| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
book reviews
Pre-seminary spiritual formation
CHAMBERS OF HER HEART (MADONNA HOUSE AND PRIESTLY FORMATION). By Robert Wild (Madonna House Publications, Combermere, Ontario, Canada, 1998), 134 pp. PB $10.95.
This book might well be a companion to another book I have just reviewed. That is: Could You Ever Become a Catholic Priest? by Christopher and Lorene Duquin. The present book asks: “Are you wondering if the Lord Jesus is calling you to be a priest? Wondering how to go about discerning such a call?” The Vatican has recently proposed that men preparing for the priesthood undergo a period of spiritual formation before beginning their studies in the seminary, even as religious orders have a year or two of novitiate formation before the men begin their studies. Under the inspiration of Catherine de Hueck Doherty, the foundress of Madonna House, there is given an answer to the Vatican’s proposal. Madonna House offers a program since 1980 of spiritual formation for men interested in the priesthood.
The program offered at Combermere strikes me as being very useful. I would think that spiritual formators would do well to read it. The author says: “The novitiate is a time of immersion of one’s own life in God and in the spirit of one’s chosen vocation, it is precisely a time of centering, of Nazareth, of almost exclusively concentrating on one’s own relationship with the Lord. Yes, it is—if you will excuse an expression that has been used all too negatively—a ‘God and me’ period. If you do not have a profound ‘God and me’ relationship you will not be able to be the leaven in the mass.” The pre-seminary year desired by the Holy See should try to make the candidate the willing pursuer of his own formation. If that be lacking a holy master and a strict regimen may be put up with during the formative year or years, only to be shunted aside after ordination.
Father Wild says: “Another aspect of my approach is to emphasize that the young man is the chief agent of his formation. ‘We are our parents’ as St. Augustine said. Liturgy, prayer, studies, poverty, obedience can be presented from the outside, but unless a person acquires a love for the foundations of the spiritual life, they will never take root in his heart in a living way.” “Taste and see that the Lord is sweet,” say the spiritual masters. If that doesn’t happen the future priest will be superficial.
After Vatican II there was a great tendency to move the seminaries into the world, so to speak. It was feared that men trained as though they were to live their lives in monasteries would be remote from the people they would serve as parish priests. On the female side the Sisters were talking about removing habits to better reach out to people. In each instance discipline was undermined and secularization advanced among the very people who were supposed to oppose the growing secularization of civil society.
Fr. Wild tells us that at a chaotic time in seminaries and motherhouses he went to Madonna House. He was gratified to find there the tried and true practices of sane formation. I do hope that young people will accept his invitation to Madonna House. I would hope also that spiritual formators would read his book.
Fr. Matthew V. Reilly, O.P.
Summit, N.J
[Editor’s note: Father Matthew V. Reilly, O.P., was a regular contributor to HPR. He was called home by his Maker suddenly on September 1, 1999. R.I.P.]
Interpreting the Word of God
A PRIMER ON DIVINE REVELATION. Scripture and Tradition. By Dwight P. Campbell (Scepter Publishers Inc., Princeton, N.J. 08542, 1998), 74 pp. PB; price not given.
In this brief but exceptionally valuable volume, Father Dwight P. Campbell uses a question and answer format to acquaint readers with Vatican II’s dogmatic constitution on divine revelation. The primer, which cross references Dei Verbum to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, is divided into the same six chapters as the conciliar document, i.e., (1) Divine Revelation Itself (2) Transmission of Divine Revelation (3) Sacred Scripture: Its Divine Inspiration and Interpretation (4) Old Testament (5) New Testament and (6) Sacred Scripture in the Life of the Church.
In the opening chapter the author clearly affirms that God has manifested to man mysteries of the supernatural order as well as religious and moral truths that are not beyond the grasp of human reason. He also distinguishes between public revelation, which binds the conscience of a Catholic and which ended with the death of the last apostle, and private revelation.
His second chapter not only provides useful definitions for Sacred Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium but illustrates the existence of Tradition and the Magisterium from Scripture itself. This chapter also succinctly demonstrates the development of doctrine as well as the application of the revealed Word to new situations by the Church guided by the Holy Spirit (e.g., “On Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone” and “Humanae Vitae”).
