The Holy Longing: The Search for A Christian Spirituality | 
 enlarge | Author: Ronald Rolheiser
Publisher: Doubleday
Category: Book
List Price: $22.95
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Rating:  50 reviews
Sales Rank: 13435
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.9 x 1.1
ISBN: 0385494181
Dewey Decimal Number: 248
EAN: 9780385494182
ASIN: 0385494181
Publication Date: July 20, 1999
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Amazon.com Review
"Long before we do anything explicitly religious at all, we have to do something about the fire that burns within us," writes Ronald Rolheiser. "What we do with that fire, how we channel it, is our spirituality." From the opening chapter, where Rolheiser eloquently compares the burning spiritual fire of Mother Teresa, Janice Joplin, and Princess Diana, readers will be fully engaged in a unique and altogether fascinating discussion of Christian spirituality. As a regular columnist for the Catholic Herald, Rolheiser has clearly honed his writing skills. Like an eloquent marriage counselor, he deftly tries to reconcile the rift between contemporary spirituality and Christianity. For example, he points to the four pillars that support a healthy marriage of Christianity and spirituality, which are "Private prayer and private morality. Social justice. Mellowness of heart and spirit. Community as a constitutive element of true worship." Building upon these pillars, Rolheiser delves into the more challenging marital tensions with chapters such as "Christ as the Basis for Christian Spirituality" and a "Spirituality of Sexuality." This is an excellent book for any Christian who has longs to create a more holy and lasting spiritual union. --Gail Hudson
Product Description
Ronald Rolheiser makes sense of what is frequently a misunderstood word: spirituality. In posing the question "What is spirituality?" Father Rolheiser gets quickly to the heart of common difficulties with the subject, and shows through compelling anecdotes and personal examples how to channel that restlessness, that deep desire, into a healthy spirituality.
This book is for those searching to understand what Christian spirituality means and how to apply it to their own lives. Rolheiser explains the nonnegotiables--the importance of community worship, the imperatives surrounding social action, the centrality of the Incarnation, the sustenance of the spiritual life--and how spirituality necessarily impacts every aspect of human experience. At the core of this readable, deeply revealing book is an explanation of God and the Church in a world that more often than not doubts the credibility of both.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
 heavy October 24, 2008
I like some of his ideas, but he has a tendency to repeat the same thought over and over. It is not exactly what I was looking for, but certainly a thoughtful approach to the teachings of Christ.
 Spirituality good, Catholicism bad October 2, 2008
If one believes that the Lord Jesus left the Catholic Church a teaching authority then one is duty bound as a matter of conscience to follow those teachings under the form of holy obedience. This is up to the individual under the creed of free will and dignity given by God at mankind's creation. This is hard to live though, when one sees fellow souls being led down the "wide path" of destruction instead of striving to enter the "narrow door" that leads to eternal life. My opinion and one's spiritual development may not coalesce at this point in time, but before God comes as Just Judge, people need to be told about God's Mercy.
As a catholic, I cannot recommend a book that states one does not need to confess (explicitly) to a priest. He sites the Council of Trent to back up his statement but the Catechism sites the same council when it declares confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of penance. As there were many sessions of that council, I don't believe one session contradicts another. I would have to go with the Catholic Catechism in defining the doctrine of the council over Fr. Rolheiser's interpretation.
The same discrepancy is noted in regards to mortal sin and the taking of holy communion. As we should agree it is not about worthiness, as none are worthy, one must strive for holiness as Jesus is concealed body, blood, soul, and divinity in the host. An obvious unworthy manner invites condemnation upon the communicant. CC #1385
If one sees God as a Being who is calling you to be in union with Him, a transcendent force of Holiness, not having holiness but of being Holiness, as well as being Truth, and being Love, and of being Mercy, then He is a Father you aspire to be united with. This accepts the sinner but not the sin. Repentance and turning away from sin is needed. Jesus called the first Person of the Trinity Father.
If you see God as something you find, a found immanence that you must "see" correctly and a force that enables us to "Walk the earth like gods" (p. 69), then you have a Mother/Father God (p. 240) that requires you to accept the sin with the sinner in a way that makes God more palatable.(Preface, p. ix). This is a pantheistic view and is the basis of eastern religions and is expounded in "progressive" Christianity.
These are not small matters but seemingly are at the heart of theological debate today. I am not on the side of a progressive interpretation of theology, a "wide" path. I believe strongly that the narrow way is one of "superhuman" sacrifice that only God's grace, asked for and freely received, can accomplish in God's condescension and mercy. The saints of our church seem to point to this in the writings of St. Faustina, and in the reports of the approved apparitions at Fatima, ect; as opposed the the non-approved writings of Tellihard de Chardin, and Nikos Kazantzakis (The Last Temptation of Jesus).
In the end, it is up to the person striving for God to decide, does God give us grace to battle sin, or to find it easier to accept sin in ourselves and our neighbor, I believe the former.
 Personal God July 30, 2008
"unrest... [it] is about what we do with that incurable desire," This sums up perfectly my current definition of "spirituality". As a 75 year old Cahtolic who waded,stumbled, rose and fell in my unsuccessful search for a meaningful relationship with my God, this book has shown me the way. It showed me that I had been a child in the church all these many years, expecting and allowing the "church" to make decisions for me. I bought hook, line, and sinker what "sister said" or what "the church dictated."There was little if any personal resposibility and I did exactly as I was told by "the church." I made no mature choices for myself. That way I didn't have to assume responsibility for my relationiship with God ... . thus the "longing", the "incurable desire". It wasn't until reading this book and understanding that it was my personal responsibility to asssume a relationship with my God and that the "church" wouldn't do it for me that I finally grew up and became an adult. I no longer look to the "church" to find it ... I now call upon my God. He pushes me forward toward spirituality more than the "Church" ever could. He and I are better friends now than ever before and I now depend upon Him and not "the church." I'm all grown up now and He and I together are working to calm "my madness" with increasing success as I continue to grow.
 Don't read this book!!! July 14, 2008
0 out of 5 found this review helpful
Please for the sake of Christian spirituality, do not read this book! It compromises everything that is Christian and minimizes the entire doctrine of God creating human beings male and female.
 Refreshing Take on Spirituality, Spiritual Disciplines, and Morality March 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Rolheiser begins by making a case for certain essential elements of a Christian spirituality. I didn't buy everything he said in this section, as some of his points were unsupported assertions that assumed a shared theological background, but I enjoyed his chapters on the roots of spirituality in the incarnation of Christ.
There's an excellent chapter on social justice, and despite Rolheiser's celibacy, he has a remarkably insightful and comprehensive perspective on human sexuality in the latter portion of the book. While reminiscent of the writings of Henri Nouwen, The Holy Longing strikes a balance with the average person that Nouwen - who, like Rolheiser, led a deeply contemplative life - never did for me.
The core of Rolheiser's argument is that spirituality is about channeling our desires, our passions, in life-giving ways. If these desires are either out of control or dampened entirely, inflation or depression - explosion or implosion - inevitably occurs, leading to a fractured self.
In an age when arguments for or against a particular practice on strictly moral grounds seem tired or antiquated, The Holy Longing masterfully links time-honored mores with an insightful analysis of the influence on the self that these practices have. It's not a book about morals or spiritual disciplines per se, but about nurturing a spiritual life that is truly life-giving.
If you've read dozens of books on spiritual disciplines, or are just getting started in the topic, The Holy Longing will be worth your time for its refreshing perspective and readable, almost meditative prose.
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