Reclaiming Catholic Social Teaching and Defending Marriage (Sophia Institute Press and Saint Benedict Press)

Reclaiming Catholic Social Teaching is a recent book by Dr. Anthony Esolen which dives into the writings and teachings of Pope Leo XIII and seeks to offer "a defense of the Church's true teachings on marriage, family, and the state." The first chapter is entitled "Man, in the Image of God." Dr. Esolen describes this as the most fundamental truth and states that "any society built upon other premises will be radically deficient." He then goes on to explain what would happen to society if we completely removed God from the picture. The next chapter discusses free will and human liberty. His explanation of Dante's vision of Satan in hell is chilling, to say the least, but it gives us a good example of how we think we are free when we are too blind to see we are not.

Esolen then dives into topics of marriage and the family, as he views them as the building blocks of society. In these two chapters, again shows the dignity of the person and explains how society is twisting views of marriage and the family. He doesn't come out and directly blame one issue for this, i.e., divorce or homosexuality, but instead puts them all on equal ground and states that "Every sin against marriage is a sin against the very possibility of any kind of society." The chapter on the family shows how a rightly ordered family mirrors a rightly ordered society, discusses education of children, and explains what the family is for. The remainder of the book discusses social life, the Church as society, work, and the state.

The text in this book is heady material, and the way Dr. Esolen writes comes off that way as well. That's not to say that it wasn't brilliantly written, because despite the philosophical tone of the book, I still found it quite readable without feeling the need to have a dictionary for every other word. He also did a nice job of explaining both the big picture and the details that make up the big picture. I also found it fascinating just how astute Pope Leo XIII was when it comes to society and the direction he saw it heading. I definitely plan to re-visit this book and read it a little more slowly the second time through so that I may absorb more of it. If you have an interest in Catholic social teaching or are looking for a good homeschool text on the subject, I recommend this book!

Defending Marriage is another recent book by Dr. Anthony Esolen, with the sole purpose of defending traditional and natural marriage. To do this, Dr. Esolen presents twelve arguments that every Catholic, every Christian should make in defense of marriage. Some of the arguments are, "We must recover the virtues of modesty and purity," or "To celebrate an abnormal behavior makes things worse, not better, for those inclined to engage in it." Dr. Esolen uses art, literature, theological, and cultural arguments to make his point. When you grow up hearing, "Because God said so," as the main argument for why some things are sins, Dr. Esolen's argument make for a refreshing read.

All of the arguments made were very convincing and compelling. However, one stuck with me more than others. The first argument that really rang true was. "We must not condone all forms of consensual activity among adults." In this chapter, Dr. Esolen starts by telling us that no culture, not even the ancient Greeks ever approved of homosexual "marriage" or activities, but that they instead engaged in pedophilia which too is morally wrong. He then explains that if our society accepts homosexual "marriage," a union which cannot create life, then we have passively said that polygamy is acceptable. As Dr. Esolen succinctly says, "You can't have half a jungle." If we want a moral civilization with traditional and natural marriage, we must uproot all sin against marriage.

The great thing about this book is that Dr. Esolen doesn't focus solely on one issue as a danger to marriage. In our given day and age, it would be easy to blame homosexual "marriage" as the thing that is killing traditional marriage. Dr. Esolen is much wiser than that, though, and he blames a combination of the sexual revolution, no fault divorce, and homosexual "marriage" for the death of traditional marriage. There are some books that every Catholic should own, and I firmly believe that this is one of them. In our growing secular age, we need to be able to articulate and defend our core beliefs, and marriage is one of those core beliefs. Read this book. Read it again. Teach your children the arguments for traditional marriage, and instill in them the right beliefs of a moral society.

These books were provided to me for free by Sophia Institute Press and Saint Benedict Press, respectively. If you found these reviews helpful, please click here and/or here and hit Yes!

Encountering Jesus in Word, Sacraments, and Works of Charity and A Concise Guide to Catholic Social Teaching (Ave Maria Press)

It's another two review day here at Stuart's Study. I'm not a fan of this format, but sometimes the books are just too plentiful that if you don't review two at a time, you'll never get to them all. Tough problem to have, right? Poor me. I have too many books. In all seriousness though, these two books are available from Ave Maria Press and are both quick but profound read that will help us grow in our understanding of the Catholic Faith.

Encountering Jesus is a brief 100 page book by the same author, Fr. Peter J. Vaghi, as the Pillars of Faith (4 Volume Set). Broken into three parts, Fr. Vaghi tells us how we can encounter Jesus in Word (the Bible), Sacraments (specifically Baptism, Penance, and the Eucharist), and Charity. Weaving these three elements together, we get a clear message of what the New Evangelization is, and we also get a blueprint on how to draw closer to Jesus.

As a former Protestant, I am well-versed in how to encounter Jesus in Scripture, and as a convert, I have had experience drawing closer to Jesus through the Sacraments. However, I never considered charity as a way to accomplish this. That is why I chose that section as my favorite section. Using the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Last Judgment, Fr. Vaghi paints a picture of what true charity is and what it reveals. He says, "True charity, after all, is that which opens persons to knowledge of the Great Mystery: that of the Father's love for man in Jesus Christ, found concretely in and through someone else." If we see Jesus in the faces of those who need our help, the world would be a better place. It's easier said than done, I know. If you are looking for a short but powerful book on how to improve your relationship with Jesus, this is the book for you!

A Concise Guide to Catholic Social Teaching lives up to its name and then some! In this revised edition, Fr. Kevin McKenna touches on topics of social justice such as human dignity, rights of workers, and care for the poor, just to name a few. Under these umbrella labels, we can dive deeper and see specific issues. For example, Life and Dignity of the Human Person includes issues such as racism, capital punishment, and abortion. Fr. McKenna carefully and succinctly addresses all of these issues, using Church documents released by popes and bishops.

With recent talks in the news about increasing minimum wage, it was interesting to read what the great minds in our Church had to say about the rights of workers. However, these sections discuss more than unions and a just or living wage. They also discuss relationships between employer and employee, relationships between wealthy and poor nations, and the dangers of consumerism. Though the media chooses to ignore each of these sub-points and focus solely on sensational journalism, they are important as well and should be brought to the table.

Fr. McKenna has a masterful way of dissecting complex papal documents, like Evangelium Vitae or Caritas in Veritate, and explaining them in readable chunks. As great as the chapters are, the appendices are equally wonderful! I especially like the "Homily and Catechetical Message Guide." In this first appendix, the reader gets a list of Mass readings for all three years and which ones correspond to which issues. For example, the readings for the Feast of the Ascension fall under the category of "Dignity of the Human Person." In summation, I would recommend this book to all priests and any laity with an interest in the social teachings of the Church in a clear and concise manner.

These books were provided to me for free by Ave Maria Press. If you found the reviews helpful, click here or here and hit Yes!