Begin with the Beautiful: To Light a Fire on the Earth

To Light a Fire on the Earth: Proclaiming the Gospel in a Secular Age

by Robert Barron with John L. Allen Jr.

This book is written by John Allen but Bishop Barron's name appears first as an author partly because (I'm sure) his name sells books and also because his articles, books, interviews, and YouTube videos are quoted so extensively that the number of his words in the book potentially easily rival that of Allen. It's a little odd, though, because so much of the book is Allen saying something along the lines of "Bishop Barron believes..." followed by a summary of the bishop's beliefs and then some long quotes.

Every quote, and there were a lot of them, was in italics. It was a little annoying to read so much in italics. Because they were indented on the right and the left, I don't think the italics were necessary.

The book begins with a brief biography of Bishop Barron. Then it explains how the bishop prefers to begin conversations about the Catholic faith - with beauty, goodness, and truth. There's a chapter on evangelization in general, and then a handful of chapters addressing areas in which Catholics often struggle to explain and defend the faith including the relationship between faith and science, the sex-abuse scandal, and the relationship between religion and violence. Finally, the book ends with two chapters on Robert Barron as a bishop and his ministry, Word on Fire.

Bishop Barron is one of the bright spots of the New Evangelization. In the years since this phrase first started circulating, there have been a lot of books and tweets and articles about it, but it's hard to point to any results. Bishop Barron seems to be drawing notice, not just from Catholics, but from many of other faiths, including those who proclaim no faith at all. His thoughts on how to draw people to the Catholic church, how to teach what the church believes, and how to interact with people who are antagonistic toward the church are insightful and thought-provoking.

American Catholics today generally don't have to worry about Protestant bigots swooping down with pitchforks and torches to destroy their parishes, but they do have to cope with an elite snobbery that says religion is backward, benighted, superstitious, and dangerous because of the primitive hatreds and prejudices it unleashes. They have to live in a culture that tries to force them, in a thousand ways, to separate their minds from their hearts--telling them that if they insist, for sentimental or psychological reasons, on clinging to a religious faith, it can't have anything to do with the way they see the world, or with their lives as professionals and as citizens.

Allen provides background on Bishop Barron's life, but also the development of his thoughts on evangelization. He's been on YouTube nearly as long as there's been a YouTube, embracing new avenues for reaching not just Catholics who want to learn more about their faith, but all sorts of people who can explore new ideas from the safety of their homes. He draws them in with conversations about popular movies and books, but he has particular ideas about how to being a conversation about the Catholic faith. It's not about teaching them the rules or telling them they're wrong in how they life or what they think. Instead, Bishop Barron begins with beauty. Then goodness and truth. There are lots of examples in the book of what beauty, goodness, and truth look like in the Catholic faith and in conversations with people who don't know Catholics very well.

The point that resonated with me was the idea that we can't begin a conversation by telling someone he or she is wrong.

Barron believes that Catholicism's rules make sense only to someone who's already been enchanted by the faith and the Church, and being hit over the heat with rules at the beginning isn't a very reliable pathway to enchantment.

I've seen this sort of engagement (or failure to do so) in our own community.

One way to successfully attract people to a faithful life is to live that kind of life, a saintly life. Bishop Barron speaks often of how attractive and inspiring are the lives of people like St. Teresa of Kolkata.

In that sense, Barron believes, the saints and the martyrs illustrate what morality is all about. It's not a matter of checking boxes to make sure you're following the rules but rather one of becoming the kind of person whose own life is fully ordered to the good, and thus has the power to change the world. In other words, it's by looking at the saints that one understands why morality matters, and what it's intended to produce. 

I think this idea of living a life fully ordered to the good shifts the focus of evangelization from the actions of others to those of ourselves. A life of sacrificial giving and loving reveals our faith in a way credentials and books and verbal arguments never can.

I don't know the best way to evangelize, but Bishop Barron's strategies and recommendations make sense to me. I'm thinking seriously about assigning this book to my children in high school for Apologetics.

Evangelization isn't about a concept or an idea, but about a friendship with Christ that you have, and that you want someone else to have too. 

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review. The opinions above are my own. The links above are not affiliate links, but the book is also available at Amazon (affiliate link).

Sacrificial Love for All: Caryll Houselander: Essential Writings

Caryll Houselander: Essential Writings

selected with commentary by Wendy M. Wright

Caryll Houselander is the author of the Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls and More Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls which are recommended by Mater Amabilis™ for Level 1A (second and third grades). I requested this book through interlibrary loan to learn more about the author. She was a layperson who believed she experienced mystic visions. Though mainly an artist who worked in wood, she also wrote extensively for Catholic audiences.

This book is one compiled from a variety of sources including published works and letters Houselander wrote. I haven't read many of the works in full, but I felt like Wright provided excellent pieces of the works to give a feel for how Houselander developed her ministry and philosophy over time. The brief introductions for each chapter and excerpt placed the works within the context of Houselander's life. There were also a few prints of her woodworking.

