The Vatican in the Family of Nations: Diplomatic Actions of the Holy See at the UN and Other International Organizations in Geneva
By Silvano M. Tomasi. Reviewed by Christopher Siuzdak. (skip to review)
The Papacy: What the Pope Does and Why It Matters
By Stephen K. Ray and R. Dennis Walters. Reviewed by Christopher Siuzdak. (skip to review)
Manual for Men
By Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted. Reviewed by Seth Galemore. (skip to review)
Faith with Benefits: Hookup Culture on Catholic Campuses
By Jason King. Reviewed by Christopher Siuzdak. (skip to review)
The Gospel of Luke (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture)
By Fr. Pablo Gadenz. Reviewed by Richard Maggi. (skip to review)
One Beautiful Dream: The Rollicking Tale of Family Chaos, Personal Passions, and Saying Yes to Them Both
By Jennifer Fulwiler. Reviewed by Elizabeth Anderson. (skip to review)
The Vatican in the Family of Nations
– Silvano M. Tomasi
Tomasi, Silvano M. The Vatican in the Family of Nations: Diplomatic Actions of the Holy See at the UN and Other International Organizations in Geneva. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2017. 872 pages.
Reviewed by Christopher Siuzdak.
Although peace and stability prevail in many parts of the globe, people in numerous regions face wanton violence, transgressions of rights, and untold suffering such that Pope Francis has called it a “piecemeal World War III” (829). Keenly aware of these realities, the Holy See strives to promote peace and advance the common good through its active diplomatic relations with 183 nation-states and many permanent supranational organizations, including the United Nations in New York and Geneva. As Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, reflects in the preface of this publication: “The Holy See, one could say, acts as a voice of conscience . . . by drawing attention to the anthropological, ethical, and religious aspects of various questions affecting the lives of peoples, nations, and the international community as a whole” (ix). This hefty tome gathers the statements and interventions of the Permanent Observer of the Holy See at the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva from 2003 through 2015. This valuable compilation serves a three-fold purpose as a comprehensive record of the Holy See’s contributions and accomplishments in Geneva under the tenure of Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, an eye-opening exposition of the present-day social challenges and opportunities facing peoples around the globe, and a blueprint for the Church’s future engagement in matters of human rights and social justice.
The first chapter gathers statements of the Holy See’s delegation on a wide range of issues revolving around the theme of “The Human Person at the Center of Fundamental Rights and Protagonist of Development.” For example, maternal mortality at childbirth cost 287,000 women their lives in 2010 (19). Children are exploited as combatants, suicide bombers, and sexual tools. Shockingly, an estimated 150 million girls and 73 million boys under 18 ‘experienced forced sexual intercourse and other forms of sexual violence involving physical contact’” (40). The Holy See also campaigned for the abolition of the death penalty. The Holy See is involved with proclaiming human rights, denouncing their abuses, sharing solutions, critiquing proposals, and helping to overcome impasses.
Chapter two, entitled “Freedom as the Foundation of Human Relations and Social Coexistence,” treats the freedom of conscience and the expression of religious belief as fundamental human right. It includes the delegation’s statements on the positive role of believers in public life, the imperative of religious freedom, the persecution of religious minorities, the cooptation of religion for partisan ends, integration over radical assimilation, and the effects of terrorism on the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Chapter three, entitled “The Economy as a Means, Not an End,” touches such topics as the eradication of hunger, development paradigms and sustainable development, forced labor, the global financial crisis, vulture funds, intellectual property, patentable subject matter and the patenting of life forms, and empowerment for the visually impaired.
Chapter four, entitled “The Quest for Peace,” discusses ending armed conflicts through disarmament and arms control (e.g., nuclear weapons, biological weapons, cluster munitions, anti-personnel landmines, and other conventional weapons). It includes the Holy See’s statements on the conflicts in Israel-Palestine, Syria, the Central African Republic, Ukraine, Burundi, and beyond.
Chapter five, “Solidarity with all Humanity,” treats the rights of elderly persons and indigenous peoples. It covers topics including sustainable health financing, universal access to medicines and diagnostic tools, human organ and tissue transplantation, the effects of climate change on health, and the quality of the social fabric of societies as measured by attention to the elderly.
Chapter six, “People on the Move: The Challenge of the Twenty-first Century,” treats the ethical responsibility to welcome forcibly displaced persons, asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants, and denounces the scourge of human trafficking as a contemporary form of slavery. The work includes a comprehensive index.