The third chapter states that God is the principal author of the Scriptures but that men through whom he acted are also true authors. Two other important points of this chapter are the biblical canon and inerrancy. Having demonstrated the necessity of a canon, Father Campbell observes that the Council of Trent, confronted by the Reformers’ rejection of certain inspired Scriptures which contradicted their heretical teaching, reaffirmed the same 72 books of the Bible which had been declared canonical by the fourth century Council of Carthage. The Bible’s freedom from error, moreover, is not restricted to truths concerning salvation but extends to all that the sacred writer affirms.
Chapter four, which says that the purpose of the Old Testament was to prepare for the coming of the Savior, serves as an introduction to chapter five, which focuses on the New Testament. Relying upon the Pontifical Biblical Commission as well as the witness of Papias, the Muratorian Canon and Saint Irenaeus, Father Campbell shows that the four gospels are authentic and historic documents written within the lifetime of eyewitnesses. He cites the recently deceased Father Raymond Brown and Father John Meier of Catholic University as examples of professors whose critical approach leads to confusion because it denies the historicity of the gospels.
The final chapter explains who the Fathers of the Church are and by quoting from Leo XIII’s Providentissimus Deus and Pius XII’s Divino Afflante Spiritu shows their importance to the study of Sacred Scripture. It insists that the task of interpreting the Word of God belongs to the pope and to the bishops in union with him. Having distinguished between Scripture’s literal and spiritual meaning, it emphasizes the duty of the bishops to instruct the faithful as to the correct use of Scripture.
Comparatively few of the faithful have read Dei Verbum. It is my hope that many more of them will read this faithful explanation of the Council document so that, strengthened in the faith, they may not only resist the corruption of false scriptural scholarship but may help their neighbors do so as well.
James Buckley, F.S.S.P.
Scranton, Pa.
Light on Luke
MISSION OF THE MESSIAH. On the Gospel of Luke. By Tim Gray (Emmaus Road Publishing, 827 North Fourth Street, Steubenville, Ohio 43952, 1998), 149 pp. PB $9.95.
Well written in a popular style, Mission of the Messiah by Tim Gray sheds light on the Gospel of Luke by brilliantly illustrating Jesus’ fulfillment of God’s consoling promise to his people. The underlying theme of the new exodus unites the book’s eight short chapters and the deft handling of material from the Torah and the Prophets demonstrates the truth of Augustine’s dictum, i.e., the New Testament is concealed in the Old and the Old is revealed in the New.
The thematic note of deliverance resounds when John the Baptist prepares the way of the Lord in the wilderness, the very place where Isaiah located the origin of the new exodus. John came in the spirit of Elijah whom Malachi, the last prophet, predicted would return before the Messiah came. In the very waters of the Jordan which the Israelites crossed to enter the promised land, Christ is baptized. After his baptism the Holy Spirit rests upon him in the form of a dove and the voice of the Father is heard, identifying him with the Suffering Servant (Isa. 42:1).
Luke alone records that, in launching his ministry from the synagogue in Nazareth, Christ reads the passage from Isaiah proclaiming the release of captives and makes the words his own. Gray explains that release of captives was an idiom for announcing the Jubilee year which commemorated the first exodus. The new release of captives is Christ’s forgiveness of sins which is heralded by his miracles of healing.
The beatitudes are associated with the new exodus as the ten commandments with the old. Gray notes that they challenge Christ’s hearers to fulfill the Holiness Code of Leviticus by showing mercy to all men and not—as the Pharisees taught—by separating themselves from the Gentiles. The choosing of the 12 apostles before the preaching of the beatitudes, he further notes, suggests the reunion of the tribes in Messianic times as foretold by the prophets.
Before commencing his journey to Jerusalem, Luke says that Christ spoke on the mountain with Moses and Elias about his departure (in Greek his Exodus). After calling attention to eight striking parallels between Sinai and the Transfiguration, Gray focuses on our Lord’s “setting his face” toward Jerusalem to emphasize the unpopular message of repentance and punishment he is determined to preach. Along the way he tells a parable about the return of a master who finds his servants unfaithful. Making his royal entrance into the city, he proceeds to his house, the temple, where he discovers his unfaithful stewards.
Constrained as I am by space, I will mention only one other perceptive point. “According to Jewish law,” Gray writes, “certain animals could be sacrificed but their blood could not be drunk.” Partaking in the blood of these animals was demeaning because of their inferiority. In the first exodus, therefore, men were commanded to sacrifice a lamb and to eat its flesh. In the second exodus, we are not only commanded to eat Christ’s flesh but to drink his blood because by sharing in the life of the
God-Man we are elevated, becoming partakers of the divine nature.
