Our Spiritual Journey: An Alternative Route

Richard Reichert, Paulist Press

Reichert uses “self-transcendence” as his central motif — the honest surrender, awe and reverence owed by the creature to the creator. He describes a necessary step for Christians, summarised as “letting go”, a process that leaves the person on the God side of the “me/God” equation.

Reichert is a well respected Roman Catholic lay thinker and theologian, author and speaker in the US. He avoids citing his own works. This book can be read only from the Catholic position, or from the broadly catholic perspective. This issue is most stark in the chapter relating to community, which is stated as being the Roman Catholic Church, or it can be taken as your own church community.

This is accessible theology. Reichert doesn’t preach but instead weaves a faith story that ends by suggesting we look for a “vocation” (God’s calling) in the broadest sense. The capping chapter is a discussion of the Lord’s Prayer. Reichert’s book is a considered call to commitment for developing or mature Christians, which is how I enjoyed it.

Peter Ellis