Understanding Love and Responsibility (Pauline Books and Media)

Last year, I was privileged to receive a review copy of Love and Responsibility from Pauline Books and Media. I remember having a very profound sense of amazement reading the late Karol Wotyla's (Pope John Paul II) word. I also remember feeling over my head reading these words and wishing that I was smarter or that there was some guide in common everyday language so that I could better understand this. Well my prayers (and I imagine the prayers of many others were answered) with the release of Understanding Love and Responsibility.

This is the second book I have had the opportunity to review by the author, Dr. Richard Spinello. He has written several books about Pope John Paul II and his writings, so I knew this was the right person to undertake this book. Chapter One begins with a discussion of who Wotyla was and why we should want to read Love and Responsibility. If you own both books, like myself, you'll want to read this chapter before reading anything in Love and Responsibility. Each subsequent chapter then focuses on a specific section of Love and Responsibility. As ways of helping the common person grasp this text, Dr. Spinello provides examples, summaries, and simpler English. There are also a great amount of footnotes, some of which provide interesting cross-references to Wotyla's other works.

While it might be superficial to say, I found the concluding chapter of this book to be the most beneficial to me. Dr. Spinello not only beautifully and succinctly summarized Love and Responsibility, but he also provided a framework for defending Wotyla's work, which might prove helpful to some. Understanding Love and Responsibility is billed as a companion book, and that it is. However, I would argue that you could read it on its own, even though I know that wasn't the author's intent. My recommendation is that you read this book by itself first. Once you are finished, if you find yourself wanting to dig deeper, then by all means pick up Love and Responsibility. Be sure to keep this companion book handy. Otherwise, you'll risk getting overwhelmed by the depth that Wotyla can dive.

This book was provided to me for free by Pauline Books and Media in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!