The Lenten Bookshelf

Life can get horribly complicated at times and I for one, find it all too easy to get completely wrapped up in the most insignificant of events.

But the season of Lent is the perfect antidote to this kind of 'internal noisiness'. Lent is the time to take a mental step back from the world, look deep into oneself and reflect.

And I find it helps enormously to have some sound religious and spiritual reading material on hand to assist me in this.

These are the items currently sitting on my 'Lenten bookshelf':



1. The Bible - A perpetual source of knowledge, wisdom, inspiration and comfort. Essential reading at all times of the year, but especially leading up to Easter.

2. "St. Therese of Lisieux" by Kathryn Harrison - This is a re-read. Well, actually, it's more like a re-re-re-re-re-read! But I absolutely adore this book. I don't know why or even how I came to read it in the first place but the story and the life of St. Therese has fascinated me ever since. I have come to think of her almost as my own patron saint. She embodied everything that is best about the faith. She had one goal in mind, to love Christ. And she succeeded in committing every action, every word and almost every thought to Him. And yet she was precocious, unusual, even childish and silly at times. She stands for me as the ultimate example that we do not need to be perfect to love God. By His grace all of us are capable of being saints.
This book doesn't shy away from the difficult aspects of her life and her struggle through what is called the "Dark Night of The Soul" is depicted very sharply. Kathryn Harris succeeds in making her subject seem above all, human. A beautiful book.

3. "Created To Be His Help Meet" by Debi Pearl - This is a book aimed at Christian women who are, or are preparing to be, wives and mothers and whilst it's focus is distinctly not Catholic, there seems to be some really useful challenging stuff in it. It looks to be a very interesting read!

4. The Catechism of The Catholic Church - Found on the Vatican website (www.vatican.va). This I have undertaken to read this Lent to get a better understanding of the faith from a practical view. A sort of ABC of Catholicism!

I hope, after these 6 weeks, to be better grounded in the faith and to have a fresh, motivated outlook on life.

To all those observing the season, may you have a peaceful and productive Lent!