Though I have neglected to say anything about whole chapters of this splendid volume, I hope that what I have said attracts readers. This is a work that deserves to be read.
James Buckley, F.S.S.P.
Scranton, Pa.
Goodness and mercy
will follow me
YOUR SOUL’S GENTLE SHEPHERD. (Why You Can Have Absolute Trust in Jesus Christ.) By Charles J. Callan, O.P. (Sophia Press, Box 5284, Manchester, N.H. 03108, 1999 reprint), 203 pp. PB $15.95.
Sophia Press brings back into print worthwhile books that have been long out of print. That is what it has done with Fr. Callan’s devotional book. Fr. Callan and Fr. McHugh had been Dominican novices together. In 1916 they became editors of the Homiletic and Pastoral Review, helping to make it a success. The two priests collaborated on dozens of books. They, as professors, were revered by early Maryknollers, studying in Westchester, N.Y.
In his introduction to this volume Fr. Callan says: “As nothing on earth could more fitly illustrate the infinite love and sacrifice of the Savior than the enduring labors and tenderness of a shepherd, so nothing here below could better portray the multiple wants of our spirits than the needful, dependent nature of sheep.” As I read these words I think of the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas, whom Fr. Callan, as Master of Sacred Theology, knew so well. St. Thomas says that meditation is the cause of devotion, and meditation has two aspects. On the one hand you consider the goodness of God. On the other hand you dwell on your neediness. The shepherd represents the goodness of God. The sheep represents your neediness. How solidly based is this devotional work!
Fr. Callan says: “It is the purpose of the pages that follow to trace some of the beautiful and touching resemblances between the shepherd with his flock, on the one hand, roaming over the hills and plains of Palestine, and, on the other hand, the Savior of the world with the souls of men, pursuing the journey of life.” Fr. Callan has taken as his guide the shepherd Psalm 22, which begins: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, he makes me lie down in green pastures.”
There are eleven chapters or meditations in the book. Chapter one shows Christ as the Good Shepherd. He fulfills the prophecies about the Good Shepherd found in Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Then in St. John’s tenth chapter Jesus declares himself to be the Good Shepherd. In Father’s succeeding chapters Christ as Good Shepherd is shown to be trustworthy, caring for his creatures, feeding them with the Bread of the Holy Eucharist, healing and forgiving them. In another Callan book, Parables of Christ, Fr. Callan has a beautiful chapter on “The Lost Sheep.”
In the book under review the lost sheep is brought to the safety of the sheepfold, the Church. Even in the sheepfold there are times of darkness. There is suffering but heaven’s rewards outweigh the suffering, and the Good Shepherd brings peace and diminishes the fear of death. In the final meditation Fr. Callan urges trust and hope in terms of the Psalm: “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.”
We Dominicans have a homely story about Fathers Callan and McHugh. They went on with their preaching, teaching and writing until they were very old. In their old age one would tie the shoe laces of the other. Each of those good and productive Dominicans felt: “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.”
Fr. Matthew V. Reilly, O.P.
Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary
Summit, N.J.
Raised on unreality
VIRTUAL FAITH: THE IRREVERENT SPIRITUAL QUEST OF GENERATION X. By T. Beaudoin (Josey-Bass Publishers, 350 Sansome St., San Francisco, Calif. 94104, 1998), 182 pp. PB $22.00.
The major complaint about Generation X is that they can’t be easily defined. In Virtual Faith: The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X Tom Beaudoin, an X’er, a Catholic, and a graduate student at Boston College tries to interpret X’ers’ faith through their cultural artifacts. Although I find some of his insights are quite tentative regarding clothing, body piercing, tattooing, and music videos, he at least sheds some light on those areas which, for most of us Aging Boomers, are somewhat indecipherable.
