Yesterday I added three books to my list of Spiritual Reading on my blog. Maybe those who are snowed in or on Spring Break, or just curled up near a fire (no fireplace in our Miami home) would like to hear about these. I did talk about Come Home and now I will tell you about the other two books - all three books are small and easy to read; they all nourish our spirituality but in different ways. Adele Gonzalez, who has been one of my great friends for almost the 24 years that I have been in Miami, has written a volume for the Catholic Spirituality for Adult Series published by Orbis Books. It is called The Spirituality of Community Adele begins by speaking of spirituality as "our response to God revealed moment by moment." As Christian spirituality is our life with the Spirit, it implies relationships. Adele then explains how, as human beings, we live out our spirituality through four relationships: God; Self; Neighbor; All creation. Because spirituality is rooted in the Incarnation, it is passionate, communal, and contextual. By the third chapter, Adele defines a Christian community as "the web of relationships that provides the sacred, safe, space were all the members can discover and develop their uniqueness, their giftedness, and their belovedness. It is the locus where God, acting through others, removes the scales from our eyes so that we can discover God's presence in every aspect and dimension of our lives. Through this process, we become seers of God in everything and in everyone and this vision impels us to go out of ourselves to serve others." It is a practical book that helps us to understand and to live the spirituality of community.
The other book will be discussed later.
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