Catholic Thought discussion

OK, now for nominations for our next read. As a reminder our cycle of read categories are as such:

Recurring Long Read
Inexpensive Catholic Classic
Catholic Fiction
Any Catholic Genre

We just finished a Catholic fiction. We are now up to any Catholic book in any genre or time. We are completely open for anything. Feel free to nominate any Catholic book.

When we discussed the apocalyptic novel Lord of the World, a few of us felt the need to deep dive into the final book of the New testament, Book of Revelation.

With that in mind, I'm going to nominate a book that goes line by line of Revelation and explains the context and exegesis. I nominate Peter S. Williams, Revelation. It is part of the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture series.

I would like to nominate Margaret Visser's The Geometry of Love(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...), a detailed account of the history and meaning of a particular Catholic church, Sant' Agnese fuori le Mura, outside of Rome.

Catholic thought is not confined to theology and literature. It is present in the architecture of our churches as well. Indeed, the architecture and decoration of churches was one of the principle means of communicating the faith for centuries, and equally of engaging the emotions in the mysteries it contained. In and age when Catholic architecture is so neglected, in many cases so painfully plain, I think it would be instructive to dive in depth into the history and meaning of a single Catholic church of great antiquity.

Mark wrote: "I would like to nominate Margaret Visser's The Geometry of Love(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...), a detailed account of the history and meaning of a particular Catho..."

This definitely fits as a read for Catholic Thought book club. It sounds quite fascinating actually. I'm glad you nominated it. Thank you Mark.

No one else wishes to nominate any book? We normally have too many. You still have until Sunday to nominate but I'm surprised at the lack energy here. ;)

I would like to renominate Jacqueline Brown's The Light: Who do You Become When the World Falls Away? It's the first of five in a series. It's a timely read, and very Catholic in its character development. (I have a review of it on Amazon.) It's the story of four friends on a road trip along a country road when a a blinding flash of light from a worldwide EMP attack destroys the power grid and nothing that isn't hand-powered works, not cars and trucks, computers, cell phones or landlines, etc. The main character is a young woman in an abusive relationship whose three friends are on thus trip partly for vacation and partly to get her away from the boyfriend. The four set out walking to find help. The first people they meet are a brother and sister from a nearby farm who are walking home after their car also broke down. They invite the four to join them and insist their family will welcome and help them.. They soon learn that coincidentally or by Providence, the strong and resourceful Catholic family they meet, and the main character are connected, and that she and her parents, also once Catholics, were close friends who had once lived in the farm next door until her mother, whose daughter resembles her, died giving birth to her brother, and both are buried there. Her father had left both home and church without explanation and took his daughter to D.C. There he still worked as a wealthy attorney and brought his daughter up to be an atheist. How the characters discover the effects of the "light" and the fates of all their loved ones, how they cope with no electricity or Wi-Fi or transportation other than horses, and how the main character processes the discovery of her past, is a fascinating read. Especially engrossing is the resourcefulness of this farm family who live the faith and inspire the others to stay and work with them to rebuild after a disaster that could easily happen in our time.

Manny wrote: "Mark wrote: "I would like to nominate Margaret Visser's The Geometry of Love(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...), a detailed account of the history and meaning of a par..."

Just to let everyone know, The Geometry of Love can only be purchased from Amazon as either a used book or an ebook. I know some people do not read ebooks. Perhaps other book sites might have a new book on hand, though I think Amazon is pretty thorough.

Madeleine wrote: "I would like to renominate Jacqueline Brown's The Light: Who do You Become When the World Falls Away? It's the first of five in a series. It's a timely read, and very Catholic in its character deve..."

Got it Madeline. Here's the Goodreads link to it. The Light: Who Do You Become When the World Falls Away?

My review is also on that link.

Has the group ever read C.S. Lewis’s classic, Surprised by Joy? It is a partial autobiography known for Lewis’s account of his discovery of true joy and conversion to Christianity.

Frances, that's good. I've wanted to read that myself.

Some people might wonder about my selection since Lewis did not become a Catholic. He was, however, one of the 20th century's great intellects and a close friend of Catholic writer J.R.R. Tolkien. Personally, I have never read a more convincing witness to the truth of Christianity than what Lewis writes in the final pages of Surprised by Joy.

A thoughtful moment in history: C.S. Lewis, Aldous Huxley and John Kennedy all died on the same day in November, 1963.

I know C.S. Lewis is not Catholic, but he is revered to most Catholic theologians. We were considering his Mere Christianity in our parish book reading class until Covid shut us down.

So far we have the following as nominations.

Revelation by Peter S. Williams
The Geometry of Love: Space, Time, Mystery, and Meaning in an Ordinary Church by Margaret Visser
The Light: Who Do You Become When the World Falls Away? by Jacqueline Brown
Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life by C.S. Lewis

Any others. I usually take six nominations.

Thank you, Manny. I'm not nominating this book because I already have nominated Surprised By Joy, but do you or any other member of our group know if The Lord, by Romano Guardini is still considered a classic of Catholic literature? If so, I might nominate it in the future. Thank you.

Frances wrote: "Thank you, Manny. I'm not nominating this book because I already have nominated Surprised By Joy, but do you or any other member of our group know if The Lord, by Romano Guardini is still considere..."

Well, it depends how we define classic. The category for our book club was something inexpensive, meaning something you can find for less than 5 or 10 dollars. The intent was for books in the public domain that people can get for free or nearly free on the internet. But yes it is a classic as the word classic is typically applied.

The Lord has 629 pages, so it would probably lend itself more to a long read.

I nominate The First Society: The Sacrament of Matrimony and the Restoration of the Social Order by Scott Hahn

Good thought Kerstin. I’ve wanted to read that too.

I will nominate "Catherine of Siena" by Sigrid Undset
Catherine of Siena

Irene wrote: "I will nominate "Catherine of Siena" by Sigrid Undset
Catherine of Siena"

Oh dear me. Irene, that book had such a big impact on my life. Reading Undset’s bio of St Catherine of Siena made me such a devotee to her and ultimately led me to be a Lay Dominican.

Six nominations. No more. Great picks. I’ll set up a poll this weekend.

It was your glowing comments in prior threads that sparked my interest, Manny. Plus I like Undset's writing.