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Catholicism: A Journey To The Heart Of The Faith (2011)

by Robert E. Barron(Favorite Author)

4.54 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0307720519 (ISBN13: 9780307720511)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

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review 1: There have been a lot of books written on the history of Catholicism or on certain aspects of our Catholic faith. Yet few books have been written that describe the essence of what it is to be Catholic--yet even fewer that have done it quite as well--as Fr. Barron in "atholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith." The book is the popular video series boiled down to a readable format. I found it very enjoyable, very easy to read and has spawned a sudden interest in exploring more about the life of modern day theologian Thomas Merton
review 2: “It has been said that the healthiest spiritual people are those who have the strongest sense of the difference between themselves and God.”-Fr. Barron in Catholicism: Journey to the Heart of FaithI thought I woul... mored do an interesting twist and contrast a recent movie with this book of colossal meaning .Mr. BanksVSFr. Robert BarronA Sad Mr. BanksThe other night my wife and I watched Saving Mr. Banks. We thought it was going to be a fun movie about how they made Mary Poppins. Instead it ended up being (I’ll try not to make this too much of a spoiler) a somber movie about the sufferings of the author, which shocked us, especially since it was a Disney film. I was deeply moved by the story (some friends tease me about my easy sentimentality and reading into movies).I don’t want to spoil the story for those of you who have not seen it, as you should see it. So let me just give the bare bones of it. The movie shares the traumatic experience of being the child of an alcoholic. Out of the traumatic pain an unlikely fruit was brought. For the character and author, Pamela Travers, the fruit was a book which touched Walt Disney and many others: Mary Poppins. Walt Disney pestered her for 20 years to get it made into a movie; she thought he would not honor her characters. Finally she consented desperate for money to keep her home; the conflict within Pamela Travers then is how to honor her characters, which are for the most part images from her past, on screen. It is as if she hoped writing the book would redeem her from the pain of her past. It did not. The movie also takes on the hope of such a redemptive role. In the end, she does find healing, but there is still a hole not completely filled. I took away a couple themes from this film.The first is: we all experience pain in life on some level, but what can we do about it? In the movement of the story, Disney says he cannot change her pain, but shares with Travers his own painful upbringing, stating how he was grateful still for is father who caused it. There is a quote, whose author I cannot recall, but makes the point along the lines of: if we all placed our problems in a pile and were allowed to choose a different one, we would gladly take ours back once we saw other peoples. Why is this? Because God gives us the grace to handle our own particular problems. Disney exemplifies to Travers how he made the most of his struggles. Pamela Travers in her turn also found an outlet for her pain: in writing. In a sense the message of the film is that pain can be transformed to hope through story.The second theme builds off of and contradicts the first so you have to dig deeper for it: the lack of a permanent redemptive solution through our own measures. Travers’ writing of Mary Poppins is an attempt to reshape her painful childhood into a hopeful future, and the making of it into a film is cathartic for her, but in the end there is an essence of failure which no telling of her past can cure. I suppose Disney is depicted as saving Mr. Banks (a.k.a. her father) through the making of Mary Poppins (thereby ending with a Mr. Banks flying a kite with his children), but the reality remains that Travers still feels the pain and woe of not having done more for her real father. It is discouraging to see she could do nothing to overcome his disease. And for herself there is no clear change at the closing of the film either. In the end she is as lonely as ever—granted a more healed loneliness, but still lonely.I have not quite made my mind up about the themes—the idea of literature being a beauty born from pain and leading to redemption. I will leave some room for interpretation to you. I think story does in some form take on a redemptive quality. We would not listen to or watch them if it were not so. To quote Walt from the movie, he says, “We write stories in order to keep hope alive.” And in a sense this is true, but I feel like if Disney and his Disneyland are the models of such hope they are rather shallow—over when we leave the theater or the amusement park. I do believe literature and story are a transformation of pain into something beautiful, but I do not know if in and of itself it becomes redemptive. I do however know of one such story that is…The Hope All Other Stories Keep AliveEnter then a booming story. The myth which is Truth, as Tolkien used to tell C.S. Lewis: the story of Christ. Fr. Robert Barron in delightful detail recaptures the truth in his book, Catholicism: Journey to the Heart of Faith. Again and again he is able to bring the beautiful and extravagant history of the Church back to one thing: the relationship with Christ. He weaves together the life of Christ with the centuries of the Church so we as readers capture afresh in our minds the footsteps of Christ throughout the workings of Catholicism.Perhaps you have heard of the film series, Catholicism, well did you know he also wrote a book of the same content? I would like to tell you why I think the book adds to the videos and what makes the book an invaluable companion, like glowing pages for the bookshelf of your intellect to stay lighted by.Something about the concrete touch of the book is irreplaceable. A vast number of stunning pictures cover the pages and the words are a treasure trove of wisdom you will want to highlight and underline ( I know I did!). Catholicism, by Fr. Barron, who has quickly risen as one of the most comprehensive minds of the Church; with keen and moving insights into the Catholic Faith. Combine his brilliance and the wealth of Catholic doctrine and you have a book masterfully composed to accompany you on your journey into the heart of Catholic belief.If you are like me, you learn differently through different venues. I learned from the films visually; I loved the imagery of the films and highly recommend them, but the book is more personal. I feel I can absorb the truth in a more intimate communication between God, myself, and Fr. Barron.The way the story of Christ is told, as a continuing thread of Catholic history through the centuries, is done in writing simple and clear to understand. Fr. Barron does not write to manifest his own mastery of the Catholic ideas and philosophies, but instead portrays it all in a way showing us the magnificence of God and the Church. He is the offshoot, in wit and telling of the faith, of the much loved Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Read this book. It will change you. It will show you Christ and the hope He gives to our lives in a new light. Fr. Barron makes it a very real hope going beyond any other story, one which we can partake in through living out our Catholic faith. The pain of Travers and Disney, as well as our own, does indeed become redeemed through the story of Christ.Was it a coincidence that I was reading this book at the time I watched Saving Mr. Banks? No. It was a grace. A grace to be reminded that we all can find a story of complete redemption. The greatest story ever told. The story of Christ and His Church. And it just so happens we are remembering and celebrating it this week.I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review. less

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