For over forty years, John Garvey was the “ballast” of Commonweal magazine. His award-winning essays and consistently notable columns revealed not only his acuity and alacrity, but his uncommon spiritual insight. These in turn provided momentum and substance for whatever followed in an issue of the magazine because Garvey never hesitated to wrestle with some of the most challenging and intractable topics of the day, and did so with a rich pastoral sensitivity, and a refreshing and rare intelligence.
Only Wonder Comprehends gleans from John Garvey’s many contributions to Commonweal that reflect his spiritual depth and deep appreciation of history, politics, theology, and culture. Steeped in the Christian tradition, Garvey loved to write and, in return, his readers relished what he wrote. It is hoped that this collection of his writings from Commonweal will inspire readers to cultivate a similar sense of attentiveness and commitment, for as the author himself observed, “Religious traditions are meant to transform us, not to affirm us as we are.”
Tabla de materias
Contents
Foreword
Groundings
Climbing Trees
Confidence v. Certainty
A Tree Full of Monkeys
Admitting Ignorance
Telling the Christian Story
The New Atheists
Portals
The Fiction of Philip K. Dick
Christo’s
Gates
Not a Wasted Word
Philip Roth’s
Everyman
Myths, Fables & Parables
Incarnation, Death, Resurrection, Love
Found, Not Made
An Unimaginable Intimacy
Flesh Wounds
What Is the Point of Suffering?
Outrageous or Meaningless?
Resurrection or Resignation?
More than Sentiment
A Priest of and for His Times
The Splendor of Orthodox Spirituality
What a Priest Does
Priests Should Be Married
Gender & Religious Symbols
When Church & State Marry
When Christians Kill
Why People Leave the Church
Doxologies
Sing Out
The Decline of Friendship
Only Wonder Comprehends
The Beginning of Wisdom
Books by John Garvey
Index
Sobre el autor
Patrick Jordan is a former managing editor of The Catholic Worker and of Commonweal magazine. He is the author of Dorothy Day: Love in Action (Liturgical Press, 2015), and the editor of Hold Nothing Back:Writings of Dorothy Day (Liturgical Press, 2016). With Paul Baumann, he edited Commonweal Confronts the Century (Touchstone, 1999).