BOOK REVIEWS

• Healing Through the Sacrament

  HEALING THROUGH THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION

  Healing is one of our deepest longings. This partly accounts for the drawing power of so-called healers. What they offer satisfies a human need.

  The experience of being healed or seeing someone healed of a malady often connects us to a power that is beyond us. We feel blessed to have been visited by it. We do not produce it; it comes to us, it embraces us, it permeates us, and it makes us sense the dawning of wholeness. The word that captures what we have been describing is "grace." Healing comes as a gift from someone who can effect what I cannot do by myself. I can only be open to it, relish it, and hold on to it.

  Ms. Ilsa B. Reyes reminds us in her book that the sacrament of Reconciliation is a grace-event of healing. As we flock to different types of healers and healing sessions, we should not ignore this precious gift of the Risen Lord to the Church. Integral to Jesus' proclamation and inauguration of the Kingdom of God is his healing ministry that occurs simultaneously with forgiveness of sins. Those whose sins are forgiven by Jesus experience the advent of God's mercy, totally undeserved but undeniably real. Jesus' gift of reconciliation offers to the despised the serenity of being loved. It assures the outcast of a place at the table of fellowship. It restores the isolated to a life in community. The Holy Spirit sent by God through the Risen Lord guarantees that healing through reconciliation will remain in the Church and in the world.

  We thank Ilsa for this wonderful book. Written in clear accessible language, it gives us insights from theology, canon law, spiritual writers, testimonies, and interviews with confessors. In all the pages, Ilsa bares her heart, showing how God's forgiving love heals us who struggle with the disharmonies of human existence. Aside from the timely guides to those who want to come to the sacrament, there is much in the book to encourage those who shy away from it. More than just explaining the significance and practice of Reconciliation, this book leads the attentive reader to the beauty of God's unrelenting love that forgives and makes us whole. After reading the book, one can say with joy, "There is hope for me. There is hope for humanity and the world." We find it in the God who reconciles and heals.

  +Luis Antonio G. Tagle
  Archbishop of Manila
• Shafts of Light

  SHAFTS OF LIFE

  Fr Guido Arguelles, SJ

  As Christians, we are invited to always look to Jesus the Christ, our Lord, as redeemer, as shepherd, as friend, as model, and inspiration.

  Yet when we look to Jesus, we cannot help but be confounded at times by the contradictions he had to live. In the end, the results were somewhat mixed. Some loved him. There were those who immediately left their nets behind and followed him. There were those who stayed with him at the foot of the Cross. Others rejected him. "They went away sad." The Pharisees and Sadducees, the learned in the Law, could not accept his "words of authority" and so crucified him. "He came unto his own, and they received him not."

  This book is a compilation of the thoughts of Fr. Guido Arguelles, a Jesuit. Its purpose is simple, that through simple words of wisdom, we might all be brought face to face with this Lord who loves so deeply and, because of this, always challenges so boldly.

  For some, Fr. Guido might seem an unlikely herald of the Lord's good news. He has always been seen as a funny man and those who see only his comical side might have thought him an "unlikely" Jesuit. But look again, for there is so much more.

  Readers who will see in this compilation of Fr. Guido's words only his clever turns of phrase, only the dazzle of his wit, his paradoxical way of expressing himself, will be missing the point. These writings are not meant merely to surprise, to entertain, to please. They are reflections on the very truths that Christ preached. Indeed, they make present to the readers him who is Truth himself.

  May Fr. Guido's Shafts of Light draw us into the radical living out of the Lord's way.

  JOSE C. J. MAGADIA, SJ
  Provincial Superior
  Society of Jesus
  Philippine Province
• When Your Spouse

  WHEN YOUR SPOUSE ISN'T YOURS ANYMORE

  Who among us can really claim to be exempted from experiencing pain? From the moment we were born till we die, we do experience pain especially from letting go. People we admire, who inspire and make a difference in our lives—our heroes and saints—they all have to deal with the reality of pain. While our contemporary society offers us many and varied ways to avoid or escape from pain, Our Lord Jesus Christ has shown us, through his life and teachings, the redemptive meaning and value of pain. "The whole earthly life of Christ came to its climax in his Paschal Mystery, his suffering, Death and Resurrection (cf. CCC 571f; PCPII 55, 85, 413)… The Cross of Christ is the symbol of salvation (CFC 551)… the transformation of suffering and weakness through active, total self-giving love" (CFC 559).

  I am always drawn by that cry of Jesus on the cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mt 27:46). In that height of intense pain and suffering when he assumed all of our pain and suffering—past, present, future—he proved his immense love for us. His "Why?" on the cross captures all of our own "Why's?" in life, so much so that every pain and suffering we encounter has now acquired a face, a name: It is not anymore just a thing to bear but it is Jesus Crucified and Forsaken to be embraced and loved! He is in fact Love made flesh… personified!

