READING in 2021

Some people make lists of the ten best books they read during the past year. Here’s my reflection on what I’ve been reading. I mostly read on Kindle though I occasionally can get real books when I visit the US or when a Spanish volume is available here. 

 I like narratives, histories, and books filled with stories of real life, especially when there is a strong message that calls me back to my calling – to serve God and the poor, to work for justice and peace. I found these type of books very inspiring. This past year these fit that bill:

Gregory Boyle, The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness. New York: Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, 2021. In turn, inspiring, joyful, and poignant. Read and laugh, weep, and pray. 

Bill Wylie-Kellerman, Celebrant’s Flame: Daniel Berrigan in Memory and Reflection. Cascade Books, 2021.Great stories of the prophetic poet priest. 

Dorothy Day, On Pilgrimage: The Sixties. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2021. 

The find of 2021 was the work of Tomas Halik. This Czeck priest, ordained underground during the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia, is a psychotherapist, theologian, and philosopher. His works refer to many disparate sources, including scripture, Augustine, Therese of Lisieux, Nietzsche, Freud, Jung, Cervantes, Teilhard de Chardin to approach issues of doubt, faith, atheism, love, the mystery of faith, and more. His chapter in Patience with God on St. Therese de Lisieux is helpful for anyone struggling with faith and doubt, as the Little Flower did. 

Tomáš Halík, Patience with God: The Story of Zaccheus Continuing in Us. New York: Crown Publishing (Random House), 2009. 

 Tomáš Halík, Night of the Confessor: Christian Faith in an Age of Uncertainty. New York: Image Books (Doubleday), 2012. 

 Tomas Halik, I Want You to Be: on the God of Love. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2016. 

They are also available in Spanish

 On retreat in June, I read Henri J. M. Nouwen's The Return of the Prodigal Son. Anniversary Edition: A Special Two-in-One Volume, including Home Tonight. New York, NY: Convergent, 2016. This was a great accompaniment to an eight day retreat. I highly recommend this. 

I’ve read three books about the diaconate this past year. One was very disappointing, even though it received acclaim from other sources. Tone was mediocre. The only book on the diaconate which I found stimulating and enlightening was Tim O’Donnell’s The Deacon: Icon of Christ the Servant, Minister of the Threshold (New York: Paulist Press, 2020). I wrote about this earlier this year, here. About two months ago, I began reading another book on the diaconate which is quite good, José Gabriel Mesa Angulo’s Diaconado: Orden y Ministerio: Prospectiva teológica desde Lumen Gentium. But since it’s in Spanish and is quite a hefty volume, more than 300 pages, I’m only a third of the way through it.

As a celibate deacon, I am struggling to understand celibacy and sexuality in a different way. I’ve written a number of posts on this on this blog, but I’m always looking for something that really helps. A book I found last year was Ronald Rolheiser’s The Fire Within: Desire, Sexuality, Longing, and God (Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 2021). He provides a very healthy approach to sexuality.

I found another quite helpful volume, Maria Helena López de Mézerville’s Sacerdocio y Burnout: El desgaste en la vida sacerdotal (San Pablo, 2011. This I believe is helpful for anyone in full-time ministry = whether ordained or not. She has also written Sacerdocio y Celibato, which I plan to read this coming year. 

Five other good books

Jon M. Sweeney, Feed the Wolf: Befriending Our Fears in the Way of Saint Francis. Minneapolis MN: Broadleaf Books, 2021. 

Abraham Joshua Heschel, Thunder in the Soul: To Be Known by God. (Plough Spiritual Guides: Backpack Classics). Walden, New York: Plough Publishing House, 2021. 

Jon W. Sweeney, Nicholas Black Elk Medicine Man, Catechist, Saint. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2021. 

Jim Forest, Eyes of Compassion: Learning from Nhat Hanh. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2021. 

Caryll Houselander, The Risen Christ: The Forty Days After the Resurrection. New York: Scepter Publishers, 2007 (1958).

I've read several novels, most of them mysteries which I devoured for sheer diversion. But the more “serious” novels I read included Daniel Hornsby’s Via Negativa: A Novel (New York, NY: Alfred A Knopf, 2020) and Anne Tyler’s Redhead by the Side of the Road (NY: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2020). 

In 2022, I want to finish José Gabriel Mesa Angulo’s Diaconado: Orden y Ministerio: Prospectiva teológica desde Lumen Gentium and to read Maria Helena López de Mézerville’s Sacerdocio y Celibato. 

Other books I plan to read include Michael Casey’s Sacred Reading: The Ancient Art of Lectio Divina; David Power & Michael Downey’s Living the Justice of the Triune God; Henri Nouwen’s Can You Drink the Cup? (which I started reading on December 31); Design for Wholeness by Loughlan Sofield, Carroll Juliano, & Rosine Hammett; Walter Kasper’s Leadership in the Church.

I’ll also be looking for more to read about Saint Oscar Romero, Blessed (soon to be canonized) Charles de Foucauld, Dorothy Day, and other of my spiritual guides. 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.