Mystery of the Kingdom
by Edward P. Sri
Emmaus Road Publishing
1-800-398-5470
160 pp.

Mystery of the Kingdom is a Bible study guide for the Gospel of Matthew. Edward Sri introduces the intent of his book in the introduction: “This book will assist the reader in a study of Christ’s life and mission as seen through the lenses of Saint Matthew’s Gospel.” Mystery of the Kingdom indeed assists by introducing historical context to help the modern reader make sense of some of what is said in Matthew. In addition to some of the fairly general knowledge historical context, Sri also adds a little more in-depth information that the reader may not have encountered before. “These reflections attempt to place Jesus in His first-century Jewish setting and consider what Jesus’ words and actions would have meant in their original context.”

Although the chapter numbering is a little awkward, the reader quickly catches on. At first, I thought that the chapters were one per Bible chapter, but quickly realized that was not the case when chapter two had nothing to do with Matthew 2. The text can stand alone, although it would have been helpful to have the Gospel text included within the chapters.

In addition to historical context, Sri also adds some explanatory sections about some passages whose significance might otherwise go overlooked. For example, he explains why the high priest and council members responded so harshly to their question about whether Jesus was the Messiah. “You have said so. But I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Mt. 26:64). According to Sri, Jesus was alluding to a prophecy in the Book of Daniel, in such a way that Jesus was claiming to be representing God’s people, and accusing the chief priests of being the enemies of the Jews. This certainly helps to explain the severe reaction of the chief priests to the modern reader.

Concerning the hemorrhaging woman, who reached out to touch the cloak of Jesus, Sri explains, “only the pure and the physically whole were considered full Israelites.” However, instead of the woman making Jesus ritually unclean, “the opposite occurred. Instead of Jesus’ becoming contaminated by her ritual impurity, the woman was healed instantly by the power of Jesus.”

Each chapter concludes with questions about material presented in that particular chapter and the Bible text. The questions are appropriate for group discussion or for personal reflection, as was Sri’s intent.

I do not know if this is Sri’s first Bible study guide, but I would certainly recommend this guide, and would like to see more from him on other books of the Bible.

The Joyful Ways of the Saints:
And What They Teach You About Kindness, Humility, Courage, and Love.
by Sister Mary Eleanore, C.S.C.
Sophia Institute Press
1-800-888-9344
www.sophiainstitute.com
115 pp.

This delightful book is an introduction to certain saints and the virtues that they embodied. It is well written and clearly understood. The only slight trouble a reader might have is with the Bible verses which are apparently from the King James Bible, and so have the old English word endings. The Joyful Ways of the Saints is actually an abridged edition of a book called Troubadours of Paradise, so if you enjoy this book, you might want to seek out the lengthier version to read. The book is divided into several chapters about virtues, or aspects of virtues: The Way of Example, The Way of Kindness, The Way of Wisdom, The Way of Friendship, The Way of Courage, The Little Way, The Way of Song.

In the chapter entitled The Way of Example, Sister Mary Eleanore has this to say about saints: “A saint is a saint because he is in love with God. Saints know nothing of the only crushing sorrow in the world—the sense of unforgiven sin—because, if they commit sin, they run with childlike trust to ask their Father’s forgiveness. Utterly trustful and childlike love of God is the one true joy in the world, and so saints are the happiest people imaginable.”

In The Way of Kindness, Sister Mary Eleanore says, “The harsh and forbidding person never makes others think of God, whereas the love awakened by the god-like person is a love that leads to God. This is a challenge to all of us to always present the truth in love. Far more people will listen to the truth if it is stated kindly and lovingly than if it is stated as a challenge, causing people to tune you out in defense of their lifestyle. To quote Saint Bernard, “We are under obligation to love our kindred, if they be good people and servants of God; if they be not so, we owe more affection to strangers in whom we may meet with these holy dispositions—the bonds of nature not being so strong as those of grace, and the blood which flows in our veins less to be loved by us than the precious blood of Jesus Christ.” Of course we are called to love one another, but the mere fact of being related does not obligate you to subject yourself to bad example (in words or deeds) for the sake of satisfying the family. You must never sacrifice your obligation to God for the lesser obligation to your relatives.

From The Way of Wisdom: “Considered in its true meaning as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, wisdom is that disposition or quality of the soul that enables one to judge rightly of divine things and to esteem and love them according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.” As Sister Mary Eleanore points out, there is worldly wisdom, and there is spiritual wisdom, and one who possesses the one kind of wisdom generally considers the possessor of the other kind as foolish. Concerning humility as an aspect of wisdom: “Humility does not mean self-depreciation; it means seeing oneself as one is.” This is such an important statement. All too often, people view humility as trying to seem more lowly than you are. Indeed, people will often not acknowledge compliments to talents by putting themselves down, instead of responding with a gracious thank you, perhaps convincing themselves that they are not being proud in this manner. Yet, which is more humble, more self-aware? The person who belittles his God-given talents or the person who gratefully acknowledges that God has bestowed him with certain talents and expects those talents to be used?

The Way of Friendship: The way of friendship discusses the friendship of St. Bernard and St. Hildegarde, and St. Hildegarde’s difficult mission of attacking” the vices and weaknesses of those entrusted with the government of the Church and state, and one can but feel that God in His mercy provided Saint Bernard . . . to be her comfort and her joy, by his fine and affectionate sympathy” (59). This chapter discusses several saints who were friends, St. Bernard and St Hildegarde, as mentioned above, as well as others, such as St. Clare and St. Francis. Sister Mary Eleanore speaks of an old saying that “if a man makes one true friend who will share his troubles during life, he is most fortunate,” and that although we may not believe in such “poverty of friendship when we are young and trusting, we come to believe it when we are older” (61).

Also in this chapter is a discussion of persecutions, and how we may not be faced with physical persecutions, but that certainly does not mean that persecution no longer exists. It is more insidious today, as Sister Mary Eleanore points out. “Sad indeed is it for those of us who do not understand that the Devil is the more to be feared when he comes in the guise of an angel of light.” When there are dissident priests touting the “virtues” of the sexual revolution, perhaps telling a husband and wife that contraception is actually not wrong, or that homosexual behavior is not a sin, is that not more of a threat to our eternal destiny than when the Christians were thrown to the lions?

The Joyful Ways of the Saints offers us a general introduction to several virtues and practical applications of those virtues. This book is truly wonderful. As the back cover of the book asserts “In the company of the saints that Sister introduces, you’ll get a vision of true holiness and glimpse the brilliant excitement and joy of true service of God.”

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