Summer Reading List 2021

Wisdom from the Psalms
Peter Kreeft
The Psalms are the most popular, most universally loved and used book in the Bible, which in turn is the most popular book in the world. They are hymns, songs, poems and prayers, both formal (liturgical and communal) and informal (spontaneous, personal, and individual); and this gives them many layers of meaning rather than one, unlike theologies and creeds.

They Psalms are literally inexhaustible, so a new book of reflections on them is always welcome. Especially a book by the beloved, widely read, best-selling author and philosopher, Peter Kreeft.

In this work Kreeft shares his personal explorations into the riches of the Psalms, his profound expeditions into this deep ocean of the divinely inspired spiritual water. He focuses on the dozen or so Psalms that are most people’s favorites, including Kreeft.

Kreeft says that the Pslams are powerful prayers, and a spiritual weapon that God himself has given us for our great task of spiritual warfare, which is human life on earth.

Salt and Light: The Spiritual Journey of Elizabeth and Felix Leseur
Bernadette Chovelon
Élisabeth and Félix Leseur began their life together in France as a carefree young couple with a bright future ahead of them. They were beautifully and compatibly matched, except for one major difference – Élisabeth was a devout Catholic, but Félix was a firmly decided atheist. As they faced the seasons of life together, their relationship was tested, and both were called to deep spiritual transformation.

Out of love for her husband, Élisabeth spent her life offering her many sufferings for the sake of his conversion. After her death, and in response to the profound love he encountered in her writings, Félix converted and offered the rest of his life to God as a Dominican priest.

This biography is a lovely narrative of their marriage and the transformative power of God’s love and grace in their lives.

The Contemplative Hunger
Fr. Donald Haggerty
A soul desiring to give itself in love to God faces great challenges that require understanding and some encouraging advice. Written in a style of short and effective meditations on prayer and contemplative spirituality, the concise reflections in this book address the heart of a soul’s interior response to God. God’s desire to draw souls to a deeper gift of themselves is inseparable from his desire to draw them into a deeper encounter with the sacred mystery of his presence.

Offering an abundance of insights into the value of silence, deep faith, trust and interior surrender to God, Father Haggerty also illumines the link between contemplation and love for poverty and the poor, and makes a strong appeal to the importance of prayer as the primary answer to the crisis of faith that afflicts so many people today.

Rethinking Mary in the New Testament
Edward Sri
Catholics and non-Catholics alike may be tempted to assume they already know everything there is to know about Mary. Whatever your degree of knowledge and personal devotion to the Mother of God, this book will help you see Mary with new eyes and greater appreciation.

Renowned author and theologian Edward Sri deftly leads the reader through a detailed study of Scripture and makes insightful connections to deepen and transform our understanding of Jesus’s Mother. Readable, compelling, and inspiring, this book will renew your vision so that you, too, can rethink Mary – the Mother of God and our mother.

Knowing the Love of God
Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.
In this collection of retreat talks, the beloved Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., gives us a blueprint for progress in the spiritual life. He particularly focuses on the goal of life as supernatural life and love, the obstacles in life brought about by evil and sin, Our Lord and His redemptive work as the source of the spiritual life, how mortification and acceptance of our crosses help us resist sin, and conformity to Christ by prayer and devotion to Mary.