|
R e v i e w s
|
This Rock
Volume 12, Number 5
 May-June 2001 
|
|
|
That Mary Thing
"What's up with that Mary thing?"
It's a question I've heard many times from Protestant friends, asked in various ways and in differing circumstances, always with the same unspoken assumption: Catholics, whether they admit or not, worship Mary. Of course, any Catholic who has spent more than five minutes delving into apologetics has run headfirst into objections to the Church's Marian beliefs: "Mary had other children besides Jesus," "Mary is not the Mother of God," and "Mary was not sinless" being some of the most common.
While there are already several fine books in print defending and explaining the place of Mary in Catholic doctrine, Catholic for a Reason II: Scripture and the Mystery of the Mother of God is a welcome addition to the list. A sequel to the popular Catholic for a Reason: Scripture and the Mystery of the Family of God (1998), it features essays by some of the same well-known authors: Scott Hahn, Jeff Cavins, Edward Sri, Curtis Martin, and Tim Gray, among others.
Written in an accessible style, this collection of essays seeks to be at once apologetic, catechetical, and evangelistic. The authors recognize that it is not enough to simply defend the Church's teachings about Mary. Those beliefs must always be seen within the context of the person of Christ and the entirety of the faith, with the result that the reader emerges with a positive affirmation of Mary's role in the Christian life.
This catechetical approach-weaving together Scripture study and many references to Church documents-is in keeping with the vision of the first volume, which emphasized the familial, convenental heart of the Catholic faith. This is summarized well by Hahn, who writes, "The story of our redemption, then, unfolds precisely as a family history, with a Father, an older Brother, and many siblings, united in a bond of love. Only one more person remains to make the correspondence perfect: a mother. No family is complete without a loving mother, and every motherless family feels this absence as an aching need. . . . As brothers in Jesus Christ, we share a common mother, and she is his own mother."
The book is arranged in a sort of three-part structure. The first essays provide general overviews of Marian doctrines and the criticisms of them; the middle essays give the scriptural basis for those doctrines; and the final essays reflect on the need for Marian devotion. The essays focused on the substantive biblical evidence for Mary's place in Catholic doctrine are particularly helpful. They examine Mary's role as the "Woman," the New Eve, the New Ark, the Queen Mother, and Perpetual Virgin in light of the Old and New Testaments, with references to council teachings, papal pronouncements, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
By placing Mary within the larger context of the New Covenant and the filial reality of the Church, the authors avoid making Mary appear to be some otherworldly figure detached from the work of Christ in the world, a rather easy pitfall for apologists to fall into. And while some of the authors are former Protestants, they avoid any sort of polemical or contentious language in refuting criticisms, yet another common mistake which tempts so many of us in our desire to defend our Mother.
Since most of these essays are catechetical as well as apologetic, there is a recognition that Catholics not only have to defend against attacks from non-Catholics, they must be aware that some of the faithful are being misled by other Catholics about what the Church teaches concerning Mary. This unfortunate fact is taken up most directly by Leon Suprenant Jr. in his essay "Always a Virgin." After noting the attacks upon Mary's perpetual virginity from Fundamentalist adherents of sola scriptura, he addresses an equally pressing problem: the erroneous approach of certain Catholic theologians "that fails to accord the necessary weight and dignity to Scripture. This error can manifest itself in many forms, often so as to render 'truth' an elusive, if not illusory, reality. An example would be an inclination to relegate the infancy narratives to the level of pious fables that are merely the product of the second of third generation Church."
This is a pervasive problem that must be taken seriously and will require further attention in other books written for a broad audience. For the time being, this solid compendium offers reasoned and reflective explanations for what the Church teaches about the young Jewish girl whose "yes" to God brought salvation to all the world and upon whose maternal care we continually rely.
-- Carl E. Olson
Catholic for a Reason II:
Scripture and the Mystery of the Mother of God
Edited by Leon J. Suprenant Jr.
Emmaus Road Publishing (2000)
198 pages
$14.95
ISBN: 0-9663223-7-1
Available from Emmaus Road
www.emmausroad.org
Zinger
The serious apologist runs into one real problem along the road of evangelization: burnout. After a time, there is only so much Bible study and apologetics one can read. In the end, as the day turns dark, every good Catholic needs a zinger to get going again. Nothing serious. Nothing to memorize. Simply a good read.
Fr. Gereon Goldman's autobiography, The Shadow of His Wings, is just this zinger. A World War II piece, it takes the reader through Fr. Goldman's life in the German army. The book, with only minor exceptions, is an outstanding read from the beginning to the very last page. Originally published in 1964, it has been reprinted by Ignatius Press.
To give the plot in a nutshell, at the outbreak of the war the Nazis draft Fr. Goldman, who is a Franciscan seminarian. He is drafted into the SS (the Nazi secret police) in part because the officers believe he is a softie who will crumble during the rigorous training. It turns out that he fares better than the other recruits (he attributes his strength and resolve to frequent reception of Communion) and is subsequently placed in the SS.
Though he abhors Hitler-he clearly though belatedly states that he despises the SS and quits about a halfway through the book-he remains in the police force in part because he has special privileges that allow him to secretly help those people his own SS unit has hurt.
Without giving details that would ruin the story, I will say simply that the book takes place in half a dozen countries in Europe and Africa, and Fr. Goldman's frequent scrapes with death are nothing short of thrilling. For example, he is one of few German troops left on Sicily as the Americans and British overwhelm the island. Where does one go? With no boat to leave the island and enemy forces crawling everywhere, he and his troops seem destined for a prison camp.
Instead, he heads into the hills and lives off the abandoned farms of Italians who have fled the area. He and his companions feast on ripening grapes in abundance, fresh eggs, and other culinary treats that even the highest ranking members of the German army have not seen in years. After several weeks have passed, they sneak down to a small bay where several sunken Italian ships lie in shallow water. They board one of the ships, make a daring attempt to find cargo, and finally load a truck with precious foodstuffs. As they try to make their way back to the hills, Italians, once their allies but now another enemy, come out of nowhere to block their retreat.
It is these types of scenarios that make the story so unique. In effect, the book is a Catholic Indiana Jones tale with very little gore and a great deal of action.
This point brings up the first of two minor problems with the book: too much action, too little character development. While too much action hardly seems like a problem-and it isn't a big one in this case-it does create faceless characters in the story and little emotional attachment to their fate. In addition, the lack of dialogue, though it keeps the plot moving, also diminishes the story over the long run. One would have enjoyed a book of even greater length and more detail.
The second issue that the reader may find problematic is why Fr. Goldman doesn't quit the German army outright. If he is so opposed to the Nazi regime, why did he support it, even tangentially? Certainly he must have known the very human fear of capture by opposing armies. His visit to Dachau gave him firsthand experience of the horror of war camps. And going AWOL would have earned him the death penalty from his own men. But why doesn't he express his internal angst more clearly? Perhaps we should blame the ever-present lack of character development.
Problems aside, the book is captivating and engaging. The spiritual elements will enlighten the faith of believers, showing God's action even amidst the chaos of war. It is this type of classic that provides entertainment without leaving the Catholic genre.
-- Craig Turner
The Shadow of His Wings
By Fr. Gereon Goldmann, O.F.M.
Ignatius Press (2000)
345 pages
$14.95
ISBN: 0-89870-744-9
Available from Catholic Answers
1-888-291-8000
|
C A T H O L I C A N S W E R S :
of
[TOP]