The Lay Spirituality of St. Josemaría Escrivá
Malcolm M. Kennedy
Scepter Press
ASIN B06XBXWG51
This booklet is now available in a new eBook format. It has been completely redone and is a wonderful little gem. I believe that there were originally just over 200 booklets in the series that were available in English and it is a great blessing that they are being made available again. I do not know if Malcom M. Kennedy wrote any other booklets in this series but this one is a great little read.
The chapters in this booklet are:
Introduction
Opus Dei is born
A hunted priest
Human and supernatural
Work not an obstacle
Jesus the artisan
A triple dimension
A clerical misunderstanding
God plays with his children
To be little
Fires of hope
Homily: Passionately Loving the World
About Scepter
The first part of the book is part history of Opus Dei, Part biography of St. Josemaria Escriva and a bit of personal reflection from the author. The second part of the book is one of Saint Josemaria's homilies, Passionately Loving the World. And together the 42 pages in this volume bring encouragement, and reminders about what we are here, and what our role should be. Here are a few of the sections I highlighted while reading through this book. I hope this sampling will pique your interest in pursuing this read.
"Try to remember what a donkey is like - now that so few of them are left. Not an old, stubborn, vicious one that would give a kick when you least expected, but a young one with his ears up like antennae. He lives on a meagre diet, is hard working and has a quick cheerful trot. There are hundreds of animals more beautiful, more deft and strong. But it was a donkey Christ chose when he presented himself to the people as king in response to their acclamation. For Jesus has no time for calculations, for astuteness, for the cruelty of cold hearts, for attractive but empty beauty. What he likes is the cheerfulness of a young heart, a simple step, a natural voice, clean eyes, attention to his affectionate word of advice. That is how he reigns in the soul."
"No! We cannot lead a double life if we want to be Christians. There is just one life, made of flesh and spirit. And it is this life which has to become, in both soul and body, holy and filled with God. We discover the invisible God in the most visible and material things.
There is no other way. Either we learn to find our Lord in ordinary, everyday life, or else we shall never find Him. That is why I can tell you that our age needs to give back to matter and to the most trivial occurrences and situations their noble and original meaning. It needs to restore them to the service of the Kingdom of God, to spiritualize them, turning them into a means and an occasion for a continuous meeting with Jesus Christ."
"I must finish now. I told you at the beginning that I wanted to announce to you something of the greatness and mercy of God. I think I have done so, in talking to you about sanctifying your everyday life. A holy life in the midst of secular reality, lived without fuss, with simplicity, with truthfulness. Is this not today the most moving manifestation of the magnalia Dei (Sir 18:5), of those prodigious mercies which God has always worked, and does not cease to work, in order to save the world?"
And then the book concludes with these words from Saint Josemaria Escriva: "Faith, finally, my beloved daughters and sons, to show the world that all this is not just ceremonies and words, but a divine reality, by presenting to mankind the testimony of an ordinary life which is made holy, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and of holy Mary."
This is one of the original Scepter booklets; in fact it was booklet 165. It is now available for in a wonderful eBook edition, along with many other booklets from the series. Scepter is in the process of updating all of the old booklets and making them available in a new format and presentation. I have read a number of the booklets and look forward to them all being available again. This book and the whole series are amazing resources to help you grow in your faith. And you really cannot beat the price!
PDF for free from Scepter.
Or Kindle edition for great price.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2017 Catholic Reading Plan!
Scepter Booklets:
5 Steps to a Financially Healthy Marriage - Joseph D. Salem
A New Beginning - Walter Macken
A Plan of Life - Josemaria Escriva
A Profile of St Thomas More - M. Alvarez
A Treasury of Prayers - James W Albrecht
Bright and Cheerful Homes - James Urteaga
Catholic Teachings on Sex - Daryl Glick
Celibacy, Personality and the Gift of Self - John B Torello
Censorship - Cormac Burke
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - Declaration on Certain Questions of Sexual Ethics
Devotion to St. Joseph - F Delclaux
Diary of a City Priest - George William Rutler
Dispositions for Faith - John Henry Newman
Divine Ways on Earth - Cardinal Sergio Pignedoli
Francis Luna - How to Pray
Freedom From What For What - Cormac Burke
Frequent Confession - S Feirgle
How to Pray – Rev. Francis Luna
In Gods House - Paul Nitta
Increase and Multiply - J. A. Garcia-Prieto and J. L. Pastor
Is Purity Possible - JL Soria
Legacy A Story of Generosity - James B Stenson
Life of Faith - Josemaria Escriva
Living in God’s Presence - Francis Luna
Making the Most of Confession - Francis Luna
Marriage in Crisis - Cormac Burke
Montserrat Grases - Mercedes Eguibar
Norms of Piety - JM Muntadas
Novena to St. Josemaria Escriva for Work
Novena to the Immaculate Conception - St Josemaria Escriva
On the Encyclical “The Splendor of the Truth” - Russell Shaw
Order - Joseph L Soria
Parents, Children and The Rules of Life - Cormac Burke
Popular Devotions and Theology - JJ Espinosa
Priests for the New Millennium - John C McCloskey
Reinventing Dad - Denis Helming
Sanctifying Ordinary Work - Andrew Byrne
Scepter Christmas Carols
Seeking Christ in Reading - Rev Eugene Boylan
Sir Thomas More The Making of a Saint - Thomas J. McGovern
Sowing Abundant Doctrine - Joseph A. Vidal
The Angels - Cardinal John Wright
The Apostle Who Couldn't Believe - George Chevrot
The Ark and the Dove - Joseph W. McPherson
The Christian in the World - Russell Shaw
The Donkey at the Waterwheel - Malcolm Kennedy
The Galileo Affair - George Sim Johnston
The Gospel Truth - Michael Giesler
The Laity’s Role in Today’s Church - John Paul II's Christifideles Laici
The Limits of Dissent - John Myers
The Priest and His Image - Alvaro del Portillo
The Reasonableness of Christianity - Peter Kreeft
To Make a Good Retreat - David Chandler
When God Calls - Rev. Federico Suarez
Why Suffer - Mary Ann Budnik
Winning Converts - John McCloskey
With All Your Mind - Rev. Federico Suarez
Women’s Liberation and Feminism - Jutta Burggraf
Work as Fufillment in the thought of John Paul II - John F Cloverdale
…
Older Editions:
A Profile of St Thomas More - M. Alvarez
Diary of a County Priest - George William Rutler
Evangelization in the United States - Fr. C. John McCloskey
Fatherhood - James B. Stenson
How to Pray - Francis Luna
In Gods House - Paul Nitta
Learning to Love – Joe Florez
Marriage God's School of Love - Cormac Burke
Novena to the Inmaculate Conception - St Josemaria Escriva
Preparing for Peer Pressure - James B. Stenson
Qualities of Successful Parents - James B. Stenson
Teaching Maturity - James B. Stenson
The Laity’s Role in Todays Church - Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua
The Nature and Spirit of Opus Dei - Andrew Byrne
The Vocation of a Catholic Teacher - William E. May
What happened to the Glory - Henry Hardinge Menzies
What is Opus Dei - Russell Shaw
With Respect to Sex - Daryl Glick
…
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