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5 comments about God's Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church.

1. This book gives an excellent analysis of where the Catholic Church is today,how it came to be what it is and what changes it will likely undergo in the future.From the time of St. Peter, the Catholic Church via the Pope and the Vatican, has been the interpreter of God,s plan for mankind. There have been many Popes,265 to date, that have guided the Chorch throughout history. There have been good times and difficult times;where all kinds of things have influenced the directions taken;but in the final analysis God's message has not changed.Where there have been problems,lack of direction,straying from the course,etc.;these have been through the weaknesses of man himself.
   In this book, we see how John Paul II guided the Church ,how Benedict XVI was chosen to follow him, and what differences we are likely to see ,and why.
   Much has been written about these two Popes by a variety of people;but I believe this book does as good a job of it as you are likely to find. I believe every Catholic should read it.It will clear up a lot of confusion an misinformation that exists in the media and literature. For people who are Christians of other faiths,people who believe in other faiths or even people who have no faith,they will see what the Catholic Church is all about. A read of the book will show you that there are no secrets.
   Of course the belief in God is a fundamental of the Catholic Church and when man strays from that belief and adopts Relativism,Skepticism,Nihilism ,Secularism ;a civilization is doomed to failure. This has been proven throughout history and as recently as in the 20th Century under Marxism , Germany's Nazi experience
   ,as well as others who have tried and failed to eliminate God and replace it with politics and/or power systems.
   There arte many axioms in the book that bring these points home;
   
   "Christianity is not an Idealism"
   
   "It is not true,as is sometimes said,that man cannot organize the world
   without God. What is true is that,without God,he can ultimately only
   organize it against man. Exclusive humanism is inhuman humanism."
   
   Charles Krauthammer ,a widely read columinist, reminds us of Stailn's cynical formulation,and today's quite fashionable philosophy that all that ultimately matters in relations among nations is power.
   He once asked; "The pope? How many divisions does he have?"
   John Paul II gave his answer to Stalin and to the ages.
   "More than you have. More than you can imagine..."
   
   "The Church's teaching authority cannot be modeled on political protest,and the truth of faith is not measured by opinion polls."
   
   Another interesting part of the book is where we see how the influence in the Church has changed in recent yesrs. Italy's influence has drastically waned as has the rest of Europe's .It is not inconceivable that we may be seeing the last pope from Europe.The numbers of Catholics, 1.1 Billion worldwide has shifted from Europe to the Southern Hemisphere and this will have great influence on the Catholic Church.
   I have been a practicing Catholic all my life and found this book extremely interesting and informative.



2. Contrary to the review, I was not at all inclined to skip over the first three chapters, but found the descriptions of the end of John Paul's life completely enthralling, deeply moving, and succinctly written. The book is worth reading for this alone!
   
   But then it gets better, going beyond the superficial media labels and misnomers for Joseph Ratzinger, and painting a much more detailed and accurate picture of a complex man. We follow the inner workings of the Church hierarchy and see with their eyes how it became apparent that Ratzinger would truly be the best person to continue the mission of John Paul.
   
   The two men are very different and have different purposes for the Church. When John Paul was elected it was only a short time after Vatican II and the social "revolutions" of the 1960's. The church was struggling for identity and losing members left and right in the process. John Paul because the face of Catholicism for many, and opened the Church back up to youth.
   
   Ratzinger now takes over almost half a century after Vatican II and it's vague progressive "spirit". He is a gentle man who never used much of the power he had as CDF head, and even now is leading not through authority, but pastorally, truly in the steps of his predecessor.
   
   Anyone who does not like Ratzinger or does not understand why he was elected, should read this book. Those who do like him will find Weigel's descriptions of the current state of the Church incisive and accurate. For history buffs or Catholics who want a broad and clear perspective, this book is packed with fascinating analysis. Easy to read and understand, yet very carefully researched and explained in a fluid, unpretentious style.
   
   This book is now a few years old, but by no means out of date. If anything, it points to the future, as the reader realizes some of the author's speculations and predictions have now come to pass. There are real problems the Holy Father has to grapple with, but he is doing it in a way no one expected, except those who know the real man behind the images.



3. If you are Catholic and try to keep up with the Pope's writings, decisions and his thinking in general, this is a great starting point. For instance, his opinion of the Church's bigest threat is 'Realativism' which precipitated his notion that the Catholic Church is the intended way of Christianity. Realativism or thinking that all religions, Christian or other, is equal before the eyes of God is his target and much more complex than Catholic upmanship. Such ideas and concerns are included in this book.