The catholicity, that is, the universality, of the Catholic Church shines forth in this compilation as the Holy See’s envoy puts into conversation the timeless principles of Catholic social teaching and the concrete circumstances facing peoples around the globe in the contemporary age. An unintended achievement of this book is a refutation of the cynical charge that the Catholic Church is backward, myopic, or self-referential. The work gives a taste of the wide variety of issues in which the Catholic Church is actively engaged in order to bring about positive change. The title’s reference to “the family of nations,” a phrase drawn from Saint Pope John Paul II’s 1995 address to the United Nations Organization, is an aspirational goal. The factual information and inspirational insights contained in this volume equip readers to envision and up-build a more humane and familial world. The Vatican in the Family of Nations is recommended, first and foremost, to graduate or undergraduate students of international affairs and theology — specifically, Catholic social teaching. Clergy will likewise benefit from these two hundred and forty-two short speeches. Clergy will gain a greater understanding of the conditions from which many of their immigrant parishioners hail, the diplomatic language will help them in framing and phrasing homilies and sermons on pressing contemporary issues, and their overall vision of the challenges and opportunities facing humankind will be expanded. This work is highly recommended because it offers a microcosm of the world at one’s fingertips.
Christopher Siuzdak is a canonist in the Tribunal of the Diocese of Portland.
The Papacy – Stephen K. Ray and R. Dennis Walters
Ray, Stephen K. and R. Dennis Walters. The Papacy: What the Pope Does and Why It Matters. San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 2018. 164 pages.
Reviewed by Christopher Siuzdak.
Canon 331 of the Code of Canon Law succinctly summarizes the unique leadership role of the Roman Pontiff in the following manner: “The bishop of the Roman Church, in whom continues the office given by the Lord uniquely to Peter, the first of the Apostles, and to be transmitted to his successors, is the head of the college of bishops, the Vicar of Christ, and the pastor of the universal Church on earth. By virtue of his office he possesses supreme, full, immediate, and universal ordinary power in the Church, which he is always able to exercise freely.” Ray and Walters’ primer on the papacy unpacks the multifaceted mission and meaning of the Petrine Office.
Chapter one provides a general overview and presents the central scriptural scenes connected to Saint Peter’s unique position of leadership. Interestingly, the authors point out that Peter’s designation as the rock foundation, the keeper of the keys of the kingdom, and the binder and looser (Mt 16:13–20) is prefigured by the image of Eliakim opening and shutting with the key of the House of David (Is 22:20–23). Throughout this work, the authors point out the Petrine post’s rootedness in Sacred Scripture and include a helpful appendix of biblical citations. For example, the reader learns that Peter’s “name is used in the Gospels about four times more frequently than any other person except Jesus,” signaling a special role for Peter in the community of believers (72).
Chapter two and three explore the pope’s role as leader and teacher of the truth. The authors seek to establish that Peter and his successors were accorded “firstness” or primacy and approached with a certain deference from the outset of Christianity. “The singular authority of the popes was not later invention; it was acknowledged and exercised from the very first century” (italics original, 59). The authors reference Peter at the Council of Jerusalem, Clement’s authoritative letter to the Church of Corinth, Victor I’s setting of a common date for Easter, and Leo I’s intervention at the Council of Chalcedon. In order to buttress their argument, the authors could have mentioned Siricius, whose responses to inquiries from Bishop Himerius of Tarragona and interventions in controversies in the East constitute the oldest completely preserved papal decretals. The authors also highlight the title of the pope as “servant of the servants of God,” which shows the servant leadership and bridge-building of the papacy (31).
Chapter four shares brief biographical sketches of several popes from Saint Leo the Great (440–461) to Saint John Paul II (1978–2005) in order to showcase the gifts that they have contributed to the community of the faithful and the whole of humanity. The authors acknowledge that certain features of the papacy have evolved and that it has suffered bouts of illness or barrages of hostile attacks, but affirm that it retains an organic continuity. The authors explain by analogy: “A buried acorn does not look like the mature oak tree sprung from it, but they are organically the same” (69).
Chapter five outlines the selection of a pope and the development of the process. Interestingly, Pope John II (533–535) set the precedent of a newly-elected pope changing his name (101). The longest papal conclave, resulting in the election of Gregory X, lasted nearly three years from November of 1268 to September of 1271 (97). It would have been advantageous to provide a citation to the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis, which governs the election of the Roman Pontiff, for readers interested in exploring the topic further.
