2002-07-21 The creative mind and the free will are two parts of the soul

July 21, 2002

The creative mind and the free will are two parts of the soul. Grace strengthens the will to use the imaginative part of the intellect the right way. This is why spiritual reading is an essential part of spiritual growth. There is much to be learned from saints and perceptive spiritual writers, especially to avoid falling into the trap of thinking that questions and problems in the spiritual journey are unique. Newman said a thousand difficulties do not make one doubt.

For some, summer is a good time to catch up on reading or to establish a better habit of study. A brief reading from the New Testament, if only five minutes, comes first, best with a commentary (The Navarre Bible series) or the Magnificat booklets.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church can be a form of prayer if read slowly in short sections. From a near endless list of possibilities these can be picked at random for starters:

Frank Sheed: Frank Sheed: Karl Adam: Thomas Howard: Peter Kreef: Josef Pieper: Hilaire Belloc: St. Teresa of Avila: G.K. Chesterton: G.K. Chesterton: John XXIII: Dorothy Day: Jean-Baptiste Chautard: Eugene Boylan: C.S. Lewis: Henryk Sienkiewicz: St. Augustine:	Theology and Sanity Theology for Beginners The Spirit of Catholicism Evangelical Is Not Enough Christianity for Modern Pagans The Four Cardinal Virtues The Great Heresies The Interior Castle Orthodoxy St. Francis of Assisi Journal of a Soul The Long Loneliness Soul of the Apostolate Difficulties in Mental Prayer Screwtape Letters Quo Vadis The City of God
The Quotable Chesterton The Quotable Knox