January 2012: Book Review
Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith
by Fr. Robert Barron
Book Review by Eileen Love
As I write this, it is January, the month of fresh starts and predictable commitments to improvement. Here is a suggestion. If you don’t already know speaker, scholar, theologian, and author Fr. Robert Barron, get to know him. Do it this year. He is one of today’s premier evangelists, appearing on television, in print, and giving lectures all over the world. Many know him through his Word on Fire website and many more are coming to know of him through the critically acclaimed series “Catholicism”.
Catholicism, the book, encapsulates much of what is in the DVD series. But because you can hold it in your hand, it is like a companion you can sit with and revisit the things deep in your heart. His love – yes, love – and respect for the reader comes through. Of course Fr. Barron is not the first Catholic author to produce a work that is clearly a labor of love, but his is one that speaks to this generation in a particularly inspiring and relevant way. Not since Fulton Sheen has a man emerged with a clearer mission to modern day evangelization.
Through this commitment to the reader, the author is a friend in the truest sense. His aim is to help you become a better version of yourself by becoming a more passionate Christian. He writes of the loftiest things in language that is at once everyday familiar and otherworldly beautiful.
With every turn of the page it is Christmas morning again, one fabulous surprise after another. Fr. Barron takes the reader on a sort of pilgrimage through Catholicism’s key sites. But since he is transformed himself, the electricity of belief courses through his whole being and so his explanation of the faith is not some dusty museum tour, but rather an engaging and reflective exploration of the sacred truths. In the tradition of a “kneeling theologian” he is not just academically oriented but spiritually insightful.
In the book’s Introduction, Robert Barron says he would like to function
…as a mystagogue, conducting you ever deeper into the mystery of the Incarnation in the hopes that you might be transformed by its power…the truth of Catholicism is best appreciated from within the confines of the Church, just as the windows of a cathedral…shine in all their splendor when viewed from the inside. I want to take you deep into the cathedral of Catholicism, because I am convinced the experience will change and enhance your life. (Catholicism, pg. 5)
In that “cathedral” Fr. Barron will point out the significance of historical events, especially the mystery and miracle of the Incarnation. He will introduce you to some great saints, especially the Blessed Virgin Mary and expound on prayer and worship in the Christian life. Because he has the soul of a poet, all these truths will be communicated in a language that soars and swirls and sings its way into your heart.
This book is for people who think they are atheists but whose minds might just be open a crack as well as for Catholics whose engines have died and need a jumpstart back to life. Perhaps most of all, it is for committed Catholics who will appreciate the apologetics Fr. Barron offers in solidly crafted arguments that appeal to the intellect as well as the heart.
For Endow women who embrace that head and heart model of learning, Catholicism will be enjoyed for the encouragement it offers as well as for the help it gives in articulating well the truths of the faith. And reading Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith will do something else: it will get your new year off to the best possible start.