I finally finished "The Apostles". It's an awesome book that I recommend for everyone to read. It is written in a way that is very easy to read, yet it is filled with great insight and interesting details. While it is not groundbreaking and does not introduce anything new, unlike so many modern works, it introduces traditional teaching about the apostles and the early church in a simple way without being watered down.
Here is a quote which deserves to be repeated over and over again.
The saints have not 'fallen from Heaven'. They are people like us, who also have complicated problems.An even greater passage appears in the ninth chapter "Peter the Apostle". Pope Benedict explains the subtle message behind John 21:15. That blew me away as I read the page over and over. I'll make you read the book for that one, though. Let me just say that much is lost in the translation we hear at Mass and I now feel cheated because of it. I hope that someday I will hear a homily based on the real text.
Holiness does not consist of never having erred or sinned. Holiness increases the capacity for conversion, for repentance, for willingness to start again, and, especially for reconciliation and forgiveness.
2 comments:
Ooh - I got this book for Christmas - but haven't had a chance to really sit down with it yet. Now I'm inspired again. Thanks.
I read the book over 4 weeks, but if I had more uninterrupted time I could have easily had read it in a week or even a few days.
Each chapter is only 5 pages long and I would average 3-4 chapters a day. It was so interesting that I wished I could have read more.
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