When describing one of her visions, Houselander shared how it prompted a new thought on separating the sin from the sinner.

Although it did not prevent me from ever sinning again, it showed me what sin is, especially those done in the name of "love," so often held to be "harmless" -- for to sin with one whom you loved was to blaspheme Christ in that person; it was to spit on Him, perhaps to crucify Him. I saw too the reverence that everyone must have for a sinner; instead of condoning his sin, which is in reality his utmost sorrow, one must comfort Christ who is suffering in him.

It's more than "love the sinner, hate the sin;" loving the sinner includes seeing Christ within the sinner who is suffering from the sin, because the sinner is also suffering from the sin.

Houselander was an artist who manipulated material to create something beautiful. She wrote on the importance of work in human life.

It is a mistake to suppose that work was intended, in the first place, to be a punishment for sin. Work was not introduced into man's life after Adam sinned, but before, at the time when Adam's whole life was an uninterrupted awareness of Gods [sic] presence, and his uninterrupted delight was a continual contemplation of God's goodness, beauty and love. Work was given to him as one means to that contemplation.

After World War I, Houselander wrote for the Catholic Evidence Guild, an organization evangelizing in England.

Talking and especially talking about God, is an art. In common with every other art it requires skill and skill is acquired only by constant effort, patience and humility, throughout a lifetime.

Caryll Houselander argues that the evangelist should not merely learn by rote or trick, words to throw out into the world (or at a person), in order to convince him or her to convert to the Catholic faith.

All too often it does degenerate into an argument, even into a kind of sport, in which the real issue, the search for truth is lost, and such petty things as scoring points, having the last-word, saying the unanswerable prevails.

More than anything, Houselander argues, the evangelist should be humble and approach sharing the faith in that frame of humility.

Then the Second World War overshadowed everything in England. In letters written early in the war, Houselander grapples with how to live as a Christian in a dark and scary world. I loved these so much, I chose a few pages to copy and include in First Son's history binder for his study of World War II in Level 4 (eighth grade).

If we are ever to come back to the lovely morning of Christianity, we must not do it by waiting for the war to end, it has to be done now, through love. If each individual can put into her personal life an unstinted absolute love -- then already out of the dark days Christ will be reborn.

In a later essay, Houselander discussed the War specifically and suffering in general as a way to participate in the suffering of Christ.

So whatever part each of you plays in the war, it must be done only as a channel through which love is poured. Love alone, love only, can save us from being swamped and swept away by the evil passions that war must let loose -- hate, fear, despair.

And love can and will save the world, because this war is Christ's Passion in us, and if we dare now to act by faith and to pledge ourselves to let His love be as strong in us as His pain is, then it will bear fruit, in proportion to its magnitude of grief. 

During the Battle for Britain, when Germany's planes rained death and destruction from the skies onto the cities and the innocent lives, it was only by extreme and explicit effort that people could protect their hearts and souls from a devouring hate for the enemy. Houselander explored how that might be accomplished.

It comes to this, the sight of suffering inflicted on innocent people fills us with a kind of violent energy, and energy can very easily turn to hate, but if we like we can turn it to love instead. And that can be done in the simplest way possible; instead of working ourselves up into a fury and exhausting the extra energy we have got, we can spend it in doing something to relieve the suffering that provoked it. 

She encouraged people to sacrifice themselves. These acts of sacrificial love allowed her to focus on loving others rather than hating the enemy.

What we shall be asked to give is our flesh and blood, our daily life -- our thoughts, our service to one another, our affections and loves, our words, our intellect, our waking, working, and sleeping, our ordinary human joys and sorrows -- to God.

Though Houselander never married, she shared a home with a child, her goddaughter. What she learned in caring for an infant and young child shaped her later years and understanding of living a life of Christ.

The ultimate miracle of Divine Love is this, that the life of the Risen Lord is given to us to give to one another. It is given to us through our own human loves. It is no violation of our simple human nature. It is not something which must be cultivated through a lofty spirituality that only few could attain; it does not demand a way of life that is abnormal, or even unusual; it is not a specialized vocation. it is to be lived at home, at work, in any place, any circumstances. It is to be lived through our natural human relationships, through the people we know, the neighbors we see. It is given to us, if we will take it, literally into our own hands to give.

Wright chose a wonderful paragraph for the last one in the book.

Truth is not something that can be learnt out of a book, or possessed like a tea-cosy, a family heirloom, or a cat. It is something which must be gradually learnt and understood and known more and more, and it can only be known by continual personal experience. This seeking for truth is, for the Catholic too, in spite of the great help of the Sacraments, a reaching out into the darkness for the hand of God, a listening in the silence for the heartbeat of God. For Truth is not a formula or a penny Catechism, it is a Person who can only be known through personal contact and of whom knowledge is inexhaustible: Truth is Christ.

