Living the Catholic Faith in a Post-Christian World
by Charles J. Chaput
A vivid critique of American life today and a guide to how Christians—and particularly Catholics--can live their faith vigorously, and even with hope, in a post-Christian public square.A kind Happy Catholic reader gave me this book. It only took reading the introduction and first chapter to make it clear that this is the anti-"Benedict Option" book:
But we can't simply withdraw from public affairs. Saint Benedict could retreat to the Italian countryside, but Augustine was a bishop intimately tied to his people and their society. For Augustine, the classic civic virtues named by Cicero — prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance—can be renewed and elevated, to the benefit of all citizens, by the Christian virtues of faith, hope and charity.Gauntlet thrown. Interesting-er and interesting-er. I'm really looking forward to reading this.
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UPDATE - chapter 2 brings the third mention of not hiding away:
All of which underscores a simple fact: The surest way to transform a culture is from the inside out. And the surest path to doing it isn't through reasoned debate (too tedious) or violence (too costly) but by colonizing and reshaping the culture's appetites and behaviors.Bam.