Chapter six describes the pope’s pastoral solicitude for non-Catholic Christians and non-Christians. Chapter seven dispels some misconceptions and anti-Catholic attacks concerning the papacy. For example, papal infallibility applies to teachings on faith and morals made ex cathedra and does not mean impeccability, that is, inability to sin (120–21). Chapter eight shows how people can relate to the pope in their own lives by listening, following, and praying. Given globalization, the reference point of the papacy, arguably, is more necessary and more relevant now than ever before.
There appears to be some overlap and repetition in the structure of the book, which is likely meant to be reinforcing. The book could have benefited from a better organizing principle. The authors emphasize the pope’s role as guardian of revealed truth and champion of orthodoxy, but more attention to the pope’s role in orthopraxis would be welcome. One must not forget that the pope also serves as a lawgiver and supreme judge — not only in matters of doctrine and dogma, but also in matters of discipline. Moreover, the title of “Patriarch of the West” was “retired” from the Annuario Pontificio in 2006. Consequently, the use of that phrase on pages 62 and 144 ought to be reexamined or given greater context. Despite these minor points for improvement, this book is an enlightening non-academic introduction to the papacy. All readers will benefit from this easy-to-understand catechetical and apologetic work. It is particularly recommended for candidates entering the Catholic Church through the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA).
Christopher Siuzdak is a canonist in the Tribunal of the Diocese of Portland.
Manual for Men – Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted
Olmsted, Bishop Thomas J. Manual For Men. Charlotte: TAN Books, 2018. 304 pages.
Reviewed by Seth Galemore.
Manual for Men is an excellent resource for men who are seeking to deepen or reinvigorate their faith life. Not a ‘manual’ in the sense of a set of instructions with step-by-step guidance to follow, this book serves as a great reference handbook for an array of reflections, rousing sentiments, and doctrinal summaries touching on issues that will be of interest and importance to any man.
The book comprises two main parts. The publishers encourage the reader to go through the book “in whatever order and manner most appeals to you” (x), with advice to read the first part in its entirety before turning to the various reflections in the second part. The first part is adapted from an apostolic exhortation, Into the Breach (2015), by the Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix. The second part, compiled by Dr. Travis Cook, encompasses several loosely related sections based on unifying themes or topics that speak to the needs and spiritual welfare of men.
Bishop Olmsted’s exhortation in the book’s first part is both timely and timeless, in that it frankly addresses many of the concerns and indignities — as well as the opportunities for hope — that confront Christian men today, while grounding its message of encouragement in the tradition of the Church’s enduring moral witness to society. It seeks to answer how we can define what manhood is, how Christian men should practice the virtue of love, and how every man can live out the call to fatherhood in his life. Each of these questions finds an answer not only in the physical or material dimensions of manhood, expressions of love, and fatherliness, but in their spiritual and moral dimensions as well.
A brief review does not allow for a thorough rundown of the wealth of thought contained in this exhortation, but it is worth highlighting some key themes and insights gleaned from the text. It touches on the New Evangelization and the need for men to hand on “our patrimony and inheritance from our spiritual ancestors” (9). It does not shy away from the woundedness of the Church and Christian life in the present age, but neither does it linger over reproachful negativity. It situates masculinity within the context of the complementarity of the sexes and promotes the “mature acceptance and understanding of what it means to be a man” (17). Manly love, as this book describes it, requires real and meaningful bonds, attachments, and relationships in order to live out the universal call to holiness. It stresses that love — a word, Bishop Olmsted remarks, “that men have even become uncomfortable using” (35) — is lived out (even among celibate or childless men) through husband-like commitment, through fatherly care, and through friendship towards all. This call to live in love reflects Christ’s own spousal, paternal, and amicable love for all persons.
The book’s second part introduces the reader, by succession, to: teachings on manhood drawn from magisterial and pastoral documents; contemplations drawn from Sacred Scripture; examples of holy living from the lives or works of the Saints; and, finally, devotional material such as hymns and prayers. These quotes and excerpts are necessarily cursory and only loosely connected to each other, but all are first-rate passages. Particular highlights include “practical considerations” for men to follow the saints’ examples after their individual life stories, as well as several prayers and passages that are not often anthologized in general-interest compilations.
It is heartening that this book does not dwell too much on the foibles and failures of men; all too often, books marketed to men singularly focus on pessimism about pornography, divorce, fatherlessness, and so on, without addressing the values that undergird our past and fortify the hope we have in our future. Many others, likewise, put forward secularized or popular visions of masculine identity that veer into machismo at one extreme, or snobbish feints of “gentlemanly” behavior at the other. This Manual for Men, however, keeps its eye fixed on the genuine inspirational and aspirational qualities that a life of faith holds for men in today’s world.
