Arts

Back to the church

{mosimage}The Longest Trip Home: A Memoir , by John Grogan (Harper Collins, 352 pages, hardcover, $27.95).

John Grogan, author of the bestselling Marley and Me, about his dysfunctional but loveable family pet, has just published a second book, The Longest Trip Home. This time he writes about his life, about growing up Catholic near Detroit and about discovering who he is as an adult and parent. 

Vampires made real

{mosimage}The Twilight series of books may not have sold as many copies as the Harry Potter series over the past decade, but it certainly seems to be taking its place as the new literary candy.

Twilight did however, sell more copies in Canada this past year than Harry Potter books sold during 2007 — the year of the final Harry Potter book release — although the growing fame is where the comparison should stop. Twilight is a different kind of story altogether.

A Christian's pain can be life-giving

{mosimage}With the Dawn Rejoicing: A Christian Perspective on Pain and Suffering by Melannie Svoboda, SND (Novalis, 138 pages, softcover, $14.95).

Each of us has experienced pain in some way. We may have lost a loved one or seen a loved one suffer. Perhaps we have been injured or fallen sick. Or maybe we have struggled with uncertainty, broken relationships or disappointments. When such hardships come upon us we often find ourselves asking, “Why is this happening?” At times we may ask, “Why has God let this happen?” or “Where is God in all of this?”

We can't compromise on violence

{mosimage}Put Down Your Sword: Answering the Gospel Call to Creative Non-Violence , by John Dear S.J., (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, softcover, 216 pages, $18.50).

The title of Fr. John Dear’s latest book comes from Jesus’ instruction to Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane as He was being arrested. Dear makes the point that Jesus’ call to “Put down your sword!” is particularly significant to us today. They were the last words Jesus spoke to His assembled disciples — to the church. The disciples all ran away at that point and the other, more famous last words of Christ were in truth spoken to others.

It's all about Anne

{mosimage}Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession, by Anne Rice (Knopf Canada, hardcover, 256 pages, $29.95).

Anne Rice is famous — or perhaps infamous, depending on your point of view — for a string of darkly gothic vampire novels. Her first and probably most famous, Interview with a Vampire, was made into a major motion picture in 1994. 

A self-declared atheist for most of her adult life, after a lengthy personal and spiritual journey, she returned to her roots in the Catholic Church in 1998. A few years later she announced she would never again write about vampires and redirected her literary energies towards what she has called “Christian literature.”  She has since produced two novels about the life of Jesus (Out of Egypt and The Road to Cana in her “Christ the Lord” series). Her latest book is Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession — an autobiographic account of her spiritual journey back to the church.

Mining the minds of ancient monks

{mosimage}TORONTO - Before the Seven Deadly Sins there were the Eight Bad Thoughts. This was the name given by the Desert Fathers of the early church to that swirl of temptations by which the devil sought to drive a wedge between them and God.

Acedia, anger and pride — these were the worst of the eight, thought those proto-monks. They were powerful urges that could drive a spiritual seeker to abandon the quest, give up on holiness and give in to despair.

Christianity's bright lights

{mosimage}Northern Lights: An Anthology of Contemporary Christian Writing in Canada, ed. by Byron Rempel-Burkholder and Dora Dueck (Wiley, 260 pages, $24.95 paperback).

I have sometimes thought that faith works in our lives like the lens of a camera, capturing and framing events and emotions as they are in motion, bringing stillness to the moment and finding God in the detail of the encounter.

At other times I am certain that faith does its best work in hindsight and retrospection, discerning meaning and mission.

Rediscovering the Bible

{mosimage}Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM. (St. Anthony Messenger Press, 238 pages, soft cover, $19.95).

If ever there was a “Bible Year for Catholics,” surely it must be this year. Bishops from around the world have just finished meeting with Pope Benedict in Rome to discuss the place of Scripture in Catholic life and prayer. Throughout the Catholic world we are dedicating this year to St. Paul, the “Apostle to the Nations.” And into the marketplace for Scripture-centred books comes a familiar (and yet unexpected) figure: Franciscan Father Richard Rohr.

Innocence among the horror

{mosimage}As an eight-year-old boy begins to ask questions about the “farmers” he can see through his bedroom window, the atrocities of the Holocaust start to unravel in a touching and dramatic tale.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a great movie that brings a fresh look at the degradation of Nazi concentration camp prisoners through the eyes of a German child. This powerful film is definitely worth seeing.

Debunking the Pius XII myths

{mosimage}As this year marks the 50th anniversary of Pope Pius XII’s death, the release of A Hand of Peace: Pope Pius XII & The Holocaust is timely for yet another reason. With accusations, past and present, that the late pope did nothing to help Jews during the Holocaust, Salt + Light Television’s documentary dispels the rumours and provides historical accounts of the real story behind Pius’ actions.

“Working on this project the past two years has been an eye-opening experience,” said David Naglieri, the film’s writer and producer. “I came to understand that the black legend surrounding Pope Pius XII is, in fact, founded upon distortion and lies and that Pius XII was directly responsible for saving tens of thousands of Jews.”

Kung vs. the Vatican: who really won?

{mosimage}Hans Kung: Disputed Truth, Memoirs II, by Hans Kung (Novalis, 556 pages, $37.95 hardcover).

After his highly publicized dinner meeting with Pope Benedict XVI on Sept. 24, 2005, the world wondered whether a “tamer” Hans Kung — a more benign, less pugnacious public theologian — would emerge. And, in fact, all was smiles and mutual compliments afterwards.

Toronto teacher short-listed for Giller prize

{mosimage}TORONTO - Catholic high school teacher Anthony de Sa is receiving high marks for his first book of short stories. It’s been short-listed for the lucrative Giller Prize.

The 40-year-old father of three and head of the English department at Toronto’s Father John Redmond Catholic High School said he was completely caught off guard when he heard the news in early October.

Story seen through wrong eyes

{mosimage}Cibou: A Novel by Susan Young De Biagi (Cape Breton University Press, softcover, 256 pages, $19.95).

In her back cover biography, Susan Young De Biagi claims no Mi’kmaq ancestry. Yet the Cape Breton native, who has a master’s degree in history from the University of New Brunswick, has an obvious, abiding interest in the indigenous people of her home province. She has brought both these things to her first novel, Cibou (the territory her fictional Mi’kmaq inhabit) and puts her abilities as a historian to particularly good use.