Catechism of the Spiritual Life by Cardinal Robert Sarah

It seemed to me that the eclipse of God in our postmodern societies, the crisis of fundamental human and moral values, and its repercussions even in the Church, where we observe confusion on the subject of divinely revealed truth, the loss of the authentic meaning of the liturgy and a diminished understanding of priestly identity, forcefully demanded that a genuine catechism of the spiritual life be offered to all the faithful. ... This book is a catechism of the interior life. It intends to indicate the principal means of entering into the spiritual life; its purpose if practical, not academic.

This is a meditative, deep look at the sacraments and how they help to form and develop our spiritual lives. Cardinal Sarah's premise is that by following Jesus in the sacraments, like the Hebrews followed Moses in the desert, we will find the path out of our own interior wilderness to true closeness and joy in the Lord.

There's a chapter on each of the sacraments plus one on prayer. Sarah draws on the writings of theologians, saints, and popes (especially Pope Benedict XVI) in a way which is often reflective rather than instructive. This allows for slow, deep reading which opens up our own thoughts.

I was most intrigued when Sarah would comment on the modern world and the Church today. These were used not only as a reflection on the need for the sacraments but also on how to live our lives as Catholics in current culture. The answer, he tells us, is always personal conversion and a return to holiness, a return to a close relationship with Jesus.

Above all, Sarah's hope is that this spiritual catechism will help us reorient ourselves to see the beauty of God's plan for our lives. At the conclusion of the book, Sarah says of the interior wilderness:

In the wilderness, we understood that it is nor our job to take our interior life in hand. We have to let ourselves be formed. We have to let God form us. We have to let ourselves be led and instructed by God. Of course, we are not entirely passive. We have our part in the work. But our labor consists primarily in our willingness to be soft clay in God's hands, suited to be modeled according to his merciful plan.

Amen.