As a final note, I would be remiss if I did not make mention of the excellent quality of the physical book itself. It is beautifully bound in a faux-leather cover, with gilded pages and a ribbon bookmark. The book’s size and style make it convenient for bringing along to chapel, to the office, on travels, or simply for reading from the comfort of an armchair at home. All things considered, it would make an excellent addition to one’s own library or a fine gift to any brother-in-the-faith.
Seth Galemore is a parishioner of the Diocese of Austin and serves as the Director of Development for Annunciation Maternity Home in Georgetown, Texas.
Faith with Benefits – Jason King
King, Jason. Faith with Benefits: Hookup Culture on Catholic Campuses. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. 219 pages.
Reviewed by Christopher Siuzdak.
In this eye-opening book, Professor Jason King of Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, examines the nature and scope of the hookup culture present at Catholic institutions of higher education in the United States. Whereas prior studies examined hookups throughout colleges and universities as a whole or treated Catholic institutions as an undifferentiated aggregate, King contributes novel insights by acknowledging that different models of Catholic higher education exist and that Catholic identity admits of varying degrees. The author draws upon quantitative and qualitative data to compare and contrast the rates and rationales of students’ commitment-less carnal encounters.
This sociological work is divided into three main parts — namely, “very Catholic campuses” where “evangelical Catholicism” predominates, “mostly Catholic campuses” characterized chiefly by what King calls “communio Catholicism,” and “somewhat Catholic campuses” animated by an “accompaniment Catholicism.”
The findings suggest that rootedness in religion, individually and institutionally, helps students in resisting the stereotypical hookup culture and in generating more wholesome relationship alternatives. “On campuses where the majority of students classified the culture as Very Catholic, 74% of the students did not hook up, leaving only 26% of students who did. In fact, on Very Catholic campuses, the numbers are almost an exact reversal of the norm at colleges and universities as a whole where 70% of people are hooking up and 30% are not” (32). Interestingly, even on campuses where the statistical majority of students do not engage in the hookup culture, students “felt the expectation to do so” (157) and “felt compelled to explain themselves, to give reasons for being different” (34). The discrepancy present among all Catholic institutions of higher education between the anticipated social norm and the actual statistical norm indicates the ubiquity and pervasiveness of the hookup narrative. Students are aware of the countercultural and potentially marginalizing stance they take by disengaging from a culture of disposability.
Although students at “mostly Catholic campuses” generally reported disliking the hookup culture, “more than half (55%) of the students indicated that they had hooked up in the last year, and 60% of these hookups included sex” (77). These hookups include sex at rates far higher than other types of Catholic colleges and universities or institutions of higher education in general (40%-50%). “Students felt that, while casual hooking up was bad, it was also the only way to begin a something-more-than-friends relationship and the only marker that distinguished a romantic relationship from a friendship” (79). In other words, students largely see hookups as a means of attempting to initiate a courtship.
At “somewhat Catholic colleges,” “forty-five percent of students indicated that they had hooked up in the last year” with 68% of these hookups involving sex (120). There appeared to be more openness to the idea of hookups on these campuses, but “there was a large minority who tried it once and never again” because “it seemed unappealing and so was not repeated” (120). Amorous flings fail to serve as a source of meaning and oftentimes produce regret in their wake.
King notes that other studies “indicate that those who reject hookup culture tend to be minorities and from lower social classes” because those students “share an awareness that their missteps are more costly, safety nets less secure, and failure in college more destructive” (9). Students from privileged backgrounds tend to view college as “a time before adulthood,” whereas those from humble origins see college as “a time for assuming adult responsibilities and leaving childish things behind” (10-11).
In comparison to the overall statistical standard, Catholic institutions are already significantly better at counteracting the hookup culture (120). Judging by the Gospel standard, there is still much improvement to be made. The task of education involves teaching students to derive pleasure from and find meaning in truth, goodness, and genuine beauty. When “the reason almost 90% of women and men give for hooking up is that they want something meaningful from the experience,” then it is clear that educators must refine and redouble their efforts (69).
