Peter: Keys to Following Jesus (Ignatius Press)

When it comes to important figures in Church History, St. Peter is easily in the top five. Last year Augustine Institue released a DVD program called Lectio: Peter by Dr. Tim Gray. This year Augustine Institute teamed up with Ignatius Press to release a book, also by Dr. Tim Gray titled Peter: Keys to Following Jesus. The book begins with a foreword that states the purpose in writing this book, with one of those purposes being "to impart a theology of discipleship and evangelization based on seven interactions between Jesus and Peter. Each interaction comes after a failure on the part of Peter to understand or act properly." The book is then divided into ten chapters, with the first seven referencing the aforementioned quote, one on Peter and Pentecost, one on Peter coming to Rome, and the final chapter discusses Peter's own Way of the Cross.

The seven encounters Peter had with Jesus were as follows:
1. Jesus recruiting Peter to be an Apostle after Peter was fishing all night
2. Jesus healing Peter's mother-in-law and setting up "headquarters" in Capernaum
3. Peter's lack of faith when he was out at sea and the storm came and failing to walk on water
4. Peter becoming the rock on which Jesus will build His Church
5. Peter being given the keys to the Kingdom
6. Peter's increasing leadership and his presence at the Transfiguration
7. Peter's failure and denial during Jesus' Passion

Each of these chapters was very interesting and made you stop and meditate on these different episodes in the life of Peter. We see growth in Peter, but we also see him fall and fail repeatedly too. However, he doesn't stay down and defeated. He goes back to Jesus, because he knows that Jesus is the only one who can save him. The most interesting chapter to me was actually the final one in this book, which focused on Peter's own passion. This chapter relies primarily on Church Tradition, and in it we see Peter fleeing Rome, because the Christians of Rome felt he was too important to be martyred and the Church needed him. As he was fleeing, he encountered Jesus on the road, who said that He was going to Rome to be crucified again (basically implying that Peter was abandoning Rome, but Jesus would not). This opened Peter's eyes and with Jesus' help (again), Peter realized what he needed to do. He went back to Rome and strengthened God's people, even though this ultimately led to Peter being crucified too.

Peter: Keys to Following Jesus is a very important work for any Christian to read. It doesn't paint us a picture of a perfect man, but instead we see a man, like us, who is flawed in nature, but struggling to do the right thing. However, with  God's help, he was able to become a great saint and one of the pillars of the Catholic Church. If you are looking for a thoughtful and thought-provoking study on the life and ministry of Peter, I highly recommend this book to you.

This book was provided to me for free by Carmel Communications in exchange for an honest review.

St. Peter's Bones (Image Books)

Relics play an important role among people in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. While they are by no means necessary for salvation, they do aid some people in attaining salvation. How? Christianity was founded 2,000 years ago. Some can accept all the teachings of Sacred Scripture and Tradition on faith alone. Others need some tangible form of proof to help them believe. Relics can provide just such tangible proof for some people.  The relics of Jesus, like His cross or manger, are held in highest regard, followed in importance by relics of His Mother Mary. Beyond that, St. Peter's relics are held in high esteem, especially his bones. The legend of St. Peter's bones has fascinated me for some time, so I was thrilled to receive a copy of  St. Peter's Bones to review.

St. Peter's Bones is a brief book in which Thomas J. Craughwell leads the reader on a journey to find the bones of St. Peter. The book begins with Pope Pius XII's authorization of a thorough excavation of the area under St. Peter's Basilica know as the Vatican Grottoes. From there, the book rushes the reader off on a whirlwind adventure which details Biblical descriptions of Peter the man, historical accounts of St. Peter's bones being lost due to invasion, the dig that occurred in the Grottoes, and the analysis of the results.

Even though we ultimately know that St. Peter's bones were discovered since Pope Francis recently had them on display, parts of the book still had you on the edge of your seat. The passages that most captured my attention dealt with the excavations. As a kid, I grew up wanting to be Indiana Jones and discover Biblical artifacts. Reading this book and the descriptions of the tombs they uncovered was fascinating. For example, one of the tombs had an inscription that read, "Peter, pray to Christ Jesus for the holy Christian men buried near your body." I can't imagine the feeling of exhilaration from discovering this inscription, or the heartbreak when it faded away due to damp atmospheric conditions.

Overall, I have mixed feelings about this book. The content was top notch, but the style of writing was a little scattered to me. Mr. Craughwell's storyline jumps back and forth between the Bible to ancient history to the explorations and excavations that occurred in the 1940s, all seemingly within the same breath. I would have preferred a more orderly approach. For me, the book would have been easier to read had Craughwell talked about Scriptural Peter first and covered that topic thoroughly before moving on to Constantine building St. Peter's Basilica, other historically relevant events, etc. That personal preference aside, this book is still a worthwhile read for anyone with an interest in St. Peter, archaeology, or relics.

I received this book for free from Image Books in exchange for an honest review. Also, for a limited time (until January 31st), if you buy a copy of this book from a retailer, Image Books will send you another copy for free. Click here for more details. As always, if you found this review helpful, please click the link, and hit Yes!

Saint Benedict Press: The Gospel of the Holy Spirit: Meditation and Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles

When looking for some reading about the Early Church, most people look for the Early Church Fathers like Clement of Rome or Polycarp of Smyrna. However, I would recommend going a little further back and opening the Bible. You could read some of the Epistles Paul wrote to various churches and note how the issues afflicting those churches are still present today. I personally would recommend starting with the Acts of the Apostles and reading about historic events such as the Martyrdom of Stephen, the Conversion of Saul, and the Council of Jerusalem. When reading any book of the Bible, though, you should read it with the Church's guidance, perhaps with a commentary such as The Gospel of the Holy Spirit.

The Gospel of the Holy Spirit is written by Fr. Alfred McBride, a priest with about 60 years of service and a doctorate in religious education.  He is considered one of the most influential religious leaders of the 20th Century. In this commentary, Fr. McBride starts by dividing the Acts of the Apostles into two separate books - "The Book of Peter," which covers Acts 1 to 13 and "The Book of Paul," which covers Acts 14 to 28. Even though I have read Acts several times, I never noticed this natural division in the book.  Now that I have seen it explained on paper, it makes perfect sense. There are 29 chapters in this book, which means you could work through this book solely over the period of a month. You could also decide to use it in a group study.

I really like that each chapter is broken down into three parts - the commentary, reflection questions, and a concluding prayer that ties in elements of what you just learned. One should always pray when reading the Scriptures, and this helps reinforce that. I always like to try and find a favorite part in a book I review, but that's hard when it comes to commentaries. However, I did find the section on Pentecost (Acts 2:1-12) to be absolutely fascinating. The way Fr. McBride compared the events of that day to different Old Testament events, especially from the book of Exodus, was eye-opening and made me look at the birth of the Church in a whole new light.

If you have never read a book of the Bible before or want to read the Bible deeper, I would recommend reading a synoptic Gospel, preferably Luke first, and then picking up The Gospel of the Holy Spirit   Why Luke? Luke and Acts are essentially two volumes of a larger book, so you will get a fuller picture of the message Luke was trying to convey by reading both, rather than one or the other. I would love it if Fr. McBride would do a book like this one for the Gospel of Luke, because this was a 5-star book. If he doesn't though, one can always take his Catholic Course on The Christ, which covers all four Gospels.

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