AN INTERIOR LIFE: RUMMAGING THROUGH THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION

Timeless and readable, the brief reflections in this volume can be "rummaged through" for spiritual nurture and wise counsel. They first appeared as articles in Christ is our Hope, a monthly publication of the Catholic Diocese of Joliet aimed at evangelizing and educating. Father John Welch says that to have an interior life is to live with one center, one source of identity and meaning. He therefore emphasizes how the one center orders all other centers that divide our attention and calms our anxieties. Short biographies, smatterings of theology, discussions about prayer, and comments on faith, are among the resources here offered. Throughout the writings, prayer, community, and service are seen as the soil in which the seeds of an interior life take root. Far from encouraging retreat from daily life, Father John's reflections call Christians to give our best gifts to living outwardly the eternal stirrings that comprise the spiritual life.