Beaudoin’s most constructive insight is the root from which his basic thesis emerges, that Generation X has been brought up by television, which presents an unrealistic picture of life. This pseudo-reality has, he contends, been compounded by the X’er appropriation of cyberspace which allows them to manipulate reality and continually remold their identity. This plasticity naturally extends to their religious faith, which is obvious from their personalized and eclectic spirituality, which shuns absolutes and lauds possibility. Beaudoin makes sure to point out that this post-modern proclivity for ambiguity makes the clarity of Catholic doctrine threatening and the cause of the plethora of attacks against the Church. Following the rationale of the late Liberation theologians, Beaudoin sees this as an opportunity for the Church “dicens” or speaking Church to challenge the Church “docens” or teaching Church. This canard exposes Beaudoin’s agenda or perhaps confirms his thesis, that X’ers’ think they can create a faith to their liking. A prime example of this is a not too hidden pro-womens’ ordination agenda.
Beaudoin’s “ironic” interpretation of the religious symbolism in X’er music videos, especially by Madonna, is seen as a challenge to earlier generations who have mocked religion by their shallow practice of charity. And it is here that perhaps we find the X’ers’ veiled upending of their Boomer parents who worked to give them everything except family stability and the security that only a faith with absolutes could provide. Beaudoin states that the question on most X’ers’ mind is “Will you be there for me?” Obviously, the experience of abandonment and the shifting sands of their lives have left their mark.
0Although this book is not the last word on X’er faith, Beaudoin’s personal testimony and his attempt to analyze this mysterious generation is valuable in assessing the religious state of X’ers and the need to catechize them properly. Their innate desire for the spiritual life, their interest in social justice, and their attraction to sacramentals certainly gives the Church a more than adequate foundation on which to build. Nevertheless, clarity of doctrine as well as the reality of the natural and divine laws ordained by God must be taught if they are to be part of the Church community. What Beaudoin fails to say, but subconsciously hints at, is that X’ers’ virtual faith (read “not quite real”) is the fault of parents and religious educators who have compromised the truth by rationalization for convenience sake. The antidote to which is not more negotiation, which has caused the present ambiguity, but the clarity of faith and reason presented by the Magisterium. Perhaps Veritatis Splendor (1995) and Fides et Ratio (1998) would be a good place to start. Virtual membership is not enough.
Rev. Michael P. Orsi
Camden, N.J.
Bensonmania
ROBERT HUGH BENSON. Life and Works. By Janet Grayson (University Press of America, 4720 Boston Way, Lanham, Md. 20706, 1998), xxvi + 231 pp. HB $16.00.
Monsignor Benson was a phenomenon of the Edwardian twilight. By his death at the age of 42 in 1914 he had become the most celebrated preacher and popular writer probably in the universal Church. A frantic pace produced some spiritual works and novels which are appreciated to this day, while much of it was less fine and a few items, like The Dawn of All, an embarrassment. He attracted more live listeners in proportion to population than any Catholic mission preacher in the history of the United States: his second visit to New York in the year of his death far exceeded even the 50,000 who came to hear him on his first American trip in 1912. In Rome cardinals flocked to him. “Bensonmania” became a virtual industry upon his death, with an outpouring of memorial editions and commemorations, until sensible people cried out, “Enough!”
Much of the fascination began with the fact that he was the convert son of an Archbishop of Canterbury. That does not explain the facility of his skill. The cult of his personality was another matter. Amusing yet capable of savage outbursts, he was childish rather than childlike. That is putting it kindly. His family would be called dysfunctional today. Everyone in it seemed half-mad save for his sister, an archaeologist of Egyptian tombs, who was confined to an asylum. All of them were literary prodigies, and we spare a grateful thought for brother E. F. because of his zany novellas. Arthur, something of an agnostic, and the official biographer of Queen Victoria, comes across as the most sympathetic. Janet Grayson’s admirable study treats them all with tact, perhaps too much so. It is hard to think that their mother Mary was not at the heart of their plague of psychoneurosis. The Victorian grand-dame, ever patient with her children’s foibles, ran an eccentric household. Lucy Tait, the daughter of another Archbishop of Canterbury, shared Mrs. Benson’s bed for years after Dr. Benson’s death and was allowed to intimidate the children.
Spoiled Hugh was the most unpleasant of the lot. Irascible, avaricious, morbid, and hysterical, the general perversity of his family was restrained in him only by the demands of total self-absorption. Worse than immature in his judgment of character, Hugh’s friendship with the exotic Frederick Rolfe ended only when Arthur intervened; and Rolfe turned bitterly on Hugh, likening him to the Mad Hatter. Out of obedience, C. C. Martindale reluctantly devoted two volumes of biography to Monsignor Benson, who better deserved a clinical study. The more Martindale got to know Benson the less he liked him. Archbishop Bourne and Father Herbert Vaughan felt the same.
