Religion High School

The clever, user-friendly layout of this book makes it very practical! In the introduction, author Dave Armstrong explains that he hopes to empower Catholics to be able to defend their faith with the aid of this book: I believe the book is capable of doing just that!

Starting a with a Protestant objection to a Catholic teaching, each double page provides a solid explanation of the problems with each objection, supported amply with bible verses. Then a common Protestant follow-up argument follows under the heading A Protestant Might Further Object, followed by the author's counter-replies. At the end a supporting quote, usually from a protestant author, is added.

High School students would benefit from this book when studying Apologetics! Topics are divided into sections such as Scripture, the Sacraments, the Church, Salvation, Mary and the Saints, and more.

Passing along to others the concept of such an incredibly personal and delicate matter as the value of suffering can be extremely difficult. It's so easy to come across as heavy-handed, trite or condescending - and many materials do! Here is it presented a loving and very gentle way by means of Our Lady. Mary brought Christ to the world through her faith, love and humility and we are called to do the same. Here are a few quotes to give you the flavor of it:

Sometimes it may seem to us that there is no purpose in our lives, that going day after day for years to this office or that school or factory is nothing else but waste and weariness. But it may be that God has sent us there because but for us Christ would not be there. If our being there means that Christ is there, that alone makes it worthwhile. (pg. 60)

We must be swift to obey the winged impulses of His Love, carrying Him to wherever He longs to be; and those who recognise His presence will be stirred, like Elizabeth with new life. They will know His presence, not by any special beauty or power shown by us, but in the way that the bud knows the presence of the light, by an unfolding in themselves, a putting forth of their own beauty.

It seems that this is Christ’s favourite way of being recognised, that He prefers to be known, not by His own human features, but by the quickening of His own life int he heart, which is the response to His coming. (pgs. 62-63)

If such is the beauty of the world to ordinary children, what must it have been to the Mother of God, when her whole being was folded upon the unborn Christ within her?

He was completely her own, utterly dependent upon her: she was His food and warmth and rest, His shelter from the world, His shade in the Sun. She was the shrine of the Sacrament, the four walls and the roof of His home.

Yet she must have longed to hold Him between her hands and to look into His human face and to see in it, in the face of God, a family likeness to herself

Think of that! But perhaps you cannot, unless you happen to be a young priest newly ordained, waiting for the moment when you will hold in your hands the first Host that you have consecrated at your first Mass.

…

Each work of her hands prepared His hands a little more for the nails; each breath that she drew counted one more to His last.

In giving life to Him she was giving Him death.

All other children born must inevitably die; death belongs to fallen nature; the mother’s gift to the child is life.

But Christ is life; death did not belong to Him.

In fact, unless Mary would give Him death, He could not die.

Unless she would give Him the capacity for suffering, He could not suffer.

He could only feel cold and hunger and thirst if she gave Him her vulnerability to cold and hunger and thirst.

He could not know the indifference of friends or treachery or the bitterness of being betrayed unless she gave Him a human mind and a human heart.

That is what it meant to Mary to give human nature to God.

He was invulnerable; He asked her for a body to be wounded.

He was joy itself; He asked her to give Him tears.

He was God; He asked her to make Him man.

He asked for hands and feet to be nailed.

He asked for flesh to be scourged.

He asked for blood to be shed.

He asked for a heart to be broken. (pgs. 72-73)

If Christ is formed of our lives, it means that He will suffer in us. Or, more truly, we will suffer in Him.

“And He was made man.”

Our Lady saw at once what was meant in her case: supernaturally, He was made herself.

If He is made man in you, He will be made you; in me, me.

It is extremely difficult to lay hold of this fact. It is very hard not to think of a kind of mystical Christ just beside us, or just in front of us, suffering with infinite patience and joy, being obedient, humble, persevering, fulfilling His Father’s will.

It is really difficult to realise that if He is formed in our life we are not beside Him but in Him; and what He asks of us is to realise that it is actually in what we do that He wants to act and to suffer. (pgs. 76-77)

I read this on retreat about a month ago (a silent, Ignatian retreat and my first retreat in 20 years – it was wonderful!) because my spiritual director had recommended it and I loved how perfectly it tied into the talks on the spiritual exercises and the book I happened to be reading alongside it – Does Jesus Know Us? Do We Know Him? by Hans Urs Von Balthasar.

This is the intriguing and classic story of Artaban, the "other" wise man who searches for Jesus his whole life while "foolishly" spending his treasures - which had been intended as a gift for the newborn king - on the poor and needy. A beautiful and touching story, it is quite short, but the vocabulary is challenging enough to be appropriate for upper grade school or high school

This is a beautiful and helpful little book that explains and elucidates on the Cardinal Virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance) and Theological Virtues (faith, hope and charity) in a helpful and accessible way. The idea is to examine and understand the idea of trying to live a virtuous life in a day and age in which "virtuous" is practically an insult.

Each virtue is covered in a chapter of about 15-20 pages. Each virtue is explained in practical and spiritual terms and with clear distinctions made between the natural and supernatural manifestations of each virtue. Each chapter concludes with a set of discussion/reflection questions and a prayer.

Father is a great story teller and uses this ability to great effect in helping the reader understand these ideas. The book is engaging, relevant and (a great virtue in itself!) short.

Here is a brief excerpt from the chapter on Fortitude:

Pope John Paul II was a seminarian in Poland during the days of Nazi occupation. Had he been found out, it would have meant death or transferal to a slave labor camp. Throughout his life he remained an example of courage. Courage means strength or fortitude in danger, but also in the daily round and challenges of life. It might take more courage just to get up on certain days than it would to face a great danger. Difficulties, setbacks, misunderstandings, failures, deep hurts - all of these requrie coraggio.

This moral virtue is recognized and admired by all people. Every nation that has grown, developed, and made its mark on history has had its heroes and stories of courage. One of the signs of a society in decline, like our own, is the absence of admiration for people of courage. Our country was founded by men who said in effect, "Either we hang together or we will hang alone." Signers of the Declaration of Independence were ipso facto traitors to the British crown, to which they owed allegiance. Had htey been arrested, they would have been liable to death.

...

Sadly, we don't admire courage much anymore in our country. There is no message of courage. The Vietnam War memorial in Washington shows three soldiers with terror written on their faces. Older war memorials show courage. It is a natural virtue that makes people willing to face extreme danger or to endure great difficulty over a long period of time in order to accomplish a decent goal they have set for themselves. It is to be distinguished from bravado, or foolhardiness, which characterizes a selfish, egotistical goal.

This is an excellent book for Catholics looking to live out their faith more fully. It's particularly designed for a small discussion group and would be suitable for older teens as well as adults.