Without further ado, August’s book of the month… “The Strangest Way: Walking the Christian Path” by Fr. Robert Barron. Published a decade ago, shortly after starting “Word on Fire Catholic Ministries” but before his WordonFire.org website became popular, this book won the 2003 Catholic Press Association Book Award.
“Is Christianity a bland, domesticated religion, unthreatening and easy to grasp? Or is it the most exotic, unexpected, and uncanny of religious paths? For the mystics and saints – and for Fr. Robert Barron who discovered Christianity through them – it is surely the strangest way. “At its very center, ” writes Barron, “is a God who comes after us with a reckless abandon, breaking open his own heart in love in order to include us in the rhythm of his own life.” What could be more compelling?”-excerpt taken from the Amazon.com book description.?
Fr. Barron breaks down the pursuit of Christ into three paths…finding the center, knowing you’re a sinner, and realizing your life is not about you. These are not easy paths! But Fr. Barron does a good job for each path explaining what he means by these paths, as well as taking a look at what some of the heavyweights of the church have had to say on the issues. After explaining the path, Fr. Barron spends some time then giving practices for how one can better follow each path, which I found very helpful and tied together the philosophical aspect of his chapters.?
This is not a long book, approximately 170 pages, but it is an intriguing book, and has definitely made me take a harder look at myself, and how I can better follow these own paths in my life. As the philosophical aspects are not that intense (I am not good at philosophy and I was able to follow where he was taking me), I recommend the book for anybody looking to “walk the Christian path.”
As always, if you have any ideas and comments for things I could change, please let me know. If you have any books that you have read or have read the books I mention, please leave a comment. We here at Salzmann also want to know what people are reading. Comments are always appreciated – anything I can do to make this better I will strive my best to accomplish.
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