Why another book? One on the psychology of self-delusion would be more in order. But Grayson’s is elegantly written, though ill-served by typographical errors, and justifies itself by showing how more than a little good can come out of weakness. The footnotes are of special value, although I always wonder why such interesting information should not be part of the main text.
Fr. George W. Rutler
New York, N.Y.
Rome and the death of Christ
THE SPEAR. By Louis de Wohl (Ignatius Press, P.O. Box 1339, Ft. Collins, Colo. 80522, 1998 reprint), 401 pp. PB $14.95.
Considered by many as de Wohl’s greatest work of fiction, The Spear is a literary time machine, projecting the reader into the world of the Roman Empire at its height of power and influence. It also transports the reader to the events and people surrounding Christ in the days leading up to and including his Crucifixion.
From the political intrigue of imperial Rome to the strife-torn hills of Judea, the betrayal, trial, crucifixion, agonizing death, and resurrection of Christ is described with chilling clarity. The best and worst of human behavior is chronicled as the reader follows a panoply of characters, not the least of which is the Roman soldier responsible for thrusting his spear into the side of Christ to assure final death.
We meet young Cassius Longinus in Rome, just returned from the German frontier defending Rome’s borders, dazzling everyone by his prowess with the quintessential Roman weapon, the Roman spear. Armed with a variety of killing tools, the spear is a prime weapon in the Roman soldier’s arsenal. With it he is able to strike fear in the hearts of his enemies, whether they are on foot or horseback. Little does Cassius know that his ability to hit any target with his spear will eventually transform his entire life.
The story begins in Rome amidst palace intrigue with the aging emperor languishing quietly on a Mediterranean island while Sejanus, the real power master in the Empire, plots his rise to the Imperial Throne. Following a series of events leading to near bankruptcy, Old Longinus, the aging Emperor, attempts suicide. At the last minute Cassius intervenes and is able to prevent his father’s death. However, the Emperor is murdered soon after his failed suicide attempt in a most horrible manner despite Sejanus’s promise to Cassius that the old man will be allowed to live out his life in peace and quiet. Thus begins a series of events propelling young Cassius and others to Jerusalem which eventually led to his involvement in the political and military intrigue between Roman Empire and Jewish Zealots bent on driving all vestiges of Roman authority out of the Jewish life.
In addition to the masterful retelling of the age-old story of the many individuals who were profoundly affected by knowing Christ, de Wohl paints a brilliant multi-leveled picture of the personalities most closely associated with the Crucifixion. Of his myriad books the internationally acclaimed Catholic novelist considered The Spear the magnum opus of his literary career. It is truly a wonderful reading experience.
The significance of the book lies in how well de Wohl portrays the social, political, military, and spiritual realities of the initial 35 years of the First Millennium. Most importantly however the author offers readers an encounter with Christ through the events leading to his suffering and death on the Cross. For young Cassius, who encounters Christ by thrusting his Roman spear into his side, the act results in a transformative washing by the blood and water flowing from that terrible wound. Separated from the historical event by nearly two thousand years, de Wohl’s book bridges this time-gap for readers in a most spiritually stimulating manner.
Michael G. Allen
Georgia Southern University
Statesboro, Georgia
Abortion and politics
POLITICAL ORPHAN. The Prolife Cause after 25 Years of Roe v. Wade. By Kenneth D. Whitehead (New Hope Publications, New Hope, Kentucky 40052, 1998), 353 pp. PB.
A collection of 15 articles originally published in various journals between December 1993 and April 1998, Political Orphan provides a detailed history of several recent prolife struggles (e.g., Partial Birth Abortion, President Clinton’s choices for Surgeon General, Expropriations for abortion abroad, Title X family planning, Dole’s presidential campaign). This volume reveals that despite opposition from the media, the Supreme Court and the Clinton administration as well as coldness from the Republican Party and even betrayal by its own legislative champions, the pro-life movement has shown remarkable tenacity.
As Kenneth Whitehead demonstrates, the single consistent principle of the Clinton administration has been the defense and spread of legalized abortion at home and abroad. Playing the race card for this purpose, President William Clinton has nominated for the office of Surgeon General only black physicians who favor abortion. In 1997 his administration actually “turned down the prospect of increased family funding abroad rather than accept any limitation on abortion as a method of family planning.”
