BOOK REVIEW: A Retreat with C.S. Lewis: Yielding to a Pursuing God

March 10, 2005

EDITOR'S NOTE: This book review is sponsored by the Religious Education Media Center as a service to those interested in developing their own spirituality. Books featured in this column can be borrowed from the diocesan media center.

You may request this or other books by writing Deacon Larry Sitzman, Religious Education Media Center, 1821 Jackson St., Sioux City, IA 51102, e-mail him at larrys@scdiocese.org or phone (712) 255-7933.

Father Jim Bruch, pastor at St. Joseph Church in Milford, offers this month's book review. The title of the book is "A Retreat With C.S. Lewis: Yielding To A Pursuing God" by Robert F. Morneau, auxiliary bishop and vicar general of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisc.

When requesting this book from the media center, ask for # pr 1340.72.

Retreat! Noah Webster defines this as "a withdrawal to a safe and private place", and most of us have heard this word used in reference to the military, to withdraw, fall back and re-trench, consider the options.

Bishop Morneau does a beautiful job of inviting anyone who wishes to make such a retreat, basing his reflections on the life and journey of C.S. Lewis. The book is divided into seven chapters, equaling seven days of prayer and reflection. Years go I read some of C.S. Lewis's works, such as "The Four Loves", and "Surprised by Joy", but that has been a long time ago, and I never did comprehend how these autobiographical works fit into his journey of faith.

Bishop Morneau gives such a thorough and easy to understand explanation of this man's journey to a deep faith and how he integrated his life experiences into that deep faith and tremendous love.

The opening lines of Day One set the stage for those wanting to make a retreat, when the author states that "through the writings of C.S.Lewis I see his life as one in which an unrelenting God is in pursuit of a gifted creature". And so Bishop Morneau invites us to make that same journey and recognize that truth in all of our lives.

The first retreat day is based on C. S. Lewis's book, "Surprised by Joy", and after some reflections on the life and background for this book, we are invited to reflect on some very personal questions, challenging each reader to recognize how "an unrelenting God is in pursuit of each one of us, gifted creatures"! Each retreat day begins with an opening prayer, asking for a specific grace, and closes with a prayer, bringing that day's journey to a conclusion.

Day two is based on "The Four Loves" by C. S. Lewis. Day three "Mere Christianity", day four "The Chronicles of Narnia", day five, "Till we have Faces", day six, "The Problem of Pain", and day seven, "A Grief Observed". On each of these days, Bishop Morneau helps us recognize how God has been and is pursuing each one of us, and enables those of us willing to take the plunge to recall similar times in our lives and helps us make sense of them.

Too busy to go to a retreat house for a week? How about picking up one of the books in this series (there are 22 of them) with titles such as "Making a retreat with...Anthony of Padua...Benedict and Bernard...Catherine of Siena...Francis and Claire of Assisi...Thomas Merton etc. You will be well rewarded for your time and efforts.