10 books for the year of faith...other than the ones you SHOULD be reading.

Recently I had seen an article entitled “100 books for the year of faith”. Upon reading it I found that it was just a plethora of “100 books that comment on spirituality” and were not necessarily distinct to the theme of the Year of Faith. Also, I’m not even confident enough to say that I have read 100 books, so the article seemed to be exhausting. That is why I’ve made 10 suggestions for the year of faith...aside from the 3 you should already be reading, and we’ll start with them.
1. Catechism of the Catholic Church
Especially read the section on the Creed. Learn what we confess to be true.






2. The Documents of Vatican 2
Instead of hearing the usual spirit-of-vatican-2-rhetoric, go right into it yourself. The language used is not beyond the comprehension of the everyday person. Go through it, document by document, and experience what really happened during a most historic period of our church



3. Sacred Scripture
....because you’re a Christian.



The following are my own suggestions. I haven’t read all of these books, but I plan to based on what they potentially have to offer. These books are in no particular order.

1. Priority of Christ: Toward a post-liberal Catholicism by Fr. Robert Barron
“For a long time, Christians have tried to bridge the divide between Christianity and secular liberalism with philosophizing and theologizing. In The Priority of Christ, Father Robert Barron shows that the answer to this debate--and the way to move forward--lies in Jesus. Barron transcends the usual liberal/conservative or Protestant/Catholic divides with a postliberal Catholicism that brings the focus back on Jesus as revealed in the New Testament narratives. 

Barron's classical Catholic post-liberalism will be of interest to a broad audience including not only the academic community but also preachers and general readers interested in entering the dialogue between Catholicism and postliberalism.” –Amazon.com

This would be a handy tool when dialoguing with those who believe the church to be corrosive to society.

2. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
This book was originally in three parts: The Case of Christianity, Christian Behavior, and Beyond Personality. “Aside from the Bible, every Christian should read this book.” –Peter Kreeft

As it turns out, this is a video for another book, but Peter Kreeft quotes Mere Christianity.

3. Evangelium Vitae by Pope John Paul II
This encyclical exercised a great authoritative tone of the Church in the defense of human life. Reading this would give a Catholic the clear and concise stance of the Church and how to participate in the culture of life.

4. The Gospel Without Compromise by Catherine Doherty
“This collection of meditations will inspire you, encourage you, set you on fire, eager to live The Gospel Without Compromise.

Learn how to live Gods great commandment to love; recognize His great love for us; find peace and happiness in loving Him back. Change the world and whatever needs changing through His transforming power. Discover the sublime challenge of His call to us to live the Gospel.

How strange that modern Christians seem to miss the greatest point of their faith! To so many, God is The Man with the big stick. The great commandment to love God with all ones heart has been turned into a threat: Toe the line or else youll go to hell! Yet the gospel can be summed up by saying it is the tremendous, tender, compassionate, gentle, extraordinary, explosive, revolutionary law of Gods love.”
Amazon.com

I chose this one because I’m Canadian. I know many people who have been moved by the book and remain to work in fulltime ministry.






5. The Power & the Glory by Graham Greene
“In a poor, remote section of southern Mexico, the Red Shirts have taken control. God has been outlawed, and the priests have been systematically hunted down and killed. Now, the last priest strives to overcome physical and moral cowardice in order to find redemption.”
Amazon.com

Though the author was a controversial figure, this book articulates well how all of us, no matter how messed up we are, are beckoned to a higher calling and relationship with God. I loved this book.





6. Church Fathers: From Clement of Rome to Augustine by Pope Benedict XVI
“Pope Benedict's Church Fathers presents these important figures of early Christianity in all their evangelical vitality, spiritual profundity, and uncompromising love of God. Benedict tells the true story of Christianity's against-all-odds triumph in the face of fierce pagan Roman hostility and persecution. He does this by exploring the lives and the ideas of the early Christian writers, pastors, and martyrs, the men so important to the spread of Christianity that history knows them as "the Fathers of the Church”
Amazon.com

As we embark on the journey to the New Evangelization and renewal of society, let’s look to those who first spent their lives for the gospel. This one is on my bookshelf right now and is staring at me right in the face.





7.Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual Master by Fr. Robber Barron
“The life and spiritual teachings of the Catholic Church's greatest classical theologian as seen through the eyes of a contemporary theologian. Robert Barron examines the life and work of Catholicism's premier scholar and discovers a saintly deep in love with Jesus Christ.”
Amazon.com

Before we all dive into The Summa Theologica, let this book be an introduction to who St. Thomas was and how to properly read him in the intended context. I’m currently reading this one and, yes, it’s challenging. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to dive in. Sometimes our noggin needs a floggin’.

8. Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller jr.
“Winner of the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel and widely considered one of the most accomplished, powerful, and enduring classics of modern speculative fiction, Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s A Canticle for Leibowitz is a true landmark of twentieth-century literature -- a chilling and still-provocative look at a post-apocalyptic future.

In a nightmarish ruined world slowly awakening to the light after sleeping in darkness, the infant rediscoveries of science are secretly nourished by cloistered monks dedicated to the study and preservation of the relics and writings of the blessed Saint Isaac Leibowitz. From here the story spans centuries of ignorance, violence, and barbarism, viewing through a sharp, satirical eye the relentless progression of a human race damned by its inherent humanness to recelebrate its grand foibles and repeat its grievous mistakes. Seriously funny, stunning, and tragic, eternally fresh, imaginative, and altogether remarkable, A Canticle for Leibowitz retains its ability to enthrall and amaze. It is now, as it always has been, a masterpiece.”

If you’re not familiar with history, this is basically a retelling of the fall of Rome set in a horrible dystopian hellscape. CAN’T WAIT!






9. Yours is the Church: How Catholicism Shapes our World by Mike Aquilina
“Yours Is the Church focuses on the key role the Catholic Church has played in culture, history, and society, detailing the many reasons we can be proud to be Catholic. While not skirting the issues and failures that have plagued the Church, the author’s goal is to inspire everyday Catholics to recognize the Church’s proactive role in courageously preserving spiritual freedom and nourishing culture from its inception through the present day. Yours Is the Church is a breath of fresh air, sure to renew the confidence of Catholics everywhere.”
Amazon.com
I just ordered it. I can’t wait to learn from this guy.

10.Credo by Hans Urs Von Balthasar

“In the twelve months before his sudden death, Hans Urs von Balthasar had been writing a series of reflections on the twelve articles of the Apostles' Creed. These texts, which are undoubtedly among the last things he wrote, take on the character of a legacy, a spiritual testament. For they amount in their extraordinary compactness and depth to a little "summa" of his theology. What he had set out in detail in numerous books over five decades, he summarizes here in contemplative plainness and simplicity.”
Ignatius Press