Journeys Home (51 page)

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Surprised By Truth 2.
Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute, 2000.

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Surprised by Truth 3.
Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute, 2002.

Merton, Thomas.
The Seven Storey Mountain
. 1948. Reprint, Orlando, FL: Harcourt Trade Publishers, 1998. This spiritual autobiography of a secular man turned Trappist monk has often been compared to the
Confessions
of St. Augustine and is one of the most influential religious works of the twentieth century.

Moss, Rosalind, ed.
Home at Last: Eleven Who Found Their Way to the Catholic Church.
San Diego: Catholic Answers, 2000. Eleven often startling accounts of conversion. The contributors to this book were Anglican, Presbyterian, atheist, Lutheran, Jewish, Baptist, Pentecostal, agnostic -- but all are now Catholic.

Newman, John Henry.
Apologia pro Vita Sua.
1880. Reprint, London: Penguin, 1994. This classic narrates the conversion of one of the greatest English cardinals of the nineteenth century. Newman tells how his doubts about the Anglican tradition began and how he gradually converted to the Catholic faith. The book was intended as an answer to charges that he was a Catholic all his life and had been trying to "subvert" the Church of England from within.

Nordhagen, Lynn.
When Only One Converts.
Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 2001. A candid collection of conversion accounts from married couples in situations in which only one spouse wanted to become Catholic. The stories reveal the stresses this problem caused in their marriages and how they coped or even grew spiritually through the ensuing difficulties.

Pearce, Joseph.
Literary Converts.
San Francisco: Ignatius, 1999. A biographical journey into the faith of some of the greatest modern writers in the English language, all Christian converts: Oscar Wilde, Evelyn Waugh, C. S. Lewis, Malcolm Muggeridge, Graham Greene, G. K. Chesterton, Dorothy Sayers, T. S. Eliot, and J. R. R. Tolkien.

Ray, Stephen K.
Crossing the Tiber.
San Francisco: Ignatius, 1997. A moving account of the conversion of an Evangelical Protestant, thoroughly documented with more than four hundred biblical and patristic quotations and commentary.

Sullivan, Bruce.
Christ in His Fullness.
Zanesville, OH: CHResources, 2007. Details the journey of the author, who was a Church of Christ minister for seven years before entering the Catholic Church. This book explains the joys, struggles, fears, and peace that come from an individual's realization that the fullness of truth is found within the Catholic Church. Sullivan presents an in-depth study of the issues that prevent many from ever considering the Catholic Church while emphasizing in a positive way the great gift awaiting all who will embrace the Catholic faith, the gift of having Christ in all of His fullness.

Currie, David.
Rapture: The End-Times Error That Leaves the Bible Behind.
Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute, 2003. More than a critique of faulty "end times" beliefs, this book is a detailed excursion through the difficult and controversial passages of the Bible used by certain Protestants to produce belief systems that are not only quite modern, but also incompatible with Catholic teaching.

Thigpen, Paul.
The Rapture Trap: A Catholic Response to "End Times" Fever.
West Chester, PA: Ascension, 2001. Paul Thigpen lays out in clear, simple terms the biblical foundations of Catholic teaching on the close of the age -- the "end times." Along with Scripture, he draws from Tradition, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Church history, and contemporary experience to reveal the shortcomings of the so-called "rapture" doctrine and the larger tangle of twisted religious teachings to which it is tied.

Olson, Carl.
Will Catholics Be Left Behind?
San Francisco: Ignatius, 2003. This timely book, written by a former Fundamentalist, is a thorough critique of the popular Fundamentalist notion of the "rapture" -- the belief that Christians will be removed from earth prior to a time of tribulation and the second coming of Christ. It examines the theological, historical, and biblical roots of "pre-millennial dispensationalism," the belief system most often associated with the rapture teaching and popularized in the bestselling
Left Behind
books. Written for both the lay person and the serious student, this book combines an engaging, popular approach with detailed footnotes and exhaustive research.

Gaudoin-Parker, Michael.
The Real Presence Through the Ages.
New York: Alba House, 1993. Selections from Church documents from the early Christian centuries to the present, with
informative introductions.

