Two Advent Books

Waiting for Christ by St. John Henry Newman

The Infancy Narratives by Pope Benedict XVI

As a reflection during the four weeks of Advent 2021, I read these two books.  The Newman book has an entry for each day of Advent through Epiphany. The entries are edited versions of some of St. John Cardinal Newman’s sermons.  Even with the editorial changes---shortening sentences, substituting periods for semi-colons, substituting more current vocabulary for more antiquated and extracting certain passages---I struggled (as usual) with Newman’s writing.  He is deceptively deep.  Or simple.  I’m not sure.

Advent, a time of preparation, presents us with the four last things--- Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell.   Not surprisingly then Newman covers some uncomfortable territory.  What remains with me from this book is a lot of encouragement to prayer and steadfast faith in order to be a hopeful warrior through the trials and suffering one will surely experience in life.    

Pope Benedict’s book examines Jesus’s birth and first twelve years through study of the gospels Matthew and Luke.  This is a beautiful book.  Now, lest you think that I’m referring to its content, let me explain that I’m commenting first on the book as beautiful because it is physically beautiful.  The cover art is in blues and gold, with a spot of red.  The book jacket is a high-quality paper and stays in place on the book while you’re reading.  The pages are a heavy paper stock in a creamy off-white.  The book itself measures about 6 inches by 8 inches and is scarcely an inch think.  It’s pleasant just to hold the book and thumb through the thick pages!  Which I often did in lieu of sustained reading.

Although Benedict XVI is said to be one of the easier theologians to read, especially as compared to his predecessor Pope John Paul II not to mention St. John Henry Newman above, I find his writing a bit opaque at times.  Very helpful in reading this book was this article I stumbled upon that explicates the perspective from which Benedict writes.  

It is a worthwhile exercise to read these two books every year during Advent.