Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful read!
Review: Theologian George Weigel's new "Letters to a Young Catholic" is a remarkable peek into the Beauty of Catholicism. It should be required reading for all Catholics, Protestants -- and even non-Christians!There is perhaps nobody more suited to write a book like this than George Weigel. Mr. Weigel is the author of more than ten books, including "The Truth of Catholicism," "The Courage to Be Catholic," and, of course, the much-celebrated biography of Pope John Paul II, "Witness to Hope." "Letters to a Young Catholic" is very much a roadmap of modern Catholicism. Mr. Weigel takes readers on a literary tour of the Catholic world. We visit the most likely and unlikely of places -- from GK Chesterton's favorite pub to the Vatican's Sistine Chapel -- as Mr. Weigel demonstrates that the world and the Church are "the arena of God's action." He expounds on Catholicism's belief that God's presence can be experienced through art, history, literature, and even other people! As Weigel says, "we can touch the truth of our salvation" -- this life matters!! You'll never think of the Holy Catholic Church in the same way again! I have never been so struck by the sheer beauty of truth as I was when I read "Letters." In every destination Weigel takes us, he finds opportunities to expound on the Catholic understanding of the world -- and of reality. Weigel's writing is clear, concise, and convincing. I'd recommend the book to anyone and everyone. Catholics will rediscover the majesty of their Faith, and non-Catholics will be touched -- and challenged -- by the Beauty of Truth.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful read!
Review: Theologian George Weigel's new "Letters to a Young Catholic" is a remarkable peek into the Beauty of Catholicism. It should be required reading for all Catholics, Protestants -- and even non-Christians! There is perhaps nobody more suited to write a book like this than George Weigel. Mr. Weigel is the author of more than ten books, including "The Truth of Catholicism," "The Courage to Be Catholic," and, of course, the much-celebrated biography of Pope John Paul II, "Witness to Hope." "Letters to a Young Catholic" is very much a roadmap of modern Catholicism. Mr. Weigel takes readers on a literary tour of the Catholic world. We visit the most likely and unlikely of places -- from GK Chesterton's favorite pub to the Vatican's Sistine Chapel -- as Mr. Weigel demonstrates that the world and the Church are "the arena of God's action." He expounds on Catholicism's belief that God's presence can be experienced through art, history, literature, and even other people! As Weigel says, "we can touch the truth of our salvation" -- this life matters!! You'll never think of the Holy Catholic Church in the same way again! I have never been so struck by the sheer beauty of truth as I was when I read "Letters." In every destination Weigel takes us, he finds opportunities to expound on the Catholic understanding of the world -- and of reality. Weigel's writing is clear, concise, and convincing. I'd recommend the book to anyone and everyone. Catholics will rediscover the majesty of their Faith, and non-Catholics will be touched -- and challenged -- by the Beauty of Truth.
Rating:
Summary: Letters to any & all Catholics
Review: Weigel has written an exquisite book that provides yet more evidence for THE CATHOLIC IMAGINATION Fr. Andrew Greeley has documented. Weigel is old enough to remember what the Catholic Church was like before the Second Vatican Council, but young enough to evaluate changes without getting caught up in euphoric recall and sentimental dross. The result is an intelligent, articulate, and lyrical Baedeker to Roman (Latin Rite) Catholicism. My only beef (make that fish on Fridays) is the title. Truly, this is a book that all Catholics--cradle and convert; enlivened and disenchanted--will benefit from reading. To restore flagging hope in this expression of Christian faith, read Weigel's new book along with David Gibson's, THE COMING CATHOLIC CHURCH.
Rating:
Summary: A Charter for Letting Catholics Be Catholics
Review: Weigel outlines in brief "letters" set in concrete, dramatic Catholic places the beauty of uninhibited Catholicism. He sets forth for all Catholics a vision of Catholicism glorying in beautiful liturgy focused on the Eucharistic Jesus at the center of our churches, not in a side chapel. He assertively affirms the Catholic sexual ethic in which self-gift and service replace using others. He defends the deep sacramental roots of an all-male priesthood and rejects the gnostic heresy of the gay movement. This book is a magnificent Magna Carta of our freedom to be authentically Catholic without first checking with the guardians of political correctness. Weigel is well on his way to becoming a sure guide for his own generation of Catholics recovering from the folly of liberalism and for younger generations eager for real Catholicism, not Catholic Lite.
Rating:
Summary: Catholicism in the mainstream
Review: Weigel's title clearly directs the book to youth. So what right does an old Catholic have to say anything about it? Well, an old Catholic will find it delightful and it will renew the virtue of hope in mature persons who are jaded by the commonplace acceptance of a superficial culture to replace the riches of tradition. Weigels approach makes the older Catholic positively, happily nostalgic. Of course, if it is a Protestant friend who is motivating your inquiry it will be better to fortify your apologetics with Karl Keating's "Catholicism and Fundamentalism" or with Peter Burnett's "The True Church"
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