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Summary: The Love of the Savior
Review: I BELIEVE IN LOVE is an outstanding book which explores the personal love that Christ has for each individual. It is an answer to the common cry of our modern world, a cry for love. This book delves into the true meaning of love and applies it to how we can love Christ, and how Christ loves us. When read with an open heart, I BELIEVE IN LOVE can change your life.
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Summary: St. Therese Cuts Through to the Essence of Spiritual Living
Review: I received this book as a gift. A quick look at the Table of Contents and the conferences listed there had me feeling drawn to concentrate on this rather than dozens of other books waiting to be read on my shelves. I found that the book was exactly what the caption on the cover said: A Personal Retreat! Based on the Teaching of Saint Thérèse, Father d'Elbée quickly gets to the heart of what we all need to hear: How we are truly loved by God! Saint Thérèse is also one to go beyond what we normally imagine. The confidence she claims we can place in God; the confidence we should have in placing ourselves and our total trust in God; is both necessary for us to hear and very comforting. She is so confident, she says: forget you past! Just tell Jesus: "Make up for what I have done badly" and "Do what I have left undone." She gives her own personal examples. Father d'Elbée presents Saint Thérèse in such a realistic light. She appears as she truly is, for those who have studied her life, a child of God, similar to what she calls herself (Thérèse of the Child Jesus) and a disciple of Saint John of the Cross. Like all the saints, her message is founded on the virtue of humility, which she claims is so absolutely necessary. The message we receive is that if we knew what we could gain from this we would thirst for it. Father makes it clear that "no one but a disciple of Jesus can be humble." The simple reason is that it is not humanly possible because of our fallen human nature. We need His grace! The conference on "Great Desires, Humility, and Peace" is extremely helpful. One example, showing our blindness especially in respect to our need for humility, comes from the statement: "The majority of hurts, offended feelings, grudges, and bitternesses in life with others come from this obsession with our rights [i.e. we are always seeing injustice and demanding justice for ourselves and miserable when it does not happen], this need for esteem [the egotistical self-fulfilling pride that Saint John talks about], so strongly woven into our 'self.'" This is very true. We can only change ourselves. The solution for most of our problems lies within our grasp. It does, however, mean looking at ourselves with brutal honesty. But, it's the price we must pay for finding humility and peace. Don't jump to this part of the book. Read the whole thing. I am sure there is plenty that each person needs to hear. There is a lot that will hit home in each chapter. The Masters all say, not to advance in the Spiritual Life is to fall back. This book gives us food to help advance and keep advancing. Saint Thérèse is very profound in what she says, but when it comes down to what she asks us to do, they are very simple things-yes, maybe very hard to integrate into our lives, but it will not take a rocket scientist to know what she is talking about. If the book has the same effect on you that it had on me, give it as a gift to someone else. That's what I am doing now. I received it as a gift. I am ordering two more copies now for others.
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Summary: Amazing insights
Review: This book of retreats is filled with amazing insights into the spiritual life - a life of utter confidence in Christ and complete trust in His Love and Mercy. It also gives practical ways to live His Love and spread it among those with whom we come in contact. Draws on teachings of St. Therese, but it's obvious the author lives what he has learned from her as well.
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