Two of the president’s actions in support of abortion deserve the widest possible audience because of their duplicity. In March of 1994 the state department in a cable to all its diplomatic posts stated: “. . . the United States believes that access to safe, legal and voluntary abortion is a fundamental right.” The diplomats were instructed to inform their host governments of the U.S. population policy and of the influence our government would exercise with other governments, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to advance that policy. Nevertheless, after meeting with Pope John Paul II two months later, President Clinton had the effrontery to declare at a press conference that “the United States does not and will not support abortion as a means of birth control or population control.” The second act of duplicity concerns the president’s veto of the partial birth abortion ban. Although the American Medical Association Legislative Council had proclaimed since 1995 that partial birth abortion was “not a bona fide medical procedure,” Clinton falsely claimed that this procedure could sometimes alleviate serious physical harm to women. Secondly, besides demanding the procedure for the health of women, Clinton would not under any circumstances consider a ban during the first two trimesters when most partial birth abortions are performed.
Not only does Kenneth Whitehead expose President Clinton’s unfettered promotion of abortion but he also highlights the inexplicable betrayal of the pro-life cause by its champions. In July of 1993, for example, Ruth Bader Ginsburg told the Senate Judiciary Committee considering her candidacy for the supreme court that “a woman’s right to choose abortion is central to a woman’s life, to her dignity.” The pro-life senators on the committee nonetheless joined in approving her by unanimous vote. In 1997 Doctor David Satcher, a man who defends partial birth abortions, did receive opposition to his confirmation as Surgeon General from prolife Senators Daniel Coats and John Ashcroft in a committee hearing. Pro-life Senator Bill First, a medical doctor and a member of the committee, however, approved the nomination. Even the venerable Henry Hyde assured Kate Michelman during a March 1997 joint Senate-House Judiciary hearing that he would allow abortion to save a mother’s life.
There is one other topic—from among many—that I will mention in closing. Kenneth Whitehead does a great service by focusing attention on the more than one billion dollars our government spends annually on birth control services with the support of pro-life congressmen and the lack of opposition from major pro-life organizations. (Though he doesn’t acknowledge it, American Life League is an exception.) This is an inconsistency crying out for correction.
James Buckley, F.S.S.P.
Scranton, Pa.
Designing a Catholic homeschool
DESIGNING YOUR OWN CLASSICAL CURRICULUM. A guide to Catholic Home Education. Third Edition. By Laura M. Berquist. (Ignatius Press, P.O. Box 1339, Ft. Collins, Colo. 80522, 1998), 265 pp. PB $14.95.
The third edition of Laura Berquist’s Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum is an invaluable resource for all Catholic homeschoolers. Those who are beginning or branching out on their own, without the support of one of the homeschool curriculum providers, will find it especially helpful.
Berquist’s introduction includes suggestions for background reading to “help you clarify what you want to achieve educationally in your homeschool” (p. 14). She stresses the importance of setting explicit goals, and gives her own as examples: “I knew that I wanted ultimately what we all want, the eternal salvation of my children. . . . More proximately, I wanted my children to be able to go to an academically excellent Catholic college and do well there” (p. 15). She shows parents how to reach their goals through a classic liberal arts education, described by Dorothy L. Sayers in her essay, “The Lost Tools of Learning.” Berquist then places these goals within a framework for each grade level from kindergarten through twelfth grade.
The specific curriculum, extensive lists of supplementary reading, and bibliographies for each grade, along with sample schedules, are the heart of the book. For those teaching high school students, the third edition has an expanded section with many more resource lists and suggestions than the second edition. At all levels, she includes ideas for linking subjects, e.g., studying the lives of the saints, the literature and the arts of one historical period. Her supplementary reading lists are helpful, and she gives a long list of possible suppliers for different curricula and reading material. One of the time-consuming aspects of homeschooling is tracking down additional material. Libraries often lack many of the books she recommends and they can be difficult to find. It would have been helpful if she had addressed the issue of the time and expense needed in tracking down even a portion of the additional material.
