In my last piece, “25 readings for the Year of Faith” (Cebu Daily News/Nov. 11), I presented 25 books that one can read while journeying through this special year for deepening one’s faith in God through Jesus Christ.
I am presenting a bibliography of 25 more “faith books,” (so to speak), all authored by persons who have themselves gone through remarkable pilgrimages of the heart. (By heart I mean the spiritual center of the human being where man hears the still small voice of God.)
Sharing reflections and even snippets of their personal stories in writing, these authors somehow fulfill the biblical prophecy that those who teach others to do good will shine like the stars forever. (Daniel 12:3)
That said, think of these books not as manuals but as panes in a stained glass window. Brimming with the light of Jesus Christ the Morning Star, they offer varied glimpses of the one light that feeds the soul in the life of faith.
1. New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton, OCSO
2. No Man is an Island by Thomas Merton, OCSO
3. The Desert Fathers by Helen Waddell
4. Mother Teresa: Come be my Light: The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta edited with commentary by Brian Kolodiejchuk
5. Love by Leo F. Buscaglia
6. Living, Loving and Learning by Leo F. Buscaglia
7. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery
8. The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morris West
9. The Devil’s Advocate by Morris West
10. The Experience of Praying by Sean Caulfield, OCSO
11. The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris
12. Ah, Wilderness! A Journey through Sacred Time by Simeon Dumdum Jr.
13. Pedro Calungsor Bisaya: Prospects of a Teenage Filipino by Msgr. Ildebrando Leyson
14. A Voice for the Flock by Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal
15. The Divine Comedy by Dante
16. The Heart of the World: An Introduction to Contemplative Christianity by Thomas Keating, OCSO
17. From the Corner of His Eye by Dean Koontz
18. The Courage to Teach by Parker Palmer
19. To Know as we are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journey by Parker Palmer
20. Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living Catholic Faith edited by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and LeAnn Thieman
21. Waking the Dead by John Eldredge
22. Wild at Heart by John Eldredge
23. The Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge
24. The Journey of Desire by John Eldredge
25. Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge