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- Herausgeber: anna ruggieri
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023
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Praise for The Father’s House
“If you want to know the meaning of life, if you long to know who you are and Whose you are, if your heart aches to love and to be loved, this book will guide you to the answers and bring you into communion with the One who holds them.”
— From the Foreword by Sister Bethany Madonna, SV
“Elegantly written, The Father’s House explores the human experience in light of Trinitarian theology to delve into the true meaning of our existence. It is both accessible to the average reader and packed with the profound truths of the Faith.”
— Edward Sri, theologian and author of The Art of Living
“This book is a profound retreat for the mind and heart. It is a clear, luminous, and concentrated meditation on the mystery of Christianity for our practical and spiritual lives. Father Brent seeks to interpret the inner life of the human soul from the perspective of eternity, seeing the created order in light of the Trinity, and understanding the human person as a spiritual creature made for the Trinity. This is a book that invites and challenges us to a greater interiority and a closer proximity to the mystery of Christ.”
— Thomas Joseph White, OP, Rector, Angelicum, Rome
“In this highly accessible text, Father James draws on the essence of the Gospel and the universal ascetical-mystical tradition of Christianity to articulate a lucid and prayerful introduction to the great principles of the spiritual life. Many Catholics are unaware of the lofty vocation that is ours as baptized Christians. This book presents a highly accessible synthetic articulation of the Christian vocation to ‘become and to be Christ.’”
— Matthew K. Minerd, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy and Moral Theology, Byzantine Catholic Seminary, Pittsburgh, PA and Program Director, MA in Philosophy, Holy Apostles College and Seminary, Cromwell, CT
“With engaging clarity, from the heights of the Trinity to the depths of the heart, this son of Saint Dominic opens wide the doors to the Father’s House. Speaking the language of Sacred Scripture, Father Brent assembles the wisdom of the saints—including Elizabeth of the Trinity, Thérèse of Lisieux, Mother Teresa, and John Paul II, as well as Rublev and other important voices in Eastern Christianity—to baptize our minds in the communio of the Church and make the case for a life of personal conversion, contemplation, and holy friendship.”
— Professor Anthony Lilles, St. Patrick’s Seminary and University
“Father James Brent is in awe of the Trinity! He gives a beautiful witness to behold—an invitation for you, too. You are not meant to be separated from the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are meant to live in the heart of the Trinity, in merciful love and eternal victory. Don’t delay. Let the Trinity guide you to the fullness of the Christian life through the words of this humble and wise friar.”
— Kathryn Jean Lopez, senior fellow, National Review Institute and author of A Year with the Mystics: Visionary Wisdom for Daily Living
“‘We have inherited a universal pathological condition or affliction of the heart,’ observes Dominican Father James Brent in his inspiring book The Father’s House. It is a condition that leaves us feeling spiritually homeless. The answer to it is the Father’s House—an invitation from Jesus Christ that promises: “I have everything you could ever need or want. I am opening it all up to you now and bringing you into it. I am making a place for you. All of it is yours. My whole life with the Father is yours.” This is a book of extraordinary insight and encouragement by a much-revered teacher, preacher, and spiritual master.”
— Father Peter John Cameron, OP, Editorial Director, Aleteia.org | English edition
The Father’s House
The Father’s House
Discovering Our Home in the Trinity
By James Dominic Brent, OP
Foreword by Sister Bethany Madonna, SV
Nihil Obstat:
Reverend Basil Cole, O.P.
Imprimi Potest:
Very Reverend Allen B. Moran, O.P.
Prior Provincial of the Dominican Province of Saint Joseph
April 20, 2023
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023935889
CIP data is available.
ISBN 10: 0-8198-2759-2
ISBN 13: 978-0-8198-2759-3
ISBN 13 (ePub): 978-0-8198-2760-9
Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations in this work are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations where noted are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible copyright © 1989, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations where noted are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament copyright© 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved.
Excerpts of the Catechism of the Catholic Church are taken from the English translation for use in the United States of America copyright © 1994, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops—Libreria Editrice Vaticana. English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica, copyright © 1997, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops—Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
Papal and magisterial texts copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione-Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.
“Prayer to the Holy Trinity” excerpted from the Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity, Volume 1, I Have Found God. Copyright © 1984, ICS Publications, Washington, D.C. Used with permission of the publisher.
Cover art and design by Kenneth Reaume
Art: The Trinity by Andrei Rublev (fifteenth century); wikicommons
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
“P” and PAULINE are registered trademarks of the Daughters of St. Paul.