4. These accolades of Benedict XVI are clearly by those who fail to understand his horrid background. As John Paul II's orthodoxy enforcer, Ratzinger was affectionately known as "god's rottweiler." As John Paul's henchman, he undid much of the advances of Vatican II, silenced progressive theologians, and penned vicious attacks against gay and lesbian people (remember the 1986 Halloween massacre?). The selection of Ratzinger is for me proof positive that the appointment of a pope is nothing more than politics, and arrogance -- hardly "God's Choice". These are dark days for the church.



5. George Weigel has written a significant book about Pope Benedict XVI entitled "God's Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church." Mr. Weigel is among the few to understand the role of Pope Benedict XVI in relation to the future of the Church, since he successfully completed a celebrated investigation into the life of Pope John Paul II. Weigel acknowledges his preparation for composing God's Choice when he writes about editor Diane Reverend, "I remain grateful for her friendship, which was so important in creating Witness to Hope -- to which this is a kind of sequel." God's Choice follows upon the work in Witness to Hope and gives the reader a very clear picture of how the present pope will lead us into the future (page 271).
   
   The final cause of the activities of Pope Benedict XVI, according to Weigel, might be to influence people with "doctrine and love." He writes, "And that, in the final analysis, is what Pope Benedict XVI proposes to do: to be a servant of truth and love." And there's nothing wrong with that, since we all need more love in our lives (page 268).
   
   The stuff that Pope Benedict XVI deals with everyday are carefully explained by Weigel and include the following: dicasteries, congregations, tribunals and pontifical councils. The way the list of groups to work is for them to continue showing a "universal moral reference point for reflection on world affairs." When members of the Catholic Church 'get their act together', then we can look at the problems in the world with a unified and global perspective. Weigel writes, "John Paul II gave that claim... real traction in history" (pages 243, 36).
   
   Pope Benedict XVI is "a true scholar-pope rather than a man of management," but he prepared with the best expert at management for twenty years by working with John Paul II (1981-2005) located "on the second floor of the Palazzo Sant'Ufficio" near the Basilica of St. Peter. Pope Benedict XVI learned from the great John Paul to "form the kind of men and women who can... exercise the virtues" and "build economies and polities fit for human beings." The Church has enough experience to understand the quarrel between good and bad political systems and the Pope desires to show us how to stop the quarrel. Does he know how? You bet. A reading of Weigel's masterpiece, Witness to Hope, will notify the reader that John Paul II stopped numerous political quarrels. After John Paul II at UNESCO in Paris on May 30, 1980, Cardinal Jean Marie Lustiger said, "Communism is finished"; after he gave a mass hundreds of thousands in Managua, Nicaragua on March 4, 1983, the Sandanista "myth" began to fade; and after saying mass for a million in Kinshasa, Zaire on May 2, 1980, John Paul II departed from the airport and a large crowd remained kneeling "in silent prayer" on the runway for thirty minutes after the plane left. Putting an end to fights and quarrels over unequal shares is what we all want to do and it is what the leaders of the Church have been doing for centuries. Pope Benedict XVI hopes to continue the project (pages 242, 180, 259; Witness to Hope, 378, 456, 375).
   
   The tools that Pope Benedict XVI will use influence others with doctrine and love are several: World Youth days (39), the "cult of the saints" (43), the Catechism of the Catholic Church (44), Bishops around the world (254), Eucharistic adoration (261), and a sound theology built on both "aggiornamento" ["engaging" the world in the present and future] and "ressourcement" ["a return to the deepest sources of Christian wisdom" in the past] (241). These are powerful tools and Pope Benedict XVI has the training and prudence to use them ethically.
   
   In relation to politics Pope Benedict XVI learned from John Paul II that a democratic republic "is not a machine that can run by itself." (48). Rather, it is a form of government that requires constant repair with the tools of discipline, virtue and respect. Such tools are developed by religious and educational institutions. Pope Benedict XVI also learned from John Paul II concerning vocations that "a man will give his life for a mystery, but not for a question mark." (53). If a citizen wishes to repair a democratic republic with discipline and virtues, then he might want to learn about the scientific wonders in school and may wish to understand divine mysteries by attending liturgies and saying prayers. Thus, Catholics have a golden opportunity to form citizens who can support a democratic republic, since Catholics have a world-wide system of primary and secondary schools to teach the contemporary sciences along with a global system of monasteries and convents to present the classic public liturgies and private prayers. As a result, Weigel writes that "the new Benedict has his work cut out for him, precisely at home," (226), since some Catholic institutions are not developed to prepare future citizens of a democratic republic.
   
