REVISIONING SPIRITUALITY - Human Transformation and the Communal
Imagination by John Markey, OP. and Michael Ceragioli; New York/Paulist Press,
2025. 228pp. A review by R. B. Williams, OP.
John J. Markey, OP. and Michael Ceragioli, both of whom are associated with
the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, have co-authored a fascinating
book on the ever elusive subject of “spirituality.” The book rewards the effort
(in some parts) to read it. But since this website is devoted to the enablement
and betterment of preaching, I hope to reveal some of the insights in the book
that could be of particular use to a preacher in his or her role in the
evangelizing mission of the Church. At the risk of over-simplifying the
authors’ approach, the vision of spirituality they offer rejects a “dualistic”
relationship strictly between an individual person and God in favor of a
“triadic” model of the Spirit of God, the human spirit and the community of
faith (as a mediator of the experience.)
In support of their “revisioning,” the authors draw on a number of
authorities, some of whom would be familiar to many - Sandra Schneiders IHM and
Bernard McGinn - and others less familiar unless a reader has studied the
history of philosophy in the USA - William James, Josiah Royce and Charles
Sanders Pierce. These three American philosophers were prominent in the early
years of the 1900’s and represented a school of philosophy known as
“pragmatism.” The authors borrow from the insights of all of those authorities
in formulating their own “model” of spirituality. In addition they offer three
prominent spiritual leaders as examples of how the triadic model was at work:
Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Jr., and, especially, Thomas Merton OCSO.
As a preacher, I found the section of the book devoted to the treatment of
spirituality and moral conversion very interesting and relevant because it
speaks to the process that can occur as the result of preaching. Drawing from
an additional author, Donald Gelpi SJ, the authors describe different forms of
conversion (they list five - affective, moral, socio-political, intellectual and
Christian!). The first four may very well occur outside a religious context,
but Christian conversion is the goal of all evangelization whether individual or
collective.
Lest the material seem a bit too “thick” for potential readers, I hasten to
call attention to the very useful summaries of each element in the text as the
reader moves on. The book is a “rich read” but a rewarding one.
—by R. B. Williams, OP
Just click on a book
title below to read the review.
(The latest submissions are listed first.)
Revisioning Spirituality
COME, HAVE BREAKFAST - MEDITATIONS ON GOD AND THE EARTH
SPEAKING WITH AUTHORITY
Mark's Passion Narrative
THE CRISIS OF BAD PREACHING
A HISTORY OF CATHOLIC THEOLOGICAL ETHICS
Jesus: A Gospel Portrait
How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row
Christ and the Spirit: Catholic Perspectives Through the Ages
MAKING SENSE OF MYSTERY - A PRIMER ON THEOLOGICAL THINKING
PREACHING IN THE BLACK CHURCH
The Council and the Making of the Ultramontane Church
LONGING TO SEE YOUR FACE – PREACHING IN A SECULAR AGE
A Joint Review
St. Dominic: A Story of a Preaching Friar
JESUS and the PRODICAL SON
PREACHING MATTERS: A PRAXIS FOR PREACHERS
Moses in Pharaoh's House
...and the Mountains Echoed
Behind the Beautiful Forevers
Preaching the Mystery of Faith: The Sunday Homily
The Rhythm of Being...
Remi De Roo - Chronicles of a Vatican II Bishop
Redeeming the Past
Abraham Joshua Heschel: Essential Writings
This Is Our Exile
Compassion: Loving Our Neighbor in and Age of Globalization
True and False Reform In the Church
Adult Faith
The Mystical Way In Everyday Life
Racial Justice and the Catholic Church
Let the Great World Spin
The Priesthood Of the Faithful
Living With Wisdom
Where the Pure Water Flows
LITURGY WITH STYLE AND GRACE
Best Advice For Preaching
We Speak the Word Of the Lord
KINGDOM, GRACE, JUDGEMENT...
Great World Religions: Islam
FULFILLED IN OUR HEARING: HISTORY AND METHOD OF CHRISTIAN PREACHING.
PARABLES FOR PREACHERS - YEAR C
Of Books and Preparation
After Sunday: A Theology of Work
A Captive Voice: The Liberation of Preaching
GOSPEL LIGHT: JESUS STORIES FOR SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Written Text Becomes Living Word...
Voicing the Vision: Imagination & Prophetic Preaching
The Death of Innocents
