My Life With the Saints

  • Type: Books
  • By: James Martin, SJ
  • Age Category: Adults
  • Genre: Non-Fiction
  • Recommended by: Tom S.
  • ISBN/UPC: 0829420010
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A book James Herriot might have written if he'd been a Catholic priest

In this joyful, compassionate, and surprisingly funny book, James Martin delivers a compulsively readable personal narrative tracing his own spiritual development which is, moreover, “a personal introduction to some of [his] favorite saints, holy persons, and companions.” 
 
Martin’s enthusiasm and affection for these holy helpers is palpable.  He writes of praying to St. Peter, the apostle of false starts and misguided enthusiasms, for help in his own search for humility.  In Joan of Arc, Martin finds a useful model for personal courage and trust in God.  Not all of Martin’s saintly exemplars come from the distant past; for example, Pope John XXIII (1881-1958).  Or Dorothy Day (1897-1980), co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement, whose commitment to social justice inspires Father Martin to always remember one of the most basic lessons of the Gospels:  Help the poor.
 
This chatty and engaging memoir would be a good choice for readers interested in bread-and-butter spirituality, how our religious underpinnings help us (and sometimes challenge us) in the conduct of our daily lives.