Christmas gift list ... or should I say book list

It's been awhile since I've offered a Theology of the Body-inspired Christmas list for those of you looking for gift ideas (whether for friends and family or for your own wish list).  This year, though, I've seen sufficient new material to warrant a new post.  I try to stick with new resources, though a few other ideas might pop up in the list.

First up, we have Prof. Stanislaw Grygiel's "Discovering the Human Person: In Conversation with John Paul II."  The "in conversation" phrase seems to be applied rather liberally to biographies and studies of saints, but this particular book is written by a student and friend of the late Holy Father.  I have not read the book yet but was able to hear some of Prof. Grygiel's reflections in person at the John Paul Institute in Washington, DC.  He always had beautiful insights to share, and left us in awe of his personal experiences with the late Holy Father.


While we're on the subject of St. John Paul, I'd highly recommend Jason Evert's St. John Paul the Great: His Five Loves  Or, for about triple the cost of one book, purchase 32 copies in paperback to give to all of your friends.  Leave a copy on a coffee shop table with a note to anyone who would like to take it.  It's a different kind of biography -- a collection of verified stories of JPII that give fresh insight into who he was and what he loved.  My copy is quite underlined and asterisked. 


These Beautiful Bones: An Everyday Theology of the Body by Emily Stimpson didn't come out this past year, but made its debut late enough in 2013 to warrant a mention.  What a beautiful book!  Emily Stimpson is a gifted writer, with words simply flowing from her pen in such a way as to captivate the reader with her beauty, humor and insight.  Her book seeks to go beyond the idea that Theology of the Body is "just about sex" and instead to challenge us all to see how we can live TOB more fully in other areas of our lives (manners, what we eat, how we work, etc.).  It's the perfect book for the TOB aficionado and the person who has never heard of Theology of the Body.  All will find insight, challenge and beauty.  

Another book that I have not yet read but which looks quite promising is Anthony Esolen's Defending Marriage: Twelve Arguments for Sanity.  I've long found Prof. Esolen's writing to be engaging, witty and enlightening, and I have no doubt his reflections on this important matter will not disappoint.  
 

For the newly expecting couple, "Gift of Joy: The Blessing of the Child in the Womb" is excellent.  The actual blessing is not in the book.  Instead, co-authors Archbishop Joseph Kurtz and Msgr. Brian Bransfield introduce parents more fully into comprehending the mystery they are living while awaiting the birth of their child.  



I'm sure there are plenty of other items I could add, though I risk not posting this until it's too late to purchase these books in time for Christmas.  For the Theology of the Body or St. John Paul II fans in your life, chances are likely that at least one of these items is not yet in their possession.

Happy gift-giving and receiving!

The new translation of "Love and Responsibility"

Prof. Ignatik

On April 22, I was able to attend the book launch of the new translation of Karol Wojtyla's classic work, "Love and Responsibility."  The launch was held at the John Paul II Institute in Washington, DC, where the translator, Grzegorz Ignatik, is a Ph.D. candidate.  

Why is there a new translation?  There are quite a few reasons that were outlined during the book launch:

• In 2001, Pope John Paul II offered revisions to his original work in Polish that are reflected in the new translation.
• It includes the first English publication of Karol Wojtyla's 1974 essay, "On the Meaning of Spousal Love," which was, at least in part, a response to initial criticisms of "Love and Responsibility."
• It provides a smoother translation.
• Grzegorz Ignatik said that the goal of the new translation was to faithfully reflect the original text in its depth and beauty.  The goal was also to let Karol Wojtyla truly "speak."  Prof. Ignatik added, "I hope that you will find his English perfect."
• The new translation is more apparent, keeping ambiguities from the original text and including original Polish words in parenthesis.
• All of Karol Wojtyla's footnotes, as well as his introduction to the text are included.  (Apparently, in the previous translation some of the footnotes were deleted, while others were placed incorrectly.)
• There is more consistency in the translation, resulting in simplicity and precision.  In the older translation, many words are translated differently throughout the text, making it more difficult to see what Karol Wojtyla was saying.  For example, one word was translated 15 different ways in the older text, including as experience, feeling, emotion, response, reaction, etc.  In the new translation, the word is "lived experience," which is an exact translation of Wojtyla's word.
• The endnotes, provided by Grzegorz Ignatik, include explanations of the words and concepts, translations of foreign words, and explanations of why words were translated in a particular way.  The notes, however, are meant to be secondary or auxiliary, as Wojtyla's text itself is the main substance of the book.  

Although I have not yet begun reading the new translation, after paging through it, I am looking forward to diving in.  It looks like an excellent improvement to the old work and appears to be much easier to read (though still theologically challenging).  Having read the old translation more than once, I know that Bl. John Paul II's pre-papal work on the nature of love is an excellent resource, and I can only imagine how much more this new translation communicates what our world needs to hear today about love, responsibility, marriage, fruitfulness and chastity. 

Place, love and gift: Hannah Coulter

There have been so many “Brave New World” real-life scenarios circling the Internet in the past few weeks, that I had to escape to the refreshing pages of Hannah Coulter, a novel by Kentucky farmer and writer Wendell Berry. It was required reading for our Book Forum at the JPII Institute. With classes, mile-high readings and other assignments, I can’t say that I fully enjoyed the book that time around. But this time, the book was absolutely refreshing.

Hannah Coulter is the kind of book that can only be properly read in silence. It’s not because of difficult vocabulary or puzzling theological insights. But the fictional reflections of Hannah make one yearn for a silence that we now have to look for in our world. Silence is no longer simply given. It has to be sought.

The same goes for other things – generosity, faithfulness, family life. Of course these things always required grace and the will and freedom and God’s love, but today they are often forgotten. Today they are often not desired.

So Hannah’s simple yet profound reflections on her life bring us from one world into our present situation. And as the book progresses we see the clash between the world she shared with her husband, Nathan, and the world her grandchildren know. We are led to our own reflections on commitment, education, community, marriage, and the pressures on anyone living in western culture today. Hannah Coulter gives us room to think.

What does this have to do with a blog dedicated to issues of life and love? Hannah’s own witness is a witness to the dual simplicity and profundity of marriage. She offers a vision of her own journey in love that we have lost sight of. She puts words – or at least the beginnings of words – to thoughts that have no words.

It’s not necessarily a book about marriage. It’s a book about life. A book that shows us that each person has a story to tell, whether it would make a blockbuster movie or not. A book that implicitly reveals what our world is missing in giving up on authentic community.

So, may I recommend that you spend some time this winter, sitting in a quiet corner with Hannah Coulter to reexamine the world in which we live? And you can hear her wisdom in thoughts such as this:

“Watching him and watching myself in my memory now, I know again what I knew before, but now I know more than that. Now I know what we were trying to stand for, and what I believe we did stand for: the possibility that among the world’s wars and sufferings two people could love each other for a long time, until death and beyond, and could make a place for each other that would be a part of their love, as their love for each other would be a way of loving their place. This love would be one of the acts of the greater love that holds and cherishes all the world” (67-68).

New book by former Planned Parenthood leader

Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood leader and employee, will release her new book, Unplanned next week. Abby was the keynote speaker at Cincinnati Right to Life's October banquet. The book is her account of the inner workings of Planned Parenthood and her own conversion experience.

Enormous book sales on the release date (January 11) will send a resounding message to Planned Parenthood.

It sounds like a phenomenal read that will hopefully soften many hearts to the beauty of a culture of life.

Not convinced? Read the first chapter here.

More good news is that Marcel LeJeune of Texas A & M campus ministry says that Abby is currently in RCIA to become Catholic.