The scope of this work was limited to the intersection of institutional identity — namely, colleges’ Catholicity — and the hookup culture. It would be profitable to also study the rates and scripts of hookups at single-sex Catholic colleges. It would be fruitful to see, for example, how the fairly unique model of Catholic women’s colleges intersects with the hookup culture. Moreover, a greater exploration of the nexus between overconsumption of alcohol and hookups could be fruitful. By the author’s own admission, “alcohol has long been known as an essential ingredient of hookup culture” (80). Placing students’ actual and peer-perceived levels of alcohol consumption in conversation with the actual and perceived rates of hooking up could yield additional insights. It appears that students are overestimating hookup rates at their respective institutions and that inflated perceptions may function as a self-fulfilling prophecy. It would be beneficial to see whether the dynamic of unrealistic perceptions is driving riskier behavior in both domains.
This work, which includes an invaluable bibliography, is highly recommended for pastoral caregivers ministering in a collegiate setting, residence life professionals, faculty members, college administrators, parents, and secondary school teachers who want to understand the complexities of contemporary collegiate life that emerging adults navigate. The statistics concerning hookups among undergraduates are an indictment of the educational system across the board because many institutions of higher education appear to be underperforming when it comes to advancing the socio-emotional maturity, critical thinking, and ethical discernment of their students. Catholic college and universities, with the rich resource of their moral tradition, are uniquely positioned to successfully address this societal challenge. The author has made a significant contribution by providing a finely textured diagnosis of the hookup cultures present at Catholic colleges and universities. King has laid a solid foundation for future works to address in greater detail how to remedy the social scripts that lead to rampant rates of psychologically and spiritually-injurious behaviors.
Christopher Siuzdak is a canonist in the Tribunal of the Diocese of Portland.
Gospel of Luke (CCSS) – Fr. Pablo Gadenz
Gadenz, Pablo. The Gospel of Luke. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture series. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2018, 416 pages.
Reviewed by Richard Maggi.
As noted in a recent review in these pages, Baker Academic has published a Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture series addressing each book of the New Testament. Its purpose, as expressed by its editors, is “to offer scholarship illumined by faith, in the conviction that the ultimate aim of biblical interpretation is to discover what God has revealed and is still speaking through the sacred text.” One of the latest volumes in the series, The Gospel of Luke authored by Fr. Pablo Gadenz, is most faithful to that goal.
Fr. Gadenz’s treatise is so readable that it almost disguises the depth of scholarship and spirituality recognized by other knowledgeable persons who have reviewed this volume. He encourages his readers in the initial pages to accept the Gospel’s invitation to, and challenges posed by, discipleship, which Fr. Gadenz succinctly summarizes:
to take seriously [Jesus] words about detachment from material possessions and merciful care of the poor and needy . . .
to develop a life of prayer modeled after Jesus’s own prayer . . .
to persevere “without becoming weary” (18:1) when answer to prayer seems a long time in coming . . .
to be witnesses to the risen Jesus by their words and deeds even “in the face of persecution.”
The outlined invitation and challenges are given authenticity by Luke’s introduction wherein Luke suggests that he is truly writing history. This is evidenced, according to Fr. Gadenz, by Luke’s insistence that his gospel provides an “’orderly sequence’” based on the results of his own investigation of “’everything accurately’” for the purpose of providing “assurance of the truth of the teachings about Jesus they have received — literally, the things about which they have been instructed.” Fr. Gadenz notes that the Greek text places the word “certainty” at the end of the sentence which thereby gives it “added emphasis.” Moreover, he instructs that “the Greek word asphaleia (related to the word from which “asphalt” derives) indicates the firmness or stability of the teaching.” Appealing to Tradition as he frequently does, Fr. Gadenz also finds support for the historicity of Luke’s gospel from St. Bonaventure, the Second Vatican Council’s Dei Verbum, and St. John Paul II.
Fr. Gadenz relates that with the events surrounding the births of John the Baptist and Christ, Luke moves from classical Greek to the style of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. Utilizing this style gives Luke’s gospel continuity with the Old Testament so that “the Scriptures thus shed light on the meaning of the events, and conversely, those events bring the Scripture to fulfillment.”
Often, Fr. Gadenz references Church Fathers’ teachings. For instance with respect to Jesus’s miracle calming the sea and the wind which had endangered the boat in which he was sailing, he cites Tertullian who views the boat’s travail “as representing the Church, buffeted by the waves of trials and persecutions but protected by Jesus.” Fearing for their lives, Jesus confronts His disciples “‘Where is your faith?’” (Luke 8:22-25.)
