My Soul To Keep: Tools for Staying in a Changing Church - Softcover

Bonomo, Carol

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0826416403 ISBN 13: 9780826416407

Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic, 2004

Synopsis

Can a book on the spiritual life be a "fun read"? Yes, if it's written by best-selling author Carol Bonomo.

In My Soul to Keep, Bonomo addresses the problem: How does a spiritual seeker unpack her bags and stick around? How does she know that the next pit stop on the spiritual journey isn't the one she's been seeking all her life? This book provides answers to those questions by adopting the framework that St. Benedict established in his Holy Rule with its emphasis on "tools for good works."

Using the rich traditions found in Catholicism, her monastic affiliation as a Benedictine oblate, and her personal experiences as wife, convert, and recovering alcoholic, Bonomo explores eight such tools: Mary, the Eucharist, the Divine Office, the rosary, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Holy Days of Obligation, the Rule of St. Benedict, and devotion to the Sacred Heart. These tools help build personal constancy amid the changes and crises that afflict church life in our tumultuous times.

About this title

About the Author

Carol Bonomo, a lobbyist and speechwriter by day for a state university in southern California, is the author of The Abbey Up the Hill: A Year in the Life of a Monastic Day Tripper and, most recently, Humble Pie: St. Benedict’s Ladder of Humility.

Review

“Humor seems to be her means of reminding readers that, although the church might occasionally introduce changes in the particulars of text and rite, the essence of Church dogma remains unchanged: its soul is kept.... This kind of stylistic counterpoint of self-deprecation and Divine Adoration makes this book a pleasure and an inspiration to read, a book on keeping safe, for safe keeping.” –The B. C. Catholic, 12/20/04

“...the author shares a lot of acquired wisdom about the Church in a humorous way, with excellent and practical insights into deep subjects. And regarding the changes, she aptly points out which ones are significant and which ones are not worth getting upset over. I highly recommend this book for both converts and cradle Catholics. It provides easy and inspirational reading, with stories all can identify with. It will re-instill an enthusiasm for cherished traditions of our faith, helping readers appreciate them in a more meaningful way.” – Liguorian, October 2005 (Liguorian)

“Each tool is written about in a separate chapter in which the author relates the impact, effect, appreciation and practice of these tools in her life and how they aided her in overcoming cynicism, lethargy, bad feelings, and often hostility to the church. The autobiographical essays put our use of sacraments and sacramentals into a very different perspective and give the reader a revitalized understanding and reverence of what many take for granted as our Catholic heritage. Bonomo’s book will engage you and ultimately deepen your own spiritual life.” – Catholic Library World, September 2005 (Catholic Library World)

Edition details

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0826416403
• ISBN 13: 9780826416407
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 160