“Philip S. Kaufman’s Why You Can Disagree and Remain a Faithful Catholic is an education in discrimination. With abundant historical examples he shows that not everything that is taught is infallibly taught. There are degrees of teaching, nuances. A Roman Catholic is definitively committed only to that to which the Church has definitively committed herself. The ‘hierarchy of truths’ of which the Second Vatican Council speaks has always to be kept in mind. Dom Philip focuses on three questions: the ban on birth-control, which he says is ‘a non-received’ teaching; the possibility of looking again at divorce and remarriage in the light of the practice of the Orthodox Churches; the need for bishops to be elected according to the practice of the first millennium. Although most Catholic bishops are today appointed by the Pope, this is a very modern development. The classic statement is that of Pope Leo the Great in the fifth century: ‘He who governs all should be elected by all.’ ”
“Philip Kaufman makes a convincing case for conscientious dissent from official teaching—a happy combination of in-depth research and reasoning which insists on the right of the People of God to know.”
Karl Rahner, the pre-eminent Catholic theologian of our century, once said: “In the coming age we must all become mystics – or be nothing at all.” In an engaging and readable manner, Frank Tuoti – a former Trappist and student of Thomas Merton – invites us to respond to Rahner’s challenge. He lays out the foundations of a Christian mysticism that is available to all and discusses the basic steps and stages of contemplative prayer. “We are all mystics at our core,” he says, “since God’s own seed is within us. Indeed it is this very seed which holds us lovingly in being.”
Tuoti draws liberally from contemporary writers such as Thomas Merton, Thomas Keating, and George Maloney, as well as from the works of Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and The Cloud of Un/mowing. The book, however, is neither a complex treatise nor a derivative text. Rather, it is a clear introductory guidebook for those beginning or already engaged in the practice of contemplative prayer. It possesses the great virtue of simplicity, written by one who has learned through experience the value of what he describes. A married layman, Tuoti says he lived a “checkered life” after his time at the Abbey of Gethsemani, having “crashed and burned” numerous times but still struggling to live a contemplative life in the midst of a tough world.
In concise, sensible chapters Tuoti addresses a host of practical concerns: how to find time for prayer, how to handle distractions, what attitudes are needed during periods of darkness, and how to choose a spiritual director. He gives wise advice on the need for silence, on the relationship between personality and prayer styles, and on the transformation of the self through prayer.
This is an excellent handbook on contemplative prayer filled with engaging stories from many spiritual traditions and wonderful quotes from spiritual masters new and old.
“This book is to be most highly recommended. It is a MUST for all those called to sanctity. That means all Christians. It is the loudest and perhaps the last call of this century!”