Taking to heart that Scripture is still speaking to the faithful, the reader may ponder, although Fr. Gadenz does not raise the issue, where is the faith of those of us leaving the Church due to the abuse scandal and seeming inaction of the hierarchy against those Catholic politicians who actively, even joyously, pass legislation which permits the destruction of the innocent unborn. Applying the parable of the sower, it can be asked whether we are among “those who [have] heard only superficially [the Word of God]”, and do not permit it to “enter into [our] hearts. Alternatively, are we among those on whom the Word falls on rocky ground? They “believe . . . but fall away when [they] experience trial.” Or will we be those who persevere and produce good fruit? Or will we accept the obligation suggested by the author to “[b]elieve what [we] hear, share what [we] believe, and practice what [we] share? This may be the type of reflection Fr. Gadenz and Baker Academic seem to be encouraging.
Most sections of the author’s commentary contain a special section entitled “Reflection and Application.” However, often outside of such sections, Fr. Gadenz’s explanation of a particular set of verses provides grist for spiritual growth in various aspects.
For example, he notes that Luke gives us insight into the intimate relationship among Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit and invites us to participate in that life through prayer. Upon return of the 72 disciples who were exultant that the demons had obeyed them, Jesus “rejoiced [in] the Holy Spirit” and praised His Father. In the Lord’s prayer, Christ teaches his followers to seek, as He does, the Father’s will. He wants them to address God as Father, perhaps even using the daringly familial term “Abba”. Each Christian, Fr. Gadenz exhorts, should pray then as a child and “boldly keep asking God without embarrassment, confident that God will respond and provide help.” This perseverance is illustrated by the parables of the friend who awakens another seeking bread, and the persistent widow seeking justice from a judge.
Fr. Gadenz cautions, however, that “since Christians pray the Our Father frequently, there is a risk of reciting it routinely and without sufficient recollection.” Hence, he advises, on occasion, to stop and intently mull over each of the prayer’s phrases.
Fr. Gadenz regularly gives context to a New Testament passage by reference to Old Testament events. This is clearly evidenced in his treatment of the Transfiguration. As Peter beholds Jesus conversing with Moses and Elijah, he wants to erect three tents. (This scene may have occurred during the feast of Tabernacles during which the Jews would live in tents or booths.) Before they can erect the tents, a cloud overshadows Jesus, Moses, Elijah and the three apostles just as a cloud had enveloped the meeting tent while the Israelites sojourned in the desert. But, now, with God being present within the glorified body of Jesus, Jesus “is the tent.”
Moreover, Moses and Elijah are “two witnesses [who] represent the law and the prophets testifying to Jesus, indicating that his life and mission are the fulfillment of God’s plan in the Scriptures.” Indeed Jesus is discussing his exodus, a new one during “which he will die . . . [and] pass from death to his resurrection and ascension, with his point of arrival in heaven.” Christ, Fr. Gadenz instructs, thus paves the way for his followers.
Fr. Gadenz’s commentary describes hidden gems whereby Luke deftly establishes that Christ is the promised Messiah. These are discovered in the Last Supper, Passion, and Resurrection narratives in which Luke seeks to demonstrate Christ’s specific intention to fulfill the prophecies of a suffering Messiah by actively submitting Himself to the degradations that would befall Him.
For instance, Luke reports that the Last Supper occurs at the Passover celebration memorializing Israel’s Exodus from Egypt. After the first Passover and the Exodus, God initiated a covenant with the Israelites which Moses honored by sprinkling the sacrificial blood of the lambs on the altar and the people while reciting “‘This is the blood of the covenant.’” Hence, when Jesus announced that that the bread he was consecrating was in fact His body and the wine His blood, which was being offered as a “‘new covenant in [His] blood,’” he was conveying that He “[was] about to accomplish his ‘exodus’ . . . — His death and resurrection — which [would] bring to those who believe in Him a different kind of liberation: forgiveness of their sins.” This would fulfill Jeremiah’s prophecy, “‘See, days are coming . . . when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”
Fr. Gadenz discovers in Luke’s description of Barabbas’ release an irony which demonstrates the blind hypocrisy of those seeking Christ’s death. Fr. Gadenz notes that Barabbas’ name equates with “‘son of the father.’” Yet, the people “reject the true Son of the Father.” Additionally, the elders and the crowd seek Christ’s conviction “for ‘inciting the people to revolt,’” while at the same time seeking the release of Barabbas “precisely for a rebellion and murder.”
Fr. Gadenz demonstrates Luke’s perception of the Old Testament’s prefiguring of events in Christ’s life and his sometimes subtleness in conveying their connection. Fr. Gadenz unveils one of the aforementioned gems when Luke relates that they “came to the place” where Christ was “there” to be to be crucified. Fr. Gadenz explains that Luke appropriates the same phrase which had been used only once previously in Scripture — when Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac as reported in Genesis: “When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there.”