I enjoyed reading more of Caryll Houselander's work. This book was an excellent edition of her writings with just a little from a variety of sources. It was a pleasure, too, to read letters to her friends and those seeking her advice. Personal letters have a sense of intimacy not found in published work as well as thoughtfulness missing in today's world of electronic communications.

January 2015 Book Report

It's a little worrisome to see how long the list of books I am currently reading looks compared to the list of books I managed to finish in January (especially since the finished list includes one middle grade fiction, two young adult fiction, one middle grade biography, and a book of comedy of the six I read). A good bit of my reading time has been consumed by Bleak House which is time well spent. I just haven't finished it yet.

No Other Story by Dr. Cuthbert Soup, the third in the Whole Nother Story series was a pre-read for First Son. It's silly and ridiculous and I think he'll love it. First Daughter could probably read it, too. It'll be on their lists for next summer (after fifth grade and after second grade). (library copy)

The Song of the Quarkbeast: The Chronicles of Kazam, Book 2 by Jasper Fforde is the second book in his young adult series. I enjoy everything I read by Fforde and this was no exception. (library copy)

The Joy of the Gospel by Pope Francis (a review for Blogging for Books, found here)

Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia by Margaret Cousins is a book First Son started this month in our American history studies. It's one of the Landmark books and an engaging biography of Ben Franklin. Even First Son admitted it was more enjoyable than he expected. It's such a shame our modern times have trained us to be distrustful of people who love children. There was one whole chapter that had me squirming in my seat as it described how Ben Franklin would invite children to his house and play with them. Rightfully or not, it all seems so inappropriate now. First Son, however, will read that chapter as it was meant, as an encouragement and inspiration. (purchased copy)

The Giver by Lois Lowry, a book I read and reviewed last year and back in 2011. I was asked to review it for another site and meant to just write a brief review on what I remembered, but I couldn't resist reading the whole book again. If you have not read this book, please do. (library copy)

Food: A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan - review found here. Kansas Dad and I bought this book for my dad for Christmas and I think he'll love it. (library copy)


Books in Progress (and date started)

• Open Mind, Faithful Heart by Pope Francis (January 2014) 
• The Education Of Catholic Girls by Janet Erskine Stuart (February 2014)
• Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol 2 (sixth edition) (August 2014)
• The Little Oratory: A Beginner's Guide to Praying in the Home by David Clayton and Leila Marie Lawler (September 2014)
• The Bible Compass: A Catholic's Guide to Navigating the Scriptures by Edward Sri (September 2014)
• The Religious Potential of the Child: Experiencing Scripture and Liturgy with Young Children by Sofia Cavaletti (September 2014, with a book club at our parish)
• Good Poems ed by Garrison Keillor (October 2014) 
• Bleak House by Charles Dickens (January 2015)
• Happy Times in Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren
• Evangelizing Catholics: A Mission Manual for the New Evangelization by Scott Hahn (January 2015, with our adult education class at our parish)
• For the Children's Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay (January 2015, with my Start Here book club)

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Book Review: The Joy of the Gospel

The Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Gaudium) by Pope Francis
Forward by Robert Barron
Afterward by James Martin, SJ

In this encyclical, Pope Francis calls us all to live the Gospel and proclaim it in our daily lives. It's easy to forget that call, given I am not a missionary in a foreign country (or even in an under-served area of our own country).

Before all else, the Gospel invites us to respond to the God of love who saves us, to see God in others and to go forth from ourselves to seek the good of others.

The Pope reminds us that the very joy we ourselves find in the Gospel, in the saving message of Christ's resurrection and in the love of God for each of us, calls us out of ourselves. If we are truly joyful, then we want nothing more than continuously sharing that joy.

In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the people of God have become missionary disciples (cf. Mt 28:19). All the baptized, whatever their position in the Church or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelization...

I didn't really need to read The Joy of the Gospel to be convinced I should be proclaiming the Good News (though a gentle and encouraging reminder is not unwelcome), but it's difficult to know how I, a homeschooling mother in rural Kansas, should be sharing the Gospel.

Today, as the Church seeks to experience a profound missionary renewal, there is a kind of preaching which falls to each of us as a daily responsibility. It has to do with bringing the Gospel to the people we meet, whether they be our neighbors or complete strangers...Being a disciple means being constantly ready to bring the love of Jesus to others, and this can happen unexpectedly and in any place: on the street, in a city square, during work, on a journey.

While reading this book, I found myself wondering what I could be doing with all the little opportunities God is presenting to me each day, in speaking with our children, in teaching Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, in the relationships we are developing with other members of our parish. How can I reach out to others in mutual celebration or to share with someone new?

The text of the Pope's encyclical is available for free online at the Vatican website, so I thought I should comment on the book itself in this review. This is a lovely little hardcover book printed on quality paper. It's the right size for slipping into a bag or purse for adoration reading or to keep in the car (and the text can be read in small bits quite easily).

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are my own.