Two Australian Religious, Christian Brother Brian Grenier and Missionary of the Sacred Heart Father Peter Malone have released new books – one seeking to draw readers into encountering God in the everyday through Christian meditation and the other through movies.
Br Brian is rare as far as writers go, reports The Catholic Leader.
That’s because he was more interested in his readers’ answers than his own.
Brother Brian Grenier CFC has released a new book called ‘Listen to Him!’ (PHOTO: Catholic Leader)
Having just released his new book, Listen to Him!, Br Grenier was reminded of a theologian who said “it is the question rather than the answer that educates”.
“And you could say that in the book here, I have either directly or implicitly, asked those questions which are most basic to living a baptismal commitment,” Br Grenier said.
“In doing so, I’ve tentatively suggested some of my own answers in responses to them, but I acknowledge that for somebody else it’s the question rather than my answer that educates.”
The book was all about drawing his readers into Christian meditation. Listen to Him! was a collection of writings about “living the Christian adventure”.
Br Grenier stressed that word – adventure.
It was how he captured the Christian life in a single word.
As for the title, he took them right from the mouth of God the Father, who said during the Transfiguration of Christ – “Listen to Him”. (Mt 17:5; Mk 9:7; Lk 9:35)
Br Grenier explains in the introduction that it contained “the best advice we are ever likely to receive”.
The book was a collection of brief essays, most of which had appeared in The Catholic Leader over the years, as well as some talks he had given in parishes and a brief biography of Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice.
The essays ranged from the historical to the meditative, and were interspersed with other materials intended to draw the reader to pondering God.
The book will be on sale through The Catholic Leader for $20.
Fr Peter’s book draws on his years of film reviewing and his work connecting cinema and spirituality.
Fr Peter Malone MSC’s new book ‘Dear Movies’ features more than 100 letters he has written to movies.
In Dear Movies, Fr Peter draws on his long experience of film reviewing and of writing and leading workshops on films and values. He has often been asked, 'What's your favourite film?' Dear Movies is part of his answer.
He has chosen to write letters to more than 100 movies, each letter beginning a conversation with the film, opening up some of their themes, their ways of telling stories, their roles as fables and parables. He also shares what each movie means to him, inviting the readers to discover their dear movies: how the movies we enjoy help us to explore values, offering insights into the spirituality of daily living and more demanding challenges.
Fr Peter remembers that “Jesus told stories about the ordinary, familiar things of everyday life - stories that still teach us to look more deeply into ourselves and identify what is real, lasting, precious, encouraging, difficult and demanding”.
“This is the kind of storytelling we look for in films. Dear Movies reminds us that while we have always looked for values and spirituality in music, in the visual arts, in theatre, in poetry and novels, movies too invite us to share experiences and to connect film with our understanding of God's purposes for our lives.”
This article draws from articles published by The Catholic Leader and material on the Coventry Press website.