  I am happy and grateful that Fr. Jude has given name and responded to a particular "Why?" of Jesus in our times that is often ignored or taken for granted and yet is becoming widespread and is crying out even louder—the pain of married people who have fallen out of love and have separated. His book which is aptly entitled, When Your Spouse Isn't Yours Anymore: Dealing with Pain in a Marital Breakup, is valuable in many ways. It provides a cognitive framework based on Church teachings and recent findings of other sciences, supported by concrete experiences and actual cases, followed by reflection questions to aid personal application and scripture passages that can assist married couples "in crisis" and the ministers accompanying them to see their situation within a bigger picture and from a Christian Faith perspective, clarify their options, make a good discernment as to what will facilitate healing and reconciliation, and thereby help them choose a course of action that is most pleasing and would give greater glory to God as well as lasting happiness to them.

  Fr. Jude, drawing from the wealth of his pastoral ministry, research, and studies, and writing with compassion for those in pain, does exactly what Henri J. M. Nouwen wrote about in his book, The Wounded Healer: "A minister is not a doctor whose primary task is to take away pain. Rather, he deepens the pain to a level where it can be shared… Perhaps the main task of the minister is to prevent people from suffering for the wrong reasons… because of the false supposition on which they have based their lives."

  It is my hope and prayer that Fr. Jude's book will not only touch individuals or couples but will also pave the way for people in similar situations to come together and become a support group to one another, learning how to "carry one another's burden" and thus giving witness to a true Christian community which is, using again Nouwen's words, "a healing community not because wounds are cured and pains are alleviated, but because wounds and pains become openings or occasions for a new vision… Community arises where the sharing of pain takes place, not as a stifling form of self-complaint, but as a recognition of God's saving promises."

  Go ahead. Read this book. Heed its recommendations and find out for yourself the beauty and joy of being God's "Wounded Healer" as Fr. Jude did. His book is another sign that God's love is still very much alive and at work amidst our pain and suffering.

  In Christ's faithful love,

  + GERARDO A. ALMINAZA, DD
  Auxiliary Bishop of Jaro
• Witnessing for Jesus

  WITNESSING FOR JESUS

  Perusing the manuscript of this latest book by Balanga Bishop Ruperto C. Santos left me amazed at the traveling all over Europe, and beyond, and the diligent research and writing he did, while he served as rector of the Collegio Filippino in Rome, for more than a decade. Msgr. Stude, as he is more familiary called, has always been fascinated with the written word—an obvious evidence of this is his Master's Degree in Church history, and every year he has come out with books—on various prayers of and for different people, reflections on the Way of the Cross and some other Church topics.

  Witnessing for Jesus: During My Watch and Works in Europe takes us to the many interesting sites in this old continent. There is a series on the Saints and the places where they were born or worked or died. With Msgr. Stude we relive the life of a saint, in his or her environment, his or her teachings and acts of holiness. At the end of each "tour" or visit as it were, Msgr. Stude provides us a reflection on how, we, too, can strive to be holy and good.

  I congratulate Bishop Stude on his latest book. It is certain that more will come from his indefatigable spirit to write. May God's blessings be on him and all his endeavors especially as pastor of the flock of the Diocese of Balanga.

  + Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales
  Archbishop of Manila
• EXORCIST Volume II: Spiritual Battle Lines

  EXORCIST Volume II: Spiritual Battle Lines

  We cannot thank Fr. Jocis enough for this second volume of his book on an area of our spiritual and ecclesial life that he knows by heart. This simply reveals how he has continued to grow from study, ministry, and prayer. I personally congratulate Fr. Jocis as I encourage him to pursue with humility and love this special service in the Church.

  Although many people might think that the ministry of exorcism is way beyond their grasp, the truth is that the reality dealt with by exorcists is one of the most common of human experiences. All of us are in touch with the innate goodness that God our Creator has put in our heart. We hear the voice of conscience, the "original memory of the good and the true" that is part of our being human. We cannot deny the goodness that is within us as a gift of our Creator. Yet we also live daily with the assaults of the tempter. We can recall the many times we have allowed ourselves to be deceived by his false claims. The evil one is real and active. He relentlessly pursues human beings in order to destroy and kill. The more serious cases that exorcists handle are connected to the attacks from the evil one that we hardly notice.

  Fr. Jocis' experience as codified in this book is a resounding affirmation of Christian faith and hope. We confess that God is all good. In Jesus we have come to know that the evil one had failed to stain the purity of God's love. The Holy Spirit has been poured into our hearts and on the Church so that the power of the name of Jesus the Risen One may vanquish our fear. In the love of God victorious in Jesus, we are more than conquerors in the face of trials, persecution, temptation, and death. This is the truth proclaimed by the ministry of exorcism. In our daily prayer for deliverance from evil and the performance of good actions to defeat evil, we share in that ministry. I pray that Fr. Jocis book may confirm us as bearers of Jesus triumph over evil.

  Most Rev. Luis Antonio G. Tagle, DD
  Archbishop of Manila