Moreover, Fr. Gadenz adds a pearl of his own in advising the reader that Abraham’s sacrifice, according to Jewish sources, coincidentally occurred during Passover and on Mt. Moriah on which the temple was later located. Fr. Gadenz further refers to Genesis 22 in which the Lord says to Abraham through His angel:
Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven . . . and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.
Accordingly, he concludes that Luke thus communicates that “the blessing promised to Abraham in the story of Isaac’s sacrifice comes through [the sacrifice of] Jesus.”
Moving to the Lord’s Resurrection, the definitive action of the Messiah Lord, Fr. Gadenz derives from Luke’s narrative two sets of facts which give credence to the fact of Jesus’s Resurrection. First, one of the tales circulating about what had happened to Jesus’s body was that it had been stolen. Luke reports that Jesus’s body had been wrapped for burial. Yet, the burial cloths were found in the tomb when the body was discovered to be missing. Fr. Gadenz rightly inquires, “If the body had been stolen . . . would the robbers have gone to the trouble of unwrapping it?” Such facts tend to rebut that yarn.
The second is the existence of doubts among the Apostles. Luke describes two instances of the apostles’ reluctance to believe that Jesus had arisen. They did not believe Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and James’ mother, Mary, among others, who had reported that the tomb was empty and that angels had told them He had arisen. Also, when the two disciples to whom Jesus had appeared on the road to Emmaus were relating their experience to the apostles, Jesus appeared and questioned the doubts of the Apostles and those with them. Fr. Gadenz practically exclaims: “the truth is that they did not believe it themselves.” They needed to be convinced of the Lord’s Resurrection. In Acts, Luke describes evangelizing Apostles who have become both so assured that Jesus was indeed alive and inspired by the Holy Spirit, that they proclaimed the Gospel of salvation throughout the known world.
Besides the spiritual and exegetical wisdom found in this volume, it contains a number of helpful features for homilists, catechists, and bible students. Immediately following each gospel passage, there are references to related sections of the Old and New Testaments, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. When applicable, the book notes the liturgical day on which the passage is read. It also provides a very useful outline, by topic and verse, of Luke’s gospel.
This review just scrapes the surface of the insights provided by Fr. Gadenz. He offers his erudition on all of Luke’s 24 chapters, and spiritual experience on derivative themes for developing one’s interior life, including the value of suffering and humility. As the liturgical year resumes ordinary time, Luke’s gospel again comes to the forefront. This commentary is a valuable instrument to deepen an understanding of this Gospel. It would be timely to accept the author’s entreaty to “start reading Luke’s Gospel today!”
Richard Maggi is an attorney and HPR contributor from New Jersey.
One Beautiful Dream – Jennifer Fulwiler
Fulwiler, Jennifer. One Beautiful Dream: The Rollicking Tale of Family Chaos, Personal Passions, and Saying Yes to Them Both. Foreword by Jenna Guizar. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018. 240 pages.
Reviewed by Elizabeth Anderson.
Modern culture provides little encouragement to families trying to live a God-centered life, nor wisdom for those who should advise. One Beautiful Dream by Jennifer Fulwiler gives both encouragement and wisdom. Jennifer opens up regarding her personal difficulties, as one who left deep atheistic roots to embrace Catholicism but finds living a fully saturated Christian life utterly confusing. Along with these struggles comes her dream to write, a desire to help the family — and of course, the family itself. Six children in eight years bring chaos and hilarity. Without depth, tales of chaos and hilarity grow tiresome, but Mrs. Fulwiler enriches the story with razor sharp insights into love and truth. While not dictating that this is the one mold that works for everyone, One Beautiful Dream provides an excellent example of what a Catholic Christian family life can look like in these times, within the context of cultivating God given talents.
In particular, One Beautiful Dream presents a theme, “wholeness of vision”, borrowed from Sheldon van Auken’s A Severe Mercy, which can be applied to every life, not only a family’s. To Jennifer and her husband Joe, this wholeness of vision means to consider life with big picture perspective, thereby finding appreciation for the fine details (or the crummy ones). This in two ways; the first being vertical, that is, looking upward to God for meaning and purpose. Jennifer’s journey from atheism to the Faith gives her a sharpened appreciation for how truly God changes everything intellectually, but also practically. Jennifer says, “God burst into our lives with all the subtlety of a neutron bomb, shattered everything we thought we knew, snatched our carefully crafted life plans and set them on fire, then gave us a big hug and tossed us onto a path we could never have imagined for ourselves.” And so it should be. Allowing God to enter into every aspect of life ought to be a common endeavor among Catholic Christians. And the Fulwilers share exactly what that might look like — although realistically it will be somewhat unique to each person and family. Jennifer and her husband Joe come to realize that nothing falls into place unless one makes the choice to put God first. And then, not only do less important persons and things fall into place, but everyone and everything has a completely renewed value, because of God’s enlivening.
