Book Reviews and More: In Conversation With God Volume 5 Part 2 Ordinary Time Weeks 29-34

Monday, 6 January 2020

In Conversation With God Volume 5 Part 2 Ordinary Time Weeks 29-34 - Francis Fernandez

In Conversation With God
Volume 5 Part 2 Ordinary Time Weeks 29-34
Francis Fernandez
Scepter Press
eISBN 9780906138939
ASIN B006O285EG

There are now three editions of these book available in English. The original vinyl bound. The Kindle Editions that split each volume (based on Kindle max file size at the time they were released.) And New Single volume eBook editions. I have owned a few copies of the vinyl, but now love these Kindle editions.

I have been reading this series for almost 30 years now. Since they first started being available in English. At first, I bought them in individual vinyl covered editions. And later replaced them with the box set. And then once the eBooks were available, I grabbed them up, and after 2 years of using the eBooks I gave my physical copy to a local school teacher to use in his high school class. I love these books and have read them around 15 times over years. I love the newer eBook editions.

I have said it before but there are a few features I love about the eBook versions that I want to highlight. First as a reader you can highlight and make notes easily in the digital editions. You can also pick colors and change your highlighting from year to year. But the best feature of the Kindle version is you can export your highlights and notes and start fresh. I also like having all the volumes on me at all times. I can use them to look something up, using the Subject index or index of quotations to look something up in any volume. I also love that in eBooks you can change the page color, the font, and even font size to make reading better suited to your personally.

As with each volume in this series each reading in this book is about 6 pages long. Each Day is broken into three sections. There are numerous references. But I want to give you a sample of the highlights I made in this volume this year. This year when I read it I highlighted 16 passages.

“If we live with Christ close by our side we will need few possessions in order to be happy as children of God. If we are not close to Christ we will find that no accumulation of possessions will ever satisfy us.”

“God will judge each one of us personally according to our circumstances and according to the graces we have received. Each of us has a mission to fulfil on this earth. We have to be faithful to this vocation to the end of our lives. We will be judged according to the fruits our efforts have borne.”

“Life’s difficulties can in the end yield for us great good. We are never alone in even the most overwhelming circumstances. Just as we appreciate the company of a friend when things are going badly, so should we be grateful for the company of our Friend in the nearest Tabernacle.”
“A Christian cannot be content with a job that only allows him to earn enough for himself and his family. He will be big-hearted enough to give others a helping hand both out of charity and as a matter of justice.”

“This was a case of false scandal. It arises when people are not willing to accept the truth and look for contradictions or excuses instead. We are familiar with this behaviour in our own day. People pretend to be scandalized because a couple has many children, because they are happy with what God has given them, because they have chosen to live their Christian vocation to the full. A faithful Christian will find that his behaviour is frequently at odds with a pagan environment.”

“We have to work as if everything depended on us. At the same time we cannot forget that everything depends on Jesus. This is the royal road to sanctity.”

“The Lord is waiting for us to offer our work, the difficulties of daily life, our deeds of service, the gift of our time and energy to others ... It is necessary to go beyond the limits of strict justice, in imitation of the exemplary conduct of the widow, who teaches us to give with generosity even that which is meant for our own needs.”

And this volume ends we prepare for advent:

“Tomorrow we begin the season of Advent. Advent is a time of expectation and hope. We await the arrival of Jesus while staying close to Mary his Mother.”

Across the 7 Volumes in this series; or 14 eBook volumes because each book is split in two there are over 450 meditations. There is a meditation for each day of the church calendar, Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, Eastertide and of course the 34 weeks of Ordinary time. There are also 2 volumes dedicated to special feats, specific feats, novenas, Saints, and holy days that fall on specific calendar days.

These books are incredible food for your spiritual life. Every time I read them, every day I am challenged, challenged to become a better version of myself, challenged to live more joy, more hope, more dedication. These books will change your life, and as you read them again and again you will only grow to appreciate them more.

I had planned on reviewing each of the eBook editions as I read them but have fallen behind. This is my third time reading this volume as an eBook. This series has been invaluable in my spiritual life. Sometimes I read it for years in a row. And every time I benefit from it. I grow, I deepen. I strive to mature.

Of all the devotionals and spiritual books I have read over the last nearly 30 years I can recommend this series as one of the best. You can read it again and again and always get something more out of it. I was recently asked to come up with my all-time Top Ten Catholic Books this series came in at number 4 but to be honest 2-5 are almost all interchangeable. So this is one of my all-time top Christian reads!