From Library Journal
Trained as a physicist and a Roman Catholic priest, Albacete has written a fine book of short reflections on religion, its place in our world, its at-times troubled relationship to its own truth claims, the meaning of suffering, and the experience of pluralism and liberalism. Albacete cites the thought of John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger, to be sure, but he also engages with Germaine Greer, Federico Garc¡a Lorca, and Paul Ricoeur. Albacete's profound sense of the religious leads him not to dogma but to a series of sensitively framed, sincere questions that should catch the attention and empathy of many readers. Highly recommended for most collections.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Booklist
Monsignor Albacete was a consultant to a PBS program on John Paul II and, after presenting it to TV critics at the Pasadena Ritz Carlton, was asked so many questions about faith that he felt as if he were God's spokesperson at the hotel. Hence the title of the ingratiating little book in which he puts his answers together formally. The roots of faith grow out of the human longing for infinity, for transcendence, he says, and are watered by wonder in the face of creation and acceptance, rather than rejection, of reality. Reason is the instrument for understanding the great mystery at the heart of creation, and this is the same reason science employs to discover the material workings of creation. From an absorbing discussion of reason, Albacete proceeds to suffering; sex, money, and politics; and religion. Each discussion is conducted in little chapters that agreeably break up into digestible portions what amounts to a thorough general--that is, not just Christian--theory of faith in God. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
