By Subhasis Chattopadhyay –
Reading rewires the brain, cleanses our soul and is Lectio Divina or swadhyaya. 2018 is around the corner and it is good to take up a reading challenge for deepening our spiritual lives. Often, we do not have a budget for books, except for textbooks. Therefore, three ways to motivate oneself to read are to make sure one reads while travelling to and from work; to read at least one hour daily and to buy these books for one’s own collection. Borrowed books cannot be annotated. I also suggest that these books are not read on any electronic device. This is because the very texture of hard-copy books makes us read slowly, helping us to be truly still.
Hinduism insists that associating with renunciates clears us of muck, in the absence of being in holy company (satsang), the next best option is to read edifying books. Here are some books to get you started in 2018.
A):
- Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration
- Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection
- JJesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives
These three books by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI form one symphony about the Christ, Jesus. They should be bought together and read slowly and prayerfully. Begun now, they will ready the soul for Lent leading to Easter
B. Crossing the Threshold of Hope
Saint Pope John Paul II’s book is important for understanding the philosophical moorings of the Catholic Church. The late Pope brought his immense capabilities as a philosopher of the human person in writing this book. It is even more urgent to read this book now when the dignity of the human being is threatened by cyborgs and other forms of artificial intelligence.
C. Death Comes for the Archbishop
Fiction tells us more of religious life than theological tomes. Willa Cather shows how a humble missionary stands firm in his Catholic Faith and lives out his vocation as a man missioned by Jesus day after incomprehensible day among an alien people. All of us are missioned since the Old Testament declares we are all sojourners here in this valley of tears.
We all think our sufferings are the greatest; and blame God for our condition. This true story puts our suffering within the context of Catholic thought on pain and terminal diseases.
It is not easy to fight against radiation induced blood cancer. It is not easy to fight on in a city recently nuked. And yet this book speaks of one Catholic man’s effort to help others achieve mastery over their broken lives through post-nuclear Nagasaki. The protagonist of this novel was an atheist who became a Catholic and then persisted in living out his vocation as a Christian day after radiation filled day. Fr. Paul Glyn’s book is a spiritual bestseller. None dies of old age, but of disease. The Hindu Scriptures say that since we are made of transient elements; we will all suffer bodily diseases. This book readies us for suffering and journeying with the Christ who bore His Cross to Golgotha.
E. The Restoration of Christian Culture
This book continues to inspire men to become cloistered monks; professors to teach better and declares a war against the dumbing down of the intellect. The late Professor John Senior has included a long list of books in this book, divided by age brackets, for a lifetime of reading. He has included such classics like Joseph Conrad’s Almayer’s Folly. The style of the book is witty and will ready both a Christian and a Hindu for a rigorous intellectual Faith formation. Without a honed intellect, one cannot be holy. Experience says that foolishness is not conducive to a life in God.
F. An Infinity of Little Hours
Nancy Klein Maguire brings to life the hidden lives of Carthusians. The great joys of the Carthusian life and the need for moderation in all things in persevering as a Carthusian monk are relevant to all of us. To remain happily married and persevere in marriage we need the living God in our hearts and moderation in all things; not control over our partners. We need to live in the community of our 
families which is not merely a humanly created unit. God brings and keeps a family together. This book will strengthen our marriages. After reading this book, one ought to watch the movie Into Great Silence directed by Philip Gröning.
Jesus cried out in loneliness on the Cross. The human condition is marked by loneliness. Intellectual prowess by itself is a marker for worldliness. When we lay down our lives for our fellow wo/men, then only are we truly intelligent. Dorothy Day’s revolutionary social activism sprung from her interior wellspring rooted in the Catholic Faith. All of us will learn from her autobiography how to serve God in the form of the stranger. It is impossible to become holy without serving those whom we think are our enemies and those whom we consider foreigners.
Subhasis Chattopadhyay is a blogger and an Assistant Professor in English (UG & PG Departments of English) at Narasinha Dutt College affiliated to the University of Calcutta. He has additional qualifications in Biblical Studies and separately, Spiritual Psychology. He also studied the Minor Upanishads separately. He remains a staunch Hindu. He had written extensively for the Catholic Herald published from Calcutta. From 2010 he reviews books for the Ramakrishna Mission and his reviews have been showcased in Ivy League Press-websites.