October 30, 2006
If You Had Just Two Books
Imagine that tonight you were going to be arrested for being a Christian, that you were going to spend the rest of your life in prison, and that you were allowed to bring with you just two books. Which ones would you choose to bring?
Hopefully, almost everyone reading these e-letters would say, “first of all, the Bible.” I would agree with you. But what would you choose for your other book?
If I told you that there is a book so stupendous that it contains all the wisdom and wealth of the Christian people for the past 2000 years, wouldn’t you want to have and read such a book? Does such a book exist?
Yes! It is called the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and if you haven’t discovered this marvelous treasure yet, get ready to rejoice!
Before I go on, I feel that I should make a brief “confession.” I wasn’t “into” the Catechism not so long ago, even during my time as a friar when we read it in class during novitiate! Honestly, I was a bit skeptical. My great love is the lives of the saints, and I thought some conglomeration of Church teachings and historical notes would be boring and not the most helpful thing for me to become a saint. Boy, was I wrong!
The Catechism is among the most beautifully written books that I have ever read. It is “chock full” of Scriptures, quotations from the saints, the early Church Fathers, and Church documents. Although its contents are extensive, it is organized in a way that is very readable in small sections and according to your interest at the time. The glossary and index are fantastic and make it easy to quickly look up answers to tough and pressing questions. There’s even a new Compendium to the Catechism that simplifies things further.
Why did I finally start reading the Catechism again? It is because I kept feeling interiorly prompted to do so in prayer, and also because I can’t get the voice of Fr. Robert Quarato, my Catechism teacher, out of my head. He said over and over: “Just read it! Read your Catechism!” Thank you, Father!
Br. Philip Maria Allen, CFR
P.S. Here is just one quotation for you from the Prologue, to whet your appetite: “God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. . . . In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life.” (CCC #1)
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