Groeschel, Benedict J.
In the Presence of Our Lord: The History,
Theology, and Psychology of Eucharistic Devotion.
Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 1997. A well-written book with good references and documentation. It thoroughly explains both historical foundations and the development of current practices. This book stands out as being a great source of information on a subject that has many devotional books. It is solidly in-line with the Magisterium, as are all of Fr. Groeschel's books.

Hahn, Scott.
The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth.
New York: Doubleday, 1999. Each time we celebrate the Mass we enter into the heavenly liturgy that is so powerfully and beautifully described in the Book of Revelation.
The Lamb's Supper
explains the Book of Revelation in light of the Mass.

O'Connor, James.
The Hidden Manna: A Theology of the Eucharist.
San Francisco: Ignatius, 1988. A must-read, in-depth presentation of, and commentary on, substantial excerpts from the major sources of the Church's tradition that focus on the Real Presence, extending all the way back to apostolic times.

Ryland, Ray.
Transubstantiation: Jesus Gives Himself to Us.
Zanesville, OH: CHResources, 2010. A beautiful little booklet explaining in an understandable manner the Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

Shea, Mark P.
This Is My Body: An Evangelical Discovers the Real Presence.
Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 1992. A popular apologetic written in terms that are engaging and accessible to Evangelical Protestants. Shea treats standard misconceptions and objections to the teaching of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, showing most to be simple errors in logic or ironic oversights in scriptural exegesis.

Grodi, Marcus C.
How Firm a Foundation.
Zanesville, OH: CHResources, 2002. Stephen LaPointe believed in Jesus. For him, the Bible was the only sufficient, firm foundation for his life. He wanted to obey God in all things, and he had given up a secular career to become an ordained minister. He loved to preach the Word and knew that one day he would stand before God, accountable for everything he preached. But there was only one problem: How could he be certain that what he was preaching was true?

Akin, Jimmy.
The Salvation Controversy.
San Diego: Catholic Answers, 2001. A serious work on faith versus works, penance, purgatory, indulgences, and free cooperation with God's grace. All these issues have been sore points in the dialogue
between Catholics and Protestants.

Decree on Justification of the Council of Trent.
The Council of
Trent, meeting on and off from 1545 to 1563 in the Alpine Italian town of Trent, was the Catholic Church's response to the challenge presented by the Protestant Reformation. Its doctrinal decrees touch on many of the controversial topics debated during the times such as justification, the Eucharist, and the other sacraments. Many of the doctrinal teachings of this ecumenical council were definitive dogmatic pronouncements and as such are infallible. Available online at http://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct06.html.

Aquilina, Mike.
The Mass of the Early Christians.
Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 2001. Here is revealed the Church's most ancient Eucharistic beliefs and practices. Using the words of the early Christians themselves, from many documents and inscriptions, Aquilina traces the Mass's history from Jesus' lifetime through the fourth century. The Mass stood at the center of the Church's life, evident in the Scriptures as well as the earliest Christian sermons, letters, artwork, tombstones, and architecture. Even the pagans bore witness to the Mass in the records of their persecutions.

Howard, Thomas.
Evangelical Is Not Enough.
San Francisco: Ignatius, 1984. Convert Thomas Howard describes his pilgrimage from Evangelical Protestant faith to a more liturgical Christian tradition. He soon afterwards became a Catholic. He describes Evangelical faith with great sympathy and then examines more formal, liturgical worship with the freshness of someone discovering for the first time what his soul had always hungered for. This is a book of apologetics without polemics. A persuasive account by a former Evangelical of the liturgical riches of ancient Catholic worship.

Jungman, Josef A.
The Early Liturgy: To the Time
of Gregory the Great.
Trans. Francis A. Brunner. South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1959.

Ratzinger, Joseph (now Pope Benedict XVI).
The Spirit of the Liturgy.
Trans. John Saward. San Francisco: Ignatius, 2009. This profound and beautifully written treatment of the "great prayer of the Church" will help readers discover, or rediscover, the liturgy in all its hidden spiritual wealth and transcendent grandeur as the very center of our Christian life.

