Unexpected Daylight
There's nothing like unexpected daylight, unless you are trying to sleep in longer.<br /><br />St. Francis of Assisi actually never said, "Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary," inasmuch as we like to say he did. Similarly, we can't prove that Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth (1886-1968) never said, "We must hold the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other," because he actually never wrote those exact words. Indeed, there are statements made by these men that we might be able to piece together to suggest that they might have agreed with the quotes that have been attributed to them. Yet, the quotes themselves do not belong to these men.<br /><br />Dubious quotes aside; with the newspaper in one hand, his fingers of the other hand searching the internet, George Weigel on speed-dial, his other book The Tide Is Turning Towards Catholicism being propped up by his kids like a lectionary, and his wife channel surfing back and forth from EWTN to CNN, author David J. Hartline, once again, proves that by preaching the Gospel at all times, and using words when necessary, the Catholic Church is still the world's light on hill.<br /><br />Being an author and blogger it's always difficult for me to find time to read books other than my own or those I'm merely using for research. In fact, the only books other than my own, and writings by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, that I've been able to read over the past two years have been books that I have been asked to review. As such, I've always had the pleasant opportunity with these books to depart from my own thoughts and enter into the reflections, stories, musings, and rants of my fellow Catholics. The Catholic Tide Continues to Turn by Hartline was no different in that regard. In fact, several sections of this book were so gripping that I couldn't put the book down, while other sections compelled me to just set it aside for a moment, so that I could contemplate upon what I had just read. There's nothing like unexpected daylight, unless you are trying to sleep in longer.  :D<br /><br />I was one of those Catholic converts that Hartline refers to in the fourth chapter his book, `The Number of Converts Keep Increasing', that, in spite of the child sex abuse scandal, we came home to the Catholic Church. In fact, his first book, The Tide is Turning Toward Catholicism was one of the books I read while I was still discerning my call to become a Catholic. What that book and several of his articles in the Catholic Times did for me back then in 2006 was to assure me that the Catholic Church truly is being protected, preserved, and promoted by Christ Jesus. Outside of Christ Jesus there is no other way to explain how the Catholic Church continues to exist and flourish after nearly 2,000 years in spite of we who call ourselves members and clergy of the Church. Outside of Christ Jesus there is other way to explain how the Catholic Church confounds the dark world every time that it triumphs over the demise that its critics had prophesied.<br /><br />Continuing on with that same gift that he has to undercover fascinating news and events that the mainstream media wouldn't dare to consider covering, even if it knew how, Hartline offers us in his new book twenty chapters and nearly four hundred pages of stunning evidence and undeniable eyewitness accounts that God is still in the business of gathering the world into His Catholic Church and protecting it at all cost.<br /><br />While I was reading chapter after chapter of this book, the phrase that kept ringing in my head was, `In Spite of'. I believe that anyone who reads this book, has to come away with seeing that there is truly a miracle taking place in the Catholic Church throughout the world today; and that this miracle is taking place `In Spite Of' those within and without the Church who are working so very hard to conform the Church to the world, and to even to destroy Her all together.<br /><br />This isn't just a book for Catholics, and it wasn't written as such - evidenced by the appendix at the end that offers a brief introduction to basic Catholic beliefs. On the contrary, what we have here is a book that you want to buy for yourself to read, but you also want to make sure that you put either your own copy or a new copy in the hands of a non-Catholic - either someone who is interested, indifferent, or oppose to our faith. You also want to put a copy in the hand of lukewarm Catholics and those who have a distorted understanding of Vatican II. This uplifting book is definitely a must have book for anyone over the age of about 10, and anyone younger than 10 should have it read to them aloud.
Rating: 5 stars