parishioners, we experience the power of dynamic orthodoxy, a power that comes from a profound love of Christ and his Church.
In letter eleven, Weigel writes movingly about the redemptive meaning of suffering. It is another passage that in itself makes the book worth buying. A piece cannot convey the cumulative effect of the whole, but it is worth sampling nonetheless:
"When the Son takes all the world’s sin and evil and suffering upon himself and offers it to the Father in a perfect act of obedience, and when God vindicates the act of radical obedience and love in the Resurrection, suffering itself is transformed. When Christ redeems us by his suffering, suffering itself is redeemed."
Letters to a Young Catholic is full of powerful ideas and a few outbursts of real beauty. George Weigel is a theologian, not a poet. I am grateful for what he has put together here, even as he leaves me wishing for more.
—Jay Dunlap
Letters to a Young Catholic: The Art of Mentoring
By George Weigel
Basic Books
208 pages
$22.50
ISBN: 0465092624
Uncertain Paths
Through the pages of a book we can travel almost anywhere, and I was looking forward to my "journey into Christian mystical prayer." The sights listed on the "tour" captured my interest: the dispositions necessary for growth in prayer and its stages, the test of true contemplative prayer, how to listen to God "with the heart," and how unceasing prayer is possible. Our guide, Fr. George Maloney, S.J., also prepares us for the difficulties we’ll encounter by identifying potential obstacles to prayer and providing pointers for spiritual combat.
To encourage us on our venture, he affirms something we need to hear: mysticism is not a strange unattainable phenomenon or an exotic destination only few can hope to reach. No. It is "a living experience of God" (xiii). "I strongly believe that God has created us to become mystics. Otherwise, what else will heaven be?" (xv).
Warning against some common miscues, Fr. Maloney reminds us that prayer is not a technique but "a state of continued growing into deeper union with the indwelling Holy Trinity" (xv). He cautions us to avoid the worldly trap of "activism," which fails to recognize the value of prayer. Responding to those who think deep prayer must be accompanied by signs and wonders, he says that true contemplation can unfold "even without great mystical gifts" (4). We measure our prayer life not by visions and consolations but by our growth in love and humility. Fr. Maloney reawakens us to the importance of being consciously aware of God-present-with-us. "The first step in any deeply interior prayer is an act of faith. . . . We need to focus on the sacredness of coming into the presence of God" (9).
As Fr. Maloney sets out to broaden the horizons of our prayer life, he calls on well-known "prayer experts," such as St. John of the Cross, as well as some sources not as familiar to those of us from the Western tradition, such as the Greek Fathers. His knowledge of the Eastern Church enriches his explanations—a helpful instruction on the Jesus Prayer being one example.
At this point, you probably think you’d like to book a seat on this tour. But I would be remiss if I didn’t warn you of some unexpected dangers. As I traveled on this journey into mystical prayer I began to be uneasy.
At first it was just "words" that unsettled me. They seemed more suited to New Age vocabulary than a Christian one. God is referred to as "uncreated energies" (75) and "the almighty Force energizing the universe" (112). Christ is designated "the Evolver" (110), and the term energies is substituted for graces (112).
If this were the only bump in the road, perhaps it could be overlooked. But there’s more. Fr. Maloney seems intent on not just proposing new insights but displacing some standard guides for Catholic teaching. With regard to one of the Church’s mainstays, scholastic philosophy and theology, he writes: "In our exploding universe, the traditional views, presented by Western Christianity and based on largely exhausted scholastic philosophy and theology, concerning God, the human person and the material world, no longer seem adequate" (73).
Fr. Maloney freely infused Far Eastern ideas of mediation with his teaching on Christian prayer, at times seeming to equate the two. "The Hindu mystic meets the Christian mystic when both meet God’s all-pervading presence, ever present in its unchanging unity. For such a mystic experiencing the Absolute there can be no time or place in which God is not present" (170). He goes on to quote the Hindu works the "Isha Upanishad" and the "Kena Upanishads," which "exhort us to transcend all objective human knowledge . . . in order to truly know God" (170). Apparently Fr. Maloney believes that mystical union with God can be experienced without Jesus. "Most religious that espouse mystical prayer insist strongly on a spiritual director, guru, shaman or roshi. The names differ, but their roles are always the same" (83).
Another cause for concern is Fr. Maloney’s inclusion of dissent theologians. Fr. Teilhard de Chardin is referred to several times, always positively. Fr. Maloney calls him a "modern mystic" whom he "avidly read" (134).