Jennifer honestly shares details regarding how utterly God changes everything-from how one views the universe, down to matters between husband and wife. Contraception, once considered the norm, must go, along with the atheism. Although the intellectual issue of contraception is developed much more in her first book, Something Other Than God, in One Beautiful Dream, Mrs. Fulwiler shows what happens practically when married life remains intrinsically open to children. Furthermore, she provides a great example of the need for an understanding of the Faith to bolster the will when the will wavers in difficulty. Most mothers refraining from contraception know the awkward conversations with OB doctors and nurses completely stymied by refused birth control. Jennifer faced those same questions, and although she doesn’t always have to share her reasons, she knows them: “If the nurse had time for me to explain it all, she would see how animated I became when I described how my newfound theology influenced this decision. I could tell her all about how I came to agree with the old-school Catholic view that abstinence-based methods of child spacing are preferable to contraception. (I’d probably stand up and pace wildly when I related it all to Aquinas’ description of Natural Law, since that part was just so exciting.)” Every Catholic should know their faith, should understand why Catholics live differently. As Frank Sheed puts it in Theology and Sanity, “in the appallingly difficult struggle to be good, the will is helped immeasurably the by intellect’s clear vision of the real Universe.” That is, seeing things the way the Catholic Church sees things, which is to say, as they really are, provides support when it comes to living life the way the Catholic Church calls us to live. The Catholic Church has the answers to the difficult questions, as Jennifer Fulwiler came not only to realize, but rejoice.
The second way in which Jennifer comes to have a wholeness in vision is in terms of living as a member of a community, rather than having an individualistic approach to life. Perhaps coming from atheism, Jennifer’s change in perspective is more drastic than most: “I’d always been steeped in a worldview in which personal autonomy is seen as the primary path to happiness.” Yet most Americans understand the desire to exude self-sufficiency. We tend to idealize the loner cowboy, the ubermensch, or the supermom who does it all, without help. However, all Christians need to recognize that we are members in a living Body, not meant to carry our burdens alone, nor keep our gifts to ourselves as lamps under the bushel. Jennifer offers her own change of heart for consideration: “Combined with Fr. George’s insights about letting go of individualistic thinking, I was starting to see that being completely self-sufficient wasn’t necessarily a virtue. In fact, my constant insistence on being able to handle everything on my own, with no assistance from anyone, was usually rooted in pride more than anything else.” Accepting help requires humility, but opens one up to give and receive love, and appreciate the gifts of others.
Moreover, moving beyond individualism toward an appreciation of the inherent value in other persons opens the soul to immeasurable joy. As Fulwiler puts it: “unexpected graces always come into your life when you’re open to the people whom God sends your way, whether it’s babies or friends in need or anyone else.” She saw the principle at work among Mexican friends, and others raised with Christian culture: “the way they saw it, you make time for your work as it fits your family; you don’t make time for family as it fits into your work.” This openness to others radically changed Jennifer’s life, her relationship with her husband, and the entire life of her family. “I came into faith and into parenthood with a mindset that my existence was ultimately about me, and that the hallmark of a good life was being able to control everything to my own taste. I thought that intimate service to others was only something you do for a few years when the kids are young. Now I saw it as the foundation of a rich, fulfilling life.” In this fast paced world, bombarded with pressures to succeed materially, Jennifer Fulwiler’s change of heart serves as a reminder not to lose oneself among things that matter not. To put others before self, beginning with God, brings great peace. Life always has suffering, but a rightly ordered life will have peace: “when you put connections with other people first, things tend to work out. You might face difficulties. . . But you will never, ever regret putting love first.”
One Beautiful Dream tells a very personal story, but one that can reach a wide audience: men, women, single or married, artists wondering how to pursue their craft, and anyone interested in what the common struggles of a modern Catholic family are. It discusses the issue of living in the world, but not of it, and shares the beauty of live transformed by love. And, while Jennifer Fulwiler’s writing is very intelligent, it is also extremely accessible.
Elizabeth Anderson is a free lance writer and graduate of Christendom College. She resides in Michigan with her husband, Matt, and their four small children.
About Book Reviews
Recent Comments