   Pope Benedict XVI is more than ready to guide Catholic schools toward a healthy direction, because he is, well, brilliant. Pope Benedict XVI is a "member of the Academie Française, the Rhineland-Westphalia Academy of Sciences, and the Salzburg-based European Academy of Sciences and Arts." (223). Plus, he is considered by scholars in the field to be the equal of "Hans Kung and Karl Rahner," two giants of contemporary theology. (175) And he worked for twenty-four years with Pope John Paul II whose writings "what may be the most consequential and influential body of papal teaching since the Reformation-and perhaps in the entire second millennium of Christian history." (31). Pope Benedict XVI studied with one of the best. And that Pope Benedict XVI is willing to promote the classic prayers and liturgies of Catholic convents is shown by his several books on the liturgy where he teaches the obvious: liturgies and prayers are designed to help us understand the divine mysterious and should not be designed to make us feel good. Weigel writes, "When worship is something we do for ourselves, rather than something we do because God is to be worshiped, then liturgy deteriorates into... a nice little alternative world... and becomes pointless." (261).
   
   That some people stop Catholic schools from teaching the contemporary sciences and prevent monasteries and convents from showing classic prayers and liturgies is true. If one travels around the world, he will see educational leaders in Central America "impeding progress by laying blame everywhere," (257) and hear about a Jesuit cardinal, Jorge Maria Bergoglio, S.J., who was "persecuted in Argentina by his Jesuit brethren, who thought him too orthodox." (127). Curiously, some Jesuits do not like Catholic superiors who promote classic and "orthodox" prayers and liturgies, such as Eucharistic adoration, a basic tool for love. Of course, a world traveler will find in every country a set of Catholic educational institutions and monasteries who frustrate Pope Benedict XVI's goal of influencing people in a positive way and who defeat citizens trying to repair a democratic republic. Why is that? It is mysterious and sad.
   
   Historically Pope Benedict XVI has seen Catholic superiors who shared his goal to influence people with "doctrine and love." Pope John Paul II was "the greatest Christina witness of the [20th] century." (27). And Pope Paul VI "re-configured the organizational chart" of the Roman Curia in 1967" although Curia is back to its old "that's they way we do thing here" plan of work. (247). Thus, Benedict will probably use his smooth influence in order to organize the Curia more efficiently. Fortunately, George Weigel presents a clear plan for an efficient Curia in this book.
   
   From the above analysis we can see that Mr. Weigel is very careful when writing about the transition from John Paul II toward Benedict XVI. He provides extensive footnotes on papal documents, recent articles and his personal interviews with people in Rome. Weigel clearly knows his stuff and kindly presents to the reader an educated and respectful look at the papacy of Benedict XVI. I highly recommend reading "God's Choice" along with his admirable book on John Paul II, "Witness to Hope."

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5 comments about Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, Balco, and the Steroids Scandal That Rocked Professional Sports.

1. There is no way to make a positive case for anabolic steroids or HGH in any sport. The story of BALCO and the involvement of one of the biggest names in sports makes for an interesting read Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports albeit one of the darkest sides of professional sports.
   
   Hidden behind a "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" back-drop, the book names people who became contenders by buying into the back street sales of steroids in order to build strength, enhance musculature, elongate careers and cheat their way into the record books with the excuse that they were better than other players but just needed that edge to be best, as though it was their divine right! Gone were the days of Willie Mays, Roger Maris, Hank Aaron and Mickey Mantle, those who made and broke records by sheer talent and will. The days of steroids were now foisted upon an unsuspecting public via Victor Conte, a self-made, self-serving and self-proclaimed nutritionist who became a "cocktail" mixer to the super stars of sports. Throw into that mix the world of Major League Baseball, who, along with its Commissioners, owners, managers, trainers and pumped up stars, turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to all that was happening around them. Together, they've turned a wonderful, healthy and beautiful sport that was America's Favorite Pastime into a debacle of muscle-bound "terminators" whose job it is to hit the long ball and keep people coming to fields and stadiums where they can witness the side-show of freaks which once was, the heart of American sports.



2. I am a big baseball fan so i had to read this book and , altough, it is a sad thing to find out how huge is this problem, i am grateful that those who have lied and hide this problem have been prosecuted.This book is a great account of the problems of drugs in sports.So far, everything that the authors have said in this book have been proven true.This book is a no non-sense approach to the story with the authors putting all the cards on the table and not holding back.I think their approach to the subject is fantastic and the fact that they have researched and documented all their information is a testimony to that.Great book!!