Also among those favorably mentioned are Edward Schillebeeckx, O.P., who was notoriously at odds with Church teaching, and Rudolph Bultmann, the liberal Protestant theologian whose efforts to de-mythologize the Bible damaged the faith of so many. Never does Fr. Maloney say anything to dissociate himself from these men or their views. In fact, comparing some of de Chardin’s thought to Fr. Maloney’s work reveals some notable similarities.
Subtle digressions from sound doctrine are often more dangerous than overt heresy. We’re inclined to go along for the ride and not make a fuss. Such is the case here. Much is compatible with Church teaching; some is not. Fr. Maloney assures us: "I have based my sources on Holy Scripture and the great saints of the Church" (190). Up to a point. For my part, I was never quite sure where Fr. Maloney was coming from or where he intended to take me. The moment I began to feel secure, he’d make a questionable turn. One is then compelled to ask: When the Church provides totally reliable "maps," why would anyone want to venture into the realms of deep prayer on uncertain paths?
—Mary Beth Kremski
Discovering the Hidden Reality: A Journey into Christian Mystical Prayer
By George A. Maloney, S.J.
Alba House
202 pages
$14.95
ISBN: 0818909498
Conceived without Spin
What can today’s Catholics do to form themselves into the "mature and responsible lay faithful" that Pope John Paul II envisions in Christifideles Laici, his apostolic exhortation on the vocation and the mission of the lay faithful in the Church and in the world?
The answer to that question is given by the Holy Father in the same exhortation: "The situation today points to an ever-increasing urgency for a doctrinal formation of the lay faithful, not simply in a better understanding, which is natural to faith’s dynamism, but also in enabling them to ‘give a reason for their hoping’ in view of the world and its grave and complex problems. Therefore, a systematic approach to catechesis, geared to age and the diverse situations of life, is an absolute necessity."
In his preface to Faith Facts II, Leon Suprenant quotes this call for the doctrinal formation of the laity and explains that, in response to it, the apostolate Catholics United for the Faith offers a variety of services to meet the needs of today’s Catholic. These include Emmaus Road Publishing, Lay Witness magazine, a catechism series, Bible studies, national and regional conferences, retreats, a toll-free Catholic hotline (which fields over 1,000 questions a month), and the Faith Facts series of over 150 tracts that deal with questions—both simple and complex—about our faith. Each tract, Suprenant writes, "sets forth clearly, concisely, and without ‘spin’ the teachings and practices of the Catholic Church. They rely principally on Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, but additional authoritative sources are provided in the text."
Because the first collection of these tracts in book form, Faith Facts, Volume I, published in 1999, was so popular, CUF decided to publish a second volume. Both have the nihil obstat and the imprimatur, and both contain solid, interesting, and highly readable essays. The question-and-answer format is effective, as are the supplementary sidebars. Each essay ends with "Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion." While such questions are popular with publishers, they often fall short of their goal. In Faith Facts II, the questions are relevant and often truly thought provoking.
Catholics often must reply to misunderstood ideas about the Church, such as why Catholics add books to the Bible, contribute to overpopulation, and call priests "father" when the Bible prohibits that. The Faith Facts books address these and other issues. Themes covered in the first volume include the Creed, liturgy, morality, marriage and family, education, apologetics, our Lady, and Church authority, while volume II discusses the themes of Creed, liturgy, Christian living, life issues, marriage issues, biblical apologetics, and spiritual counterfeits.
The coverage of some of the topics is generally thorough, presenting all one needs to know about the subject. But a few of the essays seem to give basic material that, while adequate, whets the reader’s appetite for more detailed information from supplementary sources such as the Code of Canon Law, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, or relevant papal documents. Thanks to the book’s footnotes, the needed sources are easily identified, and, in addition, an appendix contains a list of recommended references, a partial listing of Faith Facts tract titles, and an 800 number and web address for obtaining the complete list—sources that should keep the most serious seeker busy.
With the Catechism in one hand and the convenient Faith Facts in the other, a lay Catholic is well equipped to address the most controversial issues of our day with substantial information—and with the warmth and grace that characterize the easy style of the Faith Facts writers.
—Ann Applegarth
Faith Facts: Answers to Catholic Questions, Volume II
Edited by Leon J. Suprenant, Jr., and Philip C. L. Gray
Emmaus Road
186 pages
$12.95
ISBN: 1931018162
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Catholic Answers
