Publishers Newsletter - December 2024
Posted by ida decesaris on
Dear Friends,
The season of Advent renews our hope for the reign of God’s peace and love, signified by the birth of a baby in Bethlehem. But almost immediately, Christmas is followed by the feast of Holy Innocents, when King Herod tried to extinguish that hope in its cradle. Those innocents represent all those who die in the dream of a different possible world, hoping but never knowing that their redeemer lives.
How are we to read the story of Jesus through the lens of our current reality—significantly, in Bethlehem itself, but also closer to home? It is an ongoing tension between hope and the cruel forces of history, and our decision as to which we will choose.
Leonardo Boff, the Brazilian theologian and author of twenty-five Orbis titles, has spent much of his life reflecting on the life and meaning of Jesus. His new book is Jesus and His Abba: A Little Christology. It is indeed a “little” book. Yet he told me: “Of the many books I have written, this is the only one that gave me great inner joy!” For Boff, the essential foundation of Jesus’ identity and mission comes from his intimate identification with God, whom he calls affectionately his Abba. At what point did this intimate feeling become fully conscious in Jesus’ own life? How did it produce in him a true inner revolution, inaugurating a new language, and a new practice, and setting in motion an ongoing hope and revolution in history?
The Story of the Noosphere by Brian Thomas Swimme and Monica DeRaspe-Bolles, tells a different story of self-awareness--not just for a single person, but for the cosmos. The “noosphere” was a concept coined by Teilhard de Chardin, which points to a global sphere of communication and knowledge. It might seem to describe the internet. But as the authors show, it is a reality with a long back-story, beginning with the rise of human consciousness in the Paleolithic era, and extending through the discoveries of Galileo, Einstein, quantum physics, and the Webb Telescope. Through this evolutionary process, it is possible to say that the universe itself achieves self-consciousness. Written as a kind of poetic journey, fabulously illustrated throughout, this is a book that evokes wonder and hope.
Finally, James T. Keane, culture editor at America magazine, takes us on a fascinating journey in Reading Culture through Catholic Eyes: 50 Writers, Thinkers, and Firebrands who Challenge & Change Us. With wit and insight, Jim offers a tour of an extraordinary list of modern writers, including revered giants like Dorothy Day, Merton, Teilhard, C.S. Lewis, novelists like Mary Gordon, Walker Percy, Graham Greene, Salmon Rushdie, and Joan Didion, and dozens that I had heard of but never “met.” Reading them through a Catholic eye, Jim offers a generous and appreciative look at our culture, introducing (or in some cases reacquainting) us with new and old friends. A wonderful gift for any book lover!
Peace and Blessings,