This is a practical guide to most aspects of homeschooling, with a reminder of the importance of what we are doing and encouragement for days when it is a challenge. Berquist includes excellent advice for tailoring the curriculum to fit each child. She offers strategies for dealing with each student’s particular strengths and shoring up any weaknesses. Her outlook on the different situations a child might be in is particularly insightful: “To be reminded that God does indeed have a specific plan for each of us is important, instead of bewailing the circumstances we find ourselves in, we can direct ourselves, and our children, to the right use of those circumstances” (p. 200).
For beginners and those who have tried other methods of home education, Laura Berquist’s Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum is both a launching point and an inspiration. It emphasizes the value of teaching our children at home within the little church of the family, while encouraging the creative freedom that can make homeschooling an exciting adventure for the parent as well as the children.
Victoria Mary Fach
Poway, Calif.
Dangerous dragons
A LANDSCAPE WITH DRAGONS. The Battle for Your Child’s Mind. By Michael D. O’Brien (Ignatius Press, P.O. Box 1339, Ft. Collins, Colo. 80522, 1998), 261 pp. PB $12.95.
This thought-provoking book describes the growing influence of neopaganism, especially gnosticism, in children’s fantasy literature and movies, and explains why this represents a danger to children’s spiritual formation. The author, Michael O’Brien, is an artist and author who has written several books, including Father Elijah and Eclipse of the Sun. He is also the father of six children, so he examines this issue not only as a writer but also as a concerned parent.
He contrasts traditional fantasy and fairy tales with their modern counterparts, examining in detail the way in which the latter have inverted the symbolism of the former. In traditional fairy tales, the characters are clearly good or evil and their acts are correspondingly rewarded or punished because the characters actually represent good and evil in the supernatural realm. By clearing away the trappings of the real world, the “sub-created” world of the fairy tale allows children to see the invisible world of the supernatural and the conflicts within it. In particular, Mr. O’Brien praises the fantasy series written by C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and George MacDonald as the finest examples of traditional, Christian fantasy.
In contrast, modern fairy and fantasy tales have changed the meaning of the characters and symbols so that these no longer reflect the invisible realities of the supernatural world, but only the subjective world views of the authors. Heroes are no longer noble characters who vanquish evil with virtue, but morally flawed people who use magic and even the occult to achieve good ends. Symbols are given new meanings which blur the distinction between good and evil instead of delineating it. Modern fantasy has even degenerated to the point where some of the most popular books, such as those in the Goosebumps series, are nothing more than horror stories designed to shock their young readers. Although parents can easily recognize the lack of literary merit in these kinds of books, it is more difficult for them to see the danger in well-written modern fantasy books for young adults, such as those written by Madeleine L’Engle, Terry Brooks, and Ursula Le Guin, which contain strong undercurrents of neopaganism. Mr. O’Brien believes that these kinds of books can actually delude children into believing that it is possible to safely use occult powers.
He also warns parents about the powerful influence of visual media over children, who passively absorb their images and messages. Television and movies promote leftist ideology, hedonism, moral relativism, and gnosticism. Even Disney, a studio which most parents trust to provide wholesome entertainment, now produces animated movies which are not only politically correct, anti-Christian, and overly sensual, but which also promote the idea that magic is better than virtue.
In short, Mr. O’Brien believes that today’s cultural landscape is teeming with dangerous dragons which are tempting children toward the occult. To counter their influence, he calls for a restoration of Christian storytelling, and he exhorts parents to allow children to read only books which promote a Christian world view. To this end, he provides a list of over 1,000 general fiction titles (not just fantasy), from books written for very young children to those written for teens and adults. Although he lists many fine books, he makes the puzzling omission of many classics, such as Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, The Red Badge of Courage, and Moby Dick.
Mr. O’Brien makes a compelling argument about the danger of neopaganism in our culture, but many parents might disagree with his prescription of not allowing children to view or read anything that is not clearly Christian. Older children and teens certainly would not appreciate having their parents oversee their selection of library books, even if it were practical for parents to do so. Furthermore, since Mr. O’Brien has limited his discussion to the genre of fantasy, parents whose children are interested in other kinds of fiction will tend to dismiss his arguments as irrelevant and alarmist. Also, Catholic children who have a sound understanding of their faith will not be easily fooled into believing fantasy stories are anything more than fiction. However, even if parents do not agree with all of Mr. O’Brien’s conclusions, they will still gain much insight into the real dragons that inhabit the realm of children’s culture.
Mary R. Schneider
Cleveland, Ohio
Back to Catholic Information Center on Internet