Monday

Miscellaneous Rambling

Glorious Indian Summer! Temps got down to 28 here Sunday morning. Lows for the next ten days are in the upper thirties and forties; highs in the fifties and low sixties. I hope to walk and walk until my feet fall off. If this coming winter is like last winter, my walking is slated for a four-month hiatus. * * * * * * * Astute (and the not-so-astute) readers would have noticed a stupid error in last Friday's BYCU. It's been addressed by an addendum. * * * * * * * Are adults required to attend weekly classes in order to become Catholic? No, according to "ke," a "Catholic Answers Forum Elder." His answer rings with authority and I think he's right, but does anyone know who "ke" is? Does anybody have a better link, to something more authoritative than an online discussion forum? The conversion of a friend and good man might rest on it, so any help is greatly appreciated. Comments box or email link on the left. * * * * * * * Speaking of conversion, I recently dusted off a photocopy of one of the five books I had to read as part of a two-credit self-study course at Notre Dame Law School. It's a book called Truth in Christ by Charles Rice. He wrote it back in the early 1980s, as part of a Catholic course geared toward high school seniors who are (i) smart, and (ii) serious about Catholicism. I was stunned by how many of its points I had "internalized" and that still, to this day, pop up in discussions with my children. I emailed Professor Rice and asked him if he ever considered getting the book properly published (I remember he told me that he and a colleague had self-published the book). He told me that St. Augustine's Press had already done it. The current version is updated with teachings from JPII and BXVI. I highly, highly recommend this book: Where Did I Come From? Where Am I Going? How Do I Get There?: Straight Talk for Young Catholics.

I, incidentally, loathe that title. It screams, "middle school" and "superficial." The book does, indeed, teach elements of the Catholic faith, but it's far from superficial or simple. At least the version I have isn't. I guess it's possible that the current version is dumbed down to the point that its content matches its title, but I doubt it. That wouldn't be Professor Rice's style. Nor St. Augustine Press'. * * * * * * * I've ordered a copy of it. We'll see. * * * * * * * Say what, throng of readers? What were the other four books a Notre Dame law professor prescribed for a struggling potential convert? Here they are: John Hardon's Pocket Catholic Catechism, Edward J. Murphy's Life to the Full, Karl Keating's Catholicism and Fundamentalism, and James Cardinal Gibbons' Faith of Our Fathers. All excellent books. The highly-conservative and orthodox priest who then directed my weekly sessions required me to read Life in Christ, which was fine as far as "textbooks" go, but I'd recommend the above five books over that one.