Catholic Thought discussion

In our ongoing reading rotation we usually have a short read between the books the group has voted for, on average four to five short reads per year. Manny and I try to keep it varied, short stories, poems, writings of the Church Fathers, papal documents, sermons, etc., something that will fit nicely into a 2 - 3 week span.

Here is my question to all of you, do you have a suggestion that would fit the short read format? I'll add them to my ongoing list.

THE CATHOLIC WRITER TODAY
by Dana Gioia

https://www.firstthings.com/article/2...

At first I was going to nominate the poetry of Daniel Berrigan, S.J., but any collection of his poems I could find was very expensive, and when I read "due to his political and religious witness, he has been consigned to the fringes. Unfortunately, this has made his poetry less accessible," I realized that Mark's recommendation of "The Catholic Writer Today" was very fitting.

But because I do think Berrigan was a superb poet, I want to share an example of his brilliance, his interpretation of Psalm 90:


Before ever the mountains arose
(blind from birth they were, mute, dumb)
You. Are.
Before the seas
before the first dawn
You.
From dust to dust the human story
a crooked line, quickly effaced

You endure
You summon
Come; mere sunstruck motes
[Adam stands there; Eve radiant there]
then
their course run---
again
"Come"
They wither like grass, the perfect and proud.
Words die, suns set, grass blows, a dust.

What then? We must learn
time and again
like infants, on hands and knees
spasmodic wisdom. Six months, sixty years

all one
one blind tug,
at the empyrean. Teach us to count our days
multiple, scanty, no matter. But a voice of praise.

--- Daniel Berrigan, S.J.

Usually a short read, Frances, is something we can all quickly have access to, like something on the internet.

Gerri once requested a few letters of St. Catherine of Siena when we were reading her biography. I could easily pick out 10 that's available on the internet.

Manny wrote: "Gerri once requested a few letters of St. Catherine of Siena when we were reading her biography. I could easily pick out 10 that's available on the internet."

Oh, that's right, I had forgotten about that.

I’m sorry that I wasn’t clear: I meant that I agreed with Mark’s suggestion of The Catholic Writer Today, which I read on the Internet today. Letters of St. Catherine of Siena would be a fine choice, too.

Pope Francis has a new Apostolic Letter out, this on the liturgy. Given his disfavor with the Latin Mass, I am interested in what he has to say. It's only about twenty pages long. It's called Desiderio desideravi, which translates to "“I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you.” from Christ's words in Luke 22:15. You can read about the letter here:
https://aleteia.org/2022/06/29/pope-f...

Perhaps we could do this as a short read in between the current read and the next.

You can find the Letter here:
https://www.vatican.va/content/france...

I second this as a short read.

I'll put it in the line-up.
After the short read it is time for fiction again :-)