Quarantine reads: Our book recommendations Part 2

A Youth 2000 Collaborative piece - organised by Nisha Thanikachalam

As quarantine and social distancing continues, here are more Christian books for you to delve into! This week's book recommendations range from understanding Christian teaching on relationships, vocation, the busyness of life and growing a deeper understanding of God's will and love for us. We pray these book recommendations will help you in your faith journey and to remain hopeful during these uncertain times:

Loveology: God. Love. Marriage. Sex. And the Never-Ending Story of Male and Female by John Mark Comer – recommended by Sarah Owoyemi–Peters

If you spend any amount of time thinking about romance, ‘the one’, sex, love, and especially marriage, then this book should be high on your to-read list!

John Mark takes us to the very beginning, to the first documented love story and marriage, that of Adam and Eve’s, and begins to lay out God’s heart and intention for the union of man and woman. He also opens up a part of the Bible that is often brushed over: Song of Songs. John Mark argues for the beauty of pursuit, romance and sex, as (very) good things that God created for us to enjoy. He does this whilst reminding us that these always ultimately point to God and are not enough in themselves to satisfy us. Loveology also covers topics such as how to prepare for marriage, whether there is such a thing as ‘the one’, leadership and submission in marriage, sexuality, and divorce.

John Mark’s tone is laid-back, balancing theology, history and an understanding of our present society. In his typical fashion, he dives into the original language of Biblical text and presents a contextual interpretation of the Bible, as well as perspectives that oppose his own – all the while making the book easy to follow! Oh, and the book ends with a Q&A with John Mark, his wife Tammy, and Dr. Gerry Breshears who is a professor of theology, answering questions like, “how far is too far?” “what are boundaries to help guard my heart?” “what if you’re in a relationship with someone whose calling doesn’t match yours?” “what does the Bible say about masturbation?” “I’m married to a non-believer, do I have to leave them?” etc.

I doubt that you will agree with everything he says in the book – John Mark certainly doesn’t expect you to – but it will bring new insights and raise questions to be considered in fellowship with Jesus and other followers around you.

Visits to the Blessed Sacrament by Alphonsus Ligouri – recommended by Lim Gamsi

As the title suggests, this is a book ideally to be read during times of prayer. It might seem an odd book to suggest when churches are closed and we can’t visit the Blessed Sacrament, but I think the lockdown is a golden time to read this.

The author provides reflections for 31 visits, so you could read a ‘visit’ a day while praying. Each reflection is only two paragraphs long, and each visit also includes a prayer to Mary. One quote which sums up the book is “Earthly monarchs seldom give audience to their subjects, but God is ready at all times to listen to the petitions of his servants and to grant all their desires.” He shows us how lucky we are to have such a direct line to our King, and how to make the most of it. I think this book can help us to remain connected to Christ now, and that it will increase our appetite to truly visit and receive him again when churches reopen. 

The Return of The Prodigal Son by Henri J.M. Nouwen – recommended by Morgan Mitchell

This is a book all about God the Father’s love, and in my opinion, there’s never a bad time to be reminded of how much we are loved by the Father. But, this may be something we need an extra special reminder of as we live through possibly one of the most disruptive and uncertain times for many of us.

 Nouwen chooses a Rembrandt painting of a scene depicting the parable of the prodigal son in Luke’s Gospel (Chapter 15) to fully explore this theme from three different character perspectives in this story - the father and his two sons. This has been a great quarantine re-read for me that has reminded me of some great truths at the heart of my Catholic faith. The main one being that at the heart of the Father is a radical love. A love that disgraced Himself for the sake of His creation, seen by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross (in this story, the Father welcoming the prodigal son home). During this Easter season, even whilst on lockdown, we are able to live in the joy of the resurrection - a display of just how far this radical love will go to bring hope and light to our lives. Nouwen illuminates the Father’s love as enduring, tender, forgiving, merciful, relentless. A reassurance that whatever this lockdown and beyond throws at us, we have a loving God who never tires of waiting for us, pursuing us, upholding us until we see the hope that He has for us - He is with us always (Luke 15:31). 

“I don’t have to wait until all is well, but I can celebrate every little hint of the Kingdom that is at hand.”

The Return of the Prodigal Son is a deep, thoughtful, life-bringing insight into a parable I thought I knew. It leads to a more animated understanding of just how much we are loved by God the Father. Enlightening at the very least.

Discerning the Will of God by Father Timothy Gallagher – recommended by Ursula Botha

I read this book about a year ago but it is one I’ve never forgotten. In life we are all faced with a lot of decisions, big and small, and sometimes it’s hard to know what God’s will is for us in these matters. During his life, St Ignatius discovered a practical method to Christian decision making that everyone can benefit from – in his book, Fr Timothy goes through this in a straightforward, lucid way.

The book has three main sections: Preparation, Discernment and Fruit. These take you through the spiritual process step by step, drawing directly from St Ignatius’ writings, while also including, as examples, testimonies of those who went through this discernment process while making some key life decisions.

So whether you feel you need more guidance on how to discern your vocation or you just want to be sure you are allowing God to guide you in the smaller decisions of everyday life, this would be a great book to read this lockdown.

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, by John Mark Comer—recommended by Molly Ophelia

 I was asked to read this book by a friend who thought I might benefit from it. During Lent I gave up my phone, which felt like I had unplugged from the matrix of modern consumerism and hurry and I very quickly realised that I had been rushing away my existence. I found myself feeling like time around me was going so much slower, but my brain was still running at 100mph. It wasn’t the peace I had expected from my digital detox, and why? Because I had become so accustomed to constantly living for whatever was to come next rather than being present.

When I was asked to read this, it felt like exactly what I didn’t know I needed. Comer writes in such a clear and simple way and I found that even as I read the words it was encouraging me to really slow down. Not only did it challenge the entire way that I choose to live my life and live out my faith, but it helped me to truly stop and see what God was doing in each of the small things. Some of Comer’s tips have changed the way that I choose to live out my faith and I truly think everyone would benefit from reading it. I have even gone on to start a bible plan that Comer wrote himself.

This book really has helped me to be grateful for each of the small blessings in my life. It so nearly ties together our discipleship to Jesus with our mental and physical health in relation to modern society. Comer Writes: “One of my favourite things about Jesus as a teacher is how he regularly ended his teachings with small creative practices to live out his heady ideas about the kingdom of God. Let’s do that.”