Catholic Matters...

Catholic Matters: Confusion, controversy, and the Splendor of Truth.

Richard John Neuhaus is the editor-in-chief of the magazine First Things. He is a convert to Roman Catholicism from the Lutheran denomination. He is now a priest of the Archdiocese of New York.

This book is his most recent publication that reflects on his journey of faith from one Christian denomination into full communion with Roman Catholicism.

He writes about Catholicism from this perspective.

“ … Catholicism is not a theological construction, and certainly not the construction of a school of brilliant intellectuals. It is not a code of moral rules or an instructional supplier of spiritual uplift. One cannot begin to understand it without theology; moral rules mark the path to the holiness to which we are called, and Catholicism offers a spiritual alternative to the world’s abandonment to nihilism and despair. But, mainly, Catholicism is a habit of being in the centuries-long company of those , living and dead, who are part of a distinctive society with its own memories, vocabulary, rituals, devotions, and, yes, confusions and controversies, that are necessarily part of living in the splendor of the truth who is Jesus Christ…” pp. 244,245.

Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult

I'm slowly winding my way through another complicated narrative by Ms. Picoult. This is a convoluted tale of people relating to one another and being in dysfunctional relationships nearly simultaneously.

Mother/child is the core topic and the inability of folks to see the other in themselves is another topic that is interpsersd amidts the story line.

Let's see where it ends up before I conclude my brief review.