Happiness and you

The Four Levels of Happiness: Your Path to Personal Flourishing is the latest book by Fr. Robert Spitzer, SJ of the Magis Center. Fr. Spitzer combines philosophy, science and theology to offer an insight into the pursuit of happiness. 

If you have found yourself wondering why you are not happy, and want to identify what is stopping you from having the joy you have heard is part of following Christ, consider this book. 

Don’t worry; it’s not another glib self-help manual. No quick fixes for how to live in what many rightly call “this valley of tears.” Rather, in a compelling conversational style, Fr. Spitzer defines the different expressions of humanity’s search for fulfillment, and outlines how to use Ignatian rules of discernment to hear the Holy Spirit speaking through these desires. Fr. Spitzer invites the reader to make a leap of faith to encounter the deepest level of happiness. 

Recommended for bright teenagers, thoughtful adults and Christian apologists seeking to help others understand what happiness is, and where we might find it.

Holiness and you

The 12 Steps to Holiness and Salvation — a collection of Saint Alphonsus Liguori’s reflections upon the virtues — is a classic well worth reading.

Founder of the Redemptorists, Alphonsus Liguori was an extremely promising young lawyer who would face a crisis of vocation after making a colossal error in a court case. This led to some soul searching and a decision to pursue priesthood and form an order which would focus on parish missions. The career change may not have thrilled his family, but it bore fruit in Liguori’s life and those he pastored, and indeed for generations after him who have benefited from his fatherly advice. 

This book is deceptive. It looks short; but it is densely packed with wise counsel and spiritual insight taken from Alphonsus’ own pastoral ministry and from the lives of a wide range of saints and sages. Despite being centuries old, the wisdom of Liguori springs up freshly on each page.

Recommended for anyone seeking some solid Catholic advice on knowing oneself and God better.

Healing and you

Dr. Gerry Crete’s new book, Litanies of the Heart: Relieving Post-traumatic Stress and Calming Anxiety Through Healing Our Parts, is a fruitful resource for anyone working through difficult early life experiences.

Dr. Crete explores the popular therapeutic approach of Internal Family Systems (IFS) through a Christian lens. The basic premise of IFS is that our inner self has several parts which make up our personalities and that we must integrate these parts in order to heal from trauma.

Crete guides the reader in the methods that IFS provides, and offers spiritual insights into healing using scripture, meditation and prayer. Each chapter begins with a case study in personal narrative form, derived from real-life. A powerful aspect of the book is its inclusion of several beautiful litanies, which offer opportunities to make acts of faith and trust.

Readers may wish to read the appendix, which critiques elements of Eastern Religion in IFS before beginning the book.

Recommended for discerning readers currently wanting to build bridges between therapy and a Christian anthropology.