On Being Catholic by Thomas Howard

Title: On Being Catholic

Author: Thomas Howard

First Published: 1997

No. of Pages: 263

Synopsis (from B&N): "In his first full-length book since converting to Roman Catholicism, Thomas Howard presents the "glad tidings" of the deeper meaning of Catholic piety, dogma, spirituality, vision and practice in the engaging style he has come to be known for."

Fiction or Nonfiction: Nonfiction

Comments and Critique: I took notes while reading this book (the first time since college that I've done this), so I'm going to attempt to put them in some sort of order and have my review be based solely on them. Let me preface this by saying that I've been in the process of converting to Catholicism for some time (marriage issues is making it take much longer than necessary) and, being me, I've turned to books for knowledge about the Church. I've never been one to simply take others' word for things and wasn't going to start in this very important area.

What I expected from this book was an overview of being Catholic, written for non-Catholics and Catholics not knowledgable about their faith. It was that, but not in a way that I felt would convince anyone who did not already know and agree with the Church's teachings. I did not care at all for the author's style -- it came across as overly apologetic and defensive. One thought I had was that the author was trying too hard to be politically correct, so that he felt it necessary to continually point out why the reader should not be offended or put off. At the same time, the author often makes a point of reassuring the reader that he or she is worthy to receive God's love and forgiveness. These two things lead to the feeling that the author believes people are both hypersensitive and lacking in self-worth. In addition, the frequent use of Latin was confusing and, I felt, unnecessary, as the Church no longer uses Latin exclusively.

I know this sounds exceedingly negative and, to be fair, I must acknowledge that much of my dislike arose based on personal preferences as to style. It's entirely possible that what I dislike may be just the thing for someone else. From what I've gathered from other sources, the author did not state anything that was doctrinally in error and there's no doubt that loves God and would like others to love Him as much. I have a feeling that the author and I agree on most points -- I just couldn't connect with his way of presenting the information.

Challenges: 999 ("Catholicism")