MarkForBlogFirst off, I want to thank the Catholic Herald once again for giving me a place to write this blog and everybody that took the time to read my first entry that was posted last week. This is a great opportunity to shed some light on the library, both the wonders contained within the collection and also events/additions that are forthcoming.

Recently, my first Salzmann Selections article ran in the Catholic Herald, a little blurb about Easter and some of the books we have here on the Easter season. I was very proud of it, and of course made sure my parents read it and saved their copy. However, I was brought back to earth (probably for the better) a little bit when my aunt, after reading it, had the comments of “Why don’t you give us a book review?” Well, trying to explain that I have a limited amount of words didn’t seem to help, she was adamant about a book review. 

So here I have a book review for you, one I just finished this past week, “Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration by Pope Benedict XVI.” Now, as some of you may know, I am a little behind in my reading, “Jesus of Nazareth part 2: from the entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection” was released in March. However, I finally finished reading Pope Benedict’s first book, and I really enjoyed it.

Written partly in response to all of these scholars trying to determine who the “original” Jesus was or what he actually said, Pope Benedict takes his own look into what the Gospels write. Pope Benedict tries to show that what Jesus is saying and doing is directly tied into the Old Testament, that as the Pope mentions repeatedly, he is the “new Moses,” the “new Torah,” and he has come to fulfill the promise of salvation.

One of the more interesting parts for me was his discussion of the Sermon on the Mount, when Pope Benedict relies heavily on a book written by the acclaimed Jewish scholar Jacob Neusner. This book, entitled “A Rabbi Talks with Jesus,” is Neusner picturing himself sitting at the Sermon on the Mount, listening to what Jesus is saying, and asking questions of him in return. One other key note, which Pope Benedict addresses in the beginning of the book, is that this is his own quest to find the “real” Jesus, and you see it in his writing. He lots of times will present several different schools of thoughts on topics, and then say which one he finds correct. There are lots of uses of “My thoughts…” and “I think…” throughout this book; one gains a little insight into the Pope himself when reading through this. I enjoyed this book, and think that many of you will enjoy it, too, if you have not read it already.

If you have any ideas and comments for things I could change, please let me know. These are always appreciated, anything I can do to make this better I will strive my best to accomplish. I continue to look forward to bringing you information about the library, both news and updates, as well as interesting new books that we might have received or I have read.

Here is some of the basic information about the library:

  • Our standard hours are Tuesdays, Thursdays, 12 to 8 p.m.
    Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Our address is 3257 S. Lake Dr. St. Francis, WI 53235, right next to Henni Hall, due west of the South Parking Lot.
  • The library’s phone number is (414) 747-6479. If you would like to contact me through email, it is mschrauth@sfs.edu.
  • There is free Wi-Fi available.

So, come in and check us out – everybody is welcome.