3. Bought this for my husband... he loves it. Good read for those into Baseball and baseball history.



4. "Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports" details the story of how performance-enhancing drugs have entered the world of sports. As of this time, the case has not been completely wrapped up, with Barry Bonds still awaiting trial for perjury and tax evasion. The book is really a definitive reference to performance drugs, their composition, their effect in bodies and why they work. As banned drugs in most sports, there has been a constant game of cat-and-mouse between athletes and governing bodies to stay one step ahead of the other, to prevent these drugs from being used. In baseball's case, the only governing body for athletes and owners was greed, so using the drugs was winked at by both. The result of this was the creation of records by people who never would have come close to creating them. Equally incredible was the creation of "mutations" (for lack of a better word) in the bodies of users: Barry Bonds, for example, had his shoe size grow from 10½ to 13, his jersey size increase from 42 to 52, and his head grow two sizes, despite being bald - all in his late 30s, long after the normal body grows anything close to this much. No telling what kind of health risks he will be running in the years to come. This is no doubt, though, that this is a riveting book - despite what may seem to be a boring topic, the authors make it a thorough and interesting book.



5. Any true fan of baseball will love this book. Not only does it provide factual reporting, but is presented in a way that anyone who picks it up can read it & understand.
   
   It is nowhere near a "long read," it's long, but is written in a way that it will suck you in until you flip that last page. I liked it so much I ordered a copy for my dad!
   
   I am nowhere near a Barry Bonds fan, but this book doesn't 100% focus on Bonds. A great read!!!

5 comments about The Education Of A Coach.

1. I hate to pile on a fine author when the time has passed when he can redeem himself but I concur with all the negative reviews with one exception--I don't think the book's lack of appeal can be written off as due to the fact that Belichik is a boring oaf. He is that on the outside, but there's a lot more than that inside and the author just did not dig that out. The problem with the book is that there is minimal "inside" information - a little more detail about Tom Brady's development than maybe you know, and a good explanation of just how feared a player Marshall Faulk was, but that's about it. The title suggests that the subject matter is limited to the sort of background biographical stuff so maybe we should have seen this coming, but this is really little more than an expansion of the bio you might find on the Patriots website.



2. I've read several of his books (although this was my first sports book of his) and I highly enjoyed them. Maybe it's because the subject is just not a very interesting person, but this book is just terrible. He tells us material that contributes nothing; who cares about about his grandparents and his wife family? He also gushes about the subject and his family. Is everything really so great? It's as if he chose an average person at random and wrote a biography about him. The average person doesn't lead a particularly fascinating life and the resulting biography would be dull. Just because he is a success as a coach doesn't necessarily make him a good candidate for a biography.



3. Halberstam set a very high standard for himself -- in his sports books as well as in his political books. The "Summer of 1949", for instance, was particularly well researched and written.
   
   This book lacks the depth of "1949." There is little digging into player reactions. Instead of demonstrating character through anecdotes and understatement, Halberstam keeps hitting us over the head with his point about how great Belichick is about "breaking down film" & etc. What in the heck does that really mean? There is very little detail here.
   
   Of course, Halberstam's worst effort would count as someone else's best work. Halberstam is at his best in describing the Parcells/Belichick relationship; the character of the great Giants' teams; any why Brady was the superior quarterback to Bledsoe. Belichick's coaching genius does come through in the description of his approach to all the super bowls. And Belechick's notion of team, building interchangeable parts, and working with the salary cap are explained quite well.
   
   On the whole, though, we are continually told how great Belichick is without really giving much insight into his soul as a man or even as a coach.



4. I read this book several years ago, and reread it recently after reflecting on the "Spygate" drama of the past year. I found the book very insightful the second time around. David Halberstam was an incrediably gifted writer who was able to truly get into the mind of his subjects, and this book is a great example of that. He starts by offering insights into Belichick the boy, and how his formative years, watching his father working for Navy, helped mold the man who heads the New England Patriots today. It offers interesting insights into Belichick's mindset when he participates in his always vague press conferences, his secretive manner, and why he is both respect and hated by his players and his peers. Fascinating read.



5. 
   I'm not sure what the book's intention was, but be prepared to read more about life events instead of football related events. I read this after the Tony Dungy book, and I would recommend that over this book.

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