Copyright © 2023, Dominican Province of Saint Joseph
Published by Pauline Books & Media, 50 Saint Paul’s Avenue, Boston, MA 02130-3491
www.pauline.org
Pauline Books & Media is the publishing house of the Daughters of St. Paul, an international congregation of women religious serving the Church with the communications media.
To Saint Joseph
Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter One
The Holy Trinity
Chapter Two
To Be Jesus Christ
Chapter Three
The Spirit of Love
Chapter Four
The Pathos of the Heart
Chapter Five
The Practicals of the Way
Chapter Six
The Beatitudes
Chapter Seven
The Father’s House
Chapter Eight
The Mystery of Filial Adoption
Conclusion
Reflection Questions
Prayer to the Holy Trinity
Foreword
It was the summer before my final vows and I was beginning a thirty-day retreat in anticipation. I had prepared a seemingly impressive day-by-day plan for my meditations, and I felt pretty good going in. All of that changed in an instant, on day one, as I listened to the first reading at Mass. It was the story of Jacob, who disguised himself as his older brother Esau to dupe their father, Isaac, into giving him the blessing of the firstborn instead (see Gen 27:1–29). I had never been struck by this passage before, but it was as if a ray of light pierced me to the core. I had the inexplicable conviction that I do this. That I feel a need to “dress up” so that God the Father will bless me, to try to impress him or make him think I am someone better than I am, somehow deserving of his blessing. Slowly, I began to realize I had been operating out of misconceptions of God, or shame over my own sinfulness and weakness, or fear of being rejected and punished. It was a clear invitation to come close, to come to know the Father and to receive his blessing as I am, purely and without any pretenses.
“The Father himself loves you” (Jn 16:27). As if for the first time, the truth of this reality penetrated my heart and freed me to receive and live from my identity as a beloved daughter of the Father, made one with Christ Jesus, and anointed with the Holy Spirit and power.
As I read The Father’s House: Discovering Our Home in the Trinity, this transformative grace was renewed. Father James Brent delves into what seems to be a best-kept secret.
Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, “If you knew the gift of God . . .” (Jn 4:10), referring to himself, the living water she was thirsting for. If only we knew this gift of God . . . our joy would be complete! (See Jn 15:11.)
Father James masterfully, with clarity and simplicity, draws us into the gift of God—who has revealed himself as the Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a life-giving communion of love. By giving us a practical, human, and scriptural exposition of how to live this truth that sets us free to live in love and taste the promised abundance, this book also offers us joy as a natural consequence.
We can, however, be prevented from living the full expression of this gift if we are unaware of our fallen nature or how to cooperate in the grace available to us in Christ. As if shining light into darkness, The Father’s House illumines the “pathos of the heart,” and we come to understand the wound original sin left on our experience of ourselves, others, and the world. We come to understand how we can be influenced by the enemy with a myriad of temptations, unruly passions, distractions, and disordered affections. Outlining practical means, Father James encourages us to recognize and resist these movements by engaging in the sacramental life and employing the undaunted authority of our Baptism.
In Baptism, our Father’s love goes to the furthest extremes: indwelling. Jesus said, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (Jn 14:23). We become one with Jesus in Baptism. And as Father James impresses upon us, it is in this sacrament that “you become Jesus.” The Trinity comes to dwell in our souls.
As you read on, it becomes evident that God asks us for more, calling us to live out a Christian life of service, because he can provide us with more. He has poured the Holy Spirit into our hearts. Living the Beatitudes opens us to a life of friendship in union with God. We realize that our blessedness does not come from our wealth or surplus, but rather from our happy poverty and vulnerable dependence on the Trinity.
If you want to know the meaning of life, if you long to know who you are and Whose you are, if your heart aches to love and to be loved, this book will guide you to the answers and bring you into communion with the One who holds them.
Sister Bethany Madonna, SV
+ Holy Thursday, April 6, 2023
Acknowledgments
The present book never would have come to be without the contribution and support of many people along the way. The numerous Catholic campus ministries and young adult groups across the country who invited me to speak or lead their retreats have my special gratitude. Everything in this book is a response to their questions, their hunger for God, and their desire to follow Christ. Particular thanks go to the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) for so many invitations to lead weekend retreats and to serve as chaplain for their Summer Projects program time and again. It is some of the students of Summer Projects whose story I tell in Chapter Five, and I shall never forget the grace of so many summer days and nights in the Rockies. Special gratitude to the college chaplains along the way who encouraged me to write this book.