Stravinskas, Peter M. J.
The Bible and the Mass.
Ann Arbor, MI: Servant, 1989. This work examines and explains the parts of the Mass, giving scriptural references and explanations for the various actions and prayers. Each chapter ends with study questions geared toward group discussion. It's perfect for Bible study, theology class, or prayer group, or simply to deepen your own understanding of the Church's highest form of prayer, the Eucharistic sacrifice.

Sullivan, Bruce.
A Layman's Primer of Liturgical Latin: Understanding the Latin of the Ordinary Form of the Mass.
Zanesville, OH: CHResources, 2010. When we take part in the Mass, we pray in communion with the faithful throughout the world as part of a Church that is universal and grounded in a sacred tradition two thousand years old. Our preservation of Latin, the language of the universal Church, serves to strengthen our bond of unity, deepen our sense of the sacred before the Divine Presence, and heighten our awareness of Christ's saving action, which transcends all times and boundaries. Catholics who seek, for all these reasons, a basic understanding of the Latin in the
Novus Ordo
of the Mass will find in this primer a convenient resource.

Breen, Eileen.
Mary the Second Eve: Selections from the Writings of John Henry Newman.
Rockford, IL: TAN, 1982. This booklet demonstrates that today's Marian doctrines -- including the doctrines of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption -- are firmly rooted in the teachings of the early Church. It shows that these teachings are based on Sacred Scripture and on the testimony of the Fathers, and therefore are not something invented later by the Church.

Hahn, Scott.
Hail, Holy Queen.
New York: Doubleday, 2001. Everything we know and believe about Mary is rooted in what we know and believe about her Son. This book explains from Scripture why Mary, the Queen Mother, is an integral part of Christ's kingdom.

Howell, Kenneth.
Mary of Nazareth
. Santa Barbara, CA: Queenship, 1998. This book will lead you through the relevant scriptural texts about Mary and will help you understand how intimately bound to one another Jesus and Mary are. It will explain how sometimes troubling Catholic doctrines of Mary are rooted in biblical testimony. You will discover how Mary is a key instrument in bringing about that unity for which Jesus, her Son, prayed.

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Meeting Mary: Our Mother in Faith: Learning Guide.
San Diego: Catholic Answers, 2003. Just as the mother is at the center of the family, so Mary is at the center of every Catholic's daily life -- yet her role is often misunderstood. In this learning guide, Howell describes the central importance of Mary not only to every Catholic, but to every Christian. He explains the reasons behind the four Marian dogmas and discusses the Marian apparitions at Guadalupe, Lourdes, and Fatima -- and what those apparitions mean for all of us.

Madrid, Patrick.
Any Friend of God's Is a Friend of Mine: A Biblical and Historical Explanation of the Catholic Doctrine of the Communion of Saints.
San Diego: Basilica, 1996. A short but lucid explanation of how Catholics and Protestants differ in their understanding of the communion of saints.

Miravalle, Mark I.
An Introduction to Mary.
Ann Arbor, MI: Servant, 1990. This book is most helpful in clearing up many misconceptions about the Catholic Church's teachings about Mary.

Shea, Mark.
Mary, Mother of the Son
. 3 vols. El Cajon, CA: Catholic Answers, 2009. Vol. 1:
Modern Myths and Ancient Truth.
Vol. 2:
First Guardian of the Faith
. Vol. 3:
Miracles, Devotion, and Motherhood.
This three-volume series help readers appreciate more fully the role of Mary in the life of the individual Christian and in the life of the Church as a whole.

May, William E.
An Introduction to Moral Theology
, rev. ed. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 1994. Here, carefully documented, footnoted, and indexed, is what the Church teaches, why it is obligated to do so, and why its members are obligated to examine and to apply that teaching.

Butler, Scott, Norman Dahlgren, and David Hess.
Jesus, Peter and the Keys: A Scriptural Handbook on the Papacy.
Santa Barbara, CA: Queenship, 1996. An extensive collection of exegetical and historical sources that bear on the Petrine doctrine. This book contains most of the important data that any
view of the papacy must explain.