Reading - this year and the future

As the year comes to a close, I’m looking back at what this year has brought, what I have been doing, and what has influenced me in my life and ministry. One area I’m looking at is my reading habits.

This year I have not read as much as in previous years, but there have been and are a few books that have really touched me or helped me in my ministry.

Currently I am reading Bishop Shawn McKnight’s work on the diaconate, Understanding the Diaconate: Historical, Theological, and Sociological Foundations. It is scholarly and accessible and it’s helping me look at my diaconate in a deeper way.

Earlier this year I read several other works on the diaconate, but the one that struck me was Michael J. Tkacik’s Deacons and Vatican II: The Making of a Servant Church. He placed the diaconate within the mission of the Second Vatican Council.

For many years, I have seen the importance of considering not just institutions and people in our social and theological analysis, but also what St. Paul calls the” principalities and powers of this world.” William Stringfellow opened my eyes to this dimension of reality. Bill Wylie-Kellermann’s Principalities in Particular: A Practical Theology of the Powers That Be, is an important work that tries to make this analysis concrete, recognizing that “It is the spiritual dimension that must needs be unmasked, seen, and recognized if the principalities are to be fully engaged.”

With the canonization of Monseñor Oscar Romero this past October there have been numerous new books on his life and thought. I have two on my “to read” list, but the one new book that really impressed me was Michael E. Lee’s Revolutionary Saint: The Theological Legacy of Oscar Romero. This book examines Romero in terms of spirituality and theology and in the political, social, and ecclesiastical context of El Salvador in Romero’s. It’s one of the best analyses I’ve read, partly because I myself see Romero in a similar way. For the author a central question is: “How might Christians think and live differently because of Óscar Romero?”

There are several other books that I found helpful.

In trying to deepen and expand my way of reading the scripture, I have found the work of walter Brueggemann very helpful. This year I read A Gospel of Hope, which has selections from his writings and sermons.

For me peacemaking has been a central concern since my high school days, during the VietNam War. This year I found a twenty-year-old book helpful: The Ministry of Reconciliation: Spirituality and Strategies by Robert Schreiter, C.PP.S.

There are so many works on spirituality and I am continually nurtured by reading Thomas merton. This year, though, these two books nourished by spirit: Ronald Rolheiser’s Wrestling with God: Finding Hope and Meaning in Our Daily Struggles to Be Human and

Paul Quenon’s In Praise of the Useless Life: a monk’s memoir.

In terms of pastoral ministry, I found little to compare to Gaudete et Exsultate, the apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis. It is, in my mind and heart, a masterpiece. Another work that opens up the pastoral theology of Pope Francis is Andrea Riccardi’s To the Margins: Pope Francis and the Mission of the Church.

And what might I read in 2019?

As often is the case, I am in the middle of several books which I hope to finish by the end of January. They include

José Antonio Pagola, Jesús: Aproximación histórica

Michael F. Steltenkamp, Nicholas Black Elk: Medicine Man, Missionary, Mystic

Bishop Shawn McKnight, Understanding the Diaconate: Historical, Theological, and Sociological Foundations.

Dana Frank’s The Long Honduran Night:

Donal Door’s Option for the Poor and the Earth

There are a good number of books I hope to read but especially these:

Yves Congar’s Power and Poverty in the Church

Terence C. Wright’s Dorothy Day

Jean Vanier, Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus

Thomas Merton, A Course in Christian Mysticism

Marie Dennis, ed., Choosing Peace: The Catholic Church Returns to Gospel Nonviolence

Rafael Luciani, Pope Francis and the Theology of the People

Edgardo Colón-Emeric, Óscar Romero’s Theological Vision: Liberation and the Transfiguration of the Poor

I will also be looking at reading essays by Hannah Arendt, Wendell Berry, and others.

There are at least three books in Spanish, related to Honduras, that I want to read.

Ramón Amaya Amador, Prisíon Verde, a novel situated in the great sugar workers strike of the 1950s in Honduras

Adalid Martínez Perdomo,  Fausto Milla: un sacerdote revolucionario

Leopoldo Serrano López, La Vidita: relatos de la vida de Padre Beto y pensamientos sobre la vida.

If I can get a copy, I’d also like to read two new books on the diaconate in Spanish:

Enzo Petrolino,  El diaconado en el pensamiento del Papa Francisco

Victor Loaiza, Diácono, el servidor de todos. Ministerio eclesiástico de la Iglesia

I will also try to read a few books just for fun – mostly novels (especially suspense novels.)

Any suggestions for reading, of any kind, are most welcome.

Now reading

I almost never read just one book at a time.

Maybe it’s because I am just not disciplined enough to concentrate on one book. Maybe it’s because I need to read something different on a day when I have few responsibilities than what I might read after a long day of workshops or driving.

Anyway, I’ve just finished one book that has made a real impact on me, The Locust Effect, which I commented on in a previous post.

In the meantime I’ve begun four other books:

First there is Gregorio Iriarte’s ¿Qué es una comunidad eclesial de base? which I’m reading for my work with base communities in the Dulce Nombre parish.

In November I finished In the Company of the Poor: Conversations between Dr. Paul Farmer and Father Gustavo Gutiérrez.  Now I’m reading a book of speeches of Paul Farmer, To Repair the World. Farmer is very inspiring and motivational.

When the lectionary had a week of readings from the First Book of Kings, I started Dan Berrigan’s The Kings and Their Gods: The Pathology of Power. Dan Berrigan has been writing his poetic and prophetic commentaries on scriptures for several decades. This provocative volume isn’t disappointing me.

I was looking for something to help me start Lent next week and so I opened Gerhard Lohfink’s Jesus of Nazareth: What He Wanted: Who He Was. The first chapter on fact and interpretation was fascinating.

A few days ago I finished the mammoth History of the World Christian Movement: Volnhume II: Modern Christianity from 1454-1800 by Dale T. Irvin and Scott W. Sunquist. It was my diversionary reading. I find reading histories and biographies relaxing. I also will read a trashy suspense novel or thriller, if I really need a diversion.

Right now, I have no diversionary book.

There are a few books I have on my soon-to-be read books, including the following:

I’m going on a five-day retreat in March (with the help of a US Jesuit in northeast Honduras. So I may read Margaret A.L. Blackie’s Rooted in Love: Integrating Ignatian Spirituality into Daily Life.

Lent is a week away. I will probably read George Weigel’s Roman Pilgrimage: The Station Churches. I’m reading this partly to recall my pilgrimage to Italy last February. Some people may be surprised that I’m reading George Weigel whose politics I hardly agree with. But I found his 2004 book Letters to A Young Catholic fairly good, except for his chapter on liturgy. I want to see if he can speak to me as he did in that book.

A friend recommended Mitri Raheb’s Faith in the Face of Empire: The Bible Through Palestinian Eyes. I had met the Lutheran pastor Mitri Raheb about a decade ago when I visited Palestine where my friend was working with Pastor Raheb.

I may look into Giorgio Agamben, The Highest Poverty: Monastic Rules and Form-of-Life.

I should also be reading a few more books in Spanish – but that is often more work than enjoyment.

I should get to Ramón Amaya Amador’s Prisión Verde, about the Honduran banana workers strike. I’ve had it for more than five years.

Another book in Spanish I must read is José Antonio Pagola’s Jesús: Aproximación histórica, which an Irish priest in Lima, Perú, gave me in October 2011.

And that’s my short list.

There are a few philosophy and theology books I should get around to reading. They are on my shelves gathering dust.

And then there are a few others: Gary A. Anderson’s Charity: The Place of the Poor in the Biblical Tradition; Flannery O’Connor’s A Prayer Journal; Hannah Arendt’s The Last Interview and Other Convversations; Christopher Pramuk’s  Sophia: The Hidden Christ of Thomas Merton; Freddy Derwahl’s The Last Monk of Tibhurine; Walter Brueggemann’s Journey to the Common Good.

And then there's the book that I've been slowly reading since last year: Donal Door's Option for the Poor and for the Earth: Catholic Social Teaching. It's a good book but demands time fore study.

Any suggestions – especially in terms of biographies or histories (with an emphasis on the poor) – are appreciated.

One question my readers may have: Where does he get his books?

I often exchange books with the Dubuque Franciscan Sisters in nearby Gracias, Lempira.

When I go to the US or have visitors, I will order a few books on Amazon and then bring them back here or have a friend bring them.

But then there is the blessing (or curse) of Kindle. It gives me access to a lot of books I’d never have been able to find here. It’s been a help and I can easily carry it the books with me on the road.

Reading has been a part of my life since before I began first grade way back in 1952 at Blessed Virgin Mary Church parochial school. It continues. It’s a diversion and an escape, as well as a spur to thought, to self-examination, and to helping me evaluate what I’m trying to do here.

My only regret when I find a book that really speaks to my life and ministry here in Honduras is that I don’t have many people to help me process.

But now back to work - or a book - or a blog